April 12, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

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

A staff member with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) died Friday in the Israeli port city of Jaffa, the agency announced.

The male staffer was with USAID’s West Bank and Gaza mission, the agency said in a brief statement.

USAID did not provide details on the circumstances around his death or his identity or citizenship.

USAID is working with the US Embassy to work out details about the fatal incident and its follow-up investigation, it said.

The United States currently expects Iran will carry out strikes against multiple targets inside Israel and that Iranian proxies could also be involved in carrying out the attacks, according to a senior administration official and a source familiar with the intelligence.  

The targets would likely be both inside Israel and around the region.

The beginning of a state-on-state conflict between Iran and Israel would mark a serious escalation in the region that the US has hoped to avoid.

The US observed Iran moving military assets around internally, including drones and cruise missiles, signaling that it is possibly preparing to attack Israeli targets from inside its own territory, according to two people familiar with US intelligence. 

It is not clear whether Iran is preparing to strike from its soil as part of an initial attack, or if it is posturing to try to deter Israel or the US from conducting a possible counter strike on its territory. 

One of the people said the US had observed Iran readying as many as 100 cruise missiles.

Some context: The Iranians want their retaliatory strike on Israel — a response to the Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate last week in Damascus — to be “significant,” one of the people familiar with the intelligence said. But they also want to avoid getting embroiled in a direct war with Israel and the US, CNN has reported, which is why US intelligence has assessed that Iran may use its proxy forces to launch the first attack.

A view of damaged houses and burning vehicles after a raid by Israeli settlers on a town near Ramallah, West Bank on April 12.

Hundreds of armed Israeli settlers stormed a village in the occupied West Bank on Friday, setting fire to several homes and cars — and leaving at least one Palestinian dead — in one of the largest attacks by settlers this year, according to Palestinian officials. 

The settlers attacked Al-Mughayyir village, east of Ramallah, raided homes and fired gunshots at residents, according to Amin Abu-Alia, the head of the village council. Videos obtained by CNN show parts of the village burning, with smoke billowing over several buildings and settlers lobbing rocks. Houses and cars are seen completely burnt up, with sounds of gunfire and clashes heard in the background.

Here are other headlines you should know:

The US will attempt to intercept any weapons launched at Israel if it’s feasible to do so, two US officials told CNN, in an indication of the level of ongoing cooperation between the two militaries before an anticipated Iranian attack.

US Navy forces in the Red Sea have previously intercepted long-range missiles launched from the Houthis in Yemen toward Israel. US forces in Iraq and Syria could also potentially intercept drones and rockets targeting northern Israel, depending on the location from which they’re launched.

Gen. Erik Kurilla, the commander of US Central Command, has been in Israel meeting with the country’s security leadership. On Friday, the Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, met with Kurilla.

There have been a number of conversations where US officials have urged Israel not to escalate the situation in retaliating against Iran, according to one of the US officials. 

Remember: An Iranian attack is expected in response to Israel’s deadly strike of Tehran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria, last week.

The Damascus attack was the latest incident to stoke fears of a wider regional conflict breaking out in the Middle East during Israel’s campaign in Gaza.

Diplomatic efforts: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has held a slew of calls to foreign counterparts aimed at pressuring Iran not to attack Israel.

The top US diplomat spoke with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Friday, according to a readout from State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

Blinken also spoke with the Turkish, Chinese and Saudi foreign ministers in recent days, Miller said.

A view of damaged houses and burning vehicles after a raid by Israeli settlers on a town near Ramallah, West Bank on April 12.

Hundreds of armed Israeli settlers stormed a village in the occupied West Bank on Friday, setting fire to several homes and cars in one of the largest attacks by settlers this year, according to Palestinian officials. 

At least one Palestinian man was killed when shots were fired by Israeli settlers in the village of Al-Mughayyir, east of Ramallah, according to the head of the village council Amin Abu-Alia. He said he identified the killed Palestinian as his 26-year-old relative named Jihad Abu-Alia, who was meant to get married this summer.

At least 25 others were injured in the rampage, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, the scale of which has not been seen since hundreds of settlers stormed through the villages of Turmusayya and Huwara in two separate incidents last year. 

Between 1,000 and 1,200 settlers surrounded the village, and around 500 stormed it just after midday local time on Friday, blocking all the roads in the area, Abu-Alia told CNN.

He added that Israeli security forces informed Palestinian officials that the settlers were looking for a 14-year-old Israeli boy who had gone missing earlier in the day.

