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Israel’s military resumed combat in the Gaza Strip after the end of its truce with Hamas, and accused the militant group of violating the deal. Airstrikes and gunfire were reported in the Palestinian enclave after the announcement, while sirens sounded in southern Israeli communities near the border.
Mediator Qatar said talks were ongoing to renew the pause in fighting after a weeklong truce that saw the release of more than 100 hostages held in Gaza and 240 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
The Israeli military is now urging residents in parts of southern Gaza to evacuate, signaling that the resumption of the war would mean a broader assault. It says Hamas leaders are hiding alongside the masses of civilians who have fled south at Israel’s urging and as a result of weeks of aerial bombardment and ground battles in the north. The U.S. has urged its ally to do more to protect Palestinians in any new campaign.
More than 1.7 million people have been displaced in Gaza, where health officials say the death toll had surpassed 15,000 after weeks of Israeli attacks and new deaths were reported today. The Israel Defense Forces estimates 1,200 people were killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, with around 140 people still held captive in Gaza.
Israeli military analysts flagged Hamas plans to ‘start a war’ before terror attack
Three months before the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, analysts in the Israeli military alerted their superiors to a serious threat from Hamas militants — a “plan designed to start a war.” But their concerns were dismissed by their superiors, according to an Israeli official familiar with the matter.
The incident is part of a growing body of evidence that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government missed — or ignored — key warnings about Hamas’ plans to attack the country.
Netanyahu, as well as Israeli military and intelligence officials, came under deeper scrutiny Thursday after The New York Times reported that Israeli authorities obtained Hamas’ plans for an Oct. 7-style assault a year before it occurred.
A U.S. official said American intelligence agencies appear to have not received a copy of the document. “There are no indicators at this time that the intelligence community was provided the ‘Jericho Wall’ document reported last night by the New York Times,” the official said, adding that the U.S. intelligence community will continue to review its information.
Rep. Adam Smith says his home was vandalized by cease-fire activists
WASHINGTON — Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said Friday that his home was vandalized by activists pushing for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.
A spokesperson from the congressman’s office told NBC News that Smith’s garage was vandalized with red spray paint calling for a cease-fire. The alleged incident in Bellevue, Washington, took place around the same time that Israel renewed its assault in Gaza after the end of a weeklong truce with Hamas.
“Last night, my house was vandalized by people advocating for a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza,” Smith said in a statement. “This attack is sadly reflective of the coarsening of the political discourse in our country, and is completely unwarranted, unnecessary, and harmful to our political system.”
Smith’s office said that both the Bellevue police and U.S. Capitol Police were notified. Neither immediately responded to a request for comment.
TEL AVIV — As fighting resumes in Gaza, the family and friends of people still being held in Gaza are still hoping more hostages will be released.
Yair Moses' parents were kidnapped on Oct. 7. His mother was released on the first day of the case-fire, but his father is still being held.
"I don't know if he's alive. I believe yes, I hope yes, but I don't know the truth," Moses said.
Julianna Margulies apologizes for saying Black people have been ‘brainwashed to hate Jews’
During a podcast interview on the war between Israel and Hamas, actor Julianna Margulies asserted that Black people should be completely supporting Israel but have been “brainwashed to hate Jews.”
The claims that are just going viral were delivered on a Nov. 21 episode of “The Back Room With Andy Ostroy,” a podcast described as a humorous and honest take on politics and pop culture. The conversation was on the war in the Gaza Strip and Ostroy brought up “The U.S. and the Holocaust,” a 2022 documentary by Ken Burns.
Margulies, who is Jewish, jumped on it. “It should be mandatory watching, especially for the Black community, if I may, because Hitler got his entire playbook from the Jim Crow South,” she said.
Margulies has not responded to a request for comment by NBC News, but she issued a statement apologizing for her words.
“I am horrified by the fact that statements I made on a recent podcast offended the Black and LGBTQIA+ communities, communities I truly love and respect,” Margulies said to Deadline on Friday. “I want to be 100% clear: Racism, homophobia, sexism, or any prejudice against anyone’s personal beliefs or identity are abhorrent to me, full stop.”
Family member of Hamas hostage: 'If there is no endgame…this is all in vain'
Udi Goren, whose cousin was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, joins Yasmin Vossoughian in for Chris Jansing to discuss the end of the fighting pause, as well as The New York Times reporting that claims Israel knew about the attack plan more than a year before.
