Israel appears far from achieving its goal of dismantling Hamas and freeing an estimated 129 hostages still being held in Gaza, nearly three months after the group's surprise cross-border attack and the Israeli government's declaration of war.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said several thousand Hamas fighters were still in northern Gaza, where entire neighborhoods had been reduced to rubble. There is also heavy fighting in the central Gaza Strip and the southern city of Khan Younis, where Israeli officials say Hamas's military structure is still largely intact.
Gallant on Thursday laid out a personal vision for a scaled-back combat approach in the northern Gaza Strip and a proposal for administering the territory after the war – with Israel retaining security control while an undefined Palestinian body takes over day-to-day management. His office emphasized that the ideas were his own and not official guidelines.
Thousands of people took to the streets of Beirut on Thursday for the funeral of top Hamas commander Saleh Arouri, who was killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike on an apartment in the Lebanese capital earlier this week.
Hamas's attack from the Gaza Strip on southern Israel on October 7 left around 1,200 people dead and around 240 others taken hostage. Israel's air, ground and sea assault in Gaza has killed more than 22,300 people, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled territory. The count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
At the moment:
– Israeli Defense Minister lays out a vision for the next steps in the Gaza war.
— Blinken travels to the Middle East again as fears of a regional conflict grow.
– Israel's Mossad chief vows to hunt down Hamas members.
– The mother and American uncle of a US soldier are rescued from Gaza in a secret operation.
— For more AP coverage, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Here's what happens in war:
RELATIONS BETWEEN SPAIN AND ISRAEL HAVE IMPROVED, AN OFFICIAL SAYS
JERUSALEM – Israel's foreign minister announced Thursday that Israel's ambassador to Spain will return to Madrid after a diplomatic dispute over Israel's war in Gaza prompted the ministry to recall her 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 Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that relations between the two countries had since improved.
“In view of an improvement in statements from the Spanish government,” the ministry said, “it has been decided that the ambassador will return to Madrid and continue her activities promoting support for the right of the State of Israel to protect its citizens from the terrorist. “Organization Hamas.”
NETANYAHU SEEKS “FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE” ON THE LEBANON BORDER
TEL AVIV, Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a U.S. envoy on Thursday that he is seeking a “fundamental change” to Israel's border with Lebanon.
The comments came days after a suspected Israeli strike in Beirut killed a senior Hamas operative, ratcheting up tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. The Lebanese militant group, which supports Hamas, has vowed to avenge the killing.
Netanyahu gave no details about his plans but said he was committed to safely relocating evacuated residents from northern Israel to their homes. Netanyahu also said he hoped to resolve the conflict with Lebanon diplomatically, but indicated that Israel would not shy away from a larger conflict.
“Israel is more determined, courageous and united than ever before after the murderous attack on Saturday, October 7,” Netanyahu said. “Those of our neighbors who haven’t understood this yet will understand it very well in the future.”
Netanyahu spoke during a meeting with Amos Hochstein, a US envoy who mediates between Israel and Lebanon.
Israel has demanded Hezbollah respect a 2006 U.N. ceasefire agreement that calls for the group to withdraw from the Israeli border.
Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in light cross-border fighting as part of Israel's war against Hamas. But the sides appear unwilling to engage in a major conflict.
ISRAEL AND SAUDI ARABIA CAN STILL NORMALIZE RELATIONS, GRAHAM SAYS
TEL AVIV, Israel – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham says it is still possible for Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalize relations.
Israel and Saudi Arabia focused on establishing official diplomatic relations earlier this year. However, those efforts were dashed by Hamas' October 7 attack and Israel's ongoing war against the Islamist militant group.
Speaking in Tel Aviv, Graham said he believes a window for normalization remains open until June, when the US will turn its attention to the 2024 presidential campaign.
The South Carolina Republican said he plans to raise the issue with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman when he visits Saudi Arabia in the coming days.
“I think October 7 was motivated not exclusively but primarily by the Iranians to stop the reconciliation process,” Graham told reporters on Thursday. “The nightmare for Iran is for the Arab world to reconcile with Israel and move the region away from the dark side toward the light.”
Graham said he was in Israel to share the lessons America learned from the failed attempt to eradicate the Taliban in Afghanistan. Graham added that he hoped an Arab-led coalition would lead reconstruction efforts in Gaza and that he would not invest even “15 cents” of American money in the Palestinian Authority. The White House has said a reformed Palestinian Authority should play a role in post-war Gaza.
Graham, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is leading a bipartisan delegation of 10 senators to Israel. The trip included a visit to Kfar Azza, a kibbutz that was heavily damaged during the Hamas attack on October 7.
