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Day 91 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Jan. 5

A picture depicting Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, hangs on a building near the site of a drone strike attributed to Israel targeting Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri in the southern suburb of Beirut on Jan. 3, 2024.
A picture depicting Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, hangs on a building near the site of a drone strike attributed to Israel targeting Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri in the southern suburb of Beirut on Jan. 3, 2024. — ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah spoke Friday, three days after Hamas' deputy political head Saleh al-Arouri was killed in an apparent Israeli drone strike in the south of Beirut.

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.


Click here for our most recent updates.


Live updates (all times EDT):

Friday, Jan. 5, 2024

4:40 pm: Israeli military causes uproar with plans to investigate its conduct on Oct. 7

Israeli military chief of staff Herzi Halevi has decided that the Israel Defense Forces will investigate its own preparedness and deployment on and before Oct. 7, the day that Hamas breached the Gaza border fence and attacked southern Israeli communities, reported the Israeli public broadcaster Kan on Thursday. Rina Bassist reports.

1:17 pm: 'Battlefield will speak for itself,' Hezbollah chief warns Israel amid retaliation fears

Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said the response to the killing of a Hamas leader in Lebanon earlier this week depends on the developments in the battlefield. Beatrice Farhat reports.

10:28 am: Israel uncertain of Hezbollah's intentions, prepares for all options

The day after the Jan. 2 assassination of senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut widely attributed to Israel, former Mossad Director Zvi Zamir died at the age of 98 and was buried in Tel Aviv. In delivering his eulogy at the graveside, current Mossad director David Barnea paraphrased a biblical warning: "Every Arab mother should know: If her son took part in the massacre on Oct. 7, his blood shall be upon his own head."

While Israel does not expect Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to launch an all-out war, it is preparing for anything to happen, Ben Caspit reports.

9:45 am: Blinken returns to Middle East as escalation concerns grow

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to the Middle East on Friday in a high-stakes trip aimed at preventing Israel’s months of battling Hamas from sliding into a broader regional war that could draw in the United States.

Blinken’s visit to the region — his fourth since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostage — comes days after a suspected Israeli strike killed a top Hamas official in Beirut and twin explosions claimed by the Islamic State killed nearly 100 people in central Iran. Elizabeth Hagedorn reports.

9:21 am: Gaza journalists killed at higher rate than US soldiers in past wars

The Israel-Hamas war has taken a heavy toll on Gaza journalists, with a global journalist organization reporting on Friday that the death toll among media workers in the Palestinian enclave has surpassed the mortality rate among combatants in recent wars.

The International Federation of Journalists has recorded the death of 75 journalists in Gaza since Oct. 7 out of an estimated 1,000 working there before the war began — a mortality rate of 7.5%, which the IFJ has assessed far exceeds the death rate of US soldiers in past wars. Beatrice Farhat reports.


Click here for our most recent updates.


For our previous live coverage, see:

Day 90 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Jan. 4

Day 89 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Jan. 3

Day 88 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Jan. 2

Day 87 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Jan. 1

Day 86 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Dec. 31

Day 85 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Dec. 30

Day 84 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Dec. 29

Day 83 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Dec. 28

Day 82 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Dec. 27

Day 81 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Dec. 26

Day 80 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Dec. 25 

Day 79 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Dec. 24

Day 78 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Dec. 23

Day 77 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Dec. 22

Day 76 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Dec. 21

Day 75 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Dec. 20

Day 74 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Dec. 19

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

Day 72 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Dec. 17

Day 71 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Dec. 16

Day 70 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Dec. 15

Day 69 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Dec. 14

Day 68 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Dec. 13

Day 67 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Dec. 12

Day 66 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Dec. 11

Day 65 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Dec. 10

Day 64 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Dec. 9

Day 63 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Dec. 8

Day 62 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Dec. 7

Day 61 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Dec. 6

Day 60 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Dec. 5

Day 59 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Dec. 4

Day 58 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Dec. 3

Day 57 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Dec. 2

Day 56 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Dec. 1

Day 55 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Nov. 30

Day 54 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Nov. 29

Day 53 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Nov. 28

Day 52 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Nov. 27

Day 51 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Nov. 26

Day 50 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Nov. 25

Day 49 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Nov. 24

Day 48 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Nov. 23

Day 47 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Nov. 22

Day 46 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Nov. 21

Day 45 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Nov. 20

Day 44 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Nov. 19

Day 43 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Nov. 18

Day 42 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Nov. 17

Day 41 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Nov. 16

Day 40 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Nov. 15

Day 39 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Nov. 14

Day 38 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Nov. 13

Day 37 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Nov. 12

Day 36 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Nov. 11

Day 35 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Nov. 10

Day 34 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Nov. 9

Day 33 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Nov. 8

Day 32 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Nov. 7

Day 31 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Nov. 6

Day 30 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Nov. 5

Day 29 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Nov. 4

Day 28 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Nov. 3

Day 27 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Nov. 2

Day 26 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Nov. 1

Day 25 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Oct. 31

Day 24 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Oct. 30

Day 23 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Oct. 29

Day 22 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Oct. 28

Day 21 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Oct. 27

Day 20 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Oct. 26

Day 19 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Oct. 25

Day 18 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Oct. 24

Day 17 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Oct. 23

Day 16 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Oct. 22

Day 15 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Oct. 21

Day 14 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Oct. 20

Day 13 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Oct. 19

Day 12 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Oct. 18

Day 11 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Oct. 17

Day 10 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Oct. 16

Day 9 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Oct. 15

Day 8 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Oct. 14

Day 7 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Oct. 13

Day 6 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Oct. 12

Day 5 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Oct. 11

Day 4 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Oct. 10

Day 3 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Oct. 9

Day 2 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Oct. 8

Day 1 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Oct. 7

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