Operation Iron Swords - Day 63 - 08 December 2023

Ccontents

NEW - Operations NEW - By-Standers NEW - Axis of Resistance NEW - Allied for Democracy UPDATED - Oasis of Martyrs UPDATED - Hostages

An Israeli military official highlighted to Axios that the US prefers a faster conclusion of the war and fewer civilian deaths, claiming that the Israel shares that desire. "But there is another player here and this is the enemy that doesn't agree," he said, adding, "The U.S. understands this. We are working together. We need them and they need us."

The Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, announced the killing of the captured Israeli soldier, “Sa’ar Baruch,” during an attempt by a special force to free him. The Brigades explained in a military report, “Today dawn, the Mujahideen of the Qassam Brigades thwarted a Zionist attempt to reach one of the prisoners, as a special Zionist force was discovered while trying to advance to liberate one of the enemy’s prisoners and clashed with it, which led to the killing and wounding of members of the force, and military aircraft intervened and bombed the place with a series of bombs.” The raids were to cover up their withdrawal, and the clash led to the death of the captured soldier, “Sa’ar Baruch,” 25 years old, who carried ID number 207775032, and the control of one of the soldiers’ rifle and the special force’s communications device.

Two IDF soldiers were seriously injured during an operation in the Gaza Strip to rescue hostages from Hamas. The forces raided a Hamas location and eliminated terrorists who took part in the kidnapping and holding of the hostages. No hostages were rescued in this operation. The IDF continues to operate in a variety of operational and intelligence ways together with the other security organizations, to release the abductees and the abductees, and collect information about them. IDF representatives are in regular contact with the families of the abductees, and update them with any verified information about their loved ones.

Israeli media reported that Officer Maor Cohen, the nephew of War Council member Gadi Eisenkot, was killed in the Gaza battles. The media said: “Maor Meir Cohen, a regular service soldier, was killed today during the fighting in Gaza. Cohen is the son of Sharon Eisenkot, the sister of Gadi Eisenkot". Yesterday, Thursday, the Israeli army announced that the youngest son of the former Israeli army chief of staff and member of the war council, Gadi Eisenkot, was killed in the ongoing battles in the northern Gaza Strip. Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper indicated that Gal Eisenkot, an infantry soldier in the 551st Reserve Brigade, was conducting a search operation with his comrades on the outskirts of Jabalia when a large explosive device exploded among them. Lt. . Gadi Eisenkot served as the chief of the general staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from 2015-19. The former general went into politics as a Member of the Knesset (National Unity), and joined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wartime cabinet as minister without portfolio in the wake of Hamas' October 7th attack.

Operational Update

On the 63rd day of its operation in Gaza , the Israeli army in Khan Yunis is facing “the strongest resistance” since the beginning of the war, according to the newspaper “Jerusalem Post”. The Gaza Ministry of Health confirmed that the total death toll from the Israeli aggression exceeded 17,000 thousand, and that the number of injured rose to 46,000.

The United States is neither imposing a deadline on "Israel" regarding its war on Gaza nor "pulling the brakes" on the invasion but is only suggesting that time is running out, a senior Israeli security official said, according to Axios. The official added that the military operation in Khan Younis is expected to be concluded in the next three to four weeks, while the war on Gaza in its "high-intensity" phase is estimated to continue for another three to four weeks as well, Axios reported, citing a senior Israeli military official. This comes after the White House reiterated its full support for the Israeli occupation entity's war on the Strip amid increasing international and domestic pressure on the administration of US President Joe Biden for a ceasefire and an end to the inhumane aggression on Gaza.

White House Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Washington, confirmed that Washington did not give Israelis a deadline on their war. "This is their conflict. That said, we do have influence, even if we don't have ultimate control over what happens on the ground in Gaza," he said. Meanwhile, a National Security Council spokesperson stated, "These are Israeli military operations, and the Israelis will decide their course. We will continue to support Israel's efforts to defend itself from Hamas terrorists."

On Friday, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, published a video clip in which it directed a “missile” message in Hebrew to Tel Aviv. The Al-Qassam Brigades' military media showed a video clip (apparently filmed before the war), showing the brigades' missile capabilities and their preparations to strike Tel Aviv, where a large number of "M90" missiles and launchers to launch them appeared. While the video ended with a phrase written in Hebrew and Arabic: “Tel Aviv will burn and Jerusalem will be liberated.”

On Friday afternoon, the Al-Qassam Brigades announced that they had “bombed Tel Aviv with a missile barrage in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians.” It also confirmed that it had “targeted the Sderot settlement with a 114 mm short-range “Rajoum” missile system.” It stated in an additional statement: “Once again... the Al-Qassam Brigades bombard Tel Aviv with a missile barrage in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians.” It pointed out that "the Muftahim community was bombed with a missile attack." It announced "the bombing of Tel Aviv again with a missile salvo in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians."

Al Jazeera's correspondent monitored the firing of intense missile attacks at Greater Tel Aviv, and an Israeli security source stated that the missiles were fired from Jabalia and Shuja'iya in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israeli police said that they were carrying out combing operations in several locations in Tel Aviv, searching for fragments of rockets launched from Gaza, which were intercepted.

" We are in the early stages of ground combat, our forces are operating in the heart of Hamas' centers of gravity, in the south and in the north at the same time," the IDF spokesman said in his statement this evening , "the forces are operating operationally and courageously in challenging areas and are trapped by many explosives. We are fighting fierce battles with Hamas terrorists who hide underground and come up because of the activity of our forces, and this is how battles are created and terrorists are killed."

As part of the activities of the combat team fighters of the 188th brigade in the heart of the Shejaiya neighborhood, forces from the Counter-Terrorism Unit (LoTr) along with fighters from the 74th Battalion of the Hamas Terrorist Squad encountered a school complex in the heart of the neighborhood. The terrorists tried to draw the force into a trapped ambush of shooting and explosives, and were eliminated by the fighters of the Loter unit and tank fire of the 74th battalion. The fighters searched the school area and found a tunnel shaft in one of the classrooms, the route of the shaft led to a mosque in the neighborhood.

The special platoon of fighters of the Lotr unit from the Al-Hamarom Brigade entered combat in Gaza for the first time as part of the brigade combat teams. In addition to specialist forces in breaking through sabotage, and snipers - who maneuver with the elite units from the beginning of ground operations.

Following the alert in the north of the country, the air defense fighters successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon into the territory of the State of Israel. A warning of rocket and missile fire was triggered following intercept fragments. A number of launches were detected from Lebanese territory towards a number of IDF posts in the border area. The IDF attacked with artillery the source of the shooting and other targets in Lebanese territory.

The forces of Division 98 continued to fight in the Khan Yunis area, which is considered a main stronghold of the terrorist organization Hamas. The fighters of the division eliminated dozens of terrorists in battles, worked to locate and destroy shafts and directed precise attacks from the ground and from the air.

The divisional combat team of the 7th Brigade began an attack in order to break through the Hamas defense lines, during which they attacked dozens of anti-tank positions and enemy observation points. The fighters raided the battalion post of the Deir al-Balach battalion of the terrorist organization Hamas and found weapons and intelligence.

