April 8, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

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

US forces destroyed an “air defense system with two missiles ready to launch, a ground control station in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen” and a drone launched over the Red Sea on Monday, the US Central Command said.

No injuries or damage were reported, according to CENTCOM.

In a separate incident, CENTCOM said, “an anti-ship ballistic missile was launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen toward the Gulf of Aden where a coalition ship was escorting M/V Hope Island, a Marshall Islands flagged, U.K. owned, Italian operated cargo ship.”

There were no injuries or damage reported, CENTCOM said, adding that this was the fifth observed missile launch against the coalition ship and M/V Hope Island.

Some background: The Iran-backed Houthis have been targeting shipping in the Red Sea since shortly after the war between Israel and Hamas began, with the group tying the attacks to its effort to pressure Israel and its allies to stop the war in Gaza. They are among several Iranian proxy groups at the center of global concerns the war could spill further through the Mideast.

A coalition of nations has committed naval assets and personnel to bolstering security in the Red Sea.

A specialized United Nations committee will review whether Palestine will be granted full state member status in the UN this month, according to Vanessa Frazier, the UN Ambassador of Malta and Security Council’s president for April.

After a closed-door session Monday, the UN Security Council referred this request for Palestinian statehood to the Committee on the Admission of New Members, she said.

The committee held their first meeting on Monday to begin discussions regarding Palestine’s renewed application, she said. 

The Palestinian Mission to the UN first put in a request to be recognized as a full member state in 2011. It was granted “non-member observer state” status in November 2012.

The US is historically keen on letting the Israelis and Palestinians decide the issue between themselves. 

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks to the press in Brussels, Belgium, on March 21.

A disinformation war is unfolding alongside the physical conflict raging in Gaza, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres warned in a post on X Monday, calling for international journalists be allowed entry into the enclave.

Foreign media have been allowed very limited access to Gaza, either embedded with the Israeli military on condition of viewing and approving the unedited raw footage or in rare instances with humanitarian aid convoys going into the enclave.

US Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks in Raleigh, North Carolina, on March 26.

Vice President Kamala Harris will meet on Tuesday with American families whose loved ones were taken hostage by Hamas amid ongoing negotiations for the release of remaining hostages and a ceasefire in the war.

Harris will meet with them in the afternoon, the second such meeting since Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on October 7 last year, according to an advisory from her office. The meeting is closed to the press. 

Her meeting comes after National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with the families on Monday evening.  

CIA Director Bill Burns traveled to Cairo over the weekend where he presented a new proposal to try and help broker a deal between the Israel and Hamas and bridge the gap between the two sides.

The leaders of Egypt, France and Jordan have issued a joint statement calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, highlighting the grave humanitarian crisis and the catastrophic impact of the ongoing war.

In an op-ed published Monday in Jordan and Egypt’s state newspapers, as well as France’s Le Monde and The Washington Post, they stressed the need for a peaceful resolution through a two-state solution, declaring that violence and warfare “have no place” in achieving peace in the Middle East.

Highlighting the critical situation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where over 1.5 million Palestinian civilians have sought refuge, the leaders warned about the “dire consequences of further military actions,” advocating for the protection of civilians as a legal and moral obligation under international law.

The three countries’ leaders condemned violence, terrorism and indiscriminate targeting of civilians, reiterating the need for all parties to respect international humanitarian law.

“We condemn the killing of humanitarian aid workers, most recently the attack against World Central Kitchen’s aid convoy,” the op-ed read.

Egypt and France have played a major role as mediators between Hamas and Israel, while Jordan has been a key actor in aid delivery, contributing dozens of airdrops over Gaza.

Democratic Senators are split on whether to apply new conditions on aid to Israel.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who supports conditions, warned the Biden administration’s policy needs to change in order to boost Democratic support for President Joe Biden in November. “I think the president simply needs to do what is the right policy, and that will send a message to people around the country that he is taking the right course. So in my view, this is a case where the right policies will produce the right politics.”

“He needs to use all the levers of US policy available to him. That includes many options, but one of them is withholding, at least for now, offensive military systems – not to prevent offensive military assistance from being sent at some point, but, again, to make sure the president can enforce his own words,” he said. 

Senate Foreign Relations Chair Ben Cardin, who does not support conditions, said he believes the conditions will not help them accomplish their most immediate goal: getting humanitarian aid into Gaza. “We need to get the humanitarian assistance in, and I hope we can see some progress on it,” he said. “I don’t think conditionalities are the way to go.”

Sen. Mark Kelly, who has not committed to conditions but left the door open, said, “I think it’s fair, at some point, if we don’t see positive change, to make decisions on what kind of aid we’re providing, and what they could use it for it.”

He criticized Israel after World Central Kitchen aid workers were killed by Israeli strikes last week. “This is reckless action by the IDF. And the IDF’s gotta do a better job at this,” Kelly said. “I want to see how they’re going to make changes to this. They’ve got to make changes.”

Forty-six bodies of Palestinians have been brought to the European Hospital in Gaza since Monday morning, the European Hospital said in a statement on its Telegram channel on Monday.

Thirty-eight of those 46 bodies have been identified, the hospital said.

This comes after a search and recovery operation in the aftermath of the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Khan Younis announced Sunday.

Tamar carries blocks of wood to sell.

Dozens of Khan Younis residents who were forcibly displaced to Rafah traveled back to their homes on Monday.

Video filmed by a CNN stringer shows people jumping over debris in search of their homes. Most of them said they were unrecognizable.

Here’s what some children said:

Aseel, 12: She pointed to a pile of rubble in front of her. “There it was, it’s destroyed,” she said of her house. “We were only able to retrieve small things from our house. I wish I could’ve gotten my clothes.” 

Tamar: He was spotted carrying blocks of wood. “I’ll go sell them to make 10-20 shekels, so that I never have to extend my hand out and beg for money from people,” he said, adding he didn’t recognize his house when he first saw it. “If it wasn’t for my neighbors, I wouldn’t have known it my house. Devastation everywhere,” he said. 

Abdelkarim: “Where are we supposed to grab our stuff from? From what homes? Who will we complain to about our concerns? Who will we complain to about the Israelis? We have no life here. Where will we live?” he said, adding he spent his time in Rafah reading and writing since his school is destroyed.

Alia: She was walking with her younger brother carrying only a bag of clothes and a small toy. “Our house was bombed and bulldozed … this toy means a lot to me. It’s a memory from home.”

Netanyahu attends a weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on September 27, 2023.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday in a video posted on Telegram that a date has been set for an invasion into Rafah, the southernmost part of Gaza where about 1.5 million Palestinians are estimated to be sheltering.

Netanyahu didn’t say what the date was. This comes after Israel said it had withdrawn from Khan Younis in southern Gaza 

Here’s what else to know:

A new proposal for ceasefire and hostage release: The US made a new proposal in Cairo over the weekend that includes pushing Israel to release a higher number of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the expected 40 Israeli hostages who would be freed during the first phase of a three-stage ceasefire deal. The US would also like Palestinian residents of northern Gaza who have fled south to be allowed to return home to the north without restrictions, a source said. So far, Israel has rejected Hamas’ demands for an unrestricted return of Gazans to the north. After a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington, DC, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said it is a “deal we might not like, but it’s doable, and therefore it needs to be made.”

More aid trucks enter Gaza: Higher numbers of trucks carrying aid entered Gaza yesterday and today.

Before the conflict, an average of 450-500 trucks would enter Gaza daily with supplies.

Longest-serving Palestinian prisoner in Israeli custody dies: Walid Daqqa died at Shamir Medical Center on Sunday after being incarcerated for 38 years in an Israeli prison, according to a statement from the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society. Amnesty International called on Israeli authorities to return Daqqa’s body to his family so they could give him a “peaceful and dignified burial and allow them to mourn his death without intimidation.” Daqqa was a famed author who wrote novels and articles about his prison conditions and the challenges detainees face.

An Iranian attack on Israel would likely be carried out by Iranian proxy forces in the region, rather than by Iran directly, two people familiar with US intelligence on the matter told CNN. 

Tehran is wary of a dramatic escalation in the fighting, the sources said, and does not want to give the United States or its allies an excuse to attack Iran directly. 

Iran and its proxy militia groups also do not appear poised to attack US troops or other assets in the region for similar reasons, the sources said. The sources noted, however, that Iran does not have perfect command and control over all of its proxy forces, so the possibility of an attack on US assets cannot be completely ruled out. 

The US and its allies have been bracing for a possible attack against Israeli and US assets in the region in retaliation for an Israeli strike last week on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, which killed a dozen Iranian military officials. 

The sources told CNN that US intelligence assesses that Iran has urged several of its proxy militia groups to simultaneously launch a large-scale attack against Israel, using drones and missiles, and that they could attack as soon as this week. There is some debate, however, about whether they will wait until after Ramadan ends to strike, said one of the sources.

 The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment. 

Palestinian prisoner Walid Daqqa died at Shamir Medical Center on Sunday after being incarcerated for 38 years in an Israeli prison, according to a statement from the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

Daqqa was the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails, Erika Guevara-Rosas of Amnesty International said in a statement Monday, adding that the organization has called on Israeli authorities to return Daqqa’s body to his family so they could give him a “peaceful and dignified burial and allow them to mourn his death without intimidation.”

