What we know
- The International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, a ruling that could have far-reaching consequences though the court has no power to enforce it. The United Nations' top court stopped short of ordering the cease-fire requested by South Africa while it hears a full case accusing Israel of genocide, which the U.S. and Israel have dismissed.
- The State Department said today that the U.S. was "extremely troubled" by allegations that 12 employees from the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees may have been involved in Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and had "temporarily paused additional funding" for the agency "while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them."
- United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said that he was "horrified" by the allegations and that those found to have been involved would be terminated immediately and referred for potential criminal prosecution.
- CIA Director William Burns is set to meet with Qatar's prime minister and the director of Mossad this weekend in an effort to break a deadlock in talks for a new hostage deal with Hamas. The U.S. has reiterated its support for Qatar's role as a mediator after the Gulf state was angered by leaked criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
- More than 26,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. More than 64,400 have been injured, and thousands more are missing and presumed dead.
- Israeli military officials said at least 220 soldiers have been killed during the ground invasion of Gaza. About 1,200 people were killed and about 240 hostages were taken after Hamas launched multipronged attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.
- NBC News’ Richard Engel, Raf Sanchez, Matt Bradley, Chantal Da Silva, Anna Schecter and Ali Arouzi are reporting from the region.
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U.S. strikes Houthi missile in Yemen; oil tanker hit earlier
The U.S. military struck what it said was a missile in Houthi-controlled Yemen in the latest attack against the Iran-backed militants which have been firing at commercial ships in the red Sea.
The strike was carried out around 3:45 a.m. Saturday local time and targeted an anti-ship missile aimed at the Red Sea, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
“It presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the U.S. Navy ships in the region. U.S. Forces subsequently struck and destroyed the missile in self-defense,” Central Command, known as CENTCOM, said.
The U.S. military action follows reports of a commercial vessel that was struck by a missile, but the military did not link that attack to the strike in Yemen in its statement.
The Marlin Luanda was struck by a Houthi missile while in the Gulf of Aden earlier today, sparking a fire in the ship’s cargo tank, two U.S. defense officials said.
Commodity trading company Trafigura said the Marlin Luanda, a petroleum products tanker, was hit by a missile as in the Gulf as it was transiting the Red Sea.
"We remain in contact with the vessel and are monitoring the situation carefully. Military ships in the region are underway to provide assistance," the company said in a statement on its website. The fire was in one cargo tank on the starboard side, and firefighting efforts were taken in response, it said.
Biden condemns denialism ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day
President Joe Biden condemned efforts to deny and revise history ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which he said includes efforts to minimize the horrors of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas.
In a statement released by the White House, Biden called the Holocaust "one of the darkest chapters in human history" and said the charge to remember the evil of the Nazis and the scourge of antisemitism was more pressing than ever.
"On Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists unleashed pure, unadulterated evil on the people of Israel," Biden said. "It was the worst atrocity committed against the Jewish people in a single day since the Holocaust."
He said the Oct. 7 attacks had led to "an alarming rise of despicable antisemitism at home and abroad," which he called unacceptable.
"We cannot remember all that Jewish survivors of the Holocaust experienced and then stand silently by when Jews are attacked and targeted again today," he said.
Injuries, distressed crowds overwhelm Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza
Dozens of wounded Palestinian patients from a strike last night flooded the trauma and resuscitation units of the last major semifunctioning hospital in southern Gaza.
Bloodied patients lined the floor of Nasser Hospital as they awaited medical assistance, according to a video shot by an NBC News team on the ground. The hospital is in Khan Younis, an area that has seen intense fighting this week.
Shouts reverberated in the jam-packed medical facility, with injured Gazans and members of the community appearing to occupy every available space.
In one frame, a woman can be heard sobbing as an injured man lies helplessly on the floor and crowds gesture and ask for help. In another, a young boy waits to have his chest dressed with cotton bands by a doctor.
The scenes come as the Gaza Health Ministry again warns that food, anesthetics and painkillers have "completely run out" in its facility for the fifth day.
"There are 150 health personnel, 350 patients and hundreds of displaced families in the Nasser Medical Complex in catastrophic conditions of starvation, targeting, and lack of treatment," the statement by the Palestinian enclave's health ministry spokesman Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra added.
In response to claims that the Israeli forces have been attacking the hospital, the Israel Defense Forces said it's "carrying out precise operations against the Hamas terrorist organization in Khan Yunis."
The statement added that "IDF intelligence indicates that Hamas terrorists are operating from inside and around the Nasser hospital and Al-Amal hospital in Khan Yunis."
NBC News is unable to verify these claims.
