The latest on Israel’s war in Gaza

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

There will be no security or stability in the Middle East without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority president said Thursday, in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dismissal of the idea.

Netanyahu on Thursday said the idea of creating a Palestinian state would clash with the security of Israel — remarks at odds with the stance of many countries, including the United States.

Rudeineh also claimed the US “bears responsibility for the deterioration of security and stability in the region due to its bias and blind support for the Israeli occupation.”

US President Joe Biden has long advocated for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. US officials said Thursday they would not allow Netanyahu’s apparent rejection of an eventual Palestinian state to stop them from pressing the matter with their Israeli counterparts.

Houthi rebels will provide safe passage to Chinese and Russian ships in the Red Sea as they maintain attacks against commercial vessels in retaliation for Israel’s war in Gaza, a spokesperson for the Iran-backed militants told Russian media Thursday.

In an interview with pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia, senior Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti said the Yemen-based militants would only attack ships linked to Israel and its allies.

The Houthis fired missiles at another US-owned commercial ship Thursday, just hours after a new round of US military strikes against the group in Yemen.

“Israeli ships or those in any way connected with Israel will not have the slightest opportunity to sail through the Red Sea,” Bukhaiti told the Russian outlet. “The attacks on them will continue.”

Ruby Chen, father of Itay Chen, who is being held hostage by Hamas, holds an hourglass while speaking a Senate Foreign Relations Committee bipartisan press conference at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 17.

Family members of the six remaining Israeli-American hostages believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza met with several of US President Joe Biden’s top national security advisers at the White House Thursday.

Ruby Chen, father of 19-year-old reservist Itay Chen who has been missing since October 7, told CNN the conversation was “informative,” and that officials offered the families the “broad strokes” of the ongoing efforts to secure the captives’ release. He declined to share those details. 

Officials at the meeting included National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk and deputy homeland security adviser Jen Daskal, according to a White House official.

The official said the administration is “committed to unwavering effort to get family members home,” even as frustration mounts.

Some context: Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, four American hostages have been released before negotiations stalled. Talks between Israel and Hamas, with the US, Qatar and Egypt playing mediating roles, are continuing, but there has been no significant breakthrough recently, according to two US officials. 

Houthi rebels fired missiles at another US-owned commercial ship Thursday, just hours after a new round of US military strikes against the Iran-backed group in Yemen.

The Houthis launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at M/V Chem Ranger, the US military said, marking the third such attack on a US-owned vessel this week.

President Joe Biden conceded Thursday that US strikes against the Houthis are not deterring the group’s attacks in the Red Sea, which it says will only stop when Israel ends its war in Gaza.

Biden’s remarks came after the US military said the fifth US attack on Houthi assets in one week targeted a small number of anti-ship missiles that were being prepared to launch against international shipping lanes.

But Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said the US has “been able to degrade and severely disrupt and destroy a significant number” of Houthi capabilities.

Netanyahu speaks in Tel Aviv on Thursday, January 18.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the idea of creating a Palestinian state would clash with the security of Israel on Thursday.  

Many countries, including the US, have called for the establishment of a Palestinian state. US officials said they wouldn’t allow Netanyahu’s apparent rejection of Palestinian sovereignty stop them from pressing the matter with their Israeli counterparts.

Following Netanyahu’s remarks, his senior adviser Mark Regev told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that security is the “highest priority” when asked about observers who say the Israeli leader’s position is more about keeping himself in power than finding a fair solution to the conflict. 

Here’s what else you should know:

Dr. Deborah Harrington appears on CNN on Wednesday, January 17.

A British obstetrician who spent two weeks volunteering at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza says she feels “desperate … ashamed, and shocked that we’re doing this to fellow humans.” 

Dr. Deborah Harrington told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour she traveled to the strip at the end of December as part of a team led by the International Rescue Committee and Medical Aid for Palestine. Most of the patients Harrington attended to in the emergency department were children. 

Every day she saw “a horrendous mix of [children with] open fractures, partial amputations, open chest wounds, horrendous lacerations from shrapnel to the sort of chest.” 

Harrington, who has visited Gaza since 2016, also painted a dire picture for pregnant women and babies in the enclave. 

At least 20 out of 22 hospitals identified by CNN in northern Gaza were damaged or destroyed in the first two months of Israel’s war against Hamas, from October 7 to December 7, according to a review of 45 satellite images and around 400 videos from the ground, as well as interviews with doctors, eyewitnesses and humanitarian organizations. Fourteen were directly hit, based on the evidence collected and verified by CNN and analyzed by experts. 

The Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza says Israel “has deliberately targeted 150 health institutions, putting 30 hospitals and 53 health centers out of service, and targeting 122 ambulances.” CNN cannot independently verify these numbers and CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment.

Mexico and Chile are asking the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate whether crimes have been committed in the Palestinian territories, either by “agents of the occupying power or the occupied power,” Mexico’s foreign ministry said in a statement Thursday.

Israel has repeatedly stated that it is targeting Hamas, not civilians.

