Israel at War—I share my thoughts
Dec 12, 2023 22:03:25 #
IDF says it recovered bodies of 2 hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7
By Scripps News
Israeli army tanks move along the Gaza Strip border.
The bodies of two hostages who were kidnapped on Oct. 7 when Hamas launched a surprise attack in Israel were recovered on Tuesday, Israel Defense Forces announced.
The hostages were identified as Eden Zakaria, 28, and IDF Warrant Officer Ziv Dado, 36.
"Locating the missing and bringing the hostages home is a national mission. We are working with all security agencies, intelligence and operational means to fulfill it," the IDF said on X.
Israel launched a ground invasion in Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks that killed over 1,200 people. The campaign in Gaza has been met with international pressure following the reported deaths of about 18,000 .
A cease-fire in November lasted about a week. It allowed for the return of 100 of the 240 hostages taken on Oct. 7. In exchange, hundreds of Palestinians were free from Israeli prisons.
President Joe Biden reiterated his support for Israel during a campaign reception on Tuesday.
"The safety of the Jewish people [is] literally at stake," President Biden said.
The president added that he's been working with the "Qataris and Egyptians to secure the freedom of more than 100 hostages."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked President Biden for his support on Tuesday.
"Following an intensive dialogue with President Biden and his team, we received full backing for the ground incursion and blocking the international pressure to stop the war," Netanyahu said.
Despite showing support for Israel, President Biden has key disagreements with Netanyahu, especially about what happens to Gaza after Israel completes its mission. President Biden said Netanyahu doesn't want a two-state solution, which the U.S. supports.
Netanyahu acknowledged disagreement, but added, "After the great sacrifice of our civilians and our soldiers, I will not allow the entry into Gaza of those who educate for terrorism, support terrorism and finance terrorism."
By Scripps News
Israeli army tanks move along the Gaza Strip border.
The bodies of two hostages who were kidnapped on Oct. 7 when Hamas launched a surprise attack in Israel were recovered on Tuesday, Israel Defense Forces announced.
The hostages were identified as Eden Zakaria, 28, and IDF Warrant Officer Ziv Dado, 36.
"Locating the missing and bringing the hostages home is a national mission. We are working with all security agencies, intelligence and operational means to fulfill it," the IDF said on X.
Israel launched a ground invasion in Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks that killed over 1,200 people. The campaign in Gaza has been met with international pressure following the reported deaths of about 18,000 .
A cease-fire in November lasted about a week. It allowed for the return of 100 of the 240 hostages taken on Oct. 7. In exchange, hundreds of Palestinians were free from Israeli prisons.
President Joe Biden reiterated his support for Israel during a campaign reception on Tuesday.
"The safety of the Jewish people [is] literally at stake," President Biden said.
The president added that he's been working with the "Qataris and Egyptians to secure the freedom of more than 100 hostages."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked President Biden for his support on Tuesday.
"Following an intensive dialogue with President Biden and his team, we received full backing for the ground incursion and blocking the international pressure to stop the war," Netanyahu said.
Despite showing support for Israel, President Biden has key disagreements with Netanyahu, especially about what happens to Gaza after Israel completes its mission. President Biden said Netanyahu doesn't want a two-state solution, which the U.S. supports.
Netanyahu acknowledged disagreement, but added, "After the great sacrifice of our civilians and our soldiers, I will not allow the entry into Gaza of those who educate for terrorism, support terrorism and finance terrorism."
Dec 12, 2023 22:14:04 #
thom w wrote:
"There are 22 arab countries on the planet, let them live in one of them" This isn't going to go anywhere. I believe you told me earlier who you are. No comment on the other and older jewish country? These other arab countries don't even all follow the same religion. I think that was a very telling and a very ignorant statement. Netanyahu is not a friend of anyone but himself, and you sound like him.
The only item I had said about me is that I'm Jewish and hav family living in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and and also have classmates that live in Jerusalem and Haifa. I have family serving in the IDF, and have dual citizenship with Israel. If the Palestinian people want peace denounce hamas and show us
Dec 12, 2023 22:21:14 #
thom w
Loc: San Jose, CA
lbrande wrote:
The only item I had said about me is that I'm Jewish and hav family living in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and and also have classmates that live in Jerusalem and Haifa. I have family serving in the IDF, and have dual citizenship with Israel. If the Palestinian people want peace denounce hamas and show us
When the slaughter of innocents was brought up, you said they had their chance. What is one to make of that. I have not said one bad word about you that was because you are jewish. You might as well be baptist for all I'm concerned. We won't come to an understanding, I'm tired of fighting about it. Netanyahu and those who support him will not bring peace to Israel. Revenge can feel good but it is almost always counter productive. If you were Arab and spoke of Jews as you now speak of arabs, I would detest you just as much.
Dec 12, 2023 23:03:18 #
thom w wrote:
When the slaughter of innocents was brought up, yo... (show quote)
I think that it's possible that I wasn't clear, misspoke, or wrote stream of conscious while distracted causing you to make a conclusion that is incorrect. PM me to clear up any misconceptions between us. I do not want to be contentious.
Dec 13, 2023 08:27:11 #
thom w wrote:
When the slaughter of innocents was brought up, yo... (show quote)
thom....Where did you stand on Syria and Assad?
Dec 13, 2023 10:01:45 #
Dec 13, 2023 15:29:29 #
As the IDF engages in intense fighting in what is considered Hamas' last stronghold in northern Gaza, foreign and Israeli sources say both sides are far from reaching a new cease-fire deal. PM Netanyahu said that Israel will continue its war against Hamas despite international pressures. The UN's refugee chief said he foresees more displacement in the Middle East due to the conflict.
Here's what you need to know 68 days into the war
What happened today
Families of Israeli hostages stand on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, on Tuesday.
■ GAZA: The IDF is engaged in intense fighting in the Shujaiyeh neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, Hamas' last remaining stronghold in northern Gaza. It said it destroyed over 250 terror targets from the sea, land and air. The IDF estimates that even after the combat ends in Jabalya and Shujaiyeh, the military effort to dismantle Hamas will take a long time.
The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza said that at least 18,608 Palestinians have been killed and 50,594 wounded in Gaza since the war began.
Videos from tent encampments in northern Gaza where Palestinians have taken shelter show heavy flooding following Tuesday's rainfall.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will arrive in Israel on Thursday for talks about the war's next phases, after Biden issued a pointed warning Tuesday that aerial bombardments of Gaza were causing Israel to lose international support.
The Biden administration has no plans to place new conditions or draw any red lines on the military aid it provides to Israel, CNN reported.
New U.S. sanctions against Hamas were announced Wednesday, targeting officials and representatives who help manage its financial network.
■ CEASE-FIRE: Israeli and Hamas officials are far from reaching a new agreement for the release of hostages held in Gaza, Israeli and foreign sources familiar with the talks said. "There are preliminary talks aimed at assessing whether both sides are willing to discuss terms for a new deal," a source told Haaretz.
PM Netanyahu said Wednesday that "nothing," including "international pressures," will stop Israel continuing its war against Hamas: "We're going all the way, until we're victorious, and nothing less," he said.
Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said that a cease-fire now would be "a gift" to Hamas, allowing it "to return and threaten the residents of Israel."
Hundreds of family members of hostages still held by Hamas joined by supporters protested in front of Israel's government complex in Jerusalem, demanding a deal securing their release.
Israel declared 19 of 135 people still in Gaza captivity dead in absentia on Tuesday, after announcing its forces had recovered the bodies of two hostages.
CNN reported that U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to meet Wednesday with families of all eight American hostages, seven men and one woman, held by Hamas.
