May 7, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Smoke rises after an Israeli strike during a ground and air operation in the eastern part of Rafah, Gaza, on May 7.

International pressure is growing against Israel, as the country’s forces seized the Palestinian side of a crossing in Rafah and refused to rule out a full-scale invasion of the south Gaza city.

The Biden administration’s longtime support for Israel has come under scrutiny as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza grows, with senior US officials increasingly expressing concern about a potential full-scale military operation in Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have been sheltering.

CIA Director Bill Burns is returning to Cairo on Tuesday for more talks, a source familiar with the meetings told CNN, as the US and other mediators look to bring about a ceasefire-for-hostages deal.

The World Health Organization’s regional director, Hanan Balkhy, warned of the consequences of the Israeli military operation, writing on X that it put the lives of 1.5 million people “in grave danger.” She added that humanitarian groups were “committed to staying and delivering” aid and called for the Rafah border crossing to be “urgently reopened.”

Earlier, UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said the crossing closure could bring humanitarian efforts across the Gaza Strip to a standstill. Egypt’s foreign ministry condemned Israel for taking control of the Palestinian side of the key crossing, calling the move a “dangerous escalation.”

UN chief Antonio Guterres has called on Israel and Hamas to reach a deal to end the bloodshed, while the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell reiterated calls on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to attack Rafah.

Rafah residents were informed via airdropped leaflets over the past 48 hours to head for Israeli-designated “expanded humanitarian areas.” Aid groups have previously said that one of them — Al-Mawasi, a coastal town near Khan Younis — is not appropriate for habitation.

President Joe Biden speaks at the US Capitol on Tuesday, May 7.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday repeatedly drew parallels between the Holocaust and the October 7 attack on Israel in a somber yet impassioned speech at the US Capitol.

Biden condemned antisemitism, both in the US and around the world, saying the “ancient hatred of Jews” didn’t begin – or end – with Nazi Germany’s horrific campaign eight decades ago.

“This hatred continues to lie deep in the hearts of too many people in the world and requires our continued vigilance and outspokenness,” Biden said.

He pointed to what he described as a “ferocious surge” of antisemitism in the US after the October 7 attacks, condemning hate speech and threats against Jews in recent months.

“We have to remember, our basic principles as a nation: we have an obligation – to learn the lessons of history, so we don’t surrender our future to the horrors of the past,” he said, reaffirming the right of free speech as he roundly condemned antisemitism, hate speech, and threats of violence “against Jews or anyone else.”

The president called for Americans to forcefully address and stand against antisemitism and all forms of hate.

“’Never again,’ simply translated for me means, never forget. Never forgetting means we must keep telling the story, we must keep teaching the truth, we must keep teaching our children and our grandchildren. The truth is, we’re at risk of people not knowing the truth,” Biden said.

US President Joe Biden delivers a speech on antisemitism at the US Capitol on May 7.

President Joe Biden pointed to a “ferocious surge” in antisemitism in the United States since the October 7 attack on Israel while offering a sweeping call for a return to the nation’s values.

“Too many people denying, downplaying, rationalizing and ignoring the horrors of the Holocaust and October 7 - including Hamas’ appalling use of sexual violence to torture and terrorize. It’s absolutely despicable - and it must stop,” the president said while raising his voice.

He added: “We have to remember our basic principles as a nation: we have an obligation to learn the lessons of history, so we don’t surrender our future to the horror of the past.”

US President Joe Biden delivers a speech on antisemitism at the US Capitol on May 7.

President Joe Biden addressed the protests that have been roiling college campuses in recent weeks in response to Israel’s war in Gaza while speaking on antisemitism on Tuesday.

“I understand people have strong beliefs and deep convictions about the world,” Biden said, adding that he respects the fundamental right to free speech and debate.

“That’s America,” he said. “But there’s no place on any campus in America … for antisemitism or hate speech or threats of violence of any kind.”

Biden added: “It’s not peaceful protest. It’s against the law. And we are not a lawless country.”

The president added: “We must give hate no safe harbor against anyone.”

US President Joe Biden delivers a speech on antisemitism at the US Capitol on May 7.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday drew connections between the Holocaust and the October 7 attack on Israel.

While delivering a speech on antisemitism at the US Capitol on Tuesday, the president said he fears “people are forgetting” – despite the phrase “never forget” becoming one of the lasting legacies of the the Holocaust.

“They’re already forgetting that Hamas unleashed this terror,” he said.

