Additionally, an Israeli military spokesperson said it has the weapons it needs for the missions it is planning in Gaza.
Two US officials told CNN there’s a “pause” in the ceasefire-for-hostage talks in Gaza while Israel steps up its military operation in Rafah.
This comes as Hamas demanded Israel agree upfront to a 12-week ceasefire rather than six weeks, creating major obstacles in negotiations, according to three sources familiar with the deliberations.
She said, “smashing into Rafah” in Biden’s view would “not advance that objective.”
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UNRWA commissioner-general accuses Israeli residents of setting UN headquarters in East Jerusalem on fire
From CNN's Hande Atay Alam and Kareem Khadder
UNRWA East Jerusalem compound as seen on Thursday, May 9.
CNN
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nation’s agency for Palestinian refugees, accused Israeli residents of setting the UNRWA headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem on fire twice while UN staff were in the compound on Thursday.
Lazzarini said in a statement posted to X that there were no casualties among UN staff, however, “the fire caused extensive damage to the outdoor areas,” and the staff had to put out the fire themselves as it took “Israeli fire extinguishers and police a while before they turned up.”
Burnt areas can be seen along the fence of the UNRWA East Jerusalem compound on Thursday, May 9.
CNN
Lazzarini also posted a video of the UN compound with staff trying to extinguish the fire while people were chanting. Lazzarini wrote that a crowd accompanied by armed men were witnessed outside the compound chanting “burn down the United Nations.”
Several social media videos were posted on Israeli Telegram platforms on Thursday showing the UNRWA compound on fire, while in one video people are heard chanting repeatedly: “UNWRA is Hamas, UNWRA is Hamas.”
CNN has asked the Israeli government for comment.
Lazzarini said this is the second incident in less than a week and the lives of UN staff were at a serious risk. He has since decided to close down UNRWA compound until proper security is restored.
The protesters became violent when demonstrators threw stones at UN staff and at the buildings of the compound, he said, adding that “over the past months, UN staff have regularly been subjected to harassment and intimidation.”
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Netanyahu says Biden made a mistake in delaying weapons shipment
From CNN's Jonny Hallam
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears during an interview with the American talk show host known as Dr. Phil on Thursday, May 9.
Dr. Phil/Merit Street
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said US President Joe Biden made a mistake after the US paused sending a shipment of bombs to Israel so that they are not used in an invasion of southern Gaza city of Rafah.
In an interview with American talk show host Dr. Phil that will broadcast Thursday night, Netanyahu said Israeli forces are doing everything they can to let the people leave Rafah, and said he hoped the two leaders would find a way to overcome their differences.
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Ceasefire-for-hostage talks come to a pause. Here's what you should know
From CNN staff
There is a “pause” in the ceasefire-for-hostage talks in Gaza as Israel steps up its military operation in Rafah, two US officials have told CNN.
In its most recent counterproposal on Monday, Hamas demanded Israel agree upfront to an initial 12-week pause in fighting rather than six weeks, creating a major obstacle in the negotiations, three sources familiar with the deliberations tell CNN.
Israeli officials are staunchly opposed to agreeing to the longer request, as they believe it would be no different than agreeing to an effective end to the war.
Meanwhile, the discussions taking place in Egypt’s capital Cairo over recent days have largely broken up with the departures of the Hamas and Israeli delegations, as well as CIA Director Bill Burns, who had spent the past week in the region trying to bring the two sides closer together.
The Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators will continue discussions.
Here are other headlines you should know:
Humanitarian crisis in Rafah:
Rafah is “hanging on the edge of a precipice”and those left in the southern Gazan city — including 600,000 children — are the most vulnerable and living in “shocking” conditions, according to an official with the United Nations Children’s Fund in Rafah.
Israeli politicians exchanged pointed political jibes with each other on Thursday morning in reaction to US President Joe Biden’s announcement on CNN that the US will halt its supply of arms to Israel if a ground incursion is launched into Rafah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel is ready to stand alone if necessary as it continues its military campaign in Gaza, in what appeared to be an indirect response to the US’ warnings over its actions in Rafah.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Thursday that Israeli forces “cannot be subdued,” following Biden’s announcement.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari says the Israeli military has the weapons it needs for the missions it is planning in Gaza. However, a halt in US weapons shipments may “significantly impair” Israel’s ability to “achieve military objectives,” the Israeli ambassador to the UN said Thursday.
Humanitarian aid:
No aid has entered through Gaza’s southern crossings in two days, the World Food Programme said Thursday, as fears grow that Israel’s movements in Rafah will further stifle efforts to get food into the enclave.
