KEY POINTS
- Israeli soldier wounded in fire exchange with 20 'suspects' along Egyptian border
- IDF warplane attacks Hezbollah asset around Maroun al-Ras, the site of a ground battle during 2006 Lebanon war
- US strongly condemns IRGC's attacks in Iraq
It's the 102nd day of the war in Gaza, and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Tuesday that it has "totally destroyed" a "main" base of Israel's intelligence agency Mossad in Iraq. This comes after Iran, which supports Hamas, repeatedly warned Israel of retribution over its military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
The families of remaining hostages are in shock after Hamas released a video suggesting two more hostages were killed in captivity amid Israeli strikes.
- Houthis say countries participating in 'aggression' are considered 'hostile targets'
- Father of former child hostage believes Hamas 'killed' abductee Itai Svirsky
- Small craft circles vessel in the Red Sea: UKMTO
- Iran gloats of intel supremacy after Mossad base strike
- Hamas fires around 50 rockets toward southern Israel, Gaza border communities
- IRGC 'experts' accompanied Houthis in transferring missiles: Arab media
- Iraq recalls ambassador to Tehran after Erbil strikes
- US military said it seized Iranian-made weapons for Houthis
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied that it struck a building that held hostages. IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari clarified that the facility where the abductees were being held "was not a target and it was not attacked" by the Israeli army.
Israel's northern border with Lebanon continues to heat up as Hezbollah, a Hamas ally and Iranian-backed terror group with thousands of combatants and a weapons arsenal much bigger than Hamas, continues to fire toward Israeli communities.
In the Red Sea, where rebel Houthis have gone on a rampage since November, the Houthi militia attacked a U.S.-owned and operated container ship, as per the U.S. army's Central Command (CENTCOM). The Washington-led maritime task in the Red Sea carried out strikes against Houthi assets in Yemen last week.
Meanwhile, intense clashes between Israeli troops and Hamas fighters continue in the southern and central Gaza Strip. The Israeli army has been operating in the Nuseirat camp in the middle of the enclave in recent days, discovering a mortar bomb production site and other weapons "inside a building of a humanitarian organization."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly reiterated that the country will fight until Hamas can no longer threaten Israelis and Palestinians alike. His resolute remarks draw from violent clashes in the decades-long history of the Israel-Palestine conflict that erupted during Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.
Hamas militants invaded Israel on that fateful day, killing more than 1,200 Israelis and foreigners and abducting over 200 people – around 136 of whom are still being held in Gaza to this day.
US seizes Iran 'lethal aid' for Houthis: CENTCOM
The U.S. CENTCOM said Tuesday that it seized a "dhow conducting illegal transport of advanced lethal aid from Iran to resupply Houthi forces in Yemen as part of the Houthis' ongoing campaign of attacks against international merchant shipping."
The seizure operation was conducted last week, wherein among the items confiscated were Iran-made ballistic missile and cruise missile components.
USCENTCOM Seizes Iranian Advanced Conventional Weapons Bound for Houthis
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 16, 2024
On 11 January 2024, while conducting a flag verification, U.S. CENTCOM Navy forces conducted a night-time seizure of a dhow conducting illegal transport of advanced lethal aid from Iran to resupply Houthi… pic.twitter.com/yg4PuTZBh7