Biden added: “I have not forgotten, nor have you, and we will not forget.”

US President Joe Biden delivers remarks on antisemitism at the US Capitol on May 7.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday opened his speech on antisemitism at the US Capitol honoring the victims of the Holocaust - and warning that the memories of that genocide might be sliding from the public’s perception

“The truth is we’re at risk of people not knowing the truth,” Biden said at the US Capitol, speaking at the US Holocaust Museum’s Days of Remembrance ceremony.

Biden added: “We honor the memory of victims [and] the pain of survivors.”

Biden said that he believes the phrase “never again” means “never forget.”

President Joe Biden attends a rally in Union Station, Washington D.C., on April 9.

President Joe Biden will deliver a speech on antisemitism from the US Capitol on Tuesday, delivering a keynote address at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s annual Days of Remembrance Ceremony.

Biden is expected to speak about the October 7 attack on Israel as well as the subsequent rise in antisemitism across the country, CNN’s MJ Lee and Betsy Klein reported.

The White House said Biden also plans to honor the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust and “recommit to heeding the lessons of this dark chapter: Never again.”

Students of the Complutense University of Madrid place a Palestinian flag beside a tent after setting up a pro-Palestinian encampment in Madrid, Spain, on May 7.

Students in the Spanish capital set up a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at the Complutense University of Madrid on Tuesday. 

Like many of their counterparts around the world, the several dozen students are asking the university to divest from Israel-linked businesses and entities, as well as requesting the Spanish government cut diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel, according to a CNN en Español team on the ground.

About 60 to 70 students are protesting peacefully in the encampment. The students said they plan to camp through the weekend, when they will participate in a planned rally in Madrid.

Encampment protests over the war have spread across US universities and colleges. Many of those student protesters are also calling on their universities to divest — or end investments and business partnerships — with Israel-linked institutions and businesses.

Palestinians fleeing eastern Rafah described to CNN how they “fled from death” after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Monday ordered residents to evacuate.

One man, Rabee Gharableh, told CNN that it was his family’s seventh time being displaced.

Another woman, who did not share her name, said she “fled from death” with her children. She said her family has been displaced over 10 times since the war broke out and had “endured much suffering and humiliation.”

Wael Nabhan, another man who arrived in Deir el Balah from Rafah on Tuesday, told CNN that his family has also been displaced several times, and have been forced to eat animal food and walk on streets littered with dead bodies. He said they had “endured oppression that no one should ever experience.”

Meanwhile, in Rafah, several people told CNN that they don’t know where to go. One man, Odeh Asaliyeh, said “death is more dignified than this,” and said he “prays to get hit and find rest from all of this.”

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at U.N. headquarters in New York City, on February 8.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement that would “stop the unbearable suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and of the hostages and their families.”

He told reporters at the UN Security Council on Tuesday that a ceasefire and hostage deal is needed now, and that Israel must stop any escalation in Rafah.

Guterres urged both Israel and Hamas to “spare no effort to secure an agreement now” in an attempt to “stop the bloodshed.”

Some background: Hamas accepted a ceasefire proposal Monday evening, but Israel said the terms of the deal remained “far from” meeting its demands and warned its military operations in Rafah would continue.

Guterres said he was “disturbed and distressed” by Israel’s renewed military activity in Rafah, and called for both the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings to be reopened to allow aid to enter Gaza.

CIA director William Burns attends a hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill, Washington D.C, on March 11.

CIA Director Bill Burns will return to Cairo on Tuesday for more talks, a source familiar with the meetings told CNN, as the US and other mediators look to revive an effort to bring about a ceasefire-for-hostages deal.

The main negotiations in Cairo are at the working level and Burns is not expected to join those, but he will meet the various delegations. Both Israel and Qatar has said they would be sending teams.

A Qatari foreign ministry spokesman described the latest round of talks in Cairo as “indirect negotiations between the two parties,” since Israel isn’t expected to meet with Hamas officials.

Burns returned to Cairo late last week before moving to Doha over the weekend for further talks on the potential ceasefire deal in Gaza. In Doha, he helped rework the framework with the Qataris that was then presented to Hamas that the group responded to on Monday.

Israel said the terms of that proposal were “far from” meeting its demands, and warned that it would press ahead with a military operation in Gaza.

Displaced Palestinians travel on a cart in Rafah, on May 7.

Hamas on Tuesday said Israel’s entrance into Rafah on Monday night constituted a “humanitarian catastrophe,” posing “a direct threat to more than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians.”

