Jan. 6: Touring Mideast, Blinken says all regional countries should work to contain war

EU foreign minister meets with head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc while in Beirut

BEIRUT — The European Union’s foreign policy chief met a political official of Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah in Beirut, as part of a push to avoid Lebanon being dragged into the Israel-Hamas war.

Josep Borrell held talks today with the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad, Lebanese media reports.

An EU source confirms the meeting, which came hours after the terrorist group’s fighters launched a barrage of rockets at an Israeli military base in response to the killing of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in a suspected Israeli strike in Beirut on Tuesday.

The EU is “engaging in diplomatic dialogue with all relevant political representatives who have influence on the situation on the ground or have a stake in it,” the source says.

Visiting Rafah crossing, progressive US senators say Israeli inspections slowing aid deliveries to Gaza

Hamas members ride on top of a humanitarian aid truck in Rafah, Gaza Strip, December 19, 2023. (AP Photo)

CAIRO — At Egypt’s Rafah border crossing, lines of hundreds of trucks carrying aid wait for weeks to enter Gaza, and a warehouse is full of goods rejected by Israeli inspectors, everything from water testing equipment to medical kits for delivering babies, two US senators say after a visit to the border.

Progressive Senators Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley point to a cumbersome process that is slowing relief to the Palestinian population in the besieged territory — largely due to Israeli inspections of aid cargos, with seemingly arbitrary rejections of vital humanitarian equipment. The system to ensure that aid deliveries within Gaza don’t get hit by Israeli forces is “totally broken,” they say.

“What struck me yesterday was the miles of backed-up trucks. We couldn’t count, but there were hundreds,” Merkley says in a briefing with Van Hollen to a group of reporters in Cairo.

The US has been pressing Israel for weeks to let greater amounts of food, water, fuel, medicine and other supplies into Gaza, and the UN Security Council passed a resolution on December 22 calling for an immediate increase in deliveries. Three weeks ago, Israel opened its Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza, adding a second entry point for aid after Rafah.

Still, the rate of trucks entering has not risen significantly. This week, an average of around 120 trucks a day entered through Rafah and Kerem Shalom, according to UN figures, far below the 500 trucks of goods going in daily before the war and far below what aid groups say is needed.

Van Hollen and Merkley say a more simplified process for getting aid into Gaza is necessary. During a three-day visit to Egypt, they met with Egyptian officials, UN aid agencies and non-governmental relief groups working in Gaza. At Rafah yesterday, they also spoke to doctors who had come out of Gaza and a truck driver waiting to get in.

Israel says the inspections are necessary to prevent items of military use from reaching Hamas.

Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem this week, Col. Elad Goren, a senior official in the Israeli military body overseeing Palestinian civilian affairs known as COGAT, admitted that Israeli security checks could be hampering rapid aid delivery but largely blamed the bottlenecks on international agencies and the United Nations.

IDF said to find cages in Gaza that Hamas is suspected of using to hold hostages

Israeli forces found cages in the Gaza Strip that may have been used by Hamas to hold hostages kidnapped during the terror group’s October 7 onslaught, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

The television report cited unspecified intelligence findings indicating the cages were likely used to imprison hostages and move them to different locations, and may have also been used by Hamas to hold Palestinian prisoners.

Demonstrators block bridge outside UK parliament while protesting against Israel

LONDON — Pro-Palestinian anti-Israel protesters block roads outside the British parliament in London, demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict and clashing with police who prevent them from marching across Westminster Bridge.

Videos posted on social media shows police blocking protesters’ access to the bridge and a Reuters reporter says there have been several small scuffles. Unable to fully access the bridge, where they had planned to unfurl banners, protesters instead occupy the surrounding roads.

Police say they have imposed a legal order limiting the location of the protests and that by 3 p.m. local time people had begun to disperse. Those who refuse to comply with an order to leave could be arrested, police say.

Today’s action is smaller than previous mass marches but comes two days before the British parliament returns to work after its Christmas break. The protest is designed to push politicians to adopt a harder stance toward Israel.

Most previous protests in London have been coordinated with police and remained largely peaceful but police say the organizers of today’s protests had refused to share details of their plans.

Regev renews criticism of IDF chief for his announced October 7 investigation

Transportation Minister Miri Regev, at Ben Gurion International Airport, June 20, 2023. (Jonathan Shaul/Flash90)

Transportation Minister Miri Regev again criticizes IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi for the kind of investigation she says he is setting up into the events of October 7. And she denies that she and her colleagues in the security cabinet “assailed” Halevi at a meeting on Thursday night that ended in a shouting match.

Herself a former IDF Spokeswoman, Regev says on Channel 12 that the IDF does need to carry out operational investigations to learn lessons for the ongoing fight against Hamas. “But there is a difference between carrying out a tactical probe and saying, ‘I am now appointing ex-generals to investigate October 7.'”

Halevi’s announcement that he had asked former IDF chief and defense minister Shaul Mofaz and other ex-military figures to probe aspects of the failures surrounding Hamas’s October 7 invasion sparked Thursday night’s cabinet dust-up. Several ministers castigated the IDF chief, with some saying that a thorough probe needed to wait until the war was over. According to reports from the meeting, Regev told Halevi that the political echelon could also start investigating the causes of that day’s catastrophe, in comments that appeared to indicate a potential blame game between politicians and the military.

In leaked comments from the meeting, Halevi was ambivalent about the scope of his planned probe.

In her Channel 12 interview, Regev says that the events leading up to October 7 will be investigated in full by a state commission of inquiry after the war.

Regev says ministers “are required to ask hard-hitting questions of the IDF chief” and notes that “not every question is a denunciation. It cannot be that, time after time, when we ask pointed, serious questions of the IDF chief, it is said that we are assailing the IDF chief.”

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi speaks to commanders in southern Gaza’s Khuza’a, December 31, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

She says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is overseeing the war “with great responsibility.”

And taking aim at her Likud colleague Yoav Gallant, the defense minister, she says he should “take care” that what he says in various forums serves “to bolster resilience and not weaken us.”

Protests calling for immediate elections held in Tel Aviv, outside PM’s Caesarea home

Protesters demanding elections rally at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, January 6, 2024 (Gilad Furst)

Protesters hold rallies calling for immediate elections to be held, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The main demonstration is taking place at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, while smaller rallies are also staged in Haifa and outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in the northern coastal town of Caesarea.

Organizers of the Tel Aviv protests say that 20,000 people are present.

