Mourners flooded the streets of Gaza on Friday as they carried the shrouded bodies of 21 people, including at least eight children, killed in a fire in an apartment block where residents had planned to celebrate the homecoming of a relative.

Most of the dead were members of the Abu Rayya family, their bodies wrapped in Palestinian flags and brought into a mosque for prayers over their souls, before being buried at the Cemetery of Martyrs east of the Jabalia refugee camp.

The Islamist Hamas group, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, gave the victims a military funeral.

It took firefighters more than an hour to get control of the massive flames that burst through the top floor of a four-story residential building in Jabalia, one of eight refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, where 2.3 million people live in one of the most densely populated areas on earth.

Details about how or why the fire broke remain unclear as there were no survivors, Abu Ahmad Abu Rayya, the head of the clan, said.

“A father, his children and his grandchildren, not one of them got out alive to tell us what happened,” Abu Rayya told the crowds with a strained voice.

Gaza’s Interior Ministry said it had launched an investigation into the incident which revealed that large amounts of gasoline had been stored at the site, possibly fuelling the blaze that quickly engulfed the building.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called it a national tragedy and declared Friday a day of mourning.

Several Arab states, the United Nations and the European Union expressed their condolences for the bereaved families.

Palestinian officials said a nearly 15-year-long blockade on Gaza has crippled the economy and undermined their effort to upgrade the capability of the enclave’s civil emergency department to fight fires, especially in high rise-buildings.

Citing security concerns with Gaza’s Hamas rulers, both Israel and Egypt maintain restrictions along their frontiers with the coastal territory.

Russian forces kept up a barrage of shell and missile attacks on various regions of Ukraine, many hitting power infrastructure, while heavy fighting persisted in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the east of the country.

With the capital Kyiv seeing its first snow flurries of the winter, authorities said they were working to restore power nationwide after Russia earlier this week unleashed what Ukraine said was the heaviest bombardment of civilian infrastructure of the nine-month-old war.

About 10 million people are without power, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a Thursday evening video address, in a country with a pre-war population of about 44 million. He said authorities in some areas ordered forced emergency blackouts.

Russia’s defence ministry said on Friday its forces had used long-range weapons on Thursday to strike defence and industrial facilities, including “missile manufacturing facilities”.

Ukrainian forces in the past 24 hours downed two Russian cruise missiles, five air-launched missiles and five Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones, Ukraine’s military said.

Reuters was unable to verify battlefield reports.

The United Nations has warned of a humanitarian disaster in Ukraine this winter due to power and water shortages. One of the European Commission’s three vice presidents, Valdis Dombrovskis, arrived in Kyiv on Friday to discuss emergency EU financial support for Ukraine in the coming months.

Pope Francis reiterated that the Vatican was ready to do anything possible to help end the conflict.

“We must all be pacifists,” he told Italian daily La Stampa. “Wanting peace, not just a truce that may only serve to rearm. Real peace, which is the fruit of dialogue.”

Investigators in areas of the Kherson region recaptured by Ukraine in a counter-offensive last week have uncovered 63 bodies bearing signs of torture after Russian forces left, Ukraine’s interior minister was quoted as saying.

The Ukrainian parliament’s human rights commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, released a video of what he said was a torture chamber used by Russian forces in the Kherson region, including a small room in which he said up to 25 people were kept at a time.

Reuters was unable to verify the claims – which included the use of electric shocks to secure confessions – made by Lubinets and others in the video. Russia denies its troops deliberately attack civilians or have committed atrocities.

Mass burial sites have been found in other parts previously occupied by Russian troops, including some with civilian bodies showing signs of torture.

A Reuters witness heard explosions in the centre of Kherson city on Friday morning and saw black smoke rising from behind buildings. Police blocked off access but the commotion did not seem to faze hundreds of people on the central square as they queued for humanitarian aid.

The square had been a frenetic melee of humanitarian aid queues and displays of patriotism on Thursday as residents celebrated their liberation from months of Russian occupation but the mood was also one of deep uncertainty.

