• It is the 61st day of the war: According to Hamas, 16,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 5,600 children. In Israel, 1,200 people died in the attack on October 7th
• The words and acronyms to understand the conflict: Here is the glossary
• The history of the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, explained here
08:08 – Israel: “Tough fighting in the Gaza Strip”
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)’s “tough fighting” with Hamas in the Gaza Strip continues. The Times of Israel reports on it. The IDF confirmed that airstrikes in the past 24 hours had hit around 250 targets in the Palestinian enclave, which came under Hamas control in 2007.
7:55 a.m. – Iran: “The US cannot eliminate Palestinian resistance”
“The United States and the Zionist regime are neither in a position to eliminate Hamas and resistance groups from Gaza, nor to make decisions in place of the Palestinians,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told journalists yesterday evening in Moscow at the end of the meeting States on the coast of the Caspian Sea. “Hamas is at the peak of its popularity today. “The resistance has a high ability to withstand this situation for months and to continue its (retaliatory) attacks against the Zionists day and night,” Amirabdollahian added, referring to the U.S. and Israel’s position that the Gaza Strip Hamas can no longer be ruled as soon as the Gaza Strip exists and the war is over. According to Mehr news agency, Amirabdollahian advised Washington to stop sticking to its strategic mistake and leave Palestine to the Palestinians, especially on the eve of the US presidential election.
07.40 a.m. – IL PUNTO DEL CORRIERE | The final attack on Khan Younis
(by Luca Angelini) Correspondent Davide Frattini writes from Jerusalem that the war in Gaza has entered its third phase with the latest attack on Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip. The city is surrounded and, according to Yaron Finkelman, the general leading Southern Command, “the fiercest fighting since the land invasion began.”
Frattini summarizes the consequences of the attack as follows: “The Palestinians fleeing from the north have gathered here, along the evacuation routes indicated by the army, which is now ordering them to move on: further south, Rafah and the border remain closed.” Egypt a few Kilometers west, then the Mediterranean. Rafah district has a population of 280,000 in Gaza’s never-normal times and could soon number 1.35 million out of a total population of 2.2 million, according to the United Nations. These figures could lead to a humanitarian collapse – explain the aid organizations – just as the army’s plan to flood the tunnels dug by Hamas with seawater, revealed by the Wall Street Journal, could lead to the collapse of the sewage system and the aquifers, explains the Israeli Hydrogeologist Eilon Adar.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made Israel’s position going forward clear: “The Gaza Strip must be demilitarized, and only the Israeli army can guarantee this. I will not accept any agreement that provides for an international force on the ground.”
Yesterday evening in the Piazza del Popolo in Rome at the demonstration against anti-Semitism called by the Jewish communities (“The initiators of this call would not have been us, but guests of an initiative sponsored by the institutions,” said Noemi Di Segni, President of the Union of Jewish Communities), Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni emphasized the “terrorism of words that, when used improperly, turn perspectives on their head and cause a distortion of reality.” Today they attack the Jews, but they are one Attack on the entire West. The scale of values is being lost.” And the senator for life, Liliana Segre, spoke in a message of “camps of hate that in reality have never been emptied of their toxic goods.”
7:38 a.m. – IDF: “Fierce fighting in Gaza, over 250 targets hit”
Gaza has seen “fierce fighting” with Hamas officials in recent hours, while the air force carried out strikes on more than 250 targets over the past day. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed this, saying that yesterday the 7th Armored Brigade carried out strikes against two rocket launchers used in the bombings against central Israel. The IAF strikes also hit several Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives as well as the two groups’ infrastructure, the IDF said. Israeli forces also said the Kfir Brigade killed a group of Hamas members who were near a school in northern Gaza. Soldiers later found and destroyed a tunnel and weapons in the area. According to the IDF, soldiers also discovered a number of weapons at another school in northern Gaza.
