April 16, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war | CNN (2024)

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani listens as US President Joe Biden (not pictured) speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on April 15, in Washington, DC.

Israel said some of Iran’s missiles on Saturday were launched from Iraq, but Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani denied it to CNN Tuesday.

“It was not proven to us through the military reports we’ve received that any missiles or any drones were launched from Iraq,” al-Sudani told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an interview on Tuesday.
“Certainly, our position is clear; we do not allow any non-governmental body to use Iraq to bring it back into the battle. We have been taking the legal procedures to keep Iraq safe and to distance Iraq away from the conflict arena,” al Sudani added.

Al-Sudani spoke with Amanpour from Washington, D.C., after he met with US President Joe Biden on Monday. Bothleaders discussed the importance of de-escalating tensions in the Middle East.

The US military conducted another aid drop into northern Gaza on Tuesday, dropping approximately 25,300meal equivalents, US Central Command said in aposton X.

“The joint operation included two C-130 U.S. Air Force aircraft, and U.S. Army Soldiers specialized in aerial delivery of U.S humanitarian assistance supplies,” CENTCOM said.

To date the US has dropped 891 tons of humanitarian assistance, CENTCOM said.

Remember:Humanitarian organizations have warnedthat airdrops are “good photo opportunities but a lousy way to deliver aid.”

Objects are seen in the sky above Jerusalem afterIranlaunched drones andmissiles towardsIsrael, in Jerusalem on April 14.

The United States is planning to impose new sanctions targeting Iran afterit launched a large-scale attack on Israel in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic complex in Syria, according to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

Earlier Tuesday,Treasury Secretary Janet Yellenannounced the Biden administration would use sanctions “to continue disrupting the Iranian regime’s malign and destabilizing activity.”

“From this weekend’s attack to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, Iran’s actions threaten the region’s stability and could cause economic spillovers,” she said at a news conference.

Here are headlines you should know:

• More from Iran: Israel’s war cabinet met again on Tuesday to discuss Israel’s response to Iran’s attack. After Iran closed its nuclear facilities on Sunday for “security considerations,” Rafael Grossi, International Atomic Energy Agency director general, toldCNN that its inspectors are back in the facilities and the “situation seems to be business as usual.” Also, the US will restrict the movements of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his delegation while they are in New York this week, a source familiar told CNN.
• Developments on the ground: At least 13 people were killed, including seven children, and more than 25 people were wounded after a strike targeted the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza on Tuesday, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital officials. Elsewhere, the Israel Defense Forces said its airstrikes killed three Hezbollah fighters, including two commanders, in southern Lebanon on Tuesday.
• World Central Kitchen updates: The US is continuing to review the findings of the Israeli investigation into thedeadly strikeon a World Central Kitchen convoy, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday.The United States is “not at this time” calling for an independent investigation, Miller said. He said he did not have a timetable for when its assessment will be completed.
• Palestinian child’s death probe: The US will be going to Israel with new information from aWashington Post reportthat contradicts the results of an Israeli investigation into the death of 5-year-old Palestinian girlHind Rajab, who was found dead in Gaza in February. The US called on Israel to investigate Rajab’s death earlier this year, and Miller now says the US “would still welcome a full investigation into this matter, and how it occurred in the first place.”
• Probe problems: A United Nations Commission of Inquiry accused Israel of actively obstructing its efforts to collect evidence from victims and first-hand witnesses of Hamas’ attacks in southern Israel on October 7. The commissioner appealed to the Israeli government to cooperate and urged victims and witnesses to the events in southern Israel to contact the commission.

The United States is planning to impose new sanctions targeting Iran after its attack on Israel over the weekend, according to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

“Following Iran’s unprecedented air attack against Israel, President Biden is coordinating with allies and partners, including the G7, and with bipartisan leaders in Congress, on a comprehensive response,” Sullivan wrote in a statement. “In the coming days, the United States will impose new sanctions targeting Iran, including its missile and drone program as well as new sanctions against entities supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s Defense Ministry.We anticipate that our allies and partners will soon be following with their own sanctions.”

Earlier Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced the Biden administration would use sanctions “to continue disrupting the Iranian regime’s malign and destabilizing activity.”

In addition to new sanctions, Sullivan wrote Tuesday the administration will “continue to work through the Department of Defense and U.S. Central Command to further strengthen and expand the successful integration of air and missile defense and early warning systems across the Middle East to further erode the effectiveness of Iran’s missile and UAV capabilities.”

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech on July 5, 2023.

Israel, aided by its allies, dodged a bullet Sunday.

To be more precise, 60 tons of explosives aboard more than 350 Iranian projectiles, some bigger than a family car, failed to dodge Israel’s defenses.

Yet Israel, in defiance of US President Joe Biden’s warnings to “take the win” and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s threat of a “severe, extensive and painful” response to any retaliation, is contemplating just that.

