Associated Press: Israel Moves Into Gaza’s Second-Largest City And Intensifies Strikes In Bloody New Phase Of The War

“Israel said Tuesday that its troops had entered Gaza’s second-largest city as intensified bombardment sent streams of ambulances and cars racing to hospitals with wounded and dead Palestinians, including children, in a bloody new phase of the war. The military said its forces were “in the heart” of Khan Younis, which has emerged as the first target in the expanded ground offensive into southern Gaza that Israel says aims to destroy Hamas. Military officials said they were engaged in the “most intense day” of battles since the ground offensive began more than five weeks ago, with heavy firefights also taking place in northern Gaza. The assault into the south threatens to fuel a new wave of displaced Palestinians and a worsening of Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe. The U.N. said 1.87 million people — more than 80% of Gaza’s population — have been driven from their homes, and that fighting is now preventing distribution of food, water and medicine outside a tiny sliver of southern Gaza. New military evacuation orders are squeezing people into ever-smaller areas of the south. Bombardment has grown fiercer across the territory, including areas where Palestinians are told to seek safety. In the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah, just north of Khan Younis, a strike Tuesday destroyed a house where dozens of displaced people were sheltering. At least 34 people were killed, including at least six children, according to an Associated Press reporter at the hospital who counted the bodies.”

Voice Of America: Afghan Insurgent Groups Step Up Attacks, Political Campaign Against Taliban

“Two Afghan insurgent groups, made up mainly of former government and military officials, claim to have killed at least 50 Taliban officials and soldiers during November. The hit-and-run insurgency has been most active in the north and northeast of the country where the Taliban encountered significant resistance during their previous rule from 1996 to 2001. In brief statements in Dari and English posted on X, the Afghanistan Freedom Front and the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan claimed their fighters regularly target members of the Taliban at checkpoints, military bases and even on highways. So far, the Taliban have played down the armed insurgency, saying peace and tranquility have been fully restored throughout the country. The Afghan media have suffered major setbacks under the Taliban regime, making it difficult to access accurate information and to verify claims made by the insurgent groups. "At this stage, there is little reason to suppose that these insurgent groups pose a significant threat to overall Taliban rule," said Robert Grenier, former head of counterterrorism at the Central Intelligence Agency who also worked with anti-Taliban groups before 2001. "As someone who was actively involved in trying to organize and motivate anti-Taliban groups and commanders — of which there were many — in the period just prior to 9/11, I can attest to the difficulty in organizing any sort of effective insurgency against Taliban rule. One of the reasons for this is the demonstrated brutality of the Taliban in dealing with perceived enemies," Grenier told VOA via email.”

CEP Mentions

DW: Germany On Guard Against Terrorism

“Online incitement to terror ‘is key’: Hans-Jakob Schindler.”

United States

CBS: Intelligence Report Warns Of Rising Foreign Terror Threats In U.S. Amid Israel-Hamas War

“A new joint bulletin from the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice to local, state and federal law enforcement warns that groups like al Qaeda and ISIS will likely use the Israel-Hamas war "to increase calls for violence in the U.S. during the holiday season compared to prior years." It says the most likely "primary targets" could include churches, synagogues and members of the Jewish community. With the Israeli military bearing down on southern Gaza and Hanukkah only days away, the new intelligence report reviewed by CBS News warns of increased threats from foreign terrorist groups. It mirrors FBI Director Christopher Wray's testimony Tuesday on Capitol Hill, during which he told the Senate Judiciary Committee, "I see blinking lights everywhere I turn," in response to a question from Sen. Lindsey Graham about possible warning signs. Wray said the number of threats is at a "whole other level" since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, adding, "I've never seen a time where all the threats, or so many of the threats, are all elevated all at exactly the same time." Wray warned terrorists may try to exploit the U.S. southern border, and said the FBI is working to "identify and disrupt potential attacks." While the holiday season always sees heightened intelligence chatter, the report predicts an uptick this year because of the ongoing conflict in Gaza.”