The combat team forces of the Givati Brigade, the 55th Brigade and the 4th Brigade surround the city and carry out targeted attacks and raids against companies in the Khan Yunis Brigade of the Hamas terrorist organization. In a prolonged raid, many weapons were found in the area of ??a school, including launchers, mortar barrels, RPGs, explosives and intelligence means. The fighters of the 4th Brigade combat team took over the headquarters of Hamas inside a mosque where a terrorist squad was hiding, the squad was eliminated during the battle. In addition, the forces eliminated a group of terrorists who tried to escape towards an underground facility.

"We launched a divisional, fast, powerful attack. With the breakthrough of the 7th and 84th brigades at the front, we positioned ourselves inside the city center, inside the fighting area," said the 98th Brigade, Brigadier General Dan Goldfuss during the fighting in the Gaza Strip, "Here, we are In it, you can see - all this open space, the open, built-up space, the plantations."

"An enemy jumps out from among the plantations, from shafts, and we work in a methodical, precise manner, moving from shaft to shaft and from house to house and hitting the terrorists in the most precise way possible," he continued, "The reservists have been here for 60 days, fighting in the various sectors and will fight here as much as necessary. By the way, today is the first candle of Hanukkah, and we are like the song - we are coming to expel the darkness, this dark regime of Hamas, we will dismantle it little by little, however long it takes."

A combat team of the commando formation raided the centers of gravity of Hamas in Khan Yunis, in the homes of operatives and commanders of the terrorist organization Hamas, weapons, artillery launch canes and intelligence materials were found. In addition, the commando fighters make use of the precision missile 'Steel Sting' and direct attacks from the air and the ground through precise shooting in combat in a dense area.

IDF reserve fighters from the 14th Brigade raided the observation post of the Hamas terrorist organization in the area of the Shatti Hospital. In the post, about 200 radios and dozens of cameras were located. In the post, a combat shaft, cartridges, grenades, a sniper position, Military equipment and firearms. IDF soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip continue battles with terrorists, locating and destroying underground shafts, weapons and other terrorist infrastructure. In the last day, over 450 targets were attacked from the air, sea and land. As part of the 7th Brigade's activity in Khan Yunis, the brigade's attack unit targeted a number of Air Force aircraft that killed many Hamas terrorists. The wave of attacks lasted about two hours and was continuous and focused.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has confirmed carrying out air strikes in Syria in retaliation for rocket attacks launched from Syria into Israeli-held territory. According to an IDF statement, an overnight attack struck several targets across Syria. In addition, an Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) struck an armed terrorist cell operating near the Israeli-Lebanese border area of Har Dov.

The Huffington Post website quoted an American official as saying that American intelligence estimates that the Israeli army continues to operate at the same pace and shows limited concern about civilians despite repeated American calls for restraint. The official said that there are doubts that the current Israeli military attack is more bloody than the attack on the northern Gaza Strip, which Israel carried out in the first phase of its aggression against Gaza.

The website quoted a US State Department official as saying that it increasingly appears that the Israeli army is waging an “ethnic cleansing campaign” in Gaza, and the American diplomat said that Washington is angry about the way Netanyahu “literally” burned the reputation of the United States to advance his personal political agenda.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said after a press conference yesterday with his British counterpart, David Cameron, that there is a gap between the Israeli government’s declared intentions to protect civilians and the number of casualties in the Strip. "For example, it is not just about creating safe zones, but also communicating in such a way that non-combatants actually know where they can flee, exactly when and by what route. Food, water and medicine must also be provided to refugees in these safe zones," he added.

Six Palestinians, including a minor, were martyred, and others were injured today during the Israeli forces' raid on al-Far'a refugee camp south of Tubas. The Hamas Resistance movement announced the martyrdom of six Palestinians in al-Far'a camp who were killed while the Israeli forces invaded the refugee camp in Tubas and surrounded one of the houses. Hamas called on the Resistance fighters in the occupied West Bank to continue mobilizing against the Israeli occupation. The Resistance movement stated that this heinous crime committed by the occupation, coinciding with the genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza, will not succeed in breaking the will of steadfast Resistance, which will continue its path until the liberation of Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Haaretz reported 20 November 2023 :"Russian Op Pushes Gaza Disinfo With Spoofed Fox News Site and 'Deep-fake' Israeli Soldiers - Kremlin-run Doppelganger campaign using Israel-Hamas war to stir chaos, with antisemitic graffiti painted by foreign actors in Paris and fake news stories in various languages."

Al-Humaidan @Alhomidan_Q8 claimed “The Israeli occupation recently stormed a school housing thousands of displaced people in the northern Gaza Strip. He dragged all the young men over the age of 15 out of the school, then put them in the school yard (and executed them) in cold blood immediately after forcing them to undress in front of the eyes of the displaced children and women. The medical teams have not been able to reach them yet, and according to eyewitnesses, dozens of martyrs are now in the school yard and in the streets surrounding it.

Starting from such fabricated accusations and falsifying facts and historical facts, the past period witnessed several incidents whose hero was the dark side of artificial intelligence programs, while experts who spoke to the “Al-Hurra” website expect the possibility of these applications turning into a future arena for spreading rumors. And lies.

Fake news is divided into two types, the first is called “disinformation,” which is the intentional creation or sharing of false information in order to mislead, and the second is “misinformation,” which involves sharing information or reports without knowing that it is false.

In light of the massive influx of false news and information in the context of war, the process of manual or human verification and verification in particular has become greatly hindered, and is not proportionate to the volume of material spread. No matter the volume of auditing, auditors and workers in this field, artificial intelligence, according to Hadchiti, is still capable of producing more abundantly than human capabilities for auditing.

The matter becomes more difficult as a result of the role of artificial intelligence not being limited to generating content, but rather extending to promoting and disseminating it on a large scale and automatically on social networking sites, through other tools (bots) that in turn constitute a tool of artificial intelligence.

The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and its ongoing battles for influence, polarization, and manipulation of public opinion, constitute the latest testing ground for the role played by fake news and disinformation campaigns in shaping narratives and narrations regarding the events of the war, and the tragedies resulting from it, as well as manipulating the impressions and emotions of followers.

This represents a fundamental challenge today, especially with the advancement of artificial intelligence software.

Despite the previously observed role of these technologies in falsifying reality and spreading misleading information during previous crises that the world witnessed, such as the earthquakes in Turkey and Morocco, the Libyan disaster, as well as the Russian war on Ukraine, the war between Israel and Hamas today is witnessing the most prominent and most recent manifestation, and the broader investment in artificial intelligence technologies in... Social media, and trying to influence public opinion.

This reality now puts the world face to face with the realization of the most prominent fears that have long surrounded the use of artificial intelligence, in terms of its ability to falsify reality, the extent of persuasion it may have, and subsequently the extent of influence, which has recently reached a stage that has made workers in the field of checking information and fighting misleading news In a state of helplessness and confusion, in keeping up with the misuse of artificial intelligence to mislead.