The referral by Mexico and Chile comes two months after South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti submitted a similar referral to the ICC, and a week after South Africa also accused Israel of genocide in a different case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Israel and the US have rejected South Africa’s claims.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a weekly cabinet meeting at the the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv on December 31.

US officials said on Thursday they would not allow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s apparent rejection of an eventual Palestinian state to stop them from pressing the matter with their Israeli counterparts.

The statement — at direct odds with President Joe Biden’s stated position — is another example of the growing rift between Israel and its top international ally.

Even as Biden offers staunch support for Israel publicly, behind the scenes, he and top officials have grown frustrated that Netanyahu appears to be rejecting advice and pressure on the campaign in Gaza.

A senior administration official noted after Netanyahu’s comments that the prime minister had reversed himself on hardline positions before — and that his statement Thursday was not necessarily the final word. 

One person familiar with the matter said it wasn’t clear whether Netanyahu had, in fact, relayed his views directly to American officials, as he stated during his news conference. The person said that inside the administration, his comments aren’t being viewed as a major departure from what he’s said previously.

 An unidentified cargo ship transits the Suez Canal in Egypt on January 10.

Houthi spokesperson Mohammad Abdul Salam described strikes in Yemen by the US and the UK as a “persistent act of aggression” aimed at safeguarding Israel, during an interview with the Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV. 

Despite the recent attacks, Abdul Salam emphasized that the Houthis will not be deterred from launching attacks on what he claims are “Israeli-linked” vessels.

The US carried out more strikes against the Houthis in Yemen on Thursday, according to United States Central Command, targeting a small number of anti-ship missiles that were preparing to launch. The strikes are the latest in a series of actions against the Iranian-backed group, following significant US-led strikes last week with the UK and support from a handful of other allies. 

It comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East and fears that the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza could further spill out into the region. Hours before a US strike on Wednesday, the Houthis struck a US-owned and operated vessel. 

Following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks dismissing Palestinian sovereignty, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour asked his senior adviser Mark Regev about observers who say the Israeli leader’s position is more about keeping himself in power than finding a fair solution to the conflict.  

“And if the Palestinians really want to move forward with Israel they have to be willing to understand those concerns. They are legitimate concerns,” he added.  

US reaction: Separately, US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller was asked about Netanyahu’s comments. 

“I don’t want to characterize his remarks. But I will say that there is a historic opportunity that Israel has to deal with challenges that it has faced since its founding, and we hope the country will take that opportunity,” Miller said.  

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a cabinet meeting at the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel, on January 7.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the idea of creating a Palestinian state would clash with the security of Israel.  

“In any future arrangement … Israel needs security control all territory west of Jordan. This clashes with the idea of (Palestinian) sovereignty. What can you do?” he told a press conference in Tel Aviv when asked about reports that he told US officials he opposes the idea of Palestinian sovereignty.  

Many countries, including the US, have called for the establishment of a Palestinian state.  

The prime minister claimed in the press conference that the Israeli politicians asking for him to step down are essentially asking for the creation of a Palestinian state.  

“Those who talk about the day after Netanyahu are actually talking about the establishment of a Palestinian state,” he said. An Israeli prime minister needs to be “capable of saying no to our friends,” he added.  

Israeli forces severely damaged a cemetery in Khan Younis in southern Gaza earlier this week, exhuming and removing bodies in what the Israel Defense Forces told CNN was part of a search for the remains of hostages seized by Hamas during the October 7 terror attacks.

Footage of the burial ground showed the area bulldozed, with graves damaged and destroyed, and human remains left exposed after the IDF conducted operations in the area.

In response to CNN’s request for comment on the damaging of graves, the IDF told CNN on Thursday that rescuing the hostages and finding and returning their bodies is one of their key missions in Gaza, which is why the bodies were removed.

According to international law, an intentional attack on a cemetery could amount to a war crime, except under very limited circumstances relating to that site becoming a military objective.

Reports about the IDF taking corpses from gravesites have been circulating on social media, shared by people outraged by the practice. This marks the first time the IDF has admitted to the exhumations.

Read more about Israel’s exhuming of bodies.

Gaza has now faced a near-total communications blackout for one week— the longest of the war so far — with no signs of abating.

The blackout has left people unable to call for ambulances or contact loved ones, presenting significant challenges for the remaining aid workers in the region.

Israel has in the past faced accusations of deliberately severing Gaza’s communications –charges on which it has not commented. And while it is not possible to say definitively what caused this outage, signs point toward physical damage to the fiber lines connecting Gaza to Israel, according to Alp Toker, the director of internet monitoring site NetBlocks. 

In response to this latest outage, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement: “It is important to remember that the Gaza Strip is an active war zone and thus can experience temporary disruptions to internet connectivity due to the ongoing conflicts.”

Here are today’s latest headlines to bring you up to speed:

Palestinians walk among the rubble of demolished buildings after IDF attacks in Rafah, Gaza, on Thursday.

The week-long communications blackout in Gaza is preventing humanitarian and emergency services from operating effectively in the territory.

Some journalists and aid workers have limited communications by using international or electronic SIMs near the Israeli or Egyptian borders, although it has been difficult for CNN to reach regular contacts in Gaza over the past week.

