For today, links to reports from Tass, the Associated Press, Reuters, National Public Radio, Agence France-Presse, and the New York Times, followed by links to commentary from Consortium News and Indian Punchline: other articles are accessible by clicking on their sources’ names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM
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Death toll in Gaza exceeds 15,000 – Health Ministry. From Tass. RABAT — The death toll in the Gaza Strip since the escalation of the conflict with Israel began on Oct. 7 has reached 15,207, and the number of wounded 40,652, the Palestinian enclave’s Health Ministry told the Al Jazeera TV channel. “Seventy percent of the victims of the Israeli aggression are children and women,” the ministry said. READ MORE . . .
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U.S. Vice President Harris urges restraint as Israel bombards southern Gaza, by Suhaib Salem and Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters GAZA — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said too many innocent Palestinians had been killed in Gaza as Israeli war planes and artillery bombarded the enclave today following the collapse of a truce with Hamas militants. Residents feared the barrages were a prelude to an Israeli ground operation in the south of the Palestinian territory that would. . . READ MORE . . .
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France’s Macron says he is going to Qatar to work on newa Gaza truce. From Reuters. DUBAI — French President Emmanuel Macron said today that France was “very concerned” by the resumption of violence in Gaza and that he was heading to Qatar to help in efforts to kickstart a new truce ahead of a ceasefire. He also told a press conference at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai that the situation required the doubling down on efforts to obtain a lasting ceasefire and the freeing of all hostages. READ MORE . . .
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Israeli offensive shifts to crowded southern Gaza, driving up death toll despite evacuation orders, by Najib Jobain, Samy Magdy and David Rising | AP KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israel pounded targets in the crowded southern half of the Gaza Strip today and ordered more neighborhoods designated foR attack to evacuate, driving up the death toll even as the United States and others urged it to do more to protect Gaza civilians a day after a truce collapsed. At least 200 . . . READ MORE . . .
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As Israel’s air strikes resume, the U.S. and Qatar try to negotiate another ceasefire. Reported by Asma Khalid and Brian Mann | NPR Israel says it has hit more than 400 targets since the resumption of fighting in Gaza, as Qatar and the US try to negotiate another ceasefire. Click HERE to listen and read.
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Israel says pulls negotiators back from Qatar after ‘impasse.’ From AFP. Israel said today it was pulling its Mossad negotiators out of Qatar, which is mediating efforts to secure a renewed pause in the Israel-Hamas war, after a deadlock in the talks. “Following the impasse in the negotiations and at the direction of . . . READ MORE . . .
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New York Times report says Israel knew about Hamas attack over a year in advance, by Julia Frankel | AP JERUSALEM — Israel’s military was aware of Hamas ‘ plaN to launch an attack on Israeli soil over a year before the devastating Oct. 7 operation that killed hundreds of people, The New York Times reported Friday. The Times said Israeli officials were in possession of a 40-page battle plan, code-named “Jericho Wall,” that detailed a hypothetical Hamas attack on . . . READ MORE . . .
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Israel knew Hamas’s attack plan, point by point, more than a year ago, by Rosen Bergman and Adam Goldman | The New York Times Israeli officials obtained Hamas’ battle plan for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack more than a year before it happened, documents, emails and interviews show. But Israeli military and intelligence officials dismissed the plan as . . . READ MORE . . .
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Renewed Gaza fighting stretches into second day after Israel-Hamas truce collapses, by Suhaib Salem and Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters GAZA — Renewed fighting in Gaza stretched into a second day on Saturday after talks to extend a week-old truce with Hamas collapsed and mediators said Israeli bombardments were complicating attempts to again pause hostilities. Eastern areas of Khan Younis in southern Gaza . . . READ MORE . . .
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Thousands of Palestinians are held without charge under Israeli detention policy. Reported by Michael Levitt,Tinbete Ermyas, Avery Keatley, Vincent Acovino and Juana Summers | NPR Philip Luther of Amnesty International is interviewed by Juana Summers about Israel’s administrative detention policy, under which thousands of Palestinians are held without charge. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.
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Peddling propaganda about al-Shifa, by Gareth Porter | Consortium News The argument over the Israeli accusation that Hamas used Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital as a shield for its military effort against the Israel Defense Forces continues. On Nov. 23, author and online journalist Fred Kaplan weighed in forcefully in favor of the Israeli charge. Kaplan, who writes a weekly column on defense and foreign affairs for Slate magazine, posted . . . READ MORE . . .
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Tread softly on Hamas — for good reason, by M.K. Bhadrakumar | Indian Punchline Call them pests or pushers — or simply as Rottweilers — the Israeli diplomats have gained notoriety over time as a unique breed in the international circuit who have no time or patience for niceties or propriety when Tel Aviv instructs them to go for the jugular veins of the host country where they are assigned. The threshold was set by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when in 2015 he extracted from the lawmakers on the Hill in Washington . . . READ MORE . . .