7:31 a.m. – Doctors Without Borders: “We are running out of vital medical supplies”
“The availability of fuel and medical supplies has reached critical levels at Al-Aqsa Hospital in the central Gaza Strip due to road closures, while hundreds of patients require emergency treatment due to incessant Israeli bombing,” Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported in a statement press release, stating that Al-Aqsa Hospital, where MSF’s Palestinian and international staff work and live, received an average of 150 to 200 war injured per day. “There are 700 hospital patients and new ones are constantly being added. “We are running out of vital supplies to treat them,” said Marie-Aure Perreaut Revial, Médecins Sans Frontières emergency coordinator in Gaza. “The lack of medicine and fuel could prevent the hospital from carrying out life-saving operations or intensive care.” Without electricity, ventilators would no longer work, blood donations would be interrupted and the sterilization of surgical instruments would be impossible. It is important to facilitate the provision of humanitarian materials. The hospital urgently needs surgical kits, external fixators for fractures and vital medicines, including for chronic diseases.” Doctors Without Borders calls for “an immediate and permanent ceasefire and an end to the siege” and insists that “medical care and humanitarian assistance are urgent must be deployed throughout the Gaza Strip.”
3:16 a.m. – The Israeli army: “Five Hamas commanders killed in a tunnel”
“IDF troops eliminated several Hamas commanders and officers from the Northern Gaza Strip Brigade, Hamas’ second largest brigade, who were hiding in a tunnel near the Indonesian hospital during the attack,” the Israeli army writes this on X and states that five commanders were “eliminated”: Asam Abu Rakba, Rafat Salman, Ahmed Al-Ghandoor, Wael Rajab and Ibrahim Al-Biari. In addition, the IDF writes: “In the Gaza Brigade, Hamas’ largest, four battalion commanders were eliminated, and the Tsabra battalion was significantly damaged and its headquarters were put out of action.”
03:03 – Israel revokes the visa of the UN humanitarian coordinator
Israel has revoked the visa of UN Humanitarian Coordinator Lynn Hastings. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen announced this on “We will no longer remain silent in the face of UN bias,” he wrote in one post. According to the minister, Hastings – deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process and United Nations permanent coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories – did not speak out against Hamas for its actions during the October 7 attack. “Someone who, instead of condemning Hamas for the brutal massacre of 1,200 Israelis, for kidnapping children and the elderly, for horrific acts of abuse and rape, and for using Gazans as human shields, condemns Israel instead , a democratic country that protects. “Its citizens cannot serve in the United Nations and cannot enter Israel,” the post says.
UN Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric confirmed to CNN that Hastings’ visa was revoked by Israel last week. However, Antonio Guterres has “full confidence in her,” said the official: “I can only have the Secretary General’s full confidence in Hastings, in the way she behaved and in the way she carried out her work “Reaffirm,” he told Dujarric.
02.48 – USA: “No visas for extremist Jewish settlers responsible for attacks on Palestinians”
In a rare punitive move against Israel, the US State Department announced it would impose travel bans on extremist Jewish settlers involved in a series of recent attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the decision after warning Israel last week that President Joe Biden’s administration would take action against the attacks.
Blinken did not announce individual visa bans, but officials said they would arrive this week and could affect dozens of settlers and their families. “We have emphasized to the Israeli government that more must be done to hold accountable extremist settlers who have carried out violent attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank,” Blinken said in a statement. As President Biden has said repeatedly, these attacks are unacceptable. Today, the State Department is implementing a new visa restriction policy targeting individuals believed to be involved in undermining peace, security, or stability in the West Bank, including through acts of violence or other acts that unreasonably restrict civilians’ access to essential supplies . Services and basic needs,” Blinken explained.
The United States, the US Secretary of State continued, would continue to accept responsibility for Jewish settler violence against Palestinians and for Palestinian attacks on Israelis in the West Bank and Israel, particularly as tensions are extremely high due to the conflict in Gaza. “Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have a responsibility to maintain stability in the West Bank,” Blinken concluded. Instability in the West Bank harms the Israeli and Palestinian people and threatens Israel’s national security interests.”
Tuesday’s move comes just a month after Israel was granted entry into the United States’ visa waiver program, which allows its citizens visa-free entry to America. Those targeted will not be eligible for the program, and those with current U.S. visas will have their visas revoked.
