April 9, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

The families of American hostages who are being held by Hamas in Gaza said they had a productive meeting Tuesday with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Goldberg-Polin, whose son Hersh is one of the eight Americans held in captivity, said that the families are thinking about all the hostages as she said they are demanding results – not progress.  

“We want results," she said. "And we are so grateful and thankful to the American administration and Congress to all of the support, but we need results. We need our people home.”

Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, said they are encouraging all parties involved to reach a deal as negotiations continue in Egypt.

The vice president’s office said Harris “expressed her continued support for these families” as she provided an update on US efforts. 

Health workers in northern Gaza exhumed at least 381 bodies from mass graves in and around Al-Shifa Hospital Tuesday, after they said Israeli forces killed hundreds of Palestinians and left their bodies to decompose during their two-week siege of the complex.

The number of those exhumed today does not include people buried within the grounds of the hospital, according to Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, said several United Nations agencies are assisting in efforts to retrieve bodies to provide "dignified burials."

Here are other headlines you should know:

Egyptian leaders have reaffirmed to the Palestinian Authority their commitment and efforts to resolving the conflict in Gaza.

In a joint phone conversation on Tuesday, the two leaders discussed the need to speed up the introduction of a ceasefire and more humanitarian and medical aid. The leaders also talked about how to prevent further military escalation and displacement of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Abbas thanked his Egyptian counterpart for his support in "mobilizing international consensus" toward an end to hostilities and the recognition of the Palestinian state. 

The call comes amid ongoing negotiations in Cairo between Israel and Hamas. The United States, Egypt and Qatar are mediating the talks aimed at accomplishing a prisoner exchange deal and a pause in fighting. 

 The Biden administration is dismissing Benjamin Netanyahu’s pronouncement that a date has been set for a ground offensive into Rafah as bluster that is in no small part fueled by the Israeli prime minister’s tenuous political standing at home, senior administration officials told CNN.

The prime minister has been struggling to balance his stated goal of eliminating Hamas with the tremendous pressure of reaching a ceasefire that would see Israeli hostages freed. Israeli officials argue that four Hamas battalions remain in Rafah that must be taken out.

The administration's private view: Privately, multiple senior administration officials chalked up Netanyahu’s pronouncement to bravado.

The administration's public statements: Top officials have been publicly questioning Netanyahu’s insistence that Israel has decided on a time to mount an offensive into the southern Gaza city. American officials have reiterated that the US has not seen anything resembling a comprehensive plan from the Israelis on how they would carry out such an operation, including first moving the majority of the estimated 1.4 million civilians out of Rafah. 

Here's what top US officials have been saying:

Tuesday saw the highest number of aid trucks to enter Gaza since October 7, according to Israel’s agency that controls access to Gaza.

After inspection, 468 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were transferred to Gaza on Tuesday, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said.

Additionally, 303 packages carrying "thousands" of meals were airdropped over Gaza on Tuesday, Israel’s military said. Humanitarian organizations have warned that airdrops are "good photo opportunities but a lousy way to deliver aid."

Before the conflict, an average of 450 to 500 trucks would enter Gaza daily with supplies, according to UN figures. The previous highest number had been reached on Monday, with 419 trucks entering the Strip.

Israel has not done enough to get food into Gaza amid “famine-like conditions,” USAID Administrator Samantha Power said Tuesday.

Power said that there has been “a sea change” over the past few days in the amount of aid Israel is allowing into Gaza after “a series of restrictions over many, many months” from Israel.

“We have famine-like conditions in Gaza, and supermarkets filled with food within a few kilometers away. So it’s incredibly important that the food that is available get to the people,” Power said. “Especially in the case of very young children, we’re getting a growing number of reports of death by malnutrition or diseases induced by malnutrition.”

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant did not indicate to US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on a phone call Monday that a date has been set for Israel's incursion into Rafah, multiple people familiar with the call told CNN.

He told Austin that Israel is still putting together a plan for a potential assault on the southern Gaza city and making necessary preparations, including when it comes to the protection of civilians, the sources said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said on Tuesday that Israel has not told the US any date for a Rafah incursion, but that he expected the Biden administration to see “Israeli colleagues again next week” for discussions on the issue.

US President Joe Biden’s top national security aide said he asked interlocutors for Hamas to press for a quick response to a proposal for Gaza ceasefire and hostage release.

National Security adviser Jake Sullivan said he made the request in a phone call Tuesday morning with Qatar’s prime minister, who has acted as a mediator in the ongoing talks to free hostages in exchange for a pause in fighting.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not shared his plans for an invasion of Rafah with the United States after saying Monday a date had been set for the operation. “If he has a date, he hasn’t shared it with us,” Sullivan said, repeating US concerns at over a massive ground invasion of the southern Gaza city. 

“There are better ways to go after Hamas,” he said, adding that the White House had presented those options to Israeli officials last week.

Health workers in northern Gaza exhumed the first corpses from mass graves in and around Al-Shifa Hospital on Tuesday, after they said Israeli forces killed hundreds of Palestinians and left their bodies to decompose during their two-week siege of the complex.

At least 381 bodies were recovered from the vicinity of the complex since Israeli forces withdrew on April 1, Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said on Tuesday, adding that the total figure did not include people buried within the grounds of the hospital.

Witnesses and civilians who were trapped inside the hospital when it was raided say the vicinity “was full of bodies,” according to Basal. “The occupation forces have plowed these bodies and buried them in the ground,” he added. 

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment.

“The smell of the dead is all over the place,” Motasem Salah, an official from the Ministry of Health in Gaza leading recovery efforts, told CNN. “We try to identify the bodies of these civilians as their families are awaiting news about their loved ones – if they are alive or missing.”

Khadr Al-Za’anoun of Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, contributed to this report.