May 8, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

An Israeli airstrike in Gaza City killed at least eight people, according to witnesses and Dr. Amjad Ailawa of the Al-Ahli Baptist hospital. 

The doctor also said children were among those killed, and that dozens had also been injured.

Eyewitnesses on the ground told CNN no warning was given by the Israeli military before it struck a four story building in the Al-Daraj neighborhood, in the eastern part of the city.

CNN footage of the aftermath showed the impact on the building, as well as the debris from the explosion all across the road. Shredded fabric and the remains of personal belongings were also seen amid what was left of the apartment.

Some of the deceased children could be seen being carried away, their bodies wrapped and carefully placed atop a donkey cart.

“These are the targets of Israel,” a man, walking alongside the cart said, as he pointed towards the bodies.

CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment on this incident but has yet to hear back.

Satellite images taken May 6, left, and May 7, right, show damage in Rafah, Gaza.

The ongoing operation of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Rafah has expanded from airstrikes to ground operations, which includes bulldozing, new satellite imagery obtained by CNN from Planet Labs shows. 

In addition to the new types of operations, the satellite images show that the IDF activity is taking place outside of the immediate border crossing area, which Israel took control of on Monday evening. The images show that IDF forces are over a mile outside of the Rafah crossing gate.  

These ground operations were precluded by a number of military strikes in Rafah, which CNN has previously reported, and they appear to be ongoing as well.  

In one image, smoke from a recent military strike is still rising. A number of buildings have been completely destroyed by the military strikes in the last 24 hours.   

Others have the telltale signs of being razed by bulldozers and other heavy machinery – vehicle tracks and large swaths of disturbed earth. Additionally, CNN has seen the start of several IDF vehicles mustering areas – potentially makeshift forward operating bases – near some of the bulldozed areas. 

The new operations, seen on the satellite images, bear striking resemblances to how the initial ground invasion was conducted back in late October 2023 and in other parts of Gaza since then. 

When the IDF moved into northern Gaza, they utilized airstrikes shortly before ground forces moved in. When they did move in, armored bulldozers worked with tanks and other military vehicles to bulldoze and raze buildings.  

The IDF said in a statement on Wednesday that they were conducting “precise counterterrorism operation in specific areas of eastern Rafah,” which includes “targeted raids.” They also claimed that they had “eliminated terrorists and uncovered terrorist infrastructure, as well as underground shafts in several locations in the eastern Rafah area.” 

United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric voiced alarm on Wednesday over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

In an operational update, he said that no goods for humanitarian operations have entered Gaza through key crossings, exacerbating challenges amid active hostilities.

Dujarric emphasized the critical need for incoming supplies, including fuel, to sustain humanitarian efforts. The situation is urgent, with key medical facilities at risk of becoming inaccessible or inoperable, he added.

The evacuation of Al Najjar hospital underscores the gravity of the situation, particularly for patients reliant on its dialysis department, the UN spokesperson said.

The UN said it remains committed to providing aid to Gaza’s population, including over one million people sheltering in Rafah.

Martin Griffiths, head of the humanitarian affairs office, stressed the imperative of protecting civilians and ensuring their basic needs are met, whether they stay or evacuate. Urgent action is required to safeguard lives in Gaza amid escalating tensions, Griffiths added.

The United States State Department will not be delivering its report on whether Israel has violated international humanitarian law during its war in Gaza to Congress on Wednesday.

“We expect to deliver it in the very near future, in the coming days,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a briefing.

Miller said the department is still finishing the report.

Some context: The report has been the subject of intense debate for months across the administration and has already led to deep divisions inside the State Department, where some offices have expressed doubt over Israel’s assurances that it has used US weapons without violating international law during its seven-month war against Hamas in Gaza.

Sen. Dick Durbin speaks with CNN's Manu Raju.

Several US Senate Democrats defended President Joe Biden’s decision to pause a shipment of “high-payload munitions” due to Israel’s possible operations in Rafah, saying that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government had gone a step too far.

Sen. Chris Murphy told CNN: “I’m eagerly awaiting the administration’s decision on whether Israel is complying with the national security memorandum. I do not see evidence today that they are under the president’s directive,” said Murphy. “We cannot continue to ship arms to Israel if they are not abiding by basic humanitarian requirements, and the assaults on Rafah, to my belief, cannot be conducted in a way that protects humanitarian concerns and lives.” 

Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin agreed: He said Israel must abide by certain humanitarian standards during wartime. “I don’t know all the background, but I will tell you, supporting the continued existence of Israel is easy, but defending the tactics and Netanyahu’s response to the October atrocity has been difficult to understand, let alone defend,” he said.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal said: “The focus really should be on delivering humanitarian aid,” rather than on weapons shipments. “There is such an urgency, in light of the imminent and perhaps real famine that the (Israel Defense Forces) and the Israeli government ought to focus on making medicine, food and other supplies available,” he said.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis disagreed with the move. He called Biden’s decision “hugely irresponsible.” He added, “I think at the end of the day, there should never be any question about America’s commitment, the United States’ commitment to Israel. And I think Biden’s treading on some thin ice there, he’s making a big mistake.”

The largest hospital in eastern Rafah, Abu Yousef Al Najjar, has relocated to a makeshift facility in the central part of the city as a large-scale Israeli offensive continues to loom. 

“We transferred the hospital to this emergency hospital, now we are building it to help our people,” Dr. Ibrahim Abu Nasser told CNN. 

Nasser also explained the new facility is far more limited than the previous one. 

He also explained that most of the qualified doctors left the city because the Israeli army asked all people to evacuate. “We have some doctors, but they are not qualified for everything,” he added. 

The decision to relocate comes amid a looming Israeli offensive on the city on Rafah and after the Israel Defense Forces seized the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing on Tuesday — a vital entry point for aid into Gaza on the Egyptian border.

Meanwhile, the Al Kuwaiti hospital in central Rafah, has begun expanding into makeshift facilities to try and accommodate more patients. 

After the closure and relocation of the Abu Yousef Al Najjar hospital, Al Kuwaiti, along with the European hospital, are the only hospitals remaining in Rafah. According to the World Health Organization they are only “partially operating.”

“There is no infrastructure (in Rafah) and there are no real hospitals in it now,” Al Kuwaiti hospital director Suhaib Al Hams said. “The available medical specialties are limited and there are no beds available, intensive care, and there is no CT scan.” He added that there are field hospitals located in western regions, but it’s difficult to reach them. “The patients and the injured are now dying a slow death,” he said.

Israeli officials privately expressed to US officials “deep frustration” on the pause in a shipment of bombs, as well as the US media briefings on the matter, according to a source briefed on the matter. 

The officials raised concerns “that the move may jeopardize the hostage deal negotiations at a critical moment,” the source told CNN.

The source did not say at what level the conversations took place.

“The Israelis also emphasized that the pressure should be directed towards Hamas, not towards Israel, and reiterated their expectation that the US will continue to stand with Israel as it fights to defeat Hamas,” the source said.

The Israeli government and its Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) unit said the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza was reopened on Wednesday, but, on the Palestinian side, the Gaza crossings authority denies any aid trucks have entered the strip. 

What COGAT says: The crossing was reopened following “its closure due to rocket fire by the Hamas terrorist organization toward the area of the crossing yesterday (Tuesday).”

The agency released video showing at least eight aid trucks entering the crossing, where workers on forklifts could be seen unloading them. It was not clear from the video whether any of the trucks had crossed into Gaza after undergoing security inspections and being offloaded.

CNN could not independently verify when the video was filmed. 

What Palestinian border authorities say: The Border Crossings Commission denied Israeli claims, saying no trucks had crossed. It also said Palestinian employees were fired on when they were approaching the crossing, an incident that was confirmed by the Israel Defense Forces. 

“The IDF is currently reviewing the circumstances surrounding an incident of fire toward a vehicle with Palestinian workers who were on their way to work at the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom Crossing,” the Israeli military told CNN. “Several people were injured and are receiving initial medical treatment at the scene by IDF troops.”

Despite denials on the Palestinian side, the IDF also reiterated “the Kerem Shalom Crossing is open for the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and that the operational activity on the Gazan side of the crossing is continuing.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, D.C, on May 3.

The White House’s public optimism on a potential ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas remains unchanged Wednesday amid continuing efforts to secure an agreement.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that the US assessment is that the gap between the two parties can be closed.

She called it a “top priority” of the administration to surge aid and return hostages.  

“We’re gonna continue to be optimistic. We’re gonna continue to make this a priority. We know how important it is to get this done,” she said.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testifies at a Senate Appropriations Committee Defense Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C, on May 8.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that the United States is pausing a shipment of “high-payload munitions” to Israel due to possible ground operations in Rafah without a plan for civilians in the southern Gaza city.

CNN previously reported that the US last week had paused the shipment of 1,800 bombs weighing 2,000 pounds and 1,700 bombs weighing 500 pounds to Israel amid concerns over their potential use in a Rafah incursion. 

“We’ve been very clear … that Israel shouldn’t launch a major attack into Rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians that are in that battlespace,” Austin said.

Austin added that the US has not made “a final determination” about what will happen with the weapons shipment, and he emphasized that the shipment was not part of the supplemental spending package recently passed by Congress that included lethal aid for Ukraine as well as Israel.

Austin was interrupted during his answer by Code Pink protesters who yelled “Free Palestine” before being escorted out of the room.