what a story to start our day. thanks, andy. thanks for joining us. i m john avlon. cnn this morning starts right now. good morning, everyone. so glad you re with us. i m poppy harlow with phil mattingly in new york. there s a lot going on on this monday, december 18th. happening right now defense secretary lloyd austin is back in israel, his visit part of the international pressure campaign for israel to change its tactics in gaza and restart the truce talks, pressure growing after the killing of three hostages by soldiers. republican front runner donald trump using darker more extreme rhetoric in that final sprint, the white house slamming trump for what it calls fascist rhetoric. right now storms gusting up the east coast and the travel delays it could cause this holiday week. cnn this morning starts right now. we begin with defense secretary lloyd austin meeting right now with israel s defense min minister. pressure is growing on israel to change its tactics
multiple water rescues as streets overflow with water. that same storm pounded florida overnight with drenching rains and 50-mile-per-hour winds. tonight, it s on the move, heading into the northeast. the urgent warning for new york city. officials advise residents to stay off the roads tonight. rob marciano times it all out. also tonight, israeli protesters plead with their government to bring the hostages home. hamas says no deal without a cease-fire. and we go inside a hamas tunnel said to be the biggest one uncovered so far. reportedly reaching depths of more than 160 feet and big enough to drive a car. and fears of a new escalation in the middle east after waves of drone and missile attacks in the red sea. is the u.s. ready to retaliate against yemen s houthi rebels. the new war ship moving into place. the tension is mounting as the world s largest shipping company suspended operation in the region. synagogues under threat. swatters targeting jewish organizations a
or terms. our support to israel s right to defend itself is ironclad as you ve heard me say a number of times, and that s not going to change. it s critical, as i said earlier, that hamas not be able to threaten israel from gaza or even threaten gaza anymore. you know, that s an interest that we all share. that s a common interest with all of us, and so today we had great discussions about the status of the campaign, about goals and objectives, and about how to reduce harm to civilians in the battle space, and to and the need to ensure a sustained flow of humanitarian assistance into gaza. you know, we can offer some insight based upon our own experience in fighting terrorist groups and certainly that enabled us to have great discussions and we also have some great thoughts about how to transition from high intensity operations to lower intensity and more surgical operations, so we had great discussions on all of those issues. on lebanon, we ve been clear that we don t want
palestinians were killed by strikes in the jabalia refugee camp on sunday. it comes as humanitarian aid entered gaza directly from israel for the first time in more than two months. at another crossing on egypt s border, some aid deliveries were mobbed by palestinians desperate for food. also on sunday, a funeral was held for one of the three israeli hostages shot dead by israeli troops in gaza after being wrongly identified as a threat. alon lulu shamriz was abducted by hamas during the 7th of october attacks. he and the other two hostages were shot dead while holding a white cloth. they had also painted an 505 sign written with leftover food. officials have admitted that killing the men who were holding a white flag was a breach of rules of engagement . the white flag is an internationally recognized sign of protection. israel s own manual on the rules of warfare states that its forces should not attack .a prisoner of war who is asking to surrender or waving a white flag
refugee camp on sunday. it comes as humanitarian aid entered gaza directly from israel for the first time in more than two months. at another crossing on egypt s border, some aid deliveries were mobbed by palestinians desperate for food. also on sunday, a funeral was held for one of the three israeli hostages shot dead by israeli troops in gaza after being wrongly identified as a threat. alon lulu shamriz was abducted by hamas during the october 7 attacks. he and the other two hostages were shot dead while holding a white cloth. they had also painted an 505 sign written with leftover food. officials have admitted that killing the men who were holding a white flag was a breach of the rules of engagement . the white flag is an internationally recognised sign of protection. israel s own manual on the rules of warfare states that its forces should not attack a prisoner of war who is asking to surrender or waving a white flag as a sign of surrender. our correspondent lucy will