Our live coverage of Israel's war against Hamas has moved here.
January 15, 2024 Israel-Hamas war
By Chris Lau, Antoinette Radford and Rob Picheta, CNN
Updated 12:00 a.m. ET, January 16, 2024
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Iran claims to destroy Israeli spy base in northern Iraq strikes
From CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali, Nechirvan Mando and Helen Regan
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Monday launched ballistic missiles at what it said was a spy base for Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad in northern Iraq, and at “anti-Iran terror groups” in Syria, in the latest escalation of hostilities that further risks spiraling into a wider regional conflict.
The strikes were condemned by the United States as “reckless” and imprecise.
Iranian forces said the midnight missile strike in Iraq destroyed “one of the main espionage headquarters” of Israel in Erbil, capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, in response to what they said were Israeli attacks that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders and members of the Iranian resistance front.
“This headquarters has been the center for developing espionage operations and planning terrorist acts” in the region and Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement Monday.
CNN has reached out to Israel’s Prime Minister’s office for comment on the IRGC’s claim.
The IRGC also said it struck several locations in Erbil and claimed to target “sites of Iranian opposition groups.”
At least four civilians were killed and six others injured in the attack, according to a statement early Tuesday by the Security Council of the Kurdistan region.
Hundreds of thousands are starving in Gaza as famine arrives at "incredible speed," UN aid chief says
From CNN's Chris Lau
Israel's war in Gaza has brought famine with "such incredible speed," the United Nations’ relief chief told CNN on Monday, as he warned that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are starving in the besieged enclave.
The "great majority" of 400,000 Gazans characterized by UN agencies as at risk of starving "are actually in famine, not just at risk of famine," UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
"It’s been an extraordinary and holy unwelcome aspect of the Gazan war," he said. "It has brought famine with such incredible speed to the front of the lines."
Aid has been trickling into Gaza slowly from two border crossings in the south.
Last week, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Israel had denied critical supplies from entering northern Gaza. But Israel has accused the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency of not doing enough and “stalling” the progress.
Griffiths told CNN Monday that work to provide humanitarian aid to 300,000 Gazans who remain in the north of the strip continues to be a challenge.
"If you cannot rely on deconfliction of access routes of people in need, If you cannot rely on hospitals not being attacked ... if you cannot rely on people having to move from one place of insecurity to another place of insecurity, those are the issues that make humanitarian aid deliveries," he said. "It's not a matter of the number of trucks that can get in."
More than 24,000 people have been killed in Gaza and more than 60,000 others injured since October 7, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Monday. Meanwhile, nearly 90% of Gaza's pre-war population has been displaced, according to the UN.
Griffiths warned Monday that the dire humanitarian situation in the enclave could create "generational hatred."
"We worry for the security of Israel as much as the security of Gaza," he said.
Strikes on Houthis "one more terrible consequence" of Gaza war, UN aid chief says
From CNN's Niamh Kennedy and Christiane Amanpour team
US-led strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen are another "serious consequence" of the war in Gaza, United Nations’ aid chief Martin Griffiths said, as he lamented the negative impact on ordinary Yemenis following years of conflict in the country.
It was disappointing to see the prospect of peace in Yemen "snatched away," Griffiths told CNN.
Last week’s US-led airstrikes on Houthi rebel targets in Yemen followed repeated warnings from the coalition to the Iran-backed militants to stop their attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, which the Houthis say are retaliation for Israel's war in Gaza.
Griffiths said he was "not blaming one side or the other."
"But it's one more terrible consequence. And it is a really serious consequence of the war in Gaza," he said.
Iranian foreign minister warns US and UK over strikes against Houthis
From CNN's Sugam Pokharel
Iran's foreign minister on Monday warned the United States and the United Kingdom following their recent strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
The remarks from Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian came before the Iran-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for a new attack on an American vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Monday.
"We warn America and Britain to stop the war against Yemen immediately," Amir-Abdollahian said during a televised joint news conference with India's foreign minister in Tehran.
Senior Houthi officials have told Iran the group will continue its attacks in the Red Sea "as long as the genocide in the Gaza war continues," he added.
Israeli soldier wounded in exchange of fire with unidentified group along Egyptian border
From CNN's Mitchell McClusky, Amir Tal, Hamdi Alkhshali and Mohammed Tawfeeq
An Israeli soldier was wounded during an exchange of fire along the southern border with Egypt after about 20 unidentified people, some of them armed, approached the boundary, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Monday.
In a social media post, IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the Israeli soldier was lightly wounded and treated in the hospital.
Several suspects were also hit in the incident near the border crossing at Nitzana, the IDF said. It did not provide further details.
There has been no immediate word from Egypt about the incident.
Earlier, Egyptian media reported that authorities had foiled a drug-smuggling operation at the same location, arresting six people, though it is not clear if the two incidents were linked.