The militant group said in a statement that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “launched a ground aggression” in Rafah, where Israeli troops took control of the Palestinian side of the border crossing with Egypt.

In a separate statement, Gaza’s Ministry of Interior and National Security warned that “closing the Rafah crossing in the context of the catastrophic conditions in the Gaza Strip exacerbates the humanitarian crisis and completely isolates the Strip from the outside world. It represents a policy of collective punishment against more than 2 million people”.

The ministry described the crossing as “a main lifeline for citizens in the Gaza strip” which “does not represent any threat to the Israeli occupation.”

The IDF said in a statement Tuesday its ground troops “began a precise counterterrorism operation” within “specific areas of eastern Rafah,” based on intelligence and aimed at dismantling Hamas infrastructure.

The key crossing at Rafah is Gaza’s only border facility not previously controlled by Israel, and has allowed limited humanitarian aid to enter the enclave in recent months.

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday aims to issue a clarion call to fight a swiftly rising tide of antisemitism at a precarious moment in Israel’s war against Hamas and as protests have swept American college campuses, laying bare Biden’s trouble with some young voters.

Biden’s longtime and stalwart support for Israel has come under intense pressure as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza grows. More than 34,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7 despite the president’s efforts to convince Israel to strike a balance between defending itself and preventing the deaths of Palestinian civilians. While ceasefire talks are ongoing, there is now the looming threat of a full-scale Israeli military invasion into the Gazan city of Rafah where many civilians have taken refuge.

Biden will deliver a keynote address Tuesday at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s annual Days of Remembrance ceremony at the US Capitol, remarks the White House says will honor the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust and “recommit to heeding the lessons of this dark chapter: Never again.”

Biden is expected to “speak to the horrors of October 7,” as well as the subsequent “alarming rise in antisemitism” in the US, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

The president spoke out forcefully against intensifying antisemitism and Islamophobia in the days after Hamas’ attacks on Israel, saying in an October 19 Oval Office address that Americans “can’t stand by and stand silent.” Yet in the seven months since the war began, Islamophobic and antisemitic incidents have significantly increased.

Full story:

Relatives mourn over the bodies of family members killed in an Israeli airstrike, at Al Merouani Field Hospital in Rafah, on May 7.

Twenty-three people were killed, including six children, in Israeli airstrikes on Rafah overnight, medical officials at hospitals in Rafah said in an updated statement on Tuesday.

The Palestinian Civil Defense earlier said its teams had recovered bodies from several homes struck by Israeli aircraft in Rafah.

Israel has vowed to “exert military pressure on Hamas” in Rafah, and took control of the city’s border crossing with Egypt, after earlier saying the ceasefire terms the Palestinian militant group responded to Monday were “far from” meeting its demands.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces regarding the overnight strikes. The IDF said Monday it is “currently conducting targeted strikes against Hamas terror targets in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.”

Israel has ordered the forced evacuation of people in eastern Rafah as it continues to threaten a full-scale invasion of the city, despite growing international pressure to hold off.

Two Israeli flags mounted outside the main building of the Rafah crossing in Gaza on May 7.

Egypt’s foreign ministry condemned Israel on Tuesday for taking control of the Palestinian side of the key Rafah border crossing, calling the move a “dangerous escalation.”

The ministry said it threatened “the lives of more than a million Palestinians who depend primarily on this crossing as the main lifeline of the Gaza Strip.”

Israel’s military confirmed earlier that it had taken control of the Palestinian side of the crossing between Gaza and Egypt, a crucial entry point for humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave. 

The facility is the only Gaza border crossing not controlled by Israel, and has served as the entry point for much of the limited humanitarian aid that has entered Gaza.

Egypt called on the Israeli side to exercise “the utmost levels of restraint” and “stay away” from policies that would threaten a potential truce.

Egypt is working with Qatar as mediators in talks for a ceasefire-for-hostages deal.

Relatives and supporters of hostages taken captive by Hamas militants during the October 7 attacks, hold placards during a demonstration calling for their release, in Tel Aviv, on May 6.

Long-running diplomatic talks aimed at deescalating the war appeared to be on the cusp of producing a ceasefire agreement in recent days, before stalling at a familiar place of disappointment.

Hamas said in a Monday statement that it had told the Qatari prime minister and Egyptian intelligence minister that it had accepted their proposals for a ceasefire-for-hostages deal.

