Families of hostages held a vigil at the U.S. Capitol as they prepare for a meeting at the White House today, trying to keep the spotlight on their loved ones held captive for more than 100 days. 

This photograph, provided by the Indian navy today, shows U.S.-owned ship Genco Picardy, which came under attack yesterday from a bomb-carrying drone launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Gulf of Aden.

Sirens sounded in the coastal city of Eilat in southern Israel today, followed by the Israeli military saying that it had intercepted a target over the Red Sea.

The IDF said the interceptor was launched after identifying a “suspicious aerial target” that was “approaching” Israel, but did not say the source of the target.

“The incident has concluded and there is no risk of a security incident,” it added.

DAVOS, Switzerland — Talks to secure a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas are progressing, three senior diplomats have told NBC News. One of the diplomats said the negotiations were part of a bigger deal that would see the normalization of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

"Arab states are in advanced discussions on an initiative to secure a cease-fire and a release of hostages, part of a broader plan that could offer Israel normalization of ties with Arab and Muslim states, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia if [Israel] agreed to irreversible steps to the creation of a Palestinian state," a senior Arab official told NBC News on the condition of anonymity.

A Western diplomat who also spoke on the condition of anonymity told NBC News that a proposal for a "humanitarian pause" lasting between a month or longer, followed by a permanent cease-fire, is on the table.

The initial pause in fighting would enable more hostages to be released, the source said. Two of the diplomats said Hamas was refusing to agree to a deal without the promise of a permanent cease-fire — something that Israeli officials have balked at.

Meanwhile, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said an agreement by Saudi Arabia to take part in the reconstruction of Gaza and officially recognize Israel, "is key to be able to exit the current war in Gaza."

Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said such a comprehensive agreement would need to include statehood for the Palestinians.

At least 16 members of a family were among 19 people killed in an Israeli airstrike on their home in the early hours of the morning, staff at el-Najjar Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Rafah told an NBC News crew.

The hospital shared a list of the dead with names of the 16 members of the Al Zamili family — eight of them children and five women, including one who was pregnant. Three people were unidentifiable, according to the staff.

Dr. Talat Barhoum at el-Najjar also confirmed the death toll from the strike in Rafah and said dozens more were wounded, in comments to The Associated Press.

The Palestinian Ministry of Information first mentioned the strike in a statement on their Telegram channel.

"After midnight, Israeli fighter jets targeted an inhabited house for the Al-Zamili family in the Al-Geneina neighborhood in Rafah, east of Gaza Strip, resulting in the tragic death of nearly 16 Palestinians."

NBC News has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

JERUSALEM — The decision by the U.S. to put Yemen’s Houthis back on its list of specially designated terrorists “won’t change anything in reality,” one of the rebel group’s senior leaders told NBC News yesterday, hours after the sanctions came into effect. 

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi government in Yemen, said the group could “still confront America and confront justice and tyranny anywhere.” 

Speaking before the U.S. military fired another wave of ship and submarine-launch missile strikes against Houthi-controlled sites in Yemen, he said that “America should have maintained the reputation that it protects rights and freedoms through its leadership in fighting crime.”

Rather than designate the Houthis as terrorists, al-Houthi said, Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be added to the list because of the situation in Gaza. 

“Our stance is supporting the people of Gaza,” he said. “We are calling for fuel, water, food, medicine, and to stop the aggression on the Gaza people,” he added.

At least nine people were killed after Pakistan carried out strikes against militant targets inside Iran overnight, Iranian state media has said.

The deaths were reported in one of the border villages in the Sistan and Baluchestan province in Iran’s southeast, state-run news agency IRNA said. The agency initially reported three women and four children were killed, but later said two men also died as the result of the strikes.

The strikes appeared to be in retaliation for attacks by Tehran days ago against militants on the Pakistani side of the border. Those followed similar Iranian attacks in Iraq and Syria, raising fears of a wider escalation amid the Israel-Hamas war.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said in a statement today that the country's military conducted "a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts" in the Sistan-Baluchestan province. It said the attack was a demonstration of Pakistan's "unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security against all threats," while adding that it fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran.

The Israeli military said it killed about 60 "terrorists" in the Gaza Strip over the past day, including 40 in the southern city of Khan Younis.

The IDF said its troops conducted a targeted raid on the residence of a "terrorist" in the city, where a number of weapons were located. It added that four other "terrorists" were destroyed by tank fire when they moved toward the Israeli troops in Khan Younis.

In the north of the enclave, the IDF said two "armed terrorists" who planned to ambush its troops were killed. It also said it located "terrorists rigging a vehicle with explosives" in the area and killed one of them.

NBC News could not verify the IDF's claims and who the people targeted were.

TEL AVIV, Israel — The family of baby Kfir Bibas, who was taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, is marking his 1st birthday without him today as he remains in captivity.

Kfir was 10 months old when he was kidnapped from his kibbutz, Nir Oz, along with his 4-year-old brother, Ariel, and their parents, Shiri and Yarden Bibas.

Relatives of the family are expected to gather in “Hostage Square” in Tel Aviv this afternoon to mark the difficult milestone. Calling it one of the “saddest birthdays in the world,” the Hostage and Missing Persons Families Forum said the relatives would “make an impassioned plea” for Kfir's release at the event. They said some of Israel’s leading children’s entertainers would also perform.