Hundreds of fake pictures, stories, news, and information over the course of two months of war swept social networking sites, and gained global spread linked to the widespread follow-up of the course of the conflict that broke out on October 7, following the Hamas attack on Israel. This was expected, for information auditors, who are accustomed to the increase in the level of fake news and misinformation campaigns in times of crises and wars, as they can easily pass through the crowd of news and the density of information, according to what the journalist and information auditor on the “Sawab” platform working to combat fake news confirms, Megal Hadchiti. He says that in times of crises and wars, “this news becomes details in the general scene, and there is no ability to stop and examine it completely.”

This misuse of artificial intelligence techniques and tools was expected since its inception, according to Saja Mortada, director of the Arab Network for Information Auditors from the ARIJ team, “but no one could have imagined that things would reach this extent.” She added in her interview with Al-Hurra website, “The war in Gaza came to show this matter more clearly, and prove that the negative effects of artificial intelligence, regarding the spread of false and misleading information, can be greater than might be expected.”

It is still too early yet, according to Murtada, to analyze and evaluate the currently ongoing experiment, “since it is still ongoing as the crisis continues, and we need time to reveal the true impact left by these news and disinformation campaigns that relied on artificial intelligence.” But what can be confirmed, according to the expert in verifying information, is that what is happening in the outbreak of war “has gone beyond the use of artificial intelligence by technology, media, and social media companies in order to control the narrative and content. Rather, there is now a systematic production of fake materials using artificial intelligence and high technologies.” Governmental, official and military bodies are involved in it.”

The most prominent forms of forgery were photos and videos, some of which people believed to a great extent, while in others the manipulation was clear and people were not widely misled.

However, there are images that were used and spread, and Murtada believes that “we were unable to even reach a decisive conclusion about them, whether they were produced by artificial intelligence or not, as the techniques used were so high-precision that they were not easily detected.” As an example of these materials, the photo published by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which he said belonged to an Israeli child who was burned by Hamas gunmen during their attack, was, according to Mortada, the subject of scrutiny by the team, in addition to many Arab and international auditing institutions.

In this context, several tools were used to detect whether the images were generated by artificial intelligence, according to Mortada, who added: “Some of them provided a positive result and some did not. They tried to analyze the image as much as possible, but they did not reach the original image. Deciding the result was difficult.” Very much, and it has not happened yet. Likewise, there was some content that was difficult to uncover conclusively.”

On the other hand, there were images that were easy to detect, such as a picture of what was said to be an “Israeli camp for displaced people.” In this regard, Mortada said: “Yet many believed it, but it was easy to detect and it was certain that it was manufactured with artificial intelligence.”

The development of artificial intelligence tools dedicated to producing images and videos has brought them closer every time to the truth, and has made it difficult to detect them or show their source, whether it is human or through artificial intelligence, which has become a real problem that information auditors suffer from, according to Hadchiti confirms. Speaking to Al-Hurra website.

This comes at a time when information auditors, especially in Arab countries, lack programs and tools that can be used online to determine the truth and source of circulating images, especially after the traditional tools used in auditing and verification operations have become useless in the face of content generated by artificial intelligence.

In this context, Hadchiti explains, “Fake images produced through artificial intelligence tools, for example, are considered new, as they have no previous electronic fingerprint that can be relied upon to reveal their history, context, and source, as was the case with traditional methods of fake news that use old images in their contexts or are being modified.” He adds, "In the past, images were usually verified through services provided by search engines such as Google... but today, the matter has become a dilemma that prevents complete and certain verification of images generated by artificial intelligence."

Auditors face a state of confusion in relying reliably on the techniques and standards currently used and available to detect forgery, which increases their responsibilities, the volume of their work, and the difficulty of their task, especially since the approved counterfeiting techniques tend to be “more convincing day after day,” according to Hadchiti.

A study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology previously showed that “fake news spreads 6 times faster than true stories, as the probability of false news being recirculated increases by more than 70 percent.”

Thus, artificial intelligence today is capable of producing a written story, with appropriate and linked images and clips that enhance confidence in the story, and then publishes and promotes it, which, according to Hadchiti, turns it into “a complete and self-existing media system that can launch a campaign of falsification and misinformation as soon as it receives a request to do so.” “The counterfeiting process thus becomes completely automated.”

For the average follower, it is difficult to verify fake news using artificial intelligence, especially with the lack of sufficient culture and media and technical awareness among a wide segment of the public to deal with that content, which exposes them to greater deception and misinformation. Although there are many sites that provide tools to verify the source of images and whether they were generated by artificial intelligence or not, the weakness of these technologies makes it difficult to rely on them or advise people to resort to them as a decisive source, according to Hadchiti, who confirms that there are no longer specific advice. They can be presented to followers as constants and steps for sure verification.

In turn, Murtada points out that “people’s lack of knowledge, as well as journalists and information auditors, about how artificial intelligence works, which is considered a modern and broad field, which greatly increases the danger of this reality.” Despite all the technical progress achieved by artificial intelligence tools, Hadchiti points out that the use of deep fakes "is still less than other methods and is limited to specific cases, which are available and relatively easy to detect." He continues: "But we can confirm that we are approaching a stage in which the matter will spread on a larger scale and with the same ease of counterfeiting that we see today, while exposing it will become more difficult and challenging."

Human logic is still “the most effective standard,” according to information auditors, for identifying fake images and clips, which is based on carefully studying and monitoring the content to uncover the mistakes that artificial intelligence still makes during the process of generating content, such as illogical distortions in images, and the dissipation of human features. The inconsistency of shadows with the light source, and the merging of objects, backgrounds, and writings appearing in the images.

However, the challenge remains in the ability to keep up, as the production of counterfeit material may require a few seconds of artificial intelligence, while human verification takes much longer to detect and verify it conclusively. Faking images is not a new thing, but it was confined to the hands of people with high skills, but it is frightening that artificial intelligence programs allow anyone to fake any image easily and at tremendous speed.

Despite the scale of the great tragedy in Gaza, which produces a lot of painful and shocking content in the form of horrific enough images and scenes, artificial intelligence is still mainly used to produce content centered around this tragedy, and seeks to show it in a more painful way. The project director of the Arab Network for Information Auditors believes that this happens “in an attempt to arouse people’s emotions more, increase negative human feelings, or in order to hunt for followers and views.” She continues: "Or this is done through government and military institutions that broadcast systematic misleading campaigns, and people are often tempted to republish and promote this content out of sympathy or lack of knowledge."

While Murtada stresses that nothing prevents anyone around the world from using artificial intelligence tools and creating images and videos with complete freedom, she points out “the necessity of adopting transparency towards this content, by clarifying its source when publishing, and that it is expressive content and not original,” but produced using artificial intelligence tools.

“This transparency is not available today in the midst of the ongoing war,” according to Mortada, who “regrets the lack of transparency among many influencers, journalists, and media institutions.” Dealing with artificial intelligence by individuals and institutions alike is still in the exploration stage. According to the information auditing expert, “even major journalistic institutions such as the Associated Press, the New York Times, and the Washington Post still say that they are in a stage of testing and exploring these tools, to determine what is What is useful and what is not, and this is a very basic point.”

However, further delving into this field proves, for Murtada, that the basic need “lies in defining ethical standards in dealing with these tools, especially in the media context.” She adds: "The level of harm that artificial intelligence can cause is very great, whether in terms of bias or the spread of false information, or in terms of data privacy, transparency, and the extent of public trust in the media in the future, due to the use of artificial intelligence." She continues: "Therefore, any media organization that uses artificial intelligence to produce content must have established clear ethical rules and standards... what is permitted, what is prohibited, and what are the conditions of use." According to Murtada, “There are institutions that have established these rules, but unfortunately this is not the case in most Arab media, which makes the use of artificial intelligence very random and not subject to any ethical standard, which is a main reason for what we are witnessing today.”

Technology companies had high hopes for the possibility of confronting fake news using artificial intelligence techniques, especially after the 2016 US elections, as companies such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter (at the time) announced taking measures to combat the spread of fake news, and launching programs and tools powered by artificial intelligence. In order to reduce it.

Hopes are still placed to the same degree today on artificial intelligence, for it to be a useful technology in combating misinformation and counterfeiting, and this is what Murtada confirms, saying that “a positive aspect of artificial intelligence can be invested if effective tools for verification are developed, which is something that still needs to be achieved until it becomes reliable.”

“In light of the almost complete absence of tools based on artificial intelligence that support the Arabic language, which constitutes a weak point in monitoring and auditing false and misleading Arabic content, the Arab Network for Information Auditors is working to develop some tools on the one hand, and Arabize other tools on the other hand (the “Tool” "Full Fact" and submit it to auditing institutions in Arab countries, which will facilitate auditing, and will make about 50 percent of the work done automatically instead of manually, which will save a lot of time, especially in times of crises, according to Murtada.

It is noteworthy that experts previously confirmed in a report to the American newspaper “The New York Times ” that applications of generative artificial intelligence can make the production of “misinformation cheaper and easier,” especially for those who specialize in spreading “conspiracy theories.”

These concerns were supported by what researchers from OpenAI, the company that developed ChatGPT, expressed in a research paper issued in 2019, their concern about “the ability of these applications to reduce the costs of disinformation campaigns... which may be used to achieve Financial gain, to achieve a particular political agenda, or the desire to create chaos and confusion.”

Experts confirmed to the newspaper that chatbots may “share conspiracy theories in a more credible and convincing way, by reducing structural errors or mistranslations,” noting that there are “no tactics available to effectively monitor them.” They concluded that “there is no clear mechanism that would nullify the threats created” by generative AI bots.

Bystanders

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Israel is practicing state terrorism, affirming his belief that Palestine will triumph in the end, and expressing his country's readiness to bear responsibility in order to prevent further bloodshed, destruction and tears in Gaza. Erdogan added - to reporters on the plane after his return from a visit to Greece - that "Israel is practicing state terrorism, where is the West and America! How can we accept that when there are so many facts and nearly 17 thousand dead! Most of them are women, children and the elderly."

The Turkish President indicated that Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed this matter with his American counterpart, Anthony Blinken, “but the West remains silent,” and continued, addressing Israel and the countries that support it, “You are trying to discipline Gaza through starvation. You want to completely destroy Gaza and discipline it in this way.” He added, "You deny them medicine and deprive them of water and electricity, and you want to eliminate the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) through a disciplinary process like this. We cannot support that."

Erdogan pointed out that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks, through these massacres, to prolong his political life and escape trial. He continued, "I believe that Netanyahu and his associates will be tried in the same way that former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic was tried and convicted in the end. They are terrorists and will certainly be tried at the Court of Justice in The Hague."

In response to a question about how the international community deals with Turkey’s position on the Hamas movement, Erdogan said that he does not care what the international community says in this regard. He added, "These people call Hamas a terrorist organization. Hamas is one of the realities of Palestine and not a terrorist organization," noting that it is a political movement that won the elections it entered as a political party, and there are those who are trying to force Turkey to describe it as a terrorist organization, stressing that Ankara will not comply with that.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan confirmed on Friday that the Gaza Strip problem is gradually turning into a regional crisis. Fidan's statements came during a press conference with members of the communication delegation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States, on the sidelines of the visit to the American capital, Washington. Fidan added: "The problem now goes beyond the Israelis and Palestinians, and therefore the countries of the region must embrace the issue and act consciously and responsibly."

The European Union added the names of the Commander-in-Chief of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades , the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) , Muhammad al-Deif , and his deputy, Marwan Issa, to the terrorism list, and imposed economic sanctions on them. Brussels announced, according to the statement issued by the European Council, that “the two individuals are subject to freezing their funds and other financial assets in European Union member states,” noting that “European Union operators are also prohibited from providing funds and economic resources to them.”

Last Tuesday, the French government decided to freeze the assets of the leader of the Hamas movement in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, for a period of 6 months, starting from the time the decree was issued. The French newspaper Le Parisien reported that London imposed sanctions, including an asset freeze and a travel ban, on 6 individuals, 4 Hamas leaders, including Muhammad al-Deif and Yahya al-Sinwar, and two accused of financing the movement.

A speech by Egypt’s representative to the United Nations during the Security Council session today: "The matter in the Security Council went beyond impotence to obstructing efforts to reach a ceasefire. For two months, the Security Council was unable to reach a ceasefire. Settlers' crimes are escalating in the West Bank under the watchful eye of the Israeli army. The Arab Group calls on the Security Council to do its duty regarding calls for a ceasefire. Demanding the entry of aid and the opening of the crossings is not a plea for mercy, but rather an inherent right.

A speech by Qatar’s representative to the United Nations, Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani: "The GCC countries call on the Security Council to adopt the draft resolution submitted by the Arab Group... We applaud the step of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to resort to Article 99... The Gulf Cooperation Council countries praise the success of the mediation efforts that led to a humanitarian truce... The GCC countries reject any Israeli measures to displace and displace the residents of the Gaza Strip... The Gulf Cooperation Council countries reject any Israeli justifications for its aggression against the Gaza Strip... We call on the international community to increase urgent humanitarian support to the residents of the Gaza Strip".

Statements by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Washington: "An immediate cessation of fighting in Gaza is needed, but this does not appear to be a priority for the international community. Everyone did not make sufficient efforts, especially those with influence, and we hope that Washington will make more. The number of civilian casualties in Gaza has increased significantly, and the humanitarian situation is deteriorating. We need an immediate and significant increase in humanitarian aid in Gaza. There must be a reliable road map to establish a Palestinian state."

Statements by Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi from Washington: "This war will not bring peace and security to Israel, but rather will be a path to more wars and destruction. Our priority is to stop the escalation, and we call on the Security Council to approve the draft resolution to stop military operations. If the Security Council fails to act today, it will give Israel license to continue its masscre. The situation in the West Bank is boiling. The Palestinians are the ones who decide their fate and the type of government they want."

The French delegate to the Security Council said that his country renews its call for a new and immediate humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, leading to a permanent ceasefire. For her part, the British delegate stressed the need to “work to agree on more urgently needed humanitarian truces,” and called for building on “the pivotal work of Egypt, Qatar, and the United States,” in reference to the efforts made by those countries to reach a previous truce that lasted 7 days.