The Washington Post: U.S. Restricts Visas For Israeli Settlers Linked To Extremist Violence

“The United States will impose visa restrictions on people believed to have engaged in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Tuesday, following repeated calls for Israel to do more to prevent extremist attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinians. The move comes amid a surge of attacks in the West Bank, where rights groups say settler violence against Palestinians has reached record levels since the Oct. 7 assault on Israel by Hamas. In a statement, Blinken said the policy was designed to target “individuals believed to have been involved in undermining peace, security, or stability in the West Bank, including through committing acts of violence or taking other actions that unduly restrict civilians’ access to essential services and basic necessities.” Immediate family members of such individuals may also be subject to the restrictions, the statement said. Washington continues to seek accountability for all acts of violence against civilians in the West Bank, Blinken added, and has also told the Palestinian Authority that it “must do more to curb Palestinian attacks against Israelis. The visa restrictions starting Tuesday will affect dozens of people, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a briefing. Israeli citizens designated under the policy with valid U.S. visas will be notified that their visas have been revoked, and the applications of those applying for new visas will be rejected, he added. However, the restrictions will not affect Israeli settlers who are U.S. citizens.”

Afghanistan

Reuters: Malala Yousafzai Likens Taliban's Treatment Of Women To Apartheid In Mandela Lecture

“Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai on Tuesday likened restrictions the Taliban has placed on women in Afghanistan to the treatment of Black people under apartheid in a lecture in South Africa organised by Nelson Mandela's foundation. Yousafzai survived being shot in the head when she was 15 in her native Pakistan by a gunman after campaigning against the Pakistani Taliban's moves to deny girls education. Since winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, Yousafzai, now 26, has become a global symbol of the resilience of women in the face of repression. "If you are a girl in Afghanistan, the Taliban has decided your future for you. You cannot attend a secondary school or university. You cannot find an open library where you can read. You see your mothers and your older sisters confined and constrained," Yousafzai said during the 21st Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg. Yousafzai said the Taliban's actions should be considered "gender apartheid" and that it had "in effect ... made girlhood illegal". She said international actors should not normalise relations with the Taliban, which returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021 as U.S.-led forces withdrew after 20 years of war. A Taliban spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Yousafzai's remarks. Since returning to power, the Taliban has also stopped most Afghan female staff from working at aid agencies, closed beauty salons, barred women from parks and curtailed travel for women in the absence of a male guardian.”

Middle East

The Wall Street Journal: Israel Plans To Kill Hamas Leaders Around The World After War

“Israel’s intelligence services are preparing to kill Hamas leaders around the world when the nation’s war in the Gaza Strip winds down, setting the stage for a yearslong campaign to hunt down militants responsible for the Oct. 7 massacres, Israeli officials said. With orders from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s top spy agencies are working on plans to hunt down Hamas leaders living in Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar, the small Gulf nation that has allowed the group to run a political office in Doha for a decade, the officials said. The assassination campaign would be an extension of Israel’s decadeslong clandestine operations that have become the subject of both Hollywood legend and worldwide condemnation. Israeli assassins have hunted Palestinian militants in Beirut while dressed as women, and killed a Hamas leader in Dubai while disguised as tourists. Israel has used a car bomb to assassinate a Hezbollah leader in Syria and a remote-controlled rifle to kill a nuclear scientist in Iran, according to former Israeli officials.”

Associated Press: Heavy Fighting Across Gaza Halts Most Aid Delivery, Leaves Civilians With Few Places To Seek Safety

“Israeli forces battled Hamas militants across Gaza on Wednesday after expanding their ground offensive to its second-largest city, further shrinking the area where Palestinians can seek safety and halting the distribution of vital aid across most of the territory. The assault on the south threatens further mass displacement within the besieged coastal enclave, where the U.N. says some 1.87 million people — over 80% of the population — have already fled their homes. Much of the north, including large parts of Gaza City, has been completely destroyed, and Palestinians fear the rest of Gaza could suffer a similar fate as Israel tries to dismantle Hamas, which has deep roots in the territory it has ruled for 16 years. Israel says it can no longer accept a Hamas military presence in Gaza after the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will maintain open-ended security control over the territory, something opposed by the United States and much of the international community. The Israeli military said Tuesday that its troops were “in the heart” of the southern city of Khan Younis after what it described as “the most intense day” of fighting since the start of the ground operation five weeks ago, with heavy battles in the north as well. For the past three days, aid distribution — mainly just supplies of flour and water — has been possible only in and around Rafah, on the southern border with Egypt, because of fighting and road closures by Israeli forces, the U.N.'s humanitarian aid office said.”

