March 29, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

The Israeli military said it killed a high-ranking Hezbollah missile commander in an airstrike in Lebanon Friday.

The Israel Defense Forces said that Ali Abed Akhsan Naim, allegedly the deputy commander of Hezbollah's Rocket and Missile Unit, had been killed in an airstrike in the area of Bazouriye in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah on Friday acknowledged his death in a statement without giving his title or saying how he died.

The IDF said Friday that he was considered "a significant source of knowledge" in Hezbollah and a "leader in the field of rockets." It added he was one of the Iranian-backed militia's leaders for heavy-warhead rocket fire and "responsible for conducting and planning attacks against Israeli civilians."

Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported on a drone strike on a car near Bazouriye Friday. It said that two people had died in the strike without providing information on their identities.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel on Thursday to enable the unhindered flow of aid into Gaza "without delay" to avert a famine, as Israel's siege condemns Gazans to severe hunger.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military's raid on Al-Shifa Hospital, in northern Gaza, entered its twelfth day. More traumatic allegations of abuse emerged from Palestinians who fled the facility, and those still trapped there — including two malnourished teenage siblings who've had limbs amputated.

Here are the latest developments:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has authorized an Israeli negotiating delegation to travel to Qatar and Egypt in the coming days for talks on the release of hostages still held in Gaza, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.

The Israel Security Agency (ISA), also known as Shin Bet or Shabak, is Israel’s domestic security agency.

Some background: Israel’s Mossad Director David Barnea and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar traveled back to Israel last Saturday without a breakthrough in indirect ceasefire-hostage talks with Hamas, mediated by Qatar and Egypt. CIA Director Bill Burns was also in Doha late last week to meet with Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari counterparts. Burns put forward a proposal that was accepted by Israel and sent back to Hamas, according to a source and an Israeli official.

On Tuesday morning, Israel was informed that the proposal was rejected by Hamas, the Israeli official said, and Israel decided to pull back the team of negotiators that had remained in Doha after Burns and Barnea had left Qatar.

An Israeli airstrike killed at least 14 Palestinians sheltering inside a house in Rafah, in southern Gaza, a Rafah hospital official told CNN. 

Among those killed were four women and seven children, according to a list of victims shared by the Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah.

Emergency workers recovered a number of victims from the rubble of the blown-out house in the northeast neighborhood of Al-Nasr, according to Gaza's Civil Defense. Pictures shared by the Civil Defense showed huge concrete slabs strewn across the site of the attack, where rescue personnel carried shrouded bodies.

Crews rescued a woman from the rubble of the house, according to Gaza's Civil Defense. It transported "a number of injured people," according to a statement on Friday.

Asked for a response by CNN, the Israel Defense Forces said it did not have the required information to comment on the attack, despite being provided by CNN with the date, time and a rough location of the strike.

This post has been updated with the number and description of people killed, according to the hospital.

The Gaza Civil Defense called on international agencies to rescue Palestinians trapped in and around Al-Shifa Hospital, in northern Gaza, as Israel's raid around the complex enters a twelfth day.

"We need the international agencies, the Red Cross and the UN to intervene to rescue the people present around the Shifa complex. Every minute that passes by, we could lose a life there," Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal told CNN. 

"Israel continues the bombardment of the houses surrounding the complex, and the arrest of citizens to push for displacement," Bassal claimed, adding that fuel supplies are dwindling amid Israel's siege on the strip. "Unfortunately, civil defense haven’t been able to reach this area," he added.

Earlier on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israeli intelligence were conducting “precise operational activity” in the area of Al-Shifa hospital, the IDF said in a statement Friday. The IDF said it was “mitigating harm” to civilians, patients and medical teams and equipment.

Palestinians inside Al-Shifa and around it have previously reported civilian casualties and arrests, as well as large-scale destruction at the hospital complex. Heavy fighting around the hospital has also been reported by Israel, Hamas and civilians, with United Nations officials saying hospitals must not be battlegrounds.

CNN’s Benjamin Brown in London contributed reporting to this post.

The father of Mohammad Al-Najjar, a young Palestinian child who died from malnutrition on Thursday, said his son "was dying in front of our eyes" after the family could not find food or drink for him as Israel's siege condemns Gazans to severe hunger.

