Today was 'the most intense day' of fighting according to the Israeli army, although reports reveal a stark reality about their goal to eliminate Hamas, who call it 'impossible' to do so. In Lebanon, a casualty not yet seen in this conflict.
Thank you for following our LIVE coverage from day 60 of the Hamas-Israel war.
We'll be back tomorrow with more news updates and analysis, right here at L'Orient Today.
🔴BREAKING: Twenty-five people were killed in an Israeli strike on a school in Khan Yunis sheltering displaced Palestinians who fled from violence elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, APF reports, citing the Gaza Health Ministry.
Dozens of wounded, as well as bodies recovered from the rubble of the Ma'an school were taken to Nasser Hospital. Khan Yunis, the largest city in the south of Gaza, has been the target of intense Israeli bombardment for several days and today the Israeli army announced it was operating "in the heart of Khan Yunis."
At least 5,000 Hamas fighters have been killed in the Hamas-Israel war so far, according to three Israeli security officials who spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity.
In the report published earlier today, WP says this death toll still leaves the majority of Hamas' estimated 30,000-strong military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, intact.
This information, which has not been made public until now, reveals that the Israeli military's stated objectives of eliminating Hamas, are far from being achieved.
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange say a report by US researchers suggesting there were investors in Israel who may have profited from prior knowledge of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack was inaccurate and its publication irresponsible.
Research by law professors Robert Jackson Jr from New York University and Joshua Mitts of Columbia University found significant short-selling of shares — when investors bet on share prices to fall — leading up to Hamas' attack.
The activity, the professors said, "exceeded the short-selling that occurred during numerous other periods of crisis" such as the 2008 financial crisis and COVID-19.
UNIFIL Commander in Lebanon, General Aroldo Lazaro says that "any escalation on the border could have dangerous consequences," stressing the importance of "abiding by UN resolution 1701," in an official statement.
Resolution 1701 ended the July 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel and necessitated significant Lebanese Army deployment in the area of southern Lebanon controlled by UNIFIL.
Today saw the first casualty of a Lebanese Army soldier since border clashes between Israel and Hezbollah began on Oct. 8 — the army has so far not been involved in the conflict.
A Syrian national has succumbed to his wounds due to injuries sustained from shrapnel during the artillery barrage that targeted a chicken farm between the southern villages of Zifta and Arnoun. Confirmation comes from a medical source at Sheikh Ragheb Harb Hospital, where the victim was transported, who spoke to L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south.
Security sources told our correspondent that Israeli artillery shelling is currently taking place around the southern villages Houla and Rab Thalathin in the Marjeyoun district. Five strikes have been reported so far.
Al-Fajr Forces, the military wing of the Jamaa Islamiya in Lebanon, claims to have targeted Israeli sites in the vicinity of Kiryat Shmona, an Israeli city close to the Lebanese border, in a statement released just now.
“As a response to the ongoing aggression by the [Israeli] Zionist enemy against our people and our villages in the south, which today targeted a Lebanese Army site in the vicinity of the town of Adaisseh, resulting in the martyrdom of one soldier and the injury of others, and in solidarity with our people in Gaza … al-Fajr Forces launched this afternoon … two missile strikes … in Kiryat Shmona,” the statement explained.
🔴BREAKING: The United States announces sanction against Israeli settlers accused of violence in the occupied West Bank, according to AFP reports.
Osama Hamdan, a senior member of Hamas in Lebanon, says during a press conference in Beirut that no matter how long the “war is going [to] last, we are well prepared, and we will remain beside our people in Gaza.”
Hamdan said there will be “no negotiations or a [prisoner] swap” before the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip is stopped, in comments relayed by Hamas's official Telegram channel.
He added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “fully responsible” for the lives of Israeli hostages in Gaza and said Netanyahu's goals in the Strip — to “eliminate the Palestinian people and … kill the cause” — are “unattainable" and "impossible."
“What Netanyahu’s government is doing in Gaza is not a sign of victory but rather a sign of defeat,” Hamdan said.
A security source tells L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south that Israeli artillery shelled the Tarash area southwest of the town of Mais al-Jabal several times this evening. There is also intense Israeli helicopter activity near the borders opposite Mais al-Jabal and drones can be heard by locals.
