March 22, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage for the day has ended. Follow the latest Israel-Hamas war news or read through the updates below.

Palestinians who fled Al-Shifa Hospital say they were stripped, interrogated, blindfolded and forced to leave injured relatives behind, in a desperate attempt to escape Israel’s raid on the medical complex in Gaza City.

CNN spoke to women and children who fled south along the coastal Al-Rasheed Street on Thursday, days after the Israel Defense Forces laid siege to Gaza’s largest hospital. Eyewitnesses recounted terrifying scenes of running from the facility under the thunderous blast of Israeli snipers, gunshots and tank fire – after they say the IDF told them to leave the vicinity.

Another Palestinian, Yasmin Hamdan, said she could not catch her breath as she escaped the besieged health complex. “We couldn’t stop for a second because it was horrific, there were many dead and injured people on the way, no one could reach and rescue them,” Hamdan said.

“We have no one left, not our husbands, nor our families or neighbors. We are all separated and lost, we are walking but we don’t know where we are going,” added Hamdan.

What Israel says: The Israeli military raided Al-Shifa after it claimed “senior Hamas terrorists” were using the facility to “conduct and promote terrorist activity.” It claims to have detained a senior Hamas operative during the operation. CNN cannot independently verify the IDF’s statements. Hamas has previously denied using hospitals for their operations.

Videos filmed by CNN along Gaza’s coast, west of the Al-Shifa Hospital, show large groups of people fleeing the violence as the Israeli military continues its raid of the complex.

Nuzha Awad, a displaced woman carrying her 8-month-old triplets, told CNN that the route away from Al-Shifa was “full of tanks, and Israeli snipers on buildings shooting towards people.”

“Tanks are shelling the houses where people are sheltering to force people to leave, and they’re not allowing people to take blankets, pilots or even a bottle of water,” she said.

The Government Media Office in Gaza accused the Israeli military of deliberately killing 13 patients inside the hospital by depriving them of medicine, medical supplies and electricity. The figure includes four patients on ventilators in intensive care who died after their oxygen was cut off, according to the media office statement. CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment about the allegations. 

Earlier Friday, the IDF said that together with the Israel Security Agency, their forces are “continuing to conduct precise operational activity in the Shifa Hospital area while preventing harm to civilians, patients, medical teams, and medical equipment.”

Smoke rises during an Israeli raid at Al-Shifa hospital and the area around it in Gaza City on March 20.

The Israeli military’s raid at Al-Shifa medical complex in Gaza City continued for a fifth day on Friday, with Palestinian health officials reporting that hundreds of patients are still trapped in the hospital and dozens of medical personnel forcibly detained. 

The Gaza health ministry accused the Israeli military of detaining about 240 patients and their companions, as well as 10 health care personnel inside the hospital’s radiology department. Dozens of medical workers were also arrested and taken away from the hospital, a ministry statement added.

What Israel says: The Israel Defense Forces said Friday it has killed 150 Palestinian militants in or around the hospital and arrested hundreds of suspects since the raid began on Monday. CNN cannot independently verify these claims.

Allegations of violence: Hamas has accused Israeli soldiers of detaining and abusing civilians sheltering in and around Al-Shifa, including medical personnel.

Umm Rami, a Palestinian woman living close to the hospital, told CNN Friday that Israeli soldiers had raided her family home in the early hours of Monday and took away her 78-year-old father-in-law, Freij Hallaq, and a number of his male grandchildren. Rami found out Thursday afternoon that her father-in-law had died after sustaining gunshot wounds and bleeding to death. He was among several men who were detained from their homes in the area surrounding Al-Shifa.

“Yesterday, we received information in the afternoon that my father-in-law’s corpse was found lying on a chair in a room,” she said, adding that he was not wearing any clothes.

The IDF did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment on Freij’s death.

An American nurse who treated Palestinians in the coastal town of Al-Mawasi warned a looming Israeli ground assault on the nearby southern Gaza city of Rafah would be “the ultimate demise.” 

