Israel-Hamas war: US defense chief visits amid truce calls

As calls for a cease-fire in Gaza mount, US Defense Chief Lloyd Austin has held talks with Israeli leaders to discuss ways to scale back major combat in the territory.

He reiterated that Israel had the right to defend itself, but stressed it had an obligation to protect civilians.

A new international naval and intelligence force is to be created to protect ships in the Red Sea which have increasingly come under attack from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, United States defense secretary Lloyd Austin announced early on Tuesday morning.

"This is an international challenge that demands collective action," Austin said in a statement released just after midnight in Bahrain, announcing the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian, in which the US will be joined by the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the Seychelles.

"Countries that seek to uphold the foundational principle of freedom of navigation must come together to tackle the challenge posed by this non-state actor," added the statement.

The mission will be coordinated by the already existing Combined Task Force (CTF) 153, which was set up in April 2022 to improve maritime security in the region.

Three US Navy destroyers have already been moving through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait daily to help deter and respond to attacks, but several commercial shipping companies have already temporarily suspended voyages through the narrow sea lane after a series of recent attacks.

Missiles fired from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen struck three commercial vessels on December 3, while drones were also aimed in the direction of US warships.

A United Nations Security Council vote on the conflict in Gaza has been postponed due to ongoing negotiations over the precise wording of the resolution — which Arab countries tabling the vote are interpreting as evidence that the United States is growing impatient with Israel's conduct of the war.

The vote was due to take place at 5 p.m. on Monday in New York (2200 GMT) but has been put back to Tuesday because the US said it could not support a reference to a "cessation" of hostilities.

However, rather than simply vetoing the resolution outright, as it has done on two previous occasions since October 7, sources have indicated that the US could accept "suspension" of hostilities.

The draft has been introduced by a group of Arab nations led by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which have been encouraged by broad UN support for a cease-fire last week, when 153 member states voted in favor of a non-binding resolution.

In addition to a cease-fire, the draft text reportedly also affirms support for a two-state solution and "stresses the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority."

The draft does not explicitly name Hamas — classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union— but it does call for the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" while condemning "all violence and hostilities against civilians, and all acts of terrorism."

Hamas has released a video of three elderly male hostages claiming, seemingly under duress, that Israel has "abandoned" them and pleading for their immediate release.

The men have been identified as three elderly residents of the Nir Oz kibbutz near the border with Gaza who were abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7. The three men's wives were also taken hostage but have since been released.

Speaking in the video, one of the men says all three have chronic illnesses before they chant: "Don't abandon us in old age."

Responding to the clip, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said the video "shows the cruelty of Hamas against elderly civilians, innocents, who require medical attention. The world must work to allow medical aid and to verify their conditions."

Addressing the men directly, he added: "You should know that we are doing everything to return you home safely. We will not rest until you return."

Israel secured the release of more than 100 hostages, including 81 Israelis, in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners during a brief cease-fire in late November. Nearly all freed by both sides were women and minors.

On Friday, the IDF confirmed that its troops has accidently shot and killed three hostages themselves in a case of mistaken identity.

A total of around 240 people were taken hostage by Hamas during the October 7 attack.

Privately-owned commercial trucks carrying mainly food have entered the Gaza Strip for the first time since the outbreak of the current conflict more than two months ago, the United States said on Monday.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that it was "a critical step towards improving the lives of the Palestinian people in Gaza that we see not just humanitarian aid delivered, but also commercial goods that can be sold in stores and markets," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

The commercial vehicles began entering Gaza from Egypt via the southern Rafah crossing and the much larger Kerem Shalom border crossing with southern Israel, which has also been re-opened.

Miller said that both the opening of Kerem Shalom and the arrival of commercial trucks were the "result of intensive diplomacy" by US officials including Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"While this weekend's breakthroughs are important, they are also not by themselves sufficient," Miller said. "We will continue to work closely with the governments of Israel, Egypt and partner countries in the region to further increase the humanitarian assistance flowing into Gaza to address the needs of the Palestinian people."

While the United States has remained steadfast in its support for Israel, providing both military and diplomatic backing, it has increasingly voiced concern over the effects Israel's military operations are having on civilians.

Speaking at his joint press conference with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also issued a message to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

He called on the Iran-backed militia to abide by a 2006 cease-fire agreement which requires it to stay away from the Israeli-Lebanese border and said that Israel would "not hesitate to act" if the terms of the cease-fire were not "implemented diplomatically."

Asked if Israel was planning for a ground operation on its northern border to Lebanon, Gallant said "diplomacy is the preferred way" but stressed that "we are preparing ourselves [for] any situation that is needed."

US defense chief Austin also urged Hezbollah not to "provoke a wider conflict," saying: "We've been clear that we don't want to see this conflict widen into a larger war or a regional war."

Smaller-scale skirmishes with Hezbollah have taken place on Israel's northern border ever since hostilities broke out following Hamas' October 7 terror attacks on Israel.

More than 130 people have been killed in hostilities on the Lebanese side of the frontier, according to the French news agency AFP, mainly Hezbollah fighters but also one Lebanese soldier and 17 civilians, including three journalists.

On the Israeli side of the border, five civilians and seven soldiers have been killed, authorities have said.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said that civilians may soon be able to move back to northern Gaza as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) transition to a new phase of operations.

"I can tell you that soon we will be able to distinguish between different areas in Gaza," he told a joint news conference with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin in Tel Aviv.

"In every area where we achieve our mission we will be able to transition gradually to the next phase and start working on bringing back the local population," Gallant said. "That means that it can be achieved maybe sooner in the north rather than in the south."

