Situation around Khan Younis hospitals is deteriorating amid intense shelling, UN says
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January 23, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

By Kathleen Magramo, Christian Edwards, Caitlin Danaher, Antoinette Radford, Aditi Sangal and Adrienne Vogt, CNN

Updated 12:12 a.m. ET, January 24, 2024
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10:11 a.m. ET, January 23, 2024

Situation around Khan Younis hospitals is deteriorating amid intense shelling, UN says

From CNN's Abeer Salman, Ibrahim Dahman, Celine Alkhaldi and Tim Lister

 

The United Nations says that the situation at hospitals in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza has deteriorated as Israeli military operations in the area have expanded.

“Reportedly, Israeli forces struck the vicinity of Al Amal hospital and the ambulance headquarters, as intense fighting continued in the area, including dozens of casualties,” the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Tuesday, adding that it estimated that “13,000 displaced people who have taken shelter in Al Amal Hospital and the PRCS [Palestinian Red Crescent Society] headquarters were unable to leave.”

OCHA cited humanitarian partners as saying that people in the vicinity and in the Al Kheir area east of Al Mawasi had lost access to the health facility.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it has surrounded Khan Younis and instructed civilians to leave several districts and move toward the coast, which it described to CNN as “safer.”

Roads leading to al-Amal hospital were closed due to ongoing shooting by IDF in Khan Younis, the PRCS said later Tuesday. Social media video geolocated by CNN indicated that roads to Nasser hospital — some 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away — had also been blocked since early Tuesday.

Separately, the UN relief agency in Gaza said that one of its shelters in the Khan Younis area had been hit. “At least 6 displaced people were killed and many more injured during intense fighting around the shelter. Terrified staff, patients and displaced people are now trapped inside the few remaining hospitals in Khan Younis as heavy fighting continues,” the agency’s director, Phillipe Lazzarini said on X (formerly Twitter).

CNN is seeking a response from the IDF on the reported strike close to or at the UNRWA shelter.

8:45 a.m. ET, January 23, 2024

UK and US will announce new sanctions on Houthis after more strikes in Yemen

From CNN’s Catherine Nicholls in London

The United Kingdom and United States will be announcing new sanctions on the Houthis “in the coming days,” UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday.

“We're going to use the most effective means at our disposal to cut off the Houthis’ financial resources, where they are used to fund these attacks [on commercial ships in the Red Sea],” Sunak told the House of Commons — the UK's Parliament.

“We are working closely with the United States on this and plan to announce new sanctions measures in the coming days.”

The news comes following another US and UK airstrike on Houthi targets in Yemen, which Sunak said were “limited to carefully selected targets, with maximum caretaking to protect civilian lives.” He also stressed that the strikes were “fully in line with international law, in self-defense, and in response to a persistent threat.”

The prime minister said that the sanctions were part of a wider UK response to the Houthi attacks on commercial vessels. He added that the UK will continue to deliver humanitarian aid to Yemen and help to negotiate peace in the country, Sunak said.

8:31 a.m. ET, January 23, 2024

Khan Younis surrounded by IDF as hundreds try to flee city’s hospitals. Catch up here

From CNN staff

Israel’s military said its troops have surrounded Khan Younis in southern Gaza, as hundreds of people displaced on hospital grounds in the city try to flee the area.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said people at its headquarters, as well as at the nearby Al-Amal Hospital, are “in a state of panic and trying to escape ongoing Israeli bombardment.”

A major Israeli military offensive underway in the west of the city is expected to last several more days, according to a source familiar with the operation.

Meanwhile, Israel is reeling from the deaths of at least 24 of its soldiers in Gaza, in what is the biggest single loss of life for Israeli troops in the enclave since the war with Hamas began.

