January 5, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Turkey on Friday – the first stop in his whirlwind tour through the region to try to deter a wider conflict and press Israel on its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

The top US diplomat will hold a series of meetings in Istanbul on Saturday. He is expected to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

When Blinken last traveled to Turkey in November, he did not meet with the Turkish leader but met with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, for two and a half hours.

Turkey hosts Hamas leadership, and Erdogan has been outspoken against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war in Gaza.

Indirect back-channeling to Iran to try to deter a wider conflict in the Middle East will also be a key focus of Blinken's trip to the region, a senior State Department official said Friday.

The top US diplomat will make clear to the leaders with whom he meets that the US does not want to see the conflict escalate nor do they intend to escalate it. The US expects that message to then be conveyed to Iran and Iranian proxies through the countries that have a relationship with them, the official said.

The US has sought to distinguish between defensive and escalatory actions amid an immense uptick in attacks on US personnel by Iranian-backed proxies in Iraq and aggression by Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red Sea.

Efforts to back-channel with Iran — through partners as well as competitors like China — have been happening since the early days of the war in Gaza.

More on Blinken's trip: The secretary of state will also travel to Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, Egypt, and Greece. It is Blinken's fourth trip to the region since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. 

Some of Israel’s leading politicians sniped at each other in public Friday after what one source described as a “fight” in the security cabinet the night before.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said there had been a “stormy discussion,” while former Defense Minister Benny Gantz said a “politically motivated attack” had been launched.

The argument was over how to handle investigations into the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel — including the Israeli military’s failure to foresee it, and how to prosecute the war from now on.

After a break in the meeting, the source said, Transportation Minister Miri Regev went on the attack, according to the official, who asked not to be named discussing internal political discussions.

Regev, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s center-right Likud party, did not respond to a CNN question about the meeting.

Gantz, who joined the government from the opposition after October 7, said: “What happened yesterday was a politically motivated attack in the middle of a war. I participated in many cabinet meetings — such conduct has never occurred and must not occur.”

He did not say who had launched the attack.

But he did criticize Netanyahu, saying the meeting should have focused on the military campaign and Israel's future security, but that didn't happen. He said the prime minister must choose between "unity and security on one hand and politics on the other."

Netanyahu’s Likud party then lashed out at Gantz, saying that asking questions and receiving answers "is not politics," and accusing the war cabinet member of "looking for excuses" to break away from the unity government before the end of the war.

Gantz eyed as potential next prime minister: Gantz is widely considered a likely successor to Netanyahu when an election is called.

An Israel Democracy Institute poll conducted at the end of December and released on Tuesday found Gantz the most popular choice when respondents were asked who they would like to be prime minister after the war.

Almost a quarter, 23%, chose Gantz, while 15% chose Netanyahu.

“I don’t know” was the most popular response, with 30.5% choosing it. About 4% of respondents said “anyone but Bibi,” as Netanyahu is generally known.

Nearly 100 seriously wounded Gazan civilians rest and begin to recover aboard the French helicopter carrier-turned hospital ship, the “Dixmude,” at Egypt’s al-Arish port.

They are just some of the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have been wounded since the start of the war, which has claimed more than 22,600 Gazan lives, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

“It was horrible. I could see the muscle inside my leg. But it wasn’t red like you’d think. It was like the color of my skin,” said 10-year-old Maher, who is receiving treatment.

Now missing one leg, he still dreams of being a footballer. He has the names of his idols, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappé, written on the cast on his other leg.

The Dixmude is a short drive from the Rafah crossing, where patients were selected by Israeli authorities before being handed over to French doctors.

In the month since the first Gazan patients arrived onboard, the teams of French and international surgeons have spent 230 hours fixing bones, taking skin grafts and treating amputated limbs in 130 operations. Around 50% of the patients they have treated are children and half of the Gazans had lost at least one limb. 

Partly housed in tents on the ship’s cavernous hangar deck, the dozens of Gazans currently aboard still have access to a level of medical treatment – and security – now almost impossible to find inside Gaza, where only a fraction of hospitals are even partially operational.

The war, though, is never far from their beds.

Nisreen Al-Sahabani muttered one word as she flicked through photos of neighbors and relatives on her phone, “martyred, martyred, martyred.”

Caring for her nephew who was brought aboard with traumatic leg injuries, she hears Israeli airstrikes when she manages to speak with relatives still trapped in Gaza on the phone. 

But, like many aboard, she has no doubts about returning to Gaza, even if there’s no going back to her old home and life.

Houthi supporters gathered Friday in Yemen to commemorate the fighters killed by the US Navy off the coast of Yemen on December 31.

Both Palestinian and Yemeni flags, as well as Hezbollah banners, could be seen being waved as a crowd of thousands rallied in capital Sanaa, Reuters video showed.

The rally comes days after US Navy helicopters sank three Houthi small boats, killing the crews after they attacked and attempted to board a container ship of global shipping giant Maersk off the coast of Yemen, according to the United States Central Command (CENTCOM).   

