Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 72?

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi held a situational assessment on the ground in Gaza on Sunday during a visit to troops of the 99th Division.

Addressing the soldiers, Halevi referred to the accidental shooting on Friday of three Israeli hostages taken by Hamas, saying, "This was a very difficult and painful incident, but one that could very easily have not happened.

"We have set three goals: to dismantle Hamas, to restore security to the residents of the Gaza border area, and the third mission is to recover the hostages."

Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz, and Samer Talalka were all killed by IDF soldiers who opened fire as the hostages approached them as they exited the building where they were kept hostages.

The three were stripped to the waist, with raised hands and waving a white flag. The hostages also shouted out "help" in Hebrew but were misidentified as a threat and shot. 

Signs with 'SOS,' and 'help,' seen in the Gaza building where three Israeli hostages were killed on December 15, 2023 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

After the incident, IDF troops discovered the hostages had written "help" and "SOS" in Hebrew and English inside the building in case they were found.

"Three people walked out during this incident," Halevi said. "They took into account that they were taking a risk approaching IDF troops and, to reduce the risk, they really thought about [what to do.] They took off their shirts so that no one would think they had explosives, and they held a white cloth on a pole to identify themselves. They spoke in Hebrew. They called for help."

Four Palestinians were killed in a drone strike by the IDF amid clashes in the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm in the northern West Bank early Sunday morning, according to Israeli media.

According to Palestinian reports, several drone strikes targeted a number of locations in Nur Shams overnight as Israeli forces operated in the town.

The Jordanian Transportation Ministry denied reports that a land route for shipments from the Persian Gulf to Israel in order to bypass the Houthi blockade had been established passing through Jordan on Saturday, according to Jordan's state news agency.

On Saturday, Walla reported that a pilot for a new land route for trucks to travel from the ports in Dubai through Saudi Arabia and Jordan to Israel had been completed successfully, and that the first ten trucks of the initiative had completed the route.

The initiative is managed through the Israeli cargo transport application Trucknet. The app matches truck owners with customers who need transport. In early December, Trucknet announced the signing of a cooperation agreement with the UAE-based Puretrans FZCO and the Dubai-based DP WORLD to transport cargo from the Gulf to the port of Haifa and back.

Freight transit over land quicker than over sea

The project received the approval of the Defense Ministry and the government. The route from Dubai to Haifa is 2550 km and takes four days, while the route from Bahrain to Haifa is 1,700 km and takes two days and seven hours.

Houthi military helicopter flies over the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023 (credit: Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS)

The trip costs about $1.2 per kilometer, which is a little more expensive than sea freight usually, but cheaper than freight prices at the moment, according to Walla. Delivery over land is also faster, meaning this route may significantly shorten the transport time for companies in Dubai and India to transport products to Europe through Israel, taking about 10 days less than the trip through the Suez Canal.

Sources in Jordan's Transportation Ministry told the Jordan News Agency on Saturday that "there is no truth at all" to the reports of cargo being transported through Jordan.

The Jordanian sources claimed that the reports were "intended to confuse the firm Jordanian position regarding what is happening in the Gaza Strip in terms of the brutal Israeli aggression."

IDF Master-Sgt. Joseph Avner Doran and Sgt.-First Class Shalev Zaltsman fell in combat in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit announced on Sunday morning.

Doran, 26, from Jerusalem served in an operational mobility unit in Shayetet 13 and fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip.

Zaltsman, 24, from Ramat Yishai served in the 6623rd Battalion in the 55th Paratroopers Brigade and fell in battle in the southern Gaza Strip.

After two months of war, during which almost all commercial air travel to and from Israel has been suspended, the Lufthansa Group has announced the return of flights to the country.

The group, which includes Lufthansa Airlines, Austrian Airlines, and Swiss, is expected to return to Israel on January 8, 2024.