The director of Mais al-Jabal's governmental hospital, Dr. Hassan Yassin, told L’Orient Today that Israeli shelling on the town hasn't stopped.
“It has been ongoing for hours, intensifying at times and becoming intermittent at other times,” Yassin explained, noting that residents “can hear dozens of shells exploding and falling on all edges of the town."
"I don't know exactly where they're falling, but they are exploding in all parts of the town without stopping. Due to their large numbers, we can no longer count them. Thank God, so far, we haven't received any casualties from the town.”
However, according to state-run National News Agency “one person was injured minorly [in the town of Mais al-Jabal] and a fire broke out after [Israel] targeted a house …in Mais al-Jabal.”
Israeli shelling on the outskirts of the southern town of Deir Mimas has been ongoing for the past two hours, a resident told our correspondent in the south, Muntasser Abdallah.
Surrounding towns, Kfar Kila and Tall al-Nahas among others, are also being targeted.
“We can hear the sound of heavy gunfire coming from Israeli positions echoing above the town's houses. We can't leave our homes. So far, no shells have fallen inside the town, but despite that, we fear the increased shelling and worry that homes in the town might be hit. The war is happening around us,” the local said in a telephone call.
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati says that "the main objective of the contacts with the United States, the United Nations, and the European Union is to spare Lebanon from any potential global war."
In a speech before members of Lebanon's consular corps, Mikati announced that "in the coming months, negotiations will take place through the United Nations to establish stability at the southern border, starting with the full implementation of Resolution 1701 until an agreement is reached, via the UN, on the disputed points concerning the country's land border with the Israeli enemy."
Israeli police report that rocket fragments fell in the northern town of Kiryat Shmona, without causing any injuries, Haaretz reports. Earlier, a security source told L'Orient Today that several rockets had been fired from southern Lebanon towards the town.
Hezbollah claims a new attack in Khallat Wardeh against Israeli soldiers at 5:10 p.m. and claims to have caused "certain losses, including deaths and injuries." Hezbollah previously claimed an attack on the same position at 3:30 p.m.
The official number of Israeli and foreign hostages held in Gaza Strip now sits at 138, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office tells AFP. The official Israeli count added a person previously considered missing to the list.
The cabinet declined to provide any details about the hostage in question (identity, age, gender) or how the authorities confirmed their situation. Prior to the updated figure, Israeli authorities had recorded 20 women and two children among the 137 hostages held in Gaza.
The Israeli attack that killed a Lebanese soldier and wounded three others in southern Lebanon "is a flagrant violation of [UNSC] resolution 1701, which requires condemnation by the international community and demands compliance with this resolution," says Lebanese caretaker Defense Minister Maurice Slim.
In a press release, the minister said "the states that go out of their way to demand compliance with 1701 in Lebanon should demand it of Israel, which has refused since 2006 to implement this resolution in all its prerogatives and continues to attack Lebanon." Slim also recalled the civilians and journalists killed by Israeli strikes at the southern border, and sent his condolences to the relatives of the Lebanese soldier killed.
Palestinians build a makeshift shelter in a new camp for those who are internally displaced having fled Israeli ground and air attacks, in Rafah, Dec. 5, 2023. (Credit: Mohammed Salem/Reuters)
Israeli forces are now encircling 'the Khan Yunis area," says the army's chief, according to a report from Reuters. Yesterday's UNRWA report on the situation in Gaza stated that nearly one million internally displaced people are sheltering in the Middle, Khan Yunis, and Rafah areas of the Strip.
UNRWA confirms 130 of its staff have been killed in Gaza since the war began, says its chief in a post on X.
"No one is spared, a devastating and endless human tragedy," said Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Israeli bombardments are currently targeting more than thirty villages in southern Lebanon, a security source tells our correspondent there. The outskirts of Aita al-Shaab, Mayss al-Jabal, Adaisseh, and around thirty villages in the Marjeyoun district are under intense Israeli shelling.
This was also confirmed by several local residents who also told our correspondent that Israel is targeting the outskirts of Mais al-Jabal with phosphorous bombs.
