‘Nobody is buying that ... in this part of the world,’ Jordan official says of U.S.-Israeli assessment of hospital blast
The Jordanian foreign minister told NBC News’ Lester Holt today that there is deep skepticism in the Middle East about Israel and U.S.'s assessment of the blast at the Gaza hospital that has sparked outrage in the region.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said 471 people were killed in what it called a “targeted” Israeli bombing of al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in central Gaza. Since the blast, officials in Gaza and Israel have blamed each other.
Asked about the U.S. and Israel’s assessment that a Palestinian Islamic Jihad group rocket misfired and hit the hospital, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said, “Nobody is buying that narrative in this part of the world.”
“The only way that people would entertain a different narrative is if there is an independent international inquiry into the tragedy that has happened with impeccable evidence that it was not Israel,” he said.
Safadi also spoke of the planned summit between President Biden and Arab leaders in Jordan that was canceled after the Gaza hospital blast.
“We discussed it thoroughly with our American friends and we came to the conclusion that the summit will not be able to produce the only news that people will be able to hear — which is end of the war.”
Emerging threats in Europe spark security concerns in wake of Israel-Hamas war
Law enforcement in the U.S. and Europe are on high alert in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. Officers in the U.S. are increasing police presence at mosques and synagogues. Tom Winter details bomb threats and security concerns in Europe.
Jewish Americans and allies arrested on Capitol Hill after protesting for Gaza cease-fire
Jewish Americans and allies staged a protest on Capitol Hill today, infiltrating the Cannon House Office Building, calling for lawmakers and the Biden administration to push for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered on the National Mall before marching to Congress. The protesters who entered the Cannon Building chanted and sang as over a dozen officers responded.
Capitol Police said Wednesday afternoon that some of the protesters were arrested, including three protesters who were charged with assault on a police officer.
Hamas says Israel ‘trying to evade its responsibility’ for blast at hospital
Hamas said today that Israel “is trying to evade its responsibility” for the explosion at Ahli Baptist Hospital, which was “sheltering thousands of Palestinians displaced from the hell of its brutal aggression.” The Palestinian Health Ministry said 471 people were killed in the blast. Officials in Gaza and in Israel have blamed each other for the blast.
Hamas said that Israel had sent warnings to hospitals calling for them to evacuate as part of their military operation and that since “the beginning of this aggression, the Israeli army has ignored the principle of distinguishing between civilian and military targets.” (Israel, however has said it considers a hospital to be a highly sensitive building and not an IDF target.)
Hamas also said “resistance missiles are homemade, and do not have the destructive power that kills hundreds at once.”
Earlier in the day, the U.S. said it has independently assessed that it was a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket that misfired and hit the hospital, two senior U.S. officials and a congressional staffer told NBC News. Biden also said that “appears” to be the case. Israel has insisted it's not responsible for the explosion.
Biden admin unveils sanctions on Iran’s missile, drone programs
The Biden administration today vowed to maintain restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs once the U.N. Security Council sanctions on Tehran’s missile arsenal expire.
The administration announced new sanctions and other measures designed to prevent Iran from selling or acquiring parts or technology related to ballistic missiles or drones, saying that Washington would remain focused on the issue despite the expiration of the U.N. measures.
The announcement came as the U.S. accused Iran of being complicit in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that claimed hundreds of civilian lives, citing Tehran’s long-running support for the group’s militants with training and weapons, which has included rocket technology.
More than 350 Americans in Gaza are asking for State Department's help to leave
The U.S. State Department has received requests from more than 350 American citizens wanting to leave Gaza, as well as more than 400 of their family members, according to a U.S. official familiar with the situation.
The Rafah border crossing from Gaza to Egypt remained closed Wednesday despite days of negotiations between the U.S., Israel and Egypt for the safe passage of foreign nationals, including Americans, and passage in for humanitarian aid.
Pro-Hamas extremists and neo-Nazis flood social media with calls for violence
Pro-Hamas extremists are flooding social media platforms with calls for attacks on Jewish communities and other targets in the United States and Europe, prompting U.S. law enforcement agencies to step up their readiness postures amid deep concerns about possible violence, American officials and private analysts told NBC News.
Tuesday’s explosion at a hospital in Gaza is threatening to become a flashpoint, they said, with posts on X and other platforms portraying it as an Israeli atrocity using an American-made bomb, despite an assessment from U.S. intelligence agencies that the damage resulted from an errant missile fired by a Palestinian militant group.
Groups linked to Al Qaeda and American neo-Nazis have been seeking to exploit the ongoing war to encourage attacks, according to two separate intelligence products obtained by NBC News.
Cross-border fighting between Hezbollah and Israel escalates
NBC News’ Matt Bradley spoke with protesters at a Hezbollah rally in Lebanon who believe Israel is to blame for the deadly hospital blast in Gaza, despite the U.S. independently assessing that it was a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket that misfired.
Israeli anger at Netanyahu erupts at hospital bedsides
JERUSALEM — One Israeli Cabinet minister was barred from a hospital visitors’ entrance. Another’s bodyguards were drenched with coffee thrown by a bereaved man. A third had “traitor” and “imbecile” shouted at her as she came to comfort families evacuated during the horror.
The shock Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas gunmen has rallied Israelis to one another. But there is little love shown for a government being widely accused of dropping the country’s guard and engulfing it in a Gaza war that is rattling the region.
Whatever ensues, a day of judgment looms for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after a record-long career of political comebacks.
An opinion poll in Maariv newspaper found that 21% of Israelis want Netanyahu to remain prime minister after the war. Sixty-six percent said “someone else” and 13% were undecided.
Were an election held today, the poll found, Likud would lose a third of its seats while the centrist National Unity party of his main rival Benny Gantz would grow by a third — setting the latter up for top office.
Protesters leave a trail of destruction outside U.S. Embassy in Beirut
BEIRUT — The protesters have moved on, but the smell of tear gas lingers outside the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and there is a path of destruction left in their wake.
Glass is strewn across the street and nearby and buildings are burned out.