News Wrap: Hamas releases video purportedly showing bodies of 2 Israeli hostages

Read the Full Transcript

• Geoff Bennett:

  In the day's other headlines: Hamas released video that purportedly showed the bodies of two Israeli hostages. They were identified as Yossi Sharabi and Itai Svirsky. The two were seen Sunday in an earlier Hamas video pleading for a cease-fire.

  The Israeli defense minister said today that option is off the table.

• Yoav Gallant, Israeli Defense Minister (through inturpreter):

  The release of hostages will only happen as a result of military pressure. Hamas is severely beaten by Israeli forces. All that's left for them is to lash out at the sensitive nerves of Israeli society through psychological abuse.

• Geoff Bennett:

  A third hostage, Noa Argamani, was seen alive in today's video. She said the others were killed by airstrikes. The Israelis flatly denied it. It's unclear under what conditions either video was recorded. At the same time, the Gaza Health Ministry reported the Palestinian death toll to date has topped 24,000.

  U.N. agencies are warning of widespread famine and disease in Gaza without more humanitarian aid. They blame continued fighting, too few border crossings, and slow inspections of aid trucks. The mounting desperation was evident Sunday when thousands of Palestinians swarmed trucks that did manage to get to a Gaza beach. Some climbed onto the vehicles trying to get to food.

• Nooh Al-Shaghnoby, Gazan Photographer (through inturpreter):

  This massive amount of people has come here for flour. Some will die. Some will faint. Some will get hit. Everyone is just focused on feeding his family. Each one of them is ready to die as long as he gets a bag of flour.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Overall, U.N. officials say less than a quarter of aid convoys have reached Northern Gaza this month.

  In Israel, a car-ramming attack north of Tel Aviv killed one person and injured 12 others today. Police say at least two Palestinians drove into pedestrians and then stabbed several people. The suspects were arrested and are believed to be from the occupied West Bank.

  For a second day, Houthi rebels in Yemen have fired on a ship in nearby waters. A missile hit a U.S.-owned cargo vessel today in the Gulf of Aden. The U.S. military's Central Command reported no injuries or significant damage. An American destroyer was targeted Sunday despite last week's U.S. airstrikes on Houthi sites.

  Ukraine's military says it has struck a key blow against Russian forces, shooting down an early warning radar plane and a command-and-control plane. That comes as Kyiv is laboring to keep the world's focus on the war.

  At the same time, in Geneva today, U.N. officials said there's severe competition for humanitarian help for Ukraine.

  Martin Griffiths, U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator: We are deliberately reducing the amount of money that we're asking for, not because we think the needs are diminishing or the war is getting any better for the people of Ukraine, but because we need to prioritize.

• Geoff Bennett:

  More than six million people have fled Ukraine during nearly two years of war. Another four million are internally displaced.

  The U.N.'s children's agency, UNICEF, reports nearly 100,000 children in Western Afghanistan are in dire need three months after a powerful earthquake there. U.N. officials estimate 21,000 homes were destroyed, leaving families to endure the harsh winter in temporary shelters. Many health facilities and schools were also demolished.

  In Guatemala, progressive Bernardo Arevalo has officially been sworn in as the new president. The ceremony took place shortly after midnight after opponents had delayed his oath-taking by 10 hours. Arevalo celebrated the moment after enduring a monthslong effort to derail his inauguration.

• Bernardo Arevalo, Guatemalan President (through inturpreter):

  On this transcendental day, we advance along the path that many of us have carved with effort. It fills me with deep honor to assume this high responsibility, demonstrating that our democracy has the strength to resist and that through unity and trust we can transform the political landscape.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Arevalo has promised to tackle Guatemala's rampant corruption and poverty.

  Here at home, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was released from a Washington area hospital today. He'd been treated for two weeks after complications from prostate cancer surgery, but he failed to tell President Biden or the public for days. Doctors say Austin's medical prognosis is excellent.

  And communities across the country celebrated this Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday with parades, prayer and service. President Biden volunteered at a hunger relief warehouse in Philadelphia, loading boxes with fresh fruit. And Vice President Kamala Harris was the keynote speaker at an event in South Carolina. Dr. King would have been 95 years old today.