The sister of Shira Eylon, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova festival on October 7, tells the protest in Tel Aviv that her sister “was abandoned to a shocking death.”

“I believe that everyone has a role in the world and that Shira’s role was to spread light and unite those around her,” Adar Eylon is quoted as saying by the Haaretz daily. “My role is to ensure that happens. I promised her that this didn’t happen for nothing. The deaths of our loved ones were not in vain.”

“The change begins within us and starts with worthy leadership. Without leadership like this, we cannot begin the healing process,” adds Eylon.

הארוע בקיסריה הערב – pic.twitter.com/gb8qg7wVCV

— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) January 6, 2024

Spokesman says IDF has completely dismantled Hamas’s ‘military framework’ in northern Gaza

An undated photo released by the Israel Defense Forces on January 6, 2024, shows Muhammed Deif (R), the commander of the Hamas terror group's military wing. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari in a press conference says the military has completed dismantling Hamas’s “military framework” in the northern Gaza Strip.

Hagari gives a lengthy explanation regarding the military’s operations so far in Gaza, pointing to the army’s achievements but highlighting the time it has taken to accomplish them.

“There are no shortcuts when it comes to fighting terror,” he says, noting that it took three months to largely defeat Hamas in northern Gaza, preventing the terror group’s battalions from carrying out large-scale attacks.

“We have completed dismantling the military framework of Hamas in the northern part of the Strip, and we will continue to deepen the achievement, strengthen the barrier and defenses on the border,” Hagari says.

He warns that despite defeating Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip, there is still likely to be sporadic rocket fire on Israel from those areas.

“We struck, and will continue to strike, and continue to deepen the achievement in these areas, but it takes time,” Hagari says.

Hagari says that the IDF is currently focused on dismantling Hamas in central and southern Gaza.

“We will do it in a different method, in a thorough way, based on the lessons we learned from the fighting until now,” he says.

He says the refugee camps in central Gaza are “dense and full of terrorists,” while Khan Younis has an “underground city of branching tunnels.”

“It will take time, the fighting will continue throughout 2024. We are working according to a plan to achieve the goals of the war: to dismantle Hamas in the center and south, and continue all efforts, intelligence, operational, and military pressure, to return the hostages,” Hagari says.

He says at the same time the IDF is building new defenses along the Gaza border to allow residents displaced since October 7 to return to their homes.

Also in his press conference, Hagari reveals a photo of Mohammed Deif, the commander of Hamas’s military wing.

The photo was among some 70 million digital files recovered by the IDF in Gaza, he says.

Deif is seen in the photo holding a plastic cup in one hand and dollar bills in another, apparently confirming newly reported IDF intelligence findings that disproved the long-held belief that he is an amputee and nearly paralyzed.

Blinken: US ‘wants to do everything possible’ to prevent escalation on Israel-Lebanon border

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he boards a plane leaving Crete for Amman, on January 6, 2024, as part of the first leg of a trip that includes visits to both Israel and West Bank. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/AFP)

CHANIA, Greece — Washington’s top diplomat Antony Blinken says that he wants to make sure the conflict in the Middle East “doesn’t spread,” as he speaks to journalists after meeting the Greek prime minister in Crete.

“One of the real concerns is the border between Israel and Lebanon, and we want to do everything possible to make sure we see no escalation,” he adds.

Blinken says it’s in the interests of virtually all nations in the Middle East to contain the fighting.

“We want to make sure that countries who feel that way are also using their ties, using their influence, using their relationships with some of the actors that might be involved to keep a lid on things, to make sure that we’re not seeing the spread of conflict,” he says before flying to Jordan.

Blinken also says it’s very important that Israel have security in the north of the country.

“From the perspective of Israel, it’s clearly not interested, does not want escalation … but they also have to be fully prepared to defend themselves,” he says.

Blinken, who will also visit Arab states, Israel and the West Bank, says if efforts to settle the crisis fail, the outcome will be “an endless cycle of violence… and lives of insecurity and conflict for people in the region.”

Weekly rally urging return of hostages held in Tel Aviv: Israel ‘can’t be what it was’ until they’re back

Israelis attend the weekly rally calling for the return of hostages held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, January 6, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

At the weekly rally in Tel Aviv calling for the return of hostages still in Gaza, Omri Shifroni and Nofer Gilot tell the crowd about their former high school class, several members of which were abducted during the Hamas-led terror onslaught on October 7.

The former classmates come onstage with pictures of friends who are being held hostage or were killed. Among the hostages are Tamir Adar, who Kibbutz Nir Oz announced yesterday was killed on October 7; freed hostage Adi Shoham and her children; her husband Tal Shoham; and Itai Svirsky.

“We grew up and were educated where people called for peace,” says Gilot.

Shifroni notes the teachers who were killed or are being held hostage, the friends who lost parents, grandparents, siblings.

“Nothing will be what it was, but Israel can’t be what it was without bringing back the hostages and taking full responsibility for the failure,” says Shifroni.

Shifroni says that Tamir Adar didn’t get proper medical treatment after being wounded on October 7, and could have been saved.

“Itai and Tal can still be saved,” he says. “Bring them home now.”

Russell Robinson, CEO of the Jewish National Fund, says the organization will speak at college campuses and events to “tell the Red Cross, ‘Bring them home now.'”

“We are not silent Jews. All American Jews shall shout out now and forever, we are one with the people of Israel,” says Robinson. “I have walked the burned land of Be’eri and Kfar Aza but I have felt the soul of our Jewish people in that soil and we will work with everyone to build it again.”

“Israel is a nation of 15.5 million Jews, some live here and some live there, but we are one family,” he adds.

Head of IDF Devil’s Advocate Unit tried repeatedly in September to warn of possible Hamas attack

Illustrative: A soldier from the IDF's Military Intelligence Directorate works at a computer. (Israel Defense Forces)

The head of the IDF intelligence unit that is charged with questioning IDF assessments and conceptions warned four times in the three weeks before Hamas’s October 7 onslaught that the Gaza ruling terror group could soon launch a confrontation, Channel 12 reports.

The head of Ipcha Mistabra — the Devil’s Advocate Unit — wrote twice in late September to all senior decision-makers in the army and the political echelon, to challenge the widespread assessment that Hamas was deterred, the TV report says, and presented the same argument twice more during IDF discussions.

The report quotes from a letter the unnamed officer wrote on December 3 in which he recalled trying to draw his superiors’ attention to the possibility of an imminent attack in the three weeks before the October 7 Hamas onslaught.