But Israel said the terms of a ceasefire proposal were “far from” meeting its demands, and warned that it would press ahead with a military operation in Rafah. Nonetheless, it sent negotiators to talk to mediators.

Here’s what we know and where we stand.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, rings a bell to signify the start of a meeting of EU foreign and development ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Belgium, on May 7, to discuss the humanitarian aspects and reconstruction in Gaza.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, added his voice to mounting criticism against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday for ignoring international demands against an attack on Rafah, which has become a new focal point in the seven-month war.  

Despite Hamas agreeing to a draft ceasefire deal, Netanyahu has vowed to go ahead with an attack on the city. Israeli forces have taken control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, a vital entry point for aid to Gaza on the Egyptian border.

The move is short of Netanyahu’s threatened full-scale operation on Rafah, but Borrell described it as a land offensive.

“The land offensive against Rafah has started again, in spite of all of the requests of the international community — the US, the European Union member states — everybody asking Netanyahu not to attack Rafah,” the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said in a briefing Tuesday. 

“In spite of these warnings and these requests, the attack started yesterday night. I am afraid that this is going to cause again a lot of casualties, civilian casualties, whatever they say. There are 600,000 children in Gaza. They will be pushed to so-called ‘safety zones’ — there are no safe zones in Gaza.” 

Earlier on Tuesday, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) operations in Gaza, Suze van Meegen, made similar remarks, telling CNN: “Not only is there nowhere safe to go, for many people there’s also no way to get there.”

Borrell also described the lack of agreement on a ceasefire as “sad news,” adding: “Hamas accepted, Israel rejected.” 

Israeli military vehicles operate in the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing in this image released on May 7.

Israel’s military on Tuesday said it had seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, a vital entry point for aid to Gaza on the Egyptian border.

A Palestinian official said all movement had stopped at the facility in southern Gaza after it was captured by Israeli tanks.

Here’s what to know about the crossing:

An aerial view shows a line of trucks queuing on a road along Egypt's border with Israel, near the Rafah crossing with Gaza, on May 2.

Humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza may be brought to a standstill by Israeli troops’ seizure of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing, a UN agency warned on Tuesday.

The “catastrophic hunger faced by people especially in northern Gaza will get much worse if these supply routes are interrupted,” UNRWA added.

Israel’s military said it has taken control of the Palestinian side of the crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which is a crucial entry point for humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave. A Palestinian official said all movement had stopped at the facility after it was captured by Israeli tanks.

CNN has reached out to Israel’s military and officials for comment on any plans to facilitate aid deliveries to Gaza.

Palestinians inspect the area after an Israeli strike on a residential building in Rafah, Gaza, on May 7.

A limited Israeli operation into Rafah is intended to keep pressure on Hamas to agree to a deal that would bring about a ceasefire and a hostage release, a source familiar with Israeli plans told CNN.

Israel informed the US of the plans to evacuate the area in eastern Rafah and conduct the operation before the call Monday between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the source said.

The source described the operation as “very limited” and said it is not the larger incursion into Rafah that Israel has been publicly messaging for weeks.

Some context: Israeli airstrikes killed multiple people in Rafah early Tuesday, Palestinian officials said, after Israel reiterated its commitment to an offensive in southern Gaza, saying ceasefire terms responded to by Hamas were “far from” meeting its demands. Israel will send a delegation for further talks, which Qatar said would resume Tuesday. 

A photo from social media shows two Israeli flags mounted outside the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing’s main building, on May 7.

Israel’s military has seized control of the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing, an Israeli military official said Tuesday.

The facility is the sole crossing between Gaza and Egypt and a crucial entry point for humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Military operations at the crossing are ongoing, the official added.

The official refused to say how long Israeli troops would control the crossing,

Video from the Israel Defense Forces showed Israeli flags raised on the Palestinian side of the crossing.

Earlier, a Palestinian official told CNN all movement on the crossing had stopped after Israeli tanks captured the facility on the Palestinian side.

This post has been updated with additional information.

Palestinians injured after an Israeli airstrike wait for medical treatment in Rafah, Gaza on May 7.

Palestinians awoke to the sound of Israeli airstrikes in Rafah on Tuesday, with hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the southern Gaza city at a loss for where to go next, an aid worker said.

Speaking to CNN from Rafah, Suze van Meegen, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) operations in Gaza, said she saw thousands of people fleeing the airstrikes and the “increasing sound of artillery southeast as well, which is very close to the Rafah crossing.”

