The Israeli military has begun an invasion of southern Gaza, according to a New York Times analysis of satellite imagery, evidence of a long-awaited operation that could decide the fate of its war with Hamas and create more peril for Palestinian civilians. After capturing large parts of northern Gaza since late October, Israeli troops have now advanced into the last section of the territory that had been under full Hamas control. Their move sets the stage for what is likely to be the decisive battle of the war: a showdown in Khan Younis, the largest city in the south, where Israeli officials believe Hamas’s military and political leadership has sought shelter since fleeing from the north.
As Israel widened its military campaign against Hamas into southern Gaza, it redoubled its orders on Monday for people to leave parts of Khan Younis, the area’s largest city, and head to shelters farther south including to Rafah, on the Egyptian border. But aid agencies warned that the shelters there were already
overcrowded, and Israeli warplanes struck the Rafah area early Monday, according to Palestinian news outlets and photos, which showed people carrying bodies swaddled in blankets away from scenes of destruction. Later in the day, a Times visual investigation showed that the Israeli military had begun its invasion of the southern region.
US warship shoots down drones over Red Sea; Israel expands ground offensive in Gaza
An American warship responded to attacks on three commercial ships Sunday in international waters of the Red Sea, a possible escalation of the war just as Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip intensifies following a weeklong truce. The USS Carney shot down three drones while responding to distress calls from the vessels after they were targeted by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Pentagon said in a statement. The assaults with ballistic missiles lasted about seven hours and damaged two of the ships, according to the statement. The Defense Department initially described the assault as an attack on the Carney before providing more details, but later said it was unclear if the warship was targeted.
"These attacks represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security,'' the U.S. Central Command said. "They have jeopardized the lives of international crews representing multiple countries around the world. ... The United States will consider all appropriate responses in full coordination with its international allies and partners.'' The Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, is described on its website as "505 feet of American fighting steel." It was not damaged and no serious injuries were reported, a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Associated Press.
Five members of an Iran-backed militia were killed in an airstrike blamed on the U.S. near Kirkuk in northern Iraq, Reuters reported, citing Iraqi security sources who said the group was preparing to attack U.S. forces with projectiles.
∎ U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the administration is working "hour by hour" to get Israel and Hamas back to the negotiating table but doesn't know when it might happen. Israel has sent its negotiators home. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said a permanent cease-fire must be on the table for the group to resume talks.
∎ Hamas said more than 700 Palestinians were killed in the first 24 hours after the truce ended and fighting resumed. "There is NO SAFE PLACE in Gaza as the Israeli occupation forces commit atrocities everywhere in the Strip," the group's leaders said in a statement.
AFTER ISRAEL DEFEATS HAMAS, THE UNITED STATES SHOULD RECOGNIZE PALESTINE
Assuming Israel succeeds in breaking Hamas’ political hold on the Gaza Strip, the postwar priorities for Israel and the United States are likely to revolve around reconstruction of the strip and a renegotiation of the relationship between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Since taking office in January 2021, the Joseph R. Biden administration has deprioritized final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. President Biden and his team concluded, likely correctly, that there was not much chance of success. They also believed, incorrectly, that the conflict was being successfully “managed” by Israel. Today, however, senior administration officials, including Biden, are now reintroducing the necessity of a two-state solution as the only path to ensuring security for Israel and freedom for Palestinians.
What the United States can and should do is pursue a path forward that will empower Palestinians politically and ensure Israel’s legitimate security interests. In order to achieve this difficult balance, policymakers should reject options that either return us to the unsustainable prewar status quo or seek to tie the United States to certain extreme anti-Palestinian plans gaining traction in Israel. Instead, the United States should aim to maximize the political legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority. This requires pushing back against Israeli actions that make the prospect of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state ever more illusory. It also requires the Biden administration to go further by recognizing a Palestinian state.
Humanitarian crisis worsens in Gaza as Israel-Hamas war intensifies
The United States voted a UN Security Council resolution Friday calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Thirteen countries voted in favor while Britain abstained and the US used its veto.
During the debate, the Palestinian ambassador cited the thousands killed or injured in Israel's assault on Gaza, saying enough is enough," while Israel's envoy said a ceasefire would only extend the war, and that the only option for peace was to eliminate Hamas.
Israel's military said it carried out strikes on about 450 targets over the past day, the highest number reported since the end of a truce with Hamas a week ago. Also, an Israeli flag was raised in the middle of the symbolic Palestine Square in Gaza City, a video shows.
