April 10, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

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

Hamas’ political leader said that killing the sons of leaders would only make the group “more steadfast in our principles and adherence to our land.”

Three sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Wednesday, an assassination that threatens to complicate ongoing negotiations aiming to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal.

“Whoever thinks that by targeting my kids during the negotiation talks and before a deal is agreed upon that it will force Hamas to back down on its demands, is delusional,” Haniyeh said in a statement.

The Israeli military confirmed that it carried out the attack and described the men as “three Hamas military operatives that conducted terrorist activity in the central Gaza Strip.”

Read the full story.

Khader Al Za’anoun is also a journalist with Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency. CNN’s Alex Marquardt contributed reporting to this post.

Germany’s Lufthansa airline has suspended flights to and from the Iranian capital of Tehran “due to the current situation in the Middle East,” according to a Reuters report on Wednesday, citing a Lufthansa spokesperson.

The decision was made after careful consideration, the spokesperson said, and will likely last until Thursday.

“We are constantly monitoring the situation in the Middle East and are in close contact with the authorities. The safety of our guests and crew members is Lufthansa’s top priority,” the spokesperson said. 

CNN has reached out to Lufthansa for confirmation. 

The airline’s decision comes after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to retaliate after accusing Israel of bombing the Iranian embassy complex in Damascus, Syria last week.

The airstrike, which Iran blamed on Israel, destroyed the consulate and killed seven Iranian officials, as well as at least six Syrians, according to Iranian state television.

Meanwhile, the US remains on high alert for a potential retaliatory strike by Tehran against Israel. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden said Iran was “threatening to launch a significant attack on Israel.” 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated the US support for Israel and pledged the US “will stand with Israel against any threats by Iran and its proxies” in a call with Israel’s defense minister.

Blinken’s conversation with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant comes as the US is on high alert for a potential attack by Iran or proxy groups against Israel in retaliation for an Israeli strike on an Iranian facility in Damascus. 

The two leaders “also discussed ongoing efforts to secure the release of all hostages through an agreement for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” according to a readout from State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

“Blinken welcomed Israel’s recent announcements of urgent steps to facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza and to improve humanitarian deconfliction and coordination, reiterating that incidents such as the strike on World Central Kitchen workers must never reoccur,” Miller said.

The top US diplomat also emphasized to Gallant that the US “expects Israel to quickly implement its commitments on humanitarian assistance and deconfliction and that those commitments must be sustained over time,” he said.

Following airstrikes in Gaza last week that left seven World Central Kitchen aid workers dead, some House Democrats are becoming more critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

US Reps. Jason Crow and James Clyburn both told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer today they believe Netanyahu “must go.”

Crow seconded the sentiment.

“He’s not the leader that’s going to take Israel forward. He is a failed leader in every respect. He’s not made Israel safer, he’s helped escalate regional tensions. He’s not listening to us and he is, in my view, in large part, responsible for this massive humanitarian catastrophe that we are seeing,” Crow said.

The World Central Kitchen (WCK) said one of its aid workers was seriously injured minutes before the deadly strikes on a WCK convoy that killed seven aid workers on April 1.

The Palestinian WCK staff member — named only as Amro by the organization — was “gravely injured” in a reported airstrike at the al-Bashir Mosque in Deir al-Balah, WCK said Wednesday. The strike occurred a mere 15 minutes before the aid convoy was first hit, according to the organization.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment on this claim by the WCK.

The aid worker suffered “serious head and hand injuries while he was off duty in a home close to the mosque in the area surrounding our warehouse and newly established kitchen in Deir al-Balah,” WCK said.

After being pulled from the rubble, he was taken to the same hospital where those killed in the deadly strike on the WCK convoy were brought, WCK said.

Both airstrikes occurred within miles of each other and were “flagrant reminders of the harrowing conditions humanitarian aid workers and Palestinian families continue to face every minute of every day,” the NGO said.

The aid organization said more than 400 Palestinians are employed by WCK, with thousands working as volunteers.

The aid worker injured in the April 1 strike owned a sweet shop until it was destroyed early in the war. Despite several opportunities to leave Gaza for Egypt, he chose to continue working for the organization, WCK said.

