Dec. 21: IDF says 2,000 Hamas gunmen killed this month, 8,000 since war outbreak

‘Thanks to you, I’ll sing with new enthusiasm’: Bocelli writes to freed hostage who used his music to endure captivity

Yaffa Adar (L) speaks to Channel 12's Uvda on December 14, 2023, and Andrea Bocelli performs on May 20, 2023, at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. (Screen capture/Channel 12; Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP)

On last week’s episode of Channel 12’s Uvda investigative program, 85-year-old Yaffa Adar shared her story of how she survived 49 days in Hamas captivity.

“Every morning, I’d sing Bocelli to myself and say, ‘God, maybe this will bring a good day. Maybe today will bring [my release],'” she recalled, admitting that for a long time that day never came.

The famous Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli learned about the interview and decided to reach out to Adar, penning a letter aired by Uvda on tonight’s program.

“Dearest Madam Yaffa Adar,” he writes.

“I wish I could give you a hug!”

“I would like to thank you for the emotion that your story aroused in all the people who had the privilege to listen to it and especially in me, as, quite incredibly, I am part of it!”

“I truly would never have thought that my humble voice, this great gift I undeservedly received from the heavens, could one day turn out to be so important!”

“There is no award, no applause, no honor or recognition, that is worth as much as your words, which I assure you, I shall never forget.”

“Thanks to you, from now on, I shall sing with renewed enthusiasm, with renewed faith, with new energy.”

“I hope to be able to meet you one day and sing, just for you, whatever you may wish, so as to erase, as much as possible, the painful memory of terrible days, which I cannot even imagine.”

Yafa Adar with the letter received from Andrea Bocelli in an episode of Channel 12’s Uvda that aired on December 21, 2023. (Screen capture/Channel 12)

“I deeply admire your courage, which is an example for us all. From the other side of the ocean, I send you my warmest regards, full of gratitude, admiration and affection.”

Uvda airs footage of Adar’s granddaughter reading Bocelli’s letter to her for the first time.

“Wow! Wow! Wow! What an honor! Andrea Bocelli!” she exclaims, pressing the letter to her chest.

‘I’ll haunt you in your sleep’: Brother of hostage mistakenly killed by IDF shares fuming call he had with Gallant

Yonatan Shamriz is interviewed on Channel 12's Uvda investigative program on December 21, 2023. (Screen capture/Channel 12)

Yonatan Shamriz, whose brother Alon was mistakenly killed by IDF troops last week along with two other hostages Yotam Haim and Samar Talalka, recalls the phone call he had afterward with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

“I was sure that the Shin Bet would come and arrest me within half an hour,” Yonatan says during an interview with Channel 12’s Uvda investigative program.

“I told him I’d hunt after him until he is in the ground — him and everyone sitting over there. That they won’t have any rest. [I told him] that they’re responsible for what happened. I told him that I wouldn’t rest and would haunt him in his sleep, that when he falls asleep, he’ll see a photo of my brother,” Yonatan Shamriz continues.

Yonatan says the conversation ended with him swearing at Gallant, whom he credits for listening and not pushing back.

Alon Shamriz was abducted from his Kibbutz Kfar Aza home on October 7, 2023 by Hamas terrorists. (Courtesy)

Asked if he’s worried that his anger might consume him, Yonatan responds, “I don’t have anything left to consume.”

“I have a family that has been destroyed. There were so many things we planned to do together that we’ll no longer be able to do, and I have a heroic brother who is now… resting.

“And I have to ensure that this wasn’t for nothing. Not October 7 and not his death.”

“Those who were responsible and abandoned us cannot be part of the country anymore. I have a mission now… to get rid of everyone [in charge], and start over with something new,” Yonatan says, admitting that he is torn between giving up and ensuring that his brother’s death was not in vain.

Nikki Haley: ‘Pro-Hamas countries’ Qatar, Iran and Turkey should take in Palestinians fleeing war

US Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley waves after addresseing the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) Annual Leadership Summmit on October 28, 2023 at the Venetian Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP)

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley says Egypt as well as “pro-Hamas countries” Qatar, Iran and Turkey should take in Palestinians trying to flee the war in Gaza.

Asked where fleeing Palestinians should go, Haley tells ABC News in an interview, “They should be going to the Rafah gate and [have] Egypt take them.”

“But I’ve always said that what you should have is that they should go to pro-Hamas countries — Qatar, Iran, Turkey… send them there… Those are pro-Hamas countries.

“Why won’t Egypt take them? Because they don’t trust which ones are terrorists and which ones aren’t? It’s a sad state of affairs, but the reality of that evil is very clear in Arab countries too. Arab countries have very much always been cautious and know the threats that Iran can place,” she says.

“They don’t want those terrorist proxies coming after them. Saudi Arabia felt the Houthis in that fight for Yemen. Egypt knows exactly what they can do.

“Why isn’t everybody talking to Egypt? Why aren’t they talking to Turkey? Why aren’t they talking to Qatar? Why aren’t they talking to Iran? Why aren’t they doing something to help the Palestinians? Why is it that you come back to Israel and the US? It’s always the case.”

“If [the October 7 attack] had happened to America, do you not think that we would have hit back?” asks Haley, who is trying to pull off an improbable primary win over GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.

ניקי היילי מדברת בעצם על… "היום שאחרי". pic.twitter.com/7VEASBoN9q

— Elizabeth Rimini (@ElizabethRimini) December 21, 2023

1st 2 months of war saw 54% jump in settler attacks, but cases declining more recently — Shin Bet figures

IDF soldiers scuffle with settlers from the Einav settlement trying to storm the town of Deir Sharaf in the Nablus governorate of the West Bank on November 2, 2023, after an Israeli was killed when his car came under fire. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)

The first two months of the war saw a 54 percent increase in attacks by settlers in the West Bank, internal figures from the Shin Bet security service reveal.

From October 7 to December 3, the Shin Bet recorded 201 attacks by settlers, figures published by Army Radio reveal.

136 of the incidents were defined as “violent confrontations or stone throwing,” against Palestinians. Many of these incidents included violence from both Israelis and Palestinians, Army Radio says.

Thirty-five of the incidents saw settlers target Palestinian agriculture.

Twenty-one of the incidents were defined as “attempts to initiate,” such as attempts to set Palestinian homes or vehicles ablaze or attempts to physically injure Palestinians.

Nine of the incidents were attacks on Israeli security forces, including instances where Israeli troops came to break up a confrontation between settlers and Palestinians only to see the settlers turn on them.

Speaking to Army Radio, an Israeli security official says “most of the difficult cases occurred in the first month of the war and there has been a certain degree of decline in cases since.”

“The army is doing everything to protect the area, and in such extreme incidents, it often finds itself protecting the Palestinian side as well. These are hundreds of extremist activists who are causing tremendous damage to the settlement movement as a whole,” the official says.

Hostage negotiator: If Israel wants hostages back, it’ll have to present Hamas with offer it can’t refuse

Relatives of the hostages in Gaza march from a solidarity rally to the Begin Gate of the Kirya army base in Tel Aviv, Israel on December 16, 2023. (Courtesy of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Gershon Baskin, who was involved in the negotiations that led to the release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011, is interviewed on Channel 12 regarding the current standstill between Israel and Hamas regarding the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza.

Hamas has refused to negotiate while the fighting continues and is demanding a permanent ceasefire before it will agree to resume talks to release the hostages.

Baskin says, “We should start taking them seriously. They’ve been saying for three weeks that they’re not prepared to hold negotiations until the fighting ends.”

“The only way to break them is to place a deal on the table that they cannot refuse,” Baskin argues.

“Everyone is talking about how an all-for-all deal is the only way to bring the hostages home. I assume Israel is not prepared to make such a deal.

“Therefore, it must present a different deal, at least one that can free the women, children, elderly and sick people who remain.

Gershon Baskin is interviewed on Channel 12 on December 21, 2023. (Screen capture/Channel 12)

“Israel should present to Hamas a long list of terrorists that it is prepared to release and publicize it to apply pressure on Hamas, with Palestinians in [Israel’s] prisons, in Gaza and in the West Bank leaning on Hamas to make a deal.”

