This blog is closing soon. You can read our full report on the latest US strikes on the Houthis in Yemen here and all our coverage of the Israel-Gaza war here.
Al Jazeera reports that the death toll from Israeli shelling in Rafah overnight has risen to 16, including small children.
Earlier the broadcaster had reported that it verified footage showing the bodies of three children killed in the Israeli shelling of a house east of Rafah being brought to Abu Youssef Al Najjar hospital.
The US military has officially confirmed that it carried out strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, saying that it “conducted strikes on 14 Iran-backed Houthi missiles that were loaded to be fired in Houthi controlled areas in Yemen” just before midnight on Wednesday. In a statement posted on X, the military said:
These missiles on launch rails presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region and could have been fired at any time.
It said the strikes and “other actions we have taken” would “degrade the Houthi’s capabilities to continue their reckless attacks on international and commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden.”
US Central Command commander, Michael Erik Kurilla said:
The actions by the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists continue to endanger international mariners and disrupt the commercial shipping lanes in the Southern Red Sea and adjacent waterways. We will continue to take actions to protect the lives of innocent mariners and we will always protect our people.”
U.S. CENTCOM Strikes Houthi Terrorist Missile Launchers
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 18, 2024
In the context of ongoing multi-national efforts to protect freedom of navigation and prevent attacks on U.S. and partner maritime traffic in the Red Sea, on Jan. 17 at approximately 11:59 p.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Central… pic.twitter.com/MMCQbzr1f7
More on Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, from where already displaced Palestinians fled late Tuesday as Israeli forces attacked nearby, prompting fears the largest hospital still partially functioning in the territory may be forced to close.
Palestinian health officials said seven people were killed by Israeli air strikes on homes near the hospital overnight to Wednesday. The UN agency OCHA said that Israeli forces withdrew from the area at around 7am on Wednesday and that initial reports and video footage showed that the nearby Al Namsawi cemetery had been destroyed and some graves empty, with bodies reportedly missing.
In a statement the Israeli army claimed that it had come under fire from the area, according to AFP.
The aid agency Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) said Israeli forces had “heavily bombed the area close to the hospital with no prior evacuation order, causing patients and many of the thousands of displaced civilians, who had sought refuge in Nasser, to flee in a panic.”
The agency’s head of mission for Palestine, Leo Cans, said during a visit to the hospital on Tuesday: “The fighting is very close. We hear bombings around and a lot of shooting. Yesterday [Monday], there was an airstrike 150 metres from the entrance of the hospital that killed eight people and injured more than 80 people. Among those were two boys, four years old and five years old who got killed.”
He said the hospital was operating at 300% capacity, adding “the situation is catastrophic. There are way too many patients for the staff to handle”.
During a visit to the hospital yesterday, MSF Head of Mission for Palestine Leo Cans said that Nasser, now Gaza’s largest functioning health facility, was operating at 300% capacity, adding "the situation is catastrophic. There are way too many patients for the staff to handle”. pic.twitter.com/I9b83pW3xB
— MSF International (@MSF) January 17, 2024
A bit more on the latest US strikes on Yemen. The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency says US and British aircraft carried out strikes on the governates of Hodeidah, Taiz, Al-Bayda and Saada, according to Reuters.
The New York Times has meanwhile reported that US navy ships used Tomahawk cruise missiles in the strikes and “destroyed missiles and their launchers as the Houthis were preparing to fire them” citing anonymous US officials.
The AP reported that the strikes were launched from the Red Sea and hit more than a dozen sites.
Updated
US secretary of state Antony Blinken told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there is no military solution to Hamas and that the Israeli leader needs to recognize that or history will repeat itself during his last trip to the Middle East, the US broadcaster NBC has reported citing anonymous US officials.
Netanyahu was reportedly unmoved. He also rejected an offer by Saudi Arabia to normalise relations as part of a Gaza reconstruction agreement if Israel agrees to provide Palestinians with a pathway to statehood, the officials said.
The Biden administration is reportedly increasingly frustrated with the Israeli prime minister and is laying the groundwork for a post-Netanyahu government with other Israeli and civil society leaders.
As part of that strategy and in an attempt to work around Netanyahu, Blinken met individually with members of his war cabinet and other Israeli leaders, including opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid, the officials told NBC.
The broadcaster wrote further:
The United States is now following up with Arab leaders on Blinken’s discussions, but the senior administration officials acknowledged that Biden’s lofty hopes of reshaping the Middle East are now inextricably linked to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
As a result, one senior administration official conceded, the president’s aspirations for a durable regional peace may have to await a post-Netanyahu government.
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have been holding a candlelit vigil in Ashington DC for the hostages taken by Hamas during the 7 October attack on Israel after meeting with their relatives:
US carries out fresh strikes on Houthi targets, US officials say
The US has carried out another round of strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, US media is reporting citing US officials.
The US military fired a wave of ship- and submarine-launch missile strikes against Houthi-controlled sites on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. The strikes come after the rebel group launched a drone earlier on Wednesday that hit a US-owned bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden.
The strikes mark the fourth time in recent days that the US has directly targeted the group in Yemen.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not been made public yet.
Updated
Israeli forces kill 10 in West Bank, including two children
Israeli forces killed 10 people including two children in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, according to various sources including the UN, the Palestinian health ministry and the Israeli army, while two paramedics were injured and another two detained.
The UN agency OCHA said six people were killed, including two children, in an airstrike on Tulkarem refugee camp. In its daily update on hostilities it reported:
In the early morning, Israeli forces raided the camp, where clashes erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinians, including an exchange of gunfire and the use of explosive devices by the latter was reported.
Subsequently, an Israeli airstrike targeted a group of Palestinians, killing four, including two children.
During the operation, seven Palestinians, including two PCRS paramedics, and one Israeli soldier had been injured.
An ambulance was severely damaged by shrapnel and two Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) paramedics were detained by Israeli forces.
The Israeli military confirmed it carried out an air strike during the Tulkarem raid, adding that “a number of terrorists were killed in the strike”.
A separate airstrike near Balata refugee camp, east of the city of Nablus, killed five fighters with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah party, the brigade said in a statement.
The group and the Israeli army said Ahmed Abdullah Abu Shalal, a Palestinian militant, had been killed, with Israel saying it had averted a “terrorist attack” he was planning.
OCHA said Israeli forces took the bodies of four of the dead while a fifth was “incinerated” in the strike. It also said that Israeli forces reportedly prevented PRCS ambulances from accessing the location and opened fire at them.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed 355 Palestinians including 90 children since Hamas’ 7 October attack on Israel, according to OCHA.
Patients 'waiting to die' at hospitals in Gaza, WHO official says
A World Health Organization official has described dire conditions in the Gaza Strip’s remaining hospitals, where patients are “waiting to die” due to extreme shortages of staff and supplies. AFP reports:
Emergency medical team coordinator Sean Casey said that during some five weeks he spent in the war-torn Palestinian territory, he saw hospital patients “every day with severe burns, with open fractures waiting hours or days” for treatment.
“They would often ask me for food or water – that demonstrates the level of desperation that we see,” Casey told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.
He said he was only able to visit six of Gaza’s 16 functioning hospitals, out of 36 that existed before the war broke out.
“What I’ve seen personally is a rapid deterioration of the health system alongside a rapidly increasing level of humanitarian aid and diminishing level of humanitarian access particularly to areas in the north of the Strip.”
He described seeing patients in the north who were “basically waiting to die in a hospital that has no fuel, no power, no water.”
“We tried every single day for seven days to deliver fuel and supplies to the north to Gaza City,” Casey said. “Every day, those requests for coordinated movements were denied.”
The hospitals are facing a deluge of patients while operating with minimal staff, many of whom – like the vast majority of Gaza’s population – have been displaced from their homes, Casey said.
“Hospital directors were telling me how their surgeons, plastic surgeon, for example, could not do surgery, because he was out collecting sticks to burn his firewood to cook for his family.” …
Echoing similar calls by WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Casey said the most critical need in Gaza “is really a ceasefire.”
“Everything short of that is simply addressing needs on a day by day basis.”
In the south, Casey said he visited the Nasser medical complex, where “they had only 30 percent of their staff remaining and about 200 percent of their bed capacity – so patients everywhere in the corridors on the floor.”
“I went to the burn unit where there was one physician caring for 100 patients,” he said.
The “humanitarian catastrophe that’s unfolding every day is getting worse and worse” Casey said, in addition to “the collapse of the health system day by day.”
Al Jazeera has reported that at least six Palestinians including three children have been killed in Israeli attacks overnight to Thursday.
The broadcaster said it had verified footage showing the bodies of three children arriving at Abu Youssef Al Najjar hospital after Israeli forces shelled a house belonging to the al-Zamili family, in the city of Rafah, southern Gaza.
It also reported the deaths of another three Palestinians killed in an attack near Abu Husni street in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, citing the Palestinian news agency Wafa. An unknown number of people were also reportedly killed in an Israeli attack of the home of the al-Huti family in the Shaboura refugee camp.
Wafa also reported that two Palestinians were killed and two injured after an Israeli attack on a gathering of people in Rafah – it was not immediately clear if this was the same as the attack on the al-Zamili family home or a separate incident.
Updated
British foreign secretary David Cameron has met his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian at the World Economic Forum, according to Reuters.
Cameron condemned Iran’s attack on Erbil in Iraq earlier this week, in which UK-Iraqi dual national Karam Mikhael was among those killed, the foreign office said in a statement.
Cameron also made it clear that the Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea are “illegal and unacceptable”, the foreign office said. The foreign secretary added that Iran must use its influence with the Houthis to prevent further threats.
Iran must cease supplying the Houthis with weapons and intelligence and use its influence to stop Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) January 17, 2024
Iran must also stop using the regional situation as cover to act recklessly and violate others’ sovereignty.
I made this clear to FM @Amirabdolahian
This is Helen Livingstone taking over from my colleague Léonie Chao-Fong.
Summary of the day so far
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
At least 24,448 Palestinians have been killed and 61,504 have been wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since the war began on 7 October, according to the latest figures by the territory’s health ministry on Wednesday.
A shipment of medicine for Israeli hostages and Palestinian civilians has entered the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, a Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson has confirmed, under a deal mediated by Qatar and France. The agreement marks the first significant progress in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas since December, when a short-lived ceasefire collapsed.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have targeted a US-owned cargo ship with a kamikaze drone just hours after Washington put the group back on its list of global terrorists. The drone smashed into the Genco Picardy bulk carrier late on Wednesday, 70 miles (110km) southeast of Aden, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations organisation. The Iranian-backed group said they targeted the US-owned vessel with missiles which resulted in a “direct hit”.
