Stores, businesses and schools were closed in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem today in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

More than 650 members of Harvard University’s faculty have signed a letter urging administrators to resist calls to remove the school’s president amid an outcry over her testimony last week at a congressional hearing about campus antisemitism.

“We, the undersigned faculty, urge you in the strong possible terms to defend the independence of the university and to resist political pressures that are at odds with Harvard’s commitment to academic freedom, including calls for the removal of President Claudine Gay,” the letter says.

“The critical work of defending a culture of free inquiry in our diverse community cannot proceed if we let its shape be dictated by outside forces,” the letter goes on to say. NBC News obtained the text of the letter from history professor Alison Frank Johnson, one of the faculty members leading the effort.

Read the full story here.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked today about a Washington Post report that munitions used by Israel in an October attack in southern Lebanon included U.S.-supplied white phosphorus.

Amnesty International reported on the use of the substance in October, accusing Israel of violating international law. Kirby told reporters that the administration was “certainly concerned” about reports that white phosphorus was being used by Israel in southern Lebanon.

But he also noted that white phosphorus has a "legitimate military use" for illumination and concealment purposes.

"And, obviously, anytime that we provide items like white phosphorus to another military it is with the full expectation that it'll be used in keeping with those legitimate purposes and, and in keeping with the law of armed conflict," Kirby said. "But we've seen these reports are they're fresh, just don't have any more on it."

Capitol Police arrested protesters calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war after responding to a protest at the Hart Senate Office building on Capitol Hill.

DUBAI — An Israeli shell killed the mayor of a Lebanese village today, a relative and Lebanon’s National News Agency said, as Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah kept up hostilities ignited by the war in Gaza.

Hussein Mansour was killed in his home in the village of Taybeh a few miles from the border with Israel, the relative, Mohamed Mansour, told Reuters. The shell which struck him did not explode, the National News Agency said. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Violence escalated at Lebanon’s border with Israel yesterday, with the Iran-backed Hezbollah launching explosive drones and powerful missiles at Israeli positions, and Israeli airstrikes rocking several towns and villages in south Lebanon.

The Anti-Defamation League said today it recorded more than 2,000 antisemitic incidents since Oct. 7, the highest number recorded in a two-month period since it began tracking incidents in 1979.

"This includes 40 incidents of physical assault, 337 incidents of vandalism, 749 incidents of verbal or written harassment and 905 rallies including antisemitic rhetoric," it said in a statement.

"The lid to the sewers is off, and Jewish communities all across the country are being inundated with hate," CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said.

Anti-Muslim incidents have similarly spiked during the same period, the Council on American–Islamic Relations reported last week. In the eight weeks since Oct. 7, CAIR received 2,171 requests for help and reports of bias, which is a 172 percent increase over a similar period last year.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society today said its volunteers have begun the initial preparations for a Qatari field hospital in Rafah in southern Gaza.

"The hospital’s capacity is 50 beds, including an operating room, intensive care unit, reception, and radiology," it said in a post on X.

The hospital will be managed by PRCS staff it said, aiming to support the medical personnel in southern Gaza.

Injured Palestinian children receive care at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Balah in the central Gaza Strip after strikes hit the al-Maghazi refugee camp today.

As Israeli forces advance in the Gaza Strip, Israeli government spokesperson Ofir Gendelman said today, "We see the beginning of the end of Hamas."

"Hamas infrastructure is destroyed," he said, calling for their surrender in a briefing in Arabic.

The statement was echoed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said Hamas is "at the beginning of the end."