Israel News for 12-14-2023

News Update

Rockets were fired at Kiryat Shemona and other locations in the north. The IDF is responding with drone strikes in southern Lebanon.

Heavy combat continues in Shejaiya and Khan Yunis, with the IDF eliminating dozens of terrorists. Over 70 terrorists surrendered with their weapons when they emerged from a hospital in Gaza.

St.-Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Elisha Loewenstern, 38, from Harish, was killed in Gaza.

The deaths of 2 more hostages were announced:

– Tal Haimi, 41, from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, husband and father of 3.

– Joshua Mollel, a 21-year-old agricultural intern from Tanzania.

Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh said yesterday that the group was open to negotiations to end the ongoing war with Israel. He said, “Any arrangement in Gaza or in the Palestinian cause without Hamas or the resistance factions is a delusion.” Moussa Abu Marzouk, a prominent member of Hamas’s political bureau, said that Hamas would be open to recognizing Israel. For more, click here. 

According to US an Axios report, the Biden administration is holding up the sale of more than 20,000 US-made M16 rifles to Israel over concerns about attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said yesterday that the IDF has taken steps to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza, possibly to a greater extent than even the US would do. He highlighted the map the IDF published earlier this month alerting civilians as to which neighborhoods it is planning to attack so that they can evacuate ahead of time and said, “That’s basically telegraphing your punches. There are very few modern militaries in the world that would do that. I don’t know that we would do that.” He also pointed out that Israel has reduced its airstrikes in the south, relying more on ground forces than it did in northern Gaza. Kirby’s comments are meant to soften the comments made by President Biden, who said that Israel was losing global support in the war against Hamas due to “indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza.