Casualties in Gaza could be 'even higher than are being cited,' says official
The casualties in Gaza could be "even higher than are being cited," according to Barbara Leaf, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs.
When testifying before the House Committee on Foreign Relations Wednesday, Leaf was asked about the Palestinian death count by Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas.
“In this period of conflict and conditions of war, it is very difficult for any of us to assess what the rate of casualties are," Leaf said. "We think they’re very high, frankly, and it could be that they’re even higher than are being cited. We’ll know only after the guns fall silent.”
Leaf said the State Department relies on different sources on the ground for casualty reports, including nongovernmental organizations and the United Nations Relief and Work Agency.
“I would just say, as a point of comparison, Gaza Strip is about 25 miles in length and 7 to 12 miles in width, and you’ve got 2.2 million of people compressed into a piece of land that is comparable to Rhode Island, I guess. But I think Rhode Island is actually a bit larger and is half the population. So in these extraordinarily dense confines, it just stands to reason that there are very high casualties.”
What international law says about the protection of hospitals during war
Several hospitals in Gaza have reported coming under attack today. Under international humanitarian law, all health establishments, including hospitals, are protected and should not be targeted. This protection extends to the wounded and the sick — whether military or civilian — the medical staff and means of transport, like ambulances.
But hospitals can lose their protected status if they are used outside of their humanitarian function, for example by housing able-bodied fighters or storing weapons, Cordula Droege, International Committee of the Red Cross' chief legal officer, explained in a post on X.
It is the responsibility of the enemy party to conduct a factual assessment before an attack, and it is required to issue warnings ahead of an assault. Droege emphasized that this does not give an armed force "free license to attack," as they will remain subject to the principle of "proportionality and precaution" and must do everything feasible to avoid or minimize civilian casualties.
Israel has claimed that Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City is above the headquarters for Hamas, which Hamas denies. Last week, the IDF bombed an ambulance as it was leaving the hospital, an act Human Rights Watch said should be investigated as a war crime.
Intense clashes and sniper fire reported near Al-Quds hospital
Intense clashes are taking place around Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said on X. It added that snipers had opened fire on the facility.
In a later post, it said that at least one person had died and two dozen people had been injured.
NBC News could not independently verify the claim and has approached the Israel Defense Forces for comment.
Al-Quds Hospital shut down key services yesterday as fuel supplies ran down, but continued to shelter displaced people.
Senior Israeli official: Missile strike at Shifa Hospital fired by militant group inside Gaza that misfired
TEL AVIV -- A senior Israeli security official tells NBC News that a strike at Shifa Hospital today resulted from a projectile launched by a militant group inside Gaza that misfired. The official said that the IDF is conducting an “extensive review of its operational systems and intelligence” regarding the event.
NBC News has not independently verified the claim by the security official.
Early Friday, strikes hit the courtyard and the obstetrics department of Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, where tens of thousands of people are sheltering, according to Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesperson at the Health Ministry.
The IDF is expected to release additional information that they say will back up this claim of a misfire. The official did not identify which group launched the projectile nor did he specify whether Israel knows which group was responsible. The official also did not say whether the IDF has launched any strikes of its own on Shifa or other hospitals today.
Blinken says 'far too many' Palestinians have been killed
Blinken said today that “far too many Palestinians have been killed" in Israel's conflict with Hamas.
“Much more needs to be done to protect civilians and to make sure that humanitarian assistance reaches them,” the secretary of state told reporters in New Delhi as he wrapped up a nine-day diplomatic tour of the Middle East and Asia.
Recent Israeli moves to improve conditions in Gaza through pauses in military operations and creating a second humanitarian corridor were positive, he said, but they are not nearly enough.
'The world is failing at its duties,' Holocaust survivors say
Marion Deichmann was 9 years old when she last saw her mother, Alice, who was killed in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during the Holocaust. Members of the French resistance saved Deichmann’s life. The terror attack against Israel on Oct. 7 left her in “disbelief,” she said.
Deichmann, 90, is one of 10 Holocaust survivors who signed a letter released by the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center explaining how the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas reverberates with many Holocaust survivors.
“The world is failing at its duties,” read the letter, which was released on the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass.” “People are retreating to their corners, casting blame on those who look, sound, or worship differently. Jewish places of gathering and worship are being defaced with swastikas as Jews around the world are being told that ‘Hitler should have eradicated all of you.’ A 6‐year‐old boy in our community was stabbed to death because he was Palestinian. None of these actions will bring about a more peaceful and just world.”
“We all are different in our heritage, the color of our skin, but we are all human beings, and we need tolerance, not hatred,” Deichmann told NBC News.
Anti-Defamation League Director Jonathan Greenblatt, said, “One of the lessons of Kristallnacht is how quickly things can turn. So I think as a Jewish community, even here in America, we’ve got to be vigilant.”
Hospital officials painting a bleak picture, leading Palestinian lawmaker says
JERUSALEM — Hospital officials are painting a bleak picture after Israeli strikes in the vicinity of several medical complexes in northern Gaza, a leading Palestinian lawmaker told NBC News.
Dr. Moustafa Barghouti, general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative party, accused Israel of “indiscriminate bombardment” in the vicinity of hospitals in northern Gaza.
“I never thought that in the 21st century, we will be in such a situation,” said Barghouti, who is a physician as well as a politician. He added that his colleagues had told him they’ve had to perform surgeries without anesthesia.
NBC News has approached the Israel Defense Forces for comment about the strikes in the vicinity of hospitals.
Almost half of Gaza's housing has been destroyed, U.N. says
Using analysis of satellite imagery, the United Nations said in a report today it had determined that at least 45% of the housing in Gaza has been destroyed or damaged by Israel's monthlong bombardment.
Published by the United Nations Development Program, the report also found that 40% of schools have been destroyed or damaged beyond use, leaving 625,000 students without access to education.
The analysis also found deep disruption in the agricultural sector: 36% of greenhouses have been destroyed or damaged, and some 1,023 fields are pocked with craters.
Children are transported by any means out of northern Gaza
A woman drags two children in baby seats along a road as Palestinians families stream out of Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza toward the southern areas today.
Arrests as pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside government buildings in Washington
WASHINGTON — Pro-Palestinian demonstrators called for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip as they protested outside government buildings in Washington, resulting in several arrests.
Battling rain, several dozen protesters gathered at each of the four entrances to the State Department yesterday afternoon, displaying Palestinian flags and holding signs criticizing Israel and the Biden administration. The protest was timed to coincide with the end of the workday, with protesyers shouting “Shame!” and “Quit your job!” at State Department employees as they left the building.
The protest was part of a global effort to stage demonstrations in support of Palestinians yesterday, and included a pray-in at the Senate Office Building, and a large protest in New York that shut down midtown streets.