"The major threat is that joint Western military action would prompt the Houthis to inflict a painful response on targets in Saudi Arabia or even Jordan and drag the countries of the region and the Western forces into a prolonged war of attrition" - Zvi Bar'el
■ ISRAEL: Rocket sirens sounded across Israel throughout Wednesday. The IDF said it struck Hezbollah cells and infrastructure. The Lebanese Hezbollah-affiliated media network Al-Manar reported that Israel struck near the village of Aita al-Sha'ab in southern Lebanon.
IDF CASUALTIES: The IDF named 10 soldiers who were killed in battle in the Shujaiyeh section in the northern Gaza Strip.
The IDF updated the number of soldiers wounded during and after October 7 to 1,704.
Referring to the 10 soldiers killed Tuesday, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz referred to Gaza as "Israel's second war of independence," noting it is "exacting a heavy, painful, and difficult price from us."
■ HOUTHIS: Two missiles fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels missed a commercial tanker near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a U.S. official said. The official also said that a U.S. warship shot down a suspected Houthi drone flying in its direction during the incident.
Human Rights Watch said Wednesday that Yemen's Houthis are committing war crimes by targeting "commercial shipping carrying civilian crews in the Red Sea."
■ WEST BANK: The Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah reports that a 29-year-old Palestinian was killed after being shot by the IDF in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.
■ DAY AFTER: The UN's refugee chief said he foresees further displacement in the Middle East due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, which has already internally displaced 85 percent of Gaza's population.
Saudi Arabia will still be committed in principle to resume negotiations for a normalization deal with Israel when the war in Gaza ends, if Israel commits to a two-state solution, Thomas Friedman reported Wednesday in The New York Times, citing U.S. officials.
'Israelis don't see images from Gaza because our journalists are not doing their job' | Listen to the Haaretz Weekly podcast
Context
Palestinians inspect a site after it was hit by an Israeli bombardment on Rafah, Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in a merciless assault. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 18,608 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 137 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.
The war comes after ten months of the most significant domestic political and social crisis in decades, due to the Netanyahu-led government's judicial coup – legislation aimed at dramatically weakening Israel's judiciary and potentially rescuing Netanyahu from the three corruption trials he faces – and amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel's most right-wing government ever.
Here's what you need to know 68 days into the war
What happened today
Families of Israeli hostages stand on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, on Tuesday.
■ GAZA: The IDF is engaged in intense fighting in the Shujaiyeh neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, Hamas' last remaining stronghold in northern Gaza. It said it destroyed over 250 terror targets from the sea, land and air. The IDF estimates that even after the combat ends in Jabalya and Shujaiyeh, the military effort to dismantle Hamas will take a long time.
The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza said that at least 18,608 Palestinians have been killed and 50,594 wounded in Gaza since the war began.
Videos from tent encampments in northern Gaza where Palestinians have taken shelter show heavy flooding following Tuesday's rainfall.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will arrive in Israel on Thursday for talks about the war's next phases, after Biden issued a pointed warning Tuesday that aerial bombardments of Gaza were causing Israel to lose international support.
The Biden administration has no plans to place new conditions or draw any red lines on the military aid it provides to Israel, CNN reported.
New U.S. sanctions against Hamas were announced Wednesday, targeting officials and representatives who help manage its financial network.
■ CEASE-FIRE: Israeli and Hamas officials are far from reaching a new agreement for the release of hostages held in Gaza, Israeli and foreign sources familiar with the talks said. "There are preliminary talks aimed at assessing whether both sides are willing to discuss terms for a new deal," a source told Haaretz.
PM Netanyahu said Wednesday that "nothing," including "international pressures," will stop Israel continuing its war against Hamas: "We're going all the way, until we're victorious, and nothing less," he said.
Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said that a cease-fire now would be "a gift" to Hamas, allowing it "to return and threaten the residents of Israel."
Hundreds of family members of hostages still held by Hamas joined by supporters protested in front of Israel's government complex in Jerusalem, demanding a deal securing their release.
Israel declared 19 of 135 people still in Gaza captivity dead in absentia on Tuesday, after announcing its forces had recovered the bodies of two hostages.
CNN reported that U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to meet Wednesday with families of all eight American hostages, seven men and one woman, held by Hamas.
"The major threat is that joint Western military action would prompt the Houthis to inflict a painful response on targets in Saudi Arabia or even Jordan and drag the countries of the region and the Western forces into a prolonged war of attrition" - Zvi Bar'el
■ ISRAEL: Rocket sirens sounded across Israel throughout Wednesday. The IDF said it struck Hezbollah cells and infrastructure. The Lebanese Hezbollah-affiliated media network Al-Manar reported that Israel struck near the village of Aita al-Sha'ab in southern Lebanon.
IDF CASUALTIES: The IDF named 10 soldiers who were killed in battle in the Shujaiyeh section in the northern Gaza Strip.
The IDF updated the number of soldiers wounded during and after October 7 to 1,704.
Referring to the 10 soldiers killed Tuesday, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz referred to Gaza as "Israel's second war of independence," noting it is "exacting a heavy, painful, and difficult price from us."
■ HOUTHIS: Two missiles fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels missed a commercial tanker near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a U.S. official said. The official also said that a U.S. warship shot down a suspected Houthi drone flying in its direction during the incident.
Human Rights Watch said Wednesday that Yemen's Houthis are committing war crimes by targeting "commercial shipping carrying civilian crews in the Red Sea."
■ WEST BANK: The Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah reports that a 29-year-old Palestinian was killed after being shot by the IDF in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.
■ DAY AFTER: The UN's refugee chief said he foresees further displacement in the Middle East due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, which has already internally displaced 85 percent of Gaza's population.
Saudi Arabia will still be committed in principle to resume negotiations for a normalization deal with Israel when the war in Gaza ends, if Israel commits to a two-state solution, Thomas Friedman reported Wednesday in The New York Times, citing U.S. officials.
'Israelis don't see images from Gaza because our journalists are not doing their job' | Listen to the Haaretz Weekly podcast
Context
Palestinians inspect a site after it was hit by an Israeli bombardment on Rafah, Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in a merciless assault. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 18,608 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 137 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.
The war comes after ten months of the most significant domestic political and social crisis in decades, due to the Netanyahu-led government's judicial coup – legislation aimed at dramatically weakening Israel's judiciary and potentially rescuing Netanyahu from the three corruption trials he faces – and amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel's most right-wing government ever.
Dec 13, 2023 19:35:52 #
lbrande wrote:
As the IDF engages in intense fighting in what is ... (show quote)
And that's the nightly news for December 13, 2023.
Dec 14, 2023 13:32:28 #
After Israel's war cabinet prevented Israel's spy chief from flying to Qatar to resume negotiations for a hostage-release deal, Egyptian sources said Israel turned to Egypt to mediate a new deal with Hamas. A senior Hamas official suggested recognizing Israel to follow the official stance of the PLO. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan landed in Israel Thursday.
Here's what you need to know 69 days into the war
What happened today
Smoke billows across the horizon along the hills in southern Lebanon following Israeli bombardment from a position along the border in northern Israel on Thursday.
■ GAZA: The IDF spokesman announced that in a combined operation with the Shin Bet, more than 70 Hamas gunmen were arrested in the area of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, also known as the Jordan field hospital, in northern Gaza.
The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza said that at least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed and 50,897 wounded in Gaza since the war began.
All telecoms and internet services in the Gaza Strip are down, its main telecoms companies Paltel and Jawwal said.
Gazans report that the IDF has distributed flyers offering $400,000 for information about Hamas' chief in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.
