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Israel-Hamas war

January 24, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

By Kathleen Magramo, Christian Edwards, Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Adrienne Vogt, Leinz Vales and Tori B. Powell, CNN

Updated 0728 GMT (1528 HKT) February 7, 2024

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5:59 p.m. ET, January 24, 2024

Houthis fired ballistic missiles at US vessels in the Red Sea, Yemeni group says

From CNN's Ruba Alhenawi

Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted US warships with ballistic missiles in the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab Strait on Wednesday, a Houthi spokesperson said Wednesday.

The Yemeni group "engaged" with US warships that tried to protect two American commercial vessels, spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement.

As a result, one of the vessels suffered a “direct hit” and the two American commercial ships were forced to turn back from the area, Saree said.

“Several of our ballistic missiles hit their targets despite the warships’ attempts to intercept them,” Saree said.

The Iran-backed Houthis have said they won’t stop their attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea until the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza ends.

Some context: US defense officials told CNN the Navy shot down two Houthi missiles fired Wednesday at the US-flagged, owned and operated M/V Maersk Detroit container ship.

The USS Gravely, which was nearby at the time, shot down two of the missiles, and one landed in the water, the officials said. There were no injuries or damage to the ship, CENTCOM said in a statement.

3:44 p.m. ET, January 24, 2024

Displaced Palestinians in central Gaza demand ceasefire: "Our children have the right to live"

From CNN’s Abeer Salman and Sana Noor Haq

Dozens of displaced women and children gathered in front of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza's Deir al-Balah on Wednesday, raising their hands and chanting for a ceasefire.

Draped in scarves and winter coats, demonstrators carried posters aimed at both Israel and Hamas, with messages that read, “Stop the war” and “Release prisoners now,” referring to the Israeli hostages taken during Hamas' murderous rampage in Israel on October 7.

Israel has fiercely responded to that attack by besieging and bombing Gaza, devastating large parts of the enclave and displacing at least 1.93 million people, according to the United Nation’s agency for Palestine refugees.

"We were forced to leave our homes. The airstrikes were on our heads, our relatives are under the rubble, they were killed in front of our eyes, so we fled,” one woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told CNN. "I am dying. I don't want flour, I don't want coupons, I want to go back home."

Huge displacement camps have mushroomed across Gaza, where illnesses such as diarrhea, jaundice and Hepatitis A, are spreading due to overcrowded conditions and limited access to drinkable water or sanitation.

"We cannot feed our children or buy wood. We demand a ceasefire and to go back to our homes, even if they are struck. We will rebuild them,” said Ismail Hassouna, another civilian.
"We are against transferring and killing policies, killing children and starving people, stealing aid, keeping people inside tents without the minimum essentials for living,” Hassouna added. “We have the right to live, our children have the right to live."

With winter winds and torrential rains lashing Gaza, Nuha Shaheen told CNN that children “are dying of cold.”

“What's left? Enough, we want to go back home."

2:56 p.m. ET, January 24, 2024

Urgent action is needed to prevent complete medical shutdown in Gaza, International Red Cross says

From CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali

The International Committee of the Red Cross issued a stark warning Thursday, saying that Gaza faces a complete medical shutdown unless immediate actions are taken to safeguard essential services.

ICRC said that the Nasser medical complex and the European Gaza Hospital, both in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, are the only referral hospitals “that provide advanced surgical and medical emergency services with large bed capacities, which is not sufficient for the current wounded and sick across Gaza.”

Over 1.5 million people living in dire conditions in the south of Gaza, according to the ICRC.

“Every functioning hospital in the Gaza Strip is over-crowded and short on medical supplies, fuel, food and water. Many are housing thousands of displaced families. And now two more facilities risk being lost due to the fighting,” said William Schomburg, the head of the ICRC’s office in Gaza. “The cumulative impact on the health system is devastating and urgent action must be taken.”

The Israel Defense Forces have insisted that Hamas systematically operates in Gaza hospitals and adjacent areas, "using the residents as human shields." The IDF said Wednesday that it will continue to operate in Khan Younis for "several days."

2:27 p.m. ET, January 24, 2024

"Casualties are scattered on the floor," according to those inside UN shelter in Khan Younis

From CNN’s Celine Alkhaldi and Kareem Khadder

Audio and video shows panic inside a UN shelter in Khan Younis that was hit Wednesday by Israeli tanks, according to the United Nations' relief agency in Gaza.

In a clip obtained by CNN, a woman sheltering at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) facility said: We can’t count the martyrs, we can’t count the injured." She said there are no Red Cross ambulances or firefighters.

In a video obtained and verified by CNN showing the UNRWA facility, a building surrounded by tents and temporary shelters is seen ablaze, with plumes of thick smoke. In another video obtained and verified by CNN, people are seen inside the facility, carrying the injured and moving in and out of crowded rooms.

“The casualties are scattered on the floor, and the building is a besieged from all directions,” according to a man behind the camera.

UNRWA earlier said at least nine people were killed and 75 injured after the shelter was struck. The US State Department has called the strike "incredibly concerning."

CNN's Michael Conte contributed reporting to this post.

2:17 p.m. ET, January 24, 2024

UN relief agency in Gaza says Israeli military operation in Khan Younis will force main hospital to close

From CNN’s Celine Alkhaldi and Kareem Khadder

The Israeli military operation in Khan Younis will shut down the largest operating hospital in southern Gaza, the director of affairs for the UN's relief agency for the enclave told CNN.

