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Mother and uncle of U.S. service member rescued in Gaza
The mother of a U.S. service member and his U.S. citizen uncle made it safely out of the Gaza Strip on New Year’s Eve after a successful rescue operation, according to one U.S. official with direct knowledge of the operation and two U.S. officials familiar with the operation.
The service member, Ragi A. Sckak, 24, is serving as an infantryman in the U.S. military.
The U.S., along with Israel and Egypt, helped to coordinate the departure of Zahra Sckak, 44, and her brother-in-law Farid Sukaik, according to the U.S. officials. The U.S. military was not involved outside of helping the Israeli military to locate the two people in need of rescue, two U.S. defense officials told NBC News.
The story was first reported by The Associated Press.
Toronto police investigate ‘hate-motivated arson’ targeting Jewish-owned business
Canadian authorities are investigating a “suspected hate-motivated arson and graffiti” that targeted a business in Toronto, local police said in a news release yesterday evening.
CBC, the Canadian broadcaster, reported the business was a Jewish-owned grocery story that was spray-painted with the words “Free Palestine.”
Officers attended reports of a fire inside a store yesterday morning, the police said, locating the graffiti outside the building.
“This isn’t lawful protest protected by Constitutional rights. It’s criminal. It’s violent, targeted and organized,” said Staff Supt. Pauline Gray, Detective Operations at Toronto Police.
Analysis: Anger palpable as Iran and Lebanon mourn the dead
BEIRUT — Across the Middle East, the anger is unabated ahead of a funeral for a senior Hamas leader in Lebanon today and as Iran mourns 84 people killed in twin explosions at a memorial event for a senior general.
In Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Hezbollah militant group, vowed that his powerful Iran-backed Shia militia “cannot be silent” after Hamas deputy Saleh al-Arouri was killed in a drone strike in the country’s capital Tuesday.
Meanwhile in Iran, crowds took to the streets of the capital, Tehran, the day after 84 people were killed by two explosions at a memorial event for Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the former leader of the country’s secretive Quds Force, who was killed in 2020 by a U.S. drone strike.
Many shouted: “Death to America. Death to Israel.”
American officials have denied the U.S. was involved in either event and State Department spokesperson Matt Miller told a news conference yesterday that the U.S. had no reason to believe Israel was involved with the blasts in Iran.
But amid fears of a wider war in the Middle East, it may take some time for the anger to subside.
Drone strike targets Iran-backed militia in Baghdad and kills top commander
Mushtaq Talib Al-Saidi, a commander of the Iran-backed Popular Militarization Forces (PMF), was killed today after a drone targeted his vehicle inside the militia group’s headquarters in Baghdad, a senior Iraqi security official who was briefed on the incident told NBC News.
A commander of PMF intelligence was also injured in the strike, the official added.
A statement from the militia later put the total death toll at three with six people injured.
Iraqi officials called the attack a “violation of the sovereignty and security” of the country and blamed the U.S.-led coalition of global forces. “We consider this targeting a dangerous escalation and assault on Iraq,” a spokesperson for the prime minister said.
It was unclear who was responsible for the attack, which comes amid growing escalation between Iran-backed forces, Israel and its allies across the region.
Jewish protesters calling for cease-fire in Gaza disrupt first day of California legislative session
Hundreds of protesters calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war interrupted the first day of California’s legislative session yesterday, forcing the state Assembly to adjourn just moments after convening.
Lawmakers had just listened to the opening prayer and said the Pledge of Allegiance when protesters wearing matching black T-shirts stood from their seats and started singing “cease-fire now” and “let Gaza live.”
A few people unfurled banners from the chamber’s gallery that read: “Jews say never again for anyone.”
At first, Jim Wood, a Democratic Assembly member from Healdsburg, who was presiding over the session, tried to continue the session despite the singing. Eventually though, he called for a recess and adjourned a few minutes later.
IDF strikes Hamas anti-tank squads as fighting intensifies in southern and central Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces said today that its aircraft struck three militants attempting to plant explosives near its troops in Khan Younis, as fighting intensifies in southern and central Gaza.
“The troops eliminated two additional terrorists who were hiding in a nearby building and a fighter jet struck a Hamas weapons storage facility,” it said.
The IDF also said it destroyed a military structure housing anti-tank operatives and weaponry, with its ground troops assisted by the air force.
Humanitarian aid delivery blocked in northern Gaza, U.N. says
Humanitarian groups have been unable to deliver urgently needed humanitarian aid to northern parts of Gaza for the past three days, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said.
In its latest situation update, OCHA said the aid had been blocked “due to access delays and denials, as well as active conflict.”
According to the U.N. agency, the aid included medicines that would have provided vital support to more than 100,000 people for 30 days, as well as eight trucks of food for people currently facing catastrophic and life-threatening food insecurity.
“Humanitarian organizations are calling for urgent, safe, sustained and unhindered humanitarian access to areas north of Wadi Gaza, which has been severed from the south for more than a month,” OCHA said.
Senior education official cites Biden’s ‘blind eye to the atrocities’ in Gaza as reason for resignation
A senior Biden education official announced his resignation yesterday, citing the administration’s failure to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza from Israel’s offensive in its deadly war with Hamas.
In a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Tariq Habash, a policy adviser in the department’s Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, wrote, “I cannot stay silent as this administration turns a blind eye to the atrocities committed against innocent Palestinian lives, in what leading human rights experts have called a genocidal campaign by the Israeli government.”
Habash, a Palestinian American, is a political appointee and a student loan and college affordability specialist.
Read the full story here.
Seminary students in Israel drafted into IDF units amid war
TEL AVIV — At one yeshiva in Israel’s Negev Desert, 95% of the students are drafted into combat units. Eight students have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began.
Blinken heads to Middle East as fears of escalation grow
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to the Middle East, a senior administration official told reporters, including a stop in Israel.
This is his fourth visit to the region since Oct. 7, and comes just days after Israel’s strike on a senior Hamas leader in Beirut raised concerns of a wider war with Iran-backed militant groups.
His trip will include a number of stops in Middle Eastern capitals, the official said, not elaborating on his exact destinations.
NBC News previously reported that Blinken would visit Israel in early January.
After Israeli strikes in southern Gaza
People inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, southern Gaza.
Catch up with NBC news’ latest coverage of the war
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