“We’re fine, but we don’t know what to expect. Nothing is over yet. On that (east) bank of the river, the (Russian) forces are gathering. On this side, they are gathering. We are in the middle,” said Ihor, 48, an unemployed builder.

The deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential administration said Russian forces had “plundered” the Kherson region before they withdrew last week.

“After a trip to the… Kherson region, one thing became clear – our people there need a lot of help. The Russians not only killed and mined but also robbed all the cities and villages. There is practically nothing there,” Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia has moved some troops from Kherson to reinforce its positions in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Ukraine’s military said Russian forces had fired artillery on the towns of Bakhmut and nearby Soledar in the Donetsk region, among others.

Russian fire also hit Balakliya in northeastern Kharkiv region, which Ukraine recaptured in September, and Nikopol, a city on the opposite bank of the Kakhovka reservoir from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, the statement said.

The Ukraine conflict has plunged Russia’s relations with the United States and other Western allies into deep crisis.

In the first known high-level, face-to-face U.S.-Russian contact since the invasion of Ukraine, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief William Burns delivered a cautionary message this week during talks in the Turkish capital Ankara about the consequences for Moscow of any use of nuclear weapons.

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan told Russian leader Vladimir Putin in a phone call on Friday that the Ankara talks had helped to prevent “uncontrolled” escalation in the field. Erdogan again called for diplomatic efforts to end the war.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow did not rule out further high-level meetings with the United States on “strategic stability”, a term used to mean reducing the risk of nuclear war.

But Ryabkov also said there was nothing to talk about with Washington on the subject of Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said any summit between Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden was “out of the question at the moment”.

Separately, Interfax quoted Ryabkov as saying on Friday that Russia hopes it can make a prisoner swap with the United States that would include convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death”.

Amid the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two, Russia and the United States are exploring a prisoner swap that would see imprisoned Americans including basketball star Brittney Griner return to the United States in exchange for Bout.

Related Galleries:

A tense exchange between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at this week’s G20 summit was triggered by the leaking of details of a conversation between the two, China’s foreign ministry said on Friday.

A video published by Canadian broadcasters on Wednesday showed Xi telling Trudeau, via a translator, that “everything we discussed was leaked to the paper(s), that’s not appropriate.” read more

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, in response to a question on Friday, said that Trudeau went up to Xi during the G20 welcoming ceremony on Tuesday and the two had a brief conversation.

“Soon after, Reuters, citing a person in the Canadian government, said that Trudeau raised serious concerns about so-called actions of Chinese interference,” Mao told a regular media briefing, referring to a report that day about the conversation between the two. read more

“The Chinese side has already lodged a stern protest with the Canadian side over this, stressing that arbitrarily leaking conversations between leaders to the outside world was not aligned with the common sense of high-level exchanges,” Mao added.

The video captured a rare candid moment for Xi, whose image is carefully curated by Chinese state media.

Trudeau responded to Xi’s criticism of the leak at the time by saying: “In Canada we believe in free and open and frank dialogue and that is what we will continue to have, we will continue to look to work constructively together but there will be things we disagree on.”

While the incident was widely covered by foreign media, there has been no coverage of it in China and the foreign ministry did not include references to it in its published transcript of a briefing on Thursday, where four questions related to the incident were asked.

The exchange between the leaders highlighted bilateral tension that has been running high since the detention of a senior executive of China’s Huawei Technologies tech giant, Meng Wanzhou, in 2018 and Beijing’s subsequent arrest of two Canadians on spying charges.

All three were later released.

Relations have grown tense again this month after Trudeau accused the Chinese government of “aggressively” interference in Canadian elections.

Spokesperson Mao described that allegation as “complete nonsense” on Friday.

WHITTIER, Calif. (NewsNation) — The driver who investigators believe intentionally plowed through dozens of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Academy recruits was released from police custody on Thursday.