Baskin acknowledges that this will require Israel to release prisoners convicted of murder, but says Israel should learn from mistakes of the past and only agree to release them to the West Bank where it will have an easier time monitoring them and re-arresting them if need be, as opposed to releasing prisoners to Gaza.

He says there are nearly 8,000 Palestinian prisoners for Israel to choose from and that it should be the one to present an offer rather than waiting for Hamas to do so.

“We have to decide if we want to return the hostage or not,” Baskin says. “We’re very far from a deal unless we take initiative.”

IDF has killed 2,000 Hamas operatives since truce ended on December 1 — spokesman

Smoke billowing after Israeli strikes in the central Gaza Strip, December 20, 2023. (Mahmud Hams/AFP)

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says that since the end of the temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on December 1, the military has killed more than 2,000 Hamas operatives in strikes and during ground combat.

This brings the military’s estimates of Hamas fighters killed in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war to around 8,000. Another 1,000 Hamas terrorists were killed in Israel on October 7, during the terror group’s onslaught.

“We have increased the number of troops fighting in east Khan Younis, and we are fighting there with determination, with five infantry brigades, and combat engineers, with an emphasis on the underground fighting,” Hagari says in an evening press conference.

On the north, Hagari says, “Hezbollah has turned southern Lebanon into a combat zone and continues to endanger the future of the entire state of Lebanon for Hamas and Iran.”

“We will continue to work to distance Hezbollah from the border,” he adds.

IDF says it carried out strikes on Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon in response to attacks

Footage of IDF airstrikes and tank shelling against Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon on December 21, 2023. (Screen capture/X)

The IDF says it carried out further airstrikes and tank shelling against Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon today, in response to attacks on northern Israel.

It does not provide further details on the targets.

Several projectiles were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel a short while ago, and the IDF says it struck the launch sites.

במהלך היום, צה"ל תקף באמצעות מטוסי קרב, כלי טיס של חיל האוויר וירי טנקים תשתיות טרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בשטח לבנון.

מוקדם יותר היום זוהו מספר שיגורים משטח לבנון לעבר מספר מרחבים בגבול. צה"ל תקף באש את מקורות הירי.

בנוסף צה"ל תקף בירי ארטילרי מספר מרחבים בשטח לבנון pic.twitter.com/aLvkMf8uqD

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 21, 2023

In major swing from 2020, poll finds Israelis prefer Biden over Trump

US President Joe Biden (L) speaks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on December 2, 2022; Former US president Donald Trump announces a third run for president as he speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on November 15, 2022. (Manuel Balce Ceneta, Rebecca Blackwell/AP)

A poll conducted yesterday finds that 40 percent of Israelis would vote for Joe Biden in the upcoming US presidential election, compared to just 26.2% who would back Donald Trump.

The poll indicates a massive swing in Israelis’ support for the current president, who has made a series of gestures offering support for Israel since October 7, while his predecessor has spent time at rallies mocking the intelligence failure that led to Hamas’s terror onslaught and criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump once enjoyed overwhelming support from Israelis, with a 2020 poll showing that 63% of Israelis preferred him as president, compared to 17% who said they’d back Biden.

The latest poll conducted by Midgam and published on the podcast of journalist Nadav Perry also asked Israelis for their thoughts on the performance of Netanyahu, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Opposition chairman Yair Lapid.

Fifty-seven percent of the public thinks Netanyahu is most concerned with political matters, compared to 27% of the public who believe he is most concerned with matters of the war, the poll finds.

Twenty percent of the public believes Gantz is most concerned with political matters, compared to 73.6% who say he is most concerned with matters pertaining to the war.

Eight percent of the public believes Gallant is most concerned with political matters, compared to 84.7% who say he is most concerned with matters related to the war.

Lapid had the worst numbers of the four individuals polled, with 64% of the public saying he is most concerned with political matters, compared to 17.9% who believe he is most concerned with matters pertaining to the war.

Asked who they’d vote for in the upcoming presidential election, 40.6% of respondents said Joe Biden and just 26.2% of respondents said Donald Trump.

The Midgam poll was conducted online, included 503 respondents and had a margin of error of 4.4%.

נתונים מאוד מעניינים בסקר הפודקאסט שנעשה ע״י מכון מדגם.
1. שיוויון בין שביעות רצון להיעדר שביעות רצון מקצב התקדמות המלחמה
2. הציבור חושב שגלנט וגנץ מתרכזים במלחמה בעוד לפיד ונתניהו עסוקים בפוליטיקה
3. מהפך! הישראלים מעדיפים את ביידן על פני טראמפ
לפרק המלא https://t.co/2m5jIa0I1k pic.twitter.com/JQFGCQCBes

— נדב פרי Nadav Perry (@NadavPerry) December 21, 2023

‘Free Gaza’ graffitied onto steps of Lincoln Memorial; DC authorities working to remove

'Free Gaza' graffitied on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on December 21, 2023. (Screen capture/Fox News)

The steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington were doused with red paint and a vandal also sprayed “Free Gaza” at the scene.

DC’s National Park Service is working to remove the paint.

“Vandalism was discovered in the area of Lincoln Memorial Circle and the Reflecting Pool,” the United States Park Police says in a statement.

“National Park Service conservators have begun the process of removing the paint this morning, though it may take multiple treatments over several days to remove all of it. The steps on the west side of the Reflecting Pool are closed to visitors while the conservation work takes place.”

Lincoln Memorial vandalized with "Free Gaza" graffitihttps://t.co/qK0jkSi148https://t.co/qK0jkSi148

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) December 21, 2023

Ikea warns of possible delays due to Red Sea reroute

Customers try maintain a safe distance from each other as they wait in line to enter an IKEA outlet in the Israeli coastal town of Netanya on April 22, 2020, after authorities eased down some of the measures that have been in place during the novel conronavirus pandemic crisis. (Jack Guez/AFP)

Swedish flatpack furniture giant Ikea says that rerouting cargo shops around Africa to avoid possible attacks in the Red Sea could lead to delivery delays and even empty shelves.

A recent wave of missile and drone strikes on passing container ships by Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels has prompted many vessels to avoid using the Red Sea and Suez Canal, a chokepoint for about 10 percent of global trade.

Traveling instead around Africa can add a week to travel between Asia and Europe, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel costs.

“The situation in the Suez Canal will result in delays and may cause availability constraints for certain IKEA products,” Ikea tells AFP in an email.

Around 20,000 ships pass through the Suez Canal every year.

Ikea says it was in close contact with its transporters and that the safety of their teams was the top priority.

“In the meantime, we are evaluating other supply options to secure the availability of our products, and we continue to monitor the situation closely going forward,” the company adds.

Amid standoff, senior official tells Israeli TV that it’s too early to eulogize hostage deal

A rally calling for the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, December 16, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Amid the ongoing standoff between Israel and Hamas regarding a potential hostage deal, a senior Israeli official offers a statement to Channel 12 apparently aimed at keeping the public’s hope alive.

The official says it’s “too early to eulogize the talks.”

“We knew it would be difficult and complex [negotiation]. We are determined to turn over every stone in order to succeed, despite the obstacles,” the official adds.

IDF says it demolished Gaza City tunnel network where Sinwar and Deif’s offices were located

This image from video shows a tunnel network under Gaza City's Palestine Square being demolished, December 21, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF has demolished a major Hamas tunnel network hidden under Gaza City’s Palestine Square.

On Tuesday, the IDF gave the media, including The Times of Israel, a tour of the square and the entrances to the tunnels.

According to the IDF, Hamas’s senior officials hid underground in the tunnel network when the terror group launched the October 7 onslaught on southern Israel.

The underground network connected to the homes, offices and hideout apartments of senior Hamas officials, including Muhammad Deif, the elusive leader of the terror group’s military wing, and Yahya Sinwar, the top Hamas official in Gaza.

The IDF scanned inside the tunnels and obtained intelligence from them in recent days.

The military says the demolition of the tunnels was carried out in a controlled manner by the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit and the 401st Armored Brigade.

The IDF's elite Yahalom combat engineering unit and the 401st Armored Brigade have demolished the major Hamas tunnel network hidden under Gaza City’s Palestine Square, where the terror group's top officials hid on October 7. pic.twitter.com/USy0jwzhn8

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 21, 2023

US has ‘concerns’ regarding brewing UN Security Council resolution on Gaza war

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, addresses members of the UN Security Council at United Nations headquarters, on October 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

A spokesperson for the US Mission to the UN says Washington has “concerns” with the UN Security Council resolution currently being negotiated regarding the Israel-Hamas war.

The resolution primarily deals with establishing a mechanism for a massive increase in the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza. However, its backers are also seeking to include language calling for some sort of cessation in the fighting, a senior diplomat at the UN tells The Times of Israel.

A vote on the resolution has been delayed several times as members have sought to get the US on board.

“The goal of this resolution is to facilitate and help expand humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza, and we cannot lose sight of that purpose,” says Nate Evans, the spokesman for the US mission.

“There are still serious and widespread concerns that this resolution as drafted could actually slow down delivery of humanitarian aid by directing the UN to create an unworkable monitoring mechanism,” he adds.

“We must ensure any resolution helps and doesn’t hurt the situation on the ground.”

The US supports humanitarian pauses in order for aid to come in and hostages to come out, but has said Hamas is blocking such a deal from being reached. The Biden administration remains against a more permanent ceasefire, arguing that it’ll leave in place the Hamas leadership that has pledged to repeat the October 7 massacre.

Hamas says it is not interested in a hostage deal that only includes a temporary pause in the fighting, leaving the sides at a crossroads.

Hamas releases new propaganda clip blaming PM for deaths of 3 hostages whose bodies were recovered by IDF

Left to right: Elia Toledano, Cpl. Nik Baizer, Sgt. Ron Sherman, taken hostage by Hamas on Oct 7. Their bodies were recovered by the IDF and returned to Israel on December 15, 2023. (Courtesy)

Hamas releases another propaganda video, this time of three hostages whose bodies were recovered by the IDF last week and returned to Israel earlier this month.

The hostages featured are Elia Toledano, Ron Sherman and Nik Beizer.

The video blames Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for their deaths, claiming they were killed by IDF strikes.

MIT, UC Davis join Harvard and Penn on list of schools facing federal civil rights investigations

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) president Sally Kornbluth speaks during a hearing of the US House Committee on Education on Capitol Hill, December 5, 2023 in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

JTA — The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, Davis, both of which have recently experienced widely publicized episodes of conflict around Israel, are among six new institutions facing US Department of Education investigations.

The department has indicated it is taking a newly aggressive approach to addressing these conflicts and Islamophobia on campus since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war and is announcing new investigations at a rapid clip, dramatically increasing the pace of civil rights inquiries that it opens.

All of the investigations relate to allegations of mistreatment owing to “shared ancestry,” but the department does not publicly reveal the incidents or complaints that cause it to open inquiries. None of the latest targets would comment on their investigations’ nature, and many said they were not told why they were being investigated.

Still, it is almost certain that at least some of the investigations are related to antisemitism.

MIT President Sally Kornbluth, who is Jewish, came under heavy criticism at a recent congressional hearing for failing to say whether calling for the genocide of Jews would violate university code. The school recently decided to partially suspend pro-Palestinian student protesters who staged a disruptive event on campus property.

MIT’s communications department did not immediately return requests for comment about its investigation. The school had previously been the only one of the three represented at the congressional hearing without an active federal investigation, as the Department of Education has previously announced inquiries into Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania.

An aerial view of the University of California, Davis campus. (Wikipedia/Arlen/CC BY)

And UC Davis entered the news in October when a professor, Jemma Decristo, posted threats to “Zionist journalists” on social media. “One group of ppl we have easy access to in the US is all these zionist journalists who spread propaganda & misinformation,” Decristo wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on October 10. “They have houses w/addresses, kids in school[.] They can fear their bosses, but they should fear us more.” The post concluded with emojis of a knife, an ax and blood drops.

A UC Davis spokesperson said the university could not comment on the current status of Decristo’s employment, but the professor’s faculty page has been removed from its website.

“UC Davis is committed to fostering a climate of equity and justice where all can feel welcome and thrive, free of harassment or discrimination,” UC Davis spokesperson James Nash told JTA, adding that the university would be fully cooperating with the investigation. “We take all claims of harassment seriously.”

The other new active investigations are at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Drexel University, and two public school districts: one in Springfield, Illinois, and the other in Chandler, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. The schools join an expanding roster of dozens of active civil rights investigations on campuses across the United States since October 7, including ones involving antisemitism at Harvard, Columbia, Rutgers and Tulane.

Pro-Israel Democrats join calls for Netanyahu to shift strategy in Gaza due to ‘unacceptable’ humanitarian crisis

House Homeland Security Committee member Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., asks a question during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on 'Worldwide Threats to the Homeland,' at the Capitol in Washington, Nov. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

A group of moderate, pro-Israel Democrats say the mounting civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza is “unacceptable” and urge US President Joe Biden to use his leverage to secure an immediate and significant shift in Israel’s military strategy in the war against Hamas.

The letter by six center-left lawmakers who sit on the Intelligence, Armed Services, and Foreign Affairs Committees indicates that Israel is slowly losing the support of its strongest advocates in the Democratic party, as the war in Gaza drags on.

Signing on to the letter are Reps. Elissa Slotkin, Abigail Spanberger, Chrissy Houlahan, Seth Moulton, Mikie Sherrill and Jason Crow.

“We are deeply concerned by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s current military strategy in Gaza,” they write.

“The mounting civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis are unacceptable and not in line with American interests; nor do they advance the cause of security for our ally Israel. We also believe it jeopardizes efforts to destroy the terrorist organization Hamas and secure the release of all hostages.”

“We have dedicated our lives to national security and believe our nation’s values are a source of credibility and power. Some of us also spent years fighting America’s war on terror. We know from personal and often painful experience that you can’t destroy a terror ideology with military force alone. And it can, in fact, make it worse,” the letter continues.

“Accordingly, we urge you to continue to use all our leverage to achieve an immediate and significant shift of military strategy and tactics in Gaza,” they add.

Top Israeli official: No active hostage talks taking place, high-intensity fighting will continue in subsequent phases of war

Protesters hold photographs of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, as they rally to call for the government to find a means to bring the hostages home, outside the Kirya military HQ in Tel Aviv, December 19, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

A senior Israeli official says there are currently no active negotiations for a new hostage release agreement with Hamas, but notes that Israeli officials have met twice this week with Qatari officials to discuss a new framework for such a deal.

“At the moment, we don’t have a negotiation, but there is some kind of progress in the fact that we have met with the Qataris twice already in the last week, and we made clear to everybody in Israel and outside of Israel that it’s time to renew the shaping up of a new hostages [release] structure,” the official says in a briefing with foreign press.

Israeli and US officials say Hamas has yet to respond positively to efforts to restart negotiations. Hamas says it won’t negotiate as fighting continues and will only agree to release hostages if there’s a permanent ceasefire.

The senior Israeli official says the previous agreement worked well, and says Israel is now ready to discuss new stages for hostage releases in order to return all of them to Israel.

Asked when Israel will switch to lower-intensity fighting in Gaza, the official said there was no timetable for such a move, and that both low- and high-level combat operations would continue in accordance with the IDF’s operational needs and determinations.

“We have to eradicate Hamas, Hamas cannot stay no matter in what shape or form. There are areas where we haven’t been working at all, so when we go there you will see very high-intensity operations in places where we haven’t been able to get to till now. In places where the operation is over and there is a decisive victory we won’t need high-intensity operations anymore.”

IDF footage shows elite counter-terror unit fighting inside Gaza

Troops of the LOTAR unit are seen in the Gaza Strip, in a handout image published December 21, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF releases footage showing troops of the elite LOTAR unit fighting in the Gaza Strip.

LOTAR, also known as the counter-terror school, is usually tasked with training other elite units, but has been deployed for the first time in Gaza, alongside other maneuvering units.

The IDF says the unit has unique abilities that it is using in Gaza, including snipers, explosive experts, and tools to breach into buildings.

In one incident amid the fighting, the IDF says LOTAR troops identified a Hamas operative coming out of a tunnel shaft while opening fire at soldiers, apparently in an attempt to draw them to an explosive device planted nearby.

It says the troops returned fire, hurled grenades, and killed the gunman, before locating the tunnel and destroying it.

