CBS News
Israel continues attacks across Gaza as hopes for cease-fire fade
Battles raged across Gaza on Sunday as Israel indicated it was prepared to fight for months or longer to defeat the territory’s Hamas rulers, and a key mediator said willingness to discuss a cease-fire was fading.
Israel faces international outrage after its military offensive, with diplomatic support and arms from close ally the United States, has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians. About 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, where U.N. agencies say there is no safe place to flee.
The head of the U.N. in Gaza on Sunday described the situation as the worst he’s ever seen, warning of a total humanitarian collapse inside the territory.
The United States has lent vital support in recent days by vetoing a United Nations Security Council resolution to end the fighting and pushing through an emergency sale of over $100 million worth of tank ammunition to Israel.
Russia backed the resolution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and expressed dissatisfaction with “anti-Israel positions” taken by Moscow’s envoys at the U.N. and elsewhere, an Israeli statement said.
Netanyahu told Putin that any country assaulted the way Israel was “would have reacted with no less force than Israel is using,” the statement added.
The U.N. General Assembly scheduled an emergency meeting Tuesday to vote on a draft resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N., told The Associated Press that it’s similar to the Security Council resolution the U.S. vetoed Friday.
There are no vetoes in the General Assembly but unlike the Security Council its resolutions are not legally binding. They are important nonetheless as a barometer of global opinion.
Israel’s air and ground war has killed thousands of Palestinians, mostly civilians, since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and other militants killed 1,200 people and captured around 240. Over 100 of them were released during a weeklong cease-fire last month.
With very little aid allowed in, Palestinians face severe shortages of food, water and other basic goods. Some observers openly worry that Palestinians will be forced out of Gaza altogether.
“Expect public order to completely break down soon, and an even worse situation could unfold including epidemic diseases and increased pressure for mass displacement into Egypt,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a forum in Qatar, a key intermediary.
Eylon Levy, an Israeli government spokesman, called allegations of mass displacement from Gaza “outrageous and false.”
Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, told the forum that mediation efforts seeking to stop the war and have all hostages released will continue, but “unfortunately, we are not seeing the same willingness that we had seen in the weeks before.”
Israel’s national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, told Israel’s Channel 12 TV that the U.S. has set no deadline for Israel to achieve its goals. “The evaluation that this can’t be measured in weeks is correct, and I’m not sure it can be measured in months,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN that as far as the duration and the conduct of the fighting, “these are decisions for Israel to make.”
This is a war that cannot be won, Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, asserted to the Qatar forum, warning that “Israel has created an amount of hatred that will haunt this region that will define generations to come.”
Fighting and arrests in the north
Israeli forces face heavy resistance, including in northern Gaza, where neighborhoods have been flattened by air strikes and where ground troops have operated for over six weeks.
Israel’s Channel 13 TV broadcast footage showing dozens of detainees stripped to their underwear, hands in the air. One man held an assault rifle above his head, walked forward and placed a gun on the ground.
Other videos have shown groups of unarmed men held in similar conditions, without clothes, bound and blindfolded. Detainees from a group released Saturday told The Associated Press they had been beaten and denied food and water.
Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said dozens of arrests took place in two Hamas strongholds and that people are undressed to make sure they are not hiding explosives.
Residents said there was still heavy fighting in the Gaza City neighborhood of Shijaiyah and the Jabaliya refugee camp, a dense urban area housing Palestinian families who fled or were driven out of what is now Israel during the 1948 war.
“They are attacking anything that moves,” said Hamza Abu Fatouh, a Shijaiyah resident. He said the dead and wounded were left in the streets as ambulances could not reach the area.
Israel ordered the evacuation of the northern third of the territory, including Gaza City, early in the war, but tens of thousands of people have remained.
Heavy fighting also was underway in and around the southern city of Khan Younis, which Israel claims is Hamas’ command center. Many families have been forced to flee the city and head for the border town of Rafah.
Aya Moustafa Zourab told CBS News her whole street was on fire when they left. Her child is disabled and needs medical attention. She said he is sick but there is no treatment and she has no money to travel and she has to beg others for food and water.
Waiting days for food
The price of dwindling food in Gaza has soared. Abdulsalam al-Majdalawi said he had come every day for nearly two weeks to a U.N. distribution center, hoping to get supplies for his family of seven.
“Thank God, today they drew our name,” he said.
One hundred trucks with humanitarian aid entered Sunday, said Wael Abu Omar, a spokesman for the Palestinian Crossings Authority. That’s far short of what’s needed.
A spokesperson for the U.N. in Gaza, Juliette Toumi, told CBS News it’s becoming too dangerous for aid agencies to operate.
“We have come to a point where we’re not sure if we’re able to fulfill our mandate and provide assistance to people in Gaza,” she said. “This is unprecedented.”
The World Food Program warned that half the population in Gaza faces extreme hunger and severe water restrictions. The charity group Save the Children said deaths from starvation and disease might top those killed in bombings in Gaza.
With the war in its third month, the Palestinian death toll in Gaza has surpassed 17,900, the majority women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.
Israel holds Hamas responsible for civilian casualties, saying the militants put civilians in danger by fighting in residential neighborhoods. The military says 97 Israeli soldiers have died in the offensive. Palestinian militants have continued firing rockets into Israel.
Netanyahu’s office said Hamas still has 117 hostages and the remains of 20 people killed in captivity or during the Oct. 7 attack. The militants hope to exchange them for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Israel says it has provided detailed instructions for civilians to evacuate to safer areas, even as it strikes what it says are militant targets. Thousands have fled to areas along the border with Egypt — one of the last places where aid agencies are able to deliver food and water.
Despite a series of airstrikes near the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, Israeli Col. Etad Goren told CBS News it’s safe to pass through.
“We are not attacking the humanitarian corridor,” he said. “Second, we know exactly where the shelters are We didn’t attack any truck, any U.N. truck that wanted to facilitate or to bring goods or shelter.”
Still aid agencies say tens of thousands of Palestinians will go to bed hungry and thirsty, many without shelter.
Demonstrations were again held in several cities in support of the Palestinians and calling for an end to the war, while thousands marched in Europe against antisemitism.
The war has raised tensions across the Middle East, with Lebanon’s Hezbollah trading fire with Israel along the border and other Iran-backed militant groups targeting the U.S. in Syria and Iraq. Israeli artillery, drone, and airstrikes over Lebanon border towns intensified.
CBS News
These 14 House seats are still undecided, with 2024 results outstanding a week after Election Day
Washington — It’s one week after Election Day 2024, and while control of the White House and the Senate have been decided, in a handful of races for the U.S. House of Representatives, the results are still outstanding, and their outcomes will determine Republicans’ margins in the lower chamber.
With President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race and Republicans poised to control at least 52 seats in the Senate, the GOP is heading toward full control of Washington. CBS News characterizes control of the House as lean Republican, with the party now just three seats shy of the 218 needed to win the majority.
Most of the undecided House races are in California, where state law requires mail ballots to be postmarked by Election Day and received by county elections offices up to seven days after the election, so many are still being counted.
As votes continue to be tallied in seven states where the winners of congressional races have not yet been projected, Congress has returned to Washington for the first time in weeks, and Republicans are moving forward with leadership elections. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise are expected to maintain their positions atop the Republican conference, but Trump’s selection of conference chair Rep. Elise Stefanik for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has created an open seat in GOP leadership.
Here are the outstanding House races as of Tuesday, Nov. 12:
Alaska at-large
Republican Nick Begich leads incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat, by more than 10,000 votes, with 71% of the estimated vote total reported.
If Begich defeats Peltola, it would be a GOP pick-up in the House. Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, so voters select multiple candidates and rank them in order of preference.
Unless a candidate earns more than 50% of the first-choice vote, the one with the fewest first-choice votes will be eliminated, and voters’ second picks are reallocated to the remaining candidates. In the third round, the candidate who receives the next fewest votes is eliminated and their votes reallocated to the remaining contenders. The process continues until a candidate reaches 50%.
Arizona’s 6th Congressional District
Incumbent Rep. Juan Ciscomani, a Republican, is leading Democratic opponent Kirsten Engel by 4,900 votes, with 86% of votes in. CBS News estimates the race is a toss-up.
California’s 9th Congressional District
CBS News characterizes the race as lean Democrat, with incumbent Rep. Josh Harder, a Democrat, ahead of his Republican opponent Kevin Lincoln by more than 7,000 votes, with 71% of the estimated vote total reported so far.
California’s 13th Congressional District
Freshman GOP Rep. John Duarte leads Democratic challenger Adam Gray by nearly 3,000 votes, with 57% of votes in.
The two faced off in 2022, when Gray lost by less than 600 votes.
California’s 21st Congressional District
CBS News characterizes the race between Rep. Jim Costa, the Democrat incumbent, and Republican Michael Maher as lean Costa. The congressman leads by just over 1,300 votes, and 64% of the estimated vote total has been reported so far.
California’s 22nd Congressional District
Republican Rep. David Valadao is leading Democrat challenger Rudy Salas by 9,500 votes, with 71% of the vote in. Valadao is one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Of those 10 lawmakers, only Valadao and Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington are still in Congress. Newhouse is projected to win reelection.
California’s 41st Congressional District
CBS News characterizes the race as lean Republican incumbent Rep. Ken Calvert, who has served in the House for more than 30 years. Calvert leads his Democratic opponent, Will Rollins, by more than 7,500 votes, with 81% of the estimated vote total reported so far.
California’s 45th Congressional District
In this race between GOP incumbent Rep. Michelle Steel and Democrat Derek Tran, Steel is ahead by 3,900 votes with 84% of the vote in. CBS News characterizes the race as a toss-up. Steel is in her second term in the House and is one of the first Korean-American women to serve in Congress.
California’s 47th Congressional District
Democratic Rep. Katie Porter currently holds this seat, but her unsuccessful bid for the Senate set up a race between Democrat David Min and Republican Scott Baugh to succeed her.
CBS News characterizes the race as lean Min, meaning it’s likely to stay in Democrats’ hands. With 84% of the estimated vote total reported, Min is ahead by more than 3,200 votes.
California’s 49th Congressional District
CBS News characterizes the contest between Democratic Rep. Mike Levin and Republican Matt Gunderson as lean Levin. The Democratic incumbent is ahead of his GOP challenger by 14,000 votes, with 84% of the vote in.
Iowa’s 1st Congressional District
The race between Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Democrat Christina Bohannan is a rematch of the 2022 contest. The 2024 election is shaping up to be close, with Miller-Meeks currently leading by 796 votes in this race that CBS News characterizes as a toss-up.
Maine’s 2nd Congressional District
Democratic Rep. Jared Golden is facing Republican Austin Theriault in a district that supported Trump in 2016 and 2020. The Democratic incumbent is ahead by more than 2,100 votes, with 99% of votes in, and CBS News characterizes the race as leaning Golden.
Maine, like Alaska, uses ranked-choice voting, and because neither candidate secured at least 50% of the vote, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced it will be decided by a ranked-choice runoff. The second round of tabulation is starting this week in Augusta, the state capital, she said.
Ohio’s 9th Congressional District
Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur is working to keep control of her seat in the race against Republican challenger Derek Merrin. CBS News characterizes the race as a toss-up. Kaptur is leading Merrin by more than 1,100 votes, with 94% of the estimated vote total reported.
Oregon’s 5th Congressional District
Republican incumbent Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who is in her first term, is facing off against Democrat Janelle Bynum, who is currently ahead by more than 10,000 votes. CBS News characterizes the race as leaning Bynum, and 88% of the estimated vote total has been reported.
contributed to this report.
CBS News
Russia lawmakers pass bill banning “child-free propaganda”
Moscow — Russian lawmakers on Tuesday passed controversial legislation banning “propaganda” that urges people to opt against having children, the latest measure targeting what Moscow depicts as Western liberal ideas. Facing an ageing population and low birth rates, Moscow is seeking to reverse a demographic slump — accentuated by its ongoing full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine — that threatens its economic future.
Members of the Russian parliament’s lower house, the Duma, voted unanimously in favor of the draft bill, which would apply to materials online, in media, advertising and in films that promote a “rejection of childbearing.”
The bill targets “destructive content” that promotes a “conscious” rejection of having children.
The bill’s authors have said it will not be used as punishment for “a personal choice or lifestyle” but only for promoting such a lifestyle, although it is unclear how this would be differentiated in practice.
Under the ban on “child-free propaganda,” violations would be punishable by fines up to 400,000 rubles (about $4,000) on individuals and up to 5 million rubles, or about $51,000, for businesses. The bill also includes a provision to deport foreigners found guilty of disseminating the banned information.
“This is a fateful law… Without children, there will be no country. This ideology will lead to people stopping giving birth to children,” the Duma’s speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said ahead of the vote.
He also said the legislation was about “protecting citizens, primarily the generation growing up, from information spread in the media space that negatively affects the development of personality.”
The effort was “so new generations of our citizens grow up orientated towards traditional family values”, he said.
Nina Ostanina, a Communist Party lawmaker who heads the Duma committee on family policy, said the bill aims to “guard our youth from unnecessary ideologies.”
The legislation will now be considered by the upper house of parliament on November 20, before coming before President Vladimir Putin, who is expected to sign it into law.
It comes on top of existing bans on “propaganda” of LGBTQ relationships or changing gender.
The Duma also unanimously passed legislation Tuesday banning foreigners living in countries that allow gender reassignment from adopting Russian children. The bill is aimed at stopping Russian-born children being able to legally change their gender.
Moscow has long portrayed itself as a bulwark against liberal values, but that trend has hugely accelerated since the Kremlin launched its Ukraine offensive, further rupturing ties with the West.
The bill would ban adoption by citizens of countries that authorize “the change of sex by medical intervention, including with the use of medicine,” or allow individuals to change their gender on official identity documents.
Since 1993, foreigners have adopted 102,403 children from Russia, Volodin said, warning that “Western policy towards children is destructive.”
Russia previously banned all U.S. adoptions in 2012 with a bill named after a Russian toddler who died of heat stroke in 2008 after his adoptive American father forgot him in a car.
Russia has created an inhospitable environment for LBGTQ people for years. In July 2023, it banned the “international LGBT movement” as extremist and made gender reassignment illegal.
Putin himself has repeatedly mocked people who have undergone gender reassignment as well as LGBTQ people.
CBS News
Trump to meet with Congressional Republicans before meeting with Biden
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