WAITING: Israel has stepped up its aerial attacks on Gaza while once again warning northern residents of the crowded strip of land to evacuate south. The Israeli defense Forces claim to have killed at least 13 important members of the Hamas organization, including two senior members of its political bureau, and a handful of senior military commanders who had a part in the October 7th massacres inside Israel.

  Clashes have also increased along the border with Lebanon.

  Since the attacks in which 1,400 Israelis died, at least 4,000 Palestinians have died in Israeli military actions. Over the weekend, an Israeli soldier was killed and three others injured by an anti-tank rocket during a raid inside the Gaza Strip.

  The world holds its breath waiting for Israel to invade Gaza … or not to. The Biden administration is reported to have discouraged Israel from doing something that could end up being catastrophic for both Gaza and Israel. Yesterday Biden and the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, and Italy issued a statement urging Israel to “protect civilians” as it defended itself. That means don’t kill civilians.

  But Israeli leaders keep talking as if it is inevitable. Wiping out Hamas “may take a month, two, or three, but in the end, Hamas will no longer exist,” the defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said in a video released yesterday. He promised that this invasion of Gaza will be the last one, “for the simple reason that after this, Hamas will no longer be.”

  Passions are heating. In London on Saturday an estimated 100,000 protesters marched demanding that Israel stop its attacks on Gaza. Here in the US, academics or community leaders who speak up for Palestinians are being condemned. And Clarissa Ward, CNN’s unflinching war correspondent, posted that she has cut off comments on her Facebook page because there have been threats to kill her three children for her reporting from Israel.

THE CHAOS CONGRESS: At least nine Republican members of Congress have been on the phones over the weekend selling themselves as candidates to be the next speaker of the House. The Republicans return this week trying once again to end their leaderless chaos and elect a speaker.

  Take note that only two of the candidates, Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Austin Scott of Georgia did not vote to object to Joe Biden’s 2020 election win. None of the candidates has a national political profile.

  Two of the candidates, Byron Donalds of Florida, and Gary Palmer of Alabama, are members of the House Freedom Caucus, the far right Republican club. 

  The other candidates are Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, Jack Bergman of Michigan, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, Pete Sessions of Texas, and Pennsylvania’s Dan Meuser, who told the National Review that he was considering running for speaker because “I’m not gonna let this kindergarten continue.”

THE SPIN RACK: The Centers for Disease Control warn that a “viral stew” of diseases is brewing for the winter including flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19. Last year 40 percent of US households were hit with one of those three. — Police in Detroit say they have no evidence that the stabbing murder of Samantha Woll, 40, who was the president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, was an act of antisemitism. Woll was found outside her home about a mile from the synagogue. — A 16-year-old Iranian girl beaten by the morality police for not wearing a head scarf has been declared brain dead with head injuries. Armita Geravand was attacked in a Tehran metro station. — Texas ranger Mitch Garver hit a grand slam last night in game six of the American League championships. The series goes to game seven tonight.

BELOW THE FOLD: Michigan State University apologized for displaying a picture of Adolf Hitler on the videoboard during a trivia quiz before the school’s football game against the University of Michigan on Saturday.

  The trivia question of the moment was where Adolph was born. It’s never a good time to make public entertainment out of Hitler, especially now, unless you are showing The Producers. Whoever produced the trivia game was a dummy, not a schmarty.

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