U.S. Tells Israel It Is Concerned Lebanon Ceasefire Could Unravel, Axios
U.S. officials said President Biden’s adviser Amos Hochstein, who brokered the ceasefire, spoke to Israeli officials over the weekend and expressed concern about their ongoing strikes in Lebanon. Hochstein told the Israelis they should give space for the ceasefire monitoring mechanism to begin working, the U.S. officials said.
Lebanon Ceasefire Under Strain After Israeli Strikes and Hezbollah Mortar Fire, BBC
Ten people were killed in southern Lebanon on Monday night, the health ministry said, after Israel carried out its biggest wave of air strikes since both sides agreed last week to end 13 months of conflict.
Palestinians Say Hamas and Fatah Are Close to an Agreement on a Committee To Administer Postwar Gaza, AP
A Palestinian Authority official on Tuesday confirmed that an agreement had been reached following weeks of negotiations in Cairo. The official said the committee would have 12-15 members, most of them from Gaza. It would report to the Palestinian Authority, which is headquartered in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and work with local and international parties to facilitate humanitarian assistance and reconstruction.
Israeli Soldiers Conducting Campaign of ‘Beatings and Abuse’ in Hebron, The Guardian
Israeli soldiers based in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron have intensified a campaign of arbitrary detentions, beatings and abuse of Palestinians, according to Guardian interviews with affected residents and new research by the rights group B’Tselem.
Senior Police, Prison Officials Close to Israel’s Ben-Gvir Suspected of Ethics Violations, Bribery, Haaretz
As part of the covert investigation by the Justice Ministry’s department for investigating police officers, two police officers were arrested. One holds the rank of commander in the Judea and Samaria District, and is suspected of bribing a public servant, breach of trust, disclosing confidential information and abuse of police authority. The other, a superintendent, is also suspected of bribery.
Israel Fears Rebels, Iranian Militias Will Use Syria War to Get Assad’s Chemical Weapons, Haaretz
Israel is worried that having seized control of military sites belonging to the Assad regime, the Syrian rebels or the Iranian militias operating in the country could gain access to sensitive weaponry, including missiles and chemical weapons, that poses a significant threat to Israel.
Trump Demands Immediate Release of Oct. 7 Hostages, Says Otherwise There Will Be ‘HELL TO PAY’, AP
It was not immediately clear whether Trump was threatening to directly involve the U.S. military in Israel’s ongoing campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Trump allies have said he hopes there will be a ceasefire and hostage release deal before he returns to office early next year.
Google Worried Israeli Contract Could Enable Human Rights Violations, The New York Times
Google’s lawyers, policy team employees and outside consultants — who were asked to assess the risks of the agreement — wrote that since “sensitive customers” like Israel’s Ministry of Defense and the Israeli Security Agency were included in the contract, “Google Cloud services could be used for, or linked to, the facilitation of human rights violations, including Israeli activity in the West Bank.”
Israel Kills 14 People in Northern Gaza, Orders Evacuations in South, Reuters
Israeli military strikes killed at least 14 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, most of them in the town of Beit Lahiya on the northern edge, medics said, as the army issued new evacuation orders in the south of the tiny enclave.
‘Politics Failed’: Top U.N. Envoy Says Gaza War Followed Years of Weak Diplomacy, The New York Times
Patrick Kingsley writes, “Without significant Western resistance, Israeli officials are pushing to maintain Gaza’s isolation from the West Bank after the war. Israel considers the Palestinian Authority, which administers Palestinian cities in the West Bank, too incompetent and corrupt to take over Gaza.”
5 Questions About the Cease-Fire Between Israel and Hezbollah, Foreign Policy
Daniel Byman shares, “Because of this skepticism and because of Hezbollah’s likely attempts to rebuild, Israel may strike at Hezbollah weapons systems and caches that it deems a threat—despite the cease-fire. It may also attack Iranian military figures who support Hezbollah and Hezbollah leaders.”
Revenge, Fire and Destruction: A Year of Israeli Soldiers’ Videos From Gaza, The Washington Post
Loveday Morris, Sarah Cahlan, Jonathan Baran and Louisa Loveluck share compilations of videos taken by IDF soldiers since October 7, stating “Taken together, the visuals and witness accounts point to a war where some soldiers have engaged in battlefield excesses. In some cases — such as the torching of homes — soldiers said they were following direct orders.”