April 17, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

At least 18 people were injured, including one critically, after a Hezbollah drone hit a village in northern Israel on Wednesday, according to a hospital in the region.

Among the 18 injured was one person in critical condition, two in serious condition and four moderately injured. The other eleven people injured sustained minor injuries, a spokesperson for the Galilee Medical Center in the northern Israeli city of Nahariya said. Most were injured by shrapnel, the spokesperson added.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group Hezbollah said in a statement on Wednesday that its missiles and drones hit the military headquarters in northern Israel in response to Tuesday's assassination of its fighters.

A US Navy ship en route to the eastern Mediterranean to help the US military set up a pier for aid to Gaza had to turn back last week after experiencing a fire, a Navy spokesperson told CNN.

The ship, the USNS 2nd LT John P. Bobo, reported last Thursday that it had experienced a fire in the engine room while in transit to the eastern Mediterranean to deliver equipment and personnel, the spokesperson said. 

It is not clear how the delay will affect the construction of the floating pier and causeway, which the Pentagon has said is expected to be operational by late April or early May. 

“The ship returned under its own power using one engine to Jacksonville, Fla., for further assessment. The cause of the fire is under investigation.”

The ship is one of several US Navy ships and Army watercraft that are en route to the waters off of Gaza to help build the pier, and is a support vessel rather than a key component of the construction of the system, called Joint Logistics over the Shore, or JLOTS.

The Pentagon said on March 8 that the pier would be built and operational within 60 days, and Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder says that timeline is still on track.

The war of words between Israeli agencies approving humanitarian aid for Gaza and the UN agencies receiving and delivering it continues unabated.

On Wednesday Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) posted video of aid sitting at Kerem Shalom crossing on X, adding: “This is what the content of 700 aid trucks looks like. It is waiting on the Gazan side of Kerem Shalom to be picked up by @UN agencies.” 

COGAT added: “We scaled up our capabilities. All the UN did was make up excuses. Aid needs to be collected and delivered. The UN needs to do its job.”

On Tuesday, the UN official in charge of coordinating the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza said there had been some progress in dealing with Israeli authorities but added that “for every new opportunity that we're being given, we will find yet another challenge to deal with.”

Andrea De Domenico, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said aid deliveries within Gaza were facing significant checkpoint delays and that last week 41% of UN requests to deliver aid to northern Gaza were denied. 

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stressed “prudence and restraint” before flying out of Israel to a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Italy.

"I felt here exactly what I felt last weekend in Berlin, where none of us could sleep on Saturday night. It has become clear that this region desires peace."

Baerbock’s visit came in a surprise announcement Tuesday. It was her seventh trip to Israel since October 7 and her eighth visit to the region.

"At a time like this, when Iran is not only attacking Israel without precedent, but has brought the entire region to the brink of a regional conflict, everyone is standing together,” she said.

Baerbock said possible new sanctions against Iran would be a key discussion point during the G7 foreign affairs ministers’ meeting in Capri, Italy, which begins later Wednesday. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting Wednesday that Israel would decide on its own how to respond to Iran’s weekend attacks.

Netanyahu spoke after meeting with the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom and Germany today and speaking to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday.

On Gaza: Netanyahu also said that the government will approve a plan for the rehabilitation of settlements surrounding Gaza at a cost of some $5 billion.

“We will invest in housing, infrastructure, education, employment, medicine and more. The Hamas terrorists wanted to uproot us — we will uproot them and take root,” Netanyahu said.

A survey by Hebrew University in Jerusalem has found that 74% of those polled would oppose a retaliatory strike against Iran “if it undermines Israel’s security alliance with its allies.”

26% were in favor of an attack even if it were to damage ties with allies.

The Hebrew University survey also found that over half the public believes Israel “respond[s] positively” to the military and political demands of allies.

The survey was conducted April 14-15 by internet and telephone, and sampled 1,466 men and women representing adult Israelis, both Jews and Arabs, the university said in a statement. The margin of error was given as 4.2 percentage points.

56% of respondents believe Israel “should respond positively to political and military demands from its allies” in order to “ensure a sustainable defense system over time,” the statement said. Of the remainder, 32% were undecided, and 12% disagreed.

Also, 59% believe that the US assistance to Israel against the Iranian attack obliges the Israeli government to coordinate future security actions with Washington, while 26% were undecided on the matter and 15% disagreed.

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it hit military headquarters in northern Israel in response to Tuesday's assassination of its fighters.

In a statement Wednesday, the group said it targeted the headquarters with "guided missiles and offensive drones."

The Israel Defense Forces also confirmed that Hezbollah hit northern Israel with drones Wednesday. 

At least 13 people were injured, including four who were severely wounded, according to the Israeli emergency services.

Later Wednesday, the IDF said it hit back at a Hezbollah military base near Ayta ash Shab in southern Lebanon.

"A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck a Hezbollah military compound in the area of Ayta ash Shab in southern Lebanon where terrorists were operating, " the statement said.

This post has been updated with the latest number of injuries.

People living in the area of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza said Israeli military vehicles began an operation there on Monday afternoon, firing shots and rounds of artillery shelling.

Residents told CNN that Israeli forces surrounded three schools, including one — Mahdiyya Al-Shawwa — early Tuesday morning where hundreds of people have been sheltering. Using loudspeakers, they ordered people to leave the schools and detained dozens of men, including some elderly and teenagers over the age of 15.

CNN has asked the Israel Defense Forces for comment on the purpose and results of the operation, which, according to local residents, ended late on Tuesday.

One man, Abu Malek Shibat, said he and his family had returned to Beit Hanoun after being displaced to other areas of Gaza. Shibat insisted he would stay in Beit Hanoun even if it meant putting a tent over the ruins of his house.

A woman, Amani Naseer, told CNN that she and her children were taking shelter at a school in Beit Hanoun, but Israeli forces "have destroyed the entire area," adding, "What can we do? Where are we supposed to go?" Her house had already been destroyed, she said, but she recovered some belongings and clothes from under the rubble.

An elderly woman who was sheltering in one of the schools spoke to CNN as she was fleeing the area. She said Israeli soldiers came in the middle of the night and arrested several men and women.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with British Foreign Minister David Cameron and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu’s office said that the prime minister thanked them both for their governments’ “unequivocal support and for the countries' standing in an unprecedented defense against Iran's attack on the State of Israel.”

Netanyahu also addressed the scope of humanitarian aid going into Gaza and the continuation of the fighting there.

“The Prime Minister rejected the claims of international organizations of starvation in Gaza and said that Israel goes above and beyond on the humanitarian issue,” Netanyahu’s office added.