May 14, 2024 Israel-Hamas war | CNN

May 14, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

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Gazans search for loved ones buried deep in rubble after Israeli airstrikes
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450,000 people who fled Rafah lack shelter, water and latrines, UN says

Palestinians pack their belongings as they prepare to flee Rafah in southern Gaza on May 13.

Almost 450,000 people who have fled Rafah over the last week lack shelter, water and latrines, according to the UN’s main relief agency in Gaza (UNRWA).

UNRWA reported Tuesday that families continue to flee Rafah in search of safety, fleeing wherever they can – including to rubble and sand dunes.

The report said families displaced from Rafah are arriving at sites that lack shelter, latrines and water points.

It is impossible to improve the situation at displacement sites if supplies can’t enter Gaza, it said.

The report also said that Israeli settlers attacked aid trucks bound for Gaza in the occupied West Bank on Monday, according to the agency’s office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The UN called for Israel to do more to protect aid trucks from violence by Israeli settlers and ensure that all allegations of settler violence are investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted.

Biden administration begins lengthy process to approve $1 billion arms deal for Israel

The Biden administration on Tuesday began the early stages of a process to move ahead with a new $1 billion arms deal for Israel, according to two congressional sources.

The State Department has now opened discussions with the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees about the possible sale. There is no set timeline for when Congress would officially be notified of the sale, setting into motion a clock for its approval. 

The potential sale would include the potential transfer of $700 million in tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds, one of the congressional sources said. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the administration’s discussions with Congress about this sale. 

The weapons under discussion would not arrive in Israel imminently. The sale would still need to be officially notified to Congress and receive congressional approval, which could take years.

The decision to get the wheels in motion for this new weapons deal comes as the Biden administration has paused the shipment of 2,000-pound bombs and 500-pound bombs to Israel, citing opposition to the weapons being used in the densely populated areas of Rafah. 

While US officials have said that other cases of weapons shipments to Israel would be under review, they have also said that the US will continue to make sure that Israel has the military capacity to defend itself, indicating that longer-term weapons deals are not going to be halted at this time. 

The State Department did not comment on the informal notification other than to point to Sullivan’s remarks.

The Pentagon also declined to comment.

Biden warns he would veto GOP-led Israel aid bill if it passes

President Joe Biden returns to the Oval Office from the Rose Garden on Tuesday, May 14.

US President Joe Biden would veto the GOP-led bill that would compel the delivery of defensive weapons to Israel amid blowback on Capitol Hill following Biden’s decision to withhold at least one arms shipment to Israel over concerns about an extensive incursion into Rafah, the White House said Tuesday.  

The bill, which is expected to be voted on Thursday in the House, aims to prohibit the administration from withholding, halting, reversing or canceling the delivery of defense articles or defense services from the United States to Israel, and requires any defense articles or defense services that have already been withheld to be released within 15 days of the bill’s enactment. 

The bill, as CNN has reported, is unlikely to be taken up in the Democratic-led Senate.

Hostage's parents express frustration at the stalled negotiations between Israel and Hamas

Jon and Rachel Goldberg Polinwere during a CNN interview on Tuesday, May 14.

The parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American hostage held in Gaza, have suggested that a hostage family member and a Gazan civilian should be in the negotiation room to help end the deadlock in ceasefire negotiations.

Polin said while they don’t have diplomatic experience and they are not politicians, they have something else that is very valuable: “We are deeply emotionally connected to solving this conflict.”

Rachel Goldberg Polin, the hostage’s mother, told CNN they feel tremendous frustration every time negotiations stall.

“Those people in that room should actually be locked in that room until they can come up with a solution,” she said. 

