Summary of the day
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
The Gaza Strip has been plunged into another communications blackout on Monday, the Palestinian telecoms provider Paltel said, with internet and phone service cut off across the besieged territory for the 10th time since 7 October. Communication services in Gaza partially returned on Friday after a weeklong blackout – the longest communications outage since the start of the war.
US officials have said a claim by Yemen’s Houthi forces that it carried out an attack against a US military cargo ship, Ocean Jazz, in the Gulf of Aden is not true. “The Yemeni armed forces continue to retaliate to any American or British aggression against our country by targeting all sources of threat in the Red and Arab Sea,” a Houthi miitary spokesperson said on Monday.
The Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, has been criticised by one of the EU’s most senior diplomats, Josep Borrell, for not properly engaging with a summit in Brussels designed to pave the way for a peace plan in the Middle East. Borrell told reporters Katz had come to the meeting to present plans for an artificial island off the coast of Gaza and a railway to India, adding: “I think the minister could have made better use of his time to worry about the security of his country and the high number of deaths in the Middle East and the high death toll in Gaza.”
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has said he is determined to pursue a two-state solution in the Middle East, as foreign ministers gathered in Brussels for talks with top Israeli and Palestinian diplomats. “What we want to do is to build a two-state solution. So let’s talk about it,” he said a day after Netanyahu reaffirmed a hardline against any Palestinian state on the grounds it would pose “an existential danger” to Israel.
Israel’s foreign ministry has denied that its foreign minister, Israel Katz, suggested that Palestinians could be housed on an artificial island in the Mediterranean during his presentation to his EU ministers in Brussels. It is understood that Katz presented a video on the concept to the 27 EU foreign ministers as an alternative to the two-state solution. EU foreign ministers were dismayed and “disappointed” that Israel Katz had come to Brussels with the suggestion to talk about plans for an artificial island off Gaza, a source said.
Israeli troops have stormed the al-Khair hospital in southern Gaza and have arrested medical staff, and placed another under siege on Monday, Palestinian officials said. Troops advanced for the first time into the al-Mawasi district near the Mediterranean coast, west of Khan Younis, the main city in southern Gaza, where the hospital is situated. The Palestinian Red Crescent said it was “extremely worried” about the safety of their teams “trapped inside” another Khan Younis hospital, al-Amal, which it said was “besieged” by Israeli forces.
At least 50 Palestinians were killed and 100 have been injured in Israeli military strikes on Khan Younis since Sunday night, a Gaza health ministry spokesperson said. “We believe that many victims are trapped under the rubble and in areas the occupation forces had invaded where the medical teams are unable to reach to them,” said Ashraf al-Qidra. A total of 25,295 Palestinians have been killed and 63,000 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said on Monday.
Family members of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip have stormed a parliamentary meeting in Jerusalem to demand that Israel’s government does more to return their loved ones. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, pushed back on Monday after speculation that a new release of Gaza hostages was in the works. “There is no real proposal by Hamas. It’s not true,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office quoted him as saying.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has survived a no-confidence vote filed in protest at the “failure” to secure the return of the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza. The motion received only 18 votes, failing to receive the necessary majority to pass in the 120-strong Knesset, and was boycotted by the coalition, the heads of which said they would “not take part in political shows during wartime”.
The US state department said it was devastated by the death of a Palestinian American teenager in the occupied West Bank, and called for an urgent investigation to determine how the 17-year-old died and to hold accountable those responsible. The death of Tawfiq Ajaq in the West Bank, where about 370 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since 7 October, came as tensions have been rising between Israel and the US.
The British prime minister’s official spokesperson said Downing Street was “disappointed” to hear of Netanyahu’s opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state, as the UK government vowed to continue its support for a two-state solution in the Middle East.
Ireland’s foreign minister, Micheál Martin, said Netanyahu’s insistence that there would be no two-state solution was “unacceptable”. Meanwhile, Stéphane Séjourné, France’s new foreign and European affairs minister, described Netanyahu’s remarks as “worrying”. Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, called on Hamas to end its terror on Israel and on Palestinian people.
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, will visit Pakistan on 29 January, the foreign ministry has said. The countries will swap ambassadors and resume normal relations, it said, after Pakistan launched retaliatory strikes against militants in Iran in response to attacks by Tehran that targeted sites within Pakistan’s borders.
Two US Navy Seals who went missing during an operation to seize Iranian weapons bound for Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been declared dead after a 10-day search failed to locate them, the US military has said.
US denies Houthi claim that it attacked American ship in Gulf of Aden - report
US officials have said the claim by Yemen’s Houthi forces that it carried out an attack against a US military cargo ship, Ocean Jazz, in the Gulf of Aden is not true.
A US defense official, speaking to Fox News, dismissed the report as a Houthi propaganda, adding that the US military is not seeing or tracking any attacks at this time.
From Fox News’ Liz Friden:
U.S. defense officials tell Fox News reports the U.S. flagged cargo ship Ocean Jazz was targeted by Houthi's in the Gulf of Aden is not true. One of the officials dismissed this as Houthi propaganda and said the U.S. military is not seeing or tracking any attacks at this time.
— Liz Friden (@Liz_Friden) January 22, 2024
Updated
The US state department said it was devastated by the death of a Palestinian American teenager in the occupied West Bank.
In a statement, reported by Reuters, the US state department called for an urgent investigation to determine how the 17-year-old died and to hold accountable those responsible.
The death of Tawfiq Ajaq in the West Bank came as tensions have been rising between Israel and the US, and drew an immediate expression of concern from the White House.
