MAJOR SURGERY: Israeli forces conducted what they described as a “precise and targeted operation” against Hamas militants inside the grounds of the Al Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza.

 Both Israel and the US have said Hamas is storing weapons and operating a command center beneath the hospital. The White House and Pentagon spoke of newly declassified intelligence that shows Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad were using hospitals as a “way to conceal and support their military operations and hold hostages.”

  Pressing its case that Hamas is using hospitals, the Israeli military released a pair of videos from inside Gaza’s main children’s hospital that showed weapons and explosives in the medical center, and a room where the military said hostages were kept.

  An Israeli military spokesperson claimed yesterday that Hamas has lost control of northern Gaza, especially Gaza City.  Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said during his daily news briefing, “We have achievements, but it’s important to me that the public knows — we still have a lot of work to get done, and it’ll take time.”

STOPGAP: Under the leadership of the new House Speaker Mike Johnson, the Republican House passed a stopgap funding bill to prevent the federal government from shutting down at 12:01 am Saturday. 

 The bill has “laddered” deadlines that allow the House and Senate more time to pass individual spending bills rather than one big one known as an “omnibus,” which Republicans hate. “This is an important innovation,” Johnson of Louisiana told reporters. “We have broken the fever. We are not going to have a massive omnibus spending bill right before Christmas. This is a gift to the American people.”

THE HUNTER CONNECTION: Two Ukrainian politicians and a former prosecutor have been accused of treason, charged with colluding with a Russian intelligence agency to help efforts by New York’s indicted former mayor Rudolph Giuliani to connect the Biden family to corruption in Ukraine.

  The charges mention “information-subversive activities” in 2019 before the American presidential election. The former prosecutor, Kostyantyn Kulyk, drafted a memo in 2019 suggesting that Ukraine should investigate Hunter Biden, President Biden’s son, for his role serving on the board of a Ukrainian energy company. 

  In the run-up to the 2020 election in the United States, both Giuliani and Donald Trump had encouraged Ukrainian officials to look into the allegations against Hunter Biden. 

FOX IN THE HOUSE: A former Fox News reporter has sued the right wing network, accusing it of discrimination and retaliation for firing him after he spoke up against “false coverage” of the 2020 U.S. election and the January 6^th insurrection. 

  Jason Donner, who was a reporter and producer at Fox for 12 years, claims that he was cast out after repeatedly raising concerns about false statements allowed on the air. The lawsuit is in federal court for the District of Columbia. Donner says in his complaint that while Fox was feeding the outrage of Trump supporters following the 2020 election, the work environment turned toxic for reporters trying to “report truthfully.”

UNKINDEST CUT: Authorities in England have arrested an as-yet unidentified person in the death of pro hockey player Adam Johnson, who died after a fatal skate cut to his neck in a collision with an opposing player during a game in Sheffield, England. Under British law, the accused is not named until formally charged.

  Playing for the Nottingham Panthers, the 29-year-old Johnson collided with Matt Petgrave, 31, who plays for the Sheffield Steelers. Petgrave had fallen forward, and his skate came up and cut Johnson. Everyone in hockey saw it as a freak accident and it’s unheard of that such a thing would be considered a crime.

FIGHT CLUB: Although House Speaker Mike Johnson claims the Republicans are now united, former speaker Kevin McCarthy jabbed an elbow into the kidney of Tennessee’s Tim Burchett while he was being interviewed by NPR. Burchett was one of eight republicans who voted to remove McCarthy from the speakership. Talking later to CNN, Burchett compared McCarthy to a child who would throw a rock and then “hide behind his mama’s skirt.”

  Over in the Senate, Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma challenged Sean O’Brien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, to a fight.  “Stand your butt up!” Mullin challenged.

  Mullin is a former mixed martial arts fighter. “This is the time, this is the place,” said to O’Brien after reading a series of critical tweets O’Brien had sent about him. “If you want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults. We can finish it here.”

THE SPIN RACK:  The prosecutor in the Georgia election interference case in which Donald Trump is indicted said the trial might not end until early 2025. Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis said, “I believe in that case there will be a trial. I believe the trial will take many months. And I don’t expect that we will conclude until the winter or the very early part of 2025.” That means the litigation and trial might run right through the 2024 election.  — The US Army set aside the convictions of 110 Black soldiers convicted for participating in the 1917 Houston Riots. Some were executed.

BELOW THE FOLD: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and fiancée Lauren Sanchez are featured in a photo spread in the December issue of Vogue … him in cowboy hats and muscle shirts, her busting out all over. The piece focuses on a couple that jets around the country and the world while claiming to be climate activists and having the time to sculpt their bodies into Mr. and Ms. Adonis.

  Kirsten Fleming writes for the New York Post that “Evangelists for life in outer space, Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos are already living on a different celestial body. Welcome to Planet Ridiculous, population: 2.

  Fleming goes on to say that that the Vogue spread “takes us mere mortals on a tour of their otherworldly perch — filled with climate hypocrisy and margaritas.”

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