January 14, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

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

Sagiv Jehezkel of Antalyaspor in action away to Fenerbahce during a Turkish Super League match on September 17, 2023.

An Israeli soccer player who displayed a message of support for Gaza hostages during a Turkish Super League game on Sunday has been suspended by his club, officials said.

Sagiv Jehezkel showed the message of “100 days, 7/10” on his bandaged wrist after scoring the equalizer for Antalyaspor in its 1-1 tie with Trabzonspor.

The 28-year-old winger had acted against “national values,” Antalyaspor said on its official website.

Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the player for allegedly “inciting the public to hatred and hostility,” Turkey’s Justice Minister said on X.

Sunday marked a grueling milestone for the hostages who have been held for 100 days in Gaza following the deadly attack by Hamas in Israel on October 7. 

Turkey has repeatedly criticized Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described as “oppression, atrocity, massacre and barbaric.”

US Navy destroyer USS Laboon (DDG 58) in the Atlantic Ocean on March 12, 2012.

US fighter aircraft on Sunday shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired at a US Navy destroyer from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen, the US military said.

The missile was fired toward USS Laboon, which was operating in the southern Red Sea, US Central Command posted on X. No injuries or damage were reported.

Strikes by the US and UK against Houthi targets in Yemen last week marked a significant response after the Biden administration and its allies warned the Iran-backed militant group it would bear the consequences of its attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

The situation in Yemen is a key focal point in fears that the Israel-Hamas war will expand further through the Middle East, involving Iranian proxy groups like the Houthis and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Displaced Palestinians gather outside makeshift shelters in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on Sunday.

Displaced Gazans spending their days in makeshift tents or huddled around outdoor fires have told CNN about the additional hardships winter has brought.

Temperatures have dropped close to zero in the eastern Mediterranean in recent days, and there have been several winter storms passing through, bringing heavy rainfall to the region.

Ayman Jamal, who moved his family to Deir al-Balah in the center of the Gaza Strip from Shujaiya in the north, showed CNN inside his tent. Its walls consist of thin nylon sheeting attached to a rudimentary wooden structure; there are gaps between the sheeting where the rain can get in. There is no groundsheet to offer protection from the damp ground — just compacted, sandy earth. 

In another corner, ten children, all under 10 years old, gathered around a pot filled with water being heated by a simple charcoal fire. They were barefoot, and raised their hands to the steam to keep warm.

“We are so dirty. We haven’t taken a bath in a long time. Please stop this for a little while,” she added.

The United Nations estimates about 85% of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million people have been displaced by the war.

Negotiators have struck a deal that will allow medicine to be delivered to more than 40 hostages held in Gaza, an official familiar with the discussions said.

Some logistical issues still need to be resolved, but the expectation is that Qatar will soon make a shipment to Egypt, which will then hand it over to the Ministry of Health in Gaza via Rafah crossing. The ministry will then figure out how to get it to the hostages through Hamas.

The Red Cross is not expected to play a role, as it has in other hostage deals in Gaza.

There have been some delays to providing the medication to the hostages, including that Doha is waiting for medicine to arrive from another unnamed country before it can ship it into Gaza, according to the official.

Hamas only agreed to the deal if more medicine was sent for hospitals and Palestinians in Gaza, the official said.

Originally, the request asked Hamas to allow the Red Cross to visit the more than 40 hostages Israel believes are in need of medical treatment or medicine. But Hamas refused to let the Red Cross visit the hostages, according to the official.

Palestinians pass by a Red Crescent ambulance in Gaza on November 26.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has resumed its ambulance and emergency services in the Gaza Strip after a nearly two-month pause, the organization said Sunday.

The humanitarian group said it was forced to halt emergency operations due to Israeli military action and what it described as the “siege” on its Gaza ambulance center and Al-Quds Hospital. 

The PRCS also said it has added more ambulances to its services in northern Gaza, after its ambulance center in Jabalya came under attack about three weeks ago. 

Houthi fighters and tribal supporters hold up their firearms during a protest in Yemen on Sunday.

US President Joe Biden’s administration expects the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have been harassing shipping in the Red Sea, will likely respond to the strikes made by the US and UK last week, National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby says.

