March 18, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

The Israeli military has ordered all people near the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City’s Al-Rimal neighborhood to evacuate southwards.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) surrounded the medical complex early Monday, where the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said about 3,000 people were sheltering.

A crowded building is on fire at the hospital, a doctor said, and there are multiple casualties, according to the ministry.

The ministry said anyone attempting to leave the hospital “is targeted by sniper bullets and quadcopters."

People in the area are being told to move to the Al-Mawasi "humanitarian zone," said IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee.

The IDF said it was carrying out the operation based on intelligence that the hospital was being used by “senior Hamas terrorists to conduct and promote terrorist activity.”

CNN cannot independently verify this claim. 

The Israeli military also raided Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest medical complex, in November. The IDF has frequently targeted Gaza’s hospitals since October 7, accusing Hamas of using medical facilities as a front for its operations — which the group denies.

Correction: An earlier version of this post quoted a Gaza Health Ministry estimate that 30,000 people were sheltering at Al-Shifa. The ministry says it made a typographical error in its estimate and meant to say 3,000.

A surgical building is on fire in northern Gaza's Al-Shifa Medical Complex, according to a doctor at the scene, after the Israel Defense Forces said early on Monday that it was carrying out a military operation in the area of the hospital. 

The building is “crowded with wounded people," according to Dr. Abdullah Mohammed, who said in a series of social media posts that it was hit four times by Israeli missile strikes.

The IDF said that the operation was based on intelligence that the hospital was being used by “senior Hamas terrorists to conduct and promote terrorist activity.”

CNN cannot independently verify this claim.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said there were multiple casualties and people wounded, including cases of suffocation among displaced women and children sheltering inside the complex.

Rescuers had been unable to save many of the wounded or reach those trapped, due to the intensity of the fire and Israeli attacks, the ministry said.

An eyewitness who lives in the Al Rimal neighborhood near the medical complex told CNN he had seen “a big invasion of tanks,” particularly in that neighborhood and “around Al Shifa hospital.”

Hospitals targeted: The Israeli military also raided Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest medical complex, in November. The IDF has frequently targeted Gaza’s hospitals since October 7, accusing Hamas of using medical facilities as a front for its operations.

Israel's attacks on medical facilities have drawn global condemnation and calls to protect healthcare workers, infrastructure, and patients from fighting.

This post has been updated with the latest information.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is refusing to bow to calls by the top US senator for a new election and is pushing back against White House warnings about a potential new offensive in Gaza, widening a rift with top Democrats in Washington.

An extraordinary turn in US-Israel relations in recent days is coinciding with intense diplomacy aimed at securing a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas and the release of hostages as the conflict deepens bitter divides in US politics.

But the gulf in trust and goals between Israel and Hamas has thwarted hopes for a breakthrough for weeks.

Netanyahu’s defiance shone through an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday, three days after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer – the highest-ranking Jewish American in the US government – said that a new Israeli government was needed to reset war strategy and that Netanyahu was an obstacle to peace.

Despite the Israeli prime minister’s stand, there is increasing criticism of his approach in the US and overseas, at a time when his position among some Israeli voters is fragile, five months after terror attacks that besmirched his brand as the country’s ultimate security guarantor.

Thousands of protesters filled the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Saturday night, in two separate groups, one calling for the government to resign and others demanding the release of the hostages in Gaza.

Read the full analysis.

The World Health Organization chief said he is "gravely concerned" after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved plans for a military ground offensive in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza.

Netanyahu's office said the military is preparing to evacuate the estimated 1.4 million people stranded there — many after being displaced from other parts of the enclave. Aid agencies warn civilians have nowhere left to go.

The operation will take "several weeks," Netanyahu said Sunday.

The White House said it still has not seen a "credible" plan from the Israeli government on how it would protect the civilians. CNN has previously reported on Gazans who heeded evacuation warnings being killed by Israeli strikes in areas deemed safe by the Israel Defense Forces.

Here are the latest headlines:

The Israel Defense Forces announced Sunday the death of Daniel Perez, who was abducted by Hamas on October 7.

Perez, 22, had served as a platoon commander, according to the IDF.

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum said that Perez had immigrated to Israel 10 years ago. 

According to CNN's count, 33 of the 130 people still held captive in Gaza after being taken hostage on October 7 are now believed to be dead.

