EXPLAINER
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed over the past 24 hours in Khan Younis as Israel expands its ground offensive there.
Here’s how things stand on Tuesday, January 23, 2024:
Latest updates
- The Israeli military fired artillery shells at the headquarters of the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the organisation said on Tuesday.
- Israeli media reported that Israel is offering Hamas a two-month truce in return for a phased release of Gaza captives.
- On Monday, the United States Supreme Court decided not to take up a lawsuit brought by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) against the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), the Center for Constitutional Rights said. JNF had alleged that the USCPR was providing “material support” for “terrorism” for activities including the Boycott, Divestment, Sanction (BDS) movement and the 2018 Great March of Return in Gaza.
- German shipping group Hapag-Lloyd announced on Monday that it will continue to reroute its vessels around the Cape of Good Hope in response to Houthi attacks on Red Sea vessels while also implementing land corridors through Saudi Arabia to minimise the impact on business.
Human impact and fighting
- Israeli forces killed at least 65 people in attacks on Khan Younis on Monday, according to medical sources.
- The World Health Organization, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have said they are “deeply concerned” by reports of “intense shelling” in the vicinity of El Amal City Hospital in Khan Younis on Monday.
- The Israeli Air Force said on Monday that it struck Hezbollah infrastructures and observation posts in the villages of Leida and Itarun in southern Lebanon.
- On Monday, Hezbollah also said it fired rockets at a gathering of Israeli troops around the town of Even Menachem, achieving “direct hits”.
- Israeli settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on Tuesday under the protection of Israeli police, Wafa news agency reported.
- Israeli settlers set fire to a car showroom near the village of Beitin, east of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank overnight, according to local media and Al Jazeera Arabic.
Diplomacy
- France’s Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne will chair a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) ministerial meeting on Palestine at 2pm New York time (17:00 GMT) on Tuesday. The council’s 15 members have been unable to agree on a draft presidential statement before the meeting, according to the Security Council Report (SCR), which monitors the UNSC’s activities.
- After visiting Egypt, senior adviser to US President Joe Biden, Brett McGurk, will be travelling to Qatar this week. He is expected to discuss Israel’s proposal for a two-month pause, according to Al Jazeera correspondent Stefanie Dekker.
- Biden held a phone call with the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday. The two discussed the “Houthi attacks against merchant and naval vessels transiting the Red Sea”, according to the White House.
- The US and the UK have been carrying out attacks on Houthi positions in Yemen. Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands supported the latest US-UK air strikes targeting Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen on Monday, reported Reuters news agency.
