Jan. 10: Report says hundreds of Houthi rebels were trained by IRGC in Iran

CAIRO — The Houthi spokesman in Yemen, Mohammed Abdul Salam says Thursday that the UN resolution on navigation on the Red Sea is a “political game.”

The spokesman says the US is the one violating international law.

12:50 am

Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie ends bid to be 2024 GOP presidential nominee

By Agencies

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks during a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by FOX Business Network and Univision, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, September 27, 2023. (Mark J. Terrill/AP)

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie ends his flailing bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, after failing to garner support for a campaign centered on criticism of the policies and character of frontrunner Donald Trump.

Christie drops out just days before the first Republican nominating contest in Iowa. Christie had the support of just 2% of Republicans in a nationwide Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Tuesday — the same level of support as former Representative Liz Cheney, who never declared herself a candidate.

Trump holds a big lead in the contest to be the party’s nominee against US President Joe Biden in November’s election, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll. The poll put him on 49%, ahead of former UN ambassador Nikki Haley at 12% and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on 11%.

DeSantis and Haley are vying to be the clear alternative to Trump and the backing of the 2% who supported Christie could help them on their way.

Christie tells a town hall event in New Hampshire that he no longer saw a path forward for his campaign.

“It’s clear to me tonight that there isn’t a path for me to win the nomination, which is why I’m suspending my campaign tonight for president of the United States,” Christie says.

12:39 am

UN Security Council okays resolution demanding immediate end to Houthi attacks in Red Sea

By AFP

This photo released by the Houthi Media Center shows Houthi forces boarding the cargo ship Galaxy Leader on November 19, 2023. Yemen's Houthis have seized the ship in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen after threatening to seize all vessels owned by Israeli companies. (Houthi Media Center via AP)

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations Security Council demands an immediate end to attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea.

The resolution passed “demands that the Houthis immediately cease all such attacks, which impede global commerce and undermine navigational rights and freedoms as well as regional peace and security.”

It passes after Russia, as well as China, Mozambique and Algeria abstain.

11:54 pm

Report: Hundreds of Houthi rebels were trained by IRGC in Iran

This photo released by the Houthi Media Center shows Houthi forces boarding the cargo ship Galaxy Leader, November 19, 2023. (Houthi Media Center via AP, File)

According to a report in the UK Telegraph, the Houthi rebel group which has been terrorizing ships traversing the Red Sea were trained at “an elite Iranian naval academy.”

The report says that around 200 members of the group received training in Iran from its Revolutionary Guard Corps at the Khameini Academy of Naval Sciences and Technology in Ziba Kenar, citing several defense sources.

The newspaper also cites sources saying that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has “taken a personal role” in the Houthi activities in the Red Sea and has ordered further weapons and equipment to be supplied to the rebel group.

11:18 pm

Blinken tells king of Bahrain that Houthi attacks are ‘reckless and dangerous’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) is received by Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani upon his arrival in Manama, January 10, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tells the king of Bahrain that the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea are “reckless and dangerous.”

According to a State Department readout of their meeting, Blinken discussed with Bahrain’s King bin Isa Al Khalifa “the reckless and dangerous Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and reaffirmed their shared commitment to international law and freedom of navigation.”

Blinken and Al Khalifa also discussed “the humanitarian situation in Gaza and welcomed efforts to protect civilian lives, free hostages, increase humanitarian assistance, and prevent further spread of the conflict,” the State Department says.

The secretary of state is slated to wrap up his whirlwind tour of the region tomorrow in Egypt, after he visited Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the West Bank before arriving in Bahrain.

10:57 pm

UN official to meet survivors, witnesses, freed hostages in Hamas sex crimes probe

By AFP and ToI Staff

In this September 14, 2017 file photo, Pramila Patten attends a special screening of Netflix's 'First They Killed My Father' at the DGA theater in New York. (Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File)

A UN official heading to Israel to probe allegations of sexual assault by Hamas will meet with a wide range of people, including survivors and freed hostages, says a United Nations spokesman.

Pramila Patten, the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict, “is expected to meet with survivors, witnesses and others affected by sexual violence to identify avenues of support,” the UN secretary-general’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric says, adding that Patten also plans to meet with “recently released hostages and detainees.”

She will “be accompanied by experts in safe and ethical interviewing, forensic evidence, digital analysis and accountability,” he says, with the trip part of “the exercise of her mandate in accordance with a standard UN methodology.”

10:32 pm

Pentagon says US approves potential sale of military equipment to Egypt

The US State Department has approved the potential sale of light tactical vehicle chassis and related equipment and 28-meter patrol craft kits to Egypt, the Pentagon says.

The estimated cost of the chassis and related equipment is $200 million and the cost of the patrol craft kits is $129 million, the Pentagon adds.

10:07 pm

Mayor says civilian killed by Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon

By AFP and ToI Staff

Smoke rises over buildings on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese border village of Khiam following reported Israeli strikes on January 7, 2024. (Rabih Daher/AFP)

A mayor in south Lebanon claims that an Israeli airstrike killed a civilian in a border town today.

Kfar Kila mayor Hasan Sheyyet tells AFP that a resident “was killed during an Israeli artillery strike while he was in his garden,” adding he was “a civilian with no party affiliation.”

The official National News Agency identifies the slain man as Hasan Ali Tawil. It says he was killed when “an Israeli artillery shell fell near his house in Kfar Kila.”

The IDF did not immediately comment on the claim. Earlier, it said its fighter jets hit a Hezbollah command center and rocket launch position in southern Lebanon.

9:44 pm

Vote on revised war budget pushed off until next week, says Smotrich

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads a faction meeting of his far-right Religious Zionism party at the Knesset, January 8, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says a vote on the amendment to the 2024 budget in light of massive spending on the ongoing war has been pushed off from tomorrow to next week.

In a statement from his office, Smotrich says that following a conversation with the attorney general it was agreed to delay the vote until Sunday in order to allow for the completion of “professional legal work” on the government’s decisions in the revised budget.

Some of the inclusions in the budget have riled members of the cabinet, and Minister Benny Gantz said earlier today that his party has yet to decide how it will vote on the changes.

9:30 pm

Armed drone shot down over US military base in northern Iraq

Defense systems shot down an armed drone today over Erbil airport in northern Iraq where US and other international forces are stationed, Iraqi Kurdistan’s counter-terrorism service says.

A statement from the service does not say if there are any casualties or damage to infrastructure as a result of the attack.

A group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-aligned Iraqi militias, says in a statement that it had carried out a drone attack on the US base at Erbil airport.

US officials have reported more than 100 attacks against US interests in Iraq and Syria since mid-October, most claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, over Washington’s backing of Israel in its war against Hamas.

9:23 pm

IDF says intel shows two slain Al Jazeera journalists were members of terror groups

Palestinians look at a car targeted by an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Jan. 7, 2024, in which two journalists were killed. (AP/Hatem Ali)

The IDF says intelligence shows that two Al Jazeera journalists targeted in an airstrike on Sunday in southern Gaza’s Rafah, were members of terror organizations in the Gaza Strip.

The strike was carried out after the IDF said it spotted a terror operative piloting a drone, and subsequently hit a car they were in.

Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera’s Gaza correspondent Wael Dahdouh, and Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for AFP who was also working for Qatar-based television, both died in the strike.

The IDF says its intelligence confirms both are members of Gaza-based terror groups and were “actively involved in attacks against IDF forces.”

The IDF says two Al Jazeera journalists targeted in an airstrike on Sunday in southern Gaza's Rafah, were members of terror organizations in the Gaza Strip.

The strike was carried out after the IDF said it spotted a terror operative piloting a drone, and subsequently hit a car… pic.twitter.com/EytbJc6ivV

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) January 10, 2024

It says Thuria was identified by a document found by troops in Gaza as a member of Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade, serving as a deputy squad commander in one of the battalions.

Dahdouh, according to the IDF, is a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. It says documents recovered by troops in Gaza reveal he served in Islamic Jihad’s electronic engineering unit, and previously was a deputy commander in the Zeitoun Battalion’s rocket firing force.

The IDF attaches a copy of the document showing Dahdouh was a member of Islamic Jihad’s electronic engineering unit.

9:05 pm

IDF spokesman says troops located tunnel in south Gaza that was used to hold hostages

IDF troops operate in Gaza in a handout image cleared for publication on January 9, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says troops operating in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza located a tunnel where hostages had been held by Hamas.

“We are continuing to operate with determination, above and below ground in Khan Younis. The forces found a tunnel there, where hostages resided in difficult conditions under the ground,” Hagari says.

He does not provide any further information on the tunnel.

9:04 pm

Hamas official: Hostages will ‘not return alive’ unless Israel meets group’s demands

By Gianluca Pacchiani

A woman walks past photographs in Jerusalem of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, January 3, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Hamas terror group says the hostages in its hands will “not return alive to their families unless Netanyahu and his army commanders agree to the conditions” set by Hamas, the first of which is a complete cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip.

In a press conference, Hamas politburo member Osama Hamdan lashes out at US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken — who departed Israel today amid a whirlwind tour of the region — for saying that many countries in the region are ready to invest in the future of Gaza.

“We reiterate that the Palestinian people are masters of their decisions,” Hamdan says.

“We call on the American administration once again to stop its policies that are hampering efforts to end the war,” Hamdan adds, referencing American vetoes to block anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations Security Council.

With regard to the trial against Israel in the Hague set to begin tomorrow, Hamdan says: “We call on the International Court of Justice not to yield to pressure from the American administration, which is a partner in the continuation of the war against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”

8:50 pm

White House says Houthi attacks in Red Sea are ‘escalatory’

Houthi military spokesman, Brigadier Yahya Saree, delivers a statement on the recent attacks against two commercial vessels in the Red Sea during a march in solidarity with the people of Gaza in the capital Sanaa on December 15, 2023. (Mohammed Huwais/AFP)

The White House says that attacks by Yemen-based Houthi rebels in the Red Sea are “escalatory” and that the United States will consult with its partners about the next steps if these attacks continue.

“Despite what the Houthis may say, they are threatening and targeting commercial vessels with ties to countries all over the world, many of which have no connection to Israel whatsoever,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says.

“These attacks are unlawful and escalatory,” he adds.

8:23 pm

IDF chief tells soldiers in Gaza: There is no area in Lebanon you cannot dismantle

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (left) speaks to commanders in the central Gaza Strip, January 10, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, speaking to troops in the Gaza Strip, says their actions prove the military can fight Hezbollah in Lebanon if need be.

“I see the capabilities here, I know very well that [you] know how to deal with any problem in Gaza, there is not a square kilometer in Gaza that you do not know how to enter and dismantle,” says Halevi during an assessment with commanders in central Gaza.

“After what you have done, there is no village in Lebanon, there are no fortified areas in Lebanon that you cannot enter and dismantle. We will put you in the necessary places, you will do what is necessary there,” he says.

Commenting on Monday’s deadly accidental blast in the area, which led to the deaths of six combat engineers, Halevi says the IDF must learn from its mistakes.

“We are doing things here that we have never done before. As soon as something bad happens, and something very bad happened to us here, we lost quite a few people and had people injured. The only thing left for us as commanders is to learn, to learn, to learn,” he says.

8:22 pm

War cabinet convenes in Tel Aviv with possible hostage deal on the agenda

Member of the war cabinet meet at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv on January 10, 2024. (Haim Zach/GPO)

The war cabinet begins its meeting at the Kirya in Tel Aviv.

The members of the cabinet and its advisers are expected to discuss, among other issues, the terms of a potential new hostage deal with Hamas.

7:57 pm

Visiting Beirut, German FM pledges aid to boost Lebanese armed forces

By AFP

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is welcomed by a Lebanese official as she arrives for a meeting with Lebanon's prime minister on January 10, 2024 in Beirut. (Joseph Eid/AFP)

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock pledges 15 million euros ($16 million) to bolster the Lebanese armed forces amid growing concern about tensions on the border with Israel as the Gaza war rages.

Baerbock, on a visit to Beirut, says the military aid is aimed at helping the Lebanese army better secure its southern border with Israel.

The army must be able to exercise “effective control” over the area in order to “contain armed militias and terrorist organizations,” she said, a reference to the Hezbollah terror group and other terror factions operating in the area.

Baerbock, who held talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, says an escalation of the near-daily cross-border fire between Hezbollah and Israel “would be a catastrophe for the two countries.”

She calls on Hezbollah to withdraw from the border region with Israel, as required under United Nations Resolution 1701.

7:35 pm

Bank of Israel governor warns PM against war budget hike without cuts elsewhere

Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron arrives at a cabinet meeting on the state budget at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, February 23, 2023. (Alex Kolomoisky/Pool)

Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron makes a final plea to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to maintain fiscal discipline ahead of a cabinet vote on a revised 2024 budget to incorporate enormous funding increases for the war with Hamas.

Yaron has for weeks been urging the government not to spend excessively and offset any spending increases needed for the war with reductions elsewhere, along with tax hikes – items that government leaders have dismissed.

“There is no free lunch,” Yaron writes in a letter to Netanyahu that was seen by Reuters, stressing that markets are watching fiscal policymakers.

Yaron says the letter encompasses what he told Netanyahu at a meeting between the two last week.

He estimates the Gaza war will cost NIS 210 billion ($56 billion) for defense and compensation, excluding loss of income for residents near the Gaza and Lebanese borders who have been displaced by months of cross-border rocket fire.

Israel last year approved a two-year budget for 2023 and 2024, but the war against Hamas in Gaza has shaken government finances, requiring budget changes and additional spending.

7:21 pm

85 MKs sign onto impeaching Hadash MK who backs trial against Israel at Hague

By Shira Silkoff

Hadash MK Ofer Cassif at a Knesset Arrangements Committee meeting on June 21, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

85 members of the Knesset have signed a document calling for impeachment proceedings against Hadash-Ta’al MK Ofer Cassif, who signed a petition in favor of South Africa’s motion accusing Israel of genocide before the International Court of Justice.

The effort to impeach Cassif was started by Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer on Monday, who called the lawmaker’s public endorsement of South Africa’s motion against Israel “treasonous.”

Since Forer started the petition, MKs from both the coalition and opposition have signed onto it, including several from war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid.

Once 70 signatures are collected on such a petition, the matter moves to the Knesset House Committee, and if the motion makes it to the Knesset floor, 90 votes are needed to expel the MK in question.

7:07 pm

Blinken says Abbas told him he is ‘committed’ to reforming Palestinian Authority

By AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, right, in Ramallah in the West Bank, Jan. 10, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is committed to reforming the Palestinian Authority, in comments after they met in the West Bank earlier today.

“What I take away from this meeting is that he is committed to that and is very much prepared to move forward,” Blinken tells AFP in Bahrain in response to a question about Abbas’s commitment to reforming the PA.

7:00 pm

In message from hospital, actor and IDF reservist Idan Amedi says ‘I’ll be OK’

Star singer and actor Idan Amedi (R) with IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, in an undated photo. (Israel Defense Forces)

In a message from the hospital after he was wounded fighting in Gaza, actor, singer and IDF reservist Idan Amedi says he will be OK.

National Unity MK Chili Tropper says that he visited Amedi today and was sent with two messages to share with the public:

The first, Trooper says, is “to send thanks to all those who were concerned and sent love.”

The second, Tropper writes on social media, “in the words of Amedi: ‘Forget me, I’ll be OK. What’s important is that we stay strong together.'”

6:48 pm

At Jordan-Egypt-PA summit in Aqaba, Sissi calls for ‘decisive stance’ to push for Gaza truce

By Reuters and ToI Staff

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi speaks while meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, at Al-Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo, Oct. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi says that providing more aid to Palestinians in Gaza requires a “decisive stance” from the international community to push for a ceasefire, according to an Egyptian presidency statement.

Sissi is meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the Jordanian Red Sea city of Aqaba where the three leaders reject what they said are any efforts or proposals aimed at “liquidating the Palestinian cause.”

In a palace statement from Sissi and Abdullah, the two leaders stress that pressure should be increased to end Israel’s “aggression” against Gaza and protect civilians there.

They also say that they reject any Israeli plans to separate the fate of Gaza from the West Bank, adding that the two entities are the basis of a future Palestinian state.

6:36 pm

In Hebrew tweet, Khamenei says crimes of ‘Zionist entity’ will be remembered after it is wiped from earth

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressing an audience from Kerman and Khuzestan in Tehran, December 23, 2023. (Khamenei.ir/AFP)

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tweets in Hebrew, blasting the “Zionist entity” for its “crimes.”

In wording very similar to a tweet yesterday in English, Khamenei writes that the “crimes of the Zionist entity will not be forgotten.”

“Even after the disappearance of this entity from the face of the earth, these crimes and the murder of thousands of children and women will be recorded in books,” he adds.

פשעי היישות הציונית לא תישכח. אפילו לאחר היעלמותה של היישות הזאת מעל פני האדמה, הפשעים האלה ורצח אלפי ילדים ונשים יירשמו בספרים.

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) January 10, 2024

6:29 pm

In Bahrain, Blinken says Iranian support for Houthis ‘needs to stop’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) is received by Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani upon his arrival in Manama, January 10, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says there will be consequences for continued attacks on commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea by Yemen-based Iran-backed Houthis and that it has been made clear to Iran that support being provided needs to stop.

“We’ve also repeatedly tried to make clear to Iran, as other countries have, as well, that the support that they’re providing to the Houthis, including for these actions, needs to stop,” Blinken tells reporters.

6:19 pm

Erdogan claims arrest of purported ‘Israeli espionage network’ is just a ‘first step’

By AP

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Budapest, Hungary, on December 18, 2023. (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP)

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims that dozens of people detained on suspicion of spying for Israel last week was just a “first step” and a “clear response to those who threaten” Turkey.

Speaking at an event celebrating the 97th anniversary of the Turkish National Intelligence Agency (MIT), Erdogan says the detentions conducted by MIT and the Turkish police “seriously surprised Israel.”

“Our [intelligence] organization, which revealed Israel’s espionage network in our country, has given a very clear response to those who threaten us. Of course, this seriously surprised Israel,” he says.

A court in Istanbul has ordered 15 of 34 people detained on suspicion of spying for Israel’s intelligence agencies be held in prison awaiting trial, Turkey’s justice minister said last Friday.

The suspects were arrested last Tuesday for allegedly planning to carry out activities that included “reconnaissance” and “pursuing, assaulting and kidnapping” foreign nationals living in Turkey.

6:08 pm

Palestinian Red Crescent says four of its medics killed in IDF airstrike in Gaza

By AFP and ToI Staff

A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing over Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip during Israeli shelling on January 10, 2024. (AFP)

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society claims that an IDF airstrike on an ambulance in the central Gaza Strip killed four medics.

“Four members of the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance crews were martyred due to the targeting by the occupation [Israel] of an ambulance vehicle on Salah al-Din Street, at the entrance of Deir al-Balah,” the organization says in a statement.

There was no immediate comment on the incident from the IDF.

5:54 pm

ADL: Rate of antisemitic incidents in US quadrupled following October 7

By JTA

Demonstrators rally at Columbia University in New York City on November 15, 2023. (Bryan R. Smith / AFP)

Antisemitism in the United States has “skyrocketed” in the three months since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, according to data tallied by the Anti-Defamation League.

There were 3,283 antisemitic incidents in the United States between Oct. 7 and Jan. 7, according to the ADL’s report — including 60 physical assaults. It also counted 553 incidents of vandalism and 1,353 incidents of harassment.

The total number of incidents during the past three months is more than four times the number that occurred during the same period last year. The figure is higher than the total the group has recorded over the course of any full calendar year aside from 2022.

By comparison, the ADL counted 2,717 antisemitic incidents during the entirety of 2021. In the whole of 2014, the year of Israel’s last ground invasion of Gaza, the ADL recorded just 912 antisemitic incidents.

The main driver of antisemitism over the past three months, according to the group, is the Israel-Hamas war that began with the Oct. 7 invasion: The ADL said two-thirds of the incidents “included verbal, written, or contextual references to Israel or Zionism.” Forty percent of the incidents tallied in the report — a total of 1,317 — were pro-Palestinian rallies that included “expressions of support for terrorism against the State of Israel and/or anti-Zionism.”

5:41 pm

IDF says it has completed operations in Khuza’a on outskirts of Khan Younis

IDF troops of the 5th Reserve Brigade operate in southern Gaza’s Khuza'a, in this undated photo published by the military on January 10, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF has completed operations in southern Gaza’s Khuza’a, on the outskirts of Khan Younis, where troops of the 5th Reserve Brigade killed numerous Hamas operatives and destroyed the terror group’s infrastructure.

According to the IDF, the 5th Brigade demolished hundreds of Hamas sites in Khuza’a, including rocket launchers, observation posts, caches of weapons, around 40 tunnel shafts and major underground networks.

The IDF has completed operations in southern Gaza’s Khuza’a, on the outskirts of Khan Younis, where troops of the 5th Reserve Brigade killed numerous Hamas operatives and destroyed the terror group’s infrastructure.

According to the IDF, the 5th Brigade demolished hundreds of… pic.twitter.com/MitScDllct

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) January 10, 2024

It says much of the Hamas infrastructure in Khuza’a was hidden inside schools and other public buildings.

Dozens of Hamas operatives were killed by troops of the 5th Brigade during the fighting in Khuza’a over the past two weeks.

In late December, the IDF announced it had launched an offensive on Khuza’a, in an operation targeting the Hamas terrorists who attacked the Israeli border community of Nir Oz on October 7, where dozens of Israelis were killed and kidnapped.

5:29 pm

WHO says it canceled aid mission to Gaza over security concerns for 6th time

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus gives a press conference at the World Health Organization's headquarters in Geneva, on December 14, 2022. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

The World Health Organization cancels another planned medical aid mission to Gaza over security concerns.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says it is the sixth mission to northern Gaza canceled by the UN agency because requests to visit had not been approved or assurances over security provided since its last visit, on December 26.

“Intense bombardment, restrictions on movement, fuel shortage and interrupted communications make it impossible for WHO and our partners to reach those in need,” he tells a virtual press conference from Geneva. “We call on Israel to approve requests by WHO and other partners to deliver humanitarian aid.”

5:23 pm

IDF strikes Hezbollah command center in south Lebanon as rockets target Israel

Smoke billows following an IDF strike on the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila near the border with Israel on January 9, 2024. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)

The IDF says fighter jets hit a Hezbollah command center and rocket launch position in southern Lebanon earlier.

A short while ago, three rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Arab al-Aramshe area, setting off sirens in the town.

The IDF says all three projectiles landed in open areas, and troops are striking the launch site.

5:18 pm

Report: Qatari proposal would see exile of Hamas leaders in exchange for release of hostages

A man walks by posters of people held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, on January 4, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

An unverified Hebrew media report suggests that the latest Qatari proposal for a hostage deal would include the exiling of Hamas leaders.

According to Channel 13 news, the Qatari-backed plan, which is reportedly slated to be discussed by the security cabinet this evening, would see Israel allowing the exile of Hamas leaders outside of Gaza in exchange for the gradual release of all of the remaining hostages as well as the IDF withdrawing entirely from the Strip.

Israeli governmental and military officials have repeatedly stated that the IDF will not stop fighting until it has destroyed the Hamas terror group’s presence in Gaza.

5:13 pm

COGAT says it is working to boost aid into Gaza, claims there is no food shortage in Strip

By Charlie Summers

Col. Moshe Tetro speaks during a briefing at the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Gaza on January 10, 2024. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)

The IDF unit overseeing the transport of humanitarian aid into Gaza says it is working to increase the number of trucks that pass through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, which reopened last month.

“The trucks that go through security checks here are unloaded on the Gazan side of the crossing. The aid is then met by international organizations and delivered to the people of Gaza,” says Col. Moshe Tetro, head of COGAT’s Coordination and Liaison Administration to Gaza at an on-site press briefing. “Before the war there was an average of 70 trucks carrying food entering Gaza every day. The average last week was 110 trucks.”

Contrary to UN reports that detail widespread starvation in the Strip, Tetro maintains that “there is no food shortage in Gaza.”

“In terms of food, the reserves in Gaza are sufficient for the near term,” he said. “However, if there are any organizations that would like to bring more food, we are happy to facilitate it — to the south and to the north.”

Tetro denies any bottlenecks on the Israeli end preventing aid from reaching the enclave, asserting “the problem lies with the international organizations processing and receiving the aid.”

Before Kerem Shalom’s reopening, trucks carrying humanitarian aid were inspected by Israeli authorities at the Nitzana Crossing between Israel and Egypt. Under US pressure to lessen delays in the entry of food, water, and medical supplies, the security cabinet approved the opening of Kerem Shalom in mid-December, first just for checking of aid and later also for its entry into Gaza.

5:05 pm

Troops raid luxury vacation home of Hamas deputy chief in Gaza, says IDF

A pool at the home of Marwan Issa, the deputy chief of Hamas's military wing, in Bureij, Gaza, seen in this handout IDF photo. (IDF)

Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, says Israeli forces have raided a luxurious home belonging to the deputy chief of Hamas’s military wing in the central Gaza Strip.

Marwan Issa’s vacation home in Gaza’s Bureij features a swimming pool, a large yard and expensive furniture, Adraee says on X, attaching footage from the residence.

#خاص الفجوة بين قادة حماس والشعب في قطاع غزة! تعرفوا على منزل مروان عيسى الفاخر!

داهمت قوات من جيش الدفاع العاملة في منطقة البريج منزل إجازة يعود للمدعو مروان عيسى أحد كبار مسؤولي الجناح العسكري لحماس. في المنزل الفاخر تم العثور على مسبح وساحة كبيرة جدًا وأثاث فاخر.

هذا دليل… pic.twitter.com/Fq27wo6GWK

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) January 10, 2024

“This is further evidence of the complete disconnect between the Hamas leadership, including the leaders of the military wing, who live a life of luxury and enjoy great wealth, and a large segment of the Gaza population that issues distress calls for donations and international aid,” he says.

“Hamas leaders are in heaven and Gaza residents are in hell,” Adraee adds.

4:56 pm

Ahead of Hague trial, Israel launches website documenting Hamas massacre

The destruction caused by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be'eri, near the Israeli-Gaza border, in southern Israel, October 14, 2023. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

A day before Israel stands at The Hague to face South Africa’s accusations of genocide, the National Public Diplomacy Directorate announces a new website, “Oct. 7 2023, Hamas Massacre: Documentation of Crimes Against Humanity.”

The site was created in conjunction with the IDF Spokesperson’s Office, is only accessible outside of Israel, and features extremely gruesome photos and videos of the brutal Hamas massacre.

“We will continue and work so that the citizens of the world cannot remain indifferent to the horrible massacre we experienced,” says Moshik Aviv, head of the directorate.

“It is an important explanatory and political tool, which presents serious crimes against humanity. Tomorrow we will appear at the court in The Hague, and this website will help the State of Israel in its mission to remind the world that we are the victim.”

4:46 pm

Thousands gather at Western Wall in mass prayer for return of hostages

By Canaan Lidor

Men attend a mass prayer event for Israeli hostages in Gaza on January 10, 2024, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. (Canaan Lidor/Times of Israel)

Thousands of Jews, most of them observant, throng the alleyways of the Old City of Jerusalem en route to a mass prayer for the hostages in Gaza at the Western Wall Plaza, which is at capacity.

David Lau, the chief Ashkenazi rabbi of Israel, reads Psalms, followed by his Sephardic counterpart, Yitzhak Yosef and other prominent rabbis praying on the southern balcony overlooking the Western Wall. The mass prayer follows a call by both chief rabbis, which they said was to “cry out and beg and elicit the mercy of heavens on the whole of Israel” in connection with the war with Hamas.

The rabbis recite selihot, penitential poems and prayers, alongside some relatives of hostages held in Gaza and soldiers fighting there. Prayers for the safety of the Israeli hostages and soldiers in Gaza follow.

In the area leading to the plaza, activists for the hostages’ release hold up posters and banners with pictures of all 136 hostages in Gaza, four of whom have been held for years. The prayer, occurring on the eve of the first day of the Hebrew calendar month of Shevat, features repeated shofar blasts — an unusual occurrence that is part of an emergency response.

“I’m 69 so I don’t serve in the army but the call to this prayer is my draft order,” says Emmanuel Ohaiun, who traveled to the Western Wall from Shlomi, a town near Israel’s northern border. “There is the war on the ground, and there is holy warfare that I came to fight.”

4:35 pm

Gantz: Hamas is no longer in control in large parts of the Gaza Strip

Minister Benny Gantz speaks during a press conference on December 16, 2023. (YouTube screenshot; used in accordance with clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

War cabinet member Minister Benny Gantz says that Hamas has already been knocked out of control from large parts of Gaza, and that bringing home the hostages is a priority over any other military goal.

“The achievements of the IDF continue to grow,” Gantz says at a press conference in Tel Aviv. “In large parts of the Strip, Hamas is effectively no longer in control.”

Gantz says that “we need to continue; if we stop now, Hamas will resume its control.” He adds that “we are deep in the middle of dismantling the terror infrastructure.”

“We have determination and patience. Our enemies need to know that our determination is endless,” he says.

Gantz says that “the most important thing is returning the hostages; it is prioritized over all elements of fighting.”

“To the hostages, if you can hear me, I want you to know that we’re doing everything we can to bring you back to your loved ones,” he says.

Asked about an impending Qatari-Egyptian deal Gantz says, “I’ve heard all sorts of rumors about deals, but there is always movement and activity, and as soon as there is something ready we will update you.”

He also says that his party has yet to decide how it will vote on the upcoming budget amendment vote, and says the government must minimize its spending on coalition funds — the monies handed out in political promises.

4:17 pm

Families of captives demand war cabinet approve any pending hostage deal

By Jessica Steinberg

Families of hostages in Gaza hold a press conference at 'Hostage Square,' outside the Tel Aviv Art Museum, January 7, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Ahead of the planned cabinet meeting this evening, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum demands that the cabinet approve any deal that will lead to the release of the hostages, as the families react to the possibility of a new Qatari offer to be discussed at the cabinet meeting.

Egypt, Qatar and the US have been serving as mediators between Israel and Hamas in weeks of intermittent talks. An Israeli delegation landed in Cairo earlier today for a new round of talks with Egypt on a possible swap of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian security prisoners in Israel, according to an Egyptian official.

“The reports about a new deal that will be presented to the cabinet this evening offer a little hope to the families who are anxious about the fate of their loved ones,” says the statement from the forum. “The war cabinet must not concern itself with anything other than the return of the abductees. We demand that they approve any deal that will lead to their immediate release alive!”

4:05 pm

UK defense chief warns Houthis over Red Sea attacks: ‘Enough is enough’

By AFP

FILE - This photo released by the Houthi Media Center shows a Houthi forces helicopter approaching the cargo ship Galaxy Leader on November 19, 2023 in the Red Sea. (Houthi Media Center via AP)

UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps warns the Iran-backed Houthi rebels to end their attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

Shapps tells Sky News there is “no doubt” Tehran is involved and providing weapons and intelligence.

“Enough is enough,” he says. “We must be clear with the Houthis that this has to stop and that is my simple message to them today: Watch this space.”

4:00 pm

SPYDER ‘All in One’ air defense system undergoes successful test, says Rafael

A SPYDER air defense system is seen during a test in January 2024. (Screenshot: Rafael)

Israel’s Rafael defense contractor says it has successfully tested a new configuration of its advanced short and medium-range SPYDER air defense system, which includes all the components mounted on one platform.

The configuration, dubbed SPYDER All in One, includes the missile launcher, command and command control system, and a built-in radar.

According to Rafael, it can be deployed as part of an existing SPYDER battery, or be used independently.

In a test last week, the system downed a drone, footage released by the firm shows.

SPYDER is a system developed by Rafael that Israel exports to other countries and does not use itself, unlike the Iron Dome.

3:52 pm

Biden’s education chief to discuss antisemitism, Islamophobia with Dartmouth students

By AP

Illustrative: US Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden and Towson University president Mark Ginsberg meet with students during a visit to Towson University to discuss antisemitism on college campuses, Nov. 2, 2023, in Towson, Maryland. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

US President Joe Biden’s education chief plans to meet today with students at Dartmouth College to discuss antisemitism and Islamophobia on college campuses amid the the Israel-Hamas war.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona will hold a roundtable with Jewish and Muslim students as part of recently launched Dartmouth Dialogues, an initiative that aims spark conversations bridging political and personal divides.

Fallout from the Israel-Hamas war has roiled campuses across the US and reignited a debate over free speech. College leaders have struggled to define the line where political speech crosses into harassment and discrimination, with Jewish and Arab students raising concerns that their schools are doing too little to protect them.

3:11 pm

Environment minister rails against proposed budget cuts

By Sue Surkes

Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman speaks during a debate in the Knesset, August 16, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman rails against proposals for 2024 budget cuts circulated by the Finance Ministry that the government is set to vote on tomorrow.

Silman says the short notice is unprecedented and that her ministry will not accept the Treasury’s disorganized way of working. She warns the taxes set out in the document will harm businesses as well as weaker segments of society, and cause “severe environmental harm.”

The proposals, which were not coordinated with the ministry, will neither encourage investment nor growth nor the necessary transition to clean technologies, she adds, giving a planned increase in the purchase tax on electrical vehicles as an example of a regressive worldview.

The budget cuts come as Israel seeks to finance the enormous costs of the war with the Hamas terror group in Gaza.

2:55 pm

Man charged with impersonating IDF officer during Oct. 7 attacks, obtaining classified info

An Israeli man has been charged with posing as an IDF officer during the October 7 terror onslaught, during which he obtained and shared confidential information, law enforcement and security officials say.

A joint statement by the Shin Bet, IDF, police, and Justice Ministry, says an indictment was filed against the man on November 20 at the Beersheba Magistrate’s Court.

The announcement comes following requests to release the incident for publication by the Ynet news site.

According to the indictment, the unnamed Israeli man arrived in southern Israel on the morning of October 7 and joined IDF forces while posing as an officer with the rank of captain.

The man was not called up for reserve duty, the statement says.

The charge sheet says the man obtained highly classified information, documented other confidential information in various ways, and in several cases shared the top secret information with civilians and soldiers who were not approved to have it.

He was detained and interrogated following suspicions that arose in the IDF, the statement says.

The man is charged with obtaining something fraudulently under aggravated circumstances, providing confidential information, possession of secret information without authority, and entering a military zone.

Defense officials say the man was not operating under instructions of any “hostile elements” and the information he shared did not reach any such enemy.

“This is a serious incident that was investigated by the IDF at the same time as the indictment was filed, and lessons have been drawn accordingly,” the statement adds.

2:42 pm

Germany condemns new Houthi attacks on shipping

Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen publish a video showing how the group hijacked an Israeli-linked shipping vessel in the Red Sea on November 20, 2023. (Screen capture/X)

Germany strongly condemns the latest attacks on vessels by Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red Sea, a German foreign ministry spokesperson says.

