February 6, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East has moved here.

Israeli forces carried out deadly nighttime strikes on Syria’s Homs province, Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Wednesday.

Several civilians are reported to have been killed in the attack, with more injured, SANA quoted the source as saying, without providing further details. Public and private property had been damaged in the raid, the source told SANA.

Syrian air defenses responded to the attack and “shot down some of the missiles,” the source told the news agency.

Asked for comment on the alleged strikes, the Israeli military told CNN they are unable to comment on foreign reports.

Iran-backed Houthi militants on Tuesday fired six anti-ship ballistic missiles from Yemen toward commercial vessels, US Central Command said.

One missile exploded in the Gulf of Aden near the MV Star Nasia, causing minor damage to the Marshall Island-flagged, Greek carrier, CENTCOM said. No injuries were reported.

Other Houthi missile attacks likely targeting MV Morning Tide, a Barbados-flagged, UK-owned cargo ship operating in the southern Red Sea, “impacted the water near the ship without effect,” CENTCOM said.

In a statement Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Houthis vowed the militants would increase their attacks on US and UK ships if Israel’s war in Gaza does not stop.

A destroyed building at the site of a US airstrike in Al Qaim, Iraq, February 3, 2024.

The brother of an Iraqi student killed as a result of US airstrikes on Iraq and Syria on Friday says the family holds the United States responsible for his death.

Abdulrahman Khaled, 20, was killed in the town of Al Qaim, on the Iraq-Syria border, in what the family believes was a secondary explosion after the strikes hit three houses being used by an Iran-backed Shia militia to store weapons.

According to the Iraqi government, Abdulrahman is one of at least 16 people killed as a result of the strikes, which the US conducted on 85 targets across seven locations in the two countries last week in response to a deadly drone strike by Iran-backed militants on a US military outpost in Jordan  

Read the full story.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said in a Wednesday statement that the kingdom will have no diplomatic relations with Israel without an independent Palestinian state being recognized.

Some context: Most Arab and Islamic states don’t recognize Israel and the demand for the establishment of a Palestinian state is a long-held Saudi position.

But just weeks before Hamas launched its October 7 attack on Israel, Riyadh said it was inching closer to normalizing diplomatic ties with the Jewish state. Experts say the price that Saudi would demand in exchange for normalization would be higher now than before the Gaza war, as Riyadh may feel compelled to extract more concessions from the United States and Israel.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that Saudi still has a “strong interest” in normalizing relations with Israel.

Correction: An earlier version of this post mischaracterized the statement from Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry.

Iran has provided the Houthis with a “diverse arsenal” of weapons, including short- and medium-range ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, since 2015, according to a new report that details the group’s use of weapons published by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)

Between 2015 and 2023, the US and its partners have interdicted at least 18 Iranian vessels trying to smuggle weapons to the Houthis, the report said. Those shipments have contained ballistic missile components, drones and anti-tank guided missiles, the report said, as well as thousands of assault rifles.

Here’s what the report found:

The Defense Intelligence Agency provides military intelligence to the Department of Defense and the intelligence community, according to its website.

House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to reporters outside of his office at the US Capitol on February 5, 2024 in Washington, DC.

The US House of Representatives failed to pass a stand-alone funding bill that would have provided $17.6 billion to Israel, after a late shift by members on both sides of the aisle to sink the bill. 

Because of resistance among members of the right-flank House Freedom Caucus, House Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to bring up the bill under a procedure that requires 2/3 majority of the House – including at least 72 Democrats – to approve it.

That support did not come, defeating the measure by a 250-180 vote.

Read more about the Israel aid bill

There have been 146 US casualties — the majority of which have been determined to be non-serious injuries — in the ongoing attacks by Iran-backed groups in Iraq, Syria and Jordan since October 18 of last year, according to a Pentagon spokesperson.

As of Tuesday, there have been at least 168 attacks on US and coalition forces since October 17 — the majority of which have occurred in Iraq and Syria.

