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 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.”

Smoke is seen billowing in the vicinity of the Al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza on March 18.

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 speaks to the media on March 16, 2023, in Berlin, Germany.

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.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (L) and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant give a joint press conference in Tel Aviv on December 18, 2023.

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

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.

Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer (L) and Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi.

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.

Feda al-Zahhar takes care of her 4-month-old baby as the family struggles to survive in a makeshift tent under difficult conditions on February 29.

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.

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.

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 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.

Displaced Palestinians shelter at a tent camp in Rafah, Gaza, on February 27.

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 addresses the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, on February 18.

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. 

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. 

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk addresses a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 6.

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.” 

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. 

Photographs of some of those taken hostage by Hamas during their recent attacks are seen on October 18, in Tel Aviv, Israel.

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:

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.

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. 

A ship belonging to the Open Arms aid group approaches the shores of Gaza towing a barge with 200 tons of humanitarian aid on March 15.

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.

NGO confirms 200 tons of food from aid boat delivered successfully to northern Gaza on March 19.

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.  

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. 

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 Mossad Director David Barnea speaks during the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) World Summit in Herzliya, Israel, on September 10.

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. 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a conference in Manila, Philippines, on March 19.

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

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

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.