Remember: Goldberg-Polin, then 23, was kidnapped from the Nova music festival during Hamas’ attacks on Israel when more than 1,200 people died and more than 200 people were taken hostage. An end to the war in Gaza appears as far off as ever after the latest round of indirect talks on a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage release deal ended in deadlock late last week. Qatari and Egyptian mediators have said significant differences remain between Israel and Hamas over halting fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Catch up on the latest from Israel's war in Gaza

Aid agencies are warning any escalation in Rafah risks exacerbating the already deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. Officials from UNICEF, Doctors without Borders and the Palestine Red Crescent Society all voiced concerns that hostilities were increasing at the same time as a squeeze on the entry of aid into the enclave.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz’s call for Egypt to reopen the Rafah border crossing has sparked a heated exchange with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, who characterized Katz’s comments as an attempt to shift blame for the Gaza humanitarian crisis onto Egypt.

Here’s what else to know:

  • Aid into Gaza: Only 50 humanitarian aid trucks made it through to Gaza on Sunday, down from hundreds per day in previous weeks, a State Department spokesperson said, adding that the number that is “not nearly enough.” The US announced that the World Food Programme will be the organization that will receive and distribute aid to Gaza from the American-built temporary floating pier.
  • Far-right protests in Israel: Tens of thousands of far-right protesters in the southern Israeli city of Sderot called for the construction of settlements in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, as right-wing rhetoric over Israel’s military campaign in the enclave gains momentum. People marched in a “returning home” demonstration for “extensive settlement in the Gaza Strip to guarantee the achievements of the war.” Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip would “correct the past mistakes of Oslo and the ‘disengagement,’” organizers said. CNN could not confirm the number of attendees and Israeli police does not provide attendance figures for rallies.
  • IDF says it struck UN school in Gaza: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it struck a “Hamas war room” embedded inside a school operated by the United Nations’ agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Tuesday. CNN cannot independently confirm the IDF claim. A UNRWA official said the agency is not able to confirm the claims from the Israeli military. Al Awda hospital in Gaza said it had received 11 bodies from this strike.
  • UN investigation into killed and injured staffers: The UN assembled a fact-finding panel to investigate an attack earlier this week that killed one staff member and injured another in Rafah, in southern Gaza. A vehicle branded with UN insignia was targeted on Monday, prompting swift condemnation from international leaders.

A deadly heat wave fueled by climate change worsened Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, new data shows

A deadly heat wave in Gaza in April, which saw punishing temperatures worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis, was made hotter and more likely by the human-caused climate crisis, according to an analysis published Tuesday.

Gaza was not alone. Several heat waves spanning a vast area of the Asian continent last month during the world’s hottest April on record were made more intense and likely by the climate crisis, the analysis from the World Weather Attribution initiative (WWA) found.

The WWA report divided the heat waves into three areas: West Asia, the Philippines and a region spanning South and Southeast Asia.

In West Asia, the analysis focused on the Palestinian territories, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan, where temperatures spiked above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) last month. It found climate change made the heat in this region around five times more likely and 1.7 degrees Celsius hotter than it would have been before humans started burning large amounts of fossil fuels.

Soaring temperatures had a particularly stark impact on the 1.7 million displaced people in Gaza, already struggling with insufficient water access and inadequate healthcare. There was little respite from the relentless heat for those crammed into makeshift tents and shelters, often covered with plastic sheets. At least three people, including two children, reportedly died from the heat, the analysis notes.

Read more about climate’s effect on humanitarian conditions.

Young Gazans with amputated and injured legs find care in the US, but face an uncertain future

Ahed Bseso's right leg was amputated at home in Gaza after a tank fired at her building, bringing a wall and debris crashing down on her. 

Ahed Bseso lay on the kitchen table in her home in Gaza, watching as her uncle amputated her wounded right leg. Standing by, her mother cried, “Ahed is dead!”

But 18-year-old Bseso was very much alive, and she survived to tell her story from a hospital in Greenville, South Carolina.

Bseso said that on December 19, she went to the top floor of her house in Gaza to get a phone signal when an Israeli tank outside fired at her building. It destroyed part of her home’s wall, which came crashing down on her leg, along with heavy debris. With her neighborhood under siege and no possibility of medical attention, her uncle, who used to work as an orthopedic surgeon, used kitchen supplies to amputate her leg below the knee and dress it with unsterilized gauze.