Also, the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza from Israel is closed for a fourth consecutive day, according to the spokesperson for the enclave’s Crossings Authority. There are conflicting reports on the status of the crossing, which Israel closed after it was hit by at least 10 rockets on Sunday, killing four Israeli soldiers, according to Israel’s military.
And, the US will begin delivering aid to Gaza through a military pier “in the coming days,” a Pentagon spokesperson told CNN on Thursday.
Developments on the ground:
The Israeli military detected a number of hits in northern Israel directed from southern Lebanon on Thursday, as tensions over Israel’s war in Gaza spill into the wider region.
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The US faces obstacles getting aid delivered to Gaza after finishing pier construction
From CNN's Natasha Bertrand, Oren Liebermann and Alex Marquardt
US Army soldiers assemble the Roll-On, Roll-Off Distribution Facility (RRDF), or floating pier, off the shore of Gaza in support of Operation Neptune Solace on April 26.
US Army
Desperately needed humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza will — at least for the next few days — remain sitting off the coast of Gaza on an American Navy cargo ship, as the US continues to face obstacles to getting the floating pier it constructed in place and operational in the eastern Mediterranean.
The pier and causeway, known as Joint Logistics Over the Shore, or JLOTS, will ultimately be used by the US, its allies and aid groups to get aid into Gaza by sea from Cyprus.
But the system had to be moved to the Port of Ashdod last week due to heavy seas, and it still hasn’t left.
Even when JLOTS becomes operational, the weather and sea conditions may severely limit the ability to use the floating pier.
It can only be safely operated in conditions with a maximum of 3-foot waves and winds less than about 15 mph, according to a 2006 Naval War College paper on the systems limitations. A prediction of sea conditions from Israel’s Marine Data Center shows waves are often at or near that 3-foot limit in the area.
A defense official confirmed to CNN that the limitations on the pier system are accurate.
“The bottom line – heavy seas do have an effect on the ability to execute the JLOTS mission,” the official said. If winds or waves are stronger, loading and unloading using the JLOTS pier becomes dangerous.
The US is still aiming to move the system into place and begin the operation “in the coming days,” a Pentagon spokesperson told CNN on Thursday.
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Hamas’ demand that Israel agree upfront to a 12-week ceasefire emerged as a major obstacle in negotiations
From CNN's MJ Lee, Alex Marquardt and Jeremy Diamond
Displaced Palestinians arrive in a truck carrying their belongings to set up shelter in a tent camp after returning to Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza on Thursday, May 9.
AFP/Getty Images
In its most recent ceasefire and hostages counterproposal on Monday, Hamas demanded Israel agree upfront to an initial 12-week pause in fighting rather than six weeks, creating a major obstacle in the negotiations, three sources familiar with the deliberations tell CNN.
Israeli officials are staunchly opposed to agreeing to the longer request, as they believe it would be no different than agreeing to an effective end to the war. One senior Biden administration official said Israel has made clear that it wants to reserve the right to dismantle the four remaining Hamas battalions in Rafah.
At an earlier point in the talks, Hamas agreed to engaging in negotiations during the first six weeks of a pause in fighting — talks that would require that the parties first reach terms before the second phase of the truce of an additional six weeks could go into effect, sources said. They described Hamas’ new demand as a clear reversal.
Israeli officials privately recognize that a months-long ceasefire would make it difficult to restart the war and send Israeli troops back into Gaza, effectively ending the war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is loathe to make such an explicit commitment upfront, with several of his right-wing governing partners having threatened to collapse his government if the war ends without a major ground offensive in Rafah and the dismantlement of Hamas.
Israel is also taking serious issue with committing to 12 weeks of pause in fighting upfront before any of the hostages are released, said an Israeli source familiar with the talks. Sources said the wording in the agreement of how phase one of the truce would transition to phase two will be key to securing Israel’s agreement.
Hamas’ request appears to be confirmed in a document obtained by CNN, which states:
The senior Biden administration official added that the change in Hamas’ position may be due to its negotiators being out of sync with the group’s ultimate decision maker, Yahya Sinwar, who is believed to be underground in Gaza.
CNN reported Thursday that there is now a pause in the ceasefire talks while Israel’s military operation in Rafah is taking place, according to US officials.
CIA Director Bill Burns’ departure from the region after days of intimate engagement in the negotiations “doesn’t mean we’re giving up hope,” White House spokesman John Kirby said Thursday.
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Satellite imagery shows significant increase in Palestinians fleeing Rafah's tent camp cities since May 7
From CNN's Paul P. Murphy
Since May 7, satellite images from Planet Labs show a mass exodus of Gazans from makeshift tent cities in Rafah as IDF ground operations continue in east Rafah. This image, taken on May 8, shows how many Gazans remain at one of the many camps in Rafah
Planet Labs, PBC
In the last 72 hours, Palestinians have begun to flee Rafah’s massive tent cities in large numbers, new satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows.
