December 27, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Israel will stop automatically granting visas to United Nations workers, a government spokesperson on Tuesday, adding that the country will instead process applications on a case-by-case basis.

Characterizing the announcement as “an update on the deeply problematic involvement of the United Nations in this conflict,” Levy noted that the UN had failed to condemn Hamas for hijacking aid and for waging war out of hospitals.

Levy said the UN had let the world down, and that Israel would lead by example to demand greater accountability from the international body.

Context: Israeli diplomats have used their platforms at the UN to denounce the world body since the war began. In late October, UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered an address in which he "unequivocally" condemned Hama's attack but said it didn't happen "in a vacuum," and that the Palestinians had been “subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation” by Israel, escalating tensions.

Earlier this month, Israel revoked the visa of Lynn Hastings, a United Nations humanitarian coordinator, due to the "bias of the UN." Days later, Guterres invoked a rarely used power at the Security Council in his determined push for a ceasefire in Gaza, causing outrage among Israeli diplomats.

US warships in the Red Sea have been battling a growing number of weapons fired by Houthi forces in Yemen over the past several weeks, including 17 drones and missiles during a 10-hour period on Tuesday alone.

Yahya Sare’e, a spokesman for Houthi forces, said on X, formerly Twitter, that the latest launches were in “continued support and solidarity with the Palestinian people.” The group had previously said it was targeting ships headed for Israel following Israeli forces’ invasion of Gaza.

The Iran-backed Houthis have launched at least 100 attacks against 14 different commercial and merchant vessels in the Red Sea over the past month, a senior US military official said last week.

The strikes prompted US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to announce the formation of a coalition of at least 10 countries to focus on security in the Red Sea.

The coalition involves member ships being available near the Red Sea to respond to attacks. A goal of the initiative was to deter future Houthi attacks, but the militants have nevertheless continued targeting ships operating near Yemen.

The Red Sea is home to one of the most important maritime trade routes in the world, and the attacks have had far-reaching reverberations. At least 44 countries are connected to vessels attacked by the Houthis and the attacks have disrupted wider international trade.

The 17 drones and missiles launched by the Houthis on Tuesday were brought down with weapons carried by the guided-missile destroyer USS Laboon and by F/A-18 fighter jets flying off the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower, the US Central Command said.

The US Navy has not said exactly what weapons its ships are using against the Houthi attacks, but analysts said a US destroyer has a range of arms systems at its disposal.

Read more about the US weapons.

Escalating attacks on US troops and commercial shipping and incidents often involving Iran and its proxies are causing new concerns that Israel’s war in Gaza could widen into a regional conflagration with grave political and economic consequences.

With American service personnel increasingly in a dangerous firing line and with US and allied naval assets on high alert after multiple drone attacks, the deteriorating situation is leading to a tense holiday period for the White House.

The rising possibility of US combat deaths and the worsening security situation from the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and stretching through Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Israel represents an unwelcome new foreign crisis as President Joe Biden’s reelection year dawns.

And it is becoming a petri dish for a new geopolitical trend — endless tests of America’s will and credibility by its adversaries and their proxies.

Warnings by Israel that its war against Hamas in Gaza will last for months, despite US pressure for a ratcheting down of the intensity of the conflict, threaten to heighten the chances war could spin out of control and drag the US further in.

Read Collinson's full analysis:

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Analysis: Fears are rising of a widened Middle East war and US troops are in the firing line | CNN Politics

France is “seriously concerned” by Israel’s announcement that fighting in Gaza would be intensified and prolonged, the French Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. 

In a statement, the ministry repeated its call for an immediate truce that would lead to a ceasefire, saying systematic bombings had resulted in numerous civilian casualties in recent days.

The statement from the French Foreign Ministry comes after Israel's military chief on Tuesday said the war against Hamas in Gaza will continue for "many more months," echoing comments from Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the conflict is far from ending.

Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron said that combatting “terrorist groups“ cannot mean “hitting civilian populations.”

“We can’t let the idea be accepted that fighting terrorism effectively would mean flattening Gaza or indiscriminately attacking the civilian population and to cause civilian casualties,” he said in an interview with broadcaster France 5. 