“I tried in the weeks before the war erupted to challenge our fundamental basic assessment, which held that Hamas was interested in maintaining quiet in the Gaza Strip,” the officer recalled.

“My central claim was that Hamas would soon launch a confrontation with Israel, because it identified deep processes that were fundamentally changing the strategic situation, especially the progress of normalization efforts between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and signs of vitality and recovery by the Palestinian Authority.”

The officer continued that he twice “presented this thesis” in writing, on September 21 and 26, and that these two notes “were widely distributed among all decision-makers in the military and the political echelon.”

He also set out the thesis in a speech at an annual Intelligence Branch strategic assessment session on September 26 and again, the next day, at a weekly debate before the head of military intelligence.

The Devil’s Advocate Unit is among the mechanisms within the IDF designed to ensure relentless reassessment and challenge of military conceptions, all of which failed in the run-up to October 7 when the army misread or ignored multiple sources of information, including from surveillance soldiers at the border, indicating that Hamas was about to attack.

Rocket alerts sound in moshav near Lebanon border

Incoming rocket sirens are activated in Even Menachem, a moshav near the border with Lebanon.

IDF says it killed commanders of Hamas battalion that carried out Be’eri massacre

The commander of Hamas's Nuseirat battalion, Ismail Siraj, (left) and his deputy, Ahmed Wahaba, who were killed in an IDF airstrike in Gaza on January 6, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF and Shin Bet announce that the commander of Hamas’s Nuseirat battalion, Ismail Siraj, and his deputy, Ahmed Wahaba, were killed in an airstrike this evening in the Gaza Strip.

Siraj previously served as a commander of a Hamas Nukhba force company, and was also involved in manufacturing rockets, according to the joint statement.

Wahaba, his deputy, was appointed to the role after the previous Nuseirat battalion deputy commander was killed by the IDF in the first weeks of the war.

The Nuseirat battalion, in the central Gaza Strip, carried out the massacre in Kibbutz Be’eri and other border communities on October 7.

The IDF says the battalion has also been involved in firing anti-tank missiles and drones at troops operating in Gaza in recent months.

The IDF and Shin Bet announce that the commander of Hamas's Nuseirat battalion, Ismail Siraj and his deputy, Ahmed Wahaba, were killed in an airstrike this evening in the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/qqZQKFd93U

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) January 6, 2024

Netanyahu calls to put ‘everything’ aside in order to defeat Hamas

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in a video statement released by his office on January 6, 2024. (X. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls to put “everything” aside to focus on winning the war against Hamas, a day after war cabinet member Benny Gantz warned the premier to choose between unity or playing politics.

In a video statement, Netanyahu calls for the military offensive in Gaza to continue “until we achieve all its aims,” which he lists as destroying Hamas, returning the hostages and ensuring the Strip “will not again be a threat to Israel.”

“We are not giving Hamas immunity anywhere, and we are fighting to restore security to both the south and north,” Netanyahu says. “Until then and to do so, we must put everything to the side and continue jointly until we obtain complete victory.”

IDF says Nahal officer killed fighting in northern Gaza, raising ground op toll to 176

Lt. Col. Roee Yohay Yosef Mordechay. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF announces the death of an officer killed during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip over the weekend, bringing the toll of slain troops since the start of the ground offensive against Hamas to 176.

He is named as Lt. Col. Roee Yohay Yosef Mordechay, 31, a senior commander at the Nahal Brigade’s training base, from Tel Aviv. Mordechay was appointed to be the next commander of Nahal’s 50th Battalion before he was killed.

Another soldier of the Nahal Brigade’s 931st Battalion was seriously wounded in the same battle, the IDF says.

US says destroyer downed drone over Red Sea that was launched from Houthi-ruled area

In this April 29, 2015 US Navy handout photo, the guided-missile destroyer USS Laboon (DDG 58) arrives in Souda Bay, Greece on April 29, 2015 for a scheduled port visit. (US Navy/AFP, File)

US Central Command says the USS Laboon guided-missile destroyer downed a drone over the Red Sea that was launched from a Houthi-ruled part of Yemen.

According to Central Command, the drone was near several commercial ships when it was intercepted over international waters.

There are no reports of injuries or damage.

IDF says fighter jets struck two ‘significant’ Hezbollah compounds in Lebanon

Smoke rises over buildings in the southern Lebanese border town of Blida following a reported Israeli bombardment on January 6, 2024. (AFP)

The IDF says fighter jets carried out strikes on two “significant” military compounds belonging to Hezbollah in Lebanon, in response to the terror group’s attack on northern Israel today.

The sites, according to the IDF, housed infrastructure used by Hezbollah’s air defense unit

The IDF says fighter jets and other aircraft hit further Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon’s Rab El Thalathine, Ramyah, Meiss el-Jabal and Ayta ash-Shab.

The targets include Hezbollah cells, rocket launch positions, a command center and other infrastructure used by the terror group, according to the IDF.

Several missiles were fired by Hezbollah in the last few hours at Yiftah and Avivim, with no reports of injuries.

The IDF says Hezbollah also fired a surface-to-air missile at an Israeli military drone over Lebanon, which did not hit.

מטוסי קרב של חיל-האוויר תקפו לפני זמן קצר שני מתחמים צבאיים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה. המתחמים היוו נכסים משמעותיים עבור הארגון, ביניהם מתחם צבאי בשימוש יחידת טילי קרקע אוויר של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה. pic.twitter.com/50msakpnEW

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) January 6, 2024

French FM: ‘Iran and its associates must immediately stop their destabilizing actions’

PARIS — France’s foreign minister says that she has told her Iranian counterpart that the risk of a Middle East regional conflagration has never been greater and that Tehran and its proxies needed to end their destabilizing activities.

“Iran and its associates must immediately stop their destabilizing actions,” Catherine Colonna says on the social media site X after speaking with Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

“No one would gain from escalation.”

Israeli strikes reported in Lebanese village 40 kilometers from border

Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon hit the outskirts of Kouthariyeh al-Siyad village, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency says, adding that there are casualties.

Such strikes deeper inside Lebanon have been rare since the border fighting started nearly three months ago.

NNA also says Israeli forces shelled border areas, including the town of Khiam. Israel’s army has no immediate comment.

