Day 73 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Dec. 18

An Israel-linked hacker group claimed responsibility Monday for a suspected attack that took 70% of Iran’s gas stations offline and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin landed in Israel amid growing pressure for Israel's military to scale back in Gaza.

Rina Bassist, Ezgi Akin, Beatrice Farhat, Elizabeth Hagedorn, Adam Lucente, Jack Dutton, Jared Szuba and Al-Monitor’s contributors on the ground in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel contributed to this blog.

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Live updates (all times EDT):

Monday, Dec. 18, 2023

11:00 pm: 2 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza

Two reserve soldiers were killed overnight in battles in the north of the Gaza Strip, said IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari. Israeli authorities said residents of the villages near the border in Gaza can go back to their homes, but for the moment, schools will not reopen and municipal services will not operate. The residents are still eligible to stay in hotels paid by the state.

5:00 pm: US announces new naval task force as Houthis threaten Red Sea shipping

On Tuesday local time in the Bahraini capital of Manama, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced a new maritime task force mission in a bid to deter a spate of attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Austin announced the new mission, dubbed Operation Prosperity Guardian, under an existing US Navy-led security task force stood up last year to boost patrols in the waterway, a key choke point on the global economy. Jared Szuba reports.

1:45 pm: US defense chief pushes transition to 'lower intensity, more surgical operations'

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that during his visit to Israel he spoke to officials about “how to transition from high-intensity operations to a lower intensity and more surgical operations,” stressing that he “had great discussions on all of those issues.”

“In any operation like this, any campaign, there will be phases, and the most difficult part is as you shift from one phase to the next, making sure that you have everything accounted for and you get it right. So that requires detailed planning and very thoughtful planning,” he told reporters at a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, on Monday.

Austin also confirmed Washington’s “unshakeable” support for Israel in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.

1:40 pm: Israeli military says it’s 'closer today to war than yesterday' with Hezbollah

The Israel Defense Forces said today that Israel is closer to war with Hezbollah following a string of attacks by the Lebanon-based militant group on northern Israel.

“If we look at the amount of attacks and aggression that Hezbollah has mounted against Israel, more than a thousand different pieces of [ammunition] that have been fired at Israel, specifically by Hezbollah, then by any means, we could have been at war with Hezbollah long, long ago,” IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus told reporters.

“And based solely on their actions, their violation of Israeli sovereignty and the casualties that they have caused … I think that we are — and without being cheeky — we are closer today to war than we were yesterday,” he added.

1:00 am: Human Rights Watch says Israel using starvation as ‘weapon of war’ in Gaza

The Israeli government is starving citizens as a “weapon of war” in the Gaza Strip, Human Rights Watch said in a Monday statement.

“Israeli forces are deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food and fuel, while willfully impeding humanitarian assistance, apparently razing agricultural areas and depriving the civilian population of objects indispensable to their survival,” the rights group said in a statement.

11:00 am: Israel will not rule Gaza, says defense minister

"Israel will not control Gaza in any civilian way. We will conduct any needed operation and military effort in order to secure our future, and we are building the routes for non-hostile partners on the other side," Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a Tel Aviv press conference with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Gallant also said that Israel will maintain a military presence in the enclave to eliminate threats to the country.

8:00 am: Norwegian ship hit by 'unidentified object' in Red Sea

A Norwegian ship sailing in the Red Sea was hit by an “unidentified object” on Monday, according to a statement from the vessel’s owner. The incident comes amid a string of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, which has led oil majors to pause or reroute oil shipments.

London-headquartered BP said on Monday it is pausing all oil shipments through the Red Sea following the attacks. The UK-headquartered energy company said it was a temporary decision in response to the “deteriorating security situation.”

Norwegian petroleum refiner Equinor is also rerouting its ships in the Red Sea region, sending them around South Africa instead, the company confirmed to Al-Monitor. Jack Dutton reports.

6:10 am: Mossad chief to meet in Warsaw with CIA director, Qatari prime minister

Mossad chief David Barnea will meet Monday in Warsaw with CIA Director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in an effort to jump-start talks for more releases of hostages held in Gaza, Israel's Ynet reported Monday. Barnea also met with Al Thani on Friday in Oslo.

3:00 am: Israel-linked hacker group claims cyberattack on Iranian gas stations

A hacking group called Gonjeshke Darande ("Predatory Sparrow") took responsibility for an alleged cyberattack Monday morning on gas stations across Iran. The group posted on the X platform, "This cyberattack comes in response to the aggression of the Islamic Republic and its proxies in the region. Khamenei, playing with fire has a price." The Iranian Energy Ministry said Monday morning that only 30% of the gas pumps in the country were working, but did not say if the incident was due to a cyberattack or technical problems, noting simply that it will take the ministry roughly 7.5 hours to fix it. In June 2022, Gonjeshke Darande claimed to have carried out a cyberattack on Iranian steel companies.

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