Nine Israeli Defense Forces soldiers and commanders were killed recently in fighting in Gaza City, the IDF said Wednesday.
IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a briefing that “today there is a heavy feeling of loss,” but he also said that Israel’s combat strategy “remains consistent” despite the casualties.
The soldiers who died were a part of the Golani Brigade, which was fighting with Hamas militants firing and throwing explosives from within a residential building, the military said.
Meanwhile in Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden met with families of hostages.
Biden on Wednesday also offered his harshest criticism yet of Israel’s right-wing government, saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has to change, and ... this government in Israel is making it very difficult for him to move.” The U.S. has repeatedly expressed concern over the number of civilian casualties in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
At the United Nations, the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. If follows an unsuccessful effort by the Security Council on the issue, which the U.S. vetoed.
In the General Assembly vote, the U.S. and eight other nations, including Israel, voted against it. The resolution passed in the General Assembly but is not binding.
Tzipi Hotovely, Israel’s ambassador to the U.K., said during an interview with Sky News that the government would not accept a two-state solution following the war.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Wednesday that the U.S. will continue to make clear they see a need for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
“There can be no lasting peace and security in the region without meeting the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people,” Miller said.
This live blog is now closed. For the most recent updates, click here.
‘God help us’: Displaced Gazans who fled bombardment now face health crisis in a makeshift tent city
TEL AVIV — Women, children and the elderly are among the thousands of displaced people living in a huge, makeshift tent city sprawled across the desert in southern Gaza.
Some live in unfinished concrete structures, others are sheltering under plastic sheets and tents. Laundry is done in buckets. Cooking, outside on makeshift, wood-fired metal stoves. Many walked miles to get to the camp on the outskirts of the city of Rafah, the blisters on their feet still visible from perilous journeys amid regular Israeli bombardment, the trauma etched on their faces.
Fifteen-year-old Rohifa Ramza Baker told an NBC News crew earlier this week that she wondered whether it would be better “for me to die here instead of living this black life.”
“This is our life. We are living in a tent at the Egyptian border,” she said. “May God help us. May God help us.”
In a makeshift tent city three miles from southern Gaza's border with Egypt, thousands of displaced Gazans are running from bombs dropped on the strip by Israel. This is where the Israeli Defense Forces say they should be safe.
While they bathe in plastic buckets, dirty water could become the next "big killer" in Gaza. Dr. Ahmed Al-Farah said his hospital is overrun with some of the "most serious gastroenteritis" cases they've ever seen due to lack of sanitation and filthy water.
Children line the hallways of the hospital, waiting to be seen. One mother describes her son's condition: diarrhea, stomach poisoning and flu like symptoms.
For others who have been displaced, medication is running out as they worry if they'll have somewhere to return to once the bombs stop falling.
Israel’s army website hacked by a pro-Palestinian group
JERUSALEM — Israel’s army website was briefly hacked today by a pro-Palestinian group that warned of more attacks against Israeli forces, including further cyberattacks. The army confirmed the hack.
In a short letter that covered the main page of the Israeli army website, the group, calling itself “Anonymous Jo,” said the military’s “arrogance and injustice toward our people in Gaza will only harm you through terror, killing and war, whether by land, air or electronically.”
The letter went on to call for the “liberation of Palestine.” Little is known about Anonymous Jo, although the group or individual behind the attack indicated that they are of Jordanian origin.
“From your brothers in Jordan to our people in Gaza and Palestine,” one of the lines read. Jordan, which borders the occupied West Bank, has a large Palestinian population and the public is very sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians.
IDF spokesperson says military is 'creative' in damaging Hamas tunnels
The Israeli military will use a "creative variety of ways" to destroy Hamas tunnels, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said during a briefing today after being asked directly whether the military was flooding tunnels.
"Some of these ways are tactical activity, using some kind of tool to get the terrorists out of the tunnels and some permanent destruction so that the tunnel cannot function," Hagari said. "The more ways the better, it is wrong to give the enemy the information where and in what place."
