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Half of Gaza’s population "expected to face death and starvation" by mid-July, UN warns
From CNN’s Louis Mian and Pauline Lockwood
More than one million people, half of Gaza’s population, is “expected to face death and starvation” by mid-July, a United Nations report has warned.
“The conflict has resulted in an unprecedented death toll, destruction and mass displacement, combined with heavy restrictions on commercial goods, while humanitarian assistance faces extreme access constraints,” the report by the UN’s World Food Program (WFP) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.
The report added that this is “likely to continue, especially in light of expanding military operations in Rafah.”
“In the absence of a cessation of hostilities and increased access, the impact on mortality and the lives of Palestinians now, and in future generations, will increase markedly with every day, even if famine is avoided in the near term,” the UN said.
The UN report highlighted that urgent assistance to prevent “devastating hunger crises” is necessary, not just in Gaza, but also Sudan, Haiti, Mali and South Sudan, which are experiencing “catastrophic conditions.”
Israeli soldier killed in rare Hamas infiltration attempt into Israel
From CNN’s Benjamin Brown in London
An Israeli soldier was killed in what the Israeli military described as a failed Hamas infiltration attempt into Israel early Thursday.
Zeed Mazarib, 34 was killed thwarting the attempt, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN Thursday.
Such incidents have been rare since the October 7 attacks, which saw Hamas fighters swarm over the border and attack Israeli communities.
While the IDF said that the militants had not crossed the border fence from Gaza into Israel, the armed wing of Hamas on Thursday claimed its militants had managed to enter Israel.
The IDF said Thursday it had killed three militants who had approached the border fence between Israel and Gaza and fired at Israeli soldiers. The militants were killed in Gaza, 300 metres away from the border fence, the IDF told CNN. The whereabouts of a fourth militant who participated in the attempt were unknown, the IDF told CNN.
The militants were carrying RPGs and assault rifles and had moved towards the fence east of Rafah in an attempt to cross the border into Israel, the IDF said.
Hamas’ armed wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, said Thursday that it had launched “a landing operation behind enemy lines” in which militants “were able to penetrate the fence and attack the headquarters of the enemy division operating in the city of Rafah.”
The group did not provide further information on the infiltration or details on the alleged attack on Israeli military infrastructure. It also did not provide evidence for its claims.
Israeli military targeted 20 to 30 militants in school strike and "not aware of civilian casualties"
From CNN's Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem and Benjamin Brown in London
The Israeli military says that 20 to 30 militants had been sheltering in the Nuseirat school targeted in an overnight strike.
At least 45 people were killed in the airstrike on the UN-run school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, a spokesman for Gaza's Ministry of Health told CNN.
The school was housing displaced persons at the time of the strike, the Gaza government media office said. At least nine women and 14 children were among the victims, according to records from Al-Aqsa Hospital.
Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told journalists Thursday the military was not "aware of any civilian casualties."
Lerner said that the "precision and intelligence-based" strike had targeted militants who were "using the facilities to plan and execute attacks" against Israeli forces in the Netzarim Corridor, a route which splits the Gaza Strip in two.
Those killed included militants who were involved in the October 7 attacks, Lerner added. The spokesperson said the IDF would make public the names of the militants killed once they were confirmed.
Lerner said the IDF had been closely monitoring developments at the school for "the last few days" and called off the strike twice in the past days to "limit civilian casualties, to minimize the risk to civilians."
The spokesperson did not provide evidence for his claims.
Scores killed in Israeli strike on UN school as 17 countries push for ceasefire deal: Here's what you need to know
From CNN staff
At least 45 people were killed during an Israeli airstrike on a United Nations-run school in central Gaza, Gaza's Ministry of Health said. The school, run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), has been housing displaced people in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Meanwhile, the United States and 16 other countries whosecitizenswere taken hostage by Hamas are set to release a joint statement Thursday calling onIsraelandHamasto agree on the most recent ceasefire proposal.