ISRAEL SAYS IT HAS DISCOVERED A HAMAS WEAPONS LABORATORY
JERUSALEM – The Israeli military said Thursday that it had raided a Hamas military compound along Gaza's central coast, destroying what it said was a network of tunnels hundreds of meters long. The military said one of the tunnels led to a facility used by Hamas to produce weapons and was protected by explosion-proof and booby-trapped doors. No footage of the weapons lab was provided.
Military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the facility was used to produce long-range missiles and was rigged with explosives. “Damaging Hamas’ production facilities and rocket-launching capability and reducing them, as has been carried out throughout the war, remains one of the main objectives of the military operation,” Hagari said.
Videos released by the military showed soldiers digging huge holes in the sand to expose the tunnel shafts before destroying them. Soldiers found a collection of weapons in the area, from grenades to mortar shells.
Israel says a diplomatic agreement with Hezbollah is still possible
TEL AVIV – Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Thursday that a diplomatic agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah was still possible, days after a suspected Israeli attack on a Hamas leader in Beirut threatened a dramatic escalation between the two countries.
“We are at a crossroads. “There is a short window of opportunity for diplomatic understandings, which is what we prefer,” Gallant told Amos Hochstein, a White House envoy, at a meeting in Tel Aviv.
Gallant said the top priority is to ensure that around 80,000 Israeli civilians who have been forced to evacuate northern communities near the Lebanese border can return safely to their homes. The area was evacuated after Hezbollah began shelling northern Israel shortly after the Israel-Hamas war broke out. Israel has demanded that Hezbollah respect a 2006 U.N. ceasefire that requires it to withdraw from Israel's border.
Gallant's comments came two days after Hamas's deputy chief was killed in a suspected Israeli attack in Beirut. Hezbollah, which has provided protection and support to Hamas leaders, has vowed to avenge the attack.
Israel and Hamas have been engaged in a low-level exchange of fire for nearly three months, but both sides have hesitated to commit to an all-out war.
10 CHILDREN AND 2 ADULTS KILLED BY ISRAELI AIR ATTACK IN SOUTHERN GAZA
RAFAH, Gaza Strip – An Israeli strike has leveled a house in an area of southern Gaza that the military had declared a security zone, as Israeli troops press ahead with their attack in the nearby town of Khan Younis.
The attack hit a house in Mawasi, a small rural strip on Gaza's southern coast where the Israeli military said Palestinians were fleeing to escape the fighting zone. The explosion killed a man and his wife, seven of their children and three other children aged 5 to 14, according to a list of the dead who arrived at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
There was no immediate response from the Israeli military.
Israeli troops entered Khan Younis in early December and have been fighting Hamas fighters there for weeks. The military said Thursday that its troops had uncovered a large tunnel several hundred meters (yards) long in a field next to a mosque.
Former US Vice President Mike Pence promises support during his stay in Israel
SDEROT, Israel (AP) — Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visited Israel's war-torn south on Thursday to express his support for the country in its war against Hamas.
Standing next to the ruins of a police station in the town of Sderot, where a bitter battle between Hamas militants and police officers took place on October 7, Pence said the United States stood with Israel, which is under international pressure, for its territory end airstrikes in Gaza. Next week, the United Nations' top court is expected to begin considering a South African case accusing Israel of genocide.
“The global community always seems to find a way to criticize Israel at some point, especially in places like the United Nations,” Pence said. “And in this dark hour, I wanted to do my part to make sure that the people of Israel know that the people of the United States are on your side and that we will stand with you.”
Pence, who served under former President Donald Trump, is a longtime supporter of Israel. He dropped out of the 2024 presidential campaign in October after struggling to raise money and gain ground in the polls.
FUNERAL FOR HAMAS COMMANDER KILLED IN LEBANON
Thousands of people took to the streets in Beirut for the funeral of top Hamas commander Saleh Arouri, who was killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike on an apartment in the Lebanese capital earlier this week.
The coffin, draped in Palestinian and Hamas flags, along with those of two of his comrades, was first taken to a mosque in Beirut for prayers on Thursday before being carried to the Palestine Martyrs' Cemetery. Arouri's automatic rifle was placed on his coffin during the prayer service.
The funeral was attended by Palestinian officials, including senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk, as well as representatives of some Lebanese political groups. People tried to touch the coffins, which were surrounded by Hamas members wearing green hats. Some of the Hamas members were armed.
“The enemy is fleeing his failures and defeats (in Gaza) to Lebanon,” senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a speech broadcast during the funeral. He added that Arouri's killing in Beirut was “evidence of (Israel's) bloody mentality.”
Lebanese officials and state media said an Israeli drone fired two rockets on Tuesday at an apartment in Beirut's southern Musharafieh district, a stronghold of Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah group, instantly killing Arouri and six other Hamas members.