February 18, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Israeli forces will expand military operations in Rafah if hostages held by Hamas are not returned by the start of Ramadan, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz said Sunday.

The Muslim holy month is expected to start on March 10 or 11 and Gantz’s comments appear to be the clearest deadline yet for Israeli military action in the southern Gaza city, where more than 1 million displaced Palestinians are taking shelter near the Egyptian border.

“We will do so in a coordinated manner, facilitating the evacuation of civilians in dialogue with our American and Egyptian partners to minimize civilian casualties.”

Israel has said it plans to expand its ground operations into Rafah as part of its goal to destroy Hamas after the October 7 attacks. But there is growing concern that the roughly 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering there will have nowhere to go.

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi takes part in a townhall during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on February 18.

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told the Munich Security Conference Sunday that Israel is responsible for displacing millions of people in Gaza, and that Jordan “should not be responsible for cleaning Israel’s mess” by allowing people into its borders. 

He also emphasized that Palestinians, including those in the occupied West Bank have rights that are embedded in international and humanitarian law.

Some context: Israel has said it plans to expand military operations into Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city on the border with Egypt, which has also spoken out against such an operation. There is growing concern that the roughly 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering there will have nowhere to go.

On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel must enter Rafah to completely destroy Hamas, and claimed there is “a lot of space” north of the city for people to flee. Palestinians who spoke to CNN this weekend said nowhere is safe from Israeli bombardment, including the city of Deir al-Balah, where some have attempted to take refuge after leaving Rafah.

The Israel Defense Forces has repeatedly said it observes international law, that it does not target civilians and that Hamas uses people as human shields in Gaza.

People search for victims in the rubble of the Baraka family home in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, after an Israeli airstrike on February 18.

At least 18 people have died following an Israeli airstrike on Deir al-Balah in central Gaza on Sunday, according to a spokesperson for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the victims. Dozens of others were injured, the spokesperson and another doctor at the hospital said.

Most of those killed and wounded were children, the two health officials added. They fear the death toll could rise, as many are still missing, believed to be under the rubble.

CNN cannot independently verify the number of casualties on the ground.

A video obtained by CNN shows several people in the neighborhood digging under rubble with their bare hands, looking for survivors. Another video from Al-Aqsa hospital shows the bodies of small children shrouded in blankets as they were carried into the facility on stretchers with other victims.

People search for victims in the rubble of the Baraka family home in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, after an Israeli airstrike on February 18.

According to witnesses, the strike directly hit a family home and damaged surrounding buildings. Neighbors and other witnesses told CNN the family had been sheltering about 40 displaced relatives who fled Rafah in the south over the past 48 hours. 

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment on the alleged airstrike Sunday. On Saturday, the military said it was targeting a series of Hamas “operational command and control centers” in central Gaza. 

Relatives mourn by a shrouded body after an Israeli airstrike hit the Baraka family home in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on February 18.

Looming offensive: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Saturday there is “a lot of space” north of Rafah for people to flee if Israel proceeds with anticipated military operations against Hamas there. Roughly 1.5 million Palestinians are seeking shelter in the southern Gaza city near the border with Egypt — many already displaced from elsewhere in the enclave.

Some have fled to Deir al-Balah amid news of the coming offensive, United Nations officials said last week. But Sunday’s reported strikes followed a series of strikes in the city on Saturday that killed at least 68 people, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Smoke rises over Khan Younis, Gaza, on February 18.

Nasser Medical Complex, which was the largest functioning hospital in the Gaza Strip, is now out of service due to a raid over the past several days by Israeli forces, the World Health Organization and the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza said Sunday.

Around 200 patients remain in the medical facility, which WHO teams were not permitted to enter on Friday or Saturday, and at least 20 patients need to be “urgently referred” to other hospitals for medical treatment, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

These are the latest developments:

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva addresses heads of state during an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on February 17.

Israel said on Sunday it is summoning the Brazilian ambassador to the country over what it says were “shameful and serious” remarks by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Speaking earlier Sunday at the African Union summit, Lula called Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip a “genocide.”

“What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people has no parallel in history. Indeed, it occurred when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on X that Lula is “trivializing” the Holocaust and “trying to harm the Jewish people and Israel’s right to defend itself,” saying that “comparing Israel to the Nazi Holocaust and Hitler is crossing a red line.”

“Israel fights for its defense and securing its future until complete victory and it does so while upholding international law,” he added.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also condemned the remarks in a post on X.

Israel has pledged not to stop its campaign in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed and all of the group’s remaining hostages have been released, following its October 7 attacks on Israel.

More background: Last month, the top United Nations court called on Israel to prevent genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, but stopped short of calling for Israel to immediately suspend its military campaign in the war-torn enclave.