While the US is still assessing the damage, officials believe the strikes had “good effect” against Houthi infrastructure in Yemen that has been used to attack shipping in the region, Kirby said.

The US government is now watching “very, very closely” for any potential retaliatory strike by the Houthis, Kirby said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday. He said the administration hopes the Houthis will rethink their aggressive activity in the region.

Some context: The US and UK militaries’ strikes against Houthi targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Thursday and Friday marked a significant response after the Biden administration and its allies warned the Iran-backed militant group it would bear the consequences of its attacks in the Red Sea.

The situation in Yemen is a key focal point in fears that the Israel-Hamas war will expand further through the Middle East, involving Iranian proxy groups like the Houthis and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A photo taken from Rafah, Gaza, shows smoke billowing over Khan Younis, Gaza, during an Israeli bombardment on January 14.

It’s been 100 days since the outbreak of Israel’s war in Gaza, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed “nobody will stop us” from destroying Hamas.

His comments suggest Israel would not comply with the International Court of Justice, where it has been accused of genocide and could be ordered to halt its offensive. “Nobody will stop us – not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anybody else,” he said.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant echoed Netanyahu’s vows Sunday, saying the Israeli army is “fighting the most just war in our history” and will not stop until it defeats Hamas.

While Israelis remain strongly supportive of the war, international pressure continues to build in favor of a ceasefire, as the death toll from Israeli bombardment in Gaza climbs.

At least 23,843 people have been killed in the enclave since the latest fighting broke out, with more than 60,000 wounded, according to figures released by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health on Saturday. CNN cannot independently verify the casualty figures due to limited access to the area.

Below are some of the day’s other key updates:

As the sun started to break through the clouds, following a cold and wet morning in Tel Aviv, the mood at Hostages Square remained somber and solemn on Sunday. 

Several thousand people were present at a rally called “100 Days of Hell” – marking the number of days since Hamas attacked Israeli communities, killing about 1,200 people, as well as the period of time the hostages still held in Gaza have remained captive.

The rally began Saturday evening — when organizers said attendee numbers were as high as 120,000 — and is due to last 24 hours.

In the early hours of Sunday, the sound of a techno track could be heard in the square. It was the last tune played at the Nova music festival on October 7 before the attack began, and it was the same DJ who played the tune again, Yarin Binyaminov.

Speakers have addressed the crowd throughout the event, and messages from Israel and overseas have been played on large screens, including from US Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Meira Privman, a member of the “Women Wage Peace” movement, said she comes to Hostages Square for two hours every day, but noticed a difference today.

No price was too high, she said, to bring the hostages home.

“This government is on its way out,” another member of her group shouted, a reminder of the political tensions existing in Israel over the fate of the hostages.

Away from the rally, public offices, schools and businesses across Israel observed a 100-minute “solidarity pause” to mark the milestone.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to press on with confrontations with Israeli forces on the Lebanon border until the end of the Israeli offensive in Gaza. 

Nasrallah delivered a televised address to mark a week since the death of a top Hezbollah commander in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon. 

The Iran-backed leader also lambasted Washington for US and UK strikes in Yemen this week aimed at halting the Houthi rebels’ attacks on a major commercial shipping route in the Red Sea. Nasrallah, who is a major ally of the Houthis, said the strikes would turn the Red Sea “into a battlefield.” 

Commenting on recent threats from Israel’s war cabinet to expand the war to Lebanon, Nasrallah struck a defiant tone.

“It is the Israelis who should be afraid of war … we will not stand by idly as Israel strikes Lebanon,” the Hezbollah leader said, adding that the powerful paramilitary group does not fear conflict.

Some context: Fear is growing that the tit-for-tat strikes exchanged between Israel and Hezbollah forces since the latest Israeli war with Hamas could spiral further, widening the conflict in the Middle East.

Nasrallah’s speech followed fresh violence on Israel’s border with Lebanon this weekend, with two Israelis killed when an anti-tank missile was fired from Lebanon.

Senator Bernie Sanders is seen on Capitol Hill on June 8.