CNN has identified several camps — including the main camp in central Rafah that housed thousands of tents — which have significantly decreased in size between Tuesday and Wednesday.
Although some camps in Rafah did see a decrease in population between Sunday and Tuesday, the majority of camps identified by CNN saw their greatest declines since Tuesday.
On Monday the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told people in Eastern Rafah to “evacuate immediately” toward Al Mawasi and other areas north of Rafah. Many people have fled further north than Al-Mawasi, heading for areas in central Gaza that have more infrastructure.
Some of the tent camps had been in United Nations schools, others in open fields, or along roadways for months. Now, a significant number has vanished, but many remain in the camps despite IDF orders to leave.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) spokesperson told CNN Thursday evening that they estimate 80,000 refugees have fled Rafah, but noted that the situation is extraordinarily fluid. The IDF estimates that some 150,000 people have left areas of eastern Rafah after being instructed to evacuate at the beginning of the week.
The IDF began conducting ground operations on Tuesday, after seizing the Gaza-side of the Rafah border crossing. Those operations are ongoing, but are largely focused in the easternmost sections of Rafah — just over a mile away from the closest camp CNN identified.
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Humanitarian aid worker injured by shrapnel in Rafah, organization says
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
A humanitarian aid worker from Mercy Corps was injured by shrapnel from a nearby explosion in Rafah on Wednesday, the organization said on Thursday.
The worker was not in the evacuation zone of eastern Rafah, the organization said, “underscoring that no one in Rafah feels safe and nowhere in Gaza is safe.” The worker was treated at a hospital and released.
Additional aid workers from Mercy Corps say food prices are skyrocketing throughout Gaza. Transportation out of Rafah is scarce amid bombardment and the seemingly impending large scale operation by Israeli forces and prices for the few transportation options left have also soared.
There are also concerns that the bombardments will damage critical infrastructure like water stations.
In testimony shared by Mercy Corps, workers described the fear brought on by the uncertainty of their situation — a feeling that has only been amplified by Israeli bombardments. One said that they worried they would not survive the night, so they hugged their infant child closer.
Another spoke of the anxiety of facing another displacement within Gaza, having accumulated a number of things over their past months in Rafah. They debated whether to leave those things behind in order to be able to evacuate more quickly.
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Israel has the weapons it needs in Gaza even without US supplies, IDF spokesperson says
From CNN's Lauren Izso
Israeli tanks are positioned in southern Israel near the border with Gaza on May 9.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari says the Israeli military has the weapons it needs for the missions it is planning in Gaza, after US President Joe Biden’s warnings over weapons supplies.
Hagari was asked Thursday whether the Israeli military was ready for a battle in Rafah in southern Gaza without US weapons.
Biden said on Wednesday that the United States would halt deliveries of some weapons to Israel if it continues its campaign into the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
“The IDF has weapons for the missions it is planning. And also for the missions in Rafah, we have the weapons we require,” Hagari said Thursday.
“I’m saying it now in the context of everything that has come up with the United States, because it’s important to say it. The United States military aid to Israel and the IDF up until now has been unprecedented throughout the war.”
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Netanyahu makes implicit criticisms of Biden after US warning on weapon supplies
From CNN's Lauren Izso and Tim Lister
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in Jerusalem on May 5.
Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel is ready to stand alone if necessary as it continues its military campaign in Gaza, in what appeared to be an indirect response to the US’ warnings over its actions in Rafah.
Netanyahu said in a message to the Israeli people on the eve of the country’s Independence Day: “Today we are much stronger. We are determined and we are united to defeat our enemy and those who seek our souls.
“If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone. I already said that if we have to – we will fight tooth and nail,” he said.
It seemed to come in response to an announcement by US President Joe Biden on Wednesday that the United States would halt deliveries of some weapons to Israel if it continues its campaign into the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Striking a defiant note, Netanyahu said: “In the War of Independence 76 years ago, we were few against many. We had no weapons, there was an arms embargo on Israel, but with the greatness of spirit, bravery and unity among us - we won.”
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Israel operation in Rafah forces "pause" in ceasefire talks, US officials say
From CNN's Alex Marquardt
Smoke billows from Israeli strikes in Rafah, Gaza, on May 9.
AFP/Getty Images
There is a “pause” in the ceasefire-for-hostage talks in Gaza while Israel steps up its military operation in Rafah, two US officials have told CNN.