A U.S. official told NBC News yesterday that the Israeli military began using seawater to flood underground tunnels, where it is believed Hamas leadership is hiding. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
NBC News previously reported that Israel was considering this tactic, though critics argued it may exacerbate the current humanitarian crisis after the Palestinian Water Authority warned it could damage Gaza's underground aquifer.
‘It’s my responsibility to take care of her,’ says Israeli of her sister, held hostage by Hamas
The only way Yarden Gonen feels she can help her sister, who is still being held hostage by Hamas, is to continue to speak up and hope that another hostage release deal will come as soon as possible.
“It’s my responsibility to take care of her, her life, her health, her well-being,” Gonen said. “And right now she’s out of my reach.”
Smashed toys and candy store fire raises questions over Israeli military’s conduct
As Israel faces increasing international pressure over its intensive assault on Gaza, videos have emerged that raise questions over the conduct of its troops on the ground.
One video, apparently taken by soldiers themselves over the past week, shows Israeli troops setting fire to items in what they say is a candy factory in the Gaza Strip. They joke that the fire represents “the second candle of Hanukkah,” which would date it Dec. 8. In another video, a soldier is seen breaking children’s toys and gifts in a store.
The incidents may prove to be a relative footnote in a campaign in which 18,000 people have been killed and another 50,000 or so wounded, according to local officials. Israel’s military would also not be the first accused of acting in mocking, callous or malicious ways while on the battlefield, with Americans and countless others documented doing similar things.
But while the videos show just a handful of the tens of thousands of IDF troops estimated in Gaza, they nevertheless dent the image that Israel is trying to present to the world: that this is a just war against Hamas by the “most moral army in the world,” to use Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s words, whose troops are doing their solemn best to prevent civilian casualties.
There can be 'no lasting peace and security' without Palestinian state, State Department says
The U.S. will continue to make clear to Israel the need for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state despite being in disagreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a post-war future, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said today.
Miller said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will continue to make the case to Israeli officials that this is not just a moral decision, but a practical step forward. He added that "there can be no lasting peace and security in the region without meeting the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.”
"We believe that is not just in the interests of the Palestinian people, but in the long-term security interests of the Israeli people," Miller said.
Netanyahu said in a public address yesterday that he has disagreements with the U.S. on Gaza's post-war future, saying that the Palestinian Authority cannot be allowed to take over the enclave after the fall of Hamas. Israel's ambassador to the U.K. said in a Sky News interview that Israel does not accept the idea of a two-state solution following the war.
Biden understands the 'irrepressible ache' for hostage families during the holidays
President Joe Biden was grateful that the families of the Americans held hostage in Gaza gave him their time today, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said during a briefing.
"But as we all prepare for the holiday season that's already upon us, we would do well to remember that for them, there's going to be an empty chair at the table," Kirby said. "There's going to be a still and a silence in the room. And there's going to be irrepressible ache and worry and fear."
Biden and his team understand that ache, Kirby said, and asked people to keep those families in their thoughts. The president was "moved by their stories, by the love they feel, by the hope that they still harbor."
Netanyahu tells security forces that the world is watching to see who wins
TEL AVIV — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told security forces that they are an essential part of the war's victory during a joint assessment with Israeli Security Agency Director Ronen Bar.
"The crushing victory over Hamas will provide many advantages, as well as considerable deterrent power and persuasive power — also regarding the rest of the world sitting up in the stands," Netanyahu said. "They are all sitting there wanting to see who will win. It's that simple."
During his speech, the prime minister said that the fight is difficult but that Israel is determined to eliminate Hamas.
"I don't think we have an alternative; I know you don't either," he said.
IDF says it's identified 116 rocket launches from humanitarian corridor
The IDF says that 116 rocket launches have been identified from inside of the humanitarian corridor it's established for the flow of aid in Gaza.
According to the IDF, the rockets were targeting Israel but at least 38 fell within Gaza's borders. NBC News has not independently verified the IDF's claims.
"Hamas continues to use the humanitarian zone to carry out terrorist activities, further endangering the lives of civilians in Gaza civilians and the State of Israel," the military said.