Israel rejected a Hamas proposal for a ceasefire, which included the return of Israeli captives held in Gaza and is preparing instead to expand its ground invasion to Rafah, where 1.9 million Palestinians are seeking refuge.
- 27,708+ killed* and at least 67,147 wounded in the Gaza Strip.
- 380+ 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.
- 564 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 3,221 injured.**
*This figure was confirmed by Gaza’s Ministry of Health on its Telegram channel. Some rights groups put the death toll number at more than 35,000 when accounting for those presumed dead.
** This figure is released by the Israeli military, showing the soldiers whose names “were allowed to be published.”
- UNOCHA: Risk of famine ‘increasing by the day’ in Gaza.
- Kataib Hezbollah announces death of commander after US strike.
- Norway transfers $26 million to UNRWA.
- PCRS: Israeli forces kill Red Crescent paramedic and wound two others in Gaza City.
- Occupied West Bank: Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinians in Nur Shams refugee camp and a man near Nablus.
- Occupied West Bank: Palestinian man dies weeks after being shot by Israeli troops near Ramallah.
- UNOCHA: Israel denied access to 56 percent of planned aid missions to north Gaza.
- Over 30 elected officials in Michigan pledge protest vote over Biden’s Gaza policy
- Israeli strikes on south Lebanon kill civilian.
- US Senate rejects package that includes assistance for Israel, Ukraine
- Israeli airstrike kills Palestinian journalist and son in Gaza city.
- Israeli forces bombed areas in the southern border city of Rafah where more than half of Gaza’s population is sheltering, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a proposal to end the war in the Palestinian enclave. He said the terms proposed by Hamas for a ceasefire were “delusional.”
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas’s cease-fire counterproposal on Wednesday, calling the group’s demands “delusional” and vowing to pursue “total victory.” Hamas made its 135-day truce counteroffer on Tuesday in response to a proposal made late last month by the United States, Israel, Egypt, and Qatar that stipulated a six-week (or 42-day) cease-fire.
- Hamas’s offer would have taken place over three 45-day phases. During the first phase, all women, men under age 19, older adults, and sick people who were still being held hostage in Gaza would have been released in exchange for Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli jails. Increased deliveries of humanitarian aid from international actors would have helped kick-start reconstruction efforts in the enclave, and Israel would have had to begin withdrawing its troops.
- In phase two, Hamas would have released its remaining male hostages, and Israel would have had to fully evacuate all of its troops from Gaza. To proceed to phase three, the militant group said it would require Israel to agree on a framework for a “complete truce.” Phase three would have concluded with Hamas returning the remains of all killed hostages currently in the group’s possession. An internal Israeli report released Tuesday estimates that more than one-fifth of the Israeli captives in Gaza are dead.
- As part of its proposal, Hamas said it wanted influence over protocols allowing Jewish entry into the Temple Mount complex, a contested holy site in Jerusalem that includes Al-Aqsa mosque, an official familiar with the deal told Haaretz. Hamas also demanded guarantees from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, Russia, and the United Nations that Israel would not renege on its cease-fire promises once all of the captives were freed. Hamas did not include the United States as a guarantor despite Washington being a key part of ongoing negotiation efforts. The counterproposal was the first time that Hamas has said a permanent cease-fire was not a precondition for a truce.
- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Netanyahu on Wednesday to discuss the counterproposal. He also pushed for the establishment of a Palestinian state during his hourlong conversation, with the State Department adding that it remains “the best way to ensure lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike and greater integration for the region.” Netanyahu, however, remains opposed to the prospect, and shortly after his meeting with Blinken ended, the Israeli leader held a news conference to announce his rejection of the Hamas offer.
- “By giving in to Hamas demands, we will only invite another massacre,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel would carry on with its military operations in southern Gaza. “Continued military pressure is essential for the hostages’ release.”
ISRAEL Genocide War in Gaza Continues
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Hamas’s counteroffer to a ceasefire proposal yesterday, adding that negotiations with the group were “not going anywhere” and describing their terms as “bizarre.” Israel was expected to take issue with Hamas’s counteroffer, but its response was a categorical rebuke, indicating that Israeli officials see Hamas’s effort to end the war on its terms as unacceptable. BBC News reports.
