January 8, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Israeli forces will shift from the “intense maneuvering phase of the war” toward “different types of special operations,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said.

“We’re close to the next phase in the north, including Gaza City,” where Israeli troops have largely established control, at least above ground, Gallant said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published Monday.

As tens of thousands more civilians crowd into southern parts of Gaza, Gallant acknowledged that Israel’s military offensive needs “to take into consideration the huge number of civilians" and military tactics would need to adjust.

“It will take some time,” Gallant said. “But we aren’t going to give up.”

Key context: Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 22,600 people, 70% of whom are women and children, the Hamas-run health ministry said on Friday.

CNN cannot independently verify the casualty figures reported by the Gaza ministry due to limited access to the area and the challenges of confirming precise numbers during the ongoing conflict. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it hit the southern city of Khan Younis with 30 strikes overnight into Monday, as it intensifies its military assault in central and southern Gaza.

CNN cannot independently verify operational details reported by the IDF.

Israeli troops and air force hit "underground targets, terror infrastructure, and weapons storage facilities," the IDF said.

The IDF claimed that in Khan Younis “troops identified 10 terrorists in areas from which rockets were launched toward Israeli territory." Forces then struck the areas with an unmanned aerial vehicle.

In an agricultural area in central Gaza, the IDF said troops located a tunnel shaft, thousands of dollars and weapons. In al-Maghazi in central Gaza, a fighter jet struck a weapons storage facility where long-range rockets were stored.

Some context: Deadly bombardment has ramped up in the southern city of Khan Younis in recent weeks, including on Saturday, when an Israeli airstrike killed at least seven family members, the Hamas-run health ministry said.

Then on Sunday, Hamza Wael Al-Dahdouh, 27, the son of Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief, was killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike, alongside Al Jazeera employee Mustafa Thuraya, the network reported.

The IDF has issued several evacuation orders telling civilians to leave much of the area. Israeli bombardment and besiegement has forcibly displaced almost 90% of Gaza's more than 2.2 million population, according to the UN's agency for Palestine refugees.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said Palestinian civilians must be allowed to “return home as soon as conditions allow” and "must not be pressed to leave Gaza" following comments from two far-right Israeli ministers.

Blinken made the comments during a press conference on Sunday with Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha.

Blinken criticized “irresponsible” and “inflammatory” statements made by Israeli ministers and lawmakers calling for a resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza. He did not specifically name the Israeli ministers who made the comments.

Key context: Blinken's comments come after Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir sparked outrage when both far-right ministers made comments advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said on Sunday the resettlement of Palestinians out of Gaza is “outright, officially and unequivocally” not Israel’s position.

Additional reporting from CNN's Niamh Kennedy in London.

A key hospital in central Gaza "must remain functional," the head of the World Health Organization said Sunday, after several aid organizations withdrew medical staff from the facility citing increased Israeli military activity in the area.

In a statement, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the Al-Aqsa Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah is “the most important hospital remaining in Gaza’s Middle Area,” and demanded the facility, its staff, patients and the families located on its premises be protected from ongoing hostilities.

Aid groups Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and the emergency medical team of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) on Sunday announced their withdrawal from Al-Aqsa Hospital after the Israeli military dropped flyers on central Gaza ordering Palestinians to evacuate to "shelters" in the area. Doctors Without Borders on Saturday said it would evacuate its staff working at Al-Aqsa due to artillery fire in the area.

No hospitals are fully functioning in northern Gaza and only “a mere handful” of health facilities elsewhere in the territory were operational, Tedros said in his statement.  

He said representatives from WHO and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs who visited Al-Aqsa Hospital on Sunday saw large numbers of wounded people being brought in for urgent treatment.

Tedros said evacuation orders and lack of safety had forced most medical staff to leave. “Tonight’s reports indicate that only 5 doctors remain. Hospital management said health workers had no food,” he said.

CNN is not able to independently confirm the details of his statement. The Israel Defense Forces have said they do not generally target medical facilities but have accused Hamas of using them as cover for military activity and reserve the right to strike them if so. 

Tedros said WHO was planning to facilitate the deployment of an emergency medical team to support the overstretched doctors and nurses of Al-Aqsa but that it would only be possible in a secure environment. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said he's focused on preventing a wider conflict during a moment of "profound tension" in the Middle East, as he shuttles between capitals on his latest visit to the region since October 7.

“We have been intensely focused on working to prevent the conflict from spreading," Blinken said in Doha Sunday after meeting with Qatar's prime minister.

The top US diplomat will be the latest in a long parade of Biden national security officials to meet face to face with the Israeli government when he arrives in Tel Aviv this week. It's part of what US officials say is a constant effort to stay in touch with — and in front of — Israeli officials in an attempt to keep Israel’s war machine in check as the conflict drags on.

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.

CNN is not able to independently verify the numbers released by the ministry.

Here are the latest updates:

The recent killing of a senior Hamas leader could affect ongoing negotiations to secure the release of hostages held by the militant group in Gaza, Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said. 

Israel carried out the strike last Tuesday in Beirut that killed senior Hamas leader Saleh Al-Arouri, a US official previously told CNN. Israel did not claim responsibility.

At a joint news conference in Doha Sunday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Al-Thani was asked whether Arouri's death could impact talks to free the more than 100 hostages believed to still be held in Gaza following the October 7 attacks.

Qatar has played a central role in mediating hostage negotiations. And despite the challenges, the negotiation process is continuing, Al-Thani said.

Two medical aid groups on Sunday announced their withdrawal from a central Gaza hospital, citing increased Israeli military activity in the area.

In a statement, the International Rescue Committee said its emergency medical team was "forced to withdraw" from Al Aqsa Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah after the Israeli military dropped flyers on central Gaza ordering Palestinians to evacuate to "shelters" in the area.

The IRC team had provided vital services at the hospital, such as the treatment of trauma injuries, the release said. 

CNN is not able to independently confirm this statement. 

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) also said it was withdrawing from Al Aqsa hospital. It comes after Doctors Without Borders on Saturday said it would evacuate its staff and their families from the facility.

MAP and the IRC said they were "deeply appalled" their teams had to pull out of the hospital and would work to identify alternate locations to provide health care to civilians. 

“The dismantling of health services witnessed in the north must not be repeated in the middle and south of Gaza,” the release said. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he’s focused on preventing a wider conflict during a moment of "profound tension" in the Middle East that could "easily metastasize."

"We have been intensely focused on working to prevent the conflict from spreading," Blinken said Sunday during a news conference in Doha with Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.

Al-Thani also warned of an escalation of conflicts in the region and specifically condemned recent strikes in Beirut and Syria.

Al-Thani reiterated his calls for a ceasefire and said it would have a “positive implication” on the region.

Blinken skirted a question about whether Arab countries were correct in calling for a ceasefire. He said the US wanted to ensure the October 7 attacks would not happen again, which "means dealing with the threat that Hamas continues to pose.”

“But as we've made clear also from day one, it's imperative that in dealing with this very, very difficult challenge, that it do so in a way that puts a premium on protecting civilians. Making sure that people get the assistance they need,” Blinken added, speaking of Israel’s war against Hamas.

In response to a question about whether the US should make providing weapons to Israel conditional, Blinken said they will continue to make sure any US military assistance is used in accordance with international law.

A 3-year-old Palestinian girl was shot and killed as Israeli forces fired at a vehicle that attacked a military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, according to police and emergency services.

Israeli police said a man and a woman were shot and killed after they attacked border police Sunday at the Ras Bidu military checkpoint about 10 kilometers (6 miles) northwest of Jerusalem.

As police shot at the attackers, the girl was hit while traveling in a different vehicle. 

Magen David Adom, from Israel’s emergency medical service, said the unconscious child was brought to their team and pronounced dead after medical examinations. 

Two other people were injured in the incident, including a 20-year-old woman, Israel’s emergency medical service said.

CNN’s Amir Tal in Jerusalem contributed reporting to this post.