Lufthansa Airlines will offer four weekly flights from Frankfurt and three weekly flights from Munich. Austrian Airlines plans to offer eight weekly flights and Swiss to offer five weekly flights.

In this first phase of reopening, the Lufthansa Group will offer a total of 20 weekly routes to and from Tel Aviv-- approximately 30 percent of the normal flight schedule. 

"Safety is always a priority for the airlines in the Lufthansa Group," the group said. "We continue to closely monitor the security situation in Israel and are in close contact with the local authorities. Expect possible adjustments to the flight schedule due to changing conditions."

El Al airplane (credit: El Al Spokesman's Unit)

Until now, almost all travel has been on Israeli airlines

Until now, almost all wartime air travel in and out of Israel has been through the country's national airline, El Al, or the smaller Israeli airlines Arkia and Israir.

For flights east rather than west, Etihad and Fly Dubai are operating daily between Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Tel Aviv. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Saturday that it participated in a joint United Nations mission to deliver health supplies and assess the situation at the Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

The team delivered medicines and surgical supplies, orthopedic surgery equipment, and anesthesia materials and drugs to the hospital which was "currently minimally functional," the WHO said.

About 67% of young Americans between the ages of 18-24 believe that Jews as a class are oppressors and should be treated as oppressors, according to a new poll conducted by Harris Insights and Analytics and Harvard University's Center for American Political Studies (CAPS).

The poll, conducted among about 2,000 registered voters in the US, additionally found that 51% of 18-24 year olds believe that the long-term answer for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is for "Israel to be ended and given to Hamas and the Palestinians," although another question on the poll, asking if Israel has the right to exist, found that 69% of 18-24 year olds believe that Israel does have the right to exist.

Despite the data above, bipartisan support for Israel among Americans in general remains high, according to the poll. Some 63% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans believe that the US should be supporting Israel in the war against Hamas.

Support for aid to Israel that was recently approved is high as well among Democrats and Republicans, although more than half of independent voters oppose such aid.

Additionally, 84% of Americans said that they believe that the October 7 massacre was a terrorist attack, with 73% saying it was genocidal in nature and 73% saying it was not justified by the grievances of Palestinians.

Children's toys and personal items lie on the bloodstained floor of a child's bedroom, following a deadly infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Kibbutz Beeri in southern Israel October 17, 2023. (credit: RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS)

On October 7, Hamas launched a brutal attack on Israel and took the lives of 1200 people. In addition to the murder of civilians, Hamas abducted over 200 individuals - some of whom were US citizens.

Among Americans between the ages of 18-24, 73% said they thought it was a terrorist attack and 66% said it was genocidal in nature, but 60% also said that it could be justified by the grievances of Palestinians.

Additionally, while 81% of all Americans said they support Israel over Hamas, only 50% of Americans between the ages of 18-24 felt the same.

Americans believe Israel trying to avoid civilian casualties in defensive war

When asked if they think Israel is trying to avoid civilian casualties in the war against Hamas, 69% of Americans said that they believe Israel is trying to avoid such casualties. The percentage of Americans between the ages of 18-24 who thought the same was actually higher than the national average at 70%.

The majority of Americans (63%) also believe that Israel is just trying to defend itself, although the majority of Americans between the ages of 18-24 and between the ages of 25-34 believe that Israel is committing genocide.

Additionally, the majority of Americans (81%) said that Israel has a right to defend itself against terror attacks by "launching air strikes on targets in heavily populated Palestinian areas with warnings to those citizens." In contrast to the results on some other questions, this option had widespread support among young Americans, with 80% of 18-24 year olds saying that Israel does have the right to defend itself in such a way. This percentage was slightly lower among 25-44 year olds.

The majority of respondents (69%) said they were either following the war very closely or somewhat closely. In the youngest age category, 81% said they were following the war. In the next ascending age category, aged 25-34, 68% said they were following the war. Three-quarters of respondents aged 35-44, 58% of those aged 45-54. 62% aged 55-64 and 76% aged 65+ said the same.

