New US strikes on Houthis as Iran warns attacks won't stop until Gaza war ends. Catch up here
From CNN staff
The US military carried out another round of strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, US officials said, marking the fourth time the US has struck the Iran-backed rebel group in less than a week.
Hours earlier, the Houthis struck a US-owned and operated vessel for the second time this week.
The latest US strikes come amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. Iran's top diplomat has warned that attacks by Tehran-backed groups in the region won't stop until Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza ends, while Israel's military chief said the likelihood of war along the border with Lebanon is now "much higher" than in recent times.
Meanwhile, Iran is embroiled in an escalating spat with its southeastern neighbor Pakistan, which targeted locations inside Iran a day after deadly Iranian strikes on separatists in Pakistani territory. Read more about that conflict here.
Here's what else you should know:
Inside Gaza: More than 24,400 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health said. Gazans are living through what is now the longest sustained internet disruption in the enclave since the start of the war, surpassing 120 hours, according to monitoring site Netblocks.
Military campaign: Israeli forces appear to have withdrawn from the area around the largest hospital in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, after their approach toward the compound sparked panic among the thousands sheltering there. A cemetery in Khan Younis was severely damaged during a period when Israel's military said it conducted operations in the area, according to video geolocated by CNN.
Medicine deal:Medicine for hostages has entered Gaza, Qatar said, after the Gulf nation brokered a deal between Israel and Hamas to provide medication to Israeli captives and Palestinians. An Israeli military spokesperson said Israel does "not have the ability to guarantee" the medicine will reach the captives, but they would work with Qatar to ensure it does.
Hostages latest: US national security adviser Jake Sullivan will meet Thursday with families of the Americans believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas, a White House official told CNN. The US believes six Americans remain in captivity in Gaza. Meanwhile, a freed Israeli hostage told CNN she was held in a Gaza hospital with dozens of others, in an account that potentially backs up US and Israeli assessments. Israel said Wednesday that 253 people were taken hostage to Gaza on October 7, announcing a firm number for the first time. Israel now believes 132 hostages are still being held in the strip, 105 of whom are alive.
West Bank strike: At least three people were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a car in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah. Israeli security forces said they eliminated a terrorist cell in "a precise airstrike."
16 min ago
Medicine for Israeli hostages and Palestinians arrives in Gaza under deal struck by Qatar
From CNN's Helen Regan and Jennifer Hauser
Members of the Egyptian Red Crescent and civil organizations work to mobilize aid in the Egyptian Red Crescent warehouse in preparation for its entry into the Gaza Strip after the Security Council's decision to increase the entry of aid to Gaza on January 17 in Rafah, Egypt. Ali Moustafa/Getty Images
Medicine for Israeli hostages and Palestinians has entered Gaza, Qatar said Wednesday, after the Gulf nation brokered a deal between Israel and Hamas to provide vital medication to the war-torn enclave.
The agreement mediated by Qatar Tuesday will see medication delivered to Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for medicine and humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians.
“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,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Dr. Majed Al-Ansari wrote on X.
“Qatar, along with its regional and international partners, continues mediation efforts at the political and humanitarian levels.”
The medication left Doha on Wednesday and headed to Egypt before being transported to Gaza, the ministry previously said.
Osama Hamdan, a Lebanon-based Hamas official, said the agreement was dependent on there being enough medication for Palestinians in Gaza in addition to the Israeli hostages.
Hamas has stipulated that for every box of medication given to the hostages, Palestinians in Gaza must receive 1,000 boxes.
Freed Israeli hostage says she was held in Gaza hospital with dozens of others
From CNN's Tara John and Jennifer Griffiths
Sharon Aloni Cunio speaks with CNN's Anderson Cooper on January 17. CNN
It has been more than 50 days since Hamas militants released Sharon Aloni Cunio and her twin 3-year-old daughters, but she remains haunted by her time as a hostage — most of which she says was spent in a Gaza hospital — and longs for her husband who remains captive in the Palestinian enclave.
“I’m both mother and a father right now,” she told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Wednesday. Though when her children are out of sight, she watches videos and listens to voicemails of her husband, David Cunio, “to feel connected to him — but I’m pretty much depressed.”
Aloni Cunio’s family were among the more than 250 people kidnapped on October 7 and taken to Gaza during the Hamas attacks on Israel that killed more than 1,200 people.
She told Cooper that while her family had become separated in the chaos of the attacks, the four of them had been reunited in captivity when militants hid them alongside dozens of other hostages being held at Nasser hospital in southern Gaza.
In an account that potentially backs up US and Israeli assessments that hospitals were used to shelter hostages, Aloni Cunio said there were three rooms at Nasser hospital each holding between 10 and 12 captives and that they were tended to by a male nurse every other day.
“He knew who we are, he went along with it,” she said.
US carries out another round of strikes against Houthis in Yemen, officials say
From CNN's Haley Britzky and Oren Liebermann
The United States carried out another round of strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, according to two US officials, marking the fourth time the US has struck the Iran-backed rebel group in less than a week.
The US used Tomahawk missiles to target approximately 14 Houthi missile launchers used to attack international shipping lanes, one of the officials said. The Tomahawk missiles were launched from US Navy surface vessels and the USS Florida, a guided missile submarine, another official said.
The US strikes are the latest in a series of actions against the Houthis, following significant US-led strikes last week with the UK, and support from a handful of other allies.
They come amid heightened tensions in the Middle East and fears that the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza could further spill out into the region.
Hours earlier, the Houthis struck a US-owned and operated vessel for the second time this week.
The Iran-backed rebel group used a one-way attack drone to target the M/V Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden, according to US Central Command. No one was injured on board the commercial vessel, Central Command said in a statement. The ship suffered some damage but was able to continue on its way.
IDF says it will work with Qatar, but can't guarantee medicine reaches Israeli hostages
From CNN staff
Israel does "not have the ability to guarantee" medicine will reach hostages in Gaza, a military spokesperson said Wednesday, after Qatar brokered a deal between Israel and Hamas to deliver medication to the captives and to Palestinians.
Asked how the medicine would reach the hostages, IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel would work with Qatar to ensure it gets to those held captive.
“What is important is that this effort happens, and currently the trucks are being checked. They will finish the checks, they will get in (to Gaza) and we need to do everything we can to ensure that the medications will indeed reach where they need to go,” Hagari said.
The agreement says that for every box of medication given to Israeli hostages, 1,000 boxes of medication must be provided for Palestinians in Gaza.
39 min ago
Likelihood of Lebanon border war has risen, Israeli military chief says
From CNN's Amir Tal and Jen Deaton
Isael's military chief on Wednesday said the likelihood of war on the country's northern border with Lebanon is now "much higher" than in recent times.
Israeli Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi said his country is increasing its readiness for "fighting in Lebanon," during a visit to a reservists' exercise near the border.
"I don't know when the war in the north is, I can tell you that the likelihood of it happening in the coming months is much higher than it was in the past," Halevi said.
Attaining Israel's goal of returning residents who have fled amid Israel-Hezbollah clashes "must come through a very significant change," he added.
And much had been learned from the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza, he said.
"We have a lot of lessons from the fighting in Gaza, many of which are very relevant to fighting in Lebanon, and there are some that must be adapted," the military chief said.
4 hr 45 min ago
Biden administration re-designates Houthis as specially designated global terrorists
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
US President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday re-designated the Houthis as a specially designated global terrorist (SDGT) entity amid continued attacks by the Yemen-based militia.
Administration officials said the designation is aimed at deterring the Houthis from their ongoing aggression in the Red Sea. It is the latest in a series of US actions targeting the Iranian-backed group, and comes as the specter of a wider regional war in the Middle East looms large amid Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.
“These attacks are a clear example of terrorism and a violation of international law and a major threat to lives, global commerce, and they jeopardize the delivery of humanitarian assistance,” a US senior administration official said in a call with reporters Tuesday.
Mohammad Abdul Salam, the official spokesperson for the Houthis, said the group had anticipated the designation, which he described as being driven by political motives in a call with Al-Jazeera on Wednesday.
The Houthis said they used the attacks to try and garner "leverage" to halt the war in Gaza, underscoring that the US designation "would not weaken" their "unwavering support" for the Palestinian cause.
Iran says attacks by its allies won't stop until Israel's war in Gaza ends
From CNN's Tamara Qiblawi
Attacks by Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East won’t stop until Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza ends, Tehran’s top diplomat warned on Wednesday, as tensions across the region threaten to spiral into wider conflict.
“If the genocide in Gaza stops, then it will lead to the end of other crises and attacks in the region,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday.
Abdollahian’s comments echo the stated objectives of individual armed groups in Iran’s network of influence.
Since Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel and the Israeli offensive in Gaza that followed, the militant group Hezbollah has engaged in daily confrontations with Israeli forces on the Lebanon-Israel border.
Houthi rebels have launched a series of attacks on commercial ships and Western military vessels in the Red Sea, a major artery for international trade. And Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria have launched dozens of attacks aimed at US military positions in those countries, leading to a number of close calls.
The US military carried out another round of strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, US officials said, marking the fourth time the US has struck the Iran-backed rebel group in less than a week.
Attacks by Iran-backed groups in the Middle East won't stop until Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza ends, Tehran’s top diplomat warned, as regional tensions threaten to spiral into wider conflict.
Israel's military chief said the likelihood of war along the border with Lebanon is now "much higher" than in recent times.
Medicine for Israeli hostages and Palestinians has entered Gaza, Qatar said, after the Gulf nation brokered a deal between Israel and Hamas to provide vital medication to the war-torn enclave.
The US military carried out another round of strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, US officials said, marking the fourth time the US has struck the Iran-backed rebel group in less than a week.
Hours earlier, the Houthis struck a US-owned and operated vessel for the second time this week.
The latest US strikes come amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. Iran's top diplomat has warned that attacks by Tehran-backed groups in the region won't stop until Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza ends, while Israel's military chief said the likelihood of war along the border with Lebanon is now "much higher" than in recent times.
Meanwhile, Iran is embroiled in an escalating spat with its southeastern neighbor Pakistan, which targeted locations inside Iran a day after deadly Iranian strikes on separatists in Pakistani territory. Read more about that conflict here.
Here's what else you should know:
Inside Gaza: More than 24,400 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health said. Gazans are living through what is now the longest sustained internet disruption in the enclave since the start of the war, surpassing 120 hours, according to monitoring site Netblocks.
Military campaign: Israeli forces appear to have withdrawn from the area around the largest hospital in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, after their approach toward the compound sparked panic among the thousands sheltering there. A cemetery in Khan Younis was severely damaged during a period when Israel's military said it conducted operations in the area, according to video geolocated by CNN.
Medicine deal:Medicine for hostages has entered Gaza, Qatar said, after the Gulf nation brokered a deal between Israel and Hamas to provide medication to Israeli captives and Palestinians. An Israeli military spokesperson said Israel does "not have the ability to guarantee" the medicine will reach the captives, but they would work with Qatar to ensure it does.
Hostages latest: US national security adviser Jake Sullivan will meet Thursday with families of the Americans believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas, a White House official told CNN. The US believes six Americans remain in captivity in Gaza. Meanwhile, a freed Israeli hostage told CNN she was held in a Gaza hospital with dozens of others, in an account that potentially backs up US and Israeli assessments. Israel said Wednesday that 253 people were taken hostage to Gaza on October 7, announcing a firm number for the first time. Israel now believes 132 hostages are still being held in the strip, 105 of whom are alive.
West Bank strike: At least three people were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a car in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah. Israeli security forces said they eliminated a terrorist cell in "a precise airstrike."
Members of the Egyptian Red Crescent and civil organizations work to mobilize aid in the Egyptian Red Crescent warehouse in preparation for its entry into the Gaza Strip after the Security Council's decision to increase the entry of aid to Gaza on January 17 in Rafah, Egypt. Ali Moustafa/Getty Images
Medicine for Israeli hostages and Palestinians has entered Gaza, Qatar said Wednesday, after the Gulf nation brokered a deal between Israel and Hamas to provide vital medication to the war-torn enclave.
The agreement mediated by Qatar Tuesday will see medication delivered to Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for medicine and humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians.
“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,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Dr. Majed Al-Ansari wrote on X.
“Qatar, along with its regional and international partners, continues mediation efforts at the political and humanitarian levels.”
The medication left Doha on Wednesday and headed to Egypt before being transported to Gaza, the ministry previously said.
Osama Hamdan, a Lebanon-based Hamas official, said the agreement was dependent on there being enough medication for Palestinians in Gaza in addition to the Israeli hostages.
Hamas has stipulated that for every box of medication given to the hostages, Palestinians in Gaza must receive 1,000 boxes.
Sharon Aloni Cunio speaks with CNN's Anderson Cooper on January 17. CNN
It has been more than 50 days since Hamas militants released Sharon Aloni Cunio and her twin 3-year-old daughters, but she remains haunted by her time as a hostage — most of which she says was spent in a Gaza hospital — and longs for her husband who remains captive in the Palestinian enclave.
“I’m both mother and a father right now,” she told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Wednesday. Though when her children are out of sight, she watches videos and listens to voicemails of her husband, David Cunio, “to feel connected to him — but I’m pretty much depressed.”
