"She can rest": Shani Louk's parents grateful after their daughter's body is returned from Gaza
From CNN's Sophie Tanno
The parents of Shani Louk, the German-Israeli woman who was killed while trying to escape the Nova music festival on October 7, have expressed their gratitude at being able to lay her body to rest after it was recovered from the Gaza Strip in an Israel Defense Forces operation.
"I was relieved, because we didn't know where she was," Shani's father, Nissim Louk, said during an interview with i24 News. "Maybe they threw her into a well or maybe she's buried somewhere."
He continued: "Yesterday we got all the answers and we closed this loop. We are happy that now she will have her own place next to us, and we can go there whenever we want, and she can rest."
Nissim had previously told Israeli media that his daughter’s body was very well-preserved because it had been kept in a “deep and very cold tunnel."
Louk's remains were retrieved alongside the bodies of two others who were taken hostage on October 7 and killed while escaping the music festival: Amit Bouskila and Itshak Gelernter.
CNN analyst and Axios reporter Barak Ravid,citing an IDF spokesperson,reportethe bodies were found in a tunnel in Gaza.
Louk, 23, attended the Nova music festival just inside Israel before it was attacked by gunmen from Palestinian militant group Hamas. Her lifeless body was seen in video on the back of a Hamas truck after the attack.
She was declared dead by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in late October. A source involved with her identification told CNN Louk’s death was announced after forensic examiners found a bone fragment from her skull.
Two soldiers killed in southern Gaza, Israel Defense Forces says
From Michael Schwartz in Jerusalem
The Israel Defense Forces says that two Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in southern Gaza on Saturday.
The two soldiers were killed by a blast in the Rafah area, while an officer and two other troops were severely wounded, according to the IDF.
The soldiers killed were named as Nachman Meir Haim Vaknin and Noam Batan, who were both 20-year old Master Sergeants belonging to the Givati Brigade’s reconnaissance unit.
The latest deaths bring the toll among Israeli soldiers since the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and operations on the border began to 282.
Saudi crown prince meets with US national security advisor
From CNN’s Lucas Lilieholm
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Sunday in the eastern city of Dhahran, according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
During the meeting they discussed regional developments, including the situation in Gaza, "the need to stop the war," and how to find a "credible track towards the two-state solution," SPAreported.
The press agency also reported that Sullivan and bin Salman discussed the “semi-final version” of draft strategic agreements between Saudi Arabia and the US, which it describes as “almost being finalised.”
Displaced woman describes "death and horror" at Gaza refugee camp as battles rage nearby
From Abdel Qadder Al-Sabbah in Jabalya
A displaced woman has told CNN of the dire conditions at the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza, after Israel's military heavily bombarded the area and engaged in renewed fighting with Palestinian militants there.
“It’s death and horror as you can see. We wake up scared and go to bed scared,” Ibtisam Abu Abeid told CNN on Friday.
“Our house is gone. Four floors for me and my children — all gone,” she said, referring to her home in the nearby city of Beit Hanoun.
She is now staying in a destroyed shelter in the center of Jabalya, after being again displaced from the eastern part of the camp. Abu Abeid says she hasno access to toilet facilitiesoradequate shelter,and water is scarce.
The Israeli military said Saturday that its troops had killed Palestinian militants in multiple battles in Jabalya. CNN footage from the area shows large explosions, with the sounds of bombardment, gunfire and drones heard throughout.
Rescuers pull bodies from the rubble: Some 300 houses were completely destroyed over the course of seven days during the Israeli incursion in Jabalya, according to Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for the civil defense emergency services in Gaza.
Bassal's teams have recovered at least 150 bodies and rescued hundreds of wounded people over the past week at the refugee camp, he told CNN on Saturday.
He warned that many bodies remain under the rubble, as civil defense teams are either unable to reach them or unable to dig them out. Bassal said Israeli fire has made his team of first responders afraid to approach certain areas, despite calls for help from citizens.
CNN's Sarah El Sirgany contributed reporting to this post.
Access to food in Gaza "dire" following Israeli operation in Rafah, according to UN humanitarian agency
From CNN’s Xiaofei Xu
Gaza is facing a "dire" food situation as barely more than 300 aid trucks have entered the strip since Israel began its offensive in Rafah, a United Nations humanitarian agency said in a report Friday.
“More than 3,000 metric tons of food in main warehouses have become inaccessible by food security partners due to ongoing hostilities,” according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “Limited amounts of supplies have entered Gaza since 6 May and remain largely insufficient to address the soaring needs,” it added.
Israeli forces seized the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on May 7, causing aid deliveries through Rafah to be halted.
The situation in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah continues to deteriorate as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flee into the two districts to escape Israeli operations in Rafah, according to OCHA.
“Between 6 and 16 May, according to the UN, nearly 640,000 people were displaced from Rafah. ... There are no remaining stocks of shelter materials inside Gaza,” the report said.
The UN agency stressed that more aid should be allowed to pass through checkpoints and enter Gaza by land.
“Any and all aid into Gaza is welcome by any route. However, getting aid to people in need, into and across Gaza, cannot and should not depend on a floating dock,” OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said Friday, referring to thefloating pierbuilt by the US military that has started to funnel aid to the enclave.
Over 300 pallets of humanitarian aid were delivered to Gaza through the pier, according to a statement from Israel Defense Forces on Saturday.
CNN’s Lucas Lilieholm contributed reporting to this post.
Gantz warns he will withdraw from government if war cabinet does not lay out a plan by early June
From Eugenia Yosef and CNN's Kareem El Damanhoury and Michael Rios
Former Israeli defenseminister and war cabinet member Benny Gantz is demanding that the cabinet lays out a plan for the war against Hamas by June 8.
In remarks in the city of Ramat Gan on Saturday night local time, Gantz warned that if his demands are not met, he will withdraw from the government.
He said the plan should eliminate Hamas, bring back the hostages, establish an alternative government in the strip, bring back Israeli residents to the north of Israel, and set up a plan to make progress on normalization with Saudi Arabia.
Gantz said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must choose between "victory and disaster" as he issued the ultimatum.
"If (Netanyahu) choose(s) to lead the nation into the abyss, we will withdraw from the government, turn to the people, and form a government that can bring about a real victory," Gantz said.
On Rafah: Gantz defended Israel’s military operations in Rafah, calling the city a “gate” for the re-emergence of Hamas. Gantz said that to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Hamas cannot remain in Gaza and must be cleared from Rafah.
He acknowledged the harmful impact the war is having on civilians but insisted that “decisiveness” is needed.
“No one is happy here seeing civilians moving from one place to another. Nobody is happy with the destruction that is there. But after 20 years, almost, of Hamas controlling the area and building the most sophisticated operational infrastructure in Gaza, there is no shortcut,” he said.