Chiefs of IDF and Shin Bet tour Hamas tunnel network under Khan Younis

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (left), head of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman (second from left), head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva (second from right), and head of the Shin Bet security agency Ronen Bar (right) tour a Hamas tunnel in Khan Younis, January 5, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and the head of the Shin Bet security agency Ronen Bar toured a Hamas tunnel network under southern Gaza’s Khan Younis yesterday, the military announces.

Halevi and Bar were joined by the head of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, and commander of the 98th Division, Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus.

The military believes Hamas’s leadership, including Yahya Sinwar, are hiding underground in the southern Gaza Strip.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and the head of the Shin Bet security agency Ronen Bar toured a Hamas tunnel network under southern Gaza's Khan Younis yesterday, the military announces.

Halevi and Bar were joined by the head of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron… pic.twitter.com/AGSTPTxjun

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) January 6, 2024

Hezbollah announces 2 more of its fighters killed in fighting along border

Hezbollah announces the deaths of two more fighters, bringing the number of operatives in the Lebanese terror group who have been killed in the ongoing cross-border skirmishes with Israel to 152.

Rocket alerts activated in several Gaza border towns

Rocket warning sirens sound in the southern city of Sderot and nearby towns of Ibim and Nir Am, which were largely evacuated of citizens following the October 7 massacres.

Air force’s giant missile-detecting balloon spotted along Lebanese border

Residents of northern Israel and southern Lebanon have spotted the Israeli Air Force’s new giant missile-detecting balloon, which has largely been out of service during the past year and a half.

The detection system, dubbed “Elevated Sensor,” or “Sky Dew” in Israel, is deployed at high altitudes to detect incoming long-range missiles, cruise missiles and drones.

The system is not yet operational and has seen significant setbacks with its deployment.

Kan news reports that the system was made airborne today after components ordered from the United States arrived.

תמונה של טל שמיים https://t.co/0vfVediFHd pic.twitter.com/AvrmYbE6lz

— Mr. W ???????? (@MrWgoa) January 6, 2024

UK agency says it received report of 6 small vessels approaching ship near Yemen

CAIRO — The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organization says that it received a report of six small craft approaching a merchant vessel about 50 nautical miles southeast of the Yemeni city of Mocha.

“No weapons have been sighted and coalition forces are assisting,” UKMTO adds in an advisory note.

UKMTO WARNING 003 JAN 2024

SUSPICIOUS APROACH – UPDATE 001

https://t.co/qlApy9q9pq#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/KaWeRe5boi

— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) January 6, 2024

IDF arrests 3 suspects in West Bank raids, confiscates weaponry

This handout photo released by the Israel Defense Forces on January 6, 2024, shows weaponry that the military says was seized during a counterterror raid in the West Bank town of Bal'a. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israeli troops arrested several suspects and confiscated weaponry during counterterror raids in the West Bank, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The army says that during an hours-long operation in the Palestinian town of Qatanna, soldiers interrogated dozens of suspects, two of whom were arrested. A statement from the IDF says that troops also confiscated arms and military gear.

Another suspect was arrested in the town of Bal’a, where the military says troops found dozens of bottles with explosive material and funds designated for terror activities. Raids were also carried out in Nablus and other towns.

No soldiers were injured during the operations.

Since the October 7 atrocities by Hamas, Israeli forces have arrested some 2,600 suspects in the West Bank, including 1,300 alleged Hamas operatives.

Rocket sirens sound in town along Lebanon border

An incoming rocket alert is activated in Shtula, a small town along the border with Lebanon that was evacuated by the Israel Defense Forces in October amid repeated attacks by Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions.

In Beirut, EU’s top diplomat says ‘absolutely necessary’ Lebanon not dragged into war

This handout picture provided by the Lebanese Prime Minister's Press Office shows Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (R) receiving Josep Borrell, high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, in Beirut on January 6, 2024. (Lebanese Prime Minister's Press Office/AFP)

BEIRUT — The European Union foreign policy chief warns against a regional conflict that would involve Lebanon, as border clashes intensified nearly three months into Israel’s war with Hezbollah ally Hamas.

“It is imperative to avoid regional escalation in the Middle East. It is absolutely necessary to avoid Lebanon being dragged into a regional conflict,” Josep Borrell says during a press conference in Beirut with Lebanon’s foreign minister.

“I am sending this message to Israel too: Nobody will win from a regional conflict,” he adds.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged near-daily cross-border fire since Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel, which triggered the war.

But a strike in Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold that killed Hamas’s deputy leader, Saleh al-Arouri, on Tuesday intensified fears of a wider conflagration.

A US Defense Department official, who requested not to be identified by name, has told AFP that Israel carried out the strike that killed Arouri. Israel has not claimed responsibility.

The Lebanese terror group said today it retaliated by launching dozens of rockets at a northern Israeli base. Israel’s army said it identified around 40 rocket launches from Lebanese territory, and struck a cell responsible for some of them.

“I think that the war can be prevented, has to be avoided and diplomacy can prevail,” Borrell tells reporters.

“Diplomatic channels have to be open to signal that the war is not the only option but it is the worst option,” he says.

Israeli wife of billionaire who pushed for ousting of Harvard president apologizes after plagiarism allegation

Neri Oxman, Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, MIT, speaks at The 2017 Concordia Annual Summit at Grand Hyatt New York on September 18, 2017 in New York City. (Riccardo Savi/Getty Images North America/Getty Images via AFP)

Israeli-born designer and academic Prof. Neri Oxman, the wife of billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, has apologized after it was reported that her 2010 dissertation contained a number of instances of plagiarism.

Earlier this week, Business Insider reported Oxman had “plagiarized multiple paragraphs of her 2010 doctoral dissertation.”

Oxman writes on X that in four cases, though she cited the source for her text in the paragraph, she “did not place the subject language in quotation marks, which would be the proper approach for crediting the work.”

She also acknowledges that in one other case, she paraphrased the work of another writer without proper attribution, while noting she had acknowledged him and clearly quotes him in multiple instances throughout.

“I regret and apologize for these errors,” she writes.

Ackman was a leading figure in the campaign to oust Harvard President Claudine Gay. He says the allegations against his wife are part of “attacks on his family” due to his “actions to address problems in higher education.”

Gay resigned earlier this week amid plagiarism accusations and criticism over testimony at a US congressional hearing where she was unable to say unequivocally that calls on campus for the genocide of Jews would violate the school’s conduct policy.

Following the hearing, Gay’s academic career came under intense scrutiny by activists who unearthed several instances of alleged plagiarism in her 1997 doctoral dissertation.

In 2019, it was revealed that some $125,000 was gifted by convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein to Oxman’s Mediated Matter research group at MIT’s prestigious Media Lab.

According to the Boston Globe, Oxman’s lab went beyond the regular protocol for donors, producing a donor gift for Epstein that was mailed to his Manhattan apartment. The gift drew concerns from some students in Oxman’s lab, and emails obtained by The Boston Globe showed Oxman was aware of the concerns and of Epstein’s past.

Bill Ackman attends the Hamptons International Film Festival on August 6, 2016 in East Hampton, New York. (Matthew Eisman/Getty Images North America/Getty Images via AFP)

Footage apparently shows Israeli chopper shooting down drone launched from Lebanon

Channel 12 airs footage apparently showing an Israeli military helicopter shooting down a drone launched toward Israel by the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.

The claim that a UAV was downed in the incident featured in the clip could not be immediately confirmed.

תיעוד: כך מסוק קרב הפיל כטב"ם חיזבאללה – יום קרב בצפון עם מטח כבד על מירון ושיגורים רבים לגליל

https://t.co/ZG0MZ2FDLi pic.twitter.com/w3AnVZD3WE

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) January 6, 2024

Lebanon’s Jama’a Islamiya says it fired two volleys of rockets at Kiryat Shmona

Lebanon’s Sunni Islamist Jama’a Islamiya says it fired two volleys of rockets at Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel.

The attack comes after Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group said earlier it had fired at least 62 rockets toward Israel on Saturday morning in an “initial response” to the alleged Israeli killing of Hamas terror chief Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut.

Sirens warn of suspected drone infiltration in north

Sirens warn of suspected drone infiltration in a number of communities in northern Israel, close to the border with Lebanon.

The towns close to the border have been largely evacuated of civilians.

Mother of Tamir Adar: Saying he was killed Oct. 7 ‘minimizes the magnitude of the failure’ of the state

Yael Adar, mother of hostage Tamir Adar held in the Gaza Strip, at a press conference in Tel Aviv on December 4, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

The mother of Tamir Adar, 38, whose death was confirmed yesterday, writes that saying he was killed on October 7 “minimizes the magnitude of the failure.”

“The message should be different: Tamir was seriously injured when he was protecting his family and the community, in the absence of protection for the community. Tamir was kidnapped while wounded and alive. Tamir was murdered in the absence of immediate medical attention,” writes Yael Adar on Facebook, according to the Walla news site.

“This is the default! It is convenient for everyone to write murdered on October 7 as if it happened in one moment that Tamir did not feel, and he could not be saved,” she writes. “If the state had been functioning, Tamir would have been saved. If the state was functioning, this failure would not have happened.”

Adar calls for her son’s body to be returned from Gaza so that he can be buried.

“Everything needs to be done to release all the hostages alive now, before it is too late for them too and then they write: Murdered on October 7,” she writes. “We lost the most precious thing. Don’t let the other families lose their loved ones.”

Adar left his house at 6:30 a.m. on October 7 as part of the Kibbutz Nir Oz emergency squad. At some point that morning, Tamir was taken to Gaza, as was his 85-year-old grandmother, Yaffa Adar, on her covered mobility scooter. Yaffa Adar was later released during a temporary ceasefire.

Tamir Adar, 38, was killed and abducted by Hamas terrorists while he was defending his kibbutz, Nir Oz, on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)

Blinken meets Turkey’s Erdogan for talks on Israel-Hamas war, Ankara’s request for US jets

This handout photograph taken and released by Turkish Presidency Press Office on January 6, 2024, shows Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) shaking hands with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) prior to their meeting at the Vahdettin private residence of the presidency in Istanbul. (Handout / TURKISH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks expected to focus on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Ankara’s request for US fighter jets.

Washington’s top diplomat had earlier Saturday held a two-hour meeting with Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan about “the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Sweden’s NATO accession process, bilateral and regional issues,” the Turkish foreign ministry says.

Erdogan has been an outspoken critic of Israel in recent weeks, saying last month that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is worse than Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Blinken’s fourth visit to the region in three months comes amid worrying developments, including attacks from Lebanon on northern Israel by the Hezbollah terror group, and assaults in the Red Sea and Iraq by Iran-backed groups.

Those tensions have put intense strains on what had been a modestly successful US push to prevent a regional conflagration in the weeks after the start of the Hamas-Israel war.

War erupted on October 7 when Hamas carried out a devastating attack on southern Israel, killing over 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The thousands of Hamas-led terrorists who burst through the border with the Gaza Strip also abducted at least 240 people of all ages who were taken as hostages into the Palestinian enclave.

Sirens warn of suspected drone infiltration in north

Sirens sound in towns in the north, warning of suspected incoming drone infiltration.

Alerts are heard in a number of communities close to the Sea of Galilee.

There have been alerts on a number of occasions today in towns close to the borders with Lebanon and Syria.

There have been no reports of injuries or damage.

In the wake of the most recent set of sirens, a few minutes earlier, the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command said “the incident is over.”

IDF says troops battled Hamas gunmen in Gaza school, raided terror commander’s home

A children's jigsaw puzzle with the caption 'Liberate Palestine' featuring armed kids in an inciting image against Israel, found by troops in a Khan Younis home. Photo released January 6, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF releases new footage of the elite Egoz commando unit operating in southern Gaza, where it says troops 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.

The IDF says the troops killed three gunmen during a battle in the school. On their bodies, it says forces found RPGs and “a lot of intelligence information” about Hamas’s Khan Younis brigade.

In a residential home in the area, Egoz soldiers found a cache of weapons used by Hamas operatives, the IDF says.

Some of the weapons in the home were found inside a bedroom, which the IDF says troops found alongside a child’s puzzle of an inciteful image against Israel.

The IDF does not elaborate further on the raid on the home of the Hamas commander.

The IDF releases new footage of the elite Egoz commando unit operating in southern Gaza, where it says troops 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… pic.twitter.com/C4wYZFLAqu

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) January 6, 2024

Sirens sound in multiple communities close to Lebanon border

Sirens sound in multiple communities close to the Lebanon border in northern Israel.

It is the third time within a number of hours that sirens have sounded in a number of locations at the same time.

Earlier, Hezbollah said it had fired dozens of rockets toward Israel in a move it called “an initial response” to the alleged Israeli killing of top Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanon.

Al Jazeera team detained at Kibbutz Be’eri for allegedly filming in closed military area – report

Illustrative: An employee of Al Jazeera walks past the channel's logo at its headquarters in Doha, Qatar, in 2006. (AP/Kamran Jebreili, File)

A team from Al Jazeera was detained at Kibbutz Be’eri, close to the border with Gaza, for allegedly filming in a closed military area without permission, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

The report says the journalists had filmed images of Israel Defense Forces troops and security teams.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF. Kan says police are on their way to deal with the incident.

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.

He says the Al Jazeera team denies recording footage of troops.

It is unclear if the team has been released.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has pushed to shutter 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.

Death toll in Iran’s Islamic State-claimed suicide bomb blasts rises to 91

Iran's Revolutionary Guard members stand over the flag-draped coffins of victims of Wednesday's bomb explosion during their funeral ceremony in the city of Kerman about 510 miles (820 kms) southeast of the capital Tehran, Iran, Jan. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The death toll from a suicide bombing in Iran claimed by the Islamic State group has risen to at least 91, Iranian state TV reports.

The TV quotes Babak Yektaparast, a spokesman for the country’s emergency services, as saying an 8-year boy and a 67-year-old man who were wounded in the attack have now died.

Yektaparast adds that there are 102 people still being treated in hospitals, of whom 11 are in critical condition.

In Wednesday’s attack, one suicide bomber detonated his explosives, then another attacked 20 minutes later as emergency workers and other people tried to help the wounded.

The attack took place in Kerman, about 820 kilometers (510 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran. It targeted a commemoration for Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, killed in 2020 by a US drone strike as he led its expeditionary Quds Force.

The intelligence ministry said Friday that one of the two suicide bombers was a Tajik national and 11 people linked to the attack have been arrested.

Blinken kicks off 4th crisis tour since start of Israel-Hamas war with Turkey FM meeting

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) shakes hands with Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Hakan Fidan during a meeting at Vahdettin, a private residence of the presidency, in Istanbul, on January 6, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken kicks off his latest crisis tour with a meeting in Istanbul with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

It’s his fourth official visit to the region since the start of the Israel-Hamas war three months ago, sparked by the October 7 onslaught by the Hamas terror group, and comes with fears mounting that the conflict will engulf swathes of the Middle East.

The talks in Turkey are also expected to cover Turkey’s process to ratify Sweden’s membership of NATO, according to a senior State Department official traveling with Blinken.

Blinken is scheduled later to meet Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, an outspoken critic of Israel in recent weeks.

He will also visit Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank and Egypt.

Rocket sirens in Mefalsim, close to Gaza border

Sirens sound in the Gaza border town Mefalsim, warning of incoming rocket fire.

The communities close to the border with the Strip have been largely evacuated of civilians since the October 7 onslaught.

The sirens come after a lull of some 21 hours.

Hamas-run health ministry says Gaza death toll reached 22,722

Relatives of Palestinians said killed during Israeli strikes, pictured at the European hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on January 6, 2024. (AFP)

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says at least 22,722 people have been killed in the Strip since the war was sparked by the terror group’s onslaught on October 7.

The Hamas figure doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants and includes Palestinians killed by errant rocket fire from within Gaza. Israel says it has killed 8,500 terrorists since the start of the war.

Israel says it is making an effort to avoid harm to civilians while fighting a terror group embedded within the civilian population. It has long accused Gaza-based terror groups of using Palestinians in the Strip as human shields, operating from sites, including schools and hospitals, which are supposed to be protected.

IDF carries out wave of Lebanon airstrikes after attacks on northern Israel

Plumes of smoke near Mount Meron after sirens sound in some 90 communities near the northern border, January 6, 2024. (Screen grab used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The IDF says it carried out airstrikes on a series of Hezbollah sites in Lebanon in response to its 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.

Several more projectiles were fired by Hezbollah at the Metula and Margaliot areas on the border.

The IDF says a drone struck the cell behind the attack on Metula.

מטוסי קרב של חיל-האוויר וכוחות צה"ל נוספים תקפו מוקדם יותר היום שורת מטרות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחבים עייתא א-שעב, ירון ורמיה בדרום לבנון.
בין המטרות שהותקפו: עמדת שיגור, מבנים צבאיים ותשתיות טרור. pic.twitter.com/v4sY4MA6p2

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) January 6, 2024

Alaska Airlines grounds all Boeing 737-9s after window, fuselage piece blew out midair

An Alaska Airlines plane takes off from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on December 4, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images North America/Getty Images via AFP)

Alaska Airlines grounds all of its Boeing 737-9 aircraft, hours after a window and piece of fuselage on one such plane blew out in midair and forced an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon. No one was seriously hurt.

The incident occurred shortly after takeoff and the gaping hole caused the cabin to depressurize. Flight data showed the plane climbed to 16,000 feet (4,876 meters) before returning to Portland International Airport. The airline said the plane landed safely with 174 passengers and six crew members.

“Following tonight’s event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft,” Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci says in a statement. “My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced.”

Each of the aircraft will be returned to service after full maintenance and safety inspections, which Minicucci says the airline anticipates completing within days.

“We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred tonight, and will share updates as more information is available,” he says.

An Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency landing Friday night after a portion of the aircraft blew out mid-air. Video obtained by CBS News appeared to show one of the passenger window panels had been blown out. https://t.co/wKIOLENg3r pic.twitter.com/M00hT7HaPx

— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 6, 2024

IDF says it found weapons belonging to elite Hamas force, strikes carried out on Gaza terror cells

The Israel Defense Forces says troops found military equipment belonging to the Hamas terror group’s elite Nukhba forces in a Gaza clinic, stashed inside bags marked with the logo of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.

As one of the main organizations providing aid to the Gaza Strip, there have been previous reports of the aid agency’s packaging apparently being repurposed by the terror group.

The IDF says RPGs, Kalashnikov-type weapons and ammunition were found in a nearby building.

In addition, the military says strikes were carried out on a number of terror cells and destroyed a number of tunnel shafts in the Khan Younis area.

Furthermore, troops located a warehouse containing dozens of Kalashnikovs, over a hundred cartridges, remote-activated charges and a number of RPGs. Forces destroyed the warehouse.

הלוחמים איתרו בתוך מרפאה שקים של אונר"א בהם ארגון הטרור חמאס החביא וסטים צבאיים של פעילי נוח'בה. במבנה סמוך אותרו מטולי RPG, נשקים מסוג קלאצ'ניקוב ותחמושת.

