January 5, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of Israel’s war against Hamas has moved here.

Nearly three months into Israel’s military onslaught against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, divisions within its wartime government have become increasingly public.

Some of Israel’s leading politicians publicly feuded Friday after what one source described as a “fight” in a security cabinet meeting over how to handle investigations into the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

There have also been public disagreements about the post-war plan for Gaza.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant outlined a vision Thursday that envisages no Hamas control of the enclave and no presence of Israeli citizens. The plan was criticized by the country’s far-right finance minister, who has championed the idea of a Palestinian exodus from Gaza. The minister called for renewed Israeli settlement construction in Gaza and the “voluntary migration” of its civilians.

Here’s what else you need to know today:

Famine “around the corner” in Gaza: People in Gaza face the “highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded,” according to Martin Griffiths, the United Nations’ top emergency relief official. Gaza is “a place of death and despair,” Griffiths said Friday, as hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians live without access to basic necessities in the tent camps packing southern Gaza.

Satellite images taken Wednesday and published today show the extent of the crowding there.

Deadly Israeli airstrikes: Several Israeli airstrikes on Khan Younis in southern Gaza left at least 12 people dead Friday, according to a statement from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.

Elsewhere, at least 10 Palestinians were killed in the area of the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, according to a doctor at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. The doctor added that a separate airstrike on a house in Deir al-Balah killed three people and left seven wounded. CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment on the strikes.

Major diplomatic visits: Two key visits from Western officials this weekend come as leaders in the Middle East warn of the potential for an expanded regional conflict stemming from the Israel-Hamas war.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Turkey for the first stop in a multi-country tour. His visit will focus on indirect, back-channel diplomacy with Iran, which backs the Houthi rebels in Yemen and Hezbollah paramilitary group in Lebanon — two key players in the region’s inflamed tensions.

Meanwhile, the European Union’s foreign policy chief is in Lebanon to discuss the situation at its border with Israel, which is the site of regular clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli troops.

More on the Iranian proxy groups: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed Friday that many Israeli troops have been killed or wounded during the ongoing clashes, which he says are aimed “to mount pressure on the enemy government and to stop the assault on Gaza.”  

Meanwhile, in Yemen, Houthi supporters gathered Friday to commemorate fighters killed by the US Navy in the Red Sea on December 31.

Tunnel discovery: Israel’s military released a video Friday showing one of what it says are seven tunnel shafts underneath the Blue Beach resort along the Mediterranean Sea in northern Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces accuses Hamas of using the tunnel system to carry out “attacks both above and below ground.” CNN cannot independently verify the IDF’s claims.

Israel’s military is expected to launch an operational investigation to learn from its “failures” and apply those lessons to future security challenges, said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said at a news briefing on Friday, without specifying what the investigation process would focus on.

He said that an internal investigation would be conducted within the chain of command, and another investigation would be carried out alongside it by former senior officials to “externally reflect on the processes and decision-making.”

Hagari added that the IDF has not yet started the investigation process, but the General Staff of the IDF is “formulating the process of planning the investigations” and choosing the leaders of the operational investigation, according to the IDF’s English translation of his comments.

He also said the probe would be similar to another investigation the military recently conducted into the deaths of three Israeli hostages mistakenly shot by the IDF’s soldiers.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has arrived in Lebanon to discuss the situation at the country’s border with Israel, an EU spokesperson told CNN on Friday. 

Borrell will be in Lebanon through Sunday to discuss the “situation in and around Gaza, including its impact on the region, especially the situation at the Israeli-Lebanese border, as well as the importance of avoiding regional escalation and of sustaining the flow of humanitarian assistance to civilians,” the EU said in a news release.

Some context: The visit comes after top Israeli officials told a visiting US envoy Thursday that time is running low to address security on its border with Lebanon.

Tensions with Iran-backed Hezbollah were further inflamed this week by the killing of a senior Hamas leader in Beirut, raising the fear of broader conflicts in the region.

There have been near-constant skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah, the militant group that dominates southern Lebanon, since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and the ensuing Israeli offensive in Gaza.

Israel’s military released a video Friday showing one of what it says are seven tunnel shafts underneath the Blue Beach resort along the Mediterranean in northern Gaza.

The Israel Defense Forces accuses Hamas of using the tunnel system to carry out “attacks both above and below ground.”

The tunnel shafts, which run underground near the beach, also house “terrorist quarters,” the IDF claimed in a statement.   

