Mourners carry the coffin of Saleh Arouri, one of the top Hamas commanders who was killed in an apparent Israeli strike Tuesday, as they pass in front of a graffiti that shows late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, during Arouri's funeral in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Israel appears far from achieving its goals of crushing Hamas and freeing an estimated 129 hostages still held in Gaza nearly three months after the group's surprise cross-border attack and the Israeli government's declaration of war.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says several thousand Hamas fighters remain in northern Gaza, where entire neighborhoods have been blasted into rubble. Heavy fighting is also underway in central Gaza and the southern city of Khan Younis, where Israeli officials say Hamas’ military structure is still largely intact.

Gallant on Thursday laid out a personal vision for a scaled-down combat approach in northern Gaza and a proposal for how the territory would be run after the war — with Israel keeping security control while an undefined Palestinian body runs day-to-day administration. His office emphasized the ideas were his own and not official policy.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Beirut on Thursday for the funeral of top Hamas commander Saleh Arouri, who was killed earlier this week in an apparent Israeli airstrike on an apartment in the Lebanese capital.

Hamas' Oct. 7 attack from Gaza into southern Israel killed around 1,200 people, and some 240 others were taken hostage. Israel’s air, ground and sea assault in Gaza has killed more than 22,300 people, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. The count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Currently:

— Israeli defense minister lays out vision for next steps of Gaza war.

— Blinken heads to the Mideast again as fears of regional conflict surge.

— Israel’s Mossad chief vows to hunt down Hamas members.

— The mother and American uncle of a U.S. service member are rescued from Gaza in a secret operation.

— Find more of AP's coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

Here's what's happening in the war:

RELATIONS BETWEEN SPAIN AND ISRAEL HAVE IMPROVED, OFFICIAL SAYS

JERUSALEM — Israel’s foreign minister announced Thursday that the Israeli ambassador to Spain will return to Madrid, after a diplomatic spat over Israel’s war in Gaza prompted the ministry to pull her back to Jerusalem.

Israel recalled ambassador Rodica Radian-Gordon in late November after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez questioned the legality of Israel’s offensive in Gaza. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Thursday that relations between the two countries had improved since then.

“In light of an improvement in the Spanish government’s statements,” the ministry said, “it was decided that the ambassador will return to Madrid and continue her activities to promote support for the right of the State of Israel to protect its citizens against the terrorist organization Hamas.”

NETANYAHU SEEKING A ‘FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE’ ON BORDER WITH LEBANON

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a U.S. envoy on Thursday that he is seeking a “fundamental change” on Israel’s border with Lebanon.

The comments came days after a suspected Israeli strike on Beirut killed a top Hamas operative, raising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. The Lebanese militant group, which provides support to Hamas, has vowed to avenge the killing.

Netanyahu did not specify what his plans entailed, but said he was committed to resettling evacuated residents from Israel’s north back in their homes safely. Netanyahu also said he hopes to resolve the conflict with Lebanon diplomatically but indicated that Israel would not shirk from a wider conflict.

“Israel, after the murderous attack on Saturday of Oct. 7, is determined, bolder and more united than ever before,” said Netanyahu. “Those of our neighbors who have not yet understood this will understand this very well in the future.”

Netanyahu spoke during a meeting with Amos Hochstein, a U.S. envoy who mediates between Israel and Lebanon.

Israel has demanded that Hezbollah respect a 2006 U.N. cease-fire agreement requiring the group to pull back from the Israeli border.

Israel and Hezbollah have engaged in light cross-border skirmishes through Israel’s war against Hamas. But the sides have appeared reluctant to enter a broader conflict.

ISRAEL AND SAUDI ARABIA CAN STILL NORMALIZE TIES, GRAHAM SAYS

TEL AVIV, Israel — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham says it is still possible for Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalize ties.

Israel and Saudi Arabia had been moving toward the establishment of official diplomatic relations earlier this year. But those efforts were upended by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and Israel’s ongoing war against the Islamic militant group.

Speaking in Tel Aviv, Graham said he believes a window of opportunity for normalization remains open until June, when the U.S. will turn its attention to the 2024 president campaign.

The South Carolina Republican said he plans to push the issue with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman when he visits Saudi Arabia in the coming days.

“I think Oct. 7 was motivated not exclusively, but primarily, by the Iranians to stop the reconciliation process,” Graham told reporters Thursday. “The nightmare for Iran is for the Arab world to reconcile with Israel and move the region toward the light away from the dark side.”

Graham said that he was in Israel to share lessons America learned after trying and failing to eradicate the Taliban in Afghanistan. Graham added that he hoped an Arab-led coalition would lead rebuilding efforts in Gaza, and that he wouldn’t invest even “15 cents” of American money in the Palestinian Authority. The White House has said a reformed PA should play a role in postwar Gaza.

Graham, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is leading a bipartisan delegation of 10 senators to Israel. The trip included a visit to Kfar Azza, a kibbutz that was severely damaged during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7.

