Palestinians flee Khan Younis
Palestinian families fleeing the city of Khan Younis by horse and cart along the coastal road leading to Rafah, southern Gaza today amid ongoing battles between Israeli forces and the Hamas militant group.
E.U. must pursue efforts to create a Palestinian state despite Israeli opposition
The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, currently besieged by Israel in its war against militant group Hamas, "could not be worse," the European Union's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said today.
"There are no words to explain how the situation is," he said at the monthly gathering of E.U. foreign ministers in Brussels. "With hundreds of thousands without anything: without shelters, without food, with medicines — and under the bombs."
Israel’s plan to destroy Hamas in Gaza is not working and the E.U. must pursue efforts to create a “two-state solution” despite Israeli opposition, Borrell added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed yesterday a hard line against any Palestinian state, saying it would pose “an existential danger” to Israel.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest at the Sundance Film Festival
Dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah yesterday, blocking the street at the annual event. Many held posters and chanted their support for the people of Gaza.
There is 'no real proposal' from Hamas for a deal, Netanyahu tells hostage families
TEL AVIV — Netanyahu told the families of hostages held by Hamas that there is “no real proposal” from Hamas for a deal to free their relatives, his office said in a news release today.
After meeting them in his Jerusalem office, he told them he wanted to “say this as clearly as I can because there are so many false things that must be tormenting you,” the release said.
“In contrast, there is an initiative of ours,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying, although he added that he would “not elaborate” on this. It was not immediately clear what initiative the Israeli prime minister was referring to.
His meeting with the families came amid mounting pressure for his government to do more to negotiate a deal with Hamas and secure the release of around 130 hostages who remain held in Gaza after others were brought home in a November truce.
Hostage families storm Knesset meeting
TEL AVIV — A group of relatives of hostages held by Hamas stormed a parliamentary committee session at Israel’s Knesset today and demanded that the government do more to secure the release of their loved ones.
Wearing shirts emblazoned with the words, “Bring them home now,” the group of around 20 people chanted and held posters of their loved ones after they entered the room where the finance committee was holding a discussion.
Others shouted angrily at the lawmakers in the meeting.
“We came here because we can’t live anymore,” Gil Dickmann, cousin of hostage Carmel Gat, told NBC News. “Our life stopped. The parliament must stop everything and bring all the hostages home.”
More than 100 hostages remain in captivity after scores were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in late November.
Netanyahu is facing mounting pressure to secure a deal for their release. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News on the incident.
Yesterday, he rejected conditions presented by Hamas to end the war and release hostages that would include Israel’s complete withdrawal and leaving Hamas in power in Gaza.
Doctors sound alarm on hepatitis C and other diseases among kids in Gaza
Pediatric doctors told NBC News yesterday that they were concerned about the spread of the hepatitis C virus and other diseases among young children in southern Gaza.
“We are seeing many cases of hepatitis C,” Dr. Bessam Hamouda said as he treated patients in the children’s ward of Rafah's El Najar Hospital.
“It spreads in the packed and the difficult conditions the Palestinian people are in, displaced, tents and the big number of children and the pollution around them. This is a virus which contaminates children in particular,” he added.
Over the last couple of weeks he said there had been a signficant spike in hepatitis C cases, Hamouda said, adding that he had seen at least 20 to 30 on a daily basis.
The virus that affects the liver can lead to serious health complications if left untreated.
“This can cause the spread of other diseases, more dangerous than hepatitis and children can die if they don’t get adequate treatment,” Hamouda said.
Elsewhere, Dr. Ahmed Al-Farrah said the poor sanitation conditions and “dirty water” was leading to serious cases of acute gastroenteritis.
“We are talking about viral gastroenteritis,” he said. “We are afraid from cholera, we are afraid from typhoid fever. We have faced cases of hepatitis A, which is the fulminant and severe type.”
Al-Farrah, who is also a pediatric specialist, said he was treating patients ages 1 month to 5 years.
Even if children were diagnosed with an infection, he said, doctors were struggling to provide adequate treatment because of pharmacy shortages.
“If you notice the cases, they are sleeping in the ground,” Al-Farrah added. “We don’t have places for them, in the rooms, on the beds. We don’t have the drugs for them. We don’t have the available fluids for them.”
IDF says it destroyed Hamas cells in central Gaza
An “armed terrorist cell” was destroyed by an airstrikes as it advanced toward Israeli troops in Gaza, the country’s military said in a statement today.
Another group who attempted to ambush its troops were also identified and struck by an aircraft in a joint ground and aerial operation, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. It added that another “armed terrorist cell” was eliminated in northern Gaza.
NBC News could not independently verify Israeli's claims or confirm who the targeted people were.
Israeli forces 'besieging' ambulance center, Red Crescent says
Ambulances were unable to reach the wounded in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza today because Israeli forces were “besieging” one of its centers and targeting anyone attempting to move in the area, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said on X.
In an earlier post, it said that it had completely lost contact with its teams near the city's Al Amal Hospital where Israeli tanks were stationed nearby.
Separately, Gaza’s Health Ministry said today that Israel was preventing ambulances from retrieving the dead and wounded to the west of Khan Younis.
NBC News could not independently verify the claims.
Asked about the allegations from the Red Crescent, the IDF told NBC News it could not comment on their ongoing activities in the area.
Pro-Gaza protest delays match at Australian Open tennis tournament
A protester threw papers onto an Australian Open court and briefly delayed the fourth-round match between Olympic champion Alexander Zverev and Cameron Norrie of Britain today.
A person wearing a blue shirt and cap and a mask threw anti-war pamphlets from the stands onto the court behind the baseline during the sixth game of the third set on Margaret Court Arena.
Printed in black on the white pages was the message “Free Palestine” and “While you’re watching tennis bombs are dropping on Gaza.”
Ball kids gathered up the papers and the match continued after a short delay. Security escorted the protester away. Tennis Australia said it was awaiting more information before commenting.
Hostage families rally outside Netanyahu's Jerusalem home
TEL AVIV — Family members of hostages who remain in Hamas’ captivity rallied outside Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem last night, calling on his government to urgently negotiate a deal to see their loved ones released.
“The idea is to have a presence there and to make sure that we’re staying front and center for him,” Jon Polin told NBC News in a phone call today.
Polin, whose son Hersh, 23, was taken captive at the Supernova music festival on Oct. 7, added, “We are looking for him to prioritize the hostage issue and get a deal done.”
Some demonstrators pitched tents outside Netanyahu's home and planned to camp out outside Netanyahu's house, Polin said.
He added that he believed a hostage deal would not only be the best thing “for humanity,” but that it was also “the right thing for this region” amid fears of a wider conflict. A deal, he said, could have a “calming effect on the region.”
Netanyahu continues to face mounting pressure to prioritize a deal over using military pressure as a means of seeing the more than 100 people who remain held captive in Gaza released — including from within his own war cabinet.
Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot joined the chorus of voices calling for an urgent deal last week, saying in a recorded interview with “Uvda” an Israeli television news program, that “for me, the mission to save civilians is before killing the enemy.”