Nearly half of the munitions Israel's Air Force used in Gaza have been unguided, also known as "dumb bombs," CNN reported according to a new U.S. intel assessment.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan landed in Israel from Saudi Arabia Thursday for meetings with PM Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who reportedly told him defeating Hamas would take "more than a few months."
White House spokesman John Kirby said Israel will soon approve the U.S. request to open the Kerem Shalom crossing to humanitarian aid for Gaza.
Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen, a prominent Jewish lawmaker close to the Biden administration, tweeted that Netanyahu had "gone way too far" and that "The President is finished with Bibi's Putin-like no holds barred war."
■ HAMAS: Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk suggested that Hamas could recognize Israel following the PLO's official stance, Al-Monitor reported. Marzouk justified the October 7 attack, saying it achieved "many goals" for Gaza and prominence for the Palestinian cause, and denied as "mere lies" testimony and evidence of sexual violence committed by Hamas.
Seven people were arrested across Europe on Thursday for planning terror attacks related to Hamas, according to national law enforcement agencies. Three suspects were arrested in Denmark for plotting an attack on behalf of Hamas; four Hamas members were detained on suspicion of planning attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe, German prosecutors said, three in Berlin and another in the Netherlands.
■ CEASE-FIRE: Israel turned to Egypt to mediate a new deal with Hamas for the release of hostages in exchange for a cease-fire, Egyptian sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
Mossad chief David Barnea proposed to the war cabinet that he go to Qatar to jumpstart negotiations for a new hostage-release deal, but was blocked by its members.
The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, visited Israel on Thursday and met with the foreign and health ministers and representatives of the families of Israelis held hostage in Gaza.
"Israelis don't see images from Gaza because our journalists are not doing their job" - Anat Saragusti
■ ISRAEL: Rocket sirens sounded across Israel throughout Thursday. The IDF said the Air Force attacked Hezbollah buildings in response to launches from Lebanon into Israel.
■ IDF CASUALTIES: The IDF announced the name of a soldier killed fighting in Gaza on Wednesday.
The IDF updated the number of soldiers wounded during and after October 7 to 1,740.
■ HOUTHIS: Al Jazeera reported that Yemen's Houthis forced a ship en-route to Israel to sail towards Yemen. Earlier Thursday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency and British maritime security company Ambrey said they were investigating an incident that occurred in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
A U.S. Navy destroyer shot a drone launched from a Houthi-controlled area while responding to a call from a tanker in the southern Red Sea, CENTCOM said Thursday.
■ WEST BANK: IDF soldiers were filmed using a mosque's loudspeaker in the Jenin refugee camp to sing Hanukkah songs. An IDF spokesperson said the soldiers were immediately removed from operational duty.
The Palestinian Health Ministry reported three Palestinians were killed in an IDF operation in Jenin Wednesday night, the third consecutive day of IDF operations in the West Bank city.
Joining the U.S. and other European states, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Thursday he was banning those "responsible for settler violence" against West Bank Palestinians from entering Britain.
The White House is withholding a shipment of more than 27,000 U.S.-made rifles intended for Israel's police over concerns they could be transferred to extremist settlers in the West Bank, U.S. officials said in a report by the Wall Street Journal.
■ DAY AFTER: A wartime opinion poll among Palestinians published Wednesday shows a tripling of support for Hamas in the West Bank, 72 percent support for Hamas' actions on October 7, and an overwhelming rejection of PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Marwan Barghouti, a Fatah member in jail in Israel, was the survey's most popular Palestinian politician.
Context
Palestinians check the damages following Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday.
Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in a merciless assault. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 18,608 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 137 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.
The war comes after ten months of the most significant domestic political and social crisis in decades, due to the Netanyahu-led government's judicial coup – legislation aimed at dramatically weakening Israel's judiciary and potentially rescuing Netanyahu from the three corruption trials he faces – and amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel's most right-wing government ever.
Here's what you need to know 69 days into the war
What happened today
Smoke billows across the horizon along the hills in southern Lebanon following Israeli bombardment from a position along the border in northern Israel on Thursday.
■ GAZA: The IDF spokesman announced that in a combined operation with the Shin Bet, more than 70 Hamas gunmen were arrested in the area of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, also known as the Jordan field hospital, in northern Gaza.
The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza said that at least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed and 50,897 wounded in Gaza since the war began.
All telecoms and internet services in the Gaza Strip are down, its main telecoms companies Paltel and Jawwal said.
Gazans report that the IDF has distributed flyers offering $400,000 for information about Hamas' chief in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.
Nearly half of the munitions Israel's Air Force used in Gaza have been unguided, also known as "dumb bombs," CNN reported according to a new U.S. intel assessment.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan landed in Israel from Saudi Arabia Thursday for meetings with PM Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who reportedly told him defeating Hamas would take "more than a few months."
White House spokesman John Kirby said Israel will soon approve the U.S. request to open the Kerem Shalom crossing to humanitarian aid for Gaza.
Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen, a prominent Jewish lawmaker close to the Biden administration, tweeted that Netanyahu had "gone way too far" and that "The President is finished with Bibi's Putin-like no holds barred war."
■ HAMAS: Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk suggested that Hamas could recognize Israel following the PLO's official stance, Al-Monitor reported. Marzouk justified the October 7 attack, saying it achieved "many goals" for Gaza and prominence for the Palestinian cause, and denied as "mere lies" testimony and evidence of sexual violence committed by Hamas.
Seven people were arrested across Europe on Thursday for planning terror attacks related to Hamas, according to national law enforcement agencies. Three suspects were arrested in Denmark for plotting an attack on behalf of Hamas; four Hamas members were detained on suspicion of planning attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe, German prosecutors said, three in Berlin and another in the Netherlands.
■ CEASE-FIRE: Israel turned to Egypt to mediate a new deal with Hamas for the release of hostages in exchange for a cease-fire, Egyptian sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
Mossad chief David Barnea proposed to the war cabinet that he go to Qatar to jumpstart negotiations for a new hostage-release deal, but was blocked by its members.
The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, visited Israel on Thursday and met with the foreign and health ministers and representatives of the families of Israelis held hostage in Gaza.
"Israelis don't see images from Gaza because our journalists are not doing their job" - Anat Saragusti
■ ISRAEL: Rocket sirens sounded across Israel throughout Thursday. The IDF said the Air Force attacked Hezbollah buildings in response to launches from Lebanon into Israel.
■ IDF CASUALTIES: The IDF announced the name of a soldier killed fighting in Gaza on Wednesday.
The IDF updated the number of soldiers wounded during and after October 7 to 1,740.
■ HOUTHIS: Al Jazeera reported that Yemen's Houthis forced a ship en-route to Israel to sail towards Yemen. Earlier Thursday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency and British maritime security company Ambrey said they were investigating an incident that occurred in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
A U.S. Navy destroyer shot a drone launched from a Houthi-controlled area while responding to a call from a tanker in the southern Red Sea, CENTCOM said Thursday.
■ WEST BANK: IDF soldiers were filmed using a mosque's loudspeaker in the Jenin refugee camp to sing Hanukkah songs. An IDF spokesperson said the soldiers were immediately removed from operational duty.
The Palestinian Health Ministry reported three Palestinians were killed in an IDF operation in Jenin Wednesday night, the third consecutive day of IDF operations in the West Bank city.
Joining the U.S. and other European states, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Thursday he was banning those "responsible for settler violence" against West Bank Palestinians from entering Britain.
The White House is withholding a shipment of more than 27,000 U.S.-made rifles intended for Israel's police over concerns they could be transferred to extremist settlers in the West Bank, U.S. officials said in a report by the Wall Street Journal.
