April 9, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

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

On Tuesday, US forces "conducted an air drop of humanitarian assistance into Northern Gaza," according to US Central Command.

"The joint operation included four C-130 U.S. Air Force aircraft, and U.S. Army Soldiers specialized in aerial delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance supplies," CENTCOM said in a statement.

The aircraft in the mission dropped more than 50,600 US meal equivalents, CENTCOM said.

To date, the US has dropped approximately 797 tons of humanitarian assistance supplies, CENTCOM said.

Remember: Humanitarian organizations have warned that airdrops are "good photo opportunities but a lousy way to deliver aid."

US Democratic Sen. Chris Coons said “far too many civilians have died" in response to a CNN investigation into Israeli forces opening fire on a group of people as they waited for aid in Gaza on February 29.

“What’s clear both from the reporting I just saw on CNN and from dozens of previous incidents is that far too many civilians have died in the (last) six months of this conflict against Hamas,” Coons said in an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett on Tuesday. 

CNN analyzed dozens of videos and testimonies from 22 eyewitnesses, casting doubt on Israel’s timeline of what happened that night when more than 100 people were killed and 700 others were injured.

The evidence, which was reviewed by forensic and ballistic experts, indicated that automatic gunfire began before the Israel Defense Forces said the convoy had started crossing through the checkpoint, and that shots were fired within close range of crowds that had gathered for food.

Coons said CNN’s investigation highlights the “chaos in Gaza” and how "difficult" delivering humanitarian aid in the strip has become, calling for change.

The senator added he had raised the urgency of addressing deconfliction amid a rising number of people being killed while attempting to deliver aid when he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in person six weeks ago.

"That deconfliction clearly did not get fixed," he said.

An Israeli airstrike on a residential building in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip killed 14 people Tuesday evening, according to Dr. Khalil Al-Dikran, the spokesperson of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

He told CNN most of those killed were women and children, and 30 others were seriously injured. The information was also confirmed by the Civil Defense in Gaza.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

In a video posted on social media, several children are seen being rushed into the hospital, where doctors inspect them on the floor — their bodies dusty and covered in blood. Another video shows the uncovered bodies of three dead children next to other bodies wrapped in blankets. 

"Our hospital is very catastrophic as it’s on brink of collapse, our reception area is full of injured, and people are on floor, and we tried to do triage tents outside the hospital entrance, but that’s also full of injured people, and capacity is already beyond 100 percent capacity, as well as lack of all medical supplies and medicine and anesthetics", the doctor told CNN.

The attack happened on the last night before Eid al-Fitr, one of the most important holidays of the Islamic calendar, marking the end of Ramadan.

US President Joe Biden described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the war in Gaza as "a mistake” in one of his sharpest critiques of how the Israeli government is prosecuting the conflict against Hamas. 

Biden made the comments in an interview with Univision that was taped just days after Israeli military strikes killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, which sparked anger and frustration throughout the White House. 

“Well, I will tell you, I think what he's doing is a mistake. I don't agree with his approach. I think it's outrageous that those four, three vehicles were hit by drones and taken out on a highway where it wasn't like it was along the shore, it wasn't like there was a convoy moving there,” Biden said, according to a Univision transcript of the interview that is set to air Tuesday evening. 

The president added that he’s calling for Israel to agree to a ceasefire and that there is “no excuse” for not sending in humanitarian aid. 

“What I'm calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks total access to all food and medicine going into the country. I've spoken with everyone from the Saudis to the Jordanians to the Egyptians. They're prepared to move in. They're prepared to move this food in. And I think there's no excuse to not provide for the medical and the food needs of those people. It should be done now,” Biden said in the interview. 

The comments came in the lead up to CIA Director Burns delivering a new proposal over the weekend to negotiators in Cairo as they work to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal. 

The families of American hostages who are being held by Hamas in Gaza said they had a productive meeting Tuesday with Vice President Kamala Harris.

“One of the things we talked about is that there is a possibility to holding two truths: You can believe, as we do, that it is horrible innocent civilians in Gaza are suffering and at the same time you can also know that it is horrible and against international law for hostages to be held against their will," parent Rachel Goldberg-Polin told reporters at the White House Tuesday. 

Goldberg-Polin, whose son Hersh is one of the eight Americans held in captivity, said that the families are thinking about all the hostages as she said they are demanding results – not progress.  

“We want results," she said. "And we are so grateful and thankful to the American administration and Congress to all of the support, but we need results. We need our people home.”

Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, said they are encouraging all parties involved to reach a deal as negotiations continue in Egypt.

“We all are here, for not the first time, to work together with the Biden Administration to do everything that we can and encourage all parties to reach a deal that will result in our loved ones coming home,” he said. 

The vice president’s office said Harris “expressed her continued support for these families” as she provided an update on US efforts. 

Health workers in northern Gaza exhumed at least 381 bodies from mass graves in and around Al-Shifa Hospital Tuesday, after they said Israeli forces killed hundreds of Palestinians and left their bodies to decompose during their two-week siege of the complex.

The number of those exhumed today does not include people buried within the grounds of the hospital, according to Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, said several United Nations agencies are assisting in efforts to retrieve bodies to provide "dignified burials."

Here are other headlines you should know:

• Proposed deal: In a statement published early Tuesday, Hamas said the latest deal proposed by Israel does not meet their demands. The group said its leaders would review the proposal and inform mediators of their response. US President Joe Biden’s top national security aide said he asked interlocutors for Hamas to press for a quick response to the proposal.
• Report on Israeli war crimes: Children in Gaza have been dying from “starvation-related complications” since Israel began using starvation as a weapon of war — which is a war crime — Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report Tuesday. Israel denies the accusation, despite widespread evidence of malnutrition in Gaza.
• Germany's response to Nicaragua: Germany has hit back at accusations from Nicaragua at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it has been “facilitating genocide” in Gaza through its support for Israel, insisting that Israeli security is at the "core" of German foreign policy.
• US weapons and response to genocide claims: US Rep. Gregory Meeks — the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee — says he is not yet ready to sign off on the sale of dozens of American-made F-15 fighter jets and related munitions to Israel as he seeks “assurances” on how the weapons would be used. Also, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told lawmakers Tuesday that to his knowledge, the US does not have evidence of Israel committing genocide in its war in Gaza.

• Humanitarian aid: Turkey announced new restrictions on exports to Israel on Tuesday after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan accused Israel of denying a request to airdrop aid to Gaza. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded, saying that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is "once again sacrificing the economic interests of the people of Turkey for his support of Hamas," adding that Israel will "respond accordingly." Elsewhere, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne suggested that imposing EU sanctions could be a way to pressure Israel into opening Gaza border crossings for humanitarian aid. Also, Austin said the US military’s pier in Gaza, for delivering aid by sea, would "probably" be ready by April 21. Meanwhile, Tuesday saw the highest number of aid trucks to enter Gaza since October 7, according to Israel’s agency that controls access to Gaza.
• Developments on the ground: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed the mayor of the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in a strike in central Gaza on Monday, the IDF and Hamas both said. Hamas called it “a cowardly assassination." Also, the IDF said for the first time, the maritime air defense system known as "C-Dome" has intercepted a drone. And, cross-border attacks between Israel and Hezbollah have forced tens of thousands of people from their homes along both sides of the Lebanon-Israel border.
• Rafah updates: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that “no force in the world” will stop Israeli troops from entering Rafah in southern Gaza to eliminate Hamas units said to be there. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel still has not told the US the date of their announced invasion of Rafah, but that he expects the Biden administration will see “Israeli colleagues again next week” for discussions on the issue. And, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant did not indicate to Austin on a phone call Monday that a date has been set for Israel's incursion into Rafah, multiple people familiar with the call told CNN.
• Hostage latest: Vice President Kamala Harris met with US families whose loved ones were taken hostage by Hamas where the families were updated on American efforts to secure the release of all hostages and a ceasefire. The families of American-Israeli hostages in Gaza also met with US National Security adviser Jake Sullivan Monday in Washington to press for their immediate release, according to the Hostages Families Forum Headquarters.

Egyptian leaders have reaffirmed to the Palestinian Authority their commitment and efforts to resolving the conflict in Gaza.

"Egypt is making every effort and making contacts with all international and regional parties in order to stop the aggression against the Palestinian people, provide humanitarian aid and prevent displacement," Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reports. 

In a joint phone conversation on Tuesday, the two leaders discussed the need to speed up the introduction of a ceasefire and more humanitarian and medical aid. The leaders also talked about how to prevent further military escalation and displacement of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Abbas thanked his Egyptian counterpart for his support in "mobilizing international consensus" toward an end to hostilities and the recognition of the Palestinian state. 

The call comes amid ongoing negotiations in Cairo between Israel and Hamas. The United States, Egypt and Qatar are mediating the talks aimed at accomplishing a prisoner exchange deal and a pause in fighting. 

 The Biden administration is dismissing Benjamin Netanyahu’s pronouncement that a date has been set for a ground offensive into Rafah as bluster that is in no small part fueled by the Israeli prime minister’s tenuous political standing at home, senior administration officials told CNN.

The prime minister has been struggling to balance his stated goal of eliminating Hamas with the tremendous pressure of reaching a ceasefire that would see Israeli hostages freed. Israeli officials argue that four Hamas battalions remain in Rafah that must be taken out.

The administration's private view: Privately, multiple senior administration officials chalked up Netanyahu’s pronouncement to bravado.

The administration's public statements: Top officials have been publicly questioning Netanyahu’s insistence that Israel has decided on a time to mount an offensive into the southern Gaza city. American officials have reiterated that the US has not seen anything resembling a comprehensive plan from the Israelis on how they would carry out such an operation, including first moving the majority of the estimated 1.4 million civilians out of Rafah. 

Here's what top US officials have been saying:

• Secretary of State: “We do not have a date for any Rafah operation, at least one that’s been communicated to us by the Israelis,” Antony Blinken said Tuesday. “I don’t see anything imminent."
• National Security Adviser: “If he has a date he hasn’t share it with us,” Jake Sullivan told reporters Tuesday. 
• US Defense Secretary: Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Lloyd Austin that Israel is still putting together a plan and making necessary preparations for a potential invasion of Rafah, and did not indicate that a date has been set for the operation, multiple people familiar with the call told CNN.