Part of the incident can be seen in the newly released footage.

The IDF releases footage showing the elite LOTAR unit fighting in the Gaza Strip, including during an incident where the unit's troops identified a Hamas operative coming out of a tunnel shaft while opening fire at soldiers, apparently in an attempt to draw them to an explosive… pic.twitter.com/7u6mOYiGHM

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 21, 2023

Herzog to Christian leaders: Hamas atrocities have nothing to do with Jesus’s teachings

President Isaac Herzog meets with Christian leaders in Jerusalem on December 21, 2023. (Koby Gideon/GPO)

President Isaac Herzog tells Christian leaders that the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7 were incompatible “with the teaching of Jesus Christ.”

“Evil forces of the worst kind carried out a barbaric, sadistic attack, killing innocent women, children, old people, young people, people from 40 nationalities, taking hostages, raping, chopping heads, burning people and more. There are also many people of the Christian communities who are affected by these horrors.

“Nothing of this is compatible with the Gospels, with the writing of the Gospels, with the teaching of Jesus Christ, or the teachings of course of the Jewish faith, and also with moderate Islam.”

“Our problem – all of us – is with extreme fundamentalist Islam, which does not accommodate you or us. It’s an expression of an empire of evil that emanates from Tehran, which believes in jihadist ideology, which we all have to eradicate. And that is why this war was forced upon us,” Herzog says while hosting leaders of different Christian communities in Israel for the annual New Year’s reception at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.

Herzog goes on to wish the Christian community leaders a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Greek Patriarch Theophilos III thanks Herzog and says, “Our common moral tradition teaches the unique value of every human life and respect for the dignity of every person. Our common moral tradition expects the entire human family to live in dignity. Our common moral tradition recognizes the importance of freedom, safety and security for the well-being of all.”

In latest zig-zag, top Israeli official briefing foreign press says PA can’t have role in Gaza since it’s not reliable

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomes Belgium's and Spain's prime ministers (not pictured) to his offices in the West Bank city of Ramallah on November 23, 2023. (Alaa Badarneh/Pool/AFP)

A senior Israeli official says there can be no role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza because the body cannot be trusted to fulfill Israel’s demands in the territory.

The official, who was briefing the press, said that remarks made by National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi in an op-ed in the Saudi-owned Elaph news site, which had been interpreted as indicating the government may allow the Palestinian Authority a role governing Gaza after the war, were misunderstood.

The official says Israel needs Gaza to be demilitarized, deradicalized, and a functioning civil administration established, which he says the PA can do none of.

“On the first issue, we know the PA can’t do it because they are not ready to confront the terrorists… they haven’t done it since the beginning of the Oslo agreement and they don’t do it today… We can’t take people who aren’t doing this in Jenin and ask them to do it in Gaza. It’s a non-starter,” the official says.

He says that instead Israel wants moderate Arab nations, citing Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as examples, to be involved in deradicalizing Gaza, along with Western assistance, and wants a “local administration of Palestinians” to run civilian life in Gaza “which is able to work for the future horizon of the Palestinian people with the help of moderate Arab countries.”

UN health official sees rise in amputations at Gaza hospitals

Wounded Palestinians wait at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, Gaza Strip, on November 21, 2023. (AFP)

A World Health Organization official who visited two hospitals in Gaza’s devastated north in recent days describes dire conditions there.

Sean Casey says in a briefing that the Al-Ahli Hospital and Shifa Hospital are overwhelmed with sick and critically wounded people. WHO says the hospitals are barely able to function because of a shortage of staff, electricity and basic supplies.

Casey describes a rise in amputations in the north, including among small children, that would not have been necessary if proper health services were available.

“There’s no surgery happening right now in northern Gaza,” Casey says. He also says nearly everyone he met was hungry.

Israel ordered the full evacuation of northern Gaza, which includes Gaza City and was home to over 1 million people, in the early days of the war. Ground troops isolated the north later that month.

But tens of thousands of residents remain there, including many who were unable to leave or did not feel anywhere else would be safer as Israel bombards all parts of the besieged territory.

Israel maintains, though, that most of the people still roaming northern Gaza are Hamas fighters.

Hamas official indicates even weeks-long pause would be insufficient for a hostage deal

Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas's political bureau, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Beirut, Lebanon, October 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad indicates to Al Jazeera that the terror group is not interested in freeing hostages in exchange for even weeks-long pauses in the fighting because Israel would continue the war afterward.

“Some people are looking for a small pause — a pause here and there for one week, two weeks, three weeks,” Hamad says. “But we want to stop the aggression [completely].”

“Because I think Israel will take the card of the hostages, and after that they will start a new round of mass killing and massacres against our people. I think we will not play this game,” says Hamad, who has said Hamas would carry out October 7-like attacks repeatedly in the future until Israel is destroyed.

IDF says it has established full ‘operational control’ over Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood

Troops of the 36th Division operate in Gaza City's Shejaiya neighborhood, in a handout image published December 21, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF announces that it has established full “operational control” over Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood, which saw some of the fiercest fighting during the ground offensive against Hamas.

In a statement, the IDF says the 36th Division has completed dismantling Hamas’s “core capabilities” in Shejaiya.

It says that while it has operational control, troops will continue to carry out limited operations in the neighborhood to destroy the remaining Hamas infrastructure and kill any operatives still hiding.

During the fighting in Shejaiya, the IDF says troops encountered and killed many Hamas operatives who opened fire and set off explosives. In one incident, nine soldiers including two senior officers were killed in a Hamas ambush.

It says dozens of tunnel shafts, found in homes, schools, and health clinics, were destroyed, along with caches of weapons.

The IDF says troops of the Golani Brigade raided the homes of senior Hamas members and seized intelligence materials in Shejaiya, and the 188th Armored Brigade captured the headquarters of Hamas’s Shejaiya battalion, from which terrorists set out to carry out the October 7 onslaught in southern Israel.

The Paratroopers Brigade, meanwhile, demolished more than 100 buildings used by Hamas in the area, as well as located dozens of tunnel shafts, and arrested many operatives who had surrendered, among them a Hamas company commander and terrorists who participated in the October 7 massacres, the IDF says.

The Bislamach Brigade also demolished a number of buildings used by Hamas, the IDF adds.

Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump tour Gaza border town, view IDF compilation of footage from October 7

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner tour Kibbutz Kfar Aza on December 21, 2023. (Noam Moskowitz/Knesset)

Former senior advisers to former US president Donald Trump Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump arrived in Israel yesterday for a solidarity visit.

Earlier today, Trump’s daughter and son-in-law toured Kibbutz Kfar Aza, one of the dozens of towns massacred during Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.

The tour was led by Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.

The IDF compilation of footage from the October 7 attacks was also screened for the couple.

Herzog: Three times as much aid could be entering Gaza if not for UN’s ‘utter failure’

President Isaac Herzog (R) meets with French Senate President Gérard Larcher in Jerusalem on December 21, 2023. (GPO)

President Isaac Herzog doubles down on the Israeli position that the United Nations is failing to keep up with the amount of aid Israel is inspecting and is the reason why so little has entered the Strip even after Israel opened up its Kerem Shalom Crossing to ease the bottleneck.

“Unfortunately, due to the utter failure of the UN in its work with other partners in the region, they have been unable to bring in more than 125 trucks [of aid] a day,” Herzog says in a meeting with visiting French Senate President Gérard Larcher.

“Today it is possible to provide three times the amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza if the UN — instead of complaining all day — would do its job,” Herzog says.

Israel has said that it has been inspecting hundreds of trucks per day at its Kerem Shalom and Nitzana Crossings and then many of the trucks subsequently remain outside Gaza.

The UN and Egypt have argued that Israel’s military campaign has made it too dangerous to regularly deliver aid inside and through Gaza.

Lapid: Palestinian statehood not dead, but Oct. 7 delays possibility of two-state solution

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv, October 26, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Opposition chairman Yair Lapid says the possibility to establish a Palestinian state is not dead, but a two-state solution has been “postponed” due to Hamas’s terror onslaught on October 7.

The remarks in a recent interview appeared to be one of the first times an Israeli lawmaker has spoken about the idea of a two-state solution since October 7 without dismissing the formula outright, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has done.

