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Israel Bombs Northern Gaza; Palestinians Say 166 Killed in 24 Hours

A man sweeps a room with an empty wall overlooking a building destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 24, 2023 amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (AFP)
A man sweeps a room with an empty wall overlooking a building destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 24, 2023 amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (AFP)
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Israel Bombs Northern Gaza; Palestinians Say 166 Killed in 24 Hours

A man sweeps a room with an empty wall overlooking a building destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 24, 2023 amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (AFP)
A man sweeps a room with an empty wall overlooking a building destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 24, 2023 amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (AFP)

Israel bombed areas of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip overnight, with fighting throughout Sunday morning, residents and Palestinian media said, as Gaza health authorities and the Israeli military both announced mounting death tolls.

Israel says it has achieved almost complete operational control over northern Gaza and is preparing to expand a ground offensive against Hamas militants to other areas. But Jabalia residents reported persistent aerial bombardment and shelling from Israeli tanks, which they said had moved further into the town on Saturday.

A Gaza health ministry spokesman said on Sunday 166 Palestinians had been killed in the past 24 hours, taking the total Palestinian death toll to 20,424. Tens of thousands have been wounded, with many bodies believed trapped under rubble. Almost all of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced.

The Israeli military said nine soldiers had been killed in the past day, bringing to 155 its published combat losses since it began its ground incursion in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 rampage into Israel, in which militants killed 1,200 and took 240 hostages.

The daily toll was one of the highest for Israeli forces of the ground assault so far.

"This is a difficult morning, after a very difficult day of fighting in Gaza," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday. "The war is exacting a very heavy cost from us; however we have no choice (but) to continue to fight."

The White House said on Saturday US President Joe Biden and Netanyahu had discussed the Israeli campaign.

Biden "emphasized the critical need to protect the civilian population including those supporting the humanitarian aid operation, and the importance of allowing civilians to move safely away from areas of ongoing fighting", the White House said in a statement.

"The leaders discussed the importance of securing the release of all remaining hostages," the White House said.

Egyptian and Qatari mediators have been trying to break the deadlock to end the violence. A delegation of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which also has captives in custody in Gaza, arrived in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials over "ways to end the Israeli aggression on our people in Gaza", an official of the group told Reuters on Sunday.

Netanyahu, speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, dismissed reports that the United States had convinced Israel not to expand its military campaign.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Netanyahu was persuaded by Biden not to attack the militant Hezbollah group in neighboring Lebanon out of concerns it would launch an attack on Israel.

"Israel is a sovereign state," Netanyahu said. "Our decisions in the war are based on our operational considerations, and I will not elaborate on that."

The UN Security Council averted a threatened US veto on Friday, after days of wrangling, by removing from a draft resolution a call for an immediate end to the war. The US and Israel oppose a ceasefire, contending it would let Iran-backed Hamas regroup and rearm.

Washington abstained from the final statement, which urges steps to allow "safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access" to Gaza and "conditions for a sustainable cessation" of fighting.

‘The world is sick and inhumane’

Israel has long urged residents to leave northern areas of Gaza, but its forces have also been bombarding targets in central and southern parts of the enclave.

Six Palestinians were killed and several wounded in an Israeli air strike on a house at the Bureij refugee camp, in the center of the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army ordered people to evacuate and head west towards Deir Al-Balah city, medics said.

Joudat Imad, 55, a father-of-six, had to leave an area in the Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza after a map published by the army marked it as a place people had to evacuate.

"I was lucky to get a tent in Rafah," he told Reuters by phone. "From an owner of two buildings to a refugee in a tent awaiting aid - that is what this brutal war has turned us to. The world is sick and inhumane that it can't see Israel's brutality and it is helpless to stop this war of destruction and starvation."

In Rafah, on Gaza's southern border with Egypt, an Israeli air strike on a house killed two people, Palestinian medics said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported an attack on one of its main bases in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. It said a 13-year-old child had been shot dead by an Israeli drone while inside the Al-Amal Hospital.

The Israeli military has expressed regret for civilian deaths but blames Hamas for operating in densely populated areas or using civilians as human shields, an allegation the group denies.

‘Tough battle’

Yiftah Ron-Tal, a former commander of the Israeli ground forces, described the built-up Gaza battlefield as "the most complicated and fortified" in the world, requiring infantry, tanks, artillery and engineer corps.

"...I think what's happening now is a product of a tough battle in a condensed area and in this kind of battle, sadly, there are many losses," he told army radio.

The conflict has spread, as Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militias disrupt global trade with missile and drone attacks on vessels in the Red Sea in retaliation for Israel's assault on Gaza.

The United States shot down four drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen towards a US destroyer in the southern Red Sea on Saturday, bringing to 15 the number of such attacks on commercial shipping, US Central Command said.

