BREAKING....Thread 8...Israel At War...OPERATION SWORDS OF IRON

[libertybele]

Child Hostages Reveal Horrors of Hamas Captivity: ‘I’ve Never Seen So Many Lice’
One 3-year-old former hostage won't stop talking about 'red men' he saw on Oct. 7
Published 12/19/23 08:41 AM ET|Updated 32 min ago
Christopher Gavin

Children freed from Hamas captivity have returned to Israel malnourished, suffering from skin rashes and reluctant to talk about what they witnessed, according to Israeli doctors, who say some have even regressed developmentally in the seven weeks they were held hostage by the terror group.

“I’ve never seen so many lice,” Dr. Yael Mozer-Glassberg, who treated some of the 37 children released from Gaza so far at the Schneider Children’s Medical Center, told the Wall Street Journal.

The youngest of the 240 hostages taken by Hamas in the Oct. 7 terror attacks on southern Israel have been largely quiet about what they witnessed in the war-torn Gaza Strip, doctors who spoke with the Journal said.

If they spoke at all, many did only in hushed tones. In the little that they say, doctors have been left working to interpret their words, trying to determine the psychological toll they've been left to pay.

Efrat Bron-Harlev, chief executive of the Schneider Children’s Medical Center, told the Journal while most of the kids do not speak of the Oct. 7 attacks, one 3-year-old kept talking about "red men."

more
https://themessenger.com/news/child-hostages-reveal-horrors-of-hamas-captivity-lice-red-men

 

[Right_in_Virginia]

Report: Biden Administration Spying on Israel to Determine War Crimes

    The U.S. has collected intelligence and formulated detailed assessments related to both Israel and Hamas military movements and tactics in Gaza since the war began in October, according to two people familiar with the intelligence. That has included data on targeting by both sides, the weapons they appear to be using and the potential number of people killed in their ranis.

more
https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2023/12/19/report-u-s-gathering-intel-it-could-use-to-judge-israels-war-conduct/

The article's title fails to mention "both sides".

[Right_in_Virginia]

Instant News Alerts
@InstaNewsAlerts
·5m

JUST IN: Israeli President Herzog says Israel is prepared for another humanitarian pause in exchange for additional hostages released from Gaza

51 min ago
Hamas says it rejects talks over prisoners during war, open to moves to end war
By REUTERS



Hamas rejects holding negotiations over exchanging prisoners during the Israeli war, but is open to any initiative to end it, a senior official from the terrorist group said in a statement on Tuesday.

"We affirm our position of categorically rejecting to hold any form of negotiations over prisoners exchange under the continuing Israeli genocidal war", Basem Naem said.

"We are, however, open to any initiative that contributes to ending the aggression on our people and opening the crossings to bring in aid and provide relief to the Palestinian people," he added.

[Right_in_Virginia]

2 hr 29 min ago
Netanyahu, India's Modi discuss Houthi threat to maritime security
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the Houthi threat to maritime security, with Modi stressing that the freedom of navigation is an essential global necessity that must be ensured.

The two also discussed bringing foreign workers from India to Israel. Netanyahu thanked Modi for India's support of Israel.

Modi posted on X afterwards that he "had a productive exchange of views with PM Netanyahu on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, including shared concerns on the safety of maritime traffic" and "highlighted India’s consistent stand in favour of early restoration of peace and stability in the region with continued humanitarian assistance for the affected."

[Right_in_Virginia]

Times of Israel
Today, 5:49 pm

Impatient ministers said to ask IDF chief: When will we destroy Hamas, kill its leaders?

In what it characterized as an “infantile” exchange at last night’s security cabinet meeting, Channel 12 quotes several ministers impatiently asking IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi when the IDF will destroy Hamas and kill its chiefs.

Several ministers, the report says, asked Halevi: “When will we see an achievement?” They specified that by “an achievement,” they meant bringing home the hostages, destroying Hamas’s capabilities, and eliminating its commanders.

Halevi, in response, reportedly said: “Hitting the commanders takes time. It took 10 years to deliver the head of [Osama] bin Laden. The best people are working on it here, so it’ll take a lot less time.”

Justice Minister Yariv Levin: “We went into Gaza so that it would take 10 years? It’ll take 10 years to destroy Hamas?”

Transportation Minister Miri Regev: “Who’ll be here to see the result?”

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Levin and Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, together: “We will. We’ll be here in another 10 years.”

