Israeli Forces Seize Gaza Parliament Building, IDF Exposes Hamas's Hospital Hideouts; Palestinians Sue Biden, Blinken And Austin

Golani Brigade soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) shared a photo on Monday displaying the Israeli flag inside the Hamas parliament building in Gaza.

This act symbolizes Hamas’s loss of control in the enclave, as reported by the Jerusalem Post and echoed by other third-party media accounts on social media platform X.

• IDF’s actions at Al-Quds hospital: The Israeli military stated it neutralized a group of Hamas fighters “embedded” among civilians at Gaza's Al-Quds Hospital, CNN reports. The IDF detailed that its 188th Brigade faced RPG and small arms fire originating from the hospital’s direction, alleging the presence of a terrorist squad amidst civilians at the entrance.
  
• Israeli tanks stationed at Gaza City’s main hospital: Israeli tanks have been positioned at the gates of Gaza City’s primary hospital, Reuters reported Monday. This move marks a key phase in Israel’s strategy to assert control over the northern half of the Gaza Strip.
  
• US Intelligence on Hamas’ command node: CNN reports a U.S. official’s claims, based on American intelligence, that Hamas has a “command node” under Shifa Hospital and utilizes fuel intended for the facility. The official further noted that Hamas fighters often gather in and around this largest hospital in Gaza. These revelations follow comments from a top White House official on Sunday regarding the hospital’s use beyond civilian treatment. John Kirby, a spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, confirmed that Hamas maintains headquarters in civilian areas, adding to the mounting evidence of Hamas’s tactics.
  
• IDF’s findings in Rantisi Children’s Hospital: An IDF spokesman, in a video tour, revealed a cache of military equipment, including suicide vests, grenades, and weapons, in the basement of Rantisi Children’s Hospital. He also displayed footage allegedly showing a room in the hospital used for holding hostages.

• EU Condemns Hamas’s Tactics: European Union countries have collectively condemned Hamas for using hospitals and civilians as human shields, criticizing the group’s strategy in the ongoing conflict. The Union of the 27 State Member, also urged Hamas to release immediately and unconditionally all hostages.
  
• Legal action against US officials: The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a progressive non-profit legal advocacy organization based in New York City, filed a federal lawsuit against President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The suit accuses them of complicity in what is described as the Israeli government’s “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza. The lawsuit argues that these actions violate international law, including the 1948 Genocide Convention and the corresponding Genocide Convention Implementation Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1988.

Markets At The Close

Israeli stocks, as tracked by the iShares MSCI Israel ETF EIS, fell 1.2% on Monday. The Cathie Wood-led ARK Israel Innovative Technology ETF IZRL was 0.2% higher. The Israeli shekel (ILS) eased 0.4% against the dollar.

U.S. stocks ended the day with a mixed performance. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY closed a tad lower (0.1%), while the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ was slightly more negative, down 0.3%.

In contrast, blue-chip stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA moved 0.2% higher on Monday.

Treasury yields closed mostly flat, with the popular iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT down 0.2%.

Gold outperformed, with the SPDR Gold Trust GLD ending 0.4% higher.

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