Netanyahu warns of a long and difficult fight

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.

An Israel Defense Forces official said Saturday that humanitarian efforts by the United States and Egypt, which have helped to move food, water, medicine and other supplies into Gaza, will be expanding.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari indicated in an IDF video posted to social media Saturday night that residents of Gaza will be able to receive aid in the south.

"Tomorrow, the humanitarian efforts in Gaza led by Egypt and the United States will be expanding," he said, without providing additional details.

An official with the Israel Defense Forces said Saturday that urgency is rising in efforts to clear residents from northern Gaza, particularly those near Hamas strongholds.

"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.

The announcement came amid global concern that too many civilians are in harm’s way in Gaza. On Wednesday President Joe Biden urged Israel to do “everything in its power to protect innocent civilians.”

Israel’s chief military spokesperson declined to say whether Israel was behind the telecommunications blackout that hit Gaza on Friday and which left the besieged enclave largely cut off but said it would do what it needed to protect its forces.

Asked whether Israel had knocked out cellular services at the start of the ground offensive that began on Friday night, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said, “We do what we have to do to secure our forces for as long as we must, temporary or permanent, as much as we need to and we will not say anything further about that.”

The Brooklyn Bridge reopened tonight after pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in lanes en masse, blocking traffic and presenting a dangerous mix of pedestrian and vehicle.

The reopening was announced by New York City Emergency Management officials shortly after 8 p.m., about 2½ hours after they announced it was closed in both directions.

Authorities initially warned that eastbound lanes had been disrupted, but soon said the bridge was useless for vehicles in both directions.

According to NBC New York, thousands of demonstrators marched in Brooklyn and on the bridge to bring awareness to the plight of Palestinian residents of Gaza.

Despite the large crowds, the New York Police Department's office of the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information reported one arrest. Information about the arrest was not unavailable, but the office indicated it was not related to the bridge demonstration.

On Friday, pro-Palestinian demonstrators shut down Grand Central Terminal, the historic train station serving New York City, during evening rush hour. Officers issued court summons to roughly 300 who allegedly participated, according to the NYPD.

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.

LAS VEGAS — Republican presidential candidates delivered speeches touting their staunch support for Israel at the annual Republican Jewish Coalition’s summit today — and sought to peel support away from former President Donald Trump, the front-runner.

Trump recently faced backlash for criticizing Netanyahu and calling Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, “very smart.”

“America needs a captain who will steady the ship, not capsize it, and Republicans need a candidate who can actually win,” former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said, pointedly criticizing Trump, who has drawn strong support from Orthodox Jews, according to a poll this year by the Jewish Electoral Institute.

“I will not criticize Israel’s prime minister in the middle of a tragedy and war,” Haley added.

Read the full story here.

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza — When emergency workers like Jihad Saleem hear an airstrike, they respond to the scene based on the sound. Other times, victims arrive on their own, and staff members go with them to where the blast happened.

With the communications blackout, the task of rescuing and caring for the wounded is even more difficult than it had been, Saleem said,

“We’re like the blind,” he said in Khan Younis today. “We cannot work at the scene effectively without communication.”

Saleem said that "communication is the central nervous system in the emergency medical team.”

“We’re suffering from paralysis in our work,” he said.

The Red Cross today urged all parties involved in the Israel-Hamas war to restore water, electricity and health care in Gaza and to strive for the safety of civilians as required by international law.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said the situation was dire in Gaza for those unable to get out before Israel's incursion this week in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.

The committee said in a statement that more than 2 million people were essentially trapped in Gaza without steady sustenance, including water and power in many cases, and are in harm's way amid Israel's bombardments.

"It is unacceptable that civilians have no safe place to go in Gaza amid the massive bombardments, and with a military siege in place there is also no adequate humanitarian response currently possible," Mirjana Spoljaric, the president of the ICRC, said in the statement.

“I am shocked by the intolerable level of human suffering and urge the parties to the conflict to deescalate now. ... This is a catastrophic failing that the world must not tolerate," Spoljaric said.

NBC News’ Ellison Barber reports from the Israel-Gaza border as explosions light up the distant northern Gaza skyline. The explosions come as Israel’s military said it was increasing ground operations in the Gaza Strip.

New York City marchers expressing support for Palestinians in the war between Israel and Gaza today shut down the Brooklyn Bridge, city officials said.

New York City Emergency Management initially said eastbound lanes were closed as marchers clogged lanes. The agency later said the bridge was closed in both directions.

NBC New York reported that thousands of pro-Palestinian marchers descended on the streets of Brooklyn.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators shut down Grand Central Terminal during yesterday evening’s rush hour, leading authorities to issue court summonses to roughly 300 who allegedly participated, New York police said.