Ajaq was fatally shot on Friday in the West Bank, where about 370 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since 7 October.
His cousin, Mohammad Ejak, 16, said Tawfiq was shot while driving to a grove of olive trees owned by the family near their village, the Washington Post reported. He said:
We did not throw any rocks at anyone’s car, and we didn’t even get out of our own car before the shots were fired at us.
The Israeli foreign minister has been criticised by one of the EU’s most senior diplomats for not engaging fully with a summit of foreign ministers in Brussels designed to pave the way for a peace plan in the Middle East.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative, told reporters that Israel Katz had come to the meeting and presented two videos to the bloc’s foreign ministers.
One was for an artificial island off the coast of Gaza and another on a railway linking the Middle East to India. Borrell said:
This didn’t have much to do with what we were discussing.
He added:
I think the minister could have made better use of his time to worry about the security of his country and the high number of deaths in the Middle East and the high death toll in Gaza.
Israel’s foreign ministry has denied that its foreign minister, Israel Katz, suggested that Palestinians could be housed on an artificial island in the Mediterranean during his presentation to his EU ministers in Brussels.
Israel’s foreign ministry told the Times of Israel:
He never said such a thing, and there is no such plan.
The outlet cites a spokesperson as saying that Katz mentioned that housing could be placed on the island as well, but did not mention anything having to do with relocating Palestinians there.
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has told his visiting French counterpart, Sébastien Lecornu, that attacks against Hezbollah will continue until Israel can guarantee the security of its citizens living near the border.
An Israeli readout of the meeting in Tel Aviv said Gallant briefed Lecornu “on the [Israel Defense Forces]’s progress in achieving the goals of the war – namely the destruction of Hamas’s governing and military capabilities, and the return of hostages.” The Israeli minister was quoted as saying:
A war in the north will be challenging for Israel, but devastating for Hezbollah and Lebanon. Israel will not cease fire until it can guarantee the safe return of the [evacuated] northern communities to their homes following a change in the security situation along the border.
An attack by Iranian-backed militants on an air base housing US and Iraqi troops in western Iraq on Saturday was “a larger scale attack than we have seen before”, the Pentagon has said.
Multiple missiles were fired at Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq’s Anbar province, injuring two US personnel and one Iraqi security forces member, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said today. The US personnel have returned to duty, she said.
The attack was claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition that includes militias backed by Iran.
Houthis say they attacked US ship in Gulf of Aden
Yemen’s Houthi movement have said its forces carried out an attack against a US military cargo ship, Ocean Jazz, in the Gulf of Aden.
A statement from the Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, reported by Reuters:
The Yemeni armed forces continue to retaliate to any American or British aggression against our country by targeting all sources of threat in the Red and Arab Sea.
Diplomatic sources have expressed bemusement at what some interpreted as the Israel foreign minister’s suggestion that Palestinians could be housed on an artificial island in the Mediterranean as part of the peace solution talks being held by foreign ministers in Brussels today.
They said the video was “largely ignored” by foreign ministers and it was not clear whether Israel Katz meant it would be used to house Palestinians or just a new port facility, which he proposed back in 2017.
The EU’s chief diplomat is just about to host a press conference where he is expected to provide details on exactly what was said behind closed doors.
Updated
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have said three of its soldiers were killed on Monday in southern Gaza.
From the Times of Israel’s Emanuel Fabian:
The IDF announces the deaths of three officers killed during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip today, bringing the toll of slain troops in the ground offensive against Hamas to 198.
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) January 22, 2024
They are:
Maj. David Nati Alfasi, 27, a deputy battalion commander in the Paratroopers… pic.twitter.com/HF8xLkjkP5
Phone and internet down in Gaza in 10th communications blackout of war
The Gaza Strip has been plunged into another communications blackout on Monday, the Palestinian telecoms provider Paltel said, with internet and phone service cut off across the besieged territory for the 10th time since 7 October.
In a social media post, Paltel said:
We regret to announce that telecom services in Gaza Strip have been lost. Gaza is blacked out again for the 10th time since October 7th due to the ongoing and escalating aggression.
We regret to announce that telecom services in Gaza Strip have been lost. Gaza is blacked out again for the 10th time since October 7th due to the ongoing and escalating aggression.#KeepGazaConnected
— Paltel (@Paltelco) January 22, 2024
Communication services in Gaza partially returned on Friday after a weeklong blackout – the longest communications outage since the start of the war.
Updated
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has survived a no-confidence vote filed in protest at the “failure” to secure the return of the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
The motion received only 18 votes, failing to receive the necessary majority to pass in the 120-strong Knesset, the Times of Israel reported.
The Labor party announced last week that it would submit a proposal for a vote of no confidence in Netanyahu’s government because of its inability to return hostages from the Gaza Strip.
The vote was boycotted by the coalition, the heads of which said they would “not take part in political shows during wartime”.
Updated
EU foreign ministers were dismayed and “disappointed” that Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, had come to Brussels with the suggestion to talk about plans for an artificial island off Gaza.
One source said:
Ministers ignored it and went ahead with what they were there to talk about. Nobody engaged with it.
Katz first unveiled a plan for an island off Gaza in 2017 when he was transport minister.
Updated
Palestinian foreign minister dismisses Israeli counterpart's artificial island suggestion
The Palestinian foreign minister, Riyad al-Maliki, has dismissed his Israeli counterpart’s suggestion that an artificial island could be built off the coast of Gaza as part of the solution to the conflict in the Mediterranean.
