Crunch time for Israel and Ukraine aid as lawmakers return to Congress from recess
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers will reignite a debate over approving U.S. aid to Israel and Ukraine when Congress returns from Thanksgiving recess this week, with deep uncertainty underscoring the path forward amid divisions between the two parties.
Along with a defense policy bill and reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration by the end of the year, Congress must also grapple with a two-part deadline to fund the government that could creep up on it sooner than expected.
Under the official calendar, the House has just 12 legislative days left this year, during which top lawmakers believe they must break the logjam over foreign aid to maximize its chances of passage.
The goal is complicated by multiple factors. Republicans insist on enacting tougher U.S. border enforcement and stricter asylum laws in exchange for any Ukraine aid. And as the civilian death toll rises in the Middle East, there’s a new division among Democrats about whether or not to condition funding for Israel on its government taking active steps to stop the fighting.
“The blank check approach must end,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a leader in the progressive movement.
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Israel arrests 60 people in the West Bank, prisoners’ group says
Israeli forces have arrested at least 60 people from the West Bank since yesterday evening, including former prisoners, the Commission for the Affairs of Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners and the Palestinian Prisoners Club said this morning.
The arrests were mostly concentrated in the town of Hebron and Ramallah, it said, adding a total of more than 3,260 arrests that have been made since the Oct. 7. attacks by Hamas.
“During the arrest campaigns, the occupation forces continue to carry out widespread acts of abuse, severe beatings, field investigations, and threats against detainees and their families,” it said in a statement.
NBC News has not verified the figures, and Israel has not released further information.
Joy as hostages welcomed back to Israel
Tal Almog-Goldstein, a hostage released by Hamas, stands in a bus transporting him to an army base in Ofakim, southern Israel, late yesterday.
Elon Musk tours kibbutz with Netanyahu, agrees plan for using Starlink in Gaza
TEL AVIV — Tech billionaire Elon Musk today toured the Kibbutz Kfar Aza with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meeting with the Israel Defense Forces and some family members of those killed by Hamas on Oct. 7, Netanyahu’s office said today in a statement.
The visit comes as Israel said it reached an agreement with Musk to bring his SpaceX company’s Starlink communications to the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported.
“Musk heard about the story of the family of the 4-year-old girl Abigail Mor Edan, whose parents were murdered and she was kidnapped to Gaza and released from Hamas captivity yesterday,” it said.
Musk also visited a youth neighborhood, Netanyahu’s office said, “which took the brunt of the fire in the October 7th atrocities.”
Last month, Musk proposed using Starlink to support communication links in the blackout-hit Gaza enclave with “internationally recognized aid organizations.”
At the time, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi objected, saying “Hamas will use it (Starlink) for terrorist activities.”
But in a new tack, Karhi said Monday that Israel and Musk had reached an agreement in principle whereby “Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has scheduled an afternoon meeting with Musk. They will be joined by relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and will also discuss “the need to act to combat rising antisemitism online,” Herzog’s office said.
Palestinians, evacuated from the Gaza Strip, land in Abu Dhabi
A woman is aided as she disembarks from a plane upon landing in Abu Dhabi today, as part of a humanitarian mission organised by the United Arab Emirates to aid civilians fleeing Gaza.
A need for a ‘long lasting’ Gaza truce: EU official
The European Union’s top foreign policy official Josep Borrell is calling for an extension of the truce in the Gaza strip. The truce is set to end today.
“The pause should be extended to make it sustainable and long lasting while working for a political solution,” said Borrell, at the start of a meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean in Barcelona earlier today.
“A political solution that should allow us to break the cycle of violence once and for all,” he added.
Hamas and Israel review lists of hostages and prisoners
There are more challenges today with both the Israeli government and Hamas questioning the lists of hostages and prisoners to be released, a diplomat with knowledge of the talks tells NBC News. There was a similar hurdle on day one and it was resolved, they said, adding that it’s a “slight issue” that all sides are working to resolve.
Bigger challenges lie ahead this week. Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who has been leading negotiations to secure the release of hostages, agree a cease-fire and enable the entry to Gaza of desperately needed humanitarian aid, says efforts to extend the pause are underway. There is a willingness by Israel to extended so long as Hamas can locate an additional 40 or so hostages including women and children, he tells NBC News.
But even an extension of the truce is not a solution to the crisis. The Israeli military is indicating it is ready to return to war. Hamas too will have been regrouping and preparing to fight.
Meanwhile International divisions continue to widen. The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has called for a ceasefire and criticized Israel saying, “I’m appalled to learn that in the middle of a war, the Israeli government is poised to commit new funds to build more illegal settlements.” Comments that were received with fury by Israel. These are hardly indicators that peace is on the horizon.
President Biden has said there’s no going back to the status quo as it stood on Oct. 6, one day before the October 7th attacks. But what the world will look like after this crisis is still unclear. In the weeks ahead, everyone in the Middle East will be looking to the President to provide some kind of roadmap.
Watch: Emotional reunions between released Israeli hostages and their families
Videos show the emotional moments when some of the people held hostage were reunited with their families.
In one video, released Israeli hostages were met by thousands of Israelis waving flags and recording their arrival near Hatzerem, Israel. In others, 9-year-old Emily Hand is seen running into her father’s arms and hugging her sister as her dogs excitedly welcome her home.
Mother and daughter Sharon and Noam Avigdori are also seen in a video embracing family members in an Israeli hospital, and in another video, Maya Regev, whose younger brother is still being held by Hamas, hugs her mother in an emotional reunion.
Latest 3 Thai hostages to be freed are in good health, prime minister says
Three Thai hostages Hamas released today are in good health, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said in a post on X.
The three Thai nationals were among 17 hostages freed on the third day of the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Migrant workers from Thailand, one of Israel’s biggest sources of foreign labor, were the largest single group of foreigners among Hamas’s estimated 240 hostages, and 17 have been released since the cease-fire began Friday.
The Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry congratulated the newly freed hostages and their families and thanked all parties involved in their release.
“For the remaining 15 Thai hostages, the Royal Thai Government continues to exert all efforts towards their safe release at the earliest opportunity,” the ministry said in a statement.
Biden pushes for more hostages to be freed by Hamas, extension of pause in fighting
President Joe Biden is pushing for more Americans to be freed from Gaza and is encouraging an extension in the four-day cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Biden said he is “hopeful” that more Americans will be released in tomorrow’s exchange.
Only one day remains in the deal, and so far only one American has been released — 4-year-old Abigail Mor Edan.
Hamas-Israel truce nears its end, but both sides open for an extension
The temporary four-day truce between Hamas and Israel is due to end today, but both sides have expressed their openness for an extension if an agreement is reached.
An extension could see more hostages released from Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a halt in fighting. Israel has said it would extend the cease-fire by a day for every 10 additional hostages released.
Hamas also said yesterday it was hoping to extend the truce which came after weeks of intense negotiations mediated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt and began on Friday.
Catch up with NBC News’ latest coverage of the war
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