Some context: Border relations between Israel and Egypt have been back in the spotlight after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he wanted to change arrangements along the border between Egypt and Gaza. After the war, Israel would control all access into Gaza to prevent weapons and other smuggling into the enclave, Netanyahu claimed.
In response, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said Cairo has maintained full control over the security of its borders.
Hamas hostage videos amount to "psychological torture" of families, Israel says
From CNN's Andrew Carey
Israel on Monday accused Hamas of "psychological torture" after the militant group released a series of videos featuring hostages in Gaza, the last of which appears to show two of the captives killed.
“Hamas are hit badly by the [Israel Defense Forces] and all that is left for them is to bring psychological torment to the families [of the hostages], leaving the IDF to clarify things for the families later,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told reporters.
The first video, released Sunday, showed the three hostages — Noa Argamani, Itai Svirsky and another man, whose family have requested his name be withheld.
A subsequent clip Monday appeared to show the bodies of Svirsky and the other man. It also featured Argamani saying both men had been killed by Israeli forces.
It is not clear if Argamani was speaking under duress. The video is also highly edited, including the looping of some of her words.
CNN is not airing the videos, and it is not immediately possible to verify when and where they were filmed.
IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari denied Monday that Svirsky had been hit by Israeli forces.
“We do not strike in places where we know there may be hostages,” Hagari said.
Houthis claim responsibility for attack on American ship and vow to respond to future strikes on Yemen
From CNN's Niamh Kennedy and Eyad Kourdi
The Houthis have claimed responsibility for an attack carried out on an American vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Monday.
The Yemeni militant group "carried out a military operation targeting an American ship in the Gulf of Aden, with a number of appropriate naval missiles," Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree announced in a live video statement on Monday, adding that the hits were "accurate and direct."
The United States Central Command said in a statement earlier that the ship in question, the M/V Gibraltar Eagle, sustained minor damage and did not report any injuries.
The Houthis promised that any future strikes on Yemen will not go unanswered.
Any American and British vessels "participating in the aggression" against Yemen are considered "hostile targets," Saree said. "The Yemeni Armed Forces confirm that a response to the American and British attacks is inevitably coming and that any new attack will not remain without response and punishment."
1 killed and at least 17 injured in twin attacks in central Israel. Here's the latest
From CNN Staff
At least one person — a woman in her 70s — has been killed, and 17 others injured after twin attacks in the central Israeli city of Raanana, according to statements released by the hospitals treating the victims of the attack.
The Israeli police said two suspects in the two simultaneous terror attacks were residents of Hebron. Hebron is a city in the occupied West Bank. The police said they entered Israel illegally and are now in police custody.
Hamas weighed in on the attacks, describing them as a "natural response to the occupation’s massacres and its continued aggression against our Palestinian people.”
Here are today's other headlines:
- Gaza death toll passes 24,000: At least 132 people were killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours, and 252 others wounded, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Monday, putting the number of people killed there since October 7 over 24,000. “A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads and in ambulances, and civil defense crews cannot reach them,” the ministry said. The casualties recorded on Monday bring the total death toll in Gaza since October 7 to 24,100, and 60,834 injured, the ministry said.
- Hamas releases video of hostages: Hamas released a video on Sunday showing three Israeli hostages in captivity in Gaza. The undated tape shows the captives each saying their name, age and place of residence while looking directly into the camera.
- Houthis strike US-owned ship: A Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile struck a US-owned and operated vessel on Monday, US Central Command said in a statement. The attack against the M/V Gibraltar Eagle appears to be the first time the Houthis have successfully struck a US-owned or operated ship, raising the stakes in the Red Sea after the US vowed that further Houthi launches would be met with a response.
- Israel's military operation in Gaza: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its latest air raids killed two terrorists in Khan Younis, and that it struck two weapon storage facilities, alongside “Hamas operational infrastructure” in the area.
- Iran president criticizes strikes: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday criticized recent US strikes in Yemen during a phone call with a top Houthi official, claiming they revealed the country’s "aggressive nature."
- Israeli soccer player detained: Sagiv Jehezkel, who plays for Turkish club Antalyaspor, was detained for “instigating the public to hatred and hostility," TRT Haber reported. He was released after questioning and TRT Haber said he is returning to Israel on a private plane. Another player, Eden Karzev is also under a disciplinary investigation by his club Basaksehir, based in the suburbs of Istanbul, over a social media post.
- Saudi Arabia doesn't rule out befriending Israel: Just weeks before Hamas launched its October 7 attack on Israel, Saudi Arabia said it was inching closer to normalizing diplomatic ties with the Jewish state. Despite three months of war that have left more than 23,000 Palestinians dead and the Arab world seething, Riyadh is signaling that a recognition of Israel could still be on the table.
This post has been updated with additional developments.