January 22, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Families of hostages disrupted a meeting of the finance committee in the Israeli parliament on Monday, demanding more be done to secure their release.

Video of the scene showed security officers trying to remove the protesters.

There are no reports of arrests inside the parliament, called the Knesset.

Israeli police reported that dozens of protesters had blocked the entrance to the Knesset, “violating public order.” After they refused to leave, a police officer announced a dispersal order. Those disrupting public order were moved back to the protest area in order to allow the protest to continue lawfully, according to a police statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition to a two-state solution has sparked criticism from officials in Brussels and Washington, as divisions deepen between Israel and its allies and within its own government.

Netanyahu has made clear his opposition to a Palestinian state, but last week set alarm bells ringing when he said Israel “must control security of all the land which is west of the Jordan River.”

Ahead of a meeting in Brussels on Monday, European Union foreign ministers criticized Netanyahu’s comments, with Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, calling them “unacceptable.”

Meanwhile, the death toll in Gaza has climbed to more than 25,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the enclave.

Here are the latest developments:

Dear Omri, my Omri,

Alma began crawling soon after you were taken from us. She now sits and stands as well and tries to eat on her own. She smiles and reaches for the space you once occupied as if trying to grasp a memory that slips through her tiny fingers.

I wonder, will you be free to see her walk for the first time? I have been writing daily to you, myself and the world. Writing about our pain, our agony, our despair. I hope that you’ll return to Roni, Alma and me.

We heard that one of the released hostages told you we survived October 7 against all odds; we were rescued from the house of horrors that saw the death of loved ones, our hours-long abuse and your violent abduction.

We hope that news is true. We hope that the knowledge we are here waiting for you helps you persevere through your captivity, just as the hope of your return is what helps me persevere.

Editor’s note: Lishay Lavi’s husband Omri Miran, father of their two daughters Roni and Alma, was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 and remains captive in Gaza. Her letter has been translated from Hebrew by her brother, Moshe Lavi. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. Read the full letter here.

Several European foreign ministers have joined the chorus of criticism directed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's opposition to a two-state solution.

Speaking ahead of a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin said Netanyahu’s comments were “unacceptable” and “do not contribute in any way to the prospects of peace.”

Netanyahu said his desire for security control over all territory west of Jordan is contrary to the existence of a Palestinian state. But Martin said this outcome would harm regional security.

Latvia’s Foreign Minister of Foreign Affairs Krišjānis Kariņš called Netanyahu’s remarks “discouraging.”

The Israeli government’s opposition to a two-state solution is “unacceptable” and Israel cannot expect countries to drop the issue, the European Union’s foreign policy chief said Monday.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected calls from the international community for a two-state solution, but Borrell questioned what alternatives remain.

Borrell said that Hamas is part of the problem but that the way Israel has been trying to destroy the militant group was “certainly” wrong and was seeding hate “for generations.”

Israel Foreign Minister Israel Katz and his Palestinian Authority counterpart are attending the meeting in Brussels.

Communication networks have been restored across Gaza following the longest near-total blackout in the coastal enclave since the start of the war.

The outage, which lasted over a week, was the ninth communications blackout in Gaza since Israel’s war against Hamas began on October 7, according to internet monitoring site Netblocks.

The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 25,000 people since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, the Hamas-controlled health ministry in the enclave said Sunday.

The Palestinian toll includes 25,105 killed and 62,681 injured, according to the ministry. CNN cannot independently verify the figures.

Israel's military said Sunday that military activities in Gaza were continuing, with "dozens of terrorists eliminated and large quantities of weapons located."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he would not accept Hamas' demand for an end to the war in exchange for the release of hostages held in Gaza.

Here's what you need to know:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not accept Hamas' demand for an end to the war in exchange for the release of hostages held in Gaza, he said Sunday.

Netanyahu said Hamas has demanded an end to the war, the release of Palestinian prisoners and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza in exchange for the release of the hostages.

“If we agree to this, our soldiers fell in vain. If we agree to this, we will not be able to guarantee the security of our citizens,” the prime minister said. 

Some context: Netanyahu's comments come amid a report in the Wall Street Journal that the US, Egypt and Qatar want Israel to join a new phase of talks with Hamas that would start with the release of hostages and lead to the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Netanyahu said he communicated these points to US President Joe Biden over the weekend, and reiterated comments he made last week about Israel controlling all territory west of Jordan. 

The Israeli military has desecrated at least 16 cemeteries in its ground offensive in Gaza, a CNN investigation has found, leaving gravestones ruined, soil upturned and, in some cases, bodies unearthed.

In Khan Younis, southern Gaza, where fighting escalated in recent days, Israeli forces destroyed a cemetery, removing bodies in what the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN was part of a search for the remains of hostages seized by Hamas during the October 7 attacks.

CNN has reviewed satellite images and social media footage showing the destruction of cemeteries — and witnessed it firsthand while traveling with the IDF in a convoy. Together, the evidence reveals a systemic practice.

The intentional destruction of religious sites, such as cemeteries, violates international law, except under narrow circumstances relating to that site becoming a military objective, and legal experts told CNN that Israel’s acts could amount to war crimes.

A spokesperson for the IDF could not account for the destruction of the 16 cemeteries CNN provided coordinates for, but said the military sometimes has “no other choice” but to target cemeteries it claimed Hamas uses for military purposes.

Read the full report.