In February, Amy Leah Potter set up an improvised primary health care clinic in the coastal town with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). She told CNN that children displaced in tents sustained burns while crowding around fires for warmth in cold winter conditions. Others were treated for upper respiratory infections because they were inhaling smoke. 

“We’d have burns from children who aren’t used to living with fire around them,” said Potter. “We would see a lot of skin infections because hygiene is nonexistent through no fault of the population.” 

Some background: Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has forcibly displaced about 1.7 million Palestinians, according to the UN. Many of those forced to flee are crammed in sprawling tent camps that cannot offer basic sanitation – leading to the spread of disease. Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7 have killed at least 32,00 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in the strip.   

Potter recounted working under the constant whine of Israeli drones and ringing blasts. “There was not a day that went by that I didn’t hear an explosion,” she said. “The Palestinian people, their resilience is unbelievable.” 

Video footage apparently retrieved from a downed Israeli drone in Gaza and released by Al Jazeera on Friday purportedly shows the killing of four unarmed Palestinian civilians in a targeted Israeli air attack.

Al Jazeera said the incident occurred in the area of Al-Sikka, Khan Younis, in early February without providing a precise date.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the incident has been “transferred for examination” by the General Staff’s Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism. 

In the video, four men are seen walking down a bulldozed dirt road lined with rubble and destroyed buildings. The men appear to be unarmed and carrying nothing in their hands. Al Jazeera reported they were in search of their homes to determine what remained following Israeli bombardment of the area.

Suddenly, the four men are hit by an apparent airstrike, instantly killing two of them. The other two men continue moving after the initial attack — one slowly walks while other crawls — when they are both hit by successive follow up direct hit missile strikes.

The remains of the men have been blurred in the video published by Al Jazeera, which stated that “it is not possible to show the full pictures after the first missile fell due to its brutality.”

No other drones or military equipment are visible in the video.

CNN cannot verify the video’s authenticity or Al Jazeera’s account of what it depicts.

In a statement, the IDF claimed that forces had often encountered terrorists who were disguised as civilians in the area.

A boy holds a tray with food as he walks near destroyed houses, in Rafah, Gaza, on March 22.

US Secretary of State Blinken traveled to Israel and met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday, as part of an intensive diplomatic push to reach a “sustained and immediate ceasefire” in Gaza and deter an Israeli offensive into the southern city of Rafah.

However, following the meeting, Netanyahu publicly doubled down on his commitment to carry out an offensive — with or without US support. Blinken said this offensive would risk “further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardizing its long-term security and standing.”

US Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters she doesn’t see a safe way for civilians to evacuate Rafah ahead of the possible offensive. “There is nowhere for those people to go,” Harris said. “One and a half million people of a population of 2.2 million people who are now in that area — and let’s remember why they are there, because they were told to go there.” 

Here are some other top headlines:

Amy Leah Potter will never forget the 9-year-old girl who wailed in pain from her unhealed broken leg. She first met the displaced Palestinian orphan in February, at a primary health care center in the coastal town of Al-Mawasi, in southern Gaza.  

“She was crying and screaming,” said Potter, an American nurse working with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). “She kept saying, ‘I want to die. Just let me die.’” 

The young child broke her leg in an Israeli strike that killed her parents and siblings in Gaza City, in northern Gaza, in October. Her surviving relatives had no access to crutches or physical therapy – leaving her severe injury swollen and in excruciating pain.

Potter, who set up an MSF-led clinic treating displaced patients in Al-Mawai and visited Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, told CNN that Israel’s bombardment and besiegement has “decimated” the medical system.  

Severely injured Palestinians cannot access life-saving care or rehabilitation because there is barely enough equipment or medication. Loved ones desperately scrambled to keep wounded relatives alive, while health care workers are forced to care for patients on the floor. Others are unable to make emergency calls to ambulances because Israel’s offensive has crushed communication lines.  

