IDF Commander of the Home Front Command:

The situation in the north (Lebanon border) is worse than the situation in the Gaza border. We have set a target date for war in the north.

Since the start of the war, 115 Israeli soldiers have died and around 600 have been injured in Gaza, according to the Israeli military.

That is a greater number of casualties than Israel’s military experienced in previous Gaza ground invasions. At least 20 of the Israeli military fatalities were accidents, mostly the result of friendly fire.

The higher Israeli casualties reflect a shift in the military’s war tactics, with a greater focus on urban, ground combat and more targeted operations. In the earlier weeks of the war, Israel relied almost exclusively on air bombardments.

Conducting warfare house to house and “checking things from up close instead of destroying them from far away” is part of Israel’s strategy to reduce civilian casualties, said Shalom Ben Hanan, a former senior Israeli intelligence official.

But that is coming at a price for Israeli troops, and in military and security circles some are beginning to question the strategy, he said.

“I’m already hearing criticism that it’s not OK, and we have to fight differently, that we have to fight in a way that is safer for IDF soldiers,” said Ben Hanan, who is in touch with his former colleagues.

They are asking “if it is essential to battle this way, versus with tanks and planes.”

Source: WSJ

CNN reporter Clarissa Ward is the first Western journalist to enter Gaza since October 7.

She describes what she witnessed in Gaza as "harrowing," "chilling," and "sobering."

Clarissa entered Gaza with an UAE medical team. There was an Israeli military strike near the field hospital minutes just after Clarissa entered.

"You get an absolute sense of the horrors that have been taking place in Gaza. This hospital was filled with the youngest victims of this war. Children who had been disfigured, who are in full body casts, and who are covered in burns."

Nearly half of the air-to-ground munitions that Israel has used in Gaza in its war with Hamas since October 7 have been unguided, otherwise known as “dumb bombs,” according to a new US intelligence assessment.

About 40-45% of the 29,000 air-to-ground munitions Israel has used have been unguided.

The rest have been precision-guided munitions.

25 years agon on this day: U.S. President Bill Clinton inaugurated Gaza's Yasser Arafat (Dahaniya) International Airport.

Then Israel bombed the radar station and control tower on 4 December 2001 and bulldozers cut the runway on 10 January 2002, rendering the airport inoperable.

Netanyahu told a top Knesset panel that "Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would finance the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip after the war against Hamas."

“The first step in Gaza will be to defeat Hamas. After that, I believe that the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia will support the rehabilitation of the Strip,” Netanyahu said in closed-door testimony to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

White House, last night:

President Biden, your staff demands a ceasefire.

Protesters demanding a cease-fire in Gaza shut down the 110 Freeway in Los Angeles Wednesday morning.

All lanes were blocked as protesters lined up, sitting down along the southbound side of the freeway.

75 people were arrested.

Pastor at Trump rally last night in Coralville, IA:

"This election is part of a spiritual battle. There are demonic forces at play. But judgment is coming. When Trump becomes the 47th president, there will be retribution against all those who have promoted evil in this country."

New Palestinian public opinion poll released by PCPSR, the first since October 7th:

- 72% support Hamas offensive.

- Support for Hamas triples in West Bank (82% support offensive)

- Support for armed struggle rises to +60%

- When asked about their own preferences for the party that should be in control in the Gaza Strip after the war, 60% (75% in the West Bank, 38% in the Gaza Strip) selected Hamas.

Reporter:

You seem to give the Israelis more of a benefit of the doubt than your own president. Civilian casualties are mounting.

White House's Kirby:

They have published online maps of places where people can go or not go. That's basically telegraphing your punches! There's very few modern militaries in the world that would do that! I don't know that we would do that!

Belgium MP Marc Botenga:

When it was happening in Ukraine you said genocide, here (in Gaza) you are silent. You know what? There is a difference between you and me, not political views, but humanity.

Even Israeli politicians say they want to ethnically cleanse the whole of Gaza and you support and applaud these people.

I hope you can look in the mirror and not be ashamed. Today the EU is Israel's partner in massacre, stop being a partner in this massacre.

Yemen's Houthi Minister of Defense Mohammed Nasser al-Atafi:

Any Israeli ship you see, either capture it or sink it in the deep sea.

Iranian Defence Minister Mohammad Reza Gharaei Ashtiani:

The Red Sea is considered Iranian territory and no one can maneuver there.

All the countries are present in this region, but this region is our region and we dominate that region, definitely no one can maneuver.

Putin:

There will be peace in Ukraine when Russia achieves its goals.

The West gave Ukraine everything it promised, even more, for free. But this may end soon.

Russian Federation has destroyed 747 tanks and 2.3000 armored vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces since the beginning of the Ukrainian counter-offensive.

Currently, 244,000 mobilized people are in the special operation zone, 41,000 people have been dismissed due to health or upon reaching the age limit.

This year, 486,000 people have already been recruited into the Russian army under contract.

Why do we need another mobilization? There is no need.

IDF soldier inside the central mosque in the Jenin refugee camp:

In the name of God, the Merciful, here is the IDF speaker. Residents, the story is over!! We will not accept the continuation of the current situation, we will not accept inventions by terrorists in the camp from today, the future will be clean for the residents of the camp, a beautiful and honorable life! There is no power and no valor except in God!

Putin:

Russians and Ukrainians are one people, now there is something like a "civil war" going on.

Odesa is a Russian city , everyone knows about it, but they made up historical nonsense.

(citing Bismarck) Wars are won not by generals, but by school teachers and priests.

EU countries have largely lost their sovereignty and are making decisions to their own detriment. Orban and Fico are not pro-Russian politicians, but pro-nationals. The rest depend on the “big brother”.

Ukrainians are simply being pushed towards extermination. Ukrainian military themselves say it’s a one-way road.

Israeli soldiers filming themselves inside a mosque singing Hanukkah songs trampling with their shoes in Jenin.

Putin:

Turkish President Erdogan has a leading role in the settlement in the Gaza Strip.

Putin:

The whole world sees the difference between what is happening in Gaza and in Ukraine; there is nothing like that in Ukraine. As they say, “feel the difference”. Gaza is a disaster.

Israeli Army helicopters landing at Soroka Medical Center, transporting wounded/killed IDF soldiers from Gaza.