Investigators are working to compile more evidence to prove that 22-year-old Nicholas Gutierrez purposely drove his car — upward of 40 mph — into a group of 75 jogging law enforcement recruits.

Gutierrez was charged with attempted murder of a peace officer, and other charges are still pending, the LA County Sheriff’s Department said.

Bond was set at $2 million, but according to Sgt. Magos with LASD, Gutierrez was released from custody Thursday evening, citing California penal code 849(B)(1), which authorizes peace officers to release arrested persons from custody due to insufficient grounds to file a complaint against that person, NewsNation affiliate KTLA said.

The LAPD didn’t have enough evidence to keep Gutierrez in police custody.

“We operate under prosecutor George Gascón. We definitely have grave concerns about his ability to prosecute. We are actually going to provisionally release him (Gutierrez) until we can have the case iron clad, iron proof, and submitted to the DA for filing consideration. Right now, we want to tie up all the loose ends on the case and then present it to the DA,” LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said.

He added: “We already had probable cause to arrest, but now we have to take it to beyond unreasonable doubt in the proof in court.”

However, Villanueva did confirm with NewsNation that investigators believe the crash that sent 25 recruits to the hospital was deliberate.

“They went through an exhaustive interview process with everyone involved, with the video surveillance, statements from the recruits, the physical evidence they have, and what they got from the suspect himself, and they were able to form the opinion that this was a deliberate act,” Villanueva said.

Gutierrez’s field sobriety test and Breathalyzer came back negative; however, marijuana was found in the car, KTLA reported.

The driver suffered only minor injuries.

Villanueva said there are only two recruits still in critical condition, fighting for their lives. One of the recruits is on life support with serious brain bleeding and swelling — which is the biggest concern — and both recruits suffer from multiple leg fractures, he said.

“It was a bedlam, chaos, you know, there were bodies everywhere, bones sticking out and bleeding profusely. It was a pretty traumatic scene,” Villanueva said. “In fact, the paramedics that were there had never seen something of that scale. It was almost like an airplane accident, but everyone was alive, thankfully.”

An investigation into this incident is still ongoing.

NewsNation’s Sean Noone and NewsNation affiliate KTLA contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Haaretz, and was reprinted here with permission. Sign up here to get Haaretz’s free Daily Brief newsletter delivered to your inbox.

LAS VEGAS – This weekend’s Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting is the party’s first major event since its disappointing showing in the midterm elections, where it failed to retake the Senate and will have only a very narrow House majority.

The event is the first post-midterms opportunity for prospective presidential candidates to present themselves as alternatives to Donald Trump. It has become even more significant since the former president declared his candidacy for the 2024 race on Tuesday, even though many are blaming the poor election results on him.

Trump himself will only speak via video (as a late addition to the program), but some of his former administration officials, governors considered rising stars in the party and leading members of Congress will be in attendance.

Former Trump officials set to appear include former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

Each potential candidate has endeavored to stake claims on Trump’s Israel and Mideast policy, which Republicans have hailed as the most unabashedly pro-Israel in the history of the bilateral relationship.

Pence has attempted to maintain a balance between highlighting his role in defending the 2020 election results on January 6 while maintaining ownership over Trump-era measures such as moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem in May 2018, unilaterally withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal that same month and recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in 2019.

While being critical of Trump’s conduct in the administration’s final days, Pence has defended Trump against charges of antisemitism. In his new book, “So Help Me God,” he cite the conversion to Judaism of Trump’s daughter Ivanka and his love of his Jewish grandchildren.

Pompeo, who also served as CIA director, has by and large taken a similar track, though implicitly criticized Trumpist tactics following the midterms, tweeting: “Conservatives are elected when we deliver, not when we just rail on social media. That’s how we can win.”

Haley, for her part, was perhaps the most outspoken former administration official to call for turning the page following the Capitol insurrection, but has since moderated her tone while lending support for Trump.

