Rocket launches from Gaza
(Video: Ben Ben plant nursery, Netiv HaAsara)
President Isaac Herzog referred to the heavy price of the fighting in the Gaza Strip, saying in a national address on Sunday night that "this is a difficult evening. Each time we hear the words 'cleared for publication', our hearts shudder with renewed pain and grief. Behind the name of every fallen soldier in the fighting in Gaza, there is an Israeli hero. A member of a family. A parents’ son. A partner. A father. A brother. A grandson. A loved one'."
More stories:
Herzog noted that "at this time there is one imperative: and that is for unity, determination and mutual responsibility. We are in a war – not a war of choice, but a justified, correct and moral war. The justness of our path prevails over everything. Everything. The enemy is just waiting to see the cracks within us, for us to start fighting one another. They also see the conflicts, the arguments, the struggles between egos, the political conflicts – both in the days before, and in the days after. They celebrate when they see the cracks between us."
9 View gallery
President Isaac Herzog addresses the nation following the deaths of 14 soldiers in one 24-hour period
(Photo: GPO)
His remarks came shortly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the war in Gaza in a statement on Sunday evening. "Citizens of Israel, we are intensifying the war in the Gaza Strip. We will continue to fight until absolute victory over Hamas. This is the only way to return our hostages, eliminate Hamas and ensure that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel. This will take time, but we are united – the soldiers, the people and the government," Netanyahu said.
He added: We are united and determined to fight until the end. The war has a price, a very heavy price in the lives of our heroic soldiers, and we will do everything to safeguard the lives of our soldiers. However, there is one thing we will not do: We will not stop until we achieve victory."
The prime minister's wife, Sara Netanyahu, sent an official letter to Pope Francis on Thursday in which she asked for his help in efforts to return the hostages held in Gaza. In her letter, Netanyahu wrote: "Hamas is still holding 129 men, women and children hostage. Many of them are wounded and sick. They suffer from hunger, and some are denied the basic medicines they need to survive. Your Holiness, I ask for your personal intervention in this matter. Please use your influence to demand the unconditional release of all the hostages without delay. Please also call on the Red Cross to demand to visit all the hostages at once and deliver them vital medicine. So far the Red Cross has failed to insist on these deliverables. Your intervention could tilt the balance and save precious lives.
9 View gallery
Sara Netanyahu's letter to the pope asking him to intervene on behalf of the hostages
Hours later, the pope lamented that Jesus' message of peace was being drowned out by the "futile logic of war" in the very land where he was born, as the pontiff led the world's Roman Catholics into Christmas. Francis, celebrating the 11th Christmas of his pontificate, presided at a solemn Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica and spoke of the conflict in the Holy Land in his homily. "Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world," Francis said.
In the city where Jesus was born, Palestinian Minister of Tourism, Rula Ma'ayah, said: "Bethlehem is celebrating Christmas with sadness and sorrow because of what's happening in Gaza and in all the West Bank, all Palestinian territories."
At the papal Mass for 6,500 people in St. Peter's Basilica and more watching on screens in the square outside, Francis said the real message of Christmas is peace and love, urging people not to be obsessed with worldly success and the "idolatry of consumerism." Francis has made numerous appeals for a ceasefire in the conflict raging in Gaza and has called for the release of all hostages held by Palestinian terror groups.
The 401st Brigade of the 162nd Division and Shayetet 13 carried out a targeted raid to locate weapons hidden in schools in the Sheikh Radwan area of Gaza City, according to the IDF. During the raid, the forces killed terrorists who were present in the school compound. In addition, after interrogations conducted by field interrogators of Unit 504, dozens of terrorists were transferred for further interrogations in Israel. In the schools, located near mosques and residential buildings, hundreds of combat materials were found, including grenades, weapons, RPG missiles, explosives, and various media devices.
The IDF spokesman announced on Sunday evening the death of another soldier in the Gaza war. Maj. (res.) Aryeh Rein, 39, from Mishmarot, of the 14th Reserve Armored Brigade’s 79th Battalion, was killed by an anti-tank missile in a battle in the northern Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of the war, 487 soldiers have fallen, 154 of them since the beginning of the ground maneuver in the Gaza Strip; 1,998 have been injured since the beginning of the war, 325 of them in serious condition.
An Air Force fighter jet attacked a Hezbollah military infrastructure in Lebanon. Also, the IDF fired to remove a threat in several areas of Lebanese territory. In addition, following the launches into the Galilee, the IDF attacked the sources of the fire with artillery and tanks.
A delegation from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement, a terror group allied with Hamas which is known to be holding some of the Israeli captives in Gaza, has arrived in Cairo for talks with Egyptian security officials, a member of the group with knowledge of the talks told Reuters on Sunday. The talks will center on "ways to end the Israeli aggression on our people," said the official from the Iran-backed group, which has so far rejected any new prisoner-swap deals with Israel before the latter ends its military offensive in the Palestinian enclave, home to 2.3 million people.
