Middle East Conflict: Majority Of Americans Now Disapprove Of Israel's Gaza Offensive, Poll Says

US announces sanctions on Hamas-linked fundraisers

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday announced sanctions on two individuals and three entities accused of being "key financial facilitators involved in fundraising for Hamas."

"Treasury remains committed to degrading Hamas' ability to finance its terrorist activities, including through online fundraising campaigns that seek to funnel money directly to the group," said Brian E. Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.

The department previously sanctioned Hamas leaders and financiers, officials, representatives, financial networks associated with the terror group, and its "facilitators of virtual currency transfers."

Iran's president meets Hamas chief after truce deal rejection

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday met with a Hamas delegation led by the Palestinian militant group's political bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh, Iranian Press TV reported. The meeting comes after Hamas rejected the latest proposal for a truce agreement in the Gaza Strip.

Iran supports Hamas and many other militant groups across the Middle East, including Hezbollah and Yemeni Houthi rebels.

Netanyahu says withdrawal of Israeli delegation to US was a message to Hamas

Following the U.S. move of abstaining on a UNSC vote on a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Netanyahu announced the withdrawal of a high-level Israeli delegation that was supposed to visit Washington this week.

On Wednesday, the Israeli prime minister explained that his decision to pull out the delegation "was a message to Hamas: Don't bet on this pressure, it's not going to work."

Netanyahu previously expressed dismay over Washington's UNSC move, saying it did "damage" to ceasefire negotiations.

Arrests made as hostages' loved ones stage protest in Tel Aviv

The loved ones and supporters of hostages still in Hamas captivity took to the streets of Tel Aviv, calling for the immediate release of the abductees.

Some of the demonstrators sat inside cages, highlighting the plight of the hostages who have been in held in Gaza for more than five months. At least four demonstrators, including some family members of abductees, were detained by Israeli law enforcement during the protests, as per local i24 News.

Hamas refuses to free hostages

Hamas declared Wednesday that it will not release some 130 remaining hostages in Gaza until it finishes waging a "fierce negotiating battle" against Israel in which its decades-long adversary will be defeated, Arab media reported.

This comes following the Palestinian terror group's rejection of a U.S. ceasefire proposal that could have seen more humanitarian aid enter Gaza, which nonprofits have said is now nearing famine.

55% of Americans now disapprove of Israel's offensive in Gaza: Poll

A new poll released by Gallup Wednesday revealed that 55% of Americans "currently disapprove of Israel's actions, while 36% approve."

In November, 50% approved of the Israeli army's offensive in the Gaza Strip, while 45% disapproved, and 4% had no opinion on the matter, marking a significant shift in the way U.S. citizens view the situation in the war-torn enclave.

The poll also noted that among Democrats, 75% disapprove of Israel's actions, and only 18% approve. Majority of Republicans, on the other hand, still approve of Israel's military offensive, while 60% of independents expressed disapproval.

The poll's results came after the U.S., for the first time since the war started, did not veto a UN Security Council resolution that called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

US, UK launch attacks in Yemen: Arab report

The U.S. and its ally, the United Kingdom, launched strikes on the Baqim District in Yemen Wednesday afternoon Sana'a time, Sky News in Arabic reported, citing Houthi-linked media.

Both countries have yet to deny or confirm the report. The allies launched joint strikes in Yemen targeting Houthi assets in the country amid the Iranian-backed rebel militia's attacks against commercial ships in the Red and Arabian Seas and the Gulf of Aden.

Israel struck 3 Rafah homes overnight: Report

Israeli airstrikes overnight affected at least three homes in Rafah, raising fears that the ground incursion planned by the Netanyahu government may be nearing, Reuters reported.

The Israeli government is under mounting pressure to spare Rafah, an overcrowded city in southern Gaza where some 1.5 million Palestinians are believed to be sheltering amid displacement from the war.

Hezbollah aircraft located in Israeli kibbutz

An aircraft "belonging to the terrorist organization Hezbollah was located in the area of Rosh Hanikra," the IDF said Wednesday. Israeli troops are on the scene to recover the aircraft, it added.

This comes amid continuing fire exchanges between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.

Freed Israeli hostage reveals sexual assault, torture in Hamas captivity

Lawyer Amit Soussana, 40, was among over 250 hostages taken from Israel and dragged into Gaza by Hamas on Oct. 7. The militant who guarded while being held alone in a child's bedroom in Gaza sometimes lifted her shirt and touched her, she told The New York Times in a tell-all interview.