“I think what has happened has postponed the possibility of the two-state solution, of the Palestinian state, and I say this as a supporter of the two-state solution,” Lapid tells The Majalla, a Saudi-owned Arabic magazine based in London.

“For years, those of us who supported a Palestinian state always said, ‘We need to make sure that we have the security measures that Israel needs to make sure that our people are safe and sound,'” he explains.

“But the whole concept of what security for our people is changed on October 7,” Lapid continued.

“Unlike the PLO or the PA, Hamas was never for the two-state solution… and they’re doing everything in their evil power to postpone this thing.”

“I don’t think the idea is dead. I think it will be delayed significantly because we need to find ways to secure the safety of our people,” Lapid says.

Some highlights (question and answer) from my exclusive interview with Israel’s opposition leader and former PM Yair Lapid @yairlapid , in his office at the Knesset. pic.twitter.com/WVgAdNA5gt

— Ahmed Maher (@amaherYAH) December 21, 2023

Eilat port chief says traffic down 85% since Houthis put squeeze on strait

The 'Klos-C' at the port of Eilat on Saturday. (photo credit: Flash90)

The head of Eilat’s port tells Reuters that business at the docks is down some 85 percent since Yemen’s Houthi rebels began attacking Red Sea marine traffic.

The port is Israel’s only cargo terminal on the Red Sea, and generally only handles ships importing new vehicles and exporting potash.

On Tuesday, the Financial Times reported that marine traffic in the Red Sea was down 30% month over month in December due to carriers avoiding the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a key chokepoint the Houthis have attempted to close off by attacking vessels there.

IDF says it has expanded ground operations in central Gaza

Troops of the IDF's 99th Division operate in the Gaza Strip, in a handout image published December 21, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israel Defense Forces says it has expanded its ground operations in the central Gaza Strip, with the 99th Division carrying out an operation in areas south of Gaza City.

According to the IDF, the 99th Division maneuvered into new areas of central Gaza, to establish “operational control” between Gaza City and the so-called central camps — the refugee camps of central Gaza.

It says that during the operation, the division’s 179th Reserve Armored Brigade and 646th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade killed members of Hamas’s Nuseirat battalion and destroyed the terror group’s infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon depots.

Amid the operation, it says an airstrike was carried out against a Hamas cell firing RPGs from a municipal building.

Meanwhile, the IDF says the division’s Yiftah Brigade continued working to clear the western neighborhoods of Gaza City of Hamas infrastructure.

During their operations, the IDF says troops found several weapons, some hidden inside dolls and under children’s beds. The weapons caches were later destroyed by combat engineers, it adds.

Israel hits Hezbollah with fresh strikes after attacks on north

This picture taken from the Israeli side of border with Lebanon shows smoke billowing following Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon on December 21, 2023. (Jalaa Marey / AFP)

The IDF says it carried out a new wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon following attacks on northern Israel.

It says the sites hit by fighter jets include rocket launch sites, military buildings, and other infrastructure belonging to the terror group. Another site belonging to Hezbollah was targeted by aircraft, tanks, and artillery.

Additionally, the IDF says it shelled a number of areas along the border with artillery, presumably to prevent Hezbollah from carrying out attacks.

The IDF says that several projectiles were fired at Dovev, Avivim, and the Mount Dov area on the border.

The missile at Dovev wounded two people, and the attack on Avivim caused damage.

Several more rockets were fired from Lebanon at Arab al-Aramshe, but failed to cross the border, according to the IDF. It adds that an aircraft struck the cell behind the launches.

Regarding the drone infiltration alarm that sounded earlier in northern Israel, the IDF says it identified a number of “aerial targets” that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon.

It says an interceptor missile was fired during the incident, and “the event is over,” without elaborating further.

מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו מוקדם יותר היום שורת מטרות צבאיות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בשטח לבנון, בין המטרות שנתקפו, עמדות שיגור, מבנים צבאיים ותשתיות טרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה >> pic.twitter.com/osAnorPNqT

— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי – Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) December 21, 2023

Gantz warns French foreign minister over attacks from Lebanon

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna visits the Memorial Wall of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 30, 2022. (Natacha Pisarenko/AP)

National Unity leader and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz tells French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna that Israel will not reconcile itself to the threat posed by the Hezbollah terror militia to residents of Israel’s north.

Speaking to her by telephone, Gantz insists that Lebanon is obligated to take responsibility for terror attacks emanating from its territory, and warned that “the interest for reaching a diplomatic solution for the [Israel-Lebanese] border region is first and foremost a Lebanese interest.”

Gantz adds, “The State of Israel will do everything it needs to defend its citizens and allow them to return to their homes in safety,” in reference to the tens of thousands of Israelis who have been evacuated from the north due to the threat of Hezbollah attacks after the outbreak of war with Hamas in Gaza on October 7.

Gantz has repeated this message in numerous meetings and conversations he has held with senior foreign diplomatic and defense officials in the last two weeks, including US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and British Foreign Minister David Cameron.

Shin Bet says Iran trying to recruit Israeli spies on social media

A female employee of the Iranian Interior Ministry works on her computer, as a portrait of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is seen on a screen, in Tehran, Dec. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The Shin Bet security agency says it has uncovered new attempts by Iranian operatives to recruit Israelis over social media to carry out spying missions for them, in exchange for money.

The agency says the Iranian security elements contacted Israelis on various platforms in recent months, including X (formerly Twitter), Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, and using various deceptions, sparked an initial conversation.

It says the operatives posed as real estate brokers, people interested in the marketing of drones, people requesting photo shoots, people interested in online dating, people looking for private investigators, courier services, and other false pretexts.

The operatives would then ask the Israelis to carry out various missions in exchange for money, which the Shin Bet says “are seen as apparently not relating to security aspects, but are definitely intended to serve the Iranians and enrich the intelligence in their possession.”

It says the Israelis were asked to photograph various sites and verify addresses.

According to the Shin Bet, some of the Israelis did not carry out the tasks and notified authorities.

Screenshots from a video released by the Shin Bet on December 21, 2023 shows fake social media profiles operated by Iran, and a conversation between an Israeli victim and one of the accounts. (Shin Bet)

The Shin Bet says the attempts to recruit the Israelis are “a well-known method of operation of the Iranian security agencies.”

It adds that since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, the agency has identified that “the activity efforts of Iranian security forces have greatly intensified, while using digital space for the purposes of intimidation, conveying messages or advancing terror activity.”

“Its purpose is to assist Hamas in its war and to damage Israel’s national resilience and war effort, sowing demoralization and deepening social divisions,” the agency says.

The Shin Bet says it has also identified social media pages posing as Israelis and “making cynical and manipulative use of the issue of the hostages, and even trying to act against families of hostages and bereaved families.”

It adds that “a lot of information was collected about the identity” of the Iranian operatives behind the fake profiles.

Screenshots of conversations released by the Shin Bet appear to show an Iranian operative asking one of the Israelis to carry out the murder of an unknown target.

The Israeli is seen asking for 70,000 euros for the hit, while the Iranian says he will pay 10,000 euros upfront, and another 50,000 once the Israeli shows images of the dead victim.

The agency also releases an audio recording of an Iranian operative speaking in Hebrew, offering an Israeli victim 100 dollars for an unknown task.

Lebanese economy was on cusp of recovery, World Bank says. Then came Oct. 7, and Hezbollah started firing

Lebanon’s economy is set to fall back into recession, the World Bank says, blaming the Israel-Hamas war and heating conflict on Lebanon’s southern border.

Lebanese terror group Hezbollah and allies have harassed northern Israel with a steady hail of rocket, missile and drone attacks since early October meant to tie the IDF down and keep it from concentrating on Gaza. Israel has carried out small-scale reprisals and has warned that the continued attacks could lead to all-out war.

The World Bank says Lebanon’s economy had been forecast to grow for the first time since 2018 — by 0.2 percent — thanks mainly to summer tourism and remittances from the large Lebanese diaspora.

But “the current conflict and its spillovers into Lebanon are expected to quickly reverse the tepid growth projected for 2023, as the economy returns to a recession,” it says.

More than half of travel reservations to Lebanon have been canceled for winter holidays, the World Bank said, warning that “tourism cannot, on its own, serve as the basis for an economic recovery.”

