Israeli forces continue to besiege Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, and carried out an assassination raid inside a Jenin hospital disguised as doctors and civilians. A truce and captive exchange deal between Israel and Hamas could be confirmed soon.
- 26,751+ killed* and at least 65,636 wounded in the Gaza Strip.
- 387+ Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem
- Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147.
- 557 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 3,221 injured.**
*This figure was confirmed by Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Some rights groups put the death toll number at more than 33,000 when accounting for those presumed dead.
** This figure is released by the Israeli military.
- Israeli force of ten soldiers storm Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin and kill three Palestinians with silenced pistols.
- Israeli forces siege Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, bar entry and exit to Palestinians.
- Dr. Asharf al-Qudra says Israeli forces are besieging Nasser Hospital for a second consecutive week, trapping 150 medical staff, 450 injured, and 3,000 displaced Palestinians.
- The Palestine Red Crescent Society loses communication with team sent to rescue 6-year-old girl in Gaza.
- Israeli forces push Palestinians sheltering in Al-Shifa’ Hospital to eastern areas as it bombs southern and western Gaza City.
- Israel bombs house of Madoukh family in the Al-Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City, killing at least 20 people. It also bombs Rafah’s El-Geneina neighborhood, Nuseirat camp, Batn al-Sameen area, and Al-Amal neighborhood in Khan Younis.
- Israeli protest attempts to block aid trucks entering into Gaza Strip from the Kerem Abu Salem crossing.
- Israeli “Order 9” movement calls on government to bar entry to humanitarian aid into Gaza as long as Hamas holds Israeli captives.
- UN warns, “If the funding is not resumed, UNRWA will not be able to continue its services and operations across the region, including in Gaza, beyond the end of February.”
- According to a potential deal between Israel and Hamas, there will be 45-day pause of fighting, during which Hamas will release 35 Israeli captives in return for 4,000 Palestinian prisoners.
- Hamas launches barrage of rockets on Tel Aviv on Monday from Khan Younis and published footage of targeting Israeli tanks with 105mm Al-Yaseen anti-tank shells.
Israel Genocide in Gaza Continues
- Israeli authorities said that commandos disguised as Palestinians killed three gunmen in a hospital in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, one of whom they accused of planning an imminent attack.
- An Israeli intelligence dossier that prompted a cascade of countries to halt funds for a U.N. Palestinian aid agency includes allegations that some staff took part in abductions and killings during the Oct. 7 raid that sparked the Gaza war. U.N. Bureau Chief Michelle Nichols tells the daily Reuters World News podcast what the cut-off in funding could mean for Palestinians – listen now.
Israeli authorities said undercover commandos killed three Palestinian militants today in a raid on a hospital in the West Bank. Hamas said one of the dead was a member of its group, while the allied Islamic JIhad claimed the two others. Raneen Sawafta reports for Reuters.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) rejected claims by Palestinian state news agency WAFA that it carried out a strike near a U.N. relief school in Gaza City yesterday.
More countries have halted funding to the U.N. Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) over the alleged role of some of its staff in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, with the latest addition to the list including Japan, Austria, and New Zealand. However, the European Union announced it will not suspend funding to UNRWA, pending the outcome of the internal investigation launched. The UNRWA said it is “extremely desperate” and that the “humanitarian needs in Gaza are growing by the hour.” Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the agency is “perforated with Hamas,” following a recently released Israeli intelligence dossier that alleges nearly 200 UNRWA workers are Hamas or Islamic Jihad operatives, without providing detailed evidence. Robert Plummer reports for BBC News.
Twenty aid organizations, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, and Save the Children, said in a joint statement yesterday that UNRWA’s role in Gaza was irreplaceable and that “the population faces starvation, looming famine and an outbreak of disease.” The Executive of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, also posted on X saying, “The European Union will NOT suspend funding to UNRWA. It will await the results of the investigation that UNRWA announced.” Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders said in a separate statement that “any additional limitations on aid will result in more deaths and suffering,” adding that such steps contradict the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice last week.
REGIONAL RESPONSE
Representatives from Israel, Qatar, Egypt, and the United States have agreed to have Qatar present a preliminary framework to Hamas that proposes a six-week pause in the war in Gaza for Hamas to exchange some hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, officials say. The talks are at an early stage, and details would need to be finalized if Hamas agrees to build on the framework. The terms of the framework were sketched out on Sunday in Paris by the four states. The prime and foreign minister of Qatar flew from the meeting in Paris to Washington where he met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday. While Blinken declined to give details, he said the proposal is a “compelling one” and “there is some real hope going forward.” Edward Wong and Julian E. Barnes report for the New York Times.
A day after officials from the United States, Israel, Egypt, and Qatar met in Paris to discuss a nascent ceasefire proposal, Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan acknowledged yesterday that “great efforts” were being made by the mediators but said, “We have not received anything.” Hwaida Saad and Anushka Patil report for the New York Times.
