Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant gave some insight into plans for the next stages of the war, saying that Israeli campaigns in progress are intended to “assassinate operatives and damage infrastructure” as Israel seeks to root out Hamas from Gaza. The endgame, he suggested, involves both “the creation of a new security regime in the Gaza Strip” and “the removal of Israel’s responsibility for life in the Strip.” Here’s everything else you need to know this morning.
• In an Oval Office address, President Joe Biden called for strong continuing American support for Ukraine and Israel, saying, “History has taught us when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror,” that “they cause more chaos and death and more destruction.” Biden is expected to call on Congress for $14 billion in additional U.S. support for Israel today.
• A convoy of trucks bearing humanitarian aid has lined up at Gaza’s Rafah crossing, which is controlled by Egypt, but ongoing disputes between Egypt and Israel over issues like checking the convoys for weapons had diplomats concerned that the crossing wouldn’t open today.
• Sixteen people were reportedly killed in a Friday airstrike that struck an Orthodox church in Gaza where refugee families had taken shelter. Gaza’s health ministry said 4,137 people had been killed since the start of the war, with more than 13,000 wounded; 13 Palestinians were also reportedly killed in Thursday clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank.
• An unclassified U.S. intelligence report estimated that a Tuesday blast at a Gaza hospital, the source of which remains undetermined, killed 100 to 300 people, a more conservative estimate than that provided by Palestinian authorities.
• A document appearing to lay out Hamas’ hostage strategy, recovered by the IDF after the Oct. 7 attacks, suggested the terrorist group had planned to hold hostages in Israel, rather than taking them to Gaza.
• A researcher at the Anti-Defamation League resigned, apparently over ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt’s criticism of U.S. Jews protesting Israel’s war with Gaza.
• About 50 Jewish protesters gathered outside Vice President Kamala Harris’ Los Angeles home on Thursday to urge a ceasefire. They recited the Mourner’s Kaddish, with one organizer saying “we honor our tradition rooted in the belief that human life is sacred.”
• Barriers were set up around Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial amid rising concerns across the globe about antisemitic incidents related to the war.