As the war between Israel and Hamas continues, Yemen’s Houthi rebels hijacked a ship in the Red Sea and took dozens of people hostage. The U.S. is calling for their immediate release.

The U.S. warship Thomas Hudner shot down multiple attack drones in the Red Sea that were launched from Yemen, U.S. Central Command said.

The warship was on patrol in the area, CENTCOM added, with no injuries sustained.

The Yemeni Armed Forces said yesterday on Telegram that they were launching winged missiles at various Israeli targets.

The time for the start of the four-day pause in fighting between Hamas and Israel will be announced "within the next few hours," the Qatari foreign ministry said this morning.

"Work continues with both parties," spokesperson Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari said in a statement, so that a pause can be started rapidly and its adherence can be ensured.

TEL AVIV — Israel has arrested the director of the Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, the enclave's health ministry and Hamas said this morning.

Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya was arrested while moving with the wounded on Salah Al-Din Road, health ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qudra told NBC News, adding the ministry was unaware of how many other people were arrested.

Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip and carried out the Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel, said that Salmiya had been arrested along with a number of other medical personnel, calling it a “despicable act.” Israel has displayed what it says is evidence of hostages taken to the hospital and tunnels used by the militant group under the medical complex, which Hamas and doctors have denied.

The hospital was raided by Israeli forces last week and a number of wounded patients, including more than two dozen premature babies, have been evacuated. The street used by Salmiya is the one set up by Israel as the "humanitarian corridor" for those evacuating south.

NBC News has not verified the claims of Salmiya's arrest and has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

The release of hostages that was expected to begin today will not start until tomorrow at the earliest, Israeli national security director Tzachi Hanegbi said yesterday.

"The start of the release will take place according to the original agreement between the sides, and not before Friday," he said in a statement.

It is unclear what caused the delay, and it was not clear if the pause in fighting would also be delayed.

Nearly 1,037,000 internally displaced persons are sheltering in 156 UNRWA camps across all five governorates of the Gaza Strip, including in the north, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said.

The latest UNRWA report also indicates that nearly 1.7 million people have been displaced across the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7.

The situation of UNRWA refugee camps is dire: On average, around 220 people sheltering in UNRWA schools share a single toilet, and there is one shower unit for every 4,500 people in UNRWA shelters, according to the report.

A man looks at the rubble of a house after an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

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