Daqqa was a famed author who wrote novels and articles about his prison conditions and the challenges detainees face, according to a statement from Addameer, a Palestinian prisoner rights advocacy organization. His writings “were an act of resistance against the dehumanization of Palestinian prisoners,” Amnesty said.

CNN video shows Israeli police storming a tent set up as a gathering space for mourning on Monday by Daqqa’s family in Israel in the city of Baqa al-Gharbiyye. Israeli police told CNN in a statement that they responded to the gathering after it proceeded to take place “despite the denial.” Five people were arrested for alleged assault against law enforcement personnel, the statement added.

Some background: Daqqa was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment in March 1986 after he was convicted by an Israeli court of commanding an armed group called the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which abducted and killed Israeli soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984, according to Amnesty International. Daqqa was not convicted of carrying out the murder but of commanding the group, something he has denied, Amnesty states. 

Human rights organizations over the years called on Israeli authorities to release Daqqa due to his deteriorating health conditions. He was diagnosed with myelofibrosis, a rare form of bone marrow cancer, and chronic pulmonary obstructive disease in 2022, according to a statement on Monday from Addameer and Amnesty. 

Monday witnessed the passage of 419 humanitarian aid trucks through the Kerem Shalom and Nitzana border crossings into Gaza, marking the largest single-day delivery since the conflict began on October 7, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Monday.

In addition to the truck deliveries, approximately 258 food packages were airdropped across various locations in the Gaza Strip, the IDF said.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said last week that 88% of Gaza’s population faces “emergency or worse” food insecurity, and famine in northern Gaza is “imminent.”

Before the conflict, an average of 450-500 trucks would enter Gaza daily with supplies.

The US State Department announced that 304 aid trucks entered Gaza yesterday, which was the “highest number of trucks in any single day since the conflict began.”

Miller said that the US hopes that 350 trucks will be entering Gaza each day “by later this week.” The official also reiterated that the US would be judging Israel by their results, and would be “observing closely” the new Israeli deconfliction unit “to verify that it operates as intended to ensure humanitarian workers can do their jobs as safely as possible.”

This update comes as CNN reported that initial plans for humanitarian goods to begin flowing into Gaza on Sunday via the Erez crossing have been delayed, and officials are still making logistical preparations to ensure the checkpoint can accommodate truckloads of aid.

Israel approved the reopening of the Erez crossing last week for the first time since the October 7 Hamas attacks, a decision that came soon after US President Joe Biden pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do more to allow in aid.

CIA Director Bill Burns testifies during his Senate Select Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing in Washington DC, on February 24, 2021.

CIA Director Bill Burns presented a new proposal to try to bridge the gaps in ongoing negotiations to reach a deal that would bring about a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and the release of the Israeli hostages held by the group, according to a source familiar with the discussions.  

The latest US proposal was made in Cairo over the weekend and includes pushing Israel to release a higher number of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the expected 40 Israeli hostages who would be freed during the first phase of a three-stage ceasefire deal. Prior to this round of talks CNN had reported that negotiators had discussed the release of around 700 Palestinian prisoners, including many with life sentences.

Qatari, Egyptian and Israeli officials – along with Burns — were in Cairo over the weekend for the negotiations. Hamas also met officials from Egypt’s Intelligence Service in Cairo, Egyptian state media said.

The US would also like to Palestinian residents of northern Gaza who have fled south to be allowed to return home to the north without restrictions, the source said. So far, Israel has rejected Hamas’ demands for an unrestricted return of Gazans to the north and the redeployment of troops from the Israel Defense Forces away from central Gaza. Israel has insisted on inspections of Palestinians moving north, a diplomat familiar with the talks told CNN. 

Possible next steps: Everyone agreed to study the new US proposal from Cairo, the first source said, and it will be communicated to Hamas leadership in Gaza which ultimately makes the decisions for the group. Given the difficulties of communicating with Hamas leaders who are believed to be hiding in Gaza’s vast underground tunnel system, getting a response can take several days.  

A senior Hamas official speaking to CNN said the group will return to Cairo “as soon as the opportunity presents itself,” but could not place a firm timeframe on when that would happen. 

Read more about the CIA director’s proposal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that a date for an invasion into Rafah has been set, according to a video posted on his official Telegram account.

Netanyahu didn’t say what the date was.

He also said that “entry into Rafah” was necessary for a “complete victory over Hamas.”

Netanyahu’s comments come after Israel said it had withdrawn from Khan Younis in southern Gaza after months of fierce fighting that left much of the city in ruins.

Rafah, where about 1.5 million Palestinians are estimated to be sheltering, is located in the southernmost part of the besieged enclave.

This post has been updated with more details on Netanyahu’s remarks.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid speaks to reporters after meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the US State Department on Monday in Washington, DC.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken “long, fruitful and thorough” on “future events and the need to work on a solution in Gaza.” He said that “a hostage deal is doable.” 

Lapid also expressed his thanks to the US for its support in Israel’s war against Hamas during “maybe the most difficult moment of our history.” The opposition leader said that Israel needs to do their best “in order to avoid hurting the people of Gaza” as calls grow for the Biden administration to impose conditions on aid to Israel. 

“I think the president is obviously worried about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. I think Israel is worried as well,” said Lapid. Asked about how he would be executing the war differently if he was prime minister of Israel, Lapid said he was “uncomfortable… to discuss Israeli politics standing opposite the State Department. 

More on the hostage talks: Lapid’s comments come as negotiations in Cairo between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire and hostage deal achieved “significant progress” and consensus on many controversial points, according to Egyptian state outlet Al Qahera News, citing a senior Egyptian official. The official confirmed the “continuation of efforts to reach a truce agreement” in Gaza, according to the state outlet.

The White House said Monday the uptick of aid trucks into Gaza represents progress, but that it must be increased and sustained over time to meet the humanitarian needs in the besieged enclave.

The US has pressed Israel to expand truck crossings into Gaza to between 300 and 350 a day, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said. Israel announced more than 300 trucks were allowed to enter Gaza on Monday, the highest volume since the current conflict began.

He said the Biden administration would continue pressing Israel on making changes to its deconfliction mechanism to allow aid workers to access areas of Gaza following a strike that killed several World Central Kitchen workers earlier this month. Kirby said the US continues to work its way through Israel’s investigation of the strike that killed aid workers from the World Central Kitchen, but hasn’t concluded its review of the document.

He said the date for an in-person meeting between top US and Israeli officials to discuss plans for a ground invasion of Rafah had yet to be reached, but said the US still does not see indications that a major ground invasion of the southern Gaza city is imminent.

Hostage talks: As optimism appears to grow for a deal that would secure the release of hostages in exchange for a pause in fighting, Kirby confirmed that CIA Director Bill Burns had been in Cairo over the weekend to continue a “serious round” of talks. He said a proposal had been presented to Hamas and that officials were still awaiting a response.

He said it has typically taken several days to get a response from Hamas in previous back-and-forths over a hostage agreement. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan plans to meet with families of American hostages on Monday evening, Kirby said.

Nicaragua's Ambassador Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, right, and Alain Pellet, center, a lawyer representing Nicaragua, arrive for the start of a two days hearing at the World Court in The Hague, Netherlands, on April 8.

A lawyer representing Nicaragua has stressed to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) the “urgent” need for Germany to suspend arms sales to Israel, arguing this weapons supply could make the country “complicit” in alleged genocide in Gaza. 

The Central American country has asked the ICJ to grant a series of provisional measures including an order for Germany to “immediately suspend” its military aid to Israel. 

Alain Pellet, who is a French lawyer and professor of International Law at Paris Nanterre University, told the UN’s top court that Nicaragua is “not accusing Germany of committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza” but rather “failing in its obligation to prevent and suppress the crime of genocide.” 

Germany, he said, “has a full understanding of the risks” that the weapons “it is furnishing Israel” may be used to commit genocide towards Palestinians in Gaza. 

Pellet highlighted Article 3 of the Genocide Convention which classifies complicity in genocide as a punishable offense, arguing that Germany’s military aid to Israel is “straight from the definition of ‘complicity’ set out in Article 3.”

Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, who is Nicaragua’s ambassador to the Netherlands, accused German military companies of “directly profiting from the situation,” telling the court that their share prices had risen in the six months of war in Gaza. Gomez maintained that the European country “can not but be aware” that the weapons it has been “supplying” Israel are being used in attacks in Gaza. 

The ambassador and lawyer described the guaranteed supply of armaments from Germany as being “crucial to Israel’s pursuit of the attacks on Gaza.” 

What happens next: With Monday’s hearing now wrapped for the day, Germany’s legal team is now preparing to make its case before the court on Tuesday. 

CNN’s Inke Kappeler in Berlin contributed reporting to this post.

Some of Khan Younis’ former residents are returning home after the Israeli military announced it would withdraw its ground troops from the southern Gazan city.

Before October 7, Khan Younis was home to more than 400,000 people. Thousands of civilians fled to the city in the early days of the war, when Israel was focusing its operations on the north of the Gaza strip.

Israeli forces began operations in Khan Younis about four months ago, putting together its largest-ever division to fight what it called a Hamas stronghold. They leave behind a city that appears mostly in ruins.

Meanwhile, negotiations in Cairo between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire and hostage deal achieved “significant progress” and consensus on many controversial points, according to Egyptian state outlet Al Qahera News, citing a senior Egyptian official.

Catch up on top headlines in the war:

Correction: An earlier version of this post had an incorrect population figure for Khan Younis before October 7.