Israeli forces focus operations on Gaza’s two largest cities

The Israel Defense Forces, or IDF, on Monday said 100 of its troops have been killed and about 600 wounded in Gaza since Israel’s ground incursion began in October. Nearly 18,000 Palestinians have been killed during the war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. On Monday, the IDF focused its operations on what it called strongholds of the terrorist organization at Gaza City in the north and the city of Khan Younis in the south.

How are other countries responding to the war? Lebanon and Jordan declared a general strike Monday and closed public institutions in a show of solidarity with Gaza. People in East Jerusalem joined the strike and closed shops. In the West Bank, schools and public transportation were closed. Meanwhile, the United Nations General Assembly was scheduled Tuesday to resume its emergency session on the war after the United States on Friday vetoed a resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire.

Dig deeper: Read Jill Nelson’s report in WORLD Magazine on the history of radical Islamic terror groups targeting Israel.