The discussions that have been taking place in Cairo over recent days have largely broken up with the departures of the Hamas and Israeli delegations, as well as CIA Director Bill Burns, who had spent the past week in the region trying to bring the two sides closer together. The Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators will continue discussions.
Earlier in the week, US officials were expressing optimism about the talks that now appears to have dissipated.
Burns went into the talks in Cairo thinking the remaining gaps could be closed, the White House’s national security spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday.
“Now clearly they have not been closed,” Kirby said. “It doesn’t mean we’re giving up hope. We still believe that there’s a path forward but it’s going to take some leadership on both sides. And it’s going to take a little bit of moral courage on both sides to finally be able to come across that table and ink this deal.”
Pointing to Israel’s military operation as the reason for the pause adds to the US pressure on Israel that was ratcheted up significantly on Wednesday, when President Joe Biden told CNN that the US would not send Israel more offensive weapons to be used in a major military operation in Rafah.
US officials continue believe that Israel is conducting a limited operation in Rafah.
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World Food Programme says no aid has entered Gaza through southern crossings for two days
From CNN's Tim Lister and Avery Schmitz
No aid has entered through Gaza’s southern crossings in two days, the World Food Programme said Thursday, as fears grow that Israel’s movements in Rafah will further stifle efforts to get food into the enclave.
Matthew Hollingworth, Palestine director of the WFP, said in a post on X Thursday: “Our main warehouse is now inaccessible. No aid has entered from southern crossings in 2 days.”
Hollingworth added that thousands of people are on the move.
“Only 1 bakery is still working. Supplies of food & fuel in Gaza will only last 1-3 days. Without them, our operations will go into standstill,” Hollingworth added.
But Israel countered those warnings on Thursday, insisting that aid had been able to reach Gazans. The Israeli agency that approves the passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza – COGAT – said earlier that after being closed for several days, the Kerem Shalom crossing was open, as was the Erez crossing in the north.
Later on Thursday, The Israel Defense Forces claimed that “Dozens of humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza via the Kerem Shalom Crossing today (Thursday).”
“Israel keeps this crossing open despite Hamas’ constant rocket fire toward the area,” the IDF said on X. “The IDF makes every effort to provide a constant flow of aid to civilians while Hamas repeatedly shoots at Kerem Shalom.”
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Israeli military says several hits in northern Israel, after launches from southern Lebanon
From CNN's Lauren Izso
The Israeli military detected a number of hits in northern Israel directed from southern Lebanon on Thursday, as tensions over Israel’s war in Gaza spill into the wider region.
“A number of hits in the area of Shlomi were identified. As a result, a fire broke out in the area,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. No injuries were reported.
Fighter jets and aerial systems intercepted two unmanned aerial drones (UAVs) in Lebanese territory, according to the IDF. Israeli forces also struck Hezbollah “terrorist infrastructure and a military structure” in Ayta ash Shab, a village in southern Lebanon.
Regional tensions: Israeli and Hezbollah forces have engaged in cross-border fire and tit-for-tat exchanges since October 7, when Hamas launched an attack on Israel. Hezbollah’s political stance has unambiguously supported the Palestinian militants. It has roundly condemned Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza, which have shredded the enclave and killed 34,904 Palestinians, according to the Ministry of Health there.
CNN’s Tamara Qiblawi and Ibrahim Dahman contributed reporting.
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US will begin delivering aid for Gaza pier in eastern Mediterranean on Thursday
From CNN's Natasha Bertrand
U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary) and U.S. Navy sailors attached to the MV Roy P. Benavidez assemble the Roll-On, Roll-Off Distribution Facility (RRDF), or floating pier, to assist in the delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, in the Mediterranean Sea on April 26.
U.S. Army Central/Reuters
The US will begin delivering aid to Gaza through a military pier “in the coming days,” a Pentagon spokesperson told CNN on Thursday.
A barge used for carrying pallets of humanitarian aid from Cyprus to the pier will stage aid in the eastern Mediterranean on Thursday, according to Maj. Pete Nguyen. The US military pier and causeway, also known as JLOTS, has been fully constructed, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
The barge is still in the Port of Ashdod in Israel, until the seas are calm enough to place it in the eastern Mediterranean. For now, the aid will be transported onto another ship currently off the coast of Gaza, called the M/V Roy P. Benavidez. The Benavidez, contracted by the US military, has been docked in the eastern Mediterranean since last month supporting the maritime corridor effort.
Aid entering Gaza: Earlier this year, the US, UK and European leaders joined efforts to open maritime routes for delivering relief into Gaza after Israeli restrictions on aid entering the strip drained critical supplies.