South Africa, which accused Israel in the unprecedented case, argued Israel’s air and ground assaults on Gaza were intended to “bring about the destruction” of its Palestinian population.

Israel dismissed the case as “absurd blood libel” and insisted it goes to great lengths to prevent civilian deaths in Gaza.

CNN’s Christian Edwards contributed reporting to this post.

The headquarters of the United States Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, is pictured on February 6, 2017.

The US says it conducted five strikes against three anti-ship cruise missiles, one unmanned underwater vessel and one unmanned surface vessel belonging to the Houthi rebel group in the Red Sea on Saturday.

This is the first time the Houthis have used an unmanned underwater vessel since the start of the group’s recent spate of attacks in the region, according to US Central Command.

The targets were spotted in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, and the US “determined they presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region,” CENTCOM said in a statement.

Why it matters: The use of an unmanned underwater vessel appears to mark a new strategy for the Houthis, and comes in spite of continued US airstrikes against the rebel group.

Remember: The Houthis, who are among several key Iranian-backed proxy groups in the region, have been attacking US targets and commercial shipping in the Red Sea since Israel launched its invasion of Gaza following Hamas’ October 7 attack last year.

Read more about Saturday’s strikes here.

The European Union’s top diplomat says the situation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is a “real obstacle” for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding that peace in the Middle East cannot be achieved without a clear prospect for the Palestinian people.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Josep Borrell said the level of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank has increased since the Hamas attacks on October 7 and has not been discussed enough.

Borrell added that he believes there is space for Europe to support a two-state solution, but for that, he said, Europe needs to be more united and must have the US “more than on board.”

Key context: Under the Oslo Accords peace agreement of the 1990s, the plan was for Israel to gradually hand over control over more and more of the West Bank, but that has never happened. Israel has full administrative and security control over 60% of the area.

More than 700,000 Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, land on which the Palestinians, along with the international community, want to establish a future Palestinian state. The settlements are considered illegal under international law and are widely seen as one of the main obstacles to a two-state solution.

While the areas where settlements encroach on Palestinian land have always been prone to violence, settler attacks on Palestinians have spiraled out of control in recent months.

CNN’s Ivana Kottasová contributed reporting to this post.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and French President Emmanuel Macron attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in December 2023.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi expressed their “firm opposition” Saturday to an Israel offensive in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, a readout of the call between the leaders from the French presidency said.

Macron and Sisi shared during the call their “extreme concern about the deterioration of the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and the obstacles to the delivery of aid,” stressing the need to urgently increase the aid flow into Gaza.

In Israel’s sights: Two Israeli airstrikes on Rafah killed at least 13 Palestinians on Saturday, according to Dr. Marwan Al-Homss, the general director of Abu Yousuf Al-Najjar Government Hospital.

Israel has been bombarding Rafah with airstrikes for weeks and says it is committed to a ground offensive in the city, claiming there is room for displaced Palestinians to move north.

Palestinians there say they have nowhere to go. Some have tried to flee north to central Deir al-Balah, where doctors also reported deadly airstrikes Saturday.

The Israeli government on Sunday unanimously backed a decision to reject “international dictates” regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the beginning of a cabinet meeting that he would ask for a formal vote “in light of remarks that have been heard recently in the international community about an attempt to unilaterally force a Palestinian state on Israel.”

Tension builds: Netanyahu told CNN earlier this month that he is “certainly willing” to let the Palestinians “have all the powers that they need to govern themselves, but none of the powers that can threaten us.”

The issue of a Palestinian state has caused a rift between Israel and its closest ally, the United States, as US President Joe Biden continues to press for a two-state solution.

The UK has also said it would consider recognizing a Palestinian state, with the United Nations calling the opposition to one “unacceptable.”

Israeli forces have put Nasser Medical Complex “completely out of service” and rendered it unable to handle critical cases, the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health said Sunday.

The comments back up a similar claim from the World Health Organization, which said its teams were not permitted to enter on Friday or Saturday.

Ministry spokesperson Dr. Ashraf Al-Qidra claimed around 70 health care workers were arrested by Israeli forces and 80 patients have been transferred out of the hospital to an unknown location.

Only 25 medical staff remain in the medical complex, and they are unable to handle cases requiring critical care, Al-Qidra said.

CNN cannot independently verify casualty figures in Gaza due to limited access to the area. CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment. 

Nasser Hospital used to be the largest functioning hospital in the enclave. Israeli forces raided it on Thursday, detaining a number of suspects, after days of an intense bombardment.

The Israeli military said it had credible evidence that Hamas had previously held hostages at the hospital, and that the bodies of deceased hostages may be at the hospital, but did not publicly release that evidence.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh speaks at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, February 18, in Munich, Germany.

