Thousands break into aid warehouse in Gaza

Talks to free some of the hostages held by militant group Hamas stalled over Israel's unwillingness to send fuel to Gaza, its base, and Hamas' objection to guaranteeing it would release a large number of foreign captives, according to a former U.S. official with knowledge of the ongoing negotiations over the release of some of the estimated 230 hostages.

“Hamas has been insistent on receiving fuel,” said the former U.S. official, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to talk publicly. “The Israel and U.S. side, plus other countries, want a large batch of their citizens released.”

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“Our teams in Gaza received 24 trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent through the Rafah crossing this evening, containing food supplies and medical necessities," the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said today.

In total, the organization said it has received 118 trucks containing food and medical supplies.

But trucks containing fuel are still not allowed to cross into Gaza, the organization said.

The IDF struck a military building in Syrian territory, it said in a statement today.

"A short while ago, in response to launches from Syria toward Israeli territory earlier Sunday, an IDF aircraft struck military infrastructure in Syrian territory," the statement said.

Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah was killed Oct. 13 when Israel launched a bombing raid across the border into Lebanon that hit a group of seven reporters stationed in Alma Al-Chaab, Lebanon, on the border. They were recording ongoing aggressions between Hezbollah and the IDF.

According to an investigation into the strikes by Reporters Against Borders, a pair of Al-Jazeera journalists recorded an Israeli helicopter flying over the border just an hour before the bombings. The investigation claims the helicopter was locating the journalists.

An hour later, a journalist with the Lebanese TV station LBCI reported in a video that he could see a similar helicopter flying overhead. At 6:02 p.m., Reuters broadcast the bombardment live.

Thirty-seven seconds later, the same group of journalists was targeted by a second attack, Reporters Without Borders concluded in its investigation, noting that the two bombardments were of different intensity and that the first one killed Abdallah.

The second bomb hit the Al-Jazeera vehicle next to him and injured his colleagues, the investigation found. The attacks came from east of where the journalists were stationed, in the direction of the Israeli border.

Reporters Without Borders said, based on its investigation, that the attacks must have been targeted, saying two strikes in the same place in a short time could have indicated that.

It said it would have been "impossible" to mistake the reporters for fighters because of their heightened position and the fact that they had been there for an hour.

Netanyahu invoked the "Amalek" narrative in a speech about the country's expanding its ground operation in Gaza yesterday.

“You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible," Netanyahu said, based on a translation. "And we do remember, and we are fighting. Our brave troops and combatants who are now in Gaza or around Gaza, and in all other regions in Israel, are joining this chain of Jewish heroes, a chain that has started 3,000 years ago from Joshua ben Nun, until the heroes of 1948, the Six-Day War, the ’73 October War and all other wars in this country."

Amalek is an ancient biblical nation that was in Canaan, which was a land in the southern Levant. The Amalekites attacked the Jewish people after the exodus from Egypt, and "they are seen as the archetypal enemy of the Jews," according to Chabad.org.

Netanyahu's use of the narrative drew online criticism because of scripture suggesting that Amalekites must not be spared.

Nearly three dozen trucks entered Gaza today in the largest aid convoy since the war began, but humanitarian workers said the assistance still fell desperately short of needs after thousands of people broke into warehouses to take flour and basic hygiene products.

Israel has allowed only a trickle of aid to enter. A spokesperson at the Rafah crossing, Wael Abo Omar, told The Associated Press that 33 trucks of aid entered the only border crossing from Egypt today.

After launches toward the Israeli territory from Lebanon earlier today, an IDF aircraft struck targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon, the IDF said in a statement. 

Infrastructure for directing terrorism and other military infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah were struck. 

National security adviser Jake Sullivan expressed his condolences on Sunday programs for the thousands of Palestinians who have died in the war while and defended Israeli military action after ground troops entered Gaza.