Israeli forces heavily restricted land crossings since October 7. Aid agencies have accused Israel of imposing arbitrary and contradictory criteria that obstruct the entry of relief into the war-ravaged territory. Human rights organizations have raised urgent calls for Israel to lift controls on land crossings into the Gaza Strip.
Israel insists there is “no limit” on the amount of aid that can flow into Gaza, but its stringent inspections process means relief is barely trickling in, condemning Palestinians there to deadly starvation.
CNN’s Nadeen Ebrahim contributed reporting.
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Israeli officials to meet in wake of Biden threat to halt some US military aid
From CNN’s Jeremy Diamond
Israeli war and security cabinets are set to convene Thursday evening, after US President Joe Biden said he would stop shipments of some US weapons if Israel launches a full-scale ground attack in the city of Rafah, two Israeli officials told CNN.
Biden’s threat to stop some military aid will be a key topic of discussion, the officials said. The war cabinet will review assessments of remaining Israeli munitions, plans to manage them going forward and the future of Israeli military attacks.
There is no sense at the moment that Biden’s threat will dissuade the Israeli government from expanding military attacks in Rafah, with Israeli officials publicly and privately expressing defiance and anger at what they view as the US abandoning Israel at a critical moment in the war.
Mourners pray next to the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes during their funeral in Rafah, Gaza, on May 9.
Hatem Khaled/Reuters
Human rights warnings: Israel’s intensified campaign in Rafah has displaced at least 80,000 Palestinians, according to the UN’s agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA).
“The toll on these families is unbearable. Nowhere is safe,” UNRWA posted on X, on Thursday. It came after UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah would be “intolerable,” reiterating calls for a ceasefire deal and the release of hostages taken by Hamas.
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Gallant says Israel "cannot be subdued" in efforts to "hit Hamas"
From CNN's Eugenia Yosef
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks during a press conference at Israel's Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, Israel, on December 18.
Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Thursday that Israeli forces “cannot be subdued,” shortly after US President Joe Biden told CNN that Washington would not give arms for an Israeli invasion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
“I turn to Israel’s enemies as well as to our best of friends and say – the State of Israel cannot be subdued, not the IDF, not the defense establishment,” Gallant said at a memorial ceremony on Thursday.
“We will stand strong, we will achieve our goals – we will hit Hamas, we will hit Hezbollah, and we will achieve security,” he added.
“We have no choice, we have no other country. We will do whatever is necessary, and I repeat – whatever is necessary, in order to defend the citizens of Israel, to remove the evil threats against us, and to stand up to those who attempt to destroy us,” he added.
Israeli invasion into Rafah: Gallant’s remarks come after Biden threatened to halt some shipments of American weapons to Israel if the Israeli military were to launch a full-scale attack on Rafah – where more than 1 million Palestinians were forced to flee from Israel’s bombardment, according to the UN. Streams of Gazans were uprooted yet again on Monday, when Israeli forces issued a relocation order before intensifying deadly strikes on Rafah.
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CIA director returns to US, after talks in Egypt and Israel
From CNN's Alex Marquardt
Director of Central Intelligence Agency William Burns attends a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on March 11.
Annabelle Gordon/Sipa/AP
CIA Director Bill Burns is flying back to Washington after spending most of the past week crisscrossing the Middle East to try to finalize a ceasefire deal in Gaza, a source familiar with his meetings told CNN.
American officials have been sounding optimistic this week about the prospects for a ceasefire and hostage deal, though it appears that significant gaps remain.
Burns left Cairo on Thursday, after arriving in the Egyptian capital late last week. Representatives from mediating countries, as well as Israel and Hamas, have taken part in negotiations in there. Hamas also announced Thursday that their delegation was leaving Cairo to go to Doha in Qatar.
Burns had traveled to Israel on Wednesday for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad Director David Barnea. Over the weekend he was in Doha to meet with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.
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Dead wrapped in body bags after night of non-stop Israeli artillery shelling in eastern Rafah
From CNN’s Kareem Khadder and Jessie Gretener
Palestinians inspect the site of a building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Rafah, Gaza, on May 9.
Abdullah Abu Al-Khair/APAImages/Shutterstock
The limp body of a child was among the three people killed in eastern Rafah who were brought to the Kuwait Specialized Hospital on Thursday.
The Israel Defense Forces warned people in parts of eastern Gaza to evacuate on Monday.
A local journalist working for CNN saw the dead wrapped in body bags at the last remaining functional hospital in Rafah, with family members of the dead seen crying over the bodies of their loved ones.
Medical personnel were also seen treating the injured, with the hospital warning that they were not equipped to deal with the increasing number of casualties.
The local journalist said there was non-stop Israeli artillery shelling overnight in eastern Rafah, with social media video showing the streets in some neighborhoods completely abandoned.
