US troops killed in Mideast as fears of wider war deepen
By Deva Lee, CNN
Updated 12:08 a.m. ET, January 30, 2024
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5 min ago
Dozens of civilians killed in Israel airstrikes on Gaza City, Palestinian news agency says
From CNN's Kareem Khadder, Abeer Salman and Eyad Kourdi
Dozens of civilians were killed and wounded in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City on Monday, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Witnesses said at least "25 civilians were killed" and others were injured in Israeli shelling of a family home in the al-Tuffah neighborhood east of Gaza City, the agency said.
CNN is unable to independently verify the WAFA report.
Several injured people were brought to Al-Shifa Hospital, according to WAFA journalist Khader Zaanoun, who witnessed the casualties arriving and was in touch with CNN from the hospital via text message.
Earlier Monday, Zaanoun told CNN that Israeli forces had "invaded" Gaza City's Al-Rimal neighborhood “from multiple directions,” and were surrounding it, including Al-Shifa Hospital. "Ambulances are facing major difficulties in moving and operating due to artillery shelling and besiegement by Israeli forces," Zaanoun said.
CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment.
5 min ago
Confusion over enemy drone's identity delayed response to Jordan attack, US officials say
From CNN’s Natasha Bertrand and Oren Liebermann
The drone that killed three US Army soldiers and wounded dozens more in Jordan on Sunday approached the US military outpost, Tower 22, around the same time an American drone was returning to the base, which led to uncertainty over whether it was hostile and caused a delay to the US response, two US officials told CNN.
The enemy drone followed the American drone as it approached, but it is not clear whether it intentionally followed the US device or if it was a coincidence, one of the officials said. US officials are also still assessing the enemy drone’s point of origin.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the confusion over the enemy drone.
The three US soldiers killed in the attack were identified Monday as Sgt. William Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Georgia; Specialist Kennedy Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia; and Specialist Breonna Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Georgia, according to the Defense Department.
They were all assigned to the 718th Engineer Company, a US Army Reserve unit based out of Fort Moore, Georgia, Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said at a briefing.
Singh said more than 40 were injured in the attack, a number that could possibly increase.
The demise of the UN's Palestinian agency could impact millions. Here's what the group does
From CNN's Nadeen Ebrahim
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) was founded by the United Nations a year after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, which marked the creation of Israel and the displacement of more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes in an event known by Palestinians as the Nakba (catastrophe).
UNRWA is the primary humanitarian aid group in Gaza.
Aid: Some 2 million Gazans rely on the agency for aid, with 1 million people using UNRWA shelters for food and health care amid the fighting in the enclave.
Refugees beyond Gaza's borders: Millions more Palestinian refugees live in neighboring countries like Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, and rely on aid from the agency.
Education and infrastructure: Last year, the agency had a budget of $1.6 billion, most of which is earmarked for education and health care, followed by other services such as infrastructure and refugee camp improvement.
Distribution: Along with the Palestinian Red Crescent, UNRWA handles almost all distribution of UN aid coming into the territory. The agency has 11 food distribution centers for 1 million people in Gaza.
UNRWA is unique in that it is the only UN agency dedicated to a specific group of refugees in specific areas. While its purpose is to support Palestinian refugees, UNRWA does not have a mandate to resettle them — a mandate that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) does have. The UNHCR does not, however, have a mandate over Palestine refugees within UNRWA’s areas of operation.
Pausing aid to this agency would further deteriorate the situation, warned Leo Cans, head of mission Palestine for Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders. “(If) you stop these trucks, people will die of hunger and very quickly,” he said.
1 min ago
Parents of soldier killed in Jordan drone attack remember daughter's smile and personality
From CNN’s Jamiel Lynch
An undated photo of US Army Specialist Kennedy Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia, released by the City of Waycross, Georgia. From City of Waycross, Georgia
The father of Army Specialist Kennedy Sanders described the moment that soldiers arrived at his home to notify him of his daughter’s death as “the longest 20 minutes I faced in my life.”
Sanders was one of three US soldiers killed in an attack allegedly by Iran-backed militias against a US base in Jordan.
Shawn Sanders and Oneida Oliver-Sanders hold a photo of their daughter, Army Specialist Kennedy Sanders. CNN
“When I opened the door, I initially knew what was going on,” said Shawn Sanders, a former Marine. He asked them to wait for his wife to come home so they could be notified together.
Having just spoken with Kennedy hours before the attack regarding the purchase of a motorcycle, Oneida Oliver-Sanders remembers her daughter as a “sweet spirit.”
“Her smile was contagious. She was always laughing about everything,” Oneida said. “I just want people to remember that even though her time was short on Earth, she lived her life to the fullest and she enjoyed her life in any situation that she was in. In any situation she was in, she made it enjoyable, even being deployed she found different things do to pass her time.”
4 hr 20 min ago
Here's why Israel wants to dismantle the UN's Palestinian agency
From CNN's Nadeen Ebrahim
Israel has alleged that some of the staff of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) were involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack. The main aid agency in Gaza fired several employees in response. But beyond the allegations of recent days, Israel has longstanding issues with UNRWA, accusing it of aiding Hamas and calling for it to be entirely dismantled.
In 2017, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to dissolve UNRWA and merge it with the main UN refugee agency, the UNHCR. More recently, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has suggested that Israel will seek to stop the UN agency from operating in post-war Gaza, saying it “will not be a part of the day after.”
“We have been warning for years,” Katz said. “UNRWA perpetuates the refugee issue, obstructs peace, and serves as a civilian arm of Hamas in Gaza.”
UNRWA has repeatedly denied Israeli allegations that its aid is being diverted to Hamas, and that it teaches hatred in its schools, and has questioned “the motivation of those who make such claims, through large advocacy campaigns.” It has condemned the October 7 attack as “abhorrent.” The threat to remove UNRWA from the besieged Gaza Strip has caused UN officials and those who rely on the agency to sound the alarm.
“Israel doesn’t see UNRWA as something which is conducive to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” said Yuval Shany, a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s faculty of law.
Israel instead views the agency as “a mechanism that perpetuates the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he told CNN, “And specifically perpetuates the conflict with regards to the right to return, by designating refugees and their descendants from 1948… as refugees.”
The right of return refers to the right of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return to their ancestral homes in what is now Israel, which was recognized by the 1948 UN General Assembly Resolution 194. The fate of refugees is one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The enemy drone that killed three soldiers approached the US military outpost around the same time an American drone was returning, which led to uncertainty over whether it was hostile, two US officials told CNN.
A broad framework for a hostage release and potential ceasefire in the war between Hamas and Israel was agreed to among negotiators, according to an official familiar with the talks.
Israel alleges that 13 employees of the UN’s main relief agency in Gaza were associated with Hamas’ October 7 attack and took part in varying capacities, according to the summary of the intelligence shared with CNN.
Dozens of civilians were killed and wounded in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City on Monday, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Witnesses said at least "25 civilians were killed" and others were injured in Israeli shelling of a family home in the al-Tuffah neighborhood east of Gaza City, the agency said.
CNN is unable to independently verify the WAFA report.
Several injured people were brought to Al-Shifa Hospital, according to WAFA journalist Khader Zaanoun, who witnessed the casualties arriving and was in touch with CNN from the hospital via text message.
Earlier Monday, Zaanoun told CNN that Israeli forces had "invaded" Gaza City's Al-Rimal neighborhood “from multiple directions,” and were surrounding it, including Al-Shifa Hospital. "Ambulances are facing major difficulties in moving and operating due to artillery shelling and besiegement by Israeli forces," Zaanoun said.
CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment.
The drone that killed three US Army soldiers and wounded dozens more in Jordan on Sunday approached the US military outpost, Tower 22, around the same time an American drone was returning to the base, which led to uncertainty over whether it was hostile and caused a delay to the US response, two US officials told CNN.
The enemy drone followed the American drone as it approached, but it is not clear whether it intentionally followed the US device or if it was a coincidence, one of the officials said. US officials are also still assessing the enemy drone’s point of origin.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the confusion over the enemy drone.
The three US soldiers killed in the attack were identified Monday as Sgt. William Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Georgia; Specialist Kennedy Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia; and Specialist Breonna Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Georgia, according to the Defense Department.
They were all assigned to the 718th Engineer Company, a US Army Reserve unit based out of Fort Moore, Georgia, Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said at a briefing.
Singh said more than 40 were injured in the attack, a number that could possibly increase.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) was founded by the United Nations a year after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, which marked the creation of Israel and the displacement of more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes in an event known by Palestinians as the Nakba (catastrophe).
UNRWA is the primary humanitarian aid group in Gaza.
Aid: Some 2 million Gazans rely on the agency for aid, with 1 million people using UNRWA shelters for food and health care amid the fighting in the enclave.
Refugees beyond Gaza's borders: Millions more Palestinian refugees live in neighboring countries like Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, and rely on aid from the agency.
Education and infrastructure: Last year, the agency had a budget of $1.6 billion, most of which is earmarked for education and health care, followed by other services such as infrastructure and refugee camp improvement.
Distribution: Along with the Palestinian Red Crescent, UNRWA handles almost all distribution of UN aid coming into the territory. The agency has 11 food distribution centers for 1 million people in Gaza.
UNRWA is unique in that it is the only UN agency dedicated to a specific group of refugees in specific areas. While its purpose is to support Palestinian refugees, UNRWA does not have a mandate to resettle them — a mandate that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) does have. The UNHCR does not, however, have a mandate over Palestine refugees within UNRWA’s areas of operation.
Pausing aid to this agency would further deteriorate the situation, warned Leo Cans, head of mission Palestine for Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders. “(If) you stop these trucks, people will die of hunger and very quickly,” he said.
An undated photo of US Army Specialist Kennedy Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia, released by the City of Waycross, Georgia. From City of Waycross, Georgia
The father of Army Specialist Kennedy Sanders described the moment that soldiers arrived at his home to notify him of his daughter’s death as “the longest 20 minutes I faced in my life.”
Sanders was one of three US soldiers killed in an attack allegedly by Iran-backed militias against a US base in Jordan.
Shawn Sanders and Oneida Oliver-Sanders hold a photo of their daughter, Army Specialist Kennedy Sanders. CNN
“When I opened the door, I initially knew what was going on,” said Shawn Sanders, a former Marine. He asked them to wait for his wife to come home so they could be notified together.
Having just spoken with Kennedy hours before the attack regarding the purchase of a motorcycle, Oneida Oliver-Sanders remembers her daughter as a “sweet spirit.”
“Her smile was contagious. She was always laughing about everything,” Oneida said. “I just want people to remember that even though her time was short on Earth, she lived her life to the fullest and she enjoyed her life in any situation that she was in. In any situation she was in, she made it enjoyable, even being deployed she found different things do to pass her time.”
Israel has alleged that some of the staff of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) were involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack. The main aid agency in Gaza fired several employees in response. But beyond the allegations of recent days, Israel has longstanding issues with UNRWA, accusing it of aiding Hamas and calling for it to be entirely dismantled.
In 2017, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to dissolve UNRWA and merge it with the main UN refugee agency, the UNHCR. More recently, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has suggested that Israel will seek to stop the UN agency from operating in post-war Gaza, saying it “will not be a part of the day after.”
“We have been warning for years,” Katz said. “UNRWA perpetuates the refugee issue, obstructs peace, and serves as a civilian arm of Hamas in Gaza.”
UNRWA has repeatedly denied Israeli allegations that its aid is being diverted to Hamas, and that it teaches hatred in its schools, and has questioned “the motivation of those who make such claims, through large advocacy campaigns.” It has condemned the October 7 attack as “abhorrent.” The threat to remove UNRWA from the besieged Gaza Strip has caused UN officials and those who rely on the agency to sound the alarm.
“Israel doesn’t see UNRWA as something which is conducive to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” said Yuval Shany, a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s faculty of law.
Israel instead views the agency as “a mechanism that perpetuates the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he told CNN, “And specifically perpetuates the conflict with regards to the right to return, by designating refugees and their descendants from 1948… as refugees.”
The right of return refers to the right of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return to their ancestral homes in what is now Israel, which was recognized by the 1948 UN General Assembly Resolution 194. The fate of refugees is one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
