As they face an increasingly urgent task to emerge as a clear alternative to former President Donald Trump, five Republican presidential candidates gathered Wednesday for the party’s latest debate.

Trump, the overwhelming front-runner in the race, skipped the event, as he has the first two, citing his polling advantage. There was no shortage of noteworthy confrontations on stage, as the participants debated the Israel-Hamas war, the future of abortion rights and Trump himself.

But with the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses approaching, it seemed unlikely that the debate fundamentally changed the presidential nomination fight.

Wednesday marked the first time the presidential candidates gathered on a debate stage since war broke out between Israel and Hamas, resulting in a sharper foreign policy conversation compared to previous forums.

The contenders were unified in offering robust support for Israel and bemoaned antisemitism, especially on liberal college campuses. But they said virtually nothing about protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

1) Trump still looms large
The first two words of the very first question? Donald Trump.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Mr Trump was "a very different guy from 2016" and had failed to explain what he said were broken campaign promises.

2) There was a united front on Israel
Each of the five rivals were united in standing with Israel in its ongoing war with Hamas.

Mr DeSantis and Ms Haley called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "finish" the Palestinian militant group, while Mr Christie and Mr Scott claimed that a policy of appeasement by President Joe Biden was to blame for the crisis.

Mr Ramaswamy backed what he called Israel's "right and responsibility" to "smoke the terrorists" on its southern border, comparing it to his pledge to use military force against drug traffickers on the US-Mexico border.

3) Nikki Haley came under attack
That clash with Mr Ramaswamy became something of a theme, with Ms Haley finding herself at the centre of the most heated exchanges on the night.

With Mr Trump leading the rest of the field by a big margin, his rivals have tussled over, but so far failed to, consolidate the non-Trump vote.

However, Ms Haley, the lone woman in the race, has been rising in the polls in recent weeks and she took repeated jabs from both Mr Ramaswamy and Mr DeSantis.

4) They remain divided on abortion
In the year since the nationwide right to an abortion was rescinded by the Supreme Court, Republicans in favour of new restrictions have faced a voter backlash in various settings.

The latest example came on Tuesday, when voters in conservative-leaning Ohio decisively backed a measure to add abortion rights to the state's constitution.

Ms Haley said the result showed the Republican Party must find consensus between its anti-abortion convictions and those who do not support imposing stricter limits.

Mr Scott struck a very different tone, however, and directly challenged his rivals to support a national 15-week limit on the procedure.

But his proposal was roundly ignored and no other candidate endorsed it.

Ms Haley said Republicans needed to "stop the judgment" of those who were not anti-abortion, and suggested Mr Scott's proposal would not gain majority support. Mr Christie sided with her, saying he trusted individual states to decide their own limits on abortion.

Mr DeSantis echoed that sentiment and said he understood different states had different views on the issue.

Their responses reflected the careful ground some of the candidates are trying to tread on an issue that has hurt Republican candidates at the ballot box.