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Treasury department imposessanctionson two groups for fundraising for Israeli extremists in West Bank
From CNN’s Jennifer Hansler, Kylie Atwood and Alex Marquardt
The US Treasury Department imposedsanctionson two organizations on Friday for fundraising on behalf of two violent Israeli extremists in the West Bank.
The two groups -- Mount Hebron Fund and Shlom Asiraich – established crowdfunding campaigns to raise thousands of dollars for Yinon Levi and David Chai Chasdai respectively. Both of those men were sanctioned by the US in February under a new executive order targeting those perpetrating violence in the West Bank.
At the same time, the State Department on Friday sanctioned Ben-Zion Gopstein, “the founder and leader of Lehava, an organization whose members have engaged in violence, including assaults on Palestinian civilians,” the Treasury Department said in a statement Friday.
The executive order, issued by President Joe Biden in early February, came amid increased violence in the occupied West Bank in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack. That violence has only continued in subsequent months.
The order angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who complained to the administration, calling it “inappropriate” and “highly problematic,” according to Axios.
Gopstein responded later on Friday, saying: “We overcame Pharaoh; we shall overcome Bidentoo,” which is his rephrasing of the commonly used expression said during Israel at Passover: "We overcame Pharaoh; we shall overcome this."
This post has been updated with comment from Ben-Zion Gopstein.
Gazadeathtollsurpasses 34,000, Ministry of Health says
From CNN’s Ibrahim Dahman and Eyad Kourdi
The deathtollin the Gaza Strip has risen to at least 34,012, following more than six months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants,the Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Friday.
In the last 24 hours, 42 Palestinians had died following Israeli attacks, the ministry reported.
A further 63 people had been injured over the same time period, taking the overall number of wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began to 76,833, it said.
CNN cannot independently verify the ministry's casualty figures.
276 aid trucks entered Gaza on Friday, Israelimilitary says
From CNN’s Ibrahim Dahman and Eyad Kourdi
A total of 276 aid trucks carrying humanitarian supplies underwent inspection and were admitted into Gazaon Friday, according to a statementfrom theCoordinatorof Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli military body that administers Israeli policy in Gaza and the West Bank.
In addition to ground transportation, 144 pallets containing tens of thousands of aid packages were airdropped into northern Gaza onFriday, COGAT added.
Additionally, COGAT stated that new routes also saw significant activity, with 20 trucks passing through the Jordanian Route andeighttrucks of flour arriving via theport ofAshdodin Israel.
"Ninetrucks of medical aid were coordinated to the Emirati Hospital, andninetrucks of medical aid were coordinated to the ICRC Hospital," the COGAT statement reads.
Israel last week said it had begun to take several major steps to ramp up humanitarian aid to Gaza amid intense pressure from the United States.
However, humanitarian officials said progress was slow-going and that much more needed to be done, as warnings grew of famine in the Palestinian enclave.
German and Polish airlines cancel Tel Aviv flights
From CNN’s Benjamin Brown and Maisie Linford in London
Germany’s Lufthansa airline has canceled its flights to Tel Aviv until Saturday morning and will avoid Iraqi airspace due to the security situation in the region.
LOT Polish airlines, meanwhile, canceled Friday’s flights to Tel Aviv and Beirut. It is not scheduled to fly to Israel on Saturday, and will decide about Sunday flights on Saturday, the airline said.
Lufthansa is scheduled to resume flights to Tel Aviv and plans to again fly through Iraqi airspace from Saturday 1 a.m. ET (8 a.m. in Israel).
The announcement follows the airline’s decision to extend its suspension of flights to the capitals of Iran and Lebanon.
Lufthansa said Wednesday that flights to Tehran and Beirut will remain cancelled and the airline will not use Iranian airspaceup toand including April 30.
Hamas leader Haniyeh to meet Turkish president Saturday
From CNN's Isil Sariyuce and Scott McLeaninİstanbul
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed Turkish media reports that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh will visit Turkey on Saturday. Erdogan said, "What we will speak will be between us for now. And we will take our steps accordingly."
Regarding the latest escalation, Erdogan appeared to bemoan a lack of international leadership.
“Israel says different things, Iran of course has different opinions. Nobody claimed the [attack]. And there is no reasonable statement so far. You can not say ‘What Iran says is right.' You can not say ‘What Israel says is right’ either. When you look at USA, they say ‘We were aware, we were not aware,' ” Erdogan saidwhile speaking to reporters in Istanbul.
Erdogan also said he was not surprised by America vetoing the United Nations Security Council resolution that would have paved the way for full UN recognition of a Palestinian state on Thursday.
“At the UNSC while the world supported Palestine, America is backing Israel again. We were not expecting anything different but this gave us an opportunity to see that,” he said.
See how violence has spread through the Middle East
Violence and uncertainty has gripped the Middle East since Hamas' October 7 attacks on Israel, and Israel's subsequent war in Gaza.
The war has threatened on several occasions to spill over into an all-out regional conflict, and those concerns have intensified in recent weeks, as Israel and Iran traded missile strikes.
Here's a look at where and how violence has spread.
US not involved in any operations, Blinken says, after US officials say Israel strikes Iran
The United States has not been involved in any offensive operations, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, after a US official told CNN that Israel had launched a strike on Iran.
"What we're focused on, what the G7 is focused on, and again, it's reflected in our statement and in our conversation, is our work to de-escalate tensions," Blinken said.
The US was given advance notification Thursday of an intended Israeli strike in the coming days but did not endorse the response, a second senior US official previously said.
White House tightlipped on Israel strike as US looks to maintain distance from decision
From CNN's Kevin Liptak in Washington
As Israel struck Iran overnight in what appeared to be a limited retaliation for last weekend's attack, the White House adopted a tightlipped approach that reflected US officials' desire to keep a level of distance from the decision.
American officials, who said they did receive warning from Israel of their plans, neither endorsed nor condemned the counterstrike.
Instead, they sought to make clear the choice was Israel's alone.
"We were not involved," one official said.
Even though US President Joe Biden advised restraint in a recent phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – suggesting that a counterattack may not be necessary because of the successful interception of Iran's missiles and drones - few within the White House believed Israel would do nothing. Officials had asked Israel for advance warning of the plans.
Blinken says G7 is "committed to de-escalating tensions" and holding Iran to account
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the G7 countries were "committed to de-escalating" tensions between Israel and Iran.
"We’re committed to Israel’s security. We’re also committed to de-escalating -- to trying to bring this tension to a close," Blinken said during a news conference at the conclusion of the group's meeting in Capri, Italy, hours after a US official told CNN that Israel had launched a military strike on Iran.
He also said the countries shared "a commitment to hold Iran to account."
Blinken said the nations condemned Iran's weekend strikes on Israel. He called those attacks "unprecedented in scope and scale; scope because it was a direct attack on Israel from Iran, scale because it involved more than 300 munitions including ballistic missiles."