Most young Americans support ceasefire that would leave hostages in Gaza

The poll additionally found that 67% of Americans between the ages of 18-24 are in favor of an unconditional ceasefire which would leave the hostages in Gaza and Hamas in power. Among the totality of Americans, 64% said that a ceasefire should only happen once the hostages are all released and Hamas is removed from power.

A similar question asking if Israel should cease all hostilities now or keep going until Hamas is defeated and the hostages are released found that 57% of Americans between the ages of 18-24 think Israel should cease all hostilities now. Among the totality of Americans, 63% think Israel should keep going until Hamas is defeated and the hostages are released.

Additionally, 74% of Americans said they believe Hamas wants to commit genocide against the Jews in Israel, although only 58% of Americans between the ages of 18-24 said the same.

When asked if they think Hamas is an organization that can be negotiated with to create peace, 76% of Americans between the ages of 18-24 said that they believe they can be negotiated with. Among the totality of Americans, 64% said that they believe Hamas is dedicated only to the destruction of Israel.

Most Americans (66%) believe that Hamas is not supported by the majority of Gazans, although most Americans between the ages of 18-24 (64%) do believe that the majority of Gazans support Hamas. Additionally, the vast majority of Americans (80%) believe that Hamas uses civilians as human shields. 

Most Americans (75%) also said that they believe that Hamas, not Israel, is primarily responsible for putting civilians in Gaza in harm's way. Additionally, most Americans (73%) said Hamas is primarily responsible for triggering the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, although a slight majority of Americans 18-24 said that Israel is primarily responsible.

The vast majority of Americans (81%) believe that Hamas should be removed from running Gaza, and a majority of Americans between the ages of 18-24 (58%) feel the same. Americans are split on who should run Gaza if Hamas is removed, with 34% saying Israel should administer Gaza, 27% saying the Palestinian Authority should, and 38% saying a new authority set up with Arab nations should.

Nearly half (45%) of respondents between the ages of 18-24 answered that Israel should administer the Gaza Strip, followed by 41% saying the PA should, and 14% saying a new authority should. Among 25-44 year olds, the largest portion of respondents also supported Israel administering the Strip, while among Americans 45 years old and older, most supported the establishment of a new authority.

Americans aware of growing antisemitism in US

In terms of antisemitism in the US, 75% of respondents said that they think antisemitism is growing in the US and 65% said they think discrimination against Muslims is growing in the US. Additionally, 68% think that antisemitism is prevalent in university campuses and 76% said Jewish students on campuses are facing harassment over being Jewish.

When asked "if a student calls for the genocide of Jews should that student be told that they are free to call for genocide or should such students face actions for violating university rules?" 53% of Americans between the ages of 18-24 said that such a student should be told that they are free to call for genocide. Among the totality of American respondents, 74% said that such a student should face actions for violating university rules.

In comparison, 70% of Americans between the ages of 18-24 said that protesters on campuses calling for the genocide of Jews does constitute hate speech. Among the totality of American respondents, 79% said that such calls constitute hate speech.

Additionally, 71% of Americans between the ages of 18-24 believe that calling for the genocide of Jews on campuses constitutes harassment. Among the totality of American respondents, 82% said that such calls constitute harassment.

When asked who they think is responsible for antisemitism on campuses, 24% of Americans said it's always been there, 20% said students, 18% said left wing political movements, 11% said university presidents, another 11% said foreign funding of universities, 7% said university professors, and 8% said that none of the above were responsible.

Americans unhappy with university presidents' response to antisemitism

While most Americans (62%) said that they felt that university presidents did not go far enough to condemn antisemitism on their campuses during a recent congressional testimony, 67% of Americans between the ages of 18-24 said that they thought that the presidents did go far enough.