Israel’s military has proposed immediately extending the length of military service for conscripts and reservists, increasing the compulsory enlistment period to 36 months for all service members. The plan, proposed yesterday, requires legislative approval before going into effect. Under current Israeli law, men must serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for 32 months, and women for 24 months. Lars Dolder reports for the New York Times.
REGIONAL RESPONSE
Jordanian King, Abdullah II, has departed for a tour of several Western capitals including a meeting with President Biden in Washington to press for a ceasefire. “The royal tour aims to mobilize international support for a ceasefire in Gaza, protect civilians, [and] provide humanitarian aid to the Strip on a permanent and sufficient basis,” a statement from Jordan’s Royal Hashemite Court said today. Ibrahim Dahman and Vasco Cotovio report for CNN.
A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo today for talks on Gaza, the militant group said in a statement. “A delegation from the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas arrived Thursday morning, headed by Dr. Khalil Al-Hayya, deputy head of the movement in Gaza, traveled to Cairo to complete talks related to the ceasefire.” Ibrahim Dahman reports for CNN.
INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
French President Emmanuel Macron described the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks as the “largest antisemitic attack of our century” during a ceremony yesterday for French victims in the attacks in the Invalides military complex in Paris. A total of 42 French and dual French-Israeli nationals were killed in the attacks, and six were injured. Three remain missing and are presumed to have been taken hostage by Hamas. Laura Gozzi reports for BBC News.
The southern Gaza city of Rafah is a “humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences,” U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said. Rafah is where “hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been squeezed in a desperate search for safety,” Guterres added, urgently calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages.” Richard Both and Eyad Kourdi report for CNN.
U.S. RESPONSE
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday that he still hopes a deal could be reached between Israel and Hamas for a fighting pause despite “nonstarters” in Hamas’s response. “We’ve looked very carefully at what came back from Hamas and there are clearly nonstarters in what it’s put forward,” he said during a visit to Israel. “But we also see space in what came back to pursue negotiations to see if we can get to an agreement, and that’s what we intend to do.” Zolan Kanno-Youngs reports for the New York Times.
Blinken told Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Jerusalem yesterday that the Biden administration is concerned about the possible expansion of Israel’s military operation into Rafah, an Israeli official and a source briefed on the issue said. Over one million Palestinians, many of whom are displaced from elsewhere in Gaza, are in Rafah and the surrounding areas along the border between Gaza and Egypt. Washington is concerned the operation will lead to mass casualties without evacuating the civilian population, and fears tens of thousands of Palestinians will be pushed into Egypt. The Egyptian government has previously warned the displacement of Palestinians into Egypt would rupture relations with Israel. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
Blinken met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah yesterday. Blinken and Abbas discussed “developments in the ongoing efforts to stop the aggression against our people,” according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA. Abbas reiterated “it is not possible to accept or deal with the plans of the occupation authorities to separate [the Gaza Strip], or cut off any inch of its land, and it falls under the responsibility of the State of Palestine and under its administration,” WAFA reported. Ibrahim Hazboun and Eyad Kourdi report for CNN.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) arrested an American woman in the West Bank on Monday for “incitement on social media” during an operation in the Silwad village area, the IDF told the Washington Post yesterday. “Suspects arrested in the operation were transferred to the security forces for further questioning,” the IDF said, without providing further information about Esmail’s alleged social media activity. The State Department said it was aware of the arrest and was seeking additional information. Niha Masih reports for the Washington Post.
IRAN-BACKED MILITANTS
A U.S. Special Operations strike in the Baghdad capital yesterday killed a senior leader of Katai’ib Hezbollah, which is the Iran-backed militia that U.S. officials blame for the attack in Jordan, the Pentagon said. A senior Katai’ib Hezbollah official and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps both said that two commanders had been killed in the strike. A U.S. official said the strike was a “dynamic” hit on the commander, whom American intelligence had been tracking for some time. Helene Cooper and Alissa J. Rubin report for the New York Times.
Iraq has issued a warning to the United States in response to yesterday’s airstrike in Baghdad, calling the attack a “new aggression” by Washington that “undermine[s] all understandings” between Iraq and the United States. A spokesperson for Iraq’s Joint Operation Command added that the strikes are a “violation of Iraqi sovereignty.” Mohamed Tawfeeq reports for CNN.