Here are the latest developments:

  • Khan Younis: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said “dozens of terrorists” had been killed in the past 24 hours by its ground troops in coordination with Israel’s air force, as it steps up its military activity in and around Khan Younis. The city’s medical facilities have been battered by the Israeli assault.
  • Attempts to flee: Ahmad Nassem, a resident of Al-Amal neighborhood in Khan Younis, told CNN Tuesday that people were leaving their homes and turning back, adding: “We are getting ready to evacuate, but there are intense clashes all around us." The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said both the Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals in Khan Younis are “in grave danger," with buildings exposed to shrapnel, putting lives at risk.
  • Israeli losses: The IDF said that at least 24 of its soldiers were killed Monday, after a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) struck a tank that was protecting Israeli troops and two two-story buildings collapsed on soldiers following the explosion. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Monday “one of the most difficult days” since the outbreak of war and said the IDF had launched an investigation into the incident.
  • Houthis targeted: After the United States and United Kingdom launched more strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen overnight – its eighth attack in just over 10 days – the Houthi rebel group warned the aggression “will not go unanswered.” British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the joint campaign to degrade the Houthis’ military capabilities will continue, as navigation in the Red Sea continues to be disrupted.
  • Truce talks: Israel has proposed letting senior Hamas leaders leave Gaza as part of a possible ceasefire deal, two officials familiar with the talks told CNN. Separately, Axios reported Monday that Israel had offered a two-month ceasefire as part of a prospective hostage deal. But an Israeli official told CNN Tuesday that any ceasefire-for-hostages offer is "far from being a proposal."
  • Humanitarian crisis: Israel is destroying Gaza's food system, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food said. "It's unprecedented to make an entire civilian population go hungry this completely & quickly," Michael Fakhri said in a social media post. Meanwhile, mounds of solid waste and sewage openly flowing in the streets are exacerbating health hazards in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, with air pollution adding to the toxic environment, according to aid workers and civilians in the area.
7:24 a.m. ET, January 23, 2024

Hundreds try to flee Khan Younis hospitals as Israeli military surrounds southern city

From CNN’s Celine Alkhaldi and Ibrahim Dahman

Hundreds of people displaced on hospital grounds in Khan Younis are reportedly trying to flee the area as Israel ramps up its military activity in and around the southern city.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said people at its headquarters, as well as at the Al-Amal Hospital, are “in a state of panic and trying to escape ongoing Israeli bombardment.”

“We are getting ready to evacuate, but there are intense clashes all around us. People are leaving their homes and then turning back. It’s very dangerous in the area,” Ahmad Nassem, a resident of Al-Amal neighborhood in Khan Younis, told CNN Tuesday.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said both the Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals in Khan Younis are “in grave danger," with buildings "exposed to shrapnel, which puts the lives of patients, staff and displaced people at risk."

Dr. Ahmad Al-Moghrabi from Nasser Hospital told CNN Tuesday there was “fierce fighting” around the medical facility.

“We are being asked to evacuate but there is fierce fighting and snipers surrounding the hospital,” he said. “It's really difficult, all the roads are blocked. We don’t know how to evacuate.”
6:14 a.m. ET, January 23, 2024

Khan Younis in southern Gaza now surrounded, says IDF

From CNN's Amir Tal and Tim Lister

A picture taken from Rafah on January 23 shows smoke billowing over Khan Younis in southern Gaza during Israeli bombardment.
A picture taken from Rafah on January 23 shows smoke billowing over Khan Younis in southern Gaza during Israeli bombardment. AFP/Getty Images

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops have surrounded Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

A major Israeli military offensive underway in the west of the city is expected to last several more days, a source familiar with the matter told CNN Monday. The source said Israeli troops had encircled the Khan Younis refugee camp and are conducting raids to try to dismantle Hamas’ military capabilities in the area.

In a statement Tuesday, the IDF said “dozens of terrorists” had been killed in the past 24 hours by its ground troops in coordination with Israel’s air force.

The Hamas-controlled health ministry in the enclave said Tuesday that 195 people had been killed and 354 injured in Gaza during the past 24 hours. It said “a number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them.”

Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra, a spokesperson for the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza, accused the IDF of committing massacres west of Khan Younis and preventing the movement of ambulances. Intense combat has been reported in the area in recent days as Israeli ground operations extend further south in the enclave.

In a post on X, the IDF’s Arabic spokesman warned civilians in parts of western Khan Younis to evacuate towards the coast.

6:18 a.m. ET, January 23, 2024

Houthis say US and UK strikes "will not go unanswered"

From CNN’s Sarah El Sirgany in Beirut

RAF Typhoon and Voyager aircraft return to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus after carrying out air strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen, on January 23.
RAF Typhoon and Voyager aircraft return to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus after carrying out air strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen, on January 23. Handout/UK Ministry of Defense/Getty Images

Airstrikes overnight by the United States and United Kingdom "will not go unanswered," a spokesperson for Yemen's Houthi rebel group said on X.

The Houthi spokesperson said four governorates were targeted, with the US and UK launching 18 airstrikes. Twelve raids targeted Yemen's capital Sana’a, three targeted Hodeidah, two targeted Taiz and one struck Al Bayda, the spokesperson said.

The additional strikes carried out by the US and UK on Monday marked the eighth round of attacks by the US military on the rebels' infrastructure in just over 10 days, according to a joint statement.

The US and UK said in the statement that eight sites were struck in Yemen. 

5:13 a.m. ET, January 23, 2024

Netanyahu says deaths of 21 soldiers "one of the most difficult days" of the war

From CNN's Amir Tel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that the deaths of 21 Israeli soldiers on Monday was “one of the most difficult days" since the outbreak of war.

“I mourn for our fallen heroic soldiers. I hug the families in their time of need and we all pray for the peace of our wounded," Netanyahu wrote on X.

After a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) struck a tank that was protecting Israeli troops, two two-story buildings collapsed on soldiers following the explosion, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a statement Tuesday. The incident was the biggest single loss of life for Israeli troops in Gaza since the war with Hamas began.

“The IDF has launched an investigation into the disaster. We must draw the necessary lessons and do everything to keep our warriors safe," Netanyahu said.

He added Israel "will not stop fighting until the absolute victory."

4:58 a.m. ET, January 23, 2024

Campaign to degrade Houthi military capability will continue, UK foreign secretary says

From CNN's Sharon Braithwaite in London

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron is pictured arriving at Downing Street in London on January 16.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron is pictured arriving at Downing Street in London on January 16. Leon Neal/Getty Images

The campaign to degrade the Houthi’s military capability will continue, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Tuesday, after the United States and the United Kingdom carried out another round of strikes on Monday.

"Since we last took action 10 days ago there have been over 12 attacks on shipping by the Houthis in the Red Sea. These attacks are illegal, are unacceptable, and what we've done, again, is send the clearest possible message that we will continue to degrade their ability to carry out these attacks whilst sending the clearest possible message that we back our words and our warnings with action," Cameron told broadcasters Tuesday.

Cameron added that alongside the latest air strikes, the UK will use a “whole set of measures,” including the Royal Navy in the Red Sea and sanctions, to increase pressure on the Houthis. 

On Monday, four Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s, supported by a pair of Voyager tankers, joined US forces in a deliberate strike against Houthi sites in Yemen, the UK Ministry of Defence said in a press release.

It was a smaller number than the first joint operation on January 11 that struck over 30 Houthi targets.

4:50 a.m. ET, January 23, 2024

Ceasefire-for-hostages offer is “far from being a proposal,” says Israeli official

From CNN's Richard Allen Greene in Jerusalem

While there is an “Israeli initiative” to offer Hamas a two-month ceasefire in exchange for all of the hostages held in Gaza, it is “far from being a proposal,” an Israeli official familiar with the idea told CNN Tuesday.

The initiative is “a way to check whether the framework will work,” the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss internal government conversations.

“Many steps need to be taken” before any deal comes to fruition, the official said.

Some context: Axios reported Monday that Israel has offered a two-month ceasefire as part of a prospective deal to release the hostages. Separately, two officials familiar with the talks told CNN Israel has proposed allowing senior Hamas leaders to leave Gaza as part of a broader ceasefire deal.