“There have been deaths of thousands of Palestinian civilians in this conflict, and that is an absolute tragedy,” Sullivan said on ABC News’ “This Week.” “Those people did not deserve to die. Those people deserved to live lives of peace and sanctity and dignity.”

Asked on CBS’ “Face the Nation” about the Biden administration’s message after Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the U.N. that pausing Israel’s heavy bombardment must be considered amid calls for at least humanitarian assistance, Sullivan said: “Well, what a lot of people are calling for is just a stop to Israeli military action against terrorists, period — just stop, no more.

“Israel cannot go after terrorists who conducted this largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and who continue to fire rockets and continue to attack Israel,” he said.

“We have taken the position that Israel has a right to defend itself against terrorist attacks,” he added. “That is different from what Secretary Blinken spoke about, which was a humanitarian pause, a pause in the fighting, for example, so that there’s a period of time where there can be safe passage of hostages.”

The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow afternoon following Israel’s announcement that it has expanded ground operations in Gaza.

The United Arab Emirates requested the meeting yesterday to push the council to support an immediate cease-fire.

Council members have failed to reach consensus as resolutions calling for either a pause or a cease-fire were knocked down.

In a statement, the UAE’s foreign ministry “underlined the importance of the protection of civilians, according to international humanitarian law, international treaties for the protection of civilians and human rights, and the need to ensure that they are not targeted during conflict.”

The council’s failure sent the matter to the U.N. General Assembly, where 120 countries voted in favor of calling for an immediate and sustained humanitarian truce between Israel and Hamas. The resolution passed with only 14 countries voting against, including the U.S. and Israel.

“I regret that instead of a critically needed humanitarian pause supported by the international community, Israel has intensified its military operations,” said U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, who described the situation in Gaza as “growing more desperate by the hours.”

“The world is witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe taking place before our eyes,” he added, urging all those with responsibility “to step back from the brink.”

President Joe Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi discussed humanitarian aid to innocent civilians in Gaza in a phone call today, the White House said in a statement.

Biden expressed appreciation for El-Sissi and Egypt's efforts to get humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.

The pair also agreed on speeding the process of getting more assistance and resources into Gaza starting today and then continuing.

In the call, they talked about the importance of protecting civilian lives while respecting international humanitarian law, the White House statement said. They also discussed ensuring that Palestinians in Gaza are not being displaced to Egypt or elsewhere.

Biden then informed El-Sissi of U.S. efforts to ensure that others in the region are not expanding the conflict in Gaza and to ensure the hostages in Gaza are released.

Biden and El-Sissi agreed that they will work together to "set the conditions for a durable and sustainable peace in the Middle East to include the establishment of a Palestinian state," the statement said.

More IDF forces will go into Gaza this week, and there will be deeper ground attacks against Hamas, said Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser to Netanyahu.

“We are approaching the whole operation very slowly to minimize casualties on our side and the Palestinian side,” Amidror, retired major general, said today in a telephone call.

Amidror, who receives regular briefings from Israeli officials, said the IDF is working to defeat Hamas commanders in senior and mid-level leadership.

Israel called on Russia to act after reports and videos of the storming of a plane that had landed from Tel Aviv circulated.

"The State of Israel takes seriously attempts to harm Israeli citizens and Jews everywhere," the prime minister's office and the Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a joint announcement.

The statement said two offices, in conjunction with the National Security Headquarters, "are monitoring the development of events in southern Russia in the Dagestan province."

"Israel expects the Russian law enforcement authorities to protect the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews wherever they may be and to act resolutely against the rioters and against the wild incitement directed against Jews and Israelis," the statement said.

Alex Ben-Zvi, Israel's ambassador to Russia, is working with Russian authorities to "ensure the safety of Israelis and Jews there," it said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called out Russia in a statement today after videos circulated appearing to show mobs breaking into an airport and searching for Israeli citizens who had just arrived on a flight from Tel Aviv.

He said the videos from Makhachkala, Russia, were "appalling" in the statement on X.