Regev: “We need it in a lot less than 10 years.”

[Right_in_Virginia]

The Guardian Updates
1h ago
10.29 EST

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Jerusalem has filed a petition with the Israeli supreme court seeking immediate access for international media to the Gaza Strip.

The FPA said it had submitted multiple requests to the Israeli government and military to gain access but had received “no substantive response”.

The Palestinian territory has been completely sealed off since 7 October. Some Israeli and international reporters have entered Gaza embedded with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

“Freedom of the press is a basic civil right in a democratic society,” the FPA said in a statement.

"We also believe it is in the public interest to get a fuller picture of conditions inside Gaza after 10 weeks of extremely limited and highly controlled access."

[Right_in_Virginia]

The Guardian Updates
1h ago
10.53 EST

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have suspended a group of soldiers recorded smoking a water pipe and joking in front of Palestinians who were detained and blindfolded in the occupied West Bank.

The video shows Israeli soldiers laughing and eating snacks as at least seven Palestinians are sitting blindfolded in Jenin, AP reported.

An IDF spokesperson said the behaviour of the soldiers was “deplorable and stands in stark contrast to the values of the IDF”, adding that the reserve duty soldiers were suspended after a disciplinary hearing.

[Elderberry]

Israel Radar
@IsraelRadar_com
·

1. Israel’s enemies created new military doctrine to counter IDF power, says ex-general Gershon Hacohen via @MakorRishon
; Hamas & Hezbollah strategy aims to prevent Israel from achieving rapid victory in conventional armed conflict

2. Israel’s enemies base their strategy on the following: Large rocket arsenal to keep firing even after IDF moves deep into enemy territory; massive urban defenses to stop quick assault; independent local units that keep fighting even if higher command is eliminated

3. The ex-general notes that Israel’s rivals also use religious motivation to boost fighting spirit; he warns that Israel must modify its own strategy, recognize that the Jewish state's enemies are more creative & stronger than in the past.

[mystery-ak]

Israeli president says country is ready for another cease-fire to free remaining hostages

Israel's President Isaac Herzog said Tuesday his country is ready to enter into another temporary truce with Hamas to secure the release of more hostages.

Speaking to a group of ambassadors from 80 countries, Herzog said Israel is ready for another pause in fighting and for additional humanitarian aid to be delivered to Gaza.

"I can reiterate the fact that Israel is ready for another humanitarian pause and additional humanitarian aid in order to enable the release of hostages. And the responsibility lies fully with Sinwar and the leadership of Hamas," Herzog said, according to the Times of Israel.

The Israeli president also urged international organizations to do more to deliver aid to Gaza.

“The amount of humanitarian aid can be tripled instantaneously,” he claimed, alleging that the U.N. and partner organizations have not sent enough trucks to Gaza.

The U.N. has said Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip has made it difficult to deliver aid. The U.S. has likewise said Israel's closure of the Kerem Shalom Crossing has inhibited aid deliveries, urging the country to reopen the crossing. Israel did so on Sunday, the Times of Israel reported, with nearly 200 trucks carrying humanitarian aid being delivered to Gaza.

“You can triple the amount of trucks easily if there was only an effort by the United Nations and its partners. The world has to know that you could have had tens of thousands of tons a day more going into Gaza,” Herzog said.

Posted by Chris Pandolfo

[Right_in_Virginia]

The Guardian Updates
4h ago
08.00 EST

Afternoon summary

UN officials have expressed anger and disbelief about the situation in Gaza hospitals, where injured people do not have basic supplies and children recovering from amputations are being killed in the ongoing conflict. “I’m furious that children who are recovering from amputations in hospitals are then killed in those hospitals,” said James Elder, a spokesperson for the UN children’s agency, on Tuesday. He added that the Nasser hospital, the largest operational hospital left in the territory, had been shelled twice in the past 48 hours.

Israeli strikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in southern Gaza and troops raided one of the last functioning hospitals in the north as the country pressed ahead with its offensive against Hamas on Tuesday with renewed backing from the US, despite rising international alarm.  The offensive, launched in response to Hamas’s attack in Israel on 7 October, has killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians and displaced about 1.9 million, demolished much of northern Gaza and sparked attacks on US and Israeli targets.

At least 13 Palestinians were killed and 75 others wounded in an Israeli strike on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory said. There was no immediate response from Israeli authorities, Reuters reported.

Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv on Tuesday and Hamas says it has launched a salvo of rockets against Israel’s commercial capital. There was no immediate word of casualties or damage in the incident, which appeared to show the Palestinian militant group retained longer-range rocket capabilities, even as Israel presses a Gaza war now in its 11th week.

Europe was losing moral ground with the rest of the world as a result of its stance on Gaza, the EU’s foreign policy chief said on Monday. Speaking at a conference in Aosta organised by Le Grand Continent, Josep Borrell also said the EU had been unable to adopt a united view because some countries in Europe were feeling guilty as a result of the Holocaust and second world war. “Amongst Europeans there are very different sensitivities which can be explained for historic and cultural reasons,” he said. “There are a certain number of countries that are prepared to support Israel to the limit because they have a bad guilt complex about the Holocaust and that is not a sentiment that everyone shares.”

A UK Foreign Office minister said he was “particularly disturbed” by reports of people trapped in a church in Gaza who were running out of food and water. Responding to Lib Dem MP Layla Moran’s reports about her Palestinian family’s situation, Andrew Mitchell told the Commons: “The whole House will be gravely concerned about the desperate situation in Gaza. It cannot continue and we are deploying all our diplomatic resources including in the United Nations to help find a viable solution.”

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Tuesday they would press on with attacks in the Red Sea, and could mount a naval operation there roughly every 12 hours. The group has stepped up the missile and drone attacks it began last month against international vessels in response to Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.

Italy’s navy will send one of its frigates to help protect the Red Sea shipping route against attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militants, the Italian defence ministry has said. “Italy will do its part, together with the international community, to counter the terrorist destabilisation activity of the Houthis,” the Italian defence minister, Guido Crosetto, said on Tuesday.

The UN security council will convene today to weigh a call for a ceasefire in Gaza, after a previous attempt was vetoed by the United States. The vote was postponed to give more time for diplomats to meet US objections to the wording of the draft resolution. The vote in New York had been due on Monday. The US said it could not support a reference to a “cessation of hostilities”, but may accept a call for a “suspension of hostilities”. The Arab countries negotiating the text said they had been encouraged to see that the White House was apparently trying to find wording that it could support – as opposed to simply vetoing resolutions.

The US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, has announced the creation of a multinational operation in the Red Sea after a series of missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Houthis. Austin, on a trip to Bahrain after talks in Tel Aviv earlier on Monday, said countries participating in the US-led initiative include the UK, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain.

BP has halted all shipments of oil and gas through the Red Sea after an increase in attacks on cargo ships by Houthi militants. The British oil company said it had paused shipping in the region indefinitely, citing a “deteriorating security situation” amid tensions in the Middle East. BP becomes the first oil company to directly halt its shipping, after five big shipping firms stopped their vessels passing through the waters between Asia and Africa that connect Asia and Europe.

[Right_in_Virginia]

The Guardian Updates
28m ago
12.20 EST

The UN security council may once again postpone the vote on calling for a cessation of hostilities in Gaza.

The vote had been due on Monday but it was postponed to today after the US said it could not support a reference to a “cessation of hostilities” in the draft resolution.

The vote will now probably be delayed again, Al Jazeera’s Rami Ayari reports. Citing sources, he said the US believed the mention of “cessation” was a “bridge too far”.

https://twitter.com/Raminho/status/1736946257048842637

[jafo2010]

And the western world is allowing Yemen to attack shipping in the Red Sea...WHY?  Time to level another stinking mussie country.  I say level the largest city, destroy every known launching area and the populated areas around it.

Time for the western world to realize they(Yemen) are waging war on non aggressive ships, etc, and this barbarism must stop.

[Timber Rattler]

And the western world is allowing Yemen to attack shipping in the Red Sea...WHY?  Time to level another stinking mussie country.  I say level the largest city, destroy every known launching area and the populated areas around it.

Time for the western world to realize they(Yemen) are waging war on non aggressive ships, etc, and this barbarism must stop.

There's not much in Yemen to destroy.  That's the problem. 

[mystery-ak]

https://twitter.com/TimesofIsrael/status/1737197135928680872

[Free Vulcan]

There's not much in Yemen to destroy.  That's the problem.

Nuthin' but tents, goats, donkey carts, and a few AK's.