This post has been updated with additional developments.
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Israeli leaders clash after Biden's move to halt some shipments of arms
From Eugenia Yosef
President Joe Biden speaks with CNN’s Erin Burnett during an exclusive interview Wednesday, May 8, in Racine, Wisconsin.
CNN
Israeli politicians exchanged pointed political jibes with each other on Thursday morning in reaction to US President Joe Biden’s announcement on CNN that the US will halt its supply of arms to Israel if a ground incursion is launched into Rafah.
Israel’s Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, condemned the move in a post on X, saying: “Hamas ❤️ Biden”.
Shortly after, President Isaac Herzog warned against “baseless, irresponsible and insulting statements and tweets” during a VE day anniversary speech.
Yair Lapid, from the centrist Yesh Atid party, responded that “If Netanyahu does not fire Ben Gvir today, he is endangering every soldier in the IDF and every citizen in the State of Israel.”
The leader of the Labor Party, Merav Michaeli, also said in response that “Netanyahu and his government continue to make Israel’s strategic situation worse.” Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said, “Israel will continue to fight Hamas until it is destroyed. There is no more just war than this,” in a statement on X.
Minister of Culture and Sport, Miki Zohar, from the Likud party said, “It is amazing to discover that the world has forgotten what happened in Israel on October 7”, in a post on X on Thursday. “We will not compromise our security, and we will never agree to submit to any demands that harm Israel’s national security,” he added.
People block a road as they try to stop trucks carrying humanitarian aid from entering into Gaza, in an area near the Kerem Shalom border crossing in southern Israel, on May 9.
Leo Correa/AP
The Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza from Israel is closed for a fourth consecutive day, according to the spokesperson for the enclave’s Crossings Authority.
There are conflicting reports on the status of the crossing, which Israel closed after it was hit by at least 10 rockets on Sunday, killing four Israeli soldiers, according to Israel’s military.
On Wednesday, Israel’s coordinating authority for the Palestinian territories said the crossing had re-opened for the entry of humanitarian aid. But the Palestinian Border Crossings Commission denied Israel’s claims, saying no trucks had crossed.
Hisham Adwan, spokesperson for the Gaza Crossings Authority, said Thursday it was not true that the crossing had reopened on Wednesday and that the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) had not even attempted to go to the crossing.
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Halting weapons shipments to Israel may "significantly impair military objectives": Israel's UN ambassador
From CNN's Eugenia Yosef
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan speaks during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters on April 18.
Yuki Iwamura/AP
A halt in weapons shipments from the US may “significantly impair” Israel’s ability to “achieve military objectives,” the Israeli ambassador to the UN said Thursday.
Gilad Erdan was responding to President Joe Biden’s statement Wednesday that he would halt some shipments of US weapons to Israel if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a major invasion of the Gazan city of Rafah.
Erdan told Israel’s public broadcaster Kan 11 that Biden’s decision “may be preventing Israel or at least significantly harming Israel’s ability to achieve one of the main goals of this war, which is the overthrow of the Hamas government.”
Biden acknowledged Wednesday that American weapons had been used to kill civilians in Gaza — a stark recognition of the US role in the war.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday the US is pausing the shipment of “high-payload munitions” due to Israel’s possible operations in Rafah without a plan for the civilians there.
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UN estimates nearly 79,000 people have fled Rafah since Monday
From CNN’s Ibrahim Dahman and Alex Stambaugh
A Palestinian boy pushes a wheelbarrow loaded with personal belongings as he flees following Israeli airstrikes on Al-Geneina and Al-Salam neighborhoods in Rafah on May 8.
Abed Rahim Khatib/picture-alliance/dpa/AP
The UN’s main relief agency in Gaza (UNRWA) estimates that nearly 79,000 people have fled the southern city of Rafah since Monday as an Israeli offensive in the city expands.
“Rafah today: now daily scene of forcibly displaced families fleeing area,” the agency’s communications officer Louise Wateridge wrote on X on Thursday.
Wateridge said there is “extreme fear from significant bombardment in Rafah overnight and continuing throughout this morning.”
Some context: Palestinians in parts of eastern Rafah were told to evacuate on Monday by the Israeli military as it launched an offensive in the city. Israel’s attack in Rafah has since expanded from airstrikes to ground operations, satellite images obtained by CNN from Planet Labs show.
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"Rafah is hanging on the edge of a precipice," says UNICEF official in Gaza
A displaced Palestinian girl holds a child as she walks at a tent camp on a rainy day in Rafah, Gaza on May 6.
Mohammed Salem/Reuters
Rafah is “hanging on the edge of a precipice”and those left in the southern Gazan city, including 600,000 children, are the most vulnerable and living in “shocking” conditions, according to an official with the United Nations Children’s Fund in Rafah.
Young said that malnutrition rates in Rafah are increasing, and children are “in real trouble” after the closure of one of the main hospitals in the city “greatly reduced the ability for children to reach medical services.”
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that hospitals in southern Gaza only have three days of fuel left, “which means services may soon come to a halt.”
“We’re rationing the fuel already for hospitals, scaling down operations as we can. When that fuel runs out, life support systems in hospitals stop.”
If the generators stop running, patients on ventilators and children relying on incubators are at extreme risk, he said.
“People on ventilators, I don’t know what happens to them when the ventilator stops running. Children in incubators, little tiny babies, often it’s two and three jammed into one incubator because we haven’t been able to bring enough in,” Young said.
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Biden says US won't send weapons to Israel if it invades Rafah. Here's the latest
From CNN staff
Joe Biden delivers remarks on May 8, in Sturtevant, Wis. on May 8. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers,” Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an exclusive interview, referring to 2,000-pound bombs that Biden paused shipments of last week.
Biden’s comments echo global alarm mounting over Israel’s moves in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians have fled and Hamas is believed to have regrouped after Israel’s destruction of much of the strip’s north.
The Israeli military’s operation in Rafah has expanded from airstrikes to ground operations, which include bulldozing, new satellite imagery obtained by CNN from Planet Labs shows.
Here are the latest developments:
Tel Aviv protests: Clashes between Israeli police and the family members of hostages held in Gaza broke out Wednesday night in Tel Aviv, leading to injuries and at least two arrests.
CIA chief in Cairo: CIA Director Bill Burns met with Netanyahu and the head of the Israel intelligence service Wednesday, according to a source, and has since returned to Cairo to aid efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.
Mass graves: Palestinian medical teams discovered a third mass grave inside the Al-Shifa Hospital medical complex, retrieving an additional 49 bodies, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.
50,000 people evacuate: ”Roughly 50,000 people” have left Rafah in the last 48 hours as a result of Israel’s evacuation order, a senior staffer at the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees told CNN.
Strikes kill four in Rafah: Israeli airstrikes killed four people and wounded around two dozen others in western Rafah on Wednesday, according to the Al-Kuwaiti hospital, which said most of those wounded were children.
Aid delayed: UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said no humanitarian goods entered Gaza through key crossings on Wednesday, exacerbating challenges amid active hostilities.
Kerem Shalom: The Kerem Shalom border crossing between southern Gaza and Israel has reopened for humanitarian aid, Israeli authorities said on Wednesday. But the Gaza crossing authority said no aid trucks entered the enclave.
Trinity College Dublin agrees to divest: The college in Ireland says it will divest from “investments in Israeli companies that have activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and appear on the UN Blacklist,” following demands from students protesting in solidarity with Gazans.
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Clashes break out between police and families of Gaza hostages in Tel Aviv
From CNN's Hande Atay Alam
Clashes between Israeli police and the family members of hostages held in Gaza broke out Wednesday night in Tel Aviv.
Police say two people were arrested after protestors pushed against barriers and confronted officers. Two police officers were slightly injured in the scuffle, the police statement said.
The police statement said officers continue to be present at the protest sites to maintain security and public order.
Natalie Zangauker, the sister of Israeli hostage Matan Zangauker, was among those injured during clashes.
In a social media video, Natalie Zangauker’s mother sits next to her in the hospital room. Earlier in the protest, social media videos showed Zangauker on top of a car during the protests, holding pictures of her missing brother.
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Norwegian Refugee Council said none of its trucks crossed Kerem Shalom Wednesday, organization says
From CNN's Natalie Barr and Audry Jeong
Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the independent Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), during an interview in Kabul, Afghanistan, on January 9, 2023.
Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images/File
The Norwegian Refugee Council said none of its aid trucks managed to cross into the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom crossing on Wednesday.
Earlier Wednesday, Israel said the aid crossing had been reopened. However, Jan Egeland, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told CNN’s Isa Soares that although he heard the Kerem Shalom border crossing would open, “we have no trucks going over. I have heard of no humanitarian trucks over Kerem Shalom.”
Egeland said the Norwegian Refugee Council had a few aid trucks enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing late last week, but since then, the NRC has run out of fuel and has no cash to rent a car or trucks to deliver the additional aid.
On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said numerous launches were identified from the area of Rafah toward the Kerem Shalom Crossing but did not go into Israeli territory and fell in the Gaza Strip.
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Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if it launches major invasion of Rafah
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
US President Joe Biden speaks with CNN's Erin Burnett on Wednesday, May 8.
