January 31, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

Two aid agencies are claiming they have evidence that indicates Israel carried out a strike earlier this month on a compound housing humanitarian workers and their families in a supposed safe zone in Gaza. 

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said an independent assessment carried out by the United Nations concluded that the damage was caused by an airstrike most likely involving a missile package exclusively possessed by the Israeli military. 

"The Israeli military is the only armed actor in Gaza with access to this weaponry," the statement on Wednesday said. The strike took place on January 18.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on the claims. 

More context: Although officially designated as a safe zone by the IDF, Al Mawasi – a 5.22 square mile (13.5 square kilometer) coastal strip where the compound was located – has suffered several strikes in recent weeks, according to reports from the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza and the Palestinian state news agency, WAFA. 

The two organizations reiterated that attacks against these kinds of settings violate international humanitarian law. Despite remaining committed to serving the "humanitarian imperative," the IRC and MAP likened the current situation in Gaza however to fighting a "losing battle." 

CNN is unable to independently confirm these claims due to the difficulty of reporting from the war zone. 

Without a two-state solution framework, Hamas won't be destroyed and "will flourish again," according to Israel's former security agency chief.

"The major defeat for Hamas is a future of two states. And unless we should discuss the future of two states, there is no way to defeat Hamas and to create a better political horizon for Palestinians and for Israelis," he added. 

Ayalon went on to say that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn't represent the views of the majority of the Israeli people, "and unfortunately, you know, he's leading us."

"We shall have elections in a few months and we should find the right way to to a better future," he added. 

Ayalon said US President Joe Biden's push for a two-state solution is perceived as strong leadership, because "he filled a vacuum of leadership in Israel."  He also blamed extremists on both sides of the conflict for leading the region to the current situation.

Addressing the suspension of funding by a growing number of Western countries for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), following allegations from Israel that some of the agency's staff were involved in the October 7 attacks, Ayalon said humanitarian aid for Gaza needs to continue but that perhaps the UN can find a different framework and work with other humanitarian organizations.  

A cruise missile launched by the Houthis into the Red Sea on Tuesday night came within a mile of a United States destroyer before it was shot down, four US officials told CNN, the closest a Houthi attack has come to a US warship.

In the past, these missiles have been intercepted by US destroyers in the area at a range of eight miles or more, the officials said. But the USS Gravely had to use its Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) for the first time since the US began intercepting the Houthi missiles late last year, which ultimately succeeded in downing the missile, officials said.

The CIWS, an automated machine gun designed for close-range intercepts, is one of the final defensive lines the ship has to shoot down an incoming missile when other layers of defense have failed to intercept it.

The episode underscores the threat the Houthis continue to pose to US naval assets and commercial shipping in the Red Sea, despite multiple US and British strikes on Houthi infrastructure inside Yemen. The close call also comes just days after three US service members were killed in a drone attack by Iran-backed militants at a US outpost in Jordan.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed the importance of the United Nation’s humanitarian work inside Gaza, saying it is “absolutely vital,” while also calling again for allegations made against UN staffers in the enclave to be addressed.

In remarks alongside UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag, Blinken noted that “her mission now could not be more vital."

Blinken went on to say that the UN must “work through the terrible allegations” made against its aid agency, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

“That's absolutely essential, and we'll be looking at to see that the necessary work is done to deal with and address that situation,” Blinken said.

The US suspended approximately $300,000 in aid to UNRWA as the agency investigates Israeli allegations that 13 of its personnel were involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks. The US is among a growing list of countries who have suspended some or all funding to the agency.

Kaag did not mention the UNRWA situation in her remarks. She spoke of the “common objective” of “getting humanitarian aid, assistance to the innocent civilians of Gaza.”

“They need it. We need to help them sustain. We need to give them prospects,” she said. 

The United States destroyed a Houthi surface-to-air missile in Yemen early Wednesday Eastern time, according to a statement from Central Command.

The missile was prepared to launch and posed “an imminent threat to US aircraft operating in the region,” it said.

The US has carried out a series of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, some along with the United Kingdom, to go after Houthi weaponry and disrupt the rebel group’s ability to target international shipping lanes.

The United States believes an umbrella group of militants called Islamic Resistance in Iraq was behind the drone attack in Jordan that killed three American service members, the White House said Wednesday, its first formal attribution for the incident.

He stopped short of assigning exact blame on Kata'ib Hezbollah, saying it was not the only group responsible for previous attacks on US bases.

"This certainly has the earmarks of the kinds of things that Kata'ib Hezbollah does," he said, adding, "The attribution that our intelligence community is comfortable with is that this was done by the umbrella group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq."

Kirby said as the US was preparing to respond to the attack, there would likely be multiple phases of a counterattack.

The United States said the main United Nations aid agency in Gaza needs to make changes to "restore donor confidence" before it will resume giving money to the agency, the US ambassador to the UN said.

The US has long been a leading donor for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA), but the US and several other countries paused funding after Israel alleged 13 employees were associated with Hamas' October 7 attacks.

Even though humanitarian aid is desperately needed in Gaza, the US will continue its pause until there are "fundamental changes to UNRWA to prevent this from happening again," US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said Wednesday that he was "personally horrified" by the allegations and that the UN acted immediately after hearing them. Thomas-Greenfield said the US appreciates the allegations are being taken seriously.

Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are demanding an investigation after the reported discovery of about thirty bodies in bags buried under rubble and sand in a school in northern Gaza.

Video and images that emerged Tuesday showed dozens of body bags being uncovered at a school in Beit Lahia that had been used as a shelter during the fighting by hundreds of people. Some of the body bags had tags in Hebrew along with bar codes. CNN has geolocated the video to the Hamad bin Khalifa Secondary School, which along with other schools and shelters in the area was in the middle of intensive combat in early December.

The identity of the victims is unknown, as are the circumstances and date of their deaths. The area was the scene of heavy fighting in December, and two schools in Beit Lahia, including Hamad bin Khalifa, were surrounded by the Israeli military for a time. Satellite imagery from January 13 shows a number of craters in the immediate area and the tracks of bulldozers.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Society reported Wednesday “the discovery of the bodies of 30 martyrs inside one of the schools that was besieged by the occupation,” and alleged that those killed had been “handcuffed and blindfolded.”

The accusation was later repeated by Hamas in a statement, which demanded human rights organizations “document this horrific crime.”

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry in the occupied West Bank also called “for the formation of an international field investigation team” into what it described as “the massacres committed by the occupation.” It alleged that “according to testimonies from Palestinian citizens, more than 30 decomposing bodies…have been discovered buried in the north of the Gaza Strip. They were killed, seemingly executed, while blindfolded and their hand shackled.”

CNN cannot independently verify that any of the victims had been handcuffed or blindfolded.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment on the allegations made, providing the video and geographic co-ordinates. 

Israel's prime minister is assuring the families of Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza that he is "making every effort" to get them back. It comes as hostage talks, mediated by Qatar, are still ongoing.

In terms of an agreement to release hostages, Netanyahu said he could only share limited information and that it was "too early to say how it will take place." Still, United States National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that "talks surrounding the subject have been constructive."

Netanyahu has said he would not agree with Hamas' demands to release thousands of Palestinian prisoners and withdraw from Gaza to secure the release of the hostages. And his far-right coalition partners, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have sharply criticized the potential deal.