Thomas White of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said the Nasser Hospital is “under threat” because it is located in an area that is being forced to evacuate.

For several days, UNRWA has been trying to get access to western Khan Younis, where the hospital is located, but White said the agency has been denied by the Israeli military because "fighting is too heavy."

“The Israeli army intend to undertake a major operation in the west of Khan Younis, despite all of the assurances that we receive that people would be safe there,” White said.
“Now, tens of thousands of people are on the road again, many of them displaced multiple times,” White said, adding that many are making their way to the southern city of Rafah, where “there is no more open ground for people.”
“Nobody imagined the level of death, destruction and displacement that we've seen in the last three months,” White added.

2:08 p.m. ET, January 24, 2024

Iranian and Turkish presidents agree to avoid actions that could further inflame tensions in Middle East

From CNN’s Scott McLean and Isil Sariyuce in Istanbul

From left, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend a joint press conference in Ankara, Turkey, on January 24. Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Wednesday and “agreed on the importance of avoiding steps that would further threaten the security and stability" of the region, according to Erdogan.

It is not clear, though, what that might look like in practice.

Raisi and Erdogan's meeting in Ankara comes as tensions escalate across the Middle East.

Erdogan said they discussed the need to end the war in Gaza and "take urgent steps towards the establishment of a just and lasting peace." Raisi added that "the primary issue of the Islamic world is the Palestine issue," and called on Muslim countries to do more.

"Those who claim to defend human rights have unfortunately lost their functions," Raisi said, referring to Israeli allies.

The two leaders have been united in their harsh criticism of Israel during its war against Hamas in Gaza. But while Turkey has outwardly expressed a focus on ending the war and preventing conflict from spreading, Iran has taken a different course of action.

More details: Since the war began in October, Iran’s proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen have used the opportunity to take aim at Israeli and American targets in the region. The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have targeted commercial vessels in the Red Sea with ties to Israel its allies.

The meeting between the two men comes as Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly called on Muslim countries to cut political and economic ties with Israel.

1:50 p.m. ET, January 24, 2024

US Navy shoots down Houthi missiles fired at US-flagged ships

From CNN’s Catherine Nicholls in London

The US Navy shot down two missiles that the Iran-backed Houthis fired on Wednesday at the US-flagged, owned and operated M/V Maersk Detroit container ship, which was operating in the Gulf of Aden at the time, according to two US defense officials and US Central Command.

The missile attack is the Houthis’ first successful launch since January 18, and comes just days after the US and the UK launched strikes against eight Houthi targets in Yemen. The US has also been trying to destroy Houthi missiles on the ground in Yemen as it sees the Iran-backed militant group preparing to launch them and has successfully targeted several in recent weeks. The Houthis say they are taking revenge against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza against Hamas.

The M/V Maersk Detroit was traveling along with the Maersk Chesapeake at the time of the missile attacks on Wednesday, according to a statement from Maersk. The ships turned back from their planned voyage after seeing “explosions” on their way toward the Red Sea on Wednesday, according to the company.

The vessels are enrolled in the US Maritime Security Program and VISA (Voluntary Intermodal Sealift) and were set to transit the Bab el-Mandeb strait as part of a scheduled US Navy accompaniment.

1:07 p.m. ET, January 24, 2024

White House says Israeli military has taken steps to move toward more "targeted" operations in Gaza

From CNN's Donald Judd

US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby declined to weigh in on reports of a mass casualty event at a United Nations shelter in Khan Younis Wednesday, but said Israeli forces have "taken steps to transition their operations," including moving toward more "targeted" operations.

"Low-intensity operations doesn't mean no-intensity operations, and even in a low-intensity environment — again, I won't speak for them — but from our own experience, even in low-intensity operations, you're still going to be in combat; there is still going to be fighting, and there's still going to be casualties,” he told CNN.

The UN relief agency in Gaza, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said earlier Wednesday that nine people died after a shelter in the southern Gaza city was struck.

1:55 p.m. ET, January 24, 2024

No medicine, no clothes and soaking rain: Displaced Gazans describe dire conditions

From CNN's Ibrahim Dahman, Celine Alkhaldi and Hamdi Alkhshali

Children stand outside tents at a makeshift tent camp housing displaced Palestinians in Rafah, near the border with Egypt in southern Gaza, on January 23. AFP/Getty Images

Several Gaza residents told CNN about the painful challenges of displacement, cramped living and miserable weather as fighting between Israel and Hamas continues.

Mohammed Al-Jaro, who is displaced in Nuseirat in central Gaza, said:

“The basic problem is that you are cramped with a large number of people in one place. Movement is hard when it is raining, especially for the children who are used to running, jumping, and playing, not to mention that clothes take long to dry and there is not enough change of clothes.”

Wajih Ajjour, from the al-Rimal area, is now displaced in a United Nations agency shelter in Khan Younis. He described the harsh impact of rain on makeshift shelters:

“Yesterday, we got drenched in the rain. There was heavy rain and bitter cold. We don't know what to do for the children, no medicine, no blankets, no clothes, you can't even change clothes."

Hani Qalja in Rafah said most of the tents have water dripping through the middle as strong winds gust through:

“The situation is worse than you can imagine; even last night, the tent flew from the weather and the strong winds, and the nylon flew; it was chaotic for us, and the covers were soaked.”