Russia has invited all Palestinian factions, including Hamas, to meet in Moscow on February 26, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Sunday.

Shtayyeh said the Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by the Fatah political faction, is still seeking unity with Hamas, however, “there are some prerequisites,” including an “understanding on issues that have to do with resistance.”

When pressed about the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, Shtayyeh said there is “no way we accept any killing of any innocent people.”

Political feud: Hamas has been long caught in a political war with the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank and engages in security coordination with Israel.

Hamas sees themselves as the “true resistance” that “are actually doing something,” while the Palestinian Authority is “basically asleep at the wheel,” Khaled Elgindy, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and director of its Program on Palestine and Israeli-Palestinian Affairs, told CNN in October.

Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis, Gaza, on December 22, 2020.

The Nasser Hospital in Gaza is no longer functioning after a raid by Israeli special forces, the World Health Organization said.

WHO teams were not permitted to enter the hospital in southern Gaza on Friday or Saturday “to assess the conditions of the patients and critical medical needs,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in the statement posted on X, adding scores of patients remain inside.

“The cost of delays will be paid by patients’ lives,” Tedros added, before urging that access to the patients and hospital should be facilitated for WHO staff. 

Nasser Hospital was previously the largest remaining functioning medical facility in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military claims they have credible evidence that Hamas had previously held hostages at the hospital, and that the bodies of deceased hostages may be at the hospital. However, it has not publicly released that evidence.

CNN has reached out to the Israeli military regarding Tedros’ claims. 

Nasser Hospital has experienced critical shortages of fuel, oxygen and medical supplies. Before the Israeli military’s raid on it on Thursday, hundreds of civilians were forced by Israeli forces to leave the hospital, which they had been using as a shelter.

Palestinians inspects the damage caused by Israeli bombardment in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on February 17.

The death toll from airstrikes that hit central Gaza on Saturday has risen to at least 68, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital told CNN Sunday.

A doctor from the hospital had previously told CNN Saturday that 44 Palestinians were killed and dozens more were injured in the strikes that hit multiple neighborhoods in Deir al-Balah.

Video obtained by CNN from Al-Aqsa shows injured children among those being rushed in for treatment, as well as dead bodies, including a deceased baby, wrapped in cloth on the hospital floor.

Israel said Saturday it successfully struck Hamas targets in the Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah neighborhoods.

On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces said they killed more than 10 Hamas militants in central Gaza over the past day, as well as conducted strikes on the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis that they said killed approximately 15 militants.

CNN cannot independently verify the number of casualties on the ground.

On Saturday, the UN said Palestinians living in the southern city of Rafah were reportedly fleeing towards Deir al-Balah ahead of an anticipated Israeli ground invasion.

US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, delivers remarks on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, on January 30.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield has warned that if the Algerian proposed resolution calling for humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza were to come up for a vote at the UN Security Council as drafted, it will not be adopted by Washington.

In a statement Saturday, Thomas-Greenfield said the US had been working on a deal between Israel and Hamas which would see the release of hostages and bring a pause in the fighting for at least six weeks.

Over the past week, US President Joe Biden has had multiple calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as leaders from Egypt and Qatar, to push this deal forward, she said.

“We believe this deal represents the best opportunity to reunite all hostages with their families and enable a prolonged pause in fighting, that would allow for more lifesaving food, water, fuel, medicine, and other essentials to get into the hands of Palestinian civilians who desperately need it,” the ambassador said.

“The resolution put forward in the Security Council, in contrast, would not achieve these outcomes, and indeed, may run counter to them…

Last Wednesday, Arab countries in the UN reaffirmed their support for the Algerian draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as well as unimpeded humanitarian relief amid Israel’s looming ground invasion of Rafah.

The Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour urged the UN to act and said the group believes there is “massive” support for the proposed resolution.

In her statement Saturday, Thomas-Greenfield called on the UN Security Council to instead ensure “any action we take in the coming days increases pressure on Hamas to accept the proposal on the table” and that the US would continue to engage in diplomacy, adding that the US “will be candid” with Israeli and regional leaders regarding expectations for the protection of Rafah’s more than one million civilians.

 A woman runs to the scene to see her relative after an Israeli attack in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on February 17.

At least 50 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on central and southern Gaza on Saturday, according to doctors at hospitals in the strip. The Israel Defense Forces said it struck a series of Hamas “command and control centers” in central Gaza.

These are the biggest headlines from the war on Saturday:

Palestinians residents examines the rubbles of destroyed buildings following Israeli attacks in Rafah, Gaza on February 16.

Two Israeli airstrikes on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza killed at least 13 Palestinians, Dr. Marwan Al-Homss, the general director of Abu Yousuf Al-Najjar Government Hospital, told CNN on Saturday.