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to the media, before departing from Ben Gurion International airport, Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 22.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that a looming Israeli ground offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah would risk “further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardizing its long-term security and standing.”

The top US diplomat’s blunt message comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — following a meeting with Blinken — doubled down on his vow to carry out the military campaign with or without US support.

Blinken said he had “candid conversations” with Netanyahu and the Israeli war cabinet, and told them the US “shares Israel’s goal of defeating Hamas” — but that “a major military ground operation in Rafah is not the way to do it.”

Blinken would not give details on the ongoing negotiations to secure an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages.

US Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters traveling with her on Air Force Two she doesn’t see a safe way for civilians to evacuate Rafah ahead of a possible Israeli ground offensive into the city in the southern Gaza Strip.

Harris’ comments come as US President Joe Biden’s administration prepares to welcome a team of top Israeli officials to Washington next week as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signals he remains intent on entering the southern Gaza city, American urging notwithstanding.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 22/

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war cabinet in Tel Aviv Friday that the United States remains committed to the “lasting defeat of Hamas, including in Rafah” – a message that comes as the US works to deter Israel from launching a full military offensive in Gaza’s southernmost city, where more than a million displaced people have fled.

On Thursday, Blinken reiterated that the US does not support a military campaign into Rafah, saying that it would be a “humanitarian disaster.” US and Israeli officials are slated to meet in Washington next week to discuss “alternative actions” to deal with Hamas in Rafah without causing “further harm to civilians,” Blinken said.

However, on Friday, following the meeting with Blinken, Netanyahu publicly doubled down on his commitment to carry out an offensive with or without US support.

According to a readout of the meeting from the US State Department, Blinken also “emphasized the need to protect civilians in Gaza and increase and sustain humanitarian assistance, including through both land and sea routes.”

Blinken discussed efforts on the hostage and immediate ceasefire deal, according to the statement.

A Palestinian girl looks up to watch a military drone as she stands on the rubble of destroyed houses in the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza on March 21.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will proceed with a ground offensive into the southernmost Gaza city of Rafah with or without US support, following a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday.

Netanyahu also emphasized how appreciative he is that the US and Israel have been “standing together in the war against Hamas” for more than five months.

“I also told him that we recognize the need to evacuate the civilian population from the war zones and of course also take care of the humanitarian needs and we are working to that end,” Netanyahu said.

More background: Over 1 million displaced people are sheltering in Rafah after fleeing northern and central parts of Gaza. Officials from Israel and the US are expected to meet in Washington next week to discuss alternatives to the looming offensive.

A displaced Palestinian in the city told CNN last month: “The bombing is getting closer slowly in Rafah. We do not know where we will go after Rafah.” He said conditions in Rafah are “very difficult,” describing a “large number of people, chaos, and high prices.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with a man as he meets demonstrators calling for the release of hostages kidnapped in the October 7 attack, outside the Kempinski hotel in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 22.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken greeted a group of protesters in Tel Aviv calling for the release of hostages held in Gaza.

The protesters, holding Israeli and American flags and signs, shouted various chants of thanks and calls for a hostage deal prior to his arrival.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz on March 22.

Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that “completing” Israel’s mission in Gaza, including in Rafah, is “imperative.”

Gantz spoke to Blinken on Friday as the US Secretary of State visits Israel as a part of a diplomatic push for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

His remarks come amid growing international concern over an Israeli operation in Rafah in southern Gaza. There are an estimated 1.4 million people in the city, many of whom have been displaced several times from other parts of Gaza.

Gantz, a key political rival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Blinken that Israel will “enable humanitarian solutions to aid civilians in Gaza” while “ensuring critical aid does not fall into the hands of Hamas.”

Gaza aid crisis: The World Health Organization’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday said that only more land crossings into Gaza can prevent famine in the Gaza Strip.

Last week, Colonel Elad Goren of Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said that “the problem isn’t opening more crossings, the problem is distributing the aid to the people in Gaza.” Goren said that international aid organizations “do not have the capacity and have yet to take real steps to improve on distribution of aid across Gaza.”