She notably criticized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee at last year’s RJC conference for what she called an overemphasis on bipartisanship in its outreach to Democrats. That criticism will be to the fore after several front-line House Democrats – including Nevada Democrats Susie Lee and Steven Horsford – defeated their Republican challengers this month with the financial backing of AIPAC’s super PAC.

Rare bright spot

Beyond Trump officials, perhaps the two most notable potential challengers to Trump will also be in attendance. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin have been feted as the party’s post-Trump future – plaudits Trump has clearly observed given his recent attacks on both men (calling the former “Ron DeSanctimonious” and noting that Youngkin’s name “sounds Chinese”).

One of the few bright spots for Republicans in general, and Republican Jews in particular, was DeSantis’ landslide victory, which saw him become the first Republican gubernatorial candidate to win the heavily Jewish Miami-Dade County since Jeb Bush.

Youngkin, meanwhile, emerged as the first serious post-Trump contender after his 2021 win in a state where Joe Biden had defeated Trump by 10 percentage points in 2020.

Neither Youngkin nor DeSantis have hesitated to invoke Jewish billionaire George Soros, whether related to rising crime rates, local attorneys’ refusal to prosecute abortion-related offenses or false claims about planting political activists on school boards.

Jewish Democrats accused Youngkin of playing into antisemitic tropes over his remarks. He pledged to combat antisemitism while seeking to legally adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism – which has been endorsed by both the Trump and Biden administrations, but has attracted criticism for conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

DeSantis attracted controversy earlier this year after he described participants in an Orlando Nazi rally as “jackasses,” but accused those asking him to issue further condemnations as “trying to use this as some type of political issue. We’re not playing their game.”

His address to the Tikvah Fund’s Jewish Leadership Conference in New York attracted national attention after the Museum of Jewish History allegedly backed out of hosting the June event over Florida legislation prohibiting classroom discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation.

DeSantis has won praise from Jewish Republicans over his support for religious school vouchers and attendance at the dedication ceremony of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem four years ago. He also signed legislation strengthening protections against antisemitism in schools during a 2019 Israel visit and marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day by imploring Floridians to combat antisemitism.

Like many Republican supporters of Israel, his rhetoric is grounded in religious imagery.

The other governors attending – outgoing Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu – have been much more explicitly and consistently anti-Trump, with their message becoming all-the-more relevant post-midterms.

Hogan, who was a widely popular Republican governor in a very blue state, cast himself as a party outsider during the MAGA movement’s peak. He has directly called out Trump’s rhetoric on the Truth Social platform, calling it “one of the reasons the party is in such bad shape.”

He also signed an executive order prohibiting state agencies from entering into contracts with companies that boycott Israel, and called for the state pension system to divest itself from companies that have participated in the BDS movement. No Maryland state contractors boycott Israel, so the move was inherently symbolic.

Sununu, meanwhile, has taken even more of a critical tone against Trump over the years, and was largely vindicated by his 15-point victory on Election Day in the face of GOP Senate candidate Don Bolduc’s loss against New Hampshire Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan.

“Candidate quality matters. There’s a sense of extremism that I think a lot of Republicans were painted with, rightfully or not,” he told ABC following the election. “America has been asking for more moderation for quite some time – there’s just certain parts of the Republican Party that haven’t listened so well. It’s not an unfixable. We just got to get back to basics.”

In 2020, under Sununu, New Hampshire became the 14th state to enact a statute mandating Holocaust and genocide education.

RJC favorite

The RJC will also host leading Republican senators who have staked much of their careers in Washington on Middle East policy, including some feted as potential 2024 candidates.

Sen. Tim Scott won reelection in his South Carolina seat by 26 points, and strongly indicated that he would seek to become the first Black Republican president based on his role as a broadly acceptable steady hand within the party.

Scott, an RJC favorite who enjoys close ties to various Jewish organizations, co-authored the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, though attracted criticism for his 2020 convention speech when he said Biden’s solution for the COVID-19 pandemic was to “take more money from your pocket and give it to Manhattan elites and Hollywood moguls, so they get a tax break.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, perhaps the most controversial Republican lawmaker in the upper house of Congress, criticized Trump for not spending more in the midterms after his predictions of a “red tsunami” were proven incorrect.