China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, announced that his country is deeply disappointed by the United States' use of its veto power against a draft resolution for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. “We express our deep disappointment and regret that the United States vetoed the project,” Zhang Jun said. He added: "Two months of fighting left an unprecedented number of deaths and destruction... and an immediate ceasefire is a very important demand."

The UN Security Council failed to pass a draft resolution demanding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, after the United States used its veto against the resolution. The final results of the voting process on the resolution were: 13 countries voted in favor of the resolution, except for Britain, which abstained from voting, and the United States, which used its veto power against the resolution.

The draft resolution called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip for humanitarian reasons. The draft also stresses the need for the immediate and unconditional release of all detainees and to ensure the arrival of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

For his part, the US Deputy Representative to the Security Council, Robert Wood, said that the United States used its veto against the draft resolution because it does not condemn the Hamas movement and does not confirm Israel's right to defend itself.

Russian Deputy Representative to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyansky, stated that the United States prohibits the Security Council from intervening to resolve the crisis in Gaza, and the results of this diplomacy are a graveyard for Palestinian children in Gaza. He added: "By obstructing reaching a ceasefire, the United States condemned tens of thousands of civilians in Palestine to death before our eyes, and American diplomacy left behind a scorched earth and destruction."

Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, expressed his readiness to revive the Authority, carry out reforms in it, and hold general elections. In an interview with Reuters, Abbas confirmed his always stated position of preferring negotiations over armed resistance to end the occupation. Abbas's statements came days after the White House announced, last Wednesday, that Phil Gordon, US Vice President's National Security Advisor, discussed with Palestinian officials in Ramallah the "revitalization" of the Palestinian Authority. He stressed that the Palestinian Authority, which is revitalized, must be able to govern the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Human Rights Council legal activist Rania Madi, who works with an international organization at the United Nations, confirmed that targeting doctors in the Gaza Strip during the war constitutes an assassination. Rania told Al Jazeera Net, "The Fourth Geneva Convention and the Two Additional Protocols included the medical team and its workers, even ambulance drivers and everyone who helps the wounded, and provided them with protection. The agreement stated that the two conflicting parties must inform each other before the fighting begins of the places where the hospitals are located." She explained that international humanitarian law stipulates that medical units should not be violated, but rather protected in accordance with Article 2 of the 1977 Protocol.

Axis of Resistance

The Tehran Friday preacher, Hojjat al-Islam Ahmed Khatami, confirmed that what the resistance did was a natural reaction to the crimes of the Zionist entity over the course of 75 years. The Tehran Friday preacher said , “Our hearts ache from this brutality of the Zionists.” He explained that our strategy since the beginning of the revolution was for “Israel” to leave the region and for all of Palestine to be the property of the Palestinians. We also believe in the necessity of holding a referendum among the original inhabitants of Palestine to determine its political system, and thus the people. The Palestinian is the one who must decide his fate.

He added, 75 years have passed since the crimes of the Zionist entity , and today the world has realized the reality of this strategy. Even in Britain, which played a role in establishing this entity, thousands are chanting slogans of death to "Israel." He continued, one day the US Secretary of State was talking about the new Middle East, but today the new Middle East has been formed on the basis of resistance by changing all equations. Today, we see Yemen holding the reins of power in Bab al-Mandab, the Popular Mobilization Forces attacking American bases in Iraq and other American bases in the region, and Hezbollah constantly attacking Israeli bases. That is to say, the new Middle East.

He added, what the resistance did and is doing is an example of legitimate defense. This is the natural reaction of the resistance to 75 years of the crimes of the Zionist entity.

President of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Sayyed Ebrahim Raisi, referred to the steadfastness of the resistance factions in Palestine and the rest of the Islamic countries, saying that the divine promise is the success of all who strive for the sake of God Almighty, and that America has suffered defeats in all fields so far and that its defeats will follow in the future as well. Raisi stressed in a speech he delivered to the people of the city of Karaj, the capital of Alborz Governorate (west of Tehran), "We will not retreat for a single moment from striving to realize the rights of Muslim peoples."

The President of the Islamic Republic referred to his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday, Thursday in Moscow, which also touched on the current events in Palestine , and said, “I told President Putin, and he supported me, that a resistance movement that does not have any land, sea or air forces has been victorious in Confronting the Zionists and all the support and support their corrupt entity receives.”

The Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Army, Brigadier General Sayyed Abd al-Rahim Mousavi, confirmed that the Al-Aqsa Flood operation caused a flood in the region and the world, and that this event seriously threatened the life and survival of the ill-fated Zionist entity, and these people began to feel strongly about the speed of their demise.

Major General Mousavi indicated that the masters and partners of the Zionist entity that kills children, led by the criminal America, are striving to rescue this entity and contain the repercussions occurring in the region as a result of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, but the blow directed by the resistant and powerful people of Gaza to the roots of this entity cannot be restored, and they are only seeking to Remedy and contain the situation.

Regarding the ongoing (military) movements in the region, Major General Mousavi said that the Iranian Armed Forces monitor all threats and have comprehensive intelligence control and full readiness to ward off any threat, and that the various scenarios and possibilities have been reviewed and that the Iranian Armed Forces are prepared to deal with them in the best possible way.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement, Ziad al-Nakhalah, discussed in a phone call the latest developments on the Palestinian arena. In this phone call, the Iranian Foreign Minister Ziyad Al-Nakhalah reported on the latest Arab, Islamic and Iranian diplomatic moves to support the Palestinian people, including talks between the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian President in Moscow. Amir Abdullahian also stressed the need for immediate and effective action by the international community and responsible international institutions to stop the war crimes committed by the Zionist entity.

In turn, the Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement expressed his thanks for the Arab Islamic efforts and the movements of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and presented a report on the latest field developments and the full readiness of the Palestinian resistance factions to confront the brutal attacks of the Zionist entity and defend the people of Gaza .

The American magazine "Newsweek" published a new direct warning from the Iranian-sponsored Al-Nujaba Islamic Resistance Movement in Iraq to US President Joe Biden , calling on him to withdraw American forces from the region. The magazine quoted the head of the movement's political council, Ali Al-Asadi, as warning in an exclusive interview with it, which it described as rare, in which he said that his message to Biden is to withdraw his forces from the region and preserve what remains of them, or bear the consequences and withdraw in humiliation as a result of the strikes of the Axis of Resistance, and the return of his soldiers in scattered pieces to their families. The magazine reported that Harakat al-Nujaba is one of several factions operating under the banner of what is known as the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq,” which has announced more than 75 missile and drone attacks against American forces in Iraq and Syria since the Israeli war in Gaza on October 7.

Al-Asadi said, “The truth is that the Al-Nujaba Movement and the Resistance Axis have set an escalation schedule with the war led directly by the United States , and there will be surprises that America did not expect from the Resistance Axis. The Axis has arranged its situation to fight a long-term battle, and we believe that America is now going through its weakest state, and it does not have ability to negotiate.”

Al-Asadi raised the case of Yemen in particular, where US warships faced missiles and drones launched towards Israel by another powerful faction of the axis of resistance, the Houthi movement . Here, Newsweek reported, Al-Assadi said that American officials “are begging and offering temptations in order to restrain the axis towards war, and all their temptations have failed.”

Al-Asadi summarized the goals of their armed campaign, saying, "It aims to create public opinion against the brutal massacres committed by the gangs of the Zionist entity, and to put pressure on the political and military sides in order to reduce the pressure on our people in Gaza , as well as to strike the Zionist-American project."

Regarding the Al-Nujaba Movement’s relationship with partner forces in the region, including the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and Iran , Al-Asadi said, “Cooperation between the movement and the axis of resistance has reached the highest levels.” Al-Asadi said, "Coordination of positions continues, and the arenas are united at the internal Iraqi level, as well as the rest of the Axis countries." Newsweek reported that there are still up to 2,500 American soldiers in Iraq as part of a permanent security agreement signed with this country, within the framework of the international coalition against ISIS .

Director General of the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, Munir Al-Bursh, suggests that doctors are suspected of being assassinated during the ongoing Israeli war on the Strip since October 7, 2023. He says, "The most important component of life in the Gaza Strip is the health aspect, and the occupation wanted to deprive Gaza of an element of safety, which is public health, by targeting doctors, killing hope in people's souls, and pushing them to migrate and displace." He explains that the Gaza Strip “needs 35 years to compensate for the doctors who were martyred, especially those with specific specialties.”

For his part, the head of the Palestinian Doctors Syndicate, Dr. Shawqi Sabha, concluded that Israel had indeed carried out intentional assassinations against the most prominent and experienced Palestinian doctors in the Gaza Strip. He stressed that the targeted doctors in Gaza have specific specializations and are known to have distinguished professions

Director of the Medical Imaging Unit at the Ministry of Health, Ibrahim Abbas, says that the Israeli occupation treated medical teams in the Gaza Strip as military targets, in flagrant violation of the International Geneva Convention, which provided protection for doctors and hospitals. According to Abbas, the Israeli occupation targeted x-ray technicians working in the Ministry of Health, killing the most prominent x-ray technician, Ibrahim Labad, and arresting another through the checkpoint it placed on the Salah al-Din Road linking the north and south of the Gaza Strip.

Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta - who worked during the last war in the Baptist and Shifa hospitals - saw the Israeli military behavior towards Palestinian doctors in Gaza as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign. He said during a lecture he gave on December 5 at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, “Targeting the health sector is part of (the process of) creating a disaster.” He explained, saying: “In my opinion, the bodies of premature babies left in Al-Nasr Hospital were not a mistake, but were essential in the showy method of killing, after which ambulances and medical teams were struck, and more than 280 were killed in a systematic manner by targeting them the moment they returned to their homes; all of this was for the purpose.” "It created a catastrophe that continues the process of ethnic cleansing after the war."

The imprisoned leader of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement "Fatah", Marwan Barghouti, sent a message to the cadres of the "Fatah" movement, the Palestinian people, and the Authority's security services. In a press statement carried by the Quds Press network, prisoner Marwan Barghouti said: “O our great Palestinian people, oh our people in the West Bank, here are the winds of liberation rising in the skies of Palestine, and the blood of our people in the Gaza Strip for more than two months has been flowing along with the blood.” What is being shed daily in the West Bank at the hands of the criminal occupation, so do not be mere witnesses, but active soldiers in this decisive battle.”

Barghouti continued: “Oh cadres of our giant movement, oh commandos of our youth, Palestine, which has witnessed a long history of steadfastness and resistance, is being exposed today to unprecedented massacres at the hands of the occupation and its settlers, with unlimited American and Western support, and in the face of this momentous event, we are required, oh our people, to... The West Bank must stand together to defend and attack with all the power, capabilities and tools we have available to deter the occupation and break its will. The current war does not exclude anyone, so our action as a gift of one man will make a difference in this fateful battle for the history of our people.”

He added: “Let the anniversary of the First Intifada on December 8th be a turning point and the beginning of an escalating state of engagement with the Israeli enemy, in every place that expects it and does not expect it, and with whatever tools and capabilities are available, whether simple or great. We call for a complete wraparound around the option of comprehensive resistance and its activation in all areas.” All the occupied Palestinian territories to repel the brutal attacks on our people, our land, and our rights, and to defend our women who are being subjected to the occupation.”

Barghouti also called on the Palestinian Authority’s security services to be “at the forefront of confronting the Israeli aggression that is shedding Palestinian blood in every city and village, with the weapons and training you possess, each in its place. There is no excuse for anyone not to participate in any chapter of the liberation battle, so we call upon your patriotism, honorable ones.” To do your duty and defend your land, your honor, and your people,” stressing that “the time to wait has passed, and the time has come for steadfastness, confrontation, and liberation. Let us make every Palestinian home a stronghold for the revolution, and every individual a soldier on the battlefield. Let us unite and prove to the whole world that we are a force that cannot be broken.” In this extended battle and the heroic epic created by the resistance, a new stage is inaugurated in the history of our people and in the record of our nation.”

Prisoner Barghouti concluded his statement by saying: “The blood of our children, women, elders, and resistance heroes will pave the way to freedom, return, and independence. Peoples are only liberated through sacrifices and do not achieve independence except through struggle, resistance, and sacrifice.”

"After Friday prayers, no voice is louder than the sound of the battle, and whatever is far from the battle, its voice echoes back to support it". Thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank went out in massive demonstrations in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip , who are being subjected to a process of genocide and displacement that exceeded the limits of human reason. The demonstrations called for an end to the killing in the Strip and the prosecution of the occupiers as war criminals.

In the West Bank, the scene is repeated, either of martyrs mourning on their palms, or of demonstrations raising Gaza’s voice and conveying it to the world, but a world governed by different standards and global arrogance forces the Palestinians to scratch the skin with their fingernails and raise their voices themselves, perhaps the peoples rising up with the Palestinian cause will influence their leaders.

Allied for Democracy

US Deputy Representative to the Security Council stated: Calls for an immediate ceasefire will only sow the seeds of the next war. We seek a future in which Hamas does not exist. We strongly support lasting peace, but do not support calls for an immediate ceasefire. Hamas remains a threat to Israel, and remains responsible for Gaza.

American sources said that US President Joe Biden has set a deadline to end the Israeli war on Gaza , while US intelligence believes that Israel has ignored American calls for restraint in its ongoing operation since the seventh of last October. The Politico website quoted three Israeli officials as saying that the US President's administration gave Israel until the end of the year to end its war on the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ).

One of the officials explained that the US administration advised Israel not to go to Gaza, but the administration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ignored that and proceeded with its plans to penetrate the Strip. Biden spoke by phone yesterday with Netanyahu, and the White House said that the US President “stressed the urgent need to protect civilians and separate the civilian population from Hamas, including by corridors that allow people to safely exit the designated areas where hostilities are taking place.”

At a time when Washington is demanding that Tel Aviv reduce human losses in the second phase of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip , shipments of American weapons have not stopped arriving daily in Israel. The announcement by the Israeli Ministry of Defense that it has received 10,000 tons of weapons and equipment, since the start of the American airlift without stopping on October 10, represents a reminder of American policy.

In the face of the high death toll as a result of the renewed Israeli attack on southern Gaza, the administration of US President Joe Biden is trying to pressure Israel to reduce casualties, including providing corridors and safe areas for civilians. However, the president’s administration did not indicate any deterrent measures that it might have to resort to to put pressure on Israel, such as threatening to restrict military aid.

Although the Secretaries of State and Defense, and before them President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, publicly urged Israel to avoid heavy civilian casualties resulting from its attacks, Israel ignores these calls and has not changed the strategy of its aggression against southern Gaza, which leads to the death of several hundred civilians daily.

In statements to ABC News, an American official said, “The idea of reducing military support for Israel would entail great risks, and when you start reducing aid to Israel, you encourage other parties to enter the conflict, weaken the deterrent effect, and encourage other enemies of Israel.” Khaled Al-Jundi, director of the Palestine and Israel Program at the Middle East Institute, mocked the Biden administration’s neglect of condemning Israel for killing thousands of innocent civilians. He also said, "They still do not understand that all the killing and destruction that is happening is not an accident. On the contrary, it is an intentional act."

For his part, Ambassador David Mack, the former US Assistant Secretary of State for Middle Eastern Affairs, who previously worked at his country’s consulate in Jerusalem, pointed out that Biden’s commitment throughout his life to the idea that the United States’ influence with Israel is greater when it keeps Israel close, at least publicly. In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Mac indicated that Biden's current position "undermines two other foreign policy principles that Biden had announced during his 2020 election campaign. The first is the importance of a rules-based international order, and the second is the pledge that American foreign policy will be guided by moral values."

Ambassador Mack considered that Biden’s position “contradicts the position of groups that contributed strongly to his victory in the 2020 elections, such as young voters, progressives, and non-Jewish minorities. It is certain that Biden is now speaking more strictly with Netanyahu compared to what he was in the first weeks after October 7.” But Biden still needs to be strict in his public statements, especially in accepting the imposition of conditions on American aid to Israel.”

In the pages of Foreign Policy magazine, Steve Simon and Aaron David Miller, former White House and State Department officials, stated that after Biden linked Washington’s policy to Israel’s war goals of eliminating Hamas, “Biden now finds himself in a dilemma. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the massive rise in The number of deaths and suffering among the civilian population in Gaza undermines the credibility of the United States at home, in the Arab and Islamic world, and in the international community. In the next stage, the success or failure of American policy may depend on whether Biden is able to reshape the Israeli military campaign, alleviate the humanitarian situation, and engage Israel and other partners in reaching a workable plan for post-war Gaza", according to the same source.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Diana Greenwald, a professor of political science at the City University of New York and an expert on the issue of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, stated that “President Biden, who is facing a difficult re-election process, will not take the initiative to impose conditions on American aid to Israel, unless he is convinced that his political survival... Depends on doing that.”

An increasing number of senators called on President Biden’s administration to take practical steps to increase control over American weapons granted to Israel in order to limit civilian harm in Gaza. In a letter to the White House, a group of Democratic senators, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Senator Tim Kaine, argued that “we must ensure accountability for the use of American weapons that we provided to our Israeli ally.” This came at a time when Congress is considering a large spending package that includes new military aid to Israel worth $14 billion, with a complete absence of the traditional transparency requirements associated with providing military aid to foreign countries, which represents a complete contradiction with the detailed information provided by the Biden administration about the aid provided to Ukraine.

The senators also raised concerns about specific weapons that Washington continues to supply to Israel, including artillery shells that have been used in alleged indiscriminate attacks against civilians.

Matthew Doss, Executive Vice President of the Center for International Policy, who previously worked as a foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders, told Al Jazeera Net: "The Biden administration will allow the Israelis to basically do whatever they want, with a little pressure here and there to stop killing so many civilians." Regarding the continued provision of weapons and ammunition to Israel in violation of some American laws, Doss stressed that “the United States has double standards when it comes to Israel,” and for this specific reason, and in contrast to the Ukrainian case, sending American weapons to Israel is surrounded by a lot of secrecy.

The president of Harvard University has issued a public apology for comments she made during a congressional hearing on “anti-Semitism on American campuses,” amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. The details of the incident go back to Tuesday, when Claudine Gay, who has been president of the American University of Harvard since July 2023, was asked whether the calls for “genocide” of Jews were a violation of Harvard’s code of conduct. Her answer did not contain direct approval.

“I’m sorry,” Gay said in an interview published on Friday by the university’s student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson. She added: "I had to have my mind at that moment to return to the truth that guides me, which is that calls for violence against our Jewish community and threats directed at our Jewish students have no place at Harvard University, and will not go unchallenged."

Guy and the other two participants in the five-hour hearing, the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), faced sharp criticism for their responses to questions from Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. Stefanik, who studied at Harvard, called on the presidents of these universities to resign, and announced on Wednesday that the House Education Committee “will open a formal investigation” in Congress against the three universities, “with the authority to issue subpoenas.”

When university presidents were asked whether “calling for genocide against the Jews” violated their university’s code of conduct, they replied that it depends on the context in which it comes. “When speech turns into behavior that violates our policies, including policies against bullying, harassment, or intimidation, we take action,” Gay said.

The Democratic and Republican parties joined in rebuking the presidents of the three universities, while President Joe Biden issued a statement in which he considered that “calls for genocide are brutal and contradict everything we stand for as a country.”

According to hacked police files, US law enforcement agencies received direct analysis of incidents in the Israeli-Palestinian struggle from Israeli occupation forces and think tanks, training on what they call domestic "Muslim extremists" from pro-Israeli non-profit organizations. This included the surveillance of pro-Palestine activists' social media accounts in the US. The analysis of documents from the BlueLeaks collection of internal law enforcement records by The Guardian found no evidence that this was in any way balanced by intelligence from other Middle Eastern sources or US Muslim community groups. There was even no indication that pro-"Israel" activists were monitored by the US government, unlike pro-Palestine activists.

Mike German, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, former FBI undercover agent, and author of Disrupt, Discredit, and Divide: How the New FBI Damages Democracy, called the findings "frustrating", detailing that the information becomes "an amplifier of disinformation rather than a corrective to that disinformation."

In June 2020, self-described hacktivists obtained and released the BlueLeaks collection. It incorporates information from over 200 law enforcement organizations, as well as intelligence distributed by federally supported umbrella groups, such as fusion centers and high-intensity drug-trafficking area (Hidta) initiatives. Of the bodies exposed in the leaks is LA Clear, which, according to its website, provides “analytical and case support” in narcotics investigations in southern California. Several of its documents included IDF analyses of confrontations in Gaza and the West Bank.

In one instance, the archive demonstrates the strong collaboration that exists between several law enforcement agencies and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a pro-"Israel" lobby in the US. Leaked emails show various agencies promoting ADL training sessions for law enforcement employees, and ADL officials are featured as registered guests at fusion center events, with profiles stating that "we facilitate workshops for law enforcement on extremism, hate crime, and (in Washington DC and Israel) counter-terrorism."

German expressed that “at a time where there’s much more public sensitivity to foreign influence in domestic affairs, having a foreign country’s security services aligned with the beat cop on the streets of American neighborhoods is concerning.”