Gantz, in Friday’s meeting with Blinken, “reiterated his profound appreciation for the continued support for Israel and deep commitment to Israel’s security,” according to his office.

Gilad Erdan, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, speaks during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters on March 22.

Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan criticized the United Nations Security Council’s failure to adopt the US-proposed resolution calling for a ceasefire tied to the release of hostages in Gaza.

“Not to condemn Hamas is a stain that will never be forgotten,” he said while addressing the Security Council Friday after the vote.

Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations Amar Bendjama, left, and China's ambassador to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, vote against a U.S. ceasefire resolution during a UN Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters on March 22.

Meanwhile, the Council of Arab Ambassadors to the UN spoke to reporters outside the meeting.

Russia, China and Algeria voted against the US-proposed draft resolution calling for a ceasefire tied to the release of hostages in Gaza. Only Russia and China have veto power.

The Prime Ministers of Spain, Ireland, Malta and Slovenia have discussed their “readiness” to recognize a Palestinian state.

The prime ministers met Friday to discuss the issue at a European Council meeting and said they would recognize a Palestinian state “when it can make a positive contribution and the circumstances are right.”

Spain’s Pedro Sánchez, Ireland’s Leo Varadkar, Malta’s Robert Abela and Slovenia’s Robert Golob said they also agreed on the need “urgent need for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of hostages and a rapid, massive and sustained increase of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a press conference on the day of a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, on March 22.

French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters in Brussels that France will propose its own initiative on Gaza after Russia and China vetoed the US resolution at the United Nations Security Council on Friday.

France’s Ambassador to the UN Nicolas de Rivière also said his country will propose an initiative to the council. France voted in favor of the US proposal Friday.

Macron called for “an immediate and lasting ceasefire,” more humanitarian aid to starving civilians in Gaza and an unconditional release of hostages. Macron also urged Israel against carrying out a ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah, which he said “would only worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian situation.”

Even though a United Nations Security Council resolution put forth by the United States calling for a ceasefire in Gaza was vetoed on Friday, analysts said it was a major departure from US policy on Israel during the war.  

The draft resolution called for “an immediate and sustained ceasefire… in connection with the release of all remaining hostages,” and comes after Washington vetoed three prior UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire.  

The resolution included phrasing that the US was unwilling to use before, according to Frank Lowenstein — who worked as special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations under US President Barack Obama during the 2014 Israel-Gaza war — referring to “immediate ceasefire,” which the former diplomat said could help bring the US back from months of international “isolation.”

The US, Israel’s most prominent defender on the world stage, has faced severe criticism in Arab countries and in Europe for its refusal to call for a ceasefire early in the Gaza war as well as its reluctance to translate its verbal criticism of Israel’s conduct to diplomatic action. 

“I think there has been a gap from day one, a gap between the language and the actions,” said Yossi Mekelberg, an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa program at the Chatham House think tank in London. “But I think gradually, the language and the action are coming closer, closing the gap, millimeter by millimeter.” 

Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Zhang Jun, right, and Algerian Ambassador to the U.N. Amar Bendjama, center, vote against a United States-sponsored resolution calling for a ceasefire amid the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council at U.N. headquarters in New York City on March 22.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield criticized vetoes from Russia and China on the US-proposed draft resolution calling for a ceasefire tied to the release of hostages in Gaza.

Thomas-Greenfield told the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Friday that Russia and China have not condemned Hamas for its attacks on October 7. She said nearly every council member voted to secure an immediate and sustained ceasefire as part of a deal that would lead to the release of hostages.

UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward also said the United Kingdom is deeply disappointed that Russia and China were unable to support the council. 

She said the UK will continue to do everything it can to get aid into Gaza “as quickly as possible by land, sea, and air, but an immediate stop in the fighting is the only way to get aid into Gaza that is so desperately needed and make progress towards a permanent, sustainable ceasefire.”

