World War J: Update Blog

3:45 pm

Dawn Queva, a senior scheduler for the BBC, referred to the “holohoax” and “AshkeNazis,”and also posted numerous other antisemitic messages—often typo-ridden—including saying that Jews have “none zero zilch blood connection to the land of Palestine or Israel historically.” “To be JewISH is to practice a religion loosely based on the Hebraic faith,” the senior BBC employee said. “To be JewISH has zero to do with ethnicity.” 

Dion Marsh, 29, pleaded guilty in federal court on  Feb. 1 to five counts of hate crimes and one count of carjacking. “Marsh is charged with willfully causing bodily injury to five victims and attempting to kill and cause injuries with dangerous weapons to four of the victims, because they are Jewish,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey. In 2022, Marsh “violently attacked five men, driving a car into four of them, stabbing one of them in the chest, and attempting to kill them, simply because they were visibly identifiable as Orthodox Jews,” stated Philip Sellinger, U.S. attorney for the district of New Jersey. 

IDF troops are already edged over the border into Lebanon and have been for days. the distance appears to be several hundred meters. Three IDF divisions are en route to the northern border right now

3:00 pm

The IDF says it carried out an airstrike on a Hezbollah building in the southern Lebanese village of Taybeh today. The Israeli army also shelled other areas of Lebanon with artillery throughout the day. Hezbollah had launched projectiles from Lebanon at the Mount Dov area and the communities of Even Menahem and Yir’on, causing no injuries.

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari in a press conference said the military has deployed three divisions to the northern border amid Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel. He said the IDF struck more than 150 cells, killing some 200 terrorist mostly members of Hezbollah, and targeted more than 3,400 Hezbollah sites since the beginning of the war in Gaza. The targets include some 120 observation posts, 40 weapons depots, and 40 command centers manned by Hezbollah members, along with more significant sites such as an airstrip used by Hezbollah to launch drones and a weapons depot storing anti-aircraft missiles, Hagari says.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Feb 5 about the US strikes in Iraq and Syria, which were launched in retaliation for the death of three American soldiers. The meeting, requested by permanent member Russia, will discuss the attacks launched by the Biden administration against Iran-backed groups it has accused of attacking US troops in the region.

Roughly a thousand protesters marched in Jerusalem calling on the Israeli government to ensure the speedy release of the hostages held by Hamas and went to the Israeli president's residence. They demanded an immediate deal to free the 132 hostages who have been in Hamas captivity for 120 days. Israel said expecting answer from Hamas in next day or two on whether hostage talks will begin.According to The Times of Israel, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh appears to be dragging his feet. Unconfirmed reports say that he has delayed a trip to Cairo in order to discuss the talks. The talks have been on more general principles and have not gotten into the number of Israeli hostages and Palestinian security prisoners who could be released.

While there were reports earlier this week that the sides were discussing the release of hundreds, if not thousands, of Palestinian security prisoners, Israeli Channel 12 reported that these were false proposals were leaked by Israeli officials in order to prepare Israelis for what price that Israel might have to pay and also give  Prime Minister Netanyahu the opportunity to come out against the release of thousands of prisoners and thereby appear as if he is taking a harder line.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called on all parties to avoid further escalation in the Middle East after US strikes on Iran-linked groups in Syria and Iraq. “Everybody should try to avoid that the situation becomes explosive,” Borrell says at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. Borrell said the US retalitation was expected after  President Biden signaled that Washington would hit back. “Certainly every attack contributes to the escalation, and the ministers have expressed their serious concern for this process,” he said. “We can only call on everybody to understand that at any moment from this series of attacks and counter-attacks, a spark can produce a greater incident.” He said that the EU will launch a naval mission in the Red Sea this month to help protect international vessels from attacks by Yemen’s Houthis. Borrell says the mission would be “defensive” and not conduct any attacks on land against the Yemeni rebels.

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched through central London, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The marched through Oxford Circus and Whitehall, in what has become a regular occurrence in the capital since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. Protesters waved flags and held placards calling for Palestinian freedom and an end to the war.
The Met Police said they would deal with anyone who "crossed the line". Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward also warned people visiting central London of disruption. "We respect the right of people to protest, but other Londoners and visitors have rights as well. I understand the cumulative impact of repeated protests since October on businesses, residents and those who want to travel into the West End," he said.

 

2:30 pm

According to a U.S. Defense Official, since the night-time Feb. 2 airstrikes by the U.S. Air Force against IRGC and Iranian-backed groups in Iraq and Syria, the IRGC and other groups have launched at least 3 drone attacks on U.S. and coalition forces utilizing dSuicide” Drones that are claimed to have been Intercepted this morning over Al-Harir Air Base in Northern Iraq near the city of Erbil as well as over the Rumalyn Landing Zone in the Al-Hasakah Governorate and U.S. Base within the Conoco Gas Fields in Northeastern Syria.

 

2:00 pm

Explosions and antiaircraft fire were heard near the US base within the Conoco oil field near the city of Deir ez-Zor in Syria. Syria condemned the attack and claimed that an historic site was damaged by US airstrikes. Syria's foreign ministry condemned “in the strongest terms the barbaric US bombardment” of Al-Rahba fortress in eastern Syria’s Mayadeen area. Located along the Euphrates River, dates to the ninth century, it said. The “blatant” attack violated “all international norms and charters that call for the protection and respect for cultural property,” the ministry added. The bombardment caused cracks and fissures in the fortress walls, a pro-government outlet reported antiquities chief Nazir Awad as saying. The full extent of the damage had not yet been assessed, he added.

Pope Francis condemned the “terrible increase in attacks against Jews around the world” and the rise of antisemitism since the October 7 by Hamas terrorists in Israel. Writing to the Jewish people of Israel and made public today, he wrote that the Catholic church “rejects every form of anti-Judaism and antisemitism, unequivocally condemning manifestations of hatred towards Jews and Judaism as a sin against God.” He continued that the war in Gaza has produced “divisive attitudes in public opinion worldwide and divisive positions, sometimes taking the form of antisemitism and anti-Judaism”,  He added: "We had hoped that ‘never again’ would be a refrain heard by the new generations, yet now we see that the path ahead requires ever closer collaboration to eradicate these phenomena." 

Iraq received prior warning ahead of the Feb. 2 airstrikes,according to a senior US administration official. NBC reported that the official said: "It wasn’t a huge heads up, but it is not accurate to say they weren’t informed." The strikes were made on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in Iraq and were in direct response to the killing of the three US soldiers, unlike the smaller US retaliation following Houthi attacks on international shipping. The official reportedly added: "What you saw last night and what you are going to see again was not insignificant. There are other things we’re going to do. Some you will see and some you won’t see."

Jordan participated the US military operation launched late on Feb 2 on Iranian-backed terrorists in Iraq and Syria in response to a drone strike that killed three US troops last weekend, CNN reported, citing an unnamed senior US official for its report. The Jordanian Air Force denied participating and the Jordanian government would not comment on the story. CNN added, “While no Jordanian border guard forces were hurt, government communications minister Muhannad Moubaideen on [Jan. 28] described the strike as a 'terrorist attack' and vowed to confront the threat of terrorism.” CNN correspondent Ben Wedemen reported that Jordan joined the US, UK and others previously in the offensive against the Islamic State (Isis) fundamentalist militant group in the region, with participation by the Jordanian Air Force.

Russia condemned the US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, saying “it is obvious that the airstrikes are deliberately designed to further inflame the conflict”. The foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Feb. 3 that the situation needs to be considered by the UN security council.

US strikes on Iraq and Syria are result of Iranian proxies ‘playing with fire’, said the Polish foreign minister. “Iran’s proxies have played with fire for months and years, and it’s now burning them,” Radosław Sikorski  said as he arrived for a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels.

Middle East is ‘a powder keg’ and ‘too many’ are ‘running around with matches’, said Alexander Schallenberg, Austria’s foreign minister on Feb. 3.

Hamas condemned US “aggression against” Iraq and Syria, describing it as a “dangerous escalation” and “an encroachment on the sovereignty of the two countries”.

Hezbollah strongly condemned the US airstrikes, calling them a “blatant American aggression against Iraq and Syria”. “What the US has done is a blatant violation of the sovereignty of the two countries, an attack on their security and territorial integrity, and a shameless violation of all international and humanitarian laws,” it said.

10:00 am

US Central Command released a statement on Feb. 3 saying: 

On Feb. 2, at approximately 10:30 a.m. (Sanaa time), USS Carney (DDG 64) engaged and shot down one unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over the Gulf of Aden. There were no injuries or damage reported. Later that same day, at approximately 4:40 p.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Central Command forces conducted strikes against four Houthi UAVs that were prepared to launch. U.S. forces identified the UAVs in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined that they presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the U.S. Navy ships in the region. U.S. forces subsequently struck and destroyed the UAVs in self-defense. Then, at 9:20 p.m. (Sanaa time), USS Laboon (DDG 58) and F/A-18s from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group engaged and shot down seven UAVs over the Red Sea. There were no injuries or damage reported. These actions will protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy vessels and merchant vessels.

9:45 am

Iraq has called the US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran-linked targets a “violation of Iraqi sovereignty” that could have ‘“disastrous consequences” for the region. Yahya Rasool,Yahya Rasool, a spokesman for Iraq’s prime minister, said: "These airstrikes constitute a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, undermine the efforts of the Iraqi government, and pose a threat that could lead Iraq and the region into disastrous consequences."

The Iranian-Backed, Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) are claiming that 16 of their fighters were killed and 36 were Injured in the retaliatory airstrikes led by the U.S. Air Force last night against their munitions depot and base within the town of Al-Qa'im in western Iraq.

Iraq’s foreign ministry announced today t would summon the US embassy’s chargé d’affaires – the ambassador being outside the country – to deliver a formal protest over US strikes on “Iraqi military and civilian sites”. The   retaliation was for a drone strike that killed three US troops in Jordan last weekend, which the US has blamed that on the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iranian-backed militias. Iran, meanwhile, has attempted to distance itself from the attack, saying that the militias act independently of its direction.

Today, an Iraqi militia official  hinted at a desire to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East after retaliatory strikes launched by the US against dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iranian-backed militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, reported the Associated Press (AP). Hussein al-Mosawi, spokesperson for Harakat al-Nujaba, one of the main Iranian-backed militias in Iraq,condemned the US strikes, saying Washington “must understand that every action elicits a reaction.” But he then struck a more conciliatory tone, saying that “we do not wish to escalate or widen regional tensions.” Mossawi said the targeted sites in Iraq were mainly “devoid of fighters and military personnel at the time of the attack.” Suggesting there was not too much damage could allow him to justify the lack of a strong response. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that 23 people were killed in the Syria strikes, all rank-and-file fighters.

Iraqi government spokesperson Bassim al-Awadi said today that the strikes in Iraq near the Syrian border killed 16, including civilians, and there was “significant damage” to homes and private properties.Iraqi spokesperson al-Awadi condemned the strikes as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, particularly since some of them targeted facilities of the Population Mobilization Forces (PMF). The PMF, a coalition of Iranian-backed militias, was officially brought under the umbrella of the Iraqi armed forces after it joined the fight against the Islamic State in 2014, but in practice it continues to operate largely outside state control. Today, the Popular Mobilization Forces said  that one of the sites targeted was an official security headquarters of the group. In addition to 16 killed, it said 36 had been wounded, “while the search is still ongoing for the bodies of a number of the missing.”

9:50 am

Dr Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and north Africa program at Chatham House think tank, said any response from Iran in the coming days depends much upon the numbers of casualties on the ground. She added that the role of new US sanctions and a reported cyber-attack on Iran could also be important. She told CNN: "Iran, should it choose to respond, and it’s important to note that they have been consistently messaging that they are not seeking a broader escalation, could choose to pursue the cyber route in a response – and that might be a climbdown off of the escalation ladder." She added: "Iran certainly has been the convener of these groups. It has nurtured the relationships; it has invested in individuals, built up capacity, transferred technology, drones, missile capability to these groups, helped them build their capabilities. And over the years, particularly since [Qassem] Soleimani’s death in 2020, Iran has decentralised leadership control over these groups. It wants to take the onus of responsibility off Iran and it has empowered key commanders across the region. It has also played a very important role in managing and coordinating among these groups. So, sometimes, of course, Iran presses ‘go’ or messages that the escalation is good for the ‘axis of resistance’ or to protect Hamas, or distract Israel and pressure the United States."

Red Crescent says 11 injured at its Khan Younis HQ as Israeli forces throw smoke bombs at displaced people. 

Palestine’s ministry of foreign affairs and expatriates  warned of the repercussions of a possible Israeli military operation on the city of Rafah at Gaza's border with Egypt. The ministry said such an operation would result in “the annihilation of about 1.5 million Palestinians, or an attempt to displace them”, reports Al Jazeera, citing a statement quoted by the Palestinian news agency Wafa. . It also criticised the international community, says Al Jazeera, for its failure to halt the war and ease the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a statement that the US strikes represented “another adventurous and strategic mistake by the US that will result only in increased tension and instability in the region”. He said they were “violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Syria and Iraq. Kanaani said the US attacks were designed “to overshadow the Zionist regime’s crimes in Gaza”. He did not indicate if Iran would take any action in response. He also urged the UN security council to prevent “illegal and unilateral US attacks in the region”. On Feb. 2,  the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, said Iran would not start a war but would “respond strongly to anyone who tries to bully it”. Kanaani said “the root cause of tensions and crises in the Middle East is Israel’s occupation and genocide of Palestinians with America’s unlimited support”.

The US Cntral Command struck approximately 85 targetsin Syria and Iraq in retaliation for a deadly drone strike on a US base in Syria on Jan. 28. President Biden  said the strikes had been launched in retaliation for the drone strike that killed three US troops in Jordan, adding: ‘Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing.’ Iraqi spokesman Bassem Awadi said that US strikes had hit “locations in the Akashat and Al-Qaim regions, including areas where our security forces are stationed”.

Israel continued its assault in the Gaza Strip today as fears grew of a push into Rafah,where thousands of displaced Gazans have taken shelter. Israel conducted aistrikes and artillery fire on Khan Younis, the main city in southern Gaza which  has been  the most recent focus of the Israeli offensive. While the the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said more than 100 people were killed across the Palestinian territory overnight, mostly women and children, the IDF said its forces had killed “dozens of terrorists” in northern and central Gaza over the past 24 hours.

Rafah, which had been home to 200,000 people, now hosts more than half of Gaza’s 2.4 million population, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Feb. 2.

According to the statement, at least 27,238 Palestinians have been killed and 66,452 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since  October 7. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.

'Unprecedented' destruction in Gaza will 'take tens of billions of dollars and decades to reverse', says UN. A UN statement on Twitter declared, "Even with the end of the military operation and the recent average growth rate of 0.4%, it would take Gaza until 2092 just to restore 2022 GDP levels"

The US warned of retaliation on Feb 1, when Secretary of Defense Austin said, "We will have a multi-tier response and we have the ability to respond a number of times depending on the situation … We look to hold the people responsible for this accountable and we also seek to take away capability as we go forward." He added that the Biden administration is endeavouring to presvent a major escalation, emphasizing that the US is not at war with Iran. 

February 3, 2024

5:00 pm

Internal divisions among Hamas leaders are preventing the Palestinian terror group from backing a proposed hostage release deal that would include a pause to the fighting in the Gaza Strip, the Wall Street Journal reported. The dynamic within Hamas has flipped, with the terrorist organization’s chief in Gaza Yahya Sinwar backing a temporary truce while its leaders outside of the Strip are pushing for further Israeli concessions. WHJ reports that Sinwar wants a six-week halt to the war so Hamas operatives can regroup and more aid can enter Gaza. Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh, however, is pushing for a permanent ceasefire with international guarantees and a plan for rebuilding the enclave.

4:55 pm

According to a CENTCOM statement, American forces — including long-range bombers that flew from the United States — hit over 85 targets linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in Iraq and Syria. “The facilities that were struck included command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aired vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against US and Coalition forces,” the statement says.

4:47 pm

‘It’s immoral’ said UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese of funding cuts to UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) put into place by the US, UK, Japan, Germany and other countries because of evidence that UNRWA employees may have engaged in terrorism. 

4;45 pm

The U.S. military launched an air assault on dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iranian-backed militias today in retaliation for the drone strike that killed three U.S. troops in Jordan last weekend. President Biden had warned for days that the U.S. would strike back at the terrorists, and they made it clear that it wouldn't be just one hit, but would be a "tiered response" over time. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations not yet made public. The initial strikes by manned and unmanned aircraft were hitting command and control headquarters, ammunition storage and other facilities.

4:30 pm

550 members of Minnesota's National Guard are being deployed for service in Kuwait.  the 34th Infantry Division, the 'Red Bulls', will go to Texas first for training and arrive in theater in March.

4:15 pm

There are various unverified reports of US airstrikes on targets in Syria. 

4:00 pm

Days after a drone attack killed three American soldiers at a base in Jordan, the US has started launching retaliatory strikes in Syria. There is no immediate word on the target of the reported strikes. The US has blamed the drone attack on Iran-backed militias in Iraq.

Yemen’s Houthis say they have carried out a military operation toward Eilat in southern Israel with ballistic missiles, the Iran-backed rebel group’ said. The IDF earlier said the Arrow missile defense system successfully intercepted a surface-to-surface missile fired at Israeli territory in the area of the Red Sea.

The State Department announced that Secretary Antony Blinken will travel to the Middle East next week, his fifth regional tour since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war nearly four months ago. He will start in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 4 before  proceeding to Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the West Bank.  He “will continue diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement that secures the release of all remaining hostages and includes a humanitarian pause that will allow for sustained, increased delivery of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza,” State declared. “He will continue to work to prevent the spread of the conflict, while reaffirming that the United States will take appropriate steps to defend its personnel and the right to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea,” the State Department statement continues. Blinken “will also continue discussions with partners on how to establish a more integrated, peaceful region that includes lasting security for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” it adds.

A UN delegation visited northern Gaza to assess the effects of the war, while Israeli officials fear reports on the destruction there could have a detrimental effect on its war effort, according to Israeli Channel 12 news reports. It toured southern Israel in recent days to see the results of Hamas’s deadly attacks on October 7 before entering Gaza to view the conditions there.

The Department of Justice announced terrorism and sanctions-evasion charges and seizures linked to a billion-dollar oil trafficking network that it says finances Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). “The Department of Justice’s actions are critical to stemming the flow of money that Iran uses to engage in activities that threaten people inside the United States, as well as our interests across the world,” a senior Justice Department official said.  The Justice Department seized more than $108 million that it says China Oil & Petroleum Company Limited, which it calls an IRGC front company, attempted to launder through accounts at US financial institutions. The department says more than 500,000 barrels of Iran’s sanctioned oil were also seized. Seven defendants, including Morteza Rostam Ghasemi, who is the son of an IRGC commander and Iranian oil minister, and an Iranian shipping official are charged in connection with those seizures. Iran’s crude exports and oil output hit new highs in 2023 despite US sanctions. In January, China’s oil trade with Iran stalled as Tehran withheld shipments and demanded higher prices from its top client, tightening cheap supply for the world’s biggest crude importer. Iranian oil makes up some 10% of China’s crude imports. “The cases that we’re announcing are targeting players on both sides, both the supply and demand side” of sanctioned Iranian oil,” the Justice Department official says.

US ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield says that a draft Security Council resolution put forward by Algeria could jeopardize “sensitive negotiations” aimed at brokering a deal for the release of hostages held by Hamas in return for a pause in fighting in Gaza and the freeing of Palestinian security prisoners. Algeria shared the draft with the 15-member council on Wednesday. It would demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. “This draft resolution could put sensitive negotiations in jeopardy — derailing the exhaustive, ongoing diplomatic efforts to secure the release of hostages, and secure an extended pause that Palestinian civilians and aid workers so desperately need,” Thomas-Greenfield said. .

A proposal for Hamas to free all Israeli hostages in Gaza, including the 132 remaining hostages it kidnapped in the October 7 terror onslaught, would see the hostages released over a 142-day period, during which the IDF campaign against Hamas in Gaza would be halted, according to the Haaretz daily. The  proposal presented to ministers calls for the initial release of 35 women, elderly and sick hostages, with a day-long pause in fighting for each freed hostage, Haaretz reported. There would then be a week to negotiate the return of the other 100 hostages, who if a deal is reached would be freed over 100 days, again with the fighting paused. Many versions of the unfinalized framework hostage deal have been reported in recent days, with none verified and several reports claiming that some 35 hostages would be freed in a first phase, with a corresponding one-day pause in the fighting for each release.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he told Israeli premier  Benjamin Netanyahu to “start talking about the things a Palestinian state can be rather than the things it can’t be,” reiterating British support for a two-state solution. In an interview with Lebanese broadcaster LBCI, Cameron said British policy is to say there will be a time when Britain will look to recognize a Palestinian state, including at the United Nations. “That can’t be at the start of the process. The process needs to get going. But it doesn’t have to be at the end of the process,” he said. Cameron said Netanyahu had “not ruled out comprehensively a two-state solution.” “My message to him was start talking about the things that a Palestinian state could be rather than the things it can’t be. So that’s what we should be working towards,” he says.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan about the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The Saudi say their talk “the efforts made to deal with the security and humanitarian consequences” of the war. There is no immediate statement from the State Department on the call.

Touring near Israel's northern border with Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that a pause in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza will not apply to the ongoing hostilities with Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group. “If Hezbollah thinks that when there is a ceasefire in the south it will hold fire and we’ll stop, it’s making a big mistake,” Gallant says after meeting troops from the IDF’s Alpine Unit on Mount Hermon, according to his office. He said, “I say here explicitly: Until we reach a situation in which it’s possible to restore security for residents of the north, we will not stop. When get reach this through a [diplomatic] arrangement or military means, we can be calm.”

 

10:39 am

According to Israeli media,  Secretary of Defense Austin spoke to Israeli Minister of Defense Gallant via telephone to discuss the ongoing situation across the Middle East and the regional threat to American and Israeli forces. This came as there are reports of a possible beginning of a large-scale military campaign by the United States, with coordination from Israel, against Iranian-backed forces across the region.

 

10:00 am

The UN humanitarian office voiced "deep concern" about the hostilities in Khan Younis that have forced more people to flee to Rafah in the south of Gaza, describing the border town as a “pressure cooker of despair.” “I want to emphasise our deep concern about the escalation of hostilities in Khan Younis, which has resulted in an increase in the number of internally displaced people seeking refuge in Rafah in recent days,” said Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs

Israel and Hamas appear to be inching closer towards a deal for a ceasefire and a release of some of the hostages still being held by the militant group in Gaza, while the UN children’s agency has warned that 17,000 children have been left without families or been separated from them by the conflict. Qatar indicated that the militant group had given its initial support for a deal after weeks of delicate and secretive negotiations. Hamas has received details of the proposed deal,but  it has yet to deliver a reply. A Qatari official later clarified to Reuters that there was “no deal yet” and that although “Hamas has received the proposal positively”, Qatar was “waiting for their response”. Taher al-Nono, an adviser to the Qatar-based Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh, said: “We cannot say the current stage of negotiation is zero and at the same time we cannot say that we have reached an agreement.” Haniyeh is expected to travel to Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials on the issue of a ceasefire.

Vital supplies of fuel and bread flour for Gaza risk running dry, while schools, clinics and even rubbish collections in the West Bank and three countries across the Middle East could cease operating by the end of the month if funding cuts for UNRWA are not restored, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees said. The UN has warned of an imminent famine affecting 2 million people. UNRWA delivers flour to make bread, and fuel for desalination plants, and runs networks of warehouses and lorries for aid. UNWRA-run schools have transformed into shelters housing tens of thousands of people. UNRWA also runs hundreds of schools in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. If the agency completely stops operating, these schools would close, leaving an estimated 500,000 children without education. The US, UK, Australia, Japan and other countries have suspended funds to UNRWA. Video evidence has demonstrated that armed Hamas militants have diverted aid trucks to the terrorist organization. 

Israeli security forces have continued to limit the number of people able to worship at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem for Friday prayers on Feb. 2. Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli forces “searched many worshippers, restricting their access to the Old City and preventing them from reaching al-Aqsa mosque … military checkpoints were erected … [and] a significant number of worshippers had to perform Friday prayers near the Asbat Gate, one of the main gates of the holy site, and in the Ras al-Amoud neighbourhood, having been denied access.”

Belgium’s ministry of foreign affairs has summoned the Israeli ambassador to Belgium and strongly condemned the bombing of the Belgian development agency Enable. Idit Rosenzweig-Abu, the Israeli ambassador to Belgium, told the Guardian newspaper: "Israel have been notified by the Belgian MFA on this incident yesterday at 22:00 (23:00 Israel time). We are currently investigating the circumstances around the alleged incident and will update the authorities once we receive more information.”

The latest pro-Palestine march of hundreds of thousands of protesters through central London will end with a rally near Downing Street on Feb. 3. Following a meeting with police on  Feb. 1, organizers of the march said they had been given permission for the end stage of the Saturday demonstration to take place on Whitehall in London. Metropolitan Police had insisted that the “scale and frequency of marches” was causing serious disruption and that they did not support a request to extend the march into Whitehall.

Sweden’s intelligence service said today that the investigation into a foiled attack on the Israeli embassy in Stockholm this week was being treated as a potential “terrorist crime.” Police were called to the embassy on Jan. 31 after a “dangerous object” was discovered on its grounds, which the national bomb squad destroyed after determining it was “live”. Police declined to comment on what the object was but media have reported it was a hand grenade. “The preliminary investigation launched by the Swedish police authority on 31 January, following the discovery of a dangerous object at the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, has been taken over by the Swedish Security Service,” the service said. “In connection with this, the criminal classification has been changed to a terrorist crime,” it added. The Israeli ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman, said in a post to X that the embassy had been “subject to an attempted attack”. “We will not be intimidated by terror,” Kulman added.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said 105 people were killed overnight, while the Hamas press office reported Israeli air and artillery bombardment around Khan Younis – southern Gaza’s main city and the focus of recent fighting. Lealets dropped by Israel calling on civilians to leave were again dropped by Israeli aircraft over al-Shifa hospital’s compound. Terrorist infrastructure was found in the hospital last month.

Nearly four months of fighting had left Gaza “uninhabitable”, the UN said, while the Israeli siege had resulted in dire shortages of food, water, fuel and medicines.

Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said there were hopes of “good news” about a fresh pause to the fighting “in the next couple of weeks”. This followed Hamas' receipt of the proposal. A truce plan was negotiated by Israelis with Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators in Paris earlier this week, and had received a “positive” initial response from Hamas. “That proposal has been approved by the Israeli side and now we have an initial positive confirmation from the Hamas side,” he said. Hamas reportedly said: "There is no agreement on the framework of the agreement yet – the factions have important observations – and the Qatari statement is rushed and not true.” Hamas was presented with a three-stage plan which would start with an initial six-week halt to the fighting to allow more aid deliveries into Gaza. “Women, children and sick men over 60” among the Israeli hostages would also be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel, the source said. There would also be “negotiations around the withdrawal of Israeli forces”, with possible additional phases involving more prisoner exchanges.

An Iranian Revolutionary Guards adviser in Damascus has been killed in an Israeli missile attack that targeted a southern district of the Syrian capital, according to semi-official Iranian news sites, reports Al Jazeera. The adviser was identified as Saeid Alidadi without sharing his rank. 

Syria’s state news agency Sana reported that the Syrian military had downed a number of Israeli missiles launched from the Golan Heights at southern Damascus.

The Iran-backed Iraqi armed group al-Nujaba said today it will continue launching attacks on US forces until they withdraw from Iraq and the Gaza war ends. “Any [US] strike will result in an appropriate response,” al-Nujaba’s leader, Akram al-Kaabi, said in a statement, according to Al Jazeera.

A US federal court dismissed a case accusing President Biden and other senior US officials of complicity in Israel’s alleged genocide in Gaza. Despite the dismissal, the court’s decision urged Biden and his colleagues to examine “the results of their unflagging support” for Israel, including its human rights implications.

Turkish police arrested seven people today alleged to have sold information to the Israeli intelligence service the Mossad, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. They were detained by  Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, or MIT. Raids were carried out  in Istanbul and Izmir, Anadolu reported. Two other suspects in the investigation are thought to have been detained earlier. The operation  “Palestinian nationals and their families … within the scope of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict”.

Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi said today that his country will not start a war, but it will “respond strongly” to anyone who bullies it. “We will not start any war, but if anyone wants to bully us they will receive a strong response,” Raisi said in a televised speech. 

CBS News, citing US officials, reported on Feb. 1 that the US had approved plans for multi day strikes in Iraq and Syria against multiple targets, including Iranian personnel and facilities in those countries where Iran-backed terrorist organizations operate. “Before, when they [the US] wanted to talk to us, they said the military option is on the table. Now they say they have no intention of a conflict with Iran,” Raisi said. “The Islamic Republic’s military power in the region is not and never has been a threat to any country. Rather, it ensures security that the countries of the region can rely on and trust,” Raisi added.

The Syrian military says it downed Israeli missiles launched from the Golan Heights targeting south Damascus today. There were reports of an explosion near Damascus. Israel has for years carried out attacks on what it has described as Iran-linked targets in Syria, where Tehran’s influence has grown since it began supporting president Bashar al-Assad in a civil war that started in 2011. Since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas from Gaza, Israel has escalated its strikes on Iranian-backed militia targets in Syria and has also struck Syrian army air defences and some Syrian forces.

According to a new AP-NORC poll, about seven out of 10 young people in Biden’s Democratic party disapprove of his approach to the conflict between Israel and terrorists.
About seven out of 10 young people in Biden’s Democratic party disapprove of his approach to the conflict. Half of US adults believe Israel’s war in Gaza has “gone too far”, a finding driven mainly by growing disapproval among Republicans and political independents, according to the poll. Overall, 31% of US adults approve of President Biden’s handling of the conflict, including just 46% of Democrats. About seven out of 10 young people in Biden’s Democratic party disapprove of his approach to the conflict. In all, 50% of US adults now believe Israel’s military offensive has gone beyond what it should have, the poll found. That’s up from 40% in an AP-NORC poll conducted in November. The poll shows 33% of Republicans thought Israel’s military response had gone too far, up from 18% in November, while 52% of independents said that, up from 39%. It also found that 62% of Democrats said they feel that way, roughly the same majority as in November. According to AP, "Fracture lines are growing in his [Biden’s]Democratic base, with some key Democratic blocs that Biden will likely need if he’s going to win a second term unhappy with his handling of the conflict. About six in 10 non-white Democrats disapprove of how Biden is approaching the conflict, while about half of white Democrats approve. Notably, about seven in 10 Democrats under 45 disapprove. That’s the opposite of the attitude of older Democrats, among whom nearly six in 10 approve.”

Political fractures were evident in Detroit, Michigan, where Biden made a campaign stop on Feb. 1 to thank UAW for its endorsement. Pro-Palestine demonstrators denounced Biden and voiced support for a ceasefire and the Palestinian cause. Last week, Democratic Muslim political leaders refused to meet with Biden's campaign manager.

An Israeli minister was disinvited from a German-Israeli conference hosted by German justice minister Marco Buschmann. Likud lawmaker and minister for diaspora affairs Amichai Chikli has “faced widespread public criticism worldwide for his far-right and homophobic statements,” reported Haaretz. He recently attended a conference where government ministers called for the Israeli resettlement of Gaza and the “voluntary resettlement” of Palestinians, and on Jan. 27 met with a delegation from the far-right Sweden Democrats party, Haaretz reported.

Israel has accused the Australian government of forgetting “Hamas’s culpability” for the war in Gaza, in a sign of growing tensions as ministers consider reinstating funding to a key UN agency. Australian opposition leader Peter Dutton also fired a political warning shot against resuming the funding but Australian aid groups said the dire situation in Gaza would “rapidly escalate without UNRWA’s critical support”. The aid groups implored the Aussie government to “be judicious and discriminate between allegations against a small number of individuals and the foreseeable impact of defunding UNRWA on millions of Palestinians reliant on their services, including children”. More than 10 donor countries – including Japan, Australia, the US and the UK – suspended funding to UNRWA after allegations from Israel that as many as 12 of its staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks. The Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, who has frozen $6m in funds she pledged in mid-January, said the allegations made against UNRWA staff were “deeply concerning” and they needed to be “thoroughly investigated and those responsible need to be held to account”.

Turkish authorities have formally arrested 25 suspects in connection with the murder of a man during a service at a Catholic church in Istanbul last weekend, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said today. Among the 25 in custody were the two suspected gunmen, previously captured by police, who are believed to be tied to Islamic State, Tunc said. One suspect is from Tajikistan and the other Russian. The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on Telegram, saying it was in response to a call by the group’s leaders to target Jews and Christians. The 25 suspects were charged with membership of an illegal organisation and aggravated intentional homicide, adding that another nine suspects were released pending trial. 

Several members of the Palestinian-American community have refused to meet with secretary of state Antony Blinken in Washington DC. The group stated: "After nearly four unbearable months of constant US-enabled Israeli violence against our families, friends and other innocent civilians in Gaza, and throughout Palestine, we cannot imagine what Secretary Blinken could have to say or discuss with us."

Israeli forces have carried out fresh raids in the West Bank overnight. Homes in the cities of Jenin, Nablus and Hebron were raided and there were clashes in the Jenin refugee camp though so far no arrests, the broadcaster reported. There were raids and arrests in the town of al-Mazra’a al-Sharqiya, near Ramallah; towns of Baqat al-Hatab and Hajjah, east of Qalqilya; town of Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem; the town of Azzun, east of Qalqilya; the village of Baqat al-Hatab, east of Qalqiliya.

Israeli forces will continue their Gaza military campaign to Rafah, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said, despite the presence of Palestinian civilians there. Gallant said: "The Khan Younis Brigade of the Hamas organization is disbanded, we will complete the mission there and continue to Rafah. The great pressure that our forces exert on Hamas targets brings us closer to the return of the abductees, more than anything else [we can do]. We will continue until the end, there is no other way."

The Law School Student Senate at Columbia University voted to deny official recognition of the proposed Law Students Against Antisemitism group on Jan. 23 in an anonymous vote of approximately 33 senators. Law School students proposed the group to “raise awareness and educate about both historical and contemporary antisemitism,” according to its constitution. “It is rare that a club doesn’t gain approval, and I am disappointed by the signal that this sends to many in our Jewish community,” Student Senate President Justin Onwenu, Law ’24, wrote in a statement. “I am hoping that the club will resubmit and consensus can be reached because combatting hate, including antisemitism, is one of the most pressing issues of our time.”

9:00 am

Israeli forces continue their Gaza military campaign to Rafah, the Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said, despite the more than 1 million Palestinian civilians who have sought shelter there. “The Khan Younis Brigade of the Hamas organisation has been disbanded, we will complete the mission there and continue to Rafah,” Gallant said in a Twitter post. The announcement came as Qatar said Hamas had given an “initial positive confirmation” to a proposed ceasefire deal. Rafah lies on the border between Gaza and Egypt.

At least 27,019 Palestinians have been killed and 66,139 injured in the Israeli assault on Gaza since the October 7 onslaught by Hamas terrorists, according to the latest figures by the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry on Feb. 1. The ministry said in the past 24 hours, 118 Palestinians were killed and 190 injured. Images from the Gaza Strip today show that the Israeli bombardment continues.

Hamas has received a proposal for a ceasefire deal that would involve the release of Israeli hostages, after US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators met Israeli intelligence officials in Paris. A Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson on Feb. 1 said Hamas has given “initial positive confirmation” to a proposed deal, but a source close to Hamas said there is “no agreement on the framework of the agreement yet”, describing the Qatari statement as “rushed and not true”.

President Biden issued an executive order targeting Israeli settlers in the West Bank who have been attacking Palestinians. The order, a rare step against the US’s closest ally in the Middle East, initially imposes financial sanctions and visa bans against four Israeli individuals. The White House said there are currently no plans to target Israeli government officials with sanctions. A statement from Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the vast majority of West Bank settlers are “law-abiding citizens” and described Biden’s order as “drastic”.

Britain could officially recognize a Palestinian state after a ceasefire in Gaza, UK foreign secretary Cameron said. In a Feb. 1 interview, Cameron said no recognition could come while Hamas remained in Gaza, but that it could take place while Israeli negotiations with Palestinian leaders were continuing.

The US has ordered a series of reprisal strikes to be launched over more than one day against an Iranian-backed militia, according to Defense Secretary Austin. The attacks are expected to hit militia in Syria and possibly Iraq, though Austin did not specify the timing or precise location. They are in response to the drone strike on a US base on the Iran-Syrian border Jan. 28 that killed three US service personnel and injured more than 30.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said it has lost contact with a team of paramedics dispatched to rescue a six-year-old Palestinian girl trapped inside a car in north Gaza. The organisation released audio recordings between dispatchers and Hind Rajab, the only survivor trapped inside the vehicle near a petrol station in Gaza City.

Ministers in Israel’s war cabinet are reportedly considering limiting the amount of aid reaching Gaza, as Israeli protesters disrupted the entry of trucks carrying humanitarian supplies to Gaza.  War cabinet members Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot have suggested temporarily limiting aid to weaken Hamas, following an unverified report from Israel’s internal security service that estimated up to 66% of aid entering Gaza was being hijacked by Hamas. Video evidence has confirmed that at least some shipments are being diverted by armed Hamas terrorists.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) will be forced to shut down its operations across the region “by the end of February” if funding does not resume, the agency’s head has warned. More than 10 western countries including the US, UK and Germany have said they would suspend funding to UNRWA after Israel accused some of its workers of taking part in Hamas’s 7 October attack. The UN agency provides aid to more than 5.6 million Palestinian refugees across the Middle East.

Algeria has drafted a UN security council resolution to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The draft was shared with the 15-member council on Wednesday, according to diplomats, after the UN body met to discuss a ruling by the international court of justice that ordered Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide.

US forces have carried out strikes in Yemen against 10 attack drones and a ground control station belonging to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, according to the US military. Early on Feb. 1, US forces targeted a “Houthi UAV ground control station and 10 Houthi one-way UAVs” that “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the US navy ships in the region,” Central Command said.

The UK will not send ground troops into combat against Houthi militants in Yemen, Britain’s deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, has said. Dowden said he was confident US and UK airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen were a step in degrading the Iranian-backed group’s capability to threaten the Red Sea, and part of broader measures that include sanctions on Houthi figures.

February 2, 2024

 

4:35 pm

Iran began construction on four more nuclear power plants in the country's south, with expected total capacity of 5,000 megawatts, the official IRNA news agency reported today. Iran seeks to produce 20,000 megawatts of nuclear energy by 2041. The Islamic Republic is also engaged in producing ballistic missiles and weaponizing uranium.
 

4:22 pm

Algeria has drafted a UN security council resolution to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The  draft also “rejects the forced displacement of the Palestinian civilian population” and demands all parties comply with international law and calls for full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access into and throughout the entire Gaza Strip. The draft was shared with the 15-member security council on Jan. 31 after discussing the ruling ing by the UN international court of justice ordering Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide. It was not immediately known when or if Algeria’s draft resolution could be put to a vote. The US – which holds a council veto power – and Israel oppose a ceasefire in Gaza, believing it would only benefit Hamas.

4:15 pm

The UN has launched an appeal for $4 billion (£3.1 billion) in aid this year for Yemen, devastated by nearly a decade of war and conflict. The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) said in a statement that its 2024 humanitarian response plan “requires $2.7 billion for live-saving assistance and protection services”. A further $1.3 billion was needed for sustainable development, it said. “Urgent support” was needed for more than 18.2 million Yemenis “who have faced tremendous suffering daily for more than nine years due to conflict, economic deterioration, severely disrupted public infrastructure and services, as well as climate change”, Peter Hawkins, the acting UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said. He added: "We must not turn our backs on the people of Yemen. I am appealing to donors for their continued and urgent support to save lives, build resilience, and also to fund sustainable interventions."

The White House has said there are currently no plans to target Israeli government officials with sanctions after President Biden issued an executive order targeting Israeli settlers in the West Bank who have been attacking Palestinians. “There’s no plans to target with sanctions Israeli government officials at this time,” White House’s national security spokesman John Kirby said. "This was an initial set of designations; I’m not going to preview whether there will be more or not going forward, but it is a new tool that we’re going to take a look at using appropriately."

However, according to Axios, the Biden administration considered sanctioning Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, and national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir,who have have called for the re-establishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza and the north of the West Bank.

Britain could officially recognize a Palestinian state after a ceasefire in Gaza without waiting for the outcome of what could be years-long talks between Israel and the Palestinians on a two-state solution, UK foreign secretary David Cameron said. No recognition could come whilst Hamas remains in Gaza, he said, adding that it could take place while

 

Israeli negotiations with Palestinian leaders were continuing. Britain’s recognition of an independent state of Palestine “can’t come at the start of the process, but it doesn’t have to be the very end of the process”, he said, adding: "It could be something that we consider as this process, as this advance to a solution, becomes more real … What we need to do is give the Palestinian people a horizon towards a better future, the future of having a state of their own." He said that it is “absolutely vital for the long-term peace and security of the region”, he said.

Hamas received the Paris truce proposal for a ceasefire and release of hostages in Gaza but did not give a response to any of the parties, the media adviser to the head of political bureau of the Islamist movement said today. "We say that the current stage of negotiation is zero and at the same time we cannot say that we have reached an agreement,’ Taher al-Nono said.

US Central Command  said two anti-ship ballistic missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, likely towards the M/V KOI ship in the Red Sea. The missiles landed in the sea without hitting the ship and there was no damage reported. The US said the ship was a Liberian-flagged and Bermuda-owned cargo ship. The Houthis, meanwhile, said their naval forces targeted a “British merchant vessel” in the Red Sea, in what appears to be the same attack.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked whether the executive order setting up sanctions against certain Israeli settlers in the West Bank was announced today to, essentially, appease Muslim voters incensed by US support and funding for Israel. The question was posed by reporters on Air Force One while Biden was heading to Detroit, which has a large number of Muslim voters who supported his election in 2020. Jean-Pierre denied that the timing was intentional, adding that “these types of sanctions take a long time” to plan and impose.

 

4:00 pm

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited the troops in Khan Yunis and announced that the Hamas forces in the city have been defeated. Khan Yunis is the second-largest city in the Gaza Strip. “10,000 Hamas terrorists have been killed & 10,000 wounded,” - he said. 

The Biden Administration sent $1.2 billion to UNRWA since the US re-resumed aid to the program in April 2021.

 

3:00 pm

On Jan. 31, UK parliament member Mike Freer announced he would not seek reelection, citing concerns for his safety. He has faced a series of death threats and an arson attack on his constituency office. A Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Courts and Legal Service, he also represents the Golders Green district in North London, which has a large Jewish community. He said he avoided being murdered "by the skin of my teeth" by Ali Harbi Ali, who went on to kill Southend West MP Sir David Amess. He has been a notable supporter of Israel. In October 2011, Freer was the target of an attack  by members of Muslims Against Crusades. In 2019, Freer hosted a crocus planting ceremony in memory of the 1.5 million children murdered in the Holocaust. In 2022, after the conviction of Ali Harbi Ali for the murder of Amess, anti-terrorism police said that Ali had visited his constituency office where Free would normally have been at the office. Ali murdered Amess instead. In December 2023, Freer's constituency was the target of a suspected arson attack.

1:59 pm

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated during his press briefing today that, “The President will not tolerate Attacks on American Troops, and neither will I.”

1:55 pm

Initial reports of an attack by Iranian-backed forces targetting a U.S. base within the Al-Omar Oil Fields in Eastern Syria.

1:50 pm

The Biden administration looking to an unprecedented policy of pushing for the creation of a demilitarized Palestinian state, according to New York Times’ columnist and Nobel Prize winning Thomas Friedman. The plan, Friedman wrote, “would involve some form of US recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that would come into being only once Palestinians had developed a set of defined, credible institutions and security capabilities to ensure that this state was viable and that it could never threaten Israel.” The Biden administration has "been consulting experts inside and outside the US government about different forms this recognition of Palestinian statehood might take,” revealed Friedman.

 

1:45 pm

Israeli firearms model Orin Julie and fashion model Natali Dadon were accosted at the Columbia University in New York City today.  Protesters yelled out to the models as Julie walked by with an Israeli flag, saying “You f---ing baby murderers” and “Nothing justifies a genocide!” Dadon shouted back “If you care about the children in Gaza, you should be protesting against Hamas! They are the ones killing them! You are brainwashed, you’re blind!” Julie and Dadon are on a tour of the US to broadcast crimes committed against innocent Israeli women and children by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7.

1:19 pm

Defense Secretary Austin said that without Iranian facilitation, the drone strikes that killed three American service personnel and wounded dozens last week would not have been possible.  Austin said did not respond to claims that US delays in responding meant senior Iranian military advisers had left Syria for Iran where they were less likely to face a US attack. We asked about the suspension of attacks announced by the Iranian-backed militia Kata’ib Hezbollah, he said: "We always listen to what people are saying, and we also watch what they do. Actions are everything so we will see what they do." He characterized most of the 160 strikes on  160 strikes on US bases in Syria and Iraq since the Hamas attack on Israel as ineffective. "When we conduct a strike we are going to take away capability. This particular attack [on Sunday] was egregious and on the sleeping areas of our base." He said, "We will respond at a time and place of our choosing. Iranian proxy groups have been attacking our troops before 7 October." He said there is no formula in meeting the US’s  objectives of holding the right people accountable, doing everything to protect its troops, and avoiding escalation.

Saying that the drones are of Iranian origin, Austin said, "We will have a multi-tier response and we have the ability to respond a number of times depending on the situation. We look to hold the people responsible for this accountable and we also seek to take away capability as we go forward."

Austin stressed the US is not at war with Iran and the Biden administration does not know if Iran of the drone strikes.He said in a sense “it did not matter since we do know that Iran sponsors these groups and funds these groups, and in some cases trains these groups.”

A federal court in California s ruled that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza “plausibly” amounts to genocide, but dismissed a case aimed at stopping US military support for Israel as being outside the court’s jurisdiction. “There are rare cases in which the preferred outcome is inaccessible to the court. This is one of those cases,” the US district court in the northern district of California ruled. “The court is bound by precedent and the division of our coordinate branches of government to abstain from exercising jurisdiction in this matter. “Yet, as the ICJ [the international court of justice] has found, it is plausible that Israel’s conduct amounts to genocide,” the judge in the case, Jeffrey White, said in his ruling, in a case brought by Palestinian human rights groups and individual Palestinians against President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, Defense Secretary Austin. "This court implores defendants to examine the results of their unflagging support of the military siege against the Palestinians in Gaza," Judge White wrote.

President Biden issued an executive order targeting Israeli settlers who have attacked Palestinians in Judea and Samaria (West Bank). It imposes financial sanctions and visa bans in an initial round against four individuals. The order freezes any US assets of those targeted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. The state department also planned to announce the first four individuals hit by the order, the officials said.

The UK will not send ground troops into combat against Houthi militants in Yemen, Britain’s deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, said. He said in an interview, "Let’s be absolutely clear from the start. We have no plans whatsoever to put boots on the ground." Dowden said US and UK airstrikes had weakened the Houthis and reduced their ability to threaten vessels in the Red Sea, but are not intended to oust the group. He said, "We need to tighten the pressure on the Houthis because at the root of this lies a commitment from the United Kingdom to ensure stability and free trade of goods and movement."

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, warned UNRWA  will be forced to shut down its operations across the region “by the end of February” if funding does not resume. More than 10 western countries including the US, UK and Germany have said they would suspend funding to UNRWA after Israel accused some of its workers of taking part in Hamas’ attack.

An armed man took Procter & Gamble factory employees in Turkey hostage in protest at the war in Gaza today. There may be as many as seven people being held at the plant, which lies on Istanbul’s eastern outskirts,. A photograph circulated online showed the alleged assailant holding a gun and what appeared to be a suicide vest strapped to his chest, AFP reported. He was pictured standing next to a drawing of the Palestinian flag and the words “for Gaza” painted on the wall in red, it said. Special operation forces and medical personnel were dispatched to the scene, Turkish media reported.

Ministers in Israel’s war cabinet are reportedly considering limiting the amount of aid reaching Gaza, as rightwing protesters disrupt the entry of trucks carrying desperately needed humanitarian supplies to the besieged Palestinian territory.

Benny Gantz, the retired army general who joined an emergency wartime government formed by Israeli PM Netanyahu, and Gadi Eisenkot, a former chief of staff of the Israeli army and war cabinet observer, have suggested temporarily limiting aid to weaken the Hamas. The two National Unity party politicians put the proposal forward in meetings this week, the station said, after receiving a report from Israel’s internal security service that estimated up to 66% of aid entering Gaza was being hijacked by Hamas. That figure cannot be independently verified, but reports of desperate people or armed men seizing aid deliveries have become common in the strip. The politicians reportedly said: "We can consider reducing the scope of supplies as part of the pressure to build a different mechanism in the Gaza Strip and as part of the efforts to free the hostages." No final decision has been made on the issue.

UK Foreign Secretary Cameron met Lebanon’s PM Najib Mikati, in Beirut to discuss defusing tensions on the Lebanon-Israel border. They discussed “ways to restore calm in southern Lebanon, as well as the political and diplomatic solution that is needed,” according to a statement from the Lebanese prime minister’s office.

The drone used in the attack on an American military outpost in Jordan over the weekend was believed to have been made in Iran, according to a US assessment. President Biden holds d Iran responsible for the drone strike, which killed three American soldiers, and wounded dozens, “in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons” to Kataib Hezbollah, a pro-Iranian militia based in neighbouring Iraq. US officials told Reuters that they s assessed that Iran manufactured the drone but did not disclose details of the model of the drone. While the initial indications were that the drone was likely Iranian, a formal assessment was made only recently after recovering fragments of the drone.

 

9:15 am

Alexander Novak, Russia’s deputy prime minister who oversees the country’s energy policy, says the situation in the Red Sea has “significantly” affected “trading relations and logistics chains.” “It is important that there is constant monitoring of the situation, so that at any moment joint decisions can be made to adjust our joint actions designed to correct and balance the market,” he said on government TV. Russia is part of the OPEC+ oil alliance — an agreement between some of the world’s top producers, led by Saudi Arabia, to manage oil output and exports to support prices on the global market. Global oil prices have risen about 10 percent since early December, partly fueled by attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The IDF carried out an airstrike against a building used by Hezbollah in the southern Lebanese village of Tayr Harfa, in response to attacks on the border today. Several rockets were launched from Lebanon at the northern cities of Kiryat Shmona and Metula today, causing no injuries, according to the IDF. The IDF says it also struck the launch sites.

9:10 am

Norwegian foreign minister Espen Barth Eidesaid today that is “reasonably optimistic” some countries that had paused funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) would resume payments. The US, UK, Germany, France, and Australia are among nations who stopped funding the agency after Israel accused 12 of its employees of being involved in the 7 October attack by Hamas inside southern Israel.

UNRWA has said its entire operations in the Middle East, not just in Gaza, will most likely be forced to shut down by the end of February if its funding remains suspended.

On Jan. 31, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 422-2 to deny entry into the United States to non-U.S. citizen members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad who attacked Israel on Oct. 7. Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) introduced H.R. 6679, the “No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act,” which drew dissenting votes from Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.), two leftist members of the so-called “squad.” Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) voted “present.” “Any alien who carried out, participated in, planned, financed, afforded material support to or otherwise facilitated any of the attacks against Israel initiated by Hamas beginning on Oct. 7, 2023, is inadmissible,” the bill reads. “H.R. 6679 is unnecessary because it is redundant with already existing federal law,” Tlaib said. “It’s just another GOP messaging bill being used to incite anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim hatred that makes communities like ours unsafe.” Bush said: “I opposed H.R. 6679 because it is a redundant, empty messaging bill Republicans are using to target immigrants and incite anti-Palestinian hate. Republicans have zero credibility on these issues.” In a November resolution affirming Israel’s right to exist, Tlaib voted “present,” while Bush did not vote. Bush is currently facing federal prosecution for campaign-related charges.

President Biden travels to Michigan to cement support among Democrats and labor union members. The UAW has already endorsed Biden. Michiganders voted in the majority for Biden in the 2020 election. However, key Muslim Democrats have criticized Biden's policy toward Israel and Gaza. Last week, the Muslim mayor of Muslim/Arab majority Dearborn refused to meet with Biden's campaign manager. Also, a Muslim publisher of a local Arab-language newspaper has denounced Biden.

8:55 am

The IDF has withdrawn the 55th Brigade from the Gaza Strip and it has been replaced with other forces in the Khan Younis area of Gaza. Troops of the reserve paratroopers brigade operated in Khan Younis in recent weeks, killing numerous Hamas operatives and locating and demolishing some 70 tunnel shafts, the IDF said. The IDF says the brigade also located two rocket launching sites used by Hamas to fire projectiles at Israel. The IDF shares footage from a battle in December between the brigade’s troops and Hamas gunmen in the Khan Younis area, during which a soldier, Sgt. Major (res.) Gideon Ilani, was killed.

Citing a draft of the deal read by “officials involved in the talks,” The Wall Street Journal reported that the US is “pushing for a ceasefire deal that could stop the war in Gaza long enough to stall Israel’s military momentum and potentially set the stage for a more lasting truce.” The three-part deal being considered in Cairo would start with a six-week ceasefire in which Israel ends all military operations, including drone surveillance, according to the reported draft. Civilian hostages would be freed, and Gazan civilians would move around the enclave freely. Female IDF soldiers would be released in the second phase, and hospitals, water services and bakeries would reopen, according to the report. Hamas is demanding that Israel free 150 Palestinian security prisoners for each released female soldier hostage, the report says, adding that that ratio is one of the sticking points in the talks. The third stage would see male IDF soldiers and the bodies of dead hostages released. Hamas is demanding a ceasefire. 

The UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, is “Hamas with a facelift” and has “lost its legitimacy to exist in its current form,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told a visiting delegation of ambassadors to the United Nations. “Funds from countries all over the world have been funneled through UNRWA and used to strengthen terror infrastructure, and to pay terrorists,” Gallant said. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan did not detail which countries were represented nor where the meeting took place. The envoys were told that  “the IDF will continue operating until it achieves its goals — dismantling the military and governing capabilities of Hamas, and returning the hostages to Israel.” Gallant also warned that the diplomatic window for negotiating a Hezbollah withdrawal from the Israel-Lebanon border area — in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701 — “is shrinking.”

IDF troops shot and arrested a Palestinian suspect who allegedly attempted to carry out a car-ramming attack near the West Bank city of Hebron. The suspect allegedly tried to ram his vehicle into troops carrying out “proactive activity” near Hebron. The soldiers returned fire, injuring the driver. He was then detained and taken to be questioned. No troops were wounded. 

 

8:33 am

The United States Central Command conducted strikes against a drone control station and up to 10 unmanned drones in Yemen that were preparing to launch that posed  an “imminent threat to US vessels and the ships in the region”. The USS Carney also shot down three Iranian drones and a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile in the Gulf of Aden, according to Centcom. 

Reuters reports a Palestinian source said that Hamas is not expected to reject ceasefire proposals, but they are unlikely to agree to them in their present form. According to Reuters, the source said: "I expect that Hamas will not reject the paper, but it might not give a decisive agreement either. Instead, I expect them to send a positive response, and reaffirm their demands: for the agreement to be signed, it must ensure Israel will commit to ending the war in Gaza and pull out from the enclave completely." The proposal would have Hamas release women, children, and eldery hostages in return for a pause in the fighting. It is unlikely that Israel is willing to offer to pull its troops out of Gaza. 

Israeli security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has threatened to pull out of PM Netanyahu's war cabinet and government of national unity if  Netanyahu agreed to a “reckless deal”. Hamas officials are reported to currently be studying the proposals in Cairo.

Today, Yemen’s foreign minister urged the European Union to increase pressure on the Iran-aligned Houthis who are attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea, a vital global trade artery. Houthi terrorists, who control the most populous parts of Yemen, say their actions are a demonstration of solidarity with the Palestinians amid Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza but the attacks have disrupted shipping, prompting US and British strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. Italy has declared that the terrorist threat in the Red Sea is having economic consequences for Italy. The 27-nation EU aims to launch its own Red Sea naval mission by mid-February to help protect ships there. Yemen's Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak told the media in advance of talks with the EU: "Just striking the Houthis won’t do enough. We need mid and long term solutions. The EU has the wrong approach. They need to exercise more pressure on the Houthis such as by designating them as a terrorist group. Their argument is that if they adopt this then it will worsen the humanitarian situation. But this approach didn’t work. The Houthis are still blackmailing the international community and the humanitarian situation has not improved. Houthis will never stop... They have the ideology that as a group they have a divine right (to rule) in Yemen." Mubarak added that they were also part of Iran’s regional strategy. He called for more EU support for building Yemeni institutions such as the coastguard and for humanitarian aid to be channelled through the central bank in Aden. He said the West’s lack of a “clear path” to ending the conflict in Gaza and securing justice for the Palestinians was strengthening “all the extremists groups in our region”.

An Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing doctors working for UK charities in January, a month after the the Israeli military told British counterparts the site was marked protected, MPs were told earlier this week. Conservative MP and Foreign Affairs Committee chair Alicia Kearns said the compound in Al-Mawasi, “a supposed safe zone in Gaza”, housing the UK charity Medical Aid for Palestinians and the International Rescue Committee was bombed by an F-16 airstrike in January. Kearns said in a parliamentary debate: "Thankfully, the four British doctors living there were only injured, although that itself is a cause for concern. A month before that, on 22 December, it was confirmed via UK defence channels that the IDF had logged the co-ordinates of the humanitarian base and de-conflicted it, marking it as a protected sensitive and humanitarian site. I am gravely concerned that the airstrike still took place. Around 6am on 18 January, the missile strike severely damaged the compound, injuring a number of team members and the compound’s security guard, according to MAP, who said following their evacuation, were unable to continue their work at Nasser hospital, the largest remaining health facility in Gaza. Last week, Doctors Without Borders and Medecins Sans Frontieres warned the hospital in Khan Younis was no longer able to provide vital medical services."

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, in a phone call with his Saudi counterpart today, condemned an attack on a US military outpost on neighboring Jordanian territory near the border with Syria, state media reported. The two ministers agreed on continuing contact between the two countries in order to assure avoidance of danger of war spreading in the region.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) issued a warning about a later incident in the Red Sea near Yemen when a vessel reported an explosion “a distance off” its starboard side. Italy’s defence minister has said that disruption to Red Sea shipping caused by attacks by Yemen’s Houthis risks destabilising the Italian economy.

At least 27,019 Palestinians have been killed and 66,139 injured in the Israeli assault on Gaza since 7 October, the health ministry in Gaza has said. In its statement, the ministry said in the past 24 hours, 118 Palestinians were killed and 190 injured. Images from the Gaza Strip today show that the Israeli bombardment continues.

Israel’s military has claimed to have destroyed a long-range missile launcher and to be continuing to operate in northern and central Gaza, killing dozens of what it described as “terrorists”. Israeli media reports that Hamas representatives are again conducting talks in Cairo on the outlines of a possible hostage deal, with Egypt and Qatar mediating.

 

7:00 am

A senior Hamas official said that the terrorist group is studying a new proposal for a ceasefire and release of hostages in Gaza, presented by mediators after talks with Israel. The ceasefire proposal followed talks in Paris involving intelligence chiefs from Israel, the United States and Egypt, with the prime minister of Qatar.

Israel’s military says it continues to operate in the central and northern Gaza Strip, and claims its forces are “conducting targeted raids on terrorist infrastructure and eliminating dozens of terrorists”. In al-Shati in the north, it claims to have killed ten people and to have “located large quantities of weapons, as well as documents and military equipment belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation”. The IDF has announced that three soldiers were killed in Gaza on Jan. 29.

The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) vowed the country is not afraid of war with the US. The commander-in-chief, Maj Gen Hossein Salami, said: “We hear some threats from American officials about targeting Iran. We tell them that you tested us and we know each other. We do not leave any threat unanswered, and we do not look for war, but we are not afraid of it. This is the well-known truth.”

Security forces in Sweden found a suspicious object at the Israeli embassy in Stockholm. A controlled detonation was carried out.

Israeli media reports several protesters have been detained by police at the Kerem Shalom border crossing where for days a group has been gathering attempting to prevent humanitarian aid crossing into the Gaza Strip while Hamas still holds people hostage.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Jan. 31 he was hopeful it could be decided later in the day which member state could lead the forthcoming EU mission to protect vessels in the Red Sea, adding the operation could be launched before mid-February.

The head of Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd shipping company said he does not expect disruption to Red Sea voyages caused by Yemen’s Houthis to end anytime soon.

February 1,2024

7:45 pm

Several F/A-18 “Super Hornets” from Carrier Air Wing 3 aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) launched airstrikes tonight in western Yemen against 10 launch sites for one-way “suicide” drones, that were being prepared by the Houthi terrorists to be used against commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

A senior defense official in Bahrain said the F-18 super hornets bombed 10 unmanned drones in western Yemen that were preparing to launch .

7:30 pm

“UNRWA is a horror show that is decades in the making, co-produced by the United States taxpayer,” Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who was personally sanctioned by Iran in 2020, told a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability this week.

“Terrorism support and subsidy for UNRWA is a feature, not a bug. The organization is built from its core mission, its mandate, to indoctrinate generation after generation to hate Jews, to destroy Israel, to be ready to manifest themselves as those who that come to wipe the Jews into the Mediterranean Sea,” he told the legislators.