The Times Of Israel: IDF Issues Rare Apology After Strike Kills Lebanese Soldier

“In a rare statement, the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday expressed regret for killing a Lebanese soldier while striking a Hezbollah-linked target earlier in the day, the first such death since cross-border hostilities began in October. The Lebanon-Israel border has seen intensifying exchanges of fire since the war broke out in Gaza between Hamas and Israel on October 7, with Israeli forces responding to attacks mainly involving Iran-backed Hezbollah, raising fears of a broader conflagration. “An army military position in the… Adaysseh area was bombarded by the Israeli enemy, leaving one soldier martyred and three others injured,” the Lebanese army said in a statement. According to the IDF, Israeli forces “were working to neutralize a tangible threat that was identified” at a Hezbollah launch and observation post along the border. “The IDF received a report that a number of soldiers in Lebanon’s army were injured during the attack. Lebanese army forces were not the target of the attack,” the statement said. “The IDF is sorry for the incident, and it will be investigated.” Commenting on the Lebanese soldier’s death, the UN peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) said in a statement: “The Lebanese Armed Forces have not engaged in conflict with Israel. “During the last days, we have seen a rapid and alarming increase in violence,” UNIFIL added, urging an end to “the cycle of violence, which could lead to devastating consequences for people on both sides.””

Associated Press: Netanyahu Alleges Global Indifference To What Rights Group Calls ‘Widespread’ Sexual Crimes By Hamas

“A man hiding in a pit during the Oct. 7 Hamas assault on an outdoor music festival in Israel said he heard someone nearby screaming she was being raped. Elsewhere in the area, a combat paramedic saw the body of a young woman with her legs open, her pants pulled down, and what looked like semen on her lower back. An army reservist who was tasked with identifying those killed by the militants said some of the women were found wearing only bloodied underwear. Such accounts given to The Associated Press, along with first assessments by an Israeli rights group, show that sexual assault was part of an atrocities-filled rampage by Hamas and other Gaza militants who killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 240 hostages that day. While investigators are still trying to determine the scope of the sexual assaults, Israel’s government is accusing the international community, particularly the United Nations, of ignoring the pain of Israeli victims. “I say to the women’s rights organizations, to the human rights organizations, you’ve heard of the rape of Israeli women, horrible atrocities, sexual mutilation — where the hell are you?” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a news conference Tuesday, switching to English to emphasize the point. U.S. President Joe Biden called the reports of sexual violence “appalling” and urged the world to condemn “horrific accounts of unimaginable cruelty.””

Nigeria

Reuters: Nigeria's President Orders Investigation After Drone Strike Kills 85

“Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday ordered a thorough investigation into a weekend military drone attack that killed at least 85 people, including women and children, in northern Kaduna. Nigerian army chief Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja visited Tundun Biri village and apologised for the air strike. At a Kaduna hospital where the injured were receiving treatment, he promised to take care of their bills. The incident highlights a pattern of deadly aerial assaults by the Nigerian military, and is the latest in a series of attacks that have killed civilians, which was the subject of a special Reuters report in June. Kaduna is 163 km (101 miles) from the capital Abuja and among northwestern and north central states grappling with kidnappings and killings by armed gangs, which security forces have been targeting using aerial strikes. The National Emergency Management Agency put the official death toll at 85 with 66 injured. Witnesses said more had died. Tinubu, who is attending the Cop28 Climate Summit in Dubai, called Sunday night's incident a "bombing mishap," which was "very unfortunate, disturbing, and painful," his spokesman Ajuri Ngelale said in a statement. "The President directs a thorough and full-fledged investigation into the incident and calls for calm while the authorities look diligently into the mishap," said Ngelale.”