Three US soldiers were killed in the only attack in Jordan at the end of January. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Israel ahead of high-stakes meetings with top officials to discuss a proposal for a sustained cessation in the Gaza fighting in exchange for Hamas’ release of hostages held since October 7.

Hamas gave a “positive” response to the proposal, according to a short statement Tuesday, but offered few details. 

Blinken said the United States is reviewing the Hamas response, as is Israel’s intelligence service, according to a statement from Mossad released by the prime minister’s office.

US President Joe Biden described the Hamas response as “a little over the top” in remarks to the press, but did not provide further details. “We’re not sure where it is. There’s a continuing negotiation right now,” he said.

The framework of the proposal calls for a first phase of civilian hostage releases to take place over a six-week pause, with three Palestinian prisoners held by Israel released for each civilian hostage returned from Gaza.

That ratio would be expected to go up for Israel Defense Forces soldiers and a longer pause is possible beyond the six weeks for the later phases.

Here are other headlines you should know:

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, on February 6.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Israel ahead of meetings Wednesday with key government officials to press for a “humanitarian pause” as international pressure to end the conflict in Gaza continues to mount.

The stakes are high for Blinken’s discussions in Tel Aviv and were made even higher by news Tuesday that Hamas has put forward a response to a proposal meant to secure the freedom of the remaining hostages and a sustained cessation of the fighting in Gaza.

Blinken said Tuesday he would discuss the counterproposal with Israeli officials. 

The US diplomat is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as key officials in the Israeli war cabinet.

In those meetings, Blinken is expected to focus on pushing Israel toward a “humanitarian pause,” as President Joe Biden’s administration calls it.

Officials involved in negotiations for a potential hostage deal in Gaza are evaluating Hamas’ response to it, Israel’s intelligence agency said Tuesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, Hamas gave a “positive” response to a framework agreement on a hostage deal, but offered few details in a short statement.

US President Joe Biden speaks at the White House in Washington, DC, on February 6.

US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that those who oppose a Senate border bill are “denying aid” to Palestinian people who are “really suffering.” 

The bill includes security assistance for Israel and humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Hamas’ long-awaited counteroffer to a hostage and truce framework is “reasonable,” a source familiar with the discussions told CNN. It does not include two of its most prominent and public demands: that Israeli soldiers leave Gaza or for a deal to end the war. 

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken, who is in the Middle East to meet with leaders of multiple nations, responded positively after hearing Hamas’ proposal, the source said, which Blinken later echoed in a press conference.

A State Department official said Blinken was first informed about the Hamas counterproposal by Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who told the top US diplomat that Hamas had responded an hour before the meeting.

The emir outlined the counterproposal briefly and called it positive. Then the Qatari prime minister gave further details, the official told the traveling press. State Department officials briefed the White House. 

In a statement last week, senior Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh said that “the review of the new proposal for a ceasefire is based on the basis that any negotiations lead to a complete end to the aggression.”

The next hurdle, as Blinken indicated in his comments to reporters, will be presenting the Hamas counteroffer to the Israeli government.

Prime Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed repeatedly that Israel’s war will not end until there is “complete victory” over Hamas, which includes killing Hamas leadership and “will take time — months not years.”

CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed reporting. This post was updated with additional details on a briefing by a State Department official.

Correction: This post has been updated to accurately reflect how the source characterized the counteroffer.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on February 5.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saudi Arabia still has a “strong interest” in normalizing relations with Israel, but Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made clear that the war in Gaza must end and there should be “a clear, credible, time-bound path to the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

Blinken met with bin Salman for more than two hours on Monday in Riyadh. He is scheduled to meet with senior Israeli officials in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.

On both this trip and his last tour to the region, Blinken has stressed that the Israeli government must make “difficult” decisions and move toward a two-state solution if it wants to achieve normalization with Saudi Arabia and if it wants the support of its Arab neighbors for security and reconstruction in Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected the idea of a Palestinian state. He has also said that the war in Gaza will continue for months longer. 