"This is not an isolated incident in Makhachkala, but rather part of Russia’s widespread culture of hatred toward other nations, which is propagated by state television, pundits, and authorities," Zelenskyy wrote.

He said both Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian foreign minister have histories of using antisemitic language.

"For Russian propaganda talking heads on official television, hate rhetoric is routine. Even the most recent Middle East escalation prompted antisemitic statements from Russian ideologists," Zelenskyy said.

He concluded: "Russian antisemitism and hatred toward other nations are systemic and deeply rooted. Hatred is what drives aggression and terror. We must all work together to oppose hatred."

International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan visited the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt today and posted a video on X saying he hopes to visit the Gaza Strip and Israel while he is in the region.

He added that humanitarian relief supplies being sent to civilians should not be impeded.

Dozens of people arrived at al-Shifa Hospital as a result of continuous bombing of the Al Shati refugee camp, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Images shared by the Health Ministry showed children at the hospital, with some lying on the floor and others covered in dust and blood.

The IDF said today it killed “a number of terrorists exiting a shaft of a tunnel in the Gaza Strip” near the Erez crossing, one of two main crossings in and out of Gaza for civilians.

It said its soldiers confronted Hamas gunmen but did not specify how many died or were injured.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said aid to Israel will be considered on the House floor in a stand-alone measure this week and expressed confidence that it would pass. He resisted Biden’s call for Congress to provide a broader package that also includes aid to Ukraine.

“We’re going to move a stand-alone Israel funding bill this week in the House — I know our colleagues, our Republican colleagues in the Senate, have a similar measure,” Johnson said in an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” adding that he believes there will be bipartisan support for the measure.

“There are lots of things going on around the world that we have to address, and we will,” Johnson said. “But right now, what’s happening in Israel takes the immediate attention, and I think we’ve got to separate that and get it through.”

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Netanyahu issued an apology today after an overnight post on X seemed to blame chief members of Israel’s military and security for the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. The post has been removed.

HAIFA, Israel — Rambam Hospital is just 20 miles from the Lebanese border and susceptible to missile attacks if war with Hezbollah breaks out.

A parking garage that can fit 1,500 vehicles has been transformed into an underground hospital, with 2,000 beds, a dialysis center, pediatric and oncology centers and surgical bays.

It’s built to keep running for days without outside contact in case of a biological or chemical attack.

The facility is protected by 7,000 tons of steel, and it is designed to continue functioning if Haifa comes under direct attack.

LONDON — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron in a call to discuss their shared interest in getting humanitarian aid to Gaza and amid growing concerns about an escalation of the war, Sunak's office said.

The two leaders agreed on a need for a "two-state solution" and the importance of keeping the long-term future of the region in mind, No. 10 Downing St. said in a news release.

"They underscored that Hamas does not represent ordinary Palestinians and that their barbarism should not undermine the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people," the release said.

Sunak and Macron agreed to work together on getting crucial aid, including fuel, to Gaza and helping foreign nationals out.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, today defended his call to ban pro-Palestinian groups from state colleges as Israel expands its ground offensive in Gaza.

In an interview on “Meet the Press,” NBC News’ Kristen Welker asked DeSantis to respond to his Republican 2024 rival Vivek Ramaswamy, who insisted that such a move would violate First Amendment rights.

DeSantis pushed back: “This is not cancel culture.”

“This group, they themselves said in the aftermath of the Hamas attack that they don’t just stand in solidarity, that they are part of this Hamas movement,” he said. “And so, yeah, you have a right to go out and demonstrate, but you can’t provide material support to terrorism.”

He accused pro-Palestinian groups on campuses of having “linked themselves to Hamas.”

“And so we absolutely decertified them. They should not get one red cent of taxpayer dollars,” DeSantis said.

Read the full story here.

Biden spoke with Netanyahu by phone today, the White House and Netanyahu's office confirmed.

The two leaders discussed the “developments in Gaza” and underscored Israel’s right to defend itself “in a manner consistent with internal humanitarian law that prioritizes the protection of civilians.”