בחאן יונס, לוחמי צה"ל חיסלו מחבלים רבים מהאוויר ומהקרקע והשמידו מספר פירי מנהרות>> pic.twitter.com/b2zr9nspPO

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) January 6, 2024

Last week, it was reported Israel is hoping to push UNRWA out of the Gaza Strip post-war. The outlet cited a high-level and classified Foreign Ministry report that recommends a number of stages to the move, including a comprehensive report on alleged UNRWA cooperation between Hamas, which rules Gaza, and the UN body that provides welfare and humanitarian services in the Strip.

Maritime ‘security event’ reported in Red Sea’s Bab al-Mandab area — UK maritime group

British maritime security firm Ambrey has received a report of a maritime security event in the Red Sea’s Bab al-Mandab area, the firm says in an advisory note, without elaborating.

It advises crews to minimize deck movements and only essential crew should be on the bridge.

In recent weeks, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have launched drone and missile strikes targeting commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

They say their strikes are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is battling Hamas terrorists in a war sparked by the October 7 onslaught.

The Houthis have warned they will target ships sailing in the Red Sea that have links to Israel, although a number of vessels have been targeted with no obvious connection.

Several missiles and drones have been shot down by US, French and British warships patrolling the area.

The attacks endanger a transit route that carries up to 12 percent of global trade, prompting the United States to set up a multinational naval task force to protect Red Sea shipping.

UK finance minister says British economy may be impacted by Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt leaves Downing Street in London, March 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes could have an impact on the British economy through rising prices, UK finance minister Jeremy Hunt says.

Asked whether the attacks by Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen could mean rising prices in Britain, Hunt told the BBC: “It may have an impact and we’ll watch it very, very carefully.”

Many vessels have been rerouted from the Red Sea due to drone and missile attacks carried out by Houthis rebels in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is battling the Hamas in the wake of the devastating October 7 assault in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took approximately 240 hostage to the Strip.

Unveiling ship and missile launchers, Iran Guards commander warns ‘enemy’ naval presence

Head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Hossein Salami speaks during a funeral procession carrying the remains of 110 Iranian soldiers recovered from former battlefields of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), in Tehran on December 17, 2023. (AFP)

The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards vows to reach “the enemy” far and near as tensions soar on key shipping routes where Tehran’s allies have been attacking vessels.

“Today, we are facing an all-out battle with the enemy,” says Guards commander Hossein Salami at a ceremony in the southern Gulf port city of Bandar Abbas, where the Guards’ navy unveiled a new ship named “Abu Mahdi” and 100 missile launchers.

Salami did not name the enemy, but 22 nations have agreed to participate in a US-led coalition to safeguard commercial traffic in the Red Sea from attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement.

The Houthi attacks since November are a show of support for Hamas in its war with Israel, sparked by the October 7 onslaught by the Gaza-based terror group.

In response, many major shipping companies have switched to the longer and more costly route around the Africa’s Cape of Good Hope rather than pass through the Suez Canal, which handles about 12% of global trade.

“We need to defend our national interests to wherever they extend,” Salami says in a televised speech. “It will be harmful for the enemy to be found near and at a half distant. They should stay away from this area.”

The Guards’ navy, he says, had made a “brilliant leap in its offensive and defensive powers” to challenge the world’s naval powers.

According to Iranian media, Iran’s Alborz warship entered the Red Sea earlier this month to secure shipping routes.

Hezbollah claims responsibility for rocket barrage fired at northern Israel

Hezbollah claims responsibility for the rocket barrage from Lebanon on Mount Meron in northern Israel earlier.

In a statement, the terror group claims it targeted an Israeli military installation in the area with 62 projectiles.

It says the attack is “an initial response” to the alleged Israeli killing of Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanon last week.

Sirens sound in around 40 communities close to northern border with Lebanon

Sirens sound in a number of communities close to the close to the northern border with Lebanon, warning of incoming rocket fire and suspected drone infiltrations.

The sirens in around 40 communities come around an hour after a large barrage of rockets was fired toward the Mount Meron area.

IDF says 40 rockets fired from Lebanon at northern Israel, strikes terror cell involved in launches

Some 40 rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Mount Meron area of northern Israel, the IDF says.

Despite the widespread sirens, no drones or rockets were fired at any other areas of the north, it adds.

There are no reports of injuries in the rocket barrage.

The IDF says it struck a terror cell in southern Lebanon, responsible for some of the rocket launches.

בהמשך להתרעות שהופעלו במרחב הצפון, זוהו כ-40 שיגורים משטח לבנון שחצו לשטח ישראל במרחב מירון. לא זוהו שיגורים או כלי טיס עוין שחצה לשטח ישראל במרחבים אחרים בצפון הארץ.

צה"ל תקף לאחר זמן קצר בשטח לבנון חוליית מחבלים שלקחה חלק בשיגורים pic.twitter.com/vtqyF960hk

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) January 6, 2024

Reports of explosions near Mount Meron after sirens in some 90 northern border towns

There are reports of explosions close to Mount Meron after sirens sounded in some 90 communities close to the northern border.

There are no reports of injuries.

Video circulating on social media appears to show smoke in a number of areas in the national park.

It is unclear if the smoke was caused by impacts or interceptions.

The sirens had warned of both incoming rockets and drone infiltrations.

זוהו כמה נפילות בשטחים פתוחים באזור מירון, אין נפגעים באירוע. ככל הנראה, מיירט ששוגר לעבר המטרות הפעיל את האזעקות הנרחבות בישובי הצפון@guyvaron pic.twitter.com/SsMZTjkc6S

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) January 6, 2024

IDF says ‘incident is over’ after drone sirens sound in some 90 northern communities

Following the suspected drone infiltration alarms in the Upper Galilee, the Israel Defense Forces’ Home Front Command says “the incident is over.”

No further details are given.

Sirens sounded in some 90 communities along the northern border with Lebanon.

Drone infiltration sirens sound in dozens of northern border communities

Sirens sound in dozens of communities close to the northern border with Lebanon, warning of suspected drone infiltration.

The alerts come after a lull of some 13 hours.

Since the deadly Hamas onslaught of October 7, in which some 1,200 people were slaughtered, mostly civilians, and around 240 were taken hostage, Hezbollah and allied Palestinian terror factions have engaged in daily cross-border clashes with Israeli troops along the Lebanon border. Lebanese terrorists have also targeted Israeli civilians and their homes, forcing tens of thousands to evacuate the area.