The military also said it discovered an array of weapons beneath the hotel, including AK-47 assault rifles, explosives and drones.

The IDF claims several Hamas militants fired anti-tank missiles at its forces from the hotel while they were battling for the tunnels.   

CNN cannot independently verify the IDF’s claims.  

About Gaza’s tunnels: One of the key challenges facing the Israeli military is the labyrinth of Hamas tunnels that it says spans the entirety of the strip.

The underground network, known as the “Gaza metro,” is used to transport people and goods, store rockets and ammunition caches, and house Hamas command and control centers — all away from the prying eyes of the IDF’s aircraft and surveillance drones.

Hamas in 2021 claimed to have built 500 kilometers (about 311 miles) worth of tunnels under Gaza, though it is unclear if that figure was accurate or posturing.

During its ongoing offensive in the enclave, the Israeli military claims it has destroyed hundreds of tunnel shafts and discovered many more.

CNN’s Nadeen Ebrahim and Joshua Berlinger contributed reporting to this post.

Gaza is Palestinian land and its future is not up to Israel to decide, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told CNN on Friday, after two Israeli ministers called for resettling Gazans outside of the enclave. 

Such calls are “irresponsible” and “brings us away from a solution,” Colonna said, adding that such rhetoric is also against the long-term interests of Israel.

She stressed her support for the two-state solution.

“Gaza is Palestinian land, which wants to become part of the future Palestinian state. We support the two-state solution, which is the only viable option,” she said. “Gaza and the West Bank must together be part of the future Palestinian state.”

France is committed to avoiding any further escalation of the situation by all sides, including in neighboring areas such as Lebanon and the Red Sea, according to Colonna.

It’s the obligation for a democratic country like Israel to follow international law and protect the civilian population while exercising its rights of self-defense, she said. “[Civilians] are not responsible for the crimes and must be protected,” Colonna said. 

Palestinian children carry pots as they line up to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen in southern Gaza on December 14.

Famine is “around the corner” as people in Gaza face the “highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded,” according to Martin Griffiths, the United Nations’ top emergency relief official.

Griffiths says Gaza has become “a place of death and despair,” saying in a news release published Friday that the death toll has reached the tens of thousands, medical facilities are under attack and there is a lack of functioning hospitals.

“Hope has never been more elusive,” Griffiths wrote in the report, which was released by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs almost three months since Hamas launched its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

A public health disaster is unfolding as sewers spill over and infectious diseases spread in overcrowded shelters, Griffiths said. Around 180 Palestinian women “are giving birth daily amidst this chaos,” the UN official added.

“Meanwhile, rocket attacks on Israel continue, more than 120 people are still held hostage in Gaza, tensions in the West Bank are boiling, and the specter of further regional spillover of the war is looming dangerously close,” he added.

Fears of a broader war in the Middle East, spurred on by incidents involving Iranian proxy groups like the Houthi rebels in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon, are a key focus of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s current trip to the region.

Griffiths urged all involved in the ongoing war to observe international law, “including to protect civilians and meet their essential needs, and to release all hostages immediately.” He called on the international community to use all its influence to help make this happen.

“This war should never have started. But it’s long past time for it to end,” Griffiths said. 

Satellite imagery provider Maxar has published a new image showing how crowded one part of Rafah in southern Gaza has become, as people move to the area from central and northern parts of the territory.

The image, taken on January 3, shows an area in Rafah — close to the Egyptian border — now filling up with tents and other improvised shelters.

Here’s what the area looked like in November 2023:

Here’s what the area looks like as of January 2024:

The war that began on October 7 has displaced at least 1.93 million people in Gaza, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Thousands of families have moved multiple times as Israel’s offensive has moved to new areas. 

Palestinians have told CNN about sky-high prices for food, with children going hungry, a lack of sanitation and densely crowded surroundings.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken lands in Turkey ahead of a multi-country regional tour.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Turkey on Friday – the first stop in his whirlwind tour through the region to try to deter a wider conflict and press Israel on its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

The top US diplomat will hold a series of meetings in Istanbul on Saturday. He is expected to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

When Blinken last traveled to Turkey in November, he did not meet with the Turkish leader but met with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, for two and a half hours.

Turkey hosts Hamas leadership, and Erdogan has been outspoken against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war in Gaza.

Indirect back-channeling to Iran to try to deter a wider conflict in the Middle East will also be a key focus of Blinken’s trip to the region, a senior State Department official said Friday.