Key context: The Houthis began launching the attacks in the Red Sea soon after the start of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, claiming they were targeting ships with ties to Israel as they stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The Yemen-based Houthis are believed to have been armed and trained by Iran, and there are fears that their attacks could escalate and fuel a wider regional conflict. And as the attacks continue, with major shipping and oil companies avoiding the area, there are real concerns about the impact on the global economy. 

 Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that the group's attacks on Israel aim "to mount pressure on the enemy government and to stop the assault on Gaza."  

There have been near-constant skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah since Hamas' attack on October 7, 2023.

Hezbollah has carried out over 670 attacks on Israeli positions, targeting 48 locations and 17 settlements, Nasrallah said in a video speech on Friday.  

Nasrallah claimed that these operations have resulted in a significant number of Israeli military casualties. The Israel Defense Forces have reported nine fatalities along the northern border since October 7. 

"A large number of Israeli troops have been killed or wounded since the start of these ongoing confrontations. … Hezbollah destroyed a large number of Israeli vehicles and tanks," Nasrallah said.  

The Hezbollah chief warned that people in northern Israel would be the first to suffer consequences in the event of a broader conflict. Nasrallah warned that if Israel was successful in Gaza, “south Lebanon will be next.” 

Nasrallah reiterated that the death of Saleh Al-Arouri, a senior figure in Hamas, in Beirut earlier this week will “not go unpunished.” 

Some background: This is the second speech this week from Nasrallah.

Hezbollah is an Iran-backed Islamist movement with one of the most powerful paramilitary forces in the Middle East. The group, which has its main base on the Israel-Lebanon border, could become a wildcard player in the Hamas-Israel war and spark a wider regional conflict.

Prior to October 7, Nasrallah had not spoken publicly in person since 2006, when a month-long war erupted between Lebanon and Israel. In that speech, Nasrallah called for a ceasefire and praised Hamas' October 7 attacks on Israel, adding that they were fully planned and executed by Hamas.

EU foreign policy chief visit: Josep Borrell will travel to Lebanon on Friday to discuss the situation at its border with Israel, as he is expected to stress the importance of avoiding regional escalation, the European Union said in a statement.

He will meet with Speaker of Lebanon’s Parliament Nabih Berri, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib and Lebanese Armed Forces Commander General Joseph Aoun, the EU said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken departed Thursday for a multi-nation trip to the Middle East as the risk of a regional conflict looms large while the war in Gaza rages on. 

The top US diplomat will travel to Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank and Egypt, as well as Turkey and Greece. 

It is Blinken's fourth trip to the region since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. 

On Blinken's agenda, according to State Department spokesperson Matt Miller:

The number of people taken hostage on October 7 whom Israel believes are dead and still being held by in Gaza has been updated to 25, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office told CNN Friday.

That leaves 107 hostages from the Hamas attack last year still thought to be alive, for a total of 132.

Four Israelis were already being held hostage in Gaza before October 7 – two alive and two dead.

This comes after the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum in Israel announced the death of 38-year-old Tamir Adar, another of hostage held in Gaza.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has unveiled plans for the next phase of the war in Gaza: A new combat approach in the north and a sustained focus on targeting Hamas leaders in the south of the enclave.

But perhaps the most challenging and uncertain phase will come after the fighting has ceased. In a short document titled the “Day After,” Gallant provided details of Israel’s plans for the post-war governance of Gaza and the future of its Palestinian population.

But Gallant's plan was swiftly criticized by far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, exposing deep divisions within the government.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Gaza continues to climb, with the Hamas-run health ministry reporting on Friday that 22,600 people had died since October 7.

Here are the latest developments:

Divisions have continued to deepen between Israeli ministers over the plan for war-ravaged Gaza once the conflict ends.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has criticized the plan outlined Thursday by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant which envisages a Gaza no longer controlled by Hamas, which would no longer “pose a security threat to the citizens of Israel.” 

But far-right settler leader Smotrich decried the plan outlined by his colleague.

Smotrich has championed the idea of a Palestinian exodus from Gaza. He and far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir sparked outrage when advocating for the resettlement of Gazans outside the Gaza Strip.

The removal of Gazans from the territory could pave the way for Israelis to "make the desert bloom" through resettlement, Smotrich argued, adding later that he envisioned any transfers of Gazans being carried out on a voluntary basis.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said Thursday he was "very disturbed" by earlier comments made by Smotrich and Ben Gvir advocating for resettlement.

Gallant's plan: Gallant, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s center-right Likud party, said in a section of the three-page document titled the “Day After” that once the "goals" of the war have been "achieved" there would be "no Israeli civilian presence in the Gaza Strip." That seems to rule out re-establishing the Israeli settlements in Gaza which Israeli unilaterally removed in 2005.

Gallant also unveiled the concept of a multinational task force led by the United States in partnership with “European and regional partners” charged with “the rehabilitation of the Gaza strip.” 

This task force would serve as the “main address for international parties interested in assisting in the restoration of the Gaza strip,” he said. In this phase, Israel would also continue dialogue with Egypt, a country Gallant described as a “major actor.” 

The minister provided scant detail on the future governance of the enclave however, merely saying that the “entity controlling the territory” would “build on the capabilities” of “local non-hostile actors” already present in Gaza.