Hamas political leader calls on Muslim states to arm fighters in Gaza, as Netanyahu visits northern border town with Lebanon following killing of senior Hezbollah commander.
Casualties
- 23,210+ killed* and at least 59,167 wounded in the Gaza Strip.
- 384 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.
- 519 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 2,193 injured.**
*This figure was confirmed by Gaza’s Ministry of Health on January 9. Some rights groups put the death toll number closer to 30,000 when accounting for those presumed dead.
**This figure is released by the Israeli military.
Key Developments
- Israel says it is planning to fight for the rest of 2024 in Gaza Strip as troops retreat from some areas in north Gaza.
- Israel kills Wisam al-Taweel, senior Hezbollah commander in Al-Radwan elite force, in southern Lebanon.
- Hezbollah hits Kiryat Shmona, a settlement built on the depopulated Palestinian village Al-Khalisa in northern Israel, with anti-tank missiles before Netanyahu’s visit.
- King Abdullah of Jordan warns that Israel created a generation of orphans in the Gaza Strip.
- The PA’s Ministry of Education reports that since October 7, Israeli forces killed 4,257 students in Gaza and 39 in the West Bank, injuring 8,059 pupils.
- Doctors Without Borders says an Israeli artillery shell hit a shelter housing MSF employees and their families in Khan Younis, injuring a child and several others.
- B’Tselem rights group says Israel’s policy is to deny Palestinians food, leaving them to rely on outside aid.
- Hamas fires barrage of rockets on Tel Aviv, while Al-Mujahideen Brigades publishes video showing an attack on Israeli forces barricaded inside a building in Gaza. Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades release video message in English and Hebrew of one of Israeli captives in Gaza.
- Israeli military spokesperson says forces found a weapon production site in Gaza used to manufacture long-range missiles which could hit northern Israel.
- Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, says that “the time has come [for Muslim states] to support the resistance with weapons.”
- Israeli forces kill three Palestinian resistance fighters in Tulkarem, and blow up two homes in Jerusalem.
Israel’s Genocide against Gaza Continues.
- The 2.2 million people of Gaza are going hungry. This is not a byproduct of war but a direct result of Israel’s declared policy, which denies them food. Gazans now depend entirely on supplies from outside, as they can no longer produce almost any food themselves.
- Most cultivated fields have been destroyed, and accessing open areas during the war is dangerous in any case. Factories and warehouses have been bombed or shut down due to lack of supplies, fuel and electricity; stockpiles in private homes and stores have long since run out.
- Instead of allowing enough food into Gaza, Israel is letting in only a fraction of the amount entering before the war, with limitations on the types of goods, how they are brought in and how they are distributed within Gaza.
- The result is inconceivable: images of children begging for food, people waiting in long lines for paltry handouts and hungry residents charging at aid trucks. The horror is growing by the minute and the danger of famine is real, yet Israel persists in its policy
- Changing this policy is not just a moral obligation. Allowing food into Gaza is not an act of kindness but a positive obligation under IHL. Refusing to comply with this duty constitutes a war crime.
Israeli military forces located what they said was the largest weapons production factory in Gaza so far, with underground workshops they said were used to manufacture long-range missiles and munitions. According to the military, the factory, located in the Bureij area, is connected through underground shafts to a tunnel network to transport the weapons throughout the Gaza Strip. Ronen Zvulun reports for Reuters.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that nine more of its troops have been killed, bringing the total number to 185. Meanwhile the IDF said it has moved “deep” into Khan Younis while “eliminating 40 terrorists,” and Palestinian state media reports that a 16-storey residential tower block has been destroyed by Israeli warplanes in the city center. BBC News reports.
Israel announced it will briefly pause military activities in part of central Gaza today to allow humanitarian supplies to enter. The pause will run from 10:00 local time to 14:00. BBC News reports.
Violence including the sexual crimes committed by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attacks “constitute gross violations of international law, amounting to war crimes,” and may also be crimes against humanity, two U.N. experts said yesterday. Talya Minsberg reports for the New York Times.
REGIONAL RESPONSE
The Emirati President rebuffed a request by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pay “unemployment” stipends to Palestinian workers from the occupied West Bank whom Israel barred from the territory since Oct 7. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed’s refusal underscores the position of many Arab states, that say they will not fund maintaining the status quo in the West Bank and Gaza after the war. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
The IDF confirmed a military base in northern Israel was struck by a drone launched from Lebanon today. The IDF said no one was killed in the strike, but added that its fighter jets targeted “terrorist infrastructure” in southern Lebanon this morning. Meanwhile, Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah earlier said it targeted an Israeli command post in Safed. There were also reports of another alleged Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon this morning, which unconfirmed reports said killed three people. BBC News reports.
Pressure grew on Israel from its staunch ally the US and from Middle East powers to ease its assault on Gaza as its forces said they engaged in “tough battles” against Hamas militants in central and southern parts of the enclave. Israel’s mass bombardments have devastated the Gaza Strip and killed more than 23,000 Palestinians. Israeli forces bombarded the eastern part of Khan Younis and the central Gaza Strip amid ground clashes, residents said. They said a strike in Deir Al-Balah killed 18 people and four yesterday, while health officials in the Hamas-run enclave said 247 people were killed. Following talks with Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in the Saudi oasis town of Al Ula, Blinken said he found support among Arab leaders for normalizing relations with Israel. “There’s a clear interest in the region in pursuing that but it will require that the conflict end in Gaza and it will also clearly require that there be a practical pathway to a Palestinian state,” said Blinken. MBS, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, stressed the importance of stopping the hostilities in Gaza and forming a path for peace, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
UAE rebuffs Bibi request to pay Palestinian workers barred from Israel
The Emirati president rebuffed a request by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pay “unemployment” stipends to Palestinian workers from the occupied West Bank whom Israel barred from entering its territory after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, an Israeli official and a source familiar with the issue said. “Ask Zelensky for money,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ) sarcastically told Netanyahu, the sources said. MBZ’s refusal underscores the position of many Arab countries that have said they won’t foot the bill to maintain the status quo in the West Bank and Gaza after the war. Shortly after the Hamas attack, the Israeli government imposed a closure on the occupied West Bank for what it said were security reasons. That meant that the more than 100,000 Palestinians who lived in the West Bank but worked in Israel before the war could not enter Israeli territory. Netanyahu has publicly and privately said he won’t allow the Palestinian Authority, which currently governs the occupied West Bank, to have any role in Gaza after the war and he has rejected the idea of a Palestinian state. Instead, Netanyahu and his aides have suggested a situation in which “local forces” who are not hostile to Israel administer Gaza’s civilian affairs, while the IDF maintains security control. They also want the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to be in charge of rebuilding Gaza after the war, according to Israeli and US officials. But the UAE publicly said it won’t pay for the rebuilding of Gaza unless it is part of an agreement that includes renewing the US-led peace process with a path toward a two-state solution. Rebuilding Gaza will be a massive undertaking. Israel’s bombardment has caused mass destruction, and it’s estimated that at least a half million Palestinians in the enclave won’t have a home to return to when the war ends, according to the UN aid office.
U.S. RESPONSE
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting with the Israeli war cabinet today as he continues a regional tour aimed to prevent spillover from the war in Gaza. Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv last night and said he will press Israel’s government on the “absolute imperative” to do more to protect civilians”. Arafat Barbakh, Simon Lewis, and Nidal Al-Mughrabi report for Reuters.
Israeli officials will tell Blinken today that Israel will not allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza if Hamas does not agree to release more hostages, according to two senior Israeli officials. The officials stressed that Israel does not in principle oppose allowing Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, but will tell Blinken that such a move must form part of a new hostage deal. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
Blinken said Israel “has real opportunities” to improve relations with its neighbors during meetings with Israeli officials today. The comments followed a visit on Monday with Saudi ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who told Blinken that the Saudis still had a “clear interest” in trying to normalize diplomatic ties with Israel, according to what the Secretary of State said to reporters. Edward Wong reports for the New York Times.
Protestors calling for a ceasefire in Gaza briefly interrupted President Biden’s speech yesterday in Charleston, South Carolina. Approximately half a dozen protesters were escorted out of the event, with Biden later commenting, “I understand their passion and I’ve been quietly working with the Israeli government to get them to reduce and significantly get out of Gaza.” Erin Doherty reports for Axios.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will vote on a resolution today calling for a sustained ceasefire in Gaza as well as humanitarian aid, the release of hostages, and condemnation of “antisemitic, anti-Palestinian, Islamophobic, and all xenophobic rhetoric and attacks.” The resolution will not have legal authority. Janie Har reports for AP News.