Deterrence, shorthand for “meanest S.O.B. in the room,” Israel believes, is the cornerstone of its survival. Iran is stealing that brick.

When faced with existential threats in the past, Israel has executed the most audacious raids the region has ever witnessed. The point being, Israel won’t telegraph its attack plans as Iran did at the weekend.

Aside from the core members of Israel’s war cabinet, more than a dozen other people have sat at the table deep inside the Kirya, Israel’s maximum security defense headquarters in Tel Aviv, thrashing out their next move.

Netanyahu’s next move will likely try to lock in sanctions, and strike before negative Gaza headlines dump the international good will filling his sails.

The clock is ticking. He needs two things, time to prepare a significant surprise strike, and time to coalesce international diplomacy. As both march to different beats, his legendary political acumen faces one of its stiffest tests yet.

Netanyahu is famed as a political survivor. But now he faces the biggest gamble of his career. He is betting the blood of his nation over Iran’s read of his rift with America.

Read more.

Taoiseach Simon Harris appears on CNN on Tuesday, April 16.

Ireland’s newly appointed prime minister told CNN that Israel’s sense of reason has been “replaced by revenge” as he addressed recent tensions between the Israeli and Irish governments.

In his first television interview since being appointed last week, Taoiseach Simon Harris hit back at recent criticisms from the Israeli foreign ministry and the Israeli Ambassador to Ireland Dana Erlich, accusing the country of being “on the wrong side of history” when it comes to the war in Gaza.

“Excuse me for finding it a little bit hard to see where the representative of the (Benjamin) Netanyahu government is talking about being on the wrong side because I think the actions of the Netanyahu government right now, in terms of allowing this humanitarian catastrophe to unfold in Gaza, and the impact on women, children, civilians and civilian infrastructure is profound,” Harris told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.
Harris went on to say that “Ireland is extraordinarily clear in its condemnation of Hamas … and of the right of Israel to be able to live in safety and security. But we also believe that reason has now been replaced by revenge.”

The prime minister doubled down on his call for “an immediate cessation of hostilities” in Gaza alongside his plan to convince fellow European Union leaders to formally recognize the state of Palestine.Harris laid out his belief that a peaceful solution to the war in Gaza “involves a number of countries that are like-minded coming together to recognize the state of Palestine.”

He reiterated that “Ireland stands ready to recognize the state of Palestine” and is very keen to do so alongside other EU member states to increase the “potential positive momentum.”

The Israeli foreign ministry has condemned Ireland’s intention to recognize Palestinian statehood, maintaining in a press release last week that doing so would be awarding Hamas a “prize for terrorism.”

The Israel Defense Forces said its airstrikes killed three Hezbollah fighters, including two commanders, in southern Lebanon on Tuesday.

Muhammad Hussein Shahouri, “the Commander of the Rockets and Missiles Unit of Radwan Forces’ Western Region,” was killed in an airstrike in Kfar Dounine in south Lebanon, an IDF statement said. “As part of his role, Muhammad planned and promoted rocket and missile launches toward Israeli territory from the areas of Lebanon’s central and western regions.”

Mahmoud Ibrahim Fadlallah, “an operative of Hezbollah’s Rockets and Missiles Unit,” was also killed in the same airstrike, the IDF added.

Earlier, the IDF said in a separate statement that its airstrike killed Ismail Youssef Bazz, “the commander of Hezbollah’s coastal sector, in the area of Ain Ebel in Lebanon,” in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah confirmed the deaths of its three fighterswithout providing details on the circ*mstances of their deaths or ranks.

At least 13 people were killed, including seven children, and more than 25 people were wounded after a strike targeted the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza on Tuesday, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital officials.

Graphic video obtained exclusively by CNN from eyewitness Nihad Owdetallah shows several casualties scattered on the floor, including children, with blood streaming around the area. Dozens of people appear to be running around in panic, screaming and trying to count and carry the dead bodies. A foosball table covered in dust is seen among the dead bodies.

Owdetallah, who lives in the camp, told CNN he heard an explosion at around 3:40 p.m. local time on Tuesday.

“I immediately walked to see what happened and found dead bodies thrown on the ground. People screaming, kids screaming. Kids dead on the ground. They were just playing foosball, and they were martyred,” he said.

Footage shot for CNN from inside Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital shows a continuous flow of causalities and injured people being ushered in, as the emergency room is crowded with patients, including several wounded children, crying out on the floor.

Video from inside a morgue at the hospital shows families trying to identify their loved ones among the deceased. Fatmeh Issa points to a white body bag with a young boy’s bloodied face exposed, telling CNN, “This is my son.”

Another man cries out, “They have nothing to do with anyone! They are civilians. Have mercy on us. You are killing children. You are not killing an army or fighters; you are killing children who were peacefully playing in the street.”

Video shows him handing a young girl’s dead body to another man, both men crying out Quranic verses and sobbing. The man who receives her body is seen placing her on the ground, and covers her body with a jacket, telling CNN she is his daughter.

“This is my oldest daughter … her name is Lujain, she is 9-years-old. A strike hit them while they were playing out in the street. They are all just children,” he said.CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment buthas not yet received a response.

A United Nations Commission of Inquiry accused Israel of actively obstructing its efforts to collect evidence from victims and first-hand witnesses of Hamas’ attacks in southern Israel on October 7.

“So far as the government of Israel is concerned, we have faced not merely a lack of cooperation, but active obstruction of our efforts to receive evidence from Israeli witnesses and victims to the events that occurred in southern Israel,” commissioner Chris Sidoti saidon Tuesdayat a UN briefing for diplomats in Geneva, organized by Egypt.

The UN Commission of Inquiry has been collecting evidence of war crimes committed by all sides in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories since October 7, 2023.

The commissioner appealed to the Israeli government to cooperate and urged victims and witnesses to the events in southern Israel to contact the commission. “We have contact with many, but we would like to have contact with more,” Sidoti said.

CNN has reached out to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.

The United States will be going to Israel with new information from aWashington Post reportthat contradicts the results of an Israeli investigation into the death of 5-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab, who was found dead in Gaza in February.

“What we’re going to do is take the information that is contained in that Washington Post story, we’re going to go back to the government of Israel and ask them for further information,” Matthew Miller, State Department spokesperson, said at a briefing on Tuesday.

Miller said the report contradicts what Israel told the US, that “there were no IDF units in the area at the time of her death.”

“The death of Hind Rajab is really an unspeakable tragedy, something that never should have occurred and never should occur,” Miller said.

The US called on Israel to investigate Rajab’s death in February, and Miller now says the US “would still welcome a full investigation into this matter, and how it occurred in the first place.”

More: Rajab was found dead after being trapped in a car with members of her family who were reportedly shot to death by Israeli forces weeks prior. Rescue workers dispatched to find her were also reportedly shot and killed.

The United States is continuing to review the findings of the Israeli investigation into the deadly strike on a World Central Kitchen convoy, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday.

“There hasn’t been a final assessment,” Miller said. The US was briefed on the findings on April 4.Miller said the US is engaging “with humanitarian organizations to see what questions they have, and that process is ongoing.”

The United States is “not at this time” calling for an independent investigation, Miller said. He said he did not have a timetable for when its assessment will be completed.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian speaks at a press conference at his headquarters in Tehran, Iran, on Sunday, April 14.

The US will restrict the movements of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his delegation while they are in New York this week, a source familiar told CNN.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller had earlier indicated that the US would place additional travel restrictions on the minister, who will be in New York for a meeting at the United Nations.

According to the source familiar, Amir-Abdollahian and the Iranian delegation’s travel is restricted to the seven blocks north-south and one block west surrounding the UN headquarters in Manhattan, the Iranian Mission to the UN, the residence of their permanent representative to the UN, the six blocks surrounding Queensboro Plaza in Long Island City, and access to John F. Kennedy International Airport using a specific driving route.

Iran’s response: Iran has not been notified of any additional restrictions onthe movements of Amir-Abdollahian and the country’s delegation while they are in New York, Iran’s Permanent Mission to the UN told CNN.

The spokesperson explained that the movements of Amir-Abdollahian and the delegation, including diplomats from the Iranian Mission to the UN, have always been restricted to a 25-mile radius surrounding UN headquarters in Manhattan.

The post was updated with a response from the Iranian mission.

Rafael Grossi, International Atomic Energy Agency director general, appears on CNN on Tuesday, April 16.

After Iran closed its nuclear facilities on Sunday for “security considerations,” Rafael Grossi, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general, toldCNN that its inspectors are back in the facilities and the “situation seems to be business as usual.”

He also noted that the situation was “extremely tense” over the weekend.

Israel’s war cabinet met again on Tuesday to discuss Israel’s response to Iran’s drone and missile attack.

Grossi saidthe IAEA believes that in times of conflict, the targeting of nuclear facilities “could be perhaps tempting for a military decision-maker — It will be a terrible mistake with potentially very serious consequences.”

He added that he does not have “any information or anyindication that there is planning on the part of Israel or any other state to be targeting nuclear facilities.” Grossi said the agency is still on alert and that “there should be extreme restraint on everybody’s side.”

As for Tehran’s current nuclear program, Grossi said Iran “continues to amass important quantities of uranium enriched at levels that are very, very close, technically identical I would say, with those which are required for nuclear weapons,” but cautionedthat “that does not mean that this equivalent to a nuclear weapon.”

Iran has long held that its nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes, despite skepticism from the international community.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during a press conference today amid the IMF-World Bank Group spring meetings, at the Treasury Department in Washington, DC.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the Treasury would use its sanctions authority and work with allies to “continue disrupting the Iranian regime’s malign and destabilizing activity.”