Repeated U.S. strikes against Iran-backed groups in Iraq are pushing the government to end the mission of the U.S.-led coalition in the country, the prime minister of Iraq’s military spokesperson Yahya Rasool said today. Reuters reports.
European diplomats have proposed measures to reduce tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border, officials said yesterday. The proposal includes a pullback by Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah and the deployment of thousands of additional Lebanese troops, and would be based on the “partial implementation” of the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, two Lebanese political officials and a Lebanese diplomat said. Bassem Mroue reports for AP News.
The Syrian army said Israel struck targets in the Homs province, killing or injuring several people. The attacks targeted Shuyrat air base and nearby sites, a Syrian military source said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor group, said four people were killed in the attacks, including two civilians. Patrick Johnson reports for BBC News.
Israel rejects ceasefire, Netanyahu pledges to expand fighting.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas’s proposed deal to halt fighting in the besieged enclave for at least four and half months, despite U.S. pressure to reach an agreement.
Instead, Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel is on the road to a decisive victory and that they will not return [from Gaza] without victory, according to Al Jazeera. He added that now is the time for the [Israeli military] to allow safe corridors for residents.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri has told the news outlet Reuters that Netanyahu’s remarks today demonstrate his desire to pursue a wider regional conflict.
“Netanyahu’s comments are a form of political bravado, indicating his intention to pursue the conflict in the region,” Abu Zuhri said. “The movement [Hamas] is prepared to deal with all options.
Al Jazeera senior political analyst has said that despite U.S. optimism over a potential deal between Israel and Hamas, a “huge gap” remains between the two parties that will be difficult to bridge.
“I’m not sure how long it’s going to take, I’m not sure there’s going to be an end to the war. But clearly the United States is projecting a certain kind of optimism that is contagious,” said Al Jazeera commentator Marwan Bishara.
“That’s part of its diplomatic leverage over Israel: if the United States projects this atmosphere that ‘we’re definitely there and everyone is on board’ and the Netanyahu government comes out and says, ‘no. absolutely not, then it’s the Netanyahu government which looks like the party pooper.”
“My analysis is that for the Biden administration, four months [of the war] is enough,” Bishara added.
Al Jazeera correspondent Rory Challands says: “Netanyahu has a delicate position here, it’s a very wobbly position: he’s stuck between pressure from the United States, an Israeli population that doesn’t particularly like him at the moment, and the far right in his own coalition,”
Top U.S. diplomat Blinken, he said, outlined several steps the U.S. wants Israeli officials to take to minimize civilian harm and that the daily toll that its military operations continue to take on innocent civilians remains too high, reported Al Jazeera.
You could argue credibly that Netanyahu’s speech was “a very clear snub” from Netanyahu to [US Secretary of State] Antony Blinken, Joe Biden, and the White Housen, Al Jazeera added.
Shahram Akbarzadeh, a professor of Middle East and Central Asian politics at Deakin University, told Al Jazeera that Israel’s leader is averse to signing a truce deal as it would give Hamas credibility and recognition.
“[Netenyahu] knows his political future is very much tied to right-wing politicians, and he’s not going to antagonize them by stepping back from destroying Hamas,” Akbarzadeh said; Israel’s leader views the captives held in Gaza as “acceptable collateral damage.”
“Netanyahu is not making decisions based on the interests of the hostages. He’s making decisions on his own political interests.”
Despite Antony Blinken’s disappointing visit to the region, which has not yielded a truce deal, the U.S. will continue to back Israel unconditionally, Akbarzadeh predicted.
“It does put the U.S. in a difficult position, but at the end of the day, the United States is Israel’s steadfast ally in the international arena, and it’s not going to abandon that position.”
- Academics say “wholesale destruction” of Gaza’s education system renders the Palestinian territory uninhabitable.
- Israel insists its forces only bombed schools and universities because Hamas was using them as training camps.
Arab states are offering remarkable “security assurances” to Israel. But Bibi Netanyahu is defiant. Read the full story here.
Israel scorns America’s unprecedented peace plan
Academics say “wholesale destruction” of Gaza’s education system renders the Palestinian territory uninhabitable. Israel insists its forces only bombed schools and universities because Hamas was using them as training camps. Read the full story here.