By Andrew Raine and Brad Lendon, CNN
From CNN's Kareem El Damanhoury; Previous reporting from CNN's Mary Kay Mallonee
The Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV is reporting that two air strikes have hit the Yemeni governorate of Hodeidah on the Red Sea.
The statement Saturday morning comes just a few hours after the United States said it had struck and destroyed a Houthi anti-ship missile that was aimed into the Red Sea and prepared to launch.
Earlier on Friday, the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen claimed responsibility for a missile attack that targeted the Marlin Luanda oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden, setting it on fire.
From CNN staff
An oil tanker went up in flames in the Gulf of Aden after being hit by a missile fired by the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group Friday.
The Houthis say they are retaliating for recent strikes on their infrastructure in Yemen by the US and UK militaries. Those attacks have been aimed at stopping the Houthis from disrupting global shipping in the region.
It all stems from Israel's ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza: The Houthis say their actions are aimed at pressuring Israel to stop its ground offensive and widespread bombardment of the Palestinian enclave.
The US sent a destroyer — which had itself been the target of Houthi fire Friday, according to US Central Command — to respond to the commercial ship's distress call.
It's just the latest example of flaring tensions in the Middle East, where world leaders are trying to contain the ripple effects of the war in Gaza.
Here's what else to know today:
Allegations against UN workers in Gaza: Israel's Foreign Ministry said it expects the main United Nations relief agency in Gaza to conduct an urgent internal investigation after it fired staff members allegedly involved in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack against Israel.
Israel has shared all the information it has about the 12 staffers at the center of the stunning allegations with both the US and UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), an Israeli official told CNN Friday.
The head of the UNRWA had previously vowed to probe the claims. The allegations have jeopardized the group's ability to offer desperately needed humanitarian aid in the enclave.
Growing pressure to free hostages: There are no "imminent developments" on an agreement to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza, the US says, even as it orchestrates a flurry of diplomatic efforts to reach a deal.
The White House coordinator for the Middle East wrapped up meetings in the region Friday, while CIA Director Bill Burns is set to meet in the coming days with Israel and Egypt’s intelligence chiefs and the Qatari prime minister to discuss a deal.
Hamas, meanwhile, released a heavily edited video showing three female hostages, in an apparent attempt to ramp up pressure on Israeli leaders.
Deteriorating conditions for Gaza medical workers: Vital medical services "have collapsed" at Nasser Hospital, the largest functioning hospital in the Gaza Strip, according to Doctors Without Borders. Intense fighting around the hospital has made it perilous to resupply the medical center.
Fewer than half of Gaza's hospitals are still partially functioning, the UN said Thursday. Those that remain open face shortages of staff, basic medical supplies, fuel, food and drinking water.
Today's ruling by the UN's top court: The UN secretary-general said he hopes Israel will comply with today's order from the International Court of Justice, which called on the country to prevent a genocide in Gaza, but stopped short of calling for a ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the ruling as a rejection of what he called "discrimination" against his country, while the Palestinian Authority and South Africa said it represented a victory for human rights.
From CNN's Kareem El Damanhoury, Niamh Kennedy and Caroline Faraj
Vital medical services "have collapsed" at Nasser Hospital, which is the largest functioning hospital in the Gaza Strip, according to Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
"The [Nasser] hospital’s surgical capacity is now almost non-existent, and the handful of medical staff remaining in the hospital must contend with very low supplies that are insufficient to handle mass casualty events — large influxes of wounded people," MSF said in a statement on Friday, adding that at least one patient died on Wednesday because there was no orthopedic surgeon available.
The World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said access to resupply the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis "remains challenging" due to intense fighting in the vicinity.
"[H]undreds of patients and health workers have fled," he said in a statement on Friday. "Currently 350 patients and 5000 displaced people remain at the hospital."
Earlier on Friday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said “fragments of shrapnel” were going through the walls of their headquarters at the Al-Amal Hospital building in Khan Younis, which the aid agency said was surrounded by Israeli tanks.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Hamas was operating from inside the Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals. CNN cannot independently verify those claims.
CNN's Celine Alkhaldi and Abeer Salman contributed to this report.
From CNN's Kareem El Damanhoury
The Marlin Luanda oil tanker is on fire in the Gulf of Aden after it was struck by a missile, the commodities group Trafigura said on Friday.
"Earlier on January 26, the Marlin Luanda, a petroleum products tanker vessel operated on behalf of Trafigura, was struck by a missile in the Gulf of Aden after transiting the Red Sea," the statement said. "Firefighting equipment on board is being deployed to suppress and control the fire caused in one cargo tank on the starboard side."
Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in a statement they fired missiles toward the "British oil tanker" in response to the "American-British aggression against our country (Yemen)" and in support of the Palestinian people.
Trafigura, which has offices in Britain, said it is monitoring the situation and that military ships in the region are headed to provide assistance.
A US destroyer, the USS Carney, is among the vessels responding to the distress call, according to a US official. The Carney shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Houthis toward the warship earlier Friday, according to US Central Command.
The British government has yet to comment on the attack.
CNN's Oren Liebermann and Haley Britzky contributed to this report.
From CNN's Hira Humayun
A new video released by Hamas' militant wing, Al Qassam Brigades, shows three female Israeli hostages in an apparent attempt to ramp up pressure on Israeli leaders amid reports of a hostage deal being on the table.
The video, released on Telegram, opens with an animation of an hourglass with the three women's pictures on it, and text reading, "Time is running out, more than 107 days have passed, before it is too late." Then, there are heavily edited clips of each of the three hostages speaking.
Nineteen-year-old soldiers Karina Ariev and Daniel Gilboa, and 30-year-old Doron Steinbrecher call on the Israeli government for their release and are likely speaking under duress.
This latest video, like previous hostage videos from the militant group, is highly produced and edited with jump cuts connecting soundbites from the hostages together. The videos also include dramatized sound effects, transitions and graphics — an example of Hamas' tactics involving using hostages as leverage and taunting the captives' families, in what the Israeli military has previously referred to as "psychological torment."
CNN is not airing the video, and it is not immediately possible to verify when and where it was filmed.
Analysis from CNN's Nadeen Ebrahim and Abbas Al Lawati
A historic ruling by the United Nations’ top court in a genocide case against Israel on Friday was welcomed by the three main parties it involved: Israel, South Africa and the Palestinians. But at the same time, no one got what they asked for.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague, the Netherlands, ordered Israel to “take all measures” to prevent genocide in Gaza after South Africa accused Israel of violating international laws on genocide in its war in the territory.
ICJ ruling: It rejected Israel’s request for the case to be thrown out, but it also stopped short of ordering Israel to halt the war as South Africa has asked.
“I would have wanted a ceasefire,” said South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor after the ruling in The Hague. She said that she was still satisfied with the outcome.
Many Israelis hailed the ruling on Friday as a win for the Jewish state. Eylon Levy, an Israeli government spokesperson, said the court “dismissed (South Africa’s) ridiculous demand to tell Israel to stop defending its people and fighting for the hostages.” Avi Mayer, the former editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, called it “a devastating blow to those accusing the Jewish state of ‘genocide.’”
Shelly Aviv Yeini, head of the international law department at Israel’s Haifa University, called the ruling an "expected outcome, and something that Israel will be able to comply with." She said Israel would have “struggled to live” with a ceasefire order that doesn’t guarantee the return of the captives.
From CNN's Kevin Liptak and Alex Marquardt
Efforts to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza and broker a prolonged pause in fighting are at an important juncture as US President Joe Biden deploys his point person on hostage talks to Europe for multiparty talks on the contours of a possible agreement.
CIA Director Bill Burns’ meetings over the coming days with the Israeli and Egyptian intelligence chiefs and the Qatari prime minister are a sign of ongoing progress as the White House presses for a deal.