Speaking in a news conference in Washington, DC, Yellen said:

“From this weekend’s attack to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, Iran’s actions threaten the region’s stability and could cause economic spillovers.”

Her comments Tuesday come as global finance ministers and central bank governors gather in Washington for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings.

An anti-missile system operates after Iran launched drones and missiles towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel on April 14.

Sources in Washington told CNN they expect Israel’s response to Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Sunday to be limited in scope, as US officials seek to minimize the threat of a wider regional war.

In Gaza, Israeli attacks have killed at least 46 Palestinians over the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health there reported on Tuesday, raising the total death toll to 33,843 people.

Here are the latest developments:

• US officials warn against increased tensions: The Israeli military has not given the US an official warning about when or how it will respond to Iran’s barrage of missiles, a senior administration official said, adding that “any additional move now opens up a series of other possibilities, some of which are quite frightening.” A second source told CNN that US intelligence suggests Israel is considering a narrow and limited strike inside Iranian territory.
• Leaders urge calm: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is traveling to Israel Tuesday in an attempt to de-escalate tensions between Israel and Iran.At the same time, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told CNN he discussed with his Israeli and Iranian counterparts upholding “tranquility and peace” in the region.
• Gaza death toll: The health ministry in Gaza reported that as of April 13, 14,560 Palestinian children have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 7. Another 9,582 women and 485 medical staff have been killed, the ministry said. Of those killed, at least 72% were women and children.
• Children orphaned by war: As Israel’s offensive in Gaza surpassed six months, the UN reported that at least 19,000 Palestinian children have been orphaned. One child is wounded or dies every 10 minutes, the UN said, adding that more than 1 million women and girls in the enclave are facing “catastrophic hunger.”
• Israeli artist calls for ceasefire: Artist Ruth Patir,Israel’s representative at the Venice Biennalein Italy, has said she won’t open her exhibit until a hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza has been reached. A petition signed by more than 23,000 people had recently called for Israel to be excluded from the international cultural exhibition, as calls for a truce and an independent Palestinian statehave grown.

U.S.Secretaryof theNavyCarlosDelToroat a U.S. Naval Academy graduation and commissioning ceremony in Annapolis, Maryland, in May 2022.

The US Navy has spent nearly $1 billiononmunitions to thwart “over 130 direct attacks” on US military and merchant ships in the Middle East over the past six months,the US Navy Secretary said Tuesday.

US Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro urged lawmakers on Tuesday to pass the supplemental national security package to replenish munitions.

“Over the course of the last six months …. we have actually countered over 130 direct attacks on US Navy ships and merchant ships,” Del Toro told the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“The munitions that are critical to these counterstrikes are extremely important to the Department of the Navy,” Del Toro said.

“We currently have approaching $1 billion in munitions that we need to replenish at some point in time. So therefore, the over $2 billion that’s provided for in the supplemental is direly critical to our Navy and Marine Corps to be able to replenish those munitions and continue to provide the types of defensive measures that we have this past six and a half months now.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks in Moscow, Russia on April 2, 2024.

Russian President VladimirPutinhas spoken with his Iranian counterpart President Ebrahim Raisi about regional tensions in the Middle East, after Tehran launched retaliatory strikes from its soil directly on Israel for the first time.

The Kremlin described an “aggravated situation,” after Israel and its allies intercepted missiles released by Iran over the weekend. Tehran said the attack was in response to a suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic building in Damascus, Syria, earlier this month.

Putin“expressed the hope that all parties will show reasonable restraint and will not allow a new round of confrontation, fraught with catastrophic consequences for the entire region.”

“In turn, Ebrahim Raisi noted that Iran’s actions were forced and limited in nature. At the same time, he emphasized Tehran’s disinterest in further escalation of tensions,” the Kremlin added.

A meeting between Israeli war cabinetofficials over their response to Iran’s retaliatory strikes has concluded, an Israeli official told CNN. The source did not give any additional details about the talks.

The discussion, which began 12:30 p.m. local time (5:30 a.m. ET), was the fifth set of talks held by the war cabinet since the weekend, when Tehran launched a barrage of missiles in retaliation to a suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic building in Damascus, in Syria.

Regional leaders and allies of Israel have called for restraint as Israel plans its response, in high-stakes efforts to minimize a wider escalation over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

The Israeli military says it has killed a Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon.

“Earlier today, an IAF (Israeli Air Force) aircraft struck and eliminated Ismail Yusaf Baz, the commander of Hezbollah’s coastal sector, in the area of Ain Ebel in Lebanon,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement Tuesday.

It added that “Ismail served as a senior and veteran official in several positions of Hezbollah’s military wing. His current rank is equivalent to a brigade commander.”