More than 1 million Palestinians have fled to Rafah during seven months of war; many of them have described their fear and despair after Israel’s military told them to evacuate eastern parts of the city on Monday.

Israel’s deadly strikes early Tuesday came after Israeli officials said ceasefire terms that Hamas responded to Monday were “far from” meeting its demands.

Confusion over a purported ceasefire deal had initially sparked “huge celebrations on the streets” of Rafah before the Israeli bombing resumed, Van Meegen said.

A man mourns by the shrouded body of a Palestinian child killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, on May 7.

Israeli airstrikes on Rafah overnight killed 15 people, including a child, according to hospital officials in southern Gaza on Tuesday.

The reports from medical officials at the Abu Yousef Al Najjar and Al Kuwaiti hospitals come after the Palestinian Civil Defense earlier said its teams had recovered bodies from several homes struck by Israeli aircraft in Rafah.

Israel has vowed to “exert military pressure on Hamas” in Rafah after saying the ceasefire terms the Palestinian militant group responded to Monday were “far from” meeting its demands.

All movement on the Rafah crossing has stopped after Israeli tanks captured the facility on the Palestinian side, a Palestinian official told CNN on Tuesday.

The facility is the sole crossing between Gaza and Egypt and a crucial entry point for humanitarian aid.

“Passenger movement and entry of aid to the Gaza Strip has completely ceased,” said Wael Abu Omar, a spokesperson for the General Authority of Border and Crossing.

Crossings stopped “after Israeli tanks captured the crossing facilities from the Palestinian side,” he said, adding the facility had been under fire since Monday afternoon.

Images spreading on social media show Israeli flags and a video of a tank at the crossing. 

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for a response, and an announcement is expected soon. 

Palestinians flee from Rafah, Gaza, on May 6.

Palestinian civilians told to evacuate eastern Rafah by the Israeli military have described their fear and despair at being uprooted from their homes and shelters, as Israel airstrikes hit Gaza’s southernmost city.

Ghanem and his wife were pushing strollers piled high with belongings. “We no longer have a home. We are heading to Mawasi because there is no safety with the Israelis. They are killing women and children,” he said.

Another woman from eastern Rafah said, “The Israelis sent us messages ordering us to leave. We cannot stay.”

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli military called on an estimated 100,000 Palestinians living in parts of eastern Rafah to “evacuate immediately,” telling them to move to Al-Mawasi, a coastal town near the city of Khan Younis that aid groups say is not appropriate for habitation.

In a statement, the office of Israel’s prime minister said the country’s war cabinet had “unanimously decided” to continue with the Rafah operation “to exert military pressure on Hamas.”

Read the full story.

People inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah on Tuesday, May 7.

Israeli airstrikes killed multiple people in Rafah early Tuesday, Palestinian officials said, after Israel reiterated its commitment to an offensive in southern Gaza.

Israel has vowed to “exert military pressure on Hamas” in Rafah after saying the ceasefire terms the Palestinian militant group responded to Monday were “far from” meeting its demands.

International leaders, including the United Nations chief, have urged Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire deal as tensions escalate on the ground after the Israeli military called on Palestinians in eastern Rafah to “evacuate immediately.”

Here’s what to know:

US President Joe Biden and King Abdullah II of Jordan “discussed the latest developments in Gaza and affirmed their commitment to work together towards an enduring end to the crisis” during their lunch at the White House Monday, the White House said.

Both Biden and Abdullah “reiterated their shared commitment to facilitating the increased, sustained delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” the White House said. Biden also thanked the king for his “critical leadership and partnership in this effort.”

Abdullah warned Biden in their meeting that an Israeli attack on Rafah, where about 1.4 million Palestinians are internally displaced “threatens to lead to a new massacre,” according to a post on X from Jordan’s Royal Hashemite Court.

Civil defense teams transport several injured people following Israeli attacks in Rafah, southern Gaza.

Israeli airstrikes killed a number of Palestinians and injured others early Tuesday, Palestinian officials said.

Eight Palestinians were killed in two attacks on Rafah, although the exact timeframe remains unclear, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Rafah’s Kuwait hospital said it received 11 dead, according to a post on its Facebook account in the early hours of Tuesday.

The reports come after Israel reiterated its commitment to an offensive in southern Gaza, saying ceasefire terms accepted by Hamas were “far from” meeting its demands.

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

An Israeli ground invasion of Rafah would be “intolerable,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday.

