Devastation in Gaza as Israel wages war on Hamas: Live updates | CNN (2024)

Palestinians who take refuge and live in tents due to ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza, also face the risk of epidemics due to uncollected garbage and accumulated sewage water in Rafah, Gaza on April 26.

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More than 330,000 tons of waste have accumulated in or near populated areas across Gaza as of Sunday, the United Nations’ relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Thursday.

The UN agency also reiterated its call for a ceasefire, saying it is “crucial to restore humane living conditions” in the Palestinian enclave.

Some context: UNRWA’s statement comes a day after the UN’s relief chief warned that more than a million Palestinians could face starvation by next month due to the war in Gaza and as a ceasefire proposal stutters, with nether Israel or Hamas yet publicly committing to the plan.

Palestinians inspect destroyed tents after an Israeli air strike in the Al-Mawasi area in Rafah, Gaza, on May 27.

Israel’s military denied striking a designated “safe zone” in Gaza on Thursday after the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said a region filled with refugees was hit by “land, sea and air strikes.”

Al-Mawasi, a coastal region west of Rafah previously designated by Israel as a safe zone for Palestinians was bombarded early on Thursday, including by navy boats firing heavy machine guns, WAFA said.

WAFA’s report did not give any details about whether there were any casualties.

The Israeli military denied carrying out any strikes on the safe zone or surrounding areas. “Contrary to the reports from the last few hours, the IDF did not strike in the Humanitarian Area in Al-Mawasi,” the Israel Defense Forces told CNN.

Here’s what else you should know:

Displaced Palestinians travel on a cart in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on May 7.

The devastating war in Gaza contributed to an 8% rise in forcibly displaced people across the world last year, the United Nations’ refugee agency says in a new report.

Around 117.3 million people globally were forcibly displaced in 2023 due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events causing serious public order — up by 8.8 million from 2022, according to the UNHCR’s Global Trends report published Thursday.

Some 68.3 million of those displaced are internally displaced, while 6.9 million people are classified as asylum seekers, UNHCR said.

Conflicts in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine and violence in Haiti are some of the factors behind the rise in the numbers, the report added.

Some context: As of January, 1.9 million civilians — or 85% of Gaza’s population — had been forcibly displaced amid Israel’s military operations, according to the UN’s emergency relief coordinator.

Israel’s military denied striking a designated safe zone in southern Gaza on Thursday after the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said a region filled with refugees was hit by “land, sea and air strikes.”

There were no strikes in Al-Mawasi, including outside of the designated safe zone, the IDF added.

Some context: More than half a million people are in Al-Mawasi, according to areportfrom Oxfam, after the IDF ordered people in eastern Rafah to head to the “expanded humanitarian area” as it stepped up its operations in southern Gaza.

This post has been updated with additional information.

The Israeli military launched strikes on Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza early Thursday, bombarding an area it had previously designated as a “safe zone” by land, sea and air, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

The strikes on the coastal town west of Rafah, which WAFA said included navy boats firing heavy machine guns, come as a US-backed Israeli proposal for aceasefire and hostage dealappears to be in limbo, with neither side yet publicly committing to the plan.

CNN has contacted the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on the WAFA report.

On Wednesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had received information from Israeli authorities that fighting will continue in western Rafah. CNN video showed many Palestinians taking down shelters and packing up their belongings after warnings spread of a pending military operation.

What we know about Al-Mawasi:In early May, the IDF ordered people in eastern Rafah to “immediately head to the expanded humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi,” which it designated as a “safe zone” as it stepped up its operations in southern Gaza.

The Al-Mawasi camp was already crowded with displaced people before civilians in Rafah were ordered to move there. The United Nations has called facilities in the area unsuitable for the hundreds of thousands of Gazans uprooted by violence in Rafah and across the Gaza Strip.

More than 1 million people have fled Rafah to the nearby areas of Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis in recent weeks, according to areportfrom Oxfam on June 4.

Some 1.7 million people, more than two thirds of Gaza’s population, are now estimated to be crammed into an area of 69 square kilometers (27 square miles) — less than a fifth of the strip.

In anew statement, Hamas said it “has shown the necessary positivity in all stages of negotiations”in order to reach a “comprehensive and acceptable agreement based on the just demands of our people.”

Hamas said those demands include a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from Gaza, the “return of the displaced, reconstruction, and the conclusion of a serious deal for the exchange of prisoners.”

Hamas said while it has “expressed its positive position” to what was included in US President Joe Biden’s speech on May 31, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has “continued to confirm their commitment to the genocide war, attacking the proposal put forth by President Biden” thatisin contradiction to the claim that Israel has agreed to what was in the Biden speech.

Hamas said while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken “continues to talk about Israel’s agreement to the latest proposal, we have not heard any Israeli official speak about this agreement.”

Hamas called on Blinken and the Biden administration to put pressureonthe Israeli government that Hamas said “is determined to complete its mission,”andwhich Hamas says is “in flagrant violation of all international laws and treaties.”

In the statement, Hamasalsosaid it rejects statements by Blinken that attempt to absolve Israel “of its crimes against innocent children, women, and elderly.”

Hamas said this is in line with American policy that is complicit in the brutal war “against our Palestinian people, allowing the occupation to continue its crimes under full American political and military cover.”

Earlier Wednesday, Blinken questioned whether Hamas is “proceeding in good faith” amid the ceasefire negotiations, saying Hamas had proposed a number of changes in their response to the latest deal, which “go beyond positions they had previously taken.”

People take part in a protest in Tel Aviv,Israel, onJune 10 demanding the immediate release ofhostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack.

A group representing families of hostages held in Gaza on Wednesday urged Israeli mediators taking part in the new ceasefire proposal “to intensively continue negotiations” to bring the captives home safely.

Earlier Wednesday in Doha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that while he believes the current gaps are “bridgeable,” it doesn’t mean they will be closed, saying it “ultimately depends on people saying yes.”

Hamas is pushing for more specifics and “the goalposts are moving,” in ceasefire negotiations, a senior Biden administration official said.

CNNhas previously reportedthat on May 6 when Hamas claimed to “agree” to the ceasefire deal, they were pushing for what would in effect be a 12-week initial pause in the fighting before a permanent ceasefire. It would effectively prevent Israel from being able to recommence military operations.

“It will be difficult to get Israel to agree to automaticity that the ceasefire will become permanent,” the senior administration official said on Wednesday.

The official had previously told CNN that what was on the table was “pretty thin once you get past that first phase.”

There’s a very detailed phase one, the official said, then the phases after that get progressively more ambiguous.

A separate diplomatic source told CNN on Tuesday that: “The (Hamas) response contained amendments to the Israeli proposal, including a timeline for a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross in Rafah has received information from the Israeli authorities that fighting will continue in western Rafah, the ICRC said Wednesday.

“The ICRC does not have precise information about the operation. It has not been issued an evacuation order, and its operations – including at the field hospital – will continue,” the ICRC spokesperson in Jerusalem, Sarah Davies, told CNN on Wednesday.

“The ICRC is choosing to implementadditional internal securityand safety measures,” Davies said, adding the ICRCwill not leave its current location in the Shams safe house and is adding extra security measures.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment.

CNN video shows many Palestinians packing up their belongings from the Al-Alam area in West Rafah after a warning spread of a pending military operation.Footage shows people taking down the tents and shelters they have set up from previous displacements.

Another Gazan resident, Layla Aiwada, decided to leave her house with her children after she said she heard there would be a military operation. “We have been here for two weeks, and before that, we wereat Bader Camp in Rafah,” she said.