Rep. Kathy Manning (D-North Carolina) said that UNRWA has been “raising terrorists with their textbooks.”

“UNRWA educates that dying is better than living,” Marcus Sheff, CEO of the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education, which has produced hundreds of pages of reports about UNRWA’s terrorism involvement, told the committee.

Demonstrators, primarily comprising a group of mostly elderly Jewish women from a radical leftist CODEPINK peace group, posed for journalists, interrupted the proceedings, laughed when hostages were mentioned, and interrupted the meeting until they were too tired to keep their red painted hands in the air

In an interview with Glenn Beck, author/journalist Edwin Black affirmed that UNRWA aids terrorism. He also said that Muslim Arab voters in Michigan and elsewhere are a crucial constituency for the fortunes of the Democratic party and President Biden's re-election campaign. That constituency has been displeased by Biden's support for Israel. Black predicted  a violent election year that will mean a turbulent Democratic National Convention in Chicago this August.

6:15 pm

Local Yemeni sources are reporting significant activity by U.S. military aircraft over the city of Hodeidah in western Yemen following what appears to have been additional airstrikes against the Houthi terrorists. 

The USS Carney (DDG-64), an Arleigh Burke-Class Guided-Missile Destroyer  reportedly shot down a anti-ship ballistic missile alongside several one-way “suicide” drones launched by the Houthi terrorist group in western Yemen earlier today towards the Gulf of Aden; the ballistic missile was downed using an SM-6 Interceptor Missile while the drones were downed using a combination of other defensive weapons.

Arleigh Burke-Class Guided-Missile Destroyer USS Gravely (DDG-107) was forced to use her Phalanx Close-In Weapons Systems (CIWS) overnight Jan. 30 during a “close call” with a anti-ship cruise missile launched by the Houthi terrorist  group in Western Yemen; the cruise missile is reported to have come within  on mile of the ship likely following a miss or malfunction by the ship's SM-2 Interceptor Missile.

US Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) dismissed fears that a U.S. attack inside Iranian territory would spark "World War III" in the Middle East. "The World War III doomsdayers have always been wrong," said Crenshaw on Fox News. "They were wrong about Russia, they've been wrong about the Cold War, they've been wrong about this, too," the congressman continued.

6:00 pm

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), one of Israel’s most strident critics in Congress, is reportedly under a federal criminal investigation for misspending personal security funds. The U.S. Department of Justice served the House sergeant at arms, William McFarland, with a grand jury subpoena to turn over related materials, McFarland informed the House on Monday. The requested documents apply to a criminal probe into Bush’s alleged misuse of funds, Punchbowl News reported on Tuesday.
 

1:58 pm

A senior U.S. official told NBC News that the Biden Administration alongside Defense officials are preparing for a “Military Campaign in the Middle East which could last for

 

Several Weeks” and include Strikes on Iranian and Iranian-Backed Forces in Iraq and Syria as well as Cyberattacks against Targets likely located inside of Iran.

Senior U.S. officials have stated that the US response  to the one-way “suicide” drone attack by Iranian-backed terrorists this past weekend on a US base in northeastern Jordan will “begin soon” and that it will be conducted in multiple stages over the course of several days against targets inside of Iraq and Syria that were used to enable the recent attacks on U.S. Forces in the region. They further state that some of the strikes may not be initially apparent and consist of cyberattacks as well as covert operations. When an official was asked if these targets would be inside or outside of Iranian Territory, the official gave no answer.

12:30 pm

The United States imposed sanctions on three entities and one individual based in Turkey and Lebanon for giving “critical financial support” to a financial network used by Iran’s Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorists. “These entities have generated hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of revenue from selling Iranian commodities, including to the Syrian government,” the US Treasury Department stated. “These commodity sales provide a key source of funding for the IRGC-QF and Hezbollah’s continued terrorist activities and support to other terrorist organizations throughout the region,” it adds. Sanctioned are Turkey-based Mira Ihracat Ithalat Petrol, which purchases, transports, and sells Iranian commodities on the global market, and its chief executive and owner Ibrahim Talal al-Uwayr, who is also known under the alias Ibrahim Agaoglu. Also targetted are Lebanon-based Yara Offshore SAL, a company affiliated with Hezbollah which has facilitated large sales of Iranian commodities to Syria, and Hydro Company for Drilling Equipment Rental, which is involved in financing the IRGC-QF by facilitating the shipment of Iranian commodities worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Syria. As a result of the sanctions, all property of those targeted in the United States or that fall under the control of US persons is blocked.

US regulations generally bar US persons from dealing with property of designated or otherwise blocked persons. Further, non-US financial institutions and others that engage in certain dealings with those sanctioned may expose themselves to sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action.

A senior Israeli official told NBC News that “there are strong indications” that a hostage deal will progress, while adding that Israel’s government has yet to officially agree to the terms hammered out earlier this week in Paris. Israeli PM Netanyahu's full cabinet has not yet seen the terms, but the war cabinet has already debated it. Netanyahu met with representatives of the families of hostages held in Gaza and told them  that “our commitment is to bring everyone back.” He also said, "The more publicity it this effort gets, the further away it gets, and the more discreet the efforts are kept – the greater the chance it has of succeeding.” 

Hamas-controlled health officials in Gaza claimed to have formed field medical points to help reach the front lines, as treating the wounded in Khan Younis has become increasingly difficult amid street battles and artillery strikes. “There’s a lot of injuries among the displaced who were in the industrial quarter and some schools,” says Nassim Hassan, the head of the Emergency Unit at Nasser Hospital, adding that “many of the injured left loaded on carts, tuk-tuks, cars or even on foot.” UNRWA official Thomas White said that his agency has been forced to move out of Khan Younis to the west. “We’ve lost a health clinic, major shelters – facilities that were supporting the people of Khan Younis,” says White.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan spoke by phone with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. They dicussed, according to the Saudis, “the latest developments in the situation in the Gaza Strip, and their security and humanitarian repercussions,” according to the Saudi readout.

The Chicago City Council voted on a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. While the resolution is symbolic, no city in the US as large as Chicago has passed such a measure. Framed as a message to President Biden, the resolution calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, the unconditional release of the hostages, and the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip, reaffirming a UN General Assembly resolution passed last month that issued those same demands. It also called  “for the creation of plans to protect civilian populations in the region.” Pro-Palestine protesters were lined up outside City Hall wearing Palestinian keffiyeh scarves. Among those supporting the resolution is Rainbow Coalition leader Rev. Jesse Jackson. Chicago will host the Democratic Party national convention in August of this year. Jewish organzers urged city council members to oppose the resolution.

A senior Hamas official said that the terrorist group is studying a new proposal for a ceasefire and release of hostages in Gaza, presented by mediators after talks with Israel. The ceasefire proposal followed talks in Paris involving intelligence chiefs from Israel, the United States and Egypt, with the prime minister of Qatar.

In its latest operational update, Israel’s military says it continues to operate in the central and northern Gaza Strip, and claims its forces are “conducting targeted raids on terrorist infrastructure and eliminating dozens of terrorists”. In al-Shati in the north, it claims to have killed ten people and to have “located large quantities of weapons, as well as documents and military equipment belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation”. The IDF has announced that three soldiers were killed in Gaza on  Jan. 29.

The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) has vowed the country is not afraid of war with the US. The commander-in-chief, Maj Gen Hossein Salami, said: “We hear some threats from American officials about targeting Iran. We tell them that you tested us and we know each other. We do not leave any threat unanswered, and we do not look for war, but we are not afraid of it. This is the well-known truth.”

Security forces in Sweden found a suspicious object at the Israeli embassy in Stockholm. A controlled detonation was carried out. Israel’s ambassador in Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman, released a statement, saying, "Today we were subject to an attempted attack against the embassy of Israel in Stockholm and its employees. We thank the Swedish authorities for their swift response. We will not be intimidated by terror."

Israeli media reports several protesters have been detained by police at the Kerem Shalom border crossing where for days a group has been attempting to prevent humanitarian aid crossing into the Gaza Strip while Hamas still holds people hostage.

The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said today he was hopeful it could be decided later in the day which member state could lead the forthcoming EU mission to protect vessels in the Red Sea, adding the operation could be launched before mid-February.

The head of Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd shipping company has said he does not expect disruption to Red Sea voyages caused by Yemen’s Houthis to end anytime soon. Overnight US central command reported that Yemen’s Houthis fired one anti-ship cruise missile towards the Red Sea, which was shot down by USS Gravely.
You can find all our latest coverage of the Israel-Gaza war here. The UK is sending an aircraft carrier to the region to replace the departing USS Eisenhower carrier group.

 

Above are the three Hamas terrorists killed in a Jan. 30 raid by Israeli forces at the Ibn Sina hospital.

12:20 pm

A Senior U.S. Official has told NBC News that the Biden Administration and the Department of Defense are preparing for a “Military Campaign in the Middle East which could last for Several Weeks” and include Strikes on Iranian and Iranian-Backed Forces in Iraq and Syria as well as Cyberattacks against Targets likely located inside of Iran. 

11:15 pm

President Biden took time out to retweet a Twitter post attributed to Sesame Street puppet Elmo. The 46th president of the United States wrote: "I know how hard it is some days to sweep the clouds away and get to sunnier days. Our friend Elmo is right: We have to be there for each other, offer our help to a neighbor in need, and above all else, ask for help when we need it. Even though it's hard, you're never alone."

The Twitter account of the fictitious character wrote: "Wow! Elmo is glad he asked! Elmo learned that it is important to ask a friend how they are doing. Elmo will check in again soon, friends!  Elmo loves you."

11:00 am

According to U.K. Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey, the Royal Navy may soon Deploy one of or both of its Aircraft Carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and/or HMS Prince of Wales to the Red Sea in order to “Plug the Gap” faced by the U.S. Navy once the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower eventually has to Withdraw from the Region, leaving the Shipping Lanes off the Coast of Yemen in a Vulnerable State because of Attacks by the Houthi Terrorist Group and Iran.

8:45 am

Iran’s Representative to the United Nations, Saeed Iravani  stated that any attack by the United States or other foreign power against Iranian nationals, Interests, or territories will be met with a decisive and strong response.

President Biden is scheduled to visit Detroit, Michigan on Feb. 1. Michigan has one of the largest Muslim communities in the country. The Washington Post reported today that key Democratic political leaders in Michigan refused to meet last week with Biden's campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez. Mayor Abdullah Hammoud of Dearborn - an Arab and Muslim majority suburb of Detroit -- was among other Democrats of the Arab community who refused to meet her. Hammoud said that the war in Gaza is issue "number one, two and three" among his constituents, who have mounted numerous protests, fundraisers, and event in support of Palestinians during the current war. 

8:22 am

A potentially dangerous object has been found near the Israeli embassy in Stockholm. The Swedish national bomb squad is on its way to investigate the object, which was found outside the embassy area, according to a police spokesperson speaking to public broadcasters SVT.

A senior Hamas official said that the terrorist group is studying a new proposal for a ceasefire and release of hostages in Gaza, presented by mediators after talks with Israel. The ceasefire proposal followed talks in Paris involving intelligence chiefs from Israel, the United States and Egypt, with the prime minister of Qatar.

The IDF said it continues to operate in the central and northern Gaza Strip, and claims its forces are “conducting targeted raids on terrorist infrastructure and eliminating dozens of terrorists”. In al-Shati in the north, it claims to have killed ten people and to have “located large quantities of weapons, as well as documents and military equipment belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation”. The IDF has announced that three soldiers were killed in Gaza on Jan. 29.

The Nasser medical complex and al-Amal hospital remain under Israeli military siege in Khan Younis in Gaza. The Palestine Red Crescent Society has called on the international community to protect the healthcare facilities. It reported earlier that a security guard at the hospital had been killed by Israeli fire. At least 26,900 Palestinians have been killed and 65,949 injured by Israeli military action in Gaza since 7 October, the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza said in a statement today.

Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israel has detained a further 16 people, including two women, in the West Bank. It reports that about 6,420 Palestinians have been detained by Israel since 7 October in the territory.

The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) has vowed the country is not afraid of war with the US. The commander-in-chief, Maj Gen Hossein Salami, said: “We hear some threats from American officials about targeting Iran. We tell them that you tested us and we know each other. We do not leave any threat unanswered, and we do not look for war, but we are not afraid of it. This is the well-known truth.”

The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reiterated its criticism of Israeli authorities for hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid to the north of the Gaza Strip.

Norway is urging countries that have cut funding to the UNRWA agency to consider the consequences of their actions on the population in Gaza, its foreign minister said.
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, appears to have distanced himself from words by the UK foreign secretary and former prime minister, David Cameron, earlier this week that suggested the UK might recognise Palestine as a state.

The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said today that he was hopeful it could be decided later in the day which member state could lead the forthcoming EU mission to protect vessels in the Red Sea, adding the operation could be launched before mid-February.

The head of Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd shipping company has said he does not expect disruption to Red Sea voyages caused by Yemen’s Houthis to end anytime soon. Overnight US central command reported that Yemen’s Houthis fired one anti-ship cruise missile towards the Red Sea, which was shot down by USS Gravely.

8:15 am

A UN mission aimed at assessing the conditions in northern Gaza in order to allow the return of its evacuated residents has been delayed due to renewed fighting in the area, US State Department spokesman Matt Miller said. “We saw Hamas fighters pop up and start launching rocket attacks into Israel, start shooting at Israeli forces. That made the conditions on the ground not tenable or safe for conducting this humanitarian mission,” Miller said.. Israel announced late last month that it had transitioned to low-intensity fighting in northern Gaza and was focusing more intensively on southern Gaza where Hamas’s leaders are believed to be hiding. Miller said that the US still wants to see the UN assessment mission embark as soon as possible. “We do expect some initial movements north to take place in the next few days to pave the groundwork for that assessment mission to move forward,” Miller adds without elaborating.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan urged visiting Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani that “all possible efforts be brought to bear on Hamas to secure the release of hostages without delay,” according to the Biden adminisration. They met on Jan. 30. This appears to be the closest the Biden administration has come to publicly urging Qatar to put pressure on Hamas. Al-Thani reiterated on Jan. 29 that such calls are unhelpful because his government doesn’t actually hold leverage over the terror group, whose political leaders it hosts. “We don’t see that Qatar is a superpower that can impose something on this party or the other party to bring them to that place,” al-Thani said in Washington. “It doesn’t mean that… hosting them is a leverage that we have over them… We see [hosting them] as a channel of communication that we are using for good causes,” al-Thani says.

Since the beginning of the war, Hamas’s primary decision-makers have been its leaders on the ground in Gaza — Yahya Sinwar, Muhammed Deif and Marwan Issa — not its politburo chiefs in Qatar and elsewhere. Sinwar is seen as less influenced by Qatar than its leader Ismail Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar.

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer will meet US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan at the White House to discuss the ongoing war in Gaza and efforts to secure the release of the remaining 136 hostages, according to The Times of Israel. Dermer’s visit comes amid an intensified effort by international mediators to broker a new hostage deal between Israel and Hamas and ahead of another visit to Israel by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Dermer last visited Washington a month ago.

Rockets are fired from Syria at the southern Golan Heights today. The Golan Heights regional council in a statement to residents says three rockets hit open areas, with no reports of damage or injuries. The IDF is responding with shelling against the source of the fire. Amid the war in the Gaza Strip there have been several rocket attacks launched from Syria at northern Israel.

State Department spokesman Matt Miller says that roughly $300,000 earmarked for UNRWA has been withheld following the Biden administration’s decision to suspend funding to the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees amid allegations that roughly a dozen of its members participated in Hamas’s October 7 terror attack. However, the US was on pace to donate at least ten times that amount by the end of the fiscal year in September. Roughly $121 million in US funding was already transferred to UNRWA between October 1 and last Friday’s decision to suspend funding pending an investigation.

Half of Israelis are opposed to a hostage agreement with Hamas if the terms are as detailed in reports yesterday, according to a television poll. Israeli Channel 12 news asked respondents if they would support or oppose a deal that includes the return of 35 hostages, a 45-day pause in the fighting and the freeing of thousands of Palestinian terrorists from prison. Fifty percent say they oppose such a deal, 35% back it and the remainder do not know.

As Israelis protest at the Nitzana Border Crossing with Egypt, preventing aid destined for Gaza from entering Israel to be checked by authorities, the IDF announced a closed military zone in the area. The IDF chief of Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, signed the order on the evening of Jan. 30. The order means it will be illegal for civilians to be in the area of the crossing, as well as the nearby Route 211. Activists  had blocked the Kerem Shalom crossing with Gaza crossing for several days to prevent humanitarian aid from entering the Strip. The protests prompted the IDF to declare the Kerem Shalom crossing a closed military zone. Following that order, protesters moved to block Nitzana Crossing. At Nitzana, aid enters Israel from Egypt to be checked, before it is sent back to Egypt to enter Gaza via the Rafah crossing.

January 31, 2024

Sgt William Rivers, Specs Kennedy L Sanders, Breonna A Moffett were killed by a terrorist strike in Jordan 1/29/24

Israeli special forces raiding Ibn Sina hospital

4:00 pm

India's naval forces rescued an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel hijacked by Somali pirates and freed its 19-member Pakistani crew off the east coast of Somalia, a navy statement said today. The rescue operation was the third this week involving Somali pirates and came a day after India's forces freed another Iranian fishing vessel named Iman and its 17 crew members from Somali pirates in the same waters. On Jan. 27, the Seychelles’ defense forces and coast guard rescued six Sri Lankan fishermen whose vessel had been hijacked by Somali pirates.

3:15 pm

Kata'ib Hezbollah, the Iranian-Backed Group in Iraq and Syria which took responsibility for the drone attack this past weekend on the Tower 22 Patrol Base in Northeastern Jordan which resulted in the Death of 3 American Soldiers, just announced a suspension in attacks against U.S. and coalition forces in the region in order to “avoid the embarrassment of the Iraqi government.”

2:30 pm

Journalist Douglas Murray, reporting from Israel, tweeted that he was given a flyer found in a Gazan home that when translated from Arabic reads:

"Indeed, this religion will reach everywhere the night and day can reach. Allah will not leave a dwelling in a city or a desert except that He will make this religion enter it, thus, honoring the honorable or humiliating the humiliated; an honor which Allah will bestow on Islam, and a humiliation which Allah will inflict on disbelief."

2:15 pm

An Israeli military spokesperson has said its forces are not storming al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli forces recently stormed the hospital building’s front yard and demanded displaced individuals and its teams to evacuate. The spokesman said, "There’s no storming of the hospital, entry into it or any ordering of people to leave at gunpoint."

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the offices of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Beirut today after more than 10 countries suspended funding for the UN agency after Israel accused some of its workers of taking part in Hamas’ October 7 attack. “We are afraid for the future of UNRWA,” Abu Mohammed, 65, a Palestinian refugee, told AFP as he urged countries to “reverse their decision”. A spokesperson for UNRWA said, "All our children study in UNRWA schools and most of our medical care is covered by the agency … The suspension of aid would be catastrophic from a social and humanitarian perspective." UN Coordinator for Gaza aid Sigrid Kaag said no organization can “replace or substitute” UNRWA. Kaag said, "There is no way that any organization can replace or substitute [the] tremendous capacity, the fabric of UNRWA – [its] ability and their knowledge of the population in Gaza."

The World Health Organization has urged donors not to suspend funding to UNRWA, arguing that doing so “will only hurt the people of Gaza who desperately need support”.

Today, Sweden became the latest country to announce it will pause funding for UNRWA, joining the US, UK, Germany, Japan and others.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan met visiting Qatari prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Washington today to discuss ongoing efforts to secure a new hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, the White House’s national security spokesperson, John Kirby, said. Sullivan will also meet with several family members of hostages still being held in Gaza, Kirby told reporters.

The US could have a tiered response to the drone strike that killed three American service personnel and wounded dozens others, the White House has said. Kirby said that the US response could involve multiple actions rather than a single action. Kirby said: "It’s fair for you to expect that we will respond in an appropriate fashion and it is very possible that what you’ll see is a tiered approach here, not just a single action, but essentially multiple actions." President Biden said that he has made up his mind about a response to the attack that killed three US soldiers and wounded dozens. 

The IDF said it has channelled seawater into Gaza’s tunnels in a bid to destroy the sprawling underground network used by Hamas militants. An IDF statement said it had “implemented new capabilities to neutralise underground terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip by channelling large volumes of water into the tunnels”. It added: "It is part of a range of tools deployed by the IDF to neutralise the threat of Hamas’s subterranean network of tunnels."  There were 1,300 tunnels over 300 miles (500km) in Gaza at the start of the war in October, according to a study from West Point. Hamas’s underground system has been key to its operations on the battlefield. Israel believes that many of the hostages taken by Hamas during the October attacks have been or continue to be held in the vast network of tunnels. 

The framework for a deal that could lead to a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza was discussed by Israel’s war cabinet on the evening of Jan. 29. The proposal for a deal was hammered out between Egypt, Qatar, the US and Israel on Sunday in talks in Paris. The location of the talks meant that Hamas negotiators could not be present. It has not been put to a vote in the coalition cabinet. The last deal was approved first by the Israeli war cabinet, then by the larger security cabinet, and finally by the full government. A sticking point remains the duration of a pause in fighting. Israel has said it would only be temporary, Hamas has demanded a permanent ceasefire. The Israeli official said: "If there’s going to be a deal, there will have to be a meeting of minds. We won’t agree to an end to the hostilities. It’s clear from our perspective it has to be a time out in the fighting.

Israeli PM Netanyahu has said he will not accept any ceasefire deal that requires the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners or the departure of Israeli troops from Gaza.

Simon Shercliff, the British ambassador in Tehran, was summoned to the Iranian foreign affairs ministry in Tehran and “informed of our country’s strong protest” following the “continuation of the British regime’s accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran”, Iranian state news agency reported. On Jan. 29, UK premier Rishi Sunak said he “absolutely condemned” the drone strike on a US military base in Jordan, which President Biden said had been carried out by Iran-backed militants.

When Biden was asked if he had decided how to respond to the attacks, he replied “yes.”After meeting with national security team members, he said: "I don’t think we need a wider war in the Middle East. That’s not what I’m looking for." When asked if Iran was responsible for the drone attack, Biden said: "I do hold ….them responsible in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons to the people who did it."

Defense Officials linked to U.S. Central Command have stated that one of the Response Options provided to President Biden following the One-Way “Suicide” Drone Attack this past weekend against Northeastern Jordan, was the Sinking of the M/V Behshad as well as her 2 Iranian Frigate Escorts in the Gulf of Aden; the M/V Behshad is a Command and Surveillance Ship of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps which has been Loitering in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden for several months now and is believed to be providing Intelligence and Targeting to the Houthi Terrorist Group in Yemen.

According to Al Jazeera, the Biden administration sent messages to Iran in the last two days through third parties that it is not interested in an unlimited war with it, but warned that the expansion of the current war will lead to American action. Tehran replied that any attack on Iranian territory would be a crossing of a red line that would trigger a corresponding response.

 

2:00 pm

Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that Israel would not withdraw forces from the Gaza Strip or free thousands of what he described as Palestinian security prisoners, pushing back against media reports on some conditions of a possible truce deal with Hamas. Media reports had suggested that the outlines of a deal between Israel and Hamas that would involve a ceasefire of up to six weeks had been drawn up in Paris. Earlier today Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the group had received a ceasefire proposal and that he would visit Cairo to discuss it.

Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister, told members of the Knesset that Israel intends to retain military control of Gaza after the war, and run it in the same way it runs the occupied West Bank. Gallant said the work inside the Gaza Strip, where Israel claims to be clearing out Hamas terror infrastructure, is “finite” and was making progress despite challenges.

Israeli forces dressed in doctors’ scrubs and women’s clothes have killed three Palestinian militants in an undercover operation in a hospital in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin today. A border police counter-terrorism unit made their way to a room on the third floor and shot all three men in the head using pistols fitted with silencers, in an attack that took less than 10 minutes from start to finish, Israeli media said. Israel said the dead men were Mohammad Jalamana, a spokesperson for Hamas’s military wing, Basel Ghazawi, of Islamic Jihad, and his brother Mohammed. All three were allegedly active in the umbrella force known as the Jenin Battalion. The medical director of the West Bank hospital said they were “executed in cold blood”.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society has reported that a woman has been killed and nine others injured by shrapnel from Israeli tank fire near al-Amal hospital and its headquarters in Khan Younis.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that 100 bodies returned to Gaza by Israeli authorities have been buried in a mass grave in Rafah.

A total of 26,751 Palestinians have now been killed and 65,636 wounded by Israeli military action in Gaza since October 7, the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry said. Israel claims it has killed about 9,000 enemy combatents, while losing 221 of its own forces in the ground campaign inside the territory.

Protesters have been at the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza for the seventh consecutive day. The group, including family members of some of those being held hostage, is seeking to block the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

Rockets fired by separatist insurgents killed a police officer and wounded a dozen other people overnight in south-western Pakistan. The attack has been claimed by the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army, which said two of its fighters had been killed.

Yemen’s Houthis are ready for a “long-term confrontation” with the US and UK, a commander said in a statement.

A Guardian newspaper investigation has detailed the mass destruction of buildings and land in three neighbourhoods in Gaza. Entire buildings have been levelled, fields flattened. 

9:55 am

UNWatch Executive Director Hillel Neuer will appear before a joint committee at noon (ET) today to speak about the findings of the UNWatch report to the Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability and Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations. The joint hearing is titled, “UNRWA Exposed: Examining the Agency’s Mission and Failures.” 

9:44 am

An advocacy and watchdog group based in Switzerland, UN Watch released a report detailing the participation of staff of the UN refugee agency responsible for distributing funds to refugees in Gaza and the West Bank in terrorism. The UN Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA) is funded by contributions from the US, UK, EU from tax dollars. The Wall Street Journal and UN Watch have concluded that at least 10 percent of UNRWA employees are actively supporting terrorist organization and involvement in the October 7 attack on Israel.

"Notwithstanding the repeated denials by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and its insistence that it has zero tolerance for hatred and antisemitism, UN Watch continues to find abhorrent antisemitism and support for jihadi terrorism by UNRWA staff on social media. This report details how UNRWA teachers in a 3,000-member UNRWA staff Telegram group cheered and celebrated Hamas’s October 7th massacre while at the same time asking when their UNRWA salaries will be paid. The UNRWA staff in the group shared photos and video footage of those events and prayed for the terrorists’ success and for Israel’s destruction, in clear violation of UN rules.

"Some examples from the report include:  Israa Abdul Kareem Mezher (Group Admin), UNRWA Contract Number: 30010783. On October 7th, he excitedly celebrated the Hamas massacre 'God is the greatest God is the greatest” and declared “Israel’s time is over.'”

9:20 am

Israel’s prime minister Netanyahu said today Israel would not withdraw forces from Gaza or free thousands of what he described as Palestinian security prisoners,despite media reports on some conditions of a possible truce deal with Hamas. Netanyahu said: "We will not end this war short of achieving all of its objectives. That means eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel."

Media reports had suggested that the outlines of a deal between Israel and Hamas that would involve a ceasefire of up to six weeks had been drawn up in Paris. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh claimed the group had received a ceasefire proposal and that he would visit Cairo to discuss it. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir hinted on social media that he would quit the national unity government and war cabinet if there was a “reckless deal” with Hamas.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told members of the Knesset that Israel intends to retain military control of Gaza after the war, and run it in the same way it runs the occupied West Bank. Gallant told the Knesset’s foreign affairs and defence committee, "After the war, when it’s over, I think it’s completely clear that Hamas won’t control Gaza. Israel will control militarily but won’t control it in a civilian sense. When we’re talking about military freedom of operation, look what happened tonight in Jenin. This is military freedom of operation at the highest level, and yet we don’t control the area in a civilian sense." Gallant was referring to the raid into Jenin’s Ibn Sina hospital, in which Israeli forces disguised as civilians and medics sotrmed the hospital and killed three people it suspected of being Islamist militants.

It is also reported that Gallant said the work inside the Gaza Strip, where Israel claims to be clearing out Hamas terror infrastructure, is “finite” and was making progress despite challenges. Israel has controlled the West Bank since the conclusion of the 1967 war with Jordan. 

The UK government has not changed its policy on the best timing to recognize Palestine as an independent state, but wishes to give Palestinians a sense of a political horizon by highlighting the possibility is part of UK thinking, the Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell has said. He was speaking after some Conservative MPs expressed concern the UK was preparing to reward Hamas by granting unilateral recognition to Palestine early. Foreign Secretary David Cameron told Muslim ambassadors on Jan. 29:  “We should be starting to set out what a Palestinian state would look like; what it would comprise; how it would work. As that happens, we, with allies, will look at the issue of recognising a Palestinian state, including at the UN. This could be one of the things that helps to make this process irreversible.” Mitchell said “the UK has always made it clear that we intend to recognise a Palestinian state when the timing is right”. He said: “Lord Cameron’s remarks did not deviate from that policy but he is pointing out how important it is to ensure that people can see when a political track gets going real progress can be made.”

On social media, Palestinian diplomat Husam Zomlot wrote on social media: "This is historic. It is the first time a UK foreign secretary considers recognising the state of Palestine, bilaterally and in the UN, as a contribution to a peaceful solution rather than an outcome. A UK recognition is both a Palestinian right and a British moral, political, legal, and historical responsibility. If implemented, the Cameron declaration would remove Israel’s veto power over Palestinian statehood, would boost efforts toward a two state outcome, and would begin correcting the historic injustice inflicted on the Palestinian people by colonial Britain’s Balfour declaration."

China supports the legitimate government of Yemen and a political solution to solve the Yemeni issue, Chinese vice-foreign minister Deng Li told his Yemeni counterpart in China today. China's foreign ministry stated, "China supports Yemen in safeguarding its sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity."

Hamas has said it wants a permanent ceasefire, which can be achieved in stages. Hamas  leader Ismail Haniyeh has said he will visit Cairo to discuss a three-phase proposal formulated in Paris, with the initial phase being the release of women, children and the elderly being held hostage in Gaza in return for a six-week ceasefire. “We told the mediators a permanent ceasefire is our goal, but we can do it in the second or third stages of an agreement,” a senior member of Hamas, Mohammad Nazzal, told Al Jazeera. “Without an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, we can’t accept this new proposal.” “We are looking to release all captives from both sides, but of course it needs a negotiation to reach this point. A permanent ceasefire is useful for both sides, otherwise the war between us and the Israeli troops will continue. We are ready to achieve this in stages.”
 

9:08 am

Israel’s border police said three Palestinians were killed in an operation today by the force’s undercover unit inside Ibn Sina hospital in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. CCTV footage appears to show Israeli forces pacing through a hospital corridor with rifles. Hamas has said one of those killed was a member, and that Israel’s “crimes will not go unanswered”.

Qatar-based Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh has said he will visit Cairo for discussions on a ceasefire proposal formulated in Paris. The Jerusalem Post has reported that the plan envisages three phases, with the initial phase being the release of women, children and the elderly being held hostage in Gaza in return for a six-week ceasefire.

Hamas militants have returned to northern Gaza, where they are mobilising against Israeli forces and rebuilding a system of governance, aid officials, Gaza residents, analysts and Israeli officials say. Elsewhere in Gaza, Hamas administrators and police maintain firm control of the south, where much of the population is concentrated, though civil order is breaking down in central regions. The apparent resurgence of Hamas in areas seized and cleared by Israeli troops during the nearly four-month offensive underlines the difficulties Benjamin Netanyahu faces in meeting his pledge to “crush” the militant group.

The Wafa Palestinian news agency reports that “dozens of Palestinian civilians” have been killed today by Israeli airstrikes, including “intense and fierce airstrikes at the city of Rafah”. Wafa reports there have also been airstrikes in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip and in Khan Younis. On January 26, the international court of justice in The Hague told Israel it must “take all measures within its power” to desist from killing Palestinians in contravention of the genocide convention.

A total of 26,751 Palestinians have now been killed and 65,636 wounded by Israeli military action in Gaza since October 7, the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry said. Israel claims it has killed about 9,000 enemy combatents, while losing 221 of its own forces in the ground campaign inside the territory. Israel has handed over to Palestinian authorities the bodies of dozens of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in recent weeks.

International aid agencies said they are “deeply concerned and outraged” at the “reckless” decision by major donors to cut funding to a UN Palestinian aid agency after Israel accused some of its workers of taking part in Hamas’s October7  attack. More than 10 western countries including the US, UK and Germany said they would suspend funding to UNRWA, which provides aid to more than 5.6 million Palestinian refugees across the Middle East, after the agency said it had launched an investigation into 12 staff members who allegedly took part in abductions and killings.

Israeli protesters have arrived at the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza for the seventh consecutive day. The group, including family members of some of those being held hostage, is seeking to block the delivery  of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

Knesset speaker, Amir Ohana, will visit the US next week, having been invited by Republican house speaker, Mike Johnson. On the trip he will be accompanied by nine-year-old freed hostage Emily Hand.

The UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, is to start his fourth trip to the Middle East since taking up the role, opening with talks in Oman that will include Muscat’s role in mediating a proposed peace settlement inside Yemen.

Rockets fired by separatist insurgents killed a police officer and wounded a dozen other people overnight in south-western Pakistan. The attack has been claimed by the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army, which said two of its fighters had been killed.

According to the UK Guardian website, entire buildings have been levelled, fields flattened and places of worship wiped off the map of Gaza.

9:00 am

A team of Israeli Special Forces armed with silenced weapons infiltrated the Ibn Sina Specialized Hospital within the City of Jenin in the West Bank this morning, conducting a targeted assassination against three high ranking member of Hamas, including Muhammad Jalmana, the spokesman and commander of Hamas within Jenin who was receiving “Discrete Medical Care” at the hospital. CCTV footage showed members of Israel's elite “Shayetet 13” Naval Commandos infiltrated the Ibn Sina Specialized Hospital dressied as women and medical personnel.

January 30, 2024

Buried Hamas rocket launchers found at Shati camp in Gaza by IDF 5th Reserve battalion.

7:30 pm

The Department of Defense identified the soldiers killed by an Iranian drone strike as: Sgt William J. Rivers, Spec Kennedy L Sanders, and Spc Breonna A. Moffett. Dozens of service personnel were wounded in the drone strike at the US base in Jordan on Jan. 28. 

5:40 pm

New Zealand will not commit to its annual payment to the UNRWA, following accusations over UNRWA staff’s involvement in Hamas’ October 7 attacks, until it is satisfied with the outcome of the UN’s investigation. New Zealand PM Christopher Luxon said New Zealand would pause its contribution – due in June – until Foreign Minister Winston Peters is satisfied. "I mean the allegations are incredibly serious, it’s important they are properly understood and investigated, we won’t be making any further contributions until the Foreign Minister says it’s good to do so." New Zealand thus joins the US, UK, France, Japan, Germany, Canada and other countries' suspension of aid to the UNRWA.

Luxon said New Zealand remains committed to supporting the humanitarian response in Gaza, and will continue to call for safe and unimpeded humanitarian access. "What I’d just remind everybody is that our funding is about a million [NZ] dollars a year, we’ve already offered $10 million in humanitarian assistance and we’ve split that money between the International Red Cross and also the World Food Programme," he said. 

A US official told CBS that an Iranian-made drone was used in the deadly attack on Jan. 28 that killed US soldiers and wounded dozens at a US military base in Jordan. The official said that a a “type of Shahed drone”, a one-way attack drone that Iran has been providing to Russia, was used. However, Iran has denied it was behind the drone strike, but Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed responsibility as part of efforts to try to drive US troops out of Iraq and Syria.

5:30 pm

Surveillance video of the terrorist attack on a Catholic church in Turkey is circulating on social media. See here. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack that occured during Sunday worship on Jan. 28. One man died at the scene. Two suspects described as members of the Islamic State group have been arrested following the shooting on Jan. 28 at Santa Maria Church in Istanbul’s Sariyer district. Turkish Minister of the Interior Ali Yerlikaya  said on Jan. 28 that police raided on 30 locations across Istanbul following the attack during which the arrests were made. “Both of the suspects are foreign nationals. One of them is from Tajikistan and the other is Russian, and we evaluated them to be with the Islamic State,” Yerlikaya said.

The video showed that two men arrived at the entrance of the church wearing black clothing and with covered faces. While they waited in the narthex of the church where they were captured on video, a worshipper arrived at the door. After they admitted him, the two commenced their attack. They could be seen firing pistols several times into the church before walking away.

Video has also circulated of an attack by a Muslim man on Jewish vendors at a kosher market today in London, England. 

5:00 pm

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked about the Biden administration’s response to the international court of justice (ICJ) ruling last week ordering Israel to “take all measures within its power” to prevent its forces from carrying out genocide against Palestinians. Blinken said that the Biden administration continues to “believe clearly that allegations of genocide are without merit.” Blinken said that the Biden administration has made clear to Israel that it must take every possible step to protect civilians in Gaza, transfer humanitarian aid, and  address the “dehumanising” rhetoric from some individuals. Blinken added: "The court in this decision agreed with that. The court’s ruling is also very consistent with our view that Israel has the right to take action to ensure that the terrorist attacks of October 7 never happen again, in accordance with international law." The US will continue to monitor the UN court’s proceedings as it moved forward with the case, he added.

Blinken described a proposal for a new hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas as “strong and compelling”. He said that “the less said the better” in terms of negotiations on a new hostage deal, but that the work that is being done is “important and hopeful”. Hamas, he said, "will have to make its own decisions”, and that it is his “strong assessment” that Israel would “very much like to see this process of hostages coming out”. He added: "I can say that very important, productive work has been done, and there is some real hope going forward."

Blinken said the Biden administration wil watch closely what steps the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) takes in response to “deeply troubling” allegations that some of its employees took part in the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel. The  secretary of state said he had a “good conversation” with the UN secretary general António Guterres, who had informed him of these allegations. The Biden administration will be “looking very hard” at the steps taken to make sure that the allegations are fully and thoroughly investigated, that there is clear accountability, and that necessary measures are put in place to prevent it from happening. He said: "It is imperative that UNRWA immediately, as it said it would, investigate, that it hold people accountable as necessary, and that it review its procedures." He said the allegations are “highly credible”.

However, Blinken said UNRWA has played an “absolutely indispensable” role in getting desperately needed assistance to Palestinians in Gaza, and that no one else can play that role. “It’s more than imperative that that role continues.” .

Blinken described the Middle East as “incredibly volatile.” He added, "I would argue that we’ve not seen a situation as dangerous as the one we’re facing now across the region at least 1973, and arguably even before that. The US will defend its personnel and interests, and has taken significant action to deter groups and degrade their capabilities in Iraq, Syria and Yemen." He affirmed that President Biden has been “very clear that we want to prevent broader escalation” in the region but has also warned that the US will respond “strongly” to anyone who will try to use the crisis to create further instability or attack American personnel, he said. Blinken said: "As the president said yesterday, we will respond. That response could be multi-levelled, come in stages, and be sustained over time." He emphasized that the Biden administration “does not seek conflict” with Iran but will respond “very vigorously” to the drone attack by Iran-backed terrorists in Jordan that claimed three lives and wounded dozens of military personnel.

Israeli officials told the Biden administration recently that the buffer zone the IDF is establishing on the Gaza side of the border with Israel is only meant to be temporary and will be removed once Hamas is completely removed from power, a US official told The Times of Israel today. The IDF has been razing Palestinian homes along the border to establish the zone, about one kilometer (0.6 miles) deep, causing concern in the Biden administration. which has insisted that there be no reduction in Gaza’s territory after the war. According to the Times of Israel, the US official said that the Biden administration does not approve of even a temporary buffer zone and has voiced that stance with the Netanyahu government. 

3:00 pm

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the US would take “all necessary actions” to defend its troops after Iran-backed militants killed three US troops and wounded dozens more in a drone attack on a US base in Jordan. The White House national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, said the US will “respond appropriately” but that Washington was not seeking direct confrontation with Iran. The US president, Joe Biden, met members of his national security team on Monday to discuss the attack on US service members at a military outpost in Jordan.

President Biden is under pressure from Republicans to strike Iran directly, and even bomb Tehran, after the drone attack on Sunday marked the first deadly strike against US troops since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October. Three US service personnel were killed and 34 wounded on Sunday after a drone hit a residential quarters at a military outpost in Jordan known as Tower 22, which lies on the border between Iraq and Syria. US officials have said preliminary accounts suggest the enemy drone may have been confused with an American drone returning to the US installation.

UK PM Rishi Sunak said he was concerned by the drone attack in Jordan that killed three US service personnel, as he urged Iran to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East. Downing Street has declined to comment on whether it would back any US response to the drone attack, but insisted Britain was working to “ensure regional stability”.

At least 26,637 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza and a further 65,387 injured, according to the latest figures by Gaza’s health ministry on Monday. 215 Palestinians were killed in the last 24 hours, the ministry reported.

The surgical ward at al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza has completely halted operations due to oxygen supplies running out, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society has said. Heavy fighting has continued around hospitals in Khan Younis over the past two days, the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA said in its latest update on the conflict, noting that only 14 of 36 hospitals in Gaza are now partially functional. Khan Younis’ Nasser hospital, until recently the largest still accepting patients in southern Gaza, is now only “minimally functioning,”, OCHA said.

Five Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in four different incidents in the West Bank in the past 24 hours, the Palestinian health ministry said today. Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that 378 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since 7 October.

Israel has struck an Iran-linked site south of the Syrian capital, Damascus, killing several people today. Iranian and Syrian official media said the attacks came from the Golan Heights and were attributed to Israel. They have not been regarded as a direct response to the attack on the Tower 22 base over the weekend.

Hamas fired a barrage of rockets at Tel Aviv and nearby cities today, after weeks of relative quiet in central Israel. Israel’s military said 15 rockets had been fired, six of which were intercepted. There were no reports of casualties.

Israeli troops will “very soon go into action” near the country’s northern border with Lebanon, the country’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said. He also said that the IDF has killed or wounded at least half of the terrorists operating in Gaza. H told troops: "We’re in a long war, but in the end, we will break Hamas,” Gallant said. “Terrorists remain, and we are fighting against pockets of resistance… It will take months, not one day."

Qatar’s prime minister has said “good progress” was made during weekend talks with US, Israeli and Egyptian officials in Paris on a way forward toward a new hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas. Jordan’s border with Iraq and Syria. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Monday that he hoped to present a framework for such a deal to Hamas “and get them to a place where they engage constructively”. The US believes talks on a deal are “moving in a good direction” but that there is no imminent, the White House said today.

Israeli politicians and ministers attended a conference calling for Israeli resettlement of the Gaza Strip and “voluntary migration” of the Palestinian population elsewhere. The prominent role of government figures in the far-right conference on Sunday appears to violate the international court of justice ruling last week that Israel must “take all measures within its power” to avoid acts of genocide in its war in Gaza, including the “prevention and punishment of genocidal rhetoric”. The White House described the comments as “irresponsible, reckless and incendiary”.

The UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has warned it would not be able to continue operations in Gaza and across the region beyond the end of February if funding did not resume. Israel has claimed several UNRWA staff took part in the 7 October attacks or in the aftermath, including a school counsellor who alleged kidnapped an Israeli woman. As a result of the claims, a string of western countries including the US and the UK have suspended funding to the agency, which provides aid to more than 5.6 million Palestinian refugees across the Middle East. The charity ActionAid has described the withdrawal of funding for UNRWA as a “death sentence” for the population of Gaza.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said it received a report that a merchant vessel was “approached by three small craft” about 40 nautical miles west of Yemen’s Al-Mukha. It said the merchant vessel’s security team “fired warning shots” and “carried out self-protection measures” to deter the small craft.

The US and the UK have announced sanctions against individuals who they said targeted Iranian dissidents and activists for assassination at the direction of the Iranian regime. The UK Foreign Office announced sanctions against seven individuals and one organisation who it said were involved in threats to kill journalists on British soil, and others it said were part of international criminal gangs linked to Iran.

US federal government employees are planning a “day of fasting for Gaza” this week to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in the territory and to denounce Joe Biden’s policy toward Israel.

The White House’s John Kirby did not comment on the report that the enemy drone that killed three US service people may have been confused with an American drone. Kirby said he could not corroborate those accounts by US officials but that the Defense Department will discuss the forensics on the report. He added that he was sure that the Defence department is already “picking it apart and trying to figure out how this happened.”

National security spokesman John Kirby said comments by Israeli  government ministers and politicians in favor of the resettlement or 'voluntary migration' of Palestinians elsewhere is “irresponsible, reckless and incendiary”. He said: "Some of this rhetoric and the language that that was attributed to some of these ministers at this event was irresponsible, reckless and incendiary." He said the comments “certainly doesn’t comport” with US policy, adding that the Biden administration “has made clear that there can be no reduction in Gazan territory”. He said the Israeli cabinet ministers “speak for themselves” and the US maintains an “open line of communication” with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

Whether the US will resume funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) will depend on the investigation into whether several of its employees were involved in the 7 October Hamas attacks, said Kirby. He noted that UNRWA is very dependent on donor contributions and that the US has been a leading donor to the agency for many years.

Kirby was asked if allegations that some UNRWA staff took part in Hamas' attack on Israel may be more widespread. While not dismissing the seriousness of the allegations, he noted that there are about 13,000 UNRWA employees in Gaza, and that we should not “impugn the good work of a whole agency because of the potential bad actions by a small number”. He said that the Biden administration expects the allegations to be taken seriously, adding that it was important that the investigation will be as “as thorough and as transparent and as credible as possible.”

1:36 pm

During a Jan. 23 student demonstration on the campus of the University of Central Florida to bring awarness to the Israeli hostages in Gaza, Seif Asi (21) a Palestinian Muslim student threatened the students. He threatened to “come back and shoot” the students hosting this UCF-approved demonstration. A leader of the students, Alex Rosenblum, immediately reported the incident to the police and administration.  Asi told UCF Police that he was “tired of seeing Jewish supporters on campus” and complained about seeing a pro-Israel march the prior week. Asi was arrested and charged with three counts of intimidation and credible threat to persons wearing religious (Jewish) items. See police report here.

1:15 pm

An enemy drone that killed three American troops and wounded dozens of others in Jordan may have been mistaken for an American drone returning to the U.S. installation in Jordan, U.S. officials said. The two officials said today that preliminary accounts suggest the enemy drone that struck the installation known as Tower 22 may have been mistaken for an American drone that was in the air at the same time. At least two American personnel were killed in the attack and dozens injured. 

10:50 am

Israeli intelligence assesses that some 10% of all UNRWA employees in Gaza have ties to terror organizations, in addition to at least 12 employees it says were involved in the October 7 terror onslaught in southern Israel, according to a new report in the Wall Street Journal.

 

10:45 am

The IDF says troops shot dead a Palestinian terrorist who attempted to stab soldiers at an army post near the West Bank town of Tuqu. In London UK a Muslim man was narrowly deterred from stabbing a Jewish market vendor.

An Israeli soldier was seriously wounded in a suspected car-ramming attack in Haifa, police and medics say. According to initial reports, the terrorist rammed a car into the soldier in his 20s, then got out and attempted to attack him with an axe before being shot.

Rocket launchers were discovered the 5th Reserve Brigade in Gaza City's Shati camp, according to the IDF.

Israeli President Herzog accused the U.N. International Court of Justice of  misrepresenting his words in a ruling that ordered Israel to take steps to protect Palestinians and prevent a genocide in the Gaza Strip. “I was disgusted by the way they twisted my words, using very, very partial and fragmented quotes, with the intention of supporting an unfounded legal contention,” Herzog said on Jan. 28.

10:30 am

The Islamic State  claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on a Catholic church in Istanbul during Sunday Mass that left one man dead. Two suspects described as members of the Islamic State group have been arrested following the shooting on Jan. 28 at Santa Maria Church in Istanbul’s Sariyer district. Turkish Minister of the Interior Ali Yerlikaya announced on Jan. 28 that police had conducted raids on 30 locations across Istanbul following the attack during which the arrests were made. “Both of the suspects are foreign nationals. One of them is from Tajikistan and the other is Russian, and we evaluated them to be with the Islamic State,” Yerlikaya said, according to Reuters.

10:00 am

The New York Times offered excerpts of a dossier detailing charges facing 12 UNRWA employees of participating in the deadly Oct 7 attack on Israel.

Quotes:

“One is accused of kidnapping a woman. Another is said to have handed out ammunition. A third was described as taking part in the massacre at a kibbutz where 97 people died.”

“The UNRWA workers have been accused of helping Hamas stage the attack that set off the war in Gaza, or of aiding it in the days after.”

“The most detailed accusations in the dossier concerned a school counselor from Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, who is accused of working with his son to abduct a woman from Israel.”

“A social worker from Nuseirat, in central Gaza, is accused of helping to bring the body of a dead Israeli soldier to Gaza, as well as distributing ammunition and coordinating vehicles on the day of the attack.”

Of the 12 individuals identified in the dossier, seven were teachers in UNRWA schools and two worked in the schools in other capacities. The others were an UNRWA social worker, a clerk, and a storeroom manager. Ten of them are members of Hamas. One is a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. They were largely implicated by their cell phone use. Half of the individuals’ phones were traced to southern Israel on October 7. Others received text messages ordering them to rallying points ahead of the attack and “one was told to bring rocket-propelled grenades stored at his home.” There are 13,000 UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip. It is highly implausible that these are the only employees who were involved in the October 7 massacre. More revelations are expected.

Emily Hand (9 y.o.) was abducted by Hamas and later returned.

9:45 am

Hillel Neuer wrote on X: The “few bad apples” line pushed by the UN has just been obliterated. The Wall Street Journal front page is reporting that an estimated 1,200 Unrwa employees in Gaza are actual “operatives” of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and about half have close relatives who belong to the Islamist terrorist organizations, according to Israeli intelligence estimates shared with the U.S. government. 

The report said 23% of Unrwa’s male employees—the agency has a total staff of 12,000 in Gaza—took active part in the Hamas organization’s military or political framework, a higher percentage than the average of 15% for adult males in Gaza. 

The information in the Israeli intelligence reports is based on sensitive signals intelligence as well as cellphone tracking data, interrogations of captured Hamas gunmen and documents recovered from dead terrorists.

Nearly half of all Unrwa employees—an estimated 49%—also had close relatives with official ties to Hamas and other terrorist groups. 

The Oct. 7 intelligence reports seen by the Wall Street Journal identified an Unrwa Arabic teacher who was also a Hamas terrorist commander and took part in a terrorist attack on Kibbutz Be’eri, where 97 people were murdered, and about 26 people were kidnapped and taken as hostages to Gaza.

Another Unrwa employee, described in the dossier as an Unrwa social worker, played a role in absconding with the body of a dead Israeli soldier, which was taken to Gaza, the reports said. He also coordinated trucks and munitions distributions for Hamas before being killed.
 

 

9:30 am

Iran denied any involvement in a drone strike that killed three US troops at a base in Jordan, near the border with Syria, after President Biden blamed Iran-backed militia and vowed revenge., Tehran’s UN mission said: “Iran had no connection and had nothing to do with the attack on the US base,” adding: “There is a conflict between US forces and resistance groups in the region, which reciprocate retaliatory attacks.”

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) declined on Sept. 28 to join critics who accuse Israel of genocide in its actions in Gaza, but said Americans should not “toss someone out of our public discourse” for doing so. This followed the UN International Court of Justice’s order to Israel to work to prevent genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza. She said on Meet the Press that “large amounts of Americans” think “genocide” is the right term for what is happening in Gaza. “The fact that [the ICJ] said there’s a responsibility to prevent it, the fact that this word is even in play, the fact that this word is even in our discourse, I think demonstrates the mass inhumanity that Gazans are facing,” she said.

Syrian media said an apparent Israeli airstrike on a Damascus suburb where Iran-backed fighters have a presence killed two people today. An official from an Iranian-backed group said the strike also caused some material damage. The strike hit the area of Aqraba, according to the pro-government Dama Post. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike hit a farm housing members of Lebanon’s Iran-backed militant Hezbollah group and other Iran-backed factions.

Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian held talks in Islamabad with his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani. Amir-Abdollahian and Jilani said they would work through existing channels in their leadership, diplomatic and military levels to cooperate with each other. Jilani said the two countries were able to bring the “situation back to normal in the shortest possible time” after the recent exchange of airstrikes because both sides had agreed to resume dialogue to resolve all issues. “Terrorism poses a common challenge to our countries,” Jilani said and stressed that “respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity remains the immutable and foundational principle of this cooperation” between the neighbours. Iran and Pakistan “strongly respect sovereignty and territorial integrity of each other,” Amir-Abdollahian said. “We will tell all terrorists that we will not … provide them with any opportunity to endanger our common security.” Amir-Abdollahian said Pakistan and Iran will also set up free trade economic zones near the border regions to enhance their bilateral trade. Earlier this month, Iran and Pakistan exchanged fire over their shared border.

The EU has said it is considering the future of payments to UNRWA “in light of the very serious allegations” made last week alleging involvement of staff in the October 7 attacks. “The Commission will review the matter in light of the outcome of the investigation announced by the UN and the actions it will take. The Commission welcomes the information provided by UNRWA as well as the launch of the investigation,” it said in a statement today. "Humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank will continue unabated through partner organisations,” it said. No money is due to UNRWA under current programmes until February, a spokesperson for the Commission said today. “We have extremely serious allegations against staff working for UN. It is absolutely obvious that these investigations these allegations need to be investigated seriously, and without delay." At least 12 countries have announced suspension of aid to the UN agency overseeing aid to Gaza and other Palestinian refugee areas.

The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said on Monday that it would not be able to continue operations in Gaza and across the region beyond the end of February if funding were not resumed. “If the funding is not resumed, UNRWA will not be able to continue its services and operations across the region, including in Gaza, beyond the end of February,” Reuters reports a spokesperson for the agency said.

Five West Bank residents were killed by Israeli forces in four different incidents in the past 24 hours, the Hamas-controlled Palestinian health ministry said today. 

The claim by Yemen’s Houthis to have attacked the USS Lewis B Puller was denied by the US Department of Defense. Earlier, Houthi Brig Gen Yahya Saree claimed that his forces had attacked the logistical ship. He said: “Among the tasks of this ship is to provide logistical support to the American forces participating in the aggression against [Yemen]. The targeting process comes within the military measures taken by the Yemeni armed forces in defence of dear Yemen and in confirmation of the decision to support the oppressed Palestinian people. “The Yemeni armed forces continue to implement the decision to prevent Israeli navigation or navigation to the occupied ports of Palestine in the Red and Arab Seas until the aggression stops and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted.” No damage was reported reported. The news came as the chair of the UN-backed Yemeni presidential command council, Rashad Al-Alimisaid, said his forces were preparing to mount defensive stikes against Houthi positions, the first time the Aden-based government has vowed to take military action to stop the rival Houthi government’s efforts to stop ships reaching Israeli ports.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi agreed on the importance of allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza. "The chancellor and the president agreed that in the conflict between Israel and Hamas there is an urgent need to significantly improve access for humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and the provision of supplies to the Palestinians,” said a government spokesman. The US, UK, and Germany are among the countries to have halted funding UNRWA, the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees, after Israel accused some of its staff of being involved in the October Hamas attack inside Israel. The UN is investigating the claims. Israel has long contended that UNRWA has aided Hamas terrorist activities and incited anti-semitism among the residents of Gaza and the West Bank.

In an interview with NBC, National Security advisor John Kirby said, "We are not looking for a war with Iran." He said: "We are not looking for a war with Iran. We are not looking to escalate the conflict in the region. Obviously, these attacks keep coming. We’ll keep looking at the options. I can’t speak for the Supreme Leader or what he wants or he doesn’t want. I can tell you what we want. What we want is a stable, secure, prosperous Middle East, and we want these attacks to stop." However, there are reports that KC-130 refueling aircraft are being prepared in the US to fly to the region.

 

9:15 am

Israel alleges that as many as 12 UNRWA staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack inside southern Israel.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said Palestinians in desperate need should not be penalized due to the alleged acts of a dozen staff. He said nine UNRWA staff had already been dismissed for alleged involvement in Hamas’s attack.

The US, UK, France, Canada, Japan, Austria, and Germany are among countries who have already suspended funding to UNRWA.

The IDF claimed to have killed “dozens of armed terrorists in battles in the central Gaza Strip”, adding that activities “against terrorist operatives and infrastructure are continuing in Khan Younis and Gaza City”. It also claimed to have  “located large quantities of weapons, including an RPG, military equipment, and technological assets” inside Gaza, and killed what it claimed were “four terrorists who were preparing to carry out an attack on IDF troops adjacent to the Al-Amal Hospital”.

Israeli government ministers, some of whom belong to PM Netanyahu’s Likud party, attended a conference on the resettlement of Gaza, at which national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir said Israelis needed “to find a legal way to voluntarily emigrate [Palestinians]”, Haaretz newspaper has reported. The Jan. 28  conference was attended by thousands of people including finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and other members of the Knesset and coalition government, rabbis, settlement activists and families of soldiers fighting in Gaza. Ben Gvir said: "If we don’t want another October 7, we need to go back home and control [Gaza]. We need to find a legal way to voluntarily emigrate [Palestinians] and impose death sentences on terrorists … I turn to you, prime minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu: this is time for brave decisions." Members of the Likud party, who have talked openly about the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians since the war began, returned to the theme at the conference, according to Haaretz. Communications minister Shlomo Karhi said that in war, “‘voluntary’ is at times a state you impose [on someone] until they give their consent”. Tourism minister Haim Katz said,  “Today, after 18 years [from disengagement from Gaza], we have the opportunity to rebuild and expand the land of Israel. This is our final opportunity.”

Heavy fighting has continued around hospitals in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis over the past two days, the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA said in its latest update on the conflict, noting that only 14 of 36 hospitals in Gaza are now partially functional. Khan Younis’ Nasser hospital, until recently the largest still accepting patients in southern Gaza, is now only “minimally functioning,”, OCHA said, “providing available services to patients in its care, but no longer able to receive patients or supplies, as it is surrounded by the Israeli military and experiencing intense fighting.” It said hostilities were also intense around al-Amal hospital, also in Khan Younis, with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) on Saturday reporting that Israeli forces were continuing to bombard its vicinity as well as the PRCS branch headquarters in Khan Younis. OCHA wrote: "The PRCS stated that dozens had been killed and injured inside, and in the vicinity of the two facilities amid ongoing fighting over the previous four weeks." OCHA also said that on Jan. 28 “shells were reportedly fired towards the vicinity of the European Hospital in Khan Younis, with casualties reported, amid intense fighting in the area.”

Iran has executed four people it says were linked to an Israeli intelligence operation, after the Supreme Court rejected their appeal, Iranian state media has reported according to Reuters. The news wire writes: "The defendants were accused of illegally entering Iranian territory from Iraq’s Kurdistan region to carry out a bombing operation in an Isfahan-based factory producing equipment for Iran’s Ministry of Defence." Their operation was meant to take place in the summer of 2022 on behalf of Israel’s Mossad and was averted by Iranian intelligence, according to the reports. Iran's  nuclear weaponization program and support of terrorists has enflamed relations between Israel, the US and NATO, with Iran. Over the weekend, Iran-backed terrorists struck a US base in Jordan, killing three US military personnel and severely wounding dozens more. President Biden has promised a military response, but has not specified whether a potential US strike would be against the terrorists or Iran.

8:30 am

Austria and Japan have joined the US, UK, The Netherlands, and other countries in suspending aid toe UNRWA - the United Nation agency for refugees in Palestines. Evidence has been found that  UNRWA employees actively engaged in terrorism  during the Oct 7 attack by Hamas on Israel that resulted in more than 1,000 deaths.

Iran has denied any involvement in a drone strike that killed three US soldiers and injured dozens of others at a base in Jordan near the Syrian border. In a statement published by the state news agency Irna, Tehran’s UN mission said: “Iran had no connection and had nothing to do with the attack on the US base.” The mission added that “There is a conflict between US forces and resistance groups in the region, which reciprocate retaliatory attacks.”

The statement came after President Joe Biden blamed Iran-backed groups for the attack, the first fatal strike on US forces in the region since the Israel-Gaza war broke out in October. The US will respond to the attack on its troops, Biden said. During a campaign event at South Carolina on Sunday following the strike, Biden said: “We shall respond.” In his earlier statement he also said: “Have no doubt - we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing.”

Responsibility for the January 27 attack on Tower 22, a military outpost on the Jordanian Syrian Iraqi borders was claimed by the Iranian-backed umbrella group Islamic Resistance. The groups have long been trying to drive the US troops out of Iraq and Syria, but have used the war in Gaza as the backdrop to intensify these efforts and broaden the battleground.

A senior official with Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, said the attacks on US forces were tied directly to Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. Speaking to Reuters, Abu Zuhri said: “The killing of three American soldiers is a message to the US administration that unless the killing of innocents in Gaza stops, it must confront the entire nation.”

At least 165 Palestinians were killed and 290 injured over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s health ministry said on Jan 28. That brings the total number of Palestinians killed in the Israeli onslaught on Gaza to 26,422 since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, not including the thousands thought to be buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings. The huge death toll comes despite last week’s ICJ interim ruling that Israel must do everything possible to avoid killing Palestinian civilians.

Palestinian medics and residents said Israel continued to bomb areas around the two main hospitals in Khan Younis, hindering efforts by rescue teams to respond to desperate calls from people caught in the Israeli bombardment. “There is a complete failure of the healthcare system at Nasser and Al-Amal hospitals,” said health ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra.