[mystery-ak]

Israel Defense Forces
@IDF
24 hour operational update:

🔺The IDF conducted operational activity against terrorist targets in Khan Yunis where a terrorist launched anti-tank RPG missiles at the troops before he was eliminated.

🔺IDF Troops identified an explosive device planted in a medical clinic near a school in Shejaiya.

🔺Troops destroyed a tunnel shaft near the coastline in southern Gaza. Later the IAF fighter jet struck a building that the terorrists were entering following fleeing the original shaft.

🔺The Israeli Navy is continuing to strike terrorist targets throughout Gaza including compounds where terrorist operatives and vessels used by Hamas for its military activity were located.
3:14 AM · Dec 19, 2023
·
258.2K
 Views

[mystery-ak]

 Gaza hospital chief admits to being Hamas commander, using clinic as military base
By Social Links for Snejana Farberov
Published Dec. 19, 2023, 1:40 p.m. ET



The head of a Gaza hospital has admitted to being a senior Hamas commander — and detailed how the terror group transformed the medical site into an operational hub that once housed a kidnapped Israeli soldier.

Ahmad Kahlot, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabaliya, made his taped confession to the Israeli security service Shin Bet after his arrest during last week’s raid on the facility in northern Gaza.

In a video of his interrogation released on X on Tuesday, Kahlot, dressed in an Israeli jail uniform and seated in front of Israel’s flag, said he joined Hamas in 2010 and held a rank equivalent to a brigadier general.

Kahlot revealed that about 16 hospital staffers, including doctors, nurses, paramedics and clerks, were also members of Hamas’ notorious military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

According to the hospital chief, the medical facility under his care had been turned into an elaborate military hub where up to 100 Hamas terrorists had been holed up for days before moving to a different location.

more
https://nypost.com/2023/12/19/news/gaza-hospital-chief-admits-to-being-hamas-commander/

[mystery-ak]

https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1737189177731526658

[mystery-ak]

https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1737241426335781242

[Wingnut]

Nuthin' but tents, goats, donkey carts, and a few AK's.

We could still lose a war against them.

[Right_in_Virginia]

This is a rather long article with information on the tunnels not seen before .....

If the generals are counting tunnels, it suggests things are not going well’
Times of Israel, Dec 19, 2023

This week, the Israel Defense Forces publicized what it said was the biggest Hamas terror tunnel uncovered to date, built under the stewardship of Hamas Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar’s brother Muhammad in the northern Gaza Strip, near the Erez Crossing into Israel.

The IDF didn’t specify if and how the tunnel was utilized during Hamas’s October 7 massacre, when its terrorists slaughtered 1,200 people in southern Israel. But since it extends some four kilometers, from the northern part of the Jabaliya refugee camp to 300 meters (less than a thousand feet) short of the border, it is not unreasonable to deduce that it played a part.

From its large northern opening, dozens of motorcycles or all-terrain vehicles could emerge quickly. With a group that size and that close to the border fence, IDF observation posts and patrols would be too late and too overwhelmed to prevent an attack.

Israel has known for years about Hamas’s Gaza underworld, including its vast tunnel networks, but largely chose not to carry out cross-border operations to demolish them. This was both a consequence of a policy of containing Hamas, and because sending ground troops into Gaza requires complex military considerations and great risk to soldiers’ lives. The political echelons avoided this at almost all costs, until October 7.

The tunnel exposed this week is known colloquially as a “stem.” The IDF didn’t publish footage of its “branches,” but they exist. The massive tunnel system consists of a main shaft that descends to a depth of 50 meters, with “branches” coming off the sides and exit shafts located in schools and other buildings.


More:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/if-the-generals-are-counting-tunnels-it-suggests-things-are-not-going-well/

[Elderberry]

i24NEWS English
@i24NEWS_EN
'We have to make a deal that will release all of them'

Col. (Ret.) @Amitassaauthor, a former member of the Israeli Security Agency, breaks down how #Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders arriving in Egypt for negotiations will affect the war

https://twitter.com/i24NEWS_EN/status/1737412729042809157

[Elderberry]

i24NEWS English
@i24NEWS_EN
·
'The question is whether this situation is a background for negotiations'

Brig. Gen. (res.) Hanan Gefen breaks down why despite continued exchanges of fire on the Israel-Lebanon border, #Hezbollah has held off on attacking Israel full-on

https://twitter.com/i24NEWS_EN/status/1737432814113509799

[Elderberry]

i24NEWS English
@i24NEWS_EN
·
'Please take Gaza, we don't want Gaza'

Former IDF intelligence officer, Raphael Jerusalmy breaks down what the next few weeks of the IDF ground operation and near future may entail for the #GazaStrip

https://twitter.com/i24NEWS_EN/status/1737392618672185607

[mystery-ak]

‘Coalition of the Unwilling’: U.S. Won’t Attack Houthis, Can’t Get Major Arab Countries to Join Effort Openly

The “coalition” of countries formed by the U.S. to deter Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab-el-Mandeb strait excludes Israel. It also omits Saudi Arabia and Egypt, two of the other countries directly affected by the threat.

https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2023/12/20/coalition-of-the-unwilling-u-s-wont-attack-houthis-cant-get-major-arab-countries-to-join-openly/

[mystery-ak]

IDF Dog Reached Hostages but Was Shot by Hamas; Audio Only Found Later

A dog sent by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) into the lair of Hamas terrorists during a firefight last week recorded audio of three Israeli hostages calling for help — but the dog’s media feed was only reviewed Monday, three days after the hostages were killed.

https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2023/12/20/idf-dog-reached-hostages-but-was-shot-by-hamas-audio-only-found-later/

[mystery-ak]

Gaza Is Now ‘Most Dangerous Place in the World To Be a Child’: UNICEF
The UN agency shared the story of a 12-year-old Palestinian girl who lost her leg in an Israeli airstrike, only to die in another as she recovered in a hospital
Published 12/20/23 07:25 AM ET|Updated 1 hr ago
Luke Funk

A UNICEF spokesperson called Gaza “the most dangerous place in the world to be a child” during a press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday, amid growing concerns in the international community that the besieged Strip is becoming a humanitarian catastrophe.

James Elder, of the United Nations children's agency, spoke to reporters at the UN offices at the historic Palais des Nations in Geneva.

“Over the past 48 hours, the largest remaining fully functioning hospital was shelled, twice,” Elder said.

“That hospital – Al Nasser in Khan Yunis – not only shelters large numbers of children who had already been badly injured in attacks on their homes, but hundreds of women and children seeking safety.”

more
https://themessenger.com/news/gaza-most-dangerous-place-in-the-world-child-unicef

[mystery-ak]

https://twitter.com/MailOnline/status/1737522445873987855

[Right_in_Virginia]

The Guardian Updates
5h ago
08.02 EST

Afternoon summary

The leader of Hamas made his first visit to Egypt for more than a month on Wednesday, a rare personal intervention in diplomacy amid what a source described as intensive talks on a new ceasefire to let aid reach Gaza and get hostages freed. The Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who normally resides in Qatar, typically intervenes in diplomacy publicly only when progress seems likely. He last travelled to Egypt in early November before the announcement of the only agreement on a ceasefire in the war so far, a week-long pause during which more than 100 hostages were released. A source briefed on negotiations said envoys were discussing which of the hostages still held by militants in Gaza could be freed under a new truce agreement, and what prisoners Israel might release in return.

Israel was insisting that all remaining women and infirm men among hostages be released, the source said, declining to be identified. Palestinians convicted of serious offences could be on the list of prisoners to be freed. The source described the negotiations as intensive and said a breakthrough could be possible within days. A Palestinian official said Haniyeh was keen to listen to Egyptian officials for a possible new approach and noted that the official position of Hamas was to reject any new temporary ceasefire and demand a permanent halt to fighting.

Israel appears to be nearing the final stages of its clearing operation in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the Institute for the Study of War. The US-based thinktank said Israel had degraded Hamas’s north Gaza brigade, with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announcing on Tuesday that it had completely “dismantled” Hamas’s three battalions operating in Jabaliya, just north of Gaza City. It said in its update with the Critical Threats Project that about 500 suspected Palestinians fighters had surrendered to Israeli forces in the Jabaliya refugee camp.

At least 66% of jobs have been lost in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted in October, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Wednesday, warning that employment losses could continue to increase in the enclave. The losses amount to a total of 192,000 jobs in the small Palestinian territory, the ILO said in its second assessment of the impact of Israeli ground and airstrikes on Gaza which began after a deadly cross-border incursion by Hamas. In a first assessment released in early November, ILO estimated that 182,000 jobs had been lost in Gaza, a figure representing more than 60% of employment.

