Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 73?

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's meeting with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin started on Monday early afternoon to discuss ongoing developments in the Israel-Gaza War as well as American preferences for increasing humanitarian aid, reducing civilian casualties, bringing the war to an end in the coming weeks, and coming to an agreed-upon understanding regarding managing Gaza post-war.

Several top officials from both sides joined the meeting. Notably, they included Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown in his first trip to Israel as the US military's top official (though he has visited the Jewish state in other capacities in the past.)

Brown was formally appointed in September.

Some additional officials also included IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt-Gen. Herzi Halevi, IDF intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aharon Huliya, Defense Ministry Director-General Eyal Zamir, IDf Operations Command Chief Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk, COGAT Chief Maj, Gen,. Rasan Elian, and other senior officials. 

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hasswept to a third, six-year term as Egypt's president, winning 89.6% of votes in an election in which he faced no serious challengers, the National Election Authority announced on Monday.

The election took place as Egypt struggles with a slow-burning economic crisis and tries to manage the risk of spillover from the war in Gaza, which borders Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

Some voters said the eruption of conflict in Gaza had encouraged them to vote for Sisi, who has long presented himself as a bulwark of stability in a volatile region - an argument that has also proved effective with Gulf and Western allies providing financial support to his government.

Voting in Egypt was held over three days on Dec. 10-12, with the state and tightly controlled domestic media pushing hard to boost turnout, which the election authority said had reached 66.8% - above the 41% recorded at the last presidential election in 2018.

The election featured three other candidates, none of them high profile. The most prominent potential challenger halted his run in October, saying officials and thugs had targeted his supporters - accusations dismissed by the National Election Authority.

Vehicles pass under a billboard supporting presidential candidate and current Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in front of the al-Fattah al-Aleem Mosque at the New Administrative Capital (NAC) in the desert east of Cairo, Egypt December 8, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/AMR ABDALLAH DALSH)

"There were no elections, Sisi used the entire state apparatus and security agencies to prevent any serious contender from even running," said Hossam Bahgat, head of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), an independent group.

"Just like last time he handpicked his opponents who only went through the motions of running against the president with either muted or almost no criticism of his disastrous policies."

Egypt's state media body has said the vote was a step towards political pluralism and authorities have denied violations of electoral rules.

The constitution was amended to allow further terms

Sisi, a former general, has overseen a sweeping crackdown on dissent across the political spectrum since leading the 2013 overthrow of Egypt's first democratically elected leader, Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

He was elected to the presidency in 2014, and re-elected in 2018, both times with 97% of the vote. The constitution was amended in 2019, extending the presidential term to six years from four, and allowing Sisi to stand for a third term.

Some admire an infrastructure drive including a new capital built from scratch in the desert east of Cairo. Others see the city as a costly extravagance at a time when Egypt's debt has swollen and prices have soared.

Sisi's backers say security is paramount, and that some groups have benefited under his rule.

That included women, said Nourhan ElAbbassy, assistant secretary-general of the youth branch of the pro-Sisi Homat AlWatan party.

"We would love to see more females in key positions, more female ministers in the cabinet as long as they’re qualified, and revisions of personal rights laws that have to do with issues like marriage, divorce and alimony," she said.

Authorities have sought to address criticism of Egypt's human rights record with steps including opening a national dialog and releasing some prominent prisoners. Critics have dismissed the moves as largely cosmetic.

Many Egyptians expressed indifference about the election, saying the result was a foregone conclusion.

Reuters reporters who covered the vote in Cairo, Giza, Suez and the Sinai Peninsula witnessed people being bussed in to some polling stations and lingering outside them waving national flags or banners as patriotic music played. Other polling stations appeared quiet.

A Reuters reporter saw bags of flour, rice and other basic commodities being handed out to people who voted in Giza, and some voters said they were pressured by their employers to take part, or that financial incentives were offered to those who cast ballots.

The state media body said any provision of money or goods in return for votes was a criminal offense, punishable by fines or prison.

IDF Sgt. First Class (res.) Lidor Yosef Karavani, 23, from Eilat fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said on Monday.

Karavani served in the Combat Engineering Corps' 8163rd Battalion.

In the battle in which Karavani fell, another soldier was seriously wounded.

Suitcases with funds amounting to over NIS 5 million (about $1.3 million) were found in the home of a senior Hamas member in the Jabalya area, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said on Monday.

Additionally, many weapons were found by soldiers from the 551st Brigade in the Hamas member's home.

Overall, the IDF struck over 150 terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip on Sunday.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel on Monday for talks expected to focus on Israel's eventual end to high-intensity war in Gaza and its transition to a more limited, focused conflict, officials say.

For Austin, the trip is a delicate balancing act. He has steadfastly supported Israel's right to defend itself following Palestinian militant group Hamas' surprise Oct. 7 attacks. But he has also become increasingly vocal about the plight of civilians in Gaza as Israeli strikes drive up casualties.

One person was wounded in a suspected shooting attack near Ateret in the central West Bank on Monday, according to Magen David Adom.

The victim continued driving after being wounded and met MDA medics who provided her with medical treatment.

The Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD) on Monday announced that Iran and Hezbollah were behind the cyber attack last month against Ziv Medical Center in Safed.

According to the INCD, the goal was not only to harm the specific hospital's operations, but to damage Israel's resilience as a whole mid-war when many hospitals have been overloaded with handling larger numbers than usual of wounded soldiers.

A hacktivist group called "Predatory Sparrow" ("Gonjeshke Darande" in Persian) claimed that it had disabled the majority of gas stations across Iran in a cyberattack on Monday.

"We, Gonjeshke Darande, carried out another cyberattack today, taking out a majority of the gas pumps throughout Iran. This cyberattack comes in response to the aggression of the Islamic Republic and its proxies in the region. [Iranian Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei, playing with fire has a price," wrote the group in a statement.

An IDF jet struck Hezbollah terror infrastructure in Lebanese territory, the IDF said on Sunday.

The jet also targeted a terrorist cell in Lebanon that had attempted to fire an anti-tank missile into Israel.

The IDF soldiers who accidentally shot and killed three hostages held by Hamas in Gaza did so despite being ordered not to shoot, a recent investigation by the IDF revealed.

Speaking to 103FM, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, former national security adviser to the prime minister, said this reflected a need to tighten the IDF's open-fire policies.