In eight hours of interview with the outlet, Soussana revealed that her guard, Muhammad, also hit her and forced her to "commit a sexual act on him." She is the first Israeli to publicly speak about being sexually and physically assaulted while in Hamas captivity.

The outlet noted that her personal account of being a hostage matched the earlier accounts she provided to two doctors and a social worker less than 24 hours after she was freed late in November.

"When filmed by Hamas minutes before being freed, she said, she pretended to have been treated well to avoid jeopardizing her release," the outlet wrote. She also revealed that she was beaten up by a group of her captors late in her captivity.

Basem Naim, a Hamas spokesman, told The Times that Soussana's allegations needed to be investigated but it was impossible at this time due to the "current circumstances." He said Hamas' religious beliefs "forbade any mistreatment of any human being, regardless of his sex, religion or ethnicity."

A doctor who spoke with some of the freed hostages said in December that "the physical, the sexual, the mental, the psychological abuse of these hostages that came back is just terrible."

Earlier this month, a UN report found that there is "convincing information that sexual violence was committed against hostages" and there were "reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may still be ongoing against those in captivity."

British law firm takes legal action against UK over UNRWA funding halt

Bindmans, a London-based law firm, has filed preliminary action that could allow it to make a legal claim against the United Kingdom over the country's pause in funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA).

The pre-action letter filed by Bindmans Wednesday alleges that Britain didn't take due consideration of evidence when it decided to temporarily halt funding for the relief organization.

"Given the catastrophic situation in Gaza, including an impending, man-made famine, the ongoing decision to cease funding to Unrwa is not only morally wrong but flies in the face of that strategy," said Alice Hardy, a partner at Bindmans.

The UK is just one of several countries that stopped funding for UNRWA operations following an exposé that accused several UNRWA personnel of being directly involved in Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre.

Al-Amal Hospital out of service: PRCS

The Palestinian Red Cross late on Tuesday announced that Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza's main city, "has been taken out of service and has stopped working completely after the Occupation forces forced the hospital's crews and the wounded to evacuate it and closed its entrances with dirt barriers."

The organization also said it was disappointed that the international community "failed to provide the necessary protection for its staff, patients and displaced persons." It called on the world to guarantee the protection of Red Cross teams and facilities amid what it said was ongoing "targeting" of medical missions operating in the war-torn enclave.

US denies it carried out Syria strikes

The U.S. has denied it conducted airstrikes in Syria that allegedly killed an IRGC military advisor and several other Iraqi militia members. The denial came amid Syrian, Iranian and Arab reports that a U.S. strike targeted military sites in Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria Tuesday.

Violence ensues on 3rd day of Jordan anti-Israel protests

Chaos ensued during the third day of protests near the Israeli embassy in Jordan's capital of Amman, Reuters reported, citing witnesses and residents. Jordanian anti-riot police reportedly beat and arrested dozens of protesters that attempted to march closer toward the embassy.

Hundreds of angry crowds seeking to storm the embassy were pushed back by police who wielded batons as over two thousand protests gathered late Tuesday for another round of demonstrations.

During the demonstrations, many protesters chanted in support of Palestinian Hamas. "Oh Hamas ... all of Jordan's people are behind you," the crowds reportedly chanted.

Israeli strike kills 7 members of paramedics team in Lebanon: Lebanese officials

Seven members of a paramedics team were killed following an Israeli airstrike in Hebbariyeh, southern Lebanon early Wednesday, multiple outlets reported, citing Lebanese officials.

The emergency services facility hit in the strike was reportedly associated to a Lebanese Sunni Muslim group. The Lebanese Ambulance Association denounced the attack, calling it a "flagrant violation of humanitarian work."

The IDF said Wednesday that it "eliminated a terrorist who promoted terrorist plots towards Israeli territory." The operation was carried out on a "military building" in Hebbariyeh that housed Lebanese Sunni Muslim al-Jamaa al-Islamiya (Islamic Group) and other militants whom the Israeli army said "promoted plots" against Israel in the past.

Hezbollah rocket kills 1 Israeli, injures several others

A rocket barrage fired by Iran-backed Hezbollah toward Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel Wednesday has killed one Israeli civilian and injured three others. One of the wounded is in critical condition.

Israel's emergency services agency said the 25-year-old victim was a worker who was taken out of a building "that suffered a direct hit" from the rocket barrage. He was found with no signs of life and pronounced dead at the scene.

Two other people were lightly wounded from rocket shrapnel, while another injured individual was wounded critically.

Read the full story here.