United Nations secretary general António Guterres appealed to the 10 donor countries that have withdrawn funding from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees to reconsider, saying the agency and Palestinians in desperate need should not be penalised due to the alleged acts of a dozen staff. Guterres said nine UNRWA staff had already been dismissed for alleged involvement in Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October and any UN employee involved in acts of terror would be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution. Aid agencies have repeatedly warned in recent weeks that ordinary Gazans are at risk of famine after Israel stopped most food aid from entering the territory and cut off water supplies.

Talks on Jan. 28 initiated by Qatar, the US and Egypt and aimed at brokering a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas were “constructive” but “significant gaps” remain, a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office has said. US officials have reportedly proposed an initial 30-day temporary ceasefire to allow for the remaining female, elderly and wounded Israeli hostages to be freed. This would be followed by a second 30-day pause where Israeli soldiers and male hostages would be released, in tandem with an increase in the trickle of aid permitted into Gaza.

Israeli ministers and ministers belonging to Israeli premier Netanyahu’s Likud party  attended a conference on the resettlement of Gaza, at which the national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir said Israelis needed “to find a legal way to voluntarily emigrate [Palestinians],” Haaretz newspaper has reported. Communications minister Shlomo Karhi told the conference that in war, “‘voluntary’ is at times a state you impose [on someone] until they give their consent.’” There has been discussion among some parties to settle Israelis in Gaza. After a previous war in the enclave, Jewish settlers built homes and businesses and infrastructure there, only to be forcibly evacuated in 2005.

January 29, 2024

4:14 pm

Islamist terror attack against a Catholic church in Istanbul, Turkey. Two gunmen reportedly attacked the church during Sunday mass. The number of fatalities has yet to be determined. 

3:45 pm

Israel’s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan criticised UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who called on donor states to “guarantee the continuity” of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). Guterres' plea came after Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland joined the United States, Australia and Canada in suspending funding after UNRWA revealed an investigation had been launched into 12 members of staff who allegedly took part in the 7 October attack led by Hamas that killed 1,140 people. Erdan said the UN chief had repeatedly ignored “evidence” presented to him regarding UNRWA’s involvement in “incitement and terrorism”.

“Every country that continues to fund UNRWA before a comprehensive investigation of the organisation should know that its money might be used for terrorism, and the aid that will be transferred to UNRWA may reach the Hamas terrorists instead of the people of Gaza,” Erdan tweeted today. 

Former President Donald Trump expressed his "profound sympathies" to the families of the three U.S. service members killed in an attack by Iran-backed militants, blaming President Joe Biden for "this terrible day." "This brazen attack on the United States is yet another horrific and tragic consequence of Joe Biden's weakness and surrender," Trump wrote on Truth Social. He wrote that this attack "would NEVER have happened if" he were still in the White House. "This terrible day is yet more proof that we need an immediate return to PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, so that there will be no more chaos, no more destruction, and no more loss of precious American lives. Our Country cannot survive with Joe Biden as Commander in Chief," the former president wrote.

3:23 pm

IDF says fighter jets have carried out strikes on two Hezbollah sites in the southern Lebanon villages of Zibqin and Houla early today. According to the IDF, troops also shelled a number of areas in southern Lebanon with artillery to "remove threats."

Iran claimed it successfully launched 3 satellites, the latest for a program the West fears improves its ballistic missiles. Iran is believed to be close to creating a nuclear weapon.

Israel could be close to signing a new deal with Hamas terrorists, which would see the release of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a four-month ceasefire, the Wall Street Journal reported on Jan. 27. 

CIA chief William J. Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, along with Israeli and Egyptian intelligence officials, will convene in Paris on Sunday to discuss the new proposal.

The Israel Defense Forces is preparing in northern Israel for a possible confrontation with the Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon. Last week, the IDF’s 226th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade, aka the Northern Brigade, and combat engineering forces performed training exercises focused on combat “in densely populated urban areas, winter weather conditions, and in the northern terrain,” the IDF said on Jan. 27.

3:00 pm

President Joe Biden announced that three US servicemen have been killed and more than 34 injured following a drone attack on a US base on the border of Jordan and Syria. Biden blamed Iranian backed militia mainly based in Iraq for the “despicable” attack and vowed revenge.  Responsibility for the attack on January 27 on Tower 22, a military outpost on the Jordanian Syrian Iraqi borders was claimed by the Iranian backed umbrella group Islamic Resistance, and the US made no attempt to disguise its belief that Iran was ultimately responsible.

Four separate drone strikes were fired at three US bases, and the US was investigating why the T-22 base’s defense mechanism did not repel the drone. Many of the American servicemen wounded have suffered traumatic brain injury, but the extent of injuries has not been disclosed. An official said the drone struck near the barracks, which would explain the high number of casualties. US forces have faced a near daily barrage of drone and missile strikes in Iraq and Syria since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, but this incident draws the US much closer to a direct conflict with Iran.

House speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) released the following statement following the attacks. “We are saddened by the loss of three American heroes in Jordan last night, and we are praying for their families and for the 25 other service members who have been injured. America must send a crystal clear message across the globe that attacks on our troops will not be tolerated.”

Israeli President Israel Katz has also expressed condolences to the families of the fallen US personnel

Retired US Army general Wesley Clark, a former supreme allied commander Europe, joined other retired flag officers to urge strikes on Iran, which backs militant groups throughout the Middle East. He said, “The US should stop saying ‘we don’t want to escalate.’ This invites them to attack us. Stop calling our strikes ‘retaliation.’ This is reactive. Take out their capabilities and strike hard at the source: Iran.”
 

2:48 pm

The White House said there was no change in its Israel policy after NBC News reported the US was discussing using weapon sales to Israel as leverage to convince the Israeli government to scale back its war in Gaza.

British defence secretary Grant Shapps said the UK remains “undaunted” after Houthis targeted the HMS Diamond in the Red Sea during their latest round of strikes. Crew on the ship shot down a drone deployed by the Yemen-based group, which appears undeterred despite UK-US military action against the rebels earlier this week. No injuries or damage were sustained, the Ministry of Defence said.

Gaza’s health ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qidra, was quoted by Reuters as saying “there is a complete failure of the healthcare system at Nasser and al-Amal hospitals”. Palestinian medics and residents said Israel continued to bomb areas around the two main hospitals in the southern city of Khan Younis. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said medical teams at Amal hospital would be unable to perform surgeries because oxygen supplies were depleted.

At least 26,422 Palestinians have been killed and 65,087 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said on Sunday. Over the past day, 165 Palestinians were killed and 290 injured, the ministry added.

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has pleaded for donor states to “guarantee the continuity” of the body’s Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) after several halted funding over accusations of staff involvement in Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel. Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, criticised these comments, saying the UN chief had repeatedly ignored “evidence” presented to him regarding UNRWA’s involvement in “incitement and terrorism”.

Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said that “lifesaving aid” in Gaza is being threatened by donors “recklessly suspending aid” to UNRWA. Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland joined the United States, Australia and Canada in pausing funding to the agency. Also voicing concern, Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, warned that the decision to pause funding to UNRWA “overtly defies” the order by the ICJ to allow effective humanitarian assistance” to reach Gazans.

Talks aimed at brokering a fresh agreement to release further Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for a pause in fighting are expected as US, Qatari, Israeli and Egyptian officials meet in France. The Associated Press reported that US negotiators including the CIA director, Bill Burns, have provided a framework for negotiations focused on a two-month pause in fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas.

8:30 am

Israel's ambassdor to the UN, Gilad Erdan, wrote on X: "The UN Secretary-General has proven once again that the security of the citizens of Israel is not really important for him. After years in which he ignored the evidence presented to him personally about UNRWA's support and involvement in incitement and terrorism, and before he conducted a comprehensive investigation to locate all Hamas terrorists in UNRWA, he called to fund an organization that is deeply contaminated with terrorism. Every country that continues to fund UNRWA before a comprehensive investigation of the organization should know that its money might be used for terrorism, and the aid that will be transferred to UNRWA may reach the Hamas terrorists instead of the people of Gaza. "

*I call on all donor states to suspend their support and demand an in-depth investigation that will investigate the involvement of all UNRWA employees in terror," Erdan said.

The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres appealed to the 10 donor countries that have withdrawn funding from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees to reconsider, saying the agency and Palestinians in desperate need should not be penalised due to the alleged acts of a dozen staff. Guterres said nine UNRWA staff had already been dismissed for alleged involvement in Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October and any UN employee involved in acts of terror would be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution. He said the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the highest investigative body in the UN system, had already been asked to mount an inquiry.

Israel’s foreign ministry has vowed that UNRWA will play no role in Gaza when the conflict ends. UNRWA has 13,000 staff in Gaza and educates 30,000 children.

British warship HMS Diamond repelled a drone attack on Saturday from Yemen’s Houthi group in the Red Sea, British officials have said. The UK Ministry of Defense stated today: "Deploying her Sea Viper missile system, Diamond destroyed a drone targeting her with no injuries or damage sustained to Diamond or her crew.  These intolerable and illegal attacks are completely unacceptable and it is our duty to protect the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea."

Gaza’s health ministry spokesperson, Ashraf Al-Qidra, was quoted by Reuters as saying “there is a complete failure of the healthcare system at Nasser and al-Amal hospitals”. Palestinian medics and residents said Israel continued to bomb areas around the two main hospitals in the southern city of Khan Younis. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said medical teams at Amal hospital would be unable to perform surgeries because oxygen supplies were depleted.

At least 26,422 Palestinians have been killed and 65,087 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza health ministry said on Sunday. Over the past day, 165 Palestinians were killed and 290 injured, the ministry added.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres pleaded for donor states to “guarantee the continuity” of the body’s Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) after several halted funding over accusations of staff involvement in Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel. Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, criticised these comments, saying the UN chief had repeatedly ignored “evidence” presented to him regarding UNRWA’s involvement in “incitement and terrorism”.

Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said that “lifesaving aid” in Gaza is being threatened by donors “recklessly suspending aid” to UNRWA. Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland joined the United States, Australia and Canada in pausing funding to the agency.

Talks aimed at brokering a fresh agreement to release further Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for a pause in fighting are expected as US, Qatari, Israeli and Egyptian officials meet in France. The Associated Press reported that US negotiators including the CIA director, Bill Burns, have provided a framework for negotiations focused on a two-month pause in fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas.

January 28, 2024

Australia has joined the US, UK, Germany and other nations in suspending aid to the UN agency for refugees in Gaza (UNRWA).

Hamas  published a new propaganda video on Jan. 26 showing signs of life from three young female hostages held in the Gaza Strip. The edited clips over 5 minutes showed Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev, and Doron Steinbrecher, who identified themselves and asked the Israeli government to return them home. Hamas said the video was filmed earlier this week, although it provided no evidence to support the claim.

A CNN crew witnessed Palestinian detainees blindfolded and barefoot near the Israel-Gaza b

order, as reported by Jeremy Diamond.

5:22 am

The Israel Defense Force has reportedly notified the Egyptian Government that it will soon launch a Military Operation in Southern Gaza near the City of Rafah and along the Philadelphi Corridor, which is an Area of Land along the Border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

5:00 pm

An Unnamed Middle Eastern Nation has reportedly provided Intelligence to Hezbollah which states that Israel is in the Final Stages of planning an Invasion of Southern Lebanon following the End of Military Operations in the Gaza Strip, with the Goal of the Invasion being the Destruction and “Push-Back” of Hezbollah’s Offensive Capabilities past the Litani River to align with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.

Scotland has paused funding to UNRWA over the alleged involvement of several members of its staff in the October 7 terror attack in Israel by Hamas. A government spokesperson said that as an investigation into the alleged involvement proceeds that Scotland has “no plans to provide further support to UNRWA at this stage.” “These allegations are particularly concerning at a time when the international community must continue to find mechanisms to maintain, and increase the levels of life-saving aid getting into Gaza,” the spokesperson added. The wife of Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf is from Gaza, and her parents were trapped there for several weeks at the start of the war. Yousaf has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas and for the immediate release of the hostages.

Commissioner-general of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini urged countries to reconsider their suspension of funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), saying that their decision threatens the “ongoing humanitarian work” in Gaza. the request came after at least nine countries announced that they were pulling funding. “It is shocking to see a suspension of funds to the Agency in reaction to allegations against a small group of staff, especially given the immediate action that UNRWA took by terminating their contracts and asking for a transparent independent investigation,” he said. “UNRWA is the primary humanitarian agency in Gaza, with over 2 million people depending on it for their sheer survival. Many are hungry as the clock is ticking towards a looming famine,” he added. “It would be immensely irresponsible to sanction an Agency and an entire community it serves because of allegations of criminal acts against some individuals, especially at a time of war, displacement and political crises in the region. ”

Janina Rosciszewska (92), a Polish Catholic woman whose parents and brother risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust, called on Hamas terrorists to release Israeli hostages they are holding. In a video displayed for thousands of people gathered at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, she asked Hamas to free the hostages abducted  on October 7, in the name of all the Righteous Among the Nations, Israel’s official title for non-Jewish rescuers of Jews from the genocide. “They have done nothing, they are no more to blame that they were born Jewish than I am for being born Polish,” says Rosciszewska, who was recognized along with her parents and brother as Righteous Among the Nations in 1990. The Rosciszewskis are responsible for the survival of the Bierzyński family, whose members they harbored at great peril in their home near Krakow. Rosciszewska’s message comes on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which coincides with the 16th consecutive rally on the square for the return of the hostages.

 

4:00 pm

Summary:

Israeli premier Netanyahu has increased public pressure on Qatar to help secure the release of hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, Reuters reports. When asked about his closed-door remarks, an audio recording of which was leaked to Israeli TV this week, that he was refraining from thanking Qatar for its mediation and deemed it “problematic,” Netanyahu told reporters: “I take back nothing”.

Palestine’s foreign ministry has released a statement reiterating its condemnation of “the ongoing genocide against our people for the 113th consecutive day”. It also condemned the “clear Israeli determination to continue destroying the Gaza Strip and turning it into an inhabitable place”.

President Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan pressed China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, to use China’s influence to help rein in Iran’s support for Houthis after their attacks on Red Sea shipping, Reuters reports. Beijing has told Washington that it is raising the issue with Tehran. The official added that Washington is waiting to see whether China does so and how effective the outreach will be.

Switzerland said today that no decision would be taken on an expected aid payment to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) until “serious accusations” against several UNRWA staff were clarified, reports AFP. The Swiss foreign ministry said it was “extremely worried” about allegations that several UNRWA staff members were involved in Hamas’s October 7 attacks inside Israel.

The UK, United States, Finland, Germany, Italy, and The Netherlands have announced suspension of their aid to UNRWA. The UN has announced that several employees have been terminated and that an investigation is underway.

The UK has temporarily paused future funding of United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), saying it is “appalled by allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel”. It follows Italy, the US, Australia and Canada in suspending financing of UNRWA after Israeli allegations that some of UNRWA’s staff participated in the 7 October Hamas attacks.

Israel Katz, Israel’s foreign minister, said today that Israel would seek to stop UNRWA from operating in Gaza after the war. Israel was aiming to ensure “UNRWA will not be a part of the day after”, Katz said, adding that he would try to gather support from the US, EU and other major donors to the agency.

Crews extinguished a fire onboard the tanker Marlin Luanda, after the vessel was struck by a Houthi anti-ship missile in the Gulf of Aden on Jan. 26, the commodities trader Trafigura says. It adds that the firefighting effort was supported by Indian, US and French navy vessels. No casualties or injuries were reported onboard the fuel tanker.

Hamas said in a statement that Israel is on a “campaign of incitement” against UN agencies delivering aid to Palestinians in Gaza. A statement by the group highlighted an Israeli accusation of “collusion” between the World Health Organization (WHO) and Hamas, which the UN agency rejected on Friday. The statement also referenced recent the allegations that some UNRWA staff had participated in the 7 October Hamas attack.

The Palestinian foreign ministry said an immediate ceasefire is “the only way” to implement ICJ interim Jan. 26 ruling. The ICJ ruling stopped short of ordering a ceasefire in Gaza but demanded Israel attempted to try to contain death and damage in its military offensive.

Today, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) condemned the siege and targeting of al-Amal hospital and its branch headquarters in Khan Younis for the sixth consecutive day. The “siege and its consequences”, said the PRCS, are a “blatant violation of international agreements, especially the provisions of international humanitarian law that require the Israeli occupation to respect the Red Crescent emblem”.

 

9:35 

Britain is “temporarily pausing” future funding for the United Nations’ agency for Palestinians in Gaza (UNRWA), while it reviews “concerning allegations” that UNRWA staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. “The UK is appalled by allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the UK Government has repeatedly condemned,” the UK Foreign Office says in a statement.

Finland also announced suspension of aid. “The allegations of UNRWA staff involvement in the 7th Oct terrorist attacks in Israel are extremely concerning. Finland will temporarily pause funding to UNRWA, and will follow the outcome of the independent investigation,” wrote Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio. “Finland does not give aid that benefits Hamas,” he said. .

Yemen’s internationally recognized government says “defensive” US and British strikes on the Houthi rebels are insufficient, calling for more US and Saudi support to “eliminate” the terrorist Houthis. “Defensive operations are not the solution. The solution is to eliminate the Houthis’ military capabilities,” Rashad al-Alimi, head of the Saudi-backed presidential leadership council, tells a briefing with journalists in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

9:30 am

The UK has “considerable concerns” about a ruling by the United Nation’s International Court of Justice that Israel should do everything it can to prevent any genocide in Gaza. The ICJ handed down on Jan. 26 its first judgment in a case brought by South Africa and also ordered Israel to allow humanitarian access to the Palestinian territory, but did not call for a ceasefire. “We respect the role and independence of the ICJ. However… we have considerable concerns about this case, which is not helpful in the goal of achieving a sustainable ceasefire,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Germans to defend their democracy and fight antisemitism as the country marks the 79th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau during World War II. Germany also marked January 27 as a day to remember the horrors of the Holocaust. “’Never again’ is every day,” Scholz says in his weekly video podcast. “January 27 calls out to us: Stay visible! Stay audible! Against antisemitism, against racism, against misanthropy — and for our democracy.” “’Never again’ demands the vigilance of everyone,” Scholz says. “Our democracy is not God-given. It is man-made.” “It is strong when we support it,’ he adds. ”And it needs us when it is under attack.”

Various countries' cessation of support for the UN relief agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) entails political and relief risks, said Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization. “We call on countries that announced the cessation of their support for UNRWA to immediately reverse their decision,” he said, adding that it “entails great political and humanitarian relief risks, as at this particular time.” “We need the maximum support for this international organization and not stopping support and assistance to it,” he said.

Italy has suspended financing of UNRWA, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said. It followed allegations that some UNRWA workers were involved in the October 7 attacks in Israel carried out by Hamas. “The Italian government has suspended financing of the UNRWA after the atrocious attack on Israel on October 7,” Tajani posts on social media platform X. The US and other allies have also taken the same decision.

Hamas slammed Israeli “threats” against the UNRWA, after Israel accused several UNRWA staff of involvement in Hamas’s October 7 attack. “We ask the UN and the international organizations to not cave in to the threats and blackmail” from Israel, Hamas’s press office said in a post on Telegram.

The Israeli military releases footage showing strikes on a Hamas terrorist cell in the Khan Younis area. Troops of the Commando Brigade’s Egoz unit spotted the operatives preparing to fire RPGs at Israeli troops. The IDF opened fire toward them. The terrorists then fled into a building, which was struck by an aircraft. The IDF says secondary explosions seen in the video indicate that the building stored explosives. Another strike was carried out against additional members of the cell that tried to flee. The IDF says the Commando Brigade has killed more than 100 Hamas terrorists, destroyed dozens of the terror group’s sites, and seized many weapons over the past week in Khan Younis.

The brigade’s Egoz unit raided a Hamas weapons depot, where the IDF located firearms and diving equipment. The unit also raided the home of a Hamas official who the IDF says is close to the terror group’s leader Yahya Sinwar.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says 174 Palestinians were killed in Gaza since Jan 26, bringing the Palestinian death toll since the start of the war to 26,257. These figures cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires. The IDF says it has killed nearly 10,000 operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.

Comments from Israel’s legal team at the genocide hearing at The Hague that Egypt was to blame for failures to deliver Gaza aid through the Egyptian-controlled Rafah crossing so angered officials that Egypt considered withdrawing its ambassador from Israel. "Tp Egyptian intelligence and security officials called a meeting the same day to discuss pulling the Egyptian ambassador from Tel Aviv in response to the comments,” the Wall Street Journal reported. Egypt decided to only issue a denial.

Israel's foreign ministry aims to ensure “that UNRWA will not be a part of the day after,” said Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X, adding that he would try to gather support from the US, EU, and other major donors to the agency, several of whom have suspended funding in the wake of the revelations. “We have been warning for years: UNRWA perpetuates the refugee issue, obstructs peace, and serves as a civilian arm of Hamas in Gaza,” Katz wrote. "UNRWA is not the solution – many of its employees are Hamas affiliates with murderous ideologies, aiding in terror activities and preserving its authority,” Katz wrote. He also demanded that the UN “take immediate personal actions” against the UNRWA leadership. In a tweet, he commended "the US government for its decision to cease funding to UNRWA after it was revealed that some of its employees were involved in the heinous massacre on October 7. We have been warning for years: UNRWA perpetuates the refugee issue, obstructs peace, and serves as a civilian arm of Hamas in Gaza. I applaud Canada for joining this decision and hopeful that other nations will follow suit.  UNRWA  must pay a price for its actions. UNRWA  is not the solution - many of its employees are Hamas affiliates with murderous ideologies, aiding in terror activities and preserving its authority. Under my leadership, the  IsraelMFA  aims to promoting a policy ensuring that  UNRWA  will not be a part of the day after, addressing other contributing factors. We will work to garner bipartisan support in the US, the European Union, and other nations globally for this policy aimed at halting UNRWA's activities in Gaza. We demand the UN to take immediate personal actions against  UNRWA  leadership."

January 27, 2024

3:30 pm

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani will visit Washington next week, as the Gulf state mediates negotiations between Israel and Hamas. He is likely to meet with top Biden administration officials and US lawmakers while in DC. He will first visit Paris “in the coming days” to meet with the CIA director and top spy chiefs from Israel and Egypt. President Biden spoke via telephone with Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, with whom he discussed efforts to secure the release of the hostages in Gaza in addition to the ongoing war. He reportedly thanked the emir for Doha’s mediation efforts.

Rocket sirens activated in Lebanon border community for second time this evening, wailing in Moshav Zarit.

The Biden administration is seeking another deal on releasing hostages held by the Gazan terrorists. However, National Security Council John Kirby said, “We should not expect any imminent developments.” He said Middle East envoy Brett McGurk is returning to Washington after holding hostage talks in the region. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was recorded criticizing both the US and Qatar for not putting enough pressure on Hamas to release the remaining 136 hostages.

President Biden spoke with Egyptian President  Abdel Fatteh el-Sissi. Egypt is mediating the hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

During an evening meeting on Jan. 25 of Israel's security cabinet, Shin Bet security chief Ronen Bar urged the immediate establishment of a state commission of inquiry to examine Hamas’s October 7 attack. Bar’s reported call to set up the panel was in response to a Likud lawmaker airing of conspiracy claims linking protesters against Netanyahu's judicial overhaul to the Oct 7 onslaught. “The public desperately needs this and the Shin Bet does as well,” Bar is quoted as saying by Channel 12 news. “This will put an end to all the lies and conspiracies.”

France, Germany and Britain condemned Iran’s launch of the Soraya satellite last week using the Ghaem-100 Space Launch Vehicle (SLV). The SLV uses technology essential for the development of a long-range ballistic missile system, which could also allow Tehran to launch longer-range weapons, the countries say in a joint statement.

Saudi Arabia welcomed the International Court of Justice ruling on South Africa’s request to impose emergency measures against Israel over its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Gulf country’s foreign ministry says in a statement. It affirmed "its categorical rejection of the Israeli occupation’s practices and violations of the United Nations Convention on genocide.”

Retired Israeli Supreme Court chief justice Aharon Barak, serving as the Israeli representative at the International Court of Justice, issued a separate opinion after the court’s ruling in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel. Barak and Uganda’s Julia Sebutinde were the only judges to oppose the court’s chief claim that Israeli actions in the war against Hamas may violate the Genocide Convention and in turn order Israel to ensure they do not. Barak did vote in favor of measures that require Israel to do everything “within its power to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide in relation to members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip,” and ordered “immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”

Barak criticized South Africa for focusing on Israel instead of Hamas for carrying out the October 7 terror onslaught that sparked the war in Gaza, saying it “wrongly sought to impute the crime of Cain to Abel.” He cited his experience as a Holocaust survivor. “Genocide is more than just a word for me; it represents calculated destruction and human behavior at its very worst,” Barak writes. “It is the gravest possible accusation and is deeply intertwined with my personal life experience.”

Barak praised Israel’s adherence to international law during military operations and says the court should use international humanitarian law when assessing the war in Gaza, not the genocide convention.

Qatar welcomes the International Court of Justice ruling on South Africa’s request to impose emergency measures against Israel over its war against Hamas in Gaza. In addition to being the middle-man in negotiations over hostages held by Hamas, Qatar is where  several Hamas political leaders are based.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella denounced rising antisemitism and delivered a powerful speech in support of the Jewish people as part of Holocaust Remembrance Day observances. At the Quirinale Palace, Mattarella called the Holocaust “the most abominable of crimes” and recalled the complicity of Italians under Fascism in the deportation of Jews. He has made affirmations in the past in support of the Jewish people. He said the October 7 attacks by Hamas against Israel were “a gruesome replica of the horrors of the Shoah.”

He also expressed sorrow over the rising death toll about Gazans during Israel's military operations. “Those who have suffered the vile attempt to erase their own people from the land know that one cannot deny another people the right to a state,” Mattarella said..

Antisemitic episodes in Italy hit an unprecedented high last year, with 216 incidents reported in the last three months of 2023 following the October 7 attack, compared to 241 in all of the previous year, the Antisemitism Observatory reported. Overall, 454 incidents of antisemitism were reported last year, the biggest-ever increase. “The dead of Auschwitz, scattered in the wind, continually warn us: Man’s path proceeds along rough and risky roads,” Mattarella says. “This is also manifested by the return, in the world, of dangerous instances of antisemitism: of prejudice that traces back to ancient anti-Jewish stereotypes, reinforced by social media without control or modesty.”

The United States maintains that South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice is “unfounded." A State Department spokesperson told The Times of Israel: “We continue to believe that allegations of genocide are unfounded and note the court did not make a finding about genocide or call for a ceasefire in its ruling and that it called for the unconditional, immediate release of all hostages being held by Hamas.” The spokesperson added, "“The court’s ruling is consistent with our view that Israel has the right to take action to ensure the terrorist attacks of October 7 cannot be repeated, in accordance with international law.” 

“We have consistently made clear that Israel must take all possible steps to minimize civilian harm, increase the flow of humanitarian assistance, and address dehumanizing rhetoric,” the spokesperson said. However, the source said the recognizes the “vital role” that the ICJ plays in the peaceful settlement of disputes and adds that it will continue to monitor the proceedings as they move forward.

3:00

Israeli officials accused the International Court of Justice of antisemitic bias after the court issued an emergency interim ruling regarding Israel's military operations in Gaza. The ICJ stopped short of ordering a ceasefire in Gaza but demanded Israel attempted to try to contain death and damage in its military offensive. Israeli PM Netanyahu said that Israel upholds international law and defends its people. He stated: "The vile attempt to deny Israel this fundamental right [to self-defence] is blatant discrimination against the Jewish state, and it was justly rejected."  Israeli Defense Minister Gallant said: "The international court of justice went above and beyond, when it granted South Africa’s antisemitic request to discuss the claim of genocide in Gaza, and now refuses to reject the petition outright." Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir tweeted: "This court does not seek justice, but rather the persecution of the Jewish people. Decisions that endanger the continued existence of the state of Israel must not be listened to. And we must continue defeating the enemy until complete victory."

In the UK, Labour party member David Lammy called for an “end to extremist rhetoric” and Israel’s adherence to the “urgent provisional measures.” Lammy said: "The interim ruling under the Genocide Convention on the situation in Gaza is a profoundly serious moment. Labour has been clear throughout the conflict that international law must be upheld, that the independence of international courts must be respected, and that all sides must be accountable for their actions. The ICJ’s interim ruling… sets out urgent provisional measures that must be followed. Israel must now comply with the orders in this ruling in full. The ICJ’s measures align closely with Labour’s longstanding calls for the protection of civilians, urgent humanitarian relief in Gaza and an end to extremist rhetoric. We will press for these orders to be implemented, alongside an immediate humanitarian truce and a sustainable ceasefire."

Houthi terrorists claimed to have carried out an attack on a vessel they identified as “the British oil tanker Marlin Luanda” in the Gulf of Aden today.  They used “a number of appropriate naval missiles, the strike was direct,” the Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said. According to marinetraffic.com, Marlin Luanda is an oil tanker registered in the Marshall Islands, and is currently on a voyage between the Greek port of Lakonikos and Singapore. The vessel has no known connection to Britain. Ambrey reported earlier that a fire broke out on a merchant vessel travelling through the Gulf of Aden after it was hit with a “missile”. The crew was reported safe, Ambrey added.

South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has said he expects Israel to abide by the international court of justice’s ruling that it take measures to prevent genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. “Some have told us we should mind our own business … and yet it is very much our place as the people who know too well the pain of dispossession, discrimination, state sponsored violence,” Ramaphosa said in a televised address to the nation. South Africa hailed a “decisive victory” for international rule of law following the court’s ruling.

12:10 pm

A week after a group of Jewish students submitted a complaint with a federal civil rights office alleging widespread antisemitism at American University, it unveiled on Jan. 25 a new set of policies meant to counter extremism and promote civil discourse on the Washington, D.C., campus. The policy does not specify antisemitism.

Jewish-owned businesses and a Jewish community center in Scarsdale, N.Y., were vandalized overnight on Jan. 24 by vandals spray painted “genocide supporter” on their front windows. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), a critic of Israel who has himself accused Israel of genocide, represents the district. It is the site of an increasingly heated primary battle between Bowman and Westchester County Executive George Latimer, who has the backing of the pro-Israel community.

12:05 pm

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who recently returned from a trip to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, said that Muslim countries in the region are ready to seal a regional peace deal with Israel  if Israel commits to a two-state solution. “They’re available to do this long-term peace agreement. They are willing to play a role in rebuilding a Palestinian state, providing security and creating an international regional alliance to fight against Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and all its proxies,” Gillibrand said. “I know and I hope that can happen in the months to come — not years — months to come.”

11:50 am

Today, the United States suspended funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the humanitarian body that works with Palestinians, following allegations that 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks in Israel. Earlier today, UNRWA announced it had fired several employees suspected of involvement in the attack, based on intelligece provided by Israel.  “Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution,” said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA commissioner-general. “The United States is extremely troubled by the allegations that twelve UNRWA employees may have been involved in the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel,” State Department spokeman Matthew Miller said. “The Department of State has temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.”

11:15 am

The IDF says it struck further Hezbollah sites in Lebanon today. Two sites belonging to the terror group in Tayr Harfa and Ayta ash-Shab were shelled by Israeli tanks, and a site in Kafr Kila and an observation post in Blida were hit by a fighter jet, according to the IDF. The IDFalso shelled areas in ad-Dhahiriya with artillery. 

The IDF releases drone footage showing a group of RPG-wielding Hamas operatives being spotted in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, before being struck by another aircraft. The three-man Hamas cell was identified by soldiers of the Border Defense Corps' 636th Combat Intelligence Collection unit, who also called in the strike.

Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister called for Israeli authorities to face justice after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take measures to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza. “Today, the authorities of the fake Israeli regime … must be brought to justice immediately for committing genocide and unprecedented war crimes against the Palestinians,” he posted on X.

Karla McLaren, Amnesty International UK’s head of government affairs called today’s interim ruling by the ICJ in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel “extremely significant”. “After being critical of this case for weeks, the UK now needs to start taking the extremely grave issue of potential genocide against the Palestinian people seriously,” she added. ICJ ruling is an 'important reminder that no state is above the law', says Palestinian foreign ministry
The Palestinian foreign ministry welcomed orders by the ICJ on Friday and called it an “important reminder that no state is above the law”, reports Reuters.

Riyad al-Maliki, the Palestinian foreign minister, said today, “The ICJ judges assessed the facts and the law, they ruled in favor of humanity and international law.” Maliki added that Palestine called on all states to ensure the measures ordered by the court are implemented “including by Israel, the occupying power”.

The UN Palestinian agency (UNRWA) said today it will investigate the alleged involvement of several of its employees in the  October 7 attacks in southern Israel by Hamas, and that it had severed ties with these staff members. “The Israeli authorities have provided UNRWA with information about the alleged involvement of several UNRWA employees in the horrific attacks on Israel on 7 October,” said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA commissioner-general. “To protect the agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, I have taken the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation in order to establish the truth without delay.” IDF troops have found weapons and tunnel entrances in schools operated by UNRWA.

Cheers erupted among pro-Palestine supporters who gathered outside the ICJ in The Hague when the court ruled that Israel must “take all measures within its power” to prevent all acts within the scope of the genocide convention. “It is very good that the ICJ did not throw out the genocide case at Israel’s request but the courts orders to prevent genocide won’t be followed without a ceasefire. We can only hope now that humanitarian aid is allowed into Gaza,” said protester Joris Doting.

Israeli PM Netanyahu reacted to the ICJ’s ruling. He said: “We will continue to defend ourselves and our citizens while adhering to international law.” He also said that “Israel is fighting a just war like no other”. He added: “We will continue this war until absolute victory, until all hostages are returned and Gaza is no longer a threat to Israel.” He also said the ICJ’s willingness to discuss genocide claims against Israel was “a disgrace that will not be erased for generations”.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, said the ICJ decision is an important development that contributes to isolating Israel and exposing its crimes in Gaza. He also called for Israel to be forced to implement the court’s decisions.

Israel’s security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded to the ICJ ruling by tweeting: “Hague Shmague”. He was the first Israel official to comment after the court ended its reading.

The South African government said it welcomed the provisional measures the ICJ had ordered against Israel.

British foreign secretary David Cameron said after a Middle East tour today that progress has been made towards a deal to halt fighting in Gaza, bring in more aid and release Israeli hostages held there. Speaking in Istanbul,  Cameron said that Israel is considering a British proposal to open its Ashdod port to aid shipments to Gaza but that it would “take a lot of pushing” to reach an agreement. “Achieving a pause where we stop the fighting and start looking at how to get aid in and hostages out, I think there is a prospect of that,” Cameron said. “That’s what I’ve been in the region talking about. And I think we are making some progress.”

Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan told Cameron today that an immediate ceasefire was needed in Gaza. They discussed the war, bilateral ties, and Turkey’s ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership bid. Fidan told Cameron that a full and immediate ceasefire and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is needed in Gaza for lasting peace. Leftists in Europe and North America have demanded an immediate cessation of Israel's military operations.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said today that a vessel approximately 60 nautical miles (nm) from Yemen reported an explosion heard and missiles sighted a few miles from its position. UKMTO added a further explosion at sea was sighted approximately 0.5 nm from the reporting vessel. The crew and the vessel are safe, UKMTO said.

Israeli national airline El Al to scrapped direct flights to South Africa. The final El Al flight from Tel Aviv to Johannesburg is set to depart on March 27. The decision came after  “a significant fall in demand by Israeli travellers” to SA. The announcement came hours before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is to issue an initial ruling on Pretoria’s case against Israel over alleged genocidal acts in Gaza. Scores of international airlines have suspended Tel Aviv flights since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The case brought by South Africa in the top UN court has signficantly strained relations with Israel, which denies accusations its military campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide against Palestinians.

A Jan. 25 drone attack on one of Iraq’s largest gas fields has led to a temporary suspension of production, resulting in major power cuts across the country’s northern Kurdistan region, officials said on Friday. No group has claimed responsibility for the explosive drone that struck Khor Mor gas field in the Sulaimaniya region of northern Iraq overnight. Kurdistan’s electricity ministry said the attack had led to a 2,800 megawatt drop in power production. A resumption of operations was expected soon. US ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski condemned the attack, saying it “exposed millions to power outages in mid-winter”. Local sources said power from the network had been totally absent in the region since after the attack.

Israeli ambassador to the UN, Meirav Eilon Shahar, accused the World Health Organization (WHO) of “collusion” with Hamas and by ignoring Israeli evidence of the “terrorist use” of hospitals in Gaza. "[In] every single hospital that the IDF searched in Gaza, it found evidence of Hamas’ military use. These are undeniable facts that WHO chooses to ignore time and time again. This is not incompetence; it is collusion.” Shahar also said that there could not be health care in the Palestinian territory when Hamas “embeds itself in hospitals and uses human shields.”

The volume of commercial traffic passing through the Suez Canal has fallen by more than 40 percent in the last two months after attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, according to the United Nations. UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) head Jan Hoffman said, "We are very concerned that the attacks on Red Sea shipping are adding tensions to global trade, exacerbating [existing] trade disruptions due to geopolitics and climate change". According to the UNCTAD, ships diverting from the Red Sea, sailing instead around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, has led to a 42% drop in transit through the Suez Canal in the last two months, Agence France-Presse reports.

The Houthis say they are targeting what they consider Israeli-linked commercial and military shipping in the region in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, pushing some cargo carriers to take longer and more expensive routes to avoid attack.

The United States and Iraq say they will begin discussions on the future of American and other foreign troops in the country. Baghdad is expecting the talks to lead to a timeline for troop reduction. Approximately 2500 US troops are in Iraq as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group, but the country’s prime minister – whose government relies on the support of Iran-aligned parties – has called for the coalition to leave. There are 900 US troops in Syria as part of the coalition formed in 2014, a year after ISIS overran one third of Iraq. 

Washington has carried out strikes on Iran-backed groups in response to a spike in attacks on coalition troops, sparking  Iraqi condemnation, followed by Iraqi prime minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani calling on the coalition to withdraw from the country.

CIA Director William Burns and his Israeli counterpart will meet Qatari officials in coming days for talks on a second potential Gaza hostage deal and pause in fighting. William Burns will make the trip in the next few days. While not confirming the reports about the negotiations, Biden spokesman Kirby recalled that Burns had already been involved in negotiations over a prior hostage agreement at the end of November and indicated that he was participating in efforts for another one.

9:30 am

Spain’s socialist government hailed the ICJ’s decision. "Spain once again reiterates its call for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of the hostages, immediate and regular humanitarian access, and the need to move towards the implementation of the two-state solution,” the foreign ministry said. Socialist PM  Pedro Sánchez has been an outspoken opponent of Israeli defensive actions. While repeatedly condemning the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, Sánchez said he has “genuine doubts” about whether Israel was complying with international humanitarian law in its offensive in Gaza. uring a visit to the Middle East last November with Belgium’s prime minister, Alexander De Croo, Sánchez said the number of dead Palestinians was “truly unbearable”, adding that the creation of a Palestinian state remained the best way to bring peace and security to the region.

9:15 am

There are reports of major Israeli advances in Gaza in the last few days. The army took control of over 30km in one day and advanced so quickly that logistics trucks couldn’t keep up and supplies have had to be airdropped. Jabaliya is surrounded.

On campus at Stanford University in California, pro-Hamas protesters shouted 'Go back to Brooklyn' and anti-semitic epithets at Jewish students on Jan. 25.

Argentina's ambassador to the UN told the Security Council on Jan. 25, 'Argentina strongly condemns the terrorist attacks by Hamas, that are the root cause of the humanitarian crisis, and We regret that these acts have not been condemned by the Security Council. We recognize Israel's 🇮🇱 right to self defense.”

9:00 am

"The International Court of Justice decision is an important development that contributes to isolating Israel and exposing its crimes in Gaza," said senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri. Referring to Israel's militaryoperations in Gaza since Hamas' Oct 7 terrorist attack, he said, "We call for forcing the occupation to implement the court’s decisions.” South Africa hailed what it called a “decisive victory” for the international rule of law after the International Court of Justice ruled in favor of its request to impose emergency measures against Israel over its military operations in Gaza. The ICJ issued a series of measures, saying Israel must prevent the killing or injuring of Gaza’s Palestinians, must prevent conditions calculated to wholly or partly destroy Gaza’s populace, and must prevent conditions intended to prevent births among Gazans. However, it stopped short of granting South Africa’s demand for an international unilateral ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas.

See the ICJ ruling here. 

The International Court of Justice said that Israel must “take all measures in its power” to prevent the commission of genocidal acts against the Palestinians as laid out in Article 2 of the Genocide Convention. However, the court does not grant South Africa’s demand for an immediate unilateral ceasefire in Israel’s military operation against Hamas in Gaza.

President of the International Court of Justice Judge Joan Donoghue cites several inflammatory comments made by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, then-Energy Minister Yisrael Katz and President Isaac Herzog, which could be interpreted as seeking to kill civilians in Gaza. “The aforementioned facts and circumstances are sufficient to conclude that at least some rights of the Palestinians to be protected from acts of genocide and related prohibited acts in Article 3 of the Genocide Convention, and the rights of South Africa to seek protection of these rights,” states Donoghue. This appears that the ICJ accepts that there is plausibility to South Africa’s claims that the Palestinians need to be protected from genocide by Israel under the terms of the Genocide Convention. Donoghue states therefore that the “conditions required by its statue to indicate [provisional measures] have been met.” She added: “The court cannot accede to Israel’s request that it not entertain the application.”

The IDF carried out strikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in response to recent attacks on northern Israel. IAF jets struck a building used by the terror group in Bint Jbeil, and last night another building was struck in Khiam. Earlier today several rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Mount Hermon area, landing in open areas. The IDF shelled the launch sites, as well as other areas in southern Lebanon, presumably to foil planned Hezbollah attacks.

President Biden told Israeli premier  Netanyahu during a phone conversation last week that he will not support a year-long war in Gaza,. An Israeli media report alleges that Biden asked Netanyahu to speed up the transition to low-intensity fighting against Hamas that would reduce harm to civilians. Biden reportedly told Netanyahu that he does not understand what Israel’s strategy for ending the war is, and pressed the Israeli leader to provide an answer as to what the plan is for the day after the war ends. In response to the report, Netanyahu’s office said, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appreciates President Biden’s support and made it clear in his conversation with him that Israel is determined to continue the war until all its goals are completed.”

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen warned that global disruptions and volatility are the “new normal,” with more geo-economic tensions coming. "2024 will be a decisive year, with more geo-economic tensions expected — from the Red Sea to the Taiwan Strait — which also means more frequent disruptions to supply chains and greater volatility on the energy markets,” she said at conference in Germany. “International competition is becoming harder. That is the new normal that we have to deal with.” Industries in Europe have been severely hit by Russia’s war on Ukraine, which has disrupted supply chains and driven up energy prices, sparking sustained inflation.

The difficulties faced by businesses have been compounded by attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

8:30 am

The director of the CIA William Burns will meet with his Israeli and Egyptian counterparts plus the Qatari prime minister in Europe, according to US media reports. It’s in an effort to negotiate a fresh truce and hostage release in the Israel-Gaza war.

The US and UK will impose new sanctions on leaders of the Iran-aligned Houthi group, which will include at least four senior figures being subject to asset freezes and travel bans, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday citing people familiar with the plan. Senior ministers in the Houthi administration in Yemen would also be sanctioned.

The targeting of ships linked to Israel will continue until aid reaches the Palestinian people in Gaza, Yemen’s Houthis leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi said on Jan 25 in a televised speech. The group’s leader added that the results of the latest US and British escalation would be counterproductive and would not affect “our will and determination”.

The US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Jan. 25 renewed calls for Israel to protect civilians after a deadly strike on a UN shelter in Gaza that brought rare US condemnation. “We have reaffirmed this with the government of Israel and it is my understanding that they are, as is necessary and appropriate, looking into this incident,” Blinken said, without saying at what level discussions took place.

Nasser hospital in Khan Younis has run out of food, anaesthetics and painkillers. “The health and humanitarian situation in the hospital is extremely catastrophic due to the siege by the Israeli occupation forces,” the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said.

Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich on Jan. 25 accused Qatar, a key mediator in efforts to free its hostages, of being “largely responsible” for the October 7 Hamas attack. “One thing is clear: Qatar will not be involved one bit in what happens in Gaza the day after the war,” he said. His comments came after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was recorded allegedly telling hostages’ families this week that Qatar’s mediation was “problematic” when it came to resolving the hostage crisis.

Qatar accused Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of obstructing mediation efforts in the Gaza war and prioritising his career after a leaked recording allegedly captured him calling the Gulf state “problematic”. Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed al-Ansari, said “we are appalled by the alleged remarks”.

Thomas White, the director of affairs in Gaza for the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said on Jan. 25 that the situation in Khan Younis, southern Gaza ‘underscores a consistent failure’ to uphold international humanitarian law. He said the “persistent attacks on civilian sites” were “utterly unacceptable and must stop immediately”. White also said that an attack on UN Relief and Works Agency shelter in Gaza housing thousands of displaced people, had killed at least 12 people and injured 75 people, including 15 who were in a critical condition. White said a number of missions to reach the dead and injured were denied, without directly saying the attempts had been blocked by Israel. He said UN teams were only able to reach the site in the evening. Israel has denied responsibility for the attack, in which two tank shells hit an UNRWA training center.

Israel’s military says it is looking into allegations that its forces opened fire on crowds of Palestinians queueing for aid in northern Gaza City, reports Al Jazeera. At least 20 people were killed and 150 injured in the attack at the Kuwait roundabout, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesperson for the health ministry said a “massacre” had been carried out on “hungry mouths”. Victims were being treated at al-Shifa hospital, which is out of medical supplies and only has a few doctors working, Qudra said.

Air raid alarms were sounded in Israel on Jan. 25, marking the first time in almost four days that projectiles were apparently launched from the Gaza Strip towards the country, reports the Times of Israel. Sirens were activated in the evacuated border community of Netiv Ha’asara, with no reports of injuries or damage.

The Houthis in Yemen should be labelled as a terrorist group by the UK government, a top lawyer told parliament on Jan. 25. Independent crossbench peer Lord Pannick argued that the actions and ideology of the Iran-backed group warrant its so-called proscription. His comments came after the UK and US conducted their second round of joint strikes on Houthi targets this week after continued attacks on Red Sea shipping.

Lord Cameron, the UK foreign secretary, who is wrapping up a tour in the Middle East, held talks with Israeli leaders and Qatari mediators and has called for an end to the Israeli “bottlenecks” preventing aid reaching Gaza and backed an immediate pause in the fighting. Cameron also met the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in the occupied West Bank, where he discussed his Gaza plan to “move from a pause – to get aid in and hostages out – towards a sustainable ceasefire, leading to a long-term political solution, including a Palestinian state”.

António Guterres, the UN secretary general, said the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “appalling”, with a quarter of the population grappling with catastrophic levels of food insecurity, as he renewed the UN’s plea for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”. “Everyone in Gaza is hungry,” he said.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 50 Palestinians in Khan Younis in the last 24 hours, says Ashraf al-Qidra, a spokesperson for the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. Al Jazeera reported that at least three people including two children had been killed by Israeli shelling of the al-Satar al-Gharbi area of Khan Younis.

The Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, said the conflict in Gaza shows the UN and other world bodies have lost their effectiveness and called on Muslim countries and other nations to unite for a new “fair world order”. Reporting from Ankara on Wednesday, where Raisi met his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Al Jazeera journalist Sinem Köseoğlu said Raisi demanded the political and economic isolation of Israel, with the Iranian president saying “cutting the lifelines” would be an effective way of ending “Israel’s oppression and murders”.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society transported a number of injured people to hospital on the morning of Jan. 25 after Israeli forces targeted an apartment building in Rafah, southern Gaza. At least one person was killed in the strike, which happened at dawn in the Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood, reported Al Jazeera.

The fatal shooting of American-Palestinian teenager, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar while driving a pickup truck in the West Bank was unprovoked, the sole passenger has said, describing apparent Israeli fire hitting the back of the vehicle before it overturned several times on a dirt road.

A 72-year-old Israeli woman held captive by Hamas militants for nearly 50 days has told an Israeli TV channel that she was held at length in a dark, humid tunnel where she met the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar.

Violent clashes overnight were reported in the West Bank as Israeli forces raided the city of Jenin. The local Palestinian militant group, the Jenin Brigades, said its men were engaged in heavy exchanges of fire with the Israeli military, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported, while Al Jazeera wrote that one Palestinian had been arrested. The Qatari broadcaster also cited the Palestinian Wafa news agency as reporting that Israeli forces had destroyed monuments to dead Palestinians and that city streets had been torn up by Israeli bulldozers.

Thousands of Indians have flocked to a recruitment centre in India for jobs as construction workers in Israel, willing to take the risk of going to a country embroiled in a devastating war in Gaza.

The number of antisemitic acts registered in Belgium rose sharply since the Hamas attack against Israel that triggered a war in Gaza, according to figures released on Jan. 25 by Unia, an independent public body fighting discrimination. Unia that said it received 91 reports related to the Israel-Gaza conflict between Oct 7 and December 7 last year, compared with 57 reports for the whole of 2022.

January 26, 2024

4:42 pm

The Israel Defense Forces carried out a series of strikes today against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, including an airstrip, as the Lebanese terror group claimed it had targeted Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system. The airstrip in the Qalaat Jabbour mountain region served Hezbollah’s aerial unit. Israel accused Iran of building the runway, which is thought to be used by its proxy to launch drones. The IDF said it also struck targets in the areas of Tyre and Mghairiyeh, adding that the strikes came in response to a drone attack on northern Israel earlier in the day, which were later claimed by Hezbollah.

4:30 pm

As the borders between Israel and Syria remain tense, Israel’s health system practiced handling potential major security incidents in a drill today in the northern tier of the country. Scenarios involving the operation of hospitals, health maintenance organizations’ community clinics, medical evacuations, and the provision of support to chronically ill people in need of immediate assistance were tried. The comprehensive drill also involves other governmental ministries, hospitals, HMOs, local authorities, the IDF’s Home Front Command, and other branches of the national security apparatus. “We are in a very challenging period that includes treating thousands of the physically and emotionally injured, as well as the rehabilitation of thousands. In parallel to dealing with these challenges that began on October 7, we are preparing for the expansion of the [military] operation in the north and throughout Israel,” says Health Ministry director-general Moshe Bar Siman Tov. “The security reality in Israel has changed, as have the things the healthcare system must do. Therefore, we are preparing the system as a whole and every part of it in this drill. The change that could happen in the north will affect the hospitals and community in a much broader way than we have experienced thus far,” he said.

US and Israeli defense officials met in Washington DC today to discuss a variety of defense deals between the countries. In September, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant submitted an official Letter of Request (LOR) to the US and to Lockheed Martin for the purchase of a third squadron of 25 F-35 aircraft, which will eventually bring Israel’s total complement to 75 aircraft. Israeli media reported that next step in the deal has been issued. The aircraft are still not expected before 2026-2027, but moving that deal and others, including the F-15 EX fighters, Apache helicopters, and a variety of weapons and munitions, is important to the ministry at this point in the war, when there are pressures on the US-Israeli alliance.

An explosive-rigged drone struck an area today at Khor Mor gas field in the Sulaimaniya region of northern Iraq,

4:15 pm

Turkish President Erdogan signed off on the parliament’s ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership bid, marking on Jan. 23 the final step in Ankara’s approval of Stockholm into the alliance. This cleared a major hurdle to expanding the Western military alliance after 20 months of delay. Hungary remains the only ally yet to ratify the Nordic nation’s accession into the alliance.

Hamas says that if the International Court of Justice issues an injunction calling for a ceasefire in Gaza that it will abide by it as long as Israel reciprocates. Hamas would release all the Israeli hostages in Gaza if Israel releases all Palestinian prisoners, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan claimed at a news conference in Beirut.

Weepy WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus repeated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza, and demanded a “true solution” to the Israel-Palestinian conflict in an emotional plea to the global health body’s governors. Descrbing Gaza's conditions as “hellish,” he said: “I’m a true believer because of my own experience that war doesn’t bring solution, except more war, more hatred, more agony, more destruction. So let’s choose peace and resolve this issue politically.” Speaking to the WHO Executive Board  during a discussion about Gaza, he added,“I think all of you have said the two-state solution and so on, and hope this war will end and move into a true solution,” he said, before breaking down, describing the current situation as “beyond words.” Ghebreyesus lived through war as a child. His children hid in a bunker during bombardments in Ethiopia’s 1998-2000 border war with Eritrea. In the same address, he warned that more people in Gaza would die of starvation and disease. “If you add all that, I think it’s not easy to understand how hellish the situation is,” he says.

Israel's ambassador in Genevasaid his comments represented a “complete leadership failure.” “The statement by the director-general was the embodiment of everything that is wrong with WHO since October 7th. No mention of the hostages, the rapes, the murder of Israelis, nor the militarization of hospitals and Hamas’s despicable use of human shields,” she said. She also accused WHO of “collusion” with Hamas, saying it turned a blind eye to Hamas’ military activities in Gaza hospitals.

Yemen’s Houthi delegation met with the Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov in Moscow, where they discussed the situation in the region as well as the importance of intensifying efforts to pressure the United States and Israel to stop war in the Gaza Strip, the Houthi top negotiator says on messaging platform X.

Israeli media cited a senior Israeli official who describes the meeting slated to take place in the coming days in Europe between the intelligence chiefs of the US, Egypt and Israel, along with the prime minister of Qatar, as “critical” to the goal of exerting pressure on Hamas and bridging the gaps preventing a deal for the release of all Israeli hostages in Gaza.

With all the relevant players in the same room with the exception of Hamas’s leaders, “who are represented by Qatar,” the summit, according to the unnamed Israeli official, “brings together the two [hitherto separate] lines of negotiation by Qatar and Egypt in order to exert joint pressure on Hamas and to bridge the gaps between the two mediators.” The agreement the leaders are slated to discuss would see all of the hostages released, in phases over several months, with the war paused and thousands of Palestinian security prisoners freed.

Israel is refusing to agree to a permanent ceasefire, while Hamas won’t agree to release the remaining 136 hostages in exchange for anything less.

Hamas’s conditions include a 10-14 day pause before it begins releasing hostages; 100 security prisoners released for every “humanitarian” hostage in the first stage of the release; hundreds of security prisoners released for every hostage in subsequent phases; and a withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the Strip as part of the deal.

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman insists in a letter to IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi that the examination that his office has begun into the multi-system failures leading up to, and on, October 7 is both necessary and feasible despite the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza. “The severe failures that led to the events of October 7 require a deep and fundamental examination by the State Comptroller’s Office of all [decision-making] echelons, political, military and civilian,” Englman wrote Halevi.

He also points out that he has already begun examinations and even issued criticism of governmental failings on the home front since the beginning of the war, seemingly to ward off criticism that his examination into military failures is politically motivated to deflect blame from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Englman is seeking access to military documents in order to begin the examination, adding that other security agencies involved in the war have already complied with a similar request. “There is no reason at all that similar cooperation, which it should be emphasized does not require the attention of the combat ranks, should not also be established for the IDF,”Englman wrote.

2:30 pm

The IDF says troops of its elite Commando Brigade are establishing operational control in "the heart of" Khan Younis, amid a major offensive against Hamas in the city in southern Gaza.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that 100+ Hamas terrorists have been captured by Israeli troops in Gaza, including some who surrendered after hiding in tunnels. “Hamas is collapsing into its own tunnels that it painstakingly dug. Every place it thought would be a trap for IDF soldiers becomes an area where we hit it,” Gallant told soldiers of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit.

The number of antisemitic acts registered in France and Belgium rose sharply since Hamas' Oct 7 attack on Israel triggered the war in Gaza, according to figures released today in both countries. The French Interior Ministry and the Jewish Community Protection Service watchdog showed that 1,676 antisemitic acts were reported in 2023, compared to 436 the previous year.

Israeli actor-singer-songwriter Idan Amedi, best known for starring in the hit Netflix show “Fauda,” recounted to reporters today his experience fighting in Gaza and the blast that put him in hospital for over two weeks. “We are dealing with an enemy that doesn’t care about anything. This is a just war and the enemy we are facing is beyond Hamas, we have found weapons in schools, assorted institutions and private homes. The world needs to know that,” said Amedi, who was released from the Medical Center in Ramat Gan, where doctors had kept him in an unconscious state and on a ventilator.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog hosted Holocaust survivors on June 24, including 10 Jews saved from Nazi persecution during World War II by the Kindertransport rescue operation launched 85 years ago. This took place three days before International Holocaust Remembrance Day, an annual U.N.-designated event commemorating the six million Jews and others murdered by the German Nazi regime and its accomplices.

The IDF says it carried out a series of strikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, including an airstrip used by the terror group in the Qalaat Jabbour mountain region.

A videof of a new eatery in Jordan that celebrates Hamas’s massacre of 1,200 people in Israel has gone viral on social media, eliciting praise in Arab circles.Dubbed 'October 7', the shawarma eaterery was recently opened in the Southern Mazar district, south of the city of Kerak on Jordan's side of the Dead Sea. A video clip of the eatery, which also offers pizza, was posted on X by Dima Tahboub, a former member of parliament and a member of Jordan's terrorist Muslim Brotherhood.  

 

2:20 pm

The US and UK will impose new sanctions on leaders of the Iran-aligned Houthi group, which will include at least four senior figures being subject to asset freezes and travel bans. Senior ministers in the Houthi administration in Yemen would also be sanctioned, with an announcement expected as today. 

The targeting of ships linked to Israel will continue until aid reaches the Palestinian people in Gaza, Yemen’s Houthis leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi said today in a televised speech. The group’s leader added that the results of the latest US and British escalation would be counterproductive and would not affect “our will and determination”.

The US secretary of state Antony Blinken today renewed calls for Israel to protect civilians after a deadly strike on a UN shelter in Gaza that brought rare US condemnation. “We have reaffirmed this with the government of Israel and it is my understanding that they are, as is necessary and appropriate, looking into this incident,” Blinken said, without saying at what level discussions took place.

8:56 am

Two terrorist rockets that hit Metula, the northernmost town in Israel, last week melted the road there, an indication they had phosphorous warheads.  The use of phosphorous is frequently claimed, with no evidence, against Israel by Lebanon. Israel now has clear evidence it is being used by Hezbollah.

The US secretary of state Antony Blinken renewed calls today for Israel to protect civilians after a deadly strike on a UN shelter in Gaza that brought rare US condemnation. Two tank shells struck the UN shelter on Jan. 24 in Gaza’s main southern city of Khan Yunis, killing 12 people, according to the United Nations. On a visit to Angola, Blinken told reporters that the UN shelter “is essential and it has to be protected." “We have reaffirmed this with the government of Israel and it is my understanding that they are, as is necessary and appropriate, looking into this incident,” Blinken said. The Israeli army is the only force with tanks operating in the Gaza Strip. It said it would conduct a “thorough review” and held out the possibility that the strike was a “result of Hamas fire”. In contrast with Israel’s frequent criticism of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, Blinken credited the agency for its efforts “to help people who are in desperate need”. “The work that the UN is performing in Gaza is quite literally life-saving and no one else can do it - and no one else is doing it,” he said.

Thousands of Indians have flocked to a recruitment center in India for jobs as construction workers in Israel, willing to take the risk of going to a country embroiled in a devastating war in Gaza. Jobs are hard to find in India and many of the men who were waiting for a job interview today said could earn about $1,600 a month in Israel, roughly four times what they would get paid in India, if they could find a job. 

An Israeli government spokesperson has said they expect the international court of justice (ICJ) to throw out the “spurious” genocide allegations on Jan 26. The remarks come as the ICJ will deliver its highly anticipated verdict on South Africa’s request for an interim ruling in its genocide case against Israel. The ruling, if granted, would probably take the form of an order to Israel to announce a ceasefire in Gaza and allow more UN humanitarian aid into the country.

Israel’s military says it is looking into allegations that its forces opened fire on crowds of Palestinians queueing for aid in northern Gaza City, reports Al Jazeera. At least 20 people were killed and 150 injured in the attack, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. A spokesperson for the health ministry said an attack had been carried out on “hungry mouths”. “The Israeli occupation committed a new massacre against thousands of hungry mouths who were waiting for aid,”  Hamas spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said. He said the attack occurred at the Kuwait roundabout in Gaza City and that the number of dead was likely to rise because of serious injuries suffered by dozens of the injured. The victims were being treated at al-Shifa hospital, which is out of medical supplies and only has a few doctors working, Qudra said.

Air raid alarms sounded in Israel today, marking the first time in almost four days that projectiles were apparently launched from the Gaza Strip towards the country. Sirens were activated in the evacuated border community of Netiv Ha’asara, with no reports of injuries or damage. The previous alerts near Gaza had sounded on Sunday afternoon.

Thomas White, the director of affairs in Gaza for the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said today that the “persistent attacks on civilian sites” in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, are “utterly unacceptable and must stop immediately”. In a statement published on the UNRWA website, White wrote: "Persistent attacks on civilian sites in Khan Younis are utterly unacceptable and must stop immediately. People are being killed and injured. As fighting intensifies around hospitals and shelters hosting the displaced, people are trapped inside and lifesaving operations are impeded.” As fighting intensified over recent days in the area, White said 12 people had been confirmed dead and 75 people had been injured, 15 of whom are in a critical condition. The UNRWA training centre, which was hosting thousands of people, was hit yesterday by two shells and caught fire, he said.

