January 17, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Israeli forces are moving toward the largest hospital in Khan Younis, prompting patients and sheltering Gazans to flee, according to international doctors working there and local journalists capturing events on camera.

Multiple videos show dozens of people carrying blankets, mattresses and other personal belongings leaving the Al Nasser hospital compound in southern Gaza.

Women can be seen carrying children in their arms, while one man carries a boy on his shoulders. The sounds of bombardment and small arms fire can be heard in the background.

Several videos show nearby explosions, likely from airstrikes.

An American doctor, Thaer Ahmad, one of a team of US and British doctors from NGO MedGlobal working at the hospital, told CNN the Israeli military was getting closer.

Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli military said Hamas had recently carried out a launch toward Israel from within the Al Nasser Hospital compound. Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of exploiting civilians as human shields by using hospitals and nearby areas as military sites.

Two Israeli men held hostage in Gaza since October 7 and featured in recent videos released by Hamas have died, according to statements from their home village Tuesday.

Kibbutz Be’eri announced the deaths of Yossi Sharabi and Itai Svirsky in separate statements released with the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum headquarters. 

Sharabi's brother Eli was also kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Be'eri and is still held captive by Hamas.

In a separate statement, Kibbutz Be’eri announced the death of Svirsky.  

Both men's bodies are being held by Hamas, the kibbutz said.

Israel’s defense minister said Monday that Hamas was practicing “psychological torment” by releasing videos of hostages.

CNN's Andrew Carey, Amir Tal and Ivana Kottasová contributed to this report.

Qatar says it has brokered a deal between Israel and Hamas that will see medicines delivered to Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for the delivery of medicine and humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians.

The medications and aid will leave Doha on Wednesday and head to Egypt before being transported to Gaza, the ministry added. It is unclear when the medicines are expected to reach Gaza.

Relatives of the more than 100 remaining hostages believed to be alive in Gaza have been calling for medications to be passed on to their loved ones.

Read more about the deal.

The Biden administration is expected to re-classify the Yemeni militant group, the Houthis, as a global terrorist entity amid continued attacks in the Red Sea, a source familiar told CNN on Tuesday.

The administration removed the Houthis' Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDTG) designation and de-listed it as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in February 2021, after it was designated by the Trump administration in its final weeks.

At the time, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the decision to remove the group’s designations was driven by concerns that it could imperil the ability to deliver crucial assistance to the people of Yemen.

He said it was "a recognition of the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen."

Both the designations trigger an asset freeze, but only an FTO designation imposes immigration restrictions on members, according to the State Department. 

The SDGT designation also does not impose sanctions on those who provide "material support" to the group.

As of Tuesday, the administration was not re-imposing the FTO designation.

Pressure has grown on the administration to reimpose the designations as the Iranian-backed militia carries out attacks on vessels in the Red Sea. 

On Tuesday, the group claimed responsibility for an attack on a Greek-owned vessel it said was headed toward Israel. Hours earlier, the US military launched new strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

At least 10,600 children have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 7, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health said on Tuesday. 

At least 158 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza in the past 24 hours, and 320 others were wounded, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health added Tuesday.

“A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them,” the ministry said.

CNN cannot independently verify the ministry's figures.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed on Sunday that more than 9,000 of those killed were Hamas fighters. CNN also cannot confirm this figure. 

Saudi Arabia is willing to recognize Israel if the Palestinian issue is resolved, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said Tuesday. 

Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, he said the first step to resolving the Palestinian issue is through a ceasefire "on all sides."

Asked at a panel at the WEF whether Saudi Arabia could, within that context, agree to recognize Israel as part of a wider agreement, the Saudi foreign minister said “certainly.”

Some context: In 2020, four Arab nations, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, recognized Israel under a set of treaties known as the Abraham Accords, sidestepping the longstanding Arab demand for a Palestinian state.

Since then, the Biden administration has been working to bring Saudi Arabia, widely regarded as the leader of the Muslim world, to follow suit, a move that could have opened the door to other Muslim countries to recognize Israel.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday said the "intensive maneuvering stage" of Israel's military offensive in northern and southern Gaza will "end soon."

After the October 7 attacks, Gallant said the original plan was for the "intensive maneuvering stage" of Israel's military campaign in Gaza to last approximately three months. But, he cautioned the Israeli military adapts its operations "in accordance with the reality on the ground" and "our intelligence."

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has announced one of its army divisions had exited Gaza on Monday night, in the most significant sign yet of a shift to a new phase of fighting that some Israeli officials have been promising.

The IDF said its 36th division, which comprises armored, engineering, and infantry companies, withdrew from the strip after 80 days. 

The brigade operated in the areas of Zeitun, Shati, Shejaiya, Rimal, and the Central Camps, the Israeli military added. The IDF did not respond to CNN’s questions about whether the withdrawal was temporary, what was behind the withdrawal, or how many troops it involved.