Beirut under attack; Aid groups say Israel killed 20 staff in Gaza

• Humanitarian groups say Israeli forces have killed at least 20 aid workers in Gaza in the past month, including four Oxfam staff travelling in a clearly  beirut's southern suburbs after attacking areas on the Syria-Lebanon border, as Hezbollah’s chief pledges to “achieve victory and defeat our enemy”.
• US President-elect Donald Trump tapped marco  Rubio for Secretary of State in latest pro-israil pick for his cabinet and administration.
• Israil's  genocide in gaza has killed at least 43,712 Palestinians and wounded 103,258 since October 7, 2023. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day, and more than 200 were taken captive.
• In Lebanon, at least 3,365 people have been killed and 14,344 wounded in Israeli attacks since the war on Gaza began.

Biden is a ‘lame duck’ president – but can he still put pressure on Israel?

The Biden administration has shown no willingness to change course on Israel. It is running out of time to do so.

Joe Biden, right, told Israeli President Isaac Herzog that US support for Israel is "ironclad" and its military support will continue during a meeting in the White House in Washington, DC, on November 12, 2024 [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]

With fewer than 70 days left in office, United States President Joe Biden has officially entered the “lame duck” phase of his presidency – the period of time between administrations when a president’s influence and ability to shape policy dwindle as his successor prepares to take office.

But with the looming end of Biden’s five-decade political career comes a final chance to define his legacy – particularly when it comes to foreign policy, which Biden has long viewed as one of his signature issues.

For those opposed to the current administration’s unwavering support for Israel during its more than yearlong war on Gaza, this lame duck period is a final opportunity “to try to push Biden to move past a legacy of genocide”, said Annelle sheline, a former US Department of State official who resigned in March in protest against the Biden administration’s Israel policy.

But it is unlikely that the administration will backtrack on its multibillion-dollar support for Israel’s war after a year of deepening humanitarian crisis and large-scale evidence of mass war crimes in which the US is deeply implicated

“Now that there’s less of a political price to pay, Biden could choose to do good things,” Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy, told Al Jazeera. “But it’s never been entirely political; it is ideological. This is just how he believes the US-Israel relationship should work, and that’s with basically zero pressure on Israel about anything.”

Israel will keep invading – with more ease’: Gaza dreads Trump presidency

Biden was terrible, say Palestinians, but fear a Trump administration would let Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu ‘get away with conquering Gaza’.

For the past 13 months, Ahmed Jarad has been living with the dim hope that he might one day return to his home in Beit Lahiya, a village in the north of the Gaza Strip.

But on Wednesday, as former US President Donald Trump declare his triumphant return to the white house following a close race against Vice President Kamala Harris, Jarad said his dream of returning to his hometown, currently being pounded by Israel and its stranded population sealed off from the south, has been crushed.

The 43-year-old left his home exactly a year ago – in November 2023 – fleeing to al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. One month earlier, Israel launched its war on gaza a after hamas, the political and military group that rules the Strip, led an assault on army outposts and villages in southern Israel, leaving 1,139 people dead and taking more than 250 captive.

Since then, Israel has subjected Gaza to near-relentless bombardments and ground invasions. More than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed – with thousands more missing and presumed dead under the rubble – while nearly all of the enclave’s 2.3 million population has been displaced.

Israeli officials maintain that the war is necessary to eliminate Hamas, which has been categorised as a “terrorist group” by most Western countries. But Palestinians, the United Nations and human rights defenders point to the fact that most of the victims of the war are women and children.