Israel's military operations in Gaza concentrated initially on the north of the territory before expanding south.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has called for increased humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip during a visit to Israel.

"We must get more humanitarian assistance in to the nearly 2 million displaced people in Gaza and we must distribute that aid better," he said, according to a statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Austin said that this was Israel's operation and that he would not dictate a timeline or terms for the conflict, adding Washington believed that Hamas must not be allowed to project terror from Gaza into Israel.

He also said that the US would be providing arms to Israel.

"We'll continue to provide Israel with the equipment that you need to defend your country... including critical munitions, tactical vehicles and air defense systems," he said.

"In the Red Sea, we're leading a multinational maritime taskforce to uphold the bedrock principle of freedom of navigation. Iran's support for Houthi attacks on commercial vessels must stop," he added, referring to Yemeni rebels that have launched attacks on ships passing through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

He said that he discussed with Israeli officials how to transition from high-intensity to lower intensity, "more surgical" operations, as well as how to reduce harm to civilians.

The defense secretary called for an end of attacks on Palestinians by extremist settlers in the occupied West Bank, adding that "urgent action" needed to be taken to stabilize the territory.

Austin said that he spoke on pathways to a two-state solution to the conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories, and discussed pathways to a future Gaza after Hamas.

German transport giant Hapag-Lloyd and Taiwanese container shipping line Evergreen say that ships scheduled to pass through the Red Sea will instead be sent around the Cape of Good Hope.

Evergreen said it was suspending its Israeli cargo shipments with immediate effect due to the "escalation of the war situation."

The announcement comes hours after UK oil giant BP said it was suspending transit through the Red Sea due to the security situation.

Houthi rebels have lunched multiple attacks on vessels passing through the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait between Yemen and the Horn of Africa. On Friday, one of Hapag-Lloyd's ships was damaged after it was fired upon.

You can read more on the story here.

The Health Ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip says at least 19,453 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on the territory since the Hamas terror attack on Israel on October 7.

A further 52,286 have been wounded in the conflict, the ministry said.

Gaza's Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilian and combatant casualties. UN officials have said the figures have proven generally reliable in the past. Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU as well as Israel, the US, Germany and several other states.

Israel launched its offensive on the Palestinian territory after the militant-Islamist Hamas attacked southern Israel more than two months ago, killing 1,200 and taking 240 people as hostages, according to Israeli authorities.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that too many civilian lives had been lost in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

He said that the UK believed Israel had the right to defend itself following Hamas' October 7 attacks.

"But it must do that in accordance with humanitarian law," he told reporters. "It's clear that too many civilian lives have been lost. And that's why we've been consistent...in calling for a sustainable cease-fire, whereby hostages are released, rockets stop being fired into Israel by Hamas and we continue to get more aid in."

Also on Monday, Sunak's spokesperson said: "Right now we want to see immediate humanitarian pauses and we want them to lead to a sustainable cease-fire as soon as possible."

"We do not believe that calling right now for a general and immediate cease-fire, hoping it somehow becomes permanent, is the way forward," the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, EU top diplomat Josep Borrell echoed Sunak's comments.

"Far too many civilians have been killed in Gaza, as pointed out among others also by the French, German and UK Foreign Ministers," he said.

"Certainly, we are witnessing an appalling lack of distinction in Israel's military operation in Gaza," he said.

UK energy giant BP says it is joining other companies in suspending transit through the Red Sea, with Yemen's Houthi rebels attacking passing ships in what they claim is a show of solidarity with Hamas.

The Houthis have said they would target vessels near the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait to pressure Israel over its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, threatening to stop Israel-bound ships of any nationality passing. 

The attacks have led some companies to avoid the Red Sea strait and send vessels around Africa, a longer and more expensive route.

You can read more on this story here.

International rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday accused Israel of " using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the Gaza Strip, which is a war crime."

HRW claimed that Israeli forces were "deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel while willfully impeding humanitarian assistance."

The human rights watchdog said that it was part of "a policy spurred on or endorsed by high-ranking Israeli officials and reflecting an intent to starve civilians as a method of warfare." 

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the HRW report, but Israel has denied targetting civilians throughout the war with Hamas, the Islamist militant group ruling Gaza that is listed as a terrorist organization by the US and EU, among other countries. 

Israel declared a "complete siege" of Gaza shortly after the Hamas October 7 terror attacks. However, it has allowed aid to come into the Palestinian territory through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. 

The Cabinet has also approved the temporary reopening of Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing for humanitarian aid. 

The UN World Food Program said last week that following a food assessment, around half of all Gazans "are starving."

Aid agencies have been calling for a significant increase in humanitarian assistance, which the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) said is necessary to "help avoid a deepening of the already dire humanitarian situation."

Two shipping agencies have reported a possible explosion off the coast of Yemen.

The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency issued a warning of a potential explosion that hit near a vessel that was passing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait between Yemen and the Horn of Africa.

Maritime security firm Ambrey quoted the captain of the ship as saying that "the 'explosion' [occurred] two nautical miles off one of the vessel's quarters while it was transiting."

The two organizations said they had received information of the possible explosion occurring 30 nautical miles (55.56 nautical kilometers) south of Yemen's port of Mokha.

Yemen's Houthi rebels have launched several missile attacks on vessels passing through the strait, saying they seek to put pressure on Israel to end its offensive in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Four major shipping firms have said they are rerouting vessels away from the Red Sea.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced his arrival in Israel on Monday with a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

"Wheels down in Tel Aviv," Austin said, adding that he would be meeting with Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the country's war Cabinet "to reiterate America's ironclad commitment to Israel."

Austin also said the talks would address Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) operation to "dismantle Hamas" and underscore "the need to protect civilians from harm" while enabling the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.