The blackout also means that Palestinians both in and outside Gaza have no way of knowing whether family members from whom they are separated are alive or dead.

The US carried out further strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, according to United States Central Command.

The attack on Thursday targeted a small number of anti-ship missiles that were preparing to launch, according to a CENTCOM statement.

The latest strike is the fifth time in a week the US has carried out operations against the Iran-backed rebel group, beginning with US and UK strikes against approximately 30 targets last Thursday. 

US President Joe Biden said that strikes on the Houthis will continue in the Red Sea – even as he acknowledges so far they aren’t deterring the group from aggression in the region. 

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that continued strikes are “taking away capability” from the Houthis.

CNN’s Nikki Carvajal, Arlette Saenz and Donald Judd contributed reporting to this post.

This post has been updated with a statement from CENTCOM.

Israel has risen to the sixth most-prolific jailer of journalists in the world – tied with Iran – according to a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

“All those known to be held by Israel as of CPJ’s December 1 census date were arrested in the Palestinian territory of the occupied West Bank after the start of the Israel-Gaza war on October 7.”

CNN has asked the Israeli government for comment on the report.

As of December 1, the date up to which the report tracks, 17 journalists were held by the Israeli government. That is the same number as are held by Iran. The top five jailers of journalists as of December 1 were China (44), Myanmar (43), Belarus (28), Russia (22), and Vietnam (19).

CPJ says that most of the journalists held by Israeli authorities were in administrative detention, by which the government can hold suspects indefinitely without public charge.

Israeli forces raid the Tulkarm refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.

Eleven Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces during operations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank overnight, Palestinian officials said Thursday, the latest in a surge of violence in the West Bank since Hamas’ attack on Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that security forces killed “at least eight terrorists” during a “counter-terrorism operation” in the Tulkarem refugee camp that saw exchanges of fire with militants.

What Palestinian agencies say: Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that a large contingent of Israeli security forces entered Tulkarem on Wednesday. The forces searched homes, positioned snipers on rooftops, and closed streets to the free movement of residents, according to WAFA. At least two people were killed in a drone strike in Nur El-Shams camp near Tulkarem, WAFA said.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said that two of its crew members were injured in an Israeli drone strike near its ambulance during the raid and five paramedics were arrested. Some Palestinians as young as 16 years old were arrested in Tulkarem, according to WAFA, adding that many of those detained and later freed said they were “severely beaten, abused, and threatened” by Israeli soldiers.

What the Israeli military says: The IDF said that “throughout the operation, the fighters engaged in exchanges of fire and clashes with armed terrorists who shot and threw explosives. At least eight terrorists have been eliminated, some of them through an airstrike.” 

The Israeli military said that throughout the West Bank, security forces arrested 21 “wanted individuals” Wednesday night. The Palestinian Prisoner Society on Thursday put the number of people arrested at 60.

Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat to the US, has repeated her call for a ceasefire in Gaza and warned that wider escalation could take the region back to “the stone age.”

Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud said there is “trauma and pain on both sides, can’t take that back, but what we can do is ceasefire now. How many more children need to die? How many more limbs need to be lost? How many more parents need to lose their livelihoods? It can’t happen anymore.”

Speaking to CNN’s Becky Anderson at the World Economic Forum in Davos, she added that Saudi Arabia “fully recognises need for Israel to feel safe, can not be at expense of Palestinian people.”

Talking about the wider region, Princess Reema said “the longer this goes on, it is inevitable either a rogue entity or a mistake will happen that will take us back, and I hate to say it, to the stone age. It is a hot and volatile area my part of the world.”

She called for unity in the region, saying “the only path to prosperity for the Middle East is unity, its economic prosperity, it is a balanced, stable region.”

On the issue of normalization of relations with Israel, Princess Reema said it was something Saudi Arabia was putting on the table but “the critical point is, not without the Palestinian people.”

A press member is seen sitting next to a tent as he tries to connect to the internet in Rafah, Gaza, on January 14.

Gaza has now faced a near-total communications blackout for one week— the longest of the war so far — with no signs of abating.

The blackout is the ninth such outage since Israel’s war on Hamas began following the group’s attacks in Israel on October 7, according to the internet monitoring site Netblocks.

Thursday is the seventh day of the blackout, which began on January 12. It affects both physical and wireless data connections, as well as mobile phone usage.

Israel has in the past faced accusations of deliberately severing Gaza’s communications –charges on which it has not commented. And while it is not possible to say definitively what caused this outage, signs point toward physical damage to the fiber lines connecting Gaza to Israel, Alp Toker, the director of Netblocks, told CNN. 

Ooredoo, one of the main telecoms providers in Gaza, at the beginning of this outage said that “the main lines feeding telecommunications and internet companies have been repeatedly damaged. This has resulted in the cessation of all our services in the south and center of the Gaza Strip.”

In response to this latest outage, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement: “It is important to remember that the Gaza Strip is an active war zone and thus can experience temporary disruptions to internet connectivity due to the ongoing conflicts.”