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah confirmed in a statement that Ismail had been killed in southern Lebanon.

A young Palestinian girl hungrily bites into a meat-filled wrap at a displacement shelter in southern Gaza, her eyes wide with gratitude.

In another scene from theInstagram video, posted by Hamada Shaqoura in March, the girl feeds a little boy the same sandwich. Their shadows dance in the golden glow of the Gazan sun.

Shaqoura, a Palestinian food blogger displaced in the Gaza Strip, says he cooks on a gas stove and distributes meals using tinned food from aid parcels and other fresh ingredients, to bring joy to displaced children.

“I wanted to make new things for a change and to present new flavors. When I made my first attempt and saw the children’s happiness… I was pleased and felt that as a food blogger, I could provide something of value under these difficult circ*mstances,” the 32-year-old told CNN on April 6.

Shaqoura, who is displaced with his 25-year-oldpregnant wife, Lamis, started posting viral clips of his creations onsocial media. He cooks a variety of dishes ranging from tuna stew, beef tacos and pasta. Israel’s severe restrictions on aid entering Gaza have drained essential supplies, exposing the entire population of more than 2.2 million people to the riskof famine.

Egyptian Foreign MinisterSamehShoukryattends a press conference in Cairo, Egypt, on March 21.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed with his Israeli and Iranian counterparts upholding “tranquility and peace,” as world leaders seek to contain the risk of a wider regional war.

Shoukry told CNN’s Becky Anderson that the tit-for-tat reciprocal targeting between Israel and Iran is “in no way conducive to dealing with the long-standing issues and conflicts in the region.”

“This will get us into a never-ending cycle of reprisal that will only lead to a wider-scale confrontation, with very severe consequences for both peoples in both countries,” Shoukry said.

Regional tensions flare: It came after Iran launched a salvo of strikes on Israel over the weekend, in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on Tehran’s consulate in Damascus, in Syria. As Israeli officials discuss their response, regional officials and Israel’s allies have warned against an escalation in tensions over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza. Talks on securing a hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza are ongoing, according to Shoukry.

Israeli offensive in Rafah: Israel has delayed plans for an expected ground invasion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where most Palestinians were forced to flee Israel’s bombardment. When asked ifEgyptcould temporarily allow the entrance of Gazan refugees in the wake of military action in Rafah, Shoukry saidEgyptwill continue to act in the best interests of the Palestinian people. The mass displacement of Palestinians caused by Israeli military action in Rafah would amount to “a war crime,” he added.

A Palestinian man mourns over shrouded bodies of relatives killed in an overnight Israeli bombardment in southern Gaza on February 8.

At least 46 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health there reported on Tuesday, raising the total death toll to 33,843 people.

The ministry said that 76,575 Palestinians have been wounded. CNN cannot independently verify these numbers.

As of April 13, according to the ministry:

• 14,560 Palestinian children have been killed.
• 9,582 women have been killed
• 485 medical staff have been killed
• 72% of Palestinians killed are women and children.

Human rights warnings: The UN warned that “huge swathes of Gaza have been bombed into oblivion,” as Israel’s military offensive in the enclave surpassed six months.

“The violations of international law committed since 7 October in Israel and Gaza, including gross violations of international human rights law… by all parties to the conflict, as well as the destruction and suffering of civilians in Gaza over the last six months, are unprecedented,” the UN added, in a statement in April.

Palestinians carry the dead body of a woman after Israeli attacks in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on February 12.

More than 10,000 women have been killed in Gaza sinceIsrael’s war with Hamas began in October, according to estimates by UN Women in a report published Tuesday.

“Six months into the war, 10,000 Palestinian women in Gaza have been killed, among them an estimated 6,000 mothers, leaving 19,000 children orphaned,” it said.

The report said more than 1 million Palestinian women and girls in the Strip are facing “catastrophic hunger,” with almost no access to food, safe drinking water, functioning toilets or running water, creating life-threatening risks.

“One child is injured or dies every 10 minutes,” it added.

“Women who have survived the bombing are suffering daily starvation, sickness, and constant fear. The war in Gaza is no doubt a war on women, who are paying a heavy price for a war not of their making”, said Susanne Mikhail, Regional Director of UN Women in the Arab States ata media briefing in Geneva.

The IDF has said that it tries to reduce harm to civilians in Gaza.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and the Foreign Minister of Jordan, Ayman Safadi, give a press conference at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin, Germany, on April 16.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is traveling to Israel Tuesday in an attempt to de-escalate the Israel-Iran conflict, following Iran’s unprecedented strikes on Israel Sunday.

“It is incredibly important for us as the German government in these fragile times that we all work together to contribute to de-escalation for the entire region,” Baerbock said during a joint news conference with her Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, in Berlin.

She accused Iran of not being interested in regional peace and said it wanted to add fuel to the fire.