A drone launched from Iran struck a chemical tanker in the Indian Ocean on Saturday, the US Defense Department said.

An Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said the Mediterranean Sea could be closed if the United States and its allies kept committing "crimes" in Gaza, Iranian media reported, without elaborating.

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Arab World

Khalil al-Hayya: Hamas’ Unexpected Leader at a Turning Point

Hamas political bureau chief Khalil al-Hayya (File photo/AP)
Hamas political bureau chief Khalil al-Hayya (File photo/AP)
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Khalil al-Hayya: Hamas’ Unexpected Leader at a Turning Point

Hamas political bureau chief Khalil al-Hayya (File photo/AP)
Hamas political bureau chief Khalil al-Hayya (File photo/AP)

Before Oct. 7, 2023, Khalil al-Hayya, now about 65, was a prominent figure in Hamas. But few inside or outside the movement saw him as a leading contender for its top job.

“Al-Aqsa Flood” changed that.

The attack reshaped the roles and fortunes of Hamas leaders, along with Gaza and the landscape beyond it. Hayya now heads the movement’s political bureau, steering it through one of the most sensitive turning points in its history.

His victory over Khaled Meshaal, a former Hamas leader and one of its best-known figures, was announced in July. It surprised some outside the movement. Others inside had seen it coming, as leaders from Gaza tightened their hold on key portfolios and senior posts.

When “Al-Aqsa Flood” began, Hayya was deputy to Hamas’ Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar. He handled contacts with Palestinian factions, UN bodies and mediators over conditions in Gaza and its recurring rounds of escalation with Israel.

Hayya first rose to prominence when Hamas contested the 2006 parliamentary election, before seizing military control of Gaza in 2007.

He moved through leadership posts in Gaza City, then across the territory, before joining the movement’s wider leadership. Along the way, he drew sustained support from commanders of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, including Ahmed al-Jaabari and Izz al-Din al-Haddad.

Where was he — and what did he know?

Before the Oct. 7 attack, Sinwar asked Hayya and other members of Hamas’ Gaza political bureau to leave the territory to handle specific matters abroad. None knew the full extent of his plans.

Hamas sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hayya knew more about some aspects of the attack than other political bureau members.

“But his information was neither complete nor precise. Only Sinwar knew the full details, while commanders in the military wing knew specific elements of the attack,” one source said.

In an interview published in April 2024 by the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Information Center, Hayya said “the Oct. 7 attacks that ignited the Gaza war were intended to be a limited operation by Hamas to capture a number of soldiers and exchange them for Palestinian prisoners.”

“The Gaza Division of the Zionist army collapsed completely,” he added, referring to the Israeli military.

A senior Hamas source abroad told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hayya knew a relatively large-scale attack was being prepared, but did not know its timing or all its details.

“He was among the leaders who voted in favor of the attack. But everyone who voted believed it would be a limited operation, including Ismail Haniyeh, who was then head of the political bureau,” the source said.

Haniyeh was preparing to travel from Türkiye to Iraq with Hayya, Meshaal and other leaders on their first visit to the country.

Personal losses, a depleted leadership

The bloodshed since Oct. 7 has reached deep into Hayya’s family. Three years of fierce Israeli war have inflicted devastating losses on Gaza — and on Hayya, even while he was abroad.

In May, he mourned his son Azzam, following the death of another son, Hammam, in September. Israel killed them in separate attacks. Two other sons, Hamza and Osama, were killed by Israel in 2008 and 2014, respectively.

A Hamas source inside Gaza said repeated Israeli attacks on Hayya’s home, and the killing of several of his sons, particularly during the latest war, had strengthened his standing and positioned him to lead the movement ahead of other longstanding figures.

Another Hamas source pointed to the gaps left by the killing or absence of senior leaders.

“The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh and Saleh al-Arouri, then Yahya Sinwar’s unexpected death in fighting inside Gaza, the assassination of figures such as Rawhi Mushtaha and Osama al-Mazini, and the absence of others for health reasons, including Mahmoud al-Zahar — all of this made Hayya the most prominent figure available to take on responsibility,” the source said.

Leaders from Gaza also held key posts in the political bureau and Shura Council, the source added.

“This does not diminish Hayya’s own standing. He proved his ability to lead and shoulder responsibility in the many portfolios and posts he held,” the source said.

“He became very close to Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza, and later when he joined him abroad. He also faced previous assassination attempts, most notably in Doha in September 2025, while reviewing a US ceasefire proposal with other leaders.”

Hayya’s consistent backing for Sinwar’s plans, inside and outside the movement, also broadened his support, the source said — particularly among Sinwar’s close associates and supporters, and the leadership of the Qassam Brigades.