Greece has advised commercial vessels sailing in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to avoid Yemeni waters, keep only the necessary crew on the bridge and follow alerts issued by maritime authorities to avoid attacks in the area. Greek ship-owners control about 20% of the world’s commercial vessels in terms of carrying capacity.

The US has announced the creation of an enhanced naval protection force operating in the southern Red Sea in an attempt to ward off mounting attacks from Yemen’s rebel Houthis on merchant shipping. Britain said it would be among the countries participating but notable absentees were Arab nations Egypt and Saudi Arabia, while analysts speculated that shipping would continue to be disrupted with attacks.

Twelve Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, health officials in the territory said. Residents on Wednesday reported intensifying gun battles between Hamas fighters and Israeli forces in the centre and eastern districts of the city. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said on Tuesday that 19,667 Palestinians had been killed and 52,586 wounded in the war.

The Israeli military attacked a military structure of the Hezbollah militant group after intercepting six rockets launched from Lebanon on Tuesday, the military said. It also attacked a squad that carried out a shooting at a Israeli military post in the Malkia border area which left two reserve soldiers “moderately injured”, Israel Defence Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said.

[Right_in_Virginia]

The Guardian Updates
3h ago
09.55 EST

The head of Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Wednesday his group would start firing missiles at US warships if Washington got more involved in its affairs or targeted Yemen.

Abdel-Malek al-Houthi also warned other countries not to get involved in a multinational operation launched by the US on Tuesday to safeguard commerce in the Red Sea after a surge in Houthi attacks on vessels.

If the US gets more involved, the Houthis “will not stand idly by and will target them and their battleships and interests with missiles,” Abdel-Malek al-Houthi said in a televised speech.

[Right_in_Virginia]

This ain't 1996, Bibi.

The Guardian Updates
3h ago
10.50 EST

Netanyahu vows Israel will continue fighting 'until Hamas is destroyed'

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has vowed that Israel will continue its war against Hamas “to the end”, until the militant group is “destroyed”.

In a statement, reported by the Times of Israel, Netanyahu said:

"We’re continuing the war to the end. It will continue until Hamas is destroyed – until victory … until all the goals we set are met: destroying Hamas, releasing our hostages and removing the threat from Gaza."

He added:

"Anyone who thinks we’ll stop is unmoored from reality … We’re raining fire on Hamas, hell fire. All Hamas terrorists, from first to last face death. They have two options only: surrender or die."

[Right_in_Virginia]

The Guardian Updates
1h ago
12.14 EST

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said it was clear that the conflict in Gaza “needs to move to a lower intensity phase”.

Speaking at a briefing, he told reporters:

"We expect to see, and want to see, a shift to more targeted operations with a smaller number of forces, dealing with the leadership, the tunnel network, and a few other critical things. And as that happens, I think you’ll see the harm done to civilians also decrease significantly."

"We’ve said all along – and we have these conversations almost every day – that it is vitally important Israel conduct operations with a focus on protecting civilians, minimizing harm to them, maximizing assistance getting to them.”

[Right_in_Virginia]

The Guardian Updates
1h ago
12.25 EST

Gaza death toll passes 20,000, says Hamas

At least 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began on 7 October, according to figures by the Hamas government’s media office.

Among those killed include about 8,000 children and 6,200 women, AFP reported that Hamas said.

[Right_in_Virginia]

The Guardian Updates
28m ago
13.09 EST

The political leaders of Hamas have begun talks with the group’s military wing about how to govern Gaza and the West Bank after the war with Israel ends, according to a report.

The talks, reported by the Wall Street Journal, are the clearest sign that Hamas’ political wing is beginning to plan for what happens after the conflict ends.

“We want the war to end,” Husam Badran, a member of Hamas’s political bureau in Qatar, told the paper, adding:

"We don’t fight just because we want to fight. We are not partisans of a zero-sum game."

He said Hamas’s political faction wants to “establish a Palestinian state” in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Hamas’ political leaders have reportedly said they would be willing to join the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). “It will be a national dialogue,” Badran said.

"We have always said the PLO should contain any Palestinian faction."

[DCPatriot]

Why is the "political" wing of Hamas not being 'destroyed'.  At the very least arrested and imprisoned for conspiracy to conduct war.

Since when do you destroy the enemy's military and leave the political leadership unscathed?

