What we know
- The deal between Israel and Hamas to release hostages held in Gaza has been delayed, but the White House insists it "remains agreed" as Israeli airstrikes and ground operations continued in the Palestinian enclave. The pause in fighting will begin at midnight ET and the first 13 hostages will be handed over at 9 a.m. ET tomorrow, Qatar said.
- Israel has vowed to continue its military campaign in Gaza after the deal, which will also involve the release of 150 Palestinians from Israeli jails. Israeli leaders say they will target southern Gaza, where they say Hamas leaders are among the masses who have fled, but where bombardment and a lack of shelter, water and food have created a mounting humanitarian crisis.
- The director of Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital has been detained for questioning by Israeli forces after what they said was evidence that the hospital "served as a Hamas command and control center." The militant group and doctors have denied that accusation, while most patients and staff have now evacuated after Israel raided the facility.
- More than 1.7 million people have been displaced in Gaza, where health officials say the death toll has surpassed 14,500 after weeks of Israeli attacks. The Israel Defense Forces estimate 1,200 people were killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, with 236 people held hostage in Gaza. The number of hostages has been revised downward to reflect those found dead.
- NBC News’ Keir Simmons, Raf Sanchez, Ali Arouzi, Erin McLaughlin and David Noriega are reporting from the region.
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High tensions among Cornell students amid Israel-Hamas war
Students at Cornell University have been on edge since the Israel-Hamas war. One student was arrested for making violent antisemitic threats.
Hezbollah fires rockets at north Israel after airstrike kills 5 senior fighters
BEIRUT — The militant Hezbollah group fired more than 50 rockets at military posts in northern Israel on Thursday, a day after an Israeli airstrike on a home in southern Lebanon killed five of the group’s senior fighters.
The waves of rockets sent over the border represented one of the most intense bombardments since Hezbollah started attacking Israeli posts in the country’s north at the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
Hezbollah has said that by heating up its actions on the Israel-Lebanon border, it is easing pressure on the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s crushing aerial, ground and naval offensive has left more than 13,300 Palestinians dead and caused wide destruction in the sealed-off enclave.
Long-awaited hostage deal set to move ahead
TEL AVIV — After a day of nerve-wracking delays and intense fighting in Gaza, the long-awaited hostage deal is set to move ahead.
Families of Thai nationals held by Hamas plead for help
Thai nationals are among the hostages taken by Hamas and their families are pleading with both Hamas and Israel to help ensure their release. Nearly 10% of those taken captive were migrant workers from South East Asia.
Hope for Israeli hostages in Tel Aviv
Posters of children held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip are displayed with toys across from the Kirya in Tel Aviv tonight.
‘Fingers crossed’ that girl, 3, kidnapped by Hamas will be released, President Biden says
President Joe Biden said Thursday he has his “fingers crossed” that a 3-year-old American girl among the hostages taken by Hamas will be released in the hostage deal Friday.
Biden briefly answered reporter questions as he visited a fire station in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on Thanksgiving, but declined to speak on the deal “until it’s done.”
Three-year-old Abigail Mor Idan's parents were killed in their home at the Kfar Aza kibbutz in Hamas' attack on Oct. 7, her great-aunt Liz Hirsh Naftali previously said. The little one survived and was taken hostage.
Just two doctors left at Al-Shifa hospital, official says
There are just two doctors left at Al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip, the hospital’s head of plastic surgery, Dr. Ahmed El Mokhallalati, told NBC News.
"Most of the staff have left yesterday, except for two doctors, me and my colleague and one nurse all in the hospital," he said Thursday.
Though he described the situation as "very, very difficult," he said they're focused on an estimated 200 patients left at the hospital, which was raided by Israeli military last week under claims that it was used as a Hamas stronghold.
Israel committed to getting all of its hostages out of Gaza, Netanyahu says
Israel is committed to getting all of its hostages out of Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron.
“We hope to get our hostages out,” he said. “It’s not without its challenges. But we have to, we hope to get this first tranche out. And then we’re committed to getting everyone out.”
Netanyahu added that Israel would pursue its battle with Hamas until “we give a different future for Gaza and for us.”
An injured boy is comforted in southern Gaza
A photo shows a woman holding an injured Palestinian child as they rested today at a school in southern Gaza's Khan Younis.
Hostage families hopeful but trying not to be overly optimistic
TEL AVIV — Familes of people taken hostage by Hamas are hopeful but being careful not to be overly optimistic as they wait for updates on their relatives.
“We push ourselves not to get too excited, because we know that the Hamas is playing with our minds, psychological games,” Eyal Mor, 61, told NBC News today, before the announcement that 13 women and children held hostage in Gaza are due to be released tomorrow.
Four members of Mor's family were kidnapped from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, but “until they are here we don’t let ourselves be happy,” he said.
Gil Dickmann, 31, has also been waiting for news about his cousin, 39-year-old Carmel Gat. He said the hostage deal will help rebuild trust in the Israeli government that was lost after the Hamas attacks.
“People are going to see what they were waiting so long to see, which is babies, moms, elderly people coming back home to their families,” he said. “That’s a big, big victory, in a way, for Israelis to see.”
The last time Tagit Tzin, 49, saw her two young nieces, 15-year old Dafna and 8-year old Ella Elyakim, was in a hostage photograph, sitting on a floral-patterned mattress in an otherwise nondescript room. She said it looked as if Dafna had been crying.
“I just want to see them standing by them own legs and breathing by them own, and then I will be relaxed,” she said.