March 19, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of Israel’s war in Gaza has moved here.

The UK’s largest aid delivery to Gaza has entered the enclave, the British Foreign Office said Wednesday.

More than 2,000 tonnes of food aid that entered Gaza via the Jordanian land corridor were being distributed by the World Food Programme and will feed “more than 275,000 people,” the office said.

The delivery includes fortified wheat flour for use in bakeries, hot meals and Ready To Eat (RTE) food parcels.

“The food parcels will be used to feed more than 275,000 people in Gaza. Each food parcel is designed for family of five and consists of canned vegetables, meat and fish, and date bars. The parcel can meet half of the daily calorie needs of the family for 15 days,” the Foreign Office said.

The delivery adds to a previous batch of 150 tonnes of UK-funded relief items, including blankets and tents, which arrived last Wednesday and will be distributed by UNICEF, the Foreign Office said.

“A full UK field hospital run by UK-Med has also arrived in Gaza and is now operational and providing life-saving care”, the office said.

Imminent famine: The aid comes amid warnings of imminent famine among Palestinians. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the UK continues “to push Israel to allow more crossings to be open and for longer, and for healthcare, water, and sanitation to be restored.”

Cameron also urged Israel to open a “land crossing in the north” and allow the entry of more UN staff to facilitate the delivery of aid in Gaza to tackle “the devastating and growing humanitarian crisis.”

Israeli troops continue “precise operations” at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza “to thwart terrorism,” according to the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency (ISA), known as Shin Bet.

Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told CNN on Tuesday that the hospital is “besieged” by Israeli forces, while Israel has said the site was being used by “senior Hamas terrorists.”

Thousands of people are currently sheltering in the hospital complex and are in dire conditions.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment on its ongoing operations at the hospital and in the surrounding neighborhood. 

Here are the latest headlines:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to address Senate Republicans during their closed-door conference lunch tomorrow via video, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Netanyahu’s appearance tomorrow comes as Senate Republicans have rallied around him after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called Netanyahu an obstacle to peace last week.

Netanyahu was invited by Sen. John Barrasso last week to address Senate Republicans during their annual retreat but he couldn’t make it.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will host Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon next week, according to a defense official. 

“The two leaders will discuss a range of topics, including efforts to secure the release of all hostages held by Hamas, the need for more humanitarian aid to reach Palestinian civilians, and plans to ensure the safety of the more than 1 million people sheltering in Rafah while ensuring Hamas can no longer pose a threat to Israel,” the official said. 

The official added the meeting comes after Austin extended an invitation for an official visit, and “is separate from the meeting announced yesterday following a call with President Biden and Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu, in which the prime minister agreed to send a senior interagency team composed of military, intelligence and humanitarian officials to Washington.”

CNN previously reported that Netanyahu agreed to send the delegation to discuss Israel’s impending operation in Rafah, and concerns for the more than a million Palestinian civilians in the city.

An Al Jazeera journalist and two men he was working with described their experience after Israeli troops raided the Al-Shifa Hospital complex in northern Gaza in the early hours of Monday.

Journalist Ismail Al Ghoul told CNN he and his team had been detained for 12 hours and were stripped to underwear and blindfolded throughout, despite the rain and cold.

One member of the team, Ahmad al-Harazin, said “while we were sitting [there], the [Israeli] army suddenly raided and arrested us. God Almighty kept us safe. And we were released.”

In a statement Monday, Al Jazeera alleged Al Ghoul and his team were detained and “severely beaten” before being taken to an undisclosed location. 

Samer Tarazi, another member of the team, said they were surprised by the arrival of Israeli troops at around 2 a.m.

CNN reached out to the Israel Defense Forces about the arrest of Al Ghoul and his colleagues, but on Tuesday the IDF responded that they had no record of his detention.

The IDF said later Tuesday that its units were continuing operations at the hospital and had “apprehended dozens of prominent terrorists in Hamas and Islamic Jihad.”

Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas Political Bureau, said the Israeli operation around Al-Shifa “reflects the occupation leaders’ attempt to sabotage the negotiations taking place in Doha.”

Haniyeh alleged that the Israelis’ “targeting of police officers and members of the government administrative agencies in the Gaza Strip demonstrates his attempt to spread chaos and perpetuate bloodshed” in Gaza.

Artillery launches from Lebanon landed in several areas in Israel throughout the day on Tuesday, according to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces.