A number of missions to assess the situation were denied, added White, describing how on the evening of Jan. 24 the UN finally managed to reach the affected areas to treat trauma patients, bring medical supplies and evacuate injured patients to Rafah.  White said: "Heavy fighting near the remaining hospitals in Khan Younis, including Nasser and al-Amal has effectively encircled these facilities, leaving terrified staff, patients and displaced people trapped inside. Al Khair hospital has shut down after patients, including women who had just undergone C-section surgeries, were evacuated in the middle of the night. The situation in Khan Younis underscores a consistent failure to uphold the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law: distinction, proportionality and precautions in carrying out attacks. This is unacceptable and abhorrent and must stop." He concluded: “Every measure must be taken to protect civilians. I remind all parties that protection of hospitals, clinics, medical personnel and UN premises is explicitly enshrined within international law.”

The number of antisemitic acts registered in Belgium rose sharply since the Hamas attack against Israel that triggered a war in Gaza, according to figures released today by Unia: an independent public body fighting discrimination. According to the Unia report, it had received 91 reports related to the Israel-Gaza conflict between October 7 - December 7, 2023, compared with 57 reports for the whole of 2022. Remarks or acts considered as antisemitic, including cases of Holocaust denial made up most of the reports, it said. In 66 cases, a clear reference was made to the Jewish origin of the person or people targeted. Most of the cases involved hate messages, more than half of them online, but there were also comments made in public areas. Unia is also collaborating with the public prosecutor’s office and Belgian police in nine cases of assault and damage, it said. Belgium has a Jewish population of about 29,000, according to the World Jewish Congress. Many European countries have also registered a rise in reported antisemitic acts and comments since the outbreak of the war. The Unia report cited cases of beatings, graffiti and the desecration of dozens of graves in the Jewish section of a cemetery close to the city of Charleroi. By way of comparison, Unia said it received four to five reports a month relating to antisemitism in 2022. Unia said it also received eight reports of discrimination or hate speech linked to the Palestinian origin, Arab origin or the Muslim belief of the people targeted between Oct. 7 - Dec. 7.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claims that Nasser hospital in Khan Younis has run out of food, anaesthetics and painkillers. “The health and humanitarian situation in the hospital is extremely catastrophic due to the siege by the Israeli occupation forces,” the ministry said.

Qatar 'will not be involved one bit' in what happens in Gaza after the war, said Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich today, while accusing Qatar, a key mediator in efforts to free its hostages, of being “largely responsible” for the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. His comments came after Israeli PM Netanyahu was recorded allegedly telling hostages’ families this week that Qatar’s mediation was “problematic” when it came to resolving the hostage crisis. Qatar is the “patron of Hamas and is largely responsible for the massacre committed by Hamas of Israeli citizens”, Smotrich said on X. He wrote: “Qatar is a country that supports terrorism and finances terrorism.” Smotrich accused western governments of being “hypocritical” in maintaining close relations with Doha. “The west can and should exert much stronger leverage on it and bring about the release of the hostages immediately,” he said. “One thing is clear: “largely what happens in Gaza the day after the war.”

UK foreign secretary David Cameron visited the Middle East, holding meetings with Israeli leaders and Qatari mediators. Cameron called for an end to supposed Israeli bottlenecks preventing aid reaching Gaza and backed an immediate pause in the fighting. He said: “It’s vital that we can get it [aid] into Gaza. Then once it’s in, get it around Gaza. What I was saying to the Israelis. They have got to deal with the bottlenecks. Make sure the crossing points are open more often. Checking more quickly. Crucially give the visas to the UN staff to get the aid around Gaza. I think they understand that. There are bottlenecks in the system. They have got to move faster.” 

He met the Israeli prime minister Netanyahu, differing with Israelis over the flow of aid, a two state solution, and the need for an immediate end to the fighting. He said: “We need an immediate pause in the fighting because we’ve got to not only get the aid in, but crucially we’ve got to get those hostages out. And what I think we can do now is plan for how you turn that pause into a permanent, sustainable ceasefire without a return to fighting. That’s what I was pushing on him. And that’s what I’ll be talking about here today.

“For that to happen, a lot of things would have to happen. You’d have to see the Hamas leadership leave Gaza, you’d have to see the instruments of terrorism being dismantled in Gaza, but you’ve also got to see a political perspective so that Palestinian people can see that there is a route to having a Palestinian state, to having a new future. So it’s all those things together that need to form part of a proper plan.” 

Cameron met the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. They discussed his Gaza plan to “move from a pause – to get aid in and hostages out – towards a sustainable ceasefire, leading to a long-term political solution, including a Palestinian state”.

UN Secretary General Guterres said the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “appalling” and renewed the UN’s plea for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.In remarks given at a meeting of the security council focused on the Middle East on Jan 24, Guterres said: "The humanitarian situation in Gaza is appalling. With winter bearing down, 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza face inhumane, squalid conditions, struggling to simply make it through another day without proper shelter, heating, sanitary facilities, food, and drinking water. Everyone in Gaza is hungry – with a quarter of Gaza’s population – more than half a million people – grappling with catastrophic levels of food insecurity.”

Guterres opened his speech by condemning “the horrific terror attacks launched by Hamas against Israel, with over 250 people taken hostage”. He added: “Nothing can justify deliberate killing, injuring, kidnapping of civilians, the use of sexual violence against them – or the indiscriminate launching of rockets towards civilian targets.” Guterres demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.Guterres referred to the escalating attacks in Khan Younis in recent days. He said: “The entire population of Gaza is enduring destruction at a scale and speed without parallel in recent history.” “Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people” he said. He described the deaths of his 153 UN colleagues in the region as a “a source of bottomless grief for us all”.

At least 50 Palestinians were killed in Khan Younis in the last 24 hours, said the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza. 

The Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, said the conflict in Gaza shows the UN and other world bodies have lost their effectiveness and called on Muslim countries and other nations to unite for a new “fair world order”, reports Al Jazeera. The main agenda of the meeting was the war on Gaza.

A 72-year-old Israeli woman held captive by Hamas militants for nearly 50 days told an Israeli TV channel that she was held at length in a dark, humid tunnel where she met the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar. Adina Moshe was taken captive from kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 and was freed in late November as part of a deal that saw roughly 100 hostages, mostly women and children, released in exchange for a temporary ceasefire and the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. “Hello. How are you? Everything OK?” Moshe said terrorist Sinwar asked them in the Hebrew he had learned during a long incarceration in Israel. In her interview with Israeli Channel 12 she said the hostages bowed their heads and did not respond. Another visit followed three weeks later, she said. Her husband was shot and killed by the terrorists. 

Moshe and a group of other hostages were marched into Hamas’s extensive tunnel network, walking for five hours down five underground flights through dark and airless shafts until they reached a subterranean room where they were told they’d be released in the coming days. “We believed them. We believed that would be the first thing Israel would do,” she said.It ended up taking nearly 50 until she was freed. “I told all the guys, ‘We’ll be here for at least two months and not because of Hamas,’” she said, indicating she harbored anger toward Israel for not securing her release earlier.

8:44 am

More than 25,700 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza since October 7, Hamas's health ministry in Gaza declared today. The latest figures included 210 Palestinians killed and nearly 400 injured in the past 24 hours. About 85% of the besieged strip’s population of 2.3 million people have been displaced from their homes, now dealing with cold, hunger and disease in unsanitary and chaotic makeshift displacement camps.

The Israeli army said on Jan. 24 that it had “encircled” Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city, after two days of heavy fighting, in what Israeli officials described as the last large ground assault in the three-month-old war before a shift to “lower intensity” operations. Approximately 88,000 Palestinians live in Khan Younis, which is also hosting an estimated 425,000 people displaced by fighting elsewhere in the tiny coastal territory.

Thousands of people sheltering in hospitals in Khan Younis are now trapped by Israel’s assault on the southern city. By Jan. 24, fierce battles had reached the gates of Khan Younis’s three main hospitals – al-Aqsa, Nasser and al-Amal – making it difficult for civilians to flee, according to Ocha, the UN humanitarian agency. About 18,000 people were believed to be sheltering in the grounds of Nasser hospital alone, Ocha said, along with 850 patients. People fleeing the vicinity of Nasser hospital have been shot at by Israeli tanks as well as attack drones, according to reports. The Palestinian Red Cross Society, which runs al-Amal hospital, said troops had blockaded its staff inside. Israel says Hamas fighters operate in and around hospitals, which hospital staff and Hamas deny.

The White House condemned the Jan. 24 shelling of a UN shelter in southern Gaza, reiterating its position that Israel has a “responsibility to protect civilians” as it prosecutes its war with Hamas. The Gaza director of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said earlier Wednesday that two tank shells had hit a building sheltering 800 people in the city of Khan Younis, with reports that nine people had died and 75 more were injured.

The UNRWA commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, said the number of killed was “likely higher”, adding that the incident was “once again a blatant disregard of basic rules of war”. Meanwhile, at least eight people were critically injured after Israeli forces targeted a school in Khan Younis that was sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians, according to reports.
The World Health Organization’s regional director for the eastern Mediterranean said Israel was continuing to target health institutions in Gaza. Ahmed Al-Mandhari said 660 attacks were recorded on health institutions, about half of them in northern Gaza, adding that attacks on health institutions were a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

Two ships sailing close to the Gulf of Aden were forced to seek the support of the US navy after explosions were heard nearby, as the Houthi group kept up their assault on commercial shipping off the coast of Yemen. The Houthis have also written to the UN demanding that all UK and US staff leave the country within a month.

The international court of justice in The Hague said it would deliver its ruling on Jan. 26 on whether or not to grant emergency measures against Israel. The UN court said the 17-judge panel would hand down its ruling on Friday at 1200 GMT. The court could order Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza, although it has no way to enforce its orders.

An Israeli government spokesperson ruled out a Gaza ceasefire, despite reports that negotiations on hostage releases were progressing and repeated international calls for Israel to cease its months-long bombardment of the Gaza Strip. “Israel will not give up on the destruction of Hamas, the return of all the hostages … There will be no ceasefire,” the Israeli government spokesperson said on Jan. 24.

The Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, accused Israel of holding up aid deliveries to Gaza. The Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip is open “24/7” but the procedures by Israel to allow the entry of aid are obstructing the process, Sisi said on Jan 24, adding that “this is part of how they exert pressure on the issue of releasing the hostages.”

Israeli forces arrested 35 Palestinians, including a woman and former prisoners, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem on Jan. 24, according to data released by the Palestinian prisoners’ affairs authority, bringing the total number of Palestinians arrested in the occupied West Bank since October 7 to 6,255. Meanwhile, Israeli troops on Wednesday reportedly demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of assisting in the killing of four Israelis near a settlement in the occupied West Bank in June.

UN member states must stop arms transfers to Israel and Palestinian armed groups, more than a dozen international humanitarian and human rights organisations urged in a joint statement on Jan. 24. They called on countries to “stop fuelling the crisis in Gaza and avert further humanitarian catastrophe and loss of civilian life”.

US strikes against militias in Iraq prompted the most scathing criticism yet from Baghdad, with the prime minister’s office accusing Washington of contributing to a “reckless escalation” of regional violence. The Pentagon announced on Jan. 24 that it had carried out overnight retaliatory strikes against three facilities linked to Iran-backed militias in response to its own forces coming under attack at an Iraqi airbase over Jan.20-21.

The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, met Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem as part of his Middle East visit. Cameron, who is on his second visit to the region since returning to government, pressed for an immediate humanitarian pause in the fighting and raised “the importance of a two-state solution”, Downing Street said.
 

January 25, 2024

The UN international court of justice in The Hague will deliver its verdict this week on the request for provisional measures submitted by South Africa, which has accused Israel of commiting genocide in Gaza. The court said the 17-judge panel will hand down its ruling on Jan 26 at 1200 GMT. South Africa is asking the UN court to act urgently “to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people under the genocide convention, which continues to be violated with impunity”.

Nearly all Senate Democrats reiterated their support for President Biden's demand for a two-state solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict that was exacerbated by Hamas's Oct. 7 attack. Forty-nine of the 51 members of the Senate Democratic ca ucus back an amendment supporting a negotiated solution to the conflict that results in Israeli and Palestinian states living side by side, ensuring Israel’s survival as a secure, democratic, Jewish state and fulfilling the Palestinians’ “legitimate aspirations” for a state of their own.  Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, who is Jewish, introduced the measure as an amendment to legislation providing national security aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The only two Democratic senators who did not sign onto the amendment were John Fetterman and Joe Manchin.

In what appears to be an escalating feud between Israel and Qatar following Doha’s sharp criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calls the Gulf state “a terror-supporting and terror-funding state.” Retweeting the earlier post blasting Netanyahu by Majed Al Ansari, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman, Smotrich says Doha is “Hamas’s patron and is largely responsible for the massacre of Israeli citizens Hamas committed [on October 7]. “The West’s treatment of it is hypocritical and based on improper financial interests,” Smotrich said. “The West can and should employ far stronger leverage and bring about the release of the hostages immediately. One thing is certain: Qatar won’t be involved in any way in managing Gaza in the day after the war.”

Yemen’s Houthis say they targeted several US warships with ballistic missiles today in the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab Strait while they were protecting two US commercial vessels. The “clash” led to a US warship being directly hit and forced the two commercial vessels “to withdraw and return,” the Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said.

The IDF is investigating a strike today on a United Nations shelter in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, which reportedly killed nine people and wounded others, but adds that it suspects it may have been caused by Hamas rocket fire.The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees claimed Israeli tanks struck the shelter. “Two tank rounds hit building that shelters 800 people – reports now 9 dead and 75 injured,” said Thomas White, UNRWA’s Gaza director. The IDF says that “after an inspection of the operational systems, the IDF has now ruled out the possibility that the incident was caused by an airstrike or artillery fire by IDF forces.” It says that “at the same time, the IDF is conducting an in-depth examination of the ground forces’ activity in the area of ​​the facility.” “The IDF is investigating the possibility that the strike was caused by Hamas fire,” the military adds.

Israeli soldiers have come under rocket and mortar fire in Gaza amid their operations. Earlier this week, Israeli troops sustained the greatest loss in a single day -- 21 dead soldiers -- when Hamas terrorists fired RPGs into a building where Israelis had placed explosives to demolish the building.

Hamas gets $8-12 million per month from charities posing as raising funds for Gaza, both Israel and the US believe. The charities ostensibly raise funds for Gazan civilians but  are actually funneling millions of dollars to Palestinian terror group Hamas, according to officials at Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing, as well as an unnamed senior US official. The officials estimate Hamas is getting $8-12 million per month, primarily through such aid groups, enabling it to evade international sanctions, something it has years of experience at.

Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni told lawmakers that she disagrees with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s position opposing a two-state solution. “Italy has always reiterated that the Palestinian people have the right to have a state, an independent, secure state,” Meloni said in a debate in Italy’s lower Chamber of Deputies. “It is a just and necessary solution, both in the interests of the Palestinians but also in those of Israel. For this [reason], I don’t share the position expressed by the Israeli prime minister,” she said. She added: “However, recognition can’t be requested unilaterally. The precondition is the recognition of the right of existence of the Jewish state and of the right of its citizens to live in peace and security.”

Netanyahu’s rejection of a Palestinian state after the war has opened a  rift with the Biden administration, which says the war must lead to negotiations for a two-state solution where Israel and the Palestinians can live side-by-side in peace. That goal is supported by countries around the world. Netanyahu, while upping his rhetoric against the two-state solution, has carefully avoided explicitly ruling out a demilitarized Palestinian state, however.

Qatar’s foreign ministry chastised Prime Minister Netanyahu over a Jan. 23 report saying that the premier had told families of hostages that Doha acting as the mediator between Israel and the Hamas terror group was “problematic.” “Qatar, from my point of view, is no different in essence than the United Nations… and the Red Cross, [Qatar] is even more problematic,” Channel 12 aired a recording of the premier saying, appearing to express disappointment with Washington for not applying more pressure on the Gulf state, which hosts Hamas leaders. “I have no illusions about them. They have leverage [over Hamas]… Because [Qatar] funds them.”

Netanyahu says he got “very angry recently with the Americans” for renewing a deal to extend US military presence at a base in Qatar for another 10 years. Majed Al Ansari, the spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, tweets that Doha is “appalled” by the reported remarks, adding that if confirmed, they “are irresponsible and destructive to the efforts to save innocent lives, but are not surprising.” “If the reported remarks are found to be true, the Israeli PM would only be obstructing and undermining the mediation process, for reasons that appear to serve his political career instead of prioritizing saving innocent lives, including Israeli hostages,” he writes.

“Instead of concerning himself with Qatar’s strategic relations with the United States, we hope Netanyahu decides to operate in good faith and concentrate on the release of the hostages.”

More than 25,700 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza since October 7, according to Gaza's Hamas-controlled health ministry. The latest figures included 210 Palestinians killed and nearly 400 injured in the past 24 hours. About 85% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people have been displaced from their homes to makeshift camps.

The Israeli army said today that it had “encircled” Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city, after two days of heavy fighting, in what Israeli officials described as the last large ground assault in the three-month-old war before a shift to “lower intensity” operations aimed at eradicating the Palestinian militant group. Approximately 88,000 Palestinians live in Khan Younis, which is also hosting an estimated 425,000 people displaced by fighting elsewhere in the tiny coastal territory.

Thousands of people sheltering in hospitals in Khan Younis are now trapped by Israel’s assault on the southern city. By Wednesday morning, fierce battles had reached the gates of Khan Younis’s three main hospitals – al-Aqsa, Nasser and al-Amal – making it difficult for civilians to flee, according to Ocha, the UN humanitarian agency. About 18,000 people were believed to be sheltering in the grounds of Nasser hospital alone, Ocha said, along with 850 patients. People fleeing the vicinity of Nasser hospital have been shot at by Israeli tanks as well as attack drones, according to reports. The Palestinian Red Cross Society, which runs al-Amal hospital, said troops had blockaded its staff inside. Israel says Hamas fighters operate in and around hospitals, which hospital staff and Hamas deny.

A building at a training centre in the city run by the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), where about 800 people had sought shelter, was hit by tank shelling on today, according to the agency’s director in Gaza, who said nine people had been killed and 75 injured, with medical teams unable to access the building. The UNRWA commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, said the number of killed was “likely higher”, adding that the incident was “once again a blatant disregard of basic rules of war”. Meanwhile, at least eight people were critically injured after Israeli forces targeted a school in Khan Younis that was sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians, according to reports.

The World Health Organization’s regional director for the eastern Mediterranean said Israel continues to target health institutions in Gaza. Ahmed Al-Mandhari said 660 attacks were recorded on health institutions, about half of them in northern Gaza, adding that attacks on health institutions were a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

Yemen’s Houthi forces fired missiles at ships in the Red Sea on Wednesday, the White House said, after Houthi authorities ordered US and British staff of the UN and Sana’a-based humanitarian organisations to leave the country. One missile missed its target and a US Navy destroyer shot down the other two, said the national security council spokesperson, John Kirby.
The international court of justice in The Hague said it would deliver its ruling this week on whether or not to grant emergency measures against Israel. The UN court said the 17-judge panel would hand down its ruling on Friday at 1200 GMT. The court could order Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza, although it has no way to enforce its orders.

An Israeli government spokesperson ruled out a Gaza ceasefire, despite reports that negotiations on hostage releases were progressing and repeated international calls for Israel to cease its months-long bombardment of the Gaza Strip. “Israel will not give up on the destruction of Hamas, the return of all the hostages … There will be no ceasefire,” the Israeli government spokesperson said today.

The Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, accused Israel of holding up aid deliveries to Gaza. The Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip is open “24/7” but the procedures by Israel to allow the entry of aid are obstructing the process, Sisi said on Wednesday, adding that “this is part of how they exert pressure on the issue of releasing the hostages.”

Israeli forces arrested 35 Palestinians, including a woman and former prisoners, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem today, according to data released by the Palestinian prisoners’ affairs authority, bringing the total number of Palestinians arrested in the occupied West Bank since 7 October to 6,255. Meanwhile, Israeli troops today reportedly demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of assisting in the killing of four Israelis near a settlement in the occupied West Bank in June.

UN member states must stop arms transfers to Israel and Palestinian armed groups, more than a dozen international humanitarian and human rights organisations urged in a joint statement today. They called on countries to “stop fuelling the crisis in Gaza and avert further humanitarian catastrophe and loss of civilian life”.

US strikes against militias in Iraq prompted the most scathing criticism yet from Baghdad, with the prime minister’s office accusing Washington of contributing to a “reckless escalation” of regional violence. The Pentagon announced earlier on Wednesday that it had carried out overnight retaliatory strikes against three facilities linked to Iran-backed militias in response to its own forces coming under attack at an Iraqi airbase at the weekend.

Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, arrived in Turkey to meet the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, today for twice-delayed talks aimed at ironing out past differences and halting the spread of the Israel-Hamas war. Analysts believe the Gaza war has forced the two leaders to seek a joint approach to the Middle East and postpone regional disputes.
The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, met Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem as part of his Middle East visit. Cameron, who is on his second visit to the region since returning to government, was expected to press for an immediate humanitarian pause in the fighting and raise “the importance of a two-state solution”, Downing Street said.

US Navy vessels are escorting civilian cargo ships past eh coast of Yemen and the Gulf of Aden.

7:24 pm

Palestinians in Gaza are holding anti-Hamas rallies and are calling for the release of the hostages. They know that Hamas is the cause of Palestinian displacement. “We want to go back home.”

9:00 am

An armed drone targeted a base housing US forces near northern Iraq’s Erbil airport today.

UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that off the shore of Yemen, a ship reported an explosion approximately 100m from the vessel. The vessel and crew were safe and no injuries or damage was reported it adde

Greenpeace activists in Spain unveiled an illustration in Madrid at the Reina Sofia art museum depicting a Palestinian child crying for help. The illustration was created by the American artist Shepard Fairey and was based on a photograph by Gaza photojournalist Belal Khaled. Activists also tied a yellow banner reading: ‘ceasefire now’ to the building. Greenpeace stated: "We scaled the front of the Reina Sofía museum to unfurl a huge work by the artist OBEY. The image, which measures almost 60 m2, uses a photo taken in Gaza by the Palestinian reporter Belal Khaled, with the message: ‘Can you hear us?’"

The Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip is open 24/7 but the procedures by Israel to allow the entry of aid are obstructing the process, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said today. Al-Sisi said: “This is part of how they exert pressure on the issue of releasing the hostages.”

Discharged patients are refusing to leave because “they don’t have anywhere to go”, says an International Committee of the Red Cross health officer working at the European Gaza hopsital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Raneen Wafi said it is one of “our main challenges” and that “there is no space” for patients waiting for a bed.

Iran’s former president Hassan Rouhani said today that after 24 years of membership, he has been barred from seeking re-election to the body that appoints the country’s supreme leader, reports AFP. Rouhani’s official website said jurists in charge of vetting hopefuls “did not approve” his candidacy for a new term on the Assembly of Experts. It did not elaborate on the reason. The Assembly of Experts elets, supervises and, if necessary, dismissing the supreme leader, who has the final say in all matters of state in Iran. The post has been held since 1989 by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, now 84. Rouhani, who was first elected to the body in 1999, had announced in November last year that he was seeking a new term. Rouhani served as Iran’s president from 2013 to 2021. Since leaving office, he has been a vocal critic of the ultra-conservative administration of his successor, Ebrahim Raisi and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has been one of its principal pillars.

The latest figures from the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry said 210 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes and nearly 400 were injured in the past 24 hours. According to Hamas,  25,700 Palestinians have been killed and 63,740 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Gazans. It did not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.

Today, Israeli troops demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of assisting in the killing of four Israelis near a settlement in the occupied West Bank in June. Basil Shehadeh was arrested on suspicion of helping two other Palestinians carry out the deadly shooting on June 20 last year at a gas station n the northern West Bank. The attackers, Muhannad Shehadeh and Khaled Sabah, were killed by Israeli forces while their alleged accomplice was arrested. The shooting came a day after Israeli forces launched a deadly raid on the northern West Bank city of Jenin. Overnight, Israeli troops stormed the village of Orif overnight and surrounded Shehadeh’s house. “The family were evacuated from the three-storey building, then the second floor of the building was blown up,” sais village council secretary Adel al-Amer. The IDF confirmed, "This demolition followed the destruction of the residences belonging to other terrorists involved in the same attack.” Israel routinely demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out attacks, arguing that such measures act as a deterrent while critics say it amounts to collective punishment.

Israeli forces arrested 35 Palestinians, including a woman and former prisoners, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, reports Al Jazeera citing data released by the Palestinian prisoners’ affairs authority. Arrests took place in Nablus, and in the district towns of Awarta, Urif and Sabastia. Arrests were also carried out in the town of Bani Naieem in the east of the Hebron governorate, and Dura in the south, while six Palestinians were arrested in the village of Burqin, south of Jenin, and from Kifl Haris, west of Salfit. This brings the total number of Palestinians arrested in the West Bank since  October 7 to 6,255.

Heavy fighting in Khan Younis leaves hundreds of patients and staff stranded in main hospital today in Gaza. According to AP, medical personnel and hundreds of patients and thousands of displaced people are unable to leave the premises because of the fighting. AP reported that Israel ordered people to leave a swath of downtown Khan Younis that includes Nasser and two smaller hospitals as it pushed ahead with its offensive against Hamas. The UN humanitarian office said the area was home to 88,000 Palestinians and was hosting another 425,000 displaced by fighting elsewhere.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders said its staff were trapped inside Nasser hospital with about 850 patients and thousands of displaced people because the surrounding roads were inaccessible or too dangerous. Nasser hospital is one of only two hospitals in southern Gaza that can still treat critically ill patients, the group said. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry also said the hospital had been isolated.

The Israeli military said its forces were battling militants inside Khan Younis after completing their encirclement of the city the day on Jan. 23. It stated that aircraft were striking targets as part of the operations there and it had also targeted suspected militants in central and northern Gaza.

A U.S. State Department official warned that China is increasingly promoting antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel. Delivering a keynote address to the American Bar Association on Monday, Aaron Keyak, deputy special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, said China is trying to undermine the United States by claiming that Jews control the country.

8:45 am

Pope Francis pleaded for peace and denounced all wars, evoking the horror of mass killings of Jews and other victims of Nazis. Coming just days before Holocaust Memorial Day on Jan. 26. he said, "The memory and condemnation of that horrible extermination of millions of people … may help everybody to not forget that the logic of hatred and violence can never be justified...,Let us not get tired of praying for peace, for conflicts to end, for weapons to stop, for relief for exhausted populations.” Francis mentioned the ongoing  war in Gaza and the bombing of civilians in “martyred Ukraine”. He said “war is always a defeat” in which “the only winners, so to speak, are weapons manufacturers”.

Strikes by the US on Iraqi military positions will lead to “irresponsible escalation” and violate Iraq's  sovereignty, the Iraqi prime minister’s office said in a statement today. On Jan. 23, US forced conducted strikes against three facilities linked to Iran-backed militia. Iraq considers these as “aggressive actions” that undermine years of cooperation, the Iraqi government statement added. US forces also bombed sites used by Iran-backed militants in Iraq early today, after a string of attacks targeting US personnel. The strikes came just days after US troops in western Iraq were targeted with ballistic missiles and rockets in an attack the Pentagon blamed on militants supported by Tehran. According to AFP, the US strikes targeted the Hezbollah Brigades, a group affiliated with the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation force), an alliance of Iran-backed former paramilitary groups now integrated in Iraq’s regular armed forces. They hit sites in the Jurf al-Sakhr area, south of Baghdad, as well as in the al-Qaim area on the border with Syria where two people were killed and two wounded.

Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi will arrive in Turkey to meet Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan today for twice-delayed talks aimed at resolving differences and trying to halt the spread of the Israel-Hamas war. Escalation of the tensions in the Middle East forced Raisi to delay his visit to Ankara twice. In early January planned talks in Ankara were called off when twin blasts claimed by Islamic State group jihadists killed 89 people at the shrine of assassinated Iranian Revolutionary Guards general Qassem Suleimani.

Israel and Hamas have moved closer to agreement on a 30-day ceasefire in Gaza when Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners would be released, according to Reuters, as Israel pressed ahead with its assault on southern Gaza’s main city of Khan Younis.

The US military has carried out two more strikes in Yemen which they say have destroyed two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed at the Red Sea. The US says the Houthis were preparing to launch the missiles. US central command (Centcom) has posted on X that “US forces identified the missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined that they presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the US Navy ships in the region.”

The US has carried out strikes in Iraq against targets linked to Iran-backed militia. Associated Press is reporting that three facilities in Iraq were hit by the US military. Defence secretary Lloyd Austin said the strikes were in retaliation for missile and drone attacks on US troops in Iraq and Syria over the past several days. The US strikes hit militia facilities in Jurf al-Sakhar, which is south of Baghdad, al-Qaim and another unnamed site in western Iraq, two US officials told AP.

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, said  on Jan. 23 that the “clear and repeated rejection of the two-state solution at the highest levels of the Israeli government is unacceptable”, as he appealed for more aid access throughout the Gaza Strip. “The entire population of Gaza is enduring destruction at a scale and speed without parallel in recent history,” Guterres told the UN security council. “Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

Guterres told the council that the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave was “appalling” and that “the people of Gaza not only risk being killed or injured by relentless bombardments, they also run a growing chance of contracting infectious diseases like hepatitis A, dysentery, cholera.” Guterres again appealed for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to ensure aid gets to where it is needed, to facilitate the release of hostages and to lower the tensions throughout the Middle East.

The Israeli envoy to the UN, Gilad Erdan, faced a walkout by some Arab ambassadors as he started by saying the world was trying to treat cancer with an aspirin, and said those advocating a ceasefire needed to realise it only meant the terror group Hamas would “remain in power, they would regroup and rearm, and soon Israel would face another attempted holocaust.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Jan. 23 that the US was opposed to any permanent change to Gaza’s territory, but kept the door open to possible support for any “transitional arrangements” to resolve the conflict with Israel. “If there needs to be transitional arrangements to enable that to happen, that’s one thing. But when it comes to the permanent status of Gaza going forward, we’ve been clear, we remain clear about not encroaching on its territory,” Blinken told reporters in Abuja, Nigeria.

British foreign secretary David Cameron will travel to Israel today where he is expected to raise concerns over the high number of Palestinians killed and push for a “sustainable” ceasefire in the Gaza war.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi is expected to fly to Turkey on Wednesday for twice-delayed talks aimed at ironing out past differences and trying to halt the spread of the Israel-Hamas war.
The Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on X pictures of a visit to an IDF base where he told cadets “My main expectation is nothing less than total victory. There is no substitute for victory”.

President Biden was heckled by protesters at a campaign event in Virginia. Multiple interruptions forced Biden to pause or try to speak over shouts of “Ceasefire now,” and “Genocide Joe” over his support for Israel and its war in Gaza, the Reuters news agency reports.

The US has asked China to urge Iran to rein in the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen over their attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea. The Financial Times is reporting that the US has seen little sign of help from Beijing, citing US officials.

The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (Ocha) has released their latest update where they are highlighting what’s happening in Khan Younis specifically as fighting intensifies there “Hostilities were particularly intense in Khan Younis, with Israeli forces reported to having surrounded and launched a large-scale operation in the city. Heavy fighting is reported in proximity to hospitals in Khan Younis, including Al Aqsa, Nasser and Al Amal, with reports of Palestinians trying to flee to the southern town of Rafah.”

January 24, 2024

7:44 pm

An Italian Jewish leader protested today a citation of Holocaust survivor Primo Levi on flyers for a planned pro-Palestinian demonstration in Rome scheduled for Jan. 26, coinciding with International Holocaust Remembrance Day, as a surge in anti-Semitic incidents threatens to taint commemorations for victims of the Nazi Holocaust. “Leave Primo Levi to our memory,’’ Noemi Di Segni, head of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, was quoted by the news agency ANSA as saying. “Have the dignity to show your thoughts without offending the memory of a survivor, and find other citations.”
 

6:55 pm

UN Secretatry-General Antonio Guterres tweeted today: "Over decades, the two-state solution has been traduced, undermined & left for dead many times. However, it remains the only way to achieve durable & equitable peace in Israel, in Palestine & in the region."

6:20 pm

The U.S. staged airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq today in retaliation for ballistic missiles fired on Jan. 20 against Al-Assad airbase that left four U.S. personnel with traumatic brain injuries, two U.S. officials said.
 

5:30 pm

After visiting Auschwitz in the company of publisher Ben Shapiro, billionaire Elon Musk said that Israel has no choice but to get rid of Hamas and stop the indoctrination of Gazan children. He added, “I saw the videos… The most shocking thing was to see the DELIGHT Hamas had in killing innocent people; the DELIGHT in killing kids and defenseless women and men….There was no remorse. Quite the opposite. That requires a level of indoctrination that is extremely intense. So, I think to solve that, you have to address the source of the indoctrination. Because no one should ever be glad about the killing of a child.”

5:15 pm

A new Harvard CAPS-Harris poll  found overwhelming support for Israel over Hamas in the ongoing war, triggered by the terror group’s October 7 attack. In the poll, 83% of the 2,346 respondents said October 7 was a terror attack, while 17% said it was not. 94% of respondents aged over 65 said the attack — in which 1,200 people killed and 253 taken hostage — was terrorism, while 74% of those aged 18-24 said the same.

 74% of respondents said Hamas’s attack was genocidal and 75% of all respondents said the assault could not be justified by Palestinian grievances. These answers varied widely by age group. Some 54% of respondents aged 18-24 said the attacks were not justified, compared to 78% among participants aged 45-54, 87% of those aged 54-65, and 92% of those aged over 65.

Eighty percent of all respondents also said they support Israel more over Hamas, including 57% among those aged 18-24, about 70% for those aged 25-44, 80% of 45-54 year olds, 90% of those 54-65, and 93% of those over 65. Most respondents, 69%, said Israel was trying to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, and 66% said Israel was just trying to defend itself. Some 34% said they believe Israel was “committing genocide” in Gaza and not acting in self-defense. Some 74% also said Hamas would like to commit genocide against Jews in Israel. Overall, 67% of respondents said a ceasefire should only happen if the hostages are released and Hamas is removed from power in Gaza.

The United States has destroyed or degraded over 25 Houthi missile launch facilities and more than 20 missiles in Yemen since it started strikes in the country earlier this month, the Pentagon said.

5:09 pm

Several drones  targeted an Iraqi airbase in Iraq hosting US troops, causing injuries and damage. Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October, there have been more than 140 attacks on US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria, deployed there to fight jihadists of the Islamic State group. “Multiple attack drones were launched” at the Ain al-Assad base in the western Anbar province. A US official reportedly said, "Latest reports include injuries and damage to infrastructure.” An Iraqi security official meanwhile said a drone was shot down as it attempted to target the base.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-linked terrorists, claimed responsibility for two attacks today. The group opposes US support for Israel in the current war in Gaza. It has claimed most of the recent attacks on US-led forces in Iraq. The same base was targeted by at least a dozen missiles on Jan. 20, causing severe brain trauma to two US personnel. 

5:00 pm

The U.S. military said today that it conducted airstrikes in Somalia over the weekend that killed three al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants and that there were no civilian casualties. The U.S. Africa Command, based in Stuttgart Germany, said in a statement that the strikes were done at the request of Somalia's government, and they were carried out in a remote area about 35 kilometers (20 miles) northeast of port city Kismayo on Sunday. The statement didn't give the identity of those targeted.

2:30 pm

There are rumors that the Biden administration is about to reploy US troops currently in Iraq to another site. This comes just days after Iranian-backed terrorists fired ballistic missiles at the Al Asad airbase in Iraq. severely wounding at least two US personnel. 

Israeli movie director Noa Tishb asked peopole at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 21 in Utah what they knew about pro-Palestine chanting heard in the US and other ocuntries. She asked the meaning of "from the river to the sea." One protester said, "For the river to the sea, Palestinians need to be free from the occupation.” When Tishby asked, What river?”, the protester answered, “I forgot the river’s name but the sea is the Red Sea,” and "Israel should be dissolved.” Another protester holding a colorful poster with a watermelon drawing says she thinks “it’s the Black Sea and the river on the other side of Gaza.” Asked about the mass documentation and accounts of rape, mutilation and sexual violence committed by Palestinian terrorists during the October 7 massacre, a protester saidshe “heard things… and also they are not confirmed.”

Another protester told Tishby, “It’s a genocide, it’s not about Hamas… Hamas isn’t even there… in Gaza.” “Are there hostages in Gaza right now?” Tishby asked. “Oh, I don’t know,” came the reply.

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israeli troops have killed more than 100 Hamas operatives in the west Khan Younis area today, during intensive battles. “Troops on the ground are continuing their mission with determination,” Hagari said, a day after a blast killed 21 soldiers, the deadliest single incident for the IDF amid its ground operation in Gaza. “Our forces are continuing a wide offensive on west Khan Younis, one of the major Hamas strongholds. This is a complex area, densely populated, and many Hamas terrorists are hiding in the area, including in sensitive sites, trying to surprise our forces,” he said.

Asked about yesterday’s incident, in which a Hamas cell managed to launch RPGs at troops operating just 600 meters from the border and detonating landmines Israeli troops had uncovered and then secured in a building, Hagari said, “There are still isolated terror cells close to the border.” “There are IDF forces that continue to attack these squads in order to create the conditions for the return of the residents,” he said. Hagari warned that small Hamas cells “will continue to accompany us and it will be necessary to constantly go back and deepen the achievement.”

The IDF completed its demolition operation in central Gaza  where 21 soldiers were killed in a blast on Jan. 22. Several buildings were destroyed in a controlled blast, as part of the army’s efforts to establish a buffer zone on the Gaza border.

US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk is in Cairo for “active” discussions on ensuring the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and securing a humanitarian pause, the White House said. White House spokesman John Kirby said the Biden administration would absolutely support a longer humanitarian pause. He declined to specify a timeframe and cautioned he would not characterize the discussions as negotiations. “The conversations are very sober and serious about trying to get another hostage deal in place,” Kirby told a regular White House briefing, adding the talks included discussion on how long of a pause would be needed to get the hostages out.

McGurk is also discussing other issues, including getting an assessment of Israel’s military operations and its efforts to protect civilians, as well as continuing to explore the idea of a normalization of Israel-Saudi ties. Kirby reiterated the Biden administration’s insistence that future post-conflict Gaza leadership could not include Hamas leaders, and said the administration does not want the territory of Gaza reduced. “Whatever governance looks like in Gaza, after this is over, it’s got to be representative of the aspirations of the Palestinian people who are not represented by Hamas,” he said.

Kirby said that “sober and serious” talks are taking place aimed at another hostage deal, using a new pair of adjectives to reiterate the same assertion US officials have made for months. He characterized the talks as “discussions,” and not “negotiations,” explaining that there is a long way to go before an agreement. Asked about reports of a new Israeli proposal to pause fighting for up to two months in exchange for a staged release of the remaining 136 hostages, Kirby reiterated that the US would support extended pauses in the fighting, stopping short of backing for a permanent ceasefire.

Norway and the Palestinian Authority have held off on accepting a new framework for Israel to transfer Palestinian tax revenues to the PA, which was approved by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s cabinet two days ago.

Norway’s Foreign Ministry says in a statement that it is still discussing the framework, and PA leadership is still reviewing the proposal.

The framework would see the Palestinian tax revenues that Israel collects on the PA’s behalf transferred to Norway, which will be barred from funneling them to Ramallah without the approval of far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The outline was crafted by White House Middle East czar Brett McGurk and US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew, reportedly. The Times of Israel reported that the PA might be forced to accept the plan, since it is under pressure from the Biden administration and several Arab capitals to end its standoff with Israel and accept the funds in order to be able to at least pay its employees in the West Bank, which it won’t be able to do in one month’s time.

The PA responded to the latest deduction by announcing that it would not accept any of the funds if it meant they wouldn’t be able to pay for services in Gaza, daring Israel to allow its financial collapse, given that the tax funds make up roughly 60% of its annual revenues. Without the PA, Israel would well find itself responsible for providing services for roughly three million Palestinians in the West Bank.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have ordered all US and British staff of the United Nations and its agencies to leave the country within a month. Houthi authorities in Sanaa told the UN resident coordinator that employees with British and US nationality had one month to “prepare to leave the country.” “They must be ready to leave as soon as the deadline expires,” the document said, adding that 24 hours’ notice would be given by letter. “The UN and its partners have taken note of this and are waiting to see what are the next steps,” said an anonymous UN official. Peter Hawkins, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, is himself British.

The expulsion followed joint strikes by the United States and Britain against the Houthis aimed at ending the group’s attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, threatening global trade. The United States has launched multiple further strikes and today carried out a second set of joint strikes with Britain. Last week, Washington redesignated the Houthis a “global terrorist group,” having lifted it in 2021 to ease aid delivery to the impoverished country.

The Saudi-owned London-based Arabic-language daily Asahrq Al-Awsat reveals the communications system used by Hamas leaders and officials to exchange messages in Gaza’s underground without being detected. Hamas and its military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, have relied since 2009 on a terrestrial communications network that was initially developed by al-Qassam engineers and was upgraded over the years with technology smuggled in from abroad. Switchboards were reportedly installed underground and connected to old landlines above the ground. Israel has been reportedly aware of the system for years, and has attempted to hack it or destroy it several times.

The network was reportedly still functioning at the outbreak of the war, and was used to discuss the details of the November truce with Israel and the release of hostages. After the conclusion of the truce and in light of IDF advances on the ground inside Gaza, the Hamas leadership has been reportedly forced to resort to a more rudimentary method of communications – by exchanging written messages on pieces of paper carried by Hamas members and aides. The same method is used to convey messages to those who are in contact with the leadership abroad. The latter, however, are not entitled to make decisions without the approval of the top level inside the Strip, particularly Yahya Sinwar, sources say.

The IDF says it has located a major Hamas tunnel network in the Khan Younis area, featuring the largest underground weapons production site found to date in southern Gaza. Troops of the 7th Armored Brigade and elite Yahalom combat engineering team operated in what the IDF says is a “strategic and central” Hamas stronghold in Khan Younis, in a residential area and near two schools.

As troops raided the area, the IDF says Hamas operatives opened fire and launched RPGs, as well as detonated the entrances to several tunnels in the area, in a bid to prevent troops from entering. The IDF says it waged several battles against “many” Hamas gunmen in the area, killing them in close-quarters combat, machine gun fire, tank shelling and airstrikes.

The 7th Brigade and Yahalom soldiers located several tunnel entrances in the area, which the IDF says led to a tunnel network some 1.5 kilometers in length, where Hamas hid an underground rocket manufacturing plant, the largest in southern Gaza. After being investigated, the tunnel shaft was destroyed by the combat engineers.

The IDF says it struck a “military asset” belonging to Hezbollah and Iranian forces in Lebanon. The strikes were a response to Hezbollah’s missile attack on a sensitive air traffic control base in northern Israel earlier today. IDF fighter jets destroyed “a military asset used by the Hezbollah terror organization and operated by Iranian forces.” Other Hezbollah targets were hit today in southern Lebanon, the IDF added.

10:25 am

Reserve IDF Staff-Sergeant-Major  Abu Latif, 26, was among the more than 20 Israeli troops killed in a blast on January 22 in Gaza. He was a Bedouin Muslim and married father of an 11-month old daughter. He was also a student at Ben-Gurion University. His is mourned by his wife, parents, and 11 siblings.

He once wrote on social media: ""For me, the people I live and work with are my brothers and sisters, and we all live together and respect each other in our land. I am proud to be a Bedouin who served in the IDF… I had the privilege to defend and protect in a meaningful service that I will never forget,” he wrote. “I'm happy when I can travel in Israel with my friends and I'm happiest when they learn Arabic, try to speak with me in Arabic, and ask me to help them.”

Six people were killed after one of the UN-run shelters in Khan Younis, the focus of Israel’s ground offensive in the southern Gaza Strip, was hit “during military operations” on Jan. 22, the commissioner general of the UN’s Palestine relief agency UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said.

Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, said the “devastating scale of loss of life” in Gaza “is unacceptable, is unprecedented and it is just a blemish on the international community’s moral perspective”.

The United Nations Relief Works and Agency warned that 570,000 people in Gaza face “catastrophic hunger”. Intense fighting, access denials & restrictions + communications blackouts are hampering UNRWA’s ability to safely & effectively deliver aid,” the agency said in a post on X. Israeli troops have found weapons, materiel, underground structures, and other evidence that Hamas terrorists used UNRWA schools and other facilities.

The risk of famine in Gaza rising by the day, the UN’s World Food Programme warned. A study conducted between November 24 and December 7 found that 2.2 million people living in Gaza were in a crisis level of acute food insecurity, or worse. WFP spokeswoman Abeer Etefa said the situation has only deteriorated since then. “The situation in Gaza is of course slipping every day into a much more catastrophic situation,” with “a looming threat of famine,” she she told a press conference in Geneva. “The risks of having pockets of famine in Gaza is very much still there. More than half a million people in Gaza are facing catastrophic food insecurity levels and the risk of famine increases each day, as the conflict is limiting delivery of life-saving food assistance to people in need.”

However, Western and Arab officials have backed Israel’s claim that Hamas is stockpiling food and fuel in the Gaza Strip, keeping it from residents who are in desperate need. Videos of Hamas terrorists hijacking trucks bearing food and humantiarian relief, and shooting and killing civilians, have circulated on the internet. Israel additionally blames international organizations for delay in transfer of aid to Gazans. 

Twenty-four Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza on Jan. 22, by far the biggest single-day Israeli death toll in the three-month-old war. An Israeli military spokesperson said 21 soldiers were killed when two buildings they had mined for demolition collapsed after militants fired grenades at a nearby tank. Reports in local media said explosives set by the soldiers detonated prematurely. Earlier, the military said three soldiers were killed in a separate attack in southern Gaza.

Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said it had been an “unbearably difficult morning” after hearing news of the deaths of the Israeli soldiers in Gaza. The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said Israel would push on with fighting in Gaza until “absolute victory”. Israeli PM Netanayahu said "Lessons must be learned" in reaction to the deaths.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said Israeli bombardment was continuing in the vicinity of al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, with gunfire from Israeli drones targeting “anyone moving around” the hospital.

The Gaza health ministry said a total of 25,490 Palestinians had been killed and 63,354 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October. At least 195 Palestinians were killed and 354 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.

Israel’s military said its troops have encircled Khan Younis. “Over the past day, IDF troops carried out an extensive operation during which they encircled Khan Younis and deepened the operation in the area. The area is a significant stronghold of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade,” the military said.

British foreign secretary David Cameron said action to degrade Houthi military capabilities would continue after the UK and US launched a fresh wave of airstrikes against the rebel group on Monday. “What we’ve done again is send the clearest possible message that we will continue to degrade their ability to carry out these attacks,” he told broadcasters.
A Houthi army spokesperson said the latest US-UK strikes against the rebel group in Yemen would not go “unanswered” or “unpunished”.

Israel has given Hamas a proposal through Qatari and Egyptian mediators that includes up to a two-month pause in the fighting as part of a multi-phase deal to free all the hostages being held in Gaza, Axios reported on Monday. The first phase would reportedly involve the release of women, men over 60 and those in critical medical condition. Hamas has rejected the offer.
 

10:00 am

Jewish students returning to Harvard for the spring semester were met by horrific antisemitic vandalism scrawled on every poster of Israeli hostages hung on campus.
Harvard has yet to comment. Meanwhile, Harvard's co-chair of its newly-created presidential task force on antisemtisim insistd just last month that accusations of antisemitism at Harvard were exaggerated.

The IDF announced that reservists of Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade recently wrapped up offensive and defensive operations on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city. Troops of the 630th Reserve Battalion operated with combat engineers to locate and destroy Hamas “attack tunnel” shafts and other underground infrastructure on the outskirts of northern Khan Younis, the IDF said . As part of the Southern Brigade’s operations, reservists of the 261st Brigade worked to destroy Hamas infrastructure in the border area, the IDF says.

Hamas has rejected Israel’s proposal for a two-month ceasefire in which Hamas would release Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners.

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell says that Israel cannot be allowed to unilaterally block the creation of a Palestinian state after the war in Gaza. “One thing is clear — Israel cannot have the veto right to the self-determination of the Palestinian people,” Borrell said while his Egyptian counterpart stood by. "The United Nations recognizes and has recognized many times the self-determination right of the Palestinian people. Nobody can veto it.” he said.

Britain plans to announce new sanctions in the coming days targeting Houthi financing of attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said. American and British forces carried out a fresh round of strikes in Yemen on Jan. 22, targeting a Houthi underground storage site as well as missile and surveillance capabilities used by the Iran-aligned group. “We’re going to use the most effective means at our disposal to cut off the Houthi’s financial resources, where they are used to fund these attacks,” Sunak told parliament. “We are working closely with the United States on this and plan to announce new sanctions measures in the coming days.”

New Zealand announced it will senda six-member team to join an international maritime security coalition in the Red Sea, spearheded by the US and UK. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the country’s defense personnel will contribute to protecting ships in the Middle East from operational headquarters in the region and elsewhere. “Houthi attacks against commercial and naval shipping are illegal, unacceptable and profoundly destabilizing,” Luxon says in a written statement.

9:00 am

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency says it received a reports of uncrewed aerial system activity in the vicinity of 46 nautical miles south of Yemen’s Mokha. Authorities are investigating. 

Israeli PM Netanayahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz pledged that the war will continue at full strength despite the loss of 24 soldiers on Jan. 22. “We bow our heads in memory of our fallen, and yet we do not for a moment stop striving for an irreplaceable goal – the achievement of complete victory,” says Netanyahu, ahead of a meeting in Ramat Korazim with heads of municipalities in the north. “Together we will fight – and together we will win.” 

“We continue at this time in the spirit of the fallen,” added Gallant, “to complete the tasks and do everything that is required. Our forces are operating deep in enemy territory, in Khan Younis; fighters from the Paratroopers, the 7th Brigade, from Givati, across the entire southern region.” Gallant said that Israel is “keeping an eye on everything that happens in the north. Hezbollah continues to provoke…We are prepared, we do not want war, but we are ready for any situation that may develop in the north.”

“This morning our hearts are all broken in the face of the fallen and the families, and our hearts are all whole in the important task for which they fell and which remains for us to fulfill: to ensure the safety of Israel, the safety of our children and our future in this place,” said Gantz.

Aviva Siegel, who was released from Gaza in November, told the Israeli knesset that both men are being raped every day by terrorists in tunnels under Gaza. “The terrorists bring inappropriate clothes for the girls, the clothes of dolls. They turned the girls into their dolls, that they can do whatever they want with. And it’s unbelievable that they’re still there,” said Siegel, who was abducted from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza along with  her husband Keith. He is still being held hostage in Gaza. “I can’t breathe, I can’t deal with it, it’s too hard. It’s been nearly four months and they are still there,” she said.  "At this very moment, someone is being raped in a Gaza tunnel...If it were your daughters, your young boys, what would you do?" she asked.

24 Israeli soldiers were killed in action in Gaza on Jan. 22, by far the biggest single-day Israeli death toll in the three-month-old war. An Israeli military spokesperson said 21 soldiers were killed when two buildings they had mined for demolition collapsed after militants fired grenades at a nearby tank. Reports in local media said explosives set by the soldiers detonated prematurely. Earlier, the military said three soldiers were killed in a separate attack in southern Gaza.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said it had been an “unbearably difficult morning” after hearing news of the deaths of the Israeli soldiers in Gaza. The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said Israel would push on with fighting in Gaza until “absolute victory”. Herzog's son is fighting in Gaza.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said Israeli bombardment was continuing in the vicinity of al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, with gunfire from Israeli drones targeting “anyone moving around” the hospital.

The Gaza health ministry said a total of 25,490 Palestinians had been killed and 63,354 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October. At least 195 Palestinians were killed and 354 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.

Israel’s military said its troops have encircled Khan Younis. “Over the past day, IDF troops carried out an extensive operation during which they encircled Khan Younis and deepened the operation in the area. The area is a significant stronghold of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade,” the military said.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said action to degrade Houthi military capabilities would continue after the UK and US launched a fresh wave of airstrikes against the rebel group on Monday. “What we’ve done again is send the clearest possible message that we will continue to degrade their ability to carry out these attacks,” he told broadcasters.
A Houthi army spokesperson said the latest US-UK strikes against the rebel group in Yemen would not go “unanswered” or “unpunished”.

Israel has given Hamas a proposal through Qatari and Egyptian mediators that includes up to a two-month pause in the fighting as part of a multi-phase deal to free all the hostages being held in Gaza, Axios reported on Monday. The first phase would reportedly involve the release of women, men over 60 and those in critical medical condition.
 

January 23, 2024

 

5:50 pm

Photos of America’s fallen SEALs have been released. They are identified as Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers and Navy Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram. They were lost at sea during an interdiction operation off the coast of Yemen.

4:55 pm

Israel has given Hamas a proposal through Qatari and Egyptian mediators for two months of a pause in the fighting as part of a multi-phase deal that would include the release of all remaining hostages held in Gaza, two Israeli officials said according to Axios. The proposal doesn't include an agreement to end the war, it is the longest period of ceasefire that Israel has offered Hamas since the start of the war. More than 130 hostages are still being held in Gaza. Israeli officials say several dozen hostages either died on October 7 or in the weeks since then.

President Biden's adviser Brett McGurk travelled to Egypt on Jan. 21 and goes to Qatar afterward for talks aimed at making progress in the negotiations to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas. Qatari and Egyptian mediators have been trying for weeks to bridge the gaps between the parties in order to make progress towards a deal. U.S. officials told Axios that reaching such an agreement might be the only path that could lead to a ceasefire in Gaza. Two Israeli officials said the Israeli war cabinet approved ten days ago the parameters of a new proposal for a hostage deal, which are different from past aspects of deals rejected by Hamas and more forward-leaning than previous Israeli proposals.

Israeli officials said they are waiting for a response from Hamas but stressed they are cautiously optimistic about the ability to make progress in the coming days.

US and UK air assets conducted strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen today, according to CBS News. This marks the second joint strike operation against the Houthis. Earlier this month, with support from other countries, the two nations targeted just under 30 locations with 150 different weapons. In total, the US has conducted eight rounds of strikes, including Monday's, against Houthi targets to retaliate for the group's continued attacks on commercial shipping. The Iran-backed Houthis have launched over 30 attacks in commercial shipping lanes since November. The US has named the operation against Houthis in Yemen “Operation Poseidon Archer”. The operation is intended to stem Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Egypt's State Information Service warned today that a potential Israeli capture of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border may lead to a "severe and serious" threat to the relations between the two countries. 

The soldiers of the 401st Brigade, operating under the 162nd Division, have been striking military targets in the Daraj Tuffah area, in the northern Gaza Strip, in recent days. The soldiers conducted a targeted raid on the Hamas' Al-Jabari outpost in the northern Gaza Strip, which is one of the major training grounds for terrorist operatives. During the operation, the soldiers located a facility for training in underground tunnels, an assault course for training terrorists, a swimming pool where the terrorists trained for maritime raids, a simulator for mortar and weapons fire against IDF soldiers, and offices belonging to the commanders of the post. All structures were dismantled by the soldiers. Also, a tunnel shaft connected to a 2-kilometer-long offensive tunnel belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization was located near the outpost. The tunnel was destroyed by the brigade's soldiers.

Additionally, the soldiers of the combat team operated in an area from which rocket fire was identified this week toward Israeli communities in southern Israel. During the targeted raids in the area, the brigade's soldiers located a rocket launcher compound. One of the launchers was found near an operational shaft from which two armed terrorists, who planned to shoot anti-tank fire at IDF troops, emerged and were eliminated by the soldiers. The soldiers also found an anti-aircraft missile launch site that was ready for launch. After locating the launchers and conducting combat in the area, the forces destroyed all the launch sites.

3:43 pm

European Union foreign ministers argued today that the creation of a Palestinian state is the only credible way to achieve peace in the Middle East, and they expressed concern about Israeli Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s clear rejection of the idea. “The declarations of Benjamin Netanyahu are worrying. There will be a need for a Palestinian state with security guarantees for all,” French Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Sejourne told reporters in Brussels.

A Republican running for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania is escalating criticism of Democrats over the Israel-Hamas war and has traveled to the Israel-Gaza border to make the case that the Biden administration hasn't backed Israel strongly enough since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. The criticism by GOP candidate David McCormick reflects the delicate political challenge facing both President Joe Biden and incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in a state Democrats can't afford to lose in 2024.

2:45 pm

US Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla) was confronted today by a young woman who recorded their exchange. When she asked whether he would support a cease-fire in Gaza, he replied: "I blame Hamas, Hamas should stop hiding behind civilians, Hamas has to stop building military installations underneath hospitals.”

2:30 pm

US officials have said the claim by Yemen’s Houthi forces that it carried out an attack against a US military cargo ship, Ocean Jazz, in the Gulf of Aden is not true. A US defense official, speaking to Fox News, dismissed the report as a Houthi propaganda, adding that the US military is not seeing or tracking any attacks at this time.

2:21 pm

The State Department called for an urgent investigation to determine how the 17-year-old Palestinian-America Tawfiq Aljaq died and to hold accountable those responsible. The White House has expressed concern. Ajaq was fatally shot on Jan. 19 in the West Bank, where about 370 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since Hamas's Oct. 7 attack. His cousin, Mohammad Ejak, 16, said Tawfiq was shot while driving to a grove of olive trees owned by the family near their village. "We did not throw any rocks at anyone’s car, and we didn’t even get out of our own car before the shots were fired at us." The US has repeatedly called on Israel to control Israeli Jewish settlers in the area who have been accused of killing and confronting Arab residents.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative, told reporters that  Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz had come to the meeting and presented two videos to the EU’s foreign ministers. There have been claimed repeated by media that Katz suggested placing Palestinians displaced from Gaza on an artificial island in the Mediterranean. Borrell said: "This didn’t have much to do with what we were discussing." Katz also discussed the construction of a rail line form Indian to the Middle East. "I think the minister could have made better use of his time to worry about the security of his country and the high number of deaths in the Middle East and the high death toll in Gaza."

Israel’s foreign ministry denied that Katz suggested that Palestinians could be housed on an artificial island in the Mediterranean during his presentation to EU ministers in Brussels. According the Times of Israel, the ministry declared: "He never said such a thing, and there is no such plan." The Times cited a ministry spokesman saying that Katz mentioned that housing could be placed on the island as well, but did not mention anything having to do with relocating Palestinians there.

Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, told French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu that attacks against Hezbollah terrorists will continue until Israel can guarantee the security of its citizens living near the border. Gallant briefed Lecornu “on the [Israel Defense Forces]’s progress in achieving the goals of the war – namely the destruction of Hamas’s governing and military capabilities, and the return of hostages.” The Israeli minister was quoted as saying: "A war in the north will be challenging for Israel, but devastating for Hezbollah and Lebanon. Israel will not cease fire until it can guarantee the safe return of the [evacuated] northern communities to their homes following a change in the security situation along the border."

1:15 pm

Israeli troops stormed the al-Khair hospital in southern Gaza and have arrested medical staff, and placed another under siege today, Palestinian officials said. Troops advanced for the first time into the al-Mawasi district near the Mediterranean coast, west of Khan Younis, the main city in southern Gaza, where the hospital is situated. The Palestinian Red Crescent said it was “extremely worried” about the safety of their teams “trapped inside” another Khan Younis hospital, al-Amal, which it said was “besieged” by Israeli forces.

At least 50 Palestinians were killed and 100 have been injured in Israeli military strikes on Khan Younis since evening Jan. 21, a Gaza health ministry spokesperson said. “We believe that many victims are trapped under the rubble and in areas the occupation forces had invaded where the medical teams are unable to reach to them,” said Ashraf al-Qidra. A total of 25,295 Palestinians have been killed and 63,000 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said.

Palestinians are digging makeshift graves in the grounds of Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, to bury some of those killed by the latest Israeli military strikes. The hospital, the largest hospital still functioning in Gaza, is crowded with wounded people, many of whom waited many hours for transport to reach the place, only to find few beds or supplies and doctors who have not slept in more than 24 hours.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, pushed back today after speculation that a new release of Gaza hostages was in the works. “There is no real proposal by Hamas. It’s not true,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office quoted him as telling representatives of hostage families after some relatives stormed a committee session in parliament, demanding a release deal.

A Hamas official said on Jan 21 that Netanyahu’s rejection of its conditions meant there was “no chance” of returning the remaining hostages held by the militant group in Gaza. Netanyahu had earlier dismissed the militant group’s conditions to end the war, which he said included leaving Hamas in power and Israel’s complete withdrawal from the territory. A Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, told Reuters the Israeli prime minister’s refusal to end the military offensive in Gaza meant there was “no chance for the return of the [Israeli] captives”, which are estimated to be 130 in number.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has said he is determined to pursue a two-state solution in the Middle East, as foreign ministers gathered in Brussels for talks with top Israeli and Palestinian diplomats today. “What we want to do is to build a two-state solution. So let’s talk about it,” he said a day after Netanyahu reaffirmed a hardline against any Palestinian state on the grounds it would pose “an existential danger” to Israel. Borrell added that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip “could not be worse”.

Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, has suggested Palestinians could be housed on an artificial island in the Mediterranean, according to sources. The intervention has caused dismay in Brussels where the EU representatives were meeting as part of a mission to lay the ground for a “comprehensive peace plan”.

The British prime minister’s official spokesperson said Downing Street was “disappointed” to hear of Netanyahu’s opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state, as the UK government vowed to continue its support for a two-state solution in the Middle East.