The Qassam leadership in Gaza backed Hayya for the top job and pushed for his election.

“They saw him as an important choice representing Gaza’s leadership, which they believed should be honored and continue to lead the movement after leading the ‘Al-Aqsa Flood’ battle and sacrificing its senior leaders,” the source said.

Ties with Iran

Within Hamas and among Palestinian factions, Hayya is known for backing Sinwar’s drive, supported by the Qassam leadership, to rebuild ties with the so-called “axis of resistance,” particularly Iran.

That appears to have been a key factor in his growing influence. He handled contacts with Syria’s former government and visited Damascus to meet Bashar al-Assad in October 2022 — the first visit by a Hamas official since the movement left in 2012 amid mounting popular protests against Assad’s rule.

A senior source from Gaza said the territory’s political and military leaders agreed on the need to restore relations with Iran.

Hayya and Sinwar threw their weight behind renewed ties with Tehran, backed overwhelmingly by the Qassam Brigades’ longstanding leadership, from Mohammed Deif and Mohammed Sinwar to all members of its military council.

Some within Hamas supported the move with reservations, a source abroad said.

“There were voices that backed this step cautiously, given the difficulties the movement had faced in its relationship with Iran at certain times, and demands that it support Iran-aligned parties in other arenas,” the source said.

“The movement rejected this and insisted on the independence of its positions.”

Hayya’s path as Hamas leader is strewn with thorns.

In Gaza, he must work to end the war and confront immense humanitarian pressures after the killing of more than 70,000 people and the occupation of more than 60% of the territory.

That task carries a price. He is negotiating through mediators with Israel, which says it will not compromise on disarming Gaza — a demand that would mark one of the most consequential shifts in Hamas’ history.

Hayya and Hamas face a difficult equation: preserving the movement’s existence and cohesion while confronting the possible loss of its weapons, one of its strongest sources of leverage.

The path to political participation is also obstructed. Hamas would need to abide by the Palestinian Authority’s agreements with Israel, a red line for the movement.

Hayya’s rise was a striking and unexpected shift. His tenure now brings a further test, one likely to determine his own fate and the course of the movement he leads.

Arab World

Stability in Southern Lebanon Tops Agenda for Next Round of Talks with Israel

Smoke rises from Mansouri in southern Lebanon after Israeli detonations on Sept. 28. (Reuters)
Smoke rises from Mansouri in southern Lebanon after Israeli detonations on Sept. 28. (Reuters)
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Stability in Southern Lebanon Tops Agenda for Next Round of Talks with Israel

Smoke rises from Mansouri in southern Lebanon after Israeli detonations on Sept. 28. (Reuters)
Smoke rises from Mansouri in southern Lebanon after Israeli detonations on Sept. 28. (Reuters)

Preparations for the next round of Lebanese-Israeli talks in Tampa, Florida, have stirred debate in Lebanon: Do they mark a shift from political negotiations over withdrawal and sovereignty to military administration of the south?

Lebanese sources following the talks reject that interpretation, saying the focus is on resolving outstanding military and security issues.

A ministerial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that those issues require decisions and action on the ground before other tracks can advance.

“We have not moved to military administration of the south. Most issues that remain unresolved are military matters on the ground: halting bulldozing, house demolitions, gunfire and combat operations; securing Israeli withdrawal; identifying new model areas; addressing the issue of prisoners; and returning residents to their villages,” the source said.

“These are not political, economic or legal issues for specialists in those fields. We are discussing details on the ground: where withdrawal takes place, where operations stop, how the Lebanese army deploys and which areas residents can return to. It is natural for military personnel to discuss these details.”

Combat operations continue, though at a lower intensity, the source said. Other steps cannot advance seriously until a minimum level of security and stability is achieved.

“How can the Lebanese army deploy without an Israeli withdrawal or an end to gunfire? How can residents return to their villages while demolitions, bulldozing and military operations continue?”

Resolving military issues

The United States is focused at this stage on resolving outstanding military and security issues with Israel, the source said. These include completing the withdrawal, identifying model areas and halting bulldozing, demolitions and gunfire so other issues can move forward.

“This does not mean a military track is replacing the political track,” the source said.

“Negotiations have followed two tracks from the outset, political and military. But progress on political issues has remained closely tied to conditions on the ground. No political process can be built upon without a degree of stability and an effective ceasefire.”

That explains the military and security focus of the current meetings, the source said.

“What is needed is decisions on the ground. That is why this stage involves a meeting focused on military and security matters, to resolve outstanding points through US pressure on Israel.”

The US role, according to the ministerial source, is to press Israel to resolve those issues, rather than establish an alternative military administration for the south.

A shift in direction

Lawmaker Ashraf Rifi sees a broader shift. In his view, the growing military emphasis is more than a temporary technical measure: It reflects a change in how the situation is being managed.

