April 16, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

By Kathleen Magramo, Sana Noor Haq, Maureen Chowdhury and Tori B. Powell, CNN

Updated 2:38 a.m. ET, April 17, 2024

What we covered here

The United States plans to impose new sanctions targeting Iran after its unprecedented attack on Israel over the weekend, according to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
This comes as Israel's war cabinet met to discuss a potential response to Iran as sources told CNN that the US expects Israel’s reaction will be limited in scope. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned that the “smallest action against Iran’s interests” would be met with a “severe, extensive and painful” response.
The Israel Defense Forces said it killed three Hezbollah fighters, including two commanders, in airstrikes in southern Lebanon Tuesday.
In Gaza, at least 13 people were killed, including seven children, and more than 25 people were wounded after a strike Tuesday targeted the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, according to hospital officials.
Here's how to help humanitarian efforts in Gaza and Israel.

4 Posts

Sort by

11:45 p.m. ET, April 15, 2024

Biden focused on preventing Iran attack from spiraling into wider regional conflict

From CNN’s Sam Fossum

President Joe Biden meets with members of the National Security team regarding the unfolding missile attacks on Israel from Iran on Saturday evening in the White House Situation Room. Some portions of this handout photo have been blurred by the source. Adam Schultz/The White House

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby reiterated Monday morning that President Joe Biden is focused on preventing Iran’s attack against Israel from spiraling into a wider regional conflict.

“Just because Iran conducted this unprecedented attack, which we and our Israeli partners and other partners thwarted, doesn't mean that we should just accept a constant rising escalation in the region. The President is not going to accept that he wants to see things de-escalate,” Kirby told CNN’s Kate Bolduan this morning.

Pressed on whether it’s the White House position that Israel should not retaliate, Kirby said that’s ultimately up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government but that the US wants to see tensions de-escalate.

“We respect their sovereign decision-making process. What we want to see is de-escalation of the tensions. We don't want to see a wider war," Kirby said.

11:43 p.m. ET, April 15, 2024

Israel is delaying its ground operation in Rafah, sources tell CNN

From CNN's Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv

A general view from the makeshift tents where Palestinian families taking shelter in Rafah, Gaza, on February 18. Abed Zagout/Anadolu/Getty Images

Israel was set to take its first steps toward a ground offensive in Rafah this week, but has delayed those plans as it mulls a response to Iran’s attack, two Israeli sources tell CNN.

The Israeli Air Force had planned on dropping leaflets on parts of the city on Monday, the sources said.

One Israeli official said Israel remains determined to carry out a ground offensive in the city but that the timing of civilian evacuations and the coming ground offensive remains unclear at the moment. The Israeli military declined to comment.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stressed the importance of invading Rafah to dismantle Hamas’s remaining battalions despite significant pressure from the United States to call off an all-out ground offensive.

The future of the war in Gaza and the ground offensive in Rafah in Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering, are also factoring into the war cabinet’s debate about a potential response to Iran’s attack.

A military response that risks escalating the conflict with Iran further would pull the military’s attention and resources away from Gaza, where Israel’s government has vowed to hand Hamas a total defeat.

Read the full story.

11:40 p.m. ET, April 15, 2024

Israeli war cabinet reviewed military plans for response against Iran

From CNN’s Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv

The Israeli war cabinet has reviewed military plans for a potential response against Iran during a nearly three-hour meeting on Monday, an official said.

The war cabinet remains determined to act, but it is not clear at this point if a decision has been made.

There is a sense that Israel must act quickly, the official said.

The war cabinet also reviewed diplomatic options to further isolate Iran, which could be carried out in addition to a military response.

11:46 p.m. ET, April 15, 2024

Israeli prime minister says international community must "stand united in resisting this Iranian aggression"

From CNN’s Eugenia Yosef in Haifa and Larry Register in Atlanta

It's imperative the international community "stand united in resisting this Iranian aggression, which threatens world peace," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Monday statement from his office on X.

Netanyahu added:

“Directly and through its terror proxies Hamas and others, Iran is conducting a full-scale campaign of aggression that threatens not only Israel but the entire Middle East.”

Netanyahu's comments follow an Iranian strike against Israel over the weekend in which more than 300 missiles and drones were launched.

Tehran said the attack was in retaliation for a deadly Israeli attack against a consulate building in the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus.