Airport protests in NYC, LA force some travelers to walk to terminals

Editor's Note: For the latest news on the Israel-Hamas conflict, please see our live updates file here.

Roads leading to two of the nation’s busiest airports in New York and Los Angeles were temporarily blocked Wednesday by pro-Palestinian demonstrators demanding an end to the war in Gaza, prompting some travelers to reach terminals by foot.

In the middle of the hectic holiday travel season, traffic on the expressway to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York came to a halt for 20 minutes as protesters locked arms and held banners.

Video posted on social media showed passengers, some carrying suitcases, leaving vehicles behind and stepping over barriers onto the highway median. Officials later arranged for buses to take stranded travelers to the airport.

At around the same time, activists snarled driving conditions on the road that feeds into Los Angeles International Airport by dragging blocks of concrete, tree branches, construction debris and other objects into the roadway, according to L.A. police. Police said in a social media post that protesters threw an officer to the ground and attacked uninvolved passersby in their vehicles, adding that "this was not a peaceful demonstration.''

Authorities said 26 people were arrested at the JFK protest and 36 at LAX, including one for battery of a police officer. Both airports ranked among the nation’s top-six in boardings last year with more than 26 million each.

War in Gaza: Israeli adviser to meet with US official

Developments:

∎ Israeli rockets rained down on central and southern Gaza early Wednesday, hammering areas where Palestinians fleeing fighting in northern Gaza had gathered on orders from the Israeli military.

∎ Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen threatened the leader of the militant Hezbollah group in Lebanon, saying Hassan Nasrallah “must understand that he’s next.” A Hezbollah strike Tuesday wounded 11 people in northern Israel.

∎ The U.N. and member countries have spent $622 million in aid to Gaza and the West Bank, 51% of the $1.2 billion flash appeal sought by the U.N. when the war began.

∎ The Palestinian casualty toll rose to 21,110 dead and 55,243 injured after almost 200 people were killed in the last 24 hours, the Gaza Health Ministry said. Israeli authorities, who have generally confirmed the ministry's death tolls, said the fatalities include 8,000 Hamas operatives − in addition to 1,000 militants killed during and immediately after the Oct. 7 attacks.

∎ Palestinian telecommunications officials said internet and telephone services are being restored across Gaza after a nearly total blackout that severely hampered rescue and aid operations. It was at least the sixth major outage since the war began.

Journalists killed in war mourned at Michigan vigil

Nearly 100 people gathered at The Boardwalk in Dearborn, Michigan, on Wednesday evening to honor and mourn journalists killed in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel since the war started.

Former and current journalists called for media organizations in the U.S. and elsewhere to hold to account those responsible for the deaths of dozens of journalists during the conflict. So far, at least 68 journalists have died, according to The Committee to Protect Journalists.

Barbara Weinberg-Barefield told USA TODAY she’s heartbroken for the slain journalists’ families and for people who looked to them for information about events in Gaza and the West Bank. She expressed anger at Israel for what she called a massacre.

“As a Jewish person, it's horrifying to me that this is going on,” she said.

She and others at the vigil organized by Project 1948, Wayne State University’s Students for Justice in Palestine and other organizations chanted “Free Palestine” and called for a permanent cease-fire. − Krystal Nurse

Phone, internet blackout another obstacle to distributing aid

The communications blackout in Gaza from Tuesday into Wednesday further complicated the United Nations' attempts to distribute aid, an already Herculean task amid the fighting.

“Operational challenges due to insecurity, blocked roads and a scarcity of fuel are also hampering the humanitarian response,” said the U.N. humanitarian office, known as OCHA.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently said the conditions required for an effective aid operation − including a safe staff, logistical capacity and commercial activity − are missing in Gaza.

OCHA said the U.N. World Food Program still dispensed wheat, food parcels and other means of nourishment to about half a million displaced Gazans between Dec. 23 and Dec. 26, but the need is vast. According to Guterres, 80% of “the hungriest people anywhere in the world” are in Gaza.

Iran walks back claim Hamas attack was 'revenge' for US strike

An Iranian general on Wednesday walked back his claim that the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel was “revenge” for the assassination of an Iranian general nearly four years ago, telling Al-Araby his comments earlier in the day were “incompletely conveyed” and misunderstood.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman Ramazan Sharif had linked the Hamas attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, to a U.S. drone strike in Iraq on Jan. 2, 2020, that killed Gen. Qasem Soleimani. Sharif also said the killing of a top Iranian military adviser by Israel this week in Syria would draw a military response from Iran “directly or indirectly.”

The U.S. Justice Department, in a heavily redacted 2020 memorandum, said Soleimani had commanded the guard’s elite Quds Force since the late 1990s and was a “key architect of lran’s campaign of terrorism, assassinations and violence throughout the Middle East.”

The Iranian government, which helps fund Hamas, has repeatedly denied involvement in the October attack that killed 1,200 Israelis in communities along the Gaza border. Hamas issued a statement Wednesday rejecting Sharif’s claim linking the rampage to Iran, saying the assault was primarily a response to “dangers that threaten al-Aqsa Mosque” in Jerusalem, which had seen clashes between Israeli settlers and Muslim worshippers.

Sharif, however, did not retreat from his pledge of a military response for the killing of Iranian Brig. Gen. Razi Mousavi, targeted Monday in an Israeli airstrike on his Damascus home. Israel had accused Mousavi of being a key player in Tehran’s efforts to supply weapons to Hamas and Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah.

“Iran will take harsh and strong revenge,” Sharif said, accusing Israel of killing Mousavi as a way of “escaping from its defeat in Gaza and its failures there, and to divert the world’s attention from a war crime.”

Erdogan, Netanyahu clash over ‘Hitler’ remark

Turkish and Israeli leaders engaged in a war of words Wednesday over Israeli actions against Hamas militants in Gaza described by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as “no different” from those of Adolf Hitler. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck back, accusing Erdogan of carrying out a genocide against Kurds and holding a “world record number” of opposition journalists in jails.

“Erdogan … is the last person who can preach morality to us,” Netanyahu said on social media, adding that Israel has “the most moral army in the world.” War Cabinet minister Benny Gantz, a political foe of Netanyahu, dismissed Erdogan’s remarks as “blatant distortions of reality and a desecration of the Holocaust’s memory.”

Pepper-spraying of Muslim girl in NYC a possible hate crime

A 15-year-old Muslim girl was pepper-sprayed and insulted in a Brooklyn neighborhood in what police are investigating as a possible hate crime.

New York City police say the girl was approached last week by an unidentified woman who made "anti-ethnic remarks to the victim, then pepper sprayed the victim in the face." The woman fled the scene and police are searching for her, releasing a photo with her image.

New York TV station WPIX said the woman called the teen a "terrorist,'' among the latest in the sharply rising number of hate incidents against Muslim and Palestinians reported since the war started.

− Christopher Cann

Iranian-American group urges Biden not to support 'Israel's disastrous war'

The U.S. is at risk of being dragged into an "all-out regional war" in the Middle East, and the Biden administration must secure a cease-fire instead of "blindly supporting Israel's disastrous war in Gaza," the National Iranian American Council, an advocacy group that supports democratic change in Iran, said in a statement released Wednesday. A cease-fire can provide time for diplomacy to address the underlying issues fueling the war, the council said.

"The alternative increasingly looks like a broader conflict that spills across multiple borders and pulls in the United States," it said. "President Biden must act before it is too late.”

Israeli air force officer defends Gaza bombings

The Israeli Air Force chief of staff on Wednesday firmly rejected repeated global claims that Israel’s airstrikes in Gaza are indiscriminate. Brig. Gen. Omer Tischler said the Israeli military is conducting a "precise, focused" military campaign stressing the protection of civilians. Evacuations are ordered in advance and munitions designed to minimize collateral damage are used, he said. And assaults are monitored in real time and can be aborted if the dangers to civilians become too great, he said.

But Israel has acknowledged that its campaign in Gaza has killed more civilians than the militants it is targeting. On numerous occasions, civilians have fled to safety zones at Israel's urging, only to find those areas under attack too.

"In war, mistakes can happen," Tischler said. "While they are exceptional, they are still made. We study them, learn from them, and make changes to our process as a result."

Israeli defense minister says war could take 'months or years'

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Israel's parliament the war will be long and bring heavy costs but that "justification is the highest it can be." Gallant, in translation by the Times of Israel, vowed Israel would punish Hamas "whether it takes months or years.” He said Israel faces attacks from seven fronts and has struck back at almost all of them.

Gallant's pledge came days after an Egyptian peace plan drew a cool response from Israel and Hamas. The plan, if accepted, would include Hamas releasing the more than 100 remaining hostages in exchange for Israel letting all Palestinians out of its prisons. Nearly 8,000 Palestinians are held by Israel on security-related charges or convictions, according to Palestinian figures. The plan also calls Israel to withdraw from the battered Gaza Strip and for militants to halt rocket attacks on Israel.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Palestinians flee Gaza after Israel declares war on Hamas

Israel has called for the immediate relocation of 1.1 million people in Gaza amid its massive bombardment in retaliation for Hamas's attacks.

101 images

Published Gallery

− Krystal Nurse

Phone, internet blackout another obstacle to distributing aid

The communications blackout in Gaza from Tuesday into Wednesday further complicated the United Nations' attempts to distribute aid, an already Herculean task amid the fighting.

“Operational challenges due to insecurity, blocked roads and a scarcity of fuel are also hampering the humanitarian response,” said the U.N. humanitarian office, known as OCHA.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently said the conditions required for an effective aid operation − including a safe staff, logistical capacity and commercial activity − are missing in Gaza.

OCHA said the U.N. World Food Program still dispensed wheat, food parcels and other means of nourishment to about half a million displaced Gazans between Dec. 23 and Dec. 26, but the need is vast. According to Guterres, 80% of “the hungriest people anywhere in the world” are in Gaza.

Iran walks back claim Hamas attack was 'revenge' for US strike

An Iranian general on Wednesday walked back his claim that the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel was “revenge” for the assassination of an Iranian general nearly four years ago, telling Al-Araby his comments earlier in the day were “incompletely conveyed” and misunderstood.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman Ramazan Sharif had linked the Hamas attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, to a U.S. drone strike in Iraq on Jan. 2, 2020, that killed Gen. Qasem Soleimani. Sharif also said the killing of a top Iranian military adviser by Israel this week in Syria would draw a military response from Iran “directly or indirectly.”

The U.S. Justice Department, in a heavily redacted 2020 memorandum, said Soleimani had commanded the guard’s elite Quds Force since the late 1990s and was a “key architect of lran’s campaign of terrorism, assassinations and violence throughout the Middle East.”

The Iranian government, which helps fund Hamas, has repeatedly denied involvement in the October attack that killed 1,200 Israelis in communities along the Gaza border. Hamas issued a statement Wednesday rejecting Sharif’s claim linking the rampage to Iran, saying the assault was primarily a response to “dangers that threaten al-Aqsa Mosque” in Jerusalem, which had seen clashes between Israeli settlers and Muslim worshippers.

Sharif, however, did not retreat from his pledge of a military response for the killing of Iranian Brig. Gen. Razi Mousavi, targeted Monday in an Israeli airstrike on his Damascus home. Israel had accused Mousavi of being a key player in Tehran’s efforts to supply weapons to Hamas and Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah.

“Iran will take harsh and strong revenge,” Sharif said, accusing Israel of killing Mousavi as a way of “escaping from its defeat in Gaza and its failures there, and to divert the world’s attention from a war crime.”

Erdogan, Netanyahu clash over ‘Hitler’ remark

Turkish and Israeli leaders engaged in a war of words Wednesday over Israeli actions against Hamas militants in Gaza described by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as “no different” from those of Adolf Hitler. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck back, accusing Erdogan of carrying out a genocide against Kurds and holding a “world record number” of opposition journalists in jails.

“Erdogan … is the last person who can preach morality to us,” Netanyahu said on social media, adding that Israel has “the most moral army in the world.” War Cabinet minister Benny Gantz, a political foe of Netanyahu, dismissed Erdogan’s remarks as “blatant distortions of reality and a desecration of the Holocaust’s memory.”

Pepper-spraying of Muslim girl in NYC a possible hate crime

A 15-year-old Muslim girl was pepper-sprayed and insulted in a Brooklyn neighborhood in what police are investigating as a possible hate crime.

New York City police say the girl was approached last week by an unidentified woman who made "anti-ethnic remarks to the victim, then pepper sprayed the victim in the face." The woman fled the scene and police are searching for her, releasing a photo with her image.

New York TV station WPIX said the woman called the teen a "terrorist,'' among the latest in the sharply rising number of hate incidents against Muslim and Palestinians reported since the war started.

− Christopher Cann

Iranian-American group urges Biden not to support 'Israel's disastrous war'

The U.S. is at risk of being dragged into an "all-out regional war" in the Middle East, and the Biden administration must secure a cease-fire instead of "blindly supporting Israel's disastrous war in Gaza," the National Iranian American Council, an advocacy group that supports democratic change in Iran, said in a statement released Wednesday. A cease-fire can provide time for diplomacy to address the underlying issues fueling the war, the council said.

"The alternative increasingly looks like a broader conflict that spills across multiple borders and pulls in the United States," it said. "President Biden must act before it is too late.”

Israeli air force officer defends Gaza bombings

The Israeli Air Force chief of staff on Wednesday firmly rejected repeated global claims that Israel’s airstrikes in Gaza are indiscriminate. Brig. Gen. Omer Tischler said the Israeli military is conducting a "precise, focused" military campaign stressing the protection of civilians. Evacuations are ordered in advance and munitions designed to minimize collateral damage are used, he said. And assaults are monitored in real time and can be aborted if the dangers to civilians become too great, he said.

But Israel has acknowledged that its campaign in Gaza has killed more civilians than the militants it is targeting. On numerous occasions, civilians have fled to safety zones at Israel's urging, only to find those areas under attack too.

"In war, mistakes can happen," Tischler said. "While they are exceptional, they are still made. We study them, learn from them, and make changes to our process as a result."

Israeli defense minister says war could take 'months or years'

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Israel's parliament the war will be long and bring heavy costs but that "justification is the highest it can be." Gallant, in translation by the Times of Israel, vowed Israel would punish Hamas "whether it takes months or years.” He said Israel faces attacks from seven fronts and has struck back at almost all of them.

Gallant's pledge came days after an Egyptian peace plan drew a cool response from Israel and Hamas. The plan, if accepted, would include Hamas releasing the more than 100 remaining hostages in exchange for Israel letting all Palestinians out of its prisons. Nearly 8,000 Palestinians are held by Israel on security-related charges or convictions, according to Palestinian figures. The plan also calls Israel to withdraw from the battered Gaza Strip and for militants to halt rocket attacks on Israel.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel Hamas war live updates: Travelers walk to airport amid protests