IDF fighter jets struck “Hezbollah military compounds” in the areas of Ayta ash Shab, Meiss El Jabal, and Al-Adisa and “additional Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure was struck in the areas of Naqoura and Kfarkela,” the statement said.

Hezbollah confirmed they launched eight attacks in Israel on Tuesday — seven against Israeli military targets and one on the Zaraite settlement. The attacks were “in response to the Israeli attacks on villages and civilians,” Hezbollah said.

The IDF statement said “artillery struck the sources of the fire.”

“A suspicious aerial target crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory” in the area of Yiftach, a kibbutz in northern Israel, and was “successfully intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array,” the statement said.

Two IDF soldiers sustained moderate injuries and were taken to a hospital to receive medical treatment, the IDF said.

Israel and Lebanon have engaged in crossfire on their borders the last few months.

One of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest confidants, Ron Dermer, and Israel’s national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi will be heading to Washington, DC, to meet with US officials, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office obtained by CNN.

The statement did not say which US officials the Israeli delegation will meet with or when the visit will happen. The White House said earlier Tuesday that it expects the visit to happen early next week. 

Dermer is currently a member of Israel’s war cabinet and a former ambassador to the United States.

The US has been calling on Israel to explain how it intends to keep safe over 1 million Palestinians who are seeking refuge in southern Gaza, as Israel warns that it will soon launch a military offensive into Rafah. So far, US President Joe Biden’s administration says a plan has not been presented.

On Monday, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Biden had asked Netanyahu to send a team to Washington “to hear U.S. concerns about Israel’s current Rafah planning and to lay out an alternative approach that would target key Hamas elements in Rafah and secure the Egypt-Gaza border without a major ground invasion.”

But the Israeli statement Tuesday said that Netanyahu “is determined to act in Rafah in order to finally eliminate the remaining Hamas battalions, while providing humanitarian solutions to the civilian population.” 

The Israeli delegation will be accompanied by a representative — who was not named — for Israel’s Coordination of Government Actions in the Territories, the statement said.

The World Health Organization issued another stark warning about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and a spokesperson on Tuesday said a growing number of infants there are on the “brink of death” from acute hunger.

“What doctors and medical staff are telling us is, more and more, they are seeing the effects of starvation; they’re seeing newborn babies simply dying because they (have) too low birth weight,” WHO spokesperson Dr. Margaret Harris said.

While young children and infants are among the least able to cope with chronic hunger, the WHO says there is a rising number of dangerously underweight pregnant women, as well.

“This is entirely man-made, everything we’re seeing medically; this was a territory where the health system functioned well,” Harris said.

The WHO was aiming to build emergency malnutrition stabilization centers in Gaza, but progress had been hampered by a lack of security. One center had been established in southern Gaza, and the WHO is attempting to establish one in northern Gaza, “but we can’t bring them in at the scale and to the people without the access and the safety. So there is no answer until there’s a ceasefire,” Harris said.

The Israeli Security Agency said that a Palestinian man was shot dead at the Gush Etzion intersection south of Jerusalem on Tuesday after opening fire on two of its personnel.

The two returned fire, killing the 30-year-old man from Jenin, according to the agency.

The ISA, also known as Shabak or Shin Bet, said the two personnel were injured and evacuated to a hospital.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said that a Palestinian man was seriously wounded after being shot by Israeli forces near the Gush Etzion junction, which is in the occupied West Bank, but that Palestinian medical sources had not yet confirmed his death.

Al-Shifa Hospital is surrounded by Israeli forces, Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told CNN on Tuesday.

“Now Al-Shifa Hospital is besieged, and no one can reach the area,” Basal said, explaining that rescue workers were unable to reach the victims in the area. He also accused the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of also targeting homes near the hospital.

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment on its ongoing operations at the hospital and in the surrounding neighborhood. 

Basal said that people were still alive under the rubble of residential buildings that had been targeted by Israeli strikes. 

“We are receiving calls and pleas that they are alive under the rubble, but unfortunately we cannot reach the area because of the presence of snipers in the areas surrounding Al-Shifa Hospital,” Basal said.

“We received appeals from the beach area (to the west of al-Shifa). There are martyrs on the roads,” he said.

IDF began an operation in the area around the hospital on Monday. The IDF said that troops continue “precise operations …to thwart terrorism,” and claims that troops have killed “over 50 terrorists and apprehended approximately 180 suspects.”