Aloni Cunio’s family were among the more than 250 people kidnapped on October 7 and taken to Gaza during the Hamas attacks on Israel that killed more than 1,200 people.
She told Cooper that while her family had become separated in the chaos of the attacks, the four of them had been reunited in captivity when militants hid them alongside dozens of other hostages being held at Nasser hospital in southern Gaza.
In an account that potentially backs up US and Israeli assessments that hospitals were used to shelter hostages, Aloni Cunio said there were three rooms at Nasser hospital each holding between 10 and 12 captives and that they were tended to by a male nurse every other day.
“He knew who we are, he went along with it,” she said.
The United States carried out another round of strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, according to two US officials, marking the fourth time the US has struck the Iran-backed rebel group in less than a week.
The US used Tomahawk missiles to target approximately 14 Houthi missile launchers used to attack international shipping lanes, one of the officials said. The Tomahawk missiles were launched from US Navy surface vessels and the USS Florida, a guided missile submarine, another official said.
The US strikes are the latest in a series of actions against the Houthis, following significant US-led strikes last week with the UK, and support from a handful of other allies.
They come amid heightened tensions in the Middle East and fears that the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza could further spill out into the region.
Hours earlier, the Houthis struck a US-owned and operated vessel for the second time this week.
The Iran-backed rebel group used a one-way attack drone to target the M/V Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden, according to US Central Command. No one was injured on board the commercial vessel, Central Command said in a statement. The ship suffered some damage but was able to continue on its way.
Israel does "not have the ability to guarantee" medicine will reach hostages in Gaza, a military spokesperson said Wednesday, after Qatar brokered a deal between Israel and Hamas to deliver medication to the captives and to Palestinians.
Asked how the medicine would reach the hostages, IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel would work with Qatar to ensure it gets to those held captive.
“What is important is that this effort happens, and currently the trucks are being checked. They will finish the checks, they will get in (to Gaza) and we need to do everything we can to ensure that the medications will indeed reach where they need to go,” Hagari said.
The agreement says that for every box of medication given to Israeli hostages, 1,000 boxes of medication must be provided for Palestinians in Gaza.
Isael's military chief on Wednesday said the likelihood of war on the country's northern border with Lebanon is now "much higher" than in recent times.
Israeli Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi said his country is increasing its readiness for "fighting in Lebanon," during a visit to a reservists' exercise near the border.
"I don't know when the war in the north is, I can tell you that the likelihood of it happening in the coming months is much higher than it was in the past," Halevi said.
Attaining Israel's goal of returning residents who have fled amid Israel-Hezbollah clashes "must come through a very significant change," he added.
And much had been learned from the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza, he said.
"We have a lot of lessons from the fighting in Gaza, many of which are very relevant to fighting in Lebanon, and there are some that must be adapted," the military chief said.
US President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday re-designated the Houthis as a specially designated global terrorist (SDGT) entity amid continued attacks by the Yemen-based militia.
Administration officials said the designation is aimed at deterring the Houthis from their ongoing aggression in the Red Sea. It is the latest in a series of US actions targeting the Iranian-backed group, and comes as the specter of a wider regional war in the Middle East looms large amid Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.
“These attacks are a clear example of terrorism and a violation of international law and a major threat to lives, global commerce, and they jeopardize the delivery of humanitarian assistance,” a US senior administration official said in a call with reporters Tuesday.
Mohammad Abdul Salam, the official spokesperson for the Houthis, said the group had anticipated the designation, which he described as being driven by political motives in a call with Al-Jazeera on Wednesday.
The Houthis said they used the attacks to try and garner "leverage" to halt the war in Gaza, underscoring that the US designation "would not weaken" their "unwavering support" for the Palestinian cause.
Attacks by Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East won’t stop until Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza ends, Tehran’s top diplomat warned on Wednesday, as tensions across the region threaten to spiral into wider conflict.
“If the genocide in Gaza stops, then it will lead to the end of other crises and attacks in the region,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday.
Abdollahian’s comments echo the stated objectives of individual armed groups in Iran’s network of influence.
Since Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel and the Israeli offensive in Gaza that followed, the militant group Hezbollah has engaged in daily confrontations with Israeli forces on the Lebanon-Israel border.
Houthi rebels have launched a series of attacks on commercial ships and Western military vessels in the Red Sea, a major artery for international trade. And Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria have launched dozens of attacks aimed at US military positions in those countries, leading to a number of close calls.