[mystery-ak]

Instant News Alerts
@InstaNewsAlerts
·
20h
Israel is offering to pause the fighting in Gaza for at least one week as part of a new deal to get Hamas to release more than three dozen hostages, including the remaining women Hamas is holding, men above the age of 60 and other hostages who are seriously injured. (Axios)

[mystery-ak]

https://twitter.com/i24NEWS_EN/status/1737546991318569353

[libertybele]

https://twitter.com/i24NEWS_EN/status/1737546991318569353

 

[mystery-ak]

OSINTdefender
@sentdefender
·
36m
·
Israeli and Lebanese Mediators fear that Time has almost Run Out to prevent a Full-Scale War in Southern Lebanon between the Israel Defense Force and Hezbollah, with Officials in Washington worried that the U.S. will likely be Directly Drawn-Into such a Conflict.

[mystery-ak]

Instant News Alerts
@InstaNewsAlerts
·
1h
#BREAKING: Hamas rejected an Israeli offer to stop fighting for one week in exchange for dozens of hostages, saying the group wouldn’t discuss releasing their Israeli captives until a cease-fire first goes into effect. (WSJ)

[berdie]

Instant News Alerts
@InstaNewsAlerts
·
1h
#BREAKING: Hamas rejected an Israeli offer to stop fighting for one week in exchange for dozens of hostages, saying the group wouldn’t discuss releasing their Israeli captives until a cease-fire first goes into effect. (WSJ)

Tough position for Israel.

[mountaineer]

Adin - עדין
@AdinHaykin1
So no one is talking about how two Palestinian children were killed today in Jenin in a work accident while carrying explosives on a motorcycle for Palestinian Islamic Jihad group

12:36 PM · Dec 20, 2023

[berdie]

Adin - עדין
@AdinHaykin1
So no one is talking about how two Palestinian children were killed today in Jenin in a work accident while carrying explosives on a motorcycle for Palestinian Islamic Jihad group

12:36 PM · Dec 20, 2023

Interesting phraseology.

[Elderberry]

Israel Defense Forces
@IDF
·
Follow LTC Ido, the deputy commander of the 401st Brigade, as he exposes a terrorist tunnel he and his soldiers uncovered in a civilian garage, next door to a community college and a school for deaf children.

https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1737613198583599165

[Elderberry]

i24NEWS English
@i24NEWS_EN
·
‘Egypt is holding the key for Hamas leaders leaving the Gaza strip’

Gonen Ben Itzhak (@GONENB1), a former Shin Bet agent breaks down Egypt’s integral diplomatic role in the resolution that will end Hamas’s rule over the Gaza Strip

https://twitter.com/i24NEWS_EN/status/1737601419744629143

[Elderberry]

i24NEWS English

@i24NEWS_EN

'There is a huge gap between how the U.S. sees the situation, the Arab countries, and Israel' Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. @shayharzvi1
breaks down the implications not just for Israel but for the wider region if Hamas is not eradicated from the #GazaStrip

https://twitter.com/i24NEWS_EN/status/1737770144846209250

[Elderberry]

i24NEWS English
@i24NEWS_EN
·
 Hostages’ family sues the Red Cross over ignoring the medical needs of captives

https://twitter.com/i24NEWS_EN/status/1737775238279036961

[Elderberry]

i24NEWS English
@i24NEWS_EN·

'It's not a war for territory, it's a war for eliminating Hamas' Col (res.) Oliver Rafowicz breaks down the IDF ground operation, which he says is happening throughout the #GazaStrip

https://twitter.com/i24NEWS_EN/status/1737790103030727152

[Elderberry]

i24NEWS English
@i24NEWS_EN·

'Time is the oxygen they need to survive, and this is the thing Israel will not give them because otherwise, the entire war effort will not succeed'
@YaakovLappin, a Military analyst at @MirYamInstitute
,
@JNS_org explains the most crucial aspect to Israel-Hamas negotiations

https://twitter.com/i24NEWS_EN/status/1737800211471167935

[Elderberry]

Israel Radar
@IsraelRadar_com·

About 30 rockets fired at central Israel, most of them intercepted; IDF set to move into Gaza City's Daraj Tuffah district, major Hamas hub & launch zone. @ynetalerts
 & @N12News

Israel Radar
@IsraelRadar_com·

Large barrage targets numerous central Israel towns; explosions reported across Tel Aviv area, Iron Dome activated; Hamas may fire remaining rockets in larger batches as IDF forces move closer to launch areas.