Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Military Veteran Rios Challenging Costa for Congress in 2026

23 hours ago

OpenAI to Release Web Browser in Challenge to Google Chrome

23 hours ago

Fuel Shortage Threatens to Turn Gaza’s Biggest Hospital Into Graveyard, Doctors Say

23 hours ago

Why Measure C Is Not Measured

23 hours ago

California Highway Patrol Makes 1,311 DUI Arrests During Independence Day Weekend

24 hours ago

Death Toll Reaches at Least 119 in Texas Floods, With 173 Missing

1 day ago

Nathan Magsig: Why Our Second Amendment Resolution Matters to the People of the Central Valley

1 day ago

Horse Racing May Be Out at Fresno Fair, but New Events Promise to Pack Grandstands

1 day ago

Wall Street Shakes off Tariff Concerns, Nvidia Leaps to $4 Trillion

1 day ago

Who Will Dyer Support as His Successor? We Asked Him.

1 day ago
Battles Rage Across Gaza as Israel Indicates It's Willing to Fight for Months or More to Beat Hamas
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
December 11, 2023

Share

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Battles raged across Gaza on Sunday as Israel indicated it was prepared to fight for months or longer to defeat the territory’s Hamas rulers, and a key mediator said willingness to discuss a cease-fire was fading.

Israel faces international outrage after its military offensive, with diplomatic support and arms from close ally the United States, has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians. About 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, where U.N. agencies say there is no safe place to flee.

The United States has lent vital support in recent days by vetoing a United Nations Security Council resolution to end the fighting and pushing through an emergency sale of over $100 million worth of tank ammunition to Israel.

Russia backed the resolution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and expressed dissatisfaction with “anti-Israel positions” taken by Moscow’s envoys at the U.N. and elsewhere, an Israeli statement said.

Netanyahu told Putin that any country assaulted the way Israel was “would have reacted with no less force than Israel is using,” the statement added.

The U.N. General Assembly scheduled an emergency meeting Tuesday to vote on a draft resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N., told The Associated Press that it’s similar to the Security Council resolution the U.S. vetoed Friday.

There are no vetoes in the General Assembly but unlike the Security Council its resolutions are not legally binding. They are important nonetheless as a barometer of global opinion.

Israel’s air and ground war has killed thousands of Palestinians, mostly civilians, since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and other militants killed 1,200 people and captured around 240. Over 100 of them were released during a weeklong cease-fire last month.

With very little aid allowed in, Palestinians face severe shortages of food, water and other basic goods. Some observers openly worry that Palestinians will be forced out of Gaza altogether.

“Expect public order to completely break down soon, and an even worse situation could unfold including epidemic diseases and increased pressure for mass displacement into Egypt,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a forum in Qatar, a key intermediary.

Eylon Levy, an Israeli government spokesman, called allegations of mass displacement from Gaza “outrageous and false.”

Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, told the forum that mediation efforts seeking to stop the war and have all hostages released will continue, but “unfortunately, we are not seeing the same willingness that we had seen in the weeks before.”

Israel’s national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, told Israel’s Channel 12 TV that the U.S. has set no deadline for Israel to achieve its goals. “The evaluation that this can’t be measured in weeks is correct, and I’m not sure it can be measured in months,” he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN that as far as the duration and the conduct of the fighting, “these are decisions for Israel to make.”

This is a war that cannot be won, Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, asserted to the Qatar forum, warning that “Israel has created an amount of hatred that will haunt this region that will define generations to come.”

FIGHTING AND ARRESTS IN THE NORTH

Israeli forces face heavy resistance, including in northern Gaza, where neighborhoods have been flattened by air strikes and where ground troops have operated for over six weeks.

Israel’s Channel 13 TV broadcast footage showing dozens of detainees stripped to their underwear, hands in the air. One man held an assault rifle above his head, walked forward and placed a gun on the ground.

Other videos have shown groups of unarmed men held in similar conditions, without clothes, bound and blindfolded. Detainees from a group released Saturday told The Associated Press they had been beaten and denied food and water.

Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said dozens of arrests took place in two Hamas strongholds and that people are undressed to make sure they are not hiding explosives.

Residents said there was still heavy fighting in the Gaza City neighborhood of Shijaiyah and the Jabaliya refugee camp, a dense urban area housing Palestinian families who fled or were driven out of what is now Israel during the 1948 war.

“They are attacking anything that moves,” said Hamza Abu Fatouh, a Shijaiyah resident. He said the dead and wounded were left in the streets as ambulances could not reach the area.

Israel ordered the evacuation of the northern third of the territory, including Gaza City, early in the war, but tens of thousands of people have remained.

Heavy fighting also was underway in and around the southern city of Khan Younis.

WAITING DAYS FOR FOOD

The price of dwindling food in Gaza has soared. Abdulsalam al-Majdalawi said he had come every day for nearly two weeks to a U.N. distribution center, hoping to get supplies for his family of seven.

“Thank God, today they drew our name,” he said.

One hundred trucks with humanitarian aid entered Sunday, said Wael Abu Omar, a spokesman for the Palestinian Crossings Authority. That’s far short of what’s needed.

With the war in its third month, the Palestinian death toll in Gaza has surpassed 17,900, the majority women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.

Israel holds Hamas responsible for civilian casualties, saying the militants put civilians in danger by fighting in residential neighborhoods. The military says 97 Israeli soldiers have died in the offensive. Palestinian militants have continued firing rockets into Israel.

Netanyahu’s office said Hamas still has 117 hostages and the remains of 20 people killed in captivity or during the Oct. 7 attack. The militants hope to exchange them for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Israel says it has provided detailed instructions for civilians to evacuate to safer areas, even as it strikes what it says are militant targets. Thousands have fled to areas along the border with Egypt — one of the last places where aid agencies are able to deliver food and water.