Additionally, 74% of Americans said that "university presidents who said that calls for the genocide of Jews on their campuses are not necessarily a violation of their school’s code of conduct and harassment policies because it 'depends on the context' or 'whether speech turns into conduct'" should resign. Among Americans between the ages of 18-24, 73% said that such university presidents should resign.

Approval of university presidents in general was low among Americans, with 64% saying that university presidents were failing to lead the next generation. Americans between the ages of 18-24 were split on the matter, with 51% saying university presidents are showing the right leadership and 49% saying they were failing to lead.

Most Americans believe US should respond to attacks by Iran Axis

The poll also asked respondents if the US should respond to attacks its undergoing from Iran-backed proxies in the region with strikes against these groups or if it should just defend itself, with 67% of Americans saying the US should respond with strikes. Among Americans between the ages of 18-24, 58% said that the US should respond with strikes.

When asked if US President Joe Biden has been acting forcefully enough against such attacks against US forces, Americans were split 50-50. Additionally, most Americans believe Biden's policy on Iran has been unsuccessful, although a slight majority of Americans between the ages of 18-24 believe it has been successful.

Danielle Greyman-Kennard contributed to this report.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin took off from the US for a visit to Israel, Bahrain, and Qatar on Saturday night.

I’m headed to Israel, Bahrain, and Qatar to underscore U.S. commitments to strengthening regional security and stability, and working with partners and allies to advance defense capabilities. pic.twitter.com/PyhTOrvvFZ

— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) December 16, 2023

"I’m headed to Israel, Bahrain, and Qatar to underscore US commitments to strengthening regional security and stability, and working with partners and allies to advance defense capabilities," wrote Austin on X.

A strong continued and sustained military campaign is the only way to destroy Hamas and ensure that captives in Gaza are freed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said as talks continued with Qatar about a hostage deal.

“Without the military pressure, we would not have been able to produce the [former] agreement which resulted in the release of 110 captives,” Netanyahu told reporters in Tel Aviv in a joint press event with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz.

“Only the continuation of the military pressure will lead to the release of all our captives,” the prime minister stated.

“The instructions I give to the negotiating team are based on this military pressure – and without it we have nothing,” he said.

Netanyahu spoke one day after the IDF mistakenly shot three of the hostages in Gaza after they had apparently escaped their captors. The soldiers believed the three Israeli men were Hamas terrorists and not captives, even though they waved a white flag and called out in Hebrew.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears at Tel Aviv's Kirya base to meet with the war cabinet. (credit: MAARIV)

Netanyahu rejects criticism of maximum-pressure strategy

The event raised questions about the reliance on the IDF’s military campaign to secure the release of over 120 remaining captives in Gaza.

Netanyahu pushed back at that criticism on Saturday night, stating that he held fast to this strategy and had relayed it to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan when he visited Israel last Thursday and Friday.

Israel will press forward with its “military and diplomatic efforts to bring the hostages home safely,” the premier said.

He spoke after Mossad chief David Barnea met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe late on Friday, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, as attention turned to a possible new pause to the Gaza war that would accompany a new hostage deal.

The meeting between Barnea and Al Thani was apparently the first between senior officials from the two countries since the last deal fell apart at the end of November.

Qatar mediated that agreement together with Egypt, and is working on trying to create a second one.

Israel has been under intense international pressure to halt the war. Sullivan spoke with Netanyahu about moving from a high-intensity to a low-intensity military campaign, even as it backed Israel’s right to wage war against Hamas.

The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 infiltration into southern Israel, in which terrorists killed over 1,200 people and seized some 250 hostages.

“We are at war for our existence. We must continue the war until we are victorious, despite international pressures and despite the unbearably heavy price that the war exacts from us in the loss of our cherished sons and daughters,” Netanyahu said.

Total victory is the only way to ensure that soldiers have not fallen in vain, he stated.

“We are more determined than ever to continue until the end – until we eliminate Hamas, until we return all our captives, and until we ensure that in Gaza there is no longer any factor that educates about terrorism, finances terrorism, and executes terrorism.”