Whether they prove decisive in striking an agreement remains to be seen, and officials voiced caution that discussions so far have been volatile, and that hurdles remain in coming to a deal that all sides can agree on.
The talks are the latest in a spate of recent diplomatic efforts to free the more than 100 remaining hostages while moving toward a more prolonged cessation of hostilities. The flurry of activity amounts to the most intensive effort in months to strike an agreement that could significantly alter the trajectory of the war in Gaza.
US officials are now hopeful for a much longer cessation in the fighting, believing it could provide space for more humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza as well as continued discussions about the future of Israel’s campaign against Hamas and the future of Gaza.
The CIA declined to comment on Burns' travel.
Read more about the efforts and obstacles.
CNN’s Katie Bo Lillis contributed reporting.
From CNN’s Celine Alkhaldi and Abeer Salman
An Israeli military siege on hospitals in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis is now in its fifth day, said Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesperson for the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry. The Israel Defense Forces said Friday their intelligence indicated that "Hamas terrorists" were operating from inside the Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals.
Here's the situation on the ground:
Al-Amal Hospital: “Fragments of shrapnel” are going through the walls of the Al-Amal Hospital building, which is surrounded by Israeli tanks, according to the Palestine Red Crescent, the aid agency that is also headquartered at the hospital. A house just outside the eastern gate of the Al-Amal hospital was targeted by the Israeli military, PRCS said, causing “extensive material damage” to the hospital building.
Nasser Hospital: Most doctors have left the facility — only 12 surgeons and some other medical staff remain, Dr. Ahmad Moghrabi said in a video statement from the hospital. “What is going on at the hospital is a real horror. There is shelling all around, gunshot sounds,” he said. It has completely run out of food, anesthetics and painkillers, the Health Ministry spokesperson Qudra said. There are 150 health workers, 350 patients and hundreds of displaced people there now, he added.
What footage shows: In a video obtained and geolocated by CNN, several people — some injured — are carrying their belongings and appear to be scrambling to leave the premises of Nasser Hospital, fearing an imminent attack after the evacuation order, which was issued by the Israeli army on Friday. The calls for evacuation included residents of several neighborhoods west of the city of Khan Younis. They were asked to go to the nearby coastal area of Al-Mawasi.
What eyewitnesses say: Witnesses in Khan Younis said they were shot at whenever they tried moving locations. Mohammaed El Helo, a journalist in Khan Younis, said Friday in a video obtained by CNN that the Israeli military is “hitting civilians directly and in a systemic way as they cross the safe corridor.” El Helo is seen running in the video, carrying a bleeding man on his shoulders. Around him are hundreds of people also running and searching for safety. El Helo said Israeli forces “don’t distinguish between one and another. They target everybody.”
What the IDF says: The IDF has not responded to CNN’s request for comment on the claims made by health officials and witnesses in Khan Younis, including allegations they have shot at civilians. In a statement Friday, the IDF said it is carrying out “precise operations” against Hamas in Khan Younis, and that it is liaising with hospital directors in Khan Younis to ensure the hospitals remain operational.
From CNN’s Jennifer Hansler
The US State Department "has temporarily paused additional funding" to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East amid allegations that some of the UN agency’s employees were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel, spokesperson Matt Miller announced Friday.
“Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on January 25 to emphasize the necessity of a thorough and swift investigation of this matter,” Miller said in a statement.
“We welcome the decision to conduct such an investigation and Secretary General Guterres’ pledge to take decisive action to respond, should the allegations prove accurate,” he continued.
Miller said the US has contacted the Israeli government for more information about the allegations and has briefed members of Congress. The department also welcomed “the UN’s announcement of a ‘comprehensive and independent’ review of UNRWA,” Miller said.
“UNRWA plays a critical role in providing lifesaving assistance to Palestinians, including essential food, medicine, shelter, and other vital humanitarian support,” he said. “Their work has saved lives, and it is important that UNRWA address these allegations and take any appropriate corrective measures, including reviewing its existing policies and procedures.”
Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant thanked the US for holding the UN agency "accountable," and said "major changes" need to take place now to ensure that "international efforts, funds, and humanitarian initiatives" do not bolster Hamas.
CNN's Lauren Iszo and Niamh Kennedy contributed reporting to this post.
The Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV is reporting that two air strikes have hit the Yemeni governorate of Hodeidah on the Red Sea.
The statement Saturday morning comes just a few hours after the United States said it had struck and destroyed a Houthi anti-ship missile that was aimed into the Red Sea and prepared to launch.
Earlier on Friday, the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen claimed responsibility for a missile attack that targeted the Marlin Luanda oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden, setting it on fire.
An oil tanker went up in flames in the Gulf of Aden after being hit by a missile fired by the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group Friday.
The Houthis say they are retaliating for recent strikes on their infrastructure in Yemen by the US and UK militaries. Those attacks have been aimed at stopping the Houthis from disrupting global shipping in the region.
It all stems from Israel's ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza: The Houthis say their actions are aimed at pressuring Israel to stop its ground offensive and widespread bombardment of the Palestinian enclave.
The US sent a destroyer — which had itself been the target of Houthi fire Friday, according to US Central Command — to respond to the commercial ship's distress call.
It's just the latest example of flaring tensions in the Middle East, where world leaders are trying to contain the ripple effects of the war in Gaza.
Here's what else to know today:
Allegations against UN workers in Gaza: Israel's Foreign Ministry said it expects the main United Nations relief agency in Gaza to conduct an urgent internal investigation after it fired staff members allegedly involved in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack against Israel.
Israel has shared all the information it has about the 12 staffers at the center of the stunning allegations with both the US and UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), an Israeli official told CNN Friday.
The head of the UNRWA had previously vowed to probe the claims. The allegations have jeopardized the group's ability to offer desperately needed humanitarian aid in the enclave.
Growing pressure to free hostages: There are no "imminent developments" on an agreement to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza, the US says, even as it orchestrates a flurry of diplomatic efforts to reach a deal.
The White House coordinator for the Middle East wrapped up meetings in the region Friday, while CIA Director Bill Burns is set to meet in the coming days with Israel and Egypt’s intelligence chiefs and the Qatari prime minister to discuss a deal.
Hamas, meanwhile, released a heavily edited video showing three female hostages, in an apparent attempt to ramp up pressure on Israeli leaders.
Deteriorating conditions for Gaza medical workers: Vital medical services "have collapsed" at Nasser Hospital, the largest functioning hospital in the Gaza Strip, according to Doctors Without Borders. Intense fighting around the hospital has made it perilous to resupply the medical center.
Fewer than half of Gaza's hospitals are still partially functioning, the UN said Thursday. Those that remain open face shortages of staff, basic medical supplies, fuel, food and drinking water.
Today's ruling by the UN's top court: The UN secretary-general said he hopes Israel will comply with today's order from the International Court of Justice, which called on the country to prevent a genocide in Gaza, but stopped short of calling for a ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the ruling as a rejection of what he called "discrimination" against his country, while the Palestinian Authority and South Africa said it represented a victory for human rights.
Vital medical services "have collapsed" at Nasser Hospital, which is the largest functioning hospital in the Gaza Strip, according to Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
"The [Nasser] hospital’s surgical capacity is now almost non-existent, and the handful of medical staff remaining in the hospital must contend with very low supplies that are insufficient to handle mass casualty events — large influxes of wounded people," MSF said in a statement on Friday, adding that at least one patient died on Wednesday because there was no orthopedic surgeon available.
The World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said access to resupply the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis "remains challenging" due to intense fighting in the vicinity.
"[H]undreds of patients and health workers have fled," he said in a statement on Friday. "Currently 350 patients and 5000 displaced people remain at the hospital."
Earlier on Friday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said “fragments of shrapnel” were going through the walls of their headquarters at the Al-Amal Hospital building in Khan Younis, which the aid agency said was surrounded by Israeli tanks.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Hamas was operating from inside the Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals. CNN cannot independently verify those claims.
CNN's Celine Alkhaldi and Abeer Salman contributed to this report.
The Marlin Luanda oil tanker is on fire in the Gulf of Aden after it was struck by a missile, the commodities group Trafigura said on Friday.
"Earlier on January 26, the Marlin Luanda, a petroleum products tanker vessel operated on behalf of Trafigura, was struck by a missile in the Gulf of Aden after transiting the Red Sea," the statement said. "Firefighting equipment on board is being deployed to suppress and control the fire caused in one cargo tank on the starboard side."
Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in a statement they fired missiles toward the "British oil tanker" in response to the "American-British aggression against our country (Yemen)" and in support of the Palestinian people.
Trafigura, which has offices in Britain, said it is monitoring the situation and that military ships in the region are headed to provide assistance.
A US destroyer, the USS Carney, is among the vessels responding to the distress call, according to a US official. The Carney shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Houthis toward the warship earlier Friday, according to US Central Command.
The British government has yet to comment on the attack.
CNN's Oren Liebermann and Haley Britzky contributed to this report.
A new video released by Hamas' militant wing, Al Qassam Brigades, shows three female Israeli hostages in an apparent attempt to ramp up pressure on Israeli leaders amid reports of a hostage deal being on the table.
The video, released on Telegram, opens with an animation of an hourglass with the three women's pictures on it, and text reading, "Time is running out, more than 107 days have passed, before it is too late." Then, there are heavily edited clips of each of the three hostages speaking.
Nineteen-year-old soldiers Karina Ariev and Daniel Gilboa, and 30-year-old Doron Steinbrecher call on the Israeli government for their release and are likely speaking under duress.
This latest video, like previous hostage videos from the militant group, is highly produced and edited with jump cuts connecting soundbites from the hostages together. The videos also include dramatized sound effects, transitions and graphics — an example of Hamas' tactics involving using hostages as leverage and taunting the captives' families, in what the Israeli military has previously referred to as "psychological torment."
CNN is not airing the video, and it is not immediately possible to verify when and where it was filmed.
A historic ruling by the United Nations’ top court in a genocide case against Israel on Friday was welcomed by the three main parties it involved: Israel, South Africa and the Palestinians. But at the same time, no one got what they asked for.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague, the Netherlands, ordered Israel to “take all measures” to prevent genocide in Gaza after South Africa accused Israel of violating international laws on genocide in its war in the territory.
ICJ ruling: It rejected Israel’s request for the case to be thrown out, but it also stopped short of ordering Israel to halt the war as South Africa has asked.
“I would have wanted a ceasefire,” said South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor after the ruling in The Hague. She said that she was still satisfied with the outcome.
Many Israelis hailed the ruling on Friday as a win for the Jewish state. Eylon Levy, an Israeli government spokesperson, said the court “dismissed (South Africa’s) ridiculous demand to tell Israel to stop defending its people and fighting for the hostages.” Avi Mayer, the former editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, called it “a devastating blow to those accusing the Jewish state of ‘genocide.’”
Shelly Aviv Yeini, head of the international law department at Israel’s Haifa University, called the ruling an "expected outcome, and something that Israel will be able to comply with." She said Israel would have “struggled to live” with a ceasefire order that doesn’t guarantee the return of the captives.
Efforts to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza and broker a prolonged pause in fighting are at an important juncture as US President Joe Biden deploys his point person on hostage talks to Europe for multiparty talks on the contours of a possible agreement.
CIA Director Bill Burns’ meetings over the coming days with the Israeli and Egyptian intelligence chiefs and the Qatari prime minister are a sign of ongoing progress as the White House presses for a deal.
Whether they prove decisive in striking an agreement remains to be seen, and officials voiced caution that discussions so far have been volatile, and that hurdles remain in coming to a deal that all sides can agree on.
The talks are the latest in a spate of recent diplomatic efforts to free the more than 100 remaining hostages while moving toward a more prolonged cessation of hostilities. The flurry of activity amounts to the most intensive effort in months to strike an agreement that could significantly alter the trajectory of the war in Gaza.
US officials are now hopeful for a much longer cessation in the fighting, believing it could provide space for more humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza as well as continued discussions about the future of Israel’s campaign against Hamas and the future of Gaza.
The CIA declined to comment on Burns' travel.
Read more about the efforts and obstacles.
CNN’s Katie Bo Lillis contributed reporting.
An Israeli military siege on hospitals in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis is now in its fifth day, said Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesperson for the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry. The Israel Defense Forces said Friday their intelligence indicated that "Hamas terrorists" were operating from inside the Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals.
Here's the situation on the ground:
Al-Amal Hospital: “Fragments of shrapnel” are going through the walls of the Al-Amal Hospital building, which is surrounded by Israeli tanks, according to the Palestine Red Crescent, the aid agency that is also headquartered at the hospital. A house just outside the eastern gate of the Al-Amal hospital was targeted by the Israeli military, PRCS said, causing “extensive material damage” to the hospital building.
Nasser Hospital: Most doctors have left the facility — only 12 surgeons and some other medical staff remain, Dr. Ahmad Moghrabi said in a video statement from the hospital. “What is going on at the hospital is a real horror. There is shelling all around, gunshot sounds,” he said. It has completely run out of food, anesthetics and painkillers, the Health Ministry spokesperson Qudra said. There are 150 health workers, 350 patients and hundreds of displaced people there now, he added.
What footage shows: In a video obtained and geolocated by CNN, several people — some injured — are carrying their belongings and appear to be scrambling to leave the premises of Nasser Hospital, fearing an imminent attack after the evacuation order, which was issued by the Israeli army on Friday. The calls for evacuation included residents of several neighborhoods west of the city of Khan Younis. They were asked to go to the nearby coastal area of Al-Mawasi.
What eyewitnesses say: Witnesses in Khan Younis said they were shot at whenever they tried moving locations. Mohammaed El Helo, a journalist in Khan Younis, said Friday in a video obtained by CNN that the Israeli military is “hitting civilians directly and in a systemic way as they cross the safe corridor.” El Helo is seen running in the video, carrying a bleeding man on his shoulders. Around him are hundreds of people also running and searching for safety. El Helo said Israeli forces “don’t distinguish between one and another. They target everybody.”
What the IDF says: The IDF has not responded to CNN’s request for comment on the claims made by health officials and witnesses in Khan Younis, including allegations they have shot at civilians. In a statement Friday, the IDF said it is carrying out “precise operations” against Hamas in Khan Younis, and that it is liaising with hospital directors in Khan Younis to ensure the hospitals remain operational.
The US State Department "has temporarily paused additional funding" to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East amid allegations that some of the UN agency’s employees were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel, spokesperson Matt Miller announced Friday.
“Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on January 25 to emphasize the necessity of a thorough and swift investigation of this matter,” Miller said in a statement.
“We welcome the decision to conduct such an investigation and Secretary General Guterres’ pledge to take decisive action to respond, should the allegations prove accurate,” he continued.
Miller said the US has contacted the Israeli government for more information about the allegations and has briefed members of Congress. The department also welcomed “the UN’s announcement of a ‘comprehensive and independent’ review of UNRWA,” Miller said.
“UNRWA plays a critical role in providing lifesaving assistance to Palestinians, including essential food, medicine, shelter, and other vital humanitarian support,” he said. “Their work has saved lives, and it is important that UNRWA address these allegations and take any appropriate corrective measures, including reviewing its existing policies and procedures.”
Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant thanked the US for holding the UN agency "accountable," and said "major changes" need to take place now to ensure that "international efforts, funds, and humanitarian initiatives" do not bolster Hamas.
CNN's Lauren Iszo and Niamh Kennedy contributed reporting to this post.