Cruz was the first this week to condemn the FBI’s decision to open an investigation into the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, calling for the impeachment of Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Scott, meanwhile, will attend days after unsuccessfully challenging Mitch McConnell to become Senate minority leader – largely at Trump’s behest.

Chairman of Senate Republicans’ campaign arm and a member of Senate Republican leadership, the Florida senator had openly feuded with McConnell for months over Republicans’ midterm strategy.

Also attending will be newly reelected House GOP leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who is facing an uphill battle to be elected House speaker next year. While 188 Republicans backed his nomination, he will need to sway the 31 Republican no-votes by January 3 if he hopes to pass the 218-vote threshold for election. Many of those votes come from the party’s far-right flank, and McCarthy will likely have to make significant concessions in hopes of swaying them.

Also attending will be Tennessee Rep. David Kustoff – along with Ohio Rep.-elect Max Miller, one of two Jewish Republicans in the next Congress – and Sen. Bill Hagerty, who has led efforts to prevent the Biden administration from reopening the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem and sponsoring anti-BDS legislation alongside Cruz, Scott and Cotton.

The post Trump, DeSantis will be the talk of Vegas at GOP Jewish gathering appeared first on The Forward.

Ukraine’s air defenses are playing a key role in countering Russia’s invasion, preventing Moscow’s forces from gaining control of the skies and helping shield the country against missile and drone attacks.

But with Russia stepping up strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as it faces growing losses on the ground, Kyiv is pressuring its supporters — in particular the United States — to provide advanced equipment such as Patriot missiles and F-15 warplanes.

“As Ukraine continues to fight, air defense capabilities are becoming critical for their future success,” General Mark Milley, the top US military officer, said Wednesday.

“An integrated air and missile defense system is what is necessary as Ukraine repels Russian aerial attacks.”

Highlighting the urgency for Ukraine, the country’s military said it recorded 111 Russian missile strikes and 26 kamikaze drones on Tuesday, which Milley said “was likely the largest wave of missiles that we’ve seen since the beginning of the war.”

Air superiority

When Russia invaded in February, Ukraine’s air defenses largely consisted of Soviet-era planes and missile systems, which Kyiv used effectively to deny Moscow air superiority.

That has affected “just about every aspect of Russian air power employment,” said Karl Mueller, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation who specializes in military and national security strategy.

Medium- and long-range Ukrainian systems have pushed Russia to conduct missile attacks to keep its aircraft out of harm’s way — a tactic that is limited by Moscow’s stocks of such weapons, Mueller said.

And short-range systems have “really limited the ability of the Russians to be able to use their attack helicopters and ground attack aircraft over the battlefield.”

Mueller attributed the success of Ukraine’s air defenses to several factors, including that the country “had a lot of surface-to-air missile systems” that were “competently operated.”

Ukraine’s air defenses were also almost all mobile, he said, helping them to disperse and escape Russian strikes.

Additionally, “the Russian air force isn’t that good at attacking air defense systems,” lacking the specialized units the US military has for that mission.

Ukraine’s air defenses have been significantly augmented since the start of the war: the United States provided NASAMS and Germany IRIS-T — two advanced systems — while older equipment such as the S-300 and HAWK systems and Stinger missiles have also been donated.

‘Top-level priority’

Milley said a Wednesday meeting of dozens of Ukraine’s supporters “focused on how we, as a global coalition, can provide the right mix of air defense systems and ammunition for Ukraine to continue its control of the skies and prevent the Russians from achieving air superiority.”

Kyiv’s forces are having success in striking Russian missiles and drones, shooting down 102 aerial targets since November 11, according to its military.

