Casualties Gaza; 10,818 Killed, 4,412 including children, 26,905 injured.

West Bank; 175 Palestinians Killed.

Key Developments 

• Palestinian Ministry of Health: “nowhere in Gaza is safe”. 
• UNRWA: 92 agency staff have been killed since October 7, the “highest number of United Nations aid workers killed in a conflict in the history of the United Nations.”
• UNRWA: 160 people sheltering in UNRWA school facilities share a single toilet; one shower unit for every 700 people
• Palestinian lawmaker Rashida Tlaib was censured by the House of U.S. Representatives over the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” 
• 70 Democrats sign onto a statement condemning the “river to the sea” phrase “as a rallying cry for the destruction of the State of Israel and genocide of the Jewish people.”
• The Israeli parliament passes “draconian” law criminalizing ‘consumption of terrorist materials’, the latest development in Israel’s censorship war against Palestinians. 
• Israeli forces arrested Palestinian politicians in Israel, including the head of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, Mohammad Barakeh, and former Knesset member Haneen Zoabi, reports Wafa.
• Two mosques were destroyed in the attack on Khan Younis on Wednesday: Khalid bin al-Walid and al-Ikhlas mosques, according to the Interior Ministry in Gaza.
• The U.S. carried out a strike on a facility in eastern Syria, the second U.S. attack on the country since October 7, in “response to attacks on American personnel in Iraq and Syria” over the past weeks, killing at least nine people, according to the Pentagon. 
• An American drone was shot down off the coast of Yemen by the country’s pro-Iranian Houthi rebels, U.S. officials confirmed to Reuters and AFP.
• Israeli airstrikes have hit eight hospitals in the Gaza Strip in the last three days, according to Gaza’s government media office.

U.S. Lawmaker Advocates for Strong Bipartisan Support for Israel and Humanitarian Aid to Palestinians. Congressman Greg Stanton, in a recent hearing, passionately defended bipartisan support for Israel while also advocating for humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. Condemning anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, Stanton stressed the necessity of dismantling Hamas to ensure peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians. He noted the importance of Israel to U.S. national security and urged Congress to pass a security funding package that includes aid for Gaza. Stanton’s remarks also included support for a Palestinian state and acknowledgment of the complex governance issues in Gaza, highlighting the need for careful consideration of the Palestinian Authority’s future role (ACLS YouTube). 

The Israeli military fought Hamas militants in the north of the Gaza Strip today, as both sides claim to have inflicted heavy losses from the attacks. Gaza City residents say Israeli tanks are stationed around the City and that forces are moving closer to two local hospitals. Israeli soldiers claim they discovered a Hamas site, storing and manufacturing weapons, in a residential building in the Sheikh Rawan region of northern Gaza. Nidal Al-Mughrabia and Maytaal Angel report for Reuters. 

Israel launched intense airstrikes in Gaza City overnight and into this morning, as ground forces continue to fight Hamas in urban areas which saw tens of thousands of people fleeing this week. The director of Al-Shifa hospital in downtown Gaza said Israeli troops were around 3 miles from the hospital. Israel says Hamas’ main command center is located in a tunnel complex under the hospital, something Hamas and medical staff firmly deny and say the military is using as a pretext to a future attack. Najib Jobain, Samy Magdy and Kareem Chehayeb report for AP News.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have taken control of a Hamas outpost in Jabalia, northern Gaza, according to their post on X, formerly Twitter. The post said it took “10 hours of fighting, during which they eliminated terrorists, captured many weapons, uncovered terrorist tunnel shafts, including a shaft located near a kindergarten and leading to an extensive underground route.” BBC News reports. 

Yesterday saw 50,000 Palestinians flee northern Gaza to the south, the IDF said, as it opened a brief corridor along Salah al-Din Road, running down the center of the Gaza strip. The figure was provided yesterday in a briefing by Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesperson. Chantal Da Silva and Mithil Aggarwal report for NBC News.

The U.N. human rights chief accused both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes over the past month. “The atrocities perpetrated by Palestinian armed groups on October 7 were heinous, brutal and shocking, they were war crimes – as is the continued holding of hostages,” said Volker Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. He also said, “The collective punishment by Israel of Palestinian civilians amounts also to a war crime, as does the unlawful forcible evacuation of civilians.” Michael Rios and Jessie Yeung report for CNN.

The Rafah border crossing into Gaza was closed yesterday due to a “security circumstance” but officials were working to get it reopened, a U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson said. The Rafah crossing suspended evacuations on Saturday and Sunday following an Israeli strike on an ambulance traveling to Rafah, but the crossing reopened on Monday and Tuesday. Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis report for Reuters.

REGIONAL RESPONSE

Israel’s spy agency worked with Brazil and other international agencies to thwart an attack aimed at Israeli and Jewish targets in Brazil planned by the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said yesterday. Brazil confirmed they have arrested two people on terrorism charges in Sao Paulo. Israel’s spy agency Mossad said the plan “was operated by Hezbollah in order to carry out an attack on Israeli and Jewish targets in Brazil,” adding that it was “directed and financed by the Iranian regime.” Rodrigo Viga Gaier and Gabriel Stargardter report for Reuters. 

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE 

French President Emmanuel Macron is convening an international conference in Paris today to secure funding for humanitarian aid to Gaza and to discuss the release of hostages held by Hamas. Attendees are expected to include officials from the U.N., the International Committee of the Red Cross, along with E.U. officials and a U.S. representative. Israel is not sending a representative despite French officials coordinating the agenda with their Israeli counterparts following Macron’s talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. The French presidency said Paris is planning on significantly increasing its financial contributions and is also working on how European countries could take in wounded Palestinian civilians. Aurelien Breeden reports for the New York Times. 

U.S. RESPONSE

U.S. officials say Hamas is discussing the conditional release of a small number of hostages, including some Americans, in return for a three-day pause in Israel’s fighting in Gaza. The terms negotiated are said to include the release of up to 15 hostages for a pause in the fighting which would bide time for humanitarian aid to be shipped into Gaza and hostages to be transported out of the enclave. Details of the hostages, including specific numbers, were not provided, but C.I.A. director William J. Burns facilitated the talks, according to officials. Lisa Friedman, Julian E. Barnes and Edward Wong report for the New York Times.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday that Gaza should be unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority once the war ends. He said there must be “affirmative elements to get a sustained peace…these must include the Palestinian people’s voices and aspirations at the center of post-crisis governance in Gaza…it must include Palestinian-led governance and Gaza unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.” Blinken did not expand further, although national security council spokesperson John Kirby said, “we don’t have it all figured out right now…but we know that it has to be something different than what it was under Hamas.” Michael D.Shear reports for the New York Times.

Blinken escalated his opposition to a cease-fire saying yesterday that “those calling for an immediate cease-fire have an obligation to explain how to address the unacceptable result that would likely bring.” He said humanitarian pauses “would advance key objectives” but reiterated that “Israel has repeatedly told us that there is no going back to … before the barbaric attacks by Hamas – we fully agree.” Jennifer Hansler reports for CNN.

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers are on an anti-Palestinian rampage

The most radical faction in Israel is, in effect, stepping up a longstanding campaign of dispossession: acting, both opportunistically and out of anger, to remove West Bank Palestinians from their homes. This escalation could lead to a deeper entrenchment of Israel’s occupation and, quite possibly, a violent Palestinian response that brings outright war to the West Bank. These developments threaten to further weaken the already-slim prospects of a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the foreseeable future.

Emotions are running high at the White House as some aides’ frustration with Israel is growing

Angst, unease and outrage are spreading through corners of the Biden administration as Israeli forces show no signs of letting up their relentless attacks inside Gaza and the civilian death toll in the besieged enclave – already in the thousands – continues to climb.

One month into the Israel-Hamas war, some senior officials privately say there are aspects of Israel’s military operations they simply cannot stomach defending; calls for the US to back a ceasefire are growing among government employees; and others are distraught by the incessant images of Palestinian civilians being killed by Israeli airstrikes, multiple sources told CNN.

Senate Democrats Challenge Biden on Israel, Seeking Assurances About Aid

A majority of the Democratic caucus signed a letter asking President Biden to ensure that Israel has a viable plan for defeating Hamas and will use U.S. military assistance in keeping with international law.

Divisions over US support for Israel deepen at State Department

srael’s war against Hamas is deepening divisions among nonpartisan American government officials, who are raising alarm that the Biden administration’s ironclad commitment to Israel is failing to take into account key issues of concern. 

Letters and memos of dissent are circulating among State Department staff. The documents are described as being led by early and mid-career officials staking out a position that puts them at odds with senior leaders. 

Nearly half of Democrats disapprove of Biden’s response to the Israel-Hamas war, AP-NORC poll shows

Nearly half of Democrats disapprove of how President Joe Biden is handling the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research — showing a deep divide within his party over the war. 

The poll found 50% of Democrats approve of how Biden has navigated the conflict while 46% disapprove — and the two groups diverge substantially in their views of U.S. support for Israel. Biden’s support on the issue among Democrats is down slightly from August, as an AP-NORC poll conducted then found that 57% of Democrats approved of his handling of the conflict and 40% disapproved.

Joe Biden Could Stop Israel’s War on the People of Gaza If He Really Wanted To

As Israel’s war on Gaza’s civilian population becomes ever more brazen, the Biden administration has been trying to wash its hands of responsibility. In reality, Joe Biden simply doesn’t want to use his leverage over Benjamin Netanyahu to impose a cease-fire.

Democrats urged Biden to protect Palestinians in the U.S. from deportation amid Gaza war

More than 100 congressional Democrats on Wednesday urged the Biden administration to shield Palestinian immigrants living in the U.S. from deportation, given the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas militants.

The 103 Democratic senators and representatives asked President Biden to authorize a program that would allow Palestinians living in the U.S. without permanent legal status to gain deportation protections and work permits. The lawmakers did not advocate for policies that would facilitate the entry of additional Palestinian refugees overseas.

“In light of ongoing armed conflict, Palestinians already in the United States should not be forced to return to the Palestinian territories, consistent with President Biden’s stated commitment to protecting Palestinian civilians,” the Democratic lawmakers wrote in their letter, which was led by Sen. Dick Durbin and Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Jan Schakowsky.