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What we know
- Israel was pounding the southern Gaza Strip with attacks after a temporary truce — during which more than 100 hostages and 240 Palestinians held in Israeli jails were released — collapsed early yesterday. Meanwhile, rockets continued to be fired from the enclave into Israel.
- The Israeli military urged residents in parts of southern Gaza to evacuate. It says Hamas leaders are hiding alongside the masses of civilians who have fled south at Israel's urging and as a result of weeks of aerial bombardment and ground battles in the north.
- The first aid trucks entered Rafah since the cease-fire broke down yesterday, the Palestine Red Crescent said. Fuel, clean water and food continue to be in short and dwindling supply for people in Gaza.
- More than 1.7 million people have been displaced in Gaza, where health officials say the death toll had surpassed 15,000 after weeks of Israeli attacks, and new deaths were reported today. The Israel Defense Forces estimates 1,200 people were killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, with around 140 people still held captive in Gaza.
- NBC News’ Richard Engel, Raf Sanchez, Ali Arouzi and David Noriega are reporting from the region.
A woman standing outside a partially collapsed residential housing development in Khan Younis described being told to leave and the destruction.
"Who is going to rebuild? The destruction takes a minute, but rebuilding takes years," she said following the destruction caused by Israeli airstrikes. "We are all homeless in the streets."
Group of swing state Muslims vows to ditch Biden in 2024 over his war stance
CHICAGO — Muslim community leaders from several swing states pledged to withdraw support for U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday at a conference in suburban Detroit, citing his refusal to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Democrats in Michigan have warned the White House that Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war could cost him enough support within the Arab American community to sway the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
Leaders from Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania gathered behind a lectern that read “Abandon Biden, ceasefire now” in Dearborn, Michigan, the city with the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the United States.
More than 13,300 Palestinians — roughly two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza — have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war. Some 1,200 Israelis have been killed, mostly during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war.
Biden’s unwillingness to call for a ceasefire has damaged his relationship with the American Muslim community beyond repair, according to Minneapolis-based Jaylani Hussein, who helped organize the conference.
“Families and children are being wiped out with our tax dollars,” Hussein said. “What we are witnessing today is the tragedy upon tragedy.”
Hussein, who is Muslim, told The Associated Press: “The anger in our community is beyond belief. One of the things that made us even more angry is the fact that most of us actually voted for President Biden. I even had one incident where a religious leader asked me, ‘How do I get my 2020 ballot so I can destroy it?” he said.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates previously said the Biden administration has pushed for humanitarian pauses in the fighting to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, adding that “fighting against the poison of antisemitism and standing up for Israel’s sovereign right to defend itself have always been core values for President Biden.”
Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania were critical components of the “blue wall” of states that Biden returned to the Democratic column, helping him win the White House in 2020. About 3.45 million Americans identify as Muslim, or 1.1% of the country’s population, and the demographic tends to lean Democratic, according to Pew Research Center.
But leaders said Saturday that the community’s support for Biden has vanished as more Palestinian men, women and children are killed in Gaza.
“We are not powerless as American Muslims. We are powerful. We don’t only have the money, but we have the actual votes. And we will use that vote to save this nation from itself,” Hussein said at the conference.
The Muslim community leaders’ condemnation of Biden does not indicate support for former President Donald Trump, the clear front-runner in the Republican primary, Hussein clarified.
“We don’t have two options. We have many options. And we’re going to exercise that,” he said.
Cousin of freed Hamas hostage recalls crying when he was freed
Ela Shani Kozin was "in euphoria" when she heard that her cousin, Amit Shani, who had been taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, was finally coming home to Israel.
"That was the best announcement I’ve ever heard," she said. She recalled being at a sushi restaurant and watching the livestream of the truck carrying her cousin from Egypt into Israel.
"I couldn’t stop crying. I was so excited I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for hours," Kozin said.
Kozin was also in the Be'eri kibbutz during the Oct. 7 attack, but the terrorists did not break into her home, she said, adding that she sat in the dark listening to gunshots until she was rescued. She lost her dad that day.
Shani is "doing mentally worse than he's doing physically because he has a lot to process," Kozin said. She said he has asked his mom and family to "take it slow" with all of the information, since it was difficult for him to find out about what happened on Oct. 7 while in captivity.
"We are trying to stay strong," Kozin said. "I think it’s impressive that most of my family came out of this except for my dad."
She said her family "kept fighting for Amit so he can come back and complete our family."
Man kills German tourist, injures 2 other people in Paris knife and hammer attacks
A French man who used a knife to kill a German tourist in Paris and later attacked other people with a hammer was apparently motivated by the killing of Muslims in the Middle East, authorities said today.
Police officers who arrested the man said that he shouted “Allahu Akbar" — Arabic for “God is great” — and the he “referred to events in Afghanistan and in the Gaza” and said that “France was an accomplice of Israel,” French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said.
