May 11, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

United Nations agencies are likely to run out of food aid soon in southern Gaza -- possibly by tomorrow -- said Georgios Petropoulos, the head of the UN Humanitarian Agency (OCHA) in Gaza.

"The World Food Programme and UNRWA will run out of food for distribution in the south by tomorrow. That means that people will be left only with the aid that has already been distributed in their shelters, in their homes, and on-site. As of today (May 10) we have 12 bakeries supported by humanitarian partners here in South Gaza," Petropoulos said in a post on OCHA's X account on Friday.

Eight of the bakeries had ceased operations due to lack of staff, and four of them are operating at reduced capacity and will be out of stock by Monday, he added. 

The closure of the Rafah Crossing and Kerem Shalom, the border crossing between southern Gaza and Israel, had "severed our access to fuel, supplies, and the movement of humanitarian staff," Petropoulos said in a video message recorded on Friday but posted on Saturday.

Aid agencies have long warned of a spiraling humanitarian crisis in Gaza under Israel’s military assault.

On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces released a statement saying that "over the last few days, we facilitated the entry of 200,000 liters of fuel through the Kerem Shalom crossing."

The IDF also said "over the last few days" Hamas had fired rockets from Rafah towards the humanitarian aid crossing, but it did not specify exactly when the attacks took place.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says it has started transferring the last 22 patients from a hospital in Rafah after the Israeli military ordered the immediate evacuation of further neighborhoods in the southern Gaza city. 

"New evacuation orders for parts of #Rafah have forced MSF to begin referring the remaining 22 patients at the Rafah Indonesian Field Hospital to other facilities, as we can no longer guarantee their safety," the medical humanitarian organization posted on X on Saturday.

According to MSF, the Rafah Indonesian Field Hospital is a 60-bed facility that provides post-operative care and has been "seeing about 130 patients a day for dressing changes, physiotherapy, and counseling."

MSF added in a post that it calls "on Israel to halt its offensive, which is making it impossible to provide lifesaving medical assistance and for people to find safety amid this campaign of destruction."

Israel's military on Saturday ordered the immediate evacuation of several more neighborhoods in Rafah, where it has been stepping up operations ahead of an anticipated ground offensive.

About 300,000 people have already fled the city as a result of what the Israeli military calls the “current temporary evacuation” of Rafah, the Israel Defence Forces said.

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Rafah after the Israel Defense Forces ordered evacuations. Strikes in the southern Gazan city killed more than a dozen people on Saturday, according to hospital officials.

Many of those leaving Rafah are being told to move to places that are already crowded with displaced people and facing an increasingly dire humanitarian crisis. It comes as Egypt says it will not coordinate with Israel on aid entering Gaza through the Rafah crossing, an official told Egypt's state-run media Al-Qahera News.

Here’s what to know to get up to speed:

• Rafah evacuations: At least 300,000 people have moved away from Rafah as a result of what the Israeli military calls the “current temporary evacuation” from the southernmost Gazan city, the Israel Defense Forces says. The United Nations and humanitarian groups estimate that somewhere between 1.2 and 1.4 million people were living in the Rafah area before the Israeli operation in the eastern part of the city began.
• Strikes in Rafah: At least 15 people were killed in an airstrike and artillery strike in Rafah, according to officials at the Kuwait Hospital, where the bodies were brought on Saturday. Artillery shelling hit the Al-Salam neighborhood in eastern Rafah, while an airstrike hit a building in Al-Hashasheen neighborhood in western Rafah.
• In the north: The Israeli military is carrying out strikes against militants in northern Gaza's Jabalya, spokesperson Daniel Hagari said. Israeli forces dropped leaflets Saturday morning ordering residents in several areas in northern Gaza to evacuate, according to residents. Hagari said the military is targeting militant infrastructure in the Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahya areas. Fleeing Palestinians who've been displaced multiple times told CNN they are scared for their lives and have nowhere safe to go.

• Journalists in Gaza: At least 143 journalists have been killed since October 7 after the death of photojournalist Bahaa Okasha overnight, according to the Government Media Office in Gaza. Many journalists have moved to Rafah as the conflict has ravaged the enclave. Now, like the displaced population, some are saying they have nowhere to go and they are not sure if they can continue their work.
• Stifled recovery operations: The Civil Defense in Gaza said it estimates about 10,000 bodies are trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings. The group called for more equipment to be allowed to enter Gaza to be used to retrieve the bodies. On Saturday, Gaza's health ministry said 28 people were killed over the past 24 hours, and at least 34,971 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7.
• Hostage killed: The Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, claimed that one of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza died more than a month ago. It said Nadav Popplewell, a dual British-Israeli citizen, had died of wounds he sustained after an Israeli airstrike hit the place where he was held. The IDF declined to comment. The UK Foreign Office said it is seeking more information. Protesters in several cities in Israel are calling for the release of hostages ahead of the country’s Memorial Day.
• Ceasefire negotiations: US President Joe Biden said there would be a "ceasefire tomorrow" if Hamas would release the hostages held in Gaza. It comes after Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams left Cairo without a deal earlier this week.
• Humanitarian aid: Egypt is refusing to coordinate with Israel regarding the Rafah crossing because of security concerns, Egypt's state-run media Al-Qahera News said on Saturday, citing a senior official. Egypt has warned Israel that this might halt the flow of humanitarian trucks into Gaza until Israel withdraws its tanks and forces from Rafah, an Egyptian official told CNN on Saturday.

European Council President Charles Michel said it's "unacceptable" for the Israeli military to issue evacuation orders for civilians in Rafah to "unsafe zones."

“We call on the Israeli government to respect international humanitarian law and urge not to undertake a ground operation in #Rafah,” he said in an X post on Saturday.

Additionally, Michel said humanitarian assistance must get through “fully functioning” crossing points.

The Israel Defense Forces has ordered several more neighborhoods in eastern Rafah to immediately evacuate as the military steps up its operations in the southern Gazan city.

Avichay Adraee, head of the Arab media division of the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, said in a statement on X earlier on Saturday that people in the Rafah and Al-Shaboura camps, and in the neighborhoods of Al-Adari, Al-Jeneina, and parts of Khirbet Al-Adas, should "immediately head to the expanded humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi."

Al-Mawasi is an area that has already been crowded with displaced Palestinians before civilians in Rafah were ordered to move there.

US President Joe Biden said there would be a "ceasefire tomorrow" if Hamas would release the hostages held in Gaza.  

"As I’ve said, it’s up to Hamas — if they wanted to do it, we could end it tomorrow. And the ceasefire would begin tomorrow," Biden said at a fundraiser in Seattle on Saturday, according to reporters in the room. 

Families of the five Americans believed to be held hostage in Gaza met with national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk on Friday. 

According to a readout of the meeting from representatives for the families, they "expressed their immense frustration with yet another pause, especially after recent hostage videos showed their loved ones disabled, thin, pale, and under apparent duress" to the Biden administration officials. 

Where talks stand: Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams left Cairo without a deal earlier this week.

Hamas militants said Israel's rejection of a ceasefire plan submitted by mediators at negotiations in Cairo sent hostage release talks back to "square one." Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of hindering the ceasefire talks to use negotiations as a cover to attack the southern Gazan city of Rafah.

Israel has repeatedly refused to agree to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza until Hamas has been defeated, even if all hostages are released. On Tuesday, Netanyahu said that "the Hamas proposal was very far from Israel's core demands."

CNN's Betsy Klein contributed reporting to this post.

Some families in northern Gaza following evacuation orders by the Israeli military on Saturday say they don't know where to go, and describe the dangerous situation in the area.

The IDF ordered residents and displaced people in several neighborhoods there to leave the area immediately and head toward "shelters" west of Gaza City, warning they are in a "dangerous combat zone."

"I don't know where we are going. We've been displaced 7 or 8 times. We and the children are suffering," a father of three, who did not give his name, told CNN. 

The father, who was driving a motorcycle with his young children and belongings, said Israeli forces "dropped leaflets saying they will invade the north."

"We are only moving because of the little ones. I don't care if I would die, but I worry about them," he said, adding that "there is no safe place."

Another man described Friday night as "intense." He said this would be his tenth time being displaced. Artillery is ongoing in the north, he said, adding his family is anticipating death any second.

"We are scared for our lives. I'll go look for a place, pitch a tent. Anything to escape death," he added.

The families of dead hostages held in Gaza are calling for a "dignified burial" of their loved ones.

Yael Adar, mother of Tamir Adar, who was abducted on October 7 and whose death was announced in January, said all she wanted was to bring the body of her son back for burial. 

"For 90 days, we fought for his return alive, 90 days of hoping that Tamir would return to us, to the bosom of the family — a hope that vanished with the news that he was no longer alive," Adar said during a protest in Israel ahead of the country's Memorial Day.

"Since then, all we ask is to bring Tamir and all the murdered hostages back for burial, here in the land they loved. To grant Tamir the burial he deserves. To grant us closure, to have a grave where we can be with his memory," she added.

Protesters in several cities across Israel on Saturday have demanded the release of all hostages held in Gaza.

Hagit Chen, mother of Itay Chen, who was killed on October 7 during the Hamas attacks on Israel, said she wanted to bury her son in peace. Chen's remains were taken into Gaza.

"I have been invited to take part in many ceremonies for Israel's Remembrance Day, but the only ceremony that I ought to be in, with my family and with the memory of my own son, is a ceremony that the country has not enabled me to have," Chen said.

The Israeli military is carrying out strikes against militants in northern Gaza's Jabalya, spokesperson Daniel Hagari said at a press conference on Saturday.

In video obtained by CNN, explosions are followed by plumes of smoke rising above buildings in a neighborhood east of Jabalya refugee camp with multiple residential buildings.

Hagari said the Israel Defense Forces started a temporary evacuation of the population in the area before beginning the operation. In the afternoon, IDF troops began an operation targeting militant infrastructure in the Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahya areas in northern Gaza, he said.

"In northern Gaza, in the last hour, fighter jets have been striking terrorist targets across Jabalya. This morning, we began a temporary evacuation process of the Jabalya area from this area towards the center of the strip as part of our preparation for a military operation in the area," he said. 

Israeli forces dropped leaflets Saturday morning ordering residents in several areas in northern Gaza to evacuate, according to residents.

Some background: Overnight Friday into Saturday, Israeli airstrikes in the Kasaib neighborhood in northern Gaza's Jabalya refugee camp killed journalist Bahaa Okasha, his wife and 12-year-old son, according to Kamal Adwan Hospital. Three others were killed in a separate airstrike in Jabalya, the hospital said.

Protesters took to the streets of several cities across Israel on Saturday, demanding the release of all hostages held in Gaza ahead of Israel's Memorial Day.

They demanded the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and for early elections to be held.

Families of hostages held in Gaza also took part in the ongoing anti-government protests, including in Tel Aviv, Caesarea, Rehovot and Haifa. 

Israel is gearing up to mark its Memorial Day starting Sunday evening.

Many waved Israeli flags and held up signs with images of the hostages, calling on the government to bring them home alive.