March 6, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of Israel's war with Hamas has moved here.

The United States conducted strikes on two drones in Yemen on Wednesday, according to a statement from US Central Command.

"At approximately 7:14 p.m. (Sanaa Time), United States Central Command conducted self-defense strikes against two unmanned aerial vehicles in a Houthi controlled area of Yemen that presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region," CENTCOM said.
"These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy and merchant vessels."

Some background: Earlier on Wednesday, US Central Command said three crew members were killed and at least four more were injured in a Houthi attack on a commercial ship near Yemen. It marked a significant escalation of the Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, which began in October in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

A displaced health worker in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, warned that thousands of babies could die of starvation if Israel’s severe restrictions on food, fuel, water and medication entering the enclave persist.

At least 20 people have died due to malnutrition and dehydration since the war began in Gaza, including a 15-year-old boy who was declared dead at the Al-Shifa medical complex on Wednesday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said. 

United Nations experts have accused Israel of "intentionally starving" Palestinians in the strip. Gazans told CNN that their children are starving to death and mothers cannot breastfeed their babies.

Here are the latest headlines:

• Israel blocking aid into Gaza: Almost 40% of aid missions coordinated by the United Nations were denied or impeded by Israel last month, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Wednesday. In February, 86 of the 222 missions — or 39% of them — in areas that needed coordination were denied or impeded by Israel, OCHA said. Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is set to travel to Cyprus later this week to discuss plans to create a maritime aid corridor to Gaza. 
• West Bank settlements: Israel will advance over 3,400 new housing units in three West Bank settlements to final approval stages, including in Ma’ale Adumim, close to the site of a recent shooting attack that killed an Israeli. The Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry strongly condemned Israel advancing settlement units, calling it a "continuation of the cycle of violence," in a statement on Wednesday. The ministry also called it "invalid, illegitimate and illegal in accordance with international law and international legitimacy resolutions."
• ICJ case against Israel: South Africa submitted an urgent request to the International Court of Justice on Wednesday to ask for additional emergency measures against Israel, according to a document released by the ICJ. South Africa argued that the "situation of widespread starvation" brought on by the conflict should be considered.
• Journalists killed in conflict: At least 94 journalists have been killed in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported on Wednesday.
• Deadly Houthi attack: US Central Command said three crew members were killed, and at least four more were injured in the Houthi attack on a commercial ship near Yemen. CENTCOM said this is the fifth anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Houthis in the last two days.The strike marks a significant escalation of the Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, which began in October in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

US Central Command said that three crew members were killed, and at least four more were injured in the Houthi attack on a commercial ship near Yemen.

"At approximately 11:30 a.m. (Sanaa time) Mar. 6, an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) was launched from Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist-controlled areas of Yemen toward M/V True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier, while transiting the Gulf of Aden," CENTCOM said in a statement.
"The missile struck the vessel, and the multinational crew reports three fatalities, at least four injuries, of which three are in critical condition, and significant damage to the ship," the statement added.

CENTCOM said that this is the fifth anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Houthis in the last two days.

The strike marks a significant escalation of the Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, which began in October in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

South Africa submitted an urgent request to the International Court of Justice on Wednesday to ask for additional emergency measures against Israel, according to a document released by the ICJ. 

In the urgent request submitted on Wednesday, South Africa argues that it is “compelled to return to the Court in light of the new facts and changes in the situation in Gaza — particularly the situation of widespread starvation — brought about by the continuing egregious breaches of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide ... by the State of Israel ... and its ongoing manifest violations of the provisional measures indicated by this Court on 26 January 2024," the ICJ statement said.  

The statement also requests the ICJ to “indicate provisional measures and/or to modify the provisional measures” that were issued in January. 

More background: South Africa bought proceedings against Israel to the ICJ in early January on claims that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The ICJ then announced later in the month that it would impose some provisional measures against Israel over its military operation in Gaza. 

 

At least three civilians – a mother, a husband, and their son – were killed in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, according to Lebanon's state-run NNA news.

However, Hezbollah released pictures hours after the strike showing the deceased father and the son in military uniforms, saying both were fighters with “the Islamic Resistance,” the group's military wing. 

NNA said the deceased were farmers.

At least 20 people have died due to malnutrition and dehydration since the war began in Gaza, including a 15-year-old boy who was declared dead at the Al-Shifa medical complex on Wednesday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said. 

The youngest child to die of starvation and lack of medical attention was one day old, according to Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital. Several other children who died were less than a year old. 

"The famine is deepening and will claim thousands of citizens if the aggression is not stopped and humanitarian and medical aid is not immediately entered" into Gaza, ministry spokesperson Dr. Ashraf Al-Qidra said Wednesday. 

United Nations experts have accused Israel of "intentionally starving" Palestinians in the strip. Gazans told CNN that their children are starving to death and mothers cannot breastfeed their babies.

Death toll: The warning comes as the number of people killed by the Israeli military in Gaza rose to at least 30,717, with over 72,000 injured since October 7. 

CNN cannot independently confirm the deaths of the children or their causes due to the lack of international media access to Gaza, but there have been increasingly urgent warnings about hunger in the strip from international agencies who get in.

A displaced health worker in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, warned that thousands of babies could die of starvation if Israel’s severe restrictions on food, fuel, water and medication entering the enclave persist.

“In Rafah, the nutrients that can keep us alive can (be) provided, but with difficulty ... and high costs,” Mohammed Hamouda, a father of three, said on a voice message on Wednesday. 

“But the children are not starving like our friends and our relatives in northern Gaza. In northern Gaza, the situation is very, very bad. There are no nutrients, no clean water, no electricity,” he said.

At least 20 people – including newborn babies – have starved to death in northern Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials. The actual number could be even higher, as limited access to the region has hindered the ability of aid agencies to fully assess the situation there.

“Many babies ... have starvation and many of them are dying because there is no food and no milk,” Hamouda said, adding that mothers are unable to breastfeed since they cannot feed themselves.

He told CNN that his friend, a doctor at Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza, is unable to treat wounded patients because he is exhausted from hunger.

“If the situation is still like this, in the next week or the next two weeks, I think many thousands of babies will die, and many thousands of elderly and pregnant women will die," he added.

A Houthi ballistic missile attack on a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden resulted in at least two fatalities among the crew members, two US officials told CNN, marking the first time that the Iran-backed militant group has killed anyone as part of their ongoing attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea.

The attack struck the M/V True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier, the officials said. The ship has since been abandoned and coalition warships are now in the area assessing the situation, the officials said. At least six other crew members were injured, one of the officials said.

The attack happened around 11:30 a.m. local time, or around 3:30 a.m. ET, one of the officials said. The strike marks a significant escalation of the Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, which began in October in response to Israel’s war in Gaza.

Keep reading about the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.