US officials have not seen evidence of Hamas targeting Palestinian civilians working with international aid organizations in Gaza, according to Samantha Power, administrator for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

“That is not what our partners are reporting back to us,” Power said at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. She was being asked about such allegations by Democratic Rep. Kathy Manning.

Power added that US aid partners in Gaza are also not reporting that Hamas is impeding the distribution of humanitarian assistance. She said the Israel Defense Forces has also not been reporting such obstructions by Hamas. 

“I, like you, would expect it would be, given what Hamas does otherwise targeting innocent civilians, using innocent civilians as human shields, but again — trusted partners like World Food Programme and UNICEF and others have not reported that Hamas is getting in the way of humanitarian assistance,” Power said.

Power previously testified that USAID has not received reports of Hamas “systematically” diverting food aid in Gaza.

US forces dropped more humanitarian assistance into northern Gaza on Wednesday, according to a statement from US Central Command.

“The joint operation included four C-130 U.S. Air Force aircraft, and U.S. Army Soldiers specialized in aerial delivery of U.S humanitarian assistance supplies,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
“The U.S. C-130s dropped over 50,680 U.S. meal equivalents into Northern Gaza,” according to CENTCOM.

The United States has dropped approximately 852 tons of humanitarian assistance supplies to date, CENTCOM said.

Israeli officials are scrambling to draw a sharp distinction between the Israeli airstrike that killed the children of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh and the ongoing negotiations aiming to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal.

Two other Israeli officials said neither Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had been informed about the strike ahead of time.

The comments from Israeli officials come after Haniyeh suggested the airstrike was an attempt to “force Hamas to back down on its demands” at the negotiating table.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it killed three sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an airstrike in Gaza on Wednesday. The IDF said it confirmed that the three operatives are the sons of the Hamas political leader, who is the chairman of the political bureau. CNN is not able to independently confirm these IDF claims.

The IDF also continues to operate in Gaza and has launched “dozens” of air airstrikes in the past day, killing a number of people it called “terrorists.” It has not provided further details on reports that an Israeli airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip killed at least 14 people on Tuesday evening.

Here’s what else to know:

Hamas indicates it doesn’t have 40 hostages: Hamas has indicated it is currently unable to identify and track down 40 Israeli hostages needed for the first phase of a ceasefire deal, according to an Israeli official and a source familiar with the discussions, raising fears that more hostages may be dead than are publicly known. CNN’s record of the conditions of the hostages also suggests there are fewer than 40 living hostages who meet the proposed criteria.

Eid celebrations ruined: Before the war, Salwa Tibi used to prepare breakfast for the young children in her family, visit relatives and decorate her house in Gaza City, in northern Gaza, with balloons and lights to celebrate Eid al-Fitr. But this year, Israel’s military campaign has crushed hopes of marking the festival. Instead, the Palestinian aid worker, in her 50s, told CNN she will struggle to find enough food, clothes and shoes for her younger relatives.

Fears of Iranian attack: The Israeli army has in recent days disrupted GPS signals over a number of cities, including the Tel Aviv metropolitan area and Jerusalem, with the aim of thwarting missile or drone attacks potentially fired by Iran or Iran-backed groups in the region. The jamming caused major disruptions to daily life, sparking frustration across Israel. President Joe Biden said Wednesday the US remains stalwart in its commitment to protect Israel in the face of Iranian threats against the country. CNN previously reported that senior US officials believe an attack by Iran is “inevitable” – a view shared by their Israeli counterparts. The US has been on high alert and actively preparing for a significant attack by Iran targeting Israeli or American assets in the region following the blasts in Syria.

President Joe Biden said the US remains stalwart in its commitment to protect Israel in the face of Iranian threats against the country.

Iran was “threatening to launch a significant attack on Israel” following the killings of Iranian generals at the Iranian consulate in Damascus last week, Biden said. “As I’ve told Prime Minister Netanyahu, our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad.”

“We’re going to do all we can to protect Israel’s security,” he said at a news conference in the Rose Garden.

CNN previously reported that senior US officials believe an attack by Iran is “inevitable” – a view shared by their Israeli counterparts. The US has been on high alert and actively preparing for a significant by Iran targeting Israeli or American assets in the region following the blasts in Syria.