Below are the latest developments...
- UNRWA school strike: Eyewitnesses have described the chaos and horror when an Israeli strike hit the school in central Gaza overnight. "We were asleep safely, suddenly the school was struck... We thought UNRWA schools are safe," one woman told CNN. A child described how two of his brothers were killed in the strike, with one dying when a wall fell on his dead. "We collected their body parts in the morning," he said.
- US weapons used: US-made munitions were used in the strike on the school, a CNN analysis of video from the scene and review by an explosive weapons experthasfound.It marks the second time in two weeks that CNN has been able to verify the use of US-manufactured munitions in deadly Israeli attacks on displaced Palestinians, the first being a deadly IDF strike ona displacement camp in Rafah on May 26.
- "Apocalyptic" scenes: The school strike comes amid a wider uptick of violence in the Gaza strip over the past 48 hours. A Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) nurse working at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza described "apocalyptic" scenes amid an "insane escalation of hostilities" across the enclave, including in central Gaza. "We have seen hospitals being bombed. We have seen refugee camps being bombed. We have seen humanitarian warehouses being bombed." At least 52 people killed in Israeli strikes in central Gaza were brought to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital on Thursday, according to its medical workers.
- Countries call for ceasefire ... The USand16othercountrieswhosecitizenswere taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 are set to release a joint statement Thursday calling onIsraelandHamasto come to agree the most recent ceasefire proposal, according to aUSofficial. The joint message points to theproposal that President Joe Biden publicly outlinedin a speech last week as “the necessary starting point” for bringing the Gaza conflict to a close.
- ... but Hamas and Israel remain unmoved: The statement comes as Hamas said the proposal it saw not match with the proposal presentedby Biden, falling short in demanding a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.Israel is yet to accept the plan and has said that it won't stop fighting until Hamas is destroyed.
- Lebanon border tensions: There are concerns the tensions between Israel and Hezbollah could escalate. Iran-backed Hezbollah claimed responsibility fora Wednesday evening attackin northern Israel that left an Israeli reserve soldier dead and other people injured. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel is prepared for “very intense action” in the north.
"His neck was cut from his body": Scenes of horror after Israeli strike hits UN-run school
From CNN's Abeer Salman and Mohammad Al Sawalhi
Eyewitnesses have described chaos and horror when an Israeli strike hit a United Nations-run school in central Gaza overnight.
The strike on the facility, which was housing displaced Palestinians in the Nuseirat refugee camp,killed at least 45 people, Palestinian authorities said.
One woman, named Samia Abu Daher, told CNN: "We were asleep safely, suddenly the school was struck, martyrs, injuries... We thought UNRWA schools are safe, they never were and never will be."
A man named Jaber Abu Daher said one of his relatives was killed in the strike.
"We were asleep here, we suddenly saw rockets falling, I went down holding my child, we were both injured, my relative was martyred in that room."
He continued: "[Israel's Prime Minister] Netanyahu is killing civilians, he is not killing militants, it's innocent people asleep in a UNRWA facility, what did the children andelderly do? What did they do to him?"
A child named Mohammad Farajallah told CNN two of his brothers were killed.
"My brother in the 7th grade, and my brother in the 4th grade, were asleep here, this wall fell on Mahmoud’s head, the one in the 7th grade. His neck was cut from his body.
"My second brother Hazem hadhis head broken. I was looking for their belongings but I only found a flip flop and a pillow. We collected their body parts in the morning."
Mohammed adds: "I wish I died instead, there is no hope in this life at all."
No sick or wounded able to leave Gaza Strip since Rafah crossing occupation, Gaza Health Ministry says
From CNN’s Ibrahim Dahman and Louis Mian
No sick or wounded people have been able to leave the Gaza Strip since Israel’s occupation of the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry said Thursday.
This has exposed the lives of thousands, who could be treated outside Gaza, “to avoidable complications and death,” the health ministry said.
