What we know
- A U.S. intelligence report cast doubt on the future of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government, suggesting it may be replaced by more moderate leadership. The assessment also included a relatively pessimistic outlook on the results of Israel’s military aims in the Gaza Strip.
- A ship carrying 200 tons of food aid to Gaza left a port in Cyprus this morning, the first to set sail as part of an effort by the U.S. and allies to open a maritime humanitarian corridor and bring relief to a population that aid groups say is on the brink of famine.
- The Israeli military said it is still trying to confirm whether it killed one of Hamas' top commanders in an airstrike on an underground compound in central Gaza over the weekend. Marwan Issa is believed to be the militant group's No. 3.
- The start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in much of the world has focused attention on Jerusalem, where there is rising concern about tensions around the Al-Aqsa mosque.
- The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 31,000, according to the enclave's Health Ministry, including at least 25 people who have died of starvation. The Israeli military said at least 247 soldiers have been killed since the ground invasion of Gaza began.
13-year-old killed by Israeli forces after lighting firework, Palestinian office in Jerusalem says
Israeli forces shot and killed Rami Hamdan Al-Halhouli, a 13-year-old boy, at a refugee camp near East Jerusalem tonight after he lit a firework, the Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate said on Facebook.
Israel's police said in a statement that officers were involved in a "violent disturbance" at the Shuafat refugee camp in which fireworks and Molotov cocktails were shot at security forces. During the incident, police said, a border officer fired a shot at a "suspect who endangered the forces while firing aerial fireworks in their direction."
Police gave NBC News the same statement in response to requests for comment on the death and a video of the purported incident.
The Jerusalem Governorate posted video of the incident on Facebook, showing a boy firing a firework directly in the air. Tonight is the second night of Ramadan, and it is not uncommon to light fireworks during the holy month after Muslims break their fast.
A second video posted to the page appears to show him on the ground with his mother running to him and screaming.
According to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, a team was called to the camp at 8:20 p.m. local time. A boy who was shot with live ammunition and taken by the Red Crescent to an Israeli emergency services ambulance so he could be transferred to a hospital in Jerusalem with an intensive care unit.
He was alive when he was transferred, spokesperson Nebal Farsakh told NBC News. Farsakh said the Red Crescent learned about the boy's death from the Jerusalem Governorate's official announcement.
Columbia accused in new lawsuit of singling out 2 pro-Palestinian groups by suspending them after protest
The New York Civil Liberties Union is suing Columbia University over its decision last fall to suspend two student groups that protested Israel’s conduct in the Gaza war.
The lawsuit, announced today, accuses the Ivy League school of violating its own rules by suspending the groups, Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, a day after their Nov. 9 campus protest sponsored by more than 20 groups. The next day, the two groups were suspended for allegedly violating university policy and were given no opportunity to respond to the charges or contest them, the lawsuit says.
The protest came in the heated weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, which sparked the war and Israel’s subsequent ground invasion of Gaza, when demonstrations were organized by both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel students at Columbia and on other U.S. campuses. Students on both sides complained of harassment and bias incidents.
Columbia had said in a statement that the Nov. 9 demonstration “included threatening rhetoric and intimidation.” The two groups’ suspensions, which are still in effect, ban them from holding on-campus events or getting school funding. The lawsuit, filed by the NYCLU and Palestine Legal, an advocacy organization, seeks to nullify the suspensions “and related relief.”
U.S. asks Hamas to release women, elderly hostages for longer cease-fire
WASHINGTON — The White House urged Hamas militants in Gaza to release women, elderly and wounded hostages and accept a temporary cease-fire in the fighting with Israel in order to secure a more lasting one.
“A cease-fire is on the table today, for six weeks, to be built on into something more enduring if Hamas would simply release women, wounded and elderly,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.
Israel has accepted the terms of a six-week cease-fire in exchange for the release of some of the hostages held by Hamas since its Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed.
Hamas says it will accept a deal based only on a permanent cease-fire that ends the war and includes an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza, rather than another temporary truce. Under the most recent proposal, Israel would release Palestinian prisoners at a 10-to-1 ratio to the number of Hamas hostages held.
Hamas took at least 200 hostages on Oct. 7. During a weeklong truce in late November, it freed more than 100 Israeli and foreign hostages in exchange for Israel’s releasing about 240 Palestinian prisoners.
“We’re determined to try to generate a cease-fire where at least six weeks with the hostages coming out and then try to build on that into something more enduring, but I can’t make any predictions about where this will lie,” Sullivan said.
In a video address to the pro-Israel organization AIPAC in Washington, D.C., Netanyahu also claimed Israel has “taken measures to minimize civilian casualties that no other army has taken in history.”
Biden mourns the death of American Israeli soldier
Biden was "devastated" to learn of the death of Itay Chen, he said in a statement released today on behalf of himself and his wife.
Chen was a 19-year-old American Israeli soldier who was thought to have been held hostage in Gaza for six months. His family announced today that the Israel Defense Forces told them that he died Oct. 7 defending civilians on the Gaza border during the Hamas-led attack on the country.
