April 9, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

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.”

A specialized United Nations committee will review whether Palestine will be granted full state member status in the UN this month, according to Vanessa Frazier, the UN Ambassador of Malta and Security Council's president for April.

After a closed-door session Monday, the UN Security Council referred this request for Palestinian statehood to the Committee on the Admission of New Members, she said.

The committee held their first meeting on Monday to begin discussions regarding Palestine’s renewed application, she said. 

The Palestinian Mission to the UN first put in a request to be recognized as a full member state in 2011. It was granted "non-member observer state" status in November 2012.

The US is historically keen on letting the Israelis and Palestinians decide the issue between themselves. 

A disinformation war is unfolding alongside the physical conflict raging in Gaza, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres warned in a post on X Monday, calling for international journalists be allowed entry into the enclave.

Foreign media have been allowed very limited access to Gaza, either embedded with the Israeli military on condition of viewing and approving the unedited raw footage or in rare instances with humanitarian aid convoys going into the enclave.

The leaders of Egypt, France and Jordan have issued a joint statement calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, highlighting the grave humanitarian crisis and the catastrophic impact of the ongoing war.

In an op-ed published Monday in Jordan and Egypt's state newspapers, as well as France's Le Monde and The Washington Post, they stressed the need for a peaceful resolution through a two-state solution, declaring that violence and warfare “have no place” in achieving peace in the Middle East.

Highlighting the critical situation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where over 1.5 million Palestinian civilians have sought refuge, the leaders warned about the “dire consequences of further military actions,” advocating for the protection of civilians as a legal and moral obligation under international law.

The three countries' leaders condemned violence, terrorism and indiscriminate targeting of civilians, reiterating the need for all parties to respect international humanitarian law.

Egypt and France have played a major role as mediators between Hamas and Israel, while Jordan has been a key actor in aid delivery, contributing dozens of airdrops over Gaza.