Israeli Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz attends a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv on October 28, 2023. (Abir Sultan/Pool/AFP/Getty Images) |
Israel will expand military operations in the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah if hostages held by Hamas are not returned by the start of Ramadan, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has warned. "The world must know, and Hamas leaders must know — if by Ramadan our hostages are not home, the fighting will continue to the Rafah area," Gantz told a gathering of American-Jewish organizations in Jerusalem on Sunday. "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," the Israeli minister added. The Muslim holy month is expected to start on March 10 or 11. Israel believes that 130 hostages remain in Gaza – 101 alive and 29 dead – following Hamas' October 7 attacks, which killed around 1,200 people in Israel. Israel's subsequent war on Hamas has killed more than 29,000 people and injured another 68,000 in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the enclave. Gantz's comments appear to be the clearest indication yet of a timeline around an Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza city, where more than 1 million displaced Palestinians are taking shelter near the Egyptian border. "To those saying the price is too high, I say this very clearly: Hamas has a choice — they can surrender, release the hostages, and the citizens of Gaza will be able to celebrate the holy holiday of Ramadan," Gantz said. The comments come amid stuttering talks aimed at securing the release of hostages and a longer-term ceasefire in Gaza. In its latest proposal , Hamas has demanded the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from the enclave and eventually a permanent end to the war, as well as the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel – including those serving life sentences – as part of any hostage deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Hamas' proposal as "delusional." |
A woman rests next to a damaged building, as Palestinians arrive in Rafah after they were evacuated from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis due to the Israeli ground operation, in the southern Gaza Strip on February 15. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters) |
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. Many in the international community, including the United States and the United Nations, have warned against Israel's operation in Rafah, with UN aid chief Martin Griffiths saying such an offensive could lead to "a slaughter" and leave humanitarian efforts in Gaza "at death's door." Neighboring Egypt has also been on edge over Israel's possible operation, boosting its security presence at its border with the Gaza Strip with extra troops and machinery, as well as deploying more soldiers at checkpoints leading to the Rafah border. Egypt's security buildup comes amid fears of the war spilling over into its territory should Israel begin its operation in Rafah. With more than half of Gaza's population sheltering just steps away from the frontier, Egypt's foreign ministry spokesperson has warned that "targeting this area of the strip, which is filled with so many civilians, poses a danger." Satellite images also show that Egypt appears to be building a massive, miles-wide buffer zone and wall along its border with southern Gaza, CNN reported last week. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Sunday denied that there were any kind of preparations taking place at the border, saying the reported activities were "the ordinary maintenance of our border and our border fortification." "It is in no way related to providing any camps or shelter on our side of the border," Shoukry said in an interview with Sky News, stressing that displacing Palestinians out of Gaza would amount to a "liquidation of the Palestinian cause." Meanwhile, Israel has continued to press ahead with its operation in other parts of Gaza. After days of bombardment, Israeli forces last week raided what was the largest hospital still functioning in the enclave, Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, rendering it "completely out of service" and unable to handle critical cases, the Gazan health ministry said Sunday. Dozens of health care workers were arrested and some 80 patients transferred out of the hospital to an unknown location, a ministry spokesman said. Electricity has been cut off and seven people have so far died as a result, the spokesman added. CNN cannot independently verify casualty figures in Gaza due to limited access to the area. 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 medical complex. Hamas said it had "no business" in the hospital. CNN's Abeer Salman, Alex Stambaugh, Nadeen Ebrahim, Sarah El Sirgany and Paul P. Murphy contributed to this report. |
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More on the Israel-Hamas war |
- Jordan blames Israel: Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told the Munich Security Conference Sunday that Israel was 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.
- Two-state solution: Israel "outright rejects international dictates" regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians, Netanyahu's office said Sunday, after a formal vote in government was held. Any settlement would be reached "solely through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions," the prime minister added. The issue of a Palestinian state has caused a rift between Israel and its closest ally, the US, as President Joe Biden continues to press for a two-state solution.
- Deir al-Balah airstrike: 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. CNN cannot independently verify the number of casualties on the ground. 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.
Also read: - Russia has invited all Palestinian factions, including Hamas, to meet in Moscow on February 26, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Sunday.
- US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield has warned that if a proposed resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza were to come up for a vote at the UN Security Council as drafted, it would not be adopted by Washington.
- Qatar's prime minister said Saturday at the Munich Security Conference that a ceasefire shouldn't be conditional on striking a hostage deal.
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From how to blow up a mosque in Gaza to detonations filmed as wedding invitations, Israeli soldiers fighting in Gaza are filming and posting their military offensive in real time, engaging in activities that only fuel growing international criticism of Israel's operation in Gaza. CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports on the trend by IDF soldiers as it unfolds on social media. |
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| Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen continue to target commercial ships and US coalition forces in the Red Sea in response to Israel's aggression in Gaza. The attacks have disrupted global shipping and escalated tension in the region. While the US continues to respond by striking targets in Yemen, it's not clear how much of the Houthi's capabilities have been destroyed. In this episode of the Tug of War podcast, CNN's Natasha Bertrand tells us about her unique experience on board two US Navy vessels leading the response in the Red Sea. |
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UAE non-oil trade reaches record $953 billion The United Arab Emirates' non-oil trade reached a record 3.5 trillion dirhams, or $952.93 billion, in 2023, Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said Sunday on X. The figure is a first for the Gulf Arab state "despite the global decline in international trade," al-Maktoum said, adding that the surge is owed to the comprehensive agreements struck between the UAE and its trade partners. - Background : The UAE in 2021 launched an economic strategy built on "strengthening international ties with countries around the world," as the Gulf state sought to become a global trade and logistics hub. It has signed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPAs) with India, Israel, Indonesia, Turkey and Cambodia.
- Why it matters : The Gulf state has been looking to reduce its reliance on oil and gas as the world phases out hydrocarbons, and establishing economic ties with countries across the globe has been key to the UAE's strategy despite occasional Western criticism. Trade jumped "with Turkey by more than 103%, with Hong Kong-China by 47%, and with the United States by 20%," al-Maktoum said.
Iran unveils new weaponry as regional tensions simmer Iran on Saturday unveiled new defense weaponry amid tensions between the Islamic Republic and the US fueled by the Israel-Hamas war. The Iranian defense ministry unveiled the Arman anti-ballistic missile system and the Azarakhsh low-altitude air defense system, the state news agency IRNA reported , displaying several photos of the weapons. - Background: Iran had days earlier tested firing a ballistic missile from an aircraft carrier for the first time, saying the missile "hit its designated target in a desert in central Iran," IRNA reported. The Zolfaqar-class ballistic missile has a range of 750 kilometers (466 miles) and is the latest addition to the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps navy and Airforce, IRNA said, adding that "Iran has expanded its missile program in recent years in a bid to improve its deterrence power."
- Why it matters : While Iran has sought to become an active player in the global arms industry, it has come under fire from Western states for supplying its weapons to Russia during its war on Ukraine, and more recently for arming several Iran-backed militias across the Middle East that have attacked US forces in response to the Israel war in Gaza.
Egypt drops controversial pyramid project that risked damaging the 4,500-year-old structure A committee appointed to review the viability and safety of a controversial project that sought to install ancient granite cladding on the 4,500-year-old Menkaure Pyramid in Egypt's Giza ruled against the plan, the State Information Service said in a statement Friday. The project was rejected to "preserve the universal and archaeological value of the site," the statement added. - Background: In a video statement last month, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, announced a plan to "restore" the Menkaure Pyramid, the smallest of the three Pyramids of Giza, calling the joint Egyptian-Japanese archaeological plan the "project of the century." The project would take three years to complete, Waziri said.
- Why it matters: News of the project caused uproar among archaeologists and Egyptologists, who feared the renovation would damage the pyramid, which, along with the other two Giza pyramids, make up the sole remaining wonder of the ancient world. "Any re-installation of the casing blocks would change the ancient, original fabric and appearance of the pyramid," the committee report which ruled against the project said, adding that it would "conceal important evidence of how the ancient Egyptians designed and built the Pyramids."
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