Rifi told Asharq Al-Awsat he expected “a very violent round” of fighting in the south, with escalation potentially concentrated in Rihan, Soujoud and surrounding areas.

“I do not think the escalation will extend to Beirut unless assassinations take place,” he said.

Asked whether negotiations over Israeli withdrawal were giving way to a military approach to managing the south, Rifi said the region was heading toward “military, intelligence and security administration under US supervision.”

The process, he said, had moved beyond negotiating Israeli withdrawal to broader military and security administration of the south. Withdrawal would remain part of that process, under US supervision.

“We have moved from negotiating withdrawal to military, intelligence and security administration of the south under US supervision. This administration naturally includes Israeli withdrawal, but places it within broader arrangements overseen by the United States,” he said.

“The military dimension has come to the fore at this stage,” Rifi added. The arrangements would become clearer as conditions on the ground developed and the anticipated round of fighting ended.

No separate military track

Lebanon’s former ambassador to Washington, Antoine Chedid, disputed that reading. A greater military emphasis, he said, does not change the process or its political authority, given the limits of the Lebanese army’s powers.

“Lebanon has not moved from political negotiations over withdrawal and sovereignty to military negotiations or military administration of the south,” Chedid told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The Tampa discussions continue the existing process, he said, even if the venue and participants suggest a military character.

“Tampa is a military hub, but that does not mean Lebanon has entered military negotiations with Israel,” he said.

“The Lebanese army implements decisions made by the government, the political authorities and the president. It cannot independently enter military negotiations with the Israelis, even under US mediation, or make decisions that fall within the authority of Lebanon’s political leadership.”

The talks, Chedid said, continue the political framework and discussions that began in Washington and Rome.

“The Tampa talks are not strictly military discussions. They are a continuation of the political framework and the discussions that began in Washington and Rome, but in a different format. The venue and those present may give the impression of military negotiations.”

“The Lebanese army cannot decide in Tampa on matters that fall within the authority of Lebanon’s political leadership,” he added.

“The army operates under political authority, as it should. I therefore do not see what is happening in Tampa as a shift to a separate military track.”

Arab World

Yemen Armed Forces Advance in Taiz, Coalition Carries out Operation to Protect Marine Navigation

This image taken from undated video released Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, by the Yemeni government-allied Southern Giants Brigades media office shows its fighters firing a weapon mounted on a pickup truck during clashes with the Iran-backed Houthi group in Dhubab district, Taiz, Yemen. (Southern Giants Brigades Media Office via AP)
This image taken from undated video released Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, by the Yemeni government-allied Southern Giants Brigades media office shows its fighters firing a weapon mounted on a pickup truck during clashes with the Iran-backed Houthi group in Dhubab district, Taiz, Yemen. (Southern Giants Brigades Media Office via AP)
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Yemen Armed Forces Advance in Taiz, Coalition Carries out Operation to Protect Marine Navigation

This image taken from undated video released Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, by the Yemeni government-allied Southern Giants Brigades media office shows its fighters firing a weapon mounted on a pickup truck during clashes with the Iran-backed Houthi group in Dhubab district, Taiz, Yemen. (Southern Giants Brigades Media Office via AP)
This image taken from undated video released Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, by the Yemeni government-allied Southern Giants Brigades media office shows its fighters firing a weapon mounted on a pickup truck during clashes with the Iran-backed Houthi group in Dhubab district, Taiz, Yemen. (Southern Giants Brigades Media Office via AP)

The Yemeni army announced on Tuesday that it has seized control of new positions in the Haifan district, south of the Taiz province, as battles continued to rage across several of the province's frontlines.

Meanwhile, the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen announced that its naval forces carried out a military operation in the Hodeidah province as part of its objectives to protect the security of maritime navigation in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Coalition spokesperson Major General Turki al-Malki said that a plot for imminent attacks targeting waterways in the southern Red Sea had been thwarted, confirming the destruction of weapons depots, warehouses for booby-trapped boats, and naval mines.

Later, the Coalition announced the destruction of a ballistic missile launched in Sanaa, as well as a warehouse in a mountain storing 20 missiles in Saada.

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman had said that the meeting of the Strategic-Political and Defense Committee of the Makkah Alliance for Defense reaffirmed the solidarity of its member states and their unified stance in confronting attacks against Saudi Arabia and holy sites.

The meeting underscored the activation of collective deterrence against these attacks and anyone behind them within the framework of the alliance, he added.

The committee decided to move immediately to the practical implementation of the collective defense commitments and to take the necessary measures to provide the agreed military forces and capabilities and ensure their rapid deployment in the Kingdom, in line with the approved arrangements and the national legislation of the parties, thereby boosting readiness, military integration, and the collective capacity to confront and counter threats.