Guterres said he had made a “very strong appeal” to both the Israeli government and the leadership of Hamas to “go an extra mile” to reach a ceasefire agreement.

“This is an opportunity that cannot be missed,” he added.

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike east of Rafah, on May 6.

Israel said the terms of a ceasefire proposal Hamas accepted on Monday remained “far from” meeting its demands and warned its military operations in Rafah would continue, even as it sent negotiators to talk to mediators.

In a statement Monday, Hamas said the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, told the Qatari prime minister and Egyptian intelligence minister that the militant group had accepted their proposals for a ceasefire and hostage deal.

Palestinians celebrated that statement in the streets of Gaza, while in Tel Aviv, hostage families and their supporters implored Israel’s leaders to accept the deal.

Later on Monday evening, the Israel Defense Forces said it was “conducting targeted strikes against Hamas terror targets in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.” Video and images obtained by CNN showed multiple explosions in the Rafah area on Monday night.

CNN political and global affairs analyst Barak Ravid said Israeli forces were going to take over the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing in the next few hours, citing two sources with direct knowledge.

The news comes just hours after Israel ordered Palestinians living in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, to “evacuate immediately.”

The order raised fears that Israel’s long-threatened assault on the city could be imminent. More than 1 million Palestinians have fled to Rafah, where Hamas is believed to have regrouped after Israel’s destruction of much of the north of Gaza.

Read the full story.

Sounds of apparent gunfire at the Rafah border crossing were heard from the Egyptian side early Tuesday, in footage from Egyptian state broadcaster Al Qahera News.

The looped footage appears to show a checkpoint with no people in the frame. The apparent gunshots were heard around 1:33 a.m. local time, according to the state broadcaster.

It is not immediately clear if this is the start of ground operations in Rafah.

CNN cannot independently verify the footage.

Some context: Located in Egypt’s north Sinai, the Rafah crossing is the sole border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. It falls along an 8-mile (12.8-kilometer) fence that separates Gaza from the Sinai desert.

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03:01 - Source: cnn

A view of lighting flare fired by the Israeli army in Rafah, Gaza on May 6.

Video and images obtained by CNN showed multiple explosions in the Rafah area of southern Gaza on Monday night.

Local social media accounts reported the explosions were to the east of Rafah, an area where the Israel Defense Forces had ordered an evacuation of civilians earlier Monday.

The United States is closely monitoring reports of the explosions and has “real concerns” about the situation that is unfolding, but does not believe this is the beginning of a major Israel military operation into southern Gaza, US officials told CNN. 

The Biden administration remains opposed to Israel going into Rafah, as White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters repeatedly on Monday. And while the current situation is concerning, these US officials stressed that for now, they believe the reports of strikes in Rafah are limited in scope. 

Indirect ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas will continue on Tuesday, with a Qatari delegation heading to Cairo, according to the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Spokesperson Dr. Majed bin Mohammed Al-Ansari said in a statement early Tuesday that the continued negotiations come after Hamas sent a response about a possible proposal, which “can be described as positive.”

Al-Ansari expressed Qatar’s “hope that the talks will culminate in reaching an agreement for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the exchange of prisoners and detainees, and the sustainable flow of humanitarian aid into all areas of the Strip.”

There have been international calls for an agreement to be reached on a ceasefire and hostage release deal. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday called on the Israeli government and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire deal after Hamas said it accepted a deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar.

The Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi also expressed his hope for a deal to be met on X.

Some context: Hamas has said it responded to a deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar, but a senior Israeli and a US official said Hamas’ response was to a different proposal than one Israel helped craft.

Israel said the proposal Hamas accepted was far from the “necessary requirements,” while Hamas has said it would not back down from its demands in the proposal it agreed to.

Israeli forces will take over the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing in the next few hours, according to CNN political and global affairs analyst Barak Ravid, citing two sources with direct knowledge.

Earlier, the Israeli military called on Palestinians living in parts of eastern Rafah to “evacuate immediately.”

More than 1 million Palestinians have fled to the southern city during seven months of war.

Israel’s demand for Palestinians to relocate from Rafah in southern Gaza is inhumane and a violation of international law, United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk said in a statement Monday.

Türk criticized Israel for “forcibly relocating” hundreds of thousands of people to areas already heavily destroyed and where there is little shelter and virtually no access to humanitarian assistance necessary for their survival.” There is nowhere safe outside of Rafah, he said.

Those who don’t comply with international human rights laws must be held accountable, he added.