President Joe Biden will travel to Israel on Wednesday in a show of solidarity for the US ally after it was attacked by Hamas, while also pressing ahead with a plan to get aid to civilians in Gaza.
Biden is expected to meet with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive on Gaza. The president will then travel to Jordan for talks with King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
A humanitarian deal for Gaza is an important signal to Arab nations who have warned about the treatment of Palestinian civilians, as Biden seeks to keep the crisis from escalating further.
Israel has said it’s keeping open an internal corridor for evacuation of the northern Gaza Strip, with more than 600,000 people having already left for the south. The Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas — designated a terrorist organization by the US and European Union — have killed at least 1,400 Israelis. Palestinian officials say Israel airstrikes have killed more than 2,700 people in Gaza.
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(All timestamps are Israeli time)
Israel Orders Freeze on Some Crypto Accounts, FT Says (7:23 a.m.)
Israeli authorities have ordered crypto-currency accounts to be closed and seized millions of dollars’ worth of crypto coins since the Hamas attacks, the Financial Times reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the actions.
More than 100 accounts on Binance had been closed after Oct. 7, with authorities also requesting information on as many as 200 other accounts, mostly with Binance, the FT said. Binance confirmed it had blocked a small number of accounts since the summer and that it “follows internationally recognized sanctions rules.”
US Commander Arrives in Israel (6:15 a.m.)
US Central Command head, General Michael Kurilla, has arrived in Tel Aviv to conduct high-level meetings with Israel’s military leadership, according to a statement from the command.
Kurilla is looking to gain a clear understanding of Israel’s defense requirements and outline US efforts to avoid an expansion of the conflict, it said.
US and Israel to Develop Gaza Aid Plan (4:17 a.m)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered few details except to say that the US and Israel would work on a way to get aid to civilians and create areas where people could get out of harm’s way.
“If Hamas in any way blocks humanitarian assistance from reaching civilians, including by seizing the aid itself, we’ll be the first to condemn it,” Blinken said in a brief statement in Tel Aviv. “And we will work to prevent it from happening again.”
Read: US and Israel to Develop Plan to Get Aid to Gaza, Blinken Says
Biden Set to Visit Israel on Wednesday (3:17 a.m.)
Biden will travel to Israel on Wednesday, in a visit designed to signal US solidarity with its closest Middle East ally and help prevent the conflict from engulfing the region. Blinken confirmed the trip in Tel Aviv, saying: “He’s coming here at a critical moment for Israel, for the region and for the world.”
Biden, who was invited by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is expected to meet with the Israeli leader to discuss US assistance ahead of expected ground operations in Gaza. Spokespeople for the White House declined to comment.
Read: Biden Set to Visit Israel in Show of Support After Hamas Attack
Biden, Iraq PM Discussed Preventing Expansion (3:10 a.m.)
Biden and Iraq Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani held a call where they discussed ongoing efforts to prevent an expansion of the conflict, according to a readout from the White House. They also discussed the importance of addressing the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Ambassador to US Says Gaza Reoccupation Is Not a Goal (2 a.m.)
Israel’s ambassador to the US declined to give a timetable for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, saying only that his country does not seek to reoccupy the territory in the wake of the deadly assault by Hamas.
“I’m not going to put a timetable on the ground operation,” Michael Herzog said on Bloomberg Television’s “Balance of Power” Monday evening. “We are preparing it, everybody knows that it’s in the works. And when it comes, it comes.”
Biden Speaks with Scholz, Sisi (11:30 p.m.)
Biden held calls with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Egyptian President El-Sisi ahead of the German leader’s planned trip to Egypt and Israel.
Administration officials have pushed Egypt to help facilitate safe passage for Americans currently in Gaza, as well as food and medicine for civilians inside the territory.
Turkey Talks With Hamas Over Prisoners (10:15 p.m.)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held a phone call with Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’s political bureau, to discuss developments in the conflict and the possibility of releasing civilians, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
Hamas Says Up to 250 Captives Held in Gaza (10:05 p.m.)
Hamas and other groups may be holding as many as 250 prisoners in Gaza, a spokesman for the organization’s armed wing said on Al Jazeera TV. Hamas itself has about 200 captives including people from “different nationalities,” said the spokesman, Abu Ubeida. He said about 22 prisoners have been killed during Israeli air strikes on Gaza.
Netanyahu, Blinken Take Shelter as Sirens Sound in Tel Aviv (8:48 p.m.)
Netanyahu and Blinken briefly took shelter when sirens sounded in Tel Aviv to warn of a rocket attack, interrupting their meeting with senior Israeli officials. “They sheltered in a bunker for five minutes,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Israel’s Gallant Warns Blinken to Brace for ‘Long War’ (8:30 p.m.)
Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant told Blinken that Israeli forces were preparing for a long and costly war but that Israel would win.
“This will be a long war, the price will be high,” Gallant told Blinken, who was visiting Tel Aviv for the second time on an extended trip through the region. “But we are going to win for Israel and the Jewish people, and for the values that both countries believe in.”