Arriving to make his own presentation to the 27 ministers gathered in Brussels to progress a peace plan for the Middle East, Maliki said he expected his EU counterparts to end their summit on Monday by calling for a ceasefire.
He also wants the EU to contemplate sanctions against the Israeli prime minister and to issue a strong condemnation of Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition in the past week to the creation of a Palestinian state.
He urged the EU to reflect on the “responsibility” it had to drive Israel to peace and to show the “leadership and courage” needed. He said:
I think the collective responsibility of the EU right now lies in this particular moment is that they have to show leadership and courage, and really to take the right position.
I will say it very openly, very clearly to my European colleagues. I expect from you to call for a ceasefire and to work for it. I expect from you to condemn the statement that was made by Netanyahu about rejecting the two-state solution. I expect from you to start contemplating sanctions against Netanyahu.
The life of Palestinians really matters, and we cannot accept that, you know. The life of Palestinian children are being really treated less than the life of children anywhere in the world. This is really very essential and very important.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
Israeli troops have stormed the al-Khair hospital in southern Gaza and have arrested medical staff, and placed another under siege on Monday, Palestinian officials said. Troops advanced for the first time into the al-Mawasi district near the Mediterranean coast, west of Khan Younis, the main city in southern Gaza, where the hospital is situated. The Palestinian Red Crescent said it was “extremely worried” about the safety of their teams “trapped inside” another Khan Younis hospital, al-Amal, which it said was “besieged” by Israeli forces.
At least 50 Palestinians were killed and 100 have been injured in Israeli military strikes on Khan Younis since Sunday night, a Gaza health ministry spokesperson said. “We believe that many victims are trapped under the rubble and in areas the occupation forces had invaded where the medical teams are unable to reach to them,” said Ashraf al-Qidra. A total of 25,295 Palestinians have been killed and 63,000 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said on Monday.
Palestinians are digging makeshift graves in the grounds of Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, to bury some of those killed by the latest Israeli military strikes. The hospital, the largest hospital still functioning in Gaza, is crowded with wounded people, many of whom waited many hours for transport to reach the place, only to find few beds or supplies and doctors who have not slept in more than 24 hours.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, pushed back on Monday after speculation that a new release of Gaza hostages was in the works. “There is no real proposal by Hamas. It’s not true,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office quoted him as telling representatives of hostage families after some relatives stormed a committee session in parliament, demanding a release deal.
A Hamas official said on Sunday that Netanyahu’s rejection of its conditions meant there was “no chance” of returning the remaining hostages held by the militant group in Gaza. Netanyahu had earlier dismissed the militant group’s conditions to end the war, which he said included leaving Hamas in power and Israel’s complete withdrawal from the territory. A Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, told Reuters the Israeli prime minister’s refusal to end the military offensive in Gaza meant there was “no chance for the return of the [Israeli] captives”, which are estimated to be 130 in number.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has said he is determined to pursue a two-state solution in the Middle East, as foreign ministers gathered in Brussels for talks with top Israeli and Palestinian diplomats. “What we want to do is to build a two-state solution. So let’s talk about it,” he said a day after Netanyahu reaffirmed a hardline against any Palestinian state on the grounds it would pose “an existential danger” to Israel. Borrell added that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip “could not be worse”.
The British prime minister’s official spokesperson said Downing Street was “disappointed” to hear of Netanyahu’s opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state, as the UK government vowed to continue its support for a two-state solution in the Middle East.
Ireland’s foreign minister, Micheál Martin, said Netanyahu’s insistence that there would be no two-state solution was “unacceptable”. Meanwhile, Stéphane Séjourné, France’s new foreign and European affairs minister, described Netanyahu’s remarks as “worrying”. Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, called on Hamas to end its terror on Israel and on Palestinian people.
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, will visit Pakistan on 29 January, the foreign ministry has said. The countries will swap ambassadors and resume normal relations, it said, after Pakistan launched retaliatory strikes against militants in Iran in response to attacks by Tehran that targeted sites within Pakistan’s borders.
Two US Navy Seals who went missing during an operation to seize Iranian weapons bound for Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been declared dead after a 10-day search failed to locate them, the US military has said.
Updated
Gazans sheltered Monday from intense bombing and shooting in the city of Khan Younis, as pressure built on Israel for an eventual two-state solution involving statehood long sought by Palestinians, the Agence France-Presse reports.
Witnesses reported deadly strikes and fierce fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants overnight in the southern city that has become the latest centre of the war.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported on Monday that more than 120 people had been killed in the previous 24 hours.
Artillery shelling has not stopped since 5am,” said Yunis Abdel Razek, 52, sheltering with his family at the city’s al-Aqsa University.
Mahdi Antar, 21, had sought refuge at al-Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.
The situation is terrifying. Tonight and today are very difficult, bombing and shooting. I do not know what to do. I think they will storm the hospital,” he said.
Victims of the latest Israeli strikes were brought to the hospital, at least one on a hand-pulled cart.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Israeli forces were “besieging” its ambulance centre “and targeting anyone attempting to move in the area”.
At one building that had been hit, men walked over broken concrete with only torches casting a dusty light to help them search in the darkness for survivors.
The strikes came as European Union foreign ministers held meetings in Brussels with top diplomats from the warring sides and key Arab states.
Updated
Palestinians are digging makeshift graves in the grounds of the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, to bury some of those killed by the latest Israeli military strikes.
Venturing outside the hospital grounds to try to reach a cemetery is deemed too dangerous.