They also discussed the efforts to release hostages, including unaccounted-for Americans, and the need to “immediately and significantly increase the flow of humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of civilians in Gaza.”

Biden and Netanyahu will remain in touch directly and through their national security teams.

A coalition of 30 human rights groups and NGOs in Israel pleaded for the international community to stop a wave of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Today's statement said the violence is leading to "the forcible transfer of Palestinian communities in the West Bank."

Since the Oct. 7 incursion, Israeli settlers have been “exploiting the lack of public attention to the West Bank” to “escalate their campaign of violent attacks in an attempt to forcibly transfer Palestinian communities,” the statement said. It comes as much of the war has focused public attention on the Gaza Strip.

So far, 13 herding communities have been displaced and seven Palestinians have been killed by settlers since the war began, the statement said.

“With grave concern and with a clear understanding of the political landscape, we recognize that the only way to stop this forcible transfer in the West Bank is a clear, strong and direct intervention by the international community,” the statement, signed by groups including Rabbis for Human Rights, Amnesty International Israel and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, said.

HAIFA, Israel — While concern over the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip mounts, another undercurrent of alarm is growing in Washington and other Western capitals: Israel’s bombardment could spread into a wider regional war — one involving regional superpower Iran or its proxy forces.

On Sunday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on X that Israel had “crossed the red lines, which may force everyone to take action.”

Many experts believe there is little desire in Washington and Tehran for a regional conflict. But the scope for miscalculation is huge, and the intensity of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, which, according to Palestinian health officials, has killed more than 8,000 people, including thousands of civilians and children, could easily push the situation spiraling out of control. 

“There’s a real risk of escalation,” said Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, a London-based think tank. 

Read the full story here.

With ambulances and hospitals running out of fuel, pregnant women in Gaza have been given primitive "emergency delivery kits" for when they go into labor.

Laila Baker, United Nations Population Fund regional director for Arab States, said the international agency is pushing for humanitarian access to be able to help women and other civilians.

"Put yourself in the shoes of any woman who should be experiencing one of the most joyous moments of her life, and instead she's in fear of death," Baker said.

The IDF is distributing leaflets in Gaza instructing people on how to turn themselves in to the Israeli military.

“Hamas leaders are exploiting you. They and their families are in safe places while you die in vain,” the leaflets said.

The instructions say to "remove all military gear," "raise your hands," "wave white rags" and "not to bring food or water with you, we will take care of that."

HELSINKI — Norway’s prime minister says Israel’s reaction to Hamas’ attack exceeds the rules of international law on proportionality.

“It says in international law that (reaction to such an attack) must be proportionate,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told public broadcaster NRK today.

“Civilians must be taken into account, and humanitarian law is fully aware of that. I believe that the line has now been far exceeded” by Israel, he said, adding that his primary concern is that emergency aid is not getting into the Gaza Strip.

Norway on Friday voted in favor of the United Nations resolution calling for a “humanitarian truce” leading to a cessation of hostilities in Gaza.

“It’s a catastrophic situation, and I believe it is clearly in violation of what we call the rules of war or humanitarian law,” he said.

Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation has advanced an amendment to the country’s terror laws that will allow the state to designate individuals, not just organizations, as "terrorists."

Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and Minister of Justice Yariv Levin said in a statement that the amendment was designed to “thwart the financing of individuals operating in various organizations, and in particular the Hamas terrorist organization.” The bill will also “address the issues of recruitment, financing, and the transfer of funds for terrorist purposes,” the statement added.

The expansion is proposed as an update to a 2016 counterterrorism law that human rights groups have warned is routinely used to shut down Palestinian civil society groups, as well as militant organizations.

TEL AVIV — As the war rages, Thailand's Embassy is racing to evacuate thousands of citizens, mostly agricultural workers, while it pushes for answers about the dozens of Thai nationals feared taken hostage by Hamas.