The likelihood of a war in Lebanon is “higher than before”, the head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said. Speaking to troops in northern Israel on Wednesday, IDF chief of staff Lt Gen Herzi Halevi said Israel’s military is “increasing readiness for fighting in Lebanon”.
A telecommunications blackout in the Gaza Strip entered its sixth day on Wednesday, the longest continuous outage since the war began, according to the internet monitoring group NetBlocks. Internet and telephone services collapsed across Gaza on Friday, marking the ninth blackout the territory has endured since 7 October.
Israel has killed several people in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including, it claimed, the “head of terrorist infrastructure” in the Balata camp in the Israeli-occupied city of Nablus. Five people were killed inside the Tulkarm refugee camp, the Palestinian health ministry said. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its ambulances were prevented from assisting at the scene of a strike near Nablus by Israeli forces. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported 85 Palestinians were detained overnight. Israel has detained about 6,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 7 October.
Doctors have been instructed by Israel’s health ministry not to speak with UN representatives investigating the Hamas attacks on 7 October. Members of the UN independent international commission of inquiry, in areas including East Jerusalem and Israel, had been contacting senior physicians and hospital staff who treated the 7 October victims, requesting information and interviews for its investigation into potential war crimes committed since 7 October.
The Jordanian army has said its military field hospital in the city of Khan Younis in Gaza was badly damaged as a result of Israeli shelling in the vicinity. In a statement on Wednesday, the army said it held Israel responsible for a “flagrant breach of international law”.
US ship struck by drone from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, says military
The US military has said a drone launched from areas controlled by the Houthi rebels in Yemen struck a US-owned vessel in the Gulf of Aden.
There were no injuries and some damage was reported in the attack, the US central command said in a social media post.
At approximately 8:30 pm (Sanaa time) Jan. 17, an assessed one-way attack UAS was launched from Houthi controlled areas in Yemen and struck M/V Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden. M/V Genco Picardy is a Marshall Islands flagged, U.S. owned and operated bulk carrier ship.
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 17, 2024
There… pic.twitter.com/kAXPaCqYxV
As we reported earlier, the Houthis have said they targeted the US Genco Picardy bulk carrier with missiles which resulted in a “direct hit”.
Updated
Journalists for Agence France-Presse around the world staged demonstrations on Wednesday to show solidarity with their colleagues in Gaza who have been unable to leave since the start of the war.
Journalists and other AFP staff in Paris and bureaus across the news agency’s global network gathered with portraits of their Gaza colleagues. The demonstration was organised by AFP’s management, with unions and the Journalists’ Association (SDJ).
AFP employees in Gaza include journalists Mahmud Hams, Yahya Hassouna, Bilal al-Sabbagh, Mohammed Abed, Saïd Khatib, Adel Zaanounn, Mai Yaghi, technician Ahmed Eissa and office manager Mohanad Shahwan. The team also includes freelance videographer Youssef Hassouna and administrator Zuhair Abuatila.
In a statement, AFP’s global news director, Phil Chetwynd, said the newsroom wanted to express its “whole-hearted support” for their Gaza colleagues “who are working in dire conditions and under constant fear of bombardment”, adding:
Not only are they trying to report on the story around them, they are also having to seek food and shelter for their families as the humanitarian situation becomes more desperate every day.
He called on Israel to ensure their safety and let them leave the territory. “Too many colleagues have been killed and injured,” he said.
At least 81 journalists have been killed in Israeli strikes in the territory since the war began on 7 October, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Updated
Médecins Sans Frontières has said patients and displaced civilians were forced to “flee in panic” last night after Israeli forces carried out heavy bombardment close to a hospital in southern Gaza without prior evacuation orders.
In a series of social media posts, the medical charity said it was concerned for the safety of the staff and patients at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.
Léo Cans, MSF head of mission for Palestine, described the situation at the hospital as “catastrophic”, adding that the fighting was “very close. We hear bombings around and a lot of shooting.”
During a visit to the hospital yesterday, MSF Head of Mission for Palestine Leo Cans said that Nasser, now Gaza’s largest functioning health facility, was operating at 300% capacity, adding "the situation is catastrophic. There are way too many patients for the staff to handle”. pic.twitter.com/I9b83pW3xB
— MSF International (@MSF) January 17, 2024
Updated
Qatar confirms medicine and aid for hostages and civilians entered Gaza
A shipment of medicine for Israeli hostages and Palestinian civilians has entered the Gaza Strip, a Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson has confirmed.
Posting to social media, Majed Al Ansari said medicine and aid “for the benefit of civilians in the Strip, including hostages” had entered the territory on Wednesday under a deal announced on Tuesday.
Over the past few hours, medicine & aid entered the Gaza Strip, in implementation of the agreement announced yesterday for the benefit of civilians in the Strip, including hostages.
— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) January 17, 2024
Qatar, along with its regional and international partners, continues mediation efforts at the… https://t.co/b6HlpHMUgQ
The agreement, mediated by Qatar and France, marked the first significant progress in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas since December, when a short-lived ceasefire collapsed.
Aid trucks carrying medicine and humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza have entered through the Karm Abu Salem crossing on Wednesday.
Updated
Israel bars doctors from speaking to UN investigators about 7 October attacks
Doctors have been instructed by Israel’s health ministry not to speak with UN representatives investigating the Hamas attacks on 7 October.
Members of the UN independent international commission of inquiry, in areas including East Jerusalem and Israel, had been contacting senior physicians and hospital staff who treated the 7 October victims, requesting information and interviews for its investigation into potential war crimes committed since 7 October.
But Israel’s health ministry has issued directives prohibiting doctors and healthcare workers from cooperating with members of the UN committee, claiming that the committee is anti-Israel, according to Israeli media reports on Tuesday.
Israel’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Lior Haiat, confirmed to NBC News today that healthcare workers have been told not to cooperate with the UN committee. He said:
The commission of inquiry is there to investigate Israel without any time limits, unlike any other commission of inquiry from the UN system. Furthermore, the three people chosen to head it are famous antisemitic and anti-Israel people.
The commission chair is Navanethem Pillay from South Africa, who served as UN high commissioner for human rights from 2008 to 2014 and is currently a judge ad hoc of the international court of justice (ICJ). The commission’s other leaders are Miloon Kothari from India, the first UN special rapporteur on adequate housing, and Chris Sidoti from Australia, an expert in national human rights institutions and international human rights law and mechanisms.
Updated
Houthis say they targeted US ship in Gulf of Aden
Yemen’s Houthis have said they targeted the US Genco Picardy bulk carrier with missiles which resulted in a “direct hit”.
A statement by the Houthi group spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, reads:
The naval forces will not hesitate to target all sources of threat in the Red and Arabian sea within the legitimate right to defend Yemen and to continue supporting the oppressed Palestinian people.
The US has condemned recent Iranian strikes in Pakistan, Iraq and Syria, which Tehran has claimed were carried out against “anti-Iranian terrorist groups”.
Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the US state department, told reporters at a briefing:
So we do condemn those strikes. We’ve seen Iran violate the sovereign borders of three of its neighbors in just the past couple of days.
Iran launched airstrikes on Pakistani territory on Tuesday that were apparently aimed at a Sunni militant group. Pakistan’s foreign ministry said two children were killed and three others were injured in what it called an “illegal” airstrike.
The strikes in Pakistan came less than a day after Iranian missiles hit targets in Syria and Iraq, in what have been seen as reprisals in the wake of a double suicide bombing in the city of Kerman on 3 January which killed more than 80 Iranians.
Miller added:
I think it is a little rich for, on one hand, Iran to be the leading funder of terrorism in the region, the leading funder of instability in the region, and on the other hand, claimed that it needs to take these actions to counter terrorism.
Updated
Vessel hit in drone attack off Yemen 'incurred damage'
We have more details on the reports of a ship that was hit by a drone attack 60 nautical miles south-east of Yemen’s port of Aden.
The vessel, which had been “hit on port side by an uncrewed aerial system”, and its crew are safe and proceeding to the next port of call, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organisation said.
British maritime security firm Ambrey said that a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier was hit by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) 66 miles south-east of Aden as it was heading east along the Gulf of Aden. It continued:
The vessel’s gangway incurred damage, and at the time of writing it was deemed not usable.
Updated
John Kirby, the US national security council coordinator for strategic communications, is briefing the press at the White House in Washington DC, and said “there are no negotiations here” when it comes to the US’s fresh designation of the Houthi rebels of Yemen as terrorists.
Earlier on Wednesday, in a heavily flagged move, the US announced the re-designation of the Houthis as a “specially designated global terrorist” (SDGT) entity. This followed airstrikes by US and UK military forces on the Iranian-backed, Yemen-based militant group, which has launched waves of attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
Kirby is now throwing doubt on the Houthis’ stance that their attacks on some shipping in the Middle East is driven by opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza.
He described Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden as “indiscriminate” and “a threat to innocent lives and global commerce”.
Updated
The daily White House press briefing that has been delayed is expected to start shortly.
US national security council spokesman John Kirby will once against accompany White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to talk to and take questions from journalists in Washington DC.
Kirby tends to deal with international security issues and has been fielding the bulk of journalists’ questions on the Middle East and, specifically, Israel’s war in Gaza.
Israel has pledged to destroy Hamas and has bombarded Gaza, where the Islamist group holds power, since early October after Hamas militants launched a murderous attack in southern Israel from their base in the Palestinian territory.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
The US has put Yemen’s Houthi rebels back on its list of global terrorists following US-UK airstrikes on the Iranian-backed militants who have launched waves of attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. US officials said they would design financial penalties against the Houthis to minimise harm to Yemen’s 32 million people. A Houthi spokesperson said the US designation would not affect the group’s operations aimed at preventing Israeli ships or ships heading to Israel from crossing the Red Sea.
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, has said his country was targeting an “Iranian terrorist group” when it launched a strike inside Pakistan. Iran said its attack mounted on Tuesday used “precision missile and drone strikes” and destroyed two strongholds of the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl in the Koh-e-Sabz area of Pakistan’s south-west Balochistan province. The missile strikes were part of Iran’s sweeping reprisals across Syria, Iraqi Kurdistan and Pakistan, designed to exact revenge for a suicide bombing mounted by Isis-K, the Afghan branch of Islamic State, that killed 85 Iranians in the south-eastern city of Kerman on 3 January.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said two children were killed and three others were injured in the attack, and Islamabad has withdrawn its ambassador from Iran in protest, while forbidding Iran’s ambassador to return to Pakistan.
The likelihood of a war in Lebanon is “higher than before”, the head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said. Speaking to troops in northern Israel on Wednesday, IDF chief of staff Lt Gen Herzi Halevi said Israel’s military is “increasing readiness for fighting in Lebanon”.
A telecommunications blackout in the Gaza Strip has entered its sixth day, the longest continuous outage since the war began, according to the internet monitoring group NetBlocks. Internet and telephone services collapsed across Gaza on Friday, marking the ninth blackout the territory has endured since 7 October.
More people in Gaza are likely to die of hunger and famine than war, the chair of the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF) has claimed. Mohammed Mustafa, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, also said at least $15bn would be needed to rebuild housing in the Gaza Strip.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has repeated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, and a process that leads to sustained peace for Israelis and Palestinians, based on a two-state solution. Speaking at Davos, Guterres said: “This is the only way to stem the suffering and prevent a spillover that could send the entire region up in flames.”
A shipment of medicine for Israeli hostages and Palestinian civilians has been delivered to Egypt for transfer across the border to Gaza, after a deal brokered by Qatar and France. The agreement marks the first significant progress in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas since December, when a short-lived ceasefire collapsed.
Israel has killed several people in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including, it claimed, the “head of terrorist infrastructure” in the Balata camp in the Israeli-occupied city of Nablus. Five people were killed inside the Tulkarm refugee camp, the Palestinian health ministry said. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its ambulances were prevented from assisting at the scene of a strike near Nablus by Israeli forces. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported 85 Palestinians were detained overnight. Israel has detained about 6,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 7 October.
The Jordanian army has said its military field hospital in the city of Khan Younis in Gaza was badly damaged as a result of Israeli shelling in the vicinity. In a statement on Wednesday, the army said it held Israel responsible for a “flagrant breach of international law”. Since 7 October, 24,448 Palestinians have been killed and 61,504 have been wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Israel has claimed that it killed a Hamas member who it believes was “responsible for interrogating individuals suspected of espionage” in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said: “IAF aircraft eliminated Bilal Nofal, who was responsible for interrogating individuals suspected of carrying out espionage activities against the terrorist organisation in the southern Gaza Strip.”
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, was briefly stranded in Davos after his plane experienced a “critical malfunction”. Blinken, who spent a day and a half at the Davos mountain resort for the World Economic Forum, was scheduled to fly back to Washington on Wednesday. A separate plane was sent from Brussels to retrieve the secretary of state.
Updated
Vessel south-east of Yemen's port of Aden reports being hit by drone
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organisation said it has received a report of an incident 60 nautical miles (95km) south-east of Yemen’s port of Aden.
In an advisory note, reported by Reuters, the UKMTO said the master reported the “vessel has been hit on port side by an uncrewed aerial system”, adding:
There was a fire onboard which has now been extinguished.
Updated
The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, has called for an “immediate pause” in fighting in Gaza.
Posting to social media, Cameron, who earlier today met with the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and other leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, wrote:
In Gaza, we need an immediate pause to get the hostages out and aid in. Then we need to see if we can convert that pause into a sustainable ceasefire, ideally without further hostilities.
In Gaza, we need an immediate pause to get the hostages out and aid in.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) January 17, 2024
Then we need to see if we can convert that pause into a sustainable ceasefire, ideally without further hostilities.
Thank you @SecBlinken.
Updated
IDF chief says likelihood of war in Lebanon is ‘higher than before’
The likelihood of a war in Lebanon is “higher than before”, the head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said.
Speaking to troops in northern Israel, IDF chief of staff Lt Gen Herzi Halevi said Israel’s military is “increasing readiness for fighting in Lebanon, we have a lot of lessons from the fighting in Gaza, many of them are very relevant to fighting in Lebanon, and there are some that must be adjusted”, the Times of Israel reported.
He noted Israel’s goal to return displaced Israelis to their homes in the north, adding:
I don’t know when the war in the north [will happen]. I can tell you that the likelihood of it happening in the coming months is much higher than it was in the past.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says "the likelihood of war in the north is higher than before."
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) January 17, 2024
Speaking to troops in northern Israel, during a drill simulating an offensive in Lebanon, Halevi says the IDF is "increasing readiness for fighting in Lebanon, we have a lot… pic.twitter.com/XHQkYV2ghU
A far-right Polish MP who used a fire extinguisher to put out candles on a menorah lit for Hanukah in Poland’s parliament in December will no longer be immune from prosecution.
Poland’s parliament voted on Wednesday to remove Grzegorz Braun’s immunity from prosecution, paving the way for prosecutors to press charges against the Confederation party lawmaker.
Braun, a fringe far-right MP, was shown on television spraying the menorah with a fire extinguisher. Haze filled the area. The parliament took a break in proceedings to deal with the incident and Braun was suspended for the rest of the day.
After extinguishing the candles, Braun took to the podium where he described Hanukkah as “satanic” and said he was restoring “normality”. Asked later if he was ashamed of his action, he said: “Those who take part in acts of satanic worship should be ashamed.”
Updated
Antony Blinken 'stranded' after plane breaks down in Davos
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, was briefly stranded in Davos after his plane experienced a “critical malfunction” due to an oxygen leak.
Blinken, who spent a day and a half at the Davos mountain resort for the World Economic Forum, was scheduled to fly back to Washington on Wednesday.
Blinken had taken a helicopter from Davos to Zurich, where he boarded his plane but was then informed that the plane had been deemed unsafe to fly, according to a Bloomberg report.
A separate plane was sent from Brussels to retrieve the secretary of state, while aides and members of the press had to travel to Washington by commercial flight.
Updated
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, has described the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) firing of journalist Antoinette Lattouf as “disconcerting”.
The Australian broadcaster has confirmed that Lattouf was in December terminated from hosting Sydney Mornings on ABC radio after she reposted a Human Rights Watch video on Instagram to her personal account.
But ABC’s senior management has strongly denied that its decision was influenced by outside lobbyists, following a report that a chain of leaked WhatsApp messages revealed a campaign from pro-Israel lobbyists to have Lattouf sacked days before her dismissal.
Posting to social media, Albanese wrote:
Whether or not the firing was affected by pro-Israel groups, it is disconcerting that a media company punishes a journo for exposing atrocities.
A nurse at the main hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza has described the situation at the medical facility as “disastrous”.
Just before midnight on Tuesday, witnesses reported strikes on the Nasser hospital sparking panic among the hundreds of displaced people seeking shelter there.
Mohammed Qudaih told NBC News:
Yesterday, in the early hours of the night, the occupation vehicles made a noticeable advance towards the hospital, where there was a lot of violent artillery shelling and the sounds of very close clashes.
At least $15bn would be needed to rebuild housing in the Gaza Strip, the chair of the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF) has said.
Mohammed Mustafa, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said the Palestinian leadership would continue to focus on humanitarian aid including food and water in the short term.
Eventually, the focus would shift to reconstruction in the Palestinian territory, he said. He cited international reports indicating that 350,000 housing units had been completely or partially damaged in Gaza.
Assuming 150,000 housing units would need to be rebuilt at an average cost of $100,000 per unit, “that’s $15 billion for housing units”, he said, adding:
We still didn’t talk about infrastructure, we didn’t talk about the hospitals that were damaged, the grids...
As we reported earlier, Mustafa also warned that more people in Gaza are likely to die of hunger or famine than war.
Updated
Medicine for Israeli hostages and Palestinians civilians arrives at Gaza border
A shipment of medicine for Israeli hostages and Palestinian civilians has been delivered to Egypt for transfer across the border to Gaza, after a deal brokered by Qatar and France.
Two Qatari planes arrived in Arish in the north of Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, where supplies were unloaded and transferred to the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, Reuters reported, citing Egyptian security and Red Crescent officials.
One of the planes was carrying medical packages for 45 Israeli hostages held in Gaza, it said. A total of 132 hostages are still in Gaza, with at least 27 of them believed to have been killed.
In a statement to the official Qatari news agency on Tuesday, Doha announced a deal “between Israel and [Hamas], where medicine along with other humanitarian aid is to be delivered to civilians in Gaza … in exchange for delivering medication needed for Israeli captives in Gaza”.
Qatar has said that supplies for Palestinian civilians that arrived today would be distributed to parts of Gaza worst affected by the conflict.
Updated
Houthis say attacks on ships will continue despite US designation
The Houthis have responded to the Biden administration’s announcement that it has officially classified the Iran-backed militants as a “specially designated global terrorist” group.
The Houthis’ spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters that the US designation would not affect the group’s operations aimed at preventing Israeli ships or ships heading to Israel from crossing the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb strait.
Updated
France does not support South Africa’s case at the international court of justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, the new French foreign minister has said.
Stéphane Séjourné, who was appointed in a cabinet reshuffle last week, told parliament on Wednesday:
Accusing the Jewish state of genocide crosses a moral threshold. The notion of genocide cannot be exploited for political ends.
South Africa has launched an emergency case at the ICJ, arguing last week that Israel has shown “chilling” and “incontrovertible” intent to commit genocide in Gaza, with full knowledge of how many civilians it is killing. South Africa has called for the court to issue “provisional measures” calling for a ceasefire.
Israel, which has denied the allegations, in turn accused South Africa of presenting a “profoundly distorted” view of hostilities.
Updated
Gaza under longest telecommunications blackout since war began, says internet monitor
A telecommunications blackout in the Gaza Strip has entered its sixth day, the longest continuous outage since the war began, according to the internet monitoring group NetBlocks.
Internet and telephone services collapsed across Gaza on Friday, marking the ninth blackout the territory has endured since 7 October.
NetBlocks said the internet outage was “near-total” and that landline, cellular and wireless internet service was likely unavailable to most residents in Gaza.
⚠ Update: Live metrics show the #Gaza Strip has now been in the midst of a near-total telecoms blackout for 120 hours; the disruption, now entering its sixth day, is the longest sustained telecoms outage on record since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war 📉 pic.twitter.com/uG3RaxaMLf
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 17, 2024
Who are the Houthis?
The Houthis are a Yemeni militia group named after their founder, Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, and representing the Zaidi branch of Shia Islam. They emerged in the 1980s in opposition to Saudi Arabia’s religious influence in Yemen.
