January 10, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of Israel's war against Hamas has moved here.

Editor’s Note: CNN reported from Gaza under Israel Defense Forces' escort at all times. As a condition for journalists to join the embed with the IDF, media outlets must submit footage filmed in Gaza to the Israeli military for security review. CNN did not submit its final report to the IDF and retained editorial control.

On the streets of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the scars of war are clear to see.

The city’s heavily damaged buildings bear testament to some of the fiercest fighting that has taken place in the nearly 100 days since the devastating Hamas attacks on October 7 that killed more than 1,200 people and sparked Israel’s war in Gaza. In the more than three months since, at least 23,357 people in Gaza have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. CNN cannot independently confirm those numbers due to the difficulty of access to Gaza for international media.

But the carnage above ground tells only half the story of the Israel Defense Forces’ effort to drive out Hamas from a city it has described as a “main stronghold” of the militant group.

It is below ground, in the massive Hamas tunnel networks that the IDF says stretch for miles in all directions that its soldiers face a task with no obvious parallel in modern military history.

Dan Goldfus, IDF Division Commander, told CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson he believes some of the more than 200 people taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 were held in tunnels under the heart of Khan Younis, including some of the 106 who are still believed to be in Gaza.

WATCH THE REPORT:

Some of the tunnels are 60 meters deep (nearly 200 feet), according to Goldfus. Some are wide and some narrow. Penetrating them is a notoriously dangerous task.

Goldfus says the biggest issue facing his troops is the “multi-dimensional” nature of the fighting “on all fronts.”

He led a CNN team on a tour that illustrated the complexity of the task.

The tour took the team down a metal ladder and two flights of stairs, wiring visible all the way, to about 15 meters (50 feet) under the ground.

The CNN team descended over 20 meters (65 feet), taking steps into a complex network. Yet asked how deep this tunnel went, Goldfus replied, “This is not a very deep tunnel.”

Some, he said, are nearly three times as deep.

Branching off from the side of the tunnel CNN entered, the ceiling was so low it was impossible to stand up straight. And at the end was a small room with a metal frame around the door.

It is in small rooms like this where some of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas have been kept, Goldfus claims.

It is a grim, unforgiving place for anyone, whether hostage or soldier, but Goldfus says the IDF will continue its fight until Hamas is eliminated.

This week, the IDF claimed to have completed the dismantling of Hamas' command structure in northern Gaza and said it was switching its focus to southern and central Gaza.

Goldfus knows his job is far from over.

"If we give in to the Hamas, we give in to this area, you have to understand that, and I think no sovereign state would agree to such a thing," he says.

He believes the IDF’s objectives are clear:

"The enemy has brought us, drawn us in, by slaughtering our people, and we know why we're in here and what we're doing very clearly. And I think that we're here to do the job till the end." 

A Houthi senior leader described a UN Security Council resolution condemning the group's attacks on vessels in the Red Sea as a "political game" and called on Israel to stop all attacks in Gaza.

In a message on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, member of the Supreme Political Council and former head of Yemen’s Houthi Supreme Revolutionary Committee, called on the UN Security Council to release the people in Gaza from what he called “the largest prison in which collective criminal punishment is practiced.” 

He argued that what “the Yemeni armed forces are doing comes within the framework of legitimate defense” and that the United States, Britain, and Israel are the ones violating international law in their response to Gaza. 

“The decision that was adopted regarding the security of navigation in the Red Sea is a political game, and the United States is the one violating international law,” he said of the UNSC vote.

Some background: Before the UN Security Council resolution was approved, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned “there will be consequences” for the continued Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

“I’m not going to telegraph or preview anything that might happen,” Blinken said in a press gaggle in Bahrain. “We’ve made clear, we’ve been clear with more than 20 other countries that if it continues, as it did yesterday, there will be consequences.”

Blinken’s warning comes as the Iranian-backed militant group shows no signs of de-escalation and the potential for regional flare-up looms large.

On Tuesday, the US Navy shot down 21 Houthi missiles and drones launched from Yemen, according to a statement from US Central Command, in one of the largest Houthi attacks to take place in the Red Sea in recent months.

Although many around the world rang in the new year earlier this month, “2024 is not a happy new year,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.

This Sunday will mark 100 days since the Israel-Hamas conflict, Tedros noted, adding that “the situation is indescribable.” 

In Gaza, “People are standing in line for hours for a small amount of water, which may not be clean, or bread, which alone is not sufficiently nutritious. Only 15 hospitals are functioning, even partially,” Tedros said. 
“Delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza continues to face nearly insurmountable challenges. Intense bombardment, restrictions on movement, fuel shortages and interrupted communications make it impossible for WHO and our partners to reach those in need,” he said. “We have the supplies, the teams and the plans in place. What we don't have is access.”

Disruptions to the health care and water sanitation systems, the lack of food and water as well as having people displaced in the winter is “a cocktail for diseases,” said Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO’s representative in the occupied Palestinian territories.  

