March 22, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage for the day has ended. Follow the latest Israel-Hamas war news or read through the updates below.

Palestinians who fled Al-Shifa Hospital say they were stripped, interrogated, blindfolded and forced to leave injured relatives behind, in a desperate attempt to escape Israel’s raid on the medical complex in Gaza City.

CNN spoke to women and children who fled south along the coastal Al-Rasheed Street on Thursday, days after the Israel Defense Forces laid siege to Gaza’s largest hospital. Eyewitnesses recounted terrifying scenes of running from the facility under the thunderous blast of Israeli snipers, gunshots and tank fire – after they say the IDF told them to leave the vicinity.

Another Palestinian, Yasmin Hamdan, said she could not catch her breath as she escaped the besieged health complex. “We couldn’t stop for a second because it was horrific, there were many dead and injured people on the way, no one could reach and rescue them,” Hamdan said.

“We have no one left, not our husbands, nor our families or neighbors. We are all separated and lost, we are walking but we don’t know where we are going,” added Hamdan.

What Israel says: The Israeli military raided Al-Shifa after it claimed “senior Hamas terrorists” were using the facility to “conduct and promote terrorist activity.” It claims to have detained a senior Hamas operative during the operation. CNN cannot independently verify the IDF’s statements. Hamas has previously denied using hospitals for their operations.

Videos filmed by CNN along Gaza’s coast, west of the Al-Shifa Hospital, show large groups of people fleeing the violence as the Israeli military continues its raid of the complex.

Nuzha Awad, a displaced woman carrying her 8-month-old triplets, told CNN that the route away from Al-Shifa was “full of tanks, and Israeli snipers on buildings shooting towards people.”

“Tanks are shelling the houses where people are sheltering to force people to leave, and they’re not allowing people to take blankets, pilots or even a bottle of water,” she said.

The Government Media Office in Gaza accused the Israeli military of deliberately killing 13 patients inside the hospital by depriving them of medicine, medical supplies and electricity. The figure includes four patients on ventilators in intensive care who died after their oxygen was cut off, according to the media office statement. CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment about the allegations. 

Earlier Friday, the IDF said that together with the Israel Security Agency, their forces are “continuing to conduct precise operational activity in the Shifa Hospital area while preventing harm to civilians, patients, medical teams, and medical equipment.”

Smoke rises during an Israeli raid at Al-Shifa hospital and the area around it in Gaza City on March 20.

The Israeli military’s raid at Al-Shifa medical complex in Gaza City continued for a fifth day on Friday, with Palestinian health officials reporting that hundreds of patients are still trapped in the hospital and dozens of medical personnel forcibly detained. 

The Gaza health ministry accused the Israeli military of detaining about 240 patients and their companions, as well as 10 health care personnel inside the hospital’s radiology department. Dozens of medical workers were also arrested and taken away from the hospital, a ministry statement added.

What Israel says: The Israel Defense Forces said Friday it has killed 150 Palestinian militants in or around the hospital and arrested hundreds of suspects since the raid began on Monday. CNN cannot independently verify these claims.

Allegations of violence: Hamas has accused Israeli soldiers of detaining and abusing civilians sheltering in and around Al-Shifa, including medical personnel.

Umm Rami, a Palestinian woman living close to the hospital, told CNN Friday that Israeli soldiers had raided her family home in the early hours of Monday and took away her 78-year-old father-in-law, Freij Hallaq, and a number of his male grandchildren. Rami found out Thursday afternoon that her father-in-law had died after sustaining gunshot wounds and bleeding to death. He was among several men who were detained from their homes in the area surrounding Al-Shifa.

“Yesterday, we received information in the afternoon that my father-in-law’s corpse was found lying on a chair in a room,” she said, adding that he was not wearing any clothes.

The IDF did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment on Freij’s death.

An American nurse who treated Palestinians in the coastal town of Al-Mawasi warned a looming Israeli ground assault on the nearby southern Gaza city of Rafah would be “the ultimate demise.” 

