March 19, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

The Israeli Security Agency said that a Palestinian man was shot dead at the Gush Etzion intersection south of Jerusalem on Tuesday after opening fire on two of its personnel.

The two returned fire, killing the 30-year-old man from Jenin, according to the agency.

The ISA, also known as Shabak or Shin Bet, said the two personnel were injured and evacuated to a hospital.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said that a Palestinian man was seriously wounded after being shot by Israeli forces near the Gush Etzion junction, which is in the occupied West Bank, but that Palestinian medical sources had not yet confirmed his death.

Al-Shifa Hospital is surrounded by Israeli forces, Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told CNN on Tuesday.

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment on its ongoing operations at the hospital and in the surrounding neighborhood. 

Basal said that people were still alive under the rubble of residential buildings that had been targeted by Israeli strikes. 

"We received appeals from the beach area (to the west of al-Shifa). There are martyrs on the roads," he said.

IDF began an operation in the area around the hospital on Monday. The IDF said that troops continue "precise operations …to thwart terrorism," and claims that troops have killed "over 50 terrorists and apprehended approximately 180 suspects."

The Gaza Health Ministry says thousands of people are taking shelter at the complex. Al-Shifa is Gaza’s largest hospital facility.

A meeting in Washington between American and Israeli officials to discuss alternatives to a ground invasion of Gaza's southern city of Rafah is likely to occur next week, the White House says.

US President Joe Biden asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call Monday to dispatch a delegation of military, intelligence, and humanitarian officials to Washington to discuss the Rafah plans.

The timing of the meeting was unclear Monday, but press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday it was likely to happen early next week. She didn't have additional details on who would participate in the talks.

On Monday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the meeting was intended to bring officials together in the same room at a critical moment in the conflict.

"Now we really need to get down to brass tacks and have the chance for a delegation from each side on an integrated basis — everyone sitting around the same table, talking through the way forward," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that he remains "determined" to achieve Israel's war goals in Gaza, despite the rising international pressure after more than five months of fighting. 

The United Nations, aid agencies and multiple countries have been calling for Israel to stop the fighting against Hamas and announce a ceasefire in Gaza.  

Despite these pressures, Netanyahu said Israel remains intent on completing the "the military elimination of Hamas," reiterating the need to eradicate its "remaining battalions in Rafah."

The Israeli leader referenced US President Joe Biden's concerns about an Israeli operation into the southernmost city. Recapping his discussion with Biden on Monday — their first in over a month — Netanyahu said he "made it clear to the president in our conversation, in the clearest way, that we are determined to complete the elimination of these battalions in Rafah." 

During the conversation, Biden voiced his "deep concerns" about Israel's plans for Rafah, asking his counterpart to send a senior delegation of military leaders to Washington to discuss the issue further and find an alternative approach, according to US national security adviser Jake Sullivan. 

The United Nations' human rights chief, Volker Turk, warned that Israel's sustained restrictions on aid into Gaza may amount to the war crime of starvation. 

Just one day after a UN-backed report predicted an "imminent" famine in northern Gaza, Turk pinned the blame squarely on Israel, saying the "situation of hunger, starvation and famine" in Gaza is "a result of Israel’s extensive restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid." 

Turk also noted that as the occupying power, Israel has the responsibility to ensure and facilitate food and medical provisions as well as assist the work of humanitarian organizations.

Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations that it has been preventing aid from entering Gaza through its iron-clad controls at checkpoints. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempted to shift the blame for limited aid deliveries onto Hamas during a recent interview with CNN, accusing the group of looting supplies. 

"Our policy is to not have famine, but to be the entry of humanitarian support as needed, and as much as is needed," Netanyahu told CNN on Sunday.

Turk also reminded Israel on Tuesday of its obligation under international human rights law to ensure civilians in Gaza can access aid "in a safe and dignified manner."

It comes as a string of violent incidents have taken place, including allegations of Israel firing at civilians gathered to receive aid deliveries. 

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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sent text messages to Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday offering cash in exchange for any information about Israeli hostages.

