The Times of Israel is liveblogging Thursday’s events as they unfold.
Top IDF lawyer says troops not adequately accounting for civilians before Gaza strikes
Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi penned a letter to the Head of the IDF Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman stating that the army has not adequately assessed the size of the civilian population in the areas where it has operated throughout the Gaza Strip, Army Radio reports.
Tomer-Yerushalmi points to the IDF’s recent assessment that 3,000 civilians remain in the area of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, when the actual number is 14,000.
The incorrect IDF assessment has hampered the IDF’s ability to assess the scope of collateral damage in strikes on terror targets, she says. It has also led to far less aid than needed being allowed into the area by the IDF.
Army Radio reports that IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi ordered an internal probe into the matter following receipt of the letter.
The probe found that IDF strikes did not end up leading to an excess in civilian casualties and that enough aid has entered Beit Lahiya.
Nonetheless, Halevi directed that an external panel look into the matter, ostensibly recognizing that Tomer-Yerushalmi had in fact exposed problems in the IDF’s conduct.
IDF strike kills at least 10 in southern Gaza humanitarian zone, medics say
An Israeli airstrike killed at least 10 Palestinians in a tent encampment sheltering displaced families in the southern Gaza Strip early on Thursday, medics say.
The 10 people, including women and children, were killed in a tent in the area of Al-Mawasi, designated as a humanitarian area in western Khan Younis, according to the medics. Fifteen people were also wounded, the medics add.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF, which has long insisted that it does not target civilians, while Hamas hides and fights among them.
Biden says investigators looking for links between New Orleans attack, Las Vegas incident
U.S. President Joe Biden says law enforcement is investigating whether there are any links between a New Orleans truck attack that killed 15 people and the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel Las Vegas.
“We’re tracking the explosion of a Cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas,” Biden says. “Law enforcement and the intelligence community are investigating this as well, including whether there’s any possible connection with the attack in New Orleans.”
Biden adds that the suspect posted videos “indicating that he was inspired by ISIS” hours before the attack.
“The FBI also reported to me that mere hours before the attack he posted videos on social media indicating that he was inspired by ISIS,” Biden says of suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar.
Suspect who shot dead 10 in Montenegro kills himself — authorities
A gunman who killed at least 10 people in a rampage in a small town in Montenegro died from self-inflicted injuries on Thursday after attempting suicide, the country’s interior minister, Danilo Saranovic, says.
The gunman, identified by police as Aleksandar Martinovic, 45, attempted suicide near his home in the town of Cetinje after being cornered by police.
“When he saw that he was in a hopeless situation, he attempted suicide. He did not succumb to his injuries on the spot, but during the transport to the hospital,” Saranovic tells Montenegro’s state broadcaster, RTCG.
Saranovic provides no details on the attempted suicide.
Martinovic was on the run after opening fire on Wednesday afternoon at a restaurant in Cetinje, a small town located 38 km (23.6 miles) west of Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, where he killed four people.
The shooter then moved on to three other locations, killing at least six more people, including two children, police said. Four other people suffered life-threatening injuries.
Police say Martinovic had a history of illegal weapons possession.
Late on Wednesday, police director Lazar Scepanovic said the suspect was thought to have been drinking heavily before the shooting. Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic said there had been a brawl before shots were fired.
Police say the shooting was not thought to be connected to organized crime.
Death toll rises to 15 in New Orleans truck-ramming attack
At least 15 people have died in a truck-ramming attack in the US city of New Orleans, the FBI says, lifting the earlier toll of 10 killed during New Year celebrations.
An FBI official confirms the toll citing figures from the coroner’s office when contacted by AFP by telephone.