■ DAY AFTER: A wartime opinion poll among Palestinians published Wednesday shows a tripling of support for Hamas in the West Bank, 72 percent support for Hamas' actions on October 7, and an overwhelming rejection of PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Marwan Barghouti, a Fatah member in jail in Israel, was the survey's most popular Palestinian politician.
Context
Palestinians check the damages following Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday.
Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in a merciless assault. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 18,608 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 137 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.
The war comes after ten months of the most significant domestic political and social crisis in decades, due to the Netanyahu-led government's judicial coup – legislation aimed at dramatically weakening Israel's judiciary and potentially rescuing Netanyahu from the three corruption trials he faces – and amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel's most right-wing government ever.
Dec 15, 2023 01:17:49 #
thom w
Loc: San Jose, CA
SteveR wrote:
thom....Where did you stand on Syria and Assad?
Surely you don't think I support Assad. If our government was hugging Assad tightly (to the best of my knowledge they are not) I would be incensed. If Israel needs our assistance to survive, I'm not against giving it, but our weapons need to come with major contingencies. Israel is making enemies at a very rapid rate, and we are making Israel's enemies our Enemies. If I had all the money, and all the military strength in the world, and I decided to stamp our Christianity, I couldn't do it. Guns and bombs wont kill an ideology. In many ways I believe religion is dangerous, but trying to stomp it out is even more dangerous. If you come down on an ideology militarily and drive it out of visible existence, it will fester underground , and one day it will emerge stronger, nastier, and more fanatical than ever.
Dec 15, 2023 11:43:59 #
Terror Plot in Germany
European officials said yesterday they had detained four men—three in Germany and one in the Netherlands—on suspicions of plotting terror attacks on Jewish sites across Europe. The suspects are believed to be members of Hamas—authorities said one person had been tasked with locating a stockpile of weapons that had been secretly stored in the past. Authorities said there was not a direct link with the Israel-Hamas war, as their investigation preceded Hamas' Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel.
European officials said yesterday they had detained four men—three in Germany and one in the Netherlands—on suspicions of plotting terror attacks on Jewish sites across Europe. The suspects are believed to be members of Hamas—authorities said one person had been tasked with locating a stockpile of weapons that had been secretly stored in the past. Authorities said there was not a direct link with the Israel-Hamas war, as their investigation preceded Hamas' Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel.
Dec 15, 2023 15:26:12 #
Amid heightened debate about whether the U.S. will give Israel a deadline for its current intensive campaign in Gaza, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in Tel Aviv that the U.S. agrees the war in Gaza will take months, but will transition to focus on precise targeting of Hamas' leadership. The IDF said it destroyed Hamas' Shujaiyeh battalion HQ. Three bodies of Israeli hostages were recovered from Gaza, including those of two IDF soldiers. Yemen's Houthi rebels are ramping up Red Sea attacks on shipping claimed to be connected to Israel.
Here's what you need to know 70 days into the war
What happened today
Orin Ganz Zach, mother of Eden Zacharia, who was abducted from the Tribe of Nova music festival, mourns during her funeral in Kibbutz Palmachim, on December 15, 2023.
■ GAZA: Israel's security cabinet approved opening the Kerem Shalom crossing for direct delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip on Friday.
The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza said that at least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed and 50,897 wounded in Gaza since the war began.
The Israeli army said it destroyed the headquarters of Hamas' Shujaiyeh battalion in north Gaza, whose militants were responsible for an ambush this week which claimed nine IDF soldiers' lives. The IDF said that the air force struck targets in Rafah, in southern Gaza, this week.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the U.S. agrees that the fight against Hamas will take months, but that the war in Gaza will soon transition to a new phase of precisely targeting the Hamas leadership and intelligence-driven operations.
Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a resolution aimed at investigating Israel's military campaign in Gaza focusing on whether U.S. foreign assistance to Israel is empowering what he called "indiscriminate bombing" by PM Netanyahu's right-wing government.
■ HAMAS: A senior member of Hamas in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, said in a CNN report that the tunnels in Gaza are resistant to flooding attempts. Hamdan reportedly said that "the tunnels were built by skilled engineers, who took into account all possible attacks, including flooding."
Denmark is widening its terror investigation involving alleged terror plots by Hamas-associated suspects against local Jewish communities, in parallel with ongoing police investigations against Hamas suspects in Germany and the Netherlands.
■ CEASE-FIRE: The head of Israel's Mossad and U.S. National Security Advisor Sullivan discussed possible renewed negotiations with Hamas to secure the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza.
"As the 10th week of the war draws to a close, the costs of the ground maneuver are gradually becoming clear" - Amos Harel
■ ISRAEL: Rocket sirens sounded across Israel throughout Friday, including in Jerusalem. The IDF announced that they recovered the bodies of three Israeli hostages in Gaza, including those of two IDF soldiers.
IDF CASUALTIES: The Israel Defense Forces released on Friday the names of three soldiers who were killed during the previous 24-hour period in combat in Gaza.
■ HOUTHIS: A military spokesman for Yemen's Houthis said on Friday that the Iran-backed group fired missiles at two ships they claimed were heading to Israel.
The British maritime trade authority (UKTMO) announced that a ship had been hit by gunfire in the southern Red Sea near Yemen causing an onboard fire, and that a Houthi vessel approached another ship sailing north in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, ordering it to change course and sail to Yemen.
Danish shipping company Maersk announces they are pausing all container shipments through the Red Sea as Houthi attacks ramp up attacks in the area. German container line Hapag-Lloyd says it's considering halting passages through the Red Sea.
■ HEZBOLLAH: Israeli Minister Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet, met today with representatives of northern Israeli communities and said that "if the world does not keep Hezbollah away from the border, Israel will."
The IDF said the air force attacked a Hezbollah target and a terrorist operating in Lebanese territory near the border. Earlier, Israeli forces attacked two armed men near the border.
■ WEST BANK: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with U.S. National Security Advisor Sullivan in Ramallah on Friday, warning that in the West Bank, "a quiet transfer is being carried out by the settlers and with the support of the army," calling for the U.S. to "intervene immediately."
The U.K. in a joint statement with Australia, Canada and France called on Israel in a joint statement to take immediate, concrete steps to tackle West Bank settler violence.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry said it strongly condemns "provocations" by Israeli forces during raids on a refugee camp in Jenin and the desecration of a mosque there.
Far-right Israeli ministers finally signed off on an IDF decision to permit West Bank Palestinians to work in Israeli settlements. The IDF has recently allowed 10,000 Palestinians from the West Bank to work in settlements and Israeli factories in the area.
Context
Palestinians check a half destroyed building following Israeli bombardment on Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on December 15, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in a merciless assault. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 137 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.
The war comes after ten months of the most significant domestic political and social crisis in decades, due to the Netanyahu-led government's judicial coup – legislation aimed at dramatically weakening Israel's judiciary and potentially rescuing Netanyahu from the three corruption trials he faces – and amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel's most right-wing government ever.
Here's what you need to know 70 days into the war
What happened today
Orin Ganz Zach, mother of Eden Zacharia, who was abducted from the Tribe of Nova music festival, mourns during her funeral in Kibbutz Palmachim, on December 15, 2023.
■ GAZA: Israel's security cabinet approved opening the Kerem Shalom crossing for direct delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip on Friday.
The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza said that at least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed and 50,897 wounded in Gaza since the war began.
The Israeli army said it destroyed the headquarters of Hamas' Shujaiyeh battalion in north Gaza, whose militants were responsible for an ambush this week which claimed nine IDF soldiers' lives. The IDF said that the air force struck targets in Rafah, in southern Gaza, this week.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the U.S. agrees that the fight against Hamas will take months, but that the war in Gaza will soon transition to a new phase of precisely targeting the Hamas leadership and intelligence-driven operations.
Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a resolution aimed at investigating Israel's military campaign in Gaza focusing on whether U.S. foreign assistance to Israel is empowering what he called "indiscriminate bombing" by PM Netanyahu's right-wing government.
■ HAMAS: A senior member of Hamas in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, said in a CNN report that the tunnels in Gaza are resistant to flooding attempts. Hamdan reportedly said that "the tunnels were built by skilled engineers, who took into account all possible attacks, including flooding."
Denmark is widening its terror investigation involving alleged terror plots by Hamas-associated suspects against local Jewish communities, in parallel with ongoing police investigations against Hamas suspects in Germany and the Netherlands.
■ CEASE-FIRE: The head of Israel's Mossad and U.S. National Security Advisor Sullivan discussed possible renewed negotiations with Hamas to secure the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza.
"As the 10th week of the war draws to a close, the costs of the ground maneuver are gradually becoming clear" - Amos Harel
■ ISRAEL: Rocket sirens sounded across Israel throughout Friday, including in Jerusalem. The IDF announced that they recovered the bodies of three Israeli hostages in Gaza, including those of two IDF soldiers.
IDF CASUALTIES: The Israel Defense Forces released on Friday the names of three soldiers who were killed during the previous 24-hour period in combat in Gaza.
■ HOUTHIS: A military spokesman for Yemen's Houthis said on Friday that the Iran-backed group fired missiles at two ships they claimed were heading to Israel.
The British maritime trade authority (UKTMO) announced that a ship had been hit by gunfire in the southern Red Sea near Yemen causing an onboard fire, and that a Houthi vessel approached another ship sailing north in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, ordering it to change course and sail to Yemen.
Danish shipping company Maersk announces they are pausing all container shipments through the Red Sea as Houthi attacks ramp up attacks in the area. German container line Hapag-Lloyd says it's considering halting passages through the Red Sea.
■ HEZBOLLAH: Israeli Minister Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet, met today with representatives of northern Israeli communities and said that "if the world does not keep Hezbollah away from the border, Israel will."
The IDF said the air force attacked a Hezbollah target and a terrorist operating in Lebanese territory near the border. Earlier, Israeli forces attacked two armed men near the border.
■ WEST BANK: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with U.S. National Security Advisor Sullivan in Ramallah on Friday, warning that in the West Bank, "a quiet transfer is being carried out by the settlers and with the support of the army," calling for the U.S. to "intervene immediately."
The U.K. in a joint statement with Australia, Canada and France called on Israel in a joint statement to take immediate, concrete steps to tackle West Bank settler violence.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry said it strongly condemns "provocations" by Israeli forces during raids on a refugee camp in Jenin and the desecration of a mosque there.
Far-right Israeli ministers finally signed off on an IDF decision to permit West Bank Palestinians to work in Israeli settlements. The IDF has recently allowed 10,000 Palestinians from the West Bank to work in settlements and Israeli factories in the area.
Context
Palestinians check a half destroyed building following Israeli bombardment on Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on December 15, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in a merciless assault. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 137 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.
The war comes after ten months of the most significant domestic political and social crisis in decades, due to the Netanyahu-led government's judicial coup – legislation aimed at dramatically weakening Israel's judiciary and potentially rescuing Netanyahu from the three corruption trials he faces – and amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel's most right-wing government ever.
Dec 18, 2023 10:44:51 #
Here's what you need to know 71 days into the war
What happened today
Samer Fuad El-Talalka, Yotam Haim and Alon Shamriz
■ GAZA: In the northern Gaza neighborhood of Shujaiyeh, Israeli troops on Friday killed three hostages who had escaped Hamas captivity – Samer Fuad El-Talalka, 24 from Hura, and Yotam Haim, 28, and Alon Shamriz, 26 from Kibbutz Kfar Azza – after mistakenly identifying them as a threat, according to the IDF spokesman, who called it a "tragic error" that would be "investigated fully."
According to the IDF's preliminary report, soldiers in the area spotted a building two days prior with the inscription "SOS" and "Help! Three hostages" written on one of its walls. An Israeli army force operating there marked the building as a possible trap. During the encounter with troops, the hostages waved a white flag, and one yelled for help in Hebrew.
IDF Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi claimed responsibility for the incident, saying "it is forbidden to shoot at those who raise a white flag and ask to surrender."
The family of Inbar Haiman, 27 from Haifa, who was taken hostage by Hamas from the Nova music party on October 7, was told she had been killed in captivity.
Palestinian health officials cited by Reuters said Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza's Khan Younis received 20 Palestinians killed in overnight airstrikes and dozens of wounded. The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza said that at least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed and 50,897 wounded in Gaza since the war began.
The IDF Spokesperson Unit reported that Israeli troops killed Hamas members in a school in Gaza City's Rimal neighborhood and captured those who surrendered.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem accused the IDF of murdering "in cold blood" two Christian women, a mother and her daughter, who had found refuge in a Gaza church complex.
Al Jazeera said one of its cameramen, Samer Abu Daqqa, was killed in Khan Younis. Abu Daqqa is the first Foreign Press Association journalist killed in Gaza during the war.
The Pentagon has ordered a U.S. aircraft carrier and a warship to remain in the Mediterranean Sea near Israel.
■ ISRAEL: Thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv late on Friday and again on Saturday evening, calling for an immediate deal with Hamas to release all 128 hostages still held in Gaza. Uri, whose cousin Itay Svirsky is held hostage, told Haaretz: "The State of Israel and its leadership behave as if they've given up on the captives. We get [them] back as bodies."
Rocket sirens sounded along Israel's northern and southern border communities on Saturday. The IDF updated the number of soldiers wounded during and after October 7 to 1,740.
The IDF said that it attacked several suspects affiliated with Hezbollah in Lebanese territory and responded to launches from Lebanon with artillery.
■ NEGOTIATIONS: Mossad chief David Barnea and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met in Europe and discussed the release of hostages, said an official cited by The Wall Street Journal.
"Declarations by Hamas leaders are not intended for Israeli ears and Hamas isn't and doesn't have to be a partner to negotiations with Israel over resolving the issue of Gaza" - Zvi Bar'el
■ WEST BANK: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. National Security Advisor John Kirby discussed post-war "governance possibilities" in Ramallah on Friday.
A 30-year-old Palestinian was shot dead at an IDF checkpoint near Nablus. According to the Israeli army, the man had grabbed a knife and approached the Israeli forces stationed there.
■ YEMEN'S HOUTHIS: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Carney shot down 14 Houthi drones in the Red Sea on Saturday morning. No damage or injuries were reported.
Swiss-based MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co, the world's biggest container shipping company, said Saturday it would stop using the Suez Canal after an attack on one of its ships.
After similar announcements from Maersk, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd, 4 of the 5 largest global shipping companies have now diverted shipping routes due to Houthi attacks.
Houthi official Ali al-Qahoum said the group "will not abandon the Palestinian cause, regardless of any U.S., Israeli, or Western threats."
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his U.K. counterpart Grant Shapps discussed on Friday "the ongoing threat to civilians and global shipping" posed by Houthi attacks, according to the Pentagon.
Egyptian air defenses shot down a suspected drone off the Red Sea coast near Dahab on Egypt's eastern Sinai coast, two security sources said.
■ UNITED STATES: U.S. antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt met PM Netanyahu, and said they "addressed the dangers of weaponizing antisemitism." Lipstadt told Haaretz that it was "striking" that "it took two decades, three decades for Holocaust denial to begin to have any impact. It took the people who side with Hamas – and who believe their atrocities were either okay or want to deny that they happened…four or five days."
