April 11, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

Israel is preparing for "scenarios" in locations other than Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned during a visit to an Israeli airbase on Thursday. 

Tensions have been mounting throughout the Middle East following warnings from US officials that Iran could carry out an imminent attack on US or Israeli assets in the region. Iran has blamed Israel for a recent attack on its consulate in Syria which killed commanders from its elite Revolutionary Guard Corps. 

Speaking to Israeli air force personnel at the Tel Nof Air Base, south of Tel Aviv, the prime minister said Israel had developed a strategy in the face of potential attacks. "We have determined a simple rule: Whoever harms us, we will harm them. We are prepared to meet all of the security needs of the State of Israel, both defensively and offensively," Netanyahu explained. 

While at the base, the Israeli leader also received an update on Israel's activity during the war in Gaza from the deputy base commander and squadron commander, according to his office. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are constructing a new land crossing from Israel to northern Gaza, according to a statement released Thursday.

The Israeli military said the new northern crossing will “enable more aid to flow directly to civilians in the areas that have been challenging for trucks to access.״ 

The United Nations and other humanitarian agencies have reported a catastrophic humanitarian situation in northern Gaza, where the threat of famine is imminent due to a lack of aid deliveries.

The report of a new crossing comes as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said late Wednesday that Israel was planning to “flood Gaza with aid,” amid intensifying pressure from the United States to urgently increase humanitarian assistance to the Gaza strip. 

COGAT, the Israeli agency that coordinates the inspection and delivery of humanitarian assistance for Gaza, said the daily number of trucks entering Gaza has doubled from last week’s numbers, but UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian affairs which tracks the flow of aid into Gaza, has not reported a similar increase.

A UNICEF worker whose aid convoy came under fire on Wednesday while waiting to enter northern Gaza told CNN the attack shows "how dangerous" it is for aid agencies to operate in the enclave right now. 

Tess Ingram who is a spokesperson for UNICEF said the convoy was waiting in a holding area before the checkpoint into northern Gaza when gunfire "broke out in the vicinity." 

Ingram said shots were then fired from the direction of the crossing "towards civilians who then ran in the other direction." The car Ingram was traveling in was caught in the line of fire and hit by three bullets, she recounted to CNN's Max Foster. 

CNN has reached out to the IDF about the incident but has not yet received a reply. 

The convoy was a joint mission between UNICEF and fellow UN agency, UNRWA tasked with delivering fuel, nutrition and medical supplies to northern Gaza, according to Ingram. 

"This incident is just another example of how dangerous it is for us and for the people that we're trying to serve in Gaza," she added. 

Four grandchildren of Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip, according to a statement by Hamas.

Initial reports suggested three of his grandchildren were killed along with three of his sons on Wednesday. Hamas confirmed the names of Haniyeh’s grandchildren as Mona, Amal, Khalid and Razan.

Haniyeh’s relatives were killed near Al Shati (“Beach Camp”) north-west of Gaza City.

“They stood united with their people in one trench, joining the procession of about sixty martyrs from the honorable and heroic Haniyeh family, and the convoys of martyrs of our righteous and steadfast people in the battle of the Al-Aqsa flood,” the Hamas statement added.

The Israel Defense Forces told CNN it is aware of claims that other relatives of Haniyeh were harmed, among them a minor. The IDF added they had not verified this information.

Israel plans to “flood Gaza with aid,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, describing what he called a new phase of humanitarian assistance to the enclave. 

US pressure on Israel played a role in Israel’s decision to begin ramping up the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, he told reporters, saying Israel’s defense establishment “takes the United States very seriously.”

COGAT, the Israeli agency coordinating aid into Gaza, said the daily number of trucks entering the enclave this week had doubled from last week.

But the UN's main aid agency in Gaza, which tracks the flow of aid, has not reported a similar increase.

A CNN investigation last month found evidence of goods being subject to arbitrary and contradictory controls as authorities strive to prevent the entry of “dual use goods” which they say could also be used to “serve military needs for the strengthening of Hamas.”

UNICEF says one of its vehicles was hit by "live ammunition" while waiting to enter northern Gaza from the south of the territory on Wednesday.

In a statement released on X Thursday, UNICEF says the "incident has been raised with relevant Israeli authorities."

CNN has reached out to the IDF about the incident but has not yet received a reply. 

Some context: The incident comes just a day after the Israeli agency that coordinates the inspection and delivery of humanitarian assistance for Gaza, COGAT, blamed the UN for failing to deliver aid across Gaza.

Iran's foreign minister has spoken with his counterparts in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the UAE by phone, the Iranian foreign ministry said Wednesday.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian spoke with each counterpart individually and stressed the importance of cooperation regarding the situation in Gaza, the ministry said.

The phone calls come after US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk reportedly called the foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the UAE to ask them to send a message to Iran and urge it to lower tensions with Israel. Reuters reported that the officials conveyed the message, citing a source.

Iran's foreign minister also held a call with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the Iranian foreign ministry said Thursday. The ministers discussed the war in Gaza, as well as "reactions and consequences" of the attack on Iran's consulate in Syria. 

Some context: The US and its allies have been bracing for a possible attack by Iran against Israeli and US assets in the Middle East in retaliation for a deadly strike last week on Iran’s consulate.

The US and Iran continued to exchange messages this week, a US official told CNN on Wednesday, as the US remains on high alert for the potential retaliation. The official said that Iran has warned the US not to support Israel, and the US has warned Iran against an attack.

Three sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza Wednesday, an assassination that threatens to complicate ongoing negotiations aiming to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal.

The Israeli military confirmed it carried out the attack, describing the men as “three Hamas military operatives that conducted terrorist activity in the central Gaza Strip.”

Haniyeh said killing the sons of leaders would only make Hamas “more steadfast in our principles and adherence to our land.”

Israeli officials drew a distinction between the strike and the negotiations aiming to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal.

Two other Israeli officials said neither Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had been told about the strike ahead of time.

Here are the other developments in the region:

Hamas' political leader said that killing the sons of leaders would only make the group “more steadfast in our principles and adherence to our land.”

Three sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Wednesday, an assassination that threatens to complicate ongoing negotiations aiming to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal.

The Israeli military confirmed that it carried out the attack and described the men as “three Hamas military operatives that conducted terrorist activity in the central Gaza Strip.”

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