Baerbock’s visit to Israel will be her eighth trip the region since October 7. She also said she hoped recent talks between Israel and Hamas could bring about “the long-awaited sustainable ceasefire.”

The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system launches to intercept missiles fired from Iran on April 14.

The United States expects that Israel’smilitaryresponse to Iran’s strikes will be limited in scope,a senior administration official and a source familiar with the intelligence told CNN.

There is USintelligenceto suggest Israel is weighing a narrow and limited strike inside Iran because they feel like they have to respond with a kinetic action of some kind given the unprecedented scale of the Iranian attack,the second source said.

Israel has not given the USan officialwarning about what their plans may beand when they could occur,the senior administration official said.

“We would hope that they would give us some warning so that we’re prepared to protect our personnel, not just military but diplomatic throughout the region,” theadministration official said.

“But there’s no guarantee they will give us they will give us a heads up and they know when they give us a head’s up, we’re likely to again register our objection to whatever they’re about to conduct.”

Theofficialalsosaid if Israel did not respond, the US is “confident that there will be de-escalation” and the situation would go back to the status quo.

“But any additional move now opens up a series of other possibilities, some of which are quite frightening,”the senior official added.

Herzi Halevi, chief of general staff of the Israeli army, looks on before a meeting in March 2023.

A top Israeli military official expressed gratitude to his British counterpart for their “joint defensive effort” in repelling Iranian drones fired at Israel on Sunday.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi conveyed “his deep appreciation to the British forces for their cooperation and high-quality operation,” according to an IDF statement.

Barrage of missiles: Israel and allied forces – including the United States, France and the UK – on Sunday intercepted a wave of Iranian strikes fired in retaliation to a suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, in Syria, earlier this month.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been under increased domestic pressure to tone down his support of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and stop the sale of arms to the state, as the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks spirals.

Calls for Sunak to stop supplying Israel with weapons grew after an Israeli airstrike on April 1killed seven members of stafffrom the aid organization World Central Kitchen, three of whom wereBritish citizens.

EasyJet has announced its suspension of flights to and from the Israeli city of Tel Aviv for the rest of the summer season, until October 27, the budget airline told CNN on Tuesday.

“Customers booked to fly on this route up to this date are being offered options including a full refund,”EasyJet’s press office told CNN via email.

The low-cost carrier initially announced flights to Israel would be canceled until April 21, amid conflict and escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Israel’s war cabinet is convening Tuesday to discuss its response to Iran’s drone and missile attack, an Israeli official told CNN.

The meeting, which began 12:30 p.m. local time (5:30 a.m. ET), is the fifth set of talks held by the war cabinet since Sunday.

Tehran launched a series of strikes on Israel over the weekend, in response to a suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, earlier this month.

The weekend’s unprecedented attack from Iran was the first time it has ever fired directly at Israel from its soil, as regional tensions flare over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi attends a joint press conference in Ankara, Turkey, on January 24.

President Ebrahim Raisi has warned that the “smallest action against Iran’s interests” will be met with a “severe, extensive and painful” response.

In a call with Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Monday, the president said that Iran’s attack on Israel this weekend was an act of “legitimate defense.”

“As we have already officially announced the operation of the ‘Honest Promise’ was successfully carried out with the aim of punishing the aggressor. Now we firmly declare that the smallest action against Iran’s interests will definitely be met with a severe, extensive and painful response against all its perpetrators,” Raisi said.

“Honest Promise” was the name given to Iran’s unprecedented attack, which saw drones and missiles launched at Israel over a five-hour period — almost entirely intercepted by the Israeli military and its allies. Israel hasvowedto respond and is weighing its options to do so.

In the call, Qatar “stressed the need to reduce all forms of escalation and avoid expanding the conflict in the region,” according to a statement run by state news agency Sheikh Tamim.

People stand in front of the closed Israeli national pavilion at the Biennale contemporary art fair in Venice, Italy, on April 16.

Artist Ruth Patir, Israel’s representative at the Venice Biennalein Italy, has said she won’t open her exhibit until a hostage and ceasefire deal has been reached.

She said the Israeli pavilion at the international cultural exhibition “will only open when the release of hostages and ceasefire agreement happens” in a statement shared on Instagram on Tuesday.

Patir said she would raise her voice “with those I stand with in their scream, ceasefire now, bring the people back from captivity. We can’t take it anymore.”

A petition signed by more than 23,000 people recently called for Israel to be excluded from the Venice Biennale.

Patir on Tuesday said that she and commissioners Mira Lapidot and Tamar Margalit had made headlines in recent weeks rather than the art and the exhibition titled “(M)otherland.”

“If I am given such a remarkable stage, I want to make it count,” Patir said, adding that she “firmly objected” to cultural boycotts but chose to take action as she felt there was “no right answer.”

Protests against Israel’s war in Gaza have taken place at various cultural events, including this year’s Oscars and the Grammy’s.