Israeli artillery shelling is hitting the outskirts of Tyr Harfah, Jibbine, Beit Lif Al-Qouzah, Bayt Yahoun, Houla, Marjeyoun, Aita al-Shaab, and Shiheen. According to a security source, several rockets were launched from southern Lebanon towards the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona.
Israeli forces have been engaged in the heaviest day of fighting since the start of their invasion of Gaza, a senior army commander says, according to a report from Reuters.
"We are in the most intense day since the beginning of the ground operation," said the head of the Southern Command, general Yaron Finkelman, adding that forces were fighting in Jabalia, north of Gaza City and Shuja'iyya, east of the city, and were now also fighting in Khan Yunis, in the south of the enclave.
"We are in the heart of Jabala, in the heart of Shuja'iyya, and now also in the heart of Khan Yunis."
🔴 BREAKING: The Israeli army announces it is fighting on the ground in the town of Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, according to reports from AFP.
Khan Yunis is the largest city in southern Gaza and the second largest city in the entire Gaza Strip after Gaza City in the north. Over the last few days, the Israeli army dropped leaflets in certain neighborhoods in Khan Yunis warning that a "terrible attack is imminent.” AFP reported Israeli airstrikes on the outskirts of the city and thousands of residents fleeing on foot.
Israeli artillery shelling is targeting the outskirts of the southern towns of Jibbayn and Yarin, a security source tells our correspondent in the south, Muntasser Abdallah. According to our source, eight shells were fired at the al-Dhayra region.
Hezbollah announces having targeted an Israeli position in Khallat Wardeh, facing the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab, at 3:30 p.m.
A picture taken from the Israeli side of border with Lebanon shows Israeli shelling around the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab earlier today. (Credit: Jalaa Marey/AFP)
Jordan's King Abdullah says the world should condemn any attempt by Israel to create conditions that would forcibly displace Palestinians within the war-devastated Gaza Strip or outside its borders, Reuters reports.
In remarks carried by state media after a meeting with the Cypriot president in Amman, the monarch again called for an immediate cease-fire and warned that Israel's relentless bombing campaign was leading to a "dangerous deterioration" in the situation.
Hezbollah said that it hit the Israeli sites of Jal al-Alam, al-Dhayra, and the Cobra site, which is located opposite the Lebanese village of Alma al-Shaab, at 3 p.m.
🔴 BREAKING: The Lebanese soldier who was is in critical condition after a Lebanese army site was hit by Israeli artillery this afternoon died from his wounds, a security source confirmed to L'Orient Today moments ago.
This is the first Lebanese army soldier killed since the beginning of the clashes on the Lebanese-Israeli borders on October 8.
These clashes involve Hezbollah and some allied Palestinian factions, while the Lebanese army has not taken an active part in combat so far.
L'Orient Today earlier reported that four Lebanese soldiers were injured this afternoon after a Lebanese army site was hit by Israeli artillery on the hills of al-Owaidah, in the southern village of Taybeh.
USAID Administrator Samantha Power arrived in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Tuesday, where she is expected to announce more than $21 million in additional assistance for the Palestinian people, a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spokesperson told Reuters.
The USAID chief arrived in Al Arish with a delivery of 36,000 pounds of food assistance and medical supplies airlifted by the Department of Defense from Jordan and intended for Gaza, USAID spokesperson Jessica Jennings said, according to Reuters. The additional assistance that Power will announce on Tuesday will support the provision of hygiene and shelter supplies, food and other assistance for residents of Gaza and the West Bank affected by the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Reuters reported.
The funds will also support psychosocial care and critical health services along with the establishment of an NGO-operated field hospital in Gaza that will provide in-patient care, according to Reuters.
Four Lebanese soldiers were injured this afternoon after a Lebanese army site was hit by Israeli artillery on the hills of al-Owaidah, in the southern village of Taybeh, a source at the Lebanese army and the head of the Taybeh municipality Abbas Diab, confirmed to L'Orient Today. One of the injured soldiers is in critical condition, the military source also confirmed. The army transported the injured soldiers to the hospital for treatment, Diab said. According to our correspondent in the south, Israeli artillery shelling is continuing intermittently in Taybeh. UNIFIL spokesperson told L'Orient Today that they have no further information about the incident other than what was circulated in the media.
Meanwhile, a security source told L'Orient Today that four shells have fallen on the outskirts of Naqoura (Sour district).
The outskirts of Jibbain and Tayr Harfa were also targeted a short while ago, according to residents of the area.
Palestinians mourn the death of loved ones following Israeli bombardment in the southern Gaza Strip on Dec. 5, 2023, outside a hospital in Khan Younis, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (Credit: Mahmud Hams/AFP)
UK Defense Minister Grant Shapps said that he was working on finding "land, air and maritime routes to deliver urgently needed humanitarian aid to Gaza," Reuters reports.
Shapps also said that he was looking into whether or not a military support vessel, the RFA Lyme Bay, "can support medical and humanitarian aid provision" in the Middle East.
Israeli artillery shelling has targeted the hill of al-Owaidah, which is opposite Odaisseh, with a number of shells, residents in the area told L'Orient Today's correspondent in southern Lebanon.
A security source told L'Orient Today that three shells have fallen on the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district). Residents also reported an airstrike on the eastern outskirts of the same town.
The Arabic-language spokesperson for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, has issued new "urgent" instructions to the people of Gaza.
In a statement published on X, the official said that fighting and the Israeli army's military advance in the Khan Younis region do not allow civilian traffic through the Salaheddine axis, north and east of the town of Khan Younis because "it is a battlefield, and it is dangerous to reach it".
The Israeli army will therefore allow civilian traffic west of Khan Younis.
A hospital in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, is appealing for more blood donations due to the high number of injured patients arriving every hour – Al Jazeera is reporting.
43 bodies were reportedly brought to the Nasser Medical Complex this morning following Israeli bombardments in the south of the enclave - according to a spokesperson for Gaza’s Health Ministry, cited by the Qatari news website.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) announced on X that Israeli tank artillery targeted the vicinity area of two PRCS ambulances, while injured persons and bodies were being transported in Gaza.
PRCS added that the attack happened in Im al-Thuheir area, south of Deir al-Balah and that one paramedic was lightly injured and the ambulances were damaged.
There will shortly be a temporary pause in fighting in the south of Gaza, the Israeli army has announced.
Writing on X the Israeli military says that "a local tactical pause will take effect today in the Rafah area until 14:00 [12:00 GMT], for the purpose of allowing the entrance of further humanitarian aid."
The army specified that it will happen in the El Geneina neighborhood. Since the week-long truce with Hamas ended, the Israeli army has been targeting Rafah more intensely.
L'Orient Today's correspondent in southern Lebanon says security sources have told him there are new bombardments on the outskirts of Yarin, Dhayra, Naqoura, Tayr Harfa (Sour district), Kfar Hamam and Hebbarieh (Hasbaya district).
We will bring you more details as we get them.
The spokesperson for the Hamas Health Ministry in Gaza said the bodies of 43 deceased people were transported to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younes, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Shell explosions were heard in villages in the eastern sector of South Lebanon, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent. Residents told L'Orient Today that the noises heard came from a valley near the eastern outskirts of the town of Khiam (Marjayoun district).
A resident of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil) also told L'Orient Today that three shells had fallen shortly before on the outskirts of the town.
In addition, a tank from the Israeli site of Pranit fired a fourth shell towards the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil), according to residents of the locality.
"A hostile aircraft" that came from Lebanese territory was located in the Margaliot area in northern Israel earlier today, according to Israeli army spokesman, Daniel Hagari.
In a statement published on X, Hagari added that the Israeli army rushed to the scene and that no casualties were recorded.
It "is impossible" to implement secure zones designated by Israel for civilians in the Gaza Strip to take refuge there and escape the fighting, the UN said on Tuesday, according to AFP.
“These zones cannot be safe or humanitarian when they are declared unilaterally,” said James Elder, spokesperson for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) who has just spent several days in the Palestinian territory, adding that these zones “are not scientific, they are not rational, they are not possible.”
The Israeli military said its warplanes attacked a series of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, according to Haaretz, in line with what L'Orient Today's southern correspondent reported earlier, citing security sources and residents from several Lebanese localities.
Earlier today, a number of launches from Lebanon into Israel were detected, Haaretz continued.
