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Biden administration officials want Israel to end its massive campaign in the Gaza Strip within weeks and to move to a more targeted phase in the war against Hamas, US officials said.

The new phase would involve smaller groups of elite forces moving in and out of population centers in Gaza, carrying out more precise missions to find and kill Hamas leaders, rescue hostages and destroy tunnels.

It comes as Conditions in Gaza are becoming increasingly catastrophic. Desperate Gazans, driven by acute hunger after two months of siege, are stopping UN trucks, taking food from them and devouring it on the spot, a senior UN official said. To learn more about the situation there, we spoke to Raja Abdulrahim, Middle East correspondent for The Times. Read the full interview here.

What are you hearing from Gaza right now?

Life is terrible for the Palestinians in Gaza. As journalists, it’s so hard for us to even know what to say when we talk to them. But what people tell me these days is that they are just clinging to life. Some people have told me that they would rather just have a nuclear bomb take them all out because the situation has become so desperate and they see no light at the end of the tunnel. So it’s just an incredibly grim place.

They also feel like the whole world has abandoned them. Even people who seemed to have had hope and were very strong in the beginning have only had them exhausted as people have been displaced again and again and nowhere is safe anymore. And that is becoming increasingly true.

What do Gazans think about the future?

There is great fear of permanent displacement. Especially since the vast majority of Gazans either fled their homes in 1948 when the State of Israel was founded, or are descendants of those who fled their homes and were not allowed to return.

And this fear is twofold. Gazans fear they will be permanently expelled within Gaza as they are confined to an increasingly smaller area. And things have been said by Israeli leaders, military commanders and former leaders that they intend to essentially shrink Gaza – in other words, take over some land. The fear of not being allowed to go home is certainly real.

Hungary prevented the EU from approving financial aid package for Ukraine, hours after EU leaders agreed to officially open negotiations for Ukraine to join the bloc. Such talks normally last a decade or more and include major reforms to bring the country into line with EU rules and standards.

For Ukraine, a more immediate hurdle will be securing 50 billion euros — about $52 billion — in proposed aid. Hungary’s objection thwarted an agreement on that package, despite talks that lasted until early this morning. EU leaders will meet again next year to try to reach the unanimity needed for the decision, an official said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has just returned from a visit to the US, where he advocated for much-needed aid – also held up by political divisions (in this case within Congress).

Vladimir Putin: The Russian leader appeared during a four-hour press conference determined to survive Ukraine and the West. He reiterated his openness to peace talks but showed no willingness to compromise. And he boasted that Western support for Ukraine was drying up.

A manager of the German foreign intelligence service was accused of selling top secret material to the Russian secret service, with a world-traveling diamond dealer as an intermediary. Both men are charged with high treason and face life sentences.

Their trial began this week before Berlin’s highest criminal court. The case, which is expected to last until the summer, caps one of the most serious spy scandals in recent German history.

Ahead of our special Christmas issue later this month, we’re asking readers to submit their favorite holiday memories – moments that always make you smile and look back on or that might have special meaning. Let us know via this link.

Giorgia Lupi first got Covid in March 2020. Her case was mild and she experienced what felt like a bad flu. But a few weeks later, strange symptoms emerged that persist for years later: extreme fatigue, frequent low-grade fever, general temperature dysregulation, chills, palpitations, and more.

“Every morning I wake up in my Brooklyn apartment and for two seconds I can remember my old self,” she writes for our opinion column. “The me without pain, the me with energy, the me who could do whatever she wanted.”

Micah Hamilton: By ball boy to Champions League goals scorer.

‘Sunderland ‘Til I Die’: Looking back at the Netflix seriesfive years later.

Exploiting a loophole: The Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani contract seems to be following Chelsea’s blueprint.

Golf: The PGA Tour is just weeks away from a deadline make a controversial deal with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.

The question of sex on screen has been a constant source of anxiety for audiences, critics and filmmakers lately. Some feel like desire has disappeared from the screen in a puritanical shift, while others feel the portrayal of sex has been complicated by the #MeToo movement – ​​or are simply happier not seeing it at all.

But a wave of new movies and TV shows aim to bring sex back sex – satisfying, provocative and, essentially, erotic. That includes raw returns to raunchy comedies like “Bottoms” and “No Hard Feelings” and sexual bildungsromans like “Poor Things” and HBO’s lurid “The Idol.” These films aim to portray sex in a broadly appealing way, while remaining aware of recent shifts in the cultural conversation.

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