US Sen. Bernie Sanders called on President Joe Biden Sunday to “change course” on the administration’s approach to the Israel-Hamas war, in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday, citing a “horrific humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.

Sanders also called for an immediate humanitarian pause and a “massive increase in humanitarian aid” to those in Gaza facing starvation. Sanders has said he does not believe a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict is possible, but he has joined fellow progressives and Democrats in pushing for humanitarian conditions on further aid provided to Israel.

Asked if he believes young progressives will support Biden in 2024 or abandon him because of his support for Israel, Sanders said the “choice is pretty clear” if Biden faces Trump, who Sanders said is “one of the most dangerous political figures in modern American history.”

Sanders also responded Sunday to progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s condemnation of US strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen as “an unacceptable violation of the Constitution,” saying, “The president has a right to respond on an emergency basis – the disruption of international shipping brought about by the Houthis.”

But Sanders continued: “On the other hand, he has got to get to Congress immediately. It is Congress that has a right to declare war, not the president of the United States.”

An Israeli ambulance and soldiers are seen at the entrance of the village of Yuval in northern Israel near the Lebanon border on Sunday.

Two people were killed when an anti-tank missile was fired into the village of Yuval in northern Israel from Lebanon.

A 76-year-old woman was pronounced dead after doctors failed to resuscitate her, an official at the Ziv Medical Center said.

Earlier, a 40-year-old man was reported dead in the same incident. Israeli media say the two dead were mother and son.

Hezbollah has claimed the attack, the latest in a series of incidents on Israel’s northern border following the October 7 Hamas attacks.

It comes after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says five of its soldiers were wounded, two moderately, when infiltrators crossed the border from Lebanon overnight in the Shebaa Farms area.

An IDF official speaking to journalists said the cross-border attackers were armed with anti-tank missiles, grenades and assault rifles.

Israel said four of the attackers were shot dead.

This handout photo, released by the UK Ministry of Defense, shows an RAF Typhoon aircraft as it takes off from RAF Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus to join the US-led coalition to conduct airstrikes against military targets in Yemen on January 12.

The UK gave the Houthis “warning after warning” about their actions in the Red Sea before it carried out airstrikes on Yemen alongside the US earlier this week, the UK’s Foreign Secretary said on Sunday. 

The Foreign Secretary said that taking military action in response to the Houthis’ targeting of commercial vessels in the Red Sea was a “last resort,” and that the responsibility of the escalation lies with the Houthis.

“Since the 19th of November, you’ve had these 26 attacks [on vessels by the Houthis]. There have been more of them. They’ve been getting worse. And, you know, not acting is also a policy and it’s a policy that doesn’t work,” Cameron stressed.

“The [US and UK] strikes themselves were limited, proportionate, targeted, [and] legal, but they were also necessary,” he added.

Remember: The US and UK militaries launched strikes against Houthi targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, marking a significant response after the Biden administration and its allies warned that the Iran-backed militant group would bear the consequences of its attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

US President Joe Biden said he ordered the strikes “in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea.”

The Israeli military says soldiers on the northern border with Lebanon have shot dead four people they say crossed into Israeli territory and opened fire on them.

The incident took place in the Har Dov area, also known as the Shebaa Farms, a common flashpoint along the border.

In a separate incident on Sunday, emergency responders in the Israeli border village of Yuval say they have treated a woman suffering serious injuries after an anti-tank missile hit her home.

A Hezbollah statement Sunday said its forces had targeted an Israeli army position in Yuval, as well as what it said was surveillance equipment in the nearby town of Metula. 

Other attacks mentioned in the Hezbollah statement included missile strikes targeting Israeli artillery and soldiers.

Cross border exchanges remain a daily occurrence since the October 7 attacks.

On Saturday, an Israeli military statement reported that “numerous launches were identified from Lebanon toward different areas in northern Israel, which fell in open areas.” 

The Saturday statement added that Israeli warplanes had struck a series of targets, “including Hezbollah terror infrastructure located in the areas of Meiss El Jabal and Yarine.”

Hezbollah says it carries out its attacks, “in support of the resilient Palestinian people in Gaza and in solidarity with their brave and honorable resistance.”