The hospital is crowded with wounded people, many of whom waited many hours for transport to reach the place, only to find few beds or supplies and doctors who haven’t slept for more than 24 hours.
Israel's foreign minister suggests Palestinians could be housed on artificial island in the Mediterranean - sources
The Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, has suggested that Palestinians could be housed on an artificial island in the Mediterranean, according to sources at the meeting of EU ministers in Brussels.
It is understood that Katz presented a video on the concept to the 27 EU foreign ministers as an alternative to the two-state solution. He told them the video referred to a plan made some years ago when he was a transport minister.
Katz had previously raised the idea of an offshore port island, although that was not part of a plan to rehouse Palestinians. Israel’s government has not backed such a plan.
The intervention has caused dismay in Brussels where the EU representatives were meeting as part of a mission to lay the ground for a “comprehensive peace plan”.
They also heard from foreign ministers from Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Updated
The US has issued new sanctions targeting individuals linked to Hamas, and an individual linked to Iraq’s Fly Baghdad airline, the treasury department’s website showed.
The treasury has previously announced sanctions against certain officials who advance Hamas’ agenda abroad and help manage its finances.
Updated
In a brief statement, Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, told reporters his main mission in Brussels was to “bring back our hostages” and that he would also be seeking continued support from the EU for Israel’s offensive against Hamas.
“Our brave soldiers are fighting in very hard conditions for those two aims to bring back our hostages and restore security for the citizens of Israel,” Katz said.
Updated
At Nasser hospital, the only major hospital still accessible in Khan Younis and the largest still functioning in Gaza, video showed the trauma ward overwhelmed with injured people.
Reuters reports:
A young man, Rabie Salem, sat on the floor cradling a small wounded girl in his arms. They had finally reached the hospital in the morning after waiting for an ambulance through the night, while his mother lay dying.
She had told him not to worry about her and help the rest of the family, he said, weeping: “Now she is gone.”
Ahmed Abu Mustafa, an emergency doctor, said he hadn’t slept for 30 hours and was treating 10-11 patients in an intensive care unit with four beds.
Outside, men were digging graves inside the hospital grounds because it was no longer safe to venture out to the cemetery.
A man placed the tiny body of a toddler wrapped inside a white shroud into a shallow hole in the sand. Authorities said 40 people were buried there.
Updated
Israeli nationals residing in Germany can remain in the country until 26 April without having to apply for a residence permit or an extension to their visa-free stay after the 7 October attack by Hamas, the German interior ministry said on Monday. Israeli citizens can stay in Germany for 90 days without a visa. From 26 January to 26 April, they will now be exempt from the requirement for a residence permit to stay, the ministry added, Reuters reports.
“With our regulation, we are enabling Israeli citizens to stay in Germany for a further three months without having to apply for a residence permit. This is pragmatic and unbureaucratic help for people who we want to support in this difficult situation,” said the interior minister, Nancy Faeser.
Updated
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, pushed back on Monday after speculation that a new release of Gaza hostages was in the works, saying Israel was taking an unspecified initiative in the absence of an offer by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Reuters reports.
“There is no real proposal by Hamas. It’s not true,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office quoted him as telling representatives of hostage families after some relatives stormed a committee session in parliament, demanding a release deal.
“I am saying this as clearly as I can because there are so many incorrect statements which are certainly agonising for you,” Netanyahu added. “Conversely, there is an initiative on our part, on which I shall not elaborate.”
The Netanyahu government argues that an Israeli offensive, launched in retaliation for the cross-border Hamas killings and kidnappings of 7 October, is necessary to pressure the Palestinian captors into releasing hostages on acceptable terms. But many of the relatives worry the hostages may be killed.
Updated
The UK prime minister’s official spokesperson said Downing Street was “disappointed” to hear of Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state, as the UK government vowed to continue its support for a two-state solution in the Middle East.
PA Media reports that Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson told reporters:
It is disappointing to hear this from the Israeli prime minister.
The UK’s position remains that a two-state solution with a viable and sovereign Palestinian state living alongside a safe and secure Israel is the best route to lasting peace.
Clearly there will be a long road to recovery and lasting security in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.
But we will continue our long-term support for a two-state solution for as long as it takes.
Updated
Reuters has some more detail on what happened when the relatives of some of the Gaza hostages stormed an Israeli parliament panel earlier (see post at 11.03).
In the Knesset, parliamentary ushers stood by during the commotion in the finance committee. One lawmaker covered her face with her hands.
The panel chair, Moshe Gafni, the head of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish party in Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, stood up, called a halt to the economic briefing under way and sought to calm a protester.
“Redeeming captives is the most important precept in Judaism, especially in this case, where there is an urgency to preserving life,” he said, but added: “Quitting the coalition would not achieve anything.”
Updated
Israeli troops have stormed al-Khair hospital and arrested medical staff - Gaza health ministry spokesperson
Israeli troops have stormed the al-Khair hospital and have arrested medical staff, Gaza health ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al Qidra, has told Reuters.
Troops advanced for the first time into the al-Mawasi district near the Mediterranean coast, west of Khan Younis, the main city in southern Gaza, where the hospital is situated.
Israel says Hamas fighters operate from in and around hospitals, which Hamas and medical staff deny.
Updated
You can watch the video of the relatives of people taken hostage during the Hamas attack on 7 October storming an Israeli parliament panel here:
At least 50 Palestinians were killed and 100 have been injured in Israeli military strikes on Khan Younis since Sunday night, the Gaza health ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qidra, told Reuters on Monday.