Demonstrations were again held in several cities in support of the Palestinians and calling for an end to the war, while thousands marched in Europe against antisemitism.

The war has raised tensions across the Middle East, with Lebanon’s Hezbollah trading fire with Israel along the border and other Iran-backed militant groups targeting the U.S. in Syria and Iraq. Israeli artillery, drone, and airstrikes over Lebanon border towns intensified.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Israeli Strike Kills Children Near Gaza Clinic With No Immediate Truce in Sight

DON'T MISS

Judge Blocks Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order Despite Supreme Court Ruling

DON'T MISS

Churches Can Endorse Political Candidates to Congregations, IRS Says

DON'T MISS

US Lawmakers Renew Concerns About GenScript’s Ties to China

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Man Sentenced to 13 Years in Fiery DUI Crash That Killed One, Injured Several

DON'T MISS

‘Hollywood-Level Scares’ at Immersive Horror Attraction Coming to Fresno This Halloween

DON'T MISS

Hiker Rescued by Helicopter After Injury on Pacific Crest Trail in Kern County

DON'T MISS

US Military Delivering Some Weapons to Ukraine After Pause

DON'T MISS

Qantas Confirms Personal Data of Over a Million Customers Leaked in Breach

DON'T MISS

US Sanctions UN Expert Critical of Israel’s War in Gaza

UP NEXT

US Lawmakers Renew Concerns About GenScript’s Ties to China

UP NEXT

US Military Delivering Some Weapons to Ukraine After Pause

UP NEXT

Qantas Confirms Personal Data of Over a Million Customers Leaked in Breach

UP NEXT

Six Crew Rescued, 15 Missing After Houthis Sink Latest Greek Ship in Red Sea

UP NEXT

Trump Says US Will Charge Brazil With 50% Tariff

UP NEXT

Fuel Shortage Threatens to Turn Gaza’s Biggest Hospital Into Graveyard, Doctors Say

UP NEXT

UN Chief Outlines Four Options for Embattled Palestinian Relief Agency UNRWA

UP NEXT

Kenya’s President Orders Police to Shoot Violent Protesters in the Leg

UP NEXT

Trump Issues Tariff Letters to Six Countries

UP NEXT

Netanyahu and Trump Prioritize Hostages as Gaza Military Campaign Grinds On

Tiger-Striped Trixie Is a Pro When It Comes to Taking Cozy Naps

1 hour ago

Democrats Release Texts, Emails to Boost Claims Trump Nominee Urged Defiance of Courts

1 hour ago

Fresno Police Seek Public’s Help in Finding Missing 16-Year-Old Girl

1 hour ago

Ford Recalls More Than 850,000 Vehicles in US Over Fuel Pump Defect

2 hours ago

Walmart Recalls Ozark Trail Bottles After Three Reported Injuries, US Agency Says

2 hours ago

FEMA Is Holding Up $2.4 Billion in Grants to Fight Terrorism, States Say

2 hours ago

US Coffee, Orange Juice Prices Could Surge if Trump’s Brazil Tariffs Stick

2 hours ago

Trump’s Tariffs: What’s in Effect and What Could Be in Store?

2 hours ago

Israeli Strike Kills Children Near Gaza Clinic With No Immediate Truce in Sight

2 hours ago

Judge Blocks Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order Despite Supreme Court Ruling

2 hours ago

Froot Loops Maker WK Kellogg Agrees to $3.1 Billion Deal From Italy’s Ferrero

WK Kellogg on Thursday agreed to be bought by the owner of Ferrero Rocher in a deal worth around $3.1 billion, uniting two of the world̵...

50 minutes ago

Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, owned by Kellogg Company, is seen for sale in a store in Queens, New York City, U.S., February 7, 2022. (Reuters File)
50 minutes ago

Froot Loops Maker WK Kellogg Agrees to $3.1 Billion Deal From Italy’s Ferrero

57 minutes ago

China Signals Willingness to Sell Fighter Jets as Iran Eyes J-10 Aircraft

Tulare County deputies arrested Sotero Flores, 47, of Ivanhoe, in connection with a shooting in Ivanhoe that injured a man, while a second suspect, Rigoberto Lopez, 32, of Ivanhoe, remains at large. (Tulare County SO)
1 hour ago

Tulare County Man Arrested in Ivanhoe Shooting, Second Suspect Still at Large

1 hour ago

Tiger-Striped Trixie Is a Pro When It Comes to Taking Cozy Naps

Attorney Emil Bove looks on as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump appears remotely for a sentencing hearing in front of New York State Judge Juan Merchan in the criminal case in which he was convicted in 2024 on charges involving hush money paid to a porn star, at New York Criminal Court in Manhattan in New York City, U.S., on January 10, 2025.
1 hour ago

Democrats Release Texts, Emails to Boost Claims Trump Nominee Urged Defiance of Courts

Fresno police are searching for 16-year-old Giselle Botello Guzman, who was last seen June 15 and may be traveling between Fresno, Hanford, and Lemoore with a teenage male. (Fresno PD)
1 hour ago

Fresno Police Seek Public’s Help in Finding Missing 16-Year-Old Girl

A Ford logo is seen on the Ford Motor World headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, U.S., March 12, 2025. (Reuters/Rebecca Cook)
2 hours ago

Ford Recalls More Than 850,000 Vehicles in US Over Fuel Pump Defect

Shopping carts are lined up inside a Walmart store in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, January 28, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio/File photo
2 hours ago

Walmart Recalls Ozark Trail Bottles After Three Reported Injuries, US Agency Says

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend