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.

International aid groups said on Thursday there is nothing more they can do to protect staff in the Gaza Strip and that it is up to Israel to avoid killing them as the United Nations appealed for direct humanitarian coordination with the Israeli military.

Global outrage at the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave of 2.3 million people escalated after an Israeli airstrike on Monday killed seven people working for US-based food charity World Central Kitchen.

The UN says at least 196 humanitarian workers have now been killed in the six-month-long war as Israel retaliates against Hamas in Gaza over a deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group.

While some aid groups have suspended operations following the strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy on Monday, none have said they plan to withdraw from Gaza despite the repeated attacks on aid operations in Gaza. The United Nations warns a famine is imminent.

The UN has long complained of obstacles to getting aid in and distributing it throughout Gaza.

Open Arms members carry humanitarian aid for Gaza in a joint mission between NGOs Open Arms and World Central Kitchen at a port of Larnaca, Cyprus, March 9, 2024. (credit: Santi Palacios/Open Arms-World Central Kitchen/Handout via REUTERS)

"Every day we are forced to decide whether to suspend an operation or to proceed with an operation - and often the decision is to suspend because we don't have the proper security conditions in place," Scott Paul, associate director for peace and security at Oxfam America, told reporters.

The UN and international aid groups operating in Gaza said they share the locations of all premises and planned movements with the Israeli authorities and are in daily contact. The United States said on Tuesday that it was "unacceptable and inexplicable" that the Israeli military's procedures to avoid harming aid workers were not functioning appropriately.

"One of the things that would probably improve the system ... is for us to have the ability to have more direct contact with the military as opposed to going through a number of layers of military-civilian coordination as it does now," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Thursday.

Israel's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that it would work to strengthen coordination, including by opening a joint situation room to coordinate between the Israeli military's southern command and international aid organizations.

 'It's on Israel'

Israel also said on Thursday it would adjust war tactics.

"The rules of war require that those fighting always know the difference between military targets and humanitarian relief workers," said Bushra Khalidi, an Oxfam policy adviser.

"If there's any ever any doubt, it's on Israel to avoid harming us," she said, adding that aid groups make their staff as visible as possible in an effort to protect them.

Celebrity chef Jose Andres, who founded World Central Kitchen, told Reuters that Israel had targeted his aid workers "systematically, car by car." Israeli government spokesperson Raquela Karamson responded on Thursday: "This was unintended."

Louise Bichet, head of the Middle East department for Doctors of the World/Médecins du Monde, said her organization's offices in Gaza City had been partly destroyed "even though we had clearly communicated our GPS coordinates and it was very well known by the Israeli army."

"This shows the failure of the deconfliction process and poses a serious question ... (about) the understanding and respect of IHL (international humanitarian law) by the state of Israel," she said.

The UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA - described by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza - said there has been more than 300 strikes on its facilities and 177 staff had been killed.

UNRWA said it had shared the coordinates of all of its facilities in Gaza with all parties to the conflict. Several aid convoys to northern Gaza had also been targeted despite detailed coordination with the Israeli military, UNRWA said.

Isabelle Defourny, president of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) France, said the humanitarian coordination system was not working and that she could not imagine how it could be improved when there was a "lack of proportionality" in how Israel was conducting the war.

"They know where we are, what we do, where we will work," she said. "Despite that ... there are security incidents."

Israel’s security cabinet authorized increased aid for Gaza after US President Joe Biden threatened to change his administration’s supportive policies unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government took action on the matter.

“The Cabinet authorized the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, and Minister [Benny] Gantz to take immediate steps to increase humanitarian aid to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip,” the Prime Minister’s Office said after ministers held a meeting Thursday night.

“This increased aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis and is necessary to ensure the continuation of the fighting and to achieve the goals of the war,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

To help facilitate the delivery of the aid, Israel will temporarily allow goods for Gaza to land at the port in Ashdod, a step which had been halted after the Hamas-led attack on October 7.

Israel also plans to temporarily open the Erez crossing by northern Gaza and close to Ashdod for the entry of humanitarian assistance.

More Jordanian aid will enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing, the PMO stated.

U.S. President Joe Biden, left, pauses during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, to discuss the war between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (credit: Miriam Alster/Pool via REUTERS//File Photo)

The move followed a half-an-hour phone call between US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during which the American leader expressed his outrage over the IDF killing of seven aid workers from the Work Central Kitchen.

Israel has apologized for the killing, explaining that it was accidental, and is investigating the incident.

In a post on X Biden stated, “Today, I spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu to emphasize that strikes on aid workers and the humanitarian situation in Gaza are unacceptable.

“Israel must implement steps to address civilian harm and the safety of workers – and work toward a ceasefire to bring hostages home,” he stated. 

US National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby told reporters it expected Israel to make changes to its Gaza policy within days if not hours.

Ben-Gvir in denial

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from Otzma Yehudit accused the Prime Minister’s Office of publishing false information when it stated that the security cabinet had approved the increase of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

"There was no vote this evening in the Cabinet on an agreement by Ministers [Yoav] Galant and [Benny] Gantz on the increase of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and the announcement on the subject by the Prime Minister's Office - is incorrect,” Ben-Gvir said.

He and other ministers had opposed the proposal, he said, adding that retreated that Netanyahu had not brought the matter to a vote.

"The right way to return our hostages is to stop sending aid to Gaza, and to stipulate a condition - a humanitarian act only in exchange for a humanitarian act,” Ben-Gvir said.

He lamented the fact that the IDF had not yet entered Rafah to destroy the last remaining Hamas battalions there, a move that has been opposed by the international community, including the US.

“It's a shame that instead of entering Rafah, there are those who prefer to engage in bringing equipment into Gaza that ends up directly in the hands of Hamas. We must enter Rafah now!” Ben-Gvir said.