The first attack happened around 9:45 p.m. Paris time, when the assailant attacked a German tourist and his wife near the Eiffel Tower, Darmanin said. The tourist had knife wounds and later died, while his wife was uninjured, Darmanin said.
After a taxi driver intervened and exchanged words with the attacker, he ran across a bridge and assaulted two other people with a hammer, injuring both, Darmanin said. One of the injured was another tourist who was hit in the head with the hammer, Darmanin said.
The taxi driver also told police that the man shouted “Allahu Akbar” and that he said he was tired of Muslims being killed, Darmanin said.
The attacker, who was known to police, was sentenced to prison in 2016 for planning to commit a “violent action," Darmanin said. He was known to the Interior Ministry’s special intelligence service for his Islamic radicalization, and he was listed on a watchlist, Darmanin said, adding that the man also has a history of “major psychiatric problems.”
Darmanin said that the attack was being treated as a criminal case, with charges of assassination and attempted assassination, but that it could be handed over to the anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office as the investigation unfolds.
Israel agrees to designate large safe zones in Gaza
Israel has agreed to designate large safe zones in the south of Gaza as its military operations expand, according to a senior State Department official. The agreement comes after Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s third trip to the region and fourth trip to Israel since the Oct. 7 attack.
On each of Blinken’s trips to Israel, he armed himself with specific asks, the official said. First was humanitarian aid into Gaza, then it was pauses in fighting, and now Blinken wants a plan to minimize civilian suffering in south Gaza as military operations expand. Israel initially pushed back against the first two requests but was more amenable this time and was already working toward creating a plan.
The official said that the requested safe zone areas are much bigger than were initially discussed and that details still need to be worked out. Under the agreement, some people will have to leave their homes, the official said, adding that those zones may still be the focus of targeted counterterrorism operations.
Blinken said yesterday shortly before he left the region that “Israel’s already moved out on parts of that, including sending out information making clear where people could be in safe areas in Gaza.” He added that the U.S. will be “looking at that going forward. It’s very, very important.”
Hamas launches rockets at Tel Aviv
Millions took cover as sirens blared through central Israel today, the IDF said on X.
The Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, said it launched a "rocket barrage" at Tel Aviv in response to what it called "the Zionist massacres against civilians."
Netanyahu announces the death of Israeli major general
Netanyahu announced the death of an Israeli major general in remarks to the country today.
"Tonight we received some bad news," Netanyahu said. "It finally became clear that Maj. Gen. Assaf Hamami, the hero of Israel, fell in battle on Oct. 7."
Hamami was a commander of the Southern Brigade in the Gaza Division, Netanyahu said.
He added that two weeks ago, he met with Hamami's family and "we prayed together for a different result, which unfortunately did not materialize."
"Assaf was a hero to all of us," Netanyahu said.
IDF said it has destroyed more of Hamas' tunnels
The IDF said its soldiers have destroyed some Hamas' tunnels in Jabalia.
The reservists of the 551st Brigade Combat Team destroyed a tunnel in the courtyard of a school complex and another that was in the home of a Hamas operative, the IDF said in a statement.
"In addition, the soldiers of the brigade destroyed enemy capabilities and terrorist targets, and seized a large amount of military equipment, including weapons, grenades, explosives, launchers and ammunition," the IDF said.
Kamala Harris says Israel 'must do more to protect innocent civilians'
Vice President Kamala Harris, during her trip to Dubai, maintained the Biden administration's position that Israel has a right to defend itself but stressed that it "must do more to protect innocent civilians" in Gaza.
“As Israel defends itself, it matters how. ... International humanitarian law must be respected. Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. Frankly, the scale of civilian suffering and the images and videos coming from Gaza are devastating,” Harris said. “It is truly heartbreaking.”
Asked by reporters whether the U.S. believes Israel is listening to requests to minimize harm to civilians in Gaza, Harris said President Joe Biden “has been very direct and clear about our perspective."
"For example, that humanitarian laws, the rules of war must be followed, which includes what must happen in terms of giving humanitarian aid, no intentional targeting of civilians," she said.
Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, donates $2.5 million to WFP's humanitarian effort in Gaza
Musician Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, is donating $2.5 million to the World Food Programme’s humanitarian effort in Gaza, the U.N. food program announced.
The funds are from his XO Humanitarian Fund, which he set up in partnership with the WFP USA.
"This donation, which equates to four million emergency meals, will fund 820 metric tons of food parcels that could feed more than 173,000 Palestinians for two weeks," the WFP said in a statement.
Tesfaye’s donation "comes at a critical moment in WFP’s response efforts" as it tries to feed more than 1 million people in Gaza "on the verge of starvation."
Tesfaye, who was appointed as a Goodwill ambassador in October 2021, has actively supported the WFP's global hunger-relief mission "through personal donations of US$1.8 million and through the XO Humanitarian Fund," according to the WFP.