Five Democratic U.S. senators called on U.S. President Joe Biden to urge the governments of Israel and Egypt to allow journalists into Gaza to cover the war, stressing the need for accurate and independent reporting.
■ IRAN: A man charged by the Iranians with being an Israeli Mossad intelligence service agent was executed on Saturday in Iran's southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, the official IRNA news agency reported.
What happened today
Samer Fuad El-Talalka, Yotam Haim and Alon Shamriz
■ GAZA: In the northern Gaza neighborhood of Shujaiyeh, Israeli troops on Friday killed three hostages who had escaped Hamas captivity – Samer Fuad El-Talalka, 24 from Hura, and Yotam Haim, 28, and Alon Shamriz, 26 from Kibbutz Kfar Azza – after mistakenly identifying them as a threat, according to the IDF spokesman, who called it a "tragic error" that would be "investigated fully."
According to the IDF's preliminary report, soldiers in the area spotted a building two days prior with the inscription "SOS" and "Help! Three hostages" written on one of its walls. An Israeli army force operating there marked the building as a possible trap. During the encounter with troops, the hostages waved a white flag, and one yelled for help in Hebrew.
IDF Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi claimed responsibility for the incident, saying "it is forbidden to shoot at those who raise a white flag and ask to surrender."
The family of Inbar Haiman, 27 from Haifa, who was taken hostage by Hamas from the Nova music party on October 7, was told she had been killed in captivity.
Palestinian health officials cited by Reuters said Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza's Khan Younis received 20 Palestinians killed in overnight airstrikes and dozens of wounded. The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza said that at least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed and 50,897 wounded in Gaza since the war began.
The IDF Spokesperson Unit reported that Israeli troops killed Hamas members in a school in Gaza City's Rimal neighborhood and captured those who surrendered.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem accused the IDF of murdering "in cold blood" two Christian women, a mother and her daughter, who had found refuge in a Gaza church complex.
Al Jazeera said one of its cameramen, Samer Abu Daqqa, was killed in Khan Younis. Abu Daqqa is the first Foreign Press Association journalist killed in Gaza during the war.
The Pentagon has ordered a U.S. aircraft carrier and a warship to remain in the Mediterranean Sea near Israel.
■ ISRAEL: Thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv late on Friday and again on Saturday evening, calling for an immediate deal with Hamas to release all 128 hostages still held in Gaza. Uri, whose cousin Itay Svirsky is held hostage, told Haaretz: "The State of Israel and its leadership behave as if they've given up on the captives. We get [them] back as bodies."
Rocket sirens sounded along Israel's northern and southern border communities on Saturday. The IDF updated the number of soldiers wounded during and after October 7 to 1,740.
The IDF said that it attacked several suspects affiliated with Hezbollah in Lebanese territory and responded to launches from Lebanon with artillery.
■ NEGOTIATIONS: Mossad chief David Barnea and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met in Europe and discussed the release of hostages, said an official cited by The Wall Street Journal.
"Declarations by Hamas leaders are not intended for Israeli ears and Hamas isn't and doesn't have to be a partner to negotiations with Israel over resolving the issue of Gaza" - Zvi Bar'el
■ WEST BANK: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. National Security Advisor John Kirby discussed post-war "governance possibilities" in Ramallah on Friday.
A 30-year-old Palestinian was shot dead at an IDF checkpoint near Nablus. According to the Israeli army, the man had grabbed a knife and approached the Israeli forces stationed there.
■ YEMEN'S HOUTHIS: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Carney shot down 14 Houthi drones in the Red Sea on Saturday morning. No damage or injuries were reported.
Swiss-based MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co, the world's biggest container shipping company, said Saturday it would stop using the Suez Canal after an attack on one of its ships.
After similar announcements from Maersk, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd, 4 of the 5 largest global shipping companies have now diverted shipping routes due to Houthi attacks.
Houthi official Ali al-Qahoum said the group "will not abandon the Palestinian cause, regardless of any U.S., Israeli, or Western threats."
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his U.K. counterpart Grant Shapps discussed on Friday "the ongoing threat to civilians and global shipping" posed by Houthi attacks, according to the Pentagon.
Egyptian air defenses shot down a suspected drone off the Red Sea coast near Dahab on Egypt's eastern Sinai coast, two security sources said.
■ UNITED STATES: U.S. antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt met PM Netanyahu, and said they "addressed the dangers of weaponizing antisemitism." Lipstadt told Haaretz that it was "striking" that "it took two decades, three decades for Holocaust denial to begin to have any impact. It took the people who side with Hamas – and who believe their atrocities were either okay or want to deny that they happened…four or five days."
Five Democratic U.S. senators called on U.S. President Joe Biden to urge the governments of Israel and Egypt to allow journalists into Gaza to cover the war, stressing the need for accurate and independent reporting.
■ IRAN: A man charged by the Iranians with being an Israeli Mossad intelligence service agent was executed on Saturday in Iran's southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Dec 18, 2023 10:45:20 #
The IDF said it has found a 2.5-mile tunnel near Israel's border with Gaza ending in the Jabalya refugee camp in the south of the Strip, the longest tunnel uncovered during the war. The Mossad chief's meeting with Qatar's PM on Friday to discuss a potential hostage deal was "positive," sources told CNN. Connectivity is slowly being restored to Gaza after the longest disconnection from internet and cellular networks since the war began.
Here's what you need to know 72 days into the war
What happened today
Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip.
■ GAZA: The IDF said that Israeli soldiers have found a wide, branching Hamas tunnel network roughly 3 meters (10 feet) wide and about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) long. The previously unknown tunnel, the largest uncovered so far, started 200 meters from the border with Israel and ended inside the Jabalya refugee camp.
Connectivity is slowly being restored to Gaza, telecoms companies Paltel and Jawwal said Sunday evening, after the Strip was cut off from internet and cellular networks since Thursday, the longest disconnect since the war began. A White House official told the Washington Post that restoring communications was "extremely essential."
Video from the Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza shows civilians stopping a humanitarian aid truck and looting it for food and supplies. According to the UN World Food Program, around half the people of Gaza are facing starvation.
On Saturday, the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza opened for the first time for aid trucks since October 7, a spokesperson from the PM's office said.
The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza said that at least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed and 50,897 wounded in Gaza since the war began.
Al Jazeera said it intends to take the death of its cameraman, Samer Abu Daqa, wounded in an airstrike in Khan Yunis, to the International Criminal Court. The IDF said the ambulance it sent to assist Abu Daqa could not reach him due to damage to the road.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin, en route to Israel, will discuss the Biden administration's vision for the next phase of the war in Gaza, the New York Times reported.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a prominent Democratic advocate for conditioning military aid to Israel, warned the U.S. saw "very loose rules of engagement" by Israel in Gaza.
"It is completely clear that every additional day spent in the Gaza Strip endangers the life of each and every hostage" - Amos Harel
■ ISRAEL: Hundreds attended the funeral of Nick Beiser, taken hostage by Hamas while serving as a police driver on October 7, and whose body was found by the IDF last week.
The IDF named three soldiers who fell in combat in Gaza on Saturday and Sunday. The IDF updated the number of soldiers wounded during and after October 7 to 1,740.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told Israel's public broadcaster that Israel must destroy Hamas to ensure "there is nobody to talk to on the other side."
CENTCOM Commander General Michael Erik Kurilla visited Israel over the weekend to meet with top defense officials.
■ LEBANESE BORDER: Rocket sirens sounded along Israel's northern and southern border communities on Sunday, with seven launches from Lebanon. The IDF said that it attacked Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon.