ISRAEL SAYS IT HAS UNCOVERED A HAMAS WEAPONRY LAB

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Thursday that it raided a Hamas military compound along the central coast of the Gaza Strip, destroying a tunnel network it said stretched for hundreds of meters. The military said that one of the tunnels led to a facility that was used by Hamas to manufacture weapons, guarded by doors that were blast-proof and booby-trapped. It did not provide footage of the weaponry lab.

Military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that the facility had been used to create long-range rockets and was stocked with explosives. “The damage to the production sites and Hamas’s rocket launch capability and its reduction, as is carried out throughout the war, continues to be one of the main objectives of the military operation,” Hagari said.

Videos released by the military showed soldiers digging massive holes in the sand to unearth the tunnel shafts prior to destroying them. Soldiers found a collection of weapons in the area, from grenades to mortar shells.

DIPLOMATIC AGREEMENT WITH HEZBOLLAH IS STILL POSSIBLE, ISRAEL SAYS

TEL AVIV — Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said Thursday that a diplomatic agreement with Lebanon’s Hezbollah was still possible, days after a suspected Israeli strike on a Hamas leader in Beirut threatened a dramatic escalation between the two countries.

“We find ourselves at a junction. There is a short window of time for diplomatic understandings, which we prefer,” Gallant told Amos Hochstein, a White House envoy, at a meeting in Tel Aviv.

Gallant said a top priority was ensuring some 80,000 Israeli civilians forced to evacuate northern communities near the Lebanese border could return to their homes safely. The area was evacuated after Hezbollah began shelling northern Israel, shortly after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. Israel has demanded that Hezbollah respect a 2006 U.N. cease-fire requiring it to pull back from the Israeli border.

Gallant’s comments came two days after the deputy head of Hamas was killed in a suspected Israeli strike in Beirut. Hezbollah, which has offered shelter and support to Hamas leaders, has vowed to avenge the attack.

Israel and Hamas have engaged in low-level exchanges of fire for nearly three months, but both sides have been hesitant to engage in all-out war.

10 CHILDREN, 2 ADULTS KILLED BY ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE IN SOUTHERN GAZA

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike has flattened a home in an area of southern Gaza that the military had declared a safe zone, as Israeli troops pressed their assault in the nearby city of Khan Younis.

The strike hit a house in Mawasi, a small rural strip on Gaza’s southern coastline where Israel’s military has said Palestinians should flee to escape the combat zone. The blast killed a man and his wife, seven of their children and three other children ranging in age from 5 to 14, according to a list of the dead who arrived at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

There was no immediate response from Israel’s military.

Israeli troops pushed into Khan Younis in early December and have been battling Hamas militants there for weeks. The military said Thursday that its troops uncovered a large tunnel hundreds of meters (yards) long with an entrance in a field next to a mosque.

FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE PLEDGES SUPPORT WHILE IN ISRAEL

SDEROT, Israel — Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visited war-battered southern Israel on Thursday to express support for the country in its war against Hamas.

Standing next to the ruins of a police station in the city of Sderot, home to a fierce battle between Hamas militants and police officers on Oct. 7, Pence said the United States stood with Israel, which is under international pressure to end its ground and air campaign in Gaza. Next week, the U.N.’s top court is expected to begin examining a South African case accusing Israel of genocide.

“The world community always seems to find its way eventually to criticizing Israel, particularly in places like the United Nations, “ Pence said. “And in this dark hour, I wanted to do my part to make sure the people of Israel know that the people of the United States are with you and that we will stand with you.”

Pence, who served under former President Donald Trump, is a longtime supporter of Israel. He dropped out of the 2024 presidential race in October after struggling to raise money and gain traction in the polls.

FUNERAL HELD FOR HAMAS COMMANDER KILLED IN LEBANON

Thousands of people took to the streets of Beirut for the funeral of top Hamas commander Saleh Arouri, who was killed earlier this week in an apparent Israeli airstrike on an apartment in the Lebanese capital.

Draped in Palestinian and Hamas flags, Arouri’s coffin along with those of two of his comrades were first taken to a Beirut mosque for prayers Thursday before being carried to the Palestine Martyrs Cemetery. Arouri’s automatic rifle was placed on his coffin at the prayer service.

The funeral was attended by Palestinian officials, including top Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk, as well as representatives of some Lebanese political groups. People tried to touch the coffins surrounded by Hamas members wearing green caps. Some of the Hamas members were armed.

“The enemy is running away from its failures and defeats (in Gaza) to Lebanon,” senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a speech aired during the funeral. He added that the killing of Arouri in Beirut “is a proof of (Israel’s) bloody mentality.”

Lebanese officials and state media said an Israeli drone fired two missiles Tuesday at an apartment in Beirut’s southern Musharafieh district, which is a stronghold of Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah group, instantly killing Arouri along with six other Hamas members.

News from © The Associated Press, 2024