WHO Health Officer Dr. Teresa Zakaria, the incident manager for the escalation of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestine territories, said the agency’s surveillance systems are capturing the manifestation of diseases, but they aren’t able to verify the bacteria, parasite or virus causing the illnesses. 

“We have seen increased reports of acute respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, jaundice. But again, these are just manifestations of multiple diseases and we can't get to the bottom of it because we're not in a position to even test, collect samples and test,” she said.
“We don't know what we're dealing with,” she said, adding, “There are a lot of diseases that may actually just spread undetected and that is extremely concerning because by the time we actually find out about it, it will be at a very late stage for which then containing it will be extremely difficult.”

The agency canceled six planned missions to northern Gaza since December 26 “because our requests were rejected and assurances of safe passage were not provided,” the director-general said.

A mission scheduled today to a hospital instrumental for maternal and child health was canceled as well, according to Peeperkorn.

“We hope and we plead that we got kind of confirmation that the mission for tomorrow to hospitals in the north is approved,” Peeperkorn added.

CNN has contacted the Israel Defense Forces and COGAT, the government entity responsible for implementing policy in the Palestinian territories, for comment.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Wednesday that “there will be consequences” for the continued Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

“I’m not going to telegraph or preview anything that might happen,” Blinken said in a press gaggle in Bahrain. “We’ve made clear, we’ve been clear with more than 20 other countries that if it continues, as it did yesterday, there will be consequences.”

Blinken’s warning comes as the Yemen-based Iranian-backed militant group shows no signs of de-escalation and the potential for regional flare-up looms large.

On Tuesday, the US Navy shot down 21 Houthi missiles and drones launched from Yemen, according to a statement from US Central Command, in one of the largest Houthi attacks to take place in the Red Sea in recent months.

The Houthis say they will only relent when Israel allows the entry of food and medicine into Gaza; its strikes could be intended to inflict economic pain on Israel’s allies in the hope they will pressure it to cease its bombardment of the enclave.

Here are more headlines you should know:

• UNSC vote on Houthis: The UN Security Council approved a resolution on Wednesday calling on Yemen’s Houthi rebels to “cease its brazen” attacks in the Red Sea and violation of international law. The vote was 11 in favor, 0 against, and four abstentions, including from Russia and China.
• Official visits: Blinken discussed “ongoing efforts to minimize civilian harm” and increase the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Gaza during a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the US State Department said. He also urged Israel to pass on a tax revenue it takes from Palestinian imports to the Authority. 
• Developments on the ground: Hamas is no longer in control in large parts of the Gaza Strip, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz said. He also reiterated the importance of the return of all hostages abducted in the October 7 attack, saying this is the priority in every combat decision. Blinken said he believes Hamas “can and will engage” in hostage talks even after an Israeli strike killed a senior Hamas official in Beirut last week.
• Humanitarian crisis: The food situation in northern Gaza is "absolutely horrific," according to the World Health Organization. A British surgeon in central Gaza who was treating patients in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp recounted the daily horror of working at the hospital: Scores of displaced civilians covering every inch of the medical facility, hundreds of wounded people – mainly children – arriving every day with traumatic burns, missing limbs and shrapnel injuries to the chest and abdomen. A United Nations envoy on sexual violence will travel to Israel and the West Bank to gather information on reports of sexual assaults committed during the attacks on October 7 and its aftermath.

The United Nations Security Council approved a resolution Wednesday calling on Yemen’s Houthi rebels to “cease its brazen” attacks in the Red Sea and violation of international law.

The vote was 11 in favor, 0 against, and four abstentions, including from Russia and China.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said:

“The resolution demands that the Houthis stop violating international law. The United States applauds today’s adoption by the United Nations Security Council of a resolution co-penned by the United States and Japan condemning Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The resolution unequivocally demands that the Houthis cease their attacks and underscores the Council’s support for navigational rights and freedoms of vessels of all States in the Red Sea in accordance with international law.” 

She also blamed Iran for helping the Houthis.

The resolution condemned the two dozen Houthi attacks on merchant and commercial vessels since November 19, when the Houthis first attacked and seized the commercial vessel, Galaxy Leader. 

UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward said the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea “hit the world’s poorest the hardest.” 

Earlier the UN Security Council rejected three proposed amendments to the Red Sea text by Russia after the amendments failed to earn the required nine votes needed to bring the matter before the council. 

 Some background: On Tuesday, the US Navy shot down 21 Houthi missiles and drones launched from Yemen, according to a statement from US Central Command, in one of the largest Houthi attacks to take place in the Red Sea in recent months.

The Houthis say they will only relent when Israel allows the entry of food and medicine into Gaza; its strikes could be intended to inflict economic pain on Israel’s allies in the hope they will pressure it to cease its bombardment of the enclave.

The food situation in Northern Gaza is "absolutely horrific," according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

"There's almost no food available and everybody we talked to begs for food," Sean Casey, an emergency coordinator for the WHO said during a news briefing Tuesday.

Casey, who has carried out several WHO missions to northern Gaza, said each time his team delivered medical supplies to the region, they were asked to bring food the next time.

"That's not possible for a number of reasons including coordination and security concern," Casey said. 

WHO has "no communication with entire areas," but Casey said when he meets a patient who has had a double amputation and asks for food or water, it is clear "they're not getting their basic needs met."

The WHO was unable to reach northern Gaza since December 26 and was forced to cancel six planned missions, according to briefing notes sent to CNN.

Many people in central Gaza are also going hungry because there is not enough food coming in, Casey said.

Even in southern Gaza, closest to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt where deliveries are received, not many people are eating a full meal a day, he said.

A United Nations envoy on sexual violence will travel to Israel and the West Bank to gather information on reports of sexual assaults committed during the attacks on October 7 and its aftermath.

Pramila Patten, who is the special representative of the Secretary-General on sexual violence in conflict, will conduct the mission at the end of the month, according to a UN statement on Wednesday. 

“She will meet with survivors, witnesses and others affected by sexual violence to identify avenues of support. She also intends to meet with recently released hostages and detainees. She will be accompanied by experts in safe and ethical interviewing, forensic evidence, digital analysis and accountability,” the statement said. 

The UN said the trip by Patten is not intended "to be investigative in nature" and her findings will be included in an annual report on sexual violence.

Hamas has repeatedly denied allegations that its fighters committed sexual violence during the attack despite the evidence.

Nick Maynard still remembers treating the little boy from the Al-Maghazi refugee camp.

The British surgeon found the 6-year-old on the floor of the emergency ward of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza.

“He was semi-conscious with an open chest wound, horrific burns to the body, and no one had seen him. He'd just been deposited on the floor, and he was moribund,” the British surgeon, who worked in the hospital until he says he was forced to leave under the shadow of intensifying Israeli attacks, told CNN.
“We subsequently found out that most of his family had been killed,” he said.

Maynard has recounted the daily horror of working at the hospital: Scores of displaced civilians covering every inch of the medical facility, hundreds of wounded people – mainly children – arriving every day with traumatic burns, missing limbs and shrapnel injuries to the chest and abdomen.

Leading a five-member emergency team of clinicians, he worked with Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) from December 26 to January 5.

Maynard, who has been coming to Gaza for 14 years, told CNN the overcrowding in and around the hospital in Deir al-Balah, one of the last remaining functioning hospitals in the enclave, was like “something I’ve never, ever seen before.”

“When you're dealing with acutely ill patients like that, you have to have a really comprehensive triage system where you can prioritize, and that system collapsed completely,” he said on Tuesday, speaking from the Egyptian capital Cairo.

The ratio of doctors to patients spiraled, as medical workers who were volunteering at the hospital increasingly fled south after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders.

In Al-Aqsa hospital, many of the patients were refugees from local camps including Al-Maghazi, Al-Bureij and Nuseirat, in what Maynard called “the clearest evidence you could ever want that there was an indiscriminate slaughter of people.”

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military “does its utmost to avoid civilian casualties including providing early warning before attack, safe passage corridors and designated safer zones."

“Hamas targets Israeli civilians and embeds itself in Palestinian civilian neighborhoods, using Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages as human shields,” the office added.

Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 23,210 Palestinians since October 7, and injured another 59,167, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health — more than 1% of the enclave’s total pre-war population of 2.27 million people.

Israeli forces are “deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel,” and “depriving the civilian population of objects indispensable to their survival,” Human Rights Watch has warned. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported the enclave's healthcare sector is crumbling at a "rapid pace."

Maynard said most patients arrived at Al-Aqsa with “dirty wounds” after bomb blasts had pelted fallen glass, gravel, dust and dirt into their injuries. Rampant shortages of painkillers, drinkable water, and medical equipment including gloves, and skin staple removers meant “the wound infection rate was stratospheric.”

Some patients suffered blast injuries where shrapnel passed through multiple parts of the body, damaging the liver, the spleen, the stomach and bowel, while others sustained internal bleeding in the lungs. Worst of all, Maynard said, was the sheer number of Palestinians, mainly children, arriving with traumatic burns and amputations.

“(We saw) the most horrific burns, literally burned down to the bones, some of them,” Maynard said.
“My colleagues in ER particularly saw people coming in with legs hanging off, or arms hanging off.”

More than 10 children on average have lost one or both of their legs every day in Gaza since October 7, Save the Children said on Sunday.

He still thinks of the little boy he found on the floor at the hospital. The kid was just one of many orphaned by the war and coming in with no family, “screaming for their parents” who had been killed.“He was alive when we left, but I don't know whether he survived,” Maynard said.

The post was updated with more details from the interview with Maynard.