JERUSALEM — Elon Musk said SpaceX’s Starlink will support communication links in Gaza with “internationally recognized aid organizations,” prompting Israel’s communication minister to say Israel would fight the move.

Musk said today on X that it was not clear who has authority for ground links in Gaza but that it is known that “no terminal has requested a connection in that area.”

A telephone and internet blackout today isolated people in the Gaza Strip from the world and from one another, with calls to loved ones, ambulances or colleagues elsewhere all but impossible as Israel widened its air and ground assault.

Responding to Musk’s post, Israel’s communication minister, Shlomo Karhi, said Israel “will use all means at its disposal to fight this” because Hamas "will use it for terrorist activities.”

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza — Ashraf Shannon, a journalist from Gaza, says that the blackout of cell service makes it hard for him to know even the status of his own family.

“We’re seriously suffering from the lack of telecommunication with our channels, and also the lack of telephone calls with our families and friends — especially with the families, because my family lives not far from here,” Shannon said in Khan Younis today.

“I don’t know what’s going on with them. I don’t know if they’re still alive,” he said.

The only way Shannon can communicate with his channels is through a satellite link or a satellite phone, and that’s not available all the time, he said.

“I think Israel is trying to — by this blackout — trying to stop the world from seeing what’s happening in Gaza,” he said.

The United Nations International Telecommunication Union has been among the groups decrying what is being called a blackout.

“ITU condemns the communication blackout in Gaza and calls for life-saving access to networks to be restored,” the agency said. “Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times.”

RE’IM/BE’ERI, Israel — The tractors that recently dug graves are being prepared to farm again.

Three weeks after the unprecedented Hamas attack in which residents of kibbutzim were tortured and butchered, some survivors are returning in an attempt to rebuild.

Their ability to do so forms a question mark over one of Israel’s foundational movements and whether these collective, often-leftist communities that were central to the establishment of the Jewish state can ever truly recover.

They must try to do so while processing their grief and horror, while the battle raging over Gaza just a few miles away lights up the skies and provides a cacophony of booms and thuds through the night, and while in some streets the stink of death still lingers.

Read the full story here.

Here’s a look in numbers at the toll of the Israel-Hamas war as of yesterday, sourced from the Gaza Health Ministry and Israeli officials, as well as international observers and aid groups:

1,400

Number of Israelis killed

7,326

Number of Palestinians killed

5,431

Number of Israelis injured

18,967

Number of Palestinians injured

250,000

Number of Israelis displaced

1.4 million

Number of Palestinians displaced in Gaza

229

Soldiers and civilians being held hostage in Gaza

4

Hostages released

84

Aid trucks let into Gaza

27,781

Residential units destroyed in Gaza

Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in central London to call for a cease-fire after Israel’s military expanded its air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip.

SDEROT, Israel — Heavy Israeli bombing is underway in northern Gaza, which can be seen from Sderot on Israel's border with the enclave.

The distant skyline of Gaza City and its surrounding neighborhoods is covered in darkness. Every few minutes, parts of the sky glow orange from the fireballs that follow strikes, then resounding booms can be heard as the sound travels to Sderot — some loud enough to rattle the windows and shake buildings.

Israel’s military said today that its fighter jets struck “a number of military targets” belonging to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The IDF said it was responding to rocket and missile fire from Lebanon.

“During the strikes, Hezbollah terror infrastructure was targeted, including a military compound and observation posts,” it said. It did not specify whether there were casualties.

PARIS — Police encircled hundreds of people who defied a ban on a pro-Palestinian demonstration today in central Paris. The officers tried to contain the protest but fired gas when tensions rose as a breakaway group tried to march.

The protest collective known as Urgence Palestine called for a cease-fire in the increasingly intense war between Israel and Hamas. At least 80 people were given citations, according to French media. Other pro-Palestinian demonstrations were held in Marseille and Strasbourg in the east.

GAZA STRIP — It's been 30 hours since communications and the internet were completely cut off from the Gaza Strip.

“No water, no food, no medicine, no fuel, no electricity, and the bombing does not stop," said an NBC News crew member in Gaza.

Citing “grave statements coming from Turkey,” Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said diplomatic representatives are being recalled from the country.

Cohen's statement on social media did not specify a comment. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has criticized Israel and claimed that Hamas was not “a terrorist organization.”

Erdoğan also accused Israel of targeting “women, children and innocent civilians."

Around 300 people were issued court summonses after a protest calling for a cease-fire yesterday shut down New York City’s Grand Central Terminal, police said today.