Israel has yet to agree on how to respond to theIranian attack that sawmore than 300 projectilesfired at its territory in the first direct military confrontation between the Islamic Republic and the Jewish state.

Israel must balance international pressure to show restraint on the one hand while searching for an appropriate response to an unprecedented attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now has to weigh his right-wing coalition’s call for a strong reaction against the risk of further international isolation for Israel bywidening the war withoutinternational support.

Despite pressure from allies not to escalate, Israel’s war cabinet is now debating the timing and scope of the response, two Israeli officials familiar with the deliberations told CNN.

Analysts say that Israel has few options, and each of those options comes with a price, especially as it is already embroiled in a brutal six-month war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and is confronting various Iran-backed militants in the region.

A direct attack on Iran would set yet another precedent. While Israel is believed to have conducted covert operations in Iran over the years, often targeting individuals or facilities seen as a threat to its security, it has never launched a direct military assault on Iranian territory.

“We are definitely in a new phase, and a very dangerous phase of the Israeli-Iranian confrontation,” said Raz Zimmt, an Iran expert at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv. “Iran has certainly tried to change the rules of the game with Israel… We might expect more rounds of direct attacks in the future.”

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U.S. Defence SecretaryLloydAustinat the Pentagon in Arlington,Virginia, on April 15.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke to his Israeli counterpart Monday and “reaffirmed the strategic goal of regional stability,” according to a readout of the call.

AustinandIsraeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallantdiscussed the aftermath of Iran’sunprecedented attack on Israel over the weekend, the readout said.

The secretaryalso reiterated “steadfast” US support for Israel’s defense.

Some context: Israel’s war cabinet is weighing a response toIran’s attack, which sawmore than 300 projectilesfired at its territory — most of which were intercepted.

Austin previously asked Gallant to notify the US ahead of any potential response to the Iranian attack, according to a US official.

The two had spoken hours after Iran had launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Israel.

Israel was set to take its first steps toward aground offensive in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah this week but has delayed those plans as it mulls a response to Iran’s unprecedented aerial attacks over the weekend, two Israeli sources have told CNN.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long stressed the importance of invading Rafah to dismantle Hamas’s remaining battalions, despite international pressure to call off an all-out ground offensive.

But a military response to Iran could pull Israel’s attention and resources away from Gaza.

Here are the latest developments in the region:

• Israel weighs response to Iran: The Israeli war cabinet has reviewed military plans for a potential response to Iran’s attacks, an official said. The cabinet also reviewed diplomatic options, which could be carried out in addition to a military response. It is not clear if a decision has been made.
• White House urges de-escalation: US President Joe Biden is focusing on preventing Iran’s attack from spiraling into a wider regional conflict, spokesperson John Kirby said.
• China’s reaction: China saidit notedIran’sstatement that the actions againstIsraelwerean “exercise of the right of self-defense” during a phone call between the foreign ministers of the two nations, and did not condemn the weekend strikes.
• Al-Shifa aftermath: Fifteen more bodies were recovered from around Al-Shifa Hospital following the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the area two weeks ago, Gaza residents and medical crews told CNN.
• Hostage talks: Hamas has slashed the number of hostages it is willing to release during the first phase of a ceasefire deal by more than half, an Israeli source said. This represents a significant step backward in the talks.

The families of hostages and their supporters participate in the 'United for the Release the Hostages' Rally in Paris Square after completing the four day march on March 2, in Jerusalem.

Hamas has slashed the number of hostages it is willing to release during the first phase of a proposed ceasefire deal by more than half, an Israeli source close to the negotiations said.

In its latest counterproposal, Hamas offered to release fewer than 20 hostages in exchange for a six-week ceasefire, more than halving the number of 40 hostages that has been the basis of negotiations for months — a significant step backward in the talks.

A senior Biden administration official confirmed that Hamas is focused on those 20 for the first phase of a potential deal. The official also confirmed Hamas is telling mediators that it only has around 20 remaining hostages who are women or sick, wounded and elderly men.

Hamas also called for the release of more Palestinian prisoners in exchange for fewer hostages, the source said, as well as a higher number of prisoners serving life sentences.

The Israeli source said the latest Hamas counterproposal signals that Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza, does not want a deal, seeking to exploit fissures between the US and Israel over Israeli military operations in Gaza and domestic pressure on the Israeli government.

Hamas spokesperson Basem Naim said the group had proposed “releasing (three) captured Israelis each week,” but said “no one is talking about final numbers.”

Beyond the ratio of Palestinian prisoners, Hamas is continuing to demand assurances about a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and unrestricted access for Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.

“I think part of this is Hamas thinks they’re winning. Because their definition of success is survival and they’ve survived so far,” the Biden official said. “The longer the conflict has gone on the more recalcitrant Hamas has become rather than the other way around.”

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during a press conference at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, on April 1.