According to Al-Homss, the first airstrike hit a location in northern Rafah, leading to the deaths of six members of a family, including women and children. A second strike in an open area where displaced residents had sought refuge killed at least seven people, including four children, a woman, a man and a teenager, according to Al-Homss.

Israel claims it is targeting Hamas in Rafah. On Saturday, Israel’s Coordinator for the Captives and the Missing Gal Hirsch told CNN the Israeli military is doing “everything we can to avoid possible damage.”

Looming Israeli ground offensive: Israel has been bombarding Rafah with airstrikes for weeks and says it is committed to a ground offensive in the city. The alternative “is to surrender to Hamas and to sacrifice 134 people,” military spokesperson Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told CNN Tuesday, referring to the Israelis held hostage in Gaza. “That is not an option from Israel’s perspective,” he said.

The United Nations aid chief has said an offensive in Rafah could lead to “a slaughter.” Palestinians there say they have nowhere to run. Some have tried to flee north to central Deir al-Balah, where doctors also reported deadly airstrikes Saturday.

Members of a family whose child was killed by an Israeli attack on Nuseirat camp mourn as the child's lifeless body is brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza on February 17.

At least 44 Palestinians were killed and dozens more were injured due to Israeli airstrikes on multiple neighborhoods in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza on Saturday, a doctor from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital told CNN on Saturday.

Doctors from Al-Aqsa and Al-Awda hospitals earlier told CNN at least 30 people had been killed.

Video obtained by CNN from Al-Aqsa shows injured children among those being rushed in for treatment, and dead bodies wrapped in cloth on the hospital floor, including a deceased baby.

The Israel Defense Forces said it struck a series of Hamas “operational command and control centers” in central Gaza Saturday. The IDF said its jets hit Hamas targets in the Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah neighborhoods.

The number of people killed in Gaza since October 7 has risen to 28,858, with 68,291 people injured, the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza said Saturday. Israel estimates about 10,000 Hamas militants have been killed since October 7.

CNN can’t independently verify the casualty figures in Gaza due to limited access to the area.

Palestinians walk next to damaged buildings in Gaza City, on February 11.

Qatar’s prime minister emphasized the urgent need to end the Israel-Hamas conflict and prevent escalation while speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. 

“Now we are focused on the priority of how to end this war and how to avoid further escalation,” Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said.

Al-Thani, who is also the foreign minister, said some countries believe “that in order to get a ceasefire, it’s conditional to have the hostage deal. It shouldn’t be conditioned.”

Recent talks in Cairo between Qatar, Egypt, Israel and the US have yet to result in a deal.

US President Joe Biden said Friday that he’s had “extensive conversations” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and he has relayed his position that there should be a temporary ceasefire to secure the release of hostages still held in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, on December 10, 2023.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that his forces have a “realistic” plan for their ground operations in the crowded southern Gaza city of Rafah, where he is facing growing international pressure to protect civilians.

Roughly 1.5 million Palestinians are seeking shelter in the southern Gaza city near the border with Egypt — many of them already displaced from elsewhere in the enclave. The United Nations aid chief has said an operation there could lead to “a slaughter.” Palestinians in the city say they have nowhere left to go.

“Our ability to enter Rafah has been proven as realistic,” Netanyahu said in a news conference Saturday, claiming there is room for the displaced to move north, but “we have to do it in an orderly way.”

He said he told US President Joe Biden this week that, “Israel is going to fight until we reach total victory, and that includes also ground offensive in Rafah — of course after we let citizens there to evacuate to other safe places.”

When Biden spoke with Netanyahu Thursday, he urged him not to proceed with operations without a “credible and executable plan for ensuring the safety of and support for the civilians,” according to the White House.

On hostage talks: Netanyahu also echoed the remarks of his hostage coordinator, who told CNN on Saturday that Hamas’ demands for a ceasefire and hostage release — such as stopping the war and releasing thousands of Palestinian prisoners — are “delusional.”

Pressure at home: The prime minister’s comments came as thousands took to the streets of Tel Aviv and Caesarea on Saturday, calling for the dismissal of Netanyahu and his government. The prime minister called for “unity,” saying, “The last thing we need now is a new election.”

The US says it made two successful strikes on Houthi rebel targets in the Red Sea out of self-defense on Friday.

The targets included one mobile anti-ship cruise missile and one mobile unmanned surface vessel belonging to the Iranian-backed group in Yemen, according to US Central Command. The US identified the missile as an “imminent threat” to US Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region.

Remember: The Houthis have frequently targeted shipping in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s war on Gaza. The rebels have maintained that attacks will continue until the “aggression stops” on Gaza.