8am AEDT, 14 December
What’s happening?
Ten Israeli soldiers were killed in fierce fighting in northern Gaza yesterday.
There are reports that a diplomatic solution to move Hezbollah away from the Israeli border is ‘close’. How this would be policed and enforced is the key question.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN held up a poster with the mobile phone number of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, telling people to call him if they want a ceasefire!
Background
Adding to an already long list of war crimes, evidence is emerging that Hamas used poisonous gas during its 7 October attack against an Israeli army base.
The latest Palestinian poll reveals that 72% of Palestinians support the 7 October Hamas attack. We will be looking through the findings of the survey carefully over the coming days.
Here’s a depressing interview with Michael Milstein, an expert who’s views we generally trust, saying Israel is still a long way from toppling Hamas.
US President Joe Biden’s Iran policy has generally been a shambles. Here’s a background of the state of play, vis-à-vis Iran’s nuclear program.
