January 16, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Israel said it struck multiple Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Tuesday, the latest in cross-border fighting between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shiite militant group.

The IDF said it conducted aerial and artillery strikes on what it said were Hezbollah terror targets in the area of Wadi Saluki in Lebanon.

The Lebanese state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israel conducted “more than 15 raids, strikes the outskirts of Houla, Wadi Al-Saluki, Wadi Al-Hujair, and the Rab Thalateen Al-Taybeh road."

The announcement from the IDF comes just hours after it said its special forces struck in the area of Ayta ash Shab in Lebanon. The IDF did not respond to CNN’s question about the target of the strike or the nature of the operation.

The Israeli military also said that overnight, one of its aircraft struck a Hezbollah anti-tank missile launcher in the area of the town of KafarKila in southern Lebanon.

The US Navy seized Iranian-made ballistic missile and cruise missile components from a vessel off the coast of Somalia last week that was destined for Houthis in Yemen, US Central Command announced on Tuesday.  

During the operation, two SEALs went overboard and are missing. One fell into the water due to eight-foot swells, and the second jumped in after them according to protocol, a US official told CNN Saturday.  

While conducting the operation, US Navy SEALs boarded the ship and seized “Iranian-made ballistic missile and cruise missiles components,” including “propulsion, guidance, and warheads for Houthi medium range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) and anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs), as well as air defense associated components.” 

CENTCOM said "initial analysis indicates these same weapons have been employed by the Houthis to threaten and attack innocent mariners on international merchant ships transiting in the Red Sea.”

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday that the "intensive manoeuvring stage" of Israel's military offensive in northern and southern Gaza will "end soon."

The Israeli military is working to "eliminate pockets of resistance" in northern Gaza, Gallant said, adding: "We will achieve this via raids, airstrikes, special operations and additional activities." 

After the October 7 attacks, Gallant said the original plan was for the "intensive manoeuvring stage" of Israel's military campaign in Gaza to last approximately three months. But, he cautioned the Israeli military adapts its operations "in accordance with the reality on the ground" and "our intelligence."

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has announced one of its army divisions had exited the Gaza Strip on Monday night, in the most significant sign yet of a shift to a new phase of fighting that some Israeli officials have been promising.

The IDF said its 36th division, which comprises armored, engineering, and infantry companies, withdrew from the Gaza Strip after 80 days. 

The brigade operated in the areas of Zeitun, Shati, Shejaiya, Rimal, and the Central Camps, the Israeli military added. The IDF did not respond to CNN’s questions about whether the withdrawal was temporary, what was behind the withdrawal, or how many troops it involved. 

The Iranian foreign ministry said strikes on Iraq and Syria by the country's Revolutionary Guards was a “precise and targeted” operation to deter security threats, in the latest threat to peace and stability in the region as Israel's war on Gaza rages on.

Iran hit “terrorist headquarters” in Idlib, in Syria, and a “Mossad-affiliated center” in Erbil, in northern Iraq, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The Islamic Republic identified and targeted the headquarters of criminals using ballistic missiles in a precise and targeted operation,” Kanaani added. 

On Monday, Iranian forces launched ballistic missiles at what it said was a spy base for Israel's intelligence agency Mossad in northern Iraq, and an "anti-Iran terror groups" in Syria.

Kanaani said the strikes were carried out "in defense of (Iranian) sovereignty and security as well to counter terrorism."

“Iran always supports peace, stability and security in the region and respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries, while at the same time using its legitimate and legal right to deter national security threats.”

Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has warned that recent US-led strikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen would only deepen regional divides over Israel's war on Gaza.

Al Thani said Tuesday that tensions in the Middle East are "affecting everyone," stressing that the primary focus for leaders should be to diffuse the war in Gaza, where Israel's deadly military offensive since October 7 has decimated swathes of the territory and left more than 2.2 million people facing famine, deadly disease and forcible displacement.

"We always prefer diplomacy over any military resolutions, and we believe that we shouldn't just focus on those small conflicts, we should focus on the main conflict in Gaza and as soon it's diffused, I believe that everything else will be diffused," the Qatari prime minister said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

When asked about US and UK striking Houthi targets in Yemen over attacks on the Red Sea, he called its impact on the freedom of navigation "a global issue."

"What we have in the region is a recipe of escalation everywhere," he added.

Regional divides: Since November, the Houthis — an Iran-backed Shia political and military organization — have been launching drones and missiles at commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea.

Then on Thursday, the US and UK launched strikes against Houthi targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, marking the fiercest response from the Biden administration since the salvos began.

The United Nations in Iraq has condemned Iran's missile attack in Erbil, capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.

It added that security concerns must be addressed "through dialogue."

On Monday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards launched ballistic missiles at a number of locations in Erbil, including what it said was a spy base for Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad and at “anti-Iran terror groups” in Syria.

The strikes, which killed at least four civilians and injured six others according to the Security Council of the Kurdistan region, were condemned by the United States as “reckless” and imprecise, as fears over a wider regional conflict mount.

Israel's war in Gaza has brought famine with "such incredible speed," the United Nations’ relief chief said Monday, as he warned that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are starving in the besieged enclave.

The "great majority" of 400,000 Gazans characterized by UN agencies as at risk of starving "are actually in famine, not just at risk of famine," UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths told CNN.

Israel’s relentless bombing of Gaza in response to Hamas’ October 7 terror attacks has killed more than 24,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, and wrought widespread devastation, as civilians live with the threat of imminent death — either by an airstrike, starvation or disease.

Here's the latest updates:

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Monday launched ballistic missiles at what it said was a spy base for Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad in northern Iraq, and at “anti-Iran terror groups” in Syria, in the latest escalation of hostilities that further risks spiraling into a wider regional conflict.

The strikes were condemned by the United States as “reckless” and imprecise.

Iranian forces said the midnight missile strike in Iraq destroyed “one of the main espionage headquarters” of Israel in Erbil, capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, in response to what they said were Israeli attacks that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders and members of the Iranian resistance front.

CNN has reached out to Israel’s Prime Minister’s office for comment on the IRGC’s claim.

The IRGC also said it struck several locations in Erbil and claimed to target “sites of Iranian opposition groups.”

At least four civilians were killed and six others injured in the attack, according to a statement early Tuesday by the Security Council of the Kurdistan region.

Read the full report.

Israel on Monday accused Hamas of "psychological torture" after the militant group released a series of videos featuring hostages in Gaza, the last of which appears to show two of the captives killed.

The first video, released Sunday, showed the three hostages -- Noa Argamani, Itai Svirsky and Yossi Sharabi. Sharabi's family previously asked for his name to be withheld. It ended with a caption saying, “Tomorrow, we will inform you of their fate.”

A subsequent clip Monday appeared to show the bodies of Svirsky and Sharabi. It also featured Argamani saying both men had been killed by Israeli forces.

It is not clear if Argamani was speaking under duress. The video is also highly edited, including the looping of some of her words.

CNN is not airing the videos, and it is not immediately possible to verify when and where they were filmed.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari denied Monday that Svirsky had been hit by Israeli forces.

He said the IDF representatives had met with the families of the three hostages and updated them on the latest information they had, adding the IDF “expressed grave concern” for the fate of Svirsky and Sharabi. 

From CNN’s Amir Tal and Ivana Kottasová. This post has been updated to reflect the IDF naming the third hostage shown in the videos, Yossi Sharabi.