Israel-Hamas War: What happened on Day 67?

The IDF has begun pumping seawater into Hamas' tunnel complex in Gaza, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday citing unnamed US officials, adding that the process would likely take weeks.

Some Biden administration officials have said the process could help destroy the tunnels, where Israel believes the terrorist group is hiding hostages, fighters and munitions, the Journal reported. Other officials have expressed concerns the seawater would endanger Gaza's fresh water supply, the newspaper reported.

"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 UN event to mark the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Tuesday.

Al-Maliki accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war against around 1 million people in Gaza and condemned the "international failure" to respect Palestinians' rights at a UN meeting in Geneva.

Since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip following Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, media outlets have been filled with official reports and unofficial claims about the progress of the fighting.

However, there have been few stories from individual Israeli soldiers about the realities of the war on the ground.

Israel enjoys US support for its goals of destroying Hamas and recovering hostages held by the group but the allies differ about what might follow the Gaza war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

Reiterating his past refusal to countenance a return to Gaza rule of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority under President Mahmoud Abbas, Netanyahu said in a statement that Gaza "will be neither Hamas-stan nor 'Fatah-stan'." Fatah is Abbas's faction.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday he will discuss with Israel officials their timetable for the war in Gaza in upcoming talks.

Amid growing international pressure for Israel to limit civilian Palestinian deaths in Gaza, Sullivan said at a Wall Street Journal forum that he will discuss with the Israelis their post-war plan for Gaza.

The IDF, Shin Bet, and Border Police launched a counter-terrorism operation in the city of Jenin and the Jenin refugee camp on Monday night, seizing weapons and ammunition and demolishing an explosives laboratory, according to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.

The operation was launched overnight with bulldozers entering the city and camp to dig up and uncover IEDs buried under roads in the area. The forces found weapons, ammunition, and explosives as they entered the city and camp, as well as tunnels and an observation war room.

Attacks on commercial vessels by Yemen’s Houthis are a strategic threat to global shipping routes and seaborne traffic to Israel although there has been no direct impact on port activity, Israel’s Port of Ashdod said on Tuesday.

The Iran-backed Houthis said on Tuesday they carried out a military operation against a Norwegian commercial tanker in their latest protest against Israel's bombardment of Gaza, underlining the risks of a conflict that has shaken the Middle East.

"We emphasize that we are doing everything in order to act fully and to maintain open gateways to Israel despite the challenges of the war," the port said in a statement.

Israel relies on its maritime trade for imports and its exports. Ashdod in the south and Haifa in the north are the country's biggest ports.

The smaller port of Ashkelon, which is the closest to Gaza, has shut for the moment due to the war.

18,412 people have been killed and 50,100 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 7th, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday.

Anti-tank missiles were fired toward Baram in northern Israel on Tuesday afternoon, hitting a building in the area, according to Israeli media reports.

No injuries were reported as a result of the incident. Hezbollah took responsibility for the missile fire soon after the attack.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian slammed Ukraine in response to a question, claiming that Ukraine is a potential “black market” for weapons.

The Iranian diplomat was at the Doha Forum speaking about Iran’s policies. He admitted that Iran “used to provide all kinds of support to Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.” He then said that these terror groups “if you ask me where they can obtain weapons, then one of the black markets where they can get them is Ukraine. Very easily, without much effort they can get whatever [they need] in Ukraine.”

Russian state media used the Iranian foreign minister’s comments to push the headline: “Hezbollah, Hamas able to purchase all weapons in Ukraine with ease — top Iranian diplomat.”

Iran vs. Ukraine

The slander against Ukraine is in contrast to the fact Ukraine has condemned the Hamas attack on Israel, while Russia has not. Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky condemned the Hamas attack on October 7.

Palestinian fighters from the armed wing of Hamas take part in a military parade to mark the anniversary of the 2014 war with Israel, near the border in the central Gaza Strip, July 19, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA)

“Anyone who resorts to terror commits a crime against the world. Whoever finances terror is committing a crime against the world. The world must stand united and in solidarity so that terror does not attempt to break or subjugate life anywhere and at any moment,” Zelensky said at the time. Russia did not condemn the attack.

Iran has backed Hamas, Hezbollah, PIJ, the Houthis and other proxies in the region and called them on them to increase attacks on the US and Israel.

Hossein Amir Abdollahian was speaking in Qatar. Doha has hosted Hamas for many years. The Iranian diplomat has met with Hamas leaders in Qatar over the last two months. The Iranian diplomat was speaking at the Doha Forum.

Russia’s state TASS media highlighted his comments against Ukraine. Russia did this because it invaded Ukraine last year. Iran supplies Russia with drones used against Ukraine. “Lebanon-based Shiite organization Hezbollah and Gaza-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas can easily procure whatever weapons they need in Ukraine via illicit purchases, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said,” Tass media reported.

It quoted the Iranian foreign minister: "You see, in the past - I wish to be absolutely frank with you - we used to provide all kinds of support to Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad while taking into account [both] international law and the conditions of confronting the occupier (implying Israel - TASS)," Abdollahian said at the Doha Forum.

The Iranian was answering a question about Tehran’s support for the terror groups. "If you ask me where they can obtain weapons, then one of the black markets where they can get them is Ukraine. Very easily, without much effort they can get whatever [they need] in Ukraine," Abdollahian said. He then claimed that Hamas and Hezbollah can produce their own weapons.

The Russian statement then described the Hamas attack on Israel as “militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly.”

The Iranian foreign minister’s comments bashing Ukraine were not widely reported outside of Russian media. However, it is clear that the comments did take place.

The Iranian minister’s comments and Russia highlighting them raise questions. Iran and Russia have worked closely together in recent years. Iran supplies Russia with drones and Iran seeks to acquire other defense technologies from Russia. Russian media wants to highlight anti-Ukraine views.

The Iranian foreign minister is calculated in his comments. He made them in Doha, where Hamas leaders reside, in a major forum. He sought to portray Ukraine as a black market for weapons as a way of slamming the West and Ukraine. These comments were designed to gain Iran favors in Russia. It was also designed to deflect critique of Iran for backing terror groups and instability in the region.

Iran was basically trying to imply that if extremist groups acquire weapons today, they are also getting them from countries linked to the West. The goal here was to accomplish several things at the same time; to deflect critique from Iran, to deflect critique of Hamas and Hezbollah, to bolster Iran-Russia ties, and to slam Ukraine in a public forum in Doha.