Live Updates
In photo: Israeli soldiers prepare to enter Gaza. Since the ground offensive into Gaza late in October, the IDF has lost more than a hundred soldiers, including its first colonel to have fallen in battle.
AFP
On the 70th day of the Israel-Hamas war, the U.S. expressed confidence that the days of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ highest-ranking official in Gaza, are “numbered,” considering how he has American “blood on his hands.”
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the missile attack on a Hong Kong-flagged container ship, the latest in attacks targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea. The rebel army said the vessel was headed to Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has reportedly promised $400,000 for information about Sinwar’s whereabouts as the Israeli army continues to operate in Khan Yunis, the senior Hamas official’s hometown.
Palestinian telecoms providers said Thursday night that communications were down due to continuous Israeli strikes. The latest blackout marks at least the sixth “near-total” collapse in connectivity in the Gaza Strip since the war started.
Iran-backed Hezbollah continues to launch rockets toward Israel. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) has been responding to the launches while also targeting Hamas military infrastructure across Gaza.
Hamas’ massacre of more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals on Oct. 7 marks a significant escalation in the Israel-Palestine conflict history that dates back to the early 1900s.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Mirjana Spoljaric to discuss the inhumane conditions more than 130 remaining hostages in Gaza are suffering in Hamas captivity.