Young and old Gazans surrounded by destruction in Rafah
Displaced Palestinian adults and children look at the damage amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Rafah in southern Gaza today. Many civilians have fled their homes in the north and sought refuge from Israeli bombardments in the southern city.
Suspicious object found near Israeli Embassy in Sweden
A potentially dangerous object has been found near the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm and is being investigated, police said today.
Employees from the embassy called Stockholm police this morning about an object outside the grounds that they believed may be dangerous, a police spokesperson told Reuters. The national bomb squad is on its way to investigate the object, the spokesperson said.
Police declined to give any detail on the size or shape of the object until it had been investigated.
The embassy was not immediately available for comment.
The suspicious object was believed to be an explosive device and has been destroyed by the national bomb squad, Swedish police said.
Police, who cordoned off the the grounds, declined to give any detail on the nature of the object, or of how it had got into the embassy grounds.
The Embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.
There are strong indications that hostage deal will move ahead, senior Israeli official says
TEL AVIV — While Netanyahu’s government has not yet agreed to the terms of a hostage negotiation offer ironed out last weekend in Paris, there are strong indications that the deal will move ahead, a senior Israeli official told NBC News today.
However, the source said the terms of the deal have not been handed over from the war Cabinet — made up of Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, his defense minister, and Benny Gantz, a former chief of the general staff — to the full Cabinet.
If approved by the full Cabinet, the Israeli public would then have 24 hours to contest it before the Supreme Court, though in the past the court has typically rejected such challenges.
Yesterday, Netanyahu seemed to pour cold water on the Paris draft, telling cadets at a pre-military academy in a West Bank settlement that Israel would not withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip or “release thousands of terrorists.”
“None of that will happen,” he said.
Several right-wing ministers are complicating negotiations for the deal including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the minister for national security. Both have rejected the idea that hundreds of Palestinians could be exchanged for a handful of Israeli hostages.
Yesterday, Ben-Gvir expressed his opposition, telling his more than 200,000 followers on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the war Cabinet is “beginning to internalize my position and is trying to lower the number of murderous terrorists who will be released.”
“We must continue to press for a deal that strives to achieve the goals of the entire war — the destruction of Hamas, the restoration of security to the residents of the south, and the return of all the abductees home,” he added. “Our soldiers did not fall in vain and it is forbidden to bring about a deal that would endanger Israel’s security.”
In the past, Hamas has insisted that any new hostage release would have to come in exchange for a full cease-fire — a provision the Israelis have completely ruled out.
Hamas is also under substantial political pressure, even as it parries the most destructive Israeli attack in its nearly 40 year existence, according to Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official who focused on Arab affairs.
The militant group now has to “try to somehow come up with something, some sort of an achievement, that will help Hamas to re-establish its reputation within the Arab world,” he said.
“The Palestinians are looking at the situation in the Gaza Strip, and they are turning to Hamas and saying, ‘What have you done? What exactly have you accomplished? What kind of an achievement can you show us?’”
Melamed said Hamas was criticized for a deal it made with Israel in November that freed 110 hostages in return for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
The proposed Paris deal would see three Palestinian prisoners returned for each hostage released from Gaza and a longer pause in hostilities of up to 60 days.
The November deal “was kind of like backfiring on Hamas,” Melamed said. “People in the Arab world, particularly the Palestinians, said to Hamas ‘you did all of this mess to get 300 Palestinian women and children who in any case would have been released sometime soon. What did you gain?’”
Fighter jets struck Syrian army positions in response to rocket attack, IDF says
The Israeli military said today that some of its fighter jets had struck targets in the Syrian city of Daraa.
The overnight attacks were in response to rocket launches from Syria, the Israel Defense Forces said in a Telegram post.
U.S. seeking 'more information' on allegations that UNRWA staff took part in Oct. 7 attacks
The U.S. is seeking more information from the Israeli government about the allegations that workers from the United Nations refugee agency took part in Hamas Oct. 7 attacks, according to the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters yesterday that the U.S. needs to “see fundamental changes” before it can resume its funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. She added that the U.S. had questions about how the agency would ensure the accountability of those accused.
“We will remain in close contact with the United Nations, as well as with the government of Israel regarding this matter,” she said.
Gazan kids wear disposable hazmat suits to protect them from harsh weather
Wearing disposable hazmat suits, a group of six young Palestinian boys was filmed by an NBC News crew digging holes in the sand yesterday.
“We all bought them to protect ourselves from the cold, rain, and sand,” Saraj Elhusaani, 14, told NBC News. “I don’t have any clothes; I only have these clothes.”
The suits, which they said cost 2 shekels, or around 50 cents, from a local market, protected them from the harsh winter weather and allowed them to play in the sand, the kids explained.
Houthis threaten more attacks on American and British warships
Yemen’s Houthi rebels said today they had fired “several appropriate missiles” at the USS Gravely in the Red Sea and threatened more attacks on American and British warships in the area.
The attacks will continue “until the aggression on Gaza is stopped and the siege is lifted,” the Iran-backed militant group said in a statement.
"One anti-ship cruise missile" was fired last night and shot down by USS Gravely, U.S. Central Command said today on X. No injuries or damage were reported, it added.
Powerful Iran-backed militia vows to stop attacking U.S. troops
An Iran-backed militia that Washington believes could be responsible for killing three U.S. troops in Jordan said yesterday that it will stop attacks against American forces in the Middle East.
“We hereby announce the suspension of military and security operations against the occupation forces,” Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement. Though backed by Iran, the group operates in Iraq. It is the most powerful among a network of Shia militias that have launched more than 150 attacks against U.S. forces since October in protest, it says, at Israel’s Gaza war and support of the Palestinian cause.
Iraq, which has close ties with Iran and hosts U.S. troops, says has lobbied all sides to stop the violence. And Kataib Hezbollah said in its statement that it was stopping attacks on Americans to “avoid embarrassment for the Iraqi government.” Amid rising regional tensions, the group also added that Iran had “often objected to pressure and escalation against the American occupation forces in Iraq and Syria.”
The Pentagon said Sunday's deadly attack in Jordan had the “footprints” of Kataib Hezbollah but declined to blame the group directly. Asked about the group’s cease-fire announcement, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told a briefing yesterday, “Actions speak louder than words.”
U.S. retaliatory strikes against Iran will be a campaign over weeks, officials say
While the Biden administration has not yet finalized targets for retaliatory strikes against the Iran-backed militant groups responsible for the deadly attack in Jordan last weekend, U.S. officials are describing this as a “campaign” that could last “weeks.”
The targets are expected to include Iranian targets outside Iran and the campaign will include both kinetic strikes and cyber operations. The targets are likely be in multiple places in several countries and locations.
Biden said yesterday that he had decided how to retaliate for the attack on a base in Jordan, which killed three American service members.
Delays prevented food delivery to Nasser Hospital, WHO says
Attempts to deliver food to the “minimally functional” Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis were unsuccessful because of checkpoints which held them up and allowed crowds to take the aid, the head of the World Health Organization said on X yesterday.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the incidents underscored the “hellish’’ conditions and extreme hunger Gazans are experiencing.
The Israeli military has said that it has coordinated the supply of food and supplies to the hospital in recent days.