that we ve seen to a more lower intensity, counter terrorism focused mission that focuses on using commandos, using intelligence to find and hunt down these senior hamas leaders in gaza. so we may potentially be seeing the beginning of that transition, that shift to lower intensity operations. biden administration officials are encouraged by these signs, however they are concerned it s taking israel so long to move to that lower intensity phase. they always planned to move to make that transition, but clearing operations took much longer than they d anticipated. and because there s this growing humanitarian toll, a growing death toll, more than 20,000 people in gaza have been killed so far, the biden administration is really feeling the pressure. laura, stay with us, because we want to turn now to the latest out of ukraine where russia has renewed its intense bombing campaign on heavily populated areas. yesterday the ukrainian cities of kharkov and kyiv, the
to this morning. we ll begin overseas where hamas is now blaming israel for the death of one of its leaders, who was killed in an explosion in lebanon yesterday. what appeared to be a drone strike happened in a densely populated strong holdn hezbollah. the man who was killed was second in command of hamas political office. hamas claims its six other leaders were also killed in that strike. israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack but says it is in a state of high readiness for any scenario. this as the leader of hezbollah is vowing to strike back. meanwhile, one israeli and two u.s. officials tell axios israel was indeed behind the strike. nbc news has not verified that report. now, israel and hezbollah have been exchanging fire almost daily since the war in gaza began. experts say that yesterday s drone strike will likely be
his death now raising fears of a potential escalation in the region which could expand into a wider war israel has eso far avoided. plus, three years after rioters stormed the capitol, donald trump further cements his dominance over republicans. what brand new polling is revealing about the gop s increasing loyalty to trump and their thoughts about the legitimacy of president joe biden s election win. and also ahead hours from now house speaker mike johnson and 60 republicans will head to the southern border as senate negotiations resume. we llbri you the latest on where those talks now stand. good morning, and welcome to way too early on this wednesday, january 3rd. i m jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. we ve got a lot of news to get
into the new year. the images from the moment the 7.6 magnitude quake struck japan. massive destruction, buildings collapsing. a newsroom shaking from the force. and a family trapped in their rattling home. an enormous inferno erupting. huge waves smashing the coastline. roads cracked and buckled. nearly 100,000 people ordered to evacuate. tonight the frantic search for survivors amid fears of aftershocks. also tonight, the rush home after record holiday travel. and the protests delaying air travelers in new york city. the wild police chase blocks from times square just moments after the ball dropped. the wrong-way driver plowing into pedestrians. after nearly three months of war israel announcing it will withdraw some troops from gaza. but why now? the 10-year-old boy fatally shot, another 10-year-old arrested for murder. and the charges the alleged shooter s father now faces. the crisis at the border, and our new
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