Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 181?

Hamas rejected Israel's latest proposal to cease fighting and release hostages, according to a Friday CNN report.

According to an unnamed diplomat cited by CNN, “They refused and asserted it doesn’t include any reply to their asks.”

According to the diplomat, Hamas believed the “Israeli proposal includes nothing new, so they see no need to change their proposal,” the official added.

Negotiations were supposed to lead to a lasting ceasefire, per the UN Security Resolution passed last month, and mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and the US have worked to try and broach a deal since the conflict broke out in October.

The head of the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah said on Friday that Israel's strike on Iran's consulate in Damascus this week marked a "turning point" since Oct. 7, when Hamas launched an attack on Israel that has led to escalating regional tensions.

The Damascus strike on Monday killed seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps members, among them a senior Quds Force commander, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi. Iran has vowed revenge.

Iran-backed Hezbollah has said it supports Iran's right to "punish" Israel, and in televised remarks on Friday, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the response was coming.

The British newspaper The Guardian reported on Friday that the commander of the 8200 intelligence unit had accidentally revealed his identity following a security breach.

According to the newspaper, a book he published on Amazon left a digital trail to his private Google account, which was in his name, along with a unique ID and links to maps in that account. 

The death toll in Gaza has exceeded 33,091, Hamas stated on Friday.

The United Nations Human Rights Council voted 28-5 for an arms embargo against Israel as it called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and demanded that the Jewish state uphold its responsibility to prevent genocide, when it met Friday in Geneva.

Thirteen of the 47 UNHRC member states abstained from the text, which did not mention Hamas or condemn it for the invasion of Israel on October 7, in which 1,200 people were killed and 253 seized as hostages.

Argentina, Bulgaria, Germany, Malawi, and the United States all opposed the resolution. 

Three European Union countries — Belgium, Finland, and Luxembourg — supported the text. Four EU countries — France, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Romania — abstained.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that he sincerely hopes Israel quickly and effectively boosts aid access to the Gaza Strip, describing the situation in the Palestinian enclave after six months of war as "absolutely desperate."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that the US is carefully reviewing Israel's inquiry into the strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers this week, adding that Washington will be looking very carefully at what steps Israel is taking.

"It's very important that Israel is taking full responsibility for this incident. It's also important that it appears to be taking steps to hold those responsible accountable. Even more important is that steps are being taken going forward to ensure that something like this can never happen again," Blinken told reporters in Brussels.

Israel said it approved the reopening of the Erez crossing into northern Gaza and the temporary use of Ashdod port in southern Israel, following US demands to increase humanitarian aid supplies into Gaza.

During a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday night, US President Joe Biden demanded "specific, concrete" steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying conditions could be placed on US aid if Israel did not respond.

The growing pressure on Israel came after the killing of seven aid workers in an Israeli strike on Monday night, which triggered global outrage at the continuing problems with aid deliveries into the besieged enclave.

A meeting of the security cabinet late on Thursday approved immediate steps to increase humanitarian aid to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, a statement said.

The IDF reported on Friday that the death of Efrat Katz on October 7 was likely from an airstrike by an Israeli Air Force combat helicopter on the vehicle she was being held captive in during Hamas's assault on Nir Oz.

The investigation found that the existing surveillance systems used by the IDF were unable to detect that Katz and other hostages were in the vehicle with the Hamas terrorists.

An IDF-designated team investigated the incident and concluded the circumstances surrounding Katz's death based on videos taken of the strike from the combat helicopter and the UAV, security cameras of the Kibbutz and the testimonies of the aerial crews that operated in the area, as well as the family members of Katz.

Katz's family were informed on Friday of the findings of the investigation.

Rocket sirens sounded in northern Israel on Friday afternoon.