Israel seems removed from reaching its objectives of crushing Hamas and liberating an estimated 129 hostages nonetheless held in Gaza almost three months after the group’s shock cross-border assault and the Israeli authorities’s declaration of battle.
Israeli Protection Minister Yoav Gallant says a number of thousand Hamas fighters stay in northern Gaza, the place complete neighborhoods have been blasted into rubble. Heavy combating can also be underway in central Gaza and the southern metropolis of Khan Younis, the place Israeli officers say Hamas’ navy construction continues to be largely intact.
Gallant on Thursday laid out a private imaginative and prescient for a scaled-down fight method in northern Gaza and a proposal for the way the territory could be run after the battle — with Israel retaining safety management whereas an undefined Palestinian physique runs day-to-day administration. His workplace emphasised the concepts had been his personal and never official coverage.
1000’s of individuals took to the streets of Beirut on Thursday for the funeral of high Hamas commander Saleh Arouri, who was killed earlier this week in an obvious Israeli airstrike on an condominium within the Lebanese capital.
Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault from Gaza into southern Israel killed round 1,200 folks, and a few 240 others had been taken hostage. Israel’s air, floor and sea assault in Gaza has killed greater than 22,300 folks, two-thirds of them girls and kids, based on the Well being Ministry within the Hamas-ruled territory. The rely doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.
At the moment:
— Israeli protection minister lays out imaginative and prescient for subsequent steps of Gaza battle.
— Blinken heads to the Mideast once more as fears of regional battle surge.
— Israel’s Mossad chief vows to seek out Hamas members.
— The mom and American uncle of a U.S. service member are rescued from Gaza in a secret operation.
— Discover extra of AP’s protection at: https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
This is what’s occurring within the battle:
JERUSALEM — Israel’s international minister introduced Thursday that the Israeli ambassador to Spain will return to Madrid, after a diplomatic spat over Israel’s battle in Gaza prompted the ministry to drag her again to Jerusalem.
Israel recalled ambassador Rodica Radian-Gordon in late November after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez questioned the legality of Israel’s offensive in Gaza. The Israeli Overseas Ministry mentioned Thursday that relations between the 2 nations had improved since then.
“In gentle of an enchancment within the Spanish authorities’s statements,” the ministry mentioned, “it was determined that the ambassador will return to Madrid and proceed her actions to advertise assist for the correct of the State of Israel to guard its residents towards the terrorist group Hamas.”
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed a U.S. envoy on Thursday that he’s searching for a “basic change” on Israel’s border with Lebanon.
The feedback got here days after a suspected Israeli strike on Beirut killed a high Hamas operative, elevating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. The Lebanese militant group, which supplies assist to Hamas, has vowed to avenge the killing.
Netanyahu didn’t specify what his plans entailed, however mentioned he was dedicated to resettling evacuated residents from Israel’s north again of their properties safely. Netanyahu additionally mentioned he hopes to resolve the battle with Lebanon diplomatically however indicated that Israel wouldn’t shirk from a wider battle.
“Israel, after the murderous assault on Saturday of Oct. 7, is set, bolder and extra united than ever earlier than,” mentioned Netanyahu. “These of our neighbors who haven’t but understood it will perceive this very properly sooner or later.”
Netanyahu spoke throughout a gathering with Amos Hochstein, a U.S. envoy who mediates between Israel and Lebanon.
Israel has demanded that Hezbollah respect a 2006 U.N. cease-fire settlement requiring the group to drag again from the Israeli border.
Israel and Hezbollah have engaged in gentle cross-border skirmishes by way of Israel’s battle towards Hamas. However the sides have appeared reluctant to enter a broader battle.
TEL AVIV, Israel — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham says it’s nonetheless doable for Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalize ties.
Israel and Saudi Arabia had been shifting towards the institution of official diplomatic relations earlier this 12 months. However these efforts had been upended by Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault and Israel’s ongoing battle towards the Islamic militant group.
Talking in Tel Aviv, Graham mentioned he believes a window of alternative for normalization stays open till June, when the U.S. will flip its consideration to the 2024 president marketing campaign.
The South Carolina Republican mentioned he plans to push the problem with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman when he visits Saudi Arabia within the coming days.
“I believe Oct. 7 was motivated not completely, however primarily, by the Iranians to cease the reconciliation course of,” Graham instructed reporters Thursday. “The nightmare for Iran is for the Arab world to reconcile with Israel and transfer the area towards the sunshine away from the darkish facet.”
Graham mentioned that he was in Israel to share classes America realized after making an attempt and failing to eradicate the Taliban in Afghanistan. Graham added that he hoped an Arab-led coalition would lead rebuilding efforts in Gaza, and that he wouldn’t make investments even “15 cents” of American cash within the Palestinian Authority. The White Home has mentioned a reformed PA ought to play a job in postwar Gaza.
Graham, the highest Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is main a bipartisan delegation of 10 senators to Israel. The journey included a go to to Kfar Azza, a kibbutz that was severely broken in the course of the Hamas assault on Oct. 7.