"Thailand doesn't have anything (to do) with this conflict, but we got affected a lot," Pannabha Chandraramya, Thailand’s ambassador in Israel, told NBC News on Sunday. At least 24 Thai nationals were killed on Oct. 7, and at least 19 have been confirmed to have been taken hostage — with the number feared to be higher.

Much of Israel's agriculture sector relies on labor from Thai workers, with Chandraramya saying that at least 6,000 people, mostly workers, have already been evacuated. The goal is to evacuate as many as 30,000 people, with two to three flights running daily, she said.

One worker waiting for a flight to Thailand at a makeshift outpost for the Thai embassy said he had no plans to return to Israel after the war. He said he was too "scared" to come back and will find work elsewhere.

Chandraramya said the evacuations could have a serious impact on the agricultural industry in Israel. "In the peaceful times, we always say that all the vegetables and fruit that you eat pass through the hands of Thai workers," she said.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., says the human toll of the war is behind her call for a cease-fire. This morning on “Meet the Press," she said that failing to call out violations of international law during Israel's siege of Gaza is a double standard and will diminish the United States' moral authority.

"There are racists within the Netanyahu government, and there are racist policies that Israel has been carrying out," Jayapal said. "I think it is important for us to recognize that we need to be able to criticize the policies of Israel's government and not be called antisemitic."

Pope Francis this morning called for a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas and renewed an appeal for the release of hostages held in Gaza.

"Let no one abandon the possibility of stopping the weapons,” he said at his weekly blessing in St. Peter’s Square.

Referring to "the grave situation in Palestine and Israel,” he said "in Gaza, in particular, let there be room to guarantee humanitarian aid and may the hostages be freed immediately."

He added: "We say ‘cease-fire, cease-fire.’ Brothers and sisters, stop! War is always a defeat, always."

Some internet connectivity in Gaza has resumed after a near-total telecommunication blackout Friday.

Netblocks, a U.K. company that tracks global internet access, said last night that some internet providers were back online, though general connection speeds there are far below normal.

Paltel, one of the largest providers in Gaza, said on its Facebook page this morning that it had been hastily repairing infrastructure that had been destroyed by Israeli bombing Friday.

Husam Mekdad, a telecommunication worker in Gaza, told NBC News that phone and internet access had somewhat resumed in southern Gaza but that it was limited in the north.

Ten aid trucks with food and medical essentials from the Egyptian Red Crescent have passed into Gaza through the Rafah crossing, the Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed to NBC News.

Fuel has also been allowed to enter the strip for the first time since Israel announced a full blockade in the coastal enclave.

Before the war, 200 aid trucks were received in Gaza per day.

Electricity and production are limited in Gaza, which has been under blockade by both Israel and Egypt since 2007.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Despite assurances from IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari yesterday, many Palestinians remain anxious about Israel's assertions that those who evacuate north Gaza will be able to return eventually.

Mustafa Barghouti, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said he believes Netanyahu's original plan was to evict Gazans into the Sinai Peninsula. When Egyptian leaders began to push back, Barghouti believes a "plan B" was embraced to annex north Gaza once residents fled south.

"Did Israel ever allow anybody back? Did they allow any of the Palestinian refugees who have been ethnically cleansed in 1948 back? None," Barghouti said.

Israel has a "very clear record of not allowing people to come back home," he added.

In renewing the push for Palestinians to move south, Hagari yesterday called the move "a temporary measure."

"Moving back to northern Gaza will be possible once the intense hostilities end," he said in a video on X.

The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier and its strike group has moved through the Strait of Gibraltar, putting two American carriers in the Mediterranean Sea, a rare sight in recent years.

The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group is already in the eastern Mediterranean, part of a buildup of forces as the U.S. supports Israel in its war against Hamas.

The Eisenhower sailed into the Mediterranean on Saturday and is slated to move through the Suez Canal to the U.S. Central Command region as the American forces expand their presence in the Middle East to deter Iran and its proxy militant groups from trying to widen the war.