Alert and sirens over aircraft intrusion into Israel’s northern region. Saturday mornings in Israel. #Hezbullah pic.twitter.com/cRrsvOCDFA

— ‏Tal Schneider טל שניידר تال شنايدر (@talschneider) January 6, 2024

Hamas leader Haniyeh: Hope Blinken ‘learned lessons’ from US ‘blind support’ of Israel

File: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh visits the Dar al-Fatwa, Lebanon's top Sunni religious authority, in Beirut on June 22, 2022. (Anwar Amro/AFP)

As US Secretary of State Antony Blinken begins his fourth crisis tour since the start of the Israel-Hamas war three months ago, the leader of the Hamas terror group Ismail Haniyeh says Washington should focus on the ‘mistakes’ made by “blindly supporting” Israel.

“We hope that Mr. Blinken learned lessons from the past three months and realized the extent of the mistakes the US has made by blindly supporting the Zionist occupation and believing its lies, which resulted in unprecedented massacres and war crimes against our people in Gaza,” he says in a speech.

Blinken arrived in Istanbul late Friday for the first leg of a trip that includes visits to Israel and West Bank, along with five Arab states.

His tour comes with fears mounting that the conflict — sparked when some 3,000 Hamas terrorists stormed the Gaza border with Israel and killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped approximately 240 more — will engulf swathes of the Middle East.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Istanbul, on January 5, 2024 (EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / POOL / AFP)

UN Women says it’s handling code of conduct violations by staffer for anti-Israel posts internally

UNITED NATIONS — The UN agency promoting equality for women says that violations of the UN Code of Conduct requiring impartiality by a mid-level manager, who reportedly supported pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli posts on social media, are being dealt with internally.

Last month, the Geneva-based advocacy group UN Watch, which often criticizes anti-Israel actions at the United Nations, reported that Sarah Douglas, the deputy chief of UN Women’s peace and security office, had endorsed 153 posts on social media since Hamas’s October 7 attacks in southern Israel that exposed her partisan views about the war in Gaza.

UN Watch’s Executive Director Hillel Neuer posted on X, formerly Twitter, some examples including posts that accused Israel of “genocide” and celebrated shutting down bridges and highways for pro-Palestinian campaigns and rallies.

After UN Watch publicized the posts, Neuer said Douglas deleted her social media accounts, but he said the group has screenshots of her posts.

Last week, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said when asked about Douglas’ posts: “I understand there was a violation of the Code of Conduct by this individual.”

Douglas has not commented on her social media posts.

UN Watch says a campaign it launched on Instagram and X demanding that Douglas be fired had received nearly 5,000 signatures by December 27. Two US senators, Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, and Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, have also called on UN Women to fire her.

“We are aware of reports relating to a mid-level manager and the incompatibility of her social media activity with the standards of conduct required of UN staff members,” UN Women says in response to an AP question on what action it is taking on the violations and the calls for her firing.

“UN Women takes these concerns very seriously,” it says. “The standards of conduct are clear and breaches are dealt with appropriately and in accordance with UN Women’s accountability and legal framework.”

UN Women says: “Such processes are internal and not made public.”

Blinken to meet Turkey’s Erdogan for talks expected to focus on Gaza war

ISTANBUL — Washington’s top diplomat will discuss the Gaza war with Turkey’s mercurial leader on Saturday before flying to Crete to address Greek worries about the looming sale of US fighter jets to Ankara.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Istanbul late Friday for the first leg of a trip that includes visits to Israel and West Bank, along with five Arab states.

Blinken’s fourth crisis tour since the start of the Israel-Hamas war three months ago comes with fears mounting that the conflict will engulf swathes of the Middle East.

Istanbul served as a base for Hamas political leaders until the terror group carried out a devastating attack in southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking some 240 hostages. In response, Israel launched a war aimed at toppling the Gaza-ruling terror group and returning the hostages. Hamas health authorities say 22,600 Gazans have been killed in the Israeli offensive, a figure that doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants and which cannot be verified independently.

Turkey asked the Hamas chiefs to leave after some were captured on video celebrating the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has since turned into one of the Muslim world’s harshest critics of the scale of death and destruction happening in Gaza — and of Washington’s support for Israel.

He has also rebuffed US pressure to cut off the suspected flow of funding through Turkey to Hamas and defended the terror group as legitimately elected “liberators” fighting for their land.

Trump accuses Biden of ‘fear-mongering’ for saying he’s a threat to democracy

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump offers a withering response to criticism from US President Joe Biden that he’s a threat to democracy, calling his Democratic rival’s remarks “pathetic” and “fear-mongering.”

“Biden’s record is an unbroken streak of weakness, incompetence, corruption and failure… That’s why Crooked Joe is staging a pathetic, fear-mongering campaign event in Pennsylvania today,” Trump tells supporters in Sioux Center, Iowa.

US offering $10 million for info that thwarts Hamas financial network

Palestinian Hamas supporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah protest on January 2, 2024, against an alleged Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon that killed Hamas terror chief Saleh al-Arouri earlier, on January 2, 2024. (Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

The United States is offering up to $10 million for information on five Hamas financiers or anything leading to the disruption of the Palestinian terror group’s financial mechanisms, the State Department says.

The reward offering follows four rounds of US sanctions on Hamas after the group’s terror onslaught incursion into Israel on October 7.

The five are Abdelbasit Hamza Elhassan Khair, Amer Kamal Sharif Alshawa, Ahmed Sadu Jahleb, Walid Mohammed Mustafa Jadallah and Muhammad Ahmad ‘Abd Al-Dayim Nasrallah, who have all been previously designated global terrorists by the United States, the department says in a statement.

The first financier, known as Hamza, is based in Sudan, has managed numerous companies in Hamas’ investment portfolio and was involved in the transfer of almost $20 million to Hamas, the department said. He is tied to former Sudanese president Omar Bashir and Islamist groups undermining stability in Sudan, according to the State Department.

Three of the Hamas operatives cited – Amer Kamal Sharif Alshawa, Ahmed Sadu Jahleb, and Walid Mohammed Mustafa Jadallah – are part of the group’s investment network in Turkey, the department says.

Nasrallah has close ties to Iranian entities and has been involved in the transfer of tens of millions of dollars to Hamas, including its military wing, the agency says, adding that he was based in Qatar in October.

The rewards would be provided for information on any source of revenue for Hamas, major donors, financial institutions that facilitate transactions for Hamas, front companies that procure dual-use technology for the group and criminal schemes that benefit Hamas, the State Department says.