The group, which has an estimated 20,000 fighters and whose official name is Ansar Allah, runs most of the west of the country and is in charge of its Red Sea coastline.
The Houthis are backed by Iran as part of its longstanding hostility with Saudi Arabia and are supporting Hamas in the war in Gaza. Soon after the Hamas massacre on 7 October, the Houthi leader, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, said his forces were “ready to move in the hundreds of thousands to join the Palestinian people and confront the enemy”.
What was happening in Yemen before the Gaza war?
The Houthis had been gaining support around the turn of the century from Shia Yemenis fed up with the corruption and cruelty of the longtime authoritarian president and Saudi ally, Ali Abdullah Saleh, particularly during the aftermath of 9/11 and the US invasion of Iraq. Popular protests and several assassination attempts forced Saleh to resign in 2012.
In 2014 the Houthis allied with their former enemy Saleh to seize the capital, Sana’a, and overthrew the new western-backed president, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, a year later. After Hadi was forced to flee, the exiled Yemeni government asked its allies in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to launch a military campaign, also backed by the west, to drive out the Houthis.
A catastrophic civil war ensued that the UN estimated led to 377,000 deaths and displaced 4 million people by the end of 2021.
The Houthis in effect won the war. An April 2022 ceasefire prompted a significant decline in violence, and fighting has largely remained in abeyance despite the official expiry of the truce in October.
The Biden administration has announced it will redesignate the Houthis as a “global terrorist” group.
The designation will take effect 30 days from now to allow the US to “ensure robust humanitarian carve outs are in place” so that its action target the Iran-backed militant group and not the people of Yemen, the White House’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, said in a statement, adding:
The people of Yemen should not pay the price for the actions of the Houthis.
He said the designation was “sending a clear message”: that commercial shipments into Yemeni ports on which the Yemeni people rely for food, medicine and fuel should continue and are not covered by US sanctions.
The statement added:
The United States will not hesitate to take further actions to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce.
US declares Houthis as specially designated global terrorist group
The US has announced the re-designation of the Houthis as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity following US-UK airstrikes on the Iranian-backed Yemen-based militants who have launched waves of attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
A statement from the White House’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, reads:
Over the past months, Yemen-based Houthi militants have engaged in unprecedented attacks against United States military forces and international maritime vessels operating in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. These attacks fit the textbook definition of terrorism. They have endangered US personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized global trade, and threatened freedom of navigation.
Today, in response to these continuing threats and attacks, the United States announced the designation of Ansarallah, also known as the Houthis, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. This designation is an important tool to impede terrorist funding to the Houthis, further restrict their access to financial markets, and hold them accountable for their actions. If the Houthis cease their attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the United States will immediately reevaluate this designation.
The decision requires US financial institutions to freeze Houthi funds and its members will be banned from the country.
The Biden administration removed the Houthis’ SDGT designation and de-listed it as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) in February 2021. At the time, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, cited the dire humanitarian situation as the reason for remove the group’s designation.
Shortly after the start of the Gaza war, the Houthis began launching missile and drone attacks at vessels in the Red Sea. The Yemeni militia group have said all vessels they perceived as linked to Israel or its allies would “become a legitimate target for armed forces”.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images from Gaza, Israel and the occupied West Bank sent to us over the news wires.
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
It is 5pm in Gaza City, Tel Aviv and Beirut, 6.30pm in Tehran and 8pm in Islamabad. Here are the headlines …
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, has said his country was targeting an “Iranian terrorist group” when it launched a strike inside Pakistan, which the latter has called an “illegal” and “unprovoked violation of its airspace”. Pakistan’s foreign ministry said two children were killed and three others were injured in the attack, and Islamabad has withdrawn its ambassador from Iran in protest, while forbidding Iran’s ambassador to return to Pakistan.
Speaking in Davos at the World Economic Forum, Amir-Abdollahian said Iran respected Pakistan’s sovereignty, but would not “allow the country’s national security to be compromised or played with”. He said the move have been a response to the Jaish al-Adl group’s recent deadly attacks on Iran. Pakistan said Iran shared no information about the strike in advance.
Israel claims that it has killed a Hamas member who it believes was “responsible for interrogating individuals suspected of espionage” in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said: “IAF aircraft eliminated Bilal Nofal, who was responsible for interrogating individuals suspected of carrying out espionage activities against the terrorist organisation in the southern Gaza Strip.”
Israel has killed several people in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including, it claimed, the “head of terrorist infrastructure” in the Balata camp in the Israeli-occupied city of Nablus. The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported that four Palestinians had been killed “due to the occupation’s bombardment” of Tulkarm refugee camp. It also said its ambulances were prevented from assisting at the scene of a strike near Nablus by Israeli forces. Palestinian news agency Wafa reported 85 Palestinians were detained overnight. Israel has detained about 6,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 7 October.
The Jordanian army said on Wednesday its military field hospital in the city of Khan Younis in Gaza was badly damaged as a result of Israeli shelling in the vicinity. In a statement, the army said it held Israel responsible for a “flagrant breach of international law”. 24,448 Palestinians have been killed and 61,504 have been wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
More people in Gaza are likely to die of hunger and famine than war, the chair of the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF) has claimed. On Monday, the World Food Programme executive director said “people in Gaza risk dying of hunger just miles from trucks filled with food” due to a failure to allow aid into the territory. The entire population of Gaza has been rated as in “crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity” by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Wednesday morning in retaliation for what it claims was a missile launch.
António Guterres has repeated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, and a process that leads to sustained peace for Israelis and Palestinians, based on a two-state solution. Speaking at Davos, the UN secretary general said: “This is the only way to stem the suffering and prevent a spillover that could send the entire region up in flames.”
A deal to allow the delivery of medicines to hostages in Gaza and aid into the territory has been agreed after mediation by Doha and Paris. In a statement Doha announced a deal “where medicine along with other humanitarian aid is to be delivered to civilians in Gaza … in exchange for delivering medication needed for Israeli captives in Gaza”. A political row has been developing during the day in Israel over the terms of the deal. Interior security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has demanded that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu use his authority to insist on the consignment being inspected, after it emerged that it would not be.
A political row has been developing during the day in Israel over the terms of the deal brokered by Qatar and France to let supplies of medicine in to the Gaza Strip, where some of it will be used for Israeli hostages who have been held captive there for over 100 days.
Israeli media reports that military sources have said the IDF did not know that the shipment would be exempt from Israeli checks at the border, and the first it had heard of this was when it was mentioned in a Hamas statement in public about the deal earlier today.
Subsequently Benjamin Netanyahu has denied that he authorised the move, and the interior security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has demanded that the prime minister use his authority to insist on the consignment being inspected, saying: “Medicines for the hostages – absolutely. Oxygen for Hamas to continue fighting – madness.”
Israel has previously criticised the UN for not providing as much humanitarian aid as Israel claims it can process for inspection through the Kerem Shalom crossing. Israel insists that nothing enter the Gaza Strip without being inspected.
The shipment of medicine for Israeli hostages and Palestinian civilians has arrived in Egypt.
Updated
More people in Gaza are likely to die of hunger and famine than war, the chair of the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF), Mohammed Mustafa, has claimed today in Wednesday at the World Economic Forum.
The first steps should be to bring food, medicine, water and electricity back to the besieged territory, Reuters reports he said.
Founded in 2003, PIF sets out to attract investment into the territories with the aim to develop industries and businesses to support “a sovereign and prosperous state” in the future.
On Monday, the World Food Programme executive director said “people in Gaza risk dying of hunger just miles from trucks filled with food” due to a failure to allow aid into the territory. The entire population of Gaza has been rated as in “crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity” by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
Updated
Iran says it was targeting 'Iranian terrorist group' in Pakistan airstrike
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, has said his country was targeting an “Iranian terrorist group” when it launched a strike inside Pakistan, which the latter has called an “illegal” and “unprovoked violation of its airspace”.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said two children were killed and three others were injured in the attack, and Islamabad has withdrawn its ambassador from Iran in protest, while forbidding Iran’s ambassador to return to Pakistan.
Speaking in Davos, AFP reports Amir-Abdollahian said:
None of the nationals of the friendly and brotherly country of Pakistan were targeted by Iranian missiles and drones. The so-called Jaish al-Adl group, which is an Iranian terrorist group, was targeted. The group has taken shelter in some parts of Pakistan’s Balochistan province. We’ve talked with Pakistani officials several times on this matter.
He went on to say that Iran respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan but would not “allow the country’s national security to be compromised or played with”.
He said the move have been a response to the Jaish al-Adl group’s recent deadly attacks on Iran, particularly on the city of Rask in its south-eastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan.
An attack on 10 January on a police station in the city killed a policeman, almost a month after 11 police officers were killed in a similar attack in the area.
Both attacks were claimed by Jaish al-Adl, which means “army of Justice”, a Sunni Muslim extremist group that was formed in 2012 and is blacklisted by Iran as a “terrorist” group.
Updated
The Iranian foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said on Wednesday that Tehran shared intelligence with Iraq about what it said were activities of the Israeli intelligence agency the Mossad in the Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, Reuters reports.
Iran has said its Revolutionary Guards attacked Israel’s “spy HQ” in Iraq in the city of Erbil on Monday. Iraq later denied that there was any such spy centre in the country.
Updated
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Wednesday morning in retaliation for what it claims was a missile launch.
In a statement on Telegram, the IDF said: “An anti-tank missile launch from Lebanon toward the area of Gladiola was identified. In response, the IDF struck the sources of the fire.
“Since this morning, the IDF struck targets in Lebanon.
“A short while ago, IAF fighter jets struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure and military compounds in the area of Hula in Lebanon.
“In addition, IDF tanks fired in order to remove a threat in the area of Ayta ash Shab in Lebanon. In addition, IDF artillery fired toward the area of Al Dahra in order to remove a threat.
“Furthermore, a terrorist cell that was identified in a compound in the area of Marwahin was struck by the IDF.”
Updated
Two injured after Jordanian field hospital in Khan Younis struck during clashes
The Palestinian Wafa news agency is reporting that one member of staff and a Palestinian patient in the intensive care unit were inured in the Jordanian field hospital in Khan Younis.
Earlier the Jordanian army said its military field hospital was badly damaged as a result of Israeli shelling in the vicinity. The army said it held Israel responsible for a “flagrant breach of international law”.
Citing a military source from the Jordanian armed forces, Wafa reports the injuries were sustained “in clashes near the hospital in the past few hours”.
Wafa said the staff member had “moderate injuries” and would be airlifted to Jordan for medical attention. The patient was reported to be “injured by shrapnel and a bullet”.
The news agency reported: “Despite significant material damage due to the ongoing Israeli bombardment in the vicinity, which started yesterday and continued into Wednesday morning, the hospital remains committed to fulfilling its medical and humanitarian duties to the residents of the Gaza Strip.”
Updated
India is engaged in diplomatic negotiations with Iran on the attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Houthi movement, an Indian government source told Reuters on Wednesday.
Summary of the day so far …
It has just gone 2pm in Gaza City, Tel Aviv and Beirut, 3.30pm in Tehran, and 5pm in Islamabad. Here are the headlines …
Israel claims that it has killed a Hamas member who it believes was “responsible for interrogating individuals suspected of espionage” in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said: “IAF aircraft eliminated Bilal Nofal, who was responsible for interrogating individuals suspected of carrying out espionage activities against the terrorist organisation in the southern Gaza Strip.”
Israel has killed several people in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including, it claimed, the “head of terrorist infrastructure” in the Balata camp in the Israeli-occupied city of Nablus. The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported that four Palestinians had been killed “due to the occupation’s bombardment” of Tulkarm refugee camp. It also said its ambulances were prevented from assisting at the scene of a strike near Nablus by Israeli forces. Palestinian news agency Wafa reported 85 Palestinians were detained overnight. Israel has detained about 6,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 7 October.
The Jordanian army said on Wednesday its military field hospital in the city of Khan Younis in Gaza was badly damaged as a result of Israeli shelling in the vicinity. In a statement, the army said it held Israel responsible for a “flagrant breach of international law”. 24,448 Palestinians have been killed and 61,504 have been wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Pakistan has recalled its ambassador from Iran after Iran launched airstrikes on Pakistan territory, apparently aimed at a Sunni militant group. Pakistan’s foreign ministry said two children were killed and three others were injured in what it called an “illegal” airstrike and “unprovoked violation of its airspace”. Militant group Jaish al-Adl, which has claimed bombings and kidnapped Iranian border police in the past, acknowledged the assault in a statement shared online.
António Guterres has repeated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, and a process that leads to sustained peace for Israelis and Palestinians, based on a two-state solution. Speaking at Davos, the UN secretary general said: “This is the only way to stem the suffering and prevent a spillover that could send the entire region up in flames.”
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has described the situation in Gaza as gut-wrenching, saying: “The suffering among innocent men, women and children breaks my heart.” Speaking at Davos he insisted the US had pressed Israel about its responsibilities every step of the way, meaning there were “several dogs that did not bark”. Blinken said a reformed Palestinian Authority must be part of any solution in the region, but it will need to operate with the support of Israel, not its opposition.
Relatives of Israeli hostage Kfir Bibas have this week held a first birthday celebration for the baby who was snatched on 7 October and abducted into Gaza during the Hamas attack inside southern Israel. The youngest hostage to be kidnapped would be celebrating the milestone on Thursday. In November, Hamas broadcast a video announcing the death of the baby, his brother and mother, saying they had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. But there has been no confirmation from Israeli officials, and relatives have since clung to the hope that they are not dead. About 132 hostages are still believed to be in Gaza, including at least 27 believed to have been killed.
A deal to allow the delivery of medicines to hostages in Gaza and aid into the territory has been agreed after mediation by Doha and Paris. In a statement Doha announced a deal “where medicine along with other humanitarian aid is to be delivered to civilians in Gaza … in exchange for delivering medication needed for Israeli captives in Gaza”.
American forces have destroyed four anti-ship missiles in Yemen. The US said the missiles threatened civilian and military vessels. The latest attack on Red Sea shipping saw the Houthis hit a Greek-owned cargo ship with a missile off the coast of Yemen as it headed to the Suez canal. No injuries were reported and the vessel remained navigable.
Updated
Pakistan recalls ambassador from Iran after Iranian airstrike
Pakistan has recalled its ambassador from Iran and the Iranian ambassador to Pakistan – who is at the moment visiting Iran – will not be allowed to come back, Reuters reports Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Here are some of the latest images from Gaza, Israel and the occupied West Bank sent to us over the news wires.
Relatives of Israeli hostage Kfir Bibas have this week held a first birthday celebration for the baby who was snatched on 7 October and abducted into Gaza during the Hamas attack inside southern Israel.
The youngest hostage to be kidnapped would be celebrating the milestone tomorrow. AFP reports his family are marking the occasion with a cake and candles at kibbutz Nir Oz.
In November, Hamas broadcast a video announcing the death of the baby, his brother and mother, saying they had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. But there has been no confirmation from Israeli officials, and relatives have since clung to the hope that they are not dead.
Out of the roughly 400 inhabitants of kibbutz Nir Oz, about one in four was either killed or kidnapped on 7 October. Kfir was abducted along with his four-year-old brother Ariel and their parents Yarden and Shiri Bibas.
Yossi Schneider, cousin of the baby’s mother Shiri Bibas, said they are “doing things that are related to a birthday – but the birthday kid is not here.”
The press visit to the kibbutz was organised by “Bring them home now”, a group of families of the hostages who have continued to campaign for their release after now being held in captivity for over 100 days.
Jordanian army accuses Israel of 'flagrant breach of international law' after field hospital in Gaza damaged
The Jordanian army said on Wednesday its military field hospital in the city of Khan Younis in Gaza was badly damaged as a result of Israeli shelling in the vicinity.
In a statement, the army said it held Israel responsible for a “flagrant breach of international law”.
Jordan and the United Arab Emirates set up field hospitals inside Gaza several weeks into Israel’s bombardment of the territory.
Updated
An official at Tulkarm refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has told the AFP news agency that “the camp is besieged by aircraft and heavy numbers of the Israeli army, and tanks”.
Earlier, the Palestine Red Crescent Society reported that four Palestinians had been killed “due to the occupation’s bombardment”.
Since the 7 October surprise attack inside southern Israel launched from Gaza by Hamas, an AFP tally has counted about 350 people killed by Israeli army raids and attacks by settlers inside the occupied West Bank. About 6,000 people have been detained by Israel during the same period.
Updated
Al Jazeera is carrying quotes from senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk about the deal brokered by Qatar and France to deliver medicine into the Gaza Strip, some of which is destined for Israeli hostages who have been held captive for over 100 days.
It quotes him saying that for every one box of medicine destined for hostages, 1,000 boxes for Palestinians will be included.
Al Jazeera goes on to report:
Abu Marzouk says Israeli authorities will not have the chance to inspect the shipments. He says Hamas insisted Qatar provide the medication and not France because of the European country’s support for Israel.
About 132 hostages are still believed to be in Gaza, including at least 27 believed to have been killed. Forty-five hostages are expected to receive medication under the agreement, according to the French presidency. The deliveries will go on for three months under the deal.
A senior Pakistani security official, speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to reporters, told the news agency Iran had shared no information with Pakistan prior to the strike inside its borders. Iran appears to have been targeting the Jaish al-Adl group.
The security official said Pakistan reserved the right to respond at a time and place of the country’s choosing and such a strike would be measured and in line with public expectations.
“The dangerous precedent set by Iran is destabilizing and has reciprocal implications,” the official said.
Jan Achakzai, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s Balochistan province, also condemned the attack. “Pakistan has always sought cooperation from all the countries of region – including Iran – to combat terrorism.”
“This is unacceptable and Pakistan has a right to respond to any aggression committed against its sovereignty.”
António Guterres has repeated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, and a process that leads to sustained peace for Israelis and Palestinians, based on a two-state solution.
Speaking at Davos, the UN secretary general said:
This is the only way to stem the suffering and prevent a spillover that could send the entire region up in flames.
Reuters also reports that at Davos, the UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Otto Pedersen, said the world needs a quick end to the Gaza war.
Speaking at the Word Economic Forum, Pedersen said he was extremely worried about the conflict because the “war is spreading and there have been escalations”.
Updated
Graeme Wearden is in Davos for the Guardian
Asked at Davos whether Jewish lives are more valuable than Muslim and Palestinian Christian lives, given the asymmetry in casualties in the Israel-Hamas war, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said “No. Period.”
The 7 October attack inside southern Israel killed an estimated 1,200 people. Since then, authorities in Gaza have said that nearly 25,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s military response.
Blinken said that for him, and for so many of us, what we are seeing nearly every day in Gaza is gut-wrenching, adding: “The suffering among innocent men, women and children breaks my heart.”
He insisted that the US had pressed Israel about its responsibilities every step of the way, meaning there were “several dogs that did not bark”, but added: “That in no way takes away from the tragedy we have seen and continue to see.”
Blinken said that no country would accept a repeat of the surprise 7 October Hamas attack inside southern Israel, and that it is hard to overstate the psychological impact on Israel of what happened on that day.
The biggest poison we face around the world is dehumanisation, he continued, saying “the inability to see the humanity in the other” was the issue.
We need to remove that poison, he said, which means having leaders around the world who see that, and are prepared to act on it.
US secretary of state Blinken: 'fierce urgency' to make progress on Middle East peace
My colleague Graeme Wearden is in Davos for the Guardian, and has been watching US secretary of state Antony Blinken speak:
Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, has said he feels a “fierce urgency” to make progress towards peace in the Middle East region, but that Israel needs to be integrated and feel secure, and there must also be a pathway to a Palestinian state.
In conversation with WEF founder Klaus Schwab, and commentator Thomas Friedman, Blinken said a reformed Palestinian Authority can deliver better for their people and must be part of the solution, but it will need to operate with the support of Israel, not its opposition.
Blinken said “even the most effective” Palestinian Authority will struggle if it has the active opposition of the Israeli government.
Asked whether this is the worst time to be US secretary of state, or just in the top five, Blinken argues that the US is in a “renewed position of strength” under Joe Biden.
He said Biden asked him to reengage with international partners, and that has happened. It means that when dealing with China, and Russia, the world has more convergence than before, he argues.
In the Middle East, we have a profound and gut-wrenching challenge, Blinken continued. He said of what he sees in Gaza “the suffering breaks my heart”.
He said he is hearing from nearly every country that they want the US at the table, and without US leadership, you risk being left with a vacuum, Blinken argued. He said vacuums tend to be filled by bad actors.
Updated
Pope Francis on Wednesday condemned the Iranian missile attack on the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, and urged all parties to avoid an escalation of conflicts in the Middle East.