Defense Minister Gallant, speaking to troops on Israel's northern border, said on Sunday that "If Hezbollah wants to escalate up one level, we will go up five. It's not what we want, but we won't allow the civilian evacuation of residents of the north to go on too long."
■ NEGOTIATIONS/CEASE-FIRE: Mossad chief David Barnea's meeting with Qatar's PM Mohammad al Thani on Friday to discuss a hostage deal was "positive," sources told CNN.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonn, who landed in Israel on Sunday, is expected to call for an immediate and lasting cease-fire. Her visit comes amid the death of a French diplomatic official wounded by an alleged Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday
■ WEST BANK: The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that the death toll of the Israeli drone strike at a refugee camp in the central West Bank city of Tul Karm has risen to five.
A 49 year-old Israeli reserve soldier was wounded in a Palestinian stabbing attack Sunday at a gas station shop near the West Bank village of Rantis, north of Ramallah.
■ DAY AFTER: PLO General Secretary Hussein al-Sheikh told Reuters Saturday that immediately after the war in Gaza, all Palestinian factions must scrutinize their policy failures regarding Palestinian liberation, and that Hamas should make a "serious and honest assessment and reconsider all its policies and all its methods."
Context
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, December 17, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in a merciless assault. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 137 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.
The war comes after ten months of the most significant domestic political and social crisis in decades, due to the Netanyahu-led government's judicial coup – legislation aimed at dramatically weakening Israel's judiciary and potentially rescuing Netanyahu from the three corruption trials he faces – and amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel's most right-wing government ever.
Here's what you need to know 72 days into the war
What happened today
Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip.
■ GAZA: The IDF said that Israeli soldiers have found a wide, branching Hamas tunnel network roughly 3 meters (10 feet) wide and about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) long. The previously unknown tunnel, the largest uncovered so far, started 200 meters from the border with Israel and ended inside the Jabalya refugee camp.
Connectivity is slowly being restored to Gaza, telecoms companies Paltel and Jawwal said Sunday evening, after the Strip was cut off from internet and cellular networks since Thursday, the longest disconnect since the war began. A White House official told the Washington Post that restoring communications was "extremely essential."
Video from the Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza shows civilians stopping a humanitarian aid truck and looting it for food and supplies. According to the UN World Food Program, around half the people of Gaza are facing starvation.
On Saturday, the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza opened for the first time for aid trucks since October 7, a spokesperson from the PM's office said.
The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza said that at least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed and 50,897 wounded in Gaza since the war began.
Al Jazeera said it intends to take the death of its cameraman, Samer Abu Daqa, wounded in an airstrike in Khan Yunis, to the International Criminal Court. The IDF said the ambulance it sent to assist Abu Daqa could not reach him due to damage to the road.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin, en route to Israel, will discuss the Biden administration's vision for the next phase of the war in Gaza, the New York Times reported.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a prominent Democratic advocate for conditioning military aid to Israel, warned the U.S. saw "very loose rules of engagement" by Israel in Gaza.
"It is completely clear that every additional day spent in the Gaza Strip endangers the life of each and every hostage" - Amos Harel
■ ISRAEL: Hundreds attended the funeral of Nick Beiser, taken hostage by Hamas while serving as a police driver on October 7, and whose body was found by the IDF last week.
The IDF named three soldiers who fell in combat in Gaza on Saturday and Sunday. The IDF updated the number of soldiers wounded during and after October 7 to 1,740.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told Israel's public broadcaster that Israel must destroy Hamas to ensure "there is nobody to talk to on the other side."
CENTCOM Commander General Michael Erik Kurilla visited Israel over the weekend to meet with top defense officials.
■ LEBANESE BORDER: Rocket sirens sounded along Israel's northern and southern border communities on Sunday, with seven launches from Lebanon. The IDF said that it attacked Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon.
Defense Minister Gallant, speaking to troops on Israel's northern border, said on Sunday that "If Hezbollah wants to escalate up one level, we will go up five. It's not what we want, but we won't allow the civilian evacuation of residents of the north to go on too long."
■ NEGOTIATIONS/CEASE-FIRE: Mossad chief David Barnea's meeting with Qatar's PM Mohammad al Thani on Friday to discuss a hostage deal was "positive," sources told CNN.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonn, who landed in Israel on Sunday, is expected to call for an immediate and lasting cease-fire. Her visit comes amid the death of a French diplomatic official wounded by an alleged Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday
■ WEST BANK: The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that the death toll of the Israeli drone strike at a refugee camp in the central West Bank city of Tul Karm has risen to five.
A 49 year-old Israeli reserve soldier was wounded in a Palestinian stabbing attack Sunday at a gas station shop near the West Bank village of Rantis, north of Ramallah.
■ DAY AFTER: PLO General Secretary Hussein al-Sheikh told Reuters Saturday that immediately after the war in Gaza, all Palestinian factions must scrutinize their policy failures regarding Palestinian liberation, and that Hamas should make a "serious and honest assessment and reconsider all its policies and all its methods."
Context
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, December 17, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in a merciless assault. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 137 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.
The war comes after ten months of the most significant domestic political and social crisis in decades, due to the Netanyahu-led government's judicial coup – legislation aimed at dramatically weakening Israel's judiciary and potentially rescuing Netanyahu from the three corruption trials he faces – and amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel's most right-wing government ever.
Dec 18, 2023 13:56:04 #
The UN Security Council is heading towards a vote on Monday demanding Israel and Hamas allow a monitoring system to ensure aid is delivered to Gazan civilians. Israel's Mossad chief met with Qatar's PM and the head of the CIA towards renewing hostage-release negotiations with Hamas. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visiting Israel noted the "complexity" of the "battle space" in Gaza. BP has halted Red Sea transit in the wake of further Houthi attacks.
Here's what you need to know 73 days into the war
What happened today
The funeral of Alon Shamriz on Sunday, one of the three hostages killed by Israeli fire.
■ GAZA: The IDF said it has attacked over 150 terrorist targets in Gaza over the past 24 hours, and that Israeli soldiers found suitcases containing roughly 5 million shekels ($1.35 million) in the home of a senior Hamas official in Jabalya.
The UN Security Council may vote as early as Monday on a proposal demanding Israel and Hamas allow humanitarian aid access to Gaza via land, sea and air, and set up UN monitoring of the aid delivered. The fate of the resolution hinges on final negotiations between the U.S. and the UAE, which drafted the text.
The IDF said it found handmade 'SOS' signs left on a building in Gaza by the three hostages killed by soldiers against the IDF rules of engagement on Friday, apparently made from leftover food.
Avi Shamriz, the father of Alon, one of the hostages killed by Israeli friendly fire, said that the shooting of his son and the other two hostages "was an execution – literally."
Hamas released a video of three Israeli hostages, all of them men, as part of its psychological warfare efforts.
WHO reported that the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza was effectively destroyed over the last several days, resulting in the death of at least eight patients.
Human Rights Watch accused Israel on Monday of starving people in the Gaza Strip, claiming that the IDF was deliberately blocking delivery of water, food and fuel, and razing agricultural areas.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza reported that 19,453 Palestinians have been killed and 52,286 wounded since the war began.
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani criticized Israel for allegedly shooting and killing two Gaza Christians taking shelter in a church compound, saying such actions would not help its war to defeat Hamas.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with PM Netanyahu, Defense Minister Gallant and other senior defense officials in Tel Aviv on Monday. Austin said in a statement that America's commitment to Israel is strong, but that it was critical to deliver more aid to Gazan civilians. He also noted "the complexity of this battle space," and Hamas' "routine" use of civilians as shields.