The Gaza Health Ministry says thousands of people are taking shelter at the complex. Al-Shifa is Gaza’s largest hospital facility.

A meeting in Washington between American and Israeli officials to discuss alternatives to a ground invasion of Gaza’s southern city of Rafah is likely to occur next week, the White House says.

US President Joe Biden asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call Monday to dispatch a delegation of military, intelligence, and humanitarian officials to Washington to discuss the Rafah plans.

The timing of the meeting was unclear Monday, but press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday it was likely to happen early next week. She didn’t have additional details on who would participate in the talks.

On Monday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the meeting was intended to bring officials together in the same room at a critical moment in the conflict.

“Now we really need to get down to brass tacks and have the chance for a delegation from each side on an integrated basis — everyone sitting around the same table, talking through the way forward,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that he remains “determined” to achieve Israel’s war goals in Gaza, despite the rising international pressure after more than five months of fighting. 

Addressing the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, Netanyahu said the country is currently engaged in a “a double campaign: a military campaign and a political campaign.” 
“We are of course subject to increasing international pressure, which we push back in order to complete the goals of the war,” he said. 

The United Nations, aid agencies and multiple countries have been calling for Israel to stop the fighting against Hamas and announce a ceasefire in Gaza.  

Despite these pressures, Netanyahu said Israel remains intent on completing the “the military elimination of Hamas,” reiterating the need to eradicate its “remaining battalions in Rafah.”

The Israeli leader referenced US President Joe Biden’s concerns about an Israeli operation into the southernmost city. Recapping his discussion with Biden on Monday — their first in over a month — Netanyahu said he “made it clear to the president in our conversation, in the clearest way, that we are determined to complete the elimination of these battalions in Rafah.” 

During the conversation, Biden voiced his “deep concerns” about Israel’s plans for Rafah, asking his counterpart to send a senior delegation of military leaders to Washington to discuss the issue further and find an alternative approach, according to US national security adviser Jake Sullivan. 

The United Nations’ human rights chief, Volker Turk, warned that Israel’s sustained restrictions on aid into Gaza may amount to the war crime of starvation. 

Just one day after a UN-backed report predicted an “imminent” famine in northern Gaza, Turk pinned the blame squarely on Israel, saying the “situation of hunger, starvation and famine” in Gaza is “a result of Israel’s extensive restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid.” 

The high commissioner for human rights said in a statement: “The extent of Israel’s continued restrictions on the entry of aid into Gaza, together with the manner in which it continues to conduct hostilities, may amount to the use of starvation as a method of war, which is a war crime.”

Turk also noted that as the occupying power, Israel has the responsibility to ensure and facilitate food and medical provisions as well as assist the work of humanitarian organizations.

Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations that it has been preventing aid from entering Gaza through its iron-clad controls at checkpoints. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempted to shift the blame for limited aid deliveries onto Hamas during a recent interview with CNN, accusing the group of looting supplies. 

“Our policy is to not have famine, but to be the entry of humanitarian support as needed, and as much as is needed,” Netanyahu told CNN on Sunday.

Turk also reminded Israel on Tuesday of its obligation under international human rights law to ensure civilians in Gaza can access aid “in a safe and dignified manner.”

It comes as a string of violent incidents have taken place, including allegations of Israel firing at civilians gathered to receive aid deliveries. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sent text messages to Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday offering cash in exchange for any information about Israeli hostages.

A CNN journalist in Gaza received the message in Arabic on their phone on Tuesday stating:

“Do you want to end the war? If you have reliable information about the abducted or their abductors. Do not hesitate to contact us and you can receive a valuable cash reward.”

The message had two phone numbers attached to it as well as a link to a website, machtoffin.com, which directs one to a website with the pictures, names, and ages of Israeli hostages.

Some background: Gaza is facing a humanitarian crisis following Israeli bombardment across the enclave, where 70% of the population is already suffering from catastrophic levels of hunger, a UN-backed report said Monday.

Following the Hamas attack on October 7 in Israel last year, the group took Israeli hostages back to Gaza, many of whom are still in Gaza. According to CNN’s count last week, a total of 33 of the 130 October 7 hostages are now believed to be dead. 

CNN is attempting to reach out to the IDF for comment.

An Israeli delegation led by Mossad Director David Barnea has left the Qatari capital of Doha after one day of talks with no breakthrough, but mediators remain optimistic by the resumption of talks after weeks of an impasse, an official said.  

