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What we know
- U.S. and Israel are being increasingly isolated internationally amid growing calls for a cease-fire in Gaza and ahead of a Two U.S. officials say there is limited hope in the Biden administration that the U.S. can secure another pause in fighting.
- President Biden offered his harshest public criticism yet of the Israeli government since Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack amid growing international condemnation of of Israel's war in Gaza. Yesterday, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly called for an immediate humanitarian pause in violence.
- Amid growing international condemnation of of Israel's war in Gaza, Close to 18,000 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the territory's health officials. Meanwhile, 90% of Gaza’s 2.2 million people have been displaced, and aid agencies estimate that half of the population faces starvation.
- Israeli military officials say 97 soldiers have been killed during the country's fight in Gaza, which came after Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and seized about 240 hostages Oct. 7.
- One of the first Israeli hostages released by Hamas, Yocheved Lifshitz, told NBC News in an interview that "time is running out" for others still being kept captive. "They need to get out today. Otherwise, they won’t survive," she warned.
- NBC News’ Richard Engel, Raf Sanchez, Hala Gorani, Hallie Jackson and Chantal Da Silva are reporting from the region.
Palestinian minister accuses Israel of starving Gazans; Israel calls charge ‘obscene’
GENEVA — The Palestinian foreign minister on Tuesday accused Israel of starving Gaza, a charge swiftly rejected by an Israeli official, as the U.N. human rights chief said the battered enclave was on the verge of finding itself “well beyond breakdown."
“As we speak, at least 1 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, half of them children, are starving, not because of a natural disaster or because of lack of generous assistance waiting at the border,” Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told a U.N. event to mark the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“No, they are starving because of Israel’s deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war against the people it occupied.”
In response, an Israeli official told Reuters in Jerusalem: “This is, of course, obscene ... (a) blood-libellous, delusional level of allegations.” Israel was encouraging increased shipments of food into Gaza from Egypt, which also borders the Palestinian enclave, the official said, blaming lags on a “bottle neck."
U.S. Defense Secretary will visit Israel, Bahrain and Qatar to seek maritime protection
The Pentagon announced Tuesday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will travel to Israel, Bahrain and Qatar next week as the U.S. continues to press allies to commit to an international maritime task force to protect commercial ships in the Red Sea as those ships have come under increased attacks.
Austin will also meet with his defense counterparts in Tel Aviv to show continued U.S. support for Israel’s right to defend itself but also press the need for Israel to avoid more civilian casualties in Gaza.
Late Monday, a land-based cruise missile launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen hit the Motor Transport ship STRINDA, causing a fire. The USS Mason, a destroyer, responded to assist the ship.
Israel defense minister says IDF will 'soon' eliminate Hamas infrastructure in Gaza City
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said today that IDF soldiers are operating deep underground in Gaza, "locating Hamas infrastructure and destroying it.”
Hamas’ operations in Gaza City and the northern area of the strip are on the verge of collapsing, according to Gallant’s assessment. Fighting continues in southern Gaza, where the IDF has recently increased its operations.
"We are expanding our achievements, and soon we will eliminate the entirety of Hamas’ infrastructure in Gaza City," Gallant said.
'Hate has no home' at University of Pennsylvania, interim president says
The University of Pennsylvania’s interim president said today that “hate has no home” at the school, following controversy over his predecessor’s comments at a congressional hearing on campus antisemitism.
In a letter to the Penn community, Dr. Larry Jameson, a physician who previously was dean of Penn’s school of medicine, wrote that the last few weeks have been “a profoundly painful chapter” that has caused fear and uncertainty at the university.
“I want to reiterate that every person at Penn should feel safe and be secure in the knowledge that hate has no home here,” Jameson said.
Jameson is taking over after Liz Magill resigned following intense criticism of her response at the congressional questioning about the rise of campus antisemitism.
Asked whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate each school’s code of conduct, Magill responded that the decision would be “context-dependent."
WHO says aid convoy in Gaza was harassed and under attack by gunfire
The World Health Organization reiterated its call to protect humanitarian corridors in Gaza after, it said, an aid convoy was subjected to harassment of staff members and shelling on a convoy in northern Gaza Strip.