Ireland’s foreign minister, Micheál Martin, said Netanyahu’s insistence that there would be no two-state solution was “unacceptable”. Meanwhile, Stéphane Séjourné, France’s new foreign and European affairs minister, described Netanyahu’s remarks as “worrying”. Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, called on Hamas to end its terror on Israel and on Palestinian people.
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, will visit Pakistan on 29 January, the foreign ministry has said. The countries will swap ambassadors and resume normal relations, it said, after Pakistan launched retaliatory strikes against militants in Iran in response to attacks by Tehran that targeted sites within Pakistan’s borders.

Two US Navy Seals who went missing during an operation to seize Iranian weapons bound for Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been declared dead after a 10-day search failed to locate them, the US military has said.

1:00 pm

Iran is “very directly involved” in ship attacks that Yemen's Houthi rebels have carried out during Israel's war against Hamas, the U.S. Navy's top Mideast commander said today. Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of the Navy's 5th Fleet, stopped short of saying Tehran directed individual attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
 

Yemen’s Houthi movement have said its forces carried out an attack against a US military cargo ship, Ocean Jazz, in the Gulf of Aden. A statement from the Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Sarea said, "The Yemeni armed forces continue to retaliate to any American or British aggression against our country by targeting all sources of threat in the Red and Arab Sea."

11:22 am

Israeli security forces recently thwarted an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack that was to be carried out near the Knesset in Jerusalem, the Israel Police and Israel Security Agency reported today. The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office on Monday submitted to the city’s district court an indictment against two eastern Jerusalem residents who identified with ISIS— Mustafa Abdel Nabi, 19, and Ahmad Natsha, 20. The pair were arrested in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem on Dec. 26.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk visited the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau World War II Nazi German death camp today in the company of publisher Ben Shaperio, after he had faced criticism for allowing hate messages on his social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter. The private visit was apparently in response to calls from some Jewish religious leaders for Musk to see with his own eyes the most symbolic site of the horrors of the Holocaust.

9:30 am

Three Jews, all in their 20s, were violently attacked in Leicester Square in central London early on  Jan. 21. The victims were reportedly targeted after being overheard speaking Hebrew. Tehilla, 28, told the Telegraph about the harrowing experience. Despite making 10 distress calls to the Metropolitan Police fearing for her life, no officers responded, she said.

The approximately 130 Israelis still currently being held hostage by Hamas will never be freed, a Hamas leader said after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the terror group’s conditions to end the war. "In exchange for the release of our hostages, Hamas demands the end of the war, the withdrawal of our forces from Gaza, the release of all the murderers and rapists,” Netanyahu stated in a video address on Jan. 21. “And leaving Hamas intact. I reject outright the terms of surrender of the monsters of Hamas,” he added.

8:45 am

Israeli nationals residing in Germany can remain in the country until April 26 without having to apply for a residence permit or an extension to their visa-free stay after the October 7 attack by Hamas, the German interior ministry said today. Israeli citizens can stay in Germany for 90 days without a visa. From January 26 to April 26, they will now be exempt from the requirement for a residence permit to stay, the ministry added. “With our regulation, we are enabling Israeli citizens to stay in Germany for a further three months without having to apply for a residence permit. This is pragmatic and unbureaucratic help for people who we want to support in this difficult situation,” said the interior minister, Nancy Faeser.

The UK prime minister is “disappointed” to hear of Israeli PM Netanyahu’s opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state, as the UK government vowed to continue its support for a two-state solution in the Middle East. PM  Sunak’s spokesperson told reporters: "It is disappointing to hear this from the Israeli prime minister. The UK’s position remains that a two-state solution with a viable and sovereign Palestinian state living alongside a safe and secure Israel is the best route to lasting peace. Clearly there will be a long road to recovery and lasting security in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel. But we will continue our long-term support for a two-state solution for as long as it takes."

Relatives of some of the Gaza hostages stormed an Israeli parliament panel earlier today in Jerusalem, demanding that the government do more for the hostages' release.  The panel chair, Moshe Gafni, the head of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish party in Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, stood up, called a halt to the economic briefing under way and sought to calm a protester. “Redeeming captives is the most important precept in Judaism, especially in this case, where there is an urgency to preserving life,” he said, but added: “Quitting the coalition would not achieve anything.”

Israeli troops have stormed the al-Khair hospital and have arrested medical staff, Gaza health ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al Qidra said. Troops advanced for the first time into the al-Mawasi district near the Mediterranean coast, west of Khan Younis, the main city in southern Gaza, where the hospital is situated. Israel says Hamas fighters operate from in and around hospitals, which Hamas and medical staff deny.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said the agency’s ambulances were unable to reach the injured in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, as Israeli forces are “besieging” the PRCS’s ambulance centre and “targeting anyone attempting to move in the area”. The PRCS also said that Israeli tanks were nearing al-Amal city hospital in Khan Younis and that it had lost all contact with its team in the area due to the ground offensive. In an update on the situation later on Monday, Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the PRCS, said: “We are extremely worried regarding the safety of our team at al-Amal hospital and the Palestine Red Crescent’s headquarters, along with our emergency medical centre in Khan Younis. The total area is under besieged … by Israeli occupation forces. Everyone is trapped inside our facilities. No one is able to get out. No one is even able to come in.”

A group of relatives of Israelis held hostage by Hamas stormed a parliamentary committee session in Jerusalem, demanding that the lawmakers do more to try to free their loved ones.
A total of 25,295 Palestinians have been killed and 63,000 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said. The toll includes 190 people killed and 340 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.

The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip “could not be worse”, the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said ahead of an EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels. Ireland’s foreign minister, Micheál Martin, meanwhile, said Israeli PM Netanyahu’s insistence there will be no two-state solution is “unacceptable”. Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Hussein Abdullah Al Safadi, warned Netanyahu is dooming the Middle East “to more conflicts and more war” if he does not switch his stance on a two-state solution. He is one of several Arab leaders in Brussels today to try to hammer out a path to a peace conference.

8:15 am

Police in Ontario, Canada, have arrested and charged two men in connection with a pro-Palestinian demonstration inside a mall in downtown Toronto last month. On Dec. 17, an estimated 150 people participated in a demonstration in front of the Toronto Eaton Centre Zara location. A week earlier, Zara, a multinational clothing retailer, pulled an advertising campaign that some said bore a resemblance to imagery of the Israel-Hamas war. Investigators with Toronto police allege that during the demonstration, the two men blocked the entrance of the store, preventing the employees from closing.

Today, Prime Minister Netanyahu told families of hostages held in Gaza that Hamas has not offered a concrete proposal for a release deal. “Despite what people are saying, there is no real Hamas proposal,” he says, “it’s not true.” Netanyahu adds that Israel has offered its own “initiative” but doesn’t go into details.

Israel is still waiting for proof that medicine purchased by France for hostages in Gaza actually reached them, PM Netanyahu told French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu in Jerusalem. They also discussed tensions in Lebanon and the need to push Hezbollah back from the border in accordance with UNSC Resolution 1701. Netanyahu said Israel can achieve that goal diplomatically or through other means, a euphemism for a military campaign. They were joined by Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, Military Secretary Avi Gil, Diplomatic Adviser Ophir Falk, Spokesman Mark Regev, and French Ambassador Frederic Journes.

The Israel Defense Forces condemned a protest by a group of army reservists who put a sign on their armored vehicles as they were released from Gaza, appearing to call on the government to take a harsher approach to the war. The reservists were pictured as they drove to hand over their equipment with signs saying “We too were released without resolution,” an apparent reference to the fact that the military has downgraded the intensity of the war before defeating the Hamas terror group. “In recent hours pictures have emerged of reserve soldiers protesting during active duty and making use of IDF vehicles to do so," read an official statement. "These acts are in violation of commands and have no place in the IDF, the military said, adding that it was investigating the act. According to Israeli media, a group of right-wing activists, who also conducted a recent campaign saying that Netanyahu “was good for the Arabs,” were behind the posters.

Israeli police arrested two East Jerusalem residents accused of supporting the Islamic State terror group and allegedly planning to carry out bombing attacks in Jerusalem. This is the second such arrest this month. The pair purchased chemical materials to make explosive devices to be used against civilians and security forces in Jerusalem, the Israel Police and the Shin Bet security service say in a joint statement on Monday. Police said the suspects, aged 19 and 20, were arrested on December 26 in their homes in Ras al-Amud in East Jerusalem.

Danish shipping group Maersk is diverting its ME2 container service away from the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, rerouting the vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, the company says in an advisory to clients. The ME2 service links Italy and the western Mediterranean Sea to the east coast of India and the United Arab Emirates. The move comes amid continued attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis on shipping in the region.

Before his meeting with his European Union counterparts, Foreign Minister Israel Katz told reporters in Brussels to discuss two issues — “to bring back our hostages,” and to achieve support for Israel “dismantling the Hamas terrorist organization.” Katz holds up photos of one-year-old Kfir Bibas, and of Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Daniela Gilboa and Agam Berger, four young women whose bloodied faces Hamas photographed shortly after kidnapping them on October 7. “It’s urgency, it’s very important to do it very soon and to bring them back,” he says.

The Palestinian Authority agreed to receive the tax money collected by Israel on its behalf, minus the sum earmarked for Gaza. Sky News Arabia reported that the PA has walked back its previous decision to reject a partial transfer of the funds collected on its behalf by Israel since November, when the government decided to deduct the amount that the PA has earmarked for Gaza to pay for services and salaries in the coastal enclave. According to the agreement, made under heavy American pressure, Ramallah will receive the funds from Israel through a trust fund managed by Norway. Oslo will be barred from transferring the funds to the PA or to any other party without the express permission of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The PA will still disburse payments to pensioners and needy families in Gaza that appear in the lists of its Ministry of Social Development, using funds earmarked for the West Bank.

Pakistan says the Iranian foreign minister will visit the country next week, signaling efforts to rebuild ties after the neighbors exchanged missile and drone strikes last week at what they said were militant targets. Ambassadors of both countries have also been asked to return to their posts by Jan. 26, the Pakistan foreign ministry says in a statement.

The Kfir Brigade last night was withdrawn from the Gaza Strip for a short R&R and training period, and has been replaced with other forces in the Khan Younis area. After its break, the brigade will continue operational activity in accordance with the army’s latest assessments. In Khan Younis, the IDF says Kfir soldiers operated in the Bani Suheila area, locating many weapons used by Hamas, including firearms, explosive devices, grenades, and rockets, as well as killing dozens of terror operatives. Before fighting in Khan Younis, Kfir operated in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood, in what was the brigade’s first-ever ground maneuver.

Israel is running out of Paxlovid and Molnupiravir, the anti-viral drugs used to treat people with severe cases of COVID-19, the Health Ministry says. The medications are also given to patients aged 65 and up and those with preexisting medical conditions that put them at high risk when they first start showing signs of the disease. The supply of the drugs is due to last only two to three more weeks and that it is working to access more.

A two-state solution to allow for peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians is the “only solution” to the current conflict, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock says before heading into an EU foreign ministers’ meeting. “All those who say they don’t want to hear about such a solution have not brought any alternative,” she adds, while also calling for an urgent “humanitarian pause” to the war raging in the Gaza Strip.

France’s foreign minister says he is hopeful the European Union will impose sanctions on Israeli settlers who commit acts of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Israel has come under increasing pressure from its allies to rein in settler violence, which has soared since the Hamas terror group’s October 7 massacre. Both the United Kingdom and the United States have recently banned extremist Jewish settlers implicated in a rash of recent attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister says the kingdom will not normalize relations with Israel or contribute to Gaza’s reconstruction without a pathway to a Palestinian state.  Prince Faisal bin Farhan’s remarks in an interview with CNN were some of the most direct yet from Saudi officials. In the interview with “CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS,” the host asks: “Are you saying unequivocally that if there is not a credible and irreversible path to a Palestinian state, there will not be normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel?” “That’s the only way we’re going to get a benefit,” Prince Faisal replies. “So, yes.”

January 22, 2024

Israel condemned at Russia over the latter's foreign minister’s comments earlier today appearing to downplay the Holocaust’s impact on the Jewish people, characterizing it as a mass extermination of “various ethnic and social groups,” and slamming Germany for intervening on behalf of Israel as a third party in the International Court of Justice’s “genocide” case. “Israel thanks Germany for its unequivocal support and its stand against South Africa’s baseless claim,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry says in a statement cited by Hebrew media. The Israeli foreign ministry said the Russian minister’s comments were “distortion of the Holocaust” and “harmful to victims and survivors.”

An Iranian soldier opened fire on fellow soldiers, killing five of them in the southeastern city of Kerman, where 94 people were killed in a bombing attack earlier this month, Iranian state TV reports. The shooting happened when the soldier arrived at a barracks dormitory and opened fire on the resting soldiers. It says the motive is not immediately clear and the suspect, who is not identified, is at large. No other details are released. Kerman is 515 miles, southeast of the capital Tehran.

White House Middle East envoy Brett McGurk will be traveling to Egypt and Qatar this week for talks with his counterparts regarding the war in Gaza and efforts to secure the release of the remaining 136 hostages. The Wall Street Journal reported today that the US, Egypt, and Qatar are pushing Israel and Hamas to accept a comprehensive plan that would end the war, see the release of hostages held in Gaza, and ultimately lead to full normalization for Israel with its neighbors and talks for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Israeli and US officials have, however, stated publicly today that a hostage deal is not imminent.

Some 45% of residential buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed and rendered unlivable since war erupted between Israel and Hamas on October 7, according to a World Bank report based on satellite images. 60 percent of residential buildings in the Gaza Strip have sustained significant damage in the war.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant sayid the IDF will further expand its ground offensive in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis. “We are carrying out an intensive operation in the Khan Younis area, and it will continue to expand,” says Gallant following a flight over the Strip with the Israeli Air Force’s 100th Squadron. “The plumes of smoke from the tanks, artillery and Air Force planes, will continue to cover the skies of the Gaza Strip, until we achieve our goals, chief among them, the defeat of Hamas and the return of hostages to their homes,” he adds.

7:53 pm

"It seems physically impossible to liberate hostages. It will only have to be through military pressure and diplomatic channels," said former Israeli defense intelligence officer Raphaël Jerusalmyi, was he analyzed the Hamas underground tunnel city in Gaza

The State of Israel will retain full security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River after it achieves its objectives of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip and returning the hostages held there, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed  tonight. "The war continues “on all fronts and in all sectors,” stated Netanyahu. “We grant no immunity to any terrorist—neither in Gaza, nor in Lebanon, Syria, or anywhere else. Anyone who attempts to harm us—we strike back.”

Aerial flares were deployed earlier tonight over the cities of Beirut and Tripoli in Northern Lebanon following “mock raids” by the Israeli Air Force.

7:27 pm

Hamas has reportedly said its October 7 attacks on Israel were a “necessary step” to “confront all Israeli conspiracies against the Palestinian people”. In a 16-page report on the attacks, the terrorist group said that “some faults happened … due to the rapid collapse of the Israeli security and military system, and the chaos caused along the border areas with Gaza”. The group said the attacks were “a necessary step and a normal response to confront all Israeli conspiracies against the Palestinian people”. This was its first report, in English and Arabic, justifying the assault in which about 1,200 people were killed. Hamas seized about 250 hostages during the attack. Israel says about 132 remain in Gaza, of whom at least 27 are believed to have been killed, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. In a statement, Hamas urged “the immediate halt of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the crimes and ethnic cleansing committed against the entire Gaza population”. It said, "We stress that the Palestinian people have the capacity to decide their future and to arrange their internal affairs,” the statement said, adding that “no party in the world” had the right to decide on their behalf.

A total of 25,105 Palestinians have been killed and 62,681 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

An Israeli strike killed a Hezbollah member today in south Lebanon. According to a Lebanese security official, the strike on car in south Lebanon “killed a member of Hezbollah’s protection team.” adding that the senior commander he was protecting “escaped death.” The security official added that the Hezbollah commander was in a vehicle with three other people behind the car that was hit.  Lebanon’s state-run media reported one death in an Israeli drone strike on Kafra, a village near the border. “The strike that targeted a car in Kafra killed one person while others suffered moderate and minor injuries,” the official National News Agency (NNA) said.

The US said that it is taking the attack by Iran-backed militants on an Iraq base over the weekend “extremely seriously”. On January 20, the US military said that “multiple ballistic missiles and rockets” were fired by Iran-backed militants at al-Asad airbase in western Iraq. “It was a very serious attack, using a capability of ballistic missiles that posed a genuine threat,” White House deputy national security advisor Jon Finer said today. “We are going to respond ... to establish deterrence in these situations, and to hold these groups accountable that continue to attack us,” Finer said, adding: “You can be assured that we are taking this extremely seriously.” Most of the projectiles that were fired at the base were intercepted by the base’s air defense systems, he said.

Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf has condemned Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal of Palestinian state, saying: "Netanyahu’s dangerous views, denying Palestinian statehood, are not just ‘disappointing’ but must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. For those who want to see peace in the region, we must see meaningful progress on a two state solution."

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) received 80 trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent via the Rafah border crossing over the weekend. The trucks carried food, water, relief items and medical supplies, the PRCS said, adding that no trucks entered through the Karm Abu Salem crossing. The aid delivery comes as approximately 2 million people in Gaza remain internally displaced across the strip as a result of Israel’s attacks.

UK foreign secretary David Cameron told members of parliament that he had not made a formal decision to allow UK’s arms sales to Israel to continue, despite written evidence appearing to indicate otherwise. The chair of the foreign affairs select committee wrote to David Cameron asking him to clarify his claim that he had not taken any formal decision to allow arms sales to Israel to continue amid the Gaza crisis. The UK Department for Business and Trade showed the foreign secretary on December 8 recommended arms sales licences be allowed to continue when presented with three options: stopping arms sales, pausing them in Gaza, or allowing them to continue. Foreign Office officials had expressed serious concerns about aspects of the Israeli assault against Hamas. They also said the Foreign Office did not agree with Israeli claims that it did not have a legal duty to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza, but only to allow others to provide aid, and that this permission could be conditional.

UN chief António Guterres condemned the refusal to accept a two-state solution for Palestinians and Israelis, writing on Twitter/X: "The refusal to accept the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, and the denial of the right to statehood for the Palestinian people, are unacceptable. The right of the Palestinian people to build their own state must be recognized by all." In a recent phone call with President Biden, Netanyahu said that Israel’s security needs left no space for a sovereign Palestinian state.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said that there can be no normalization with Israel without resolving the Palestinian issue. Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud appeared on CNN and responded to a question on whether there could be no normal ties without a path to a credible and irreversible Palestinian state by saying: "That’s the only way we’re going to get the benefit. So, yes, because we need stability and only stability will come through the resolving the Palestinian issue." “We are in a very difficult and dangerous time in the region.” He added: “We are very worried…that’s why we are calling for de-escalation. We of course believe very much in the freedom of navigation and that’s something that needs to be protected but we also need to protect the security and stability of the region.”

Two US navy Seals who went missing in the Gulf of Aden have not been located after a 10-day search and their status has been changed to deceased, the US military said. They were reported missing while boarding an Iranian vessel carrying advanced conventional weapons, US Central Command (Centcom) said on X today. US navy ships and aircraft combed areas of the Gulf of Aden for the missing Seals last week as details emerged about their mission to board and take over a vessel carrying components for medium-range Iranian ballistic missiles headed for Somalia, a US defence official said. Officials said the Seal mission was not related to Operation Prosperity Guardian, the ongoing US and international mission to provide protection to commercial vessels in the Red Sea, or the retaliatory strikes the US and the UK have conducted in Yemen. The US official had said crew on the dhow, which did not have a country flag, were planning to transfer the missile parts, including warheads and engines, to another boat off the coast of Somalia. Centcom said on Sunday that the search for the two seals had now concluded and the military was now conducting “recovery operations”. "We regret to announce that after a 10-day exhaustive search, our two missing U.S. Navy SEALs have not been located and their status has been changed to deceased. The search and rescue operation for the two Navy SEALs reported."

"During this expansive search operation, airborne and naval platforms from the U.S., Japan, and Spain continuously searched more than 21,000 square miles to locate our missing teammates. Search assistance was also provided by Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center, the U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command, University of San Diego – Scripts Institute of Oceanography, and the Office of Naval Research – Oceanographic Support. Out of respect for the families, no further information will be released at this time." Gen Michael Erik Kurilla, the Centcom commander, said: "We mourn the loss of our two Naval Special Warfare warriors, and we will forever honour their sacrifice and example. Our prayers are with the SEALs’ families, friends, the U.S. Navy, and the entire Special Operations community during this time."

The Israeli and Palestinian foreign ministers are to meet their European Union counterparts on Jan. 22 as the EU considers potential steps toward a comprehensive peace between the two sides even as the war in Gaza continues. Israel’s Israel Katz and Palestine’s Riyad al-Maliki will take part separately in a regular meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels largely devoted to the Middle East but also taking stock of the war in Ukraine. Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan and the secretary general of the League of Arab States will also attend. The EU’s diplomatic service sent a discussion paper to its 27 member countries, suggesting a roadmap to peace in the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The plan is a call for a “preparatory peace conference” to be organised by the EU, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the League of Arab States, with the United States and United Nations also invited to be conveners of the gathering. The conference would go ahead even if Israelis or Palestinians declined to take part. But both parties would be consulted at every step of the talks as delegates sought to draw up a peace plan, the document suggests. One key goal of a peace plan is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, “living side by side with Israel in peace and security”.
EU officials acknowledge Israeli officials and diplomats currently display no interest in the so-called two-state solution but insist it is the only option for long-term peace.

A strike on Damascus targeting the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Syria spy chief and blamed on Israel killed 13 people, a war monitor reported today. ‘The death toll has risen to 13,’ said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights of the Jan. 20 strike, revising earlier death tolls. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed that it lost five members in the strike which has been blamed on Israel. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed it lost five members in the strike it blamed on Israel. The British-based monitor, which has a vast network of sources inside Syria, said the deaths include “five Iranians, including three IRGC leaders, four Syrians working with the Iranians, one Syrian civilian, two Lebanese, and one Iraqi national”. Iranian news agency Mehr said “the Revolutionary Guards’ Syria intel chief” and his deputy were among those “martyred in the attack on Syria by Israel”. The Syrian Observatory said the building targeted belonged to the IRGC and that the area is known to be a high-security zone home to leaders of the IRGC and pro-Iran Palestinian factions.

Israel’s war on Gaza – which has killed 25,000 Palestinians while forcibly displacing nearly 2 million survivors since Oct. 7 is not genocide, said UK’s chief rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis. He said using the word ‘genocide’ to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza is an ‘increasingly frequent, disingenuous misappropriation of the term’. Mirvis said the use of the term was a ‘moral inversion, which undermines the memory of the worst crimes in human history’ and was designed to “‘tear open the still gaping wound of the Holocaust”.

Earlier this month the UN international court of justice in The Hague heard that Israel had shown “chilling” and “incontrovertible” intent to commit genocide in Gaza. South Africa, which has brought the case, alleged “grave violence and genocidal acts” by the country. Israel has described the case as baseless, and accused South Africa of presenting a “profoundly distorted” view of hostilities, “barely distinguishable” from that of Hamas.

Palestine’s foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki met with the head of the Russian delegation to address the “urgent and necessary steps to achieve an immediate ceasefire”, the Palestinian foreign ministry said today. 

About 1,000 people from Gaza have been treated in a French field hospital aboard a ship off the coast of Egypt, its captain said. French helicopter carrier Dixmude is docked in the Egyptian port of al-Arish, 30 miles west of the Gaza Strip, since November. The vessel is equipped with wards, operating theatres and 70 medical staff. Nearly 120 injured people have been hospitalised on board, while hundreds more have been seen for outpatient consultations, including follow-ups on injuries and psychiatric issues, Capt Alexandre Blonce said, calling it an “unprecedented mission”.

7:00 pm
 

Hamas is demanding a total end to the war in a deal to release the hostages remaining in Gaza, according to Israeli media reporting on Jan. 20. The terrorist organization demanded to remain in power in the Strip.

The IDF  carried out two waves of strikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon village of Markaba earlier today. The sites in Markaba include a military building, observation posts, rocket launch positions, and other infrastructure belonging to the terror group, the IDF says.

A total of 25,105 Palestinians have been killed and 62,681 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-controlled Gazan health ministry. 

The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, denounced Israel for the “heartbreaking” killings of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. “Israel’s military operations have spread mass destruction and killed civilians on a scale unprecedented during my time as secretary general,” Guterres said at the opening of a summit of the G77+China in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. “This is heartbreaking and utterly unacceptable. The Middle East is a tinder-box, we must do all we can to prevent conflict from igniting across the region.”

British defense secretary Grant Shapps described Israeli premier Netanyahu’s opposition to a Palestinian state as “disappointing”. Netanyahu’s spokesperson claimed that in a phone call with President Biden, the Israeli leader told the US president that his country’s security needs left no space for a sovereign Palestinian state. The Biden administration, EU, UK, Islamic countres have insisted on the so-called two-state solution to follow the end of the conflict. 

Hamas’s Qatar-based chief, Ismail Haniyeh, held a meeting with the Turkish foreign minister, Hakan Fidan. The Guardian cited a diplomatic source as saying the main topics discussed were the establishment of a ceasefire “as quickly as possible” and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

A US official has told Reuters that US personnel suffered minor injuries and a member of Iraq’s security forces was injured in an attack on Iraq’s Ain al-Asad airbase. In a statement, the US military’s Central Command said that the base was hit on Jan. 20 by ballistic missiles and rockets fired by Iranian-backed militants from inside Iraq. Another account of the attack contended that two US personnel received traumatic brain injuries in the raid.

At least two people were killed and several others injured in a suspected Israeli drone strike on Jan 21 that targeted a car in southern Lebanon. Ambulances rushed to the site near a Lebanese army checkpoint, and it was not clear who was targeted in the strike, residents and security sources said. These claims are yet to be independently verified by the Guardian.

Israel has been carrying out airstrikes on southern Lebanon against Palestinian militant groups based there and their Lebanese ally Hezbollah, a powerful armed group, which have fired rockets across the border at Israel.

January 21, 2024

10:20 am

Israel killed 4 top commanders of Iran's  Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in a missile strike against Damascus, Syria today. The terrorists killed are: Hojatullah Omidvar, Ali Aghazadeh, Hossein Mohammadi, Saeed Karimi.

 

9:00 am

Israel continued its campaign in the southern Gaza Strip today after Israeli PM Netanyahu and President Biden discussed  on Jan. 19 a post-war future for Palestinians. Biden has called for a two-state solution, while Netanyahu has not accepted the notion of a Palestinian-controlled state for Gaza and the West Bank. On Jan 19, Biden and Netanyahu held their first call in nearly a month, a day after the Israeli leader reiterated his rejection of any form of Palestinian sovereignty. Biden said afterwards that the creation of an independent state for Palestinians was not impossible while Netanyahu was still in office, saying he spoke with Netanyahu about possible solutions for the creation of such a state, noting that not all countries have their own militaries. “And so I think there’s ways in which this could work,” Biden said.

Israeli bombardment was again focused overnight on Khan Younis, southern Gaza’s largest city, while there was intense fighting around Jabalia in the north before dawn today.

Israeli forces moved further into southern Gaza, airstrikes and close-combat fighting are approaching areas crowded with more than a million people seeking refuge from the destruction across the rest of the territory. The prospect of major operations taking place in territory with such a dense and vulnerable population is “deeply concerning”, say aid officials, who fear Gaza’s largest remaining hospital may have to be closed or evacuated.

The US central command said its forces conducted strikes against three Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed into the Southern Red Sea and were prepared to launch. The US has been launching strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, and this week returned the Iran-backed Yemen-based group to a list of “terrorist” groups. The Houthis said on Jan. 19 they did not intend to expand their attacks on shipping in and around the Red Sea, beyond their stated aims of blockading Israel and retaliating against the US and Britain for airstrikes.

Gaza’s main internet provider, Paltel, said communication services across the Palestinian territory were gradually returning after a nearly eight-day outage, the longest blackout since the war began. Paltel said two of its technical team members lost their lives as a result of “direct shelling” during recent repair operations, bringing the number of its employees killed to 14 since the start of the conflict.

A senior minister in the Israeli war cabinet has said that only a ceasefire deal can win the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, and that Israel is unlikely to achieve its aim of “total victory” over the militant Islamist group. Gadi Eisenkot, a former chief of staff of the Israel Defence Forces, launched a blistering attack on Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the campaign against Hamas and failure to take responsibility for the failures that led to the Palestinian militant group’s bloody attack on Israel in October.

Health services in Gaza are “decimated”, with medical staff exhausted after three months of war forced to extract shrapnel without adequate pain relief, conduct amputations without anaesthetics and watch children die of cancers due to a lack of facilities and medicine, doctors say.

Pakistan’s political and military leaders have moved to de-escalate tensions with Iran after trading deadly airstrikes on militant targets in each other’s territory. Pakistan’s foreign minister, Jalil Abbas Jilani, spoke to his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and they agreed that “close coordination on counter-terrorism and other aspects of mutual concern should be strengthened”, according to a readout from Islamabad’s foreign ministry.

Hezbollah’s number two leader has warned Israel against expanding the conflict along the Lebanon-Israel border, where there have been near daily exchanges of cross-border fire between the Israeli army and the Iran-backed militant group. Naim Qassem said in a statement on Friday: “If Israel decides to expand its aggression, it will receive a real slap in the face in response.” Any restoration of stability on the border was contingent on “the end of the aggression in Gaza”, he added.

Leading progressive and Jewish members of Congress have criticized the US’s “unconditional support” for Israel after PM Netanyahu said he was opposed to a Palestinian state after the war in Gaza and directly rejected American policy. Meanwhile, 60 Democrats have signed a letter urging his administration to reaffirm that the US strongly opposes “the forced and permanent displacement” of Palestinians from Gaza.

The White House said it was “seriously concerned” about reports that a Palestinian-American teenager had been killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank. US-born Tawfiq Ajaq, 17, was killed by Israeli security forces in Al-Mazraa Al-Sharqiya, east of Ramallah, according to reports.

Swiss prosecutors confirmed that the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, is the subject of “criminal complaints” filed during his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos. A statement allegedly issued by the people behind the complaint said the plaintiffs were seeking a criminal prosecution in parallel to a case brought before the UN’s international court of justice (ICJ) by South Africa, which accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza.

The European Union has added six individuals to an asset freeze and visa ban blacklist for financing Hamas. The new EU sanctions framework targets “any individual or entity who supports, facilitates or enables violent actions by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad”, a statement said.

EU foreign ministers will hold a series of meetings on Jan 22 with counterparts from Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Arab nations about the war and prospects for a future peace settlement. The Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, and his Palestinian counterpart, Riyad al-Maliki, are not expected to meet each other.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has accused the Israeli government of financing Hamas in an effort to weaken the Palestinian Authority. Benjamin Netanyahu has denied accusations by his opponents in Israel and some global media who have accused his government of spending years actively boosting Hamas, including by allowing Qatari financing of Gaza.

January 20, 2024

Hundreds of students rallied throughout Columbia University’s campus in New York City. Organized by Students for Justice in Palestine, which was supposed to have been suspended from campus for the rest of the academic year. Students called for “intifada": an Arabic word referring to deadly Palestinian uprisings that included participants carrying out suicide attacks that killed scores of Israelis. Another chant was  “Yemen, Yemen make us proud, turn another ship around” — a message in support of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, which the US deems to be a terror organization.

The US military carried out another round of strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, targeting missile launchers that were preparing for attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, the White House says. Washington is seeking to reduce the Iran-backed Houthis’ military capabilities, but the Yemeni rebels are still able to continue their attacks despite a week of strikes, and they have vowed that they will keep targeting merchant vessels. “This morning, US forces conducted three successful self-defense strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. “This is the fourth preemptive action that the US military has taken in the past week against Houthi missile launchers that were ready to launch attacks,” Kirby said. “These actions were… done in self-defense, but it also helps make safer international waters for both naval vessels as well as merchant shipping.”

Fifteen Jewish Democrats slammed Israeli PM Netanyahu after he rejected the idea of creating an independent Palestinian state after the Israel-Hamas war. “We strongly disagree with the prime minister,” says the brief statement released this morning by the office of Rep. Jerry Nadler, the New York representative who is the unofficial dean of Jewish House Democrats. “A two-state solution is the path forward.”

Dozens of relatives of the hostages in Gaza are en route to Netanyahu’s private home in Caesarea where they plan to camp out overnight and protest what they say is the government’s inaction in securing the release of their loved ones. “The days of grace in which you dragged your feet are over,” says a statement from the Hostage Families’ Forum.

A top official from Lebanon’s Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah warned Israel would be hit back hard if it expanded the conflict along the Lebanon-Israel border. “If Israel decides to expand its aggression, it will receive a real slap in the face in response,” Hezbollah’s number two, Naim Qassem, said in a statement. Any restoration of stability on the border is contingent on “the end of the aggression in Gaza,” he added.

The US is “seriously concerned” about reports that a Palestinian-American was killed in clashes today with the IDF in the West Bank, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. Kirby said that the US is still looking into the circumstances of Tawfiq Hijazi’s killing.

President Biden talked to PM Netanyahu in more than two weeks. Biden welcomed the latter's decision to permit the entry of large shipments of flour into Gaza via Israel’s port in Ashdod, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that both sides “are separately working on options for more direct maritime delivery of assistance into Gaza.” This appears to be the first time that Israel has used its Ashdod port to transfer aid to Gaza. Israel agreed earlier in January to allow 150 truckloads of flour into Gaza, where the UN says there is a growing risk of famine.

Biden and  Netanyahu discussed efforts to secure the release of all remaining hostages held in Gaza during their phone call. White House spokesman Kirby said: “The two leaders also reviewed the situation in Gaza and the shift to targeted operations that will enable the flow of increasing amounts of humanitarian assistance, while keeping the military pressure on Hamas and its leaders significant.” The Biden administration has pushed for Israel to shift to low-intensity fighting in Gaza as the death toll in the enclave rises. Israel has withdrawn one of the four divisions it had operating in Gaza, but fighting has remained intense in southern Gaza and the death toll continues to rise. “The president also discussed his vision for a more durable peace and security for Israel, fully integrated within the region, and a two-state solution with Israel’s security guaranteed,” Kirby added.

Israel has rejected the Biden administration's vision for a post-war Gaza which would be reunited politically with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authoritys rule as part of a broader diplomatic initiative aimed at an eventual two-state solution and an expanded Abraham Accords. Netanyahu hasestablishing a Palestinian state but has offered few details on his alternative vision for Gaza while blocking the cabinet from holding discussions on the matter, knowing that it risks collapsing his coalition.

“We are not trying to force their hand or force them to change their policy…but we can’t talk about post war Gaza without discussing the Palestinian people’s aspirations and governance in Gaza”, Kirby said. 

US antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt brands as antisemitic the decision by South Africa’s Under-19 team to strip Jewish star player David Teeger of his captaincy after he praised Israeli troops fighting Hamas in Gaza. “Cricket South Africa removed David Teeger, who is Jewish, as the captain of the South Africa U19 cricket team on Jan 19th due to ‘security concerns’ related to anti-Israel protests,” Lipstadt tweeted. “‘Security concerns’ can and should be addressed by tightening security, not by punishing the object of the threat. When a Jew outside of Israel is held responsible for Israel’s policies, this is antisemitism,” she added.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s Office said today that Iran could mutually overcome minor “irritants” through dialogue and diplomacy, after both countries exchanged drone and missile strikes on militant bases on each other’s territory this week.

The Dutch government has summoned the Iranian ambassador to the Netherlands following the death of a Dutch baby in an attack by Iran on Erbil, Iraq. Iran struck Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, on Jan. 15 with ballistic missiles in what it said was an attack on an Israeli spy headquarters, a claim denied by Iraqi and Iraqi Kurdish officials.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speculated that “as long as fighting continues in the south, there will be fighting in the north.” “But we will not accept this reality for an extended period. There will come a moment when if we do not reach a diplomatic agreement in which Hezbollah respects the right of the residents to live here in security, we will have to ensure that security by force,” Gallant says while touring the Lebanon border.

A delegation of Muslim and Hindu journalists and social media influencers toured one of the Gaza border kibbutzim where Israelis were massacred during Hamas’s October 7 terror attack. The 13-member delegation was organized by Sharaka, a grassroots organization looking to strengthen the bond between Israel and the Arab and Muslim world. After the tour of Kibbutz Kfar Aza massacre site, Indian social media influencer Shefali Vaidya tweeted, “Hamas does not want land or concessions. What it wants is the complete destruction of the State of Israel and the death of every Israeli citizen, down to the last one. This is a sober understanding of a chilling fact!”

She wrote: "It was one of the hardest mornings of my life to witness first hand, the destruction of Kibutz Kfar Aza, one of the worst affected Kibutzes in the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas. As we walked around the kibbutz on a perfect winter day with blue skies and sun shining."

The spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says there can be “no security and stability in the region” without a Palestinian state. This came after Israeli PM Netanyahu rejected on Jan. 18 the notion of calls by the United States to take steps toward the establishment of a Palestinian state after the war. This echoed statements made today by US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller who argued that Israel’s longterm security is contingent on the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state in order to solve the conflict.

Britain’s Defense Minister says the UK is looking into different ways of shipping additional humanitarian aid from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip more directly, including offloading aid in Israel from where it could enter the Palestinian enclave through the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Israel financed the Hamas terror group in a bid to weaken the Palestinian Authority. Israeli PM Netanyahu has denied accusations by his opponents in Israel and some global media that his government spent years actively boosting Hamas in Gaza. “Yes, Hamas was financed by the government of Israel in an attempt to weaken the Palestinian Authority led by Fatah,” Borrell said at the University of Valladolid, without elaborating further on such alleged financing.

The European Union adopted a dedicated sanctions regime targeting Palestinian terror group Hamas, a high-ranking EU official said, adding that the first measures would target six people involved in the financing of Hamas. “What we are doing now – it has been done today and I think it will be announced in the coming hours – [is that] we have adopted a dedicated regime for Hamas. We have listed six people” the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. Six people from Arab or African countries and were all involved in financing Hamas, which has become the subject of Western reprisal after its assault on Israel last October are to be sanctioned

Troops of the IDF’s 7th Armored brigade raided a Hamas training compound in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, where they located and destroyed replicas of Israeli armored vehicles used for training, the military says. The IDF says the compound was used as a training site, as well as a meeting point for senior Hamas commanders of its Khan Younis Brigade. They also destroyed tunnel shafts and found dozens of rocket launchers and other weapons, the IDF said.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “drastically” reduce the level of violence against Palestinians amid the war with Hamas in Gaza and to immediately pause fighting to let more aid into the war-battered enclave. “Israel needs to let in much more relief goods much quicker,” Rutte says after a telephone call with Netanyahu.

The Palestinian Authority is prepared to govern the Gaza Strip at the end of Israel’s war with Hamas, a Palestinian official told Sky News Arabia. According to the official, several high-level meetings have been held by Palestinian Authority officials and their Egyptian counterparts regarding the future of the Gaza Strip and its border crossings. The report adds that the arrangements are being planned in coordination with Israel as well.

 

10:38 am

BLM activist Sahara Dula was arrested on suspicion of assault with serious physical injury, vehicular assault, reckless endangerment, and other charges following the ramming of a NYPD officer on Jan. 17. She has been nvolved in New York City protests in support of the Palestinian cause. 

8:44 am

IDF ground, air, and naval forces collaboratively executed a targeted operation on Jan. 18 to eliminate terrorists in the Gaza Strip. Wael Abu-Fanounah, a senior member of Islamic Jihad and Deputy Head of Psychological Warfare Operations, was killed during a precise IAF airstrike directed by the southern Command, based on intelligence from IDF and ISA. Abu-Fanounah was responsible for disseminating videos of rocket attacks and psychological warfare against Israel and held key positions within the terrorist organization, including serving as an assistant to Khalil Bahtini, the Commander of the northern region of the Gaza Strip.

8:00 am

The IDF says a drone that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon via the sea was intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system. The drone fell into the sea near Acre. 

The IDF announced a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. IDF fighter jets struck Ramyah, bombing military buildings and infrastructure. 

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has been targeted with a criminal complaint during a visit to Switzerland, Swiss prosecutors say, amid allegations of crimes against humanity over the war against Hamas in Gaza. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office (BA) confirmed the receipt of a criminal complaint against the Israeli president, who was at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos on Jan. 18. 

A soccer match between Belgium’s KAA Gent and Israel’s Maccabi Haifa scheduled next month in Belgium will be played without fans because of fears of serious riots linked to the Israel-Hamas war, local authorities rule.  Ghent mayor Mathias De Clercq made the decision on the advice of local police. Gent will host the Israeli club on February 21 in the second leg of their Conference League playoff.

NATO will launch its biggest military exercise in decades next week with around 90,000 personnel set to take part in months of drills aimed at showing the alliance can defend all of its territory up to its border with Russia, top officers say. As Russia’s war on Ukraine bogs down, NATO as an organization is not directly involved in the conflict, except to supply Ukraine with non-lethal support, although many member countries send weapons and ammunition individually or in groups, and provide military training.

Hezbollah official Mohammad Raad warned that Israel is not prepared for war against his terrorist organization. He said that Israel is “frustrated and embarrassed” by its losses in the war against Hamas in Gaza. Raad says it is an honor for Lebanon that “resistance” groups in the country fight against Israel and accuses the Jewish state of being the “guardian of the arrogant people who plunder our wealth, control our waterways, impose their will on a number of our countries and dominate us.” He claimed that Israel is suffering defeat in Gaza and that it has “failed to achieve its goals” in every aspect, indicating that “the hand of the resistance will remain supreme.”

The head of Lebanon’s Christian political party Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea slammed Hezbollah for turning the country “into a battlefield,” during a meeting with the UK’s ambassador to Lebanon Hamish Cowell. Geagea criticized Lebanon’s current caretaker government for granting too much power to Hezbollah. “Instead of fulfilling its duties to serve Lebanon and its people, it handed over decision-making to a faction, allowing the country to turn into a battlefield, a mere commodity in the volatile regional scene,” LBCI reports him as saying. ngineering vehicles uncovered and destroyed dozens of explosives hidden under the roads of the camp, the IDF says.

The IDF says 37 wanted Palestinians were arrested during an operation in Tulkarem in the West Bank, including several senior members of a local terror network. At least eight Palestinian gunmen were killed during clashes with troops amid the raid, some of them in an airstrike on Jan. 17. One IDF soldier was also seriously wounded in the raid, which the army announced that day. The IDF says troops located the gunmen, killing some and arresting others amid the operation.

Former Israeli army chief  Gadi Eisenkot, whose son was killed while fighting in Gaza, told Israeli Channel 12 television station on Jan. 18 that Israeli "hostages will only return alive if there is a deal, linked to a significant pause in fighting.” Eisenkot said dramatic rescue operations are unlikely because the hostages are apparently spread out, many of them in underground tunnels. Claiming hostages can be freed by means other than a deal “is to spread illusions” he said.

"There can be “no security and stability in the region without a Palestinian state, said the spokesperson for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. This responded to Israeli PM Netanyahu’s rejection on Jan. 17 of calls by the Biden administration to advance towards establishing a Palestinian state after the war. “Without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the borders of 1967, there will be no security and stability in the region,” said spokesperson Nabil Abu Rdeineh on Jan. 18. 

Israeli gunboats fired on coastal area of Gaza City on Jan. 18, where Israeli airforce jets also struck. According to Al Jazeera, 12 people have been killed and several have been injured from a strike that hit a residence near the city’s al-Shifa hospital.  Al Jazeera is one of the few news organisations with a functioning bureau in Gaza.

Israeli bulldozers had dug up the roads at the entrance to the Tulkarem camp, she said. “The raid lasted nearly 40 hours, one of the longest we have seen in the occupied West Bank since 7 October,” a Palestinian spokesperson said. Abdel-Hamid reported that a large number of people were detained and some were released after being interrogated. Israeli sappers found multiple improvised explosive devices on the roads leading to Tulkarem.

 

7:50 am

Pakistan’s prime minister will hold an emergency security meeting with military and intelligence chiefs today after trading deadly airstrikes on Iranian militant targets this week. "The prime minister has summoned a meeting of the national security committee set to take place today,” an official spokesperson said. 

Belgium will supply a vessel to an EU mission to protect shipping from attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia in the Red Sea, the Belgian broadcaster VRT reports; citing government sources. Many commercial shippers have diverted vessels to other routes following attacks in the Red Sea by the Houthi militants, who control much of Yemen and say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians as Israel and Hamas wage war in Gaza.

 

5:47 am

Saudi Princess Reema bint Bandar al-Saud, who is the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., told the World Economic Forum in Davos: "I think the most important thing to realise is the kingdom has not put normalisation at the heart of its policy. It’s put peace and prosperity at the heart of its policy … The kingdom has been quite clear. While there is violence on the ground and the killing persists, we cannot talk about the next day."

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan said earlier this week that his country is still “certainly” open to the possibility of future ties with Israel, but also stressed the need for a ceasefire and the creation of a Palestinian state. He added: "We don’t see any real sign that any strategic objectives that Israel has claimed are... coming any closer."

Mark Regev, an adviser to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Israel would have to have security control in ways that would limit the full exercise of Palestinian sovereignty.” Regev added: "Especially after October 7, to ask the Israeli public, the Israeli people, to say, ‘We’ll light-pedal security,’ that security isn’t the highest priority, to keep our people safe – that is to ignore reality." He said, "If the Palestinians really want to move forward with Israel they have to be willing to understand those concerns. They are legitimate concerns."

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it has received a report of an incident 115 nautical miles south-east of Aden, Yemen. Authorities are investigating. It added, "Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO."

Some cruise operators have cancelled or adjusted their itineraries to avoid the Red Sea due to attacks on ships by Houthi militia. Royal Caribbean has cancelled two voyages so far: one from Muscat to Dubai at the end of January and another from Dubai to Mumbai scheduled for a month from January 26. Last week, it also amended the itinerary of a cruise between Aqaba and Muscat to disembark guests in Greece. “Our global security team continues to closely monitor the situation in the region and we will make additional changes if required,” Royal Caribbean said.

Swiss-Italian operator MSC Cruises said this week it had cancelled three trips in April from South Africa and the United Arab Emirates to Europe due to the Red Sea crisis. The cruise operator said as there was “no viable alternative itinerary”, they had had to cancel the voyages: “The three ships will transfer directly to Europe without any passengers on board and avoid transiting through the Red Sea.”

President Biden said American strikes against the Houthis will continue, but conceded that allied bombing raids have not deterred the terrorist group's raid. The US carried out a fifth round of strikes on Jan. 18 as Navy warplanes targeted anti-ship missiles that “were aimed into the southern Red Sea and prepared to launch”, the US central command said in a statement on social media. Biden said in answer to a question from the media: "When you say working, are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes."

A senior Houthi official has promised safe passage for Russian and Chinese vessels through the Red Sea, where the Iran-backed Yemeni militant group has been carrying out attacks on commercial ships in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Mohammed al-Bukhaiti told Russian state media that the waters around Yemen – which some shipping firms are avoiding due to the ongoing aggression – were safe so long as vessels were not linked to certain countries, particularly Israel. The  Houthi official said: "As for all other countries, including Russia and China, their shipping in the region is not threatened. Moreover, we are ready to ensure the safe passage of their ships in the Red Sea, because free navigation plays a significant role for our country." Attacks on vessels “in any way connected with Israel” would continue, he added.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a news briefing on Jan. 18 that Israel has an opportunity now as regional powers appear ready to provide security assurances for peace. 
“But there is no way to solve their long-term challenges to provide lasting security and there is no way to solve the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza and establishing governance in Gaza and providing security for Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state,” said. Israeli PM Netanyahu said on Jan. 18 that he rejects the idea of a Palestinian state and would only support a deal that allowed Israel to gain security control over the entire Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu said this week that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of any postwar scenario. Israel will only agree to a deal that would see the country gain security control over the entire Gaza Strip, the Israel prime minister said at a news conference on Thursday, adding that he had “told this to the Americans”.

The leader of the Iran-backed Houthis, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, vowed this week to continue attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In an hour-long address on Thursday, al-Houthi urged the Arab world to mount mass boycotts of Israeli goods. Overnight the US military fired another wave of missile strikes against Houthi-controlled sites, marking the fourth time in a week that it has directly targeted the group in Yemen.

The EU is set to adopt sanctions against Hamas on Jan. 22 that will “target individuals and ban money transfers”, according to a French foreign ministry spokesperson. EU foreign ministers are also expected to discuss possible measures against violent Israeli settlers, they said.

The European parliament has voted to call for a “permanent ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, but on condition that all Israeli hostages held in the territory are released and Hamas dismantled. The resolution on Thursday, which is non-binding, stopped short of calling for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza.

Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with Israel’s offensive until it achieves a “decisive victory over Hamas” during a nationally broadcast news conference on Jan. 18. So far, Israel has destroyed about two-thirds of Hamas’ fighting regiments in Gaza, the Israeli prime minister said. He said: "There are two stages to the fighting; The first is destroying the Hamas regiments, those are their organised combat frameworks. Up until now, 16 or 17 out of 24 have been destroyed. After that there is the (stage) of clearing the territory (of militants). The first action is usually shorter, the second usually takes longer." The victory will take “more long months, but we are determined to achieve it,” the Israeli leader added. He said: "We will continue to fight at full strength until we achieve all our goals – the return of all our hostages – and I say again, only military pressure will lead to their release; the elimination of Hamas; and certainty that Gaza will never again represent a threat to Israel."

January 19, 2024

6:45 pm

The International Committee of the Red Cross announced that it will not deliver medications to Israeli hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. 

The US Navy launched a fifth round of strikes on Houthis as President Biden concedes bombardment has not worked.  Navy warplanes targeted anti-ship missiles today that “were aimed into the southern Red Sea and prepared to launch”, the US central command said. Biden said, "When you say working, are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes."

Israeli forces have destroyed the main campus of Al-Israa university in the south of Gaza City, the university said. Footage circulating on social media appeared to show the complex of buildings being blown up in what appeared to be a controlled explosion, engulfing it in smoke. It was unclear when the explosion took place. The university said its main building for graduate studies and bachelor’s colleges were destroyed. It said Israeli forces had seized the complex 70 days ago and used it as a base.

Baby Kfir Bibas, who turned one today, was kidnapped by Hamas militants from the kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel alongside his parents, Yarden and Shiri, and his four-year-old brother Ariel on Oct. 7. It is not clear whether Kfir and his family are still alive. A large crowd filled the Hostages Square in the Israeli capital, many holding orange balloons in acknowledgment of Kfir’s red hair, the Jerusalem Post reported. Near them a large screen displayed the number of days the hostages have been held in Gaza – 103.

Saudi Arabia will not continue negotiating over a diplomatic recognition of Israel until there is a ceasefire in Gaza, the Saudi ambassador to the US said. Princess Reema bint Bandar al-Saud said at Davos: "I think the most important thing to realise is the kingdom has not put normalisation at the heart of its policy. It’s put peace and prosperity at the heart of its policy … The kingdom has been quite clear. While there is violence on the ground and the killing persists, we cannot talk about the next day."

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, said earlier this week that his country is still “certainly” open to the possibility of future ties with Israel, but also stressed the need for a ceasefire and the creation of a Palestinian state. He added: "We don’t see any real sign that any strategic objectives that Israel has claimed are... coming any closer."

Mark Regev, an adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu, has expanded on the Israeli prime minister’s remarks earlier today where he said he opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state. “Israel would have to have security control in ways that would limit the full exercise of Palestinian sovereignty,” Regev told CNN, adding: "Especially after October 7, to ask the Israeli public, the Israeli people, to say, ‘We’ll light-pedal security,’ that security isn’t the highest priority, to keep our people safe – that is to ignore reality."

He added: "If the Palestinians really want to move forward with Israel they have to be willing to understand those concerns. They are legitimate concerns."

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a report of an incident 115 nautical miles south-east of Aden, Yemen. Authorities are investigating the report, it said, adding: "Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO."

Labor union leaders in the UK told Labour Party leader told Keir Starmer his position on Gaza risks alienating millions of Britons, telling the Labour leader their members are increasingly angry about his refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East.

The Pentagon clarified today that the US is not at war with the Houthis in Yemen, Reuters reported. A Pentagon spokesperson said attacks against the Houthis have been acting in self-defense. The announcement comes as the US launched another round of attacks against the Houthis’ missile launchers that were used to attack international shipping lanes, CNN reported.

The US has said that there is “no way” to solve security challenges in Israel and the broader region without establishing a Palestinian state, Reuters reported. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Israel has an opportunity right now as countries in the region are ready to provide security assurances to Israel. “But there is no way to solve their long-term challenges to provide lasting security and there is no way to solve the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza and establishing governance in Gaza and providing security for Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

Israeli PM Netanyahu said today that he rejected the notion of a Palestinian state and would only support a deal that allowed Israel to gain security control over the entire Gaza Strip. 

The Israeli military announced today troops it killed eight people during a raid in the city of Tulkarm located in the West Bank. The West Bank has seen a surge of violence in parallel to the Gaza war that erupted on Oct. 7 with a shock cross-border killing and kidnapping spree by Islamist Hamas militants in southern Israel…

A White House spokesperson said the US will not stop working towards a two-state solution as Israel continues to launch airstrikes against Palestine. White House national security adviser John Kirby said today that the US is still committed to a two state-solution. “There will a post-conflict Gaza, no reoccupation of Gaza,” Kirby said to reporters.

Kirby’s latest comments comes as Israeli PM  Netanyahu rejected the idea of a future state for Palestinians.As recently as last month, Netanyahu said: “I am proud that I prevented the establishment of a Palestinian state.” 

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of any postwar scenario. Israel will only agree to a deal that would see the country gain security control over the entire Gaza Strip, the Israel prime minister said at a news conference on Thursday, adding that he had “told this to the Americans”.

The leader of the Iran-backed Houthis, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, has vowed to continue attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In an hour-long address on Thursday, al-Houthi urged the Arab world to mount mass boycotts of Israeli goods. Overnight the US military fired another wave of missile strikes against Houthi-controlled sites, marking the fourth time in a week that it has directly targeted the group in Yemen.

A total of 24,620 Palestinians have been killed and 61,830 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, according to the latest figures by the Gaza health ministry on Thursday. The figures include 172 killed and 326 injured in the past 24 hours. At least 16 people have been killed by an Israeli airstrike on a house in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. A relative of those killed told Al Jazeera that the family had relocated within Gaza three times for safety since 7 October. Israel’s military has repeatedly ordered Gaza’s civilian population to flee to the south.

Internet and mobile services continue to be cut off inside the Gaza Strip by Israel. The present outage has lasted for five days, according to internet access advocacy group NetBlocks. An estimated 85% of Gaza’s population have been displaced and are struggling for food, while local authorites say nearly 25,000 Palestinians have so far been killed by Israeli airstrikes since 7 October.

A Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson has admitted that it is difficult to confirm if a shipment of medicine has reached Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Majed al-Ansari said medicine and aid for Israeli hostages and Palestinian civilians had entered Gaza on Wednesday under a deal mediated by Qatar and France, and that there was every “likelihood” that the medication had reached the Israeli hostages.

Israel’s military has said it is operating on the ground “in the southernmost area that IDF ground troops have operated in so far”. In a statement on Thursday, it said it targeted Hamas infrastructure there, claiming to have recovered “numerous weapons and intelligence documents, including dozens of hand grenades, AK-47s, ammunition, excavation equipment, launchers, RPG missiles, explosives, and combat management documents”.

The EU is set to adopt sanctions against Hamas on Jan. 15 that will “target individuals and ban money transfers”, according to a French foreign ministry spokesperson. EU foreign ministers are also expected to discuss possible measures against violent Israeli settlers, they said.

The European parliament voted to call for a “permanent ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, but on condition that all Israeli hostages held in the territory are released and Hamas dismantled. The resolution on Thursday, which is non-binding, stopped short of calling for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza.

An airstrike on southern Syria early on Jan. 18 killed at least nine people and was probably carried out by Jordan’s air force, Syrian opposition activists said, the latest in a series of strikes in an area where cross-border drug smugglers have been active. There was no immediate confirmation from Jordan on the strike that hit the province of Sweida, and there was some confusion over the number of people killed.

Tehran has strongly condemned a strike inside Iran by Pakistan which killed nine people, which Islamabad said was aimed at “terrorists”. A deputy governor of Iran’s Sistan-Balochistan province said the dead included three women and four children, and were not Iranian citizens. The strike follows an Iranian attack inside Pakistan the previous day, which Tehran said was aimed at terrorists there. Pakistan said its military was on “extremely” high alert and any more “misadventure” from the Iranian side will be met forcefully.

Israel’s president has said that there is an “empire of evil” emanating from Tehran which must be faced by a very strong coalition, and that Gaza’s population is entrenched in a network of terror. Billions of dollars, Isaac Herzog told the Davos conference, are being spent to destabilise the world, with Iran funding proxies all around the region. Of the situation in Gaza, he said “We care, we care, it is painful for us that our neighbours are suffering so much,” adding that they were entrenched in a network of terror, which Israel was determined to remove.

Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with Israel’s offensive until it achieves a “decisive victory over Hamas” during a nationally broadcast news conference today. 

Israel has destroyed about two-thirds of Hamas’ fighting regiments in Gaza, Netanyahu said. He said: "There are two stages to the fighting; The first is destroying the Hamas regiments, those are their organised combat frameworks. Up until now, 16 or 17 out of 24 have been destroyed. After that there is the (stage) of clearing the territory (of militants). The first action is usually shorter, the second usually takes longer. The victory will take “more long months, but we are determined to achieve it.” He said: "We will continue to fight at full strength until we achieve all our goals – the return of all our hostages – and I say again, only military pressure will lead to their release; the elimination of Hamas; and certainty that Gaza will never again represent a threat to Israel."

4:45 pm

Hamas is turning sewer pipes in Gaza into rocket carriers to transport rockets. Each one has a serial number and date. The most recent one was made in July of 2023. They ripped up sewer pipes for terrorism.

 

1:50 pm

The Taliban in Afghanistan issued an official statement calling on Pakistan and Iran to exhibit restraint and avoid violence, saying they are are very worried by recent developments. 

1:15 pm

Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee are seeking testimony from the head of the U.N. Palestinian aid agency, as the Hamas terrorist group is accused of stealing U.N. aid shipped into Gaza. A Jan. 15 letter organized by Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) requests that Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, testify before the committee about whether UNRWA has aided Hamas.

11:00 am

A banner reading, “We stand with Israel” and expressing support for an Iranian dissident activist who recently visited the Jewish state was hung from a road overpass in Tehran on Jan. 17, the London-based Persian-language Iran International television station reported. The extraordinary show of support came as the Middle East is engulfed in violence promoted by the Islamic Republic and amid mounting concerns of a regional war.
 

10: 50 am

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres  met with released Israeli hostages for the first time today, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting. The U.N. chief sat down with Nili Margalit, 41, and Moran Stela Yanai, 40, who were freed in November as part of a ceasefire-for-hostages deal with Hamas. The meeting was also attended by Noam Perry, the daughter of 80-year-old Haim Perry, who is still held captive in the Gaza Strip.

10:15 am

On Jan. 16, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced a Title VI investigation of alleged “discrimination involving shared ancestry” at the Oakland Unified School District, which consists of about 34,000 students and nearly 2,300 teachers at 80 schools in Oakland, Calif. The department doesn’t specify the nature of the discrimination. But a few days prior, J. At least 30 Jewish families had transfer requests approved between October and Dec. 19 to leave the Oakland Unified School District “specifically due to issues related to the Israel-Hamas war,” according to John Sasaki, the district’s communications director.

8:00 am

Suspected airstrikes by Jordan on southern Syria killed ten people including children today, according to local Syrian media and monitors tracking the conflict.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog told the Davos conference that there is an “empire of evil” emanating from Iran which must be faced by a very strong coalition, and that Gaza’s population is entrenched in a network of terror. He said that billions of dollars are being spent to destabilize the world, with Iran funding proxies all around the region to undermine any peace process. Of the situation in Gaza, he said “We care, we care, it is painful for us that our neighbours are suffering so much,” adding that they were entrenched in a network of terror, which Israel was determined to remove. Herzog emphasized that before the international community pushes for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the legitimate security concerns of the Israeli people must be addressed. Normalizing ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia is a key element of ending the war with Hamas and a gamechanger for the entire Middle East, Herzog said today in Davos. "It’s still delicate, it’s fragile, and it will take a long time, but I think that it is actually an opportunity to move forward in the world and the region towards a better future,” Herzog said.

The death toll in Pakistan’s attack inside Iran has risen to nine. “Two men were also killed in the missile attack this morning in one of the border villages of Saravan, bringing the death toll to nine,” the official Iranian news agency said, quoting Alireza Marhamati, deputy provincial governor of Iran’s Sistan-Balochistan province. Marhamati had earlier said that three women and four children were killed in the strikes. In a televised interview, Iran’s interior minister, Ahmad Vahidi, said all the dead “were foreign nationals”. Pakistan’s military is on “extremely” high alert and any more “misadventure” from the Iranian side will be met forcefully, a top Pakistani security source said. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani has reiterated that Tehran strongly condemns the strike inside its borders by Pakistan.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israel has detained 48 Palestinians overnight and this morning in the West Bank.

India’s navy said today that it had responded to a drone attack distress call from a vessel in the Gulf of Aden near Yemen and that the ship’s crew were safe, with a fire on board under control. The ship was flagged from the Marshall Islands. 