The United States is reviewing the response from Hamas “now,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday.

“I’ll be discussing with the government of Israel tomorrow,” Blinken said.

The top US diplomat reiterated that the proposal that was presented to Hamas was a “serious” one “that was aimed at not simply repeating the previous agreement, but expanding it.”

Hamas gave a “positive” response Tuesday to a framework agreement on a hostage deal, but offered few details in a short statement. 

The Palestinian Islamist group’s response included elements that have not been offered by Israel, including a “comprehensive and complete ceasefire” and “lifting their siege on the Gaza Strip,” as well as “completing a prisoner exchange.”

Qatar’s prime minister also confirmed that Hamas had responded.

The Qatari prime minister said they have given the response to Israel and added, “we are optimistic.”

Blinken heads to Israel later today.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at Lusail Palace in Doha on Tuesday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani discussed “ongoing efforts to secure the release of the hostages held by Hamas and enable an extended humanitarian pause in the conflict in Gaza” in their meeting in Doha Tuesday.

The Qataris have served as a key mediator in the negotiations with Hamas, to whom a proposal to reach those aims was submitted more than a week ago. The group has not yet provided a substantive response to that proposal.

Prior to his meeting with the Emir, Blinken was in Cairo for discussions with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and other top Egyptian officials on the same matters. The Egyptians are the other key interlocutors with Hamas.

According to a readout from the Egyptian President’s office, “the meeting focused on developments in unyielding efforts aimed at reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, exchanging detainees and hostages and providing access to desperately needed relief aid to end the severe humanitarian catastrophe in the sector.”

Fighting between Israel and Hamas is ongoing across multiple parts of the Gaza Strip since Monday, with operations in Khan Younis and “targeted raids in the northern and central Gaza Strip,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

Journalists working for CNN in Gaza reported that Israeli fire, including the shelling of an apartment block, caused multiple casualties across the territory since Monday.

But in the south, toward Rafah, aid workers have raised concerns over any expanded military operation, where satellite images show a makeshift tent city estimated to house more than 1 million civilians displaced by the war.

The director of the Hamas-run government media office also warned the expansion would “cause a real disaster.”

Here’s what else to know today:

Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen have vowed to increase their attacks on US and UK ships in the Red Sea if the war in Gaza does not stop.

The Houthis started targeting ships in the Red Sea in November 2023, and have warned they “will carry out more military operations against all hostile American-British targets,” in the Red Sea “within the right to respond to the aggression, and the right to defend our beloved Yemen and its people,” Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Sare’e said in a statement on Tuesday.

He said Houthi forces “emphasize the continuation of their military operations” in the Red Sea “against Israeli shipping or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine until the siege is lifted and the aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is stopped.”

Remember: The Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea prompted the US and UK to retaliate with strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. The governments said they destroyed missiles, weapons storage sites and drone systems, according to senior officials.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he departs for Doha, at Cairo East Airport, in Cairo, Egypt, on February 6.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived at the next stop on his whirlwind trip in the Middle East: Qatar. He is set to meet with Qatari Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, as well as Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Blinken traveled to Doha from Cairo amid reports that Israel is planning to shift its offensive to Rafah, a key site on the border with the Sinai Peninsula where countless people have gathered to try to get to Egypt and the only port of entry for critical humanitarian aid. 

While in Cairo, the secretary met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in a meeting that lasted nearly two hours, according to US reporters traveling with the secretary. The meeting also included intel chief Abbas Kamel, who was a part of the Paris talks on the hostages. Egypt has been a key conversational partner with Hamas in these talks.

US officials have stressed that the ball is in Hamas’ court on the proposal to release hostages and reach a sustained pause in the fighting in Gaza. 

Blinken has a news conference scheduled for noon ET.

CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed reporting.

This post has been updated to note Blinken’s arrival in Qatar.