In February, Amy Leah Potter set up an improvised primary health care clinic in the coastal town with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). She told CNN that children displaced in tents sustained burns while crowding around fires for warmth in cold winter conditions. Others were treated for upper respiratory infections because they were inhaling smoke. 

“We’d have burns from children who aren’t used to living with fire around them,” said Potter. “We would see a lot of skin infections because hygiene is nonexistent through no fault of the population.” 

Some background: Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has forcibly displaced about 1.7 million Palestinians, according to the UN. Many of those forced to flee are crammed in sprawling tent camps that cannot offer basic sanitation – leading to the spread of disease. Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7 have killed at least 32,00 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in the strip.   

Potter recounted working under the constant whine of Israeli drones and ringing blasts. “There was not a day that went by that I didn’t hear an explosion,” she said. “The Palestinian people, their resilience is unbelievable.” 

Video footage apparently retrieved from a downed Israeli drone in Gaza and released by Al Jazeera on Friday purportedly shows the killing of four unarmed Palestinian civilians in a targeted Israeli air attack.

Al Jazeera said the incident occurred in the area of Al-Sikka, Khan Younis, in early February without providing a precise date.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the incident has been “transferred for examination” by the General Staff’s Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism. 

In the video, four men are seen walking down a bulldozed dirt road lined with rubble and destroyed buildings. The men appear to be unarmed and carrying nothing in their hands. Al Jazeera reported they were in search of their homes to determine what remained following Israeli bombardment of the area.

Suddenly, the four men are hit by an apparent airstrike, instantly killing two of them. The other two men continue moving after the initial attack — one slowly walks while other crawls — when they are both hit by successive follow up direct hit missile strikes.

The remains of the men have been blurred in the video published by Al Jazeera, which stated that “it is not possible to show the full pictures after the first missile fell due to its brutality.”

No other drones or military equipment are visible in the video.

CNN cannot verify the video’s authenticity or Al Jazeera’s account of what it depicts.

In a statement, the IDF claimed that forces had often encountered terrorists who were disguised as civilians in the area.

A boy holds a tray with food as he walks near destroyed houses, in Rafah, Gaza, on March 22.

US Secretary of State Blinken traveled to Israel and met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday, as part of an intensive diplomatic push to reach a “sustained and immediate ceasefire” in Gaza and deter an Israeli offensive into the southern city of Rafah.

However, following the meeting, Netanyahu publicly doubled down on his commitment to carry out an offensive — with or without US support. Blinken said this offensive would risk “further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardizing its long-term security and standing.”

US Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters she doesn’t see a safe way for civilians to evacuate Rafah ahead of the possible offensive. “There is nowhere for those people to go,” Harris said. “One and a half million people of a population of 2.2 million people who are now in that area — and let’s remember why they are there, because they were told to go there.” 

Here are some other top headlines:

Amy Leah Potter will never forget the 9-year-old girl who wailed in pain from her unhealed broken leg. She first met the displaced Palestinian orphan in February, at a primary health care center in the coastal town of Al-Mawasi, in southern Gaza.  

“She was crying and screaming,” said Potter, an American nurse working with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). “She kept saying, ‘I want to die. Just let me die.’” 

The young child broke her leg in an Israeli strike that killed her parents and siblings in Gaza City, in northern Gaza, in October. Her surviving relatives had no access to crutches or physical therapy – leaving her severe injury swollen and in excruciating pain.

Potter, who set up an MSF-led clinic treating displaced patients in Al-Mawai and visited Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, told CNN that Israel’s bombardment and besiegement has “decimated” the medical system.  

Severely injured Palestinians cannot access life-saving care or rehabilitation because there is barely enough equipment or medication. Loved ones desperately scrambled to keep wounded relatives alive, while health care workers are forced to care for patients on the floor. Others are unable to make emergency calls to ambulances because Israel’s offensive has crushed communication lines.  

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to the media, before departing from Ben Gurion International airport, Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 22.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that a looming Israeli ground offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah would risk “further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardizing its long-term security and standing.”

The top US diplomat’s blunt message comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — following a meeting with Blinken — doubled down on his vow to carry out the military campaign with or without US support.

