Israel formally declares war against Hamas as it battles to push militants off its soil

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International pressure grows over Israeli strike on World Central Kitchen staff​

The UK, Poland, Australia, Canada and the US, whose nationals died in the attack, demanded an investigation. Humanitarian aid to Gaza is now in doubt, with WCK - one of the main providers of aid to the Strip - suspending its operations. Israeli President Isaac Herzog apologised for the deaths. Three of the killed aid workers were British national. A Polish national, an Australian, a Palestinian and a dual US-Canadian citizen were also killed. The IDF has promised an independent investigation into the incident. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. On the call, he described the situation in Gaza as "increasingly intolerable" and "demanded a thorough and transparent independent investigation" into the killing of the aid workers.

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April 15, 2024: Israel - Hamas war

• The Israeli war cabinet has reviewed military plans for a potential response against Iran, an official said. The cabinet remains determined to act, but it's not clear if a decision has been made. Israel has vowed to "exact a price "after the unprecedented large-scale drone and missile attack.
• US President Joe Biden administration addressed Iran's attack for the first time publicly addressed Monday, saying he remains focused on Israel’s security, reaching a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal and preventing the conflict from spreading.
• Iran’s attack on Israel was "legitimate" and "responsible" Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said Monday. Tehran is not seeking to raise tension but will take “proportionate action” to defend itself, he said.
• Meanwhile, Israel was set to take its first steps toward a ground offensive on the Gaza city of Rafah but delayed the campaign after Iran's attack, Israeli sources told CNN.

 

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Israel will defend itself, Netanyahu says, as West calls for restraint​

Israel will make its own decisions about how to defend itself, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, as Western countries pleaded for restraint in responding to a volley of attacks from Iran. The United States, European Union and G7 group of industrialised nations all announced plans to consider tighter snctions on Iran, seen as aimed at mollifying Israel and persuading it to rein in its retaliation for the first ever direct Iranian strikes after decades of confrontation by proxy.

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Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed at least 71 Palestinians since Wednesday. Catch up on the latest​

At least 71 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since Wednesday, the Ministry of Health there reported, raising the total death toll to nearly 34,000 people. As of April 18, at least 33,970 Palestinians have been killed and another 76,770 people injured, the ministry said. CNN cannot independently verify these figures. The ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its daily release.

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Gaza beach footage is no proof of Iran’s successful attack on Israel​

The escalation between Israel and Iran saw an exchange of missile attacks, including the April 14 Iranian attack on Israel, followed by the Israeli strike inside Iran on April 18. Both countries downplayed the scope and impact of the other side’s attacks. Israel said its air defenses intercepted almost all of Iranian missiles and drones with the help of the U.S. and allies. Iran claimed its attack on Israel was devastating and sidestepped blaming Israel for the Friday strike.

Throughout its decades-long proxy war with Israel, Iran has been providing financial and military aid to Hamas, whose fighters killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages, including American citizens, in Israel last October, sparking the ongoing war. The United States redesignated Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization after that attack. Hamas released some 100 hostages in November but refuses to free the rest, whose fate and well-being remain unknown to their families.

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Israeli strikes on southern Gaza city of Rafah kill 22, mostly children, as US advances aid package​

Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight killed 22 people, including 18 children, health officials said Sunday, as the United States was on track to approve billions of dollars of additional military aid to Israel, its close ally. Israel has carried out near-daily air raids on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has sought refuge from fighting elsewhere. It has also vowed to expand its ground offensive to the city on the border with Egypt despite international calls for restraint, including from the U.S.The House of Representatives appproved a $26 billion aid package on Saturday that includes around $9 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza, which experts say is on the brink of famine. The Senate could pass the package as soon as Tuesday, and President Joe Biden has promised to sign it immediately. The second strike killed 17 children and two women, all from an extended family, according to hospital records. Mohammed al-Beheiri said his daughter, Rasha, and her six children, the youngest 18 months old, were among those killed. Her husband’s second wife and their three children were still under the rubble, al-Beheiri said. Israel’s war against the Hamas militant group has killed over 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, devastated Gaza’s two largest cities and left a swath of destruction. Around 80% of the territory’s population have fled to other parts of the besieged coastal enclave.

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Middle East Crisis | Senior Israeli Military Official Resigns After Oct. 7 Intelligence Failures​

The head of intelligence for Israel’s military resigned on Monday following the intelligence failures that preceded the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, making him the most senior official to offer to step down in the wake of the assault. Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, the director of military intelligence, sent a letter to Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the army’s chief of staff, saying that he would like to leave the military. General Halevi accepted the resignation, said Maj. Nir Dinar, a military spokesman.

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Mass arrests made as US campus protests over Gaza spread​

Police moved to break up an encampment at New York University (NYU) on Monday night, making a number of arrests.Dozens of students were arrested at Yale earlier in the day, while Columbia University cancelled in-person classes. The White House has condemned antisemitic incidents that have marred some demonstrations. Protests and heated debates about the Israel-Gaza war and free speech have rocked US campuses since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October, which prompted Israel's campaign in Gaza. In the US, students on both sides say there has been a rise in both antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents since then. When asked about the rallies on Monday, President Joe Biden said he condemned both "the antisemitic protests" as well as "those who don't understand what's going on with the Palestinians". The protest movement was thrust into the spotlight last week after New York City police were called out to Columbia's campus and arrested more than 100 demonstrators.

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Columbia extends deadline to end Gaza war protest by 48 hours: All to know​

Demonstrators ordered to dismantle encampments on campus by Friday and warned of ‘alternative options’.

Columbia University has twice extended a deadline for students protesting against Israel’s war on Gaza to clear their campus encampments, citing progress in negotiations with them aimed at diffusing a tense standoff that has spread across US universities. “We are making important progress with representatives of the student encampment on the West lawn,” Columbia sais in a statement released just after 3am (07:00 GMT) on Wednesday.

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