The attacks “show that the Houthis are clearly focusing on escalation against international merchant shipping and the ships of our partners and allies in the region,” adds the spokesperson.

2:23 pm

Sources say Blinken-Abbas meeting was ‘tense,’ marked by ‘arguments’

Palestinian Authority riot police officers stand guard while Palestinians protest against the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, West Bank, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Sources tell Sky News Arabia that the Ramallah meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and PA President Mahmoud Abbas was “tense” and marked by “arguments.”

According to the report, Abbas asked Blinken to pressure Israel to release frozen PA funds. “If you do not have the ability to release funds, how will you have the ability to put pressure on Israel and achieve peace and a Palestinian state?” Abbas reportedly demanded.

Blinken then repeated demands that Abbas undertake reforms in the PA, the report says.

2:14 pm

Abbas tells Blinken that Gaza integral to Palestinian statehood, peace conference needed

US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, left, meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, right, in Ramallah in the West Bank on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/Pool Photo via AP)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas tells visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Gaza is integral to Palestinian statehood hopes and should not be cut off as a result of Israel’s war with Hamas, an official statement says.

The statement, published by the Palestinian news agency WAFA, further quotes Abbas as saying that Palestinians must not be displaced from Gaza or the West Bank.

Abbas further called for the “convening an international peace conference to end the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, which achieves peace and security for all,” according to WAFA.

1:55 pm

Egyptian source: Israeli delegation in Cairo for new hostage talks

By Agencies

Families of hostages in Gaza hold a press conference at 'Hostage Square,' outside the Tel Aviv Art Museum, January 7, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

An Israeli delegation landed in Cairo today for a new round of talks with Egypt on a possible swap of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian security prisoners in Israel, an Egyptian official says.

Egypt, the Gulf nation of Qatar and the United States have served as mediators between Israel and Hamas.

It is believed that 132 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November. Four hostages were released prior to that, and one was rescued by troops. The bodies of eight hostages have also been recovered and three hostages were mistakenly killed by the military. The Israel Defense Forces has confirmed the deaths of 25 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been meeting with leaders in the Middle East since the weekend, and is expected in Cairo tomorrow.

Efforts to negotiate another swap were reportedly disrupted by the killing of a top Hamas terror chief in Beirut last week, widely blamed on Israel.

The Egyptian official says that Egypt and Qatar were trying to win freedom for civilian hostages held by Hamas and other terror groups in return for a ceasefire and the release of additional Palestinian prisoners by Israel. The official speaks on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief reporters.

In addition to civilians, Hamas and other groups also hold Israeli soldiers.

Hamas still insists on ending the war before talking about releasing the rest of the hostages, a demand Israel has rejected outright.

“They (Israel) will never recover their hostages unless all our prisoners in the occupation prisons are released,” Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said yesterday in Qatar.

1:38 pm

IDF appears to walk back claim journalists killed in Gaza were in car with terrorist

Family members mourn Hamza Dahdouh, who worked for Al Jazeera and who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip, January 7, 2024 (AP Photo/Hatem Ali) (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)

The IDF appears to walk back its claim that two journalists killed in a strike in southern Gaza’s Rafah earlier this week were with a Hamas terrorist piloting a drone.

In Sunday’s strike in Rafah, Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera’s Gaza correspondent Wael Al-Dahdouh, and Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for AFP who was also working for the Qatar-based TV outlet, were both killed. A third journalist, Hazem Rajab, was seriously wounded, Al Jazeera said.

The IDF said hours after the strike that a military aircraft “identified and struck a terrorist who operated an aircraft in a way that put IDF forces at risk.”

NBC News asked IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari if the military had evidence to support the claim that the target with the two journalists was a terrorist, to which he responded by saying the incident was still under investigation.

“Every journalist that dies, it’s unfortunate,” Hagari is quoted by NBC as saying.

“We understand they were putting a drone, using a drone. And using a drone in a war zone, it’s a problem. It looks like the terrorists,” Hagari says.

Hamas has used drones to collect intelligence on Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip, as well as carry out attacks by dropping explosives from the unmanned aircraft.

1:30 pm

Blinken tells Abbas Washington supports ‘tangible steps’ toward a Palestinian state

By Lazar Berman and AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, right, in Ramallah in the West Bank, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tells Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that the White House supports “tangible steps” towards the creation of a Palestinian state, says State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.

Blinken reiterates Washington’s longstanding position that a Palestinian state must stand alongside Israel, “with both living in peace and security.”

Blinken notes “increased volatility” in the West Bank, where there has been a wave of terror attacks on Israelis and increased IDF operations to crack down on Hamas and other groups. There has also been a surge in violence against Palestinians by settlers.

He also “underscored the United States’ position that all Palestinian tax revenues collected by Israel should be consistently conveyed to the Palestinian Authority in accordance with prior agreements,” Miller says.

1:10 pm

Italy says Houthis must be stopped without triggering another war

Forces loyal to Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis take part in a mass funeral for fighters killed in battles with Saudi-backed government troops, in Yemen's capital Sanaa, on April 8, 2021. (Mohammed Huwais/AFP)

Yemen’s Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping must be stopped without triggering a new war, the Italian defense minister says, as the Iranian-backed group steps up attacks on commercial vessels.

US and British forces shot down 21 drones and missiles fired by the Houthis yesterday toward international Red Sea shipping lanes, the US military’s Central Command said, adding it was the 26th such Houthi attack since Nov. 19.

“It is a huge problem. It is a consequence of other (war) outbreaks. I would not like to open a third front of war at this time,” Crosetto tells Reuters, in a reference to current conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

12:52 pm

Hundreds of Palestinians protest Blinken’s visit in Ramallah

Palestinians protest during a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ramallah, in the West Bank on January 10, 2024 (Marco Longari / AFP)

Hundreds of Palestinians march through the streets of Ramallah protesting against the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The marchers hold up signs saying “Blinken you are not welcome here,” and one with red triangles under Blinken’s name, like those used in Hamas propaganda videos about attacks on IDF soldiers.

The protest was later dispersed by Palestinian Authority security forces.

A protest march in Ramallah, Palestine, rejecting the visit of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. pic.twitter.com/bOyHcaZeJZ

— Darine (@Darineeli) January 10, 2024

12:40 pm

Parents complain about conditions of observation soldiers serving on northern border

Parents of conscripts serving as observation soldiers on the northern border are complaining about the poor conditions they face as fighting heats up on the border.

Parents tell the Kan public broadcaster the soldiers sleep in tents in the middle of winter, have mold in their open-air showers and sometimes mold in the food.

They also complain that inside the observation stations, they sit on broken chairs.

In addition, the safe room on the base is too small for all the soldiers, parents say.

“How can they concentrate on their jobs in conditions worse than prison?” one parent tells Kan.

The soldiers are key to identifying and warning about possible cross-border infiltrations.

12:31 pm

Blinken to make surprise stop in Bahrain

By AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, right, in Ramallah in the West Bank, Jan. 10, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

US top diplomat Antony Blinken will make a surprise visit to Bahrain, a State Department official says, the latest leg of his crisis tour of the Middle East.