Lapid presses fleeing French senators on moves against Hamas during rocket attack

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s office publishes a video of him and a group of French senators retreating for shelter during the rocket salvo on Tel Aviv.

המטח האחרון מתקיים בזמן שנשיא וחברי הסאנט הצרפתי נמצאים בארץ. את הפגישה עם ראש האופוזיציה יאיר לפיד קוטעת אזעקה. לפיד לנשיא הסנאט: זו דוגמה קטנה למה שקורה בישראל בחודשים האחרונים pic.twitter.com/KllOxRBf2q

— יוסלה ברגמן🇮🇱 (@y_bregman1) December 21, 2023

The Yesh Atid head says he told the visiting lawmakers that they were getting a small example of what Israelis have been dealing with more months.

Another video shows Lapid seemingly attempting to take advantage of the moment while hiding out from the blitz in a stairwell, rattling off a list of sanctions and other measures Israel would like Paris to take against Hamas to French Senate president Gérard Larcher.

School said hit as flurry of rocket, interceptor fragments rain on central Israel

A school in Tel Aviv was struck by shrapnel during a large rocket attack on the city, according to Hebrew media reports.

The school is quoted saying that all students were safe and had reached bomb shelters during the rocket blitz.

Footage online shows various pieces of rockets and interceptors strewn about streets in the Tel Aviv area, including a large fragment that landed on a path in a Kiryat Ono park.

In a few cases, light damage is reported, but the Magen David Adom rescue service says there are no reports of injuries.

ניסים גלויים

תוצאות המטח האחרון לערי המרכז, השפלה, השרון ולכיש:

נפילת רסיסים בגבעתיים, גבעת שמואל, קריית אונו, בני ברק, הרצליה, פתח תקווה, אשדוד, חולון.

ללא נפגעים בנפש ובגוף.

ללא נזק לרכוש. pic.twitter.com/ByibCpdTXm

— דבורה 🐝⁦🇮🇱 (@devorah555) December 21, 2023

הרצליה: נפילת רסיס ראש, מיירט של כיפת ברזל..😱 pic.twitter.com/0Jf03iv5n1

— מה חדש. What's new❓ (@Gloz111) December 21, 2023

Hamas, Hezbollah claim credit for attacks in south, north

Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades armed wing takes credit for the hail of rockets fired at Israel, saying it targeted Tel Aviv.

In the north, Lebanese terror group Hezbollah takes responsibility for what it calls three direct hits in northern Israel, after anti-tank missiles were fired at civilians, injuring two.

Some 30 rockets fired at Israel, reports say

Israeli reports indicate some 30 rockets were fired at Israel in recent salvos, by far the largest barrage to target Israel in at least several days.

There is no comment from the military on the rocket launches, which largely punctured the idea that the military’s offensive had put a major constraint on Gazan terrorists’ ability to fire into Israel.

Despite the size of the volley, no injuries or significant damage is reported, though there are indications of fragments and shrapnel falling in populated areas.

Smotrich says Hanegbi ‘still living in October 6’ after suggestion PA can run Gaza

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Finance Committee meeting at the Knesset on December 4, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich upbraids National Security Adviser Tzahi Hanegbi for comments to a Saudi news site indicating Israel may accept a reformed Palestinian Authority ruling Gaza.

“There are people here who are still living in October 6,” says Smotrich on X. “This position does not represent the position of the Israeli government, and the prime minister needs to call him to order. The Palestinian Authority is not the solution, it is a significant part of the problem.”

The issue of who will govern Gaza after the war with Hamas ends has become a significant point of political dispute.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly rejected any possibility of the Palestinian Authority ruling the territory, although some Hebrew media reports have indicated he may be entertaining workarounds to this position.

Smotrich has rejected any such proposal, warning Netanyahu earlier this week to “not test us” and “not present us with a fait accompli which we cannot be a part of,” while asserting that the prime minister’s previous policy of containing Hamas was responsible, in part, for the October 7 atrocities.

Several interceptions reported north of Tel Aviv

Rockets are launched by Palestinian terrorists from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, in Gaza, October 7, 2023. (AP Photo/ Hatem Moussa)

Reports on the ground and footage posted online indicate several rockets were intercepted over the skies of central Israel and the south.

Near Kfar Saba, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Gaza, a ToI correspondent reports hearing at least 8 loud booms.

Multiple Iron Dome interceptions seen over central Israel, following a rocket barrage from the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/EGjj1kSZo7

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 21, 2023

According to Channel 12 news, the rockets were fired from central Gaza, an area where the IDF has only partial control.

A video taken from Kfar Aza, opposite central Gaza, shows one of the two fusillades heading skyward, with some 12 rockets fired.

Footage shows the rocket barrage from the Gaza Strip at central Israel a short while ago, as seen from Kfar Aza. pic.twitter.com/2z91cqtjsl

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 21, 2023

There are no immediate reports of injuries in Israel.

There is also no immediate claim of responsibility.

Rockets appear to target Tel Aviv area

Rocket sirens are sounding in the Tel Aviv region, in what appears to be a second significant attack in mere minutes.

Sirens ring in dozens of areas around the center of the country and as far north as Kfar Saba.

Hamas says no hostage talks unless fighting stops. Israel: Not a chance

A Hamas statement claims that it will not agree to free any more hostages or even negotiate over them until the end of fighting.

The stance, which has been trotted out by the terror group before, comes amid intense talks for a possible deal that would see hostages released in exchange for Palestinian inmates in Israeli prison. The group already claims it won’t accept a temporary truce.

A statement carried in Hebrew media reports by an Israeli official accuses the Gaza-ruling terror group of trying to condition the releases on the war ending. “It won’t happen,” the source says.

Rocket sirens sound across swath of south and center as attacks resume

Rocket alarms are sounding in Israel communities throughout southern Israel and as far north as Rishon Lezion and other areas in the Tel Aviv region.

The apparent volley puts a definite end to an extended lull in place since Tuesday evening.

Hamas claims Kerem Shalom crossing boss killed

An Israeli strike killed the person in charge of the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing and three others on Thursday, Hamas sources say.

Crossing director Bassem Ghaben was killed as Israeli planes targeted the infrastructure, the crossings authority and the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip say.

The strike, which cannot be immediately verified independently, comes days after Israel began allowing the crossing to be used for humanitarian aid to enter the Strip.

Two injured in missile attack on northern border

Two people were apparently injured in an anti-tank missile attack on the northern town of Dovev, which occurred at the same time as a missile appeared to hit a car in nearby Avivim.

The two, a man and a woman, were brought to Ziv Medical Center in Safed with light injuries, according to an initial assessment, the hospital says.

Both are civilians, though the border area has been largely evacuated.

Interceptor explodes over Safed after drone alert

A video shows what appears to be an interceptor missile exploding in the sky over the northern city of Safed, after drone infiltration alert sounded in communities closer to the Lebanese border.

Shortly after the blast, authorities give the all-clear on the drone alarm.

An interception is seen over Safed in northern Israel, after a suspected drone infiltration alarm sounded in towns near the Lebanon border. pic.twitter.com/eKtWMU9LDR

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 21, 2023

There is no confirmation from the military on the UAV being shot down.

Ben Gvir threatens to bolt government if Gaza offensive reined in

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir in southern Tel Aviv, September 3, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir hits out at the war cabinet and calls for it to be disbanded, in light of speculation that the IDF’s intensive military campaign in Gaza may soon wind down in favor of lower-intensity operations.

“If anyone intends, God forbid, to halt the IDF before Hamas has been defeated and all the hostages have been returned, he should take into account that Otzma Yehudit will not be with him,” says the leader of the far-right party.

“The idea of reducing activity in Gaza is a failure of war management by the small [war] cabinet. It should be dismantled immediately. The time has come to restore the reins to the wider [security] cabinet,” the ultranationalist minister says.

The war cabinet comprises Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and National Unity leader and minister without portfolio Benny Gantz who are the three voting members, along with two observers, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and minister without portfolio Gadi Eisenkot.

Ben Gvir has clashed with Gallant on numerous occasions, even before October 7, and has a difficult relationship with Netanyahu.