“I express my closeness and solidarity with the victims, all civilians, of the missile attack that hit an urban area of Erbil, the capital of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan,” Reuters reports the pope said during his weekly audience at the Vatican.
“Good relations between neighbours are not built with similar actions, but with dialogue and collaboration. I ask everyone to avoid any step that fuels tension in the Middle East and other war scenarios,” he added.
Francis called for prayers for the “many victims of war”, mentioning specifically Ukraine, Gaza, Palestinian territory, and Israel.
Updated
Britain’s foreign minister, David Cameron, will meet the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and other leaders at the Word Economic Forum in Davos, the British government said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
However, Masrour Barzani, prime minister of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, has reportedly cancelled a planned meeting there with Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in protest over Iranian airstrikes.
Updated
85 Palestinians detained by Israel in occupied West Bank overnight, four killed in Tulkarm
Four Palestinians were killed in Israeli shelling in Tulkarm camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Reuters reports the Palestinian Red Crescent said in a statement.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports: “Israeli occupation forces detained 85 Palestinians, including 40 workers from the Gaza Strip, across the West Bank in a wide-scale arrest campaign last night and this morning, according to sources.”
Updated
24,448 Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since 7 October
24,448 Palestinians have been killed and 61,504 have been wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Reuters reports that the ministry, which is run by Hamas, said 163 Palestinians were killed and 350 wounded in the past 24 hours.
Associated Press is carrying some further detail on the attacks launched by Iran at targets inside Pakistan. It reports that militant group Jaish al-Adl, which seeks an independent Balochistan, acknowledged the assault in a statement shared online.
Jaish al-Adl said the attack killed two children and wounded two women and a teenage girl. Videos shared by the Baluch activist group HalVash, purportedly from the site, showed a burning building and two charred, small corpses.
A Pakistani intelligence report said the two children killed were a six-year-old girl and an 11-month-old boy. Three women were injured, aged between 28 and 35. The report also said three or four drones were fired from the Iranian side, hitting a mosque and other buildings, including a house.
Iran has long suspected Sunni-majority Pakistan of hosting insurgents, and the Jaish al-Adl group have claimed bombings and kidnapped Iranian border police in the past.
The strikes in Pakistan came less than a day after Iranian missiles hit targets in Syria and Iraq, in what have been seen as reprisals in the wake of a double suicide bombing in the city of Kerman on 3 January which killed more than 80 Iranians.
Updated
Images being sent from Gaza, Israel and Lebanon over the news wires continue to show Israeli bombardment taking place, with smoke seen rising over Khan Younis in Gaza and the village of Blida in Lebanon.
Airstrikes have continued to damage housing in Rafah, one of the areas that displaced Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to flee to.
Israel’s military has released an image which it claims shows rocket launchers at an undisclosed location inside the Gaza Strip.
Three Palestinians killed by Israeli drone strike near Nablus amid claims Red Crescent was prevented from attending scene
The Palestine Red Crescent Society claims Israeli security forces “prevented” its teams from attending to a vehicle that had been struck near Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to evacuate wounded people.
In a message posted on social media, without explicitly specifying the source of the gunfire, it also says “gunfire was directed at our teams”.
It wrote:
During the early morning, Israeli occupation forces prevented Palestine Red Crescent ambulance teams from reaching the site of the vehicle that was bombed near Balata camp in Nablus to evacuate the wounded. Gunfire was directed at our teams.
🚨During the early morning, Israeli occupation forces prevented Palestine Red Crescent ambulance teams 🚑from reaching the site of the vehicle that was bombed near Balata camp in Nablus to evacuate the wounded. Gunfire was directed at our teams.#NotATarget ❌#IHL #Nablus pic.twitter.com/Svr26Ous68
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) January 17, 2024
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that three people were killed near Nablas overnight after an Israeli drone strike. It writes:
Three Palestinians at dawn were killed in an Israeli drone strike targeting a vehicle near Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus.
Sources said that an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle near the Barada Junction near Balata camp, completely burning it and resulting immediately in the killing of three men. Israeli forces prevented medical teams from reaching the place.
The occupying Israeli forces surrounded the vehicle by several military jeeps, during which the occupation forces opened fire on Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance crews and prevented them from reaching the burning vehicle.
Wafa reports that Israel’s security forces “had previously stormed Balata camp accompanied by military vehicles, amid airstrikes and overflights by planes and drones, leading to violent confrontations between the camp’s residents and the occupation forces.”
Updated
Israel claims to have killed Hamas counter-espionage official in airstrike
Israel claims that it has killed a Hamas member who it believes was “responsible for interrogating individuals suspected of espionage” in the southern Gaza Strip.
In its latest operational update, posted to the Telegram messaging app, Israel’s military claimed:
An IAF aircraft eliminated Bilal Nofal, who was responsible for interrogating individuals suspected of carrying out espionage activities against the terrorist organisation in the southern Gaza Strip. Nofal played a role in the advancement of Hamas’ research and development processes. His elimination significantly impacts the terrorist organization’s capacity to develop and enhance its capabilities.
In the update, Israel also claims to have killed five other Hamas operatives in Khan Younis and in Sheikh Ijlin in central Gaza.
It also claims to have destroyed rocket launchers that were used from inside Gaza to attack the Israeli city of Netivot earlier in the week.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Summary of the day so far
It is 9am in Gaza, Tel Aviv and Beirut, and 10.30am in Tehran – here are some of the key events in the last day:
A deal to allow the delivery of medicines to hostages in Gaza and aid into the territory has been agreed after mediation by Doha and Paris, Qatar and Israel have announced.
Iran has launched airstrikes on Pakistan territory, apparently aimed at a Sunni militant group, in the latest sign of a wave of violence rolling across the Middle East and beyond.
American forces have destroyed four anti-ship missiles in Yemen. The US said the missiles threatened civilian and military vessels.
The attack after the latest attack on Red Sea shipping saw the Houthis hit a Greek-owned cargo ship with a missile off the coast of Yemen as it headed to the Suez canal. No injuries were reported and the vessel remained navigable.
France says it has not taken part in US-led strikes against the Houthis in Yemen because it wants to avoid a regional escalation.
The Biden administration is expected to announce plans to redesignate the Houthi rebels in Yemen as specially designated global terrorists, Associated Press reports.
Japan’s Nippon Yusen says it is joining other major shipping firms in suspending routes through the Red Sea in response to the Houthi attacks on vessels in the vital waterway.
Aid agencies have begun suspending vital operations in Yemen after the recent US and UK strikes on Houthi targets, amid warnings that further military intervention risks deepening one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
US Central Command said in a statement on Tuesday that it had seized Iranian advanced conventional weapons bound for Yemen’s Houthis on 11 January. It was the first seizure of “lethal Iranian-supplied advanced conventional weapons” to the Houthis since Houthi attacks against merchant ships began in November, the statement added.
US Navy Seals boarded a boat heading for Yemen and seized Iranian-made missile components and other weaponry bound for Houthi forces, in an operation in which two Seal commandos went missing, the US military has said.
Iraq condemned on Tuesday Iran’s “aggression” on Erbil that led to civilian casualties in residential areas, according to a statement by the country’s foreign ministry, after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they attacked Israel’s “spy headquarters” in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
A US state department spokesperson has said that an Iranian attack near Iraq’s northern city of Erbil on Monday “undermine Iraq’s stability.” “We oppose Iran’s reckless missile strikes,” Matthew Miller said, adding that the US supported “the government of Iraq and the Kurdistan regional government’s efforts to meet the aspirations of the Iraqi people.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have also claimed an attack in Syria. The group said it had fired a number of ballistic missiles at “terrorist operations” in the country – including Islamic State targets – and destroyed them. A US defence official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the US tracked the missiles, which hit in northern Iraq and northern Syria, and initial indications were that the strikes were “reckless and imprecise”.
The Israeli military said on Wednesday its forces have ‘eliminated’ a ‘terrorist cell’ during an airstrike in the Balata camp in the Israeli-occupied city of Nablus, Reuters is reporting.
The UN secretary of state, António Guterres, has posted on X a few hours ago about his concerns over the war in Gaza and the conflict expanding. He says: “The longer the conflict in Gaza continues, the greater the risk of escalation and miscalculation.” Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, posted a response blaming Iran for the regional instability.
The United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) has released its latest update on the situation in Gaza, saying: “As of 15 January, only one of the three water pipelines from Israel into Gaza is functioning. The Deir al-Balah water pipeline, with a capacity of close to 17,000 cubic metres of water per day, urgently needs repairs.”
US senators have defeated a measure, introduced by Bernie Sanders, that would have made military aid to Israel conditional on whether the Israeli government is violating human rights and international accords in its devastating war in Gaza.
The Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has met Israeli relatives of hostages held by Hamas and assured them that she will continue to use Australia’s voice to call for the immediate, unconditional and safe return of all hostages.
Updated
There have been more anti-war protests in other countries, leading to demonstrators being detained in Costa Rica and arrests in the US on Tuesday. Here are some pictures:
Updated
The Israeli military said on Wednesday its forces have ‘eliminated’ a ‘terrorist cell’ during an airstrike in the Balata camp in the Israeli-occupied city of Nablus, Reuters is reporting.
The military said in a statement it ‘eliminated Abdullah Abu-Shalal’, the ‘head of terrorist infrastructure’ of the camp, who the IDF alleges planned to carry out an imminent, large-scale terrorist attack with his cell members.
An unidentified charred body arrived at Rafidia governmental hospital in Nablus after Israeli forces bombed a vehicle near Balata camp, the Palestinian health ministry said, according to Reuters.
תשתית הטרור במחנה בלאטה שבשכם בהובלתו של עבדאללה, קיבלה מימון והכוונה מגורמים באיראן בשיתוף מפקדות הטרור ברצועת עזה ובחו"ל
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) January 17, 2024
Here’s our full report on what we know about the deal to get medicine into Gaza.
Medication is expected to start arriving on Wednesday.
In a statement to the official Qatar news agency (QNA), Doha on Tuesday announced a deal “between Israel and [Hamas], where medicine along with other humanitarian aid is to be delivered to civilians in Gaza … in exchange for delivering medication needed for Israeli captives in Gaza”.
Read more here:
Updated
France says it has not taken park in US-led strikes against the Houthis in Yemen because it wants to avoid a regional escalation.
President Emmanuel Macron made the comments at a news conference on Tuesday, saying that France’s approach in the Red Sea was defensive and Paris would stick to this stance, Reuters reports.
The US and UK have struck targets inside Yemen after attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi militia group on ships passing through the Red Sea.