The indirect talks, held between Israel and Hamas under Qatari and Egyptian mediation, were the first to be held in Doha at that level in months — and even though the Mossad chief is under pre-approved guidelines by his government to negotiate, mediators still believe the visit is positive.

“We are cautiously optimistic that the talks have resumed. … It’s still too early to announce any successes,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said at a news conference in Doha.

Barnea’s departure does not mean talks have ended, Al-Ansari said, as technical teams continue discussing the parameters of the three-phase proposal oF a six-week pause is currently being negotiated on. The next step is a counterproposal to be sent to Hamas, Al-Ansari said. 

More background: Since the last truce in November, Hamas and Israel have rejected several proposals, and talks have reached numerous deadlocks. Israel refused to send a delegation to a mediation meeting in Egypt earlier this month and called Hamas’ demands “ridiculous,” while Hamas kept mediators waiting for days to send back its latest response. 

An agreement, if reached, is expected to have multiple phases.

Qatar has separated any direct link between the ongoing talks in Doha over the release of hostages and a humanitarian pause with the US-Israel upcoming discussions on a Rafah operation. Still, Al-Ansari warned that any escalation on Rafah will have “serious” bearings on the talks. 

The nongovernmental organization that organized the first aid boat to Gaza confirmed Tuesday that the boat’s cargo of food aid has been delivered successfully to northern Gaza. 

The roughly 200 tons of aid was delivered to northern Gaza alongside a World Food Program convoy on Tuesday morning, World Central Kitchen (WCK) said in a statement. 

Fears are mounting over hunger in northern Gaza after a United Nations-backed report published on Monday warned that famine could break out any time from mid-March to May.

WCK is now pushing for Arab nations to band together to create a coalition “to get humanitarian food aid to Gaza immediately through all routes available; land, air and sea.” 

The nonprofit has a second boat, named Jennifer, loaded with 240 tons of aid and ready to depart Cyprus, according to the statement. Unfavorable weather conditions have prevented the second boat from leaving the port of Larnaca, WCK said. 

Alongside canned food and bulk products, the boat has also been loaded with two forklifts and a crane to assist future aid deliveries to Gaza, according to the NGO. 

Remember: While welcoming the success of the maritime corridor into Gaza, aid agencies and the UN have warned that sea deliveries and airdrops remain much less effective methods of delivering aid than over land.  

Israeli troops continue “precise operations” at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza “to thwart terrorism,” according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency, known as Shin Bet (ISA). 

“Thus far, the troops killed over 50 terrorists and apprehended approximately 180 suspects,” according to a joint IDF and ISA statement. “The troops eliminated terrorists in close-quarters combat and located weapons in the area while avoiding harm to civilians, medical staff, and medical equipment,” it added.

The Israeli army launched an operation on the hospital, where thousands of people are sheltering, on Monday.

A woman named Lamya, who is trapped inside the hospital, told CNN on the phone that people who look out the window or move between rooms get hit by Israeli fire and killed.  

“There was a guy who looked from the second floor window and he was sniped,” she said. “The situation is very dire.” She was forced to hang up during the call as Israeli troops entered her building.

A fifth-year medical student, Ezz El-Din Lulu, who is also trapped inside Al-Shifa, called for an “urgent intervention before the hospital turns into a mass grave.” The hospital is out of food, water and electricity, and Israeli troops “have literally cut us off from everything,” he said. 

“Anyone moving in the hospital grounds will be targeted by snipers,” Lulu said in a video posted on his Instagram on Monday.
“We cannot go out to treat the injured or even move around. Some families went out and were targeted and martyred,” he added.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Hamas condemned the Israeli operation on the hospital and “civilians’ homes” in the surrounding areas in which “dozens” of people died. 

CNN is unable to independently confirm the number of dead because of difficulties accessing the Gaza Strip. 

This post has been updated with an eyewitness account from inside the hospital.

Israel’s head of Security Services, David Barnea, has left Doha after participating in talks with Qatari and Egyptian officials on a potential ceasefire in Gaza. 

The Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson told reporters at a news conference in Doha on Tuesday that this round of talks has now ended, and will continue at a lower level. 

Here’s what’s next: A counterproposal from Israel is now expected to be sent to Hamas, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson added.

Qataris and Egyptians have been the principal interlocutors with Hamas.

Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office said they have no comment on Barnea’s departure. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that Gaza’s entire population is “at severe levels of acute food insecurity.”

“According to the most respected measures of these things, 100% of the population in Gaza is at severe levels of acute food insecurity. That is the first time an entire population has been so classified,” Blinken said during a press conference in the Philippines.

Blinken called the war a “horrific humanitarian situation for women, for children, for men,” and implored Israel to protect civilians.

 “It is absolutely incumbent on Israel, as it acts to defend itself from October 7 from happening again, to make it a priority to protect civilians — those who were caught in harm’s way, and to provide for those who desperately need humanitarian assistance.”

Blinken said he urged Israel to have a plan for Gaza after the war, which he said he hoped would end soon. The plan, he said, would have to be “consistent with Israel’s needs to defend itself and make sure that October 7 never happens again.” 

Famine warning: According to a UN-backed report, all 2.2 million people in the enclave do not have enough food to eat, with half of the population on the brink of starvation and famine projected to arrive in northern Gaza “anytime between mid-March and May 2024.”

Diplomatic tour: Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia and Egypt to meet with government leaders this week and discuss efforts to reach an “immediate ceasefire agreement” between Israel and Hamas.

China’s Foreign Ministry said its envoy Wang Kejian spoke with Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in the first meeting between a Chinese and Hamas official publicly acknowledged by Beijing since October 7.

During the meeting on Sunday in Qatar, Wang and Haniyeh “exchanged views on the Gaza conflict and other issues,” the ministry said.

Haniyeh stressed “the need to quickly stop the aggression and massacres,” for the Israeli military to withdraw from Gaza, and “achieve the political goals and aspirations of establishing an independent Palestinian state,” according to a Hamas media office statement.

Last Wednesday, Wang visited the occupied West Bank and met with Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riyad Al-Maliki, the Chinese ministry said.

Wang told Al-Maliki that China is “deeply concerned” about the war and the grave humanitarian situation in Gaza — and that China has been working hard to bring about a ceasefire and protect civilians. 

He then visited Israel last Thursday and met with Hagai Shagrir, the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s head of Asia and Pacific Bureau, the ministry said.

Wang told Israeli officials a top priority is a “comprehensive ceasefire, cessation of the war, guarantee of humanitarian aid and protection of civilians,” reiterating calls for a two-state solution.

Wang is the first Chinese diplomat known to be sent to the West Bank and Israel since the war began.

Middle East tour: Since March 10, Wang has been on a diplomatic tour in the Middle East, where he met with officials in Egypt, the West Bank, Israel and Qatar, according to China’s Foreign Ministry. 

Read more about China’s role in the conflict.

Famine is imminent in northern Gaza, where 70% of the population is suffering “catastrophic” levels of hunger, a UN-backed report said Monday.

All 2.2 million people in Gaza do not have enough food to eat, with half of the population on the brink of starvation and famine projected to arrive in the north “anytime between mid-March and May 2024,” according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report.

Acute hunger and malnutrition have already “far exceeded” the threshold for famine in northern Gaza and the IPC warns of a “major acceleration of death and malnutrition.”

This is the “the highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger ever recorded… anywhere, anytime,” by the IPC, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Acute hunger and malnutrition have already “far exceeded” the threshold for famine in northern Gaza and the IPC warns of a “major acceleration of death and malnutrition.”

“Between mid-March and mid-July, in the most likely scenario and under the assumption of an escalation of the conflict including a ground offensive in Rafah, half of the population of the Gaza Strip (1.11 million people) is expected to face catastrophic conditions,” the report warned.

Scarce supplies mean that “virtually all households are skipping meals every day” and adults are going without so their children can eat, the report said.

Famine could be halted if aid organizations were allowed full access to Gaza to bring food, water, and other supplies to the civilian population, the report said.

Read more on the food security crisis in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia and Egypt to meet with government leaders this week and discuss efforts to reach an “immediate ceasefire agreement” between Israel and Hamas, according to the State Department.

The deal would secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas during the October 7 attack on Israel, the State Department said.

The agreement would also ensure “intensified international efforts to increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and coordination on post-conflict planning for Gaza, including ensuring Hamas can no longer govern or repeat the attacks of October 7th,” the State Department said.

Blinken also plans to discuss how to end Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Some background: In Qatar, truce talks are taking place between Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Israel’s Mossad chief David Barnea, and Egyptian officials. The talks touch on a ceasefire deal in Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas, a source with knowledge of the discussions told CNN.

Blinken’s visit will be part of a larger trip, which includes stops in Austria, South Korea, and the Philippines.

Israeli authorities are preparing to send a group of Palestinian patients who were being treated in East Jerusalem hospitals back to Gaza this week.

The group of 22 Gazan Palestinians includes five newborn babies and their mothers, cancer patients now in remission, and a few companions who had accompanied them, according to hospital officials.

They had all received permission from Israeli authorities to travel to Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem for advanced medical care – most before the October Hamas 7 attack on Israel.

But staying in East Jerusalem is no longer an option.

The Israeli defense ministry body responsible for Palestinian affairs, COGAT, has for months been pushing East Jerusalem hospital officials for a list of patients who no longer require in-patient medical treatment to send them back to Gaza, those officials told CNN.

The patients on that list, which has been seen by CNN, are expected to board buses for the Kerem Shalom crossing on the border between Israel and Gaza on Wednesday.

Among them will be Nima Abu Garrara, who was brought from Rafah to East Jerusalem while pregnant with twins and gave birth on October 5. All her twins have known is the safety of a room at Makassed Hospital.

Soon, that will be torn away, traded for the reality of war. Abu Garrara fears a grim future in Gaza, where an Israeli military ground offensive on the southern city of Rafah looms.

Read more about the patients who will be sent back to Gaza.

The Biden administration will meet with Israeli officials “soon” in Washington to discuss alternatives to a planned military ground offensive in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, where about 1.5 million people are sheltering after fleeing fighting in northern areas.

In a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Joe. Biden said Israel’s plans for a major operation in Rafah could be catastrophic for Palestinian civilians, and asked the Israeli leader to send a delegation of military leaders to Washington to discuss alternatives.

Netanyahu agreed to the request, and national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the meeting would be held at the end of this week or early next week.

Biden’s concerns over Israel’s planned Rafah offensive fell within three areas:

In the call, Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s commitment to achieving its war goals, including eliminating Hamas and releasing hostages.

Here are the other major developments in the conflict:

Correction: An earlier version of this post quoted a Gaza Health Ministry estimate that 30,000 people were sheltering at Al-Shifa. The ministry says it made a typographical error in its estimate and meant to say 3,000.

US forces destroyed seven anti-ship missiles, three drones, and three weapons storage containers in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Monday, according to US Central Command.

The strike took place between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. (Sanaa time), CENTCOM said in a statement, calling it an act of “self-defense.”

“It was determined these weapons presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region,” CENTCOM said.

US forces have been conducting similar strikes in the area where tensions have heightened since the Iran-backed militant groups began attacking commercial vessels in the key waterway.

Earlier this month, a ballistic missile by the Houthis struck a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden, killing three crew members in its first fatal attack since October.

The Biden administration will meet with Israeli officials “soon” in Washington to “discuss alternative approaches that would target key elements of Hamas and secure the Egypt-Gaza border without a major ground operation in Rafah,” the White House said in a statement.

President Joe Biden spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday and voiced “deep concerns” over Israel’s planned major operation in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, according to White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

It was the first known phone conversation between the leaders in over a month as their rift deepens.

Biden asked Netanyahu to send a delegation of military leaders to Washington to discuss an alternative approach for going after Hamas in Rafah, to which Netanyahu agreed.

The meeting could take place at the end of this week or early next week, Sullivan said.

The leaders also discussed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and hostage negotiations in Qatar, according to a White House statement on the call.

Emphasis on northern Gaza: The leaders discussed “the urgent need” to increase the flow of aid to Gaza, especially in the north of the enclave.

“The President stressed the urgent need to significantly increase the flow of lifesaving aid reaching those in need throughout Gaza, with special emphasis on the north,” the White House said.

Malnutrition is complicating the recovery of children from their injuries in war-torn Gaza’s collapsing health care system, according to doctors.

A growing number of children are dying of starvation and dehydration, according to the World Health Organization and Palestinian officials. Acute malnutrition doubled within one month among children in northern Gaza, according to UNICEF.

Project Hope is a US-based health and humanitarian aid organization that operates in regions facing health crises. Its emergency teams report that 5%-15% of the children arriving at its two clinics in Deir Al-Balah and Rafah are malnourished.

“Malnutrition amplifies the fragility of the situation,” Rondi Anderson of Project Hope said. “If you’re malnourished, you’re weak. A child’s immune system is weak, it gets infected, then the healing can’t happen, and it gets prolonged.”

CNN spoke to multiple doctors who have been to Gaza since the war began. They reported seeing a lot of orthopedic injuries like limb injuries as well as burns, which present multiple layers of treatment.

In these situations, a patient needs good pain management, nutrition, antibiotic care and fluid management. In Gaza, “all those four pillars are gone,” said Dr. Amber Alayyan from Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Adding a malnourished state to that means the healing is complicated, she added.

“People who have really huge injuries are dying on the spot,” she said. “At the beginning, we were seeing people with really big abdominal injuries and thoracic injuries and things like that. And now, I think that I truly think that they’re dying on the spot, because we’re seeing fewer and fewer. You do see them, but they don’t necessarily make it to the ICU very quickly.”

The top US humanitarian aid official called a report warning that famine is set to break out in northern Gaza sometime between now and May “a horrific milestone” and urged Israel to open more land routes to deliver aid into the enclave.

“We continue to call on Israel to open more land routes into Gaza and reduce bottlenecks and inspection delays to get land crossings operating at full capacity, even as we pursue air and maritime options to supplement these land routes,” US Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power said in a statement.

The report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said that the sustained fighting and lack of humanitarian aid means famine is now “imminent in the northern governates” of Gaza and “projected to occur anytime between mid-March and May 2024.” 

Power said the “catastrophic levels of hunger and malnutrition” detailed in the report “should be unimaginable in the current era, but for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, this is the reality.”

Doctors Without Borders recounted reports from its staff of heavy fighting around Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza as Israeli forces conducted a military offensive inside and around the facility on Monday.

A staff member of the organization, also called Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), reported hearing “drones, tanks, and shelling” near the hospital in the early hours of Monday, witnessing a fire rising from Al-Shifa’s main building. 

Clashes were also reported around the organization’s clinic and office in Gaza City where some staff and their families are sheltering.

“We call on all warring parties to respect the grounds and perimeter of Al-Shifa Hospital and ensure the safety of medical personnel, patients, and civilians,” MSF said in a statement.

According to MSF staff, Israeli forces conducted “mass arrests in the area surrounding Al-Shifa,” and one of the organization’s staff members is currently unreachable.

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on Monday that Israel has been waiting for the “right time to act” at Al-Shifa Hospital, in comments addressing Israel’s military operation there. Hagari said that the IDF arrested over 200 “terror suspects” who are “now under investigation.”

The World Food Programme released a statement Monday on their Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report about food security in the Gaza Strip that found 88% of the region’s entire population faces “emergency or worse” food insecurity and warns that famine in northern Gaza is “imminent.”

“People in Gaza are starving to death right now,” said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain. “The speed at which this man-made hunger and malnutrition crisis has ripped through Gaza is terrifying.” 

The IPC report, which was written by a group of NGOs, governments and UN agencies warned that “between mid-March and mid-July, in the most likely scenario and under the assumption of an escalation of the conflict including a ground offensive in Rafah, half of the population of the Gaza Strip (1.11 million people) is expected to face catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5).”

Here’s what else we know: According to the report, for the 300,000 people that remain trapped in northern Gaza, “famine is expected to arrive between now and May,” and one in three children in Gaza below the age of two are “acutely malnourished.”   

Southern Gaza is also slowly nearing famine, according to the report, which found that the region may reach famine conditions by July. 

The report goes on to say that the nearing famine could be halted if aid organizations are allowed full access to the Gaza Strip to bring food, water and other nutritional products to the civilian population, and that “a humanitarian ceasefire is necessary,” for this to occur.

The World Health Organization’s chief expressed concern about the situation at the Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza after an Israeli military raid on the medical complex.

The organization’s chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the concerning situation in a post on X, saying: “Hospitals should never be battlegrounds.” 

“We are terribly worried about the situation at Al-Shifa Hospital in northern #Gaza, which is endangering health workers, patients and civilians,” he said.

A displaced Palestinian, Hamada Abdelhadi, told CNN that Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers had been “demolishing and excavating the outer edges of the hospital yards” as part of the operation. 

Ghebreyesus said the hospital had only recently managed to restore “minimal health services,” warning that fighting there or “militarization of the facility jeopardize health services, access for ambulances, and delivery of life-saving supplies.”