He pushed back at the US vision that a revitalized Palestinian Authority would control Gaza.

“I will not allow us to replace Hamastan with Fatahstan, or to replace Khan Yunis with Jenin,” Netanyahu stated.

“The debate between Hamas and Fatah is not about whether to eliminate the State of Israel, but only about how to do so,” Netanyahu exclaimed.

The Palestinian Authority has “simply refused to condemn the [October 7] massacre, and some of them even glorify it with relish,” he said, asking how can it rule Gaza after the war: “Have we learned nothing? As prime minister of Israel, I will not let this happen.”

Netanyahu: I am proud that I prevented a Palestinian state

After Hamas is destroyed, the Gaza Strip will be demilitarized and remain under Israeli security control, he stressed.

Netanyahu warned that Israel did not want to repeat the mistake of the 1993 Oslo Accords, which allowed for the creation of a Palestinian Authority and set Israel on a path to a two-state resolution to the conflict.

US President Joe Biden and his top officials have spoken about the importance of returning to a two-state peace process.

Netanyahu, however, stated: “I am proud that I prevent the creation of a Palestinian state” because now everyone understands what would have happened if this had occurred.

He referenced the security cabinet’s decision to open the Kerem Shalom crossing for humanitarian goods, stressing that it was done in conjunction with a US promise to renovate Egypt’s crossing into Gaza. Once that renovation project is completed, the Kerem Shalom crossing will be closed, he said.

Netanyahu also stressed that a solution had to be found for Hezbollah’s threat against Israel on the northern border, explaining that the situation cannot be left as it is, given that the close to 100,000 Israelis who fled that area have to be allowed to return safely.

Al Jazeera is preparing a legal file to send to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over what it called "the assassination" of one of its cameramen in Gaza, the Qatari-based network said on Saturday.

The cameraman, Samer Abu Daqqa, was killed by a drone strike on Friday while reporting on the earlier bombing of a school used as a shelter for displaced people in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Qatar-based broadcaster.

Al Jazeera said Israeli drones fired missiles at the school that left Abu Daqqa with fatal injuries. Reuters could not verify the details of the incident.

"The Network established a joint working group, which comprises of its international legal team and international legal experts who will collaboratively initiate the process of compiling a comprehensive file for submission to the court's prosecutor," Al Jazeera said in a statement.

"The legal file will also encompass recurrent attacks on the Network's crews working and operating in the occupied Palestinian territories and instances of incitement against them."

AL JAZEERA headquarters in Doha, Qatar: The suit that Al Jazeera has filed at the ICC could shine an embarrassing spotlight on the network itself, says the writer. (credit: Imad Creidi/Reuters)

IDF: Covering Gaza "has inherent risks," but we never target journalists 

Commenting on the incident, the Israeli army said in a statement it has "never, and will never" deliberately target journalists. It also said that remaining in an active combat zone during exchanges of fire "has inherent risks."

The ICC already has an ongoing investigation into any alleged crimes within its jurisdiction committed on Palestinian territory and by Palestinians on the territory of Israel.

In 2021, ICC judges ruled that the court has jurisdiction after the Palestinian authorities signed up to the court in 2015 and were granted United Nations observer state status.

Israel does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC over the Palestinian territories and has previously refused to cooperate with the court.

The ICC office of the prosecutor does not typically comment on the details of ongoing investigations.

The 10 weeks of war in Gaza have taken a heavy toll on journalists, with at least 64 reporters and media workers killed, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday.

The CPJ called on international authorities to "conduct an independent investigation into the attack to hold the perpetrators to account."

An Israeli tank crew killed Reuters visuals journalist Issam Abdallah and wounded six reporters in Lebanon on Oct. 13 by firing two shells in quick succession from Israel while the journalists were filming cross-border shelling, a Reuters investigation found.

The Israeli military said the incident took place in an active combat zone and was under review.