For today, links to reports from a Substack writer, the Associated Press and Reuters, followed by commentary from the New York Times and, via Consortium News, Scheer Post; other articles are accessible by clicking on their sources’ initials or names below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE. ) — MCM

–   –   –

NEWER  How the West Bank fits into the equation, by Seymour M. Hersh | SeymourHersh.Substack.com  “The big problem” today between the Biden administration and the Netanyahu government, a senior U.S. official told me, is not the war against Hamas, but Netanyahu’s clash with the Palestinian Authority, the much weakened agency still nominally in charge of the West Bank. Steadily increasing violence committed against the Palestinian population by Israeli settlers . . . READ MORE . . .

–   –   –

U.S. and Israel discuss when to scale back Gaza combat but agree fight will take months, envoy says, by Karin Laub, Najib Jobain and Bassem Mroue | AP  RAMALLAH, West Bank — The United States agrees with Israel that the fight against Hamas will take months, but officials are discussing the timetable for scaling back from high-intensity combat to more precise ways of targeting the militant group’s leaders, a top U.S. envoy said today amid growing American unease about the mounting death toll in Gaza. Following talks with Israeli officials, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss . . . READ MORE . . .

–   –   –

Israel-Hamas fighting convulses Gaza as U.S. seeks protection of civilians, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Fadi Shana | Reuters  CAIRO / GAZA — Israeli forces and Hamas battled fiercely throughout Gaza today, witnesses said, suggesting Israel’s ground offensive was meeting stiffer resistance as the U.S. said it expected its ally to alter a war strategy that has inflicted a huge death toll. Residents in the small enclave reported fighting in . . . READ MORE . . .

–   –   –

The accounts of freed Israeli hostages add pressure to save those still in captivity. Reported by Becky Sullivan | NPR  The militant group Hamas released more than a hundred hostages during a seven-day ceasefire in late November. In an effort to keep attention focused on the more than 100 hostages who are still being held by Hamas, their families — and some former hostages themselves — have spoken out publicly about the harsh . . . Click HERE to listen and read.

–   –   –

Disagreements emerge over who should be in control of Gaza when the war ends. Reported by Daniel Estrin and Steve Inskeep | NPR  Who should be in charge in Gaza after the war? Disagreements have emerged between the U.S., Israel, Palestinian and Gulf leaders, and activists. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

–   –   –

What worries me about the Gaza war after my trip to Arab states, by Thomas L. Friedman | The New York Times  I’ve been concerned from the start that Israel launched its invasion of Gaza to eradicate Hamas with no plan for what to do with the territory and its people in the wake of any victory. Having just spent a week in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates . . . READ MORE . . .

–   –   –

The evil Israel does is the evil Israel gets, by Chris Hedges | Scheer Post / Consortium News  Dr. Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, co-founder of Hamas, did not fit the demonized image of a Hamas leader. A soft spoken, articulate and highly educated pediatrician, he had graduated first in his class at Egypt’s Alexandria University. As a 9-year-old, he witnessed . . . READ MORE . . .