The United Nations Security Council meets to consider a United States-sponsored resolution calling for a ceasefire during the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at U.N. headquarters in New York City on March 22.

The United Nations Security Council voted to not adopt a draft resolution brought to the UN by the United States Friday calling for a ceasefire tied to the release of hostages.

There were 11 votes in favor, three against and one abstention from Guyana. Russia and China vetoed the resolution, along with Algeria.

Previously, the US had vetoed similar ceasefire resolutions three times.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s meeting with the Israeli war cabinet in Tel Aviv ended at 2:28 p.m. local time (or 8:28 a.m. ET) Friday, according to the State Department.

The meeting lasted about two and a half hours.

Blinken convened with Israeli officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a diplomatic push to reached an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and deter an Israeli invasion of Rafah, in the south.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks during a UN Security Council motion for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal vote at UN headquarters in New York, on March 22.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the United Nations Security Council on Friday there needs to be an “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza as part of a deal to free the remaining hostages being held in the strip.

“We want to see an immediate and sustained ceasefire as part of a deal that leads to the release of hostages,” she said.

She also called for more lifesaving aid to get into Gaza. 

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the US decision to propose a resolution now is “sluggish,” as the US has previously vetoed ceasefire proposals. 

In late February, Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council an Algeria-proposed resolution that the US vetoed would negatively impact negotiations ongoing in the region.

The Israeli military on Friday admitted to erroneously printing photos of “some of the saboteurs” it had detained, after forces laid siege to Gaza’s largest hospital early Monday.

It came after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) published photos of some of the 358 men in what IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari claimed on Thursday was “the largest aggregation of terrorists we have apprehended since the beginning of the war.”

However, the IDF attempted to walk back on its claims, blaming “human error.” Avichay Adraee, an IDF spokesperson, said in a post on X that “some of the pictures published” are of people who have not yet been detained. The spokesperson claimed the wrongly identified individuals “are in the hospital area and are hiding there.”

A later IDF statement in English also claimed “these terrorists are currently barricaded inside the hospital.” CNN cannot independently verify the IDF claim. CNN has reached out to Hamas and the Gaza Media Office for comment.

What’s been happening at the hospital: Israeli forces detained Palestinian journalists and health workers, blindfolded them and stripped them down to their underwear in Al-Shifa Hospital, according to eyewitness accounts shared with CNN earlier this week.

Palestinian reporters and hospital staff described scenes of humiliating interrogations where colleagues had been undressed and left outside in the cold. At least 3,000 displaced people, patients and staff were trying to seek shelter inside the facility before the deadly raid, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

A Palestinian man carries sacks of humanitarian aid at the distribution center of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Rafah, Gaza, on March 3.

Finland will restart donations to the UN’s agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), according to the Finnish public broadcaster Yle, after the suspension of funding by several Western countries raised concerns about the fate of the 5.9 million refugees it serves.

The announcement to resume funding was made by Finland’s Foreign Trade and Development Minister Ville Tavio at a news conference on Friday, Yle reported. Tavio said the UN agency is improving and strengthening its internal operations.

Israeli allegations: It came after Israel leveled explosive allegations against the agency, claiming that several staffers participated in the October 7 attacks. The UN fired several employees in the wake of the allegations and launched an investigation.

UNRWA allegations: Earlier this month, UNRWA accused Israel of detaining and torturing some of its staffers, coercing them into making false confessions about the agency’s ties to Hamas.

CNN cannot independently verify the allegations by Israel or UNRWA.

Independent review: An independent review group found the UN agency “has in place a significant number of mechanisms and procedures to ensure compliance with the Humanitarian Principle of neutrality.” The review group’s final report will be published on April 20 and will be made public.

Blow to humanitarian efforts: A number of Western countries largely suspended funding to the main UN agency in Gaza — including the US — amid a spiraling humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has crushed the medical system, triggered mass displacement, and condemned the entire population of more than 2.2 million Palestinians to the risk of famine, according to a UN-backed report.