China saidit notedIran’sstatement that the actions againstIsraelwerean “exercise of the right of self-defense” during a phone call between the foreign ministers of the two nations on Monday, and did not condemn the weekend strikes.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian that China condemned the attack on a consulate building in the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, according to a statement issued by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Chinese foreign minister added the incident “seriously violates international law and is unacceptable.”

“China has noted Iran’s statement that the actions it took were limited and it was an exercise of the right of self-defense in response to the attack on the embassy building,” the statement said.
“The current regional situation is very sensitive, and Iran is willing to exercise restraint and has no intention of further escalating the situation,” the statement added, quoting Amir-Abdollahian.

Separately, China’s Special Envoy on the Middle East, Zhai Jun, met with Irit Ben-Abba Vitale, Israel’s Ambassador to China, on Monday, in which the latter expressed Israel’s position and concerns on the conflict in Gaza.

Zhai said China was “deeply concerned about the current escalation of regional tensions, and conflicts and bloodshed serve the interests of no one.”

A United Nations team inspects the grounds of Al-Shifa hospital after an Israeli raid on April 8.

Fifteen more bodies were recovered on Monday from around Al-Shifa Hospital following the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the area two weeks ago, Gaza residents and medical crews told CNN.

Health workers and residents in northern Gaza have been searching and digging for what they believe are mass graves and looking for their loved ones, after they said Israeli forces killed hundreds of Palestinians and left their bodies to decompose during their two-week siege of the complex.

“We were called today to extract the bodies that are buried inside Al-Shifa medical complex. We came here at 9 a.m. with an excavator and excavated 15 bodies,” Adel Al-Mash-Harawi, an ambulance driver from Gaza told CNN from the site of the excavation.

Hundreds of bodies have been recovered from areas around the hospital complex since the siege ended on April 1, a Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson told CNN last week.

Video filmed by CNN Monday shows medical workers, some wearing UN-marked vests, walking around the site over mounds of sand, digging up bodies. White body bags can be seen lying on the side of the excavation site, some marked with text reading “unidentified body” and some with names of people on them.

CNN has contacted the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on these allegations but has not received a response.

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President Joe Biden meets with members of the National Security team regarding the unfolding missile attacks on Israel from Iran on Saturday evening in the White House Situation Room. Some portions of this handout photo have been blurred by the source.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby reiterated Monday morning that President Joe Biden is focused on preventing Iran’s attack against Israel from spiraling into a wider regional conflict.

“Just because Iran conducted this unprecedented attack, which we and our Israeli partners and other partners thwarted, doesn’t mean that we should just accept a constant rising escalation in the region. The President is not going to accept that he wants to see things de-escalate,” Kirby told CNN’s Kate Bolduan this morning.

Pressed on whether it’s the White House position that Israel should not retaliate, Kirby said that’s ultimately up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government but that the US wants to see tensions de-escalate.

“We respect their sovereign decision-making process. What we want to see is de-escalation of the tensions. We don’t want to see a wider war,” Kirby said.

A general view from the makeshift tents where Palestinian families taking shelter in Rafah, Gaza, on February 18.

Israel was set to take its first steps toward aground offensive in Rafah this week, but has delayed those plans as it mulls a response to Iran’s attack, two Israeli sources tell CNN.

The Israeli Air Force had planned on dropping leaflets on parts of the city on Monday, the sources said.

One Israeli official said Israel remains determined to carry out a ground offensive in the city but that the timing of civilian evacuations and the coming ground offensive remains unclear at the moment. The Israeli military declined to comment.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stressed the importance of invading Rafah to dismantle Hamas’s remaining battalions despite significant pressure from the United States to call off an all-out ground offensive.

The future of the war in Gaza and the ground offensive in Rafah in Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering, are also factoring into thewar cabinet’s debateabout a potential response to Iran’s attack.

A military response that risks escalating the conflict with Iran further would pull the military’s attention and resources away from Gaza, where Israel’s government has vowed to hand Hamas a total defeat.

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The Israeli war cabinet has reviewed military plans for a potential response against Iran during a nearly three-hour meeting on Monday, an official said.

The war cabinet remains determined to act, but it is not clear at this point if a decision has been made.

There is a sense that Israel must act quickly, the official said.

The war cabinet also reviewed diplomatic options to further isolate Iran, which could be carried out in addition to a military response.

It’s imperative the international community “stand united in resisting this Iranian aggression, which threatens world peace,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Monday statement from his office on X.

Netanyahu added:

“Directly and through its terror proxies Hamas and others, Iran is conducting a full-scale campaign of aggression that threatens not only Israel but the entire Middle East.”

Netanyahu’s comments follow an Iranian strike against Israel over the weekend in which more than 300 missiles and drones were launched.

Tehran said the attack was in retaliation for a deadly Israeli attack against a consulate building in the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus.