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Palestinians fled the Gaza Strip’s second-largest city of Khan Younis in the south of the territory as Israel’s forces were encircling the home of top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on Thursday.
Sinwar is thought to be hiding underground. The encirclement comes as Israel’s military continues its military campaign against Hamas in all of the Gaza Strip.
But a focus for the U.S., too, is civilian casualties. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that “it remains imperative that Israel put a premium on civilian protection,” and that there is “a gap” between the intent to protect civilians and the “actual results.”
The Israeli security Cabinet approved a “minimal” increase in supplies of much-needed fuel to Gaza to prevent a “humanitarian collapse” in the south of Gaza.
President Joe Biden spoke with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “underscored the importance of the continuous and sustained flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” the White House said.
Biden “welcomed the recent Israeli decision to ensure that fuel levels will meet requisite needs, but stressed that much more assistance was urgently required across the board,” the White House said.
More than 17,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its offensive against Hamas in Gaza, a densely-populated area that had around 2 million people living there, according to health officials in Gaza.
Meanwhile, some hostages that have been freed by the Hamas terror group that abducted them returned home to find their kibbutz destroyed.
Freed Hamas hostages come home to find kibbutz destroyed
NIR OZ, ISRAEL — Irena Tati and her daughter Yelena Trupanov spent more than seven weeks in Hamas captivity in Gaza, and just over a week after being freed they returned to survey the wreckage of the burnt-out kibbutz that had been their home.
Ordinarily, the residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz would be lighting candles Thursday for the first night of Hanukkah.
But there are few residents around, the communal dining hall is riddled with bullet holes and the kitchen is burned out.
For Tati, 73, the only thing that she’s thinking about is the return of her grandson Sasha, still held by Hamas in Gaza. While she is holding out hope, there are no immediate signs that the hostage negotiations that cleared the way for her release will resume.
“Now Hanukkah is a holiday of light and joy and I am waiting for war to end on such a holiday,” Tati told NBC News. “And people close to us in Gaza must return home.”
Girl collecting firewood barefoot describes hardships in Rafah
Do’a Atef, 12, and her younger brother were barefoot as they collected firewood at the Rafah refugee camp. Rafah, on the border with Egypt, has seen waves of those fleeing the war and Israel's warnings of continued attacks.
Without shoes, Do'a and her siblings are plagued with thorns as they search for wood in order to cook. She said she had knocked on doors in the area asking for food for her siblings and was given some tomatoes and peppers. They drink dirty water from a well, Do'a added. "At night, we sleep in fear. It’s dark, like a grave," she said. "We die from the cold."
Man federally charged after firing shots outside New York synagogue, officials say
A man arrested in connection with shots that were outside an Albany, New York, synagogue today has been federally charged, officials said.
Mufid Fawaz Alkhader was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, FBI spokesperson Sarah Ruane told NBC News.
Alkhader is 28, according to two senior law enforcement officials briefed on the matter.
No one was injured in the incident, in which two shots were fired from a shotgun outside Temple Israel around 2 p.m., Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins said. Police don’t know in what direction the shots were fired, he said.
Israel agrees to open Kerem Shalom border crossing for aid to Gaza, official says
Israel has agreed to open the Kerem Shalom border crossing into Gaza for screening and inspections of humanitarian aid, a senior U.S. official said.
The opening was agreed to on the request of the U.S., the official said.
The Rafah border crossing into Gaza from Egypt has been allowing aid to enter Gaza, and Kerem Shalom crosses into Gaza from Israel near the Egyptian border.
“This is an important step, and we will continue to be in touch with our Israeli counterparts to ensure it happens," the U.S. official said.
Biden speaks with Netanyahu, says ‘much more assistance’ is required in Gaza
President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today and “underscored the importance of the continuous and sustained flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” the White House said.
Biden “welcomed the recent Israeli decision to ensure that fuel levels will meet requisite needs, but stressed that much more assistance was urgently required across the board,” the White House said in a statement about the call.
“The President emphasized the critical need to protect civilians and to separate the civilian population from Hamas including through corridors that allow people to move safely from defined areas of hostilities,” the statement said.
UNICEF spokesperson: Safe zones risk being 'zones of disease'
A spokesperson for the aid organization UNICEF in Gaza warned today that “safe zones” from the war carry the risk of spreading disease through poor sanitation.
“They risk being zones of disease and human suffering,” spokesperson James Elder said in a voice message the agency posted online.
“These zones are tiny patches of barren land with no, no facilities, no shelter from the cold and the rain, no sanitation,” Elder said.
Israel has said it has established and will establish safe zones as it pushes its military campaign in Gaza into the south of the territory. Elder said conditions at shelters right now are already dire, with one toilet for 400 children and families.
Elder said that "expecting hundreds of thousands of people to relocate again and again, in the middle of a war with no pause in fighting, is simply unworkable.”
UNICEF today again called for a humanitarian cease-fire.
Over 600 leave Gaza through Rafah crossing
On Thursday, 580 foreigners and 18 wounded people left Gaza through the Rafah crossing into Egypt, the Rafah Crossing Authority said.
An additional 18 people were escorts, it said, bringing the total to 616. Ten people from the United Nations were allowed into Gaza.
The authority reported that 70,000 liters of diesel fuel and 80 aid trucks entered Gaza, which officials say is suffering a humanitarian crisis, today.
A U.S. State Department spokesman said this week that 70,000 liters of fuel a day is not enough and urged that more aid to be allowed.
Israeli soldiers celebrate first night of Hanukkah on Gaza border
Israeli soldiers lit candles and ate sufganiyot, a jelly-filled pastry, to mark the first night of Hanukkah near the Gaza border today in southern Israel.
Threats of violence surrounding Jewish, Muslim communities skyrocket in N.Y.
There has been a dramatic increase in the number of violent language and non-specific threats surrounding Jewish and Muslim communities since the Oct. 7 terror attacks against Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, according to numbers from the governor’s office.
Threats of violence against Jewish communities numbered 24,615 since Oct. 7, compared to a baseline six-month average of 4,691, the governor’s office said.
Threats of violence against Muslim communities since Oct. 7 totaled 3,490, compared to a six-month average of 675, it said.
The threats were tracked on a variety of social media and other platforms, including X, Telegram, Reddit, Gab and 4chan.
Gov. Kathy Hochul today announced $3 million to go toward the threat assessment and management training to all college campuses, along with other actions.
“The rising tide of hate is putting all New Yorkers at risk,” Hochul said.
Person who fired shots outside N.Y. synagogue said ‘Free Palestine,' police say
A man arrested in connection with shots fired outside an Albany, New York, synagogue said “Free Palestine," and the incident is being investigated as a hate crime, Albany's police chief said.
No one was injured in the incident, in which a man with a shotgun fired two shots outside Temple Israel in Albany at around 2 p.m., Police Chief Eric Hawkins said. Police don’t know in what direction the shots were fired, he said.
The 28-year-old suspect fled after the shots were fired but was confronted by another person in a vehicle in a lot, Hawkins said.
“The suspect at that point made some statement to this person who was in the vehicle to the effect of he feels that he’s being victimized,” Hawkins said.
The suspect then dropped the shotgun, and officers arrived and arrested him, Hawkins said. The suspect’s name was not released. He was being interviewed by police detectives and the FBI this evening.
Hawkins stressed that the suspect acted alone and that there is no further threat to the community. There was no damage to the building.
“We were told by responding officers that he made a comment, ‘Free Palestine,’” Hawkins said.
The incident is being investigated as a hate crime, Hawkins said, but what charges could be filed were not clear. They could include federal charges, he said.