Blinken said he had “candid conversations” with Netanyahu and the Israeli war cabinet, and told them the US “shares Israel’s goal of defeating Hamas” — but that “a major military ground operation in Rafah is not the way to do it.”

Blinken would not give details on the ongoing negotiations to secure an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages.

US Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters traveling with her on Air Force Two she doesn’t see a safe way for civilians to evacuate Rafah ahead of a possible Israeli ground offensive into the city in the southern Gaza Strip.

Harris’ comments come as US President Joe Biden’s administration prepares to welcome a team of top Israeli officials to Washington next week as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signals he remains intent on entering the southern Gaza city, American urging notwithstanding.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 22/

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war cabinet in Tel Aviv Friday that the United States remains committed to the “lasting defeat of Hamas, including in Rafah” – a message that comes as the US works to deter Israel from launching a full military offensive in Gaza’s southernmost city, where more than a million displaced people have fled.

On Thursday, Blinken reiterated that the US does not support a military campaign into Rafah, saying that it would be a “humanitarian disaster.” US and Israeli officials are slated to meet in Washington next week to discuss “alternative actions” to deal with Hamas in Rafah without causing “further harm to civilians,” Blinken said.

However, on Friday, following the meeting with Blinken, Netanyahu publicly doubled down on his commitment to carry out an offensive with or without US support.

According to a readout of the meeting from the US State Department, Blinken also “emphasized the need to protect civilians in Gaza and increase and sustain humanitarian assistance, including through both land and sea routes.”

Blinken discussed efforts on the hostage and immediate ceasefire deal, according to the statement.

A Palestinian girl looks up to watch a military drone as she stands on the rubble of destroyed houses in the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza on March 21.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will proceed with a ground offensive into the southernmost Gaza city of Rafah with or without US support, following a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday.

Netanyahu also emphasized how appreciative he is that the US and Israel have been “standing together in the war against Hamas” for more than five months.

“I also told him that we recognize the need to evacuate the civilian population from the war zones and of course also take care of the humanitarian needs and we are working to that end,” Netanyahu said.

More background: Over 1 million displaced people are sheltering in Rafah after fleeing northern and central parts of Gaza. Officials from Israel and the US are expected to meet in Washington next week to discuss alternatives to the looming offensive.

A displaced Palestinian in the city told CNN last month: “The bombing is getting closer slowly in Rafah. We do not know where we will go after Rafah.” He said conditions in Rafah are “very difficult,” describing a “large number of people, chaos, and high prices.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with a man as he meets demonstrators calling for the release of hostages kidnapped in the October 7 attack, outside the Kempinski hotel in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 22.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken greeted a group of protesters in Tel Aviv calling for the release of hostages held in Gaza.

The protesters, holding Israeli and American flags and signs, shouted various chants of thanks and calls for a hostage deal prior to his arrival.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz on March 22.

Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that “completing” Israel’s mission in Gaza, including in Rafah, is “imperative.”

Gantz spoke to Blinken on Friday as the US Secretary of State visits Israel as a part of a diplomatic push for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

His remarks come amid growing international concern over an Israeli operation in Rafah in southern Gaza. There are an estimated 1.4 million people in the city, many of whom have been displaced several times from other parts of Gaza.

Gantz, a key political rival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Blinken that Israel will “enable humanitarian solutions to aid civilians in Gaza” while “ensuring critical aid does not fall into the hands of Hamas.”

Gaza aid crisis: The World Health Organization’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday said that only more land crossings into Gaza can prevent famine in the Gaza Strip.

Last week, Colonel Elad Goren of Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said that “the problem isn’t opening more crossings, the problem is distributing the aid to the people in Gaza.” Goren said that international aid organizations “do not have the capacity and have yet to take real steps to improve on distribution of aid across Gaza.”

Gantz, in Friday’s meeting with Blinken, “reiterated his profound appreciation for the continued support for Israel and deep commitment to Israel’s security,” according to his office.

Gilad Erdan, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, speaks during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters on March 22.

Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan criticized the United Nations Security Council’s failure to adopt the US-proposed resolution calling for a ceasefire tied to the release of hostages in Gaza.

“Not to condemn Hamas is a stain that will never be forgotten,” he said while addressing the Security Council Friday after the vote.

Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations Amar Bendjama, left, and China's ambassador to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, vote against a U.S. ceasefire resolution during a UN Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters on March 22.

Meanwhile, the Council of Arab Ambassadors to the UN spoke to reporters outside the meeting.

Russia, China and Algeria voted against the US-proposed draft resolution calling for a ceasefire tied to the release of hostages in Gaza. Only Russia and China have veto power.

The Prime Ministers of Spain, Ireland, Malta and Slovenia have discussed their “readiness” to recognize a Palestinian state.

The prime ministers met Friday to discuss the issue at a European Council meeting and said they would recognize a Palestinian state “when it can make a positive contribution and the circumstances are right.”

Spain’s Pedro Sánchez, Ireland’s Leo Varadkar, Malta’s Robert Abela and Slovenia’s Robert Golob said they also agreed on the need “urgent need for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of hostages and a rapid, massive and sustained increase of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a press conference on the day of a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, on March 22.

French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters in Brussels that France will propose its own initiative on Gaza after Russia and China vetoed the US resolution at the United Nations Security Council on Friday.

France’s Ambassador to the UN Nicolas de Rivière also said his country will propose an initiative to the council. France voted in favor of the US proposal Friday.

Macron called for “an immediate and lasting ceasefire,” more humanitarian aid to starving civilians in Gaza and an unconditional release of hostages. Macron also urged Israel against carrying out a ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah, which he said “would only worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian situation.”

Even though a United Nations Security Council resolution put forth by the United States calling for a ceasefire in Gaza was vetoed on Friday, analysts said it was a major departure from US policy on Israel during the war.  

The draft resolution called for “an immediate and sustained ceasefire… in connection with the release of all remaining hostages,” and comes after Washington vetoed three prior UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire.  

The resolution included phrasing that the US was unwilling to use before, according to Frank Lowenstein — who worked as special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations under US President Barack Obama during the 2014 Israel-Gaza war — referring to “immediate ceasefire,” which the former diplomat said could help bring the US back from months of international “isolation.”

The US, Israel’s most prominent defender on the world stage, has faced severe criticism in Arab countries and in Europe for its refusal to call for a ceasefire early in the Gaza war as well as its reluctance to translate its verbal criticism of Israel’s conduct to diplomatic action. 

“I think there has been a gap from day one, a gap between the language and the actions,” said Yossi Mekelberg, an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa program at the Chatham House think tank in London. “But I think gradually, the language and the action are coming closer, closing the gap, millimeter by millimeter.” 

Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Zhang Jun, right, and Algerian Ambassador to the U.N. Amar Bendjama, center, vote against a United States-sponsored resolution calling for a ceasefire amid the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council at U.N. headquarters in New York City on March 22.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield criticized vetoes from Russia and China on the US-proposed draft resolution calling for a ceasefire tied to the release of hostages in Gaza.

Thomas-Greenfield told the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Friday that Russia and China have not condemned Hamas for its attacks on October 7. She said nearly every council member voted to secure an immediate and sustained ceasefire as part of a deal that would lead to the release of hostages.

UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward also said the United Kingdom is deeply disappointed that Russia and China were unable to support the council. 

She said the UK will continue to do everything it can to get aid into Gaza “as quickly as possible by land, sea, and air, but an immediate stop in the fighting is the only way to get aid into Gaza that is so desperately needed and make progress towards a permanent, sustainable ceasefire.”

The United Nations Security Council meets to consider a United States-sponsored resolution calling for a ceasefire during the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at U.N. headquarters in New York City on March 22.

The United Nations Security Council voted to not adopt a draft resolution brought to the UN by the United States Friday calling for a ceasefire tied to the release of hostages.

There were 11 votes in favor, three against and one abstention from Guyana. Russia and China vetoed the resolution, along with Algeria.

Previously, the US had vetoed similar ceasefire resolutions three times.