Our live coverage of Israel's war against Hamas has moved here.
January 8, 2024 Israel-Hamas war
By Tara Subramaniam, Sana Noor Haq, Antoinette Radford, Elise Hammond and Maureen Chowdhury, CNN
Updated 12:01 a.m. ET, January 9, 2024
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Senior US official says Blinken's team expects to discuss Israel's plan for the next phase of war in Gaza
From CNN's Alex Marquardt
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s delegation in Tel Aviv expects to discuss the Israeli defense minister's plan for the next phase of the war in Gaza during key meetings on Tuesday, according to a senior US official.
Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant put forward the military's plan for the next phase of the war. Gallant’s proposal states that Palestinians not be allowed to return to their homes in northern Gaza until all the remaining hostages are freed.
The US side is expected to push Israeli officials on an “imminent” transition of the war to a lower-intensity phase, the official said — which the US has not yet seen.
Biden says he's been "quietly working with the Israeli government to reduce — significantly get out of Gaza"
From CNN's Nikki Carvajal and Betsy Klein
US President Joe Biden said Monday that he's been working to persuade the Israeli government to reduce or "significantly get out of Gaza."
He was speaking during a campaign event at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina – the scene of a horrific mass shooting in 2015 – and was interrupted by protesters calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
"If you really care about the lives lost here you should honor the lives lost and call for a ceasefire in Palestine," a protestor shouted at the president, referring to the mass shooting that took the lives of nine churchgoers.
A group of protesters then began chanting "ceasefire now."
They were asked to leave, as supporters began chanting, “Four more years.” The moment underscores the divisions within the Democratic Party on the issue three months after Israel's military campaign in Gaza following the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7.
Biden acknowledged the protest: “I understand the passion and I’ve been quietly working — been quietly working with the Israeli government to reduce — significantly get out of Gaza.”
Following the speech, Biden's deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks told reporters: “Of course, the president is listening,”
Fulks added, “He's listening to every part of his base. It’s why he's here and why we're gonna continue to take this message everywhere.”
Fulks said that Biden was “very adamant” that “even when people have disagreements with us, from a policy perspective, that we still respect their views and understand them.”
Asked specifically about the protestors calling for a ceasefire, communications director Michael Tyler said Biden understood the passion.
He said the president is "approaching this not as a politician, but as a human being who and a commander in chief who approaches this from the perspective of somebody who has American safety, global security, front of mind."
In recent months, there has been growing internal frustration among staffers within the Biden administration on how the president has responded following Hamas’ October 7 attack.
In November, more than 700 staffers and political appointees signed a letter calling on the president to support a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The letter was signed by staffers who work in more than 30 departments and agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, FBI and NASA.
Meantime: Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be the latest in a long parade of Biden national security officials to meet face-to-face with the Israeli government on Tuesday. It will be his fifth visit since the October 7 attack by Hamas.
The stakes of Blinken’s trip are high as America’s allies stood behind Israel at the start of the war but have grown critical as the civilian toll in Gaza rises. Those partners will be looking for evidence Israel is listening to the US, and, as tensions skyrocket in the region, allies are hoping Blinken can ensure Israel has a viable plan to end the war amid concerns over a wider conflict.
In just the past month, Israeli officials have also gotten visits from national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Amos Hochstein, a special envoy who works on energy issues and who has close ties to Israel and Lebanon.
The post and headline have been updated with details on Biden's remarks about Israel's campaign in Gaza.
Israel says it's shifting to a new phase, but dozens of strikes hit Gaza Monday. Here's what to know
From CNN staff
Israel is continuing to ramp up its ground offensive in central and southern Gaza, even as Israeli officials are saying forces will shift to a new phase of fighting. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have carried out strikes and pushed its ground forces into areas where it had previously urged civilians to evacuate.
About one out of every 100 people in Gaza has been killed since October 7, Palestinian statistics show.
It comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken makes a flurry of stops in the Middle East and will meet with Israeli officials on Tuesday. It will be his fifth visit since the October 7 attack by Hamas.
Ahead of touching down in Tel Aviv, the top US diplomat visited other Arab nations involved in talks on another possible humanitarian ceasefire and hostage release, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar.
Here's what else to know:
- Strikes continue to ramp up: The IDF said it hit the southern city of Khan Younis with 30 strikes overnight into Monday. The military has issued several evacuation orders telling civilians to leave much of the area. At least 22,835 Palestinians have been killed and 58,416 others injured in Gaza since October 7, the Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Sunday. Israel’s Iron Dome system also intercepted several rockets fired from inside Gaza.
- On the ground: On the outskirts of Al-Bureij in central Gaza some buildings are flattened or partially collapsed, others are riddled with bullets or scarred by smoke. Civilians are nowhere to be found. The Israeli military also showed reporters the openings of what it said was a Hamas tunnel system leading to a weapons manufacturing facility both above and below ground.
