What we know
- Israel says it will withdraw five military brigades, including many reservists, from the Gaza Strip this week to pace itself for an expected long-term conflict and to mitigate damage to its economy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the war is expected to go on for “many more months.”
- Israel’s Supreme Court struck down a key part of Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul.
- Saleh al-Arouri, a senior Hamas leader, was killed in a strike in a suburb of Beirut, along with six other people.
- A meeting of the Israeli Cabinet at which leaders were expected to discuss plans for a post-Hamas Gaza has been postponed. The government’s current plans involve local Gazan clans’ administering areas of the enclave, rather than the Palestinian Authority, an Israeli official told NBC News.
- More than 22,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. More than 55,000 have been injured, and thousands more are missing and presumed dead.
- Israeli military officials say at least 170 soldiers have been killed during the country's ground invasion in Gaza, which came after 1,200 people were killed and about 240 hostages were seized after Hamas launched multipronged attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.
- NBC News’ Matt Bradley and Josh Lederman are reporting from the region.
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Senior Hamas leader killed in Beirut was a key figure who patched up Hamas’ ties with Iran
The killing of Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in a reported drone strike in Beirut serves as a warning to Iran, which has armed and financed Hamas, and to other Hamas leaders, experts said.
Al-Arouri, the commander of Hamas’ military wing in the West Bank and deputy chairman of the group’s political bureau, was a key figure who had helped repair Hamas’ relations with Iran and who had been in Israel’s cross-hairs even before the current conflict in Gaza. He was killed Tuesday along with six other members of the organization after his home in a suburb in southern Beirut was targeted by a drone strike.
“There’s no single cog in this group without whom the whole thing falls apart, but Arouri was a particularly important person, both in terms of overall leadership and his support for violence,” said Matthew Levitt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy think tank.
Lebanese officials, Hamas and the Lebanese-based militant group Hezbollah all laid blame on Israel for the strike, though IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari did not provide details on the matte during his Tuesday briefing.
Israel will be braced for retaliation from Hezbollah, which is backed by the Iranian regime, but likely concluded removing al-Arouri was worth the risk, Levitt said.
Lebanese prime minister and foreign minister have asked Hezbollah not to respond to Beirut strike
The Lebanese government has asked Hezbollah not to respond following an airstrike in southern Beirut today in the hopes of avoiding further escalations, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told the BBC.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for the strike, which killed seven Hamas members, but Hamas has placed blame on Israel for the attack. Habib also laid blame on Israel, telling the BBC that "of course" the country committed the strike.
"Who else is going to do it?" Habib told the broadcaster.
He noted that he and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati have had direct dialogue with Hezbollah leaders and asked them not to retaliate. Habib accused Israel of attempting to drag Lebanon into a war that no one in the country wants to be dragged into.
Hamas cannot be eradicated because it is an ideology, the foreign minister said. Habib said Israel was attempting to "compensate for its failure in Gaza" by expanding the conflict.
"At the time when all Western countries including the United States, Britain, France, and every one of them, was asking us to hold Hezbollah and to stop them from making any problems," Habib said. "Now, we see that the problems are coming from Israel."
Hezbollah says Beirut strike is a crime that will not go 'without a response and punishment'
Hezbollah described the strike in southern Beirut that reportedly killed seven members of Hamas as a "serious attack on Lebanon" and the country's sovereignty.
The organization said in a statement today that its fighters are in a state of readiness after what it called a "heinous crime."
"We in Hezbollah affirm that this crime will never pass without a response and punishment," the statement said. "Our resistance remains steadfast, loyal to its principles and commitments that it has pledged to itself."
Both Hamas and Lebanese officials blamed Israel for the attack, but the country has not claimed responsibility. The IDF has not responded to a request for comment, and IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari declined to provide details about the matter at his briefing today.
Palestinian factions call for protest after Beirut drone strike
Multiple Palestinian factions called for protests after a senior Hamas leader and six other members were killed in a drone strike in Beirut, which Israel has been accused of conducting.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, and the IDF has not issued a public comment on the matter.
Protests erupted in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank today shortly after the strike. Video of protests recorded by Reuters included people shouting calls for revenge, according to an NBC News translation.
Children in Gaza are getting vaccinated
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian health workers are vaccinating children in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands have fled to escape the Israel-Hamas war.
UNICEF said last week it delivered at least 600,000 doses of vaccines to the besieged enclave as illness spreads rapidly. The agency estimated that more than 16,600 infants have missed one or more routine vaccinations.
Today, war-weary women rushed to a health care center in the Tel Sultan area of Rafah to get their infants vaccinated. They stood in long lines.
Iman al-Khudary, a displaced mother from Gaza City, said it took her several attempts to get her baby daughter vaccinated. She said it appears not enough vaccines had reached Gaza, and she is worried gaps in vaccinations will make her child more vulnerable to rapidly spreading disease.
Health worker Faten al-Amasssi said the recent shipment of vaccines included those against polio, pneumococcal pneumonia, measles, rubella and mumps, as well as tuberculosis. She said her health center has continued to vaccinate children throughout the war.
She said the spread of disease is mostly linked to unsanitary conditions in overcrowded shelters, rather than a lack of vaccines.
Senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri and several other people were killed in what appeared to be a drone strike in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Despite condemnation from Hamas and Hezbollah, Israel did not immediately confirm or deny responsibility.
Biden administration believes 6 Americans still held hostage in Gaza
The Biden administration believes six U.S. citizens are still being held hostage in Gaza, but it has limited knowledge of their conditions and does not know whether all are still alive, a senior administration official said.
The administration lowered the number of Americans it has said are unaccounted-for from eight to six after the IDF confirmed the deaths of Gad and Judi Haggai, two U.S.-Israeli citizens, in recent weeks. The U.S. had previously thought they were being held in Gaza, but now, according to the White House, officials believe they were killed by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Family members believe their bodies may have been taken into Gaza after the attack, they said in a statement last month.
When the war started, about a dozen Americans were considered unaccounted-for, but the Biden administration was unclear about how many were alive and being held hostage.
In the initial weeks of the war, Judith and Natalie Raanan became the first U.S. citizens to be freed from Hamas captivity. Two more Americans — Abigail Mor Edan, 4, and Liat Beinin, 49 — were freed in November in a deal in which women and children were released in exchange for imprisoned Palestinians.
Senior U.S. officials continue to push for another temporary truce and hostage deal, but there is limited optimism, because Israel and Hamas remain far apart on critical questions such as who would be eligible for release, a Biden administration official said.
The topic will most likely be a key agenda item for Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his expected travel to the region in the coming days. Biden has said he has “no higher priority” than bringing American hostages home.
U.S. rejects 'inflammatory' rhetoric about resettling Palestinians outside of Gaza
The U.S. "rejects" recent comments made by two far-right Israeli ministers who suggested that Palestinians should be displaced out of Gaza, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement today.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told Army Radio on Sunday that Arabs should leave Gaza, which would allow Israelis to “make the desert bloom,” Reuters reported. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the minister of national security who was convicted in 2007 of racist incitement against Arabs, wrote in an X post yesterday, “We must promote the solution to encourage the migration of Gaza resident.”
Miller said American officials have been "clear, consistent, and unequivocal" that Gaza is Palestinian land and should remain that way.
"This rhetoric is inflammatory and irresponsible," Miller said. "We have been told repeatedly and consistently by the Government of Israel, including by the Prime Minister, that such statements do not reflect the policy of the Israeli government. They should stop immediately."
Shortly after Miller's statement, Gvir wrote on X that Israel is "not another star on the American flag."
"The United States is our best friend, but first of all we will do what is best for the State of Israel: the migration of hundreds of thousands from Gaza will allow the residents of the enclave to return home and live in security and protect the IDF soldiers," Gvir wrote, according to an NBC News translation.
Nova music festival survivors sue Israeli agencies over alleged security failures
Dozens of survivors of the Nova music festival have filed suit against Israeli government agencies over alleged "failures and gross negligence of the IDF, the Israel Police and the Shin Bet" leading up to the Oct. 7 attack.
Attorneys representing 42 plaintiffs issued a press release saying that the government agencies failed to notify festival organizers of security concerns before authorizing licenses for the festival, which took place on Oct. 6 and 7. More than 360 people died at the festival, the release says. It alleges that senior officers had concerns about holding a large party near the Gaza border and warned that the IDF would have difficulty securing the festival due to the Simchat Torah holiday, when many soldiers were going home.
"The disaster could have been avoided at so many points in time, starting with the approval of the party through long hours of ignoring red alerts and until the evacuation that was disrupted after the outbreak of the massacre," said attorney Anat Ginzburg.
Israel's police force declined to comment, telling NBC News it addresses legal claims in the appropriate court. The IDF referred NBC News to the prime minister's office, which did not immediately respond.
Gaza’s displaced residents fear returning to the north
Palestinians taking refuge at a camp on the edge of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip expressed deep concerns about returning to their homes in the north without a cease-fire.