March 3, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Without Israel agreeing to a permanent ceasefire, Hamas will not agree to a deal over hostages, a highly placed source in the militant group told CNN on Sunday.

At least three sticking points remain before Hamas will agree upon a deal, the source said. These are:

The source spoke to CNN as a Hamas delegation returned to Cairo for further talks, and the day after a senior Biden Administration official told reporters that Israel has “basically accepted” a proposal for a six-week ceasefire. There has been no public comment from Israel since the briefing from the Biden administration official.

A diplomatic source briefed on the talks told CNN on Sunday that there is progress, but it is very slow. The source said it was very unlikely there will be a deal in next 48 hours.

While the source also said Hamas would not agree to releasing hostages without a permanent ceasefire, they also said that there must be a guarantee of a certain amount of aid getting to both the north and south of Gaza before progress can be made.

A weeks-long CNN investigation has uncovered how half of a family sheltering in a warehouse in central Gaza was killed by indiscriminate Israeli fire.

Five of Roba Abu Jibba's siblings were killed after heavy fire from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) caused the annex they were sheltering in to collapse. Three of these siblings were children, aged 10, 13, and 15.

Weapons experts told CNN that a heavy munition, weighing as much as 2,000 pounds, was likely dropped on the warehouse.

Though the IDF claims that Israeli soldiers “were fired upon” from the location, CNN could not corroborate the military’s claim that its forces came under fire from the building. Survivors said there were no militants operating in the warehouse. CNN could also not find any proof behind the IDF's claim that it had closed this particular section of Salaheddin Street for evacuation before the blast took place.

“We came to the south for nothing, and they bombed us, and our children were killed in the south. Nowhere in Gaza is safe, it’s all lies,” Roba's mother, Sumaya told CNN.

You can read the full investigation here.

A Hamas delegation has arrived in Cairo on Sunday for further talks on a ceasefire deal, a senior Hamas source told CNN, where negotiators from the US, Israel and Egypt are also expected to attend.

The Hamas source refused to confirm any details about the militant group’s positions or demands, saying what is being reported in the media “is speculation and leaks.”

The source did not say who was in the delegation, and asked not to be named discussing the closed-door negotiations.

The upcoming talks are expected to be held at the expert level, with Israel and Hamas representatives communicating from separate rooms.

On Saturday, a senior Biden administration official told reporters that Israel had “basically accepted” a six-week ceasefire proposal in Gaza. According to the official, the sticking point in the deal is that Hamas has not yet agreed to a “defined category of vulnerable hostages.”

The delivery of vital humanitarian aid intended for Gaza, including anesthetics, ventilators, and water filtration systems, is being obstructed by Israel, a new CNN investigation has found.

Humanitarian workers and government officials working to deliver urgently needed aid for Gaza say a clear pattern has emerged of Israeli obstruction, as disease and near-famine grip parts of the besieged enclave.

CNN has also reviewed documents compiled by major participants in the humanitarian operation that list the items most frequently rejected by Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, or COGAT. These include anesthetics and anesthesia machines, oxygen cylinders, ventilators and water filtration systems.

Other items that have ended up in bureaucratic limbo include dates, sleeping bags, medicines to treat cancer, water purification tablets and maternity kits.

In a statement provided to CNN after publication of this report, COGAT described the testimony given to CNN as “false accusations” and criticized the decision to go public with the claims.

You can read our full report here.

Ninety people have been killed in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, the Gaza Ministry of Health said Sunday, bringing the death toll in the strip to 30,410 since October 7 as fighting continues to rage.

Among the dead were 11 people killed in an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp next to a maternity hospital, according the ministry.

A number of victims also remain under rubble, according to the health ministry.

Some 177 injuries have been recorded in the 24 hours to Sunday morning, bringing the total number of injuries to 71,700, the Gaza health ministry said.

CNN cannot independently confirm the numbers due to the lack of international media access to Gaza.

The Israeli military on Sunday said that it had conducted “an extensive series” of overnight strikes on “terrorist infrastructure and operatives” in western Khan Younis.

During the strikes, the Israeli military claimed to have killed Hamas militants operating from civilian urban facilities. The infrastructure targeted overnight included underground facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts and meeting points, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The Israeli military said it had killed 30 militants in the 24 hours before Sunday morning.

A cargo ship struck last month by a ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels has sunk in the Red Sea, the US Central Command said Saturday.

The sinking of the Rubymar, which was carrying 21,000 metric tons of fertilizer, presents an environmental risk in the Red Sea, according to US Central Command.

The M/V Rubymar, a Belize-flagged, UK-owned bulk carrier, had been slowly taking on water since February 18, when it was struck by one of two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi territory in Yemen.

Days later, it created an 18-mile long oil slick in the Red Sea.

The damage sustained by the Rubymar is potentially the most significant to a vessel caused by an attack launched by the Iran-backed Houthis, who have been targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea for months.

The attacks on one of the world’s most important shipping routes have upended global trade and stoked fears of a wider regional conflict months into the Israel-Hamas war.

The United Nations Security Council has expressed “deep concern” over a devastating incident that killed more than 100 Palestinians seeking aid on Thursday in northern Gaza, while acknowledging that an Israeli investigation is underway.

"The council members take note that an Israeli investigation is underway," it added.

On Thursday, the day of the incident, Security Council members were unable to agree on a statement because of US objections.

The statement released Saturday said members of the Security Council “reiterate their demand for parties to the conflict to allow, facilitate, and enable the immediate, rapid, safe, sustained and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale to the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip.”

The carnage: At least 118 people were killed and 760 injured Thursday when Israeli troops open fired on Palestinian civilians who were gathering around food aid trucks, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza.

CNN is unable to independently confirm these numbers.

Israel's military has denied that account, saying it fired warning shots to disperse a crowd.

On Friday, a spokesperson for the UN Secretary General, citing a UN team that visited the hospital where survivors were taken, said many of the injured civilians had suffered gunshot wounds.

“From what they saw, in terms of the patients alive and getting treatment is that there is a large number of gunshot wounds,” Stéphane Dujarric said.

Following the incident, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said an effective independent investigation was required.

US President Joe Biden vowed Saturday to help more aid reach Gaza after the first US humanitarian airdrops into the strip. 

The statement echoes comments the president made on Friday, when he said the US will "insist" that Israel allow more trucks and routes to be added so more aid can be delivered to the people of Gaza.

Remember: United Nations agencies this week warned of an imminent risk of famine for half a million people in Gaza, and aid groups have criticized US plans to drop food aid into the enclave as ineffective. Aid workers and government officials say Israel has engaged in a clear pattern of obstructing humanitarian efforts in the enclave.

As international efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continue, more talks are planned in Cairo, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The exact timing of the talks is unclear, but they will be held at the expert level. Recent talks in Paris have included the director level.

Negotiators from the US, Israel, Egypt and Hamas are expected to attend, according to a diplomatic source familiar with the discussions. It’s not clear if Qatar will attend.

Discussions between Israel and Hamas would be indirect, in separate rooms. 

Israel has asked Hamas for a list of the hostages who are alive and dead. Hamas has still not responded to last Friday’s Paris meeting, which was followed this week by technical meetings in Doha with teams from US, Egypt, Qatar and Israel.