Grand Central Terminal was closed for more than two hours. The group Jewish Voice for Peace said it organized the protest.

In Brooklyn today, a confrontation was also seen in video as Jewish demonstrators rallied against the war in Gaza. A man wearing a yarmulke called the demonstrators “prostitutes,” while one demonstrator said, “You’re supporting bloodshed.”

TEL AVIV — “Bring them home now! Bring them home today!”

Those are the words ringing out outside Israel’s Defense Ministry right now, where hundreds of people are calling on the Israeli government to do more to bring home their loved ones taken hostage by Hamas.

Joining the crowd of voices calling on Israel’s defense minister to come out and meet with the families is Ayelet Samerano, whose son was taken by Hamas on Oct. 7.

“We wanted to tell him that the first mission for him is to bring them back.”

Her son, Jonathan Samerano, 21, escaped from the music festival where at least 260 people were killed, only to be attacked by militants as he and two friends sought shelter in nearby Be’eri. Both of his friends were killed at the gate — and his mother says video shows her son was also shot but survived and was confirmed to be among those taken hostage.

“They were trying to get to a shelter. … They didn’t know it was a terrorist they asked to open the gate,” she said.

Ayelet said she wanted the government to “agree to release all the terrorists to go back to Gaza” in exchange for her son and others taken hostage, a sentiment echoed by other families here.

She said she wanted assurance from the Israeli government that it is doing “all they can to bring them back.”

Israeli opposition leader and minister without portfolio Benny Gantz denied he had disagreements with Netanyahu about the war in Gaza, calling such talk mere “gossip.”

He said all members of the Israeli security Cabinet are standing firm on the offensive in Gaza.

“We are all united behind one goal, which is victory,” said Gantz, who joined the government of his political foe Netanyahu after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack.

The United Arab Emirates today condemned the ground invasion of the Gaza Strip and said it was deeply concerned about the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave, according to state media.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for an "immediate" cease-fire and underlined the importance of protecting of civilians during conflicts "according to international humanitarian law, international treaties for the protection of civilians and human rights," Emirates News Agency reported.

The normalization of ties with the UAE has been one of Netanyahu's signature accomplishments. Now the war in Gaza poses a stark challenge to Israel’s efforts to engage with governments in the region.

Updating Israelis on the expanded ground invasion phase of the conflict with Hamas, Netanyahu warned that a long and difficult war awaits.

“It will be long and difficult,” he said. “We are ready.”

The goal of the conflict is straightforward — to bring home hostages and defeat Hamas, but "this mission is not a simple or easy one," he said, adding that he had met with loved ones' relatives earlier in the day.

After his address, Netanyahu took some reporters' questions, something he hadn't done in some time.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Benny Gantz, who is a part of Israel's emergency unity government, also offered comments at the Tel Aviv news conference, echoing Netanyahu's warning to be braced for a lengthy and challenging war.

MAVKI'IM, Israel — The sounds of fierce fighting coming from the Gaza Strip have been unrelenting for hours — a mix of artillery fire and tanks and airstrikes.

But with the phone and internet service out in the Gaza Strip, it is impossible to know exactly what is happening there.

Rockets have also been coming into Israel from Gaza. Sirens in southern Israel have been sounding as rockets shoot up from Gaza in this direction, intercepted by the Iron Dome.

As airstrikes continue in Gaza, rockets are fired back toward Israel from the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

Netanyahu pledged to the families of hostages that he will do as much as possible to bring about their loved ones' release.

“We will exercise and exhaust every possibility to bring them home," he said at a meeting with the families today.

Netanyahu's wife, Sara, also attended the meeting, embracing and expressing her support for the families.

The meeting, which took place in the Kirya, was attended by several other Israeli officials, among them Gal Hirsch, the commissioner for kidnapped and missing persons; Yossi Shelli, the director general of the prime minister’s office; and Nebo Katz, an adviser to the prime minister. Tal Gilboa, an adviser to the prime minister whose nephew is among the abductees, also attended.

Hours after it sent tanks and infantry into Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said it had moved into another stage of war.

“In order to expose and destroy the enemy, there is no other way than to enter its territory with force,” the IDF chief of the general staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said today.

“Last evening, the ground shook in Gaza. We attacked above ground and underground. ... The instructions to the forces are clear. The campaign will continue until further notice.”

Halevi said the IDF is ready on the northern border to "prevent and thwart" attacks from Hezbollah. He added that the defensive line has been stabilized and that ground troops are supported by air and by sea.

"Achievements demand risks and, as we know, every victory comes at a price," he said.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said he is deeply concerned by the escalation of bombardments in Gaza, which he says undermines humanitarian objectives to facilitate the release of hostages, evacuate foreign nationals and deliver aid.

