Hamas has been unresponsive to overtures made in recent days to try to restart hostage negotiations, a source familiar with the efforts told CNN, as the US and other mediators try to resurrect talks that would see more hostages who were abducted on October 7 be released from captivity.

Qatar – which continues to play the role of interlocutor – has relayed to Hamas new ideas to try to get more hostages out of Gaza, including a potential deal that would include the release of not just the remaining women hostages, but men as well, according to one source familiar with the efforts and a senior US official. “There’s not an active negotiation, but there’s a real exploration of ideas for how to get this going,” the senior US official said.

But Hamas has not been responsive to the outreach, the source familiar said.

Qatar speaks with Hamas political officials in Gaza who then relay messages to the group’s leadership inside the strip who are actively trying to avoid detection by Israel. US officials had said getting answers from Hamas was an incredibly cumbersome process during the first round of negotiations that led to a series of hostages being released. It may now be even harder for Hamas leaders to engage in talks now given the Israeli focus on hunting them down.

At the same time, Israel, which resumed its military operation against Hamas after a seven-day truce, believes that its offensive targeting southern Gaza – and particularly Khan Younis – should exert additional pressure on Hamas that could prove to be helpful in the release of more hostages, sources said. Some US officials agree the military pressure may have the effect of eventually driving Hamas back to the negotiating table.

Israel's ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan held a sign showing the phone number of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s Hamas office at a UNGA meeting on Tuesday.

"You want a real cease-fire?” Erdan declared as he admonished the members of the UNGA as he held up a sign depicting Sinwar's office phone number and told them to ask him directly, as Sinwar and Hamas bear the true responsibility for the current conflict.

בדיון הדחוף בעצרת הכללית הבהרתי לכל השגרירים לפני ההצבעה: אם אתם רוצים הפסקת אש אמיתית, תתקשרו למשרדי חמאס בעזה ותבקשו את יחיא סינוואר. תגידו לו שכאשר חמאס יניחו את נשקם, יסגירו את עצמם ויחזירו את כל החטופים, אז תהיה הפסקת אש אמיתית שתימשך לתמיד.צפו ורטווטו>> pic.twitter.com/1KDWtEm11R
— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) December 12, 2023

“Call… and ask for Yahya Sinwar. Tell Hamas to put down their arms, turn themselves in, and return our hostages. This will bring a complete ceasefire that will last forever,” said Erdan.

To the editor: The authors of the op-ed article, "Does Israel’s treatment of Palestinians rise to the level of apartheid?" neglect to mention that more than 20% of Israel's citizens are Arab, including Muslims, Druze and Christians. These Israelis have voting rights and are represented in every branch of government, including in the Knesset and on Israel's Supreme Court.

In contrast, neighboring countries have expelled or otherwise forced out their Jewish populations. The authors do not accuse these countries of apartheid or ethnic cleansing.

Mansour Abbas, a Muslim member of the Israeli Knesset and leader of the United Arab List, has rejected the term:

"I prefer to describe the reality in objective ways. If there is discrimination in a certain field, then we will say that there is discrimination in that specific field."

The person of interest was a complete stranger to Samantha Woll, who was murdered outside her synagogue in late October.

Samantha Wall, 60, was found stabbed to death outside her home in Detroit. (photo credit: PUBLIC DOMAIN)
Samantha Wall, 60, was found stabbed to death outside her home in Detroit.

Police have identified a second person involved in the murder of Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll, according to multiple media reports from December 11.

While the police did not name the subject of interest, they confirmed to The Detroit News that the suspect had been a stranger to Woll.

The newly identified person of interest is the second to have been identified. In early November, police arrested another unnamed individual but released them after three days without charge, the Independent reported.

The Defense Ministry body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs accused the United Nations of not doing enough to process humanitarian aid into Gaza and charged that the world body is responsible for supplies not reaching the Strip at a fast enough pace.

“We have expanded our capabilities to conduct inspections for the aid delivered into Gaza. Kerem Shalom is to be opened, so the number of inspections will double. But the aid keeps waiting at the entrance of Rafah,” the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, or COGAT, wrote Tuesday on X.

“The UN must do better — the aid is there, and the people need it,” the statement added.

Holocaust survivors from around the globe will mark the start of the fifth day of Hanukkah together with a virtual ceremony, as Jews worldwide worry about the Israel-Hamas war and a spike of antisemitism in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere.

--snip--

This year’s holiday comes as many Jews feel traumatized by Hamas’s deadly October 7 onslaught on southern communities, when terrorists massacred 1,200 people, mostly civilians in their homes and at a music festival, amid acts of horrific brutality, and took some 240 hostages to Gaza.

Israel then launched a military offensive aimed at destroying Hamas’s military and government in the Gaza Strip, where it has ruled since 2007.

Several celebrities and world leaders spoke about the massacre in messages that were to be shown at the ceremony. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said “Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel has affected us all deeply. Something of abyssal evil broke free that day,” according to comments released to the AP.

The small Jewish community in Cairo has decided not to hold celebrations of the Hanukkah festival in one of the city’s synagogues, amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

The decision came due to the prevalent anti-Israeli sentiment in the Egyptian capital, according to a source from the community quoted by the Kan public broadcaster.

--snip--

Cairo’s native Jewish community is believed to number no more than five living members, all of them women. A handful of Jews are also believed to remain in Egypt’s second largest city, Alexandria.

Up until the 1950s, about 80,000 Jews were estimated to be living in Egypt. Today, the community resorts to inviting Jewish expats and diplomats to attend religious services and festivals, in order to gather the ten men required for Orthodox prayer.

On December 8, two days after the presidents of three prestigious East Coast US universities were unable to tell a Congressional committee that calling for the genocide of Jews on campus violates their schools’ codes of conduct, Stanford University – another elite US school, but this one on the West Coast – issued this statement:

“In the context of the national discourse, Stanford unequivocally condemns calls for the genocide of Jews or any peoples. That statement would clearly violate Stanford’s Fundamental Standard, the code of conduct for all students at the university.”

What is remarkable about this statement is that it had to be issued at all. Think about that for a minute. One of the world’s top universities has to make it clear that it “unequivocally condemns calls for the genocide of Jews or any people.”

In normal times, who would have thought otherwise? In normal times, who would have any such doubt? But these are abnormal times, and that Stanford felt the need to issue this statement, and that anyone would have any doubt that a university of Stanford’s caliber would not unequivocally condemn calls to kill Jews, is staggering.

Many of the Hamas terrorists surrendering to the IDF were involved in the October 7 massacre, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated on Monday evening during a televised address.

"Hamas is on the verge of dissolution, the IDF is taking over its last strongholds," Gallant said.

He added that Israel has no intention to maintain a permanent presence in the Gaza Strip.

During his address, the defense minister spoke directly to Hamas Chief Yahya Sinwar telling him either to surrender or face death on the battlefield. He said that Hamas terrorists in Jabalia and Shejaia are being brought down, though they had thought they were unbeatable.