The Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday’s events as they happen.
ICRC chief expected in Israel to meet with officials and hostages’ families — report
The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, is expected in Israel on Thursday, according to Hebrew media, a week after visiting Egypt and the Gaza Strip for discussions on allowing Red Cross representatives to access the hostages taken from Israel on October 7 and held by Hamas in Gaza for over two months now.
Spoljaric is expected to meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, as well as the families of hostages.
Some 138 hostages remain in Gaza of the approximately 240 people taken on October 7. At least 18 among those remaining are dead and terrorists are holding onto their remains.
More than 100 Israeli and foreign hostages were released as part of a weeklong temporary truce that expired on December 1.
The ICRC has come under fierce criticism in Israel and abroad for not doing more to push for access to the hostages to check on their wellbeing, deliver medications, and facilitate communication with families, per its mandate
Israel has said that Red Cross visits to the remaining hostages were a stipulation of the truce between Israel and Hamas in late November.
Last month, Spoljaric met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar for discussions. Her office later said that the “ICRC has persistently called for the immediate release of hostages.”
“The ICRC is insisting that our teams be allowed to visit the hostages to check on their welfare and deliver medications, and for the hostages to be able to communicate with their families. Agreements must be reached that allow the ICRC to safely carry out this work. The ICRC cannot force its way in to where hostages are held, nor do we know their location,” her office said.
Spoljaric also met last month with family members of hostages and with Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Health Minister Uriel Menachem Buso in Geneva.
“Families of hostages are living through an incredibly heart-wrenching time and I want to underscore how hard we are advocating on behalf of their loved ones,” she said. “This is a key priority for me, and I know the enormous pain the families are enduring.”
‘I am a Zionist,’ says Biden at Hanukkah event, promises continued military assistance to Israel
US President Joe Biden is hosting a White House reception tonight to mark Hanukkah, celebrating the festival of lights as he has continued to denounce rising antisemitism in the US and abroad amid the Israel-Hamas war.
Speaking at the reception, the president says the US will “continue to provide military assistance to Israel until they get rid of Hamas, but we have to be careful — they have to be careful. The whole world’s public opinion can shift overnight, we can’t let that happen.”
“As I said after the [Oct.7] attack, my commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, and the security of Israel, its right to exist as an independent Jewish state, is unshakeable.
“Were there no Israel, there wouldn’t be a Jew in the world who is safe,” says the president, to loud applause.
“The warmth and connection I feel to the Jewish community is unquestionable.” Biden added that “I ran into trouble and criticism when I said a few years ago that you don’t have to be Jewish to be a Zionist, and I am a Zionist.”
First lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff are also attending the event with nearly 800 guests. Invitees include Holocaust survivors, members of Congress, state and local officials, entertainers, and leaders from across the Jewish religious denominations, the White House says.
Earlier Monday, a group of protesters staged a demonstration outside the White House, as nearly 20 women describing themselves as “Jewish elders” chained their bodies to the fence guarding the White House. Wearing black T-shirts that read “Not In Our Name,” the women chanted “Biden, Biden, pick a side! Cease-fire not genocide!” while reading the names of those killed in Gaza, along with their ages.
Cargo vessel attacked off coast of Yemen in Red Sea — report
A cargo vessel is believed to be on fire off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea amid a suspected attack by Houthi rebels.
The suspected attack occurred about 15 nautical miles from the Houthi-controlled Yemeni port city of Mokha late Monday, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency, run by Britain’s Royal Navy (UKMTO). The ship was reportedly within the Bab-el-Mandeb strait and connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
UKMTO later said it received a report of an “entity declaring itself to be the Yemeni Navy, ordering a naval to alter course to a Yemen port,” and warned other vessels to exercise caution.
The Iranian-backed Houthis have repeatedly attacked vessels in the Red Sea since October 7 when Hamas terrorists launched a shock onslaught on Israel, killing 1,200 and taking some 240 hostages. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in Gaza and is three months into a war with the terror organization.
On Saturday, Houthi rebels threatened to attack any vessels heading to Israeli ports unless food and medicine were allowed into Gaza.
Earlier today, a French frigate shot down two drones in the Red Sea after coming under attack from the unmanned aerial vehicles, the foreign ministry in Paris said, adding that France was acting in self-defense. The French general staff reported that the Languedoc frigate, operating in the Red Sea, had opened fire on two drones heading straight towards it from the Yemen coast, destroying both.
The Houthis have attacked ships they allege have direct links to Israel but the latest threat widens the scope of their targets.
Earlier this month, a US destroyer shot down three drones earlier this month while providing assistance to commercial ships in the Red Sea that were targeted by attacks from Yemen, according to Washington. It condemned what it said was “a direct threat” to maritime security.