April 11, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

UNICEF says one of its vehicles was hit by "live ammunition" while waiting to enter northern Gaza from the south of the territory on Wednesday.

In a statement released on X Thursday, UNICEF says the "incident has been raised with relevant Israeli authorities."

CNN has reached out to the IDF about the incident but has not yet received a reply. 

Some context: The incident comes just a day after the Israeli agency that coordinates the inspection and delivery of humanitarian assistance for Gaza, COGAT, blamed the UN for failing to deliver aid across Gaza.

Iran's foreign minister has spoken with his counterparts in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the UAE by phone, the Iranian foreign ministry said Wednesday.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian spoke with each counterpart individually and stressed the importance of cooperation regarding the situation in Gaza, the ministry said.

The phone calls come after US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk reportedly called the foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the UAE to ask them to send a message to Iran and urge it to lower tensions with Israel. Reuters reported that the officials conveyed the message, citing a source.

Iran's foreign minister also held a call with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the Iranian foreign ministry said Thursday. The ministers discussed the war in Gaza, as well as "reactions and consequences" of the attack on Iran's consulate in Syria. 

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

The US and Iran continued to exchange messages this week, a US official told CNN on Wednesday, as the US remains on high alert for the potential retaliation. The official said that Iran has warned the US not to support Israel, and the US has warned Iran against an attack.

Three sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza Wednesday, an assassination that threatens to complicate ongoing negotiations aiming to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal.

The Israeli military confirmed it carried out the attack, describing the men as “three Hamas military operatives that conducted terrorist activity in the central Gaza Strip.”

Haniyeh said killing the sons of leaders would only make Hamas “more steadfast in our principles and adherence to our land.”

Israeli officials drew a distinction between the strike and the negotiations aiming to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal.

Two other Israeli officials said neither Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had been told about the strike ahead of time.

Here are the other developments in the region:

Hamas' political leader said that killing the sons of leaders would only make the group “more steadfast in our principles and adherence to our land.”

Three sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Wednesday, an assassination that threatens to complicate ongoing negotiations aiming to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal.

The Israeli military confirmed that it carried out the attack and described the men as “three Hamas military operatives that conducted terrorist activity in the central Gaza Strip.”

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Germany's Lufthansa airline has suspended flights to and from the Iranian capital of Tehran "due to the current situation in the Middle East," according to a Reuters report on Wednesday, citing a Lufthansa spokesperson.

The decision was made after careful consideration, the spokesperson said, and will likely last until Thursday.

CNN has reached out to Lufthansa for confirmation. 

The airline's decision comes after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to retaliate after accusing Israel of bombing the Iranian embassy complex in Damascus, Syria last week.

The airstrike, which Iran blamed on Israel, destroyed the consulate and killed seven Iranian officials, as well as at least six Syrians, according to Iranian state television.

The US remains on high alert for a potential retaliatory strike by Tehran against Israel. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden said Iran was "threatening to launch a significant attack on Israel." 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated the US support for Israel and pledged the US "will stand with Israel against any threats by Iran and its proxies" in a call with Israel's defense minister.

Blinken's conversation with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant comes as the US is on high alert for a potential attack by Iran or proxy groups against Israel in retaliation for an Israeli strike on an Iranian facility in Damascus. 

The two leaders “also discussed ongoing efforts to secure the release of all hostages through an agreement for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” according to a readout from State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

The top US diplomat also emphasized to Gallant that the US "expects Israel to quickly implement its commitments on humanitarian assistance and deconfliction and that those commitments must be sustained over time,” he said.

Israeli officials are scrambling to draw a sharp distinction between the Israeli airstrike that killed the children of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh and the ongoing negotiations aiming to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal.

Two other Israeli officials said neither Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had been informed about the strike ahead of time.

The comments from Israeli officials come after Haniyeh suggested the airstrike was an attempt to “force Hamas to back down on its demands” at the negotiating table.

President Joe Biden said the US remains stalwart in its commitment to protect Israel in the face of Iranian threats against the country.

Iran was "threatening to launch a significant attack on Israel" following the killings of Iranian generals at the Iranian consulate in Damascus last week, Biden said.

"We're going to do all we can to protect Israel's security," he said.

Some context: CNN previously reported that senior US officials believe an attack by Iran is “inevitable” – a view shared by their Israeli counterparts. The US has been on high alert and actively preparing for a significant attack by Iran targeting Israeli or American assets in the region following the blasts in Syria.

The two governments are furiously working to get in position ahead of what is to come, as they anticipate that Iran’s attack could unfold in several different ways – and that both US and Israeli assets and personnel are at risk of being targeted.

The Israeli military said it killed three sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an airstrike in Gaza on Wednesday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) said in a statement:

The IDF said it confirmed that the three operatives are the sons of the Hamas political leader, who is the chairman of the political bureau. CNN is not able to independently confirm these IDF claims.

According to a CNN stringer in Gaza, a total of six family members of Haniyeh — three sons and three grandchildren — along with the driver of the car they were in, were killed in the airstrike.

The IDF and IAF statement did not make mention of anyone being killed in the strike except for Haniyeh's three sons.

The Hamas political leader had said earlier that three of his sons and “a number of grandchildren” had been killed in the strike near Al Shati, northwest of Gaza City.

Reporting contributed by Khadr Al-Za’anoun of Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency.