Our live coverage of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza has moved here.
February 15, 2024 Israel-Hamas war
By Chris Lau, Sophie Tanno, Antoinette Radford and Maureen Chowdhury, CNN
Updated 3:02 a.m. ET, February 16, 2024
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Biden brought up the "situation in Rafah" and hostage talks with Netanyahu during a Thursday call
From CNN's Samantha Waldenberg
President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the “ongoing hostage negotiations” and the “situation in Rafah,” according to a White House readout released Thursday.
“The President also raised the situation in Rafah, and reiterated his view that a military operation should not proceed without a credible and executable plan for ensuring the safety of and support for the civilians in Rafah,” the readout said.
CNN previously reported that all eyes are on Rafah, where well over a million Palestinian refugees are taking shelter in a massive tent city.
Despite international pressure, Netanyahu has continued to convey that the Israel Defense Forces will move into the Rafah area at some point. Many fear that military action in the refugee tent city could spark the exodus, but also result in the deaths of thousands of civilians.
Biden also raised the “ongoing hostage negotiations” in his call with Netanyahu as well.
“The President and the Prime Minister discussed ongoing hostage negotiations,” the White House said. “The President reaffirmed his commitment to working tirelessly to support the release of all hostages as soon as possible, recognizing their appalling situation after 132 days in Hamas captivity.”
The two leaders spoke last on Sunday and, in that call, discussed a deal to secure the release of hostages in Gaza at length, according to a senior administration official.
Committee to Protect Journalists reports highest journalist death toll since 2015, largely due to war in Gaza
From CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali and Mitchell McCluskey
The conflict in Gaza fueled a surge in journalist and media worker deaths in 2023, according to a report released Thursday by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ.)
More than 75% of the 99 journalists and media workers who lost their lives across the globe died in the conflict. The overall death toll is the highest recorded by CPJ since 2015.
“The conflict claimed the lives of more journalists in three months than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year,” Kathy Jones, CPJ's deputy editorial director wrote in the report.
Jones explained that the investigation was difficult to conduct because people who could have provided more information about how their colleagues or loved ones died had also been killed or fled the territory.
“Many journalist victims’ families were killed along with them in Gaza, their colleagues died or fled, and Israeli military authorities adamantly deny targeting journalists or provide only scant information when they acknowledge press killings,” Jones writes.
Almost all of the journalists killed in the war were Palestinian, according to the report, and Jones says CPJ "raised concerns about the deliberate targeting of members of the media by the Israeli military." CPJ classifies such killings as "murder," the report said.
Videos analyzed by CNN show journalists were wearing body armor clearly labeled as “press” when Israeli forces struck Lebanon in October.
Jones said the committee looked into evidence that suggests the Israel Defense Forces targeted around a dozen other journalists for their work.
In response to the CPJ report, the IDF said they have made efforts to mitigate harm to journalists.
“The IDF takes all operationally feasible measures to mitigate harm to civilians including journalists. The IDF has never, and will never, deliberately target journalists,” the military said in a statement.
Israeli airstrike on refugee camp in Gaza kills at least a dozen people. Here are the latest headlines
From CNN staff
An Israeli airstrike on Nuseirat refugee camp, located in central Gaza, left at least 12 people dead on Thursday, according to a spokesperson for Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Ten of those killed were women and children, the spokesperson and a doctor at the hospital said. The other two casualties were elderly men, they said. CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on the alleged airstrike.
Meanwhile, Egypt is building a massive, miles-wide, buffer zone and wall along its border with Gaza, new satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies shows. The images, taken in the last five days, shows a significant section of Egyptian territory between a roadway and the Gaza border has been bulldozed.
Here are the latest developments:
- UN chief condemns IDF raid of Khan Younis hospital: António Guterres, United Nations secretary-general, has condemned the Israeli military raid on a Khan Younis hospital, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) raided Nasser Hospital in Gaza on Thursday and said it detained several suspects.
- Two American teenagers "reportedly were killed" in West Bank: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered his “deepest condolences” Thursday on two American teenagers “who reportedly were killed” in the West Bank and said there must be an investigation into their deaths. CNN previously reported that two 17-year-old Palestinian Americans had been reportedly killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces in less than a month.
- Lebanon strikes: Israel says it killed a senior Hezbollah commander and a number of operatives in an airstrike in Lebanon late on Wednesday. Hezbollah said Thursday that a number of its fighters had been killed, but did not specify how, where and when they were killed. Israel has continued its strikes in Lebanon throughout Thursday on what it called "Hezbollah terror targets."
- Panic in Rafah: Rajaa Musleh, the Gaza representative for the non-profit organization MedGlobal, currently based in Rafah, said health workers who are still alive “may still be breathing, but we are dying inside.” The city is the last remaining refuge in Gaza for displaced Palestinians, and panic is soaring as many decide whether to stay or leave ahead of a planned Israeli offensive.
- Yemen strikes: The United States conducted four “self-defense strikes” on several targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, including on missiles prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea, according to a statement from US Central Command. An explosion was reported near a ship off the Yemen coast on Thursday afternoon, though the nationality the ship's nationality is unclear.
- Politicians reject Palestinian state: A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office and other Israeli politicians have publicly rejected a purported plan to provide a pathway for a Palestinian state, taking to social media to argue against a two-state solution.
Egypt is building a new, miles-wide walled buffer zone on the Gaza border, satellite images show
From CNN's Paul P. Murphy
Egypt is building a massive, miles-wide, buffer zone and wall along its border with Gaza, new satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies shows.
The images, taken in the last five days, shows a significant section of Egyptian territory between a roadway and the Gaza border has been bulldozed.
When the buffer zone is completed — it stretches from the end of the Gaza border to the Mediterranean Sea — it will completely engulf the Egyptian-Rafah border crossing complex. At the actual border, multiple cranes were seen laying sections of wall.
Additional satellite imagery reviewed by CNN shows that bulldozers arrived on site on February 3, and that the initial excavation of the buffer zone began on February 6. There has been a significant uptick in excavation in the last five days.
Videos released by the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights show construction of the border wall, which they claim is 5 meters (16 feet) high. The organization – which describes itself as a non-governmental human rights group made of activists, researchers and journalists – said two local contractors told them the border wall was commissioned by the Egyptian armed forces. CNN has reached out to the Egyptian government for comment on the buffer zone and wall construction.
The construction comes as fears that the already horrific humanitarian situation in Gaza will worsen, causing thousands of deaths and an mass exodus of Palestinians over Egypt's border.
All eyes are on Rafah, situated along the new buffer zone, where well over a million Palestinian refugees are taking shelter in a massive tent city. Despite international pressure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has continued to convey that the Israel Defense Forces will move into the Rafah area at some point. Many fear that military action in the refugee tent city could spark the exodus, but also result in the deaths of thousands of civilians.
It also comes as Netanyahu continues to rail against Egypt for not closing the Philadelphi Corridor — the strip of land between Egypt and Gaza and the Strip's only non-Israeli controlled border. In a press briefing on January 13, Netanyahu said that Israel would not consider the war over until it was closed.
UN secretary-general condemns IDF raid of Khan Younis hospital
From CNN’s Richard Roth
António Guterres, United Nations secretary-general, has condemned the Israeli military raid on a Khan Younis hospital, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday.
"We reiterate once again that hospitals must be kept free of combat, must not be subject to any sort of military action, any type of military action on a hospital must be condemned," Dujarric said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) raided Nasser Hospital in Gaza on Thursday and said it detained several suspects.
At least 12 dead after Israeli airstrike on Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza, Palestinian health officials say
From CNN’s Mohammad Al Sawalhi, Abeer Salman, Sana Noor Haq and Radina Gigova
At least 12 people died following an Israeli airstrike on Nuseirat refugee camp, located in central Gaza, on Thursday, according to a spokesperson for Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Ten of those killed were women and children, the spokesperson and a doctor at the hospital said. The other two casualties were elderly men, they said. CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on the alleged airstrike.
CNN video from Al Aqsa hospital shows the deceased being brought from the camp to the facility in Deir Al-Balah. The bodies of small children shrouded in blankets were carried on stretchers, the video shows.
Members of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) are seen treating shell-shocked survivors, who were covered in dust and blood as their loved ones tried to comfort them.
"We heard an airstrike and then a big explosion," said Mohammad Badawya, an ambulance driver. "We headed to the area and pulled out a number of martyrs and tens of injuries. Now we are looking for those who are missing under the rubble with the minimum tools that we have."
In another CNN video showing the aftermath of the attack, dozens of Palestinian men and young boys could be seen standing in a landscape of crushed buildings. Civilians carried the injured while clambering over sheets of fallen concrete, upturned vehicles and barbed wire.
Thursday's attack came after a separate strike in Nuseirat on Wednesday evening, which killed at least 16 people and injured tens of others.
UK is "deeply concerned" about loss of life in Gaza, prime minister tells Netanyahu
From CNN's Max Foster and Radina Gigova in London
United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and said his country is "deeply concerned" about the loss of civilian life in Gaza, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.
Sunak also expressed the UK's concern on the "potentially devastating humanitarian impact" of an Israeli military operation in Rafah, the spokesperson said.
Sunak "reiterated that the immediate priority must be negotiating a humanitarian pause to allow the safe release of hostages and to facilitate considerably more aid going to Gaza, leading to a longer-term sustainable ceasefire," the Downing Street spokesperson added.
The prime minister urged Israel to open "the Kerem Shalom crossing and allow the maritime delivery of international aid through Ashdod port," the spokesperson said.
Additionally, Sunak stressed the need for Israel to abide by International Humanitarian Law and protecting civilian infrastructure like hospitals and shelters," the spokesperson said.
Blinken offers condolences on reported killings of two American teenagers in West Bank, calls for investigation
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered his “deepest condolences” Thursday on two American teenagers “who reportedly were killed” in the West Bank and said that there must be an investigation into their deaths.
CNN previously reported that two 17-year-old Palestinian Americans had been reportedly killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces in less than a month.
We've made clear that with regard to the incidents you've alluded to, there needs to be an investigation. We need to get the facts. And if appropriate, there needs to be accountability,” Blinken said at a press conference in Albania in response to a question from CNN’s Alex Marquardt.
In addition, an American woman was taken from her home in the West Bank and detained more than a week ago by Israeli forces. Her family alleges that she was beaten and denied medication in custody. A spokesperson for the Israel Prison Service told CNN that she was “being held in accordance with the law” and had been “given medical treatment for medical problems that arose even before her arrest.”
Two other Americans were detained by Israeli forces during a raid of a home in Gaza last week, according to a family member in the US.
“With regard to detainees, there is a limit to what I can say because of the privacy laws and the requirements that flow from that,” Blinken said.
“I can just say in general, without reference to specific cases, we insist that people be treated fairly, that they be treated with due process, and that they be treated humanely,” he said. “That's something that, regardless of where an American citizen might be detained, we insist on. And we'll continue to insist on.”
Some background: The US State Department said Tuesday that an American died in the West Bank on Saturday, but did not provide a name or the circumstances of their death. The group “Defense for Children – Palestine” said the American was 17-year-old Mohammad Ahmed Mohammad Khdour. The organization said he was shot in the head by Israeli forces on Saturday while traveling by car in the town of Biddu in the West Bank.
Last month, another American, 17-year-old Tawfic Abdel Jabbar was fatally shot in the head and the chest, his father told CNN. The IDF and Israeli police told CNN at the time it received a report that an off-duty police officer and an Israeli civilian fired toward a “Palestinian individual suspected of hurling rocks in the area of Al-Mazra'a ash-Sharqiya.”
His father, Hafiz Abdel Jabbar, pushed back on Israeli claims in an interview with CNN, saying there was no way his son could have thrown rocks at them from where he was. Abdel Jabbar added that he had video evidence of the incident, which he has sent to the United States Consulate and some senators, saying that finding answers about his son’s death has not been easy so far.