Attacks in the south of the Gaza Strip: Early Friday morning, witnesses reported gunfire and airstrikes in Khan Younes, the capital in the southern Gaza Strip. According to Israel, many members of the local Hamas leadership are hiding in this location. The Palestinian Red Crescent therefore regretted “intense” artillery shelling “in the area” of the local Al-Amal hospital. “Soldiers, supported by artillery and aircraft, eliminated dozens of terrorists (in hand-to-hand combat),” the Israeli army said in Khan Younes.
Disagreements between Israel and the United States over a future Palestinian state: The two countries have once again expressed their differences over whether or not to establish a future Palestinian state after the war. “Israel must be in control of the security of the entire territory west of the Jordan,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “This is a necessary condition that contradicts the idea of sovereignty.” [palestinienne].”
“We obviously see things differently,” replied American National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. Washington defends the prospect of a Palestinian state, which Washington says is the only guarantee of Israel's security in the long term. On Wednesday at the Davos Economic Forum, American diplomatic chief Antony Blinken reiterated his call to find a “path to a Palestinian state,” arguing that “without that path, it will be impossible to achieve real security.”
Houthi attacks a US ship: Yemen's Houthis, supporters of Hamas in Gaza, claimed responsibility for attacks on an American merchant ship traveling in the Gulf of Aden early Friday. However, this renewed attack did not cause any damage, the American army said. Two missiles targeted the Chem Ranger boat, an American oil tanker flying the Marshall Islands flag, that had been off the coast of Yemen in recent days. On Thursday, Washington struck Houthi sites for the fifth time in response to previous attacks in the Red Sea.