The U.S. urges Israel to scale down its war in GazaBiden administration officials want Israel to end its large-scale campaign in the Gaza Strip within weeks and to transition to a more targeted phase in its war against Hamas, American officials said. The new phase would involve smaller groups of elite forces that would move in and out of population centers in Gaza, carrying out more precise missions to find and kill Hamas leaders, rescue hostages, and destroy tunnels.It comes as conditions in Gaza grow ever more catastrophic. Desperate Gazans driven by acute hunger after two months of siege are stopping U.N. trucks, taking food off them and devouring it on the spot, a top U.N. official said. For more on the situation there, we spoke with Raja Abdulrahim, a Middle East correspondent for The Times. Read the full interview here. What are you hearing from Gaza right now? Life is terrible for Palestinians in Gaza. As journalists, when we talk to them, it’s so hard for us to even know what to say anymore. But what people are telling me these days is that they’re just clinging to life. Some people have told me that they would rather just have a nuclear bomb come and take them all out because the situation has gotten so desperate, and they don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. So it’s just an incredibly grim place.They also feel like the entire world has abandoned them. Even people who seemed to have had hope and were very strong early on — it’s just worn them down because people have been displaced time and time again, and nowhere is safe. And that just keeps being more true. How are Gazans thinking about the future? There’s huge fear of a permanent displacement. Particularly because the vast majority of Gazans either fled their homes in 1948 when the state of Israel was established, or are the descendants of those who fled their homes and haven’t been allowed to go back. And this fear is twofold. Gazans are afraid that they will be permanently displaced inside Gaza, as they are being corralled into a smaller, smaller area. And there have been things said by Israeli leaders, military commanders, and former leaders that they do plan to essentially shrink Gaza — in other words, take over some land. So that fear of not being allowed home is definitely a real one. Hungary blocks E.U. aid to Ukraine Hungary prevented the E.U. from approving a financial aid package for Ukraine, hours after E.U. leaders agreed to officially open negotiations for Ukraine to join the bloc. Such talks normally take a decade or longer and involve major reforms to bring the country into alignment with E.U. rules and standards. For Ukraine, a more immediate hurdle will be to secure 50 billion euros — about $52 billion — in proposed aid. Hungary’s objection thwarted an agreement on that package, despite talks that continued until early this morning. E.U. leaders will reconvene next year to try to secure unanimity, which is required for this decision, an official said. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has just returned from a bruising visit to the U.S., where he pleaded for desperately needed aid — also being held up by political divisions (within Congress, in this case).
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