The two governments are furiously working to get in position ahead of what is to come, as they anticipate that Iran’s attack could unfold in a number of different ways – and that both US and Israeli assets and personnel are at risk of being targeted.

The Israeli military said it killed three sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an airstrike in Gaza on Wednesday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) said in a statement:

“Earlier today (Wednesday), directed by IDF and ISA intelligence, IAF (Israeli Air Force) aircraft struck three Hamas military operatives that conducted terrorist activity in the central Gaza Strip,” it said.
“The three operatives that were struck are Amir Haniyeh, a cell commander in the Hamas military wing, Mohammad Haniyeh, a military operative in the Hamas terrorist organization, and Hazem Haniyeh, also a military operative in the Hamas terror organization,” the statement continued.

The IDF said it confirmed that the three operatives are the sons of the Hamas political leader, who is the chairman of the political bureau. CNN is not able to independently confirm these IDF claims.

According to a CNN stringer in Gaza, a total of six family members of Haniyeh — three sons and three grandchildren — along with the driver of the car they were in, were killed in the airstrike.

The IDF and IAF statement did not make mention of anyone being killed in the strike except for Haniyeh’s three sons.

The Hamas political leader had said earlier that three of his sons and “a number of grandchildren” had been killed in the strike near Al Shati, northwest of Gaza City.

This post has been updated with additional updates from the Israeli military.

Reporting contributed by Khadr Al-Za’anoun of Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency.

In response to a CNN investigation into an aid delivery in Gaza on February 29 in which Israeli forces opened fire, US Sen. Chris Van Hollen urged the need for the United States to conduct an independent investigation emphasizing the need for “full transparency and accountability.”

“The UK, Germany, France, Italy and others have rightly called for an independent investigation,” and it’s “past time” for the US to join in, said Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland and member of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, in a statement to CNN.

CNN’s analysis of dozens of videos and testimonies from 22 eyewitnesses’ casts doubt on Israel’s timeline of what happened that night, when more than 100 people were killed and 700 injured.

The evidence, which was reviewed by forensic and ballistic experts, indicated that automatic gunfire began before the Israel Defense Forces said the convoy had started crossing through the checkpoint and that shots were fired within close range of crowds that had gathered for food.

US President Joe Biden said Wednesday he’s been “very blunt” and “straightforward” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the need for more humanitarian aid to Gaza, and more deliberate efforts to protect civilian life “in any action taken in the region.” 

In an interview that aired on Univision Tuesday, Biden offered one of his sharpest rebukes of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza, describing Netanyahu’s approach to the conflict as a “mistake” while calling for a halt to the fighting.

But on Wednesday, he cited “a long discussion” with Netanyahu during their phone call last week. He told reporters gathered in the Rose Garden that the Israeli leader had agreed to do several things related to getting more aid, both food and medicine, into the enclave and reducing civilian casualties in “any action taken in the region.” 

Biden would not say Wednesday if he was considering conditioning aid to Gaza, despite being asked, though the White House warned last week of “changes in our own policy,” if Israel did not take additional steps to protect human life in Gaza.

The president also cited Vice President Kamala Harris’ meeting Tuesday with the families of hostages being held in Gaza, taking the opportunity to call on Hamas to respond to a proposal to release some of the hostages in return for a temporary ceasefire.

Israel plans to “flood Gaza with aid,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, describing what he called a new phase of humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip. 

US pressure on Israel played a role in Israel’s decision to begin ramping up the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, he told reporters, saying Israel’s defense establishment “takes the United States very seriously.”

“We plan to flood Gaza with aid and we are expecting to reach 500 trucks per day,” Gallant said. “My recent visit to the United States was essential in determining next steps and reflecting the link between our operational goals and the humanitarian effort. 

COGAT, the agency charged with coordinating the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, said the daily number of trucks entering Gaza this week has doubled from last week’s numbers. However, the United Nations’ main aid agency in Gaza, which tracks the flow of aid into the strip, has not reported a similar increase.

The Israeli military has not provided further details on reports that an Israeli airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip killed 14 people on Tuesday evening.

Asked by CNN for comment on the reports of the strike, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was “operating to dismantle Hamas military and administrative capabilities.”

“In stark contrast to Hamas’ intentional attacks on Israeli men, women and children, the IDF follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm,” the military added.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has said US President Joe Biden is “rightly pressing [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu” for a pause in fighting to allow for more humanitarian aid.

