Security level upgraded for upcoming March for Israel in D.C.
WASHINGTON — The March for Israel event scheduled for tomorrow has been upgraded on the city's scale for Special Event Assessment Rating Events, a spokesperson for the Washington government told NBC News.
On Friday, the march was at level 3, and it is now at level 1, the highest designation before it would be a National Special Security Event. The Department of Homeland Security upgraded the level and communicated the upgrade to the city, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson did not say what information led DHS to make the upgrade. Typically, crowd size, expected attendance by members of Congress or other figures who require additional protection, and perceived threat level are all taken into account when such events are designated.
Permits for tomorrow's events say crowds could reach up to 60,000. A list of expected speakers has not yet been released.
Photo shows IDF capturing Gaza parliament building
The photo shows the IDF's Golani Brigade occupying the Palestinian parliament building in Gaza City. It is unknown who took the photo and released it originally. The image, which has been verified by NBC News, began circulating widely online as Israel's defense minister declared that Hamas has lost control of Gaza.
Palestine Red Crescent denies IDF allegation that Hamas was inside its hospital
The Palestine Red Crescent Society rebutted accusations from the Israeli military today that a Hamas militant was inside its hospital, Al-Quds, with a rocket-propelled grenade.
The IDF posted a clip on X that it said showed someone, whom it labeled a Hamas militant, with an RPG launcher outside the hospital. The caption said a "Hamas terrorist" was inside Al-Quds hospital with the weapon.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society denied the allegation, which it said was a "blatant attempt to incite further targeting and besieging of the hospital." It also said that there are no armed people in its hospital and that no shots have been fired from within it.
"PRCS rejects these baseless allegations, as the published video clearly shows that the armed individuals approached from the street while the occupation tanks were stationed in front of and shielded by the hospital, endangering the lives of medical teams and patients," the organization said in a post.
Israeli defense minister: Hamas has 'lost control of Gaza'
In a taped statement broadcast across Israel today, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared that after 16 years in power, "the Hamas organization has lost control of Gaza."
"Citizens are going and looting Hamas bases," Gallant said. "They have no faith in the regime anymore. ... Every day we eliminate more Hamas commanders."
He said that the mission is going "according to plan" and that IDF troops are reaching the center of Gaza City.
Hundreds of protesters in Chicago flood train station and Israeli Consulate demanding cease-fire
CHICAGO — Hundreds of Jewish Americans and allies from across the Midwest flooded a building this morning in downtown Chicago, where both a commuter rail station and the Israeli Consulate are located. The goal, organizers said, was to “disrupt business as usual” and demand an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.
Around 9 a.m., hundreds of people flooded the second floor of Chicago’s Accenture Tower on West Madison Street. Dozens sat on escalators, blocking commuters as they got off trains.
Chanting “Cease-fire now!” and carrying signs with sayings like “My grief is not your weapon” and “We stand with Palestine,” the crowd remained for close to an hour. Private security eventually stopped anyone without a train ticket from entering the building as Chicago police stationed dozens of officers outside.
Billed as “the largest Midwest gathering of Jews in solidarity with Palestinians” ever, Chicago chapters of the groups Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotNow and Never Again Action estimated close to 1,000 people were traveling from states across the Midwest. NBC News’ crew on the ground estimated the crowd to be closer to a few hundred.
Rachel Ida Buff, of Jewish Voice for Peace, came from Milwaukee.
“Most people drove. We’ve been staying with a network of people. Some of us stayed in hotels. Some people flew in,” she said.
She added many came hoping to counteract messages from Midwestern Jewish leaders that they deem too conservative.
“The mainstream Jewish voice in Milwaukee and Indianapolis, even in Chicago, is, you know, 'We’re in support of Israel. This is our community.’ And it’s very important to say this does not speak for all of us,” Buff said.
Ariel Levin, who drove four hours from Iowa City, Iowa, said: “We came in to disrupt business as usual in the station, to disrupt business as usual in the building where the Israeli Consulate is. We can’t just continue about our daily lives when our taxpayer money is being used to kill people.”
After close to an hour, the crowd largely appeared to leave the Accenture Tower but continued chanting and singing outside. NBC News’ crew later witnessed multiple people being led out of the building in handcuffs.
Chicago police told NBC News there were 106 arrests for criminal trespass.
'It was very heartwarming': 20-year-old Palestinian reunited with friends in southern Gaza
Nowar Diab, a 20-year-old Palestinian university student sheltering in Khan Younis, described conditions in the south getting "worse and worse" because of the recent wave of new evacuees from northern Gaza — but she said her family is "trying to cope."
"There's bombing in the area," she said in an audio message. "We're getting used to it at this point."
More than 100,000 Gazans have fled south in "tactical military pauses" according to estimates from the United Nations and the IDF.
