April 9, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

Children in Gaza have been dying from “starvation-related complications” since Israel began using starvation as a weapon of war, which is a war crime, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report on Tuesday.

Israel denies the accusation, despite widespread evidence of malnutrition in Gaza. The report documents accounts from doctors and families in Gaza that described children, as well as pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, suffering from severe malnutrition and dehydration and hospitals ill-equipped to treat them.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya who heads Kamal Adwan Hospital’s pediatrics unit in northern Gaza told HRW on Thursday that 26 children had died from starvation-related complications in his hospital alone. At least 16 were under 5 months old, and at least 10 were between 1 and 8 years old, he said.

The report also cites other challenges in distributing the little aid that does make it into the enclave, including ongoing Israeli bombardment and lack of security assurances. According to the report, Israel said aid entering Gaza faced no limits apart from security concerns, and some Israeli officials have blamed the UN for distribution delays. Other Israeli officials accused Hamas of aid diversion.

What Israel says: The Israeli Defense Ministry’s body governing civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories (COGAT) denied that the Israeli government was purposely starving Gaza’s civilian population. HRW said it sought comment from COGAT on the findings of its report but did not receive a response.

CNN cannot independently verify the findings in HRW’s report, but has reported similar accounts from Gazan civilians, Palestinian officials in Gaza and international humanitarian organizations documenting the war. 

Turkey announced new restrictions on exports to Israel on Tuesday after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan accused Israel of denying a request to airdrop aid to Gaza.

The Ministry of Trade slapped a ban on the export of 54 items, particularly products that could be used for military or construction purposes. In the statement, the ministry condemned Israel’s prevention of access to “the most basic food, medical care and supplies” for the people of Gaza. 

Among the specified items listed in the statement were steel and aluminium materials, cement, electrical cables and construction and metal working machinery. Speaking at a news conference in Ankara late Monday, Fidan said Turkey was taking “a series of new measures against Israel” after Israel denied its request to join the Jordanian aid operation.

Key context: Turkey is among the top two countries delivering aid to Gaza, alongside the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Germany has hit back at accusations from Nicaragua at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it has been “facilitating genocide” in Gaza through its support for Israel, insisting that Israeli security is at the "core" of German foreign policy.

Addressing the ICJ in The Hague on Tuesday, Germany's lawyer Tania von Uslar-Gleichen stressed Germany “firmly rejects Nicaragua's accusations.”

Von Uslar-Gleichen nodded to the Nazi Holocaust against Jews during World War II in explaining to the ICJ that Israeli security is at the “core” of German foreign policy, adding: “Our history is the reason why Israel's security has been at the core of German foreign policy.”

A lawyer representing Germany, Samuel Wordsworth, argued Germany could not be found to be "facilitating genocide" because for that to be the case, the court would need to have already ruled that Israel has breached international law in Gaza. The ICJ has not however issued a ruling on whether Israel has committed any breaches of international law in Gaza.

"Nicaragua must establish that at least prima facie, the court is able to exercise jurisdiction, and it cannot do so, given the manifest absence of an indispensable third party, namely Israel".

In Monday's hearing, Nicaragua accused Germany of “facilitating genocide” through its sustained political, financial, and military support for Israel and suspension of funding to the main UN agency in Gaza, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). 

This post has been updated with additional comments from Germany's lawyer.

Gaza's Civil Defense organization says that nearly 400 bodies have been recovered from around Al-Shifa hospital, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area last week.

Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told CNN Tuesday: “We have recovered 381 bodies from Al Shifa and the surrounding area since the withdrawal of the Israeli military.”

Basal said that the total did not include people who had been buried in the grounds of the hospital.

He added that recovery workers had also retrieved 77 bodies in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, an area that saw heavy fighting for many weeks until Israeli troops withdrew earlier this week.

Cross-border attacks between Israel and Hezbollah have forced tens of thousands of people from their homes along both sides of the Lebanon-Israel border.

In Lebanon, at least 90,000 people are now relying on food boxes to survive, including relief provided by Virginia-based non-profit Islamic Relief USA.

"Honestly, we've lost a lot. We've lost everything in our area," one woman tells CNN.

Watch more about the impact of the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah on border towns here.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant met Monday and discussed the Israeli military's withdrawal from portions of Gaza, according to a statement by the US Department of Defense. 

Gallant provided details of the IDF's withdrawal, as well as the future of Israel's campaign against Hamas. 

Austin expressed “the urgent need to dramatically increase humanitarian assistance delivery," according to the statement.

Austin and Gallant also discussed Israel's killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers on April 1. 

All but one were foreign nationals, sparking calls for accountability among those countries, including the US. Israel said the killings were a mistake, fired two senior officers and reprimanded a top commander over the incident.

Israel's Defense Ministry said "the Minister and Secretary raised ongoing threats posed by Iranian aggression, including via Iranian proxy Hezbollah. They discussed coordination in the face of scenarios involving regional escalation."

Some context: The US and its allies have been bracing for a possible attack against Israeli and US assets in the region in retaliation for a deadly Israeli strike last week on Iran’s consulate in Damascus. 

In a statement published early Tuesday, Hamas said the latest deal proposed by Israel does not meet their demands. 

Hamas said it received the proposal through Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators.

While Hamas said it appreciated the effort, the group said Israel “remains stubborn and has not responded to any of the demands of our people and our resistance.”

But Hamas maintained it is “keen to reach an agreement that puts an end to the aggression against our people.”

The group said its leaders would review the proposal and inform the mediators of their response. 

Over the weekend in Cairo, CIA Director Bill Burns presented a new proposal that includes pushing Israel to release a higher number of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the expected 40 Israeli hostages who would be freed during the first phase of a three-stage ceasefire deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the timing for a ground offensive in the Gazan city of Rafah, where an estimated 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering, has been set — but did not reveal the date.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said that if Netanyahu abandoned plans for a ground offensive in Rafah, he may lose the support of the coalition that has kept him in power.

After Netanyahu's announcement, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Israel had not briefed the US on the Rafah invasion's timing, and reiterated that the US believes a ground offensive “would have an enormously harmful effect on … civilians, and that it would ultimately hurt Israel's security.”

Miller said the US would be having “further conversations over the coming days, coming weeks” with Israeli officials about the Rafah offensive “and how they could achieve it in a better way.”

Here are the latest developments in the region:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that a date for a ground offensive into Rafah has been set, according to a video posted on his official Telegram account.

Netanyahu didn't say what the date was.

He also said that "entry into Rafah" was necessary for a "complete victory over Hamas."

Rafah, in the southernmost part of the besieged enclave, is where about 1.5 million Palestinians are estimated to be sheltering after fleeing fighting in the north.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said that if Netanyahu abandoned plans for a ground offensive in Rafah, he may lose the support of the coalition that has kept him in power.

The State Department later said Israel had not briefed the US on the date for the announced invasion of Rafah. 

Matthew Miller, State Department spokesperson, reiterated that the US believes a ground offensive “would have an enormously harmful effect on … civilians, and that it would ultimately hurt Israel's security.”

Miller said the US would be having “further conversations over the coming days, coming weeks” with Israeli officials about a potential Rafah operation “and how they could achieve it in a better way.”