WORLD BRIEFING: December 11, 2023
Israel - Hamas War
On Sunday afternoon, the Hamas-run health agency in Gaza said almost 18,000 Palestinians had now been killed.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Moscow’s “dangerous cooperation” with Iran and pushed back at its harsh criticism of the Gaza war during a prolonged conversation with the country’s President Vladimir Putin on Sunday. The two leaders held a 50-minute conversation on Sunday amid growing tension between the two countries as Moscow tightens its military cooperation with Tehran, as the Iranian-backed Houthis kept up its threat against global shipping routes in the Red Sea in response to the Gaza war. Netanyahu in his talk with Putin expressed his “displeasure” with Russia’s support of the United Nations Security Council for a ceasefire resolution that did not involve a condemnation of Hamas’ October 7 attack against southern Israel. Hamas killed over 1,200 people and seized some 250 hostages on that day - Jerusalem Post
Security officials said, on Sunday, that the IDF's strategy in the Gaza Strip is currently failing to create conditions suitable for another agreement for the return of hostages. According to them, killing Hamas officials is not progressing as the IDF thought it would at this stage of the fighting, and although 50% of the Hamas battalion commanders have been killed, they are being replaced by other commanders who have remained to fight against the IDF - Haaretz
The Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed al-Thani, said that efforts to reach a deal for a cease-fire and the release of hostages are continuing, as AFP reported. According to him, the IDF's military operation in the Gaza Strip is decreasing the likeliness for success of the efforts. This morning, al-Thani said that the hostages were released from the Gaza Strip thanks to negotiations and not as a result of the IDF's military operation.
Ukraine War
Russian forces once again attacked Ukraine with the Shahed attack drones from the south on Sunday evening, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. “The movement of the Shahed UAVs from Kherson Oblast in the direction of Mykolaiv Oblast was registered."
Later, Russia attacked Kyiv with ballistic missiles in the early morning hours of today before the air raid alert was launched. The Kyiv military administration reports that all missiles have been shot down. Debris fell in Darnytsky district of the capital causing bodily injuries.
President Joe Biden will host Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House Tuesday as lawmakers on Capitol Hill stall Biden’s $61bn funding request for Ukraine. It’ll be a different atmosphere in DC this time as support for Kyiv softens. Here in Ukraine it’s hoped the Zelensky charisma and narrative can nudge approval for funding
A months-long border blockade by Polish truckers is starting to have an effect on Ukrainian soldiers in frozen trenches defending against unrelenting Russian assaults, making already fierce battles even more difficult. One Ukrainian soldier, Oleksandr, fighting in eastern Ukraine, said that his unit was still waiting for delivery of two night vision devices, critical for soldiers navigating their way to fighting positions safely. The equipment has been held up at the border, he said, where Polish truckers have blocked major crossings, causing miles-long backups, since Nov. 6 - NYT
Elsewhere
The family of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year old woman whose September 2022 killing sparked countrywide protests in Iran, has been prohibited from traveling to France to collect a human rights award in her name. According to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Amini's father, mother and brother were prevented from boarding a flight at Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport on Saturday. They were informed they were banned from traveling and their passports were then confiscated by security forces. In an interview with London-based Iran International, Mahsa's father, Amjad Amini, said that the family was not given a reason for the travel ban - NPR
A new CBS News poll is showing that most Americans disapprove of President Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, along with inflation and immigration at the border.