The Houthis say those attacks are an effort to put pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza and that an Israeli ceasefire would immediately lead to the free flow of ships.
Updated
In Tel Aviv, anti-war protesters scuffled with Israeli police on Tuesday night, as some held up signs reading “End the siege” and “Stop the genocide”, reports Agence France-Presse.
“The occupation leads to bloodshed, and it continues incessantly. The children growing up now in Gaza are the ones who will confront us in a few years,” protester Chava Lerman told AFP.
“Civilians are getting killed by the Israeli bombings,” said fellow protester Michal Sapri. “It leads to nothing. Our hostages are still there. We’re not going to release them (through) more military power.”
The Israeli public has kept up intense pressure on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to secure the return of the hostages, with officials repeatedly saying military pressure is necessary to bring about any kind of deal.
On Tuesday, an Israeli kibbutz confirmed that two hostages whose deaths were announced by Hamas in a video had been killed in Gaza.
Updated
It’s currently 7:33am in Gaza and Tel Aviv and 9:03am in Tehran, we’re back with our blog of the Middle East crisis.
Let’s take a closer look at the fresh deal negotiated to bring medicine to the remaining hostages in Gaza, and to the territory in general.
Associated Press is reporting that France and Qatar, the Persian Gulf nation that helped mediate a previous ceasefire, said late Tuesday that they had brokered a deal between Israel and Hamas to deliver medicine to Israeli hostages in Gaza, as well as additional aid to Palestinians in the besieged territory.
France said it had been working since October on the deal, which will provide three months’ worth of medication for 45 hostages with chronic illnesses, as well as other medicines and vitamins. The medicines are expected to enter Gaza from Egypt on Wednesday.
It’s the first known agreement between the warring sides since a weeklong truce in November.
Militants took about 250 hostages during the 7 October attacks that triggered this latest war, and about 132 are still in Gaza, including at least 27 believed to have been killed.
Deliveries of medicine for Israeli hostages and Palestinian civilians are expected to start arriving in Gaza on Wednesday, Agence France-Press reports.
Summary of the day so far
It’s currently 6:11am in Gaza and Tel Aviv and 7:41am in Tehran. We’re pausing this blog for a while but first, here is a summary of the latest events of the day:
A deal to allow the delivery of medicines to hostages in Gaza and aid into the territory has been agreed after mediation by Doha and Paris, Qatar and Israel have announced.
Iran has launched airstrikes on Pakistan territory, apparently aimed at a Sunni militant group, in the latest sign of a wave of violence rolling across the Middle East and beyond.
American forces have destroyed four anti-ship missiles in Yemen. The US said the missiles threatened civilian and military vessels.
It’s after the latest attack on Red Sea shipping saw the Houthis hit a Greek-owned cargo ship with a missile off the coast of Yemen as it headed to the Suez canal. No injuries were reported and the vessel remained navigable.
The Biden administration is expected to announce plans to redesignate the Houthi rebels in Yemen as specially designated global terrorists, Associated Press reports.
Japan’s Nippon Yusen says it is joining other major shipping firms in suspending routes through the Red Sea in response to the Houthi attacks on vessels in the vital waterway.
Aid agencies have begun suspending vital operations in Yemen after the recent US and UK strikes on Houthi targets, amid warnings that further military intervention risks deepening one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
US Central Command said in a statement on Tuesday that it had seized Iranian advanced conventional weapons bound for Yemen’s Houthis on 11 January. It was the first seizure of “lethal Iranian-supplied advanced conventional weapons” to the Houthis since Houthi attacks against merchant ships began in November, the statement added.
US Navy Seals boarded a boat heading for Yemen and seized Iranian-made missile components and other weaponry bound for Houthi forces, in an operation in which two Seal commandos went missing, the US military has said.
Iraq condemned on Tuesday Iran’s “aggression” on Erbil that led to civilian casualties in residential areas, according to a statement by the country’s foreign ministry, after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they attacked Israel’s “spy headquarters” in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
A US state department spokesperson has said that an Iranian attack near Iraq’s northern city of Erbil on Monday “undermine Iraq’s stability.” “We oppose Iran’s reckless missile strikes,” Matthew Miller said, adding that the US supported “the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government’s efforts to meet the aspirations of the Iraqi people.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have also claimed an attack in Syria. The group said it had fired a number of ballistic missiles at “terrorist operations” in the country – including Islamic State targets – and destroyed them. A US defence official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the US tracked the missiles, which hit in northern Iraq and northern Syria, and initial indications were that the strikes were “reckless and imprecise”.
The UN-recognised government of Yemen has urged the UK to change its policy in Gaza and back an immediate ceasefire. The call was made by Ahmad bin Mubarak, the foreign minister of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, during a phone conversation on Tuesday with the British Middle East minister, Lord Ahmad.
The UN secretary of state António Guterres has posted on X a few hours ago about his concerns over the war in Gaza and the conflict expanding. He says “The longer the conflict in Gaza continues, the greater the risk of escalation and miscalculation.” Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan posted a response blaming Iran for the regional instability.
The United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) has released its latest update on the situation in Gaza, saying “As of 15 January, only one of the three water pipelines from Israel into Gaza is functioning. The Deir al Balah water pipeline, with a capacity of close to 17,000 cubic metres of water per day, urgently needs repairs.”
At least 24,285 Palestinians have been killed and 61,154 have been wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the health ministry in the territory said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Israeli military said on Tuesday its troops killed dozens of Palestinian militants around the town of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza and also uncovered about 100 rocket launchers. “During IDF activity in the area of Beit Lahia, the troops located approximately 100 rocket set-installations and 60 ready-to-use rockets. The troops killed dozens of terrorists during the activity,” it said.
Israel’s army says it has conducted air and artillery strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon on Tuesday.
US senators have defeated a measure, introduced by Bernie Sanders, that would have made military aid to Israel conditional on whether the Israeli government is violating human rights and international accords in its devastating war in Gaza.
The Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has met with Israeli relatives of hostages held by Hamas and assured them that she will continue to use Australia’s voice to call for the immediate, unconditional and safe return of all hostages.
The United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) has posted its latest update on the situation in Gaza.
This is what they say about the fighting by Israel and Hamas:
Intense Israeli bombardments from air, land, and sea continued across much of the Gaza Strip on 16 January, resulting in further civilian casualties and destruction. The indiscriminate firing of rockets by Palestinian armed groups from Gaza continued, striking the southern Israeli city of Netivot. Ground operations and fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups were also reported across much of Gaza.
On water access Ocha says:
As of 15 January, only one of the three water pipelines from Israel into Gaza is functioning. The Deir al Balah water pipeline, with a capacity of close to 17,000 cubic metres of water per day, urgently needs repairs.
Children in southern #Gaza are accessing water well below the recommended requirements for survival, @UNICEF warns. Only one of the three water lines from Israel is currently functioning.
— OCHA oPt (Palestine) (@ochaopt) January 17, 2024
Read the full update 👇
The UN secretary of state António Guterres has posted on X a few hours ago about his concerns over the war in Gaza and the conflict expanding. He says “The longer the conflict in Gaza continues, the greater the risk of escalation and miscalculation.”
The longer the conflict in Gaza continues, the greater the risk of escalation and miscalculation.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) January 16, 2024
We cannot see in Lebanon what we are seeing in Gaza.
And we cannot allow what has been happening in Gaza to continue.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan has posted a response where he’s blamed Iran for the regional instability:
Mr. Secretary-General, despite your cryptic words, what is happening in the Middle East didn’t erupt out of the blue. Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, under Iran’s direction, are driving the region to a point of no return.
— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) January 16, 2024
Talk to the person solely to blame for all the terror… pic.twitter.com/Ib7hZKLvVo
Israel’s army says it has conducted air and artillery strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The two have exchanged regular cross-border fire with forces since the Israel-Gaza war started.
“We are already in a regional war … even though it’s still at a low simmer,” said Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group told Agence France-Presse.
צה"ל תקף באמצעות מטוסי קרב, טנקים וארטילריה בשעות האחרונות מספר תשתיות טרור ומבנים צבאיים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בכפרים חולה, מרווחין ועייתא א-שעב שבדרום לבנון.
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) January 16, 2024
כמו כן, במהלך היום זוהו מספר שיגורים לעבר המרחבים רמות נפתלי, שושן, שתולה והר מנור. כוחות צה"ל תקפו את מקורות הירי
Let’s get more on aid agencies being forced to suspend their operations in Yemen.
A coalition of 23 aid organisations operating within the Gulf state issued a joint statement on Tuesday, warning that military escalation will further compromise their ability to deliver critical services while worsening living conditions for millions of people in Yemen.
Tuesday’s statement, released shortly after reports that another cargo ship had been struck by a missile off the coast of Yemen, read: “Following the US/UK strikes, some humanitarian organisations have been forced to suspend operations over safety and security concerns, while others assess their ability to operate.”
US senators have defeated a measure, introduced by Bernie Sanders, that would have made military aid to Israel conditional on whether the Israeli government is violating human rights and international accords in its devastating war in Gaza.
A majority of senators struck down the proposal on Tuesday evening, with 72 voting to kill the measure, and 11 supporting it. Although Sanders’ effort was easily defeated, it reflected growing tension among Democrats over US support for Israel.
There’s been a lot happening in the last couple of days – with strikes from Iran in Pakistan, Iraq and Syria – as well as more missiles from Yemen’s Houthis towards a ship in the Red Sea – and further strikes from the US in Yemen.
Meanwhile, the Israel-Gaza war continues to take place too.
For all of the main details – read our latest explainer here on what’s been going on:
US Navy Seals boarded a boat heading for Yemen and seized Iranian-made missile components and other weaponry bound for Houthi forces, in an operation in which two Seal commandos went missing, the US military has said.
US Central Command (Centcom) posted pictures of the missile parts on X, including what appeared to be the components of a complete small missile, rocket motors and guidance systems, as well as a photograph of the small cargo vessel that was allegedly carrying the arms.
The seizure followed US and UK airstrikes on Houthi positions in an effort to stop the Yemeni rebels’ attacks on shipping passing through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The incident, which Centcom said took place last Thursday, illustrated the potential for the conflict to continue to spread and draw in Iran directly, as the US and its allies seek to cut off the Houthis’ arms supplies.
Read the rest of Julian Borger’s report here:
The Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has met with Israeli relatives of hostages held by Hamas and assured them that she will continue to use Australia’s voice to call for the immediate, unconditional and safe return of all hostages.
