The EU is "extremely concerned" about the situation in Rafah
From CNN’s Catherine Nicholls in London
European Commission vice-president in charge for High-Representative of the Union for Foreign Policy and Security Policy Josep Borrell, center, opens an Informal Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Belgium, on February 12. Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images
The European Union is “extremely concerned” about the situation in Rafah, the bloc’s most senior diplomat, Josep Borrell, told reporters on Monday.
“The situation with Egypt is very tense and we are extraordinarily concerned about what can happen there," he said.
His comments come as EU ministers meet to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict, as well as accusations against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, the UN's main agency working with Palestinians.
Remember:In January, Israel accused some of UNRWA’s staff members of involvement in Hamas’ October 7 terror attacks, though few details to support these allegations have been released.
“Allegations [have] to be verified,” the diplomat said. “The presumption of innocence is valid for everyone, at any time, even for UNRWA.”
“It is not a secret that the Israeli government wants to get rid of UNRWA,” Borrell continued. “Let’s wait for the investigation to take place.”
Borrell said that “many” EU ministers have written to him, urging him to ask Israel to stop preventing humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza.
4:39 p.m. ET, February 12, 2024
Israeli military says it conducted ground and air operation in Rafah to extract hostages
From translator Michael Rosenblatt and CNN's Mike Schwarz
Palestinians inspect the damage to residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, Gaza, on February 12. Fatima Shbair/AP
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) coordinated a ground and air operation on Hamas targets in Rafah to extract two hostages, a spokesperson told reporters Monday.
"In a retrieval joint operation of IDF, security forces and special police forces, the special police unit, we retrieved Louis Har and Fernando Marman who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 from Nir Ytzhak," said spokesman Daniel Hagari.
"There was aerial coverage and a wave of strikes by the Israeli Air Force together with the Southern Command.”
Hagari said that special forces entered a building in the center of Rafah at 1:49 a.m. local time (6:49 p.m. ET).
"At 1:50am, the air cover started the action by the Air Force and the southern command in order to allow the forces to detach and to hit Hamas terrorists in the area," he added.
Within minutes, the two hostages were escorted out under fire from Hamas fighters and then taken to a "safe spot" in Rafah to get medical attention, Hagari added.
They were then airlifted out of Gaza by helicopter to the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, Israel.
Hagari said the "complex" operation had been planned for a "long time."
"It was a very tense and exciting night," he added.
"They were intentionally held in the middle of a civilian neighborhood, inside a civilian building, to try and prevent us from rescuing them. But we did," Hagari said in a later statement released in English. "This rescue mission underscores the importance of our ground operation in Gaza, including Rafah, when conditions allow."
More people are believed to remain trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings.
Some context: Nir Yitzhak was one of multiple kibbutzim close to the border with Gaza that came under attack by Hamas militants during their October 7 attack that saw about 1,200 people killed and more than 240 taken hostage. Israel’s response has wrought widespread devastation across Gaza. The Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza has said the death toll since October 7 has risen to more than 27,500.
4:43 a.m. ET, February 12, 2024
Houthis claim attack on bulk carrier ship in Red Sea using "naval missiles"
From CNN’s Mostafa Salem in Abu Dhabi
The Houthis have targeted a bulk carrier ship in the Red Sea with “naval missiles,” according to a spokesperson.
The "Star Iris" is a US vessel, the Yemeni group’s spokesperson said in a statement on X.
Marine tracking websites showed a Marshall Islands-flagged ship with the same name in the Red Sea.
The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organization said that a vessel was attacked by two missiles 40 nautical miles south of Al Mukha in Yemen, but the ship reported minor damage and the crew is safe.
It’s unclear if the two statements relate to the same incident.
The US and UK have been striking Houthi assets in Yemen in response to attacks from the group on vessels traveling through the Red Sea.
The Iran-backed group has maintained that attacks will continue on ships affiliated with Israel until the “aggression stops” in Gaza.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces, in response to their religious, moral and humanitarian duty, will continue to implement the decision to prevent Israeli navigation or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine in the Red and Arab Seas until the aggression stops and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted,” the group’s self-styled military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement on X.
On Saturday, 17 Houthi fighters killed in US and UK strikes were buried, the Houthi-run Saba news agency said.
4:39 p.m. ET, February 12, 2024
"Welcome back home," Netanyahu tells hostages rescued from Gaza
From CNN's Lauren Izso and Ido Soen
Louis Har and Fernando Simon Marman Hostages and Missing Families Forum/AP
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed home the two Israeli-Argentine hostages rescued overnight in joint operations with the Israel Defense Forces in Rafah.
"Fernando and Louis - Welcome back home," Netanyahu said in a statement on Monday.
Sixty-year-old Fernando Simon Marman and 70-year-old Louis Har were both taken during the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the IDF said.
"I salute our brave warriors for the bold action that led to their release. Only the continuation of military pressure, until complete victory, will result in the release of all our hostages," Netanyahu said. "We will not miss any opportunity to bring them home."
Netanyahu praises soldiers: The prime minister also said he was proud of the soldiers involved in the rescue, saying they worked "like a well-oiled machine" in a meeting with fighters and the commander of the Yamam Unit that freed the hostages.
“I came here to tell you this and to salute you on behalf of all the citizens of Israel," he said.
4:38 p.m. ET, February 12, 2024
Argentina's president thanks Israel for rescue of its nationals held hostage
From Duarte Mendonca and Elliott Gotkine
Argentina's President Javier Milei is pictured during a tour around southern Israel's Kibbutz Nir Oz -- one of the places targeted by Hamas militants during the October 7 attacks -- on February 8. Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images
The office of Argentina's President Javier Milei praised Israel for the rescue of its two citizens from Gaza on Monday.
Milei's office said on X that it thanks the Israel Defense Forces, the Israel Security Agency and the Israel Police for "having successfully completed the rescue" of Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70.
Marman and Har are dual Israeli-Argentine nationals, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum told CNN.
They were both captured during the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, according to the IDF.
Milei said he had repeated a request to free the Argentine hostages to Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a recent state visit to Israel.
2:47 a.m. ET, February 12, 2024
Hamas condemns Israel's "horrific massacre" of civilians in Rafah
From CNN's Kareem Khadder and Alex Stambaugh
Wounded Palestinians are brought to Kuwait Hospital for treatment following Israeli attacks on Rafah City, Gaza on February 12. Abed Zagout/Anadolu/Getty Images
Hamas condemned what it called a "horrific massacre" by Israel against civilians in Rafah on Monday after the Israeli military confirmed it conducted airstrikes near the city.
More than 100 people were killed in overnight strikes by Israeli forces in the southern city, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). Hamas also said over 100 people were killed in the attacks.
Hamas said the Israeli military's attack on Rafah "and its horrific massacres against defenseless civilians and displaced children, women, and the elderly... is considered a continuation of the genocidal war and the forced displacement attempts it is waging against our Palestinian people."
CNN cannot independently verify the number of casualties on the ground.
In its statement, Hamas accused US President Joe Biden and his administration of bearing "full responsibility" for the civilian deaths.
Israel's strikes on Rafah come a day after Biden had a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reaffirmed his stance that the Israeli military should not proceed with a ground offensive in Rafah “without a credible and executable plan” to ensure the safety of civilians — estimated to be over one million people who had fled there amid Israeli bombardment.
Biden and Netanyahu had discussed a deal to secure the release of hostages in Gaza at length during the call, according to a senior administration official, but gaps remain in those discussions.
6:28 a.m. ET, February 12, 2024
Death toll rises to over 100 in Israeli airstrikes on Rafah, Palestine Red Crescent Society says
From CNN staff
Palestinians bodies are brought to Kuwait Hospital following Israeli attacks on Rafah City, Gaza on February 12. Abed Zagout/Anadolu/Getty Images
The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on Rafah in southern Gaza has risen to over 100, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on Monday.
CNN cannot independently verify the number of casualties on the ground.
The PRCS said people were still trapped under rubble and the death toll may increase.
Remember: More than 1.3 million people are believed to be in Rafah, the majority displaced from other parts of Gaza, according to the United Nations, as the city that borders Egypt remains the last refuge for Palestinians fleeing south to avoid Israel’s air and ground campaigns across the bombarded enclave.
Israel strikes Rafah: The Israel Defense Forces confirmed Monday that they conducted "a series of strikes" on targets in the area of Shaboura, a district of Rafah.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari told reporters that aerial strikes started at 1:50 a.m. local., just a minute after its forces rescued two Israeli hostages from Rafah.
This post has been updated to correct the spelling of Daniel Hagari's name.
4:38 p.m. ET, February 12, 2024
IDF says it conducted operation in Rafah to extract hostages
From CNN's Mike Schwarz
Israeli military spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, speaks to the media in the northern Gaza Strip, on December 15, 2023. Ariel Schalit/AP/File
Israeli forces conducted a coordinated operation on Hamas targets in Rafah to secure the release of two hostages, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters on Monday.
Hagari said the "covert operation with extraction under fire" started at 1:49 a.m. local, and aerial strikes followed at 1:50 a.m. local.
The news of the hostage release comes as Rafah was being pounded by Israeli attacks.
Hostage rescue: Hagari said Israeli soldiers encountered resistance and that the hostages were successfully escorted out under fire from Hamas.
The two men, aged 70 and 60, were taken to a safe place within Rafah to get medical attention and then airlifted out of Gaza by helicopter to the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer.
12:45 a.m. ET, February 12, 2024
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrives in Qatar
From CNN's Jo Shelley
Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting in Amman, Jordan, on October 17, 2023. Jacquelyn Martin/AP/File
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrived on Sunday in Doha, Qatar, which has been a key mediator in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
Abbas is expected to meet with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on Monday as part of continuing discussions to stop Israel's "aggression," according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
The Palestinian Authority is a government body with limited self-rule in the West Bank.
The visit comes as CIA director Bill Burns is expected to travel to Cairo for a Tuesday meeting to push for a hostage release deal, according to two sources familiar with the plans.
One of the sources said Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Israel's Mossad Director David Barnea are also expected to be in attendance.