In an interview with CNN’s John Berman on Wednesday, Cameron said he agrees with Biden that a temporary ceasefire is needed. It comes after Biden offered one of his sharpest rebukes of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza during an interview Tuesday, describing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the conflict as a “mistake” and calling for a halt to the fighting.

“He is rightly pressing Netanyahu, as I have many times that we need a pause in fighting to get aid in and hostages out,” Cameron said. “That’s long been Britain’s position,” he added.

Amid the ruins of burnt-out buildings, many Gazans congregate in prayer.

Wednesday is Eid al-Fitr, a festival when Muslims gather to mark the end of Ramadan and show gratitude to Allah.

Previously, Muslims in Gaza would celebrate the day by meeting with their family and sharing large meals. This year, 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,” the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said last month.

View photos of prayers across the enclave today:

Before the war, Salwa Tibi used to prepare breakfast for the young children in her family, visit relatives and decorate her house in Gaza City, in northern Gaza, with balloons and lights to celebrate Eid al-Fitr. 

But this year, Israel’s military campaign has crushed hopes of marking the festival – when Muslims gather to mark the end of Ramadan and show gratitude to Allah. Instead, the Palestinian aid worker, in her 50s, told CNN she will struggle to find enough food, clothes and shoes for her younger relatives.

“I’m very sad about not celebrating Eid,” said Tibi. “We used to be busy all day eating Eid cakes, drinking fresh juice with nice chocolate, going to the sea and restaurants, and playing games with the children… These beautiful memories hurt me because it has become impossible to retrieve them.” 

She is staying in a rented house with at least 20 relatives including eight children and babies in Rafah, in southern Gaza, where most Palestinians have been forced to flee bombardment. Market supplies are scant and food prices have increased drastically, as Israel’s siege has diminished supplies. These days, Tibi says she can only afford canned beans and hummus.

“I go to the market to buy some meat, but it is very expensive. There is not enough good food, no safety, no security, a lot of chaos and crowding,” added Tibi. “Now, we only hope to survive and to be safe.”  

Hamas has indicated it is currently unable to identify and track down 40 Israeli hostages needed for the first phase of a ceasefire deal, according to an Israeli official and a source familiar with the discussions, raising fears that more hostages may be dead than are publicly known.

The framework that has been laid out by negotiators says that during a first six-week pause in the fighting, Hamas should release 40 of the remaining hostages, including all the women as well as sick and elderly men. In exchange, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners would be released from Israeli prisons.

Hamas has told international mediators – which include Qatar and Egypt — it does not have 40 living hostages who match those criteria for release, both sources said. CNN’s record of the conditions of the hostages also suggests there are fewer than 40 living hostages who meet the proposed criteria.

The inability — or unwillingness — of Hamas to tell Israel which hostages would be released, alive, is a major obstacle, the second source added. With Hamas appearing to be unable to reach 40 in the proposed categories, Israel has pushed for Hamas to fill out the initial release with younger male hostages, including soldiers, the Israeli official said.

Throughout the months of negotiations since the last ceasefire, Israel has repeatedly asked for a list of the hostages and their conditions. Hamas has argued that they need a break in the fighting to be able to track and gather down the hostages, the same argument they made in November before a week-long pause that broke down after Hamas failed to deliver more hostages.

The majority of the almost 100 hostages who remain alive are believed to be male IDF soldiers or men of military reserve age. Hamas is expected to try to use them in later phases to try to negotiate more significant concessions, including more high-level prisoners and a permanent end to the war. 

The Israeli army has in recent days disrupted GPS signals over a number of cities, including the Tel Aviv metropolitan area and Jerusalem, with the aim of thwarting missile or drone attacks potentially fired by Iran or Iran-backed groups in the region.

The jamming caused major disruptions to daily life, sparking frustration across Israel. Residents using mapping applications such as Google Maps or Waze to commute in Tel Aviv said their apps showed they were in the Lebanese capital Beirut or Cairo in Egypt. 

Many people took to social media to post screenshots of the jamming, which disrupted online payments, deliveries and car-hailing services. 

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari last week said that Israel initiated GPS interference “in order to neutralize threats,” adding that “we are aware that these disruptions cause inconveniences, but it is a vital and necessary tool in our defensive capabilities.” 