It comes as Australia pledged a further $A21.5m in humanitarian assistance for the region, with a particular focus on citizens in Gaza, Australian Associated Press reports.
Australia has now supplied $46m in humanitarian aid since the conflict escalated after the 7 October attacks by Hamas.
Senator Wong also held talks with Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi as part of the first stop of her Middle Eastern trip, and had a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and the UN’s senior humanitarian coordinator Sigrid Kaag.
Iraq has recalled its ambassador from Iran, condemning as a “clear act of aggression” deadly missile strikes by its ally on the autonomous Kurdish region.
Iraq challenged Iran’s claim that the strikes targeted Israel’s intelligence services, Agence France-Presse reports.
It said it would lodge a complaint with the UN security council over the Iranian “attack on its sovereignty”.
Four people were killed and six wounded in the strikes on Iraqi Kurdistan, the region’s security council said.
The dead included prominent real estate magnate Peshraw Dizayee who was hit by a strike on his family home, the region’s leading party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, said.
Read the rest of our report on Iran’s strikes in Iraq here:
Updated
Japan’s Nippon Yusen says it is joining other major shipping firms in suspending routes through the Red Sea in response to the Houthi attacks on vessels in the vital waterway.
A spokesperson for Nippon Yusen told Agence France-Presse:
We have suspended navigation through the Red Sea by all ships we operate
Adding the decision was to “ensure the safety of crews.”
US and British forces have been bombing since Friday scores of targets inside Houthi-controlled Yemen in response to the attacks by the group, who say they are targeting Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea in solidarity with Gaza.
The key route between Asia and European markets normally carries about 12 percent of global maritime trade, says AFP.
The Biden administration is expected to announce plans to redesignate the Houthi rebels in Yemen as specially designated global terrorists, Associated Press reports.
The three people familiar with the decision were not authorised to comment and requested anonymity to discuss the matter ahead of the expected formal announcement, AP says.
The administration is expected to make the announcement on Wednesday, according to the US official.
Secretary of state Antony Blinken delisted the Houthis as both foreign terrorist organisations and as specially designated global terrorists in February 2021, in an effort to make it easier to get humanitarian aid into Yemen.
The re-designation is not completely unexpected. Asked during an exchange with reporters last week if he thought the Houthis are a terrorist group, President Joe Biden responded, “I think they are.”
The UN-recognised government of Yemen has urged the UK to change its policy in Gaza and back an immediate ceasefire.
The call was made by Ahmad bin Mubarak, the foreign minister of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, during a phone conversation on Tuesday with the British Middle East minister, Lord Ahmad.
He said it was imperative that a ceasefire be implemented immediately in Gaza, according to the read-out provided by the Yemeni side. The call means both sides in Yemen’s civil war – the UN-recognised government and the Houthi rebels – support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The UK says it would only support a ceasefire that is sustainable, which is defined by ministers as one reached after Hamas is no longer able to pose a security threat to Israel.
On Monday in the Commons the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, insisted no connection should be drawn between Gaza and the US-UK strikes in Yemen, but that is not a widely shared view as the Houthis say they are undertaking strikes on commercial shipping to put pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Read the rest of our Diplomatic editor’s report here:
Updated
Deal to allow delivery of medicines to hostages in Gaza and the territory
A deal to allow the delivery of medicines to hostages in Gaza and aid into the territory has been agreed after mediation by Doha and Paris, Qatar and Israel have announced.
In a statement to the official Qatar news agency (QNA), Doha announced the deal “between Israel and (Hamas), where medicine along with other humanitarian aid is to be delivered to civilians in Gaza … in exchange for delivering medication needed for Israeli captives in Gaza”, Agence France-Presse reports.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed the deal and said: “The medicines will be forwarded by Qatari representatives in the Gaza Strip to their final destination.”
The drugs are intended for 45 hostages, according to the French presidency, which said 83 were initially identified as needing medication in November, but 38 have since been released or killed.
After the medicines arrive at a hospital in the southern Gaza border town of Rafah on Wednesday, they will be received by the International Committee of the Red Cross, divided into batches and immediately transferred to the hostages.
The deliveries will go on for three months.
Prime Minister's Office Statement
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) January 16, 2024
On instruction from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and pursuant to the Director of the Mossad's agreement with Qatar on providing medicines to the Israeli hostages -
American forces have destroyed four anti-ship missiles in Yemen. The US said the missiles threatened civilian and military vessels.
These latest strikes come as attacks by the Houthis continue, despite multiple strikes against them.
It is at least the third time in less than a week that the United States has carried out strikes against the Houthis, Agence France-Presse reports, after the group took aim at merchant vessels in the vital Red Sea shipping lane. The Houthis say the attacks are in support of Palestinians in the Israel-Gaza war.
“U.S. Forces struck and destroyed four Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles prepared to launch from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen”, the US Central Command (Centcom) said in a statement.
Centcom also said the Houthis launched an anti-ship ballistic missile into international shipping lanes on Tuesday and that a Maltese-flagged bulk carrier, Zografia, reported that it was hit but remained seaworthy.
The vessel had been heading north to the Suez Canal when it was attacked, the Greek Shipping and Island Policy Ministry said.
U.S. Conducts Strikes in Yemen as Houthi Attacks Against International Shipping Continue
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 16, 2024
On Jan. 16 at approximately 1:45 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi militants launched an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen into international… pic.twitter.com/uUCs9qcBPu
Updated
Iran has launched airstrikes on Pakistan territory, apparently aimed at a Sunni militant group, in the latest sign of a wave of violence rolling across the Middle East and beyond.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said two children were killed and three others were injured in what it called an “illegal” airstrike, and summoned Tehran’s senior diplomat in Islamabad to protest against the “unprovoked violation of its airspace”.
The ministry did not give more details of the strikes, but Pakistani social media accounts said missile and drone strikes had been aimed at the Balochistan province which lies along the 1,000km border between the two countries.
In Iran, it was reported that the strikes were aimed at bases of a Sunni militant group, Jaish al-Adl, but references to the attack in Iranian media quickly disappeared.
Iran and Pakistan have long had a tense relationship, in large part because of the activities of Balochi separatists and other militant groups in the border area. However, this would mark a significant escalation on the territory of its nuclear-armed neighbour.
Read the rest of our world affairs editor’s report here:
Updated
Welcome and opening summary
Hello and welcome to our latest blog on the Middle East crisis, it’s 2:39am in Gaza and Tel Aviv and 4:09am in Tehran. I’m Reged Ahmad and I’ll be with you for the next while.
Iran has launched airstrikes in Pakistan on what it described as bases for a Sunni militant group, potentially further raising tensions in region already inflamed by Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.
The US also launched a new strike against the Yemen-based Houthis on Tuesday, hitting anti-ship missiles in the third assault on the group in recent days, the US military said. That was after the Houthis claimed responsibility for a missile attack against the Malta-flagged bulk carrier Zografia, also on Tuesday, in the Red Sea.
The ship was hit, but no one was injured. The vessel had been heading north to the Suez Canal when it was attacked, the Greek Shipping and Island Policy Ministry said.
We’ll have more on that in a moment but first, here’s a summary of the latest developments:
Aid agencies have begun suspending vital operations in Yemen after the recent US and UK strikes on Houthi targets, amid warnings that further military intervention risks deepening one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
US Central Command said in a statement on Tuesday that it had seized Iranian advanced conventional weapons bound for Yemen’s Houthis on 11 January. It was the first seizure of “lethal Iranian-supplied advanced conventional weapons” to the Houthis since Houthi attacks against merchant ships began in November, the statement added.
Iraq condemned on Tuesday Iran’s “aggression” on Erbil that led to civilian casualties in residential areas, according to a statement by the country’s foreign ministry, after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they attacked Israel’s “spy headquarters” in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
A US state department spokesperson has said that an Iranian attack near Iraq’s northern city of Erbil on Monday “undermine Iraq’s stability.” “We oppose Iran’s reckless missile strikes,” Matthew Miller said, adding that the US supported “the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government’s efforts to meet the aspirations of the Iraqi people.”
France has accused Iran of violating Iraq’s sovereignty after the strikes, Reuters reported.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have also claimed an attack in Syria. The group said it had fired a number of ballistic missiles at “terrorist operations” in the country – including Islamic State targets – and destroyed them. A US defence official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the US tracked the missiles, which hit in northern Iraq and northern Syria, and initial indications were that the strikes were “reckless and imprecise”.
Turkey said it had destroyed 23 targets in overnight airstrikes on Kurdish militants in northern Iraq and Syria, a further escalation of conflict south of its border.
At least 24,285 Palestinians have been killed and 61,154 have been wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the health ministry in the territory said in a statement on Tuesday. In the past 24 hours, 158 Palestinians were killed and 320 wounded, the ministry added.
Arab countries are not keen to get involved in the rebuilding of Gaza if the Palestinian enclave will be “levelled” again in a few years, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Tuesday, adding that the Palestinian statehood question needed to be addressed.
The EU has sanctioned the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and added him to the group’s terrorist list. As a result, Sinouar is subject to the freezing of his funds and other financial assets in EU member states. The sanctions also prohibit EU operators from making funds or economic resources available to him.
A number of European states, “concerned” Arab countries and the United States are working on a concept for a unified Palestinian government that could attract reconstruction funds, Norway’s foreign minister said in an interview in Davos. Specific countries were not named.
Requiring Israel to agree to a time-bound, mandatory path to a two-state solution is key to future stability in Israel and the Palestinian territories, Qatar’s prime minister said on Tuesday during the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos.
The Israeli military said on Tuesday its troops killed dozens of Palestinian militants around the town of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza and also uncovered about 100 rocket launchers. “During IDF activity in the area of Beit Lahia, the troops located approximately 100 rocket set-installations and 60 ready-to-use rockets. The troops killed dozens of terrorists during the activity,” it said.
Aid officials in Gaza believe that pockets of famine already exist in the territory, with parents sacrificing remaining food for their children, an apple costing $8 and fuel for cooking almost impossible to find, the Guardian’s Jason Burke reported. UN agencies have said that Gaza urgently needs more humanitarian assistance as Palestinian authorities reported that the death toll in the territory during the Israeli offensive there had risen to more than 24,000.
Egyptian authorities reportedly thwarted a drug smuggling attempt on the Egyptian-Israeli border on Monday. Two security sources told the Reuters news agency that there was an exchange of gunfire close to a crossing where aid deliveries for Gaza were being inspected. During the incident, six drug smugglers were arrested, the sources said.
