The situation at two Gaza hospitals is under focus as Israel and Hamas trade accusations over the facilities and President Joe Biden called on Israel to take “less intrusive action” at the al Shifa hospital — the latest sign the US wants fewer civilian casualties.
Israel’s forces are pressing on with their ground offensive in northern Gaza against Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the US and European Union, while Hezbollah and Israeli troops traded fire again over the Lebanese border.
Nir Barkat, Israel’s economy and industry minister, told Bloomberg Television that the 2024 budget will focus on the war effort, which is straining the country’s finances. Separately, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said officials at the APEC summit in San Francisco see risks from the war continuing, but added that, so far, the global economic impact is limited.
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(All time stamps are Israeli time)
Al Shifa Hospital Situation Under Focus (5:56 a.m.)
Joe Biden said the Al Shifa medical facility in Gaza “must be protected” as fighting around the hospital intensifies and Israel and Hamas trade barbs over the situation there.
The president told reporters at the White House on Monday that it is his “hope and expectation that there will be less intrusive action with the military” around the hospital.
Israel Closes In on Main Gaza Hospital It Says Houses Hamas Base
Israel says Al Shifa is a “major hub” of Hamas’s activities because the group has a command center located in tunnels underneath it. Earlier, an Israeli military official showed what he said were Hamas weapons in the basement of the Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital in Gaza after the facility was evacuated. Hamas denied the claim, with one official calling it a “campaign of lies and allegations.”
Yellen Says War’s Global Economic Impact Limited So Far (4:34 a.m.)
Janet Yellen said officials gathered for the APEC summit in San Francisco haven’t yet seen “much economic impact”from the conflict so far but said they did discuss the potential risks from the war continuing.
“There was a strongly shared view that it’s important for all of us to work, to do everything we can to contain the conflict between Israel and Hamas so that it doesn’t become a broader regional conflict,” Yellen said.
Israel Responds to Hamas Video of Captured Soldier (3:46 a.m.)
An Israeli military representative visited the family of captured soldier Noa Marciano after Hamas released a video of her in the days after she was taken. The video says Marciano, 19, later died in an air strike.
“Our hearts are with the Marciano family whose daughter, Noa, was brutally kidnapped by the Hamas terrorist organization,” Israel’s military said in a statement. “We are using all means, both intelligence and operational, to bring the hostages home.”
War Comes First in Israeli Budget, Minister Says (2:05 a.m.)
Israel’s 2024 budget will be structured to focus on the war, with concessions necessary to expand the country’s unity government, a senior minister said.
“One of the biggest challenges we have is expanding the unity government, throughout the war and after the war,” Nir Barkat, Israel’s economy and industry minister, said Monday during a Bloomberg Radio interview in New York.
Israel Minister Says 2024 Budget to Focus on War and Then Growth
“In 2024, we are really structuring the budget to focus on the war and to focus on economic growth immediately after. We will make the concessions needed so that everyone is happy,” he said.
US Would Like to See Humanitarian Pauses Last Days (9:15 p.m.)
The US is in talks with Israel about humanitarian pauses and would like to see them last days, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.
“We believe pauses should not be dictated by a strict timetable, they should be dictated by what is necessary to achieve the objectives,” he said at a press briefing. “Those objectives are safe passage, the ability to move around humanitarian aid, and then ultimately we’d like to see considerably longer pauses: days, not hours.”
So far, the pauses have largely been limited to a few hours at a time.
UN Sees Parachuting Aid Into Gaza as ‘Last Resort’ (7:38 p.m.)
The UN said parachuting aid into Gaza should be seen as the “last resort,” following calls by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh for the organization and the European Union to consider such a move.
“It is very, very expensive and not sustainable,” Andrea De Domenico, head of the Palestine arm of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said at a briefing with reporters. “The first entry point should be insisting in opening the crossings and making sure that sustained supplies go in rather than thinking of extreme scenarios.”