The jamming was at its peak last week, but sporadically persists this week. Israel has been on high alert since its strike in Damascus last week that killed top Iranian commanders, prompting a promise of retaliation from Iran.

Sina Toossi, an Iran expert and senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC, warned that some Iranian drones are not easily susceptible to jamming. “Such extensive GPS jamming in Israel seems to reflect a lack of confidence in the effectiveness of their anti-missile & drone defense systems,” he wrote on X.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continue to carry out ground operations in Gaza, despite the departure of many units in recent weeks, and have launched “dozens” of air airstrikes in the past day.

The IDF said Wednesday they are “continuing to operate in the central Gaza Strip” and said it killed a number of people it called “terrorists” over the past day.

“During a close-quarters encounter, IDF troops killed a terrorist cell that posed a threat to the troops,” it said.

In addition, fighter jets struck locations in Jabalya and Shejaiya in northern Gaza on Tuesday, according to the IDF, after rocket launches were detected from compounds in each place.

Altogether, “fighter jets and aircraft struck dozens of terror targets in the Gaza Strip, including military sites, launchers, tunnel shafts, and infrastructure,” the IDF said.

On the ground, the IDF said, the 162nd Division, “continues to operate in the Netzarim Corridor that separates the northern and southern Gaza Strip, conducting targeted operations on terrorist infrastructure in the area.” Its soldiers had destroyed launching sites for anti-tank missiles and mortars.

Raghad Ezzat Hamouda can barely comfort her young siblings displaced in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza. Every day, she says, they wail from starvation.   

The 19-year-old Palestinian is sheltering with at least nine relatives – including her seven younger brothers aged four to 17. They are observing Ramadan, when Muslims abstain from food and water from sunrise to sunset. But Hamouda says Israel’s siege on the enclave forced her family to starve long before the Islamic holy month.   

“They cry every day from hunger… I try to provide them with food,” she told CNN on April 2. “I see a lot of children dying because of hunger. Families are trying to find food for their children, but to no avail.”

These days, she can only offer her siblings a paste made with thyme, oil and hibiscus to break their fast, adding that she misses suhoor – the predawn meal – so that her younger brothers can eat tomato sauce with salt and pepper. She says she has lost about 44 pounds (20 kg) of weight since Israel launched its offensive.

As of April 8, at least 28 children in Gaza have died from malnutrition and dehydration, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. The actual number is likely to be higher, as limited access to northern Gaza has hindered the ability of aid agencies to fully assess the situation there.  

“The anxiety resulting from the thought of famine affects our mental and physical health. We think day and night: “Will we survive? Will we starve?” 

CNN’s Kareem Khadder contributed reporting to this post.

The Israeli agency that coordinates the inspection and delivery of humanitarian assistance for Gaza has again blamed the United Nations for failing to distribute the aid.

The agency, known as COGAT, posted on X Wednesday: “Israel is surging aid into Gaza, with over 1200 trucks entering in 3 days (avg 400/day). Right now, 500 trucks worth lying on the Gaza side of KS [Kerem Shalom] waiting to be picked up by UN agencies.”

It added: “@UN, Do your job, focus on distribution, and stop blaming Israel for your colossal failures.” The post is accompanied by a photograph of a large volume of aid waiting to be collected at Kerem Shalom, which along with Rafah is the main crossing point for aid.

There have been frequent disputes between Israel and UN agencies over who is to blame for delays and disruptions in getting aid into Gaza. COGAT has said that 419 humanitarian aid trucks were inspected and transferred to Gaza on Monday and 468 trucks on Tuesday — the highest number of aid trucks that entered Gaza in one day since the start of the war.

UN’s response: The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said earlier this week that in March “an array of access restrictions and denials imposed by Israeli authorities continue to obstruct and limit humanitarian operations throughout Gaza.”

The United Nations main aid agency in Gaza has also said 176 of its staff have been killed since October 7.

The head of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro, says “there is no military solution to the current confrontation and violence,” instead suggesting “a political and diplomatic solution is the only way forward.”

“For the end of Ramadan, on the occasion of Eid El Fitr, UNIFIL calls for a return to the cessation of hostilities, and a move towards a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution to the conflict,” UNIFIL’s Head of Mission and Force Commander said.

He again warned of potential escalation as tensions continue to grow between Israel and Iran, and an almost daily barrage of rockets from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group across the Israel-Lebanon border.

Israel has been preparing for war with Hezbollah for months, having evacuated more than 40 communities in its north. The two sides have been engaging in skirmishes that have been confined to a few kilometers on each side of the border, although Israel last month struck as deep as 100 kilometers into Lebanon. Four UN peacekeepers were injured on March 30 when they were hit by a blast while on patrol in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, according to the UN mission.

“Since October, UNIFIL has continued to call on the parties to respect their commitments under resolution 1701 and has maintained its operational activities aimed at lowering tensions and preventing escalation,” Lázaro said.

Some context: UN Security Council resolution 1701, passed in 2006, calls for the full cessation of hostilities, the deployment of Lebanese forces to Southern Lebanon, parallel withdrawal of Israeli forces behind what is known as the Blue Line, and the establishment of a demilitarized zone between the Blue Line and the Litani River.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that Israel “must be punished and it will be,” for a deadly bombing of its consulate in Syria.

The airstrike, which Iran blamed on Israel, destroyed the consulate and killed seven Iranian officials, as well as at least six Syrians, according to Iranian state television. Iran subsequently vowed revenge.

Iran has vowed retaliation — an escalation of regional tensions over the war in Gaza that appeared to raise the risk of a wider Middle Eastern conflict.

“When they attacked our consulate it was like attacking our soil. This is an international norm. The evil regime made a mistake and must be punished and it will be,” Khamenei said in a televised statement Wednesday.

Some context: Israel has intensified its longstanding military campaign against Iran and its regional proxies following the October 7 attack by Tehran-backed Hamas.

The strike in Damascus is a significant escalation because the consulate is considered sovereign Iranian territory, raising the risk of a wider Middle Eastern conflict.

What Israel says: After the strike, the Israeli military said it would not comment on foreign reports. But a military spokesperson said Israel believed the target was a “military building of Quds forces” — a unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responsible for foreign operations.

In response to Iran’s warnings on Wednesday, Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz said: “Once Iran directly attacks Israel — that’ll be a turning point.”

“If Iran strikes — we will strike. We will respond. We’ll operate defensively and offensively,” Katz said on radio with Israel’s public broadcaster Kan Reshet Beit.

He said Israel would respond “inside Iran” in the case of an attack.

“We didn’t initiate a war against Iran. We also prioritized the south over the north. But if they’ll strike — we will strike,” Katz said.

President Joe Biden offered one of his sharpest rebukes of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza, describing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the conflict as a “mistake” and calling for a halt to the fighting.

Biden’s comments add to mounting US criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Hours before the president’s interview aired, the Biden administration dismissed Netanyahu’s pronouncement that a Rafah offensive date was set as bluster fueled by the prime minister’s tenuous political standing at home, senior administration officials told CNN.

Here are the latest developments in the conflict:

An Israeli airstrike on a residential building in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza killed 14 people on Tuesday, according to Dr. Khalil Al-Dikran, the spokesperson of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

He told CNN most of those killed were women and children, and 30 others were seriously injured. The information was also confirmed by the Civil Defense in Gaza.

CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment.

The attack happened on the last night before Eid al-Fitr, one of the most important holidays of the Islamic calendar, marking the end of Ramadan.

In a video posted on social media, several children are seen being rushed into the hospital, where doctors inspect them on the floor — their bodies dusty and covered in blood. Another video shows the uncovered bodies of three dead children next to other bodies wrapped in blankets. 

“Our hospital is very catastrophic as it’s on brink of collapse, our reception area is full of injured, and people are on floor, and we tried to do triage tents outside the hospital entrance, but that’s also full of injured people, and capacity is already beyond 100 percent capacity, as well as lack of all medical supplies and medicine and anesthetics”, the doctor told CNN.

US President Joe Biden described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the war in Gaza as “a mistake” in one of his sharpest critiques of how the Israeli government is prosecuting the conflict against Hamas. 

Biden made the comments in an interview with Univision that was taped just days after Israeli military strikes killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, which sparked anger and frustration throughout the White House. 