They attacked the village, raided homes and fired gunshots at residents, Abu-Alia said. Videos obtained by CNN show parts of the village burning, with smoke billowing over several buildings and settlers lobbing rocks. Houses and cars are seen completely burnt up, with sounds of gunfire and clashes heard in the background.

According to Abu-Alia, the Israeli military arrived at the scene at around 3 p.m. and didn’t stop the settlers from attacking the village. Israeli soldiers allowed them to raid homes, prevented Palestinian residents from moving around and blocked ambulances from reaching the injured, he added.  

Abu-Alia told CNN settlers stole approximately 70 sheep from the Palestinian village.

In response to a question by CNN, the IDF said “violent riots were instigated in multiple locations in the area” following the search for the boy.

Israeli warplanes carried out several airstrikes on Friday, targeting “military buildings” used by Hezbollah fighters in parts of southern Lebanon, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The areas include the Aita al-Shaab and the Taybeh in southern Lebanon, said Avichay Adraee, IDF spokesperson for Arab media, in a post on X.

The Israeli airstrikes were before the 40 rockets that were launched from Lebanon toward northern Israel Friday evening and claimed by Hezbollah.

US President Joe Biden gives remarks in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus on Friday in Washington, DC.

US President Joe Biden expects an attack from Iran will happen “sooner than later,” he told reporters at the White House Friday.

Asked what his message to Tehran is right now, the president said “Don’t.”

In response to more shouted questions from reporters asking if American troops were at risk, Biden returned to the podium and said that the United States is “devoted” to the defense of Israel. 

“We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” Biden said.

Remember: The United States says it is on high alert for a significant Iranian retaliatory attack following Israel’s deadly strike on Tehran’s consulate in Damascus last week, raising fears of a wider regional war. There remains a “real,” “credible” and “viable” threat of Iran launching strikes, the White House said earlier Friday, following Israel’s attack on a diplomatic compound in Syria that killed three Iranian generals.

Around 40 rockets were fired from Lebanon on Friday evening, according to the Israeli military. Some were intercepted and the rest fell in open areas, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

The IDF said there were no injuries.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militants confirmed the rocket barrage, saying that they fired “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at Israeli artillery positions.

Hezbollah said it was in support of Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in response to Israeli attacks on civilian homes in southern Lebanon.

Israeli air defenses also intercepted two explosive drones, which the IDF said were deployed by Hezbollah.

The IDF said it had struck several locations in Lebanon to “remove threats.”

The post has been updated with more details on Israel’s response to the rocket attack.

The US is sanctioning four leaders of Hamas’ cyber and drone operations based in Gaza and Lebanon, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller announced on Friday. 

“Operatives of terrorist group Hamas have used information warfare and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to facilitate terrorist violence across multiple fronts,” Miller said.  

Those sanctioned include:

The al-Shimali unit manages the development and production of automatic 120mm mortars, mobile launchers for Grad rockets, development and production of flight simulators, UAVs for intelligence gathering and suicide UAVs, according to the Treasury Department. 

“The United States will continue to target Hamas’s destabilizing attempts to launch terrorist attacks, as well as to disrupt Hamas terrorists wherever they operate, including across cyberspace,” Miller said.

Hamas and Hezbollah have developed moderately effective cyber capabilities in recent years, according to private experts who track them. Hamas has used those capabilities in espionage campaigns aimed at Israel and Arab governments for years, researchers have found. In an interview with CNN in November, Israel’s cyber defense chief alleged that Hezbollah-backed hackers had breached private security cameras in Israel to try to track the movements of Israeli soldiers.

People run with their belongings following a strike in Nuseirat on Friday.

Israeli forces surrounded and attacked the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Friday, wounding several journalists and at least one other person.

Turkish state broadcaster TRT accused Israeli tanks of launching a “targeted attack” on the journalists, including TRT Arabi cameraman Sami Shehada, who lost a leg, and correspondent Sami Barhoum, who suffered minor injuries. CNN stringer Mohammad Al-Sawalhi was also among those hurt.

The TRT statement called the assault “a deliberate attack against media professionals, marked clearly with ‘PRESS’ on their jackets” and said it was “part of a broader pattern of violence” against journalists in Gaza. As of Friday, at least 95 media workers have been killed covering the war, according to preliminary figures from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

CNN video shows Shehada’s right leg was severed.

“We were filming in a safe place, I was wearing my flak jacket and my helmet — even the car I was in had a ‘PRESS’ and ‘TV’ sign marked on it. It was clear that I was a civilian and a journalist. We were targeted,” he told CNN from his operating bed.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment on the attack and allegations that journalists were targeted at the camp. 

Video from the scene: Footage filmed by Al-Sawalhi shows people — including children, women and the elderly — taking cover in shops and running away in panic as repeated artillery fire and gunshots can be heard in the near distance.

CNN spoke to an elderly man named Saleh, who said he was trying to flee the area after Israeli tanks surrounded the camp and that he’d been hit by shrapnel.

Moments later, Saleh could be seen crossing the street when intense artillery fire struck the road a few meters from where Al-Sawalhi was filming. The journalist was hit by shrapnel, slightly injuring his right hand.

Graphic footage of the aftermath shows the elderly man severely wounded, with a bloody head injury. Saleh, Al-Sawalhi, and a number of other journalists were taken to Al-Awda Hospital for treatment, CNN footage shows.

Recent attacks: Nuseirat camp, located north of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, has been the target of several Israeli airstrikes in recent days, including one that killed 14 people Tuesday, according to the spokesperson for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks during a meeting at the Pentagon on March 26 in Arlington, Virginia.

Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and US Central Command Commander Gen. Erik Kurilla on Friday discussed preparations for a potential Iranian attack on Israel.

Gallant and Kurilla spoke about “readiness for an Iranian attack against the State of Israel, which may lead to regional escalation,” according to a statement from Gallant’s office.

Following the meeting, Gallant called Kurilla “a true friend of Israel” and thanked him for US support for Israel. 

“Our enemies think that they can pull apart Israel and the United States, but the opposite is true — they are bringing us together and strengthening our ties. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder,” Gallant added.

The defense minister said Israel was “prepared to defend ourselves on the ground and in the air” and would respond “in close cooperation with our partners.”

 The two met at the Israeli Hatzor Air Base near Ashdod in Israel’s Southern District.

The US Defense Department is moving additional assets to the Middle East region, a defense official told CNN, as Israel and the US brace for a potential Iranian attack on Israeli facilities in the country and the broader region.

The move is “to bolster regional deterrence efforts and increase force protection for U.S. forces,” according to the official. 

The Pentagon has been working specifically to reinforce air defenses for the US troops stationed in Iraq and Syria, who came under attack by Iran-backed proxy forces over 100 times between October and February. In January, three US service members were killed when a drone got through US air defenses at the Tower 22 base in Jordan. 

The US is not anticipating that Iran or its proxies will attack US forces as part of its retaliation, but are moving the assets just in case.  

The European Council has adopted sanctions against three Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad entities, in light of “their responsibilities in the brutal and indiscriminate terrorist attacks” that occurred across Israel on October 7.

The listed entities are:

They are now subject to an asset freeze and a travel ban to the European Union, the EU Council said Friday in a news release, adding, “the provision of funds to them, directly or indirectly, is now also prohibited.”

Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz welcomed the decision. It “sends a clear message: those who murder, rape, burn, abuse the bodies of babies, girls, women, and men, and commit atrocities against humanity - will pay the price,” Katz said in a post on X.

Some context: In March, a United Nations team found “clear and convincing” information that hostages in Gaza were sexually abused, and there are “reasonable grounds” to believe the sexual violence is ongoing.

CNN’s Richard Roth contributed previous reporting to this post.

A person in Rafah, Gaza, on April 3 carries the credentials of a member of the World Central Kitchen aid group, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

The Israeli military does not understand how humanitarian operations work, a top United Nations official said Friday, maintaining there is a “degree of mistrust” that needs to be resolved between the Israel Defense Forces and nongovernmental organizations on the ground in Gaza.

Fears over the safety of humanitarian workers in Gaza have risen in the wake of a deadly Israeli strike on April 1 that killed seven workers from nonprofit World Central Kitchen.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territories Jamie McGoldrick told reporters Friday that humanitarian workers “fear for their own safety” after the WCK killings and other incidents, such as an attack on a UNICEF convoy Wednesday.

“There’s a degree of mistrust and misunderstanding that we have to address,” he added.

CNN has reached out to the IDF regarding McGoldrick’s remarks.

The UN official spoke to journalists after returning from Gaza, where he held a meeting with the head of the IDF Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman. During the meeting, he said they discussed interactions between Israeli soldiers and NGOs, concerns over “weapons discipline,” and clearer markings on NGO-affiliated vehicles.

McGoldrick also highlighted dangers posed by inadequate communication infrastructure inside Gaza.