CNN’s Hira Humayun and Jeremy Diamond contributed reporting.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 22.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at 11:20 a.m. local time (5:20 a.m. ET) in Tel Aviv on Friday morning, as part of an intensive diplomatic push to reach a “sustained and immediate ceasefire” in Gaza and deter an Israeli offensive into Rafah.

Secretary Blinken’s meeting with the Israeli war cabinet started soon after, the State Department told reporters.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken disembarks from an aircraft as he arrives in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 22.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel at 9:54 a.m. local time on Friday.

Blinken is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli war cabinet as a part of a diplomatic push for a ceasefire in Gaza, and to deter an Israeli offensive into Rafah.

The stop in Tel Aviv will cap Blinken’s sixth round of shuttle diplomacy in the region since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

His trip coincides with the resumption of talks in Doha aimed at securing a deal for a ceasefire tied to the release of the hostages held by Hamas.

A vote at the UN on a US-sponsored Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Gaza conflict is also expected to take place Friday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return to Israel on Friday as part of an intensive diplomatic push to reach a “sustained and immediate ceasefire” in Gaza and deter an Israeli offensive into Rafah.

He is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli war cabinet.

His trip coincides with the resumption of talks in Doha aimed at securing a deal for a ceasefire tied to the release of the hostages held by Hamas.

It also coincides with a vote at the UN on a US-sponsored Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Gaza conflict.

Blinken’s meetings are expected to be tense, with Netanyahu vowing to carry out an Israeli military incursion into Rafah, where more than a million people have been forced to flee.

The top US diplomat is again expected to press Israel on the urgent need for more humanitarian assistance to reach people in Gaza.

Here’s what to expect from the talks.

A US-proposed United Nations Security Council resolution on Gaza will be brought to a vote on Friday, US Mission to the UN spokesperson Nate Evans told CNN.

The resolution, which the US has been working on for weeks, calls for “an immediate and sustained ceasefire… in connection with the release of all remaining hostages.”

The US vetoed multiple prior UNSC resolutions calling for immediate ceasefires. US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after vetoing an Algerian resolution in late February that it “would put sensitive negotiations in jeopardy.”

Here are the latest developments in the conflict:

Nima Abu Garrara speaks to CNN in Jerusalem. She was brought from Rafah to East Jerusalem while pregnant with twins and gave birth on October 5.

The Israeli government will not send about two dozen Palestinian patients in East Jerusalem and Tel Aviv hospitals back to Gaza until Israel’s Supreme Court rules on the merits of the case, according to a letter filed with the Supreme Court by the Israeli State Attorney’s Office.

The state attorney’s office has asked the court for 30 days to submit its response to a complaint filed by a group of Israeli human rights groups on behalf of some of the patients seeking to bar the Israeli government from deporting the patients during that time. 

The Israeli Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a temporary injunction to prevent that transfer until the government responded. 

The government said it has agreed not to send any of the patients back to Gaza “except for any of them who request in writing through their attorney to allow him to return to the Gaza Strip.”

The human rights groups petitioned Israel’s highest court following a CNN report about some of the patients, including mothers and babies.

The United Nations Security Council meets in New York on March 11.

The US-proposed United Nations Security Council resolution on Gaza will be brought to a vote this morning, US Mission to the UN spokesperson Nate Evans told CNN on Thursday.

“After many rounds of consultations with the Security Council, we will be bringing this Resolution for a vote on Friday morning,” he said. 

The US has vetoed multiple prior UNSC resolutions calling for immediate ceasefires. US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after vetoing an Algerian resolution in late February that it “would put sensitive negotiations in jeopardy.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference in Cairo, Egypt, on Thursday, March 21.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the “gaps are narrowing” between Israel and Hamas to agree on a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages, but conceded that “there’s still real challenges.”

Blinken said he still believes a deal is possible, despite “difficult work to get there.”

As Israel prepares for an offensive in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, Blinken said the US believes Hamas “can be effectively dealt with without a major ground operation in Rafah.” He said a ground operation would “be a mistake,” and officials will outline alternative plans when an Israeli delegation goes to Washington, DC, next week.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told reporters he and Blinken agreed to plan “concrete steps” to increase humanitarian aid in Gaza.

The minister stated that the US and Egypt are aligned in their “total rejection of military operations in Rafah.”

He said that Egypt would do “whatever is possible, whatever is required to facilitate a cessation of hostilities and an end to the military activity.” 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani arrive to speak to the press in Washington, DC, on March 5.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered a stern message to Qatar earlier this month: Tell Hamas that they must deliver on a hostage and ceasefire deal that would halt the war in Gaza or risk getting kicked out of the Qatari capital of Doha where senior members of the terror group are based, two US officials told CNN.

The pressure from the US came at a time when negotiations between Hamas and Israel had stalled, before Hamas came back to the table with a new set of demands which were discussed this week in Doha. The indirect talks, held between Israel and Hamas under Qatari and Egyptian mediation, were the first to be held in Doha at that level in weeks and are set to resume on Friday.

The message was delivered by Blinken to Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani in a meeting in Washington on March 5, sources familiar with the matter said.

US officials said that Qatar, which has been a critical partner to the US in efforts to reach a ceasefire deal, understood the message and received it without major pushback.

Qatari officials did not comment on the specific meeting but said that they are exerting immense pressure on Hamas. It is unclear if Qatar delivered the warning to Hamas leaders.

Some background: Hamas established a political office in Doha in 2012, with senior members of the group based there permanently. As a result, Qatar plays a crucial role in the region between Hamas and other nations.

The Biden administration has been actively discussing with Qatar its relationship with Hamas since the group carried out its attack on Israel on October 7. 

Read more about Blinken’s comments in Qatar.

Smoke rises near the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in the western part of Gaza City on Thursday, March 21.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel Security Agency (ISA) said Thursday that Israeli troops killed more than 140 people in the raid that began on Monday.

Israeli forces recovered weapons and intelligence documents and arrested over 600 people including senior officials with Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization, the agencies said. CNN cannot verify the claims of the IDF and ISA.

Hamas accused Israeli forces of “destroying many of the hospital’s capabilities, blowing up and burning the surrounding residential buildings, detaining and abusing the displaced, medical staff and patients,” in a statement Thursday.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has reiterated concerns over military operations in and around Al-Shifa.

He said a WHO mission to the hospital scheduled for Thursday had to be canceled due to security concerns

Videos of Al-Shifa: Video of the complex shows women hiding in stairwells as loudspeakers warn them that if they leave, they will be shot.

One clip, filmed through a hole in an exterior wall, shows at least 20 women and children on a staircase, but it is unclear when the video was filmed.

In separate videos filmed by Emmy Shaheen, a woman living near the hospital, she describes hearing shelling and shooting from her home.

CNN geolocated Shaheen’s home as northwest of Al-Shifa Hospital.

US Central Intelligence Agency Director Bill Burns will join hostage talks in Qatar on Friday as negotiators work toward a deal that would secure the release of hostages held in Gaza alongside a temporary ceasefire, sources familiar with the plans said on Thursday.

The head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, David Barnea, will travel to Qatar Friday for the talks, Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement on Thursday.

Barnea will meet with Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel, according to the statement.

“The meeting of senior officials will be held in the framework of the negotiations in Doha, the goal of which is to advance the efforts to return the hostages,” it said.

CNN has asked the CIA for comment. 

Burns has been instrumental in trying to secure a deal on hostages, traveling several times to the Middle East and Europe for talks. The efforts have not yet yielded an agreement.

There were signs, however, that progress was being made, and US officials voiced cautious optimism this week that a deal could be reached.

In an interview on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the negotiations to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal are “getting closer.”

“I think the gaps are narrowing, and I think an agreement is very much possible,” Blinken said in an interview with Saudi news channel Al Hadath in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.