“We believe that many victims are trapped under the rubble and in areas the occupation forces had invaded where the medical teams are unable to reach to them,” al-Qidra said.
Residents said bombardment from air, land and sea was the most intense in southern Gaza since the war began in October, as Israeli tanks surged across Khan Younis from the east into the western areas close to the Mediterranean coast, Reuters reports.
Israel launched an offensive last week to capture Khan Younis, which it now says is the principal headquarters of the Hamas militants responsible for the 7 October attacks, in which about 1,200 people were killed.
Updated
Summary of the day so far ...
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said the agency’s ambulances were unable to reach the injured in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, as Israeli forces are “besieging” the PRCS’s ambulance centre and “targeting anyone attempting to move in the area”. The PRCS also said that Israeli tanks were nearing al-Amal city hospital in Khan Younis and that it had lost all contact with its team in the area due to the ground offensive. In an update on the situation later on Monday, Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the PRCS, said: “We are extremely worried regarding the safety of our team at al-Amal hospital and the Palestine Red Crescent’s headquarters, along with our emergency medical centre in Khan Younis. The total area is under besieged … by Israeli occupation forces. Everyone is trapped inside our facilities. No one is able to get out. No one is even able to come in.”
A group of relatives of Israelis held hostage by Hamas stormed a parliamentary committee session in Jerusalem, demanding that the lawmakers do more to try to free their loved ones.
A total of 25,295 Palestinians have been killed and 63,000 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said. The toll includes 190 people killed and 340 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.
The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip “could not be worse”, the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said ahead of an EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels. Ireland’s foreign minister, Micheál Martin, meanwhile, said Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence there will be no two-state solution is “unacceptable”. Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Hussein Abdullah Al Safadi, warned Netanyahu is dooming the Middle East “to more conflicts and more war” if he does not switch his stance on a two-state solution. He is one of several Arab leaders in Brussels today to try to hammer out a path to a peace conference.
Updated
Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, displayed pictures of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, ahead of the European foreign ministers council meeting in Brussels.
Updated
Palestine Red Crescent Society spokesperson: everyone is trapped inside our facilities
Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), has told Al Jazeera that the agency is “extremely worried” about the safety of their team at al-Amal hospital and other facilities in southern Gaza (see earlier post at 07.34 for more details).
She said in video posted to X:
We are extremely worried regarding the safety of our team at al-Amal hospital and the Palestine Red Crescent’s headquarters, along with our emergency medical centre in Khan Younis.
The total area is under besieged … by Israeli occupation forces. Everyone is trapped inside our facilities. No one is able to get out. No one is even able to come in.
Palestine Red Crescent Society is extremely worried for the safety of the our team and the people taking shelter at our facilities in #KhanYounis .
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) January 22, 2024
Nebal Farsakh , PRCS Spokesperson 👇#NotATarget ❌#IHL #Gaza pic.twitter.com/fN0uOWESO5
Updated
Relatives of Gaza hostages storm Israeli parliament panel
A group of relatives of Israelis held hostage by Hamas have stormed a parliamentary committee session in Jerusalem, demanding that the lawmakers do more to try to free their loved ones, Reuters reports.
One woman held up pictures of three family members who were among the 253 people seized in the cross-border Hamas attacks of 7 October, in which about 1,200 people were killed.
About 130 hostages remain held in Gaza after others were brought home in a November truce.
“Just one I’d like to get back alive, one out of three!” the protester cried after pushing into the Knesset’s finance committee discussion.
Other protesters held up signs reading: “You will not sit here while they die there.” “Release them now, now, now!” they chanted.
It comes after relatives and supporters of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza rallied outside Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem, pitching tents and demanding the Israeli government urgently strike a deal to secure their release (see post at 05.55 for more details).
Updated
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, will visit Pakistan on 29 January, the foreign ministry has said.
The countries will swap ambassadors and resume normal relations on 26 January, the ministry added.
Last week, Pakistan launched retaliatory strikes against militants in Iran in response to attacks by Tehran that targeted sites within Pakistan’s borders.
Pakistan’s foreign office claimed the strikes were taken due to “credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities” by separatists being given a safe haven inside Iran’s borders.
Updated
Death toll in Gaza reaches 25,295, says health ministry
A total of 25,295 Palestinians have been killed and 63,000 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said on Monday.
The toll includes 190 people killed and 340 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.
Most of the casualties have been women and children, the ministry has said, and thousands more bodies were likely to remain uncounted under rubble across Gaza.
Here is some of the diplomatic agenda for today:
Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, will address the EU foreign affairs ministers at 11am CET/ 10am GMT.
The Arab foreign ministers will address the council just before lunch with the Palestinian representatives expected to address them this afternoon.
The Saudi Arabian delegation is expected to speak to reporters this afternoon after the six hour meeting draws to a conclusion.
Al Jazeera reports that miscarriages are increasing in southern Rafah, on the border with Egypt, amid the brutal war conditions.
About 50,000 pregnant women in displacement camps in southern Rafah city suffer from a lack of food and medicine, threatening their unborn babies along with their own health.
Dr Haider Abu Sunima, medical director of Tal al-Sultan hospital for women and obstetrics in Rafah, says there’s an increased number of miscarriages because of the difficult war conditions.
In the past few days, Gaza’s health ministry said it recorded hundreds of miscarriages and premature births as a result of “panic and forced flight under brutal bombardment in Gaza”.
Netanyahu dooming Middle East 'to more war' if he does not reverse two-state solution stance, Jordan's foreign minister warns
Benjamin Netanyahu is dooming the Middle East “to more conflicts and more war” if he does not switch his stance on a two-state solution, Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Hussein Abdullah Al Safadi, has said.