But no air defense system can block all attacks — as demonstrated by strikes knocking out power to millions of people on Tuesday — and Ukraine is seeking additional aid.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Thursday on Twitter that he is “convinced that the time for ‘Patriots’ has come,” after asking for F-15 and F-16 warplanes earlier in the week.

Concerns that Patriot missiles or Western jets could be seen by Russia as an escalation is one factor that likely contributed to reluctance to provide such items, while the time needed to train Ukrainian forces on their use is another.

But “in the long run, Ukrainians are going to need Western-made aircraft,” Mueller said.

As Moscow’s campaign of strikes continues, augmenting Ukraine’s air defenses is “clearly… a top-level priority in terms of assisting Ukrainians to survive against the Russian attacks,” he said.

The post Ukraine Air Defenses Under Pressure as Russia Strikes Infrastructure appeared first on Kyiv Post.

Hive ransomware operators have extorted over $100 million in ransom payments from over 1,300 companies worldwide as of November 2022.

The threat actors behind the Hive ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) have extorted $100 million in ransom payments from over 1,300 companies worldwide as of November 2022, reported the U.S. cybersecurity and intelligence authorities.

“As of November 2022, Hive ransomware actors have victimized over 1,300 companies worldwide, receiving approximately US$100 million in ransom payments” reads the alert published by CISA.

The authorities reported that from June 2021 through at least November 2022, threat actors employed the Hive ransomware in attacks aimed at a wide range of businesses and critical infrastructure sectors, including Government Facilities, Communications, Critical Manufacturing, Information Technology, and especially Healthcare and Public Health (HPH).

The Hive ransomware operation has been active since June 2021, it provides Ransomware-as-a-Service Hive and adopts a double-extortion model threatening to publish data stolen from the victims on their leak site (HiveLeaks). In April 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a flash alert on the Hive ransomware attacks that includes technical details and indicators of compromise associated with the operations of the gang. According to a report published by blockchain analytics company Chainalysis, the Hive ransomware is one of the top 10 ransomware strains by revenue in 2021. The group used a variety of attack methods, including malspam campaigns, vulnerable RDP servers, and compromised VPN credentials.

In June, The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) researchers discovered the new variant, while analyzing a new technique used by the ransomware for dropping .key files.

The main difference between the new variant of the Hive ransomware and old ones is the programming language used by the operators. The old variants were written in Go language, while the new Hive variant is written in Rust.

The alert points out that the technique of the initial intrusion depends on which affiliate targets the network. The threat actors were observed gaining initial access to victim networks by using single factor logins via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), virtual private networks (VPNs), and other remote network connection protocols. In some attacks the group was able to bypass multifactor authentication (MFA) and gained access to FortiOS servers by exploiting the CVE-2020-12812 vulnerability.

The threat actors also gained initial access to victim networks via phishing attacks delivering weaponized documents and by exploiting the following flaws in Microsoft Exchange servers:

• CVE-2021-31207 – Microsoft Exchange Server Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability
• CVE-2021-34473 – Microsoft Exchange Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
• CVE-2021-34523 – Microsoft Exchange Server Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Government experts also warn that Hive operators have been known to reinfect the victim’s networks with either Hive ransomware or another ransomware variant.

The alert includes Indicators of Compromise (IoC), MITRE ATT&CK TECHNIQUES, and mitigations.

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Hive)

The post Hive Ransomware extorted over $100M in ransom payments from over 1,300 companies appeared first on Security Affairs.

Retailers such as Target Corp (TGT.N) and Kohls Corp (KSS.N) are slashing prices by as much as 50% on toys and other popular holiday gifts in early Black Friday deals aimed at increasingly frugal consumers – but the bargains aren’t what they seem.

Discounts on toys are up this year compared to last, when supply-chain snarls made it difficult to get products on store shelves and consumers were flush with cash, according to e-commerce analytics firm DataWeave.

But, even with the steeper discounts, consumers still have to shell out more for popular products like a PJ Masks toy car or Mattel Inc’s (MAT.O) Mega Hauler semi-truck, because prices have risen faster than promotions, according to data provided by DataWeave.