A video of her amputation went viral and caught the attention of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), a US organization that provides free health care to thousands of injured and ill Palestinian children in the Middle East. The organization worked for weeks to bring her to the US for medical care, according to Tareq Hailat, head of the Treatment Abroad program at PCRF.

She is one of three Palestinians who received PCRF’s help to come to the US for leg injury treatment.

At least 1,000 children in Gaza have had one or both legs amputated, UNICEF reported in December. Though he couldn’t give an exact figure, UNICEF spokesperson Joe English told CNN that the number has since grown.

Read the full story here.

World Food Programme will distribute Gaza aid from temporary pier, Pentagon says

US Army soldiers and sailors attached to the MV Roy P. Benavidez assemble the Roll-On, Roll-Off Distribution Facility, or floating pier, off the shore of Gaza, on April 26.

The US Defense Department has announced that the World Food Programme will be the organization that will receive and distribute aid to Gaza from the American-built temporary floating pier.

“The US government and other international donors are providing aid commodities for delivery from Cyprus to the beach in Gaza by way of US and partner nation military and civilian vessels, and a temporary floating pier,” Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told a briefing.

Ryder did not say when exactly the pier would be ready to receive aid beyond “the coming days.”

“I’m not going to get into specific dates, but in the coming days you can expect to see this effort underway,” said Ryder.

He also called on “all parties” not to interfere with the distribution of aid.

UN launches investigation into attack that killed staff member in Rafah

A damaged UN vehicle is seen in front of a hospital after a United Nations employee was killed in an attack, according to Israeli media, in Gaza on Monday, May 13.

The United Nations assembled a fact-finding panel to investigate an attack that killed one staff member and injured another in Rafah, in southern Gaza.

A vehicle branded with UN insignia was targeted on Monday, prompting swift condemnation from international leaders.

Initial assessments suggest the fatal shot was fired from a tank in the neighborhood, striking the back of the UN vehicle, according to deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq. Discussions are underway with Israeli authorities to determine the circumstances of the attack and the nature of the explosion.

Casualties: The deceased UN staffer was from India. His death marked the first time an international UN worker was killed during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. The injured colleague, from Jordan, is hospitalized. Both were employed by the UN Department for Safety and Security.

With 71 international staff members stationed in Gaza, the attack underscores the dangers faced by humanitarian workers in war zones. At least 254 UN aid workers have been killed since October, according to the agency.

Israel and Egypt blame each other for Rafah crossing closure and Gaza’s humanitarian crisis

Palestinian truck drivers and United Nations vehicles wait near the Rafah border gate on the Gazan side to cross into the Egyptian side on Tuesday.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz’s call for Egypt to reopen the Rafah border crossing has sparked a heated exchange with his Egyptian counterpart.

Katz said on Twitter that he had spoken to the UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron and German Foreign Minister Alma Baerbock “about the need to persuade Egypt to reopen the Rafah crossing to allow the continued delivery of international humanitarian aid to Gaza.”

But the comments were blasted by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who characterized them as an attempt to shift blame for the Gaza humanitarian crisis onto Egypt.

Shoukry accused Israel of causing the crisis through its military actions and its control over the Palestinian side of the crossing. He called on Israel to fulfill its obligations as the occupying power and allow aid to enter Gaza through the land ports under its control.

But Katz reiterated Israel’s stance that Hamas would not be allowed to control the Rafah crossing, saying “this is a security necessity on which we will not compromise.”

Humanitarian officials urge for de-escalation in Rafah, reopening of border crossings

Chidlren watch smoke billowing into the sky east of Rafah in Gaza on Monday.

Aid agencies are warning any escalation in Rafah risks exacerbating the already deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

Officials from UNICEF, Doctors without Borders, and the Palestine Red Crescent Society all voiced concerns that hostilities were increasing at the same time as a squeeze on the entry of aid into the enclave.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) called for border crossings to be opened to allow more aid in.

“The ongoing closure of crossings by the Israeli occupation forces, especially the vital Rafah crossing – which is the main artery supply to the entire Gaza Strip – prevents the entry of humanitarian aid, including food, medicine, as well as fuel, and poses an imminent humanitarian and health disaster,” the PRCS said in a statement.

UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Adele Khodr, echoed those concerns.

“Civilians – already exhausted, malnourished, and facing numerous traumatic events – are now facing increased death, injury, and displacement among the ruins of their communities,” Khodr said.

“Major hospitals in the north within evacuation zones, including Kamal Adwan, Al Awda, and the Indonesian Hospital, find themselves in the crossfire, which severely disrupts the delivery of critical medical supplies and puts numerous lives at risk. Those at imminent risk of famine are now cut off from any help,” Khodr added.

Doctors without Borders (MSF) said they had to stop providing care at the Indonesian Field Hospital in Rafah due to the Israeli offensive.

“We have had to leave 12 different health structures and have endured 26 violent incidents, which include airstrikes damaging hospitals, tanks being fired at agreed deconflicted shelters, ground offensives into medical centers, and convoys fired upon,” said Michel-Olivier Lacharité, MSF head of emergency operations.

MSF have resumed operations at Nasser hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, with a focus on orthopedic surgery, burn care, and occupational therapy. MSF staff fled Nasser hospital in mid-February as Israeli forces ordered evacuation ahead of raiding the facility, the organization said.

Right-wing Israelis rally for settlements in Gaza

Israelis march with national flags in Sderot, Israel, on Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of far-right protesters in the southern city of Sderot, in Israel, called for the construction of settlements in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, as right-wing rhetoric over Israel’s military campaign in the enclave gains momentum.

People marched in a “returning home” demonstration for “extensive settlement in the Gaza Strip to guarantee the achievements of the war.” Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip would “correct the past mistakes of Oslo and the ‘disengagement,’” organizers said, adding that 50,000 people attended. CNN could not confirm the number of attendees and Israeli police does not provide attendance figures for rallies.

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir told the rally that officials must work towards “encouraging immigration. To encourage the voluntary departure of the residents of Gaza.” Such language has prompted accusations against far-right Israelis of advocating to ethnically cleanse Palestinians in Gaza.

Gush Katif: The disengagement refers to Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005. At the time, the Israeli military forcibly evacuated a bloc of 21 Israeli settlements known as Gush Katif. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon invested much of his political future in his pullout plan, which was aimed at strengthening the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The Oslo Accords: The Oslo Accords, signed in 1993 between Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, were to be a key step in an Israeli-Palestinian peace process and saw the establishment of limited Palestinian self-governance over parts of the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Israelis gather ahead of the march in Sderot on Tuesday.

IDF says it struck UN school in Gaza that it claims was being used by Hamas

An employee of UNRWA looks at the site of an Israeli strike on a school in Nuseirat, Gaza, on Tuesday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it struck a “Hamas war room” embedded inside a school operated by the United Nations’ agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Tuesday.

The IDF claimed the room was being used by Hamas commanders and that over 10 members of the group were killed in the strike. CNN cannot independently confirm the IDF claim.

A UNRWA official said the agency is not able to confirm the claims from the Israeli military.

“Like we have said on several occasions, any report of a violation of a UN premises must be investigated. We remind all parties to the conflict that UN installations must be protected at all times and must never be used for military purposes/ fighting purposes,” Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s director of communications, told CNN in a statement.

Al Awda hospital in Gaza said it had received 11 bodies from this strike.

“The war room was used by terrorist operatives in Hamas’ military wing. The strike was carried out using precise munitions in order to minimize harm to uninvolved civilians.”

The IDF went on to claim that the war room had been used by Hamas to “plan multiple attacks” against IDF troops in central Gaza in recent weeks.

The Israeli military also confirmed a strike on a second location in Nuseirat on Tuesday, claiming they struck “terrorist infrastructure.”

Gaza’s Al Aqsa hospital said it had received bodies of 36 people including 18 children from this strike.

Rescue workers have continued efforts to find bodies underneath the rubble of a four-story building that was demolished in the strike, witnesses said. They also said that dozens of people had been sheltering in the building’s yard.

The strike at the UNRWA school occurred about two hours after the strike on the four-story building, according to witnesses.

Journalist Mohammad Al Sawalhi in Nuseirat, in central Gaza and CNN’s Tim Lister contributed reporting.

People inspect the site of the strike in Nuseirat on Tuesday.

"We were targeted while we were asleep." Families search for loved ones in the rubble after central Gaza strikes

A body is pulled out from under the rubble of a collapsed building as a civil defense team and residents carry out a search and rescue operation at the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on May 14.

Colorful blankets, mangled mattresses and dusty books are scattered over what used to be the Karaja family’s home, where 100 displaced Palestinians were also staying. Separately, dozens of Palestinian men, women and children climb atop a mountain of debris searching for loved ones.

These are scenes captured on video by CNN after two Israeli airstrikes hit the Nuseirat refugee camp overnight. At least 40 people were killed; nine children were among them, according to local hospital officials.

The video shows relatives of those still missing rummaging through the ruins, many of their faces red with grief. “They are all buried under the ground, including children … What fault did they have?” said Ashraf Al Jalees. “I swear to God they are all innocent civilians.” 

Hamdan Karaja, told CNN that his father was killed in the attack.

In the second attack, Israeli forces struck a school run by the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees in Nuseirat. Displaced children can be seen looking bewildered, as men kiss and embrace, offering words of comfort.  

Israeli strikes overnight kill dozens of Palestinians in central Gaza. Here's what you need to know.

At least 450,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah, according to the UN’s agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), as Israeli officials say they will press ahead with plans for a full-scale ground invasion of the city.

Many Gazans who have been forced out of the city were already displaced. Streams have returned to their destroyed neighborhoods in Khan Younis, telling CNN they now have “no place to stay.”

Here are the latest developments:

  • Build-up of Israeli forces near Rafah: The Biden administration has assessed that Israel has amassed enough troops on the edge of Rafah to move forward with a full-scale incursion in the coming days, but senior US officials are currently unsure if it has made a final decision to carry out such a move in direct defiance of President Joe Biden, two senior administration officials told CNN.
  • Israel accused of striking aid workers: Israeli forces struck known locations of aid workers in Gaza at least eight times since October 7 despite agencies providing coordinates “to ensure their protection,” according to Human Rights Watch. The attacks “reveal fundamental flaws with the so-called deconfliction system,” the group said. CNN has asked the Israeli military for comment.
  • Israeli strikes in central Gaza: Two Israeli strikes killed at least 40 Palestinians in the Nuseirat camp overnight, hospital officials reported, as Israeli forces ramped up attacks on the central Gaza neighborhood.
  • Who they hit: The first strike hit a four-story home belonging to the Karaja family, who were was sheltering around 100 people on Tuesday, Gaza’s Civil Defense said. Four families and other displaced Palestinians in the vicinity of the Karaja family house were trapped under the rubble, according to a Civil Defense spokesperson.
  • School hit: The second strike hit a school run by the UN’s agency for Palestine refugees in Nuseirat, almost two hours after the first, according to witnesses.
  • Gaza death toll: Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed at least 35,173 Palestinians and injured another 79,061 people since October 7, according to the Ministry of Health there. In the past 24 hours, at least 82 people were killed and 243 wounded. CNN cannot independently verify the figures.
  • Ceasefire talks reach impasse: Negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage release deal are “almost” at a stalemate, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani warned on Tuesday. “There is one party who wants to end the war and then talk about the hostages, there’s another party that wants the hostages and wants to continue the war,” he told an economic conference in Doha.

Israeli airstrikes overnight kill 36 Palestinians in central Gaza, leaving families trapped under rubble

Relatives of Palestinians killed in an Israeli attack mourn at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue in Deir Balah, Gaza, on May 14.

Two Israeli airstrikes killed 36 Palestinians in the Nuseirat camp overnight, according to local health officials, as the Israeli military intensified its attacks on central Gaza.

At least 25 bodies from the aftermath of one strike were taken to the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. Another 11 were taken to the Al-Awda Hospital after the second strike.

The first attack, at around 1 a.m., hit a four-story home belonging to a family that was sheltering at least 100 people displaced by the war, the Civil Defense in Gaza said in a statement earlier on Tuesday.