CNN
President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt some shipments of American weapons to Israel – which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza – if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
The president’s announcement that he was prepared to condition American weaponry on Israel’s actions amounts to a turning point in the seven-month conflict between Israel and Hamas. And his acknowledgment that American bombs had been used to kill civilians in Gaza was a stark recognition of the United States’ role in the war.
The president has come under extraordinary pressure, including from members of his own party, to limit shipments of arms amid a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The US has already paused a shipment of “high-payload munitions” due to Israel’s possible operations in Rafah without a plan for the civilians there, according to the Pentagon, though it said a final decision on that shipment hadn’t been made. The administration has said it is reviewing the potential sale or transfer of other munitions.
It is the seventh mass grave found inside hospitals across Gaza, according to the health ministry. Aside from the three uncovered at Al-Shifa, one mass grave at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia and three at the Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis were discovered.
Gazan authorities said they have recovered 520 bodies in total from the graves.
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Israeli airstrikes kill 4 people in western Rafah neighborhood, hospital says
From CNN’s Abeer Salman
Four people were killed and around two dozen others were injured in Israeli airstrikes in the Tal Al Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah on Wednesday, according to the Al-Kuwaiti hospital.
The four deceased bodies and more than 25 wounded people have arrived at the hospital, which is located in central Rafah.
Al-Kuwaiti hospital also said most of those injured are children, and two people are in critical condition.
CNN reached out to the Israeli military for comment on this incident.
CNN footage shows casualties arriving at the Al Kuwaiti hospital following strikes in western Rafah. The footage shows what appears to be a corpse and two body bags. It also shows panicked children arriving in ambulances without their parents and one barely responsive child with a heavily bandaged arm being carried on a stretcher.
The hospital said earlier it had begun expanding into makeshift facilities to try and accommodate more patients.
After the closure and relocation of the Abu Yousef Al Najjar hospital, Al Kuwaiti and the European hospital are the only hospitals left in Rafah. According to the World Health Organization, they are only “partially operating.”
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3 mortar rounds land near intended offload site for Gaza pier, US defense official says
From CNN's Oren Liebermann
Three mortar rounds landed near the intended offload site for the Gaza pier used for humanitarian aid distribution on Wednesday, according to a US defense official.
The mortars did not cause any injuries or result in damage, the official said, but stressed that the information was based on initial reports of the attack. It is also not clear what the mortar launches were targeting at this point.
The official said the mortars did not damage the two sections of the humanitarian pier, which are not connected to the Gaza coastline at this time. The causeway that will ultimately connect to the coast remains offshore, while the floating pier is currently at the Israeli port of Ashdod following its completion.
Some background: The attack is similar to another round of mortars that impacted the same area two weeks ago. On April 24, a number of mortars landed near the offload site for the humanitarian aid that will eventually come off the pier. A US military official said at the time that they do not assess the attack had anything to do with the mission of the pier.
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Republican congressional leaders blast Biden's decision to pause transfer of weapons to Israel
From Lauren Fox and Ted Barrett
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin attends a hearing on Wednesday, May 8, in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have issued a toughly worded joint letter to President Joe Biden blasting the administration for pausing the transfer of bombs to Israel.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed the US paused a shipment of bombs to Israel. He said the US is concerned that they could potentially be used in a ground operation in Rafah without a plan for civilians there.
In the letter, Johnson and McConnell ask the administration to respond by the end of the week as to whether or not there will be any other delays in weapons transfers based on the ongoing review.
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UN says no goods entered Gaza Wednesday through key crossings
From CNN's Richard Roth and Hamdi Alkhshali
Aid trucks loaded with supplies for Gaza wait in Al-Arish City, Egypt, after the border closed on May 8.
Ali Moustafa/Getty Images
United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric voiced alarm on Wednesday over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
In an operational update, he said that no goods for humanitarian operations have entered Gaza through key crossings, exacerbating challenges amid active hostilities.
Dujarric emphasized the critical need for incoming supplies, including fuel, to sustain humanitarian efforts. The situation is urgent, with key medical facilities at risk of becoming inaccessible or inoperable, he added.
The evacuation of Al Najjar hospital underscores the gravity of the situation, particularly for patients reliant on its dialysis department, the UN spokesperson said.
The UN said it remains committed to providing aid to Gaza’s population, including over 1 million people sheltering in Rafah.
Martin Griffiths, head of the humanitarian affairs office, stressed the imperative of protecting civilians and ensuring their basic needs are met, whether they stay or evacuate. Urgent action is required to safeguard lives in Gaza amid escalating tensions, Griffiths added.