The UK’s mission to the United Nations said the country cannot vote on a Gaza ceasefire resolution that "does not condemn the atrocities Hamas committed against innocent Israeli civilians on the 7th of October." The message comes after the UK abstained from a Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza amid growing concern about the civilian death toll there. Thirteen countries voted in favor of the resolution which was vetoed by the United States.
Humanitarian crisis worsens in Gaza as Israel-Hamas war intensifies
Several family members of the American citizen hostages missing in Gaza had asked to attend a Hanukkah reception at the White House Monday night but never received invitations, the father of a 19-year-old missing Israeli-American told CNN. Ruby Chen — whose son, Itay, has been missing since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel — said a number of the families of American hostages were in Washington, DC, this week, and had reached out to the White House asking to attend Tuesday’s reception but were not invited. A White House spokesperson declined to comment. The reception, hosted by President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, celebrates the fifth night of Hanukkah. It will feature some 800 guests, according to the White House, including Holocaust survivors, lawmakers and various Jewish leaders. There are still seven American men and one woman unaccounted for since the Israel-Hamas war began, according to the White House. Four Amrticans — a four-year-old girl and three women — have been released so far. After formal hostage negotiations that had been taking place in Doha, Qatar, fell apart, the Biden administration continues to be in close contact with their Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian counterparts about ways to get more hostages out, according to officials. Since the start of the war, families of the missing Americans have had opportunities to speak or meet with President Biden, his national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden says Israel is losing support worldwide over ‘indiscriminate bombing’ in Gaza
President Biden offered sharp criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government Tuesday, calling for a change to the approach embraced by Israel’s leadership — which Biden described as “the most conservative” in Israel’s history. The president said Israel was beginning to lose support around the world due to “indiscriminate bombing” in remarks made during a fundraiser in Washington, and urged Israel to seek a long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He added that he warned Netanyahu about repeating mistakes made by the U.S. after 9/11, while reiterating his support for Israel’s mission to “take on Hamas.”
Israel's War on Hamas: How Many Palestinian Deaths Is Too Many?
Palestinian civilian casualties have become the issue in the Hamas War, precipitating worldwide condemnation of Israel. "A staggering and unacceptable number of civilian casualties," United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has said. "Far too many" Palestinians have been killed, said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. President Loe Biden summed up the dilemma Tuesday, saying that while Israel has had European support in addition to U.S. backing, "they're starting to lose the support by indiscriminate bombing that takes place." The high number of Palestinian deaths has provoked accusations of Israeli war crimes and even genocide, on the premise that civilians are being intentionally targeted. Government officials from around the world and media outlets have sustained the impression that Israel is attacking hospitals, schools, refugee camps and humanitarian facilities, all seemingly with a disregard for civilian life. If Israel were attacking indiscriminately or targeting civilians—it's not—that would indeed constitute a war crime. Calculating the acceptability of taking any human life creates the weightiest of moral dilemmas, and the images of suffering in Gaza have prompted demands by many for a ceasefire. But armies must always weigh the cost of civilian lives against any perceived military advantage according to the laws of war.
Israeli forces mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat during a battle in Shejaiye, a Hamas stronghold in northern Gaza, the military said. Israeli troops mistakenly shot and killed three Israeli hostages during combat with Hamas in northern Gaza on Friday, the Israeli military said. The shooting took place in Shejaiye, a densely populated community that Israeli officials have identified as a Hamas stronghold. Israeli forces “mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat,” the military said in a statement. “As a result, the troops fired toward them and they were killed.”
Austin pushes Israel to 'protect' Gazans; defiant Hamas leader mocks US: Live updates
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv on Monday amid growing international pressure on Israel to curb civilian deaths in its devastating military campaign in the Gaza Strip. Austin, speaking at a briefing with Gallant, reiterated the Biden administration position that U.S. commitment to Israel is "unshakeable." And he said the U.S. was leaving the timeline for the war to Israel. But he also said civilians in Gaza must be protected and more humanitarian assistance must be provided to the nearly 2 million displaced people there.
Yemen’s Houthis ‘will not stop’ Red Sea attacks until Israel ends Gaza war
Yemen’s Houthis will not halt attacks on ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea, despite the United States announcing a new maritime protection force to counter them, a spokesperson for the rebel group said. “Even if America succeeds in mobilising the entire world, our military operations will not stop … no matter the sacrifices it costs us,” Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior Houthi official, said in a post on X on Tuesday.
Israel-Hamas war live: Death toll in Gaza reaches 20,000 as fighting rages
Hamas’s senior official Osama Hamdan has given a press conference denouncing Israel’s attack on Gaza and the support given by the United States. “Our people are paying with the lives of their children. They are experiencing the Zionist war machine funded by the Americans. After all their sacrifices, they realize there is no retreat, no turning back. There is only victory in this battle and securing liberation and a dignified life while establishing a fully sovereign state with Jerusalem as its capital,” said Hamdan.
