March 15, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

A senior Hamas official told CNN that he cannot provide any assurances about the wellbeing of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, but rejected a United Nations special representative’s finding that there is “clear and convincing information” that some of them have been sexually abused.

In a wide-ranging and sometimes contentious Zoom interview from his office in Istanbul, Turkey, Naim spoke to CNN on Wednesday about the state of ceasefire negotiations with Israel, the fate of 130 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas, and Hamas’ share of responsibility for the widespread devastation unleashed by the Israeli military in Gaza in response to the October 7 terrorist attacks that killed more than 1,200 people.

During the interview, Naim rejected defining Hamas’ attacks as terrorism, falsely claiming that his organization does not target civilians. Instead, he blamed Israel for carrying out what he claimed is “state terrorism” in Gaza and reiterated Hamas’ calls for Palestinians to join in “armed resistance” against Israel during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began Sunday night.

Israel has denied targeting civilians and accuses Hamas of hiding behind civilian infrastructure. More than 31,000 people, a majority of whom are women and children, have been killed in Gaza since the Israeli military campaign began, according to the health ministry in the enclave.

Read more of the wide-ranging interview with Basem Naim.

Muhammad Hassan Abu Watfa, 30, prays that his little son, Hassan, will live through the war in Gaza. But as a parent, he is helpless.

The father and son, displaced in the European Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, have survived Israeli air strikes, besiegement and forced displacement from Gaza City in northern Gaza.

Israel’s military campaign since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks has crushed the Gazan medical system and drastically diminished critical supplies, exposing the entire population of more than 2.2 million people to severe malnutrition, dehydration and disease.

At least 27 Palestinians have starved to death in Gaza, including newborn babies, pediatric doctors told CNN.

“He has become like a skeleton. His health condition is very bad. I do not know what to do,” added Watfa. “Please, help my son get out of Gaza for treatment. I don’t care about my own injuries. My son should be the priority to receive treatment. I do not want to lose him.”

Israel will review the latest response from Hamas in the talks for a ceasefire and hostage release, Israel's Prime Minister's Office said Friday, and a delegation is likely to travel to Qatar early next week for further talks.

A diplomat familiar with the discussions told CNN it's "not going to be easy to convince Israelis" to agree to Hamas' terms in the latest proposal, while another diplomatic source said mediation efforts are moving in a positive direction "but are not there yet."

Relatives of hostages gathered in protest outside the Israeli military headquarters on Friday, calling on the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "make a decision that will save our beloved ones."

Here's what else you need to know:

An Israeli delegation is likely traveling to Doha early next week for further talks on a ceasefire-hostage release deal, an Israeli official with direct knowledge told CNN Friday.

Israel's war cabinet will convene on Saturday evening to discuss and formulate the guidelines for the delegation, the official said.

The delegation will go to Doha after Hamas submitted a new response to Egyptian and Qatari mediators in the ongoing talks, which the source called "extreme and absurd."

A second Israeli official who spoke to CNN on Friday said Israel will make a decision by the end of Saturday about the scope of the mandate given to the negotiating team and will authorize the mediators to promote indirect negotiations with Hamas.

The delegation is expected to depart at the beginning of next week, the second Israeli official said.

The Israeli and Hamas delegations are both set to be in Doha at the same time, but not sitting in the same room.

US service members and their civilian counterparts in Newport News, Virginia, are working to load up the M/V Roy Benavidez, a roll-on/roll-off vessel that will transport critical cargo to help build out a floating pier off the coast of Gaza.

The vessel is carrying a roll-on/roll-off discharge facility (RRDF), which is a floating dock the size of a football field, Navy Capt. Jamie Murdock, commander of Military Sealift Command Atlantic, told reporters outside the Benavidez on Friday. 

“We've only been going for about a week, 10 days, at this point, since the word 'go,'" he said, adding that the vessel is nearly ready.

The Benavidez is being sent to the eastern Mediterranean Sea as part of the joint effort to establish a floating pier that will help facilitate the delivery of critical humanitarian aid in Gaza. Murdock said it is still being determined where specifically the Benavidez will go and when it will leave Virginia. Five total Army vessels have already left from Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia.

Brian Carroll, the vessel master of the Benavidez, said he will have 44 civilian crew members on board supporting the military’s mission. 

"I talked to everybody: 'Be ready for the long-haul once we get out of station,'" Carroll said. 

The White House would not directly answer if US President Joe Biden thinks Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace in Gaza, shortly after Biden praised a speech by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that strongly criticized Netanyahu. 

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said in an interview with MSNBC that Biden "has great respect" for Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the US.

Pressed on if Biden agrees with Schumer, who said that Netanyahu was standing in the way of peace, Kirby said Biden “knows that the Israeli people get to determine who their elected government representatives are, that’s what democracy is all about, and he respects that.” He also said Biden had been “candid and forthright” in discussions with Netanyahu “about ways in which we think things can be done differently.” 

Asked again on if he thought Netanyahu was an obstacle to peace, Kirby reiterated that Biden would keep working with Netanyahu and the war cabinet to help alleviate suffering in Gaza. He said the White House has been "very, very frank" in discussions over the amount of aid reaching the enclave.

Yemen's Houthi rebels warned they would expand military operations against merchant shipping to the Indian Ocean, according to a spokesperson.

Houthi forces' spokesperson Yahya Saree said during a televised speech that the group wanted to prevent Israeli- and US-associated vessels from traversing the Indian Ocean toward the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa.  

It's a move that, if successful, could severely disrupt the primary diversion route used by commercial shipping to avoid the Houthi's attacks on vessels in the Red Sea. 

On Thursday, Abdul Malek Al-Houthi, leader of the Yemeni rebels' Houthi movement, announced intentions to prevent vessels "associated" with Israel from traversing toward the Cape of Good Hope from the Indian Ocean during a televised speech.

On Wednesday, a Houthi ballistic missile struck a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden, killing three and injuring at least four.

Earlier this month, the United States and Western officials said the group launched more than 45 missile and drone attacks against commercial and US and coalition naval vessels operating in the Red Sea since the latest escalation in the region — most of which have been intercepted by US or coalition destroyers or landed harmlessly in the water.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that there are intense efforts underway to close the gap between Israel and Hamas after a counterproposal was put forward by Hamas in the ongoing talks for a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza.

Blinken said the fact that Israel has sent back a team to Doha to pursue the negotiations "reflects the sense both of possibility and of urgency to get an agreement, to get a ceasefire, to get the hostages back to get even more humanitarian assistance in." 

“This is something that we're committed to and we will work as long and as hard as it takes to get it done,” Blinken added.

The latest from sources involved: A diplomatic source told CNN that mediation efforts are moving in a positive direction "but are not there yet." Another diplomat familiar with the discussions told CNN that it "is not going to be easy to convince Israelis" to agree to the terms in Hamas’ latest response, adding that he’s waiting for the Israeli reply and "not celebrating yet."

The United Nations agency for children on Friday reported an increase in acute malnutrition rates among children in the northern Gaza Strip, with figures doubling within just one month.

According to findings published by the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, "1 in 3 children under 2 years of age are today acutely malnourished in the north," citing information gathered from nutrition screenings conducted by UNICEF and its partners.

At least 23 children have died from malnutrition and dehydration in northern Gaza in recent weeks, UNICEF added.

UNICEF's screenings in February revealed that severe wasting, the most dangerous form of malnutrition, affects 4.5% of children in shelters and health centers, a condition that significantly increases the risk of death without immediate treatment.

The health ministry in Gaza reports that 13,450 Gazan children have been killed since October 7.