Goren said, “of course it was coming … if there is no endgame for this and if there is no exit strategy, this is all in vain. All of these people that are dying and suffering, it’s all in vain if this is not ended with a resolution, with a new regional order that makes sure that this does not reoccur.”
Israeli consulate in Atlanta calls 'self-immolation' outside building tragic
Israel’s consulate in Atlanta said Friday it was saddened that a protester set themself on fire outside its building earlier in the day.
The person, who has not been identified, was in critical condition, and a security guard who tried but was unable to stop the person also suffered burns to his wrist and leg, officials said.
“We are saddened to learn of the self-immolation at the entrance to the office building,” Anat Sultan-Dadon, consul general of Israel to the Southeastern United States, said in a statement. “It is tragic to see the hate and incitement toward Israel expressed in such a horrific way. The sanctity of life is our highest value.”
Police said at a news conference the incident appeared to be an extreme act of political protest. A Palestinian flag was found at the scene, police said. The city’s fire chief said there was evidence gasoline was used.
“Our prayers are with the security officer who was injured while trying to prevent this tragic act. We are grateful to the city of Atlanta’s law enforcement and first responders for all they do to ensure safety,” Sultan-Dadon said.
Palestinian-American student shot in Vermont attack says SOS call from bloody phone may have saved their lives
Kinnan Abdalhamid, one of the three Palestinian college students shot in Vermont over Thanksgiving weekend, recalled Friday how he feared his friends were killed when he heard shots ringing out — and how their lives were likely saved by an emergency SOS call.
“I was shaking and genuinely believed both of my friends were dead,” Abdalhamid told NBC News.
He recounted the shock and fear that engulfed him when he and his friends Hisham Awartani and Tahseen Ali Ahmad, all 20, were shot as they were out walking Nov. 25 in Burlington, Vermont.
Person sets self on fire at Israeli consulate in Atlanta in likely 'extreme act of political protest,' officials say
An individual who set themself on fire in Atlanta today likely did so as "an extreme act of political protest," according to officials.
The fire happened outside the Israeli Consulate General building in Midtown, NBC affiliate WXIA of Atlanta reported.
An unidentified individual set themself on fire and received "100-degree burns" throughout their body, Atlanta Fire Chief Roderick M. Smith said at a news briefing today. A security guard attempted to stop the individual and sustained burns as well.
"This was likely an extreme act of political protest that occurred here today," Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said, adding that the person was part of a protest.
Details of the protest and the fire weren't immediately available, but officials said a Palestinian flag was recovered at the scene. The person is currently in critical condition, Schierbaum said.
Officials acknowledged the "tensions that are present right now" in the U.S. due to the ongoing situation in Israel and Gaza, including in the Muslim and Jewish communities.
"But the community is safe," Schierbaum said. "This department is aware of the tensions that are present right now. In the Jewish community and in the Muslim community. We actually have dedicated patrols that are occurring at this location and other Jewish and Muslim communities in the city."
The investigation is in its early stages, officials said.
Hamas attack plan ‘should have been driving Israel’s intelligence collection effort,’ former CIA director says
An explosive report from The New York Times states that Israel knew about Hamas’ plan to attack more than a year ago, but concluded that Hamas was not capable of executing the scale of the attack described in its plans. Former CIA Director John Brennan joined Andrea Mitchell to discuss the story.
“The Israelis could have even determined that it was aspirational at that point and Hamas didn’t have the capabilities to carry out such a broad attack. But that document should have been driving Israel’s intelligence collection effort over the last year,” Brennan told Mitchell. “I would even say that this is something that they should have shared with U.S. intelligence as a way to see whether or not the U.S. intelligence had any sense that Hamas was developing these types of capabilities.”
Brennan added, “It really does question just how broken the Israeli intelligence system was in the connection with policymakers and whether or not that system today is as strong as I think a lot of us saw it to be in years past.”
Hamas: Biden is a war criminal who gave 'green light' to Israeli 'aggression'
A member of the Hamas Political Bureau released a statement saying that the Biden administration gave the "green light to this Zionist aggression and war of genocide and ethnic cleansing."
The statement further claimed that the United States "brazenly repeats the Zionist lies" that Hamas is responsible for not extending the truce. The Hamas member then called President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken "war criminals" who "act as mouthpieces for the dark Zionist propaganda apparatus."
Following this statement, the Islamic Jihad announced that it launched rockets toward Jerusalem.