After meeting Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Blinken will fly to Bahrain, home base of the US Fifth Fleet, for talks with King Hamad on preventing a regional escalation of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

12:08 pm

Davos report says AI-powered misinformation is the world’s biggest short-term threat

By AP

A ChapGPT logo is seen on a smartphone in West Chester, Pa., Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

False and misleading information supercharged with cutting-edge artificial intelligence that threatens to erode democracy and polarize society is the top immediate risk to the global economy, the World Economic Forum says in a report.

In its latest Global Risks Report, the organization also says an array of environmental risks pose the biggest threats in the longer term. The report was released ahead of the annual elite gathering of CEOs and world leaders in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos and is based on a survey of nearly 1,500 experts, industry leaders and policymakers.

The report listed misinformation and disinformation as the most severe risk over the next two years, highlighting how rapid advances in technology also are creating new problems or making existing ones worse.

The authors worry that the boom in generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT means that creating sophisticated synthetic content that can be used to manipulate groups of people won’t be limited any longer to those with specialized skills.

AI-powered misinformation and disinformation is emerging as a risk just as a billions of people in a slew of countries, including large economies like the United States, Britain, Indonesia, India, Mexico, and Pakistan, are set to head to the polls this year and next, the report says.

“You can leverage AI to do deepfakes and to really impact large groups, which really drives misinformation,” says Carolina Klint, a risk management leader at Marsh, whose parent company Marsh McLennan co-authored the report with Zurich Insurance Group.

11:46 am

Blinken meeting Abbas after call to reform PA

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in the West Bank on January 10, 2024. (Photo by EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / POOL / AFP)

After meeting with Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv yesterday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Ramallah for a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Standing in front of a photograph of Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock and a Palestinian flag, the two men shake hands as they are flanked by aides.

At a press conference in Tel Aviv last night, Blinken said that the Palestinian Authority “has a responsibility to reform itself, to improve its governance.” He pledged to raise that issue with Abbas.

The US wants to see a “revamped and revitalized” Palestinian Authority eventually take over the Gaza Strip.

11:25 am

IDF carries out fresh strikes on Hebollah targets in Lebanon

The IDF says it carried out airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon this morning and overnight.

In Labbouneh, the IDF says, a fighter jet hit a military building and other infrastructure belonging to the terror group a short while ago.

Earlier this morning, the IDF says it struck a Hezbollah site in Naqoura, from which projectiles were previously fired at Israel.

Overnight, a fighter jet hit a Hezbollah military compound in Kfarchouba, according to the IDF.

And yesterday, the IDF says it struck a Hezbollah observation position in southern Lebanon’s Khiam.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, names a member killed in a recent Israeli strike, bringing the terror group’s toll of slain operatives since October 8 to 159.

לפני זמן קצר מטוס קרב של חיל האוויר תקף במרחב לבונה תשתיות טרור ומבנה צבאי. בנוסף, בשעות הלילה מטוס קרב של חיל האוויר תקף מפקדה צבאית במרחב כפר שובא >> pic.twitter.com/Rs6xigghz6

— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי – Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) January 10, 2024

10:55 am

Ahead of Hague hearing, Likud MK doubles down on call to ‘burn Gaza’

Deputy Speaker MK Nissim Vaturi at the plenum hall of the Knesset, on June 26, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

A far-right Likud MK who also serves as deputy speaker of the Knesset reiterates his call for burning down Gaza a day before Israel faces a hearing in the Hague on accusations it is committing genocide in Gaza.

Speaking to Hakol Baramah radio, MK Nissim Vaturi says he has no regrets about his November tweet to “Burn Gaza now,” which sparked widespread condemnation and got him temporarily banned from Facebook.

“I stand behind my words,” he says. “It is better to burn down buildings rather than have soldiers harmed. There are no innocents there.”

Vaturi says that the IDF managed to evacuate innocent civilians from northern Gaza.

“One hundred thousand remain. I have no mercy for those who are still there. We need to eliminate them,” he says.

Among the issues cited by South Africa in its case against Israel was that it was not not acting to punish those inciting genocide, including a long list of statements from senior Israeli officials — including Vaturi — that it claimed were evidence that Jerusalem intends to carry out genocide in Gaza.

10:22 am

UK says Red Sea forces repelled largest Houthi attack yet

By AFP

UK and US naval forces have “repelled the largest attack by the Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red Sea to date,” British Defence Secretary Grant Shapps says.

A British warship destroyed “multiple attack drones with her guns and sea viper missiles,” Shapps adds, hours after Washington said the two countries’ forces had shot down 18 drones and three missiles on Tuesday.

10:15 am

Report: Israel operating in Egypt, Libya, Sudan amid fears hostages could be smuggled out of Gaza

Egyptian tanks are deployed near Egypt's northern Rafah border crossing with Gaza on October 31, 2023. (Khaled Desouki/AFP)

A report in the Lebanese Al-Akhbar reports that Israeli special forces and intelligence are operating in the Sinai, Libya and Sudan amid fears that Hamas will try to smuggle hostages out of Gaza.

Al-Akhbar, a pro-Hezbollah newspaper, says that Israel is particularly concerned that Hamas will try to take hostages to Iran and Lebanon.

The report also says that Israel has asked Egypt to be able to operate on the Egyptian side of the Gaza border to ensure that there are no tunnels there that could be used by Hamas to smuggle the hostages or leaders of the terror group out of Gaza.

While it’s not clear if permission was granted, the report says Egypt has assured Israel that it has seen no signs of Hamas activity in Egypt and is willing to inspect any areas that Israel identifies.

9:56 am

High Court says Ben Gvir violating ruling not to interfere with policing protests

National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, left, and Coastal Region Police Commander Yoram Sofer present a new proposal to eradicate crime in the Arab community, in Jerusalem on August 17, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The High Court of Justice issues an interim injunction barring National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir from giving operational orders to police forces regarding how they manage demonstrations and the use of force during protests.

The court ruled in March that the far-right minister was not allowed to issue such orders and today finds that Ben Gvir has violated the ruling.

An appeal was filed by human rights groups after Ben Gvir recently tried to block an anti-war protest in Tel Aviv.

The court ruled that Ben Gvir “must refrain from giving operational instructions and instructions to the police regarding the implementation of his policy regarding the exercise of the right to demonstration and freedom of protest.”

The ultranationalist minister has been accused in the past of trying to repress mass protests against the government — particularly its judicial overhaul plans — by ordering the police to use tougher methods of crowd dispersal.

9:42 am

Attack claimed by jihadists kills policeman in southeast Iran

By AFP

An attack, which was later claimed by a Sunni Muslim extremist group, killed a policeman in restive southeastern Iran, state media reports.

Sistan-Baluchistan province, where the attack took place, is one of the few mainly Sunni provinces in Shiite-dominated Iran and has seen persistent unrest involving drug-smuggling gangs and rebels from the Baluchi ethnic minority as well as jihadists.

“In an exchange of fire this morning between forces from a police station in Rask and members of an armed group, one of the policemen was killed,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency reports.

The news agency says the firefight lasted around three hours before the arrival of police reinforcements prompted the assailants to withdraw.

