June 17, 2024 - Israel-Gaza news

Our live coverage for the day has ended. Follow the latest Israel-Hamas war news or read through the updates below.

US forces destroyed four Houthi militant radars and a surface sea drone in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen in the past 24 hours, US Central Command said.

The US military also destroyed a Houthi drone over the Red Sea, according to a CENTCOM statement. 

“These actions were taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels,” it said.

A UNICEF official said Monday that warnings about children dying in Gaza are falling on deaf ears.

“I find it very disconcerting that the people still somehow excuse away attacks on children and don’t just look solely for a ceasefire,” said James Elder, a spokesperson for UNICEF, the UN's humanitarian agency for children, who is on the ground in Gaza. “Both these parties seem woefully disconnected from the suffering of children.”

Speaking to CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Elder said he has seen “so many children with amputations" and "children with head wounds, with terrible burns, not being able to get the medical attention because we’ve seen the systematic devastation.”

“It’s just no place for children,” Elder said about the entire Gaza Strip.

Israel has announced a “tactical pause” of military activity along a route in southern Gaza to allow aid to be distributed.

Elder said that while “any pause in bombing anywhere on the Gaza Strip that will protect children is good news,” he said the “tactical pause” aimed at allowing more aid trucks into the enclave has not led to any improvements yet. 

Elder said the problem is larger than just the area that is under the pause and called for more crossings to be opened. Agencies also need to then be able to deliver the aid safely across Gaza, he said.

At least nine people were arrested during an anti-government protest in Jerusalem on Monday night, according to a statement from an Israeli police spokesperson.

Some were arrested on suspicion of attacking policemen and disruption, and four were arrested on suspicion of setting fire or trying to set fire, the statement said. 

Some officers were slightly injured, it said. 

“Following the fact that the protest turned into a disturbance and a violent riot, a police officer declared the protest illegal and ordered [protesters] to disperse from the place,” the statement said.

Two protesters were lightly injured and taken to the hospital, according to Magen David Adom, Israel's emergency services.

Some context: Thousands of people gathered during anti-government protests on Azza Street in Jerusalem.

Some attempted to break through police barriers from the legally designated protest area around the Israeli Knesset to attempt to get close to the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, police said.

Since October 7, many anti-government protests have taken place as Israelis have called for the Netanyahu government to finalize a deal that would allow for the return of all hostages being held in Gaza and for early elections to be held in Israel. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dissolution of the war cabinet does not change the Biden administration’s “fundamental assessment” of the war in Gaza, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

Miller would not comment specifically on the dissolution of the war cabinet, saying “ultimately, those decisions are decisions for the government of Israel and for the people of Israel.” Miller also would not offer his assessment on what the dissolution of the war cabinet might mean for US discussions on the ceasefire proposal, conversations around which continue with the governments of Israel, Qatar, and Egypt. 

“We'll continue to have the very direct and candid conversations with members of the Israeli government, as we have for some time,” said Miller at a briefing. Miller added that the US would continue to have those discussions “with whatever government is in place in Israel.”

He also said the US “very much” welcomed the announcement of a “tactical pause” by the Israel Defense Forces along a route in southern Gaza to allow for further distribution of aid, a decision that an Israeli official told CNN made Netanyahu unhappy when he first heard of it.   

An Israeli airstrike killed at least eight Palestinians east of Rafah on Monday, the European Hospital Media Unit told CNN.

The "civilian volunteers" were securing commercial trucks in the area, it said.

The hospital officials said it was in an Israeli airstrike, citing witnesses who arrived with the injured people and those who helped to pull the bodies from under the rubble. 

The area that was hit is designated for commercial trucks, the media unit said.

The European Hospital also released the names of the people killed and said others were also injured.

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

Two Israeli hostage survivors who were held by militant groups in Gaza for weeks shared their horrific stories while in captivity, according to a news release from the Hostages Families Forum Headquarters on Monday. 