“We would like to emphasize the Biden administration is a partner in the war against Gaza as they impede the delivery of aid. This administration has crippled the UN Security Council with its veto. Unless they stop the Israelis, they will be held morally and legally responsible for all crimes committed in Gaza.”
Hamas says no more hostage releases until Israel ends war
Summary
Hamas says that Palestinian groups have rejected the prospect of further hostage releases until Israel agrees to end the war in Gaza
The statement was released as talks in Cairo continue over reaching a new truce in the war
But Israel has repeatedly rejected a permanent ceasefire, with its national security minister saying ending the war before Hamas is defeated would constitute a "failure"
More than 240 Israeli hostages were captured during Hamas's 7 October attacks, with more than 100 of them released in a previous truce in November
The UN Security Council is again due to a hold vote on "urgent humanitarian pauses" in Gaza after the previous vote was postponed on Wednesday
The World Food Programme says Gaza is at risk of famine within six months if the conflict doesn't end
Meanwhile, Israeli forces say they’ve uncovered a network of tunnels in the heart of Gaza City with entrances connected to the houses of Hamas leaders
On Wednesday, the Hamas-run Gaza government said 20,000 people had been killed there since Israel launched its military campaign against the group
Israel began its campaign in Gaza after Hamas broke through the heavily-guarded perimeter with Israel on 7 October, killing 1,200 people
The US is "actively working" on a UN draft resolution to pause fighting in Gaza, US National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby says. The UN Security Council could potentially hold a vote on the resolution in the next few hours. It has already been delayed multiple times this week. Diplomatic negotiations are taking place over the wording of the resolution to avoid another US veto, with the main sticking point reported to be around the inspection and monitoring of humanitarian aid entering Gaza.
US backs United Nations Security Council resolution on Gaza; Israel destroys 'vast tunnel network': Live updates
After days of negotiations, the U.S. signaled late Thursday it was ready to support a revised United Nations Security Council resolution urging delivery of crucial humanitarian aid into the battered Gaza Strip where roughly one in four people are starving. An earlier draft brought forward by the United Arab Emirates called for a "cessation of hostilities," later dialed back to a "suspension of hostilities." A revised version would call for “creating the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities.” A vote on the revised resolution was not expected until Friday.
Humanitarian crisis worsens in Gaza as Israel-Hamas war rages
The Israel Defense Forces is using its ground, air, and naval troops to strike at what it says are "terror targets" in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from the military on Tuesday. “As part of assistance to the ground troops, dozens of IDF fighter jets struck over 100 Hamas terror targets, including tunnel shafts, infrastructure, and military sites used by the terrorist organization to attack IDF troops,” it said Tuesday. The statement comes as Ron Dermer, considered one of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest confidants, is meeting with officials from the White House and the State Department Tuesday to discuss the next phase of the war in Gaza. The US has looked for Israel to move away from the high-intensity war it has waged for nearly three months in Gaza. More than 20,900 people in Gaza have been killed and 55,000 injured since October 7, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Israel expanding ground offensive into central Gaza refugee camps
Israel's military chief said the war with Hamas would last "many more months"
The UN has expressed grave concern after Israeli strikes reportedly killed dozens of people in Bureij, Nuseirat and Maghazi camps in recent days. Heavy fighting is also continuing to the south, in the city of Khan Younis. Meanwhile, the Palestinian president has described what is happening in Gaza as "beyond a war of annihilation" The Hamas-run health ministry has said at least 195 people have been killed across the territory over the past 24 hours. More than 21,100 have been killed - mostly children and women - during 11 weeks of fighting, according to the ministry. The war was triggered by an unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas gunmen on southern Israel on 7 October, in which at least 1,200 people were killed - most of them civilians - and about 240 others taken hostage.
Israel-Hamas War Divides Latin America Along Partisan Lines
As casualties mount in the Israel-Hamas conflict, many Latin American leaders are intensifying their criticism of the Israeli government. Bolivia recently became the first country to sever ties with Israel; Chile, Colombia and Honduras recalled their ambassadors for consultations; and diplomats from Argentina, Brazil and Mexico have blasted Israel for the bloodshed, calling for an immediate end to hostilities. President Joe Biden hosted officials from 11 Latin American countries on November 3 for an economic summit that focused on two U.S. priorities: containing migrant flows by bolstering regional economies and strengthening supply chains to reduce reliance on Chinese trade and investment. Attendees included critics of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, including the presidents of Chile and Colombia and the foreign minister of Mexico.
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