Israeli Shin Bet security agency director Ronen Bar visited Cairo yesterday and met with his Egyptian counterpart, Abbas Kamel, two Israeli sources said. The two parties discussed potential plans after the war and non-hostage-related issues, including the situation along the Philadelphi Corridor and how Egypt-Israel can work together to prevent weapons smuggling into Gaza that would enable Hamas to rearm. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
EGYPT STRIVES TO CONTAIN CONFLICTS RAGING THROUGHOUT THE REGION. Bottom Line Up Front:
* Facing conflict and instability on virtually all its borders, Egypt is stepping up its diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the Israel-Hamas war.
* Egypt’s historic role in Gaza, and Palestinian affairs more broadly, adds significant weight to Cairo’s mediation.
* Cairo anticipates that de-escalation in Gaza will end Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, assaults that are damaging Egypt’s economy.
* Despite working with regional and international stakeholders, including Russia, Egypt has been unable to settle the internal conflicts in neighboring Sudan and Libya.
Egypt, which maintains close ties to Israel, the United States, other Arab states, as well as some Hamas leaders, is a pivotal regional stakeholder in the multi-faceted effort to de-escalate and eventually bring about an end to the Israel-Hamas war. As an illustration of the significance of Egypt’s ties to all the parties to the war and other mediators, Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns met with the prime minister of Qatar as well as the heads of Egyptian and Israeli intelligence, Abbas Kamel and David Barnea, respectively, over the weekend. In November, Director Burns’ mediation efforts, working with the same counterparts, helped finalize a limited Israel-Hamas ceasefire and the release of 105 Israeli and third-country hostages captured in its October 7 attack on Israel. Nearly 180 Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons in exchange. The Burns
trip will attempt to forge another ceasefire and hostage release, potentially using the deal as a springboard to end the war and establish a roadmap to a broader Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement. Moreover, the trip follows a visit by a top U.S. Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk, to Egypt and Qatar to try to bridge the divides holding up another round of hostage releases.
INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
The United Kingdom is considering recognizing a Palestinian state, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said yesterday. Cameron told a Westminster reception that the United Kingdom has the responsibility to set out what a Palestinian state would look like and said Palestinians would have to be shown “irreversible progress” toward a two-state solution. “We have a responsibility there because we should be starting to set out what a Palestinian state would look like, what it would comprise, how it would work and crucially, looking at the issue, that as that happens, we with allies will look at the issue of recognizing a Palestinian state, including at the United Nations … That could be one of the things that help to make this process irreversible.” Cameron also urged Israel to allow more humanitarian support into Gaza and said it was “ludicrous” that British and other foreign aid was being sent back at the border. James Landale reports for BBC News.
U.S. RESPONSE
The U.S. has a long history of giving aid to Israel. Some want it to end. For over 70 years, Israel has enjoyed unparalleled U.S. support in the form of economic and military aid. But the future of this arrangement is now uncertain given the increasingly vocal opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza from progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders. WATCH
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told U.S. officials last week that he and the Israeli military will not permit the rebuilding of illegal outposts or settlements by Israeli settlers inside the Gaza Strip, four U.S. and Israeli officials said. Gallant stressed the buffer zone would be temporary and for security purposes only, according to a senior Israeli official and two U.S. officials. The statement follows concerns by the Biden administration that the buffer zone will be used to rebuild settlements that were dismantled during the 2005 Israeli pullout from the enclave. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
IRAN-BACKED MILITANTS
President Biden and other top U.S. officials discussed Sunday a “significant military response” following the drone attack by Iran-backed militias near the Jordan-Syria border that killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded dozens. A U.S. official said, “We don’t want war but those who are behind this attack need to feel our response.” The U.S. Defense Secretary meanwhile vowed the United States would take “all necessary actions” to defend its troops. Barak Ravid, Andrew Solender, and Dave Lawler report for Axios.
The three U.S. soldiers killed in the Jordan attack on Sunday have been named as Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23. The United States has blamed Iran-backed groups for the attack, with the Pentagon saying the operation carried “footprints” of Kataib Hezbollah. A U.S. official added that the drone used in the attack appeared to be a “type of Shahed drone,” a one-way attack drone Tehran has been providing to Russia. Fiona Niomin reports for BBC News.
The U.S. failed to stop the attack in Jordan when the enemy drone approached its target at the same time as a U.S. drone was returning to the base, U.S. officials said yesterday. The return of the U.S. drone led to confusion about whether the incoming drone was friend or foe, officials have concluded so far, although they cautioned the inquiry into the attack was in an early stage. A U.S. Defense official said Washington has yet to find evidence that Iran directed the attack, while White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, “Clearly there is a responsibility that appropriately needs to be laid at the feet of leaders in Tehran.” Nancy A. Youssef, Michael R. Gordon, and Sune Engel Rasmussen report for the Wall Street Journal.
The United Kingdom, in coordination with the United States, has imposed fresh sanctions on senior Iranian officials who are members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in a bid to tackle what it says is a threat to U.K. domestic security. “The Iranian regime and the criminal gangs who operate on its behalf pose an unacceptable threat to the U.K.’s security,” British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said. “The U.K. and U.S. have sent a clear message – we will not tolerate this threat.” The sanctions include asset freezes and travel bans but fall short of a full prescription of the IRGC by the United Kingdom. POLITICO report