Danielle Aloni, who was held hostage for 49 days along with her five-year-old daughter Amelia, said they were taken into tunnels after being snatched following Hamas attack on Israel in October 7.

"I have a vague memory of what happened from the moment they snatched my niece from my hands until we reached the entrance of the tunnels and a 30-meter ladder down. I've already told this and I have nothing to be ashamed of — the terrorist who was waiting for me in the tunnel as I descended the ladder grabbed my jewelry and tore it off me; he groped and grabbed me in intimate places in the most humiliating way in front of my daughter and I kept quiet out of fear," Aloni said.

She said they were afraid of many things: "that they would shoot us, that they would get tired of us, that they would lose patience as the days went on."

"One day, one of our guards came in armed with a weapon and sat between us — what does that mean? That they're afraid of an IDF rescue operation? "she added.

Aloni and Amelia were among the Israeli hostages released last November in a hostage for Palestinian prisoner exchange deal.  

"It's very difficult to think about the day after, when everyone returns, because the long-awaited day isn't coming," she said.

Hostage survivor Luis Har recounted his rescue after 129 days in captivity. Har was rescued in February in an early morning raid in which the Israeli military carried out airstrikes that local officials said killed around 100 people in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. 

"Suddenly, there was a huge explosion. I rolled towards the door and then they called out to me, "Luis, over here!" I crawled on all fours, and someone grabbed my head and leg and shouted, "Luis, IDF, IDF, we've come to take you home." From that moment, all the worries and fears disappeared," he said.

Israel and Hamas are at war, after the Palestinian militant group launched a surprise cross-border attack from Gaza on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Monday claimed its military operations in Rafah have killed more than 500 Hamas militants since early May. In addition, the Israeli military said forces located and destroyed 230 tunnel shafts.

CNN is unable to independently verify these claims. This comes as fierce fighting has been underway in Rafah.

Meanwhile, the IDF announced a “tactical pause” of military activities along a road in southern Gaza that has been designated for humanitarian aid deliveries every day for 11 hours.

Here's what else to know:

The war cabinet: In disbanding the cabinet, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have avoided having to accede to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s calls to join it, which could have further strained Israel’s relations with the US, or having to reject his demands, which could have angered the more extreme wing of Netanyahu’s coalition.

Palestinian displacement: More than 1.3 million people are believed to have been displaced from Rafah to other parts of Gaza in about six weeks, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The agency also said 193 of its staff have been killed since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, calling Gaza "the most dangerous places in the world for aid workers."

Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank: Israel’s government says it is looking to “strengthen” Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank after several countries unilaterally recognized a Palestinian state. All of the proposals would be voted on at the next Security Cabinet meeting, the prime minister's office said Sunday.

More from Middle East: The Iran-backed Houthis, a militant group in Yemen, have launched more than 190 attacks on commercial shipping and US Navy assets in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said on Monday. Separately, the IDF said it killed Hezbollah’s “key operative in the Rocket and Missile Department” in an airstrike in southern Lebanon on Monday.

Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant approved the “tactical pause” of military activity along a specific route in southern Gaza to allow for the distribution of aid, according to an Israeli military spokesperson.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson was responding to a request from CNN asking who decided to institute the pause.

He said COGAT, the Israeli agency responsible for approving aid into Gaza, and the Southern Command would first make this kind of decision before it would go up the chain of command for approval, depending on the situation. 

When asked if this kind of decision would need approval from the Israeli government or cabinet, the spokesperson said, “this kind of decision does not necessarily need to be approved by the cabinet, and it was approved by the minister of defense.”

Some background: According to an Israeli official, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unhappy when he first heard of the "tactical pause." According to the official who spoke to CNN on Sunday and requested anonymity, Netanyahu then contacted his military secretary and said this was unacceptable until he was assured the fighting in Rafah would continue.

CNN's Lauren Izso contributed reporting to this post.