“Well, I will tell you, I think what he’s doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with his approach. I think it’s outrageous that those four, three vehicles were hit by drones and taken out on a highway where it wasn’t like it was along the shore, it wasn’t like there was a convoy moving there,” Biden said, according to a Univision transcript of the interview. 

The president added that he’s calling for Israel to agree to a ceasefire and that there is “no excuse” for not sending in humanitarian aid. 

“What I’m calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks total access to all food and medicine going into the country. I’ve spoken with everyone from the Saudis to the Jordanians to the Egyptians. They’re prepared to move in. They’re prepared to move this food in. And I think there’s no excuse to not provide for the medical and the food needs of those people. It should be done now,” Biden said in the interview. 

The Biden administration is dismissing Benjamin Netanyahu’s pronouncement that a date has been set for a ground offensive into Rafah as bluster fueled by the Israeli prime minister’s tenuous political standing at home, senior administration officials told CNN.

The prime minister has been struggling to balance his stated goal of eliminating Hamas with the tremendous pressure of reaching a ceasefire that would see Israeli hostages freed. Israeli officials argue that four Hamas battalions remain in Rafah that must be taken out.

The administration’s private view: Privately, multiple senior administration officials chalked up Netanyahu’s pronouncement to bravado.

The administration’s public statements: Top officials have publicly questioned Netanyahu’s insistence that Israel has decided on a time to mount an offensive into Rafah. American officials have reiterated that the US has not seen anything resembling a comprehensive plan from the Israelis on how they would carry out such an operation, including first moving the majority of the estimated 1.5 million civilians out of Rafah. 

Here’s what top US officials have been saying:

Read the full story.

Egyptian leaders have reaffirmed to the Palestinian Authority their commitment and efforts to resolving the conflict in Gaza.

“Egypt is making every effort and making contacts with all international and regional parties in order to stop the aggression against the Palestinian people, provide humanitarian aid and prevent displacement,” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reports. 

The leaders discussed the need to speed up the introduction of a ceasefire and more humanitarian and medical aid. The leaders also talked about how to prevent further military escalation and displacement of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Abbas thanked his Egyptian counterpart for his support in “mobilizing international consensus” toward an end to hostilities and the recognition of the Palestinian state. 

The call comes amid negotiations in Cairo between Israel and Hamas. The United States, Egypt and Qatar are mediating the talks aimed at accomplishing a prisoner exchange deal and a pause in fighting. 

The families of American hostages who are being held by Hamas in Gaza said they had a productive meeting Tuesday with Vice President Kamala Harris.

“One of the things we talked about is that there is a possibility to holding two truths: You can believe, as we do, that it is horrible innocent civilians in Gaza are suffering and at the same time you can also know that it is horrible and against international law for hostages to be held against their will,” parent Rachel Goldberg-Polin told reporters at the White House Tuesday. 

Goldberg-Polin, whose son Hersh is one of the eight Americans held in captivity, said that the families are thinking about all the hostages as she said they are demanding results – not progress.  

“We want results,” she said. “And we are so grateful and thankful to the American administration and Congress to all of the support, but we need results. We need our people home.”

Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, said they are encouraging all parties involved to reach a deal as negotiations continue in Egypt.

“We all are here, for not the first time, to work together with the Biden Administration to do everything that we can and encourage all parties to reach a deal that will result in our loved ones coming home,” he said. 

The vice president’s office said Harris “expressed her continued support for these families” as she provided an update on US efforts. 

Tuesday saw the highest number of aid trucks to enter Gaza since October 7, according to Israel’s agency that controls access to Gaza.

After inspection, 468 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were transferred to Gaza on Tuesday, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said.

Additionally, 303 packages carrying “thousands” of meals were airdropped over Gaza on Tuesday, Israel’s military said. Humanitarian organizations have warned that airdrops are “good photo opportunities but a lousy way to deliver aid.”

While there had been “an uptick” in the number of trucks entering in recent days, not all trucks were able to cross into Gaza at full capacity for security reasons, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday, adding that different metrics of delivering aid have to be assessed beyond counting the number of trucks.

Before the conflict, an average of 450 to 500 trucks would enter Gaza daily with supplies, according to United Nations figures. The previous highest number had been reached on Monday, with 419 trucks entering the Strip.