His threat mirrors similar threats made this week by fellow firebrand Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who twice threatened implicitly to leave the government this week over policy toward the Palestinians and the governance of Gaza after the war.

Anti-tank missile hits northern town, drone alert activated

An anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon has struck the northern community of Avivim, setting cars on fire as tensions spiral in the north.

⚠️Reports of ATGM impacts in Avivim#Israel #Lebanon pic.twitter.com/H8U3J6UaiD

— Swords of Steel (@ignis_fatum) December 21, 2023

Moments after the Avivim attack, a Homefront Command alert warns residents of other northern towns of a suspected enemy drone infiltration.

חדירת כלי טיס עוין (21/12/2023 12:13): דפנה, הגושרים, ע'ג'ר, קיבוץ דן, שאר ישוב, שניר pic.twitter.com/6dTn9ddX5x

— צופר – צבע אדום (@tzevaadom_) December 21, 2023

No injuries are reported and reports indicate an Israeli counterstrike in southern Lebanon.

IDF blows up Gaza tunnel used in deadly attack

The IDF has released footage showing a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis being destroyed in a large explosion days after it was used in an attack that left three soldiers dead.

The IDF releases footage showing a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, used to attack and kill three soldiers several days ago, being destroyed in a large explosion. pic.twitter.com/n2Ui5cNg6R

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 21, 2023

According to the IDF, as commandos of the elite Duvdevan unit led an assault on Khan Younis on December 17, Hamas operatives opened fire and set off explosive devices from the tunnel, leading to the deaths of Duvdevan soldiers Sgt. First Class Liav Aloush and Master Sgt. (res.) Etan Naeh, along with Master Sgt. (res.) Tal Filiba of the Combat Engineering Corps’ Yahalom unit.

It says Duvdevan soldiers returned to the site of the clash and, alongside combat engineers, rigged the tunnel shafts with explosives to destroy the underground passages.

Israel okay with reformed PA running Gaza, wants to help rebuild, top Netanyahu aide says

National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi speaks during a statement to the media in Tel Aviv on October 14, 2023 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

A column by National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi signals that Israel’s government may be softening its resistance to having the Palestinian Authority control Gaza after the war there.

The piece, published by the Saudi-owned Elaph news site, also says Israel is committed to rebuilding Gaza, together with Palestinians, the international community and private enterprise, describing the military campaign to topple Hamas as Israel liberating the Strip from the group’s reign of terror.

“Beyond ensuring the security of our citizens, which we will not compromise on, Israel has no interest in controlling civil affairs in Gaza, and there will need to be a moderate Palestinian governing body that enjoys broad support and legitimacy,” Hanegbi writes. “It’s not for us to decide who this will be.”

Hanegbi notes the push by the international community for the PA to take over Gaza’s affairs, but says that would be impossible without reforms, specifically ending incitement to violence against Israel.

“In its current form, the PA finds this difficult to do, and it will require much work and the assistance of the international community and regional neighbors. We are ready for this effort,” he adds.

The column marks a sharp shift from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s avowed refusal to consider PA rule an option for postwar Gaza, arguing that the PA and Hamas are largely the same.

Ironically, Israel’s move toward the PA comes as Ramallah has indicated greater willingness to ally with Hamas, with a top PA official Wednesday walking back comments in which he had criticized the terror group.

The comments broadly echo Washington’s stance, though US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had focused on anti-corruption reforms the PA needed to undertake more than educational ones.

It’s unclear what input Netanyahu had on the column, but Hanegbi is considered a close ally of the premier, and would be unlikely to go behind his boss’s back.

Nonetheless, the column garners some criticism in Israel, with MK Zvi Sukkot of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party writing on X that Hanegbi has no right to publish ideas in the name of Israel’s government.

“We don’t have a drop of responsibility for Gazans ‘looking to the future with great hope.’ Rather, they should look to the future with fear of messing with us again,” Sukkot writes on X. “We don’t owe anything to the ‘rebuilding of Gaza.’ Have we gone crazy? And also, a Palestinian Authority that educates toward tolerance and acceptance only exists in the minds of the very disturbed.”

Rocket sirens ring in south

Plants adjacent to the destroyed Lifschitz family home, Kibbutz Nir Oz, October 30, 2023. (Carrie Keller-Lynn / The Times of Israel)

Rocket sirens sound in Nir Oz in the third apparent attack this morning on largely evacuated southern communities near Gaza.

There are no reports of casualties in any of the apparent launches, none of which are confirmed by the military.

The morning alarms come after the areas saw a rare period of extended respite all through Wednesday.

Seafaring Greece says it will join naval guard against Houthi attacks

Warships take part in a Greek-US military exercise south of the island of Crete, August 24, 2020. (Greek National Defense via AP)

Greece will join a US-led naval coalition to protect the Red Sea global shipping lane from Yemen’s Huthi rebels, the defense minister says.

A Greek navy frigate will join the task force on orders from Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said Defence Minister Nikos Dendias.

As a foremost shipping nation, Greece had a “fundamental interest” in addressing a “massive threat” to global maritime transport, Dendias said in a televised statement.

The task force announced by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday initially included Britain, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain.

The Iran-backed Houthis say their missile and drone strikes on passing container ships are in support of Palestinians in the Gaza war raging between Israel and Hamas since October 7.

Protest barred from bid to block aid trucks at Gaza crossing

The army is attempting to quash a planned protest where activists hoped to block trucks of humanitarian aid going into Gaza at the Kerem Shalom crossing, declaring the area a closed military zone, protest organizers say.

A couple of dozen protesters are attempting to make their way on foot to the crossing after being stopped by police near Urim, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) from Kerem Shalom as the crow flies. Others are trying to make their way on foot via Route 10, which runs alongside the Egypt border.

מחאת הורי הלוחמים נגד משאיות החמאס:
משפחות הלוחמים שנחסמו באזור אורים החלו לצעוד ברגל.
במקביל הורים נוספים צועדים באזור ציר 10. pic.twitter.com/PFHcdnmDYW

— תורת לחימה (@Torat_IDF) December 21, 2023

Protesters wave Israeli flags and hold signs accusing the government of helping the enemy and harming troops. “Aid to the enemy kills soldiers,” reads one.

הורי הלוחמים בדרכם לחסום את משאיות "הסיוע ההומניטרי" במעבר כרם שלום

הורים ללוחמי צה"ל הנלחמים בימים אלו ברצועת עזה, עושים כעת (חמישי) את דרכם למעבר כרם שלום, במטרה למנוע את מעברם של משאיות הסיוע ההומניטרי.

סימה חסון, אמא ל-2 לוחמים בגולני וצנחנים ויו"ר צעדת האמהות, הבוקר: "יש… pic.twitter.com/9ditYIHAmG

— הקול היהודי (@hakolhayehudi) December 21, 2023

The small demonstration is organized by groups called Torat IDF, which says it aims to keep the army Jewish, and the Mothers’ March, which says it represents the parents of soldiers fighting in Gaza.

“Unbelievable. We send our soldiers to fight and the general of the Southern Command decides to protect the Hamas trucks?” Mothers’ March head Sima Hasson fumes in a social media post.

Report: 10-to-1 prisoners for hostages deal on table, but Israel needs more info

Photographs of Israeli hostages being held in the Gaza Strip are placed on a house in Kibbutz Be'eri, Israel, Dec. 20, 2023. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Lebanese news outlet al-Akhbar reports that a proposal for a deal is being pursued to release 10 Palestinian prisoners for each Israeli hostage freed from Gaza, though Israel is conditioning its acceptance of the formula on who is included in the roster of inmates it would be expected to let go.

According to the news site, citing Egyptian sources, Cairo has asked Hamas for a status update regarding the 40 hostages that Israel wants out first, including women, the elderly and the infirm.

The site, which is thought to have links to Hezbollah, also reports that US mediators told Qatar they are putting pressure on Israel for a longer truce than the one-week break that took place at the end of November, including a prisoner/hostage exchange and the entry of large amounts of aid.

However, disagreements remain regarding the deployment of troops inside Gaza during the truce, according to the report.

Rocket sirens sound in Gaza-border region for second time

Rocket sirens were activated moments ago in the communities of Nir Oz and Magen in southern Israel.