The top US diplomat will make clear to the leaders with whom he meets that the US does not want to see the conflict escalate nor do they intend to escalate it. The US expects that message to then be conveyed to Iran and Iranian proxies through the countries that have a relationship with them, the official said.

The US has sought to distinguish between defensive and escalatory actions amid an immense uptick in attacks on US personnel by Iranian-backed proxies in Iraq and aggression by Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red Sea.

Efforts to back-channel with Iran — through partners as well as competitors like China — have been happening since the early days of the war in Gaza.

More on Blinken’s trip: The secretary of state will also travel to Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, Egypt, and Greece. It is Blinken’s fourth trip to the region since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. 

Left: Former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz in Ramot Naftali on October 29, 2023; right: Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev in Jaffa, Israel, on August 16, 2023.

Some of Israel’s leading politicians sniped at each other in public Friday after what one source described as a “fight” in the security cabinet the night before.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said there had been a “stormy discussion,” while former Defense Minister Benny Gantz said a “politically motivated attack” had been launched.

The argument was over how to handle investigations into the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel — including the Israeli military’s failure to foresee it, and how to prosecute the war from now on.

After a break in the meeting, the source said, Transportation Minister Miri Regev went on the attack, according to the official, who asked not to be named discussing internal political discussions.

Regev, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s center-right Likud party, did not respond to a CNN question about the meeting.

Gantz, who joined the government from the opposition after October 7, said: “What happened yesterday was a politically motivated attack in the middle of a war. I participated in many cabinet meetings — such conduct has never occurred and must not occur.”

He did not say who had launched the attack.

But he did criticize Netanyahu, saying the meeting should have focused on the military campaign and Israel’s future security, but that didn’t happen. He said the prime minister must choose between “unity and security on one hand and politics on the other.”

Netanyahu’s Likud party then lashed out at Gantz, saying that asking questions and receiving answers “is not politics,” and accusing the war cabinet member of “looking for excuses” to break away from the unity government before the end of the war.

Gantz eyed as potential next prime minister: Gantz is widely considered a likely successor to Netanyahu when an election is called.

An Israel Democracy Institute poll conducted at the end of December and released on Tuesday found Gantz the most popular choice when respondents were asked who they would like to be prime minister after the war.

Almost a quarter, 23%, chose Gantz, while 15% chose Netanyahu.

“I don’t know” was the most popular response, with 30.5% choosing it. About 4% of respondents said “anyone but Bibi,” as Netanyahu is generally known.

Nearly 100 seriously wounded Gazan civilians rest and begin to recover aboard the French helicopter carrier-turned hospital ship, the “Dixmude,” at Egypt’s al-Arish port.

They are just some of the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have been wounded since the start of the war, which has claimed more than 22,600 Gazan lives, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

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“It was horrible. I could see the muscle inside my leg. But it wasn’t red like you’d think. It was like the color of my skin,” said 10-year-old Maher, who is receiving treatment.

Now missing one leg, he still dreams of being a footballer. He has the names of his idols, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappé, written on the cast on his other leg.

The Dixmude is a short drive from the Rafah crossing, where patients were selected by Israeli authorities before being handed over to French doctors.

In the month since the first Gazan patients arrived onboard, the teams of French and international surgeons have spent 230 hours fixing bones, taking skin grafts and treating amputated limbs in 130 operations. Around 50% of the patients they have treated are children and half of the Gazans had lost at least one limb. 

Partly housed in tents on the ship’s cavernous hangar deck, the dozens of Gazans currently aboard still have access to a level of medical treatment – and security – now almost impossible to find inside Gaza, where only a fraction of hospitals are even partially operational.

The war, though, is never far from their beds.

Nisreen Al-Sahabani muttered one word as she flicked through photos of neighbors and relatives on her phone, “martyred, martyred, martyred.”

Caring for her nephew who was brought aboard with traumatic leg injuries, she hears Israeli airstrikes when she manages to speak with relatives still trapped in Gaza on the phone. 

But, like many aboard, she has no doubts about returning to Gaza, even if there’s no going back to her old home and life.

Children wearing camouflage hold up mock RPGs, as Houthi supporters rally to commemorate ten Houthi fighters killed by the U.S. Navy in the Red Sea, in Sanaa, Yemen, on January 5.

Houthi supporters gathered Friday in Yemen to commemorate the fighters killed by the US Navy off the coast of Yemen on December 31.