There are 25,000 people who need to travel outside the Gaza strip for treatment, according to the ministry, which added that only 4,895 wounded or sick were able to travel for treatment when the Rafah crossing was open.
On May 7, Israel seized the Gazan side of the crossing, as part of its military operation in Rafah, near the Egyptian border.
US-made munitions used in deadly Israeli strike on UN school in central Gaza, CNN analysis finds
From CNN's Mohammad Al Sawalhi and Allegra Goodwin
US-made munitions were used in a deadly Israeli airstrike on a United Nations-run school in central Gaza on Thursday where Palestinians were sheltering, a CNN analysis of video from the scene and review by an explosive weapons experthasfound.
At least 45 people died in strike on the school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, a spokesperson for Gaza's Ministry of Health told CNN.
CNN identified fragments of at least two US-made GBU-39 small diameter bombs (SDB) in video filmed at the scene by a journalist working for CNN.
The Israeli military confirmed it carried out Thursday's airstrike, which it said targeted a Hamas compound operating inside the school, adding “many measures were taken in order to minimize the danger of damaging the uninvolved,” including aerial surveillance and “additional precise intelligence.”
CNN has reached out to the Pentagon and the State Department for comment.
US munitions again used: This incident is the second time in two weeks that CNN has been able to verify the use of US-manufactured munitions in deadly Israeli attacks on displaced Palestinians.
At least 45 people were killed and more than 200 others injured on May 26 after a fire broke out following an IDF strike ona displacement camp in Rafah, most of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Palestinian medics.
USandothercountrieswhosecitizenswere taken hostage urge HamasandIsrael to "close this deal"
From CNN's MJ Lee
The United Statesand16othercountrieswhosecitizenswere taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 are set to release a joint statement Thursday calling onIsraelandHamasto come to agree the most recent ceasefire proposal, according to aUSofficial, the latest move in the Biden administration’s push to bring to an end the Israel-Hamas war.
“It is time for the war to end,” the statement, shared with CNN, says. The joint message also points to the proposal that President Joe Biden publicly outlined in a speech last week as “the necessary starting point” for bringing the Gaza conflict to a close.
“There is no time to lose. We call on Hamas to close this agreement,that Israel is ready to move forward with,andbegin the process of releasing ourcitizens,” the statement says. “At this decisive moment, we call on the leaders of Israel as well as Hamas to make whatever final compromises are necessary to close this dealandbring relief to the families of our hostages."
The United States, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Thailand,andthe United Kingdom signed the joint statement.
The statement marks one more example of the Biden administration’s ongoing pressure campaign to push HamasandIsrael to get to a “yes” on a ceasefire agreement.
But the chances of a quick agreement seem slim. Hamas said the latest offer fell short of its demands while Israel has said it will not halt fighting until the militant group is destroyed.
Israeli soldier killed in Hezbollah strike on northern Israel
From CNN's Benjamin Brown in London
An Israeli reserve soldier was killed in a Hezbollah strike on a Druze Arab village in northern Israel on Wednesday.
Refael Kauders, 39, served as a religious affairs coordinator in the Alon Brigade, the Israeli military said. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) added that another reserve soldier was seriously injured in the attack.
At least nine other people were injured in the attack, Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency service said, including a woman suffering abdominal and chest injuries whose condition was described as moderate to serious.
The Israeli military says Hezbollah militants in Lebanon launched at least two explosive UAVs in the attack, with a witness telling Israel’s Channel 11 the second self-detonating drone exploded as emergency responders arrived on the scene.
According to the Israeli military, Wednesday saw approximately 30 rockets and drones launched from Lebanon towards Israel. Israeli fighter jets also targeted Hezbollah positions, the military said.
Tensions along the border have escalated, with theIsraeli military warning it was prepared to launch a large-scale attack in the north to deter Iran-backed Hezbollah.