Earlier, Hezbollah announced that it targeted gatherings of Israeli soldiers in the Ruwaisat al-Asi site and at al-Taihat Triangle and attacked the sites of Zabdine in the Shebaa Farms and Bayyad Blida.
The Palestinian Authority's health minister says 260 Palestinians have been killed and 3,200 injured in the occupied West Bank since Oct. 7, when the Gaza war between Hamas and Israel began.
The Israeli army announced that another two soldiers were killed on Monday in the Gaza Strip, according to Haaretz.
Earlier, the deaths of three other soldiers killed on Monday were announced.
A Merkava tank attached to the Israeli barracks of Pranit fired a shell towards the north of the town of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district), residents of the locality told L'Orient Today's correspondent in the South.
A Palestinian man mourns the death of a loved one following Israeli bombardment in the southern Gaza Strip on Dec. 5, 2023, in Khan Younis, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (Credit: Mahmud Hams/AFP)
The British Ministry of Defense has announced that the British Air Force will carry out surveillance flights over the Eastern Mediterranean, including airspace over Israel and Gaza, confirmed the British government on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
The planes will not be armed, will not have a combat role and will have the sole mission of locating the hostages, the government said, adding that only information relating to the release of the hostages will be transmitted to the competent authorities.
Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani, called the international community's lack of action "shameful" when it came to Israel's actions in occupied Palestinian territory, something that the emir said "violated" all human values.
Dozens of Palestinians were injured, and others were killed, in an Israeli attack in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, including women and children, Haaretz reports, based on medical sources in Gaza. Footage from Al-Nasr Hospital in Khan Younis shows injured residents arriving in cars alongside overloaded ambulances.
At the same time, other casualties were reported in the northern Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-run health ministry, four hospitals operate in Gaza City and the north, but they are only able to provide minimal services.
An Israeli drone dropped a missile on the outskirts of Yater (Bint Jbeil district) and a warplane raided the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab in the same district, a security source told L'Orient Today's correspondent in the South. A missile also struck the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab without causing casualties, according to residents.
A security source also told L'Orient Today that five shells have fallen on the outskirts of the town of Blida (Marjayoun district) and flares have been fired in the same area.
A security source also told L'Orient Today that, since 10 a.m., 60 artillery shells have been counted on the outskirts of the towns previously mentioned by L'Orient Today.
Finally, according to residents, Israel's artillery shelled the outskirts of Zibqin, Tayr Harfa (Sour district) and Mhaibib (Marjayoun district.
In several statements, Hezbollah announced that it "directly hit" gatherings of Israeli soldiers in the Ruwaisat al-Asi site and at al-Taihat Triangle facing the Lebanese town of Mays al-Jabal at 9:50 a.m, the Zabdine site in the Shebaa Farms with missiles at 10:15 a.m. and Bayyad Blida at 10:20 a.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, visits notably devoted to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and oil, the Kremlin announced on Tuesday.
An Israeli aircraft fired two missiles at the Labbouneh area, near Naqoura (Sour district), a security source told L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south.
The Israeli army arrested 21 wanted people and closed printing presses in the occupied West Bank, reports Haaretz.
The Israeli army spokesperson clarified that the army closed and sealed two printing houses in the city of Dawha, for having printed "inflammatory" pamphlets, including for Hamas.
Three mortar shells have fallen on the outskirts of Houla (Marjayoun district), residents told L'Orient Today's correspondent in the South.
Moreover, residents reported that the outskirts of al-Mari, Rashaya, Kfar Hamam, Kfar Shouba (Hasbaya district) and Khiam (Marjayoun district) have been subjected to artillery shelling.
A security source also told L'Orient Today that six artillery shells targeted Shihine and Jibbine (Sour district).
Meanwhile, the state-run National News Agency and An Nahar reported that missiles were launched from Lebanon towards the hills of Kfar Shouba.
France has ordered a six-month freeze on the assets of Yahya Sinwar, head of the Palestinian Hamas movement in Gaza and considered to be the architect of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, according to a decree published Tuesday in the Journal Officiel.
"The funds and economic resources belonging to, owned, held or controlled by Mr. Yahya Sinwar...are subject to an asset freeze measure," states the Nov. 30 decree, which comes into force on Tuesday. Bercy was not immediately available to specify the amount of these assets.
