March 14, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Hamas submitted a new response to Egyptian and Qatari mediators in the ongoing talks for a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza, according to a diplomat familiar with the negotiations and a Qatari official.

It is unclear how Hamas may have countered in order to bridge the significant gaps between the two sides.

CNN previously reported that the first phase of a deal had been expected to include a six-week humanitarian pause, the release of around 40 Israeli hostages, and a large number of Palestinian prisoners. The hostages would be the remaining Israeli women — including Israel Defense Forces soldiers, the elderly, sick and wounded.

There had been sticking points — among them, Hamas had refused to send Israel a list of all the hostages believed to be alive or dead. Hamas has been asking for a large number of Palestinian prisoners to be exchanged, additional aid into the strip, and the IDF to withdraw from Gaza in a second phase.

A US official tells CNN the administration currently feels “cautiously optimistic” about the direction that the talks are going. But they declined to share any further details.

CNN's MJ Lee and Becky Anderson contributed reporting.

It will take years to clear nearly 23 million metric tons of debris in Gaza from the destruction of the Israel-Hamas war, according to the United Nations.

Much of the debris is from residential units and other properties across the enclave following Israeli bombardment, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, citing UN humanitarian partners.

It will also take years to “clear up unexploded ordnances,” said Dujarric, to give a scope of the “rebuilding efforts that will be necessary once this conflict ends,” he added.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Thursday to protest the exemption of ultra-Orthodox from mandatory military service.

Ultra-Orthodox Israelis have long held a privileged position in that society. Their religious schools, or yeshivas, receive generous government subsidies. Yet young men of the Haredim, as they are known in Hebrew, are, in all practical terms, exempt from mandatory military service.

In 1998, Israel's Supreme Court ripped up the longstanding exemption, telling the government that allowing Haredim to get out of conscription violated equal protection principles. In the decades since, successive governments and parliaments have tried to solve the issue, only to be told repeatedly by the court that their efforts were illegal.

Now, those piecemeal attempts to maintain the Haredi exemption may be running out. The latest government attempt to paper over the problem, in place since 2018, expires at the end of March.

Israeli opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid has long criticized the exemption, saying in a post on X in March: "It is not possible for 66,000 ultra-Orthodox young men of conscription age to receive a blanket exemption while the working and paying public continues to bear the entire burden."

CNN's Mick Krever contributed reporting to this post.

The father of Itay Chen — an Israeli-American soldier who was believed to have been held hostage in Gaza but who the Israeli military recently disclosed was dead — said while the family held hope his son was alive, it was “psychological warfare.” 

Chen added that he believes Hamas and ISIS used his son “just for the sake of causing more torture” and “as a pawn for some crazy type of negotiation tactics that they have.” 

Chen shared that he has received condolences from President Joe Biden and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle and said he appreciates the support. The president, Chen said, shared “how to look forward and how to think of how to put the pieces back together,” recounting the loss of his first wife and daughter in a tragic car accident in 1972.   

Some context: Israel considers people hostages even after death until their remains are returned. Chen’s remains were taken into Gaza after he was killed, the IDF said Tuesday, and he is at least the fourth dual US citizen whose body is being held in Gaza. 

CNN’s Alisha Ebrahimji and MJ Lee contributed to this post. 

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas appointed Dr. Mohammad Mustafa as prime minister to form a new government, according to the official WAFA news agency Thursday.

Mustafa has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization since 2022 and has held the positions of deputy prime minister and minister of economy in previous governments, according to WAFA.

UK Secretary of State David Cameron welcomed Mustafa's appointment.

Mustafa will replace former Prime Minister Mohammed Shttayah, who resigned in February along with his government.

Shtayyeh opened the door to a national unity government, including Hamas in his resignation statement back in February, without explicitly naming the militant group.

Israel's far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir said that the US Treasury Department's decision to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank is "further proof that the US government does not understand who is the enemy and who is a friend."

He claimed Tuesday that the settlers "build, settle and bring security to the country" and "deserve a salute not a knife in the back."

Remember: The US announced new sanctions on three Israeli settlers and two farms in the West Bank on Thursday, as the administration targets threats to peace and security in the area.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is "expected to respect Israel's elected government and not undermine it," Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party said Thursday after the US senator criticized the Israeli prime minister and his government, calling for new elections. 

Remember: In its annual report released Monday, the US intelligence community assessed that the distrust in Netanyahu’s leadership has “deepened and broadened across the public from its already high levels before the war, and we expect large protests demanding his resignation and new elections.”

Meanwhile, Israeli war cabinet minister and the head of the National Unity party Benny Gantz also criticized the remarks. 

Schumer "is a friend of Israel, who helps it a lot, also in these days, but he was wrong in his statement," Gantz said. "Israel is a strong democracy, and only its citizens will determine its leadership and future. Any external intervention in the matter is not right and unacceptable."

Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the US, said Thursday, “As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me: The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7."

State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said he does not believe that the remarks will make it more difficult for the US to deal with Netanyahu, pointing out that the Israelis know that the comments did not come from the executive branch.

The post was updated with information from the US intelligence report released Monday.

A large collection of activist groups in the greater Chicago area sent a harshly critical letter to the White House ahead of a meeting between officials in US President Joe Biden's administration and Arab and Muslim leaders.

The signees demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and said a meeting "would only act to whitewash months of White House inaction followed by meek handouts."

"We are interested in serious action," the activists said.

A few dozen coalitions and community leaders signed the letter. Tarek Khalil, an attorney and board member with American Muslims for Palestine-Chicago, was among those who spearheaded the letter. Khalil was not personally invited to the White House meeting, but suggested “a good portion” of the signatories were. 

It was not immediately clear who would be represented at the meeting, and the White House declined to provide a list of attendees. 

A White House official did not directly address the letter when asked for comment. The White House has declined to provide a list of attendees at the meeting.

Remember: The US has strongly supported Israel through its war in Gaza. The rising death toll, widespread destruction and unfolding humanitarian crisis have cast a shadow on Biden’s 2024 reelection bid, as seen in Michigan, where Democratic primary voters cast protest ballots.

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has criticized Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and called for new elections in a speech about the war on the Senate floor.

In the speech, Schumer said Israelis needed to consider whether they should change course on how Israel is waging its war on Hamas and suggested new elections were the way to do so.

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said it was "grotesque and hypocritical" for Americans to call for the removal of a democratically elected leader, while the White House did not weigh in on Schumer's remarks.

The comments come as Israel says it intends to move 1.4 million displaced Palestinians from the southern city of Gaza to "humanitarian enclaves" before a planned military assault there. Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the Rafah offensive was "something we need to do" but the timing will depend on "the conditions to allow it."

A potential offensive in the city has drawn international criticism — including from US President Joe Biden.

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Correction: This post has been updated to clarify the occupied Palestinian territories where the health ministry says Palestinians were killed.