A CNN journalist in Gaza received the message in Arabic on their phone on Tuesday stating:

The message had two phone numbers attached to it as well as a link to a website, machtoffin.com, which directs one to a website with the pictures, names, and ages of Israeli hostages.

Some background: Gaza is facing a humanitarian crisis following Israeli bombardment across the enclave, where 70% of the population is already suffering from catastrophic levels of hunger, a UN-backed report said Monday.

Following the Hamas attack on October 7 in Israel last year, the group took Israeli hostages back to Gaza, many of whom are still in Gaza. According to CNN's count last week, a total of 33 of the 130 October 7 hostages are now believed to be dead. 

CNN is attempting to reach out to the IDF for comment.

An Israeli delegation led by Mossad Director David Barnea has left the Qatari capital of Doha after one day of talks with no breakthrough, but mediators remain optimistic by the resumption of talks after weeks of an impasse, an official said.  

The indirect talks, held between Israel and Hamas under Qatari and Egyptian mediation, were the first to be held in Doha at that level in months — and even though the Mossad chief is under pre-approved guidelines by his government to negotiate, mediators still believe the visit is positive.

Barnea’s departure does not mean talks have ended, Al-Ansari said, as technical teams continue discussing the parameters of the three-phase proposal oF a six-week pause is currently being negotiated on. The next step is a counterproposal to be sent to Hamas, Al-Ansari said. 

More background: Since the last truce in November, Hamas and Israel have rejected several proposals, and talks have reached numerous deadlocks. Israel refused to send a delegation to a mediation meeting in Egypt earlier this month and called Hamas’ demands "ridiculous," while Hamas kept mediators waiting for days to send back its latest response. 

An agreement, if reached, is expected to have multiple phases.

Qatar has separated any direct link between the ongoing talks in Doha over the release of hostages and a humanitarian pause with the US-Israel upcoming discussions on a Rafah operation. Still, Al-Ansari warned that any escalation on Rafah will have "serious" bearings on the talks. 

The nongovernmental organization that organized the first aid boat to Gaza confirmed Tuesday that the boat's cargo of food aid has been delivered successfully to northern Gaza. 

The roughly 200 tons of aid was delivered to northern Gaza alongside a World Food Program convoy on Tuesday morning, World Central Kitchen (WCK) said in a statement. 

Fears are mounting over hunger in northern Gaza after a United Nations-backed report published on Monday warned that famine could break out any time from mid-March to May.

The nonprofit has a second boat, named Jennifer, loaded with 240 tons of aid and ready to depart Cyprus, according to the statement. Unfavorable weather conditions have prevented the second boat from leaving the port of Larnaca, WCK said. 

Alongside canned food and bulk products, the boat has also been loaded with two forklifts and a crane to assist future aid deliveries to Gaza, according to the NGO. 

Remember: While welcoming the success of the maritime corridor into Gaza, aid agencies and the UN have warned that sea deliveries and airdrops remain much less effective methods of delivering aid than over land.  

Israeli troops continue "precise operations" at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza "to thwart terrorism," according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency, known as Shin Bet (ISA). 

"Thus far, the troops killed over 50 terrorists and apprehended approximately 180 suspects," according to a joint IDF and ISA statement. "The troops eliminated terrorists in close-quarters combat and located weapons in the area while avoiding harm to civilians, medical staff, and medical equipment," it added.

The Israeli army launched an operation on the hospital, where thousands of people are sheltering, on Monday.

A woman named Lamya, who is trapped inside the hospital, told CNN on the phone that people who look out the window or move between rooms get hit by Israeli fire and killed.  

A fifth-year medical student, Ezz El-Din Lulu, who is also trapped inside Al-Shifa, called for an "urgent intervention before the hospital turns into a mass grave." The hospital is out of food, water and electricity, and Israeli troops "have literally cut us off from everything," he said. 

In a statement released on Tuesday, Hamas condemned the Israeli operation on the hospital and "civilians' homes" in the surrounding areas in which "dozens" of people died. 

CNN is unable to independently confirm the number of dead because of difficulties accessing the Gaza Strip. 

This post has been updated with an eyewitness account from inside the hospital.