A team from WHO was part of a "high-risk mission to Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City" on Saturday. The convoy was formed to deliver medical supplies, as well as transfer critical patients to a hospital in the south, WHO said. It was hit by bullets, and patients were forced to leave ambulances to be searched by armed soldiers.
Two staff members working with the Palestine Red Crescent Society were detained for more than an hour at a checkpoint; one was held at gunpoint, taken away and reportedly "harassed, beaten, stripped and searched," the WHO said. One of the Red Crescent staff members was detained a second time, and the convoy had to leave without him.
"Once released, he was left to walk toward the south with his hands still tied behind his back, and without clothes or shoes," the WHO said.
U.S. pressing for Israel to open Kerem Shalom border crossing for aid into Gaza
The U.S. government is urging Israel to open its border with Gaza at Kerem Shalom as the Rafah crossing cannot meet the needs for Palestinian people in Gaza, the majority of whom are displaced by war, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said today.
"We need the capacity that Kerem Shalom provides — on an emergency basis — to get more food, water, medicine and essentials in to be distributed to Palestinian civilians, and we’re putting that quite urgently to the Israeli government to say we are asking you to do this ASAP because of the nature of the humanitarian situation on the ground," Sullivan said.
A U.S. official told NBC News it is not a new request, but the Israeli government's answer has been that it can build the capacity of Rafah. Biden raised the issue directly with Netanyahu in their last phone call, the official added.
Kerem Shalom, a commercial crossing that connects Israel, Gaza and Egypt, opened today, but only to allow additional security screening for aid that will go through the Rafah crossing. Israel's government has said the move would double aid going into Gaza after the U.N. estimated that half of Gaza's population is starving.
War could inspire hate crimes over the holidays, FBI warns
The Israel-Hamas war may prompt lone-wolf terrorist attacks in the U.S. over the holidays, the FBI and other agencies warned today.
Although the announcement is not in response to any specific plotting activity, targets are likely remain attractive to lone actors inspired by a variety of ideologies because of their accessibility and symbolic natures, the FBI said. The alert was issued jointly with the Department of Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center.
A recent rise in hate crimes means religious gatherings over the winter holidays could prompt attacks on Jewish, Christian, Muslim or Arab communities, the FBI said.
Israeli journalist Tal Schneider: Netanyahu has ‘no vision’ for Gaza after war
Tal Schneider, political correspondent for The Times of Israel, spoke to MSNBC's Katy Tur about Biden’s call for Netanyahu to change government and support a two-state solution.
"That's the biggest problem here, because we have a leader who doesn't have a vision," Schneider said about Israel's plan for Gaza after the war.
U.N. General Assembly votes in favor of cease-fire resolution 153-10; U.S. and Israel vote against
The U.N. General Assembly voted 153-10 in favor of a resolution to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza, days after the U.S. unilaterally vetoed a similar resolution in the Security Council.
There were 23 member states who abstained. The United States and Israel both voted against the resolution's adoption.
An amendment that condemned Hamas Oct. 7 attack failed to pass with a two-third majority vote.
A resolution made in the General Assembly is nonbinding and carries less weight than those made in the Security Council, but is a significant marker of how the international community regards the current situation.
Israeli representative says U.N. cease-fire resolution is 'hypocritical,' would only help Hamas
Gilad Erdan, Israel's representative to the United Nations, described the draft resolution calling for a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza as "hypocritical" and said that it will "only prolong the death and destruction in the region."
"There are no war crimes more heinous than those committed by Hamas," Erdan said. "And those that support this resolution are giving the terrorists a free pass. A cease-fire means one thing and one thing only: ensuring the survival of Hamas."
Holding up a sign with a phone number, Erdan told members of the international body to call Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar if they wanted to demand a cease-fire.
He also criticized the resolution for failing to condemn Hamas' Oct. 7 attack in Israel, though the U.S. representative has proposed an amendment that would do just that. A previous resolution calling for a humanitarian truce passed by the U.N. General Assembly included condemnation language.