Four families and other displaced Palestinians in the vicinity of the house were trapped under the rubble, added Civil Defense spokesperson Rami Al Aida. Witnesses said earlier that dozens of people had been sheltering in the building’s yard, as emergency workers recovered bodies from the debris.

Palestinians search for casualties trapped under the rubble of of a house hit in an Israeli strike i Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, May 14, 2024. REUTERS/

Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has demolished roads and drastically cut critical supplies. Al Aida said crews were “operating in extremely challenging conditions due to a lack of fuel and equipment.”

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza, on May 14.

The second strike hit a school run by the UN’s agency for Palestine refugees in Nuseirat, almost two hours after the first, according to witnesses.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on the two strikes.

"They left us no place to stay": Palestinians fleeing Rafah return to a destroyed Khan Younis

Mohamed Abu Daqqa, a resident of Bani Suheila, returned to the rubble of his destroyed neighbourhood in Khan Younis, after fleeing Rafah.

Mohamed Abu Daqqa is surrounded by a huge expanse of rubble, his curly tufts of hair gently fluttering in the breeze. 

CNN video shows clothes and pieces of barbed wire sticking out from the debris of destroyed buildings in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. Daqqa is one of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians forced to leave Rafah, in southern Gaza, after the Israeli military ordered people to evacuate the city last week ahead of a threatened ground assault. Many Palestinians forced to evacuare Rafah were already displaced.  

The resident of Bani Suheila told CNN he returned to Khan Younis, only to find his neighborhood razed to the ground. At least 450,000 Palestinians have been forced to leave Rafah since May 6, according to the UN’s agency for Palestine refugees. 

“I don’t know what to say. There is no life left for us. And now they are invading Rafah and telling us to go back … We are just waiting for God’s grace,” he said. “It’s better than the humiliation we lived under in Rafah and in the tents and shelters. (But) no one is helping, no one is donating.”  

Human rights group accuses Israel of attacking known locations of aid workers

Palestinians stand next to a vehicle in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza, on April 2, where employees from the World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Israeli forces have struck known locations of aid workers in Gaza at least eight times since October 7 despite agencies providing their coordinates “to ensure their protection,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

At least 15 people, including two children, were killed in the eight attacks, HRW said in a report on Tuesday. Israeli authorities did not issue advance warning to any of the relief organizations before the strikes, HRW alleged.

The strike in one of the reported attacks — on January 18 — was most likely carried out with a US-made munition that included British-made components, the UK-based NGO Medical Aid for Palestinians said, citing UN inspectors. The bomb was delivered by an F-16 aircraft.

The eight attacks “reveal fundamental flaws with the so-called deconfliction system, meant to protect aid workers,” according to the report.

Staff from 11 humanitarian organizations and UN agencies in Gaza told HRW that Israeli attacks on aid workers “forced them to take various measures,” including suspending or “severely restricting” operations, and reducing employees in the enclave. The UN has reported that 254 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since October.

CNN has asked the Israel Defense Forces for a response to the HRW report.

Israeli attacks in Rafah set back ceasefire negotiations, says Qatari prime minister

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani addresses the opening session of the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha on May 14.

Talks on a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage release deal are “almost” at a stalemate over a “fundamental difference” between Israel and Hamas over halting fighting in the enclave, according to Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.

“Of course, what happened with Rafah has set us backward,“ the leader said Tuesday, referring to Israel’s increased strikes on the southern Gaza city ahead of a planned full-scale ground assault.

Both parties remain in disagreement on “a baseline” after a “very long” negotiation process, he said.

The prime minister, who also serves as the country’s foreign minister, said he does not think Israel is “considering” stopping the war. Hamas has demanded a permanent ceasefire and a full withdrawal from Gaza to release all hostages.

Key mediator: The Arab nation said last month that it is reconsidering its role as the central mediator between Israel and Hamas amounted to a public declaration of frustration at criticism of its ties to the Palestinian militant group. “We didn’t want to be used or abused as a mediator,” Al Thani said.