Hundreds of protestors calling for a ceasefire blocked traffic in New York City on Monday morning, disrupting commuting traffic, and leading to over 300 arrests. Philip Marcelo reports for AP News.
Blinken says Israel has ‘real opportunities’ to improve relations with its neighbors.
Blinken tells Israel that the Saudi crown prince remains interested in normalizing relations, but only if: 1. The killing in Gaza stops; and 2.Israel agrees “to take practical steps toward establishing a Palestinian state.” Both conditions are new.
The US Is Dealing With an Israeli Leader Who’s Losing Control
Netanyahu’s excuse: “My hands are tied. You know, I have this coalition. It’s not me. It’s a coalition. It’s not me. It’s the political imperatives that I’m facing.” Wrong! It is NETANYAHU who prioritizes his political fate over Palestinian civilian lives.
IRAN-BACKED MILITANTS
Israel is conducting more frequent strikes on Iran-linked targets in Syria including infrastructure, air defense systems, and people involved in arms transfers to Iran’s proxies in the region, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The sources, including a Syrian military intelligence officer and a commander in the regional alliance backing Syria, said Israel shifted its strategy in Syria following the Oct. 7 attacks, abandoning the “rules of the game” that had characterized previous strikes there. The sources said Israel was “no longer cautious” about inflicting heavy casualties on Hezbollah in Syria. Laila Bassam, Suleiman Al-Khalidi, and Maya Gebeily report for Reuters.
War on Gaza: Israel’s killing of women and children bodes ill for the world.
Today, as Israel’s war on Gaza continues, we have seen a very concerning targeting of women and children, thousands of whom have been killed in air strikes. This strategy aims to break, subjugate and even destroy the population or group to which they belong.
Within this abhorrent reality, we have heard the perpetrators justify their violence. Israel’s blatant incitement of hatred and violence against Palestinians, including women and children, has stood out in its degree of dehumanisation. Members of the Israeli government and society have made it clear that they consider women and children part of “the enemy” that should be destroyed.
Disturbingly, there seems to be absolute impunity for crimes committed against civilians. Perhaps that should not come as a surprise. We have seen the consequences clearly in recent days in both Sudan and Palestine, where the international justice system has failed to hold perpetrators accountable.
Red Sea is today’s arena for clash of African-Arab power politics
For the Arab Gulf kingdoms, the Horn of Africa is a strategic perimeter. They want to minimize political threats — some are hostile to Islamists, all want to suppress democracy movements. Anticipating a post-carbon and food insecure world, the Gulf States want to possess rich farmlands. Each has its own vision of African client states that will do their bidding.
The US-Israeli war on journalists in Gaza
The systematic and deliberate massacre of al-Dahdouh’s family and the repeated efforts to kill him are part of a deliberate Israeli policy of murdering journalists. As of Sunday, the number of journalists killed by Israel over the past three months stood at 109, a figure that grew to 111 by Monday with the murder of two more journalists Abdullah Breis and Mohammad Abu Dayer.
A Palestinian journalist loses another son in an Israeli strike, but vows to keep reporting
“Israel first said it lethally targeted a car carrying journalists in Gaza because there was a terrorist in the car. Now it says that the use by a journalist of a drone made it “look like” they were terrorists. Targeting of civilians is illegal.
The first response from the Israeli military after killing Shireen Abu Akleh was “they were armed with cameras”.
In a makeshift funeral service on a packed sidewalk in southern Gaza, Wael Dahdouh fought back tears as he led a communal prayerover a body draped in a white burial shroud covered with a blue press jacket.
Dahdouh’s 27-year-old son, Hamza Dahdouh, on Sunday became the latest Palestinian journalist killed in an Israeli airstrike, and the latest searing loss for the veteran reporter. Yet after joining mourners who wailed and prayed over the death of his son, the elder Dahdouh — Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief who has become a symbol for many during this war of both personal tragedy and defiant perseverance — vowed to continue his work.
“It is true that the pain of losing someone is very difficult and when it is about your eldest son after the death of the family, then it becomes even more difficult,” he told an NBC News crew in Gaza later Sunday, as he sat with grieving relatives to receive condolences.
“In the end, this does not change anything of reality, and will not change any of our decisions. We are going to proceed as long as we are alive and breathing. As long as we are able to do this duty and deliver this message,” Dahdouh said.