He is one of several Arab leaders in Brussels today to try to hammer out a path to a peace conference and ultimately a two-state solution in which Israel and Palestine can live harmoniously.
He said:
The whole world is saying the only way out of this misery is the two-state solution. So the party who’s standing against the rights of all peoples of the region, including Israelis to have peace, cannot just be left unaccountable.
If the whole world says the only path forward is two-state solution, then the Israeli government says no to the two-state solution, so they’re defying the whole international community.
“We’ve been engaged in over 30 years of process. I think a moment of truth is upon us,” the minister said.
“The whole world has to decide: do we allow a radical racist agenda to dictate the future or do we all come together and say, the path is clear, we want peace for everybody in the region. And the two-state solution is the only path.”
“This war will not bring security to Israel this war will not bring peace. Israel cannot have security as long as Palestinians are denied their rights,” he added.
Updated
The cause of a large blast in Iran’s Semnan province has been determined as a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier on Monday, state media reported (see earlier post at 06.38)
Iranian state media had earlier said a large explosion was heard at the Garmsar industrial town, the fourth such incident in the province of Semnan in a week, according to semi-official Mehr news agency.
“Upon investigating, officials announced that no explosion or smoke was observed from the Garmsar industrial area,” state media said.
“It is now known that the cause of the blast was a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier in the area after flying its jet below the permissible speed,” state media added, without specifying whether the jet was Iranian.
The EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, has asked how many Palestinian must be killed before the violence can stop as he headed into talks with foreign ministers in Brussels.
He has confirmed that Israel’s new foreign minister, Israel Katz, is in attendance along with foreign ministers of Jordan and Egypt and the secretary general of the Arab states.
“The humanitarian situation [in Gaza] could not be worse. It could not be worse. There are no words to explain how the situation is, with hundreds of thousands without anything – without shelter, without food, without medicines, and under the bombs.”
“And every day, there is a high toll of civilian people being killed. Many ministers have said that there are ‘too many’. Well, the question is: how many is ‘too many’? What does it mean ‘too many’? [Is] too many 25,000 people? For how long is this going to continue?”
He is hosting six hours of talks among EU foreign ministers to try to progress a peace solution in the Middle East, along with reinvigorating support for Ukraine including discussion of a €20bn peace fund over the next four years.
“From now on, I will not talk about the peace process, but about the two-state solution process. If we are serious about that, we have to study the underling causes that prevent this solution from being implemented,” he told reporters in Brussels.
In a 12 point paper Borrell has prepared for the meeting, he warns the peace process is imperative and urgent.
“In the absence of a peace process to achieve the two-state solution, any governance and security mechanism established in Gaza or elsewhere will be perceived as an extension of the occupation and a denial of Palestinian rights, and will therefore create further security risks,” said Borrell.
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Annalena Baerbock has called on Hamas to end its terror on Israel and on Palestinian people.
On her way into a summit, the foreign minister of Germany, which has been a stalwart supporter of Israel’s offensive on Gaza in its bid to eliminate Hamas, said:
We clearly see that the people of Israel and the entire region will not be able to live in peace if Hamas’ terror is not ended, if Hamas finally stops its brutal attacks not only on Israel, but also de facto against its own people, against the Palestinians.
In order to achieve peace in the region, in order to achieve security not only for the people of Israel, but also for the Palestinians in particular, it is crucial that the Hamas financial support network is finally dismantled.
As the European Union, we have therefore just initiated sanctions against the Hamas financial support network.
At the same time, it is crucial that the incredible suffering in Gaza is minimised and significantly reduced.
That is why the situation in Gaza is such a central issue for us here today, how we can get significantly more humanitarian aid into Gaza, but also how we can finally get back to humanitarian pauses.
This is something that has been on my mind around the clock in recent weeks. We urgently need humanitarian pauses to alleviate the situation in Gaza, to alleviate the incredible suffering, especially for children.
Baerbock also renewed calls on Hamas to release the hostages, warning this is a barrier to any peaceful solution.
She added:
I would also like to say at this point that, as urgent as it is that we alleviate the acute suffering, we must finally free all the hostages who are still alive.
It is also all the more important that we make it clear that Israel can only live in security if Palestinians can live in security with dignity, and Palestinians can only live in dignity, security and freedom if Israel lives in security.
That’s why the two-state solution is the only solution and all those who don’t want to know about it have so far failed to come up with any other alternative.
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Netanyahu's opposition to two-state solution 'unacceptable', says Ireland’s foreign minister
Ireland’s foreign minister, Micheál Martin, said Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence there will be no two-state solution is “unacceptable”.
Speaking on the way into a six-hour meeting of foreign ministers, who Arab and Israeli foreign ministers will also meet, he said:
“Those remarks by prime minister Netanyahu are unacceptable and do not contribute in any way to the prospects of peace …[there is a] need to listen to the vast majority of the world who want peace and who want a two-state solution.”
He added Ireland will “again be calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and also absolutely the unimpeded access for humanitarian aid. Even as late as last evening, the reports we are getting are dire in respect to what is happening within Gaza in terms of starvation and in terms of the humanitarian consequences of this war.”
“There’s no excuse now, for any tardiness or for any delays in respect of getting vital aid into Gaza. And will be making those points very strongly, also the need for the unconditional release of hostages.” (You can read more of Martin’s comments in the post at 6.29)
Stéphane Séjourné, France’s new foreign and European affairs minister, described Netanyahu’s remarks as “worrying” on the way into a summit of EU foreign ministers.
He said France’s two main interests at today’s meeting were Ukraine and the Middle East, particularly humanitarian aid and the release of hostages.
“In this respect, Benjamin Netanyahu’s statements are worrying. We need a Palestinian state with security guarantees for all. Obviously, the release of the hostages will be a priority for us. Three of our nationals are still being held hostage.”
Updated
Xavier Bettel, Luxembourg’s foreign minister, has said it is important for the EU to develop a peace plan for the Middle East but thinks that Israel is “not ready yet” because it still believes Hamas is a danger.
“But I think that this plan is the first step in the right direction not to organise now … we have a lot of peace conferences, but if Israel is not there at table there is no use of having peace conferences.”
EU foreign policy chief: humanitarian situation in Gaza 'could not be worse'
The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip “could not be worse”, the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said on Monday.
“From now on I will not talk about the peace process, but I want a two-state-solution process”, Borell was quoted by Reuters as saying ahead of an EU foreign ministers’ meeting.
On Sunday, Gaza’s health ministry announced that Israel’s war on Gaza had killed 25,000 Palestinians, with UN chief António Guterres describing the scale of civilian killings as “heartbreaking and utterly unacceptable”.
So far, the conflict has displaced roughly 85% of Gaza’s 2.4 million people. Many fled to Khan Younis and Rafah after Israel ordered civilians in the north to evacuate at the beginning of the war.
Most are packed into UN-run shelters, where food, water, fuel and medical care are limited. Aid officials who have visited Gaza say the crowding in the south is almost unprecedented.
Updated
Foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt and the secretetary general of the League of Arab States are meeting EU foreign ministers in Brussels today.
The foreign minister of Israel will participate in a session separately ahead of the meeting while the Palestinian foreign minister will talk to the EU ministers this afternoon.
On his way into the meeting, Latvia’s foreign minister, Krišjānis Kariņš, said it was “somewhat discouraging to hear the remarks of the Israeli prime minister” Benjamin Netanyahu who said last week there would be no two-state solution, ahead of an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels today.
He added: “We all agree that there should be a two state solution. And this is what we need to push for in the EU to put our weight together and push for this in spite of the obvious, obstacles, they can be overcome if there is a very united purpose of mind.”
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Palestine Red Crescent Society says Israeli forces are 'besieging' its ambulance centre
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said the agency’s ambulances are unable to reach the injured in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, as Israeli forces are “besieging” the PRCS’s ambulance centre and “targeting anyone attempting to move in the area”.
The PRCS said earlier this morning that Israeli tanks were nearing al-Amal city hospital in Khan Younis and that it had lost all contact with its team in the area due to the ground offensive.
🚨Urgent: PRCS ambulances unable to reach the wounded in Khan Yunis. Israeli occupation forces are besieging the PRCS ambulance center, and targeting anyone attempting to move in the area.#Gaza #NotATarget ❌#IHL pic.twitter.com/NXOT2Zzvlv
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) January 22, 2024
Israeli forces are advancing into southern parts of Gaza crowded with those who have fled combat elsewhere.
Israel has claimed that many members and leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas are hiding in Khan Younis, the main city in the south of Gaza.
Updated
The Australian government has said it is deeply disappointed by comments from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he rebuffed international calls for a pathway to a Palestinian state.
Guardian Australia’s Daniel Hurst and Paul Karp report that the assistant foreign minister, Tim Watts, said the remarks undermined prospects for peace.
He also urged Israel to “live up to” its commitment to uphold international law in its military operations in Gaza, where the death toll has passed 25,000 Palestinians.
Speaking to Sky News, Watts said the Australian government still believed “that in a post-conflict world there can’t be any reduction in the size of the territory of Gaza and there can’t be any permanent Israeli presence within Gaza”.
The Australian government has long backed a two-state solution in which Israelis and Palestinians “can live side by side in security and prosperity within internationally agreed borders”.
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, in a trip to the region last week, renewed calls for a “pathway to a Palestinian state”.
See the full story here:
Updated
The Israeli military says it has destroyed a Hamas command centre that included a weapons production site in “a backyard” in central Gaza, as well as a loaded rocket launcher in a nearby olive grove.
The Israel Defence Forces said in an operational update on Telegram that while in the Al-Maghazi area, its soldiers also guided an aircraft to kill “a number” of militants who had fired a rocket-propelled grenade towards an Israeli tank.
Israeli troops also targeted “Hamas terrorist infrastructure located near and inside civilian buildings in the area”.
The claims could not be independently verified.
Updated
A large explosion has been heard at an industrial town in Iran’s Semnan province, Reuters reports in a breaking news snap, quoting Iranian state media.
More on this as it comes to light.
Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Micheál Martin, is to take part in a summit of the European Union’s foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, where he said he would be seeing what could be done at EU level “to get stronger pressure on Israel to stop” its military actions in Gaza.
The Tanaiste is to reiterate Ireland’s “profound concern” about the danger facing people in the Palestinian territory and urge there be an immediate ceasefire, PA Media reports.
Martin, Ireland’s minister for foreign affairs and defence, said:
In our view, the priority remains advancing towards an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of hostages, urgent and effective humanitarian access as well as the protection of civilians.
The EU must speak clearly and decisively on this.
I will also underline the urgency of progressing EU sanctions against violent settlers.