Standing alongside Austin, Gallant said that a post-war Gaza will not be controlled by Hamas or Israel, but that Israel will need the "freedom to eliminate any kind of threat." He also said that "if a diplomatic solution is not reached" with Hezbollah, "we will not hesitate to attack in the north."
"Broad [Israeli] public support for a ground incursion, which was strong in the aftermath of the Hamas massacre, is now being gradually mixed with concern and skepticism" - Amos Harel
■ ISRAEL: The IDF announced the names of six soldiers killed in fighting in Gaza on Sunday, and another soldier who died of wounds sustained last week. The number of soldiers wounded since October 7 now stands at 1,831.
The Mossad denied claims in an NYT investigation suggesting Israel's spy agency knew about a private investment fund that financed Hamas' operations, but that Israel did nothing to stop it.
■ HOUTHIS: The Houthis in Yemen claimed responsibility for attacking two ships with drones in the Red Sea on Monday: the Swan Atlantic and the MSC Clara. The Iran-linked Houthis have been disrupting maritime trade for two months, attacking Israeli-owned ships or vessels they determine are en route to Israel.
British Petroleum (BP), one of the world's biggest oil corporations, announced it was temporarily halting all transit through the Red Sea due to the threat of Houthi attacks.
■ LEBANESE BORDER: Rocket sirens sounded along Israel's northern and southern border communities on Monday, with 10 launches from Lebanon identified by the IDF. The IDF said that it attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and downed a suspicious aircraft.
■ NEGOTIATIONS/CEASE-FIRE: Mossad chief David Barnea met in Warsaw with CIA chief William J. Burns and the Qatari PM Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani, in hope of possibly renewing negotiations with Hamas to release Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
A senior Hamas official in Lebanon told Lebanese media that "there is no talk of negotiations before a ceasefire."
■ WEST BANK: The Palestinian Health Ministry said four Palestinians, aged 17 to 24, were killed by the IDF in the al-Farah refugee camp near Nablus in the northern West Bank.
A 27-year-old Israeli woman was moderately wounded in a Palestinian shooting attack near a West Bank settlement, emergency services said.
■ IRAN: A pro-Israel hacker group claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Iran's gas stations, leaving only about a third of them in operation, according to the country's energy minister.
■ DAY AFTER: Palestinian PM Mohammad Shtayyeh said that while Israel and its allies are hoping that "a security and administrative authority" will run Gaza after the war, the Palestinian Authority seeks a "National Authority" to fight for an independent state and an end to Israel's occupation.
Context
A man sits near the rubble of destroyed houses and buildings in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday.
Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in a merciless assault. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 137 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.
The war comes after ten months of the most significant domestic political and social crisis in decades, due to the Netanyahu-led government's judicial coup – legislation aimed at dramatically weakening Israel's judiciary and potentially rescuing Netanyahu from the three corruption trials he faces – and amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel's most right-wing government ever.
Here's what you need to know 73 days into the war
What happened today
The funeral of Alon Shamriz on Sunday, one of the three hostages killed by Israeli fire.
■ GAZA: The IDF said it has attacked over 150 terrorist targets in Gaza over the past 24 hours, and that Israeli soldiers found suitcases containing roughly 5 million shekels ($1.35 million) in the home of a senior Hamas official in Jabalya.
The UN Security Council may vote as early as Monday on a proposal demanding Israel and Hamas allow humanitarian aid access to Gaza via land, sea and air, and set up UN monitoring of the aid delivered. The fate of the resolution hinges on final negotiations between the U.S. and the UAE, which drafted the text.
The IDF said it found handmade 'SOS' signs left on a building in Gaza by the three hostages killed by soldiers against the IDF rules of engagement on Friday, apparently made from leftover food.
Avi Shamriz, the father of Alon, one of the hostages killed by Israeli friendly fire, said that the shooting of his son and the other two hostages "was an execution – literally."
Hamas released a video of three Israeli hostages, all of them men, as part of its psychological warfare efforts.
WHO reported that the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza was effectively destroyed over the last several days, resulting in the death of at least eight patients.
Human Rights Watch accused Israel on Monday of starving people in the Gaza Strip, claiming that the IDF was deliberately blocking delivery of water, food and fuel, and razing agricultural areas.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza reported that 19,453 Palestinians have been killed and 52,286 wounded since the war began.
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani criticized Israel for allegedly shooting and killing two Gaza Christians taking shelter in a church compound, saying such actions would not help its war to defeat Hamas.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with PM Netanyahu, Defense Minister Gallant and other senior defense officials in Tel Aviv on Monday. Austin said in a statement that America's commitment to Israel is strong, but that it was critical to deliver more aid to Gazan civilians. He also noted "the complexity of this battle space," and Hamas' "routine" use of civilians as shields.
Standing alongside Austin, Gallant said that a post-war Gaza will not be controlled by Hamas or Israel, but that Israel will need the "freedom to eliminate any kind of threat." He also said that "if a diplomatic solution is not reached" with Hezbollah, "we will not hesitate to attack in the north."
"Broad [Israeli] public support for a ground incursion, which was strong in the aftermath of the Hamas massacre, is now being gradually mixed with concern and skepticism" - Amos Harel
■ ISRAEL: The IDF announced the names of six soldiers killed in fighting in Gaza on Sunday, and another soldier who died of wounds sustained last week. The number of soldiers wounded since October 7 now stands at 1,831.
The Mossad denied claims in an NYT investigation suggesting Israel's spy agency knew about a private investment fund that financed Hamas' operations, but that Israel did nothing to stop it.
■ HOUTHIS: The Houthis in Yemen claimed responsibility for attacking two ships with drones in the Red Sea on Monday: the Swan Atlantic and the MSC Clara. The Iran-linked Houthis have been disrupting maritime trade for two months, attacking Israeli-owned ships or vessels they determine are en route to Israel.
British Petroleum (BP), one of the world's biggest oil corporations, announced it was temporarily halting all transit through the Red Sea due to the threat of Houthi attacks.
■ LEBANESE BORDER: Rocket sirens sounded along Israel's northern and southern border communities on Monday, with 10 launches from Lebanon identified by the IDF. The IDF said that it attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and downed a suspicious aircraft.
■ NEGOTIATIONS/CEASE-FIRE: Mossad chief David Barnea met in Warsaw with CIA chief William J. Burns and the Qatari PM Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani, in hope of possibly renewing negotiations with Hamas to release Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
A senior Hamas official in Lebanon told Lebanese media that "there is no talk of negotiations before a ceasefire."
■ WEST BANK: The Palestinian Health Ministry said four Palestinians, aged 17 to 24, were killed by the IDF in the al-Farah refugee camp near Nablus in the northern West Bank.
A 27-year-old Israeli woman was moderately wounded in a Palestinian shooting attack near a West Bank settlement, emergency services said.
■ IRAN: A pro-Israel hacker group claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Iran's gas stations, leaving only about a third of them in operation, according to the country's energy minister.
■ DAY AFTER: Palestinian PM Mohammad Shtayyeh said that while Israel and its allies are hoping that "a security and administrative authority" will run Gaza after the war, the Palestinian Authority seeks a "National Authority" to fight for an independent state and an end to Israel's occupation.
Context
A man sits near the rubble of destroyed houses and buildings in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday.
Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in a merciless assault. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 137 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.
The war comes after ten months of the most significant domestic political and social crisis in decades, due to the Netanyahu-led government's judicial coup – legislation aimed at dramatically weakening Israel's judiciary and potentially rescuing Netanyahu from the three corruption trials he faces – and amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel's most right-wing government ever.
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