The Israel Defense Forces continued to pound targets in Lebanon and Gaza, after it said this week it was expanding its ground operations in the north of the enclave. On Thursday, the IDF conducted a strike on a school in north Gaza that it said was being used as a command center by Hamas militants. It said “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians” before the strike.
U.S. and U.N. officials repeated demands that Israel increase humanitarian shipments to Gaza. Sigrid Kaag, the U.N. senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to provide unhindered aid to Gaza, while U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters that although Israel has made progress in increasing aid to Gaza, “more needs to be made.”
The IDF said in a statement Friday it was “preparing to open” the Kissufim crossing “as part of the effort to increase the volume and routes of aid” into the Gaza Strip. It did not state when the crossing was expected to open. U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Thursday that Israel had told the United States it would open the crossing “in the coming days.”
Netanyahu condemned an attack on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam, calling it a “horrific antisemitic incident.” Amsterdam city officials said rioters “actively sought out Israeli supporters to attack and assault them” after a Europa League match between Maccabi Tel Aviv FC and the Dutch club AFC Ajax on Thursday night.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said at least 10 people were injured and urged Israelis in Amsterdam to remain in their hotels until authorities could ensure their safe passage from hotels to the airport. It said new Foreign Minister Gideon Saar would depart urgently for the Netherlandsto meet Dutch officials, including his counterpart.
Here are other key developments
- Israel’s new defense minister, Israel Katz, formally assumed office Friday, replacing outgoing Yoav Gallant, who was dismissed by Netanyahu this week. Katz had been serving as foreign minister and has been described by some analysts as a loyalist who could provide Netanyahu with more freedom when pursuing Israel’s wars.
- Hamas acknowledged the election of former president Donald Trump in a statement. “The election of Trump as the 47th president of the USA is a private matter for the Americans, but Palestinians look forward to an immediate cessation of the aggression against our people, especially in Gaza,” Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, said in a statement.
- At least 43,469 people have been killed in Gaza during the war and 102,561 injured, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. At least 3,117 people have been killed and 13,888 injured in Lebanon, the country’s Health Ministry said. Neither agency distinguishes between civilians and combatants.
- Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack, including more than 300 soldiers. It says 368 soldiers have been killed in its military operation in Gaza…..
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