Updated
EU foreign ministers to meet Israeli and Palestinian counterparts
European foreign ministers are to hold separate talks on Monday with their Israeli and Palestinian counterparts on the prospects for lasting peace after Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, rejected calls for a future two-state solution.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, risked incurring Israel’s wrath by accusing it on Friday of having “created” and “financed” Hamas to undermine the prospect for a possible Palestinian state, Agence France-Presse reports.
He also insisted the only way to get an enduring peace in the region was for a two-state solution to “be imposed from outside”.
While the Israel-Gaza war appears to have driven a long-term solution further out of sight, EU officials insist now is the time to talk about finally resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The 27 EU ministers will first meet with Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, before sitting down separately with the Palestinian Authority’s top diplomat, Riyad al-Maliki.
Katz and Maliki are not expected to meet each other.
The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia will also hold talks with the European ministers.
The EU has struggled for a united stance on the conflict in Gaza as staunch backers of Israel such as Germany have rejected demands for an immediate ceasefire made from the likes of Spain and Ireland.
EU officials have sketched out broad conditions for “the day after” the war ends in Gaza, calling for no long-term Israeli occupation, an end to Hamas’s rule and a role for the Palestinian Authority in running the territory.
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Gaza hostages' relatives demand Netanyahu secure their release
Relatives and supporters of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have rallied again outside Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem, pitching tents and demanding the Israeli government urgently strike a deal to secure their release.
The protest comes as the prime minister faces intense pressure for their return but rejected what he said were Hamas’s conditions for their release, including that Israel end the war and leave the militant group in power.
At the protest near Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem on Sunday night, Agence France-Presse quoted Gilad Korenbloom, whose son is a hostage in Gaza, as saying:
We are asking our government to listen, to sit down at the negotiating table and decide whether to accept this agreement or any other that would suit Israel.
John Polin, also the father of a hostage, said Israelis served their country and in return “we expect the government to ensure our safety”.
We are asking the government to play its part, to propose an agreement, to bring it to a successful conclusion and to bring the remaining hostages back alive.
Hamas said in its first public report since its deadly 7 October attacks that triggered the war that they were a “necessary step” against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and a way to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Netanyahu said in a video statement released after the Hamas report that, in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages, Hamas was demanding an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the release of Palestinian prisoners and guarantees that Hamas would stay in power.
“If we accept this, our soldiers have fallen in vain,” and security would not be guaranteed, Netanyahu said.
Hamas seized more than 220 hostages and Israel says about 132 remain in Gaza.
The French defence minister, Sebastien Lecornu, is to meet families of Hamas hostages on Monday before holding talks with Netanyahu and the Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
Updated
Opening summary
Welcome to our continuing live reporting of the Israel-Gaza war and wider Middle East crisis. I’m Adam Fulton and we’ll begin with a rundown on the latest news to bring you up to speed.
Relatives and supporters of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have rallied again outside the Israeli prime minister’s home in Jerusalem, pitching tents and demanding the government urgently strike a deal to secure their release.
The protest comes as Benjamin Netanyahu faces mounting pressure over the hostages’ ongoing captivity but rejected what he said were the militant group’s conditions for their release, including ending Israel’s offensive and leaving Hamas in power.
“I reject outright the terms of surrender of the monsters of Hamas,” he said.
A Hamas official said Netanyahu’s refusal to end the offensive “means there is no chance for the return of the [Israeli] captives”, which are estimated to number 130.
Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers will separately meet their Israeli and Palestinian counterparts – as well as those from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan – on Monday in a string of meetings to discuss the war in Gaza after Netanyahu rejected calls for postwar Palestinian statehood.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, insisted last week that the only way to get an enduring peace in the region was for a two-state solution to “be imposed from outside”.
In other key developments:
A total of 25,105 Palestinians have been killed and 62,681 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said on Sunday. The head of the UN, António Guterres, denounced Israel for the “heartbreaking and utterly unacceptable” killings of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, saying: “Israel’s military operations have spread mass destruction and killed civilians on a scale unprecedented during my time as secretary general.”
Two US Navy Seals who went missing during an operation to seize Iranian weapons bound for Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been declared dead after a 10-day search failed to locate them, the US military has said. The US central command had previously said that two Seals who were reported as lost at sea were involved in the 11 January operation in which the elite special operations personnel boarded a dhow off the coast of Somalia and seized missile components made in Iran.
An Israeli strike killed a Hezbollah fighter on Sunday in south Lebanon, a source close to the group said. According to a Lebanese security official, the strike on a car in south Lebanon “killed a member of Hezbollah’s protection team”, while the senior commander he was protecting “escaped death”. The commander was in a vehicle with three other people behind the car that was hit, the official added.
A strike on Damascus targeting the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Syria spy chief and blamed on Israel killed 13 people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said in an updated toll. The Guards confirmed it lost five members in Saturday’s strike.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) received 80 trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent via the Rafah border crossing with Israel over the weekend. The trucks carried food, water, relief items and medical supplies, the PRCS said, adding that no trucks entered through the Karm Abu Salem crossing.
The US said it was taking an attack by Iran-backed militants on an Iraq base “extremely seriously”. On Saturday, the US military said “multiple ballistic missiles and rockets” were fired by Iran-backed militants at al-Asad airbase in western Iraq, while an official said US personnel suffered minor injuries.
The UK’s defence secretary, Grant Shapps, described Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition to a Palestinian state as “disappointing”, while Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, condemned the Israeli prime minister’s stance. Netanyahu’s spokesperson claimed that in a phone call on Friday with Joe Biden, the Israeli leader told the US president that his country’s security needs left no space for a sovereign Palestinian state.