Butcher's Bill / Oasis of Martyrs

Palestinian armed group Hamas launched thousands of missiles at Israel and deployed its militants to infiltrate Jewish settlements near the country’s border with Gaza on 07 October 2023. The 1,200 Israelis killed on the first day would be the equivalent of 36,000 Americans killed in an attack, as a proportion to Israel’s population of 9.3 million people (compared to 332 million in the USA). Israeli President Isaac Herzog stated: “Not since the Holocaust have so many Jews been killed in one day". PM Netanyahu stated "On October 7th, Hamas murdered 1,400 Israelis. Maybe more. This is in a country of fewer than 10 million people. This would be equivalent to over 50,000 Americans murdered in a single day. That’s twenty 9/11s. That is why October 7th is another day that will live in infamy."

It is the second largest loss inflicted on the Israeli forces after the 1973 war, as the Palestinian resistance killed more than 1,200, wounded more than 5,132 others, and captured more than 250, most of them military personnel, some of whom were high-ranking officers in the army.

The HAMAS Government Information Office in Gaza announced that the number of martyrs of the Israeli aggression on Gaza had risen to 17,490 martyrs, including 7,870 children and 6,121 women. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The Hamas-run government said more than 4,000 women were among the dead.

The number of injured had risen to "more than 56,000", up from 41,316 with varying injuries earlier in the day. The Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza said the number of missing people had risen to more than 7,500 [ double the 3,750 previously reported], including 1,800 children still under the rubble, including 4,700 children and women. The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that the number of wounded as 36,000 [previously announced as about 32,000 wounded], 75 percent of them children and women.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health explained that the death toll in the West Bank since the beginning of this year has risen to 465, including 257 martyrs since last October 7.

Israel revised down the death toll from the October Hamas attacks in southern Israel from 1,400 to 1,200. IDF had said previously it was holding 1,500 bodies of terrorists, a total that now would increas to about 1,700.

The number of Israeli soldiers that the IDF admitted were killed in ground battles with the Palestinian resistance reached 92, while the death toll for the Israel forces had risen to 412 soldiers since the beginning of Operation al-Aqsa Flood. At least 7,771 Israelis were injured.

The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz revealed that the number of soldiers who were injured since the start of the war reached about a thousand soldiers, noting that 202 soldiers were seriously injured. The army rarely referred to casualties when talking about the deaths of soldiers during battles. According to the same newspaper, this policy differs from what was prevalent in previous wars and military campaigns, during which the army also published the number of its wounded, in addition to publishing other details. The IDF previously announced that more than 260 soldiers had been injured since the start of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip, including 100 in serious condition.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry released its first official casualty numbers in fighting, saying 77 people were killed and 251 wounded since the start of the war on Gaza.

Hostages

Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy told reporters that Hamas still held 137 captives. The resistance released 10 Israeli detainees, 4 Thais and 2 Russian women, who were released outside the agreement. Over the course of 6 days, Israel has received 102 detainees, women and children, including 78 Israelis, in exchange for the release of 234 Palestinian prisoners, women and children.

Eylon Levy, the Israeli government spokesperson, told reporters 01 December 2023:

• Hamas still holds 137 hostages from the October attacks, in addition to four others who went missing before the war
• The hostages include two children aged four and 10 months, who, Hamas now claims, are dead
• 117 male hostages are still kept in Gaza, including the two children, as well as 20 females
• 126 hostages are Israelis, and 11 others are foreign nationals
• Foreign nationals are eight Thais, one Nepalese, one Tanzanian and one French Mexican citizen
• Ten of the remaining hostages are 75 and older. There are seven missing people since the October 7 attack
• Hamas has released 110 hostages so far – 86 Israelis and 24 foreign nationals.

The Al-Qassam Brigades announced the death of an Israeli woman and her two children who were detained by them as a result of a previous Israeli bombing of Gaza. The Israeli army confirmed the deaths of five hostages held in Gaza, saying their families had been informed, and the body of one of them returned to Israel. “In recent days, the IDF and Israel police notified the families of the hostages Eliyahu Margalit, Maya Goren, Ronen Engel and Arye Zalmanovitz about their deaths,” army spokesman Daniel Hagari said. He also said troops had brought back the body of a fifth person that he identified as Ofir Tsarfati. Hagari said Gaza militants were still holding “136 hostages, among them 17 women and children.”

Before the release of the sixth batch of Israelis detained in Gaza, Israeli government spokesman Elon Levy said that 161 Israelis are still detained in the Strip [al-Jazeera reported "more than 100 prisoners" remain with the resistance]. Levy added that Israel has prepared a list of 50 Palestinian detainees to be released if Hamas continues to release detainees. At least 76, and possibly more than 80, hostages had been released by Hamas over six days of a cease-fire. During the pause, Hamas fighters released 60 Israeli women and children. In return, Israel released 180 security detainees from its prisons, all of them women and minors under the age of 19. Hamas also separately released 19 foreign hostages, most of them Thai farm workers, under separate agreements parallel to the truce agreement.

Thirty children held by Gazan terrorists have been released as part of a four-day ceasefire deal with Hamas that began Friday, but 10 still remain in the Strip. The terror group has said it planned to release 20 more hostages as part of a two-day extension to the deal. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the Biden administration believes eight or nine more Americans are still being held but the U.S. does not have "solid information on each and every one of them." Perhaps 100 are Israeli civilians. Some of the rest are soldiers, seized when Hamas raided military bases in Israel. They may end up being held the longest. The Israeli military had not specified how many soldiers were captured, nor their ranks.

By one account

• 236 confirmed abducted civilians and IDF soldiers.
• 18 of the abductees are elderly people aged 75 and older.
• 121 of the abductees have foreign citizenship (including dual citizenship).

Conflicting estimates were provided regarding the number of Thai nationals still in captivity. The Wall Street Journal reported 25 November 2023 that Hamas is interested in releasing 23 Thai citizens during the four days of the ceasefire, mediated by Iran. On the other hand, the Thai Foreign Ministry claimed 20 more citizens who are held captive by Hamas, and that four of the ten who were released were not included in the number initially estimated.

According to some estimates, Hamas was initially holding nearly 210 of the 240 hostages, while Palestinian Islamic Jihad was holding the remaining 30. About 40 Israelis remained missing. More than 40 hostages taken from Israel into Gaza on October 7th are not currently in the custody of Hamas, the group responsible for the attack, according to a CNN report based on a diplomatic source briefed on the negotiations, CNN's prior reports had indicated that an estimated 40 to 50 hostages were held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad or other unidentified groups or individuals.

Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said on Hamas’ telegram account that 23 bodies of the 60 missing Israel hostages were trapped under the rubble. “It seems that we will never be able to reach them due to the continued brutal aggression of the occupation against Gaza,” he said.

The Prisoners' Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club announced that the occupation forces arrested about 60 Palestinians, including former prisoners, since dawn on Monday, bringing the total number of detainees in the West Bank to 3,540 since last October 7. Israel said that, since the beginning of the war, approximately 2,200 wanted persons have been arrested throughout the Judea and Samaria Division and the Bekaa and Valleys Division, approximately 1,175 of whom are associated with the terrorist organization Hamas.