Israeli army Puma armoured personnel carriers (APCs) move in a column near the Gaza border in southern Israel on October 14.

Israel’s former head of military intelligence is urging Israel’s leadership, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to strike a hostage deal that includes an indefinite ceasefire and work with a reformed Palestinian Authority to restore order in Gaza. 

Tamir Hayman, who now heads the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, said Israel risks falling into a perpetual war of attrition, where there is “endless friction” with its neighbors. He gave recommendations in a roadmap on “the day after” the war, which INSS released Friday. 

A prolonged war, said the retired general, risks either leaving Gaza under Hamas rule or at the mercy of a power vacuum where various armed groups may compete for authority. Israel needs to work with a reformed Palestinian Authority, he told CNN, “instead of chaos, instead of no man’s land” in Gaza. 

Hayman has warned of the urgency of these decisions, saying Israel will not “have any other opportunities” to do so, especially as presidential elections in the United States loom. Israeli leaders must “do the right thing” and not focus on achieving “immediate short-term” wins, Hayman said. 

Remember: Netanyahu has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of a Palestinian Authority-ruled Gaza, and talks for a ceasefire-hostage deal continue to stall as Hamas tells negotiators that it cannot identify and track down 40 Israeli hostages needed for the first phase of an agreement. The Palestinian Authority governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank but was expelled from Gaza by Hamas in 2007.

There is a “very credible” threat of Iranian retaliatory strikes against Israel, the White House said Friday, as US President Joe Biden receives constant updates on the situation from his national security team. 

“We’re watching this very, very closely,” said national security spokesperson John Kirby, who declined to provide information about the expected timing of the threat.

But he said US officials were in “constant communication” with their Israeli counterparts about the matter and that steps were underway to ensure Israel is able to defend itself.

He pointed to a visit to Israel on Friday by US Central Command chief Gen. Michael Kurilla to have “those conversations directly with his (Israel Defense Forces) counterparts.” Biden is also receiving briefings multiple times a day on the situation, Kirby said.

“He has made it clear to the entire national security team that that we will take seriously our commitments to the defense, the self-defense of Israel,” Kirby said.

The US is also assessing its own posture in the region ahead of the potential retaliatory attack, he added.

US markets react: US stocks slid and oil prices spiked Friday morning, in part due to worries on Wall Street about escalating tensions in the Middle East.

CNN’s Krystal Hur contributed reporting to this post.

A view inside the destroyed Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza, during an inspection by the World Health Organisation in this handout image released April 6, 2024.

A surgeon who visited Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza after Israeli forces laid siege to the complex for two weeks said valuable medical resources were destroyed.

Dr. Athanasios Gargavanis recalled the scale of material destruction wrought in the wake of the attack, including an oxygen plant, a CT scan and laboratory equipment.

The specialized surgical buildings was blown out from the basement to the second floor, the World Health Organization doctor said, adding further assessment by an engineer would determine whether the buildings could be restored. 

Health workers in Gaza have claimed that Israeli forces killed hundreds of Palestinians and left their bodies to decompose during their two-week siege of the complex in March. 

The world saw for the first time the full scale of the destruction left by Israeli forces on Al-Shifa when footage of the complex emerged on April 1 — the day that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed its withdrawal from the hospital.  

The IDF claimed “hundreds of terrorists were killed or captured” during the two-week siege. CNN cannot independently verify the IDF’s statement.

Palestinians inspect a car targeted by Israeli forces near Tubas, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on April 12.

Israeli troops killed two Hamas members — Muhammad Essam Shahmawi and Muhammad Omar Daraghmeh — in a raid on the city of Tubas in the occupied West Bank overnight Thursday into early Friday morning, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials.

The IDF described Daraghmeh as “a central figure in the region and in recent months planned significant terror attacks against Israel.” Israeli forces “located weapons in his vehicle… and confiscated them,” the IDF added. CNN cannot independently verify statements from the Israeli military.

At least three other people were injured from live bullet rounds, including one who is in critical condition, the Palestine Red Crescent Society told CNN. Israeli gunfire targeted a PRCS ambulance, the organization added.

“A volunteer paramedic sustained bruises as a result of severe beating, after he was arrested from inside a Red Crescent ambulance,” the PRCS said.

Video of the Israeli incursion obtained by CNN shows a plume of smoke indicating an explosion, and sounds of gunfire in the area. Others show hundreds of people participating in a funeral procession for Daraghmeh Friday morning, carrying his casket with a Palestinian flag draped over it.

Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 462 Palestinians and injured about 4,700 people in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.