The war in Gaza was top of mind for both US President Joe Biden and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as the two men celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at the White House on Sunday.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has loomed large while the taoiseach, Ireland's prime minister, visits Washington. Ireland’s leaders face domestic pressure to make a strong case for a ceasefire in meetings with their US counterparts.

A shared history: Support for the Palestinian cause runs deep in Ireland, with many pointing to what they believe is a shared history — one the taoiseach addressed directly Sunday.

Biden's comments: “The Taoiseach and I agree about the urgent need to increase humanitarian aid in Gaza, and get this ceasefire deal that brings the hostages home and moves toward a two-state solution — which is the only path, the only path — to lasting peace and security,” Biden told guests on Sunday.

Hamas official Ghazi Hamad said the latest proposal submitted for a ceasefire by the group to mediators is "logical."

He said that the proposal could bring about a "breakthrough" in the negotiations, but blamed Israel for "insisting" on continuing the war. 

"We know (Israeli Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu would say our demands are unrealistic. The judges on this are the mediators, and we believe the mediators are convinced that Hamas offered a proposal that can make a breakthrough and achieve an agreement," Hamad said.

Ceasefire talks have progressed slowly.

Netanyahu told CNN on Sunday that Israel will keep trying to secure a deal that would see the release of hostages in exchange for a six-week pause in fighting, despite what he described as "outlandish" demands by Hamas.

Hamas submitted a new set of demands on Thursday, including calls for a large number of Palestinian prisoners to be released and an eventual agreement on a permanent ceasefire.

Israel and Hamas have at turns accused one another of not negotiating in good faith, while US officials have spoken with more cautious optimism about the talks.

The White House said on Sunday that it still has not seen a "credible" plan from the Israeli government on how it would protect the hundreds of thousands of civilians in southern Gaza if it moves forward with an extensive military operation in the city of Rafah.  

Kirby said the Israeli government has said they have an evacuation plan called "humanitarian islands," but the US is only open "any credible plan plan to take care of them. But we haven't seen it yet."

The comments come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier on Sunday the operational plans for Rafah had been approved.  

International concern: The head of the World Health Organization and other aid agencies have raised alarm about a potential Rafah incursion, saying the Palestinians sheltering there have already been displaced from elsewhere in the enclave and do not have anywhere safe to move to.

CNN has previously reported on Gazans who followed evacuation orders being killed by Israeli strikes, underscoring the reality that evacuation zones and warnings from the Israeli military haven’t guaranteed safety for civilians.

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s warning that Israel risks becoming a “pariah” for its war in Gaza, and his call for new elections in the country, sent shockwaves from Washington to Jerusalem.

President Joe Biden called it a "good speech" and said Schumer had expressed a "serious concern" shared by many Americans.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, slammed the address as "totally inappropriate" in an interview with CNN.

Here's some of the latest reaction to the comments by Washington's highest-ranking Jewish official:

Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has defended Schumer’s recent comments on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday.

The Maryland senator said Schumer was simply calling for Israelis to be able to vote for who they want as leader, and that this will only happen once Israel has gotten "past Hamas."

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised Schumer's remarks as an "act of courage" and an "act of love for Israel" in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union."

“The prime minister’s presentation proved the necessity of Chuck Schumer’s speech,” Pelosi said.

The California Democrat added that Netanyahu must “be unaware or ill-informed” of the humanitarian situation in Gaza after the prime minister claimed Israel was letting in enough aid to Gaza.

Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, slammed Schumer's comments as "inappropriate" and "embarrassing" Sunday.

“There’s a way to talk about your differences – not to topple a democratic country,” the Texas Republican said on “Fox News Sunday.” McCaul characterized the speech as indicative of a "split in the Democratic party" between what he called a "pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel faction" and those who support Israel.

McCaul said a Rafah offensive would allow Israel to take out "high-value targets" in Hamas.

On the campaign trail: Former President Donald Trump has criticized Schumer, suggesting Israel is loyal to the Democratic Party "to a fault." Asked on Fox News if the majority leader's words amounted to the US telling a sovereign ally how to run its government, Trump answered, "100%. There's no question about it and they don't know where to go. They're very bad for Israel."

Trump has repeatedly been criticized for parroting the antisemitic trope that US Jews, a population that historically has voted for Democrats by wide margins, have dual loyalties to the US and Israel.