Amid the dire humanitarian conditions, there was a silver lining for Diab — reuniting with a familiar face.
Diab, from Gaza City, had been separated from all her friends, and she said she "knew no one" in Khan Younis except for the relatives she had been staying with for almost a month.
"My best friend evacuated today," she said, adding that her friend's family had so far been staying put in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City. "They didn't want to leave. They tried to stay in their house as much as possible, but today they had to leave."
"I saw her today because she stayed in a house very near where I'm staying. It was very heartwarming to see her again," Diab said.
After she met up with her friend, Diab said, she saw another friendly face as she walked back to her relatives' home. She is sheltering with at least 14 people, including her younger siblings.
"While I was going back to my house, the house that I'm staying in, I heard someone like call my name, and I turned around I saw another friend that I know," she said.
Diab said it was "crazy" that so many people had fled from the north in the past week, but she welcomed the coincidence.
"He waved at me, and I waved at him back, and I also was also happy to see him," she said.
Communication has been increasingly difficult with people on the ground in Gaza like Diab. NBC News has been in touch with her, among others, for the past month and chronicled her evacuation from her home in Gaza City in a recently published digital documentary: “Search for Safety.”
Biden on Al-Shifa and other hospital strikes: 'Hospitals must be protected'
After an Oval Office event at the White House today, NBC News’ Kelly O’Donnell asked Biden about Israeli strikes on hospitals in Gaza.
"Well, as we know, I have not been reluctant expressing my concerns with what’s going on," Biden said. "My hope and expectation is that there will be less intrusive action relative to hospitals, and we remain in contact with the Israelis."
"Also there is an effort to get this pause to deal with the release of prisoners, and that’s being negotiated. ... So I remain somewhat hopeful, but hospitals must be protected."
Israel-Hamas war stokes tensions in Europe
LONDON — The turmoil of the Israel-Hamas war is causing reverberations far beyond the Middle East as close U.S. allies grapple with the limits of free speech while political and public tensions rise.
On Monday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fired the interior minister, Suella Braverman, days after she accused police of being too lenient with pro-Palestinian demonstrators whom she labeled “hate marchers” supporting terrorism.
Braverman’s departure led to a government reshuffle that led to the unexpected return of former Prime Minister David Cameron as foreign secretary. Cameron will be responsible for leading Britain’s response to the war, which has helped fuel polarization in politics and in the population at large.
The moves offered a dramatic signal of how ripples from the crisis in the Middle East are being felt from London to Paris and Berlin, where Europe is struggling with how to balance fears of rising antisemitism and the rights of protesters who for weeks have marched in the streets of the continent’s biggest cities.
Al-Shifa hospital 'should have taken' Israel's fuel offer, U.S. State Department says
Staff at Al-Shifa hospital "should have taken the offer" from Israel's government regarding a few hundred liters of fuel, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said during his briefing today.
Israel’s government officials and military said yesterday it offered the hospital 300 liters of fuel which were dropped off somewhere outside the hospital. The IDF said that Hamas prevented staff from getting the fuel and Netanyahu told MSNBC that it was “refused” by the hospital.
Reporters pushed Miller on how Al-Shifa staff could have gone outside to collect the fuel when the staff have reported that they've been targeted by Israeli forces when they exit.
“You mentioned reports that the Israelis were firing on people near the hospital or relief workers," Miller said. "There are reports that Hamas fighters are firing on Israeli soldiers from inside the hospital ... I would say in general, if it is so important for this hospital to have fuel — which it obviously is — I would think that they, I would hope that they would take the government of Israel up on its offer to provide fuel."
Miller also blamed Hamas for not providing fuel from its reserves to the hospital. "If Hamas truly cared for the people in Al-Shifa, and in other hospitals in the north, it could take the fuel that’s using to protect its fighters, and to send it to the hospitals so the hospitals could protect patients," Miller said. "They are not doing that."
Journalists describe 'horrifying moment' missiles exploded near press convoy in Lebanon
MTV Lebanon correspondent Nakhle Odamie was broadcasting live in Yaroun, Lebanon, today when missiles struck the press convoy "about 10 meters away from us." Moments later, while running away, he said a second missile fell. "It went 'bzzzzzzz' in front of us, and then 'boom' in front of us," Odamie said.
Al Jadeed anchor Rif Akil said that if they had not been behind cars, "I’m sure all of us would be maybe wounded or maybe killed."
One cameraman from Al Jazeera was injured and released from the hospital, while broadcast vehicles were damaged.
“We were lucky," Odamie said. "We have a new life. What can I tell you?”
Both journalists said the group was on a trip coordinated by the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeeping troops to see houses previously destroyed in missile strikes.
According to Akil, everyone in the convoy was wearing bulletproof vests and helmets with "PRESS" written on them. "I don't know what was the message. You are not allowed to cover in this area?"