"What did we do [to deserve this]! He was dying in front of our eyes. He died in front of our eyes," Naim Al-Najjar said from Kamal Adwan Hospital, in northern Gaza, in a video obtained by CNN. "If we found food and drink, in addition to the medications they prescribed, he might have recovered."

Mohammad passed away from malnutrition, dehydration and the scarcity of medical supplies, according to medical sources speaking to CNN. Mohammed's father said Israel's siege is "suffocating" Gaza and that children "are dying in front of our eyes."

He described Mohammed as a "lovely and bright" child before the malnutrition set in. In the video, Al-Najjar showed old pictures of his son looking happy and healthy – a stark contrast to his final days, where his breaths were labored and his frame was visibly thin from starvation. At least 30 Palestinians have died of malnutrition in Gaza, including 24 children, according to the Ministry of Health there.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Israel to enable the unhindered flow of aid into Gaza "without delay" to avert a famine, as the number of Palestinians starving to death rises inside the besieged enclave.

In a unanimous decision, the world court issued additional provisional measures against Israel, in the ongoing genocide case brought by South Africa. The court compelled Israel to allow more aid into Gaza in light of famine “setting in."

The ICJ voted that Israel should allow "urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance" into Gaza, including access to food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter, clothing, hygiene and sanitation requirements, and medical supplies.

It reaffirmed its original ruling earlier this year that Israel should take measures to prevent genocide in the Palestinian enclave.

Condemned to starvation: Israel's severe restrictions on aid entering Gaza have drained essential supplies. UN experts accused Israel of “intentionally starving” Palestinians in Gaza. At least 30 Palestinians have died of malnutrition in Gaza -- including 24 children -- according to the Ministry of Health there.

What does Israel say? Israel has called allegations that it is blocking aid into the strip "wholly unfounded." Israel insists there is “no limit” on the amount of aid that can enter Gaza, but its inspection regime on aid trucks has meant that only a tiny fraction of the amount of food and other supplies that used to enter Gaza daily before the war is getting in now.

CNN's Abeer Salman contributed reporting.

A Palestinian paramedic who was detained by the Israeli military for three days at Al-Shifa Hospital, in northern Gaza, claims he was stripped naked, left outside in rainy and cold weather, beaten and prevented from using the bathroom.

“The army came to us and forced us out one by one. They stripped us naked and seated us in the yard,” Mohammad Al Shawwa, in his 30s, alleged on Thursday.

Al Shawwa claims the IDF eventually told him to leave Al-Shifa, and he walked for about 1.25 miles (2km) to Al Ahli Baptist Hospital. “I ran away with other guys between the vehicles, partly blindfolded and tied,” the paramedic said. CNN previously asked the IDF about the movement of people to Al Ahli Baptist Hospital.

Al Shawwa says he was forced to leave his relatives behind. He says the fate of his mother, a cancer patient, sister, wife and son is unknown – after the family was separated during their detention. He is especially worried about his father, aged 60, who, he says, “was taken by the army.” “I don’t know if they are alive or dead,” he told CNN.

CNN has asked the IDF about Al Shawwa’s claims of mistreatment.

Strikes launched by the Israeli military have killed medical workers, patients and people sheltering at the besieged Al-Shifa Hospital, in northern Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials.

An Israeli bombing has also damaged the surgical building of Al-Shifa, the Ministry of Health in Gaza alleged.

Hundreds of bodies: Local residents told CNN on Thursday there was heavy fire in the vicinity of the hospital. One family said there was an air strike on their property near the maternity facilities at Al-Shifa, leaving hundreds of bodies strewn.

What Israel is saying: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israeli intelligence said on Friday it was carrying out "precise operational activity" for a twelfth day in the area of Al-Shifa. On Thursday, the IDF claimed “approximately 200 terrorists have been eliminated in the area of the hospital since the beginning of the activity" at Al-Shifa. It said that “over the past day, terrorists fired at IDF troops from within and outside of the ER building.”

The IDF claimed troops evacuated civilians, patients, and medical teams to alternative medical facilities that the IDF set up to enable proper medical treatment to continue. CNN cannot independently verify IDF statements.