Melissa Benhaim, a 32-year old publicist in Miami, started her holiday shopping slightly later than usual this year. “Even for a few purchases I’ve been planning to make for myself for a few months now, I’m waiting to see if I’ll get a better deal around Black Friday or Cyber Monday,” she said.

“I prefer to try clothes on rather than order online. I typically don’t buy clothes as holiday gifts for others unless I know their size and style in a particular store.”

Deeper discounts may be yet to come as sales at Target and Macy’s Inc (M.N), major holiday shopping destinations, fell unexpectedly in October and November, executives said on conference calls this week.

Many shoppers are waiting until Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and Cyber Monday, November 28, to pounce on potentially better deals as they pinch pennies, retail executives said on conference calls this week. A Saturday shopping day between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year gives shoppers extra time to hold out for better bargains.

Holiday shopping is expected to slow broadly. “Customers at the lower tier … they are purposefully shopping,” said Jessica Ramirez, a research analyst at advisory firm Jane Hali & Associates LLC. “They buy when they’re ready and when it’s needed. We do expect to see more frequent store visits but smaller baskets.”

Retailers including Kohl’s and Foot Locker Inc (FL.N) have offered more generous deals compared to last year, according to a research note from Jane Hali.

Clothing is the only category this year that is cheaper than last when accounting for both discounts and changes in manufacturer’s suggested price, according to DataWeave.

DataWeave found that sweatpants and Land’s End joggers at Kohls, and jeans from outdoorsy chain Cabela’s Inc, are as much as 30% cheaper than last year.

Ramirez added that shoppers may also opt for cosmetics and beauty purchases this year over pricier shoes. “It’s an easier buy at a different price point,” Ramirez said. “Make-up is another way to dress up without having to splurge.”

A warning from Target that toy sales slowed down was “a little scary,” said Joe Feldman, senior managing director at consumer-focused research firm Telsey Advisory Group. Discounts on toys and electronics were bigger globally every month so far this year except for January and February, according to separate data from Salesforce.com.

But toy prices, even with discounts, are up about 2.4%, DataWeave found.

The suggested price for a PJ Masks Glow & Go Gekko mobile car toy by Hasbro (HAS.O) is $22.99, up nearly 10% from last year. Shoppers are paying $16.99 for the toy this year at Kohl’s, after discounts, compared to $11.54 last year, according to DataWeave.

Retailers that hold off on competitive deals risk getting stuck with costly inventory – a dynamic that will likely lead to further discounts later this month and early next.

Early holiday deals have not been big enough yet for shoppers to “bite” and consumers are waiting to see the biggest discounts during Cyber Week, said Rob Garf, vice president of retail at Salesforce.

Hasbro’s Nerf Gelfire, a toy gun that shoots gel beads, was on sale on Monday for $20 off the list price of $79.99 on Target.com. Action figures from Black Panther Wakanda Forever, also made by Hasbro, were also 30% off at Target.

Hasbro earmarks 70% of its advertising budget for October, November and December, said CEO Chris Cocks in an interview with Reuters this month.

“It’s really heavily weighted in November, December,” he said. “If you just think about the number of promotions we’re going to have, the number of Black Friday deals, and advertising we’re going to have, (it’s going) to be significantly bigger this year (than) it’s been in the last two years.”

Mattel Chief Financial Officer Anthony DiSilvestro said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call that the toymaker expects increased discounts and promotions that will squeeze its margins in the fourth quarter.

Mattel’s 5-Barbie playset on Tuesday was discounted to $49.00 from $119.88 for Walmart.com shoppers, while its 18-piece fashion doll set was on clearance at buybuyBaby.com.

But broadly, prices on merchandise across many categories rose 14% in the United States and 8% globally compared to 2020, according to Salesforce.

Dwight Hill, vice president of retail North America at digital consultancy Publicis Sapient, said that consumers have long been trained to wait for the best deals and watch retailers “race to the bottom.”