One Palestinian has been killed as Israel continues a raid on the city of Tulkarm for the second day, where “a house was blown up by the forces, who burned another, and severely beat a number of civilians, amid widespread destruction of the infrastructure”.

Israel’s military has said it is operating on the ground “in the southernmost area that IDF ground troops have operated in so far” in Gaza. It says it is has targeted Hamas infrastructure there, claiming to have recovered “numerous weapons and intelligence documents, including dozens of hand grenades, AK-47s, ammunition, excavation equipment, launchers, RPG missiles, explosives, and combat management documents”.

At least 16 people have been killed by an Israeli airstrike on a house in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. 

Internet and mobile services continue to be cut off inside the Gaza Strip by Israel. The present outage has lasted for five days, according to internet access advocacy group NetBlocks. An estimated 85% of Gaza’s population have been displaced and are struggling for food, while local authorites say nearly 25,000 Palestinians have so far been killed by Israeli airstrikes since 7 October.

An airstrike on southern Syria early today killed at least nine people and was probably carried out by Jordan’s air force, Syrian opposition activists said, the latest in a series of strikes in an area where cross-border drug smugglers have been active. Associated Press reports there was no immediate confirmation from Jordan on the strike that hit the province of Sweida, and there was some confusion over the number of people killed.

Tehran has strongly condemned a strike inside Iran by Pakistan which killed nine people, which Islamabad said was aimed at “terrorists”. A deputy governor of Iran’s Sistan-Balochistan province said the dead included three women and four children, and were not Iranian citizens. The strike follows an Iranian attack inside Pakistan the previous day, which Tehran said was aimed at terrorists there. Pakistan said its military was on “extremely” high alert and any more “misadventure” from the Iranian side will be met forcefully. The Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist group, said in a statement that strikes by Pakistan inside Iran had targeted and killed its people. Turkey has urged Iran and Pakistan not to escalate further.

The US military has fired another wave of missile strikes against Houthi-controlled sites, marking the fourth time in a week that it has directly targeted the group in Yemen. The strikes were launched from the Red Sea.

Denmark will join the US-led coalition of six countries set up to take on Yemen’s Houthis over attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said today. Denmark’s contribution will consist of a single staff officer.

In its latest operational update, issued vis the Telegram messaging app, Israel’s military has claimed “over the past day approximately 60 terrorists were killed” by its “operations in the Gaza Strip against terrorist operatives and infrastructure”. The IDF said that “approximately 40 terrorists” were killed in Khan Younis, where, it says, “grenades, AK-47 rifles, military equipment, and technological assets were located”.

7:50 am

Several U.S. Defense officials have stated that there is Intelligence that the Houthi terrorist group in Yemen is planning Imminent attacks against U.S. bases in Bahrain, Djibouti, and the United Arab Emirates as well as on U.S. naval ships in the Red Sea, as retaliation for the strikes on January 11 by the United States and Britain.

According to a U.S. Defense Official, the strikes tonight against the Houthis on Jan. 17 in Yemen consisted of several Tomahawk Land-Attack Cruise Missiles launched from Arleigh Burke-Class Guided-Missile Destroyers and a Ohio-Class Cruise Missile Submarine in the Red Sea. A large fire was seen burning in the Dhamar Governorate of Western Yemen following U.S. strikes during the pre-dawn hours on Jan. 18 on nearby Houthi Positions.
 

January 18, 2024

Russia’s foreign ministry says that it expects President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to sign a new bilateral treaty to consolidate the strategic partnership of the two countries. Russia and Iran have growing political, trade and military ties. Maria Zakharova, foreign ministry spokeswoman, said, “This document is not just timely, but also overdue,” says Zakharova. “Since the signing of the current treaty, the international context has changed and relations between the two countries are experiencing an unprecedented upswing.”

Israeli Knesset Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, denouncing the “deafening silence of the international women’s organizations” in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 attack sends a message of “#MeToo, unless you’re a Jew.” She chairs the Israeli parliament's Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality. She told the Women Political Leaders (WPL) organization on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum: “The reactions from the UN in general and from the women’s committees in particular were too little, too late,” says National Unity lawmaker Pnina Tamano-Shata, arguing that “if the world is incapable of standing with Israeli women who experienced the atrocities of terrorism under the auspices of Iran and its proxies, the promise ‘Never Again’ has lost its meaning.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated the need for a “pathway to a Palestinian state” at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in the Swiss resort of Davos, saying that Israel would not “get genuine security absent that.” 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denies a report that he gave the go-ahead to exempt a shipment of medications for hostages and Gaza civilians from security checks before they enter into Gaza. “The prime minister authorized sending the medicines to the hostages but did not deal at all with the security procedures that are set by the IDF and security officials,” his office says in a statement.

The medicines, provided by Qatar, are set to be delivered to Gaza later today under a deal brokered by Qatar and France. The Israel Defense Forces had no idea that a shipment of medicine for Gaza civilians and the hostages was to be exempted from security checks.India is engaged in diplomatic negotiations with Iran on the attacks on ships in the Red Sea carried out by the Tehran-backed Houthi movement, an Indian government source says.

8:00 am

Polish police are looking for vandals who destroyed the gravesite at Krakow’s New Jewish Cemetery of Sara Schenirer, the founder of the Bais Yaakov movement, who is known as the “mother” of formal Jewish education for Orthodox girls.

Hamas’s network of terror tunnels in the Gaza Strip is even more extensive than previously thought, The New York Times cited senior Israeli defense officials as saying on Tuesday, with new assessments indicating it has upwards of 5,700 entry shafts.

Israel has killed several people in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including, it claimed, the “head of terrorist infrastructure” in the Balata camp in the Israeli-occupied city of Nablus. The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported that four Palestinians had been killed “due to the occupation’s bombardment” of Tulkarm refugee camp. It also said its ambulances were prevented from assisting at the scene of a strike near Nablus by Israeli forces. Palestinian news agency Wafa reported 85 Palestinians were detained overnight. Israel has detained about 6,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since Oct 7.

The Jordanian army said on Jan. 17 its military field hospital in the city of Khan Younis in Gaza was badly damaged as a result of Israeli shelling in the vicinity. In a statement, the army said it held Israel responsible for a “flagrant breach of international law”. 24,448 Palestinians have been killed and 61,504 have been wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Jan. 17.

Pakistan has recalled its ambassador from Iran after Iran launched airstrikes on Pakistan territory, apparently aimed at a Sunni militant group. Pakistan’s foreign ministry said two children were killed and three others were injured in what it called an “illegal” airstrike and “unprovoked violation of its airspace”. Militant group Jaish al-Adl, which has claimed bombings and kidnapped Iranian border police in the past, acknowledged the assault in a statement shared online.

UN chief António Guterres has repeated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, and a process that leads to sustained peace for Israelis and Palestinians, based on a two-state solution. Speaking at Davos, the UN secretary general said “This is the only way to stem the suffering and prevent a spillover that could send the entire region up in flames.”

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has described the situation in Gaza as gut-wrenching, saying “The suffering among innocent men, women and children breaks my heart”. Speaking at Davos he insisted the US had pressed Israel about its responsibilities every step of the way, meaning there were “several dogs that did not bark”. Blinken said a reformed Palestinian Authority must be part of any solution in the region, but it will need to operate with the support of Israel, not its opposition.

Relatives of Israeli hostage Kfir Bibas have this week held a first birthday celebration for the baby who was snatched on Oct 7 and abducted into Gaza during the Hamas attack inside southern Israel. The youngest hostage to be kidnapped would be celebrating the milestone on Thursday. In November, Hamas broadcast a video announcing the death of the baby, his brother and mother, saying they had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. But there has been no confirmation from Israeli officials, and relatives have since clung to the hope that they are not dead. About 132 hostages are still believed to be in Gaza, including at least 27 believed to have been killed.

A deal to allow the delivery of medicines to hostages in Gaza and aid into the territory has been agreed after mediation by Doha and Paris. In a statement Doha announced a deal “where medicine along with other humanitarian aid is to be delivered to civilians in Gaza … in exchange for delivering medication needed for Israeli captives in Gaza”.

American forces have destroyed four anti-ship missiles in Yemen. The US said the missiles threatened civilian and military vessels. The latest attack on Red Sea shipping saw the Houthis hit a Greek-owned cargo ship with a missile off the coast of Yemen as it headed to the Suez canal. No injuries were reported and the vessel remained navigable.

Israel claims that it has killed a Hamas member who it believes was “responsible for interrogating individuals suspected of espionage” in the southern Gaza Strip. The IDF claimed: "An IAF aircraft eliminated Bilal Nofal, who was responsible for interrogating individuals suspected of carrying out espionage activities against the terrorist organisation in the southern Gaza Strip. Nofal played a role in the advancement of Hamas’ research and development processes. His elimination significantly impacts the terrorist organization’s capacity to develop and enhance its capabilities."

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says that parties to the conflict in Gaza are “trampling” on international law and urges them to implement an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Guterres said Israel and Hamas are “ignoring international law, trampling on the Geneva Conventions, and even violating the United Nations Charter.” “The world is standing by as civilians, mostly women and children, are killed, maimed, bombarded, forced from their homes and denied access to humanitarian aid,” he says.

Hamas gave details about an agreement brokered by France and Qatar to deliver medicine to Israeli hostages held by the terror group in Gaza. Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk says that for each box of medicine provided to the hostages, 1,000 boxes would be sent for use by Palestinian civilians. In a posting on X, he says the International Committee of the Red Cross would deliver all the medicines, including those destined for the hostages, to hospitals serving all parts of Gaza. The agreement also includes the delivery of additional food and humanitarian aid to Gaza. Abu Marzouk says Israeli authorities will not inspect the shipments. He says Hamas insisted that Qatar provide the medications and not France because of the European country’s support for Israel. Israeli PM Netanyahu approved the shipment of medicine for Gaza civilians and hostages held by Hamas could enter the Strip without first being examined by Israel, the Ynet news site reports. It is expected to enter Gaza later today. This will be the first shipment to enter the Strip without first being inspected by Israel since the start of the war amid fears Hamas would try to smuggle in weapons.

The IDF carried out an airstrike against a group of terrorists in the West Bank city of Tulkarem. Palestinian media report the strike, with images on social media showing at least two Palestinians wounded or killed next to a heavily damaged vehicle that was apparently hit. IDF sources say the suspects were shooting and hurling explosive devices at troops operating in Tulkarem. It marks the second airstrike in the West Bank within hours, after the head of a terror network and several more operatives were struck in the Balata camp near Nablus.

January 17, 2024

8:30 pm

U.S. forces destroyed four anti-ship missiles in Yemen. The US said the missiles threatened civilian and military vessels. These latest strikes come as attacks by the Houthis continue, despite multiple strikes against them. It is at least the third time in less than a week that the United States has carried out strikes against the Houthis, Agence France-Presse reports, after the group took aim at merchant vessels in the vital Red Sea shipping lane. The Houthis say the attacks are in support of Palestinians in the Israel-Gaza war. “U.S. Forces struck and destroyed four Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles prepared to launch from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen”, the US Central Command (Centcom) said in a statement. Centcom also said the Houthis launched an anti-ship ballistic missile into international shipping lanes on Tuesday and that a Maltese-flagged bulk carrier, Zografia, reported that it was hit but remained seaworthy. 

Aid agencies have begun suspending vital operations in Yemen after the recent US and UK strikes on Houthi targets, amid warnings that further military intervention risks deepening one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

US Central Command said in a statement on Tuesday that it had seized Iranian advanced conventional weapons bound for Yemen’s Houthis on  Jan. 11. It was the first seizure of “lethal Iranian-supplied advanced conventional weapons” to the Houthis since Houthi attacks against merchant ships began in November, the statement added.

Iraq condemned today Iran’s “aggression” on Erbil that led to civilian casualties in residential areas, according to a statement by the country’s foreign ministry, after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they attacked Israel’s “spy headquarters” in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

A US state department spokesperson has said that an Iranian attack near Iraq’s northern city of Erbil on Jan. 15 served to “undermine Iraq’s stability.” “We oppose Iran’s reckless missile strikes,” Matthew Miller said, adding that the US supported “the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government’s efforts to meet the aspirations of the Iraqi people.”
France has accused Iran of violating Iraq’s sovereignty after the strikes. 

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have also claimed an attack in Syria. The group said it had fired a number of ballistic missiles at “terrorist operations” in the country – including Islamic State targets – and destroyed them. A US defence official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the US tracked the missiles, which hit in northern Iraq and northern Syria, and initial indications were that the strikes were “reckless and imprecise”.

Turkey said it had destroyed 23 targets in overnight airstrikes on Kurdish militants in northern Iraq and Syria, a further escalation of conflict south of its border.

At least 24,285 Palestinians have been killed and 61,154 have been wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the health ministry in the territory said in a statement on Tuesday. In the past 24 hours, 158 Palestinians were killed and 320 wounded, the ministry added.

Arab countries are not keen to get involved in the rebuilding of Gaza if the Palestinian enclave will be “levelled” again in a few years, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Tuesday, adding that the Palestinian statehood question needed to be addressed.

The EU has sanctioned the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and added him to the group’s terrorist list. As a result, Sinouar is subject to the freezing of his funds and other financial assets in EU member states. The sanctions also prohibit EU operators from making funds or economic resources available to him.

A number of European states, “concerned” Arab countries and the United States are working on a concept for a unified Palestinian government that could attract reconstruction funds, Norway’s foreign minister said in an interview in Davos. Specific countries were not named.

Requiring Israel to agree to a time-bound, mandatory path to a two-state solution is key to future stability in Israel and the Palestinian territories, Qatar’s prime minister said on Tuesday during the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos.

The Israeli military said today its troops killed dozens of Palestinian militants around the town of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza and also uncovered about 100 rocket launchers. “During IDF activity in the area of Beit Lahia, the troops located approximately 100 rocket set-installations and 60 ready-to-use rockets. The troops killed dozens of terrorists during the activity,” it said.
Aid officials in Gaza believe that pockets of famine already exist in the territory, with parents sacrificing remaining food for their children, an apple costing $8 and fuel for cooking almost impossible to find, the Guardian’s Jason Burke reported. UN agencies have said that Gaza urgently needs more humanitarian assistance as Palestinian authorities reported that the death toll in the territory during the Israeli offensive there had risen to more than 24,000.

Egyptian authorities reportedly thwarted a drug smuggling attempt on the Egyptian-Israeli border onJan. 15. Two security sources told Reuters that there was an exchange of gunfire close to a crossing where aid deliveries for Gaza were being inspected. During the incident, six drug smugglers were arrested, the sources said.
 

8:20 pm

Today, Iran launched a wave of combined missile and drone strikes against Pakistan. Iran claims it was targeting bases of Jaish al-Adl Sunni Muslim militants near Panjgur in Balochistan.

8:00 pm

Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip launched over 50 rockets into southern Israel today, according to local authorities. The barrage, one of the largest launched from Gaza in recent weeks, appeared to target the southern city of Netivot, setting off sirens there and other nearby towns.

Thousands of anti-Israel protesters descended on Manhattan to demand a cease-fire in Gaza on Jan 15, while some targeted a respected hospital for cancer patients over its alleged “complicity in genocide.” The protesters shouted “Shame!” at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center while patients received treatment on the Upper East Side before targeting a Starbucks and a McDonald’s restaurant they reportedly accused of making “meals for genocide.”

Combined Israeli ground and aerial forces carried out an “extensive” series of strikes on Hezbollah targets in the Wadi Saluki district of Southern Lebanon on Tuesday, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Among the targets were dozens of Hezbollah posts, military structures and weapons infrastructure.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused South Africa of falsely interpreting his use of a biblical quote as a call for genocide. Last week, Pretoria’s legal team argued in its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague that Netanyahu’s recent invocations of the Amalekites were a call for the mass murder of Palestinian civilians.

U.S. Navy SEALs seized Iranian-made missile parts and other weaponry from a ship bound for Yemen's Houthi rebels in a raid last week that saw two of its commandos go missing, the U.S. military said today. Another ship came under fire from Houthi terrorists in the Red Sea and sustained some damage, though no one was wounded, officials said.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives were trained in Iran, a captured commander in the terror group reveals in an interrogation published by the Shin Bet security agency. Basel Mahadi, an Islamic Jihad platoon commander, who was nabbed by troops in Gaza on December 20. He said he left Gaza and was sent to Iran for military training. Mahadi says he was trained with 15-20 other Islamic Jihad operatives, from Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria.

Canada will abide by all rulings arising from South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), officials at Global Affairs Canada have told CBC News. Coming on Jan. 15, the clarification came after days of confusion following verbal and written statements issued on Jan. 12 by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly in response to South Africa's claim that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza in its war against Hamas. Trudeau's and Joly's statements were widely misreported in mainstream media and on social media as dismissing the South African case and taking the side of Israel. In fact, their statements carefully avoided either rejecting or endorsing South Africa's case against Israel.

9:00 am

Hamas launched a rocket from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis at Israeli troops operating in the Gaza Strip earlier this week, according to the IDF. An IDF investigation found that the rocket was fired from the medical facility. “Hamas operates systematically in the hospitals in the Gaza Strip and in the areas adjacent to them, using the civilian population as a human shield and exploiting the hospital infrastructure,” the IDF said. 

Brtish maritime security firm Ambrey said a Malta-flagged Greek-owned bulk carrier was hit by a missile while transiting northbound in the Red Sea, 76 nautical miles northwest of Yemen’s port city of Saleef. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) also said it received a report of an incident 100 nautical miles northwest of Saleef.

The IDF says it carried out a large wave of airstrikes and artillery shelling against Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon’s Wadi Saluki. IDF jets and artillery units struck dozens of targets belonging to the terror group within a short period, including observation posts, military buildings, and other Hezbollah infrastructure. The IDF says Hezbollah “makes extensive use of the [Wadi Saluki] area for terror purposes,” and has dozens of positions hidden in the forested area. The strikes come amid repeated missile, rocket, and drone attacks carried out by Hezbollah on northern Israel.

8:50 am

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said today that his government could recognize Israel diplomatically if the Palestinian issue were resolved. At Davos, Prince Faisal bin Farhan said "certainly" when asked if Saudi Arabia might taken the step as part of a wider agreement after a resolution of the Palestinian conflict. “Peace and security for Israel is intimately linked with peace and security,” says Bin Farhan in Davos at the World Economic Forum. “We are fully onboard with that.” He said Saudi Arabia agrees that “regional peace means peace for Israel,” but “that can only happen with a Palestinian state.” “What Israel is doing now is putting the prospects for regional peace and security at risk,” he said. There must be a ceasefire on all sides, he said, which “should be a starting point for peace” in the region.

The EU has sanctioned the Hamas leader Yahia Sinouar and added him to the its terrorist list. Sinouar is subject to the freezing of his funds and other financial assets in EU member states. The sanctions also prohibit EU operators from making funds or economic resources available to him. The Council of the EU said: “The council decided today to add one individual to the EU terrorist list. This decision comes as part of EU’s response to the threat posed by Hamas and its brutal and indiscriminate terrorist attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023. “These sanctions are effective as of today. The individual designated today is Yahia Sinouar, the political leader of Hamas. Following his listing, Yahia Sinouar is subject to the freezing of his funds and other financial assets in EU member states. It is also prohibited for EU operators to make funds and economic resources available to him.”

7:45 am

Iraqi Kurdish PM Masrour Barzani accused Iran of killing innocent civilians in its strikes on the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. The is a United States consulate in Erbil. It was not damaged by the attack Iran’s Revolutionary Guards earlier said they attacked an Israeli spy center in the region. At the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Barzani said the Iranian allegations were baseless and added that now w as not the time for US forces to withdraw from the country.

US Central Command said in a statement today that it had seized Iranian advanced conventional weapons bound for Yemen’s Houthis on Jan. 11. It was the first seizure of “lethal Iranian-supplied advanced conventional weapons” to the Houthis since Houthi attacks against merchant ships began in November, the statement added.

A number of European states, “concerned” Arab countries and the United States are working on a concept for a unified Palestinian government that could attract reconstruction funds, Norway’s foreign minister said at the WEF meeting in Davos. “A number of countries are working with us ... trying to build a broad unity government,” Espen Barth Eide said, without naming the specific countries. Norway was of the view that a unified Palestinian territory should be run by the Palestinian Authority, but “prefacing everything, it has to be what the Palestinians want”, he added. Norway served as a facilitator in the 1992-93 talks between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) that led to the Oslo accords in 1993. The Palestinian Authority, set up under that agreement, exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank and held talks with Israel on a Palestinian state before they collapsed in 2014. Islamist Hamas has ruled in Gaza since 2007 and is sworn to Israel’s destruction.

Barth Eide said work on a two-state solution was becoming urgent as the conflict was spreading in the region, but that only the US and the Israeli people could influence Israel’s position. “What we can do is work on Palestinian unity, and think about models with interested countries,” he said.

Iraq has recalled its ambassador from Tehran to discuss the recent Iranian attack on the city of Erbil, according to a statement by the country’s foreign ministry. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they attacked the “spy headquarters” of Israel in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region late on Jan. 15. 

Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, said today that Israel was placing many obstacles to the entry of aid into Gaza that were worsening the plight of Palestinians. In remarks during a press conference with his Australian counterpart, Safadi said these hurdles meant only 10% of the total needs of more than 2 million people in Gaza under siege were being covered. There is evidence that Hamas is diverting humanitarian assistance intended for civilian Gazans to its own purposes.

Turkey said it had destroyed 23 targets in overnight air strikes on Kurdish militants in northern Iraq and Syria, a further escalation of conflict south of its border. The attacks were the latest by Turkey since nine Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes with Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq last week. The new strikes were on targets in northern Syria and the Metina, Gara, Hakurk and Qandil regions of northern Iraq, the Turkish defense ministry announced on Jan. 15. “Twenty-three targets were destroyed, including caves, shelters, tunnels, ammunition warehouses, supply materials and facilities used by the terrorist organisation,” it said in a statement. It said many militants had been “neutralised."

Israel must agree to a time-bound, mandatory path to a two-state solution is key to future stability in Israel and the Palestinian territories, said Qatar’s PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said today. He said the Palestinians must be the ones to decide if the Hamas movement that runs Gaza will continue to play a political role in the future.

According to the Hamas-controlled health ministry of Gaza, at least 24,285 Palestinians have been killed and 61,154 have been wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists. In the last 24 hours, 158 Palestinians were killed and 320 wounded, the ministry added.

Israeli defense forces announced that its troops had killed dozens of Hamas militants in northern Gaza. The IDF said today that its special forces struck in the area of Ayta ash Shab in Lebanon. “IDF special forces struck in order to remove a threat in the area of Ayta ash Shab in Lebanon,” the IDF said. It did not say what kind of forces had struck nor where specifically they had operated. Israeli Air Force assets  struck an anti-tank missile launcher in southern Lebanon that belonged to the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah.

The Israeli military said today its troops killed dozens of terrorists near the town of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza and also uncovered about 100 rocket launchers. “During IDF activity in the area of Beit Lahia, the troops located approximately 100 rocket set-installations and 60 ready-to-use rockets. The troops killed dozens of terrorists during the activity,” it said.

Recent evidence has been released showing that Hams is relying on a panoply of armaments of Russian, Chinese, Bulgarian, Iranian and Bulgarian origin. Hamas has the capability of producing some anti-tank rockets and ballistic missiles. It continues to fire missiles into Israel, which is defended by its Iron Dome missile defense system.

France accused Iran of violating Iraq’s sovereignty after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards struck a purported Israeli “spy headquarters” in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. “Such acts represent blatant, unacceptable and worrying violations of Iraq’s sovereignty and an attack on its stability and security, as well as that of Kurdistan within it,” France’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “They contribute to the escalation of regional tensions and must stop.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have also claimed an attack in Syria. The group said it had fired a number of ballistic missiles at “terrorist operations” in the country – including Islamic State targets – and destroyed them. A US defense official said the US tracked the missiles, which hit in northern Iraq and northern Syria, and initial indications were that the strikes were “reckless and imprecise”. The strikes in northern Syria came after IS claimed responsibility earlier this month for two suicide bombings targeting a commemoration for an Iranian general slain in a 2020 US drone strike. That attack killed at least 84 people and wounded an additional 284 at a ceremony honoring former Revolutionary Guard Gen Qassem Suleimani.

US state department spokesman Matthew Miller said the Iranian attack near Iraq’s northern city of Erbil may “undermine Iraq’s stability.” “We oppose Iran’s reckless missile strikes,” Miller said, adding that the US supported “the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government’s efforts to meet the aspirations of the Iraqi people.”

Iraq on Tuesday condemned Iran’s “aggression” on Erbil that led to civilian casualties in residential areas, according to a statement by the country’s foreign ministry, after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they attacked Israel’s “spy headquarters” in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. The Iraqi government will take all legal measures against these actions that are considered a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and the security of its people, including filing a complaint at the United Nations security council.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel's said that the intense military operation in southern Gaza is winding down. On Jan. 15, he said that it had reached an “intense manoeuvring stage” due to last around three months “will end soon” in southern Gaza. That stage is already being reached in northern Gaza, with Israel’s army confirming one of its four divisions in the territory has completed its withdrawal on Jan. 15. The IDF has increased its operations and bombardments in the southern cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah in recent weeks after saying Hamas’s military structures in the north had been dismantled.

Israel is facing heavy international pressure over Gaza’s humanitarian crisis and the growing number of alleged civilian casualties, with the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry reporting 60 deaths in overnight bombardments from Jan. 14 - Jan. 15. 

Iran claimed that that its attacks targeted the “espionage headquarters” of Israel in Iraq. At least four civilians were killed and six injured in the strikes, the Kurdistan government’s security council said, describing the attack as a “crime”. Millionaire Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee and several members of his family were among the dead, killed when at least one rocket crashed into their home, Iraqi security and medical sources said. Additionally, one rocket had fallen on the house of a senior Kurdish intelligence official and another on a Kurdish intelligence centre, the security sources said.

No US facilities were affected by the missiles strikes.

7:30 am

Summary:

Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said that the country’s intense military operation in southern Gaza was nearing its end. However, Gallant noted that Hamas would not agree to release any more hostages without continued military pressure. He accused the Islamist militant group of carrying out “psychological abuse”.

An anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Iran-backed Houthi militants struck a Marshall Islands-flagged, US-owned and operated container ship about 100 miles off the Gulf of Aden, the US military confirmed yesterday. The ship has reported no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its journey. The strike on the Gibraltar Eagle marks a widening of the theatre of war and raises questions about whether the US-UK naval alliance off Yemen will have to mount a further series of strikes, or even consider liaising actively with ground troops from the UN recognised Presidential Leadership Council – the Saudi-UAE backed coalition government based in Aden.

Hamas released a video announcing the death of two Israeli hostages and claimed that they had beenn killed by Israeli airstrikes. The two men are believed to be Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itay Svirsky, 38. Israel says 132 hostages are still being held by the Islamist militant group and that 25 have died in captivity. The IDF has denied that they were killed by an airstrike.
Two young French nationals were injured in Monday’s attack in Raanana, Israel, the French foreign ministry said in a statement, condemning the attack.

January 16, 2024

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R) declared that federal employees who participate in a planned walk-out in support of Palestine in the current war in Gaza should be summarily fired.

Attacks on ships headed to Israel will continue, the chief negotiator for Yemen’s Houthis said, adding that the terrorst group’s position has not changed since US-led air strikes on Yemen.  Mohammed Abdulsalam said, "Tensions remained high in the Middle East on Sunday as western leaders, the Houthis and their allies all warned of possible further action in the aftermath of Friday’s US-UK bombing of rebel-held areas in Yemen."

Initial briefings from the US suggested that only about a quarter of the Houthis’ missile and drone attack capability had been destroyed, while reports emerged of two boats trying to threaten a merchant ship in the southern Red Sea. A Houthi supporter said on Jan, 14 that the group’s attacks on merchant shipping travelling the waterway south of the Suez Canal would continue “because they are at war with Israel”. Hussain al-Bukhaiti said that if the US and UK continued to bomb Yemen, Houthi forces would attack western warships “maybe using hundreds of drones and missiles”, which would represent a significant escalation. Not all the ships targeted since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October have had Israeli links.

The Yemeni Houthi movement will expand its targets to include US ships, according to an official from the Iran-allied group, who added that the US is “on the verge of losing its maritime security”. Nasruldeen Amer, a spokesman for the Houthis, said "The ship doesn’t necessarily have to be heading to Israel for us to target it; it is enough for it to be American."

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel's military operation in southern Gaza was nearing its end. However, Gallant noted that Hamas would not agree to release any more hostages without continued military pressure. He accused the Islamist militant group of carrying out “psychological abuse”.

Hamas released a video announcing the death of two Israeli hostages and claimed that they had beenn killed by Israeli airstrikes. The two men are believed to be Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itay Svirsky, 38. Israel says 132 hostages are still being held by the Islamist militant group and that 25 have died in captivity. The video showed the bodies of the two Israelis, while a third Israeli hostage, Noa Agramani, said the two were killed by “our own IDF strikes,” referring to the Israeli military.

Two young French nationals were injured in the attack today in Raanana, Israel, the French foreign ministry said in a statement, condemning the attack. An elderly woman was killed in the car-ramming attack, and more than a dozen people injured. Three residents of the West Bank were arrested in connection with the deadly attack.

British PM Rishi Sunak dismissed what he called the “malign narrative” claiming airstrikes against Houthis were part of the Israel-Gaza war. In a statement to the House of Commons, Sunak noted that the Houthis attacked British and American warships on Jan. 9, after other attacks on commercial shipping. It was “the biggest attack on the Royal Navy for decades”, he said. The US and UK, he said, acted in self-defense and to protect freedom of navigation, as Britain has always done. He said all 13 targets of the airstrike were successfully hit. And there was no evidence of civilian casualties, he said. Great care was taken to avoid them, he said. He said that in protecting international shipping, the UK was upholding international law.

A US-owned cargo ship was hit by a missile off the coast of Yemen. a day after Houthi rebels fired a cruise missile at a US destroyer. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations security agency reports a “vessel hit from above by a missile.” A fire broke out on board the Marshall Islands-flagged, US-owned bulk carrier, but it remains seaworthy and there were no injuries. 
The company “assessed the attack to have targeted US interests in response to US military strikes on Houthi military positions in Yemen,” Ambrey says, adding that the vessel was “assessed to not be Israel-affiliated.” US Central Command identified the ship as M/V Gibraltar Eagle.

At least six cargo ships are avoiding the Red Sea area due to Houthi attacks.

The cost of Indian exports has more than doubled due to the Yemeni Houthi militia’s attacks on ships in the Red Sea, industry officials have said. About 80% of India’s goods trade with Europe, estimated at nearly $14bn a month, normally passes via the Red Sea, according to government estimates.

An elderly woman was killed and at least 17 people were injured, including at least seven children and teenagers, in a coordinated car-ramming and stabbing terror attack in the central Israel city of Ra’anana today. The two West Bank Palestinian perpetrators had been working in Israel illegallyand seized at least three vehicles and rammed pedestrians in several locations in the city, also stabbing one or more of their victims, according to police. Meir Hospital said a woman in her 70s succumbed to her wounds. The terrorists were identified as Ahmed Zidat, 25, and Mahmoud Zidad, 44, both residents of the southern West Bank town of Bani Naim, close to Hebron. According to the Shin Bet, both had been blacklisted for entering Israel illegally numerous times in the past.

Gaza urgently needs more aid or its desperate population will suffer widespread famine and disease, the heads of three major UN agencies have warned. Authorities in the territory reported that the death toll in the Israel-Hamas war had surpassed 24,000, AP reported. While the UN agency chiefs did not directly point a finger at Israel, they said aid delivery had been hobbled by the opening of too few border crossings, a slow vetting process for trucks and goods going into Gaza, and continued fighting throughout the territory – with Israel being a deciding factor in all of this.

A total of 24,100 Palestinians have been killed and 60,834 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Monday. It said 132 Palestinians were killed and 252 injured in the past 24 hours.

A new round of negotiations to obtain the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Hamas has made incremental progress, sources close to the talks say, signalling the end to months of deadlock and raising hopes among relatives as the war passes its 100th day. New details emerged in recent days of a deal to allow medicine – such as vital prescription drugs – to reach the hostages, along with an increase in humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Israeli forces killed five militants who were trying to “locate weapons” in northern Gaza and killed another two who had been loading weapons on to a vehicle in the territory’s south, according to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). It said in an operational update that it had also raided a Hamas “command centre” in Khan Younis, confiscating dozens of weapons as well as diving gear belonging to Hamas’s naval forces.

A video journalist from the Cairo-based television channel Al Ghad was killed in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in a strike that the channel blamed on the Israeli army. In a post on X, the station said it was announcing “with a heavy heart” that Yazan al-Zwaidi was “murdered by Israeli fire”, Agence France-Presse reports.

The White House has said “it’s the right time” for Israel to scale back its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli leaders again vowed to press ahead with their offensive against Hamas. The comments exposed the growing differences between the close allies on the 100th day of the war on Sunday, Associated Press reports. The White House national security council spokesman, John Kirby, told the US network CBS that the US had been speaking to Israel “about a transition to low-intensity operations” in Gaza.

The US cannot call for restraint while supporting Israel’s war in Gaza, Iran’s foreign minister said on Monday, while calling for a diplomatic solution to the war in the strip. Hossein Amirabdollahian, in a televised joint press conference with his Indian counterpart in Tehran, called on US officials “not to tie the security and national interests of the US to the fate of Israel’s prime minister who is falling”.

China’s foreign minister Wang Yi called for a larger, more authoritative Israeli-Palestinian peace conference and a timetable to implement a two-state solution as the Gaza conflict escalated and the Red Sea became a new flash point. Speaking to reporters after talks with Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry in Cairo on Sunday, Wang said the international community should “listen” carefully to the legitimate concerns in the Middle East.

Hizb ut-Tahrir will be banned from organising in the UK following claims that the group is antisemitic, the home secretary has said. The Islamist group, which is already banned in several countries including Germany and Indonesia, will no longer be allowed to recruit or hold protests and meetings across the UK. It follows criticisms of the group by ministers in the wake of demonstrations held against Israeli strikes on Gaza.

US fighter aircraft shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired from Houthi militant areas of Yemen toward a US destroyer operating in the southern Red Sea, the US military said on Sunday. The midair interception is the latest incident in the Red Sea where the Houthis have been attacking international shipping in what they say is a campaign to support Palestinians under siege from Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reports.

Britain’s “decisive” action in the Red Sea “dealt a blow” to the Houthis, the UK’s defence secretary has said. In his first major speech, Grant Shapps said “enough was enough” and precision strikes were authorised in response to Houthi attacks because they “chose to ignore” clear warnings.

The UK has no interest in taking part in any wider conflict in Yemen but is “waiting to see what happens” before deciding whether further military strikes against Houthi forces might be needed, the defence secretary has said. Discussing the US-led strikes on the Yemen-based rebels in the early hours of Friday, which were aimed at stopping Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, Grant Shapps said the aims of the military operation were always limited.

Turkish authorities have released Israeli football player Sagiv Jehezkel from police custody and he will return to Israel on Monday, the foreign ministry in Jerusalem said. Jehezkel had been detained in Antalya after wearing a wristband during a match with the words “100 days”, the date of the Hamas militant attack that precipitated Israel’s war in Gaza, and a Star of David.

Three gunmen who crossed into Israel from Lebanon and two Israelis were killed in clashes and a strike along the frontier between the two countries on Sunday, the army and medics said. Five soldiers were wounded in the firefight with the gunmen, the Israeli military said. Earlier, an Israeli man was pronounced dead and a woman, who the local municipality said was his mother, died later after a missile strike in the Israeli border community of Kfar Yuval that reportedly wounded multiple Israelis.

January 15, 2024

Arab-Israeli legislator Ahmad Tibi said on social media that three of his relatives, including a 10-year-old boy, had been killed in a strike on Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

Hamas has aired video footage showing three Israeli hostages it is holding in Gaza in which they urged Israel’s government to stop its offensive against the militant group and bring about their release, as both sides marked the 100th day of the war. The undated 37-second video of the three captives – aged 26, 53 and 38 – aired on Sunday ended with the chyron: “Tomorrow we will inform you of their fate.”

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said Israel had “failed” in Gaza and would be forced to negotiate. He made the remarks in a televised address on Jan. 14.

Bangladesh has voiced its support for South Africa in its genocide case against Israel at the international court of justice. Bangladesh “welcomes the opportunity to file a declaration of intervention in the proceedings in due course”, its ministry of foreign affairs said. Namibia, meanwhile, rejected what it called Germany’s support of the “genocidal intent of the racist Israeli state against innocent civilians in Gaza”. The Namibian presidency pointed to Germany’s “inability to draw lessons from its horrific history”, citing the 20th century’s first genocide – the Herero-Namaqua genocide perpetrated by German forces on Namibian soil from 1904-08.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has called the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza caused by Israeli attacks across the strip, which have displacing nearly 2 million Palestinians, one of the world’s “most complex and challenging” operations. In a tweet on Sunday following 100 days of Israel’s war on Gaza, the UNRWA said: “The massive destruction, displacement, hunger and loss of last 100 days are staining our shared humanity.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and its partners have visited al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza and Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said on X (formerly Twitter) that both hospitals require “sustained support and protection to remain operational” and that they were “vital lifelines for patients and thousands of displaced people in Gaza”.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society has set up shelter tents for 315 displaced Palestinian families in the Mawasi Rafah area near the Egyptian border.

An Israeli footballer who displayed a message referring to the Israel-Gaza war during a match in Turkey has been arrested, according to reports in Turkish media. Earlier on Sunday, the country’s justice minister announced an investigation into Sagiv Jehezkel over the incident for suspected “incitement to hate”, after his club, Antalyaspor, sacked him over the matter. Jehezkel scored a goal for his team and then displayed a message reading “100 days. 07/10” on a bandage on his wrist.

January 14, 2024

Thousands of people turned out in support of Hamas and the Palestinian cause in both London and Washington DC in a "March for Gaza" that called for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.

A large, angry mob of pro-Palestinian protesters screamed and chanted “f*** Joe Biden” as they tried to rip down the fence around The White House in the evening. They threw water bottles and other containers at the fence, while chanting expletives over and over. White House personnel were evacuated from the grounds, because the protest started growing increasingly violent. 
An online video shows the crowd shaking the fence, causing actual damage. That's when the Secret Service rallied to keep the mob back.

6:00 pm

A senior US military official said more attacks by the Houthi terrorists are expected. Director of US joint staff Lt Gen Douglas Sims said that the Houthis had fired at least one missile already in response to the US-UK attacks. Sims said: “Their rhetoric has been pretty strong, and pretty high, and we expect that they will attempt some sort of retaliation. I would hope that they don’t retaliate, but we’re prepared in the event that they do.” Huge crowds hit the streets in Yemen's capital in support of the Houthis.

In London, large crowds have gathered in the city center, calling for a ceasefire. The UK-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign said thousands of people had joined the march by about noon. Billed as a “National March for Palestine” amid Israel’s war against the Hamas terrorists, London's Metropolitan Police are responding with 1,700 officers on duty. Previous protests have seen anti-Israel chants and a number of arrests, however many in the Jewish community believe that policing has not gone far enough. Lord Walney said that demonstrators shouting "jihad" should be arrested. “Clearly, shouting ‘jihad’ in the street in the wake of the pogrom on October 7 is not using the interpretation of the word meaning inner struggle,” Lord Walney said. “Where officers see people engaging in activity that suggests support or membership of a proscribed organization, such as Hamas or Hezbollah, action will be taken,” London’s Metropolitan Police says in a statement. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said that “those who intentionally push the limits of what may cross the line into criminality will face the consequences.”

U.S. Central Command announced on social media, "At 3:45 a.m. (Sana’a time) on Jan 13., U.S. forces conducted a strike against a Houthi radar site in Yemen. This strike was conducted by the USS Carney (DDG 64) using Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and was a follow-on action on a specific military target associated with strikes taken on Jan. 12 designed to degrade the Houthi’s ability to attack maritime vessels, including commercial vessels. Since Nov. 19, 2023, Iranian-backed Houthi militants have attempted to attack and harass vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden 28 times. These illegal incidents include attacks that have employed anti-ship ballistic missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and cruise missiles. These strikes have no association with and are separate from Operation Prosperity Guardian, a defensive coalition of over 20 countries operating in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and Gulf of Aden.

An official of Yemen’s Houthi group Ansarullah says that there were no injuries in the latest strike by the US against Houthi forces in Sana’a, and vowed a “strong and effective” response. “There were no injuries, no material nor human losses,” Nasruldeen Amer said. The US-led strikes on targets linked to the Iran-backed group were launched in response to a recent campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships in the vital Red Sea.

Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent leftist from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, called on President Joe Biden distance himself from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that being pro-Israel does not mean that Washington needs to support the Israeli leader. Sanders said that US support for the war could be one of a number of issues that could lead to progressive Democrat voters not casting their ballots for Biden in the November 2024 presidential elections. “I hope that he [Biden] understands that you can be pro-Israel without supporting Netanyahu and the horrific war he is waging against the Palestinian people,” Sanders said. When asked why has not called for a full ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists, thus enraging progressives and split the Democrats, Sanders said: “I think, at the end of the day, we’ll be alright.” Sanders said that a permanent ceasefire could lead to Hamas repeating the terror onslaught of October 7.

Democrats such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and leaders of the Muslim community in the US have warned that support for Israel will mean their constituents will abandon Biden in the presidential election.

A poll published last month indicated that most Americans were opposed to Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. The New York Times/Siena College poll found that 57% of Americans disapprove, 33% approve, and the rest did not know. The poll also found a split between younger voters and older ones. The poll found that among people between 18 and 29 years old, nearly three-quarters disapproved of the way Biden is handling the conflict.

Organizers of the 24-hour rally in France calling for the release of the hostages held in Gaza say the event will open with a video message from French President Emmanuel Macron. The central event organized by the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum Headquarters will be held at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, with rallies to be held across the country and around the world to mark Sunday’s grim milestone of 100 days in captivity for those kidnapped during the Hamas onslaught on October 7 in which some 1,200 people were murdered.

It is believed that 132 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November. Four hostages were released prior to that, and one was rescued by troops. The bodies of eight hostages have also been recovered and three hostages were mistakenly killed by the military. The Israel Defense Forces has confirmed the deaths of 25 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza. One more person is listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown. Hamas has also been holding the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on October 7, killing some 1,200 people in Israel, most of them civilians, amid horrifying acts of brutality and sexual violence. Around 240 others taken were hostage, of which 136 remain in captivity in Gaza.

The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum Headquarters representing the families of those abducted to Gaza, releases a video featuring Mayim Bialik, Sheryl Sandberg and Ginnifer Goodwin on the atrocities carried out against women by terrorists during the Hamas-led onslaught on October 7. The video features the women describing testimony reported by The New York Times and The Telegraph of the widespread sexual violence against women and children during the devastating assault. “The video, featuring Mayim Bialik, Sheryl Sandberg, Ginnifer Goodwin, Kathy Ireland, and Patricia Heaton, is not just a recount of the atrocities but a call to action,” the organization says in a statement. “It serves as a stark reminder that silence and denial only serve to further violate the victims. It is a plea to the world to acknowledge these heinous crimes and to stand in solidarity with the survivors and those still held captive.” “We call upon the global community to not just watch but to act. We urge everyone to speak out for the women held hostage, still enduring atrocities at the hands of their captors, and demand their release. We must bring them home,” the forum says.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says 23,843 Palestinians have been killed and 60,317 have been wounded in the enclave since October 7. These figures cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires. The IDF says it has killed over 8,500 operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.

The IDF releases footage showing the identification of a cell of Hamas operatives armed with RPGs and assault rifles in central Gaza, and a subsequent airstrike carried out against them. According to the IDF, troops of the 179th Reserve Armored Brigade spotted the Hamas cell and ambushed them. After the cell entered a structure the IDF says was used by Hamas as a command center, the reservists called in an airstrike, killing them and destroying the building.

9:30 am

January 13, 2024

 

A terror plot foiled in December by the Danish police and intelligence services had links to the Islamist movement Hamas, Danish police say. Three suspects were arrested in Denmark in mid-December, and four more in Germany. Danish prosecutor Anders Larsson has confirmed that the case “has links to Hamas."

Israeli Shin Bet internal security service reportedly submitted a document urgently warning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prevent an imminent flareup in the West Bank area of Judea and Samaria. Netanyahu was urged to reverse the cabinet decisions taken after October 7 to withhold hundreds of millions in tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority and block the return of some 150,000 Palestinians from work inside Israel and the settlements. The action was taken to disconnect Israel from Gaza, given that some of the tax revenues are used to pay services and employees in the Strip. The latter decision was taken as a security precaution following Hamas’s terror onslaught during which some 1,200 Israelis were brutally killed and another roughly 240 were taken hostage.

The security establishment has warned that the policies risk collapsing an already cash-strapped PA, including members of its security services. Shin Bet warns this could lead PA troops to fire on Israeli forces. The IDF has credited the PA troops in the past for curbing terror and maintaining stability in the West Bank. The US has also repeatedly called on Israel to release the PA tax revenues. Biden officials have warned that failure to do so risks opening up another front in the West Bank on top of the war in Gaza and the ever-intensifying state of affairs on the northern border. Netanyahu reportedly reached out to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed asking if Abu Dhabi would be willing to finance unemployment benefits for the Palestinian workers in the West Bank. The Emirati leader flatly rejected the request. “A lot of blood could be spilled, for merely political reasons,” a security source tells Channel 13. “Not enough is being done to prevent this.”

President Biden said the Houthi rebels in Yemen are a terror group. In Pennsylvania, when asked whether he thinks the Houthis are a terror group, he said:. “I think they are.” This could mean a shift in policy. During his first year in office, Biden removed the Houthis’ terror listing amid pressure from progressives who argued that it was harming efforts to deliver humanitarian aid in Yemen. The administration said it decided to review that decision in November, following repeated attacks by Houthis on international vessels in the Red Sea.

Overnight, assets of the United States and United Kingdom struck various Houthi targets in Yemen for the first time in years.

Reporter: “The bombing of the Houthis — if the attacks don't stop, will you continue with the strikes?”

President Biden: “We will make sure that we respond to the Houthis as they continue this outrageous behavior, along with our allies.”

Israel criticized the UN human rights office when the latter failed to call for release of hostages being held by terrorists in Gaza. The Geneva-based Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a statement marking 100 days since the conflict began on October 7. “This Sunday will mark 100 days since Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched their horrific attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people, mostly Israelis, were killed and around 250 taken hostage,” the statement began. “On the conduct of hostilities, we have repeatedly highlighted Israel’s recurring failures to uphold the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law: distinction, proportionality, and precautions in carrying out attacks,” it continued. “Breaches of these obligations risk exposure to liability for war crimes.” It called for a ceasefire to “end the appalling suffering and loss of life” and allow the prompt and effective delivery of humanitarian aid to a population “facing shocking levels of hunger and disease.”

Israel's mission in Geneva stated on X: “Not one word demanding the release of the hostages held in Gaza...A call for a ceasefire, without demanding the release of our hostages and the disarming of Hamas, is a call for terrorism to win.” While Volker Turk, UN high commissioner for human rights, has repeatedly called for the hostages to be freed but the latest statement from his office neglected the issue.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government rejects the premise of the International Court of Justice proceeding to determine whether Israel is perpetrating a genocide in Gaza. “Canada is engaged in five cases at the ICJ because we believe in the importance of that as an institution,” Trudeau said. “But our wholehearted support of the ICJ and its processes does not mean that we support the premise of the case brought forward by South Africa,” he added.

Earlier today, UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) received multiple reports of small boats approaching a merchant ship southeast of Yemen’s Gulf of Aden. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called on UK Foreign Minister David Cameron to de-escalate tension in the Gulf of Aden in a phone call this evening. Fidan pointed out there were already many conflicts in the Middle East and the tension in the Gulf of Aden should be reduced, sources say.

Italy, Spain and France (all NATO members) did not take part in US and British strikes against the Houthi group in Yemen and did not even sign a statement made by 10 countries justifying the attack. However, The Netherlands, Australia, Canada, and Bahrain provided logistical and intelligence support for the operation. In addition, Germany, Denmark, New Zealand and South Korea signed a joint statement with these six nations defending the overnight attacks and warning of further action to protect the free flow of Red Sea trade if the Houthis did not back down. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office said Italy had declined to sign the statement, and as a result, was not asked to participate in the attack against the Houthis. Another source claimed that Italy had been asked to take part, but declined for two reasons — firstly because any Italian involvement would have needed parliamentary approval, which would have taken time, and secondly because Rome preferred to pursue a “calming” policy in the Red Sea.

A French official said President Macron feared that by joining the US-led strikes, his government would have lost any leverage it had in talks to defuse tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. France has focused much of its diplomacy in recent weeks on avoiding an escalation in Lebanon. The French foreign affairs ministry issued a statement saying the Houthis bore responsibility for the escalation. But a diplomatic source said France did not believe the attack could be deemed legitimate self-defense.

Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles the Socialist coalition government had not joined the military action in the Red Sea because it wanted to promote peace in the region. “Every country has to give explanations for its actions. Spain will always be committed to peace and dialogue,” she told reporters. 

Earlier this week, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto made clear his reluctance to target the Houthis, telling Reuters that their aggression had to be stopped without triggering a new war in the region.

5:15 pm

The U.S. Department of Education has opened an investigation into a New Jersey school district that has come under fire for what Jewish parents allege is an antisemitic climate since Oct. 7. The case at Teaneck Public Schools, a diverse district in a heavily Jewish suburb of New York City, adds to a growing slate of federal Title VI civil rights investigations involving alleged discrimination of Jewish or Arab students in the months since Hamas attacked Israel. Other investigations have been opened at universities and K-12 school districts across the country.

British maritime security firm Ambrey says the Houthis mistakenly targeted a tanker carrying Russian oil.  The Houthis thought the vessel was linked to the UK, based on out-of-date publicly available information. "This was the second tanker mistakenly targeted by the Houthis whilst carrying Russian oil," Ambrey said. The missile hit the water 400-500 metres away from the ship, and was followed by three small craft, according to the UKMTO. There were no injuries or damage. US national security spokesman John Kirby said in response to the attack that nobody was Pollyanna-ish about the possibility that the Houthis might conduct some sort of retaliation".

Cricket South Africa announced that it had decided to strip team captain David Teeger of his title ahead of the World Cup, set to kick off in Potchefstroom next week. CSA suggested he could be the target of pro-Palestinian protests due to his Jewish identity and vocal support of Israel in its war against Hamas. Teeger became the subject of an enquiry after making pro-Israel comments during an awards ceremony in October, however he was eventually cleared to play after it was determined he had not violated the code of conduct. While he will still be allowed to take part in the World Cup, another player will be chosen as captain for the duration of the tournament.

3:00

Synagogues in Toronto, Canada, have been turned down by authorities for matching funds for security upgrades made in the wake of antisemitic attacks, including firebombing. 

9:55 am

The United States and Britain carried out strikes against targets linked to Houthis in Yemen. It’s the first time strikes have been launched against the Iran-backed group since it started targeting international shipping in the Red Sea late last year. Yemen’s Houthis spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam posted on X that the group will continue targeting ships heading towards Israel and that there was no justification for the US-Britain attack on Yemen. Houthi deputy foreign minister Hussein Al-Ezzi warned of a “heavy price” to be paid by the US and the UK, according to official Houthi media: “Our country was subjected to a massive aggressive attack by American and British ships, submarines and warplanes … America and Britain will have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all the dire consequences of this blatant aggression”, he said.

President Biden released a statement on the strikes – where he highlights the countries involved in the military action – including Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands.  Biden said: "These targeted strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most critical commercial routes. I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary."

The US air force says it struck “over 60 targets at 16 Iranian-backed Houthi militant locations, including command and control nodes, munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities, and air defence radar systems”. It also says more than 100 precision-guided munitions of various types were used in the strikes.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanaani, issued a statement condemning the US-Britain attack on Yemen’s Houthis, Nournews reports. He says “We consider it a clear violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a breach of international laws, regulations, and rights.” Lebanon’s Hezbollah has also reacted on Friday to the strikes and condemned them. Russia requested an urgent meeting of the UN security council to discuss the military strikes in Yemen by the United States and Britain.

British prime minister Rishi Sunak released a statement on the military action, describing it as “limited, necessary and proportionate action in self-defence” and saying that the Netherlands, Canada and Bahrain offered “non-operational support”. The UK’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement that “particular care was taken to minimise any risks to civilians” and that “early indications are that the Houthis’ ability to threaten merchant shipping has taken a blow.”

Ten countries were involved in the strikes, according to a joint statement released by the White House from the government’s of Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom, and the United States saying they will “not hesitate to defend lives and protect the free flow of commerce in one of the world’s most critical waterways”. Italy decided to sit it out. Denmark announced it will send a frigate to the Red Sea.

Saudi Arabia says it is monitoring situation with “great concern”. The kingdom’s foreign ministry is calling for restraint and “avoiding escalation” in light of the strikes launched by the United States and Britain.

Israel is set to respond and present its defense at the international court of justice in The Hague.  South Africa has filed a lawsuit with the UN’s top court asking judges to impose emergency measures ordering Israel to immediately halt the Gaza offensive, alleging that Israel’s actions in the war there amount to genocide. Israel rejects the accusations of genocide as baseless and said South Africa was acting as a mouthpiece for Hamas. Israel says its military is targeting Hamas militants, not Palestinian civilians.

January 12, 2024

Israel’s police said today that officers had arrested two Palestinian supporters of the Islamic State who had plans to carry out “terrorist attacks” targeting the country’s security forces. The two residents of  East Jerusalem had planned to prepare explosive devices aimed at targeting security forces, said the police statement. “The two terrorists supported the ideology of the Islamic State group and consumed content through the internet and Telegram, including videos of killings carried out by the group abroad,” the statement said. “Influenced by the content of the organisation, the two planned to carry out terrorist attacks against police officers and border police force.”

2:47 pm

British prime minister Rishi Sunak called for an emergency cabinet meeting amid speculation that the UK and US may announce airstrike against the Houthis in Yemen. It comes after the UK and US warned of “consequences” after warships from both countries repelled a barrage of Houthi rockets, drones and cruise missiles apparently fired at western warships in the Red Sea. UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said on Jan. 19 “watch this space” at a press briefing and directly accused Iran of helping the Yemeni rebels with intelligence and surveillance.

A  joint US-UK attack on Houthi military installations in Yemen, including the port of Hodeidah, seems imminent after Houthi leaders vowed to defy a UN security resolution passed the previous day demanding an end to the attacks on commercial shipping. Tension between Iran and the US was piqued after Houthi negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam said the attacks in the Red Sea would have no impact on the rebel movement’s current peace talks with Saudi Arabia, which has been involved in the Yemeni civil war since 2015. Abdulsalam said the talks had “nothing to do with what is happening in the Gaza Strip, unless the Americans want to move other countries in the region to defend Israel, which is another matter.”

The Wall Street Journal reported, "Maritime executives have been told by Western diplomats that targets would likely include missile and drone launch sites, radars and weapons depots around the Yemeni cities of Hodeida and Hajjah”

US-allied Gulf and Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, have been pressing Washington for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, saying that is the only way to prevent the conflict from spreading beyond the Gaza Strip. Washington says it will continue to stand with Tel Aviv and ensure that the 7 October attacks on Israel, in which Hamas gunmen killed 1,200 people and seized 240 hostages, can never happen again. Abdulsalam said: "The one who is dragging the region into a wider war is the one who allows the continuation of the aggression and the siege that continues for more than 100 days in the Gaza Strip."

The Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House and other groups said in a letter to President Biden that more journalists have been killed in the conflict since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 than in any single country over an entire year. The group calculates that at least 79 journalists have died, mostly Palestinians and almost all at the hands of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), although four Israeli reporters were killed in the Hamas cross border attack. The letter said: "The US state department spokesperson recently said that the United States has not seen any evidence that Israel is intentionally targeting journalists."

The letter to Biden said that in other cases “journalists reported receiving threats from Israeli officials and IDF officers before their family members were killed in Gaza”. The letter continued: "Of course, the targeted or indiscriminate killing of journalists, if committed deliberately or recklessly, is a war crime, and the International Criminal Court has said that it will investigate reports of war crimes committed against journalists in Gaza."

More than 1,400 Finnish artists have joined Icelandic musicians in demanding that Israel be banned from this year’s Eurovision song contest over alleged war crimes in Gaza. They called on boycotting Israel from the May 2024 competition in Sweden, and said Finland should not send an entry. “It is not in accordance with our values that a country that commits war crimes and continues a military occupation is given a public stage to polish its image in the name of music,” reads a petition that has been signed by Finland-based artists, musicians and music industry professionals. “At the same time other participating countries end up giving their support to Israel’s policies.” Among the signatories are Olavi Uusivirta, Paleface and Axel Ehnström, who represented Finland at Eurovision in 2011.

2:00 pm

Hamas used more than 6,000 tons of concrete and 1,800 tons of steel for the hundreds of kilometers of tunnels beneath the Gaza Strip, the IDF said while citing new intelligence. Information recovered by troops in Gaza, along with the hundreds of underground passages that have been investigated so far, indicate that Hamas invested tens of millions of dollars in its tunnels project. “The Hamas terror organization chose to invest these precious resources in building a terror infrastructure used to harm Israeli citizens and IDF forces, while cynically exploiting the civilian population in the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said. Amid the ground operation in Gaza, the IDF has been operating to demolish Hamas’s main tunnel networks.

The IDF destroyed tunnels in the area of Khan Younis today, and struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel says the US does not agree with Israel’s condemnation of South Africa as the legal division of Hamas, but also rejects the accusation that the country is committing genocide. “That is not a characterization that I would make from up here about our South African partners,” he said. “The allegation that Israel is committing genocide is unfounded,” Patel said. He said that over 7,000 trucks of humanitarian aid have entered Gaza since late October, but says it’s not enough, calling for more aid, and not only aid, to get in faster. “More humanitarian aid needs to be flowing into Gaza, more commercial goods need to be flowing into Gaza,” he said, adding that the issue was a centerpiece of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s talks in the region.

Patel also condemned Iran’s seizure of a Greek oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman in the Persian Gulf, calling for the immediate release of the ship and its crew. He said the seizure is the latest of a series of Iranian actions which are “a menace to the global economy.” He said the US will consult with regional partners about how to respond to Iran. According to a statement from Iran's mission to the UN, the Iranian navy's "seizure of the oil tanker does not constitute hijacking; rather, it is a lawful undertaking sanctioned by a court order and corresponds to the theft of Iran’s very own oil.” The statement added that Iran was “Adhering to the established legal procedures is the most prudent approach for the resolution of this matter.”

The St. Nikolas was earlier named the Suez Rajan, associated with the Greek shipping company Empire Navigation. Athens-based Empire Navigation acknowledged losing contact with the vessel, which has a crew of 18 Filipinos and one Greek national. “Empire have no such knowledge of a court order or the Iranian navy having seized their vessel, and have still not been contacted by anyone,” the company said. In 2021, the Suez Rajan was involved in a yearlong dispute that ultimately saw the US Justice Department seize 1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil on it.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel is still in full fighting mode in Khan Younis, while ensuring access to humanitarian aid for civilians. “There are a great many troops inside, west of here, operating within Khan Younis is a very very impressive way, above ground and below,” he said. He says that there is no more justified war than the one being waged by Israel against Hamas and no more moral army than the IDF, in apparent reaction to charges made against Israel at the Hague. The Israeli army “still differentiates each day between those who are involved and need to be eliminated and those who are uninvolved, for whom we provide access to humanitarian aid, medicine, food, water, to separate between the civilian population and murderous lowlife terrorists who we will hunt until they are finished off.”

South Africa’s Jewish Board of Deputies, representing the mainline Jewish community in the country, said their country’s leadership is “inverting reality by accusing Israel of genocide,” noting that it leveled the charge almost immediately after the war began, and has never condemned Hamas’s massacres inside Israel. National Chair Karen Milner issued a statement for the group which accuses Pretoria of ignoring “concerns over antisemitism with contempt.” “Global Jewry are united that these charges have at their root an antisemitic worldview, which denies Jews their rights to defend themselves. They won’t silence us by denying our reality,” the statement reads. It also notes that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa sought to protect others charged or convicted of war crimes at The Hague. “Why did President Cyril Ramaphosa not feel ‘duty-bound’ to hand over convicted genocide President of Sudan Omar Al Bashir, when he visited this country? Or see it as a ‘matter of principle’ to hand over Russian President Vladimir Putin to the ICC when he was expected to visit South Africa? Or take a ‘principled stand’ when he met last week, with Mohamed Dagalo of Sudan, the commander of the RSF militia who has just inflicted genocide on the non-Arab communities across Darfur,” Milner wrote. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused South Africa of “representing monsters” and “accusing Israel of genocide while it is fighting genocide,” saying its case at the Hague is evidence of a “world turned upside down.” “A terror organization carries out the worst crime against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, and now comes along someone to defend them in the name of the Holocaust,” he said in a video statement. “What chutzpah.”

“South Africa’s hypocrisy cries out from the heavens,” he adds. “Where were you South Africa when millions of people were killed or displaced from their homes in Syria and Yemen, and by whom? By Hamas’s partners.” Netanyahu said Israel will “continue battling terrorists… until total victory...We will continue to reject the lies, we will continue to protect our just right to defend ourselves and ensure our future.” 

