January 20, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of Israel's war in Gaza has moved here.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday his desire for security control over all territory west of Jordan is contrary to the existence of a Palestinian state.

“I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of Jordan - and this is contrary to a Palestinian state,” Netanyahu said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

He did not provide any other details in his one-line post, which came a day after he had a phone call with US President Joe Biden which included discussions on the matter. 

Netanyahu’s social media post echoes a statement he made in a press conference on Thursday where he said Israel "must control security of all the land which is west of the Jordan River." 

In a separate post, Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also reasserted his rejection of a Palestinian state.

“I do deny a Palestinian state. Always!” Ben Gvir said on X.

Iran's president has vowed to retaliate after five Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members who were serving on a military advisory mission in Syria were killed in an airstrike on a residential building in Damascus, according to the IRGC. Both Iran and Syria said Israel launched the strike. The Israel Defense Forces has declined to comment on the allegations, telling CNN, "We do not comment on foreign reports."

The reported strike comes as fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East continue to grow.

Here's what else you should know:

• Developments around the region:
• Iraq: US personnel were injured in a ballistic missile attack on Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq on Saturday, two US officials said. The attack resulted in minor injuries, the officials said, though it was not immediately clear how many personnel had been injured. US Central Command confirmed the attack Saturday evening and said in a statement that “a number” of US personnel are being evaluated for traumatic brain injuries. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an Iran-backed militia group, claimed responsibility for the missile attack. As of Thursday, US and coalition forces have come under attack more than 143 times in Iraq and Syria since October 7, 2023, as Iranian-backed Shia militias have launched repeated drone and rocket attacks.
• Red Sea area: US forces on Saturday struck and destroyed a Houthi anti-ship missile aimed into the Gulf of Aden, south of Yemen, US Central Command said, as efforts continue to degrade the Iran-backed group’s capabilities. The US and its partners have sought to deter Houthi attacks on shipping and merchant vessels in the Red Sea, including intercepting missiles and drones aimed toward commercial ships.
• Lebanon: Two people were killed after an Israeli airstrike on Saturday hit a vehicle in Lebanon in the town of al-Bazouriya near the border, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported. A separate drone strike hit a house in Marwahin, Lebanon, that had previously been targeted by Israel, according to NNA.

• International discussions: Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Saturday the Israeli prime minister told US President Joe Biden in a phone call on Friday that Israel must retain security control over Gaza following the war against Hamas. It comes following CNN reporting that Netanyahu told Biden he was not foreclosing the possibility of a future Palestinian state in any form. Netanyahu on Thursday appeared to reject the idea of creating a Palestinian state. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom's shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Saturday that a future Labour government would support a Palestinian state and a two-state solution with Israel. And the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Friday that Israel created and "funded" Hamas in order to weaken the Palestinian Authority led by the Fatah party. 
• Destroyed cemeteries and hospital: The Israeli military desecrated at least 16 cemeteries in its ground offensive in Gaza, a CNN investigation has found, leaving gravestones ruined and bodies unearthed. Also, the Jordanian military has accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting its field hospital in Gaza on Wednesday, saying Israeli tanks fired on the hospital where personnel were sheltering.
• IDF says troops found tunnel: The Israel Defense Forces said troops uncovered a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis where Hamas allegedly held hostages.
• Rising death toll: The number of people killed in Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023, has risen to 24,927, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, which collects data from some Hamas-run institutions in Gaza. About 70% of those killed are women and children, the ministry said. It also estimates that more than 8,000 people are missing, believed to be buried under rubble.
• Protests in Italy: At least 10 police officers were injured during clashes with protesters at a jewelry fair in the Italian city of Vicenza on Saturday, according to CNN affiliate Sky Tg24. According to Sky Tg24, the protesters were demonstrating against the presence of Israeli exhibitors at the VicenzaOro, a gold and jewelry show. Italy's public national broadcaster RAI also reported that police fired water cannons at the protesters, who attempted to block the exhibition's entrance and carried placards bearing slogans such as "Stop global war" and "Free Palestine."

Mark Regev, the senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that Israel intends for Palestinians to govern themselves but without the capability to threaten Israel. 

"The idea is to find a formula where the Palestinians can rule themselves but not be in a position to threaten Israel," Regev said. "I think that's the formula that can help us move forward and find solutions that will be good for Israelis and good for Palestinians too."

Regev responded to statements made by Netanyahu in a press conference on Thursday where he said Israel "must control security of all the land which is west of the Jordan River." Netanyahu's apparent rejection of a post-war Palestinian state in that press conference was followed by a phone call with US President Joe Biden on Friday. A person familiar with the conversation told CNN that Netanyahu explained to Biden his comments on Thursday were not meant to foreclose a Palestinian state in any form. Netanyahu's office on Saturday said the prime minister told Biden that Israel must retain security control over Gaza following the war against Hamas. 

Regev said Netanyahu "has repeatedly said that Palestinians should have all the powers to rule themselves, that none of the powers threaten Israel.”

Regev maintained that Israel has always prioritized security and discussed demilitarization, even more so following the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023.

"If the Palestinians really want to move forward with Israel, I think they have to be willing to understand those concerns. They are legitimate concerns, and the idea that any areas next to Israel will have to secure the arrangements to allow Israel to defend itself," Regev said. 

CNN's MJ Lee and Kevin Liptak contributed reporting to this post.

US personnel were injured in a ballistic missile attack on Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq, according to two US officials. US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that multiple ballistic missiles and rockets targeted the base and, while most were intercepted, some did make impact.

The attack resulted in minor injuries, the two officials said, though it was not immediately clear how many personnel had been injured. In a statement, CENTCOM said some personnel "are undergoing evaluation for traumatic brain injuries."

Attacks since October 7: The Saturday attack appears to be the second time ballistic missiles have been used to target US and coalition forces in Iraq since October 7, 2023, when Iran-backed Shia militias began launching attacks on coalition bases after the beginning of the war in Gaza. The US and coalition forces have come under attack more than 140 times in Iraq and Syria since then, as Iranian-backed Shia militias have launched repeated drone and rockets. The use of more powerful ballistic missiles — far rarer than rockets or one-way attack drones — comes at a time of increased tension in the region as the war passes 100 days.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an Iran-backed militia group, claimed responsibility for the missile attack. The group emphasized in a statement Saturday its commitment to resisting American "occupation forces" in the region and cited the attack as a response to what they referred to as the "Zionist entity’s massacres" against the Palestinian people in Gaza. US forces in Iraq and Syria operate as part of the coalition to defeat ISIS. 

In a statement, the United Nations secretary-general’s special representative for Iraq warned that the region is at a “critical juncture” stemming from the war in Gaza that risks drawing Iraq further into the conflict.

“Despite the Government’s efforts to prevent the escalation of tensions, continued attacks - originating from within and outside of Iraq’s borders - stand to undo the hard-won stability of the country and the achievements it has made in recent years,” the statement said.

On Monday, northern Iraq was the target of ballistic missile strikes by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for having what the organization said was a spy base for Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad. The US condemned the strikes as “reckless” and imprecise.

Learn more about this attack and others in the region.

The Israel Defense Forces said troops uncovered a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis where Hamas allegedly held hostages, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a news conference on Saturday.

After IDF troops fought and killed several Hamas fighters at the entrance, they proceeded down the tunnel, which contained explosives and blast-proof doors, Hagari said.

About 20 meters (about 66 feet) underground, the IDF claims it found a central space. Hagari said hostages who have since returned to Israel said this is where they spent a majority of their time. 

Though no hostages were in the tunnel during the IDF’s operation, Hagari said they found evidence of their presence, including a drawing made by 5-year-old Emilia Aloni. The IDF released several images they said show the underground cells and the drawings they retrieved from inside the tunnels.

Further down, they found five prison cells, each equipped with a toilet and a mattress. Hagari said the IDF has evidence that about 20 hostages were held in the tunnel at different times.

The IDF allowed foreign journalists to access the tunnels before they were destroyed Friday, Hagari said.

The head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force Intelligence unit in Syria was among those killed in the attack in Damascus on Saturday, according to Iranian state media IRNA.

Hojjatollah Omidvar — who, according to the IRGC, also goes by Sadegh Omidzadeh — was the deputy chief of the Quds Force intelligence unit in Syria, according to Iran's semi-official Student News Network (SNN) news agency.

The IRGC's Quds Force is one of five branches of the Revolutionary Guards unit in charge of foreign operations.

The IRGC identified the four other killed IRGC members as military advisers named Ali Aghazadeh, Hossein Mohammadi, Saeed Karimi and Mohammad Amin Samadi.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Saturday strongly condemned the deaths of five members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in a suspected Israeli missile strike on the Syrian capital of Damascus, according to Iranian state media Press TV.

Reacting to the strike — in what is the latest tit-for-tat escalation of hostilities that further risks spiraling into a wider regional conflict — Raisi vowed that Iran would retaliate, saying such "cowardly" acts will not go unanswered.

Raisi also said the attack would be "another stain on the record of all governments who claim to be the advocates of human rights because it violated Syria’s airspace and trampled on human and international laws," according to Iranian state media.

The Syrian Ministry of Defense claimed Israel "launched an air attack from the Golan Heights at 10:20 a.m. local time that targeted a residential building in the Mazzeh neighborhood in Damascus." In a statement, the ministry said its defenses managed to intercept and shoot "down a number of the enemy's missiles."

The Israeli military declined to comment on the Iranian and Syrian allegations that they were behind the attack. An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson told CNN: "We do not comment on foreign reports."

At least five people have been killed in a missile strike on a building in Damascus, Iran's English-language state media outlet Press TV reported Saturday evening.

This follows reports earlier Saturday that four Iranian military advisers and several members of Syrian forces had been killed in what was deemed an Israeli missile strike, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, which cited the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). 

Syrian state TV, which also accused Israel of the attack, said earlier that several people were killed and injured in Saturday's missile strike in the Mazzeh neighborhood, home to several diplomatic missions including the Iranian embassy. 

The IRGC named the four military members as Hojatollah Omidvar, Ali Aghazadeh, Hossein Mohammadi and Saeed Karimi. 

"The Supreme Leader and Commander in Chief offered condolences and congratulations to the families of the great martyrs and to the fighters and commanders of the Islamic resistance front," Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, citing the IRGC. 

Syrian civil defense teams were searching for people they believe are trapped under the rubble, state TV reported, and that a number of surrounding buildings and nearby vehicles were also damaged in the strike.

The Israel Defense Forces declined to comment on the strike, telling CNN on Saturday: "We do not comment on foreign reports."

Escalating tensions: The reported strike comes as fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East continue to grow.

Along with northern Iraq, Syria was the target of ballistic missile strikes launched by Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Monday at what the organization said was “anti-Iran terror groups.”

On Friday, the US conducted its sixth reported strike on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

This post has been updated to reflect the latest death toll provided by officials.