- Strikes outside of Israel: A senior Hezbollah commander, Wissam Tawil, was killed by an Israeli drone strike on his car in southern Lebanon, Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz said in an interview with an Israeli news station on Monday. It comes after an attack killed Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in southern Beirut last week, for which Israel has not claimed responsibility. Israel and Hezbollah have since traded strikes over the past day, three months since hostilities broke out in October. Separately, the IDF said it killed a Hamas militant in Syria who it says was a central figure in firing rockets from Syria toward Israel.
- Next phase of the war: Israeli forces will shift from the “intense maneuvering phase of the war” toward “different types of special operations,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said. The US has been pressuring Israeli officials in the last several weeks to do more to protect civilians and implement more strategic strikes. Blinken said he would push the Israeli government "on the absolute imperative to do more to protect civilians" in Gaza during his meetings in the country on Tuesday.
- Blinken in the Middle East: Before going to Israel, Blinken discussed efforts to achieve security and stability in Gaza with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) on Monday, according to the government-run Saudi Press Agency. The stakes of Blinken’s trip are high as America’s allies stood behind Israel at the start of the war but have grown critical as the civilian toll in Gaza rises. Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday about “efforts to prevent the conflict in Gaza from spreading to the broader region, including in Lebanon and the Red Sea,” the White House said.
- Post-war stance: The resettlement of Palestinians out of Gaza is "outright, officially and unequivocally" not Israel’s position, Herzog told NBC on Sunday. It comes after some Israeli cabinet members called for the forced displacement of Palestinians from the enclave. Blinken also criticized the statements, saying Palestinian civilians must be allowed to “return home as soon as conditions allow” and "must not be pressed to leave Gaza."
Israel claims responsibility for the death of a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon, foreign minister says
From CNN staff
Israel claimed responsibility for the death of a senior Hezbollah commander, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 14 on Monday.
Wissam Tawil, a senior commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan forces was killed by an Israeli drone strike in his car in southern Lebanon, a Lebanese security source previously confirmed to CNN.
“As for the hit in south Lebanon, we did take responsibility,” Katz said in the interview, “This is part of our war.”
“We are targeting Hezbollah's people, the infrastructure, the systems they managed to put in place in order to deter Israel,” Katz said.
Katz added that Israel is making Hezbollah "pay a price."
"We did not set a goal to thwart 150,000 missiles," he said. "We set a goal to restore security to the residents of the north, to restore security to the residents of the south and to the State of Israel."
Katz also reiterated that Israel has not claimed responsibility for last week’s blast in southern Beirut that killed the deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau, Saleh Al-Arouri.
British surgeon returning from Gaza says it's “beyond any doubt the worst thing” he's ever seen in his career
From CNN's Martin Goillandeau and Isa Soares
A British surgeon who led an emergency medical team at the Al Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza said the situation at the hospital in the past two weeks has been “beyond any doubt the worst thing” he’s ever seen in his medical career.
“I think it's fair to say I've never seen anything like this. And I never expect that in my life I would see such an appalling situation,” Dr. Nick Maynard told CNN’s Isa Soares in an interview on Monday.
Maynard described brutal situations of “multiple traumatic amputations of children, and as I said, horrific burns, the likes of which I've never seen before,” the doctor said. He added that often “there is no pain relief to give to these patients at all.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Hamas hides terrorist infrastructure in and around civilian institutions in Gaza, such as hospitals, and that targeting them is essential as it works to eliminate Hamas from the Gaza Strip.
Israel has also said some hospitals are being used as command centers but has provided limited evidence to support that claim. The IDF’s operations are contentious, with humanitarian organizations saying medical facilities in Gaza are unable to provide basic services.
“I've been going to Gaza for nearly 15 years now, I've many friends who work in hospitals there. There are many examples of hospitals being attacked. In the last two days since I left Al Aqsa hospital, there have been attacks on the hospital,” the doctor said.
Maynard told CNN that he and his team found themselves with no choice but to withdraw from the hospital, in light of the increasing Israeli military activity at the hospital.
The British surgeon had been in Gaza for two weeks, an experience he described as “frightening.”
“Multiple children being brought in, some only a few months old, with horrific burns. Many of them dead. We see a large number of bomb victims, affecting predominantly the limbs, many amputations. But also, many thoracic and many abdominal injuries,” he said.
Speaking from the Egyptian capital of Cairo, Maynard said he found it difficult to leave the hospital on Monday.
“There was an attack on the intensive care unit,” he said. “We were due to leave it about that time anyways but the following morning, the whole area was taken out of the de-confliction, and we were told by the Israeli Defense Forces that we would not be able to go."
CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment but has not heard heard back.
The doctor said his organization, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), and Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), were both operating at the hospital but “both sets of foreign doctors had to leave."