02.42 – The Israeli ambassador in Moscow: “The resumption of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is still possible”
“It will take weeks or even months for Israel to achieve its military objectives in the Gaza Strip,” said Israeli Ambassador to Russia Alexander Ben Zvi, Tass reported. “Planning – he added – depends on military successes. But I can say with certainty that it will take weeks.”
The ambassador then added that “the resumption of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is still possible, but the military operation will continue until the members of the Palestinian movement abandon their military efforts.” We should understand what their plans are: If For example, if Hamas released all the hostages and decided to no longer take part in military actions, there would be something to discuss. Unfortunately, so far they have rejected this option. The military operation will continue until they realize this is not the best choice for them.”
00:38 – The US: “Israel’s current operation in Gaza will end in January”
The current ground operation in the southern part of the Gaza Strip “will last for several weeks” and then “by January” Israel will move to a “low intensity and hyperlocalized” strategy targeting Hamas fighters and leaders. Senior White House officials told CNN about it. The Biden administration remains deeply concerned about the fate of civilians and has stressed to Israeli leaders in a series of “tough” and “direct” talks that it is not possible to repeat the same military tactics used in the devastating offensive in the north of the strip.
11:36 p.m. – Hamas: 61% of houses and buildings in Gaza are destroyed by Israeli attacks
According to the Hamas government, 61% of houses and housing units in Gaza have been destroyed since October 7. Of the 305,000 units affected, 52,000 were completely destroyed and 253,000 were partially damaged, an official from the Hamas government press office said in a news conference reported by CNN.
According to Hamas, 121 government buildings and 69 schools are completely out of order and 275 schools were partially damaged: “During the aggression against Gaza, Israeli occupation aircraft dropped more than 50,000 tons of explosives on the homes of citizens, civilians, hospitals, schools and civilian institutions.”
10:12 p.m. – World Food Program: “A catastrophic food crisis is worsening in Gaza”
A “catastrophic food crisis” is worsening in Gaza. The alarm was raised by the World Food Program (WFP). In a statement, the Rome-based United Nations group called for the resumption of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, broken last week, which had allowed aid to reach previously inaccessible places and reach “around 250,000 people in just one week.” » .
“The resumption of hostilities in Gaza will only deepen the catastrophic food crisis that is already threatening to overwhelm the civilian population,” we read in the note. The resumption of fighting makes the distribution of aid almost impossible and endangers the lives of humanitarian workers. Above all, it is a disaster for the civilian population of Gaza, more than 2 million people, whose only lifeline is food aid.”
8:36 p.m. – Israel: One of Hamas leaders killed
The Israeli army has released a video showing the deputy commander of Hamas’ northern division in Gaza, Wael Rajab, walking through a tunnel in the northern strip. According to the IDF, Rajab was subsequently killed by Israeli security forces. Haaretz reports it.
8:24 p.m. – Halevi: “Hamas tunnel flooded? It might be a good idea.
Flooding Hamas tunnels in Gaza with seawater could be “a good idea.” This was said by the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, General Herzi Halevi, when responding in a press conference to questions about the Wall Street Journal’s revelations regarding the plan that the Israel Defense Forces is considering to flood the network of underground tunnels in Gaza. “We see a lot of underground infrastructure in Gaza, we know there is a lot of it, part of our goal is to destroy that infrastructure,” Halevi said, emphasizing that the army is planning “several ways” to use these tunnels to collapse, including using explosives. However, the general refused to provide further “concrete details.”
In the press conference, Halevi then emphasized “the great efforts” the military is making to ensure that the fight is against Hamas and not the people of Gaza: “Our enemy is Hamas, not the people of Gaza, that is important.” Underline that Israel is waging a justified war. As we distinguish between enemy and population, we can increase our results, hit more Hamas commanders and destroy more infrastructure.”
8:14 p.m. – Washington Post: “5,000 of 30,000 Hamas fighters killed”
At least 5,000 Hamas fighters have been killed in the Middle East conflict, leaving most of its military wing, estimated at 30,000 strong, intact, according to three Israeli security officials. The Washington Post reports on it. As Israel opens a new southern front in its war in the Gaza Strip, it is still far from achieving its stated military goal: the complete destruction of the militant Hamas group that rules the Gaza Strip and the October 7 attack, according to the American newspaper led in southern Israel.