Adding that the fight against Hamas, and other “terrorist groups” in the Middle East, was one that concerned countries beyond Israel, Macron said the security response to terrorism is not, “The massive destruction, including civilian infrastructure and hitting civilian populations.”

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza will continue for “many more months,” the Israeli army chief said Tuesday, echoing similar recent comments from other Israeli leaders.

In a news briefing, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi said that as the war is being fought in a "complex area" it "will continue for many more months, and we will operate in various ways — so that the achievement will be preserved over time," according to an IDF translation of his comments. 

The IDF was close to its goal of “dismantling” Hamas in northern Gaza, he added.

Halevi's remarks come after Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned of a long fight ahead and that Israel is in a “multi-arena war,” with the country being attacked from multiple directions.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the war is far from over, after he visited Gaza for the second time since October 7.

Sigrid Kaag, a Dutch politician and veteran United Nations diplomat, will take charge of the international body’s effort to bring humanitarian relief to war-ravaged Gaza, the UN Secretary General announced Tuesday, filling a position created this month in a breakthrough UN Security Council resolution.

In a post on X, Kaag said she would resign her position as finance minister and deputy prime minister of the Netherlands to take on the role of UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza.

The appointment, which is set to take effect on January 8, comes as conditions in the besieged Palestinian enclave reach “nightmare” levels, as the chief of the World Health Organization put it after a recent visit. Shortages of power and medicine have stripped hospitals of most functioning, and the risk of famine looms over Gaza’s population, humanitarian organizations have said.

Since war began on October 7 following Hamas’ terror attacks, Israel has allowed a limited number of trucks to bring humanitarian aid into Gaza through Egypt’s Rafah crossing. The UN has described this amount as a trickle that fails to come close to meeting the needs of the population of over 2 million.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has also accused Israel’s tactics in Gaza, which include intensive aerial bombardment, of “creating massive obstacles to the distribution of humanitarian aid inside the strip.

Kaag will now be responsible for creating a mechanism to accelerate the movement of aid into Gaza and for “facilitating, coordinating, monitoring, and verifying” the relief effort, according to the UN, including the complex process of ensuring aid trucks are screened before they enter the enclave to ensure they’re not carrying non-humanitarian material.

The Security Council resolution creating the position, which called for immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza, passed last week with the abstention of the US after several days of negotiations and delays.

Read more about Kaag.

Israel is in a “multi-arena war,” with the country being attacked from multiple directions, defense minister Yoav Gallant said Tuesday. He warned of a long fight ahead, and said anyone who acts against Israel is "a potential target."

His comments follow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks Monday that the war is far from over, after the Israeli leader visited Gaza for the second time since October 7.

On the diplomatic front, a close confidant of Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan Tuesday as the White House has looked for Israel to move away from the high intensity war it has waged in Gaza.

A senior Israeli official told CNN that while there are differences between the US and Israel over the war, both countries want to see the end of Hamas.

Here are other key developments you should know:

An hours-long meeting between senior Biden administration officials and a close confidant of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the next phase of the Israel-Hamas conflict wrapped on Tuesday evening. 

Ron Dermer, a member of Israel’s war cabinet and a former ambassador to the United States, departed the White House after more than four hours following a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

A White House official told CNN the discussions included:

US officials have looked for Israel to move away from the high intensity war it has waged for nearly three months in Gaza that has resulted in more than 20,000 people killed.

The White House told reporters last week that Israel had assured the US it would transition to operations of lower intensity, although the administration would not put a specific timeline on the move.

Some context: A senior Israeli official told CNN on Tuesday that while there are differences between the US and Israel over Israel's war with Hamas, both countries want to see the end of the militant group.

“We can have different discussions on this tactical issue or that tactical issue. We listen very attentively to whatever Washington says, and I believe they listen very carefully to whatever we say to them,” said Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Netanyahu. “But ultimately, we’re on the same side of this. We want to see Hamas destroyed.” 

The Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, discussed developments in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories in a phone call with US President Joe Biden, Qatari state news agency QNA reported.

According to the statement, the leaders emphasized the significance of joint mediation efforts "to calm the situation and reach a permanent ceasefire."

The White House noted in a readout of the call that the leaders spoke about efforts to "secure the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas, including American citizens."