Both Palestinian and Yemeni flags, as well as Hezbollah banners, could be seen being waved as a crowd of thousands rallied in capital Sanaa, Reuters video showed.

The rally comes days after US Navy helicopters sank three Houthi small boats, killing the crews after they attacked and attempted to board a container ship of global shipping giant Maersk off the coast of Yemen, according to the United States Central Command (CENTCOM).   

Key context: The Houthis began launching the attacks in the Red Sea soon after the start of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, claiming they were targeting ships with ties to Israel as they stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The Yemen-based Houthis are believed to have been armed and trained by Iran, and there are fears that their attacks could escalate and fuel a wider regional conflict. And as the attacks continue, with major shipping and oil companies avoiding the area, there are real concerns about the impact on the global economy. 

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gives a televised address in Baalbek, Lebanon, on January 5.

 Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that the group’s attacks on Israel aim “to mount pressure on the enemy government and to stop the assault on Gaza.”  

There have been near-constant skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah since Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023.

Hezbollah has carried out over 670 attacks on Israeli positions, targeting 48 locations and 17 settlements, Nasrallah said in a video speech on Friday.  

Nasrallah claimed that these operations have resulted in a significant number of Israeli military casualties. The Israel Defense Forces have reported nine fatalities along the northern border since October 7. 

“A large number of Israeli troops have been killed or wounded since the start of these ongoing confrontations. … Hezbollah destroyed a large number of Israeli vehicles and tanks,” Nasrallah said.  

The Hezbollah chief warned that people in northern Israel would be the first to suffer consequences in the event of a broader conflict. Nasrallah warned that if Israel was successful in Gaza, “south Lebanon will be next.” 

Nasrallah reiterated that the death of Saleh Al-Arouri, a senior figure in Hamas, in Beirut earlier this week will “not go unpunished.” 

Some background: This is the second speech this week from Nasrallah.

Hezbollah is an Iran-backed Islamist movement with one of the most powerful paramilitary forces in the Middle East. The group, which has its main base on the Israel-Lebanon border, could become a wildcard player in the Hamas-Israel war and spark a wider regional conflict.

Prior to October 7, Nasrallah had not spoken publicly in person since 2006, when a month-long war erupted between Lebanon and Israel. In that speech, Nasrallah called for a ceasefire and praised Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel, adding that they were fully planned and executed by Hamas.

EU foreign policy chief visit: Josep Borrell will travel to Lebanon on Friday to discuss the situation at its border with Israel, as he is expected to stress the importance of avoiding regional escalation, the European Union said in a statement.

He will meet with Speaker of Lebanon’s Parliament Nabih Berri, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib and Lebanese Armed Forces Commander General Joseph Aoun, the EU said.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he boards an aircraft during his departure from Washington to travel to the Middle East at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., on January 4.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken departed Thursday for a multi-nation trip to the Middle East as the risk of a regional conflict looms large while the war in Gaza rages on. 

The top US diplomat will travel to Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank and Egypt, as well as Turkey and Greece. 

It is Blinken’s fourth trip to the region since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. 

On Blinken’s agenda, according to State Department spokesperson Matt Miller:

Photographs of some of those taken hostage by Hamas during their recent attacks are seen on October 18, in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The number of people taken hostage on October 7 whom Israel believes are dead and still being held by in Gaza has been updated to 25, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office told CNN Friday.

That leaves 107 hostages from the Hamas attack last year still thought to be alive, for a total of 132.

Four Israelis were already being held hostage in Gaza before October 7 – two alive and two dead.

This comes after the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum in Israel announced the death of 38-year-old Tamir Adar, another of hostage held in Gaza.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has unveiled plans for the next phase of the war in Gaza: A new combat approach in the north and a sustained focus on targeting Hamas leaders in the south of the enclave.

But perhaps the most challenging and uncertain phase will come after the fighting has ceased. In a short document titled the “Day After,” Gallant provided details of Israel’s plans for the post-war governance of Gaza and the future of its Palestinian population.

But Gallant’s plan was swiftly criticized by far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, exposing deep divisions within the government.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Gaza continues to climb, with the Hamas-run health ministry reporting on Friday that 22,600 people had died since October 7.

Here are the latest developments:

Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a meeting at the parliament in Jerusalem on March 20.