The IDF also said it has been in touch with hospital directors and medical staff by phone and on the ground, "to ensure that the hospitals can remain operational and accessible."
‘We want a cease-fire,’ Gazans say after ICJ ruling
TEL AVIV — The International Court of Justice’s ruling today was met with disappointment from Gazans after the U.N. court stopped short of ordering an immediate cease-fire, but ordered Israel to do everything it can to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza.
“We were expecting the international court to commit Israel to complete a cease-fire,” one civilian, Nidal Kamal, told NBC News’ crew on the ground. “We want a cease-fire so that we can return to our homes and see our families. We are demanding that the world enforce a complete cease-fire.” Kamal said he believed the ICJ’s ruling would “result in nothing.”
Aziz Al-Kahlot, a human rights lawyer in Gaza, said today’s news in some ways represented a “historical achievement for Palestinians” — but he noted that the ICJ has no “power” to enforce its rulings. He said he did not believe Israel would heed the court’s warning.
Palestinians are still waiting for “a real cease-fire in Gaza,” said Sanaa Saidam, a journalist. Until then, she said: “Unfortunately, we will have more innocents ... subjected to the Israeli airstrikes,” Saidam said.
Former Israeli diplomat on ICJ ruling against Israel: 'It was a stern warning'
Ambassador Alon Pinkas, former Israel consul general in New York, reacts to the interim ruling by the International Court of Justice in the genocide case against Israel. “The decision was less than what Israel feared, but it’s a major, major slap on the wrist.”
Biden spoke with leaders of Egypt and Qatar about Gaza cease-fire, release of hostages
President Joe Biden spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani today about the latest developments in Gaza, including efforts to release the hostages, the White House said.
Both al-Sisi and Al Thani stressed the importance of a cease-fire in Gaza and implementing human aid, according to statements from the offices of both leaders.
Biden and Al-Sisi discussed the importance of the exchange of detainees, hostages and prisoners, and "reiterated the firm position of Egypt and the United States to reject any attempts to evacuate Palestinians from their territories," according to a readout of the call from the Egyptian government.
'A sea of people forced to flee Khan Younis,' UNRWA commissioner-general says
"A sea of people" have been forced to flee Khan Younis, according to a tweet from Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
"A sea of people forced to flee Khan Younis, ending up at the border with Egypt. A never ending search for safety that #Gaza is no longer able to give," Lazzarini wrote on his X account.
IDF: Dozens of Hamas soldiers killed as heavy fighting continues in Khan Younis
The Israel Defense Forces said "intensive battles" continued in the heart of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza this morning, as it said dozens of Hamas targets were destroyed.
Among the targets hit by the Israeli fighter jets were "terror targets," including operational centers, weapons storage facilities, observation posts and operational meeting points used by Hamas militants, the IDF said.
It also said several groups of Hamas fighters were killed by airstrikes and ground troops in the area.
What the U.N. court ordered Israel to do, what it didn’t — and what it means for the war in Gaza
The International Court of Justice has no power to enforce its rulings, but there was consequence in what it ordered Friday — and what it didn’t.
For some, the demand from the United Nations’ top court that Israel do everything it can to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza was a striking symbolic blow against the war. The court stopped short of ordering the immediate cease-fire that Palestinian supporters desired, however — setting up a complicated, yearslong legal battle that will play out while the fighting continues.
It was not the full denunciation desired by the Palestinians, or the flat rejection called for by Israel. But the judges effectively ruled that when it comes to accusations of genocide there is a case to be heard, and immediate action that Israel must take.
William Schabas, a professor of international law at England’s Middlesex University who specializes in war crimes studies, called the decision “a remarkable achievement for South Africa,” which brought the case.
Hamas welcomes ICJ's ruling against Israel
Hamas welcomed the ruling from the International Court of Justice calling on Israel to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as Israel wages war on the militant group for launching terror attacks in the nation on Oct. 7.
"Hamas welcomes the decision of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which indicted the occupying state on charges of genocide, and demands that the occupying army protect civilians, lift the siege imposed on our people in the Gaza Strip, and respect its duties as an occupying force within the framework of international law and international humanitarian law," Hamas said in a statement today.
"This decision means stop all forms of aggression against our Palestinian people in Gaza," the statement said. Hamas also called on the international community to "oblige" Israel to "implement the court’s decisions and stop the ongoing crime of genocide" against the Palestinians.
Israel has repeatedly rejected the allegations of genocide, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today calling them "false" and "outrageous." While the ICJ demanded Israel do more to prevent genocidal acts, it did not call for Israel implement a cease-fire.