It’s been 100 days since the outbreak of Israel’s war in Gaza, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed “nobody will stop us” from destroying Hamas as his country faces accusations of genocide at The Hague.

The Israeli military began an offensive on the Palestinian enclave after Hamas militants launched a brutal assault on Israel on October 7, with gunmen killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 200 people hostage, according to Israeli authorities.

Since the attack, more than 23,843 people in Gaza have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Here’s a look at some of the key moments in the conflict:

October 7: Hamas’ attack. Hamas’ surprise October 7 assault marked the biggest terrorist attack in Israel’s history. At least 1,500 Hamas fighters poured across the border into Israel by land, sea and air using paragliders. Soon after, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “at war.”

October 9: Israel orders the “complete siege” of Gaza. Two days afterwards, Netanyahu said the Israeli military would attack Hamas with a force “like never before,” with the goal of destroying the militant group.

October 13: A growing exodus. Israel’s military told 1.1 million people in northern Gaza to evacuate their homes immediately, as it stepped up its response. Since the conflict began, the UN estimates up to 1.9 million people have been displaced.

October 17: Hundreds killed at Gaza hospital. A deadly blast tore through Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, which was sheltering thousands of displaced people. CNN found that the blast was likely caused by a malfunctioning rocket fired by Palestinian militants rather than an Israeli strike.

October 27: Israel expands its ground offensive. After a war largely conducted from the air, the Israel Defense Forces announced it was “expanding ground operations” in Gaza.

November 15: Al-Shifa hospital raid. Israel launched a “targeted” operation against Hamas inside Gaza’s largest hospital, where thousands of Palestinians were believed to be sheltering. Conditions at the hospital deteriorated rapidly in the days of fighting. The raid sparked international criticism.

November 24: A truce begins. After days of careful negotiations, a truce between Israel and Hamas brought a pause to fighting. As part of the truce, civilian hostages held captive by militants were released, with groups of hostages being released each day.

December 1: The truce collapses. One week later, the Israeli military resumed fighting against Hamas in Gaza, accusing the group of breaking the terms of the truce. Israel’s focus began shifting from northern to southern Gaza.

December 15: Hostages killed in botched raid. Israeli soldiers shot and killed three Israeli hostages in northern Gaza after misidentifying them as threats. The IDF said the shooting was against its rules of engagement and that the soldiers involved would face disciplinary procedures.

January 1: Israel announces partial withdrawal. On the first day of the new year, Israel announced it would soon begin pulling thousands of soldiers out of Gaza in preparation for a new phase of the conflict, although a top official warned that he expected the fighting to continue throughout the year..

January 11: ICJ trial begins. South Africa accused Israel of genocide in an unprecedented case at the United Nations’ top court, calling for the court to order a halt to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Israel has denied the allegations, calling South Africa’s case “distorted”.

January 11: Strikes against Houthis in Yemen. The US and UK militaries launched strikes against Houthi targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, in response to the Iran-backed militant group’s attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea

Namibia rejected Germany’s “shocking” support of Israel against genocide allegations at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), according to a statement from the President’s office on Saturday.

The statement decried what it call the “genocidal intent of the racist Israeli state against innocent civilians in Gaza,” and cited Germany’s colonial history in the African nation. 

“On Namibian soil, #Germany committed the first genocide of the 20th century in 1904-1908, in which tens of thousands of innocent Namibians died in the most inhumane and brutal conditions,” the statement said, adding that the German government had not yet fully atoned for the killings. 

“In light of Germany’s inability to draw lessons from its horrific history, President @hagegeingob expresses deep concern with the shocking decision communicated by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany yesterday, 12 January 2024, in which it rejected the morally upright indictment brought forward by South Africa before the #InternationalCourtofJustice that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in #Gaza,” the statement said.

The Presidency said that Germany, in choosing to side with the Israeli government, had ignored findings from the United Nations regarding the deaths and displacement of civilians in Gaza.

Germany could not support the UN Convention against genocide while also supporting “the equivalent of a holocaust and genocide in Gaza,” according to the Namibian Presidency.

The statement concluded with an appeal to the German Government to reconsider its decision to support Israel before the ICJ.