The apparent launch marks the second attack on southern Israel from Gaza Thursday morning, after a lull that started Tuesday night ended after some 40-hours with a rocket attack on Nirim, also near Gaza.

It’s unclear if the slowdown in rocket launches is related to ongoing hostage release talks, Israeli military pressure on Gazan terrorists, a lack of ammunition, or something else.

Lebanese woman reported killed in Israeli cannonade

Smoke rises after rockets fired from Lebanon into Israel, Mount Dov, December 20, 2023. (Ayal Margolini/Flash90)

Lebanese media report a woman was killed by heavy Israeli shelling on the town of Maroun al-Ras, which sits near the restive border.

The country’s official news agency reports that the woman was in her home when it was hit, and her husband was injured in the strike. It describes both as civilians.

According to Hezbollah-affiliated al-Meyadeen, the town was blasted by a barrage of 180 strikes Thursday morning.

The IDF said it struck Hezbollah sites in retaliation for overnight attacks, without saying where.

Israel hits back in Lebanon after overnight volleys

Smoke rises after rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel, in the Mount Dov area, December 20, 2023. (Ayal Margolini/Flash90)

The IDF says it carried out strikes against Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon in response to rocket fire on northern Israel last night.

במהלך הלילה ובשעות הבוקר, מטוס קרב של חיל האוויר וכלי טיס של צה״ל תקפו תשתיות טרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה, ומשגר ממנו בוצע ירי לעבר שטח ישראל אמש.
כמו כן, הכוחות תקפו בארטילריה בשטח לבנון >> pic.twitter.com/8TJIGcjZP2

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 21, 2023

It says the sites included infrastructure belonging to the terror group and the rocket launcher used in the attack.

Several rockets were fired by Hezbollah at the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, causing damage but no injuries.

Army finds weapons in north Gaza school, hits 230 sites in past day

Israeli troops operate in the Gaza Strip in a photo released by the military on December 21, 2023 (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it carried out airstrikes against some 230 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip over the past day, and heavy fighting continued in northern Gaza despite the army indicating operations there were wrapping up.

In Gaza City’s Jabaliya, a school where civilians had been sheltering was cleared out by troops of the 551st Brigade, who found several weapons belonging to Hamas operatives inside, the army says.

The constant staccato of gunfire can be heard in a video from the area reportedly recorded Thursday morning.

معارك ضارية ومتواصلة بين المقاو.مة وقوات الاحتلال في منطقة تل الزعتر وشرق مخيم جباليا. pic.twitter.com/URIXAhtghr

— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) December 21, 2023

The IDF also says that in the Shati camp on the northern Gaza coast, the 14th Brigade spotted a group of Hamas operatives and called in an airstrike.

The strike in Shati comes weeks after the IDF said it had full control of the area, indicating the military is still battling smaller Hamas cells.

Soldiers also pressed gains in south Gaza, where much of the fighting is expected to shift to.

In Khan Younis, the IDF says troops of the 7th Armored Brigade identified a group of Hamas operatives inside a building and called in an airstrike.

A rocket launcher in the area was also hit as it prepared to fire projectiles at Israel, the army says.

The Navy also carried out strikes overnight, hitting vessels used by Hamas’s naval forces.

Defense chief confirms Australia won’t send warship to Red Sea shield

Australia will not deploy a warship to the Red Sea as part of a nascent US-led coalition meant to protect vessels in vital shipping lanes being threatened by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Aussie Defense Minister Richard Marles confirms. Instead, it will contribute 16 troops to the effort, Sky News Australia reports.

The debate over whether to join the effort had roiled Canberra in recent days as some opposed wading into the Mideast’s messy waters.

Marles says the decision was based on needing warships closer to home to protect shipping lanes in the South China Sea, another important route where tensions are liable to swell.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier indicated his opposition to sending ships to the Red Sea, earning plaudits from China, which said it would have raised tensions had it deployed a warship alongside the US and other Western allies.

The coalition was announced earlier this week, following repeated attacks by Iran-backed rebels opposed to Israel, who have vowed to attack ships passing through a key strait as part of a campaign backing the Hamas terror group in Gaza. The attacks have squeezed global shipping, with many carriers steaming around the Horn of Africa to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Rocket alarm sounds near Gaza border, ending 40-hour lull

A rocket siren has sounded in Nirim, a community near the Gaza border.

The apparent attack marks the first projectile fired out of Gaza in nearly 40 hours, by far the longest respite from rockets since October 7, minus a weeklong truce last month.

Blinken said to call Cairo, Abu Dhabi in hunt for consensus on UN Gaza resolution

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a meeting with human rights leaders at the State Department, December 7, 2023, in Washington. (AP/Alex Brandon)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with counterparts from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates amid efforts to finagle a UN Security Council resolution text on Gaza that Washington won’t veto, according to Walla reporter Barak Ravid.

A US official earlier told AP that Blinken would speak to the Emirates’ Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Egypt’s Sameh Shoukry to try to reach a consensus ahead of a vote, which has now been pushed off until Thursday morning in New York.

Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh of the UAE, which sponsored the Arab-backed resolution, says the UAE is optimistic, but if the negotiations yield no results by Thursday “then we will assess in the council to proceed … to a vote on the resolution.”

Swords of Iron out, Genesis War in? The answer may be blowin’ in the wind

A government committee tasked with slapping official names on things will meet next week to consider a new name for Swords of Iron, Israel’s official, and apparently regretted, moniker for its war against Hamas, Kan reports.

According to the station, the leading alternatives are:

Genesis War: The name refers to the biblical book Jews traditionally begin reading on Simhat Torah, the holiday Israel was celebrating on October 7 when Hamas launched its surprise assault.

Simhat Torah War: See above

War of the Winds: This name is a bit of a freestyle translation from the Hebrew name “mashiv haruach” which literally translates to “He who makes the wind blow,” part of a short prayer for rain Jews in Israel traditionally begin reciting on Simhat Torah.

Kan earlier reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu complained to cabinet ministers on Sunday about the name Swords of Iron, saying that while it was fit for a military operation, it was an insufficient name for a war.

According to the station, Netanyahu suggested Gaza War, but was advised to reconsider because his address in Jerusalem is Aza Street, the Hebrew name for Gaza.

The premier reportedly likes Genesis War because it sounds good in English. Given the alternatives, ToI finds it hard to argue with that reasoning.

Representatives of Netanyahu’s office are expected to attend the meeting, along with officials from the defunct Hasbara Ministry, the National Security Ministry, the National Security Council and the IDF, Kan reports.

Israel said to hit Lebanon border town after overnight attacks

Lebanon’s al-Manar news outlet reports that an Israeli airstrike hit Kafr Kila, a border town opposite Metula.

The Hezbollah-affiliated outlet claims three missiles hit an empty home.

There is no immediate comment from the military, but the strike comes after unusually heavy cross-border fire into Israel overnight.

Incoming rocket sirens sound in Lebanon border town

Incoming rocket alerts are activated in the northern kibbutz of Misgav Am along the border with Lebanon.

IDF announces 3 more soldiers killed in Gaza battles, bringing ground op toll to 137

This composite photo shows Lt. Omri Shwartz (L), Sgt. Lavi Ghasi (C) and Lt. Yaacov Elian. (Israel Defense Forces)

The army announces three more troops were killed fighting Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll in Israel’s ground offensive against the terror group to 137.

The soldiers are named as:

Sgt. Lavi Ghasi, 19, from Hashmonaim, an infantryman in the Nahal Brigade’s 931st Battalion.

Lt. Yaacov Elian, 20, from Ramat Gan, a cadet in the Bahad 1 officers school’s Gefen Battalion who was previously was a Givati squad commander.

Lt. Omri Shwartz, 21, from Shadmot Dvora, a cadet in the Gefen Battalion who was previously a soldier in the Paratrooper Brigade’s Reconnaissance Battalion.

According to the IDF, an officer and two other Gefen cadets were seriously hurt in the incident in which Shwartz and Elian were killed.

The army also says another five soldiers were seriously hurt during battles in Gaza: Two from the Nahal Brigade’s 50th Battalion, one from the Oketz canine unit, an officer in the 460th Armored Brigade’s 532nd Battalion, and a reserve soldier in the Kiryati Brigade’s 9218th Battalion.