The attack was claimed by jihadist group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) in a brief statement on its Telegram channel. Jaish al-Adl was formed in 2012 and is blacklisted by Iran as a terrorist group.

Gunmen kill police officer in southeast #Iran https://t.co/pXoJocaJur pic.twitter.com/Nac4MOaBim

— IRNA News Agency (@IrnaEnglish) January 10, 2024

9:34 am

Security cabinet to convene at 7 p.m. to discuss plans for postwar Gaza

The security cabinet will convene tonight to continue discussions on plans for the Gaza Strip after the war.

A previous meeting on the subject was called off after the discussions degenerated into a shouting match, as ministers attacked IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi over his plans to probe the military failures that led to the October 7 assault by Hamas.

8:44 am

IDF says it hit over 150 Hamas targets in past day as fighting rages

IDF troops operate in Gaza in a handout image published on January 10, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says troops continue to battle Hamas in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza and Maghazi in the Strip’s center, with strikes carried out against more than 150 targets belonging to the terror group over the past day.

In Maghazi, the IDF says troops of the Golani Brigade directed airstrikes on numerous Hamas operatives, and uncovered 15 tunnel shafts.

During a raid on a Hamas site in the area, the IDF says the Golani soldiers found rocket launchers, rockets, drones, and explosives.

Meanwhile, in Khan Younis, the 98th Division directed airstrikes on more than 10 Hamas operatives in their area of operations, the IDF says.

Dozens more Hamas operatives were killed by the 98th Division’s units over the past day, it adds.

Also in Khan Younis, reservists of the Kiryati Brigade identified a Hamas operative planting an explosive device near a road used by troops. The soldiers called in an airstrike, killing the operative, the IDF says.

8:28 am

Watchdog finds UNRWA workers praised Hamas massacres in internal Telegram channel

An investigation by the UN Watch group finds that United Nations workers in Gaza used an internal Telegram channel, which was meant to facilitate their work, to praise the Hamas massacres on October 7.

The probe finds that many of the workers at the United Nations Relief Works Agency — the UN body for Palestinian refugees — explicitly praised the onslaught in which some 3,000 terrorists crossed into Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages, most of them civilians.

“This is the motherlode of UNRWA teachers’ incitement to Jihadi terrorism,” says Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a Geneva-based non-governmental organization that monitors the world body.

The report provides examples, including UNRWA teacher Waseem Ula who shared a post of a suicide bomb vest wired with explosives, with the caption: “Wait, sons of Judaism.”

Another UNRWA teacher, Abdallah Mehjez, explicitly called on civilians not to heed IDF evacuation orders and remain as human shields for Hamas.

Meet UNRWA teacher Waseem Ula. He runs a chat for 3,000 UNRWA teachers: https://t.co/0ECeat8qr2 His username: “Handsome” (أ. وسيم).

Ula posts info on salaries from UNRWA Gaza education chief Sami Abu Kamil.

He also calls to kill Israelis, and glorifies the Oct. 7th massacre. ???? pic.twitter.com/zK8vahbmW3

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 10, 2024

6:08 am

Reservist Elkana Newlander killed fighting in central Gaza; ground op toll at 186

Sgt. First Class (res.) Elkana Newlander, who the Israel Defense Forces announced was killed fighting against terrorists in the Gaza Strip on January 9, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israel Defense Forces announces that Sgt. First Class (res.) Elkana Newlander, 24, from Efrat, a combat medic in the 99th Division, was killed fighting yesterday in the central Gaza Strip.

He is the 186th soldier to be killed in the ground offensive against Hamas.

The army says that a reservist from the Yiftach Brigade was seriously wounded during the battle in which Newlander was killed. The wounded soldier was brought to a hospital for treatment.

5:43 am

UN Security Council to vote on US-backed measure condemning Houthi attacks in Red Sea

By AP

This photo released by the Houthi Media Center shows a Houthi forces helicopter approaching the cargo ship Galaxy Leader on November 19, 2023. (Houthi Media Center via AP)

UNITED NATIONS – The UN Security Council has scheduled a vote Wednesday on a US-proposed resolution that would condemn attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on merchant and commercial vessels in the Red Sea area and demand an immediate halt.

The draft resolution, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, says at least two dozen Houthi attacks are impeding global commerce “and undermine navigational rights and freedoms as well as regional peace and security.”

The resolution would demand the immediate release of the first ship the Houthis attacked, the Galaxy Leader, a Japanese-operated cargo ship with links to an Israeli company that was seized on November 19 along with its crew.

Without naming Iran, the Houthis’ main arms supplier, the draft to be voted on would condemn all arms dealings with the rebels, which violate Security Council sanctions.

It also “urges caution and restraint to avoid further escalation of the situation in the Red Sea and the broader region.” And it “encourages enhanced diplomatic efforts by all parties to that end, including continued support for dialogue and Yemen’s peace process under the UN auspices.”

5:15 am

San Francisco supervisors approve motion urging Gaza ceasefire that condemns Hamas and Israel

By Agencies

People react to public comment at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting in San Francisco, January 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

SAN FRANCISCO — Supervisors in San Francisco have approved a resolution calling for an extended ceasefire in Gaza that condemns Hamas as well as the Israeli government and also urges the Biden administration to press for the release of all hostages and delivery of humanitarian aid.

Ceasefire advocates in the audience erupted into cheers and chants of “Free Palestine” after the 8-3 vote Tuesday on a last-minute compromise proposed by Aaron Peskin, president of the Board of Supervisors. It is more succinct than the original resolution.

Peskin, who is Jewish, acknowledges that no resolution would receive the board’s unanimous support and laments that they could not use the opportunity to bridge San Franciscans on both sides of the issue.

“I don’t know that there’s any way to successfully do that,” he says, “given how deep the divisions and the hurt and the horror and the pain are.”

Oakland, another Bay Area city that is politically liberal like San Francisco, unanimously approved a permanent ceasefire resolution in November after rejecting an amendment that would have added an explicit condemnation of Hamas.

But Berkeley, another San Francisco Bay Area city that is overwhelmingly liberal and inclined to side with oppressed peoples, declined to consider a resolution, with Mayor Jesse Arreguín said in a statement that such resolutions “fan the flames of hatred.”

The resolution approved by San Francisco condemns the Hamas attack as well as actions by the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It condemns rhetoric and attacks that are antisemitic, anti-Palestinian, Islamophobic or xenophobic.

The original resolution introduced by Supervisor Dean Preston in December, who is also Jewish, included the same sentiments but also had more detail of calls for a cease-fire. His bill co-sponsor was Hillary Ronen, a supervisor whose father served in the Israeli Defense Forces.

Neither version went far enough in explicitly condemning atrocities committed by Hamas, says Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who voted no. “To do otherwise, in my view, would send a dangerous and unthinkable message that terrorism works,” he says.

Ceasefire supporters in the audience booed when he brought up documentation by Hamas terrorists of rape, brutality and mutilation against women in their attack, prompting Peskin to admonish the crowd to “chill out and let everybody speak.”

4:10 am

American military confirms US and UK navies shot down 21 Houthi drones, missiles