A peacekeeper is in stable condition after a mortar hit a base near the village of Houla in south Lebanon last night, according to the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

The agency said it was attacked twice yesterday, once at 10 p.m. at the Houla base and earlier in the day when a shell hit UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura.

"UNIFIL expresses serious concern over these two attacks on our troops who are tirelessly working 24/7 to restore stability in southern Lebanon and de-escalate this perilous situation," it said.

An investigation has been launched into both incidents. UNIFIL did not assign blame to anyone but did note that attacking peacekeepers is a crime.

"We strongly urge all parties involved in the conflict to immediately cease fire," UNIFIL said.

Retired Adm. James Stavridis breaks down Israel’s ground operation in Gaza and weighs in on the risk of escalation.

World leaders' actions to prevent violence in Gaza are “too weak” and “too slow,” Doctors Without Borders said today.

Reiterating pleas from other global humanitarian organizations and several international leaders, the health organization called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

"The bombing by the Israeli forces has intensified to a degree not seen until now: Northern Gaza is being razed to the ground," the group said.

“The international community must take stronger action to urge Israel to stop the bloodshed,” the NGO added, describing the bombing campaign as an “atrocity” unleashing “indiscriminate violence on helpless people.”

There are more injured people than the hospitals can handle, the statement said. It added that the Israeli military's orders to evacuate hospitals in Gaza City were not possible because they were full of patients and being used as shelters for internally displaced people.

At least 10 trucks are expected to enter the Gaza Strip today, a Palestinian Red Crescent spokesperson in Gaza told NBC News.

The 10 trucks are waiting at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, and 20 more are stationed at the Al-Oja crossing, Egypt's border with Israel. It is not known if all waiting vehicles will be allowed to enter, but at least 10 would be allowed to pass through "for sure," the spokesperson told NBC News.

Prior to Oct. 7, Gaza received aid from 200 convoys per day. Only 80 trucks total have passed through since the outbreak of the war, according to the UNRWA.

The head of the World Health Organization says the group has reconnected with its team in Gaza after the enclave's connectivity blackout.

“They said the last two nights were extremely tense with a lot of airstrikes — without fuel, water, electricity, connectivity and safe shelter to evacuate to,” Tedros Adhanom wrote on X.

“As with everyone in Gaza, they and their families are not safe,” he added, reiterating calls for the protection of health facilities and humanitarian workers and an immediate cease-fire.

He added that hospitals in the enclave remain overwhelmed with patients and are low on medical supplies.

Palestinian health officials said today that more than 8,000 have died in Gaza since the conflict with Israel began, and in the southern city of Khan Younis today, the grief was palpable.

Israel’s “crimes” in Gaza may “force everyone to take action,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on X today.

Referring to Israel as a “Zionist regime,” Raisi said in a post in English that the country had “crossed the red lines.”

“Washington asks us to not do anything, but they keep giving widespread support to Israel,” he said, referring to U.S. warnings about Iran and its proxy forces taking action in response to the IDF's ground incursion.

Iran, which provides funding and military support to the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah, had previously warned Israel of a regional escalation if ground troops entered the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said today it has been told to leave its hospital immediately under threat of bombardment following continuous airstrikes in the vicinity.

"Two phone calls were received, with a clear and direct threat, that the hospital must be evacuated at once, otherwise PRCS holds full responsibility for the lives of everyone inside the hospital," the organization said in a statement.

Israeli forces have previously said that people in the hospital should evacuate south, but the Palestinian Red Crescent said it would continue to provide shelter and lifesaving services to civilians in north Gaza.

Evacuation of hundreds of patients could also pose logistical challenges, as ambulances are running out of fuel, with at least three entirely out of commission.

TEL AVIV — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a rare apology after his message blaming security and intelligence chiefs for failing to prevent Hamas' attack caused widespread anger.

Netanyahu caused uproar last night when he posted that "at no stage was" he "warned of war intentions on the part of Hamas," instead accusing his security and intelligence leaders of telling him "time and time again" that the terror group had been "deterred."

After an angry backlash — both from opponents and figures within his coalition — Netanyahu deleted the post. He followed up with another message today saying, "I was wrong," and that "things I said following the press conference should not have been said and I apologize for that."

An array of military, espionage and political figures have accepted responsibility for their parts in failing to prevent the massacre. But while Netanyahu said today that he gives his "full support to all the heads of the security forces," he has not directly apologized, despite coming under heavy criticism and pressure to do so.

Thousands of people broke into several warehouses belonging to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in the Gaza Strip, the agency said in a statement. Wheat flour, hygiene materials and other basic items were taken, the statement added.

“Civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege on Gaza,” said Thomas White, director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza. “The needs of the communities are immense, if only for basic survival, while the aid we receive is meager."

The warehouses contained 80 tons of mixed food commodities, mainly canned food, as well as wheat flour and sunflower oil, a statement from the World Food Program said. They were to be distributed to displaced families.

Food deliveries to the Gaza Strip are being slowed by the introduction of strict checks, an ongoing ban on the distribution of fuel, and heightened demand because of the exodus of residents to the south, according to the UNRWA.

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari evaded questions about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s since-deleted X post that said he was not “warned of war intentions on the part of Hamas.”

Asked at a news conference today about exactly what the military and Israel Security Agency shared with Netanyahu ahead of the Oct. 7 attacks, Hagari initially refused to answer.

Pressed on the subject, he said: “We at the IDF — and I’m convinced that in the ISA as well, we will do a very, very harsh and difficult debriefing with ourselves and review. And we will inform the public and we will present everything. Right now we’re fighting and we are focusing on the war. That is my answer.”

The United Nations Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting on Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza for tomorrow afternoon.

Condemning the violence, the United Arab Emirates, the Arab representative on the council, called for a cease-fire.

This puts it at odds with other Security Council members such as the United States.

ISRAEL/GAZA BORDER — Israel’s military said its fighter jets struck more than 450 Hamas targets in Gaza in the last day.

Targets include operational command centers, observation posts and anti-tank missile launch posts, the Israel Defense Forces said. 

Operations were also underway as part of an expansion of ground activities, according to the IDF. 

ISRAEL/GAZA BORDER — Some communication services have returned in the Gaza Strip, according to telecommunications provider Paltel.

Paltel said early Sunday local time that crews have been working to repair damage to the internal grid network infrastructure. It said landline, mobile and internet services disrupted Friday “due to the ongoing aggression” were being gradually restored.

A member of NBC News’ crew in the Gaza Strip also said internet and communications were working.

Relatives of the Israelis held captive by Hamas have asked Prime Minister Netanyahu to halt the airstrikes on Gaza and resume rescue negotiations. Huma Abedin, who advised former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, discusses the regional coordination required for a humanitarian pause with “American Voices” host Alicia Menendez.

Urgency is rising in efforts to clear residents from northern Gaza, particularly those near Hamas strongholds, a spokesman for the Israeli miltary said yesterday.

“The Israel Defense Forces is expanding its operations,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a video posted to social media Saturday night. “We are moving to the next phase of our war against Hamas in Gaza.”

During the video address, Hagari said Israel has been telling Gazans for two weeks to get out of the northern region and move south.

“Today, we increase the urgency of that warning,” he said.

He described such a move for civilians as temporary.

• Netanyahu says war has entered second phase as troops prepare for ‘long and difficult’ battle
• ‘This is my home’: Israel’s kibbutz communities look to rebuild after devastation of Hamas attack
• After begging him to return to Thailand, one worker’s family fears he is among Hamas’ hostages
• A group of Jews and Arabs in Israel has a ‘radical’ idea — protecting one another as fear reigns
• Told to leave northern Gaza, this Palestinian family is staying put
• Death and trauma stalk Palestinian children
• Netanyahu has weathered many political storms, but the Oct. 7 attack is the strongest one yet