Our live coverage of Israel's war against Hamas has moved here.
January 25, 2024 Israel-Hamas war
By Kathleen Magramo, Sophie Tanno, Antoinette Radford, Aditi Sangal, Tori Powell and Elise Hammond, CNN
Updated 12:00 a.m. ET, January 26, 2024
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White House reiterates its gratitude to Qatar after Netanyahu leak
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
The White House on Thursday reiterated its gratitude for Qatar — which has acted as a key mediator in hostage talks — after an apparent leaked recording of Prime Minister Netanyahu calling the country “problematic.”
“Qatar is a key partner in the region. We’re grateful for their support of our continued efforts to try to get hostages out of Gaza and reunited with their families,” John Kirby, National Security Council spokesperson, said in a statement.
In a gaggle with reporters earlier, Kirby declined to comment on the recording and said the US would continue working on a deal to secure the release of hostages.
Brett McGurk, a top White House adviser and Middle East coordinator, was in Doha for talks on Wednesday. And CIA Director Bill Burns is expected to soon meet Qatar’s prime minister — along with Egypt's intelligence director and Israel's Mossad director — as part of continued hostage talks.
CIA chief set to hold talks with regional leaders about possible deal to release hostages. Here's the latest
From CNN Staff
Bill Burns, director of the CIA, is expected to meet with officials from Israel, Egypt and Qatar to discuss a deal to secure the release of remaining hostages held by Hamas, according to a US official familiar with the plans.
The meetings come amid intensive discussions on the parameters of a new deal that would pair hostages’ release with a cessation in the fighting in Gaza. The meetings are expected to occur in Europe, the official said.
US officials said they remain focused on securing a release of hostages after a leaked recording said to be of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticizing Qatar drew anger from the Gulf state.
Here's what else you need to know:
- A growing crisis in Gaza: Fourteen out of 36 hospitals in Gaza are still partially functioning, with access to some impossible because of the conflict, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which cited the World Health Organization. Additionally, the Rafah area in southern Gaza now hosts more than 50% of Gaza’s population, and people are facing worsening sanitary conditions and growing hunger, according to the UN.
- Hostage families deny audio leak: Families of hostages held in Gaza have forcefully denied leaking a recording of a meeting where Netanyahu appears to criticize Qatar, saying his officials record the meetings while families have to leave their phones at the door. Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a CNN question about who leaked the audio, which infuriated Qatar.
- Genocide case against Israel: Israel declassified more than 30 documents, including summaries of cabinet meetings, as part of its defense against South Africa's accusation of genocide at the International Court of Justice, an Israeli official familiar with the matter told CNN on Thursday. The International Court of Justice is due to announce an order in the case on Friday. It is not clear what the order will be, but it could call for a ceasefire in the conflict. World Court rulings are legally binding, but the court has no mechanism to enforce its decisions. A final ruling on whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza is likely to take months or years to deliver.
Analysis: Slowly, suggestions are emerging on ways to end the conflict in Gaza
Analysis from CNN's Elliott Gotkine
As the Gaza war nears its fifth month, with more than 25,000 Palestinians – civilians and combatants – dead and Israel nowhere close to achieving its objective of destroying Hamas, no one seems to have come up with a concrete proposal that’s palatable to both parties to pause the conflict, let alone end it. But there are suggestions, however half-baked, from both sides, that show a willingness to talk.
Indeed, Qatar — the main go-between — says there are “serious discussions” with Israel and Hamas, and is receiving “constant replies” from both sides. They’re not “negotiations” yet, says the White House. But with indirect talks ongoing, we seem to be inching toward what Ofer Shelah, Senior Researcher with Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), describes as a “Zopa” — a zone of possible agreement.
On Monday Axios reported Israel had proposed a two-month truce in exchange for the release of all the 100-plus hostages still held in Gaza. Later that day CNN learned that Mossad chief David Barnea had suggested allowing Hamas leaders to go into exile as part of a broader ceasefire.
On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal said Hamas was now open to releasing some of the hostages in exchange for a pause in the fighting. And Reuters reported that Israel and Hamas had agreed in principle to a one-month truce, during which abductees would be freed and Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails released.
Keep reading more of this analysis on how Israel and Hamas may be inching toward a deal to end the war.
Cleaning wounds without anesthesia is part of the "suffering beyond belief" in Gaza, doctor tells CNN
From CNN's Jennifer Hauser
Surgeons from the humanitarian group MedGlobal who are in Gaza don't have the resources to sedate patients while cleaning their wounds, according to Dr. John Kahler, a cofounder of the group.
He says they receive between 150 to 200 patients in an outpatient center for wound cleaning per day, which can include children with face burns.
"All of these cleanings are happening without anesthesia," Kahler told CNN's Eleni Giokos from Cairo, Egypt. "This is suffering beyond belief."
Kahler, an American doctor who has provided humanitarian assistance around the world from Haiti to Yemen, said being in Gaza is a "soul-crushing event" and "by far the worst situation" he has ever seen.
Kahler's teams at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis tell him there is constant shelling within four or five blocks. Mass casualties with rushes of 20, 30, or 40 people at a time can be brought into the emergency room, he said.
"There is absolutely no room in the hospital whatsoever. There's patients on the floor, on the stairs, everywhere. It's a catastrophe. It isn't collapsing, it is virtually collapsed," Kahler said.
He also has team members in Rafah at a primary health center that sees 600 to 700 patients a day, including many children. He says there is major respiratory disease, and "every one of these children is hungry. All the children have diarrhea."
CIA director expected to meet with Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari negotiators to push for hostage deal
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
The director of the CIA is expected to meet with officials from Israel, Egypt and Qatar to discuss a deal to secure the release of remaining hostages held by Hamas, according to a US official familiar with the plans.
Bill Burns will talk with Israel's Mossad Director David Barnea, Egyptian Intelligence Director Abbas Kamel and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in the coming days, the source says. It comes amid intensive discussions on the parameters of a new deal that would pair hostages’ release with a cessation in the fighting in Gaza.
The meetings are expected to occur in Europe, the official said. The CIA declined to comment. The White House, which also declined to confirm Burns’ meetings, said Thursday that ongoing hostage talks were “sober and serious.”
Another top American official, White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk, has been in the region this week to continue discussions on the release of hostages. McGurk has visited Cairo and Doha for the talks.
Egypt and Qatar have acted as key players in brokering with Hamas, including securing a temporary pause and hostage release in November.
The Washington Post first reported Burns’ plans.
Families of hostages held in Gaza deny leaking audio of Netanyahu purportedly criticizing Qatar
From CNN’s Amir Tal in Jerusalem
Families of hostages held in Gaza Thursday have forcefully denied leaking a recording of a meeting where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to criticize Qatar, saying his officials record the meetings while families have to leave their phones at the door.
"All conversations in meetings with the Prime Minister are recorded by his office and his associates sitting in the meeting. The families participating in the meeting have their phones taken at the entrance,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
The Forum represents relatives of many of the people kidnapped on October 7 who are being held in Gaza.
“The decision whether to leak information” from meetings between relatives and Netanyahu “is with the Prime Minister’s Office,” the statement said.
Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a CNN question about who leaked the audio, which infuriated Qatar.
What is the US saying: The US State Department told CNN it had no comment on the alleged leak, but hailed the Gulf nation's mediating role during the war in Gaza. Vedant Patel, State Department principal deputy spokesperson described Qatar as an "immense and integral partner" and said the country played "an irreplaceable role in ongoing efforts to release hostages" while speaking to CNN's Eleni Giokos.
US says it is still focused on hostage deal after alleged leaked Netanyahu comments
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
The US says it remains focused on securing a release of hostages, including in discussions with Israel and Qatar, after a leaked recording said to be of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticizing Qatar drew anger from the Gulf state.
“I don't think I'm gonna comment on leaked comments attributed to another foreign leader,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One.
CNN cannot verify that the voice on the leaked recording belongs to Netanyahu.
Kirby did not reveal further US frustrations at the comments, though impatience has been growing inside the White House at Netanyahu's public rejections of a two-state solution and a lack of progress in securing the release of hostages.
Kirby said efforts on striking a hostage deal — which have included Qatar as a mediator — would proceed apace.
“The Israeli people want their loved ones back, we want to make sure we get our American hostages back to their families where they belong,” Kirby said. “There is a lot of energy being put at this across the region, with our Israeli counterparts as well as our other counterparts, including the Qataris. And we're just going to keep working at that.”
Health ministry says Gazans killed while awaiting aid, as UN documents grim sanitary conditions. Catch up here
From CNN Staff
At least 20 people were killed as they waited for aid near Gaza City on Thursday, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Another 150 were injured — dozens critically — when an Israeli military strike hit "thousands of people desperate to get humanitarian aid at the Kuwait roundabout in Gaza City," the health ministry said.
Journalists at the scene said people were waiting for aid along a main road, with local reports describing multiple casualties amid shelling and gunfire.
Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said that the number of dead was “likely to increase" as hospitals do not have the means to treat them, and Gaza's Civil Defense described the injuries as "unbelievable."
Here's what else to know:
- Death toll: At least 25,900 Palestinians have been killed and 64,000 others injured by Israeli attacks in Gaza since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 last year, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah said Thursday. At least 11,500 of them were children and 7,300 were women, it said. The ministry draws its statistics from medical sources in Gaza. CNN cannot independently confirm the figures due to the difficulty of reporting from the war zone.
- Humanitarian crisis: The Rafah area in southern Gaza now hosts 50% of Gaza's population, and people are facing worsening sanitary conditions and hunger. The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said there are more than 150,000 cases of diarrhea, 50,000 tons of unmanaged waste and more than 650,000 people with no home to return to.
- UN shelter struck: Israeli tank fire hit a United Nations building sheltering displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 12 people and injuring 75 others, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency in Gaza. Israel's military said it "currently" ruled out that an Israeli aerial or artillery strike hit the UNRWA Khan Younis Training Center, but a review of military actions in the area was underway.
- UK aid: The UK will triple its aid to Gaza and coordinate efforts with Qatar to increase the flow of supplies and equipment to those most in need in the enclave, its Foreign Secretary said on Thursday.
- US sanctions: The US has sanctioned several high-ranking Houthi leaders allegedly behind the rebel militia’s attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
- Netflix star: One of Israel’s best known actors and entertainers, Idan Amedi, has called on Israel to help save its citizens kidnapped by Hamas. Amedi was badly wounded during combat in the Gaza Strip in early January.
- Qatar slams Netanyahu comments: Qatar has slammed alleged leaked remarks by Israel's prime minister, claiming that Benjamin Netanyahu was undermining efforts in the Israel-Hamas war. A leaked recording allegedly captured Netanyahu describing Qatar as "problematic."