Tirana Hassan, the head of Human Rights Watch, praised South Africa for suing Israel at the International Court of Justice, saying that the international community should ensure that Israel complies with any judicial decision. “South Africa is providing important leadership here. It’s really using this important opportunity,” Hassan said. “If Israel does not comply with the measures or orders of the court, then it is up to the international community to ensure that they are leveraging whatever pressure that they can to encourage Israel to actually implement the measures,” she said. Human Rights Watch accused Israel on Jan. 10 of starving civilians as a measure of war in Gaza and thereby committing a war crime. Israel has vigorously denied the charge, as truckloads of aid allowed into the Strip daily. “In the throes of this war, what we have seen is consistent, flagrant violations of international humanitarian law,” Hassan said. “We were able to document elements of this one crime — the crime of starvation.” She called for “unfettered humanitarian access” to Gaza. Israel says aid deliveries must be inspected for fear they will be used to smuggle arms or defensive aid to Hamas or other terror groups in the Strip.

Palestinian reports indicate that an Israeli strike targeted a car in the southern Gaza Strip, killing eight people in the al-Manara neighborhood of Khan Younis. There was no immediate comment on the strike from Israeli authorities. Israeli reports describe the attack as a “targeted assassination.”

Harvard University is being sued by Jewish students who accused it of allowing its campus to become a “bastion” of rampant antisemitism. Filed on Jan. 10, the students' complaint accused Harvard of “selectively” enforcing its anti-discrimination policies to avoid protecting Jewish students from harassment, ignoring their pleas for protection, and hiring professors who support anti-Jewish violence and spread antisemitic propaganda. “Based on its track record, it is inconceivable that Harvard would allow any group other than Jews to be targeted for similar abuse or that it would permit, without response, students and professors to call for the annihilation of any country other than Israel,” the complaint said.

The complaint accused Harvard of violating a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination. It was filed eight days after Harvard president Claudine Gay resigned, under fire for her handling of antisemitic attacks and incidents in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, when thousands of terrorists invaded southern Israel by land, sea, and air, and killed 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and took 240 hostages.

Harvard did not immediately respond to requests for comment today. Similarly, New York University, University of California-Berkeley, and other universities face law suits. The students said the purported need to let people express themselves freely is no defense for Harvard to sit idly and allow escalating “Jew-bashing.”

1:59 pm

Clare Daly, an outspoken Irish Minister of the European Parliament who has long criticized Israel's policies and actions regarding Palestinians, was at the hearing at the international criminal court at The Hague and claimed that South Africa’s allegation of genocide commited by Israel on the people of Gaza is clear. She said: "It is very important for us to be here in person, to represent the people of Ireland who are really distraught about what is happening in Gaza. International law is on trial, just as much as Israel is. There is a huge amount riding on this case. If one looks objectively at the facts of this case, it is a very clear textbook definition of genocide, but often political pressure can be brought to bear and we believe it is extremely important to be here at the ICJ to lend a counterweight to any such pressure. We also want to show solidarity with the people of Palestine."

Secretary of State Blinken, who is on a regional tour, said he found the Middle East to be “very focused” on the future of Gaza. The trip concluded in Egypt today. He said, "On our previous trips here, I think there was a reluctance to talk about some of the day-after issues in terms of long-term stability and security on a regional basis. But now we’re finding that our partners are very focused on that and wanting to engage on those questions. They’re also clearly prepared to take steps to do things, to make commitments necessary both for Gaza’s future and for long-term peace and security of the region." No neighboring countries have offered to take in refugees from Gaza.

US officials, who remain anonymous, said that Blinken's conversations had in Israel on Jan. 9 were the most difficult on the trip. Blinken said publicly that Israeli security and the creation of a Palestinian state is the best way to thwart attacks from Iran’s regional proxies, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Houthis. “The other path is to continue to see the terrorism, the denialism, and the destruction by Hamas, by the Houthis, by Hezbollah, all backed by Iran,” Blinken said. “There’s a path that brings Israel’s needs and desires for integration in the region and genuine security with the Palestinian aspirations for a state of their own,” Blinken said. “You can’t have one without the other, and you can’t have either without a regional commitment to advancing on both tracks.”

Any US attack on Yemen’s Houthis will not go without a response, Houthi leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi said today in a televised speech. He said  any such response would be bigger than the recent one in which its drones and missiles targeted a US ship in the Red Sea. 

Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller is in Pretoria, where a diplomatic mission had been watching proceedings inside the Palestinian mission that included ambassadors from Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey. She said there are South Africans who are proud their government is taking legal action against Israel. She told the news network “What is happening in Gaza resonates very deeply with many South Africans because of their own history of apartheid, subjugation, oppression, institutionalised racism and the challenges South Africans have had to overcome.”

Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has joined other Israeli officials in condemning the court hearing in The Hague. In a post to social media, Ben-Gvir stated: "78 years after the terrible holocaust that the German Nazis inflicted on us and three months after the Nazis from Gaza added to the massacre of us – the world joins the theatre of the absurd and spreads blood libels against the state of Israel. We protect our citizens, our women, our children and they spread lies and abomination against us in the world. Never before have so many scoundrels joined such vile lies."

South Africa quoted Ben-Gvir in its case against Israel. He said in November 2023, “When we say that Hamas should be destroyed, it also eans those who celebrate, those who support, and those who hand out candy – they are all terrorists, and they should also be destroyed.”

South Africa is asking the court for a preliminary order to Israel to stop fighting inside Gaza.

Former British opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn was in The Hague today to attend the court session. He praised South Africa for taking the case to the international court of justice. Corbyn said that “the world has woken up to the plight of the Palestinian people”, criticised the Israeli bombardment “of children, of civilians, of schools, of hospitals, of homes, of agricultural places” and what he described as “the driving out of the population of Gaza into place they were told were safe, and turned out to be incredibly dangerous.” Corbyn was replaced as party leader after the 2019 general election in the UK, and lost the Labour party whip in 2020. Current Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has said Corbyn’s “days as a Labour MP are over” after criticism of Corbyn’s statements in response to the 7 October Hamas attack inside southern Israel.

Western intelligence officials interviewed by Politico in recent weeks say that Qatar, a longtime patron of Hamas in Gaza, may have had prior knowledge of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. “We’re still looking into it,” a top European intelligence official said when asked if the Muslim kingdom had prior knowledge about the mass assault. The source added that there was “smoke,” but no smoking gun.

US intelligence are warning of an increasing threat by Hezbollah and Hezbollah allies against Americans in the Middle East and the United States. They fear that Hezbollah has "capabilities" that similar groups do not have and that can be used against US troops and diplomatic missions.

11:00 am

 "We are coming for ALL of you, everywhere!"  said Hamas supporter and attorrney Lamis Deek on Jan. 9, who called the terrorist organization's assault, rape, and murder on Oct 7 in Israel a "genocide" of Palestinians. She declared that she and her "army of lawyers" are reading to sue "Zionists" for their "brutal violence across the US." 
 

Iran confirmed that it was behind the hijacking of the oil tanker MV St Nikolas near Oman today. The US-controlled & Greek-operated tanker was carrying 145,000 tonnes of oil from Iraq to Turkey. This crisis from the Bab al-Mandeb Strait between the Horn of Africa and Houthi-controlled Yemen has been expanded to the Hormuz Strait.

10:00 am

US special envoy Amos Hochstein to the Middle East said today thehe hopes diplomacy could calm tensions on the disputed border between Lebanon and Israel, where the Israeli military and armed group Hezbollah have been exchanging fire for three months, since Hamas's attack on Israel on Oct. 7. "I'm hopeful that we can continue to work on this effort to arrive together, all of us on both sides of the border, with a solution that will allow for all people in Lebanon and Israel to live with guaranteed security and return to a better future," Hochstein said after meeting Lebanese officials.

In a social media post, the Israeli foreign ministry condemned as 'hypocrisy' South Africa's accusations that Israel has engaged in genocide during the current conflict in Gaza. Hearings are being held today at the international criminal court in The Hague, which foreign ministry spokesman Lior Halat said are “one of the greatest shows of hypocrisy in history” and called South Africa, who brought forward the case alleging Israel is committing genocide, “the legal arm of the Hamas”. Writing on X, Halat said: “Today we were witness to one of the greatest shows of hypocrisy in history, compounded by a series of false and baseless claims." He wrote: “South Africa, which is functioning as the legal arm of the Hamas terrorist organization, utterly distorted the reality in Gaza following the 7 October massacre and completely ignored the fact that Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, murdered, executed, massacred, raped and abducted Israeli citizens, simply because they were Israelis, in an attempt to carry out genocide.” Haiat added: “Hamas’ representatives in the court, the South African lawyers, are also ignoring the fact that Hamas uses the civilian population in Gaza as human shields and operates from within hospitals, schools, UN shelters, mosques and churches with the intention of endangering the lives of the residents of the Gaza Strip.”

The IDF has taken control of Gaza City and Northern Gaza.

South Africa accused Israel of “a calculated pattern of conduct indicating a genocidal intent” on the opening day of a hearing at the international court of justice in The Hague into the case accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Citing the large number of civilian casualties, the displacement of population, the lack of safe shelter and poor humanitarian conditions, South Africa is asking the court for a preliminary order to Israel to stop fighting while it investigates the full merits of the case.

Lawyers at the international court cited statements by prominent leaders including the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and President Isaac Herzog, as evidence that Israel was not distinguishing between Hamas and civilians, and intended to destroy Gaza. “What state would admit to a genocidal intent? Yet the distinctive feature of this case has not been the silence as such, but the reiteration and repetition of genocidal speech throughout every sphere of the state in Israel,” it said during the presentation. South Africa’s Jewish Board of Deputies has condemned the legal action, accusing the government of antisemitism and of “inverting reality”.

Three months of Israeli bombardment has laid much of the narrow coastal territory to waste, reportedly killing more than 23,000 people (according to Hamas) and driving nearly the entire population of 2.3 million Palestinians from their homes. An Israeli blockade has sharply restricted supplies of food, fuel and medicine, creating what the United Nations describes as a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel has dismissed the case as “baseless” and a “blood libel”, and will be presenting its defense in a three-hour session on Jan. 12.

France’s naval forces are accompanying ships with French interests through the Red Sea region, the country’s top naval commander in the area said today, who that Paris’ current mandate did not include striking Houthi rebels directly. The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been targeting Red Sea shipping routes to show their support for Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. An attack and boarding of “Saint Nikolas” off the Oman coast, reported hours after the UN security council in New York passed a resolution condemning attacks on Red Sea shipping by Houthi rebels, is yet to be identified and may be the work of Iranians, not the Houthis.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo.

The IDF issued a statement on its Telegram that it has discovered what it described as a “vast Hamas tunnel used by the terror organisation to hold hostages under the city of Khan Younis”. The IDF has also issued video footage which it claims shows the tunnels. An estimated 136 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas inside the Gaza Strip after being abducted on 7 October. The IDF says its troops continue to operate in Maghazi and Khan Younis. There have been accusations that the leadership of Hamas have surrounded themselves with hostages in order to forestall Israeli strikes, using them as human shields.

Iran’s intelligence ministry has said the main suspect who planned the Jan. 3 Kerman bombing is a Tajik national known by his alias Abdollah Tajiki. The suspect had entered the country in mid-December by crossing Iran’s southeast border, and left two days before the attack. Iran says it has arrested 35 people in relation to the attack. The death toll from the blasts rose to 94 today. 

Police in Turkey have detained 70 suspects with ties to the Islamic State group in raids this week across the country. Turkey has also recently arrested men suspected of ties to Israel's Mossad intelligence service.

Israel’s police said today that they had arrested two Palestinian supporters of the Islamic State group who had plans to carry out “terrorist attacks” targeting the country’s security forces.

Israel posted a budget deficit of 4.2% of GDP in 2023, after a 0.6% surplus in 2022, due to a rise in state spending to finance the war in Gaza.

8:30 am

January 11, 2024

Harvard University has two weeks to provide the House Committee on Education with documentation of antisemitic incidents and disciplinary procedures, according to a letter sent on Jan. 9 from Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC).  Foxx's letter comes one week after the university's president Claudine Gay resigned amid plagiarism controversy and fallout from a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill.  The letter, addressed to Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny Pritzker and Interim President Dr. Alan Garber, outlined a "pattern of deeply troubling incidents and developments."

3:36 pm

An unverified Israeli media report suggests that the latest Qatari proposal for a hostage deal would include the exiling of Hamas leaders. According to Channel 13 news, the Qatari-backed plan, which is reportedly slated to be discussed by the security cabinet this evening, would see Israel allowing the exile of Hamas leaders outside of Gaza in exchange for the gradual release of all of the remaining hostages as well as the IDF withdrawing entirely from the Strip.

Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, says Israeli forces have raided a luxurious home belonging to the deputy chief of Hamas’s military wing in the central Gaza Strip.

Before Israel stands at The Hague to face South Africa’s accusations of genocide, the National Public Diplomacy Directorate announced a new website, “Oct. 7 2023, Hamas Massacre: Documentation of Crimes Against Humanity.” The site was created in conjunction with the IDF Spokesperson’s Office, is only accessible outside of Israel, and features extremely gruesome photos and videos of the brutal Hamas massacre.

Antisemitism in the United States has “skyrocketed” in the three months since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, according to data tallied by the Anti-Defamation League. There were 3,283 antisemitic incidents in the United States between Oct. 7 and Jan. 7, according to the ADL’s report — including 60 physical assaults. It also counted 553 incidents of vandalism and 1,353 incidents of harassment.

The United Nations chief investigator on sex crimes has accepted an invitation from Israel to visit the country this month to look at allegations of rape and other sexual offenses committed by Hamas fighters on and after Oct. 7. Pramila Patten, the UN’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict, has been granted investigative authority by Israel’s foreign ministry that will allow her to speak with survivors and released Israeli hostages. Hamas is accused of widespread sexual crimes against women at the beginning of the conflict, highlighted in a New York Times investigation published last month. It found “a pattern of rape, mutilation and extreme brutality against women in the attacks on Israel”. Patten’s role in Israel is not specifically investigative in nature but for information gathering. She will brief the media in New York following the visit.

That statement prompted concern from Mark Regev, special adviser to Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during an appearance on CNN on Wednesday afternoon: "The feeling of much of Israel, and especially among the women’s organizations, is that the UN is late to the game here, but I suppose we could say better late than never. "The evidence has come out of Hamas using rape as a weapon of war [and] brutalizing women. One of the tragedies, the horrors of this situation is most of the women who are raped are murdered or their bodies mutilated. [These are] terrible, terrible crimes against women, terrible crimes against humanity," he said.

Germany has pledged 15 million euros ($16.5m, £13m) to strengthen the Lebanese armed forces as tensions escalate on Lebanon’s border with Israel. Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, announced the donation today during a visit to Beirut, saying the money was to help fortify border security. She said the Lebanese army must be able to exercise “effective control” over the area to “contain armed militias and terrorist organizations”.

Defense systems shot down an armed drone on Jan. 10 over Erbil airport in northern Iraq, where US and other international forces are stationed, Reuters is reporting, citing Iraqi Kurdistan’s counter-terrorism service. A statement from the service did not say if there were any casualties or damage to infrastructure as a result of the attack, the news agency said. A group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-aligned Iraqi militias, said in a statement that it had carried out a drone attack on the US base at Erbil airport. US officials have yet to comment. More than 100 attacks against US interests in Iraq and Syria have taken place since mid-October, most claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq over Washington’s backing of Israel in its war in Gaza.

3:30 pm

The United Nations security council is planning a vote on a resolution to demand that attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels against ships in the Red Sea stop. The US draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, says at least two dozen Houthi attacks are impeding global commerce “and undermine navigational rights and freedoms as well as regional peace and security.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted an update about his meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, saying: “Met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss ongoing efforts to minimize civilian harm in Gaza, accelerate the delivery of humanitarian aid, end extremist violence, and work towards an independent Palestinian state.”

World Health Organization (WHO) director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said there are nearly “insurmountable obstacles” to delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, saying the situation was “indescribable”. He said six planned missions to northern Gaza had been cancelled because Israel had rejected requests and not given assurances of safe passage, adding that a mission planned for today had also had to be cancelled.

British defence secretary Grant Shapps hinted there could be further western military action against the Houthis in Yemen, telling reporters to “watch this space” when asked about possible further action after last night’s drone attack in the Red Sea.

Britain has warned of severe consequences after US and UK warships were forced to repel a barrage of 20 Houthi rockets, drones and cruise missiles fired at ships in the Red Sea. American and British forces say they shot down 18 drones and three missiles on Tuesday. Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto has said that Yemen’s Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping must be stopped without triggering a new war.

The US state department has said that Secretary of State Blinken will make an additional previously unannounced stop in Bahrain during his tour of the region. Blinken met the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday morning in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

A total of 23,357 Palestinians have been killed and 59,410 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 7, the  Gaza health ministry said. The ministry, which is run by Hamas, said 147 Palestinians were killed and 243 injured in the past 24 hours. 1.9 million people, or nearly 85% of the total population of Gaza, are estimated to have been displaced from their homes. Only 15 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functional. 330 Palestinians have also been killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank over the same period, including 84 children, and nearly 4,000 people have been injured by Israeli security forces during that time.

The IDF announced the death of another member of Israel’s troops inside Gaza, taking the total toll of the ground offensive to 186. The Israeli military has said that 1,065 of its soldiers have been injured in Gaza. Israel launched its military campaign after the 7 October surprise Hamas attack during which about 1,200 people were killed. An estimated 240 people were seized as hostages. About 130 are still believed to be in captivity. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty counts being issued during the conflict.

Israel’s military claims to have “uncovered more than 15 underground tunnel shafts in the area” of Maghazi in central Gaza, where it says that its troops directed airstrikes that killed “several terrorists”. In Khan Younis, it claims that “in battles in the area over the last day, dozens of terrorist operatives were killed by IDF troops”, adding that “a total of approximately 150 terror targets were struck by IDF troops over the last day”. The claims have not been independently verified.

Israel’s military has also said that it is has again struck at what it described as Hezbollah terrorist targets inside southern Lebanon.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa has reported this morning that Israel has detained a further 26 Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. This brings the total number of detainees since Oct. 7 to more than 5,780.

Israeli politician Nissim Vaturi has reiterated his call for Gaza to be burned down, saying “there are no innocents there”. Referring to Palestinians still in northern Gaza after repeated orders from the Israeli military for them to flee, Vaturi said: “One hundred thousand remain. I have no mercy for those who are still there. We need to eliminate them”. The comments come ahead of a hearing on Thursday at the international court of justice, where South Africa has accused Israel of genocide in Gaza.

3:00 pm

The IDF says it carried out airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon this morning and overnight. In Labbouneh, the IDF says a fighter jet hit a military building and other infrastructure belonging to the terror group.

The IDF also destroyed several Hamas tunnels near Gaza's shoreline.

A Telegram channel consisting of 3,000 UNRWA teachers in Gaza filled with posts expressing support for the Hamas massacre that took place on October 7 was exposed by a UN Watch report today. Shortly after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, the teachers praised the perpetrators as "heroes," lauded the education received by the terrorists, shared images of dead or captured Israelis, and called for the execution of hostages. Educators in Gaza have long been blamed for propagating violent hatred of Jews and Israel. Hamas took over Gaza in 2005 and has controlled education ever since despite UN denials that the schools its operates are prejudiced against Jews and Israel.

BBC apologized for report accusing IDF of ‘summary executions’ in the Gaza Strip. UK public broadcaster says that despite attributing claim to Hamas and including Israeli response, it ‘had not made sufficient effort to seek corroborating evidence’

Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired one of their largest barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea, forcing the American and British navies to shoot down the projectiles in a major engagement. No damage or injuries to US or UK forces were immediately apparent. The Associated Press reports that the attack by the Iran-backed Houthis came despite a planned UN security council vote later today to potentially condemn and demand an immediate halt to the attacks by the rebels, who say their assaults are aimed at stopping Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. However, their targets have increasingly tenuous or no relationship with Israel and imperil one of the world’s crucial trade routes linking Asia and the Middle East to Europe. That raises the risk of a US retaliatory strike on Yemen that could upend an uneasy ceasefire that has held in the Arab world’s poorest country.

The assault happened off the Yemeni port cities of Hodeida and Mokha, according to the private intelligence firm Ambrey. In the Hodeida incident, Ambrey said ships described over radio seeing missiles and drones, with US-allied warships in the area urging “vessels to proceed at maximum speed”. Off Mokha, ships saw missiles fired, a drone in the air and small vessels trailing them, Ambrey said early on Wednesday. The British military’s United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations also acknowledged the incident off Hodeida.

The US military’s Central Command (Centcom) said the “complex attack” launched by the Houthis included bomb-carrying drones, anti-ship cruise missiles and one anti-ship ballistic missile. 18 drones, two cruise missiles and the anti-ship missile were downed by F-18s from the USS Eisenhower, as well as by American Arleigh Burke-class destroyers the USS Gravely, the USS Laboon and the USS Mason, as well as the UK’s HMS Diamond. Centcom said: "This is the 26th Houthi attack on commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea since Nov 19 … Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity."

The Houthis, a Shia group aligned with Iran, at first did not formally acknowledge launching the attacks.  Al Jazeera quoted an anonymous Houthi military official saying their forces “targeted a ship linked to Israel in the Red Sea”, without elaborating. Iran has rejected US and British calls to end its support for Houthi attacks on Israeli-linked vessels. A US-led coalition of nations has been patrolling the Red Sea to try to prevent the strikes.

Houthis attacked a US ship “providing support” to Israel with a large number of ballistic and naval missiles and drones, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised speech today. The operation was a “preliminary response” to a previous US attack that killed 10 Houthi militants, he added.

Germany strongly condemned the  attacks on vessels by Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red Sea. A spokesperson for the German foreign ministry saod that the attacks “show that the Houthis are clearly focusing on escalation against international merchant shipping and the ships of our partners and allies in the region.”

The Italian defense minister said Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping must be stopped without triggering a new war, even though the Iran-backed group stepped up attacks on commercial vessels. “It is a huge problem. It is a consequence of other (war) outbreaks. I would not like to open a third front of war at this time,” Crosetto tells Reuters, in a reference to current conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza

Sky News Arabia  reported that Secretary of State Blinken's meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was “tense” and marked by “arguments.” According to the report, Abbas asked Blinken to pressure Israel to release frozen PA funds. “If you do not have the ability to release funds, how will you have the ability to put pressure on Israel and achieve peace and a Palestinian state?” Abbas reportedly said. Blinken then repeated demands that Abbas undertake reforms in the PA, the report says. Abbas told him that Gaza is integral to his statehood hopes and should not be cut off as a result of Israel’s war with Hamas, an official statement said. Published by Palestinian news agency WAFA, it quoted  Abbas as saying that Palestinians must not be displaced from Gaza or the West Bank. He called for  the “convening an international peace conference to end the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, which achieves peace and security for all,” according to official WAFA news service.

Secretary of State Blinken told Abbas that the White House supports “tangible steps” towards the creation of a Palestinian state, said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. Blinken reiterates Washington’s longstanding position that a Palestinian state must stand alongside Israel, “with both living in peace and security.” Blinken noted “increased volatility” in the West Bank, where there has been a wave of terror attacks on Israelis and increased IDF operations to crack down on Hamas and other groups. There has also been a surge in violence against Palestinians by settlers. He also “underscored the United States’ position that all Palestinian tax revenues collected by Israel should be consistently conveyed to the Palestinian Authority in accordance with prior agreements,” Miller says.

An Israeli delegation is in Egypt for new talks on a possible swap of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israel, an Egyptian official says. Egypt, the Gulf nation of Qatar and the United States have served as mediators between Israel and Hamas.

It is believed that 132 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November. Four hostages were released prior to that, and one was rescued by troops. The bodies of eight hostages have also been recovered and three hostages were mistakenly killed by the military. The Israel Defense Forces has confirmed the deaths of 25 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been meeting with leaders in the Middle East since the weekend, and is expected in Cairo on Jan. 11. Talks were reportedly disrupted by the killing of a top Hamas terror chief in Beirut last week, widely blamed on Israel. The Egyptian official says that Egypt and Qatar were trying to win freedom for civilian hostages held by Hamas and other terror groups in return for a ceasefire and the release of additional Palestinian prisoners by Israel. 

In addition to civilians, Hamas and other groups also hold Israeli soldiers. Hamas still insists on ending the war before talking about releasing the rest of the hostages, a demand Israel has rejected outright. “They (Israel) will never recover their hostages unless all our prisoners in the occupation prisons are released,” Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Jan. 9 in Qatar.

The IDF appears to walk back its claim that two journalists killed in a strike in southern Gaza’s Rafah earlier this week were with a Hamas terrorist piloting a drone. In Sunday’s strike in Rafah, Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera’s Gaza correspondent Wael Al-Dahdouh, and Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for AFP who was also working for the Qatar-based TV outlet, were both killed. A third journalist, Hazem Rajab, was seriously wounded, Al Jazeera said.

The IDF said hours after the strike that a military aircraft “identified and struck a terrorist who operated an aircraft in a way that put IDF forces at risk.” When media IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari if the military had evidence to support the claim that the target with the two journalists was a terrorist, to which he responded by saying the incident was still under investigation.

“Every journalist that dies, it’s unfortunate,” Hagari is quoted as saying. “We understand they were putting a drone, using a drone. And using a drone in a war zone, it’s a problem. It looks like the terrorists,” Hagari says.

Hamas has used drones to collect intelligence on Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip, as well as carry out attacks by dropping explosives from the unmanned aircraft. Journalists were embedded with the Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 and are rumored to have participated in looting, as were civilian Gazans.

8:30 am

Britain warned Houthi terrorists, backed by Iran, of severe consequences after US and UK warships repeled 20 Houthi rockets, drones and cruise missiles fired at ships in the Red Sea. US and UK forces shot down 18 drones and three missiles on Tuesday. Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto has said that Yemen’s Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping must be stopped without triggering a new war.

Secretary of State Blinken will make an additional previously unannounced stop in Bahrain during his tour of the region. Blinken met the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas today in Ramallah in the West Bank.

According to Hamas, 23,357 Palestinians have been killed and 59,410 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since the attack on Israel on Oct. 7. 147 Palestinians were killed and 243 injured in the past 24 hours. 1.9 million people, or nearly 85% of the total population of Gaza, are estimated to have been displaced from their homes. Only 15 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functional. 330 Palestinians have also been killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank over the same period, including 84 children, and nearly 4,000 people have been injured by Israeli security forces during that time.

The IDF announced the death of another Israeli soldier, bringing the total of the ground offensive to 186. The Israeli military has said that 1,065 of its soldiers have been injured in Gaza. Israel launched its military campaign after the 7 October surprise Hamas attack during which about 1,200 people were killed. An estimated 240 people were seized as hostages. About 130 are still believed to be in captivity. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty counts being issued during the conflict.

Israel’s military has “uncovered more than 15 underground tunnel shafts in the area” of Maghazi in central Gaza, where it says that its troops directed airstrikes that killed “several terrorists”. In Khan Younis, it claims that “in battles in the area over the last day, dozens of terrorist operatives were killed by IDF troops”, adding that “a total of approximately 150 terror targets were struck by IDF troops over the last day”. The claims have not been independently verified.

The IDF also said it has again struck Hezbollah terrorist targets inside southern Lebanon.

In the West Bank area of Judea and Samaria, Israel arrested another 26 Palestinians and brought the total since Oct. 7 to 5,780, according to the terrorist controlled Wafa news agency. 

Israeli politician Nissim Vaturi has reiterated his call for Gaza to be burned down, saying “there are no innocents there”. Referring to Palestinians still in northern Gaza after repeated orders from the Israeli military for them to flee, Vaturi said: “One hundred thousand remain. I have no mercy for those who are still there. We need to eliminate them”. The comments come ahead of a hearing on Thursday at the international court of justice, where South Africa has accused Israel of genocide in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet will meet later today to discuss Israeli plans for the Gaza Strip when the war has finished.
 

8:00 am

Israel is aware of the exact whereabouts of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ chief in Gaza, but is refraining from carrying out a military strike because the terror leader has surrounded himself with dozens of hostages as human shields. Former Israeli military intelligence head Amos Yadlin told a radio interviewer that Sinwar’s location, in the tunnels under Khan Younis in southern Gaza, was known but that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was holding back from taking action because of his use of the hostages as human shields.

January 10, 2024

Hospitals in the northern region of Israel bordering Lebanon have been put on notice to prepare for mass casualties, spiking concerns over a possible escalation of hostilities with Hezbollah terrorists.

Secretary of State Blinken said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that  regional leaders have said they are ready to support a lasting solution. But “this can only come through a regional approach that includes a pathway to a Palestinian state”, he said. "Israel must be a partner to Palestinian leaders who are willing to lead their people in living side by side in peace with Israel as neighbours." Israel must stop taking steps that 'undercut Palestinians’ ability to govern themselves effectively”, he says, adding that extremist settler violence in the occupied West Bank make it harder for Israel to achieve lasting peace and security. He said that the Palestinian Authority must also reform itself to “improve its governance issues”. He added: "If Israel wants its Arab neighbours to make the tough decisions necessary to help ensure its lasting security, Israeli leaders will have to make hard decisions themselves." 

Blinken said he discussed with Israeli leaders today about the phased transition of Israel’s military campaign, saying that the US will continue to “offer our best advice” for how Israel can achieve its goal of ensuring that Oct. 7 can never happen again. He said that the UN will conduct an “assessment mission” to determine “what needs to be done to allow displaced Palestinians to return safely to their homes in the north of Gaza.” This will not happen overnight, he says, adding that there are “serious security, infrastructure and humanitarian challenges”. 

"I was crystal clear that Palestinian civilians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow. They must not be pressed to leave Gaza."

UN international law experts condemned the killing of Hamas deputy leader, Saleh al-Arouri, and other fighters in Israeli drone strikes in Lebanon, saying these were extrajudicial killings and murder. “Killings in foreign territory are arbitrary when they are not authorised under international law,” UN special rapporteurs Ben Saul and Morris Tidball-Binz said in a statement. "Israel was not exercising self-defence because it presented no evidence that the victims were committing an armed attack on Israel from Lebanese territory," they said. The UN experts also said there was “no legal basis for geographically unlimited attacks against members of an armed group wherever they are”. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied that it assassinated Arouri, who was killed in a drone strike on Hamas’s office in Musharafieh, a southern suburb of Beirut, last week.

3:15 pm

Secretary of State Antony Blinken dismissed South Africa’s genocide charge against Israel as “meritless”, but said the daily toll of war on civilians in Gaza is “far too high”. At a press conference in Tel Aviv, Blinken urged Israeli leaders to work with moderate Palestinian leaders, saying regional countries would only invest in the reconstruction of Gaza if there is a “pathway to a Palestinian state.” He added that he was “crystal clear” that Palestinians must be able to return to their homes “as soon as conditions allow”.

Intense fighting, shelling and aerial bombardment has continued across the south and center of Gaza as Blinken met top officials in Israel on a regional tour aimed at reaching a consensus on the Palestinian territory’s future and stopping an escalation of the war across the Middle East. US officials said Blinken told Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, that his forces must avoid inflicting further harm on civilians in Gaza. However, there was no sign of any let up in the violence in Gaza as the two men met.

The IDF is expanding ts ground operation in the city of Khan Younis inside the Gaza Strip. The IDF claimed today that “dozens of terrorists were killed” and “large quantities of weapons and underground terror tunnel shafts were located”. The claims have not been independently verified. Israel has said that 182 of its soldiers have so far been killed during fighting inside the Gaza Strip.

Israel and Hezbollah edged closer towards full scale war today, as the Iran-backed terrorist group launched explosive drones at a key Israeli command base, declaring the attack part of its response to recent high-level Israeli assassinations in Lebanon. Hezbollah announced it had launched “a number of explosive attack drones” at the Israeli northern military command base in Safed, the first time it has targeted the site. An Israeli army spokesperson said there had been no damage or casualties.

Israeli aircraft, drones and artillery struck multiple targets inside southern Lebanon, including a strike on a car during the funeral of a senior commander in the group’s elite Radwan force who had been killed the day before. Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, said that while his country was open to negotiations, it was being threatened with war.

The Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has called on Muslim states to provide Palestinian terrorists with weapons, adding that the group’s war with Israel is “not the battle of the Palestinian people alone”. At a conference in Doha, Haniyeh said Israel had “failed to achieve any of its goals” after nearly 100 days of its war in Gaza, argued that the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October “came after an attempt to marginalise the Palestinian cause”.

Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said “there is nothing more atrocious and preposterous” than the lawsuit filed in the international court of justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of genocidal actions against Palestinians in the Gaza war. Herzog censured South Africa for bringing the case, which is due to begin hearings on Thursday. Herzog added Israel must win “because it is a war that affects international values and the values of the free world”

Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud, told the BBC that a US-brokered normalization agreement with Israel was “close” right up until Hamas’s murderous rampage across southern Israel on October 7, when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel. "[A deal] was close, there is no question. For us, the final end point definitely included nothing less than an independent state of Palestine. So, while we still — going forward after 7 October — believe in normalization, it does not come at the cost of the Palestinian people,” he said. “We were close to normalization, therefore close to a Palestinian state. One doesn’t come without the other. The sequencing, how it is managed, that is what was being discussed.”

3:00 pm

Media watchdog HonestReporting, who focus on anti-Israel media coverage, uncovered two Gaza-based photojournalists who worked for AP and Reuters had bragged about footage they acquired while accompanying Hamas terrorists during the October 7 massacre. Ashraf Amra and fellow photojournalist Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa recorded a video laughing at the lynching of an IDF soldier pulled from a tank on October 7 - footage they captured on the scene. The two displayed the footage while livestreaming.

German Foreign Minister Analena Baerbock landed in the Egyptian governorate of North Sinai on the Mediterranean, today. She later travelled to the border town of Rafah. She handed over 10 tonnes of relief sup[plies to the Egyptian Red Crescent for distribution to Gazans. In Cairo, she said that the international community has an obligation to organize security in Gaza after the war and a reformed Palestinian Authority must play a crucial role in future. Egypt and Germany both “agree that Gaza and the West Bank belong to Palestinians”, she told reporters. She called for easing the suffering of Gazans, “We need to have concrete measures today and now. We need to make sure aid is getting to people in Gaza.”

According to Reuters, Israel has approached Egypt about securing the Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow buffer zone along the border, as part of Israeli plans to prevent future attacks. The report said Israeli  officials did not discuss control of the corridor, but instead asked to participate in monitoring the area. These discussions took place during talks to broker a new ceasefire and hostage deal, in which Egypt has played a leading role. Reuters reported that Egypt rejected the idea, but said that Egypt has bolstered the physical barriers on its side of the border. Egypt is prioritising reaching a new ceasefire agreement as the necessary foundation for discussions about postwar Gaza, including securing the corridor, the sources added.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that Hamas's ability to launch rockets into Israel has been “considerably degraded” since the Israeli bombardment. Speaking before parliament’s foreign affairs committee, he said he had seen figures that Hamas has “lost over 50% of their capability and capacity in terms of being able to launch rockets and all the rest of it”. When it was suggested that such a major dismantling of Hamas might call for a pause in fighting in northern Gaza, Cameron said that was a “very good point”, adding: "It is more helpful to have a human pause covering the whole of Gaza ... but frankly anything would help."

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikatii told a senior UN official today that Lebanon is ready for talks on long-term stability with Israel. Mikati’ met the UN undersecretary general for peace operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, to reiterate “Lebanon’s readiness to enter negotiations to achieve a long-term process of stability in southern Lebanon”. Israel and Lebanon have been divided for over two decades by the blue line drawn by the UN in 2000. “We seek permanent stability and call for a lasting peaceful solution – but in return we receive warnings through international envoys about a war on Lebanon,” Mikati said. “The position I repeat to these delegates is: Do you support the idea of destruction? Is what is happening in Gaza acceptable?”

Hezbollah launched explosive drones at a key Israeli command base, declaring the attack part of its response to recent high-level Israeli assassinations in Lebanon. Hezbollah announced it launched “a number of explosive attack drones” at the Israeli northern military command in Safed, the first time it has targeted the site. An Israeli army spokesperson said there had been no damage or casualties.

Shortly afterwards, Israel killed two more Hezbollah members, including one at the funeral of a senior commander in the group’s elite Radwan force who had been killed the day before. The escalating violence came as Secretary of State Antony Blinken tours the Middle East in an attempt to prevent the war between Israel and Hamas from spreading regionally.

Hezbollah deputy leader, Naim Qassem, said in a televised speech today that his terrorist group did not want to expand the war from Lebanon, “but if Israel expands, the response is inevitable to the maximum extent required to deter Israel”. Qassem added that Israel’s wave of targeted killings “cannot lead to a phase of retreat but rather to a push forward for the resistance”. Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, told a senior UN official on Tuesday that his country was ready for talks on long-term stability with Israel.

Israeli president Isaac Herzog said today that “there is nothing more atrocious and preposterous” than the lawsuit filed in the international court of justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of genocidal actions against Palestinians in the Gaza war. Herzog censured South Africa for bringing the case, which is due to begin hearings on Thursday. Herzog added Israel must win “because it is a war that affects international values and the values of the free world”.

A total of 23,210 Palestinians have been killed and 59,167 have been wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 7, the Hamas health ministry said in a statement. About 126 Palestinians were killed and 241 were wounded in the previous 24 hours. 

The IDF has expanded its ground operation in the city of Khan Younis inside Gaza. The IDF claims that “dozens of terrorists were killed” and “large quantities of weapons and underground terror tunnel shafts were located”. The claims have not been independently verified.

The IDF said nine more soldiers had been killed in Gaza, bringing its total war losses there to 187. Earlier today, the IDF said four soldiers had been killed. The updated figure of nine, all killed on Monday, followed notification of families. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.

Families of some of the hostages protested at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, stating that their aim was to prevent humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip. It is estimated that at least 130 hostages are still being held captive by Hamas since being seized inside southern Israel and abducted on Oct. 7.

A US airstrike on a rocket launcher late on Jan. 8 foiled an attack on Ain al-Asad airbase, which hosts US and other international forces in western Iraq.

The global shipping company Hapag-Lloyd has said it will continue to route cargo via the Cape of Good Hope as it still considers the situation in the Red Sea “dangerous”.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he is “worried” that Israel may have breached international law. Taking questions from parliament’s foreign affairs committee chair, Alicia Kearns, Cameron declined to say whether he had seen any Foreign Office legal advice stating that Israel has breached international humanitarian law in Gaza. He said: "The reason for not answering this question, I cannot recall every single bit of paper that has been put in front of me. I look at everything. Of course, there are a lot of things that have happened where you think surely that was something that shouldn’t have happened." Cameron said he saw "deeply concerning" things in the conflict, but said it isn't his job to make a “legal adjudication”. Cameron said: "Am I worried that Israel has taken action that might be in breach of international law, because this particular premises has been bombed, or whatever? Yes, of course."

January 9, 2024

The UK’s Labour party has reiterated calls for the British government “to do everything it can to work for a sustained ceasefire” in Gaza. Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, said there had been no “let-up to the intolerable suffering” of Gazans and and the Israeli hostages still being held. In the House of Commons, Lammy accused Israel of using “devastating tactics that have seen far too many innocent civilians killed, with unacceptable blocks on essential aid”. He added: "Nowhere safe for civilians, a growing humanitarian catastrophe and now warnings of a deadly famine." He said the “dire” situation in Gaza must not continue, adding that the need for a sustained ceasefire is clear: "We need a humanitarian truce now and not a short pause, but as the first step to what will stop the killing of innocents, provide urgent humanitarian relief, ward off famine, free hostages and provide the space for a sustainable ceasefire, so fighting does not restart."

German foreign minister Baerbock visited the West Bank of Judea and Samaria in the company of the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. The group said Baerbock saw the impact of “state-backed settler violence on Palestinians” there. The group said that Palestinian land owners described “the harm they have endured for decades as settlements were built on their land, and most recently, being removed from their homes and land by the Israeli army, under the guise of the Gaza war.” 

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement released video footage showing Israeli hostage Elad Katzir, 47, who was abducted during the Oct. 7 attacks from Nir Oz kibbutz. Katzir is one of around 75 people kidnapped from Nir Oz by terrorists, according to the kibbutz near border with the Gaza Strip. 

President Biden was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters while delivering remarks at the Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Protesters demanded that he call for a halt to Israel’s invasion of Gaza, shouting “ceasefire now”. The crowd attempted to drown out their calls by chanting “four more years”. “I understand their passion,” Biden said, as security removed the protesters from the church, adding: "I‘ve been quietly working, quietly working with the Israeli government to get them to reduce significantly and get out of Gaza."

At least 23,084 Palestinians have been killed and 58,926 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, according to the latest figures released by the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry. The terrorists group claimed Palestinians were killed and 510 were wounded in the previous 24 hours.

Medical personnel, patients and displaced people are fleeing from the main hospital in central Gaza, as the fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants draws closer, according to witnesses. The Israeli military has dropped leaflets designating areas surrounding Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah as a “red zone”, the International Rescue Committee said. An employee at Al-Aqsa hospital said the facility has been struck multiple times in recent days. Israeli troops found tunnels beneath the hospital that Hamas had used for keeping hostages and military stores.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it has cancelled a mission to bring medical supplies to northern Gaza on Jan. 7 after failing to receive security guarantees. It was the fourth time the WHO had had to call off a planned mission to bring urgently needed medical supplies to Al-Awda Hospital and the central drug store in northern Gaza since Dec. 26, it said.

Israel has killed a senior military commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, Wissam Hassan al Tawil, in an air strike in southern Lebanon around six kilometres from the border. It comes amid warnings from Lebanese security sources that the assassination could lead to a further escalation in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Shia armed movement.

Israel is carrying out an unprecedented wave of strikes in Syria, targeting cargo trucks, infrastructure and people involved in Iran’s weapons lifeline to its proxies in the region, according to Reuters. The sources said Israel had shifted strategies following the 7 October attack by Hamas fighters into Israeli territory and the ensuing Israeli bombing campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken Gazans “must not be pressed to leave Gaza” at a press conference in Qatar. Blinken is on his fourth tour of the Middle East since the Oct 7 attacks by Hamas. He is due to head to Israel on Tuesday, where he said he would tell Israeli officials that it is imperative they do more to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza.

Al Jazeera has accused Israel of a “targeted killing” after two of its Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip were killed in an Israeli strike on their car. Hamza Wael Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuria were killed while they were “on their way to carry out their duty” for the channel in the Gaza Strip, the network said. The health ministry in Gaza also confirmed the deaths and blamed an Israeli strike.

UN experts have demanded accountability for sexual violence allegedly carried out by Hamas militants against Israeli civilians during the Oct. 7 attacks, saying that mounting evidence of rapes and genital mutilation point to possible crimes against humanity. Israeli authorities have opened an investigation into possible sexual crimes during the most deadly attack on Israel in its history.

Pro-Palestine protesters crowded bridges and tunnels, blocking traffic going into Manhattan. Police took several protesters into custody. The Brooklyn Bridge is active again.

The IDF killed senior Hezbollah commander Wissam al-Tawil in southern Lebanon via airstrike on his car. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah twice warned Israel last week not to launch a full-scale war against the Iran-backed terrorist organization. A Hezbollah rocket barrage hit a sensitive air traffic base in northern Israel on Jnauary 6 in one of the biggest attacks in three months of low-intensity fighting across the UN-drawn blue line that separates Lebanon and Israel. The militant group said was an “initial response” to the killing of Hamas’ deputy political leader Saleh Arouri in Beirut last week.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz will not stand in the way of further deliveries of Eurofighter jets to Saudi Arabia, echoing comments made by foreign minister Annalena Baerbock. On a trip to Israel, Baerbock said on Jan 7: “We do not see the German government opposing British considerations for more Eurofighters for Saudi Arabia.” A German government spokes person said: “The chancellor shares this assessment.”

Fixers with alleged links to Egyptian intelligence are making a fortune in “fees” from people hoping to exit through the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt, according to The Guardian. Egypt, a key regional player in negotiations on Gaza, has long resisted opening the Rafah crossing, fearing that millions of people would flee into the neighbouring Sinai peninsula. Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has said a mass influx of refugees from Gaza would set a precedent for displacing Palestinians from the West Bank into Jordan. According to The Guardian, brokers are helping Gazans to leave, but prices have surged since the start of the war, from $500 for each person. Some will pay between $5,000 and $10,000 each to leave Gaza, with some launching crowdfunding campaigns to raise the money.

In his annual address to diplomats accredited to the Holy See, Pope Francis said today that “indiscriminately striking” civilians is a war crime because it violates international humanitarian law. He called for a "ceasefire on every front, including Lebanon”. Condemning Hamas's Oct 7 assault on Israel as an “atrocious” act of “terrorism and extremism”, he also called for the immediate liberation of those still being held by militants in Gaza. Linking the war in Gaza to the war in Ukraine, he said modern warfare often does not distinguish between military and civilian objectives. He opined that there is no war that does not end up in some way “indiscriminately striking” the civilian population. "The events in Ukraine and Gaza are clear proof of this. We must not forget that grave violations of international humanitarian law are war crimes, and that it is not sufficient to point them out, but also necessary to prevent them. There is a need for greater effort on the part of the international community to defend and implement humanitarian law, which seems to be the only way to ensure the defence of human dignity in situations of warfare,” he said.  Francis also said the recent resurgence of antisemitism since the start of the Gaza war was a “scourge” that must be eliminated from society.

Intensive fighting took place in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis overnight Jan. 7 and Jan. 8 as the Israeli Air Force carried out some 30 strikes on Hamas targets in the area, as the Hamas-run health ministry said that 73 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli forces in the last day. The targets struck by fighter jets in the last day were “significant,” the IDF said on Jan. 8, adding that their destruction will “help the forces that are maneuvering in the area to continue fighting.” According to the military, the targets included underground sites, weapons depots and other infrastructure belonging to the terror group.

In recent days, the infantry division of the 7th Armored Brigade successfully uncovered a tunnel shaft next to a school in Khan Younis, as well as other pieces of terror-related infrastructure in residential neighborhoods, the IDF revealed on Jan. 8.

January 8, 2024

 

Hamas war materiel found in Gaza. IDF photo.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on his fourth tour of the Middle East since the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel by Hamas. Speaking at a news conference after his meeting with Qatari prime minister sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, Blinken said “Palestinian civilians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow,” and that “this is a conflict that could easily metastasise, causing even more insecurity and suffering”.

The Israeli military says it has completed its mission to destroy Hamas’s infrastructure in northern Gaza and has scaled back its military operations there as the offensive moves south, In recent weeks, Israel had already been scaling back its military assault in northern Gaza and pressing its offensive in the territory’s south, Associated Press reports.

The Qatari foreign ministry has released a statement following Secretary of State Blinken’s meeting with Qatari prime minister sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani on  Jan. 7. In the statement, the Qatari foreign ministry said that Blinken and al-Thani discussed ways to pressure for a ceasefire, lift restrictions imposed on humanitarian aid and discussed negotiations to release prisoners and the latest regional developments.

Some bakeries in Gaza have resumed functioning after over 50 days of closures due to shortages in fuel and electricity as a result of Israel’s deadly attacks across the strip. The World Food Programme announced the resumption of bakery functions in Gaza on Sunday, adding that it is providing wheat flour, salt, sugar and yeast so bakeries can start making bread again.

Beirut’s airport screens were hacked on Sunday with messages that showed anti-Hezbollah messages, Agence France-Presse reports Lebanon’s state news agency saying. According to Lebanese media reports, the messages urged Hezbollah to not “drag the country into war”. Another message said: “You’re going to blow up our airport by bringing in weapons. Let the airport be freed from the grip of the [Hezbollah] statelet,” AFP reports.

Nine people are confirmed to have died in the West Bank area of Judea and Samaria, as more details emerge about an Israeli drone strike in Jenin. Seven Palestinians were targeted in an airstrike by the Israeli army in Jenin refugee camp and an Israeli police officer was killed during an operation, the Israeli army said. An Israeli civilian was also shot dead in another incident north of Ramallah, the IDF said.

A Hezbollah rocket barrage on night of Jan. 6 damaged a strategic airbase in northern Israel, the  IDF confirmed. The IDF declined to comment on the extent of the damage at Mount Meron airbase, which is less than 10km (6.21 miles) from the border with Lebanon.

Two journalists have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza . Hamza Wael Al-Dahdouhof Al Jazeera and Mustafa Thuria, a video freelancer for AFP, died while traveling in a car, the Hamas-controlled health ministry of Gaza claimed. 

UNRWA’s Gaza deputy director Scott Anderson gave an update on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza as a result of Israel’s deadly attacks which have killed nearly 23,000 Palestinians while leaving nearly 2 million survivors internally displaced. Speaking to CNN, Anderson said: “The levels of hunger are quite severe in Gaza. From Rafah to the north, it gets worse, the farther north you go.”

Crew from Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and the International Rescue Committee have been forced to withdraw from Gaza’s al-Aqsa hospital due to Israeli bombardment. In a statement released on Sunday, MAP said: “As a result of increasing Israeli military activity around the Al Aqsa hospital, the only functioning hospital in Gaza’s Middle Area, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC)’s Emergency Medical Team (EMT) has been forced to withdraw and cease activities.”

Israel has named its former supreme court president Aharon Barak as its addition to the international court of justice (ICJ) panel scheduled to hear a genocide allegation filed against it this week, an Israeli official said. Under the ICJ’s rules a state that does not have a judge of its nationality already on the bench can choose an ad hoc judge to sit in their case, Reuters reports.

January 7, 2024

An Israeli airstrike on a house belonging to the Al-Nabris family in Khan Younis killed several Gazans and wounded dozens today. Videos on social media of what appeared to be the aftermath of the strike showed Gazans rushing injured victims, including bloodied children, to the hospital.

The US secretary of state Antony Blinken spoke with his Algerian counterpart, Ahmed Attaf, as part of his week-long diplomacy tour in the Middle East. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the two discussed “multilateral cooperation on threats to international security and increasing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza”. The US is working alongside its allies to see what can be done to protect civilians in Gaza amid Israel’s ongoing war in the strip, Reuters reports the Blinken as saying today. He added that the US wants to make sure that countries in the region are using their ties and relationships to make sure that there is no further escalation in violence. Blinken, who is on his fourth tour of the region since Oct. 7, spoke with leaders of Greece and Turkey on regional security amid the war in Gaza.

Iran and its associates “must immediately stop their destabilizing actions”, said Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna in France in a tweet today. After meeting with Iranian FM Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Colonna wrote: "I called Iranian Minister A Abdollahian and gave him a very clear message: the risk of regional conflagration has never been so significant; #Iran and its associates must immediately stop their destabilizing actions. No one would gain from escalation."

According to UNRWA, alost 90% of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been “forcibly displaced and lack everything”, UNRWA said. According to Hamas, 22,700 Gazans have been killed while survivors endure severe shortages in food, water, medical supplies, and fuel. 

Hundreds of people in London blocked off Westminster Bridge today, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Hundreds of protesters in London have staged a sit-in on Westminster Bridge, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in the first big demonstration of the year. Protesters blocked off the bridge and the surrounding roads after a march from St James’s Park in central London today. Organizaed by the Free Palestine Coalition, the protesters called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an end to Israeli control of Gaza and the West Bank, and for the UK to stop arms sales to Israel. Police made several arrests at the park, before protesters marched through Westminster and were then stopped by officers in Parliament Square, next to Big Ben.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned today that it is “absolutely necessary” that Lebanon not be dragged into a regional conflict as a result of Israel’s war in Gaza. At a bilateral press conference with his Lebanese counterpart, Borrell said: “It is imperative to avoid regional escalation in the Middle East. It is absolutely necessary to avoid Lebanon being dragged into a regional conflict.” He added, “I am sending this message to Israel, too: nobody will win from a regional conflict...I think that the war can be prevented, has to be avoided and diplomacy can prevail.”  He said that a Palestinian state was the “only way” to achieve peace in the region, and warned against an escalation of the conflict in Gaza, saying that “nobody will win” if other countries in the region are dragged in. He will visit Saudi Arabia on Jan. 7.

Since Oct. 7, Hezbollah has fired rockets and sent drones into Israel while exchanging frequent cross-border fire with Israeli forces. On Jan. 2, an Israel strike in Beirut killed Hamas’s deputy leader, Saleh al-Arouri. Israel has not claimed responsibility while a US official fingered Israel. Today, Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets at northern Israel as a “preliminary response” to al-Arouri’s killing.

Northern Israel was hit by a barrage of rockets fired from southern Lebanon today. Hezbollah later said it had launched the attack as a “preliminary response” to the killing of Hamas’s deputy chief in a Beirut suburb last week. Israel later carried out a series of retaliatory strikes on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon. The IDF said its fighter jets had attacked targets in the towns of Aita al-Sha’ab, Yaron, and Ramya, hitting a launch site and military buildings.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh called on Secretary of State Blinken to end what he called Israel’s “aggression”. He said US support for Israel’s operation in Gaza had “caused unprecedented massacres and war crimes against our people” and that he hoped Blinken had “learned the lessons of the last three months”.

UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt said attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea could impact the British economy. As to whether the attacks may cause inflation, “We obviously have to monitor what’s happening in the Red Sea. It may have an impact and we’ll watch it very, very carefully.”

Coalition forces assisted a merchant vessel in the Red Sea after six small craft were seen approaching it, according to UK Marine Trade Operations. The several boats came within one nautical mile (1.15 miles) of the vessel as it sailed around 50 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen. It added that no weapons had been sighted but that authorities were investigating. Since the beginning of the conflict in Gaza, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have been targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea, which is a major route for global maritime trade, especially petroleum.

5:00 pm

The Guardian reported: Dissent inside the Biden administration over the president’s Gaza policy is growing, with a public resignation this week of a Department of Education official, and a letter signed by more than a dozen Biden campaign staffers calling for a ceasefire and the conditioning of aid to Israel. “It’s pretty extraordinary levels of dissent,” said Josh Paul, a career official working on arms sales at the state department who resigned in protest in October, of the mounting signs of discontent. “I am hearing in recent weeks from people who are thinking more seriously about resigning.” Tariq Habash, the Department of Education official, also says that he has heard from many more officials than he had anticipated who are contemplating their own exits. “It speaks to the continued shift and concerns about our current policies,” he said. “I hope it resonates with the president and the people who are making policy decisions on this issue that is affecting millions of lives.”

4:15 am

Hezbollah terrorists fired a barrage of dozens of rockets from Lebanon into Israel today in what it called “an initial response” to the alleged Israeli killing of Hamas terror chief Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanon last week. There were no reports of injuries. According to the IDF, some 40 rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Mount Meron area of northern Israel. Hezbollah said it targeted an Israeli military installation in the area with 62 “various types of missiles.” Hezbollah stated that the attack was “part of the initial response to the crime of assassinating the great leader Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri.” The IDF struck a terror cell in southern Lebanon, responsible for some of the rocket launches. Also, the IDF carried out airstrikes on a series of Hezbollah sites in Lebanon in response to the attacks on northern Israel. The targets in Ayta ash-Shab, Yaroun, and Ramyah included rocket launch positions, military sites, and other infrastructure used by the terror group, according to the IDF. The IDF says a drone struck the cell behind the attack on Metula.

Israeli's elite Egoz commando unit operating in southern Gaza raided the home of Hamas’s east Khan Younis battalion commander and battled gunmen in a school. In the town of Bani Suheila on the outskirts of Khan Younis, Egoz troops raided a school where Hamas operatives were holed up. Israeli troops killed three terrorists during a battle in the school. Israelis found RPGs and “a lot of intelligence information” about Hamas’s Khan Younis brigade on the terrorists' bodies. Some of the weapons in the home were found inside a bedroom, which the IDF says troops found alongside a child’s puzzle of a hateful image about Israel.

A team from the Al Jazeera network was detained at Kibbutz Be’eri, close to the border with Gaza, for allegedly filming in a closed military area without permission. The journalists had filmed images of Israel Defense Forces troops and security teams. There is no immediate comment from the IDF. A journalist with +972 Magazine tweets that he spoke with the team, who told him that they were at an observation point that the media as well as civilians have been coming to for weeks, with the knowledge of the army. The Al Jazeera team denies recording footage of troops. It is unclear if the team has been released. Israeli PM Netanyahu's government has called for shutting down Al Jazeera in Israel, saying the Qatari-owned outlet has damaged national security since the war began on October 7. The efforts were apparently mothballed due to the sensitive role being played by Qatar in the negotiations to free hostages held by terror groups in Gaza.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks focusing on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Ankara’s request for US fighter jets. Blinken met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan about “the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Sweden’s NATO accession process, bilateral and regional issues.” Erdogan has been an outspoken critic of Israel in recent weeks, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is worse than Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. This is Blinken's fourth trip to the region since Oct. 7 amidst incidents that have piqued fears of regional escalation of the conflict.

January 6, 2024

Jordan and France dropped humanitarian aid into Gaza by air in a joint operation. Jordan has made such air drops in the past, but this was the first collaboration with France. French President Emmanuel Macron heralded the action on X.

Iraqi police in Babylon discovered a land attack cruise missile of Iranian design that failed to launch on January 3. 

Turkey arrested 34 individuals its government linked to Mossad, conducting arrests in eight cities. It followed a investigation by Turkey's spy agencies.

IDF Air Force fighter jet attacked earlier today the operational headquarters of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanon. They also attacked several areas in Lebanese territory from the morning hours with tank fire and artillery fire. In addition, a number of launches were detected earlier on Jan. 5 from Lebanon towards Israel. The IDF attacked the sources of the firing.

American intelligence sources say that the ISIS branch in Afghanistan is the perpetrator of the two Iranian bombings that killed more than 100. Iran has vowed revenge. 

Defense Minister Gallant said, "We prefer the political way over the military, but we are approaching the point where the hourglass will turn." Today he released his plan for continued military action in Gaza, which intends to destroy Hamas's military and governmental capabilities. He said, "Neither Israel, Hamas will govern Gaza."

IDF reportedly split Gaza into two sectors, widening the central Gaza corridor to cut off southern Gaza, according to Israeli media reports. IDF will use corridor to launch raids into Gaza City and other central Gaza areas where Hamas terrorists still operate. 

Hezbollah chief Nasrallah says group has conducted around 670 military operations on Lebanese - Israeli border since Oct 8, claiming to have destroyed a "large number of Israeli vehicles, tanks." He has called on Muslims worldwide to rise up against the US and Israel, vowing revenge for the killing of a Hamas leader in Lebanon by Israel. He warned of a "fight without limit" should Israel go to war in Lebanon.

Before the departure of Foreign Minister Analena Baerbock to Israel, Germany warned of  a "very real" Israel-Hezbollah war risk amid cross-border fire.

Assets of India's navy are providing security escort for container ships around the Red Sea. Earlier today, an Indian Navy warship was reported moving towards a hijacked Liberian-flagged vessel in the Arabian Sea. 

IDF uncovered Hamas 'Terror Tower' weapon stockpiles in Gaza.

Israeli fighter jets conducted strikes in Ayta ash Shab and Majdal Zun areas in Lebanon targeting a Hezbollah military post and operational site.

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi defended Biden policy on Israel, and urged U.S. public to call for Hamas's hostages release.

IDF attacked over 100 terrorist targets in Gaza within 24 hours. In Bureij refugee camp, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported clashing with armed terrorists who attempted to attack an Israeli tank. A drone followed the terrorist squad fleeing the area allowing Air Forces fighter jet to target the cell's hide-out, killing the terrorists. In Khan Yunis, the IDF troops overnight "struck the launch pads and during a number of engagements with terrorists in the area, killed a number of the operatives," read the statement.

"UNRWA is doing important work and cannot be blamed for Hamas using civilian infrastructure,' said White House spokesman John Kirby, dismissing criticism of the United Nations agency. Humanitarian aid to civilians Gazans has been shown to be re-routed to terrorists. 

4:19 pm

Hezbollah leadership has reportedly ordered a "proportionate and deterrent response" to the recent attack by Israel in Lebanon, which killed Hamas leader, Saleh Arouri. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah stated: “This is a message to the US- you are not confronting one government or resistance. You are facing millions and tens of millions of very many people- whose histories are full of victories.  Biden should understand that.”

Since October 7th, Montgomery County in Maryland has seen a disturbing number of local educators posting antisemitic or anti-Zionist images or messages on social media or in their email signature. To date, at least four Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) educators have been placed on administrative leave for engaging in actions that violate school system policy.

Prosecutors in Poland are investigating after commentators joked on a right-wing television station that migrants should be sent to Auschwitz or be tattooed or microchipped like dogs, and some companies have pulled advertising from the broadcaster. The remarks were made over the past week by guests on TV Republika, a private station whose role as a platform for conservative views grew after the national conservative party, Law and Justice, lost control of the Polish government and public media.

In Gaza, the Blue Beach Hotel, which is known for catering to foreigners, was found to be connected to Hamas's tunnel complex complete with munitions.

According to Israel's defense minister Yoav Gallant, the country will continue fighting with 'new combat approach' until hostages are returned and Hamas dismantled. This comes as US Secretary of State Blinken is about to visit Israel and other countries in the region. On Jan. 4, Gallant unveiled his plan for Gaza before submitting it to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, which has seen debate over the future of Gaza after the ouster of Hamas, which has ruled since 2007. His plan calls for continuing the war until hostages taken on Oct. 7 are returned, Hamas "military and governing capabilities" are dismantled, and military threats terminated. 

