January 2, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in West Bank has provided its latest update on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Its information is draw from data supplied by hospitals and other sources in the Hamas-controlled territory.

The ministry cautions that obtaining accurate data is difficult given how many people are now living in the streets.

The latest update says:

CNN is unable to confirm figures provided by the ministry.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says several people have been killed by Israeli bombardment of its headquarters in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

Khan Younis is currently a focus of Israeli military operations.

The PRCS says there were also others wounded among the 14,000 displaced individuals housed in the PRCS’s premises and the adjacent Al-Amal Hospital.

A spokesperson for the PRCS, Raed Al-Nims, told CNN:

“There is difficulty in communication with Khan Younis. The numbers are not final.”

Al Nims said that medical teams are still working to rescue the wounded.

Separately, a spokesperson at the nearby Nasser hospital told CNN it had received five bodies and several more injured people “due to an Israeli bombing of the upper floor of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society HQ in Khan Younis."

CNN has sought comment from the Israel Defense Forces.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says its units have secured a Hamas intelligence and control center in Gaza City but sustained casualties in close-quarter fighting. 

The IDF says the 401st Brigade conducted a “targeted raid on the central building of the Eastern Military Post in Gaza City. The Eastern Military Post is a strategic stronghold of Hamas in Gaza City, in which there were operational command and control rooms.”

The IDF also said the brigade had discovered an underground Hamas bunker, from which it “managed the war in the Gaza Strip. The underground compound was 20 meters deep and included large operational rooms and hideouts for the Hamas’ leaders.”

CNN is unable to verify details provided by the IDF.

In the Eastern Military Post, the 401st discovered five central tunnel shafts dozens of meters deep which were inter-connected and provided entrance to the underground control center compound. An engineering unit had destroyed the tunnel route.

The IDF also spoke of close quarter fighting around the Eastern Military Post. “During the targeted raid, the forces engaged the enemy, during which terrorists fired at them from the upper floors. The forces returned fire while evacuating the wounded soldiers.”

Three IDF soldiers had been killed in close-quarter combat.

There has been intense fighting, accompanied by multiple Israeli air strikes, in several parts of central Gaza in recent days.

Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 22,185 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intensifies its military campaign in the central part of the territory.

In the past 24 hours, at least 207 people were killed and 338 were injured, the health ministry in Gaza said. The figures from the ministry do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

CNN is unable to independently confirm the figures provided by the health ministry in Gaza due to restricted access to the region and the difficulty in verifying accurate numbers amidst the ongoing war. 

The Israel Defense Forces has expanded operations in central Gaza and on Monday said it was now able to draw down the number of soldiers deployed in the enclave.

Some context: US officials have urged Israel to begin a more targeted phase of fighting against Hamas, as the civilian death toll in Gaza spirals. US intelligence assessments suggest nearly half of the air-to-ground munitions that Israel used in Gaza have been unguided.

CNN previously reported that in the first month of its war in Gaza, Israel dropped hundreds of massive bombs, many of them capable of killing or wounding people more than 1,000 feet away.

Human rights groups and NGOs have said Israel's "indiscriminate" bombing is making it "impossible to sustain human life" in the densely populated Palestinian enclave.

The Israeli military said fighter jets struck targets belonging to the militant Lebanese group Hezbollah in the area of Yaroun in southern Lebanon, where crossfire has intensified since Israel launched its war on Gaza.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) added that it hit “military infrastructure belonging to the Syrian Army" in response to launches Monday toward Israeli territory.

In addition, two launches were identified crossing from Lebanon toward the area of Shlomi, northern Israel, it said.

Hezbollah claimed an attack on an Israeli military barracks near the border on Monday at Zar’it, in northern Israel. There have been no reports of injuries or damage.

Separately, Lebanon’s official news agency reported Israeli artillery bombardment of hills between Shebaa and Kafr Shuba.

Some background: Combat between the IDF and Iran-backed Hezbollah is concentrated in northern Israel and southern Lebanon -- separate from Israel's military campaign further south in Gaza.

However, fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has flared since October 7, raising concerns that the war in Gaza could evolve into a wider Middle East conflict.

Hezbollah's leadership has expressed support for Palestinians and condemned Israel's offensive in Gaza but has yet to directly intervene on Hamas' behalf. 

CNN's Charbel Mallo, Sugam Pokharel and Tamar Michaelis contributed reporting.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops took control of “terrorist infrastructure” at the residence of Hamas’ Gaza Brigade Commander and killed "dozens of terrorist operatives" in an operation in central Gaza.

The 460th Brigade “enabled the entrance of special forces who scanned the area (Daraj Tuffah). During close-quarters combat, the troops killed dozens of terrorist operatives.” 

The commander of the 460th Brigade, Col. Dvir Edri said it had now “completed its mission in the Daraj Tuffah area.”

The IDF has expanded its military assault in central Gaza, but said Monday it was now able to reduce the number of soldiers stationed in Gaza. The 460th Brigade is one of the units being withdrawn to return to “scheduled training.”

Some background: The Israeli military has said thousands of its troops will leave Gaza, but added that "planning and preparation" for fighting will continue into 2024.

The move indicates a lower-intensity stage of the war, a US official said, as the White House urges Israeli officials to begin a more targeted phase of combatting Hamas. US President Joe Biden previously said Israel had been engaged in “indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza, which is prohibited by international humanitarian law.

US intelligence assessments suggest nearly half of the air-to-ground munitions that Israel used in Gaza have been unguided, otherwise known as “dumb bombs.” Unguided munitions are typically less precise and can pose a greater threat to civilians.

Israeli attacks have killed at least 21,978 people in Gaza and injured 57,697, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health said. CNN is unable to independently confirm the figures provided by the ministry due to restricted access to the region and difficulty in verifying accurate numbers amid the war. 

The Israel Defense Forces anticipates warfare in Gaza to last throughout this year as it begins to reduce the number of soldiers in the territory and prepares for a new phase of the conflict, a military spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Supreme Court has struck down a controversial change to the judiciary, a move that could reignite fierce tensions within the country. 

Here's what else to know:

Israel says some communities displaced after the October 7 Hamas attacks will soon be able to return home.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday said Israeli citizens from houses within a range of 4 to 7 kilometers (about 2.5 to about 4 miles) north of the Gaza Strip will be able to start a gradual return in the near future.

In a video statement following a tour of kibbutz Dorot near the Gaza border in southern Israel, Gallant said the return will begin with communities farthest out and then later move to all the remaining ones.

Gallant said Israeli forces "know their mission … so that here, in our southern communities, life will return to its course."

Israel's announcement that it is starting to draw down its number of troops in Gaza shows signs of the country's gradual shift to a lower-intensity phase of its war, a senior United States official said Monday.

The Israel Defense Forces said earlier Monday it was beginning to reduce the number of soldiers on the ground in Gaza as it prepares for prolonged fighting throughout 2024.

The US has been pressing Israeli officials to begin the more surgical phase of fighting as the Israeli military continues to target Hamas. 

The official said the move reflected the success IDF forces have had in northern Gaza in dismantling Hamas' military capabilities. 

Still, the official cautioned there was still fighting ongoing in the north and that it did not appear to reflect any changes in the south of Gaza. 

US officials are viewing the next few weeks as a critical period that will demonstrate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s willingness to move to a lower-intensity phase of going after Hamas in Gaza.  

To look out for: Later this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels to the Middle East to continue discussions with Israeli officials about the next phase of the war in Gaza, which American officials have made clear they expect to begin soon.

Blinken’s trip is a continuation of a Biden administration initiative of sending its most senior officials to Israel on a near-weekly basis for direct, in-person meetings with Israel’s war cabinet.

The topic of the war’s trajectory has been at the center of conversations between American and Israeli officials, including a lengthy phone call between President Joe Biden and Netanyahu last week that officials described as very direct and at times strained.