A correspondent for Al-Manar, the Hezbollah channel, announced that an Israeli position in al-Aasi, opposite the town of Mays al-Jabal (Marjayoun district) in South Lebanon, had been targeted this morning by shots fired from Lebanon.
The Israeli army announced that it has surrounded the refugee camp of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip and destroyed infrastructure and Hamas strongholds, Haaretz reported citing an army spokesperson.
According to Haaretz, Israeli forces located "weapons and rocket launchers in civilian buildings," and found more weapons, observation devices and maps during a raid on Hamas' general security headquarters in the area.
Israeli bombardment continues this morning in southern Lebanon, according to eyewitness reports.
Two Israeli shells exploded between the towns of Majdel Zoun and Shihine (Sour district), residents reported to L'Orient Today's correspondent in the region.
The outskirts of Naqoura were also bombed.
An update on new bombardments overnight in southern Lebanon:
In a statement released overnight, Hezbollah claimed to have targeted two Israeli army vehicles at 10:40 p.m. which were attempting to set fire to a wooded area in front of Ramieh (Bint Jbeil district). The Shiite party assured that the two vehicles and their crews were hit.
At 11:30 p.m., Israeli artillery bombarded the outskirts of the localities of Ramieh and al-Kawza (Bint Jbeil), as well as the surroundings of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil), Jabal Balat and Tayr Harfa (Sour), according to our correspondent who contacted security sources and residents in the region. Around fifteen shells were fired.
He finally reports that in the middle of the night, the Israeli army once again targeted the surroundings of Aita al-Shaab, with five shells and fired several others on the outskirts of Blida (Marjayoun).
After midnight yesterday night, Israeli warplanes carried out three airstrikes, targeting the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district), Tallet al-Awaidah which oversees the town of Odaisseh (Marjeyoun district) and Jabal Blat, security sources and residents told L'Orient Today's Correspondent in southern Lebanon.
The strikes on Tallet Al-Awaidah caused damage to many houses in Odaisseh due to the intensity of the bombardments as fragments of the missiles hit some houses and windows were shattered, according to residents.
Artillery shells also targeted the outskirts of Khiam, Kfar Kila and Odaisseh (Marjayoun district) and Israeli flares were dropped on a hill overlooking the town of Deir Mimas, causing fires.
At around 2 a.m., five Israeli shells fell on the outskirts of Blat (Marjayoun district) and Ramieh (Bint Jbeil district).
A US State Department spokesman has suggested that the week-long truce between Israel and Hamas may have fallen apart because Hamas refused to free female hostages – reports the BBC.
Matthew Miller claimed that Hamas may not have wanted to release the women being held captive because “they don't want those women to be able to talk about what happened to them during their time in custody” and about reports of sexual violence. He added that the US government had “no reason to doubt” reports of rape, though said that he could not say "with a definitive assessment that that is the case."
On Monday evidence was laid out by Israeli authorities and others to the UN, that Hamas had committed sexual violence in its Oct. 7 attack. Recently an Israeli women's rights campaigner and lawyer said that Hamas had made a premeditated plan to use sexual violence as a weapon of war. Hamas denies this and says it is lies.
Iran says that it has not been involved in any actions or attacks against United States's military forces, Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's UN envoy, was reported as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency according to Reuters via Haaretz.
During a briefing with reporters on Monday, US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said that Washington has "every reason to believe that these attacks [on vessels in the Red Sea], while they were launched by the Houthis in Yemen, are fully enabled by Iran."
The Committee to Protect Journalists says the Israel-Hamas war is the deadliest month on record since the group began recording journalist deaths in 1992.
As of December 4:
63 journalists and media workers were confirmed dead: 56 Palestinian, 4 Israeli, and 3 Lebanese
11 journalists were reported injured
3 journalists were reported missing
19 journalists were reported arrested
The Israeli army announces the death of two soldiers and an officer killed in the fighting in Gaza, according to Haaretz.
On Monday, Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida told Al-Jazeera that the Islamist movement's fighters had destroyed 28 Israeli armed vehicles in 24 hours.
Before starting, take a look at today's edition of the Morning Brief to make sure that you are caught up and know what to expect today.
Good morning!
Thank you for joining us for our coverage of day 60 of the war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.
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