Divisions have continued to deepen between Israeli ministers over the plan for war-ravaged Gaza once the conflict ends.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has criticized the plan outlined Thursday by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant which envisages a Gaza no longer controlled by Hamas, which would no longer “pose a security threat to the citizens of Israel.” 

But far-right settler leader Smotrich decried the plan outlined by his colleague.

Smotrich has championed the idea of a Palestinian exodus from Gaza. He and far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir sparked outrage when advocating for the resettlement of Gazans outside the Gaza Strip.

The removal of Gazans from the territory could pave the way for Israelis to “make the desert bloom” through resettlement, Smotrich argued, adding later that he envisioned any transfers of Gazans being carried out on a voluntary basis.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said Thursday he was “very disturbed” by earlier comments made by Smotrich and Ben Gvir advocating for resettlement.

Gallant’s plan: Gallant, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s center-right Likud party, said in a section of the three-page document titled the “Day After” that once the “goals” of the war have been “achieved” there would be “no Israeli civilian presence in the Gaza Strip.” That seems to rule out re-establishing the Israeli settlements in Gaza which Israeli unilaterally removed in 2005.

Gallant also unveiled the concept of a multinational task force led by the United States in partnership with “European and regional partners” charged with “the rehabilitation of the Gaza strip.” 

This task force would serve as the “main address for international parties interested in assisting in the restoration of the Gaza strip,” he said. In this phase, Israel would also continue dialogue with Egypt, a country Gallant described as a “major actor.” 

The minister provided scant detail on the future governance of the enclave however, merely saying that the “entity controlling the territory” would “build on the capabilities” of “local non-hostile actors” already present in Gaza.  

Smoke billows over Khan Younis in southern Gaza during Israeli bombardment on January 5.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it struck more than 100 targets across Gaza overnight into Friday, while the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported shelling close to its headquarters in Khan Younis.

In an operational update, the IDF said there had been overnight activity in Bureij in central Gaza and in Khan Younis further south.

In Khan Younis, “a number of launch pads used for firing rockets at Israeli territory were located. The forces struck the launch pads and during a number of engagements with terrorists in the area, killed a number of the operatives,” the IDF said.

Other targets included “operational command centers and military sites, along with launch pads and compounds,” it added.

The immediate vicinity of Al-Amal hospital has seen several strikes in recent days, one of which killed five people. The PRCS said Thursday there was “intense and continuous shelling in the vicinity of Al-Amal Hospital and the association’s headquarters in Khan Younis,” which was hindering the movement of ambulance crews and limiting access to the injured in the targeted areas.

Israeli hostage Tamir Adar

Another of the hostages held in Gaza has died, the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum in Israel has said.

The group announced the death of Tamir Adar, 38, without providing further details.

Adar was a third-generation member of kibbutz Nir Oz, the community in southern Israel from which about 40 people were abducted on October 7, the group added.

He was described as “a dedicated family man, married to Hadas and father of two young children who were his entire world.”

His grandmother, Yafa, who was also abducted on October 7, became one of the most recognizable hostages when she was pictured being driven on a golf cart by her Hamas captors. Yafa Adar, 85, was among the first group of hostages to be released during a short-lived truce between Israel and Hamas in November.

Before her grandson Tamir’s death was announced on Friday, the Israeli government believed there were 132 hostages from October 7 being held in Gaza, of whom 108 were thought to be alive, and 24 dead.

“He often spent time with his kids outdoors watching the sunset,” it added.

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell attends a meeting in Skopje, North Macedonia, on November 29.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell will travel to Lebanon on Friday to discuss the situation at its border with Israel, as he is expected to stress the importance of avoiding regional escalation, the EU said in a statement.

The bloc added that Borrell will, again, bring up the need to advance diplomatic efforts with regional leaders.

Borrell, who will stay until Sunday, will meet with Speaker of Lebanon’s Parliament Nabih Berri, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib and Lebanese Armed Forces Commander General Joseph Aoun, the EU said. 

During his visit, Borrell is also due to speak with the head of the UN interim forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lazaro, who met with Lebanese officials on Thursday to discuss the situation in southern Lebanon, the bloc said.

It comes after top Israeli officials told a visiting US envoy that time is running low to address security on its border with Lebanon.

Tensions with Iran-backed Hezbollah were further inflamed this week by the killing of a senior Hamas leader in Beirut, raising the fear of broader conflicts in the region.

There have been near-constant skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah, the militant group that dominates southern Lebanon, since Hamas’ attack on October 7.