Israeli forces have killed some 8,000 Palestinian fighters in the Gaza war, a military spokesperson said on Sunday, adding that the figure was drawn from accounts of targeted strikes and battlefield tallies as well as the interrogations of captives.
Strategy and Third Circle Directorate Commander Major General Eliezer Toledano briefed the cabinet ministers and said, "this war will continue for months. We'll need to employ a war economy and the final goal is eradicating Hamas. We are not saving on ammunition during the maneuver and doing all we can to protect our soldiers."
The IDF said around noon on Sunday that Israeli warplanes attacked several Hezbollah targets in Lebanese territory, including military compounds and rocket launching posts.
The IDF announced Sunday at noon that Staff Sergeant Roy Elias, 21, a soldier of the 7th Armored Brigade's 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion, from Tzofar, was killed in action in the southern Gaza Strip bringing the army's total death toll over the weekend to 14.
Since the beginning of ground operations in the Gaza Strip, 153 IDF soldiers and officers have been killed and 485 Israeli servicemembers have fallen since the start of the war on October 7.
9 View gallery
Top left to right: Staff Sergeant Itamar Shemen, Master Sergeant (res.) Eliyahu Ohana, Staff Sergeant Orel Bashan, Staff Sergeant David Bogdanovskyi, Staff Sergeant Roy Elias; bottom left to right: Sergeant First Class (res.) Ohad Ashur, Staff Sergeant Gal Hershko, Sergeant First Class (res.) Elyassaf Shoshan, Master Sergeant (res.) Nadav Issachar Farhi
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
At the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "The war exacts a very heavy price on us, but we have no choice but to continue fighting.
“Our forces have eliminated thousands of terrorists to date, and we continue with all our might to the end, to victory, until all our objectives are met," he said.
He also alluded to a The Wall Street Journal report, which claimed that the U.S. prevented an Israeli preemptive strike against Hezbollah in the early days of the war, saying "Israel is a sovereign nation; our decisions in the war are based on our own considerations.”
“The decision on how our forces operate is an independent decision by the IDF. Let it be clear, this will be a long war - we are committed to the end, to the return of the hostages, to the elimination of Hamas and to restoring security both in the north and the south."
Egypt has proposed a phased hostage deal outline, involving an initial two to three-week cease-fire in exchange for the release of 40 Israeli hostages, Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Sunday.
9 View gallery
Hamas terror chief Yahya Sinwar; Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
(Photo: SAUL LOEB/Pool via REUTERS, REUTERS / Saudi Press Agency/Handout, EPA)
According to the report, the second stage will involve discussions with the Palestinian Authority about establishing a technocratic government.
The third stage will include a permanent cease-fire, a comprehensive prisoner exchange deal and Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Sources told the newspaper that Hamas agreed to the proposal.
Meanwhile, Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported that "Egypt's vision is based on the desire to involve all Palestinian factions and find an alternative to [Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas]."
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) reported that four drones headed toward a U.S. destroyer in the southern Red Sea and launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Saturday were shot down.
"These attacks represent the 14th and 15th attacks on commercial shipping by Houthi militants since Oct. 17," CENTCOM said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
9 View gallery
A Houthi gunman walking past the Galaxy Leader cargo ship, hijacked by Iranian-backed rebels in November
(Photo: EPA/YAHYA ARHAB)
The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control much of Yemen, have disrupted world trade for weeks with attacks on ships passing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea in what they say is a response to Israel's war in Gaza. The U.S. Naval Forces Central Command responded to distress calls from two ships under attack, CENTCOM said.
A Norwegian-flagged, -owned and -operated chemical/oil tanker reported a near miss of a Houthi drone attack, and a Gabon-owned, Indian-flagged crude oil tanker reported being hit by a one-way attack, the post said.
Two Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles were also "fired into international shipping lanes in the Southern Red Sea from Houthi controlled areas of Yemen", it said. "No ships reported being impacted by the ballistic missiles."
U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday discussed Israel's military campaign in Gaza, including its "objectives and phasing," the White House said.
9 View gallery
U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(Photo: Reuters, Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Biden "emphasized the critical need to protect the civilian population including those supporting the humanitarian aid operation, and the importance of allowing civilians to move safely away from areas of ongoing fighting," the White House said in a statement. "The leaders discussed the importance of securing the release of all remaining hostages," the White House said.
The American leader later told reporters in Washington he "had a long talk with Netanyahu today and it's a private conversation" but noted he "did not ask for a cease-fire" in response to a shouted question.
First published: 08:49, 12.24.23