JERUSALEM — The Israeli navy mentioned Thursday that it raided a Hamas navy compound alongside the central coast of the Gaza Strip, destroying a tunnel community it mentioned stretched for tons of of meters. The navy mentioned that one of many tunnels led to a facility that was utilized by Hamas to fabricate weapons, guarded by doorways that had been blast-proof and booby-trapped. It didn’t present footage of the weaponry lab.
Navy spokesperson Daniel Hagari mentioned that the ability had been used to create long-range rockets and was stocked with explosives. “The injury to the manufacturing websites and Hamas’s rocket launch functionality and its discount, as is carried out all through the battle, continues to be one of many most important aims of the navy operation,” Hagari mentioned.
Movies launched by the navy confirmed troopers digging large holes within the sand to unearth the tunnel shafts previous to destroying them. Troopers discovered a group of weapons within the space, from grenades to mortar shells.
TEL AVIV — Israeli protection minister Yoav Gallant mentioned Thursday {that a} diplomatic settlement with Lebanon’s Hezbollah was nonetheless doable, days after a suspected Israeli strike on a Hamas chief in Beirut threatened a dramatic escalation between the 2 nations.
“We discover ourselves at a junction. There’s a quick window of time for diplomatic understandings, which we desire,” Gallant instructed Amos Hochstein, a White Home envoy, at a gathering in Tel Aviv.
Gallant mentioned a high precedence was guaranteeing some 80,000 Israeli civilians compelled to evacuate northern communities close to the Lebanese border might return to their properties safely. The world was evacuated after Hezbollah started shelling northern Israel, shortly after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas battle. Israel has demanded that Hezbollah respect a 2006 U.N. cease-fire requiring it to drag again from the Israeli border.
Gallant’s feedback got here two days after the deputy head of Hamas was killed in a suspected Israeli strike in Beirut. Hezbollah, which has supplied shelter and assist to Hamas leaders, has vowed to avenge the assault.
Israel and Hamas have engaged in low-level exchanges of fireplace for almost three months, however each side have been hesitant to have interaction in all-out battle.
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike has flattened a house in an space of southern Gaza that the navy had declared a secure zone, as Israeli troops pressed their assault within the close by metropolis of Khan Younis.
The strike hit a home in Mawasi, a small rural strip on Gaza’s southern shoreline the place Israel’s navy has mentioned Palestinians ought to flee to flee the fight zone. The blast killed a person and his spouse, seven of their kids and three different kids ranging in age from 5 to 14, based on a listing of the useless who arrived at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
There was no fast response from Israel’s navy.
Israeli troops pushed into Khan Younis in early December and have been battling Hamas militants there for weeks. The navy mentioned Thursday that its troops uncovered a big tunnel tons of of meters (yards) lengthy with an entrance in a area subsequent to a mosque.
SDEROT, Israel — Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visited war-battered southern Israel on Thursday to precise assist for the nation in its battle towards Hamas.
Standing subsequent to the ruins of a police station within the metropolis of Sderot, dwelling to a fierce battle between Hamas militants and law enforcement officials on Oct. 7, Pence mentioned the US stood with Israel, which is beneath worldwide stress to finish its floor and air marketing campaign in Gaza. Subsequent week, the U.N.’s high courtroom is predicted to start analyzing a South African case accusing Israel of genocide.
“The world neighborhood at all times appears to search out its manner finally to criticizing Israel, notably in locations just like the United Nations, “ Pence mentioned. “And on this darkish hour, I wished to do my half to verify the folks of Israel know that the folks of the US are with you and that we’ll stand with you.”
Pence, who served beneath former President Donald Trump, is a longtime supporter of Israel. He dropped out of the 2024 presidential race in October after struggling to lift cash and acquire traction within the polls.
1000’s of individuals took to the streets of Beirut for the funeral of high Hamas commander Saleh Arouri, who was killed earlier this week in an obvious Israeli airstrike on an condominium within the Lebanese capital.
Draped in Palestinian and Hamas flags, Arouri’s coffin together with these of two of his comrades had been first taken to a Beirut mosque for prayers Thursday earlier than being carried to the Palestine Martyrs Cemetery. Arouri’s computerized rifle was positioned on his coffin on the prayer service.
The funeral was attended by Palestinian officers, together with high Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk, in addition to representatives of some Lebanese political teams. Individuals tried to the touch the coffins surrounded by Hamas members carrying inexperienced caps. A number of the Hamas members had been armed.
“The enemy is operating away from its failures and defeats (in Gaza) to Lebanon,” senior Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh mentioned in a speech aired in the course of the funeral. He added that the killing of Arouri in Beirut “is a proof of (Israel’s) bloody mentality.”
Lebanese officers and state media mentioned an Israeli drone fired two missiles Tuesday at an condominium in Beirut’s southern Musharafieh district, which is a stronghold of Lebanon’s highly effective Hezbollah group, immediately killing Arouri together with six different Hamas members.