No additional details were provided.
Biden recounted hosting Chen's father and brother at the White House in December, when they gifted him a menorah, "a solemn reminder that light will always dispel the darkness and evil will not win." He said he joined in their grief.
"And I reaffirm my pledge to all the families of those still held hostage: We are with you," Biden said. "We will never stop working to bring your loved ones home."
Israel's national security minister calls for war against Hezbollah
Israeli National Security Minister Ben Gvir, who has been rebuked by U.S. officials in the past, called for Israel to go to war against Hezbollah in a video posted to his X account today.
Gvir appeared to taunt Defense Minister Yoav Gallant directly after the Israel Defense Forces said 100 rockets were launched from Lebanon into Israel today. According to the IDF, all of the rockets were intercepted.
"What are you waiting for?" Gvir said. "More than 100 missiles, 100 launches on the State of Israel and you sit quietly?"
He went on to say it was time to start attacking and added, "War, now."
Gvir, one of the more hard-line members of Israel's government, is known for his incendiary comments. He was convicted of anti-Arab incitement in 2007 and was previously a member of an extremist Israeli group listed by the U.S. as a terrorist organization.
The U.S. State Department released a statement at the start of the year rebuking Gvir and another minister for their comments urging Israel to resettle Gaza, a position other Israeli officials have rejected. The State Department described that rhetoric as "inflammatory and irresponsible."
'True failure is not trying,' José Andrés says of complex mission to deliver aid by sea
Chef José Andrés described his organization's mission to deliver 200 tons of food into Gaza by sea as a "highly complex situation." World Central Kitchen, which Andrés founded in 2010, has partnered with a Spanish charity to send the aid from Cyprus by water, and the first ship left today. Because ports in Gaza have been destroyed during the war, the World Central Kitchen team has to build a jetty to make the mission possible.
Andrés cautioned that though he considers the ship's departure an achievement, failure is still possible.
"But what we cannot do is fail the people of Gaza," Andrés said. "That will be the true failure is not trying. So we're trying, and I hope that in few days we can say we had little success and from that success."
5,280 pounds of aid dropped into Gaza in U.S.-Jordan joint operation
The U.S. carried out another airdrop of aid into Gaza with the assistance of the Jordanian government, the U.S. Department of Defense and the office of Jordanian prime minister confirmed today.
According to U.S. Central Command, 5,280 pounds of flour, rice, pasta and canned goods were dropped into northern Gaza this afternoon.
Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh said five airdrops were completed today, including one with aid from Egypt and another from Belgium.
"The number of airdrops carried out by the Jordanian Armed Forces — the Arab Army — since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, has increased to 40 Jordanian airdrops, and 49 airdrops in cooperation with brotherly and friendly countries," Khasawneh said.
Cease-fire deal still possible, CIA director says
CIA Director William Burns told the House Intelligence Committee today that there is still a chance for a cease-fire agreement in Gaza, despite the recent difficulties in negotiations.
“I think there’s still a possibility,” he said. “As long as there’s the smallest possibility, I think it’s essential for all of us to do everything we can.”
Discussions have been taking place for months involving the release of hostages and an influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza. President Joe Biden previously seemed optimistic that such an agreement would be in place by the start of Ramadan; when that failed, he continued to express hope that one might be forthcoming.
Burns said the alternatives to a cease-fire are worse for both Palestinian civilians and hostages held by Hamas. He described the negotiations as a “very tough process” and added that the lack of an agreement “won’t be for lack of trying on our part.”
A framework exists for a deal that would include a six-week pause in hostilities, but Israel and Hamas blame each other for the lack of consensus. Hamas officials have pushed for a permanent cease-fire, rather than a temporary truce.
Netanyahu tells AIPAC leaders that Israel must invade Rafah
Netanyahu today asserted that Israel needed to invade Rafah in remarks made via video conference to leaders of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.
“To win this war, we must destroy the remaining Hamas battalions in Rafah,” he said. “If not, Hamas will regroup, rearm and reconquer Gaza and then we’re back to square one.”
Although Netanyahu expressed gratitude for U.S. support in the war, he appeared to push back against President Joe Biden, who expressed to MSNBC this weekend that an invasion of Rafah could be a "red line" for his administration.
U.S. officials have urged Israel to draft a comprehensive plan to safeguard more than a million civilians residing in Rafah, many of whom fled to the southern border city under the assurance that it would be a safe zone.
Netanyahu also told AIPAC that Israel is unified against the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, even though the United Nations, U.S. and many other countries support a two-state solution.
Israelis, he said, "overwhelmingly oppose the idea of having a Palestinian state rammed down our throat."
Like other political action committees, AIPAC holds significant influence in Washington. Reuters reported today that the congressional group Justice Democrats and the Democratic Socialists of America have formed a "Reject AIPAC" coalition in an attempt to pressure Democrats to decline endorsements and contributions from the pro-Israel lobbying group.