Some context: In a statement issued after the second day of hearings at the ICJ, a German government spokesperson said that Germany “expressly rejects” allegations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said Germany acknowledges diverging views in the international community on Israel’s military operation in Gaza but said that “the German government decisively and expressly rejects the accusation of genocide brought against Israel before the International Court of Justice.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads the weekly cabinet meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel, on January 7.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed “nobody will stop us” from destroying Hamas as the war between Israel and the militant group reached its 100th day.

Netanyahu suggested that Israel would not comply with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where Israel is accused of genocide and could be ordered to halt its offensive.

Netanyahu said the genocide claims, brought by South Africa on Thursday, were a “hypocritical onslaught,” adding that it was “at the behest of those who came to perpetrate another Holocaust against the Jews”

This “is a moral low point in the history of nations,” Netanyahu said.

The prime minister also claimed several antisemitic items were found in Hamas tunnels in Gaza, including copies of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.” In addition, Netanyahu said, “in a home in Gaza, they found a child’s tablet with a picture of Hitler as the screensaver.”

Netanyahu stated that while antisemitism is the same, the Jewish people are different and will fight “until the end.”

‘We need to close it’: Also during the press briefing, Netanyahu stressed that Israel can’t finish the war until they close the Philadelphi Corridor, a 14km strip of land that serves as the border between Egypt and Gaza. Such a move would give Israel complete control over Gaza.

Allowing the border with Egypt to remain out of Israel’s reach would put their war gains in jeopardy, Netanyahu said.

“We’ll destroy Hamas, we’ll demilitarize Gaza, and military equipment and other deadly weapons will continue to enter this southern opening, so of course we need to close it,” Netanyahu explained.

Egyptian foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid, meanwhile, said Egypt remains in full control of its borders in an interview with Egyptian television channel Sada Al-Balad on Saturday.

“Egypt fully controls its borders and controls it completely, and these issues are subject to legal and security agreements between the countries involved, so any talk on this matter is generally subject to scrutiny and is responded to with declared positions,” Abu Zeid said.

Israel’s military said it is still uncovering launch sites previously used by militants in Gaza to fire rockets at Israel. It has also insisted that increased pressure is needed in the besieged enclave to dismantle Hamas and ensure the return of hostages.

It comes as Israel looks to consolidate its control in northern Gaza.

In its Sunday morning update, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had located and destroyed several launch pits in Al-Atatra in the far north of the Gaza Strip.

Pictures posted on the IDF’s social media accounts showed a series of concealed metal tubes hidden in the ground and a larger pit reinforced with metal sheeting. 

While Israeli activities in the north of Gaza continue, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi underlined the military’s position that a main plank of their mission there had been completed.

The army chief rejected calls for a ceasefire, saying it played into Hamas’s hands, and instead insisted increased Israeli pressure was the priority.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will not consider the war against Hamas finished until the border between Egypt and Gaza is closed.

Israeli officials have not decided exactly how they would proceed with closing Gaza’s border with Egypt, according to Netanyahu — but doing so would signify a renewed Israeli control over the enclave not seen in years, and a blow to Palestinians’ limited sovereignty in Gaza.

The border crossing with Egypt, at the town of Rafah, is the only crossing point not controlled by Israel, though it has still been subject to limited access and lengthy Egyptian bureaucratic and security processes.

As the war enters its 100th day, the main United Nations agency operating in Gaza issued a stark warning that famine will spread across the enclave if more supplies are not allowed into the strip.

These are the biggest updates you need to know for Sunday:

An aid truck returns after unloading humanitarian aid at Egypt's Rafah border crossing with Gaza on December 4, 2023.

Egypt remains in full control of its borders, foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said Saturday, following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for the closure of Egypt’s border with Gaza before the war ends.

Netanyahu said Israel can’t finish its war against Hamas until the closure of the Philadelphi Corridor, a 14-kilometer (roughly 8.6-mile) strip of land that serves as the border between Egypt and Gaza. He said that even after Hamas is defeated, “military equipment and other deadly weapons will continue to enter this southern opening — so of course we need to close it.”

The foreign ministry spokesperson further reiterated Egypt’s role in the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing, blaming Israel for hindering it.