12:01 a.m. ET, January 6, 2024
The infighting within the Israeli government is coming to light as devastation unfolds in Gaza. Here's the latest
By CNN Staff Nearly three months after Israel's military campaign began against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, divisions within the wartime government are becoming increasingly public.
Some of Israel's leaders clashed publicly on Friday after what one source called a “fight” at a security cabinet meeting over the handling of the investigation into the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.
There were also public disagreements over the post-war plan for Gaza.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant outlined a vision Thursday that includes no Hamas control of the enclave and no presence of Israeli citizens. The plan has been criticized by the country's far-right finance minister, who supports the idea of a Palestinian exodus from Gaza. The minister called for renewed Israeli settlement construction in Gaza and the “voluntary migration” of its civilians.
This is what you need to know today:
Military investigates “lapses”: The Israeli military is expected to launch an operational investigation to learn from its “mistakes” and apply those lessons to future security challenges, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Friday. An internal investigation would be conducted within the chain of command, and another investigation would be conducted by former senior officials to “externally reflect on the processes and decision-making,” Hagari said.
Famine “is just around the corner” in Gaza: According to Martin Griffiths, the United Nations' top emergency relief official, people in Gaza are facing the “worst food insecurity ever.” Gaza is “a place of death and despair,” Griffiths said on Friday, as hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians live in tent camps in the southern Gaza Strip without access to basic needs. Satellite images taken on Wednesday and released today show the extent of the crowd there.
Deadly Israeli airstrikes: Multiple Israeli airstrikes on Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday claimed at least 12 lives, according to a statement from the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah.
At least 10 Palestinians were killed elsewhere in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp area, according to a doctor at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. The doctor added that three people were killed and seven injured in a separate airstrike on a house in Deir al-Balah. CNN has reached out to the Israeli Defense Forces for comment on the attacks.
Major diplomatic visits: Two key visits by Western officials this weekend come as Middle East leaders warn about the possibility of an expanded regional conflict due to the Israel-Hamas war. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Turkey for the first stop on a multi-country trip. His visit will focus on indirect back-channel diplomacy with Iran, which supports the Houthi rebels in Yemen and the paramilitary Hezbollah group in Lebanon – two key players in the region's heated tensions. Meanwhile, the European Union's foreign policy chief is in Lebanon to discuss the situation on the border with Israel, where there are regular clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli troops.
More on the Iranian proxy groups: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed on Friday that many Israeli soldiers had been killed or wounded in the ongoing clashes. His goal is to “increase pressure on the enemy government and stop the attack on Gaza.” Meanwhile, Houthi supporters gathered in Yemen on Friday to remember the fighters killed by the US Navy in the Red Sea on December 31.
Tunnel discovery: The Israeli military released a video on Friday showing one of what it said were seven tunnel shafts beneath the Blue Beach resort on the Mediterranean in northern Gaza. The Israeli armed forces accuse Hamas of using the tunnel system for “attacks both above and below ground.” CNN cannot independently verify the IDF's claims.