As Maynard and his team left Gaza for their safety, he now fears the lack of personnel left at the hospital.
“In the surgery department, on one of the days last week, there was one local surgeon and two of us. And we hear, subsequently, that the majority of those have gone. So, I fear there are not enough staff to run the hospital in any form at all now," he said.
Israel "can copy-paste" its Gaza assault in Lebanon if necessary, Israeli defense minister tells WSJ
From CNN's Hande Atay Alam
Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Sunday that while Israel is not looking for war with Hezbollah, if necessary, his country could "copy-paste" its military actions in Gaza to Beirut, Lebanon.
Gallant said “the priority isn’t to get into a war” with Hezbollah but “eighty-thousand people need to be able to go back to their homes safely,” the WSJ reported.
Gallant also stated that if no agreement is negotiated to make that possible, then, Israel wouldn’t shrink from military action, adding “we are willing to sacrifice.”
“They see what is happening in Gaza. They know we can copy-paste to Beirut,” Gallant told WSJ.
Gallant also said he believes Israel is "fighting an axis, not a single enemy,” and “Iran is building up military power around Israel in order to use it," according to the report.
Israel is determined to destroy Iran-backed Hamas, but also to act with enough force to deter other potential adversaries allied with Tehran, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Gallant said in the WSJ interview.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Friday during a speech that the group's attacks on Israel aim "to mount pressure on the enemy government and to stop the assault on Gaza" and reiterated that the death of Saleh Al-Arouri, a senior figure in Hamas, in Beirut will “not go unpunished.”
The Hezbollah leader also warned that people in northern Israel would be the first to suffer consequences in the event of a broader conflict.
Top US diplomat arrives in Israel after meetings with key Arab nations in recent days
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler, Mohammed Tawfeeq, and Jen Deaton
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Tel Aviv ahead of key meetings with Israeli officials on Tuesday.
The top US diplomat landed in Israel on Monday afternoon after a flurry of stops throughout the region. He is expected to push Israeli officials on the need to do more to protect civilians as the staggering humanitarian toll in Gaza continues to mount.
This is his fourth trip to the region since the October 7 Hamas attack and his fifth visit to Israel. On his first trip following the attack, he visited Israel twice.
Blinken will push Israeli officials on the need to do more to protect civilians as the staggering humanitarian toll in Gaza continues to mount.
Meetings on Monday: Blinken discussed efforts being made to achieve security and stability in Gaza with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), according to the government-run Saudi Press Agency.
The crown prince "stressed the importance of stopping military operations, intensifying humanitarian efforts, and working to create conditions for the return of stability," the news agency reported.
In addition to Saudi Arabia, Blinken has already visited other Arab nations involved in talks on another possible humanitarian ceasefire and hostage release, including Jordan and Qatar. After meetings in Israel, he will also stop in the West Bank and Egypt.
It is "not in the interest of anyone" for war in Gaza to escalate, Blinken says
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken is reiterating that it is "clearly not in the interest" of any countries in the region for the war in Gaza to expand. It comes after an Israeli strike killed a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon, according to a Lebanese security source.
"It's clearly not in the interest of anyone — Israel, Lebanon, Hezbollah, for that matter — to see this... to see this escalate and to see an actual conflict," Blinken said to reporters in Saudi Arabia before departing for Israel.
"The Israelis have been very clear with us that they want to find a diplomatic way forward that creates the kind of security that allows Israelis to return home," the top US diplomat said, noting that "nearly 100,000 Israelis have been forced to leave their homes in northern Israel because of the threat coming from Hezbollah in Lebanon."
"We're working intensely on that effort," Blinken said.
He said the US is also working on a diplomatic solution that would allow Lebanese people to return to their homes in southern Lebanon.
Some background: A senior Hezbollah commander, Wissam Tawil, was killed by an Israeli drone strike on his car in southern Lebanon, a Lebanese security source told CNN on Monday.
Tawil is the most senior Hezbollah commander to be killed in an Israeli strike since the onset of daily crossfire between the Lebanon-based group and Israeli forces in October.
On Saturday, Hezbollah launched a rocket barrage on an Israeli airbase in northern Israel, in an attack the group said was a “preliminary response” to the suspected Israeli attack that killed Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in southern Beirut last week.
On the war in Gaza: Heading next to Israel, the top US diplomat said he will push the Israeli government "on the absolute imperative to do more to protect civilians" in Gaza.
Blinken said is also planning to press Israeli officials on the need for more humanitarian aid to enter the war-torn strip "and also to talk to them about the future direction of their military campaign in Gaza."
He said in meetings with key Arab leaders on Monday, there was "broad agreement" that Israel "should be able to live in peace and security," which would mean the West Bank and Gaza should be unified under a Palestinian-led government with an independent Palestinian state.