Gallant's document is titled “vision for phase 3” of the war. It also said the ideas were Gallant’s and not official policy, which would have to be set by Israel’s war and security cabinets. He described how Israeli forces would change to an apparently scaled-down “new combat approach” in northern Gaza, while continuing to fight Hamas in the south of the territory “for as long as necessary.” In the north, Israeli forces would shift to a new approach that included raids, destruction of tunnels, “air and ground activities and special operations”. The aim would be “the erosion” of the remaining Hamas presence.

A plan by Israel’s military to mount an internal investigation into the perceived intelligence failures before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack is drawing criticism from some government ministers, who want a more sweeping review of policy towards the Palestinian territory. Israeli armed forces chief, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, informed the security cabinet of the planned inquiry during a briefing on the evening of Jan. 4. The briefing was meant to be closed but some of it was aired by Israeli media, including criticism by several ministers who were present. Hamas's attack on Israel apparently blindsided the country’s advanced security apparatus and exposed Israeli PM Netanyahu to criticism. He has made no personal admission of failure, but spoken of the need for a public reckoning with all Israeli decision-makers involved in Gaza policy, including those predating his record-long term. 

Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich opposed the inclusion in the inquiry of Shaul Mofaz, a retired general who was defense minister when Israel unilaterally quit the Gaza Strip in 2005 and razed Jewish settlements there. The two ministers also accused another ex-general helping with the inquiry of having weakened the military by supporting reservists who protested against a campaign for a judicial overhaul by Netanyahu last year. “These are people whose own actions should be under investigation – and who should not be the ones doing the investigating,” Ben-Gvir wrote in a social media post. Smotrich posted that he was not in principle opposed to a military review intended to improve war performance, but called for cabinet input into any investigation of what led to the Oct. 7 attack, and of wider security doctrines.

Suspects were arrested over bomb blasts in Iran on Jan. 2, according to the country's interior minister. ISIS has claimed responsibility. At the funeral for 100+ Iranians killed during a memorial for army commander Qassem Suleimani, who was killed by a US drone in 2020, crowds chanted “revenge, revenge” in state TV coverage.The blast was the worst terrorist attack in Iran since  the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said, "Our country’s capable intelligence agencies have found very good clues regarding elements involved in the terrorist explosions in Kerman and a section of those who had a role in this incident have been arrested."

ISIS terrorists detonated explosive belts, killing themselves and members of the crowd gathered for Soleimani’s memorial in the south-eastern city. At the funeral in Kerman’s Imam Ali religious centre, Revolutionary Guards commander Maj Gen Hossein Salami said: "We will find you wherever you are." In a televised address, President Ebrahim Raisi said, "Our enemies can see Iran’s power and the whole world knows its strength and capabilities. Our forces will decide on the place and time to take action".

The German government is monitoring the situation on the border between Israel and Lebanon, a German foreign ministry spokesperson said today, as Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock prepares for a Sunday depature for Israel to meet her new counterpart, Israel Katz and President Yitzhak Herzog. The spokesperson said, "The risk of escalation is unfortunately very real." Baerbock will also hold talks with Palestinians.

A kibbutz that was attacked during Hamas’s assault says one of its residents, who was taken hostage, has died in captivity. The cause of death for Tamir Adar, 38, was not revealed. About 250 people were captured during Hamas’ attack, with approximately 80 taken from Nir Oz alone, out of a population of 400. Tamir’s grandmother, Yaffa Adar (85), was also abducted by militants but released during a weeklong ceasefire in November.

EU foreign minister Josep Borrell is travelling to Lebanon amid escalating tensions and fears that country could be drawn into a widened conflicted in the Middle East. Borrell will meet the speaker of the parliament Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, and Lebanese armed forces commander Gen Joseph Aoun. He will also have an exchange with the head of the UN’s interim force in Lebanon, Gen Aroldo Lazaro.

The Iraqi government is forming a bilateral committee to prepare for ending the mission of the US-led international coalition in Iraq, the office of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia, Al-Sudani, said today. This was issued a day after a US strike killed local militia leader in Baghdad. 

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is due to arrive in the Middle East for the fourth time in three months, on a tour expected to focus largely on easing resurgent fears that the Israel-Gaza war could erupt into a broader conflict. “We don’t expect every conversation on this trip to be easy,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. “There are obviously tough issues facing the region and difficult choices ahead. But the secretary believes it is the responsibility of the United States of America to lead diplomatic efforts to tackle those challenges head on, and he’s prepared to do that in the days to come.” Blinken left late on Jan 4 on his latest extended Mideast tour, which will take him to Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, and Egypt. He is believed to be pressing for a dramatic increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, a shift toward less intense military operations, and a to control Jewish settlers blamed for violence against Arabs in the West Bank areas of Judea and Samaria.

3:30 pm

Islamic State spokesman Abu Huthaifa al-Ansari, in a speech published by the terror group’s media arm Al-Furqan on the evening of Jan. 4, called on ISIS supporters around the world to attack Jews and avenge the killing by the Israel Defense Forces of Hamas terrorists in  Gaza. In the 30-minute recording titled, “And kill them wherever you find them,” Al-Ansari instructed terrorist cells to strike Israeli and Jewish targets across the United States and Europe, including synagogues, Jewish gatherings and Israeli diplomatic missions.

America First Legal - an advocacy law firm -- filed a complaint with the Inspector General of the Department of Justice asking for a probe into possible political considerations as to the department's apparent "stand-down" orders that prevent probes into foreign nationals supporting Hamas in the U.S. and instigating attacks on Jews.

California governor Gavin Newsom (D) met  on Jan. 4 with the state's Council on American-Islamic Relations chapter (CAIR) just weeks after the group's leader said he was "happy to see" Hamas's terrorist attack on Israel, a comment that even prompted condemnation from the Biden White House. 

9:45 am

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will arrive in the Middle East today, just a day after a US airstrike in Baghdad that killed the commander of an Iranian-backed Shia militia that Washington blamed for attacks on American forces in the region. Blinken is set to visit Israel and the occupied West Bank, as well as Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt over the next week. He is expected to call upon Israel to allow more aid into Gaza and rein in violence against Arab residents in the West Bank.

More than 22,438 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began, the majority of them women and children, according to the latest figures from Gaza’s health ministry on Thursday. The figures include 125 Palestinians killed in the past 24 hours. At least 12 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a home in al-Mawasi evacuation zone, Palestinian hospital officials said. The blast reportedly killed a man and his wife, seven of their children and three other children ranging in age from five to 14.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said it is deeply concerned for the safety of its staff and others who are sheltering at al-Amal hospital and PRCS headquarters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. In a statement, the PRCS said the hospital compound has been subject to “repeated direct targeting” by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for the past three days, and that seven people had been killed, including a five-year-old baby.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that there will be no Israeli civilian presence in Gaza and Palestinian bodies will be “in charge” of the territory after the war ends. In a statement by his office on Thursday, Gallant also outlined Israel’s new phase in its war on Gaza, including that Israel will “transition to a new combat approach in accordance with military achievements on the ground” in the northern region of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is seeking a “fundamental change” on Israel’s border with Lebanon. The Israeli prime minister, at a meeting with US special envoy Amos Hochstein on Thursday, said he was committed to resettling evacuated residents from Israel’s north back in their homes safely. Separately, Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant said there must be a “new reality” that would allow Israelis who have evacuated from northern areas of the country to return, referring to the repeated exchanges of fire over the UN-drawn blue line that separates Israel and Lebanon.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Beirut for the funeral of one of Hamas’s most senior officials, Saleh al-Arouri, who was killed earlier this week in an Israeli drone strike in the Lebanese capital. The general secretary of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, who addressed the killing in a speech televised nationally in Lebanon, is expected to speak about the issue again on Friday amid speculation over the likely response of both Hezbollah and Hamas.

Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for two explosions at a ceremony in Iran to commemorate commander Qassem Suleimani. At least 84 Iranians were killed and scores more injured in the attack on Wednesday, which came at a memorial ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of the killing of Suleimani, the head of Iran’s al-Quds force. The US is “in no position to doubt” the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility, the White House has said.

A Houthi drone boat laden with explosives detonated in the Red Sea on Jan. 4, a senior US military officer said, just hours after the US and its allies warned the Iran-backed militia group to stop attacks or face “consequences”.

Several Gulf Arab states have strongly condemned remarks by two Israeli government ministers this week calling for Palestinians to emigrate from Gaza. Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has called on Palestinians to leave Gaza and make way for Israelis who could “make the desert bloom” while national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for promoting “a solution to encourage the emigration of Gaza’s residents” and the re-establishment of Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory. The UN’s top human rights official, Volker Türk, said he was “very disturbed” by the statements.

Three Israelis who were considered missing since the Hamas attacks on 7 October are being held hostage in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said. This brings the number of people held hostage in Gaza since the attacks on Israel to 132, according to figures provided by Israeli officials.

The IDF said they have killed the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) northern Gaza operations chief, Mamdouh Lolo, in an airstrike in northern Gaza. The IDF said the strike was a joint operation with Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, the Shin Bet. Separately, the IDF said it raided and destroyed a Hamas military compound along the central coast of the Gaza Strip, including an underground tunnel system that led to a facility that was used to move terrorists and materiel.

At least 120 Palestinians were detained during an Israeli military raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank city of Tulkarem on Jan. 4. The IDF said they had detained hundreds of people suspected of militant activities.

The Guardian newspaper reported:

"ADL has only doubled down on initiatives defending Israel and the policies of the Israeli government amid criticism and staff resignations"

"The Anti-Defamation League CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, sparked controversy in 2022 when he placed opposition to Israel on a par with white supremacy as a source of antisemitism. 'Anti-Zionism is antisemitism,' Greenblatt said in a speech to ADL leaders. He singled out Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace as groups that “epitomize the Radical Left, the photo inverse of the Extreme Right that ADL long has tracked'. H is remarks didn’t only upset grassroots activists and Jewish groups critical of Israeli policy. It also set off a firestorm within the Jewish advocacy group. Some members of ADL’s staff were outraged by the dissonance between Greenblatt’s comments and the organization’s own research, as evidenced by internal messages viewed by the Guardian. 'There is no comparison between white supremacists and insurrectionists and those who espouse anti-Israel rhetoric, and to suggest otherwise is both intellectually dishonest and damaging to our reputation as experts in extremism,' a senior manager at ADL’s Center on Extremism wrote in a Slack channel to over 550 colleagues. Others chimed in, agreeing. 'The aforementioned false equivalencies and the both-sides-ism are incompatible with the data I have seen,” a longtime extremism researcher said. “[T]he stated concerns about reputational repercussions and societal impacts have already proved to be prescient.'”

8:00 am

January 5, 2024

An armed unmanned surface vessel launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen got within a “couple of miles” of U.S. Navy and commercial vessels in the Red Sea before detonating today, just hours after the White House and a host of partner nations issued a final warning to the Iran-backed militia group to cease the attacks or face potential military action. Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Navy operations in the Middle East, said it was the first time the Houthis had used an unmanned surface vessel, or USV, since their harassment of commercial ships in the Red Sea began after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. They have, however, used them in years past.

When CNN's Christianne Amanpour asked if Hezbollah respond to the assassination of a senior Hamas leader in Beirut, Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib answered, “The decision is theirs...We hope they don’t commit themselves to a larger war… We have a lot of reasons to think that this will not happen.” 

The Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization claimed responsibility today for two suicide bombings targeting a commemoration for an Iranian general slain by a 2020 U.S. drone strike, the worst militant attack to strike Iran in decades as the wider Middle East remains on edge. Experts who follow the group confirmed that the statement, circulated online among jihadists, came from the extremists, who likely hope to take advantage of the chaos gripping the region amid Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US special envoy Amos Hochstein that there is “a short window of time for diplomatic understandings” to be reached with Hezbollah, as the Lebanese terror group continued to carry out daily attacks on northern Israel. “There is only one possible result — a new reality in the northern arena, which will allow for the secure return of our citizens,” Gallant said to Hochstein, according to remarks provided by his office. Gallant referred to more than 80,000 residents of northern Israel who have been displaced by the attacks, which began after Hamas’s brutal October 7 massacres in southern Israel.

When pressed on mounting civilian casualties in Gaza, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US “has not seen anything that would convince us that we need to take a different approach in terms of trying to help Israel.” He said the number of civilian casualties is too high and that the US continues to engage with Israel about how to lower the figure.

Israeli troops have uncovered and destroyed a Hamas underground weapons manufacturing plant on the coast of central Gaza. Over the past week, troops of the 179th Armored Brigade, the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit, and the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit raided a Hamas compound, where they located several tunnel shafts, the IDF announced. The tunnel shafts led to an underground network spanning hundreds of meters, according to the IDF, which adds that troops located a cache of weapons, including mortars, grenades and RPGs. Nearby, several more tunnel shafts were found by Shayetet 13 and Yahalom forces, which led to another underground network of branching tunnels, the IDF said. The IDF said the tunnels featured blast doors, and behind them, the troops found a weapons manufacturing plant. The underground room had machinery, cooling fans, explosive materials and rocket fuel. The tunnels were later destroyed by combat engineers.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will discuss during his visit to Israel next week “transitioning to the next phase” of the IDF’s war in Gaza, including “enabling Palestinians to return to their homes and neighborhoods as fighting curtails,” US State Department spokesman Matt Miller said. Israel has thus far blocked Palestinians from northern Gaza, which it ordered to be evacuated in the early days of the war, arguing that fighters from Hamas and other terror groups remain in those areas. Miller said Blinken will leave for his regional tour today, making stops in Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank and Egypt for meetings with foreign counterparts. Blinken’s agenda in Israel will focus on “immediate measures to substantially increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza,” Miller says, noting that the US has led this effort, even as “conditions remained extremely difficult.”

“The secretary will stress the imperative of expanding and sustaining safe access for humanitarian organizations to deliver food, water, medicine, as well for commercial goods to enter all areas of Gaza,” Miller said. “There still remain a number of logistical hurdles to getting the level of trucks back to the level we need.”

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during a tour of the central Gaza border today said Hamas fighters who are counting on the IDF to soon leave the Strip “need to change the count until the end of their lives.” “In the north of the Gaza Strip, forces are completing the current mission. They are reorganizing with the intention of carrying out raids and airstrikes soon,” Gallant said. 

Gallant said that in central Gaza, the fighting “is intense.” “The forces are working above ground and underground, destroying central infrastructures of the Hamas organization, including the places where Hamas produced all its missiles and supplied them all over the Strip,” Gallant said. “In the south of the Gaza Strip, the operation is a powerful operation and it is getting stronger, above ground and below ground,” he said. “Those terrorists who started counting down the time to the departure of the IDF forces, need to change the count, they need to start counting until the end of their lives on earth, it will come soon,” Gallant added.

2:00 pm

Hezbollah has withdrawn its forces from the border to Israel by 2-3 kilometers, according to a Maariv report today, which cited The Economist. According to the report, this is indeed a "tactical withdrawal," but it is a signal to Israel and to the US that the terrorist organization wants to avoid an all-out war, the report claims.

A Hezbollah commander and three other members of the Iran-backed terror group were killed late on Jan. 3 in an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanon city of Naqoura. Hussein Yazbak, who managed terror operations in the city close to the Israeli border, was killed in the strike, Hezbollah confirmed. The other three fatalities were named as Ibrahim Fahas, Hadi Reda and Hussein Ghazala. The death toll in Israeli strikes on Lebanon thus rises to nine Hezbollah terrorists, in one of the deadliest days for the group since it began exchanging cross-border fire with Israel in October.

The IDF says a fighter jet carried out airstrikes on several Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon today. These included a rocket launch position, an observation post, and other infrastructure used by the terror group, according to the IDF. Also, a Hezbollah observation post was hit by the IDF in the south Lebanon village of Maroun el-Ras. Israeli troops also opened fire to “remove a threat” in the area of Ayta ash-Shab, close to the Israeli border. Meanwhile, Hezbollah launched several projectiles at Manara and Misgav Am today. The IDF responded with artillery.

Attacks by Houthi rebels in Red Sea shipping lanes have to stop, otherwise international action will be taken, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said. “This is illegal. It’s not to do with Gaza, it’s not to do with Israel. This is about the freedom of navigation. This is about the ability of ships to carry their cargo,” he said on a visit to Kosovo. “The world economy, every economy, will suffer if ships keep coming under attack in this illegal and unacceptable way. And these attacks need to stop or actions will be taken.”

The IDF says it killed Mamdouh Lulu, a terrorist who served under senior commanders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip. According to Shin Bet, he maintained contact with Islamic Jihad officials abroad. “Lulu was a central figure in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, initiating and leading numerous terror attacks and assaults from Gaza against the State of Israel, routinely and during the war,”  the joint statement adds.

11:00 am

Qantas Airlines cabin crew were condemned for their behaviour aboard a flight to Hobart, Australia, after crew allegedly wore Palestinian flag pins while serving passengers with one man telling Sky News that he felt “intimidated” by the “divisive” political statement. Sky News reporter Caroline Marcus revealed that a group of QantasLink workers donned the Palestinian flags while serving passengers on a December 20 flight from Melbourne.

Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei has reportedly ordered for IRGC Military Commanders to limit their ongoing Attacks on U.S. and Coalition Forces within Syria and Iraq. He reportedly said thatIran must avoid direct military confrontation with the US at all costs. 

Nili Margalit, who was released from Hamas captivity during a prisoner swap late last year, treated dozens of the hostages during their time in captivity. In an interview to be aired later today, Margalit said, "We went into a very dark place, there was no air in it, and there was a city there, there was the lower Gaza." "They call it, by the way, the Lower Gaza."

An IDF fighter jet struck a Hezbollah observation position and military site in southern Lebanon’s Maroun el-Ras, amid repeated cross-border attacks carried out by the terror group. Shortly thereafter, IDF troops struck a Hezbollah anti-tank missile squad in the area. Also, troops launched mortars “to remove a threat” overnight in the area of the southern Lebanese village of Rab el-Thalathine. This morning, Hezbollah fired several projectiles at northern Israel, near Shtula, Arab al-Aramshe, Manara, and Metula. The IDF does not report any injuries in the attacks.

Terrorists blamed a “US strike” in Baghdad for the killing of a commander of the Hashed al-Shaabi, while an Iraqi security official reported two deaths in a drone attack. “A drone targeted the logistical support headquarters of Hashed al-Shaabi,” which are pro-Iranian paramilitary units largely integrated into the Iraqi armed forces, the security official said. The strike killed “two members and wounded seven others,” says the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. A Hashed source charged the US with the attack. Harakat al-Nujaba, one of the Hashed’s factions, says in a statement that “the deputy commander of operations for Baghdad, Mushtaq Talib al-Saidi” has been “martyred in a US strike.”

Russia will buy short-range ballistic missiles from Iran amidst the former's war with Ukraine. In 2023, the Biden administration said there were indications that Russia and Iran were expanding an unprecedented defense partnership that would help Russia prolong its war in Ukraine as well as pose a threat to Iran’s neighbors. Last month, Israeli PM Netanyahu criticized Russian President Putin in a phone call for “the dangerous cooperation between Russia and Iran,” according to the Israeli readout. 

Israeli Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, the chief of Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate says the IDF’s intelligence, predicted “widespread blows against our enemies, from Gaza to Iran.” “For almost 90 days the State of Israel and the IDF have been in a multi-front war. The IDF, including the Military Intelligence Directorate, is operating in all the arenas and fronts, in defense and offense,” he said, adding: “The IDF’s activity, in all dimensions of combat, is based on intelligence.” “The high-quality and rich intelligence that the Military Intelligence Directorate provides saves the lives of many soldiers every day who risk their lives in the field, and results in widespread blows against our enemies from Gaza to Iran, in all arenas in the face of complex challenges,” Haliva said. “This is not an easy campaign. It will take time. But we will achieve the goals. We have the strength, the power, and the ability. And we have you; you are the most valuable and important asset we have,” he continues.

Regarding reports that senior intelligence officers ignored warnings by lower-ranking soldiers about Hamas’s planned October 7 onslaught, Haliva said: “I expect you to voice your professional opinion, always. Everywhere, in front of every echelon and every rank. Even if it is different, critical, and disagreeable.” “You, all of you, are the future generation of the Intelligence Directorate. The ones who will apply the lessons of war, will pass them on and will do everything, so that such an event never happens again. Learn from the mistakes and remember to keep the good things,” he said. 

Saudi Arabia rejects “extremist remarks” by two Israeli ministers who called for the displacement of Gaza’s population, the reoccupation of the Strip and the construction of settlements there, the foreign ministry says in a statement. Israeli cabinet ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir have both made comments to this effect in recent days, garnering a wave of criticism from the US and other governments, as well as from within the Israeli government.

Israel's Defense Ministry body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs (COGAT) again accused the United Nations of not doing enough to process humanitarian aid into Gaza. “You can’t keep avoiding the facts: There is no collective punishment. 2 crossings are open. You said you can transfer 200 trucks a day in Kerem Shalom, yet you’re not scraping 100,” says COGAT in a post on X, responding to claims by Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of UNRWA, who says “the Palestinian people subjected to collective punishment with too little humanitarian aid allowed in.” “Over the last 80 days, we’ve adjusted ourselves, all you’ve been doing is stalling,” COGAT adds. Prior to the Oct. 7 attack, about 500 trucks with alleged humanitarian aid would enter Gaza, mostly through Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing. Afterward, Israel permitted aid to enter the enclave only through Egypt's Rafah crossing as each truck was inspected. To facilitate the entry of aid, Israel recently reopened the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

China calls the Red Sea an important shipping lane and that it is of common interest to safeguard its peace and stability. “China opposes attacks against civilian vessels. I believe all sides need to play a constructive and responsible role in safeguarding the security of shipping lanes in the Red Sea,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said. Wenbin did not specifically mention the Iran-back Houthi terrorists, the Yemenite rebel group responsible for a series of attacks on vessels traveling through the Red Sea in recent months, which claims its attacks are a response to the Israel-Hamas war.

The IDF claimed it has “thwarted Hamas anti-tank missile terrorist cells throughout the Gaza Strip”. On the Telegram messaging app, it declared: "In the city of Khan Younis, three terrorists attempted to plant an explosive device next to IDF troops. In response, an IAF aircraft directed by the troops targeted and killed the terrorists. Furthermore, the troops eliminated two additional terrorists who were hiding in a nearby building and a fighter jet struck a Hamas weapons storage facility." The IDF also carried out operations in Khan Younis and located long-range rocket launchers in Brueij. 

Seventeen Biden re-election campaign staffers have issued a warning in an anonymous letter that the president could lose voters over his stance in the Israel-Gaza war. In their letter, published on Medium, they urge Biden to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. They write: "Biden for President staff have seen volunteers quit in droves, and people who have voted blue for decades feel uncertain about doing so for the first time ever, because of this conflict." Biden’s campaign did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

In November, more than 1,000 officials in the US Agency for International Development (USAID), part of the State Department, signed an open letter urging the Biden administration to call for an immediate ceasefire. At least three cables criticizing the Biden administration’s policy have been previously filed with the State Department’s internal “dissent channel,” with the Secretary of State Blinken acknowledging the disagreements in a November letter. In December, Biden administration staff held a vigil near the White House to demand a ceasefire in Gaza.

Pro-Palestine protesters voiced demands for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war inside California’s state assembly chambers in Sacramento. Protesters, dressed mostly in black and red T-shirts, gathered inside the Capitol on Jan. 3 hanging banners and chanting. 

A Jewish-owned delicatessen in Toronto, Canada, was set alight on Jan. 3. Local police are investigating the arson as a hate crime. Firefighters were alerted to a blaze early morning inside International Delicatessen Foods, located in Canada’s largest city. No one was injured, according to Toronto media reports. Graffiti reading “Free Palestine” had been painted on the doors of the establishment. Toronto police staff Superintendent Pauline Gray said the arson attack could not be considered a lawful protest: "It’s criminal. It’s violent, targeted and organised. We’ll use all resources available to investigate, arrest and prosecute those who are responsible for this" Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow posted on social media site X that “acts of antisemitism, hate and violence are not welcome here.” At the end of November, Toronto police said they were facing a significant increase in hate crimes in the city since Hamas terrorists entered Israel on Oct. 7 and killed more than 1,200 people.  

Secretary of State Blinken will travel to the Middle East today, and will stop in Israel. U.S. diplomatic envoy Amos Hochstein will also travel to Israel in an effort to calm tensions between the Israel and Hezbollah. This is Blinken's fourth trip to the region since Oct. 7. He will stop in several capital cities. This follows a suspected Israeli strike that killed a top Hamas leader in Lebanon, raising fears of a wider conflict. “It is in no one’s interest – not in the interest of any country in the region, not in the interest of any country in the world – to see this conflict escalated any further than it already is,” state department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Jan. 3. It’s also after almost 100 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in Iran by twin explosions near the grave of a slain Revolutionary Guards general. Tehran is blaming the United States and Israel for the attack but Washington has rejected suggestions of either nation’s involvement.

7:30 am

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards and First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber vowed revenge for explosions that killed nearly 100 people. No one claimed responsibility for the blasts. A senior US official said it appeared to represent "a terrorist attack" of the type carried out in the past by Islamic State militants."A very strong retaliation will be handed to them on the hands of the soldiers of Soleimani," Mokhber told reporters at a hospital were some of the wounded were receiving treatment for the bloodiest attack since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken will leave this evening on his fourth trip to the Middle East since Hamas's Oct. 7 onslaught in Israel. He will travel to Israel, but no other details have been provided as to other travel plans.

Israel carried out the strike that killed Hamas’s deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut, Lebanon, a US defense department official told Agence France-Presse anonymously on Wednesday. “The strike was an Israeli strike,” said the official, without providing further details. On Tuesday, al-Arouri was killed in Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut. Both Hamas and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for al-Arouri’s killing.

The international court of justice will hold public hearings on the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by South Africa in its case against Israel over “genocidal” acts in Gaza next week. In a press release on Wednesday, the ICJ said that it will hold public hearings at the Peace Palace in The Hague next Thursday and Friday. It added: “The hearings will be devoted to the request for the indication for provisional measures contained in South Africa’s application.”

The US said that it is “not seeing any acts that constitute genocide” in Gaza, referring to South Africa’s case against Israel in the international court of justice in which it accused Israel of “genocidal” acts across Gaza. In a news briefing on Wednesday, US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, “Those are allegations that should not be made lightly ... we are not seeing any acts that constitute genocide … That is a determination by the state department.” Miller’s comments come as Israeli strikes have killed over 22,300 Palestinians across Gaza – which human rights organisations have described as an “open air prison” – since 7 October.

A local Hezbollah official and two other members were killed on Wednesday in an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon, Reuters reports two security sources saying. Wednesday’s strike bring the death toll in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon to nine Hezbollah members since the Iran-backed group began exchanging fire with Israeli forces at the start of October.
The United States sees no “clear desire” by either Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement or Israel to go to war with the other, a senior Biden administration official has told Reuters. The official was briefing reporters on condition of anonymity and referring to a speech earlier in the day by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on the assassination on Tuesday of a senior Hamas official in Beirut.

Twelve nations led by the United States on Wednesday have jointly warned Yemen’s Houthi rebels of consequences unless they immediately halt sea attacks that have been disrupting global commerce. President Joe Biden’s administration described the statement – joined by Britain, Germany and Japan – as a final warning, as Biden weighs possible military strikes against the Houthis if attacks persist, Agence France-Presse reports.

Members of the UN security council on Wednesday also called on Yemen’s Houthis to halt their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Addressing the council’s first formal meeting of 2024, members also demanded that the Houthis release the Galaxy Leader, a Japanese-operated cargo ship linked to an Israeli company, and its crew, which the group seized on 19 November,

The United States remains “incredibly concerned” about the risk of the Israel-Gaza war spreading to other fronts, according to the US state department. The state department also said the US was not involved and had no reason to believe that Israel was involved in the explosions in central Iran earlier on Wednesday.

The US coordinated with Israel, Egypt and others in rescuing the mother of a US serviceman and her American brother-in-law in Gaza, the Associated Press (AP) is reporting. The news agency says it’s the only known operation of its kind to extract American citizens and their close family members during the months of fighting and Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.
A senior official in the US Education Department has stepped down, citing President Joe Biden’s handling of the conflict in Gaza, Reuters is reporting, in the latest sign of dissent in the administration over the war.

Meanwhile, 17 Biden re-election campaign staffers have issued a warning in an anonymous letter that Biden could lose voters over the issue, according to the Reuters news agency. Biden’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

January 4, 2023

 

The following joint statement regarding Houthi piracy was issued today by the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, and New Zealand:

Recognising the broad consensus as expressed by 44 countries around the world on December 19, 2023, as well as the statement by the UN Security Council on December 1, 2023, condemning Houthi attacks against commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea, and in light of ongoing attacks, including a significant escalation over the past week targeting commercial vessels, with missiles, small boats, and attempted hijackings,

We hereby reiterate the following and warn the Houthis against further attacks:

Ongoing Houthi attacks in the Red Sea are illegal, unacceptable, and profoundly destabilising. There is no lawful justification for intentionally targeting civilian shipping and naval vessels. 

Attacks on vessels, including commercial vessels, using unmanned aerial vehicles, small boats, and missiles, including the historic first use of anti-ship ballistic missiles against such vessels, are a direct threat to the freedom of navigation that serves as the bedrock of global trade in one of the world’s most critical waterways.

These attacks threaten innocent lives from all over the world and constitute a significant international problem that demands collective action.  

Nearly 15 percent of global seaborne trade passes through the Red Sea, including 8 percent of global grain trade, 12 percent of seaborne-traded oil and 8 percent of the world’s liquefied natural gas trade. International shipping companies continue to reroute their vessels around through the Cape of Good Hope, adding significant cost and weeks of delay to the delivery of goods, and ultimately jeopardizing the movement of critical food, fuel, and humanitarian assistance throughout the world.

Let our message now be clear: we call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews.  The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways. 

We remain committed to the international rules-based order and are determined to hold malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks.

Former NATO chief James Stavridis urged the Biden administration to move toward a “more aggressive” response to the attacks from the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on shipping vessels in the Red Sea. “What I think the White House is going to be grappling with today, in addition to what you and I have just discussed, is how to respond to these pirate attacks at sea, these Houthi rebels — you can call them Iranian pirates if you want,” Stavridis told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell today.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Hamas “still has a significant force posture inside Gaza, but Israel’s goal to defeat the terror group remains attainable.” Kirby said while Israel may significantly degrade Hamas’s capabilities by eliminating the terror group’s leadership, the IDF won’t likely be able to “erase the group from existence.” “You are probably not going to eliminate the ideology,” Kirby said, while reiterating that the only viable path toward peace is for Hamas to be successfully combated. Kirbysaid US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan phoned Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer on Jan. 2 and discussed the war and possible release of hostages held by Gazans. “They discussed ongoing Israeli military operations and ongoing efforts to see if we can secure the release of the remaining hostages,” Kirby said. Kirby said  that hostage talks are ongoing. 

Hezbollah announced the deaths of three of its terrorists, bringing he number of operatives killed today to five, as Israel and Hezbollah continue to exchange fire across the increasingly volatile border. Those named were: The three are named as Muhammad Akram Hamad, Abbas Hussein Zaher, and Hassan Ali Daqiq. Hezbollah targeted a group of Israeli soldiers near Shomera on the border “with appropriate weapons” this evening. Lebanon’s Hezbollah-affiliated al-Meyadeen news site reported Israeli strikes on the town of Naqoura, on the southern Lebanese coast. No comment from the IDF. Hezbollah has named 143 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 19 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 19 civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been killed.

The US will “continue to maintain a significant military force presence in the Middle East,” Kirby said amid Israeli concerns about the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw one of the two aircraft carriers it moved into the Eastern Mediterranean following Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier group, as well as an Amphibious Ready Group, which moved into the Eastern Mediterranean in recent days upon the departure of the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier, are in theatre. The US does not want to see regional escalation, he said, “but neither will we shrink from the task of defending ourselves, our interests and our partners,” Kirby said in reference to recent attacks on Red Sea shipping by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s wife Sara criticized relatives of hostages held in Gaza while accompanying her husband and a top official during a meeting with the families on Jan. 2. According  12 news report, Sara Netanyahu told the families that their statements in the media were bolstering Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, drawing angry responses, including from some who shouted at her. According to the channel, the prime minister attempted to intercede on behalf of his wife, noting her concern for the plight of the hostages. He said releasing prisoners in exchange for hostages’ freedom was not on the table, Israel is “mulling declaring the deportation of Sinwar from Gaza,” a likely reference to reports that Israel could allow Hamas leaders to leave the Strip and spare their lives, in exchange for the release of all remaining hostages, ending the war, the channel reports.

US State Department spokesman Matt Miller said the Biden administration is not satisfied with the amount of food, water and humanitarian aid currently entering Gaza,and that the issue is the focus of talks with Israel. “There’s not enough of it coming in. It’s too inconsistent and the number of trucks that get in every day, they need to go up dramatically, and they need to stay up,” Miller said. “That continues to be the focus of our engagement and some very direct, candid conversations with the government of Israel as well as with other countries in the region that can play an important role,” the State Department spokesman said. He also said the US is “not seeing any acts that constitute genocide” by Israel in its war against Hamas, despite calls by South Africa to charge Israel before the International Criminal Court. “Genocide is one of the most heinous atrocities that any individual can commit. Those are allegations that should not be made lightly,” he says, adding that the US does not think South Africa’s decision to pursue an ICJ probe was a “productive step to take at this time.”

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby called South Africa’s submission meritless, counterproductive and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever.”

Germany is urging its citizens to leave Lebanon, warnng that the Israel-Hamas war could expand after a strike in Beirut killed a senior Hamas leader. “All German citizens, who are still in Lebanon, are asked to register on the ELEFAND crisis preparedness list and to leave the country as quickly as possible,” writes the German foreign ministry tweeted. “A further deterioration of the situation and expansion of the conflict cannot be ruled out, especially given the killing of Saleh al-Arouri...This applies above all to the southern part of Lebanon, up to and including the southern urban areas of Beirut.”

US State Department spokesman Matt Miller says the Hamas deputy leader, Saleh al-Arouri, allegedly assassinated by Israel on Jan. 2 in Beirut was a “brutal terrorist centrally responsible for the attacks on October 7 and other attacks against innocent civilians going back well beforehand.” Miller said that concern over escalation of conflict between Israel and terrorists in Lebanon is not any higher today than it was at the beginning of the conflict. Miller said during the press briefing that the US was not informed in advance of Arouri’s assassination. “I’ll leave it to the government of Israel to speak to their actions.”

Miller also said the Biden administration does not believe Israel was responsible for the deadly blasts earlier today near the grave of slain Iranian Guards general Qassem Soleimani. “The United States was not involved in any way, and any suggestion to the contrary is ridiculous,” he adds while expressing condolences to the victims and their families. 103 people died in the attack in Iran.

The United Nations is implicitly criticizing Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for his calls to encourage Gazans to leave the territory. The UN spokesperson reiterated the body’s strong opposition to forced displacement. UN associate spokesperson Florencia Soto Niño said on Jan. 3 that “no one should be advocating for mass displacement of Palestinians out of Gaza.” Earlier, Smotrich wrote that 70% of Israelis support “voluntary migration” for Palestinians from Gaza to other countries. Smotrich’s initial call encouraging Palestinians to leave Gaza was met with an international outcry including from Israel’s closest ally the United States, its top European ally Germany and neighboring Egypt.

Soto Niño stresses that civilians should be safe in Gaza. “Every person has the right to be protected from forced displacement from their home or residence, and so far 85% of this population has been internally displaced and is living in pretty dire conditions,” she says. “They have the right to return to their homes.”

The IDF has launched a probe into its bombing of the Palestinian Red Crescent headquarters in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis on Jan. 2. According to the Red Crescent, five people were killed and three others were wounded in the strike. At least 14,000 displaced people are sheltering in the building and a nearby hospital, it said. The IDF Spokespersons Unit told The Times of Israel that immediately after the incident was reported, an “operational investigation” was carried out “to draw immediate lessons.” “At the same time, the incident was transferred to the General Staff Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism, which is responsible for investigating unusual incidents that occurred during the fighting,”  it added. Hamas’s use of civilian sites to fight Israel “is extensive and unprecedented,” according to the IDF. The IDF said entire neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip have been converted into “fighting complexes” for Hamas, which include “ambushes, command and control apartments, weapon depots, combat tunnels, observation posts, firing positions, booby-trapped homes and explosives in the streets.” “Fierce battles against IDF forces have been taking place from these buildings since the beginning of the ground maneuver,” the military source added. 

IDF fighter jets hit a number of Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon in response to repeated cross-border attacks carried out by the terror group. Additionally, the IDF says tanks shelled a cell operating in south Lebanon. Several rockets and missiles were launched by Hezbollah at northern Israel today. The IDF says there are no injuries in the latest attacks, and troops are shelling the launch sites.

The IDF completed demolishing a Hamas tunnel network under Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, releasing a new 360-degree video showing the underground passages. According to the IDF, the tunnel branches under Shifa are around 250 meters in length, and reach several sites used by Hamas in the area. Combat engineers blew up the tunnel, though the IDF says hospital buildings above ground were not damaged.

The U.S. is “confident” that terrorists used Shifa -- Gaza's largest hospital -- to hold “at least a few” hostages seized during their bloody Oct. 7 attack and to house command infrastructure, an American intelligence assessment declassified Tuesday and shared by a U.S. official found. “The U.S. Intelligence Community is confident in its judgment on this topic and has independently corroborated information on HAMAS and PIJ’s use of the hospital complex for a variety of purposes related to its campaign against Israel," the assessment states.

Mossad chief David Barnea said today: "Let every Arab mother know that if her son was a partner in the October 7 massacre, his blood is on his own head...Even today, we are at the height of a war. The Mossad today, as it was 50 years ago, is obligated to settle accounts with the murderers who infiltrated the border area on October 7, with the planners and those who sent them. It will take time. But our hand will reach them wherever they are."

Since last week, IDF troops have found suspicious underground shafts within Israel, raising concerns that terrorists may be emulating Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which have a network of tunnels in Gaza and Lebanon, respectively.  The IDF found the shafts in the Tayibe area in central Israel, near the Jewish towns of Telem and Adora near Hebron. The IDF sent the Marould Unit and cave investigators, which determined that they may be shafts leading to a cistern. Sources in the Judea Brigade emphasized, "Security sources are taking this matter very seriously. Efforts are being made and tests are underway to rule out the involvement of terror [sources]."

More than 100 people were killed today in Iran near the gravesite of Iranian hero and former Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, on the fourth anniversary of his death. According to Iranian state media, 177 people were injured in the blasts. The blasts occurred as thousands marched to pay respects to Soleimani on the anniversary of his passing. During the terror attack at Qasem Soleimani’s grave in Kerman, none of his children were present. Neither were any top IRGC commanders. In the 1970s, Islamist revolutionary arsonists burned the Cinema Rex killing 300-400 to make a point.

January 3, 2024

Weapons and cash found with a Hamas terrorist in Gaza by IDF troops

Here follows the resignation letter of former Harvard University president Claudine Gay:

Dear Members of the Harvard Community,

It is with a heavy heart but a deep love for Harvard that I write to share that I will be stepping down as president. This is not a decision I came to easily. Indeed, it has been difficult beyond words because I have looked forward to working with so many of you to advance the commitment to academic excellence that has propelled this great university across centuries. But, after consultation with members of the Corporation, it has become clear that it is in the best interests of Harvard for me to resign so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than any individual.

It is a singular honor to be a member of this university, which has been my home and my inspiration for most of my professional career. My deep sense of connection to Harvard and its people has made it all the more painful to witness the tensions and divisions that have riven our community in recent months, weakening the bonds of trust and reciprocity that should be our sources of strength and support in times of crisis. Amidst all of this, it has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor—two bedrock values that are fundamental to who I am—and frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus.

I believe in the people of Harvard because I see in you the possibility and the promise of a better future. These last weeks have helped make clear the work we need to do to build that future—to combat bias and hate in all its forms, to create a learning environment in which we respect each other’s dignity and treat one another with compassion, and to affirm our enduring commitment to open inquiry and free expression in the pursuit of truth. I believe we have within us all that we need to heal from this period of tension and division and to emerge stronger. I had hoped with all my heart to lead us on that journey, in partnership with all of you. As I now return to the faculty, and to the scholarship and teaching that are the lifeblood of what we do, I pledge to continue working alongside you to build the community we all deserve.

When I became president, I considered myself particularly blessed by the opportunity to serve people from around the world who saw in my presidency a vision of Harvard that affirmed their sense of belonging—their sense that Harvard welcomes people of talent and promise, from every background imaginable, to learn from and grow with one another. To all of you, please know that those doors remain open, and Harvard will be stronger and better because they do.

As we welcome a new year and a new semester, I hope we can all look forward to brighter days. Sad as I am to be sending this message, my hopes for Harvard remain undimmed. When my brief presidency is remembered, I hope it will be seen as a moment of reawakening to the importance of striving to find our common humanity—and of not allowing rancor and vituperation to undermine the vital process of education. I trust we will all find ways, in this time of intense challenge and controversy, to recommit ourselves to the excellence, the openness, and the independence that are crucial to what our university stands for—and to our capacity to serve the world.

Sincerely,
Claudine Gay

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh mourned his deputy Saleh al-Arouri, who was allegedly assassinated by Israel earlier this evening via a drone strike outside of Beirut. Haniyeh said it was "a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and an expansion of the circle of [Israel’s] aggression against our people...The repercussions of this terrorist act are the responsibility of the Nazi-Zionist occupation, and it will not succeed in breaking the will, steadfastness and resistance of our people.” Iran-backed Hezbollah vowed to retaliate. 

“We affirm that this crime will never pass without response and punishment,” the Lebanese terror group says in a statement, claiming its fighters are at heightened readiness in order to retaliate...Allah almighty concluded the career of this great leader with the highest medals of honor and dignity, and he obtained the martyrdom that he had long sought and longed for,” Hezbollah stated. The terrorist organization said that the strike was "a serious assault on Lebanon, its people, its security and its sovereignty… and a dangerous development in the course of the war between the enemy and the axis of resistance.”

Senior Hamas military officials Samir Findi and Azzam Al-Aqraa have been identified as among the five killed along with Al-Arouri in the strike on an apartment building in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Arabic media reports.

“The criminal enemy — which after ninety days of crime, killing and destruction was unable to subjugate Gaza — is resorting to a policy of assassination… of… whoever planned, carried out or supported” Hamas’s October 7 terror attack, Hezbollah stated, while also highlighting the recent alleged Israeli killing of senior IRGC official Razi Mossavi in Syria last week. The group claims the killings will only encourage a backlash. 

Speaking after Al-Arouri's killing, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said the IDF is at a “very high level of readiness — in all arenas, in defense and offense...We are in a high state of readiness for any scenario.” Hagari added, "The most important thing to say tonight is that we are focused and remain focused on fighting Hamas.”

During an interview with MSNBC, Israeli PM Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev stressed that the air strike targeted Hamas officials, not Lebanon per se. “Obviously in Lebanon, there are many Hezbollah targets, but whoever did this strike was very surgical and went for a Hamas target because Israel is at war… Whoever did this has a gripe with Hamas,” Regev said. "Whoever did this, it’s not an attack on the Lebanese state. It’s not an attack on the Hezbollah terrorist organization. Whoever did this, it’s an attack on Hamas, that’s very clear,” he added. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has delayed his trip to Israel to next week, despite having previously announced plans to visit by the end of the week. Reportedly, the delay has nothing to do with US criticisms of Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir. The two ministers have advocated the resettlement of Gazans outside of Gaza and replaced with Israelis. Egypt and other nearby countries are reluctant to take them in. 

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated: “This rhetoric is inflammatory and irresponsible...We have been told repeatedly and consistently by the government of Israel, including by the prime minister, that such statements do not reflect the policy of the Israeli government. They should stop immediately.” Miller added, “We have been clear, consistent and unequivocal that Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian land, with Hamas no longer in control of its future and with no terror groups able to threaten Israel.”

Ben Gvir brushed off the criticism, saying, “I really admire the United States of America but with all due respect, we are not another star in the American flag.” Ben Gvir is the leader of the Zionist Otzma Yehudit party, which is a constituent part of PM Netanyahu's ruling coalition. "The United States is our best friend but before everything else, we will do what is good for the State of Israel: The emigration of hundreds of thousands from Gaza will allow residents [of the border area] to return home and live in security and protect IDF soldiers,” he adds.

Harvard University president Claudine Gay resigned, making her tenure the shortest in the institution's history. Her resignation — just six months and two days into the presidency — followed accusations of plagiarism, and criticisms over her response to campus antisemitism after a disastrous congressional testimony on Dec. 5.

 The UN Security Council may meet on Jan. 3 to discuss piracy and conflict in the Red Sea. French ambassador to the United Nations Nicholas de Riviere told a news conference, “It’s likely the council will meet on the issue sooner, probably even tomorro.” France is currently presiding over the Security Council. Regarding attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on Red Sea shipping, "He said, "The situation is bad...There is a repetition of violations and military actions in this area.”

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said of talks with Israel for another hostage deal: "We have presented to Qatar and Egypt our position based on a total cessation of aggression against our people. The Israeli hostages will not be released except on our terms." He also said, "We received many initiatives regarding the internal situation and we are open to the restoration of national authority and a national government in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. We emphasize the activity based on the resistance plan, which is headed by the establishment of a state with Jerusalem as its capital and the right of return."

Islamic Jihad and Hamas responded to the Egyptian proposal for a deal with Israel in a joint document and demanded a complete withdrawal of the IDF. Haniyeh told Lebanese al-Mayadeen channel, that the first clause Islamic Jihad and Hamas demanded was a ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of IDF forces from Gaza, in addition to the restoration of the Strip with guarantees from the UN Security Council.

Hezbollah reported that an explosion destroyed a vehicle traveling in the neighborhood of Dahieh in southern Beirut today. Reuters reported that Saleh Al-Arouri, the deputy chairman of Hamas’ political bureau who was considered the 'number two' of the terrorist organization and responsible for terrorist activity in Jude and Samaria, died in the explosion. In the past, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was asked what Israel's red line is in the face of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's aggression, and replied: "If you hear that we attacked in Beirut, it means that Hezbollah has crossed the red line."

IDF fighter jets carried out strikes on Hezbollah positions in the Lebanese village of Yaroun, close to the northern border with Israel. Two missiles were fired from Lebanon at Shlomi.

IDF troops of 460th Armored Brigade recently raided the home of Hamas's Gaza City Brigade commander in the area of the Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods, where troops found weaponry and infrastructure. The home was later destroyed. During the fighting, Israeli troops killed dozens of Hamas operatives, located tunnel shafts, caches of weapons, and intelligence materials.

According to the IDF, intelligence findings recovered in the area link the main mosque in the Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods to Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.

Hamas released a video showing terrorists dressed in civilian clothing using residences as hideouts and sniper hidey holes.

Last week, the Treasury Department announced new sanctions on a group of Turkey- and Yemen-based money exchange services that have been aiding the Houthi terrorists to destabilize key shipping routes. A former Houthi spokesperson said that the Yemeni terror group would eventually strike Tel Aviv — and that the group’s continued activities in the region, noting in particular its attacks on Israel, have caused its popularity to go “up a lot in the Arab and Islamic world, and even certain Western countries.”

The Houthis’ increased activity is putting pressure on the Biden administration to reinstate the group’s Foreign Terror Organization status, which it pulled in the first weeks of the president’s term. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said on Dec. 31 that the Biden administration’s response to Houthi attacks in the region “is giving Iran a total pass and ability to operate without consequences in the area.”

Secretary of State Tony Blinken travels to the Middle East this week — his fifth trip to the region since the Oct. 7 terror attacks — on a tour that will include Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. It comes days after the Biden administration bypassed Congress for an emergency weapons sale of "projectiles and related equipment” to Israel, estimated at $147.5 million. Democrats, including Sen. Cori Bush and Tim Kaine, criticized the administration.

Jewish content creators on TikTok say they are facing a barrage of antisemitic hate since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel and that the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform is not doing enough to protect them, with lax moderators and policies that are enabling and even amplifying extreme anti-Jewish and anti-Israel voices

Flight frustration and tanking tourism in Israel: “The only option is to fly El Al, and it’s very expensive,” said Jonathan Rose, director of marketing and sales for Touring Israel. “I find it very strange that United or Delta haven’t resumed some flights from New York…It’s like COVID revisited…It’s rather ironic that the only foreign airlines flying to Israel seem to be [UAE flag carrier] Etihad and Fly Dubai.” According to the Israel Airports Authority, the only foreign airlines flying to Israel other than the Emirati companies are China’s Hainan Airlines and Russia’s Azimuth. Lufthansa is expected to restart flights to Israel next week, and Tarom, a Romanian airline, plans to start at the end of the month, the IAA said. A spokesperson for United Airlines said that “Tel Aviv flights will remain suspended until conditions allow them to resume.

Government spokesman Eylon Levy says Israel will challenge South Africa’s ‘blood libel’ at the Hague. Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice in the Hague to challenge South Africa’s application for an order declaring that Jerusalem is violating the UN’s Genocide Convention in its war against Hamas following the Gaza-ruling terrorist group’s murderous October 7 onslaught, government spokesman Eylon Levy says.“In giving political and legal cover to the October 7 massacre and the Hamas human-shields strategy, South Africa has made itself criminally complicit with Hamas’s campaign of genocide against our people,” Levy says in a press briefing.

An anti-Israel rally caused a New Year’s Day travel headache as it descended on John F. Kennedy International Airport by subway and car – creating a traffic-jammed nightmare on one of the busiest travel days of the year. The Belt Parkway — a major thoroughfare used by vehicles to travel to the airport — was temporarily blocked off by police near Exit 20 as they tried to stem the flow of the “Flood JFK For Gaza” protest, which was planned by Within Our Lifetime, a Palestinian-led activist group.

There were also multitudinous rallies of pro-Palestine groups in Chicago and in a New Jersey suburb through a largely Jewish neighborhood.

The IDF said it has expanded its ground offensive to new areas south of Gaza City, where the 99th Division is currently battling Hamas operatives and locating the terror group's infrastructure.

In a statement, the IDF says the 99th Division has killed “many” Hamas gunmen, destroyed more than 100 tunnel shafts, located several weapons caches, and directed dozens of airstrikes on the terror group’s sites and operatives in central Gaza, just south of Gaza City.

IDF says that Zohadi Ali Zahadi Shahin, a Hamas operative in its Shati Battalion admits in his investigation that Hamas stopped Gazans who tried to move southwards to Rafah and transferred them to the Shifa Hospital. At the hospital, the terrorists stayed underground, but when they realized that the IDF was coming to the hospital, they went up to the ground floor where civilians were staying.

An interrogation of an Islamic Jihad member identified as Muhammed Darwish Amara shows that a Hamas operative planted a bomb inside his home where his children were staying.

A total of 21,978 Palestinians have been killed and 56,697 injured in Israeli strikes in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to Hamas. It claimed that thousands of Gazans are buried beneath the rubble of bombed buildings.

Israel is withdrawing some troops from Gaza to shift to more targeted operations against Hamas, according to Reuters. The withdrawal focused on reservists – of which Israel drafted 300,000 for the war – and designed to “re-energise the Israeli economy”. Not all of those returned from Gaza will go home, a senior Israeli official said. Some are being prepared for rotation to the northern border with Lebanon, where Israel is expanding its preparations for war. “The situation on the Lebanese front will not be allowed to continue. This coming six-month period is a critical moment,” an Israeli official said.

Israeli settlers killed at least 10 Palestinians and set alight dozens of homes in the area of Judea and Samaria in the West Bank in 2023, making it the “most violent” year on record for settler attacks, an Israeli watchdog has said. Numerous West Bank attacks were carried out by a large group of Israeli settlers and the violence rose after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, said Yesh Din, a human rights group.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society has collaborated with the Egyptian Red Crescent to establish the first organized camp in Khan Younis for Palestinians displaced by Israeli strikes across Gaza. The camp is initially set to hold 300 families from PRCS medical, ambulance and relief teams, with its capacity set to expand later to 1,000 tents, the PRCS said.

Some of the Israeli communities north of the Gaza Strip that were evacuated in the wake of the attack by Hamas will be able to go back in the near future as military operations progress, the Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said on New Years Day. Gallant said that some of the evacuated communities in areas within a range of 4-7km north of the territory would be able to return soon.

Hezbollah said that four of its  members were killed in southern Lebanon, updating the toll from three in a statement made earlier, without giving any further detail. The first three were killed in an Israeli raid on two houses in the Lebanese village of Kafr Kila near the border where Hezbollah maintains security control.

U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, deployed to the eastern Mediterranean after the deadly attack on Israel by Hamas in October to deter other regional actors from escalating the conflict, will return to the US “in the coming days,” the Navy said. It will be replaced by the amphibious assault ship the USS Bataan and its accompanying warships, the USS Mesa Verde and the USS Carter Hall, which carry thousands of U.S. Marines.

Israel’s supreme court has ruled against a key component of Israeli premier Netanyahu’s judicial reform. A supreme court statement said eight of 15 justices had ruled against an amendment passed by parliament in July which scraps the “reasonableness” clause, used by the court to overturn government decisions which are deemed unconstitutional.

Israel to defend itself against accusations of genocide at international court

Four alleged terrorists were killed in an Israeli raid on West Bank town, IDF said.

Anti-Israel protesters launched a large balloon in front of JFK Airport, trying to shut down the airport. They launched the balloon as planes were landing and taking off, endangering the lives of hundreds of people.

A pro-Palestine couple violently confronted a Jewish family at the American Dream Mall in Rutherford, New Jersey. One of the two assailants slapped a cellphone out of the hand of a Jewish woman.

January 2, 2024

A Muslim man who beat and pepper-sprayed a Jewish man in New York was convicted and sentenced to five and a half years in prison for the crime. JNS reported: "A New York court sentenced Mohammed Othman, who brutally attacked Joseph Borgen on May 20, 2021, to five-and-a-half years in prison on Wednesday. [December 27, 2023]. Othman assaulted and pepper-sprayed Borgen on Broadway near West 49th Street in the Diamond District while the latter was en route to a pro-Israel rally during the Israel-Gaza war (“Operation Pillar of Defense”). Othman pleaded guilty in October to second-degree assault as a hate crime....

"Video evidence showed Othman pepper-spraying Borgen three times and spraying a bystander who tried to protect Borgen. Othman was also recorded throwing a firework at a Jewish woman, burning her, from the back of a pickup truck. Othman, 26, of Staten Island, had six prior arrests, including domestic violence charges….Three other attackers have been sentenced. Waseem Awawdeh, who beat Borgen with a crutch and reportedly said of the attack, 'If I could do it again, I would,' pleaded guilty to attempted assault as a hate crime and received 18 months in jail."

Since the start of the Israel's ground operations in Gaza on Oct. 27, 18 out of the 170 soldiers slain died as a result of “friendly fire,” according to the IDF. In total, 29 soldiers were killed in accidental incidents in the Gaza Strip—two from stray bullets and nine from being run over, and 18 from explosions from IDF fighters and bullet discharges from the weapons of soldiers. Additionally, two soldiers in the northern front and two troops in Judea and Samaria were killed in operational accidents, bringing the total number of accidental deaths on all fronts since the start of the Gaza war to 33.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi held a situational assessment in Khirbat Ikhza’a, a.k.a. Khuza’a, the town in the southern Gaza Strip from which Hamas terrorists descended on Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7 massacre. “We are both killing the terrorists who participated [in the Nir Oz massacre] and killing the terrorists who will want to commit terrorism in the future. And we are organizing a security space here so that the return to Nir Oz will be safe, and will be safe for many, many years, and that’s how it should work,” Halevi said. “Every move you make, you will receive the strongest possible fire support for it,” he told the troops. Joining him was the commander of the Gaza Division, Brig. Gen. Avi Rosenfeld, and the commander of the 5th “Sharon” (reserve) Infantry Brigade, Col. Tal Koritzky.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reiterated his call for the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza and the “voluntary emigration” of Gazans following the end of the war. The “correct solution” to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict is “to encourage the voluntary migration of Gaza’s residents to countries that will agree to take in the refugees,” Smotrich told members of his Religious Zionism party. He predicted that “Israel will permanently control the territory of the Gaza Strip,” including through the establishment of settlements. Days ago, he told local media that he supports "completely changing the reality in Gaza… We’ll need to rule there for a long time… If we want to be there militarily, we need to be there in a civilian fashion."

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also supports resettling Gazans in other countries, saying the war presents an “opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza,” during a meeting with his Otzma Yehudit party. He said it would facilitate the return of residents of Israel’s Gaza-border communities as well as Israeli settlements in Gaza, which were forcibly evacuated in 2005, and is “a correct, just, moral and humane solution." "We cannot withdraw from any territory we are in in the Gaza Strip. Not only do I not rule out Jewish settlement there, I believe it is also an important thing,” he adds.

The IDF published footage obtained from a camera of a Hamas gunman who was killed by troops in the area of Gaza City’s Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods. Israel's 401st Armored Brigade and Givati Brigade’s Shaked Battalion have been fighting Hamas’s Daraj-Tuffah battalion. In one incident, the IDF says troops received intelligence of Hamas gunmen in a building and raided the site, killing them. The soldiers recovered a camera used by Hamas to record their attacks on IDF troops. The videos show how Hamas uses civilian sites to launch RPGs at Israeli tanks operating in the Strip. In one recent instance, Israeli troops found weapons and materiel in a mosque they raided.

Israeli parliament member Avigdor Liberman called for Israel to reoccupy southern Lebanon, saying the country must “pay in territory” for damage caused by Hezbollah terror strikes on Israel’s northern towns. A former Defense Minister, he said the IDF must “close off” a swath of southern Lebanon and push the terror group north of the Litani river, even if it means 50 years of occupation. “It can’t be that there are entire towns where close to half of the buildings were simply destroyed,” he told his Yisrael Beytenu party while referring to northern Israel towns that have suffered strikes by Hezbollah. "We will not annex anything, and we will not build settlements, but we will release the territory only when there is a government in Beirut that knows how to exercise its sovereignty.”

The IDF struck a Hezbollah cell in southern Lebanon that was preparing to launch drones at northern Israel. “An Air Force aircraft attacked the squad before it could carry out the launch, and destroyed the aircraft they were using,” the IDF stated. Hezbollah also attempted to launch drones at Israel from within the border village of Maroun el-Ras. “This is another example of the cynical exploitation by the terror organization of civilian populations and facilities,” the IDF said. Isaeli jets also struck Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon on New Years' Day. 

In the middle belt region of Nigeria, Muslim Boko Haram terrorists attacked Christian villagers on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Initial reports set the death toll at approximately 140. However, current estimates continue to rise and may reach 200. This is the second-most deadly attack by Muslim terrorists in Nigeria in ten years.  Some reports contend that 14 Christians are killed by Muslim jihadis each day in Nigeria.

Israel continued its Gaza offensive on New Year's Day, killing Hamas's Nukhba company commander Adil Mismah in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. An airstrike directed by infantry on the ground eliminated the terrorist. Mismah commanded the terrorists of this elite unit which attacked Kibbutz Kissufim on Oct. 7, where eight residents and six Thai workers were murdered, and at least four people were abducted. Mismah directed other Hamas terrorists to communities near the Gaza border, including Kibbutz Be’eri and Kibbutz Nirim, where a total of 135 Israelis were murdered. Hamas terrorists and civilians broke through the border barrier between Gaza and Israel on Oct. 7, rampaging across the northwestern Negev. Thousands more were wounded and at least 240 taken hostage. The terrorists committed acts of rape, sexual abuse, burning people alive, torture, mutilation and desecration of the dead. 

In Gaza City’s Shejaia neighborhood over the weekend, Israeli soldiers raided a command and control center used by both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The soldiers also discovered many weapons inside a mosque. Israel's navy also conducted operations offshore.

Police in Germany's western state of North-Rhine Westphalia arrested three more people on December 31 over an alleged plot to attack the historic Catholic cathedral in Cologne. One person was previously detained on Christmas Eve. Cologne police chief Johannes Hermanns told reporters that the perpetrators planned to strike on New Year's Eve and added that the "alleged means of attack" was a vehicle. Arrests were made in the cities of Duisburg, Herne and Nörvenich, near Düren, he added.

When Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Israeli nation on Oct 11 and announced the formation of an emergency government, he recounted some of the horrors Hamas committed but also vowed retribution for their crimes:

         “We saw the wild animals, we saw the barbarians we have to deal with. We are fighting a fierce enemy, an enemy worse than ISIS. We saw boys and girls, bound, shot in the head. Men  and women who were burned while still alive, young girls who were raped and slaughtered, soldiers with their heads cut off.

        “In one place, they forced people to enter a place, and put spare tires around them so that there would be fuel, and they burned them alive.

        “What a great horror. How great the pain.

        “We all know families whose loved ones were murdered, were kidnapped, were burned. But however great the horror, that is how great our heroism. Men and women, fathers and Mothers, warriors and citizens who have discovered supreme courage and bravery. We are all fighting together, we all fought, and we all will fight for our home.

       “The horrific practice of burning people with tires was known as “necklacing” in South Africa, and was practiced by the anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s as a way of punishing suspected informers and political rivals. Tires, usually filled with fuel, were placed around victims’ necks, and the tires were then set alight, ensuring a slow, painful, and horrific death.”

He added that every Hamas terrorist is to be considered “a dead man.”

January 1, 2024