“I reiterate my strong appeal for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire, together with the unconditional release of hostages and a delivery of humanitarian relief at the level that corresponds to the dramatic needs of the people in Gaza, where a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in front of our eyes,” Guterres said. 

Guterres met with Qatar's prime minister and foreign affairs minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, in Doha to express his gratitude and support for Qatar's aid in the release of hostages in Gaza.

"This is the moment of truth," Guterres said. "Everyone must assume their responsibilities. History will judge us all."

A man sits in front of buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes in Gaza City on Saturday.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — It is calm here in Manarah Square with small groups of demonstrators gathered to protest Israel’s military operation in Gaza.

As night falls and temperatures cool, more people are converging toward the city center.

“We’re here today to tell everyone in the world we stand with Gaza,” said Samar Hamad, a 35-year-old schoolteacher. “We will never give up. It’s our land. It’s the Palestinian land. We will fight to the last man, woman and child.

"We are one people."

Police and security officers seemed relaxed as a truck carrying loudspeaker equipment moved into the roundabout and started blasting anti-occupation anthems.

CAIRO — There will be “grave risks” and “unprecedented humanitarian and security repercussions” if Israel proceeds with a large-scale ground attack in Gaza, the Egyptian government said in a statement today.

In its strongest warning to date, the country's foreign ministry said Israel should facilitate “safe, complete and sustainable access for humanitarian and relief aid to Gaza,” and heed calls for a humanitarian truce.

Military action in violation of the U.N. General Assembly's call for an immediate cease-fire would “destabilize regional security," exacerbate civilian casualties and lead to an “inevitable humanitarian catastrophe,” the statement said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan doubled down on criticisms of Israel today at a pro-Palestinian rally at Istanbul's Ataturk airport.

Building on comments he made earlier on X, in which he accused Israel of targeting “women, children and innocent civilians," Erdoğan warned that Israel would "pay a heavy price" for its siege on Gaza.

He also reiterated claims that Hamas was not “a terrorist organization.” Unlike its NATO allies, Turkey has previously hosted the group for talks in Ankara.

ErdoÄŸan, who has previously made attempts to repair long-frosty relations with Israel, made moves this month to pitch himself as a potential mediator in the conflict with Hamas. He has since sharpened his rhetoric and strongly criticized Western partners for their reluctance about humanitarian aid.

SDEROT, Israel — From our position overlooking Israel’s border with Gaza, there’s been a steady tempo of Israeli strikes on northern Gaza throughout the day.

We can hear the booms from tanks and artillery fire, small arms fire and the buzzing of jets overhead.

Israeli military activity and movements continue.

Through a long lens, Israeli tanks and soldiers can be seen moving on Gaza.

The skyline of Gaza City and its surrounding urban areas is barely visible through a haze of dust and smoke. Plumes of dark smoke rise from areas of northern Gaza, the aftermath of apparent strikes.

Near the border fence with Gaza, fires can be seen burning near the border fence with Gaza, and there’s thick white smoke in places that appears to be some sort of smokescreen.

Heavy airstrikes continue to rain down on Gaza City, the Al Shati refugee camp and the Beit Lahia region in northern Gaza, according to an NBC News producer based in Gaza.

In addition to airstrikes in the north, southern areas of Gaza are experiencing repeated shelling in Khan Younis and Rafah.

The situation in Gaza is like "hell on earth," the head of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees wrote in an open letter today.

Philippe Lazzarini said the communications blackout in Gaza was “unprecedented,” adding that an internet blackout in the enclave was “yet another action taken to try to impede the humanitarian response to the civilians of the Gaza Strip.”

Lazzarini said he was “immensely worried” for the safety of relief workers and their families in Gaza, where, he said, 53 UNRWA workers have died. NBC News was not able to independently verify this figure.

“I keep hoping that I will soon see you and listen to you as you tell me about the pain you have all gone through,” he said.

TYRE, Lebanon — A few miles north of the Lebanese border with Israel, Heba Andrawos, 43, said she was "really, really afraid" about the bombardment near her home in the village of Rmaych.

Andrawos, 43, said that after a strike on the nearby village of Yaroun, she briefly moved with her three daughters, 9 to 12 years old, to Beirut.

She said the ran out of money and had to return to the area, where the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has been trading fire with the Israelis.

With nowhere safe to turn, she said, she decided to stay put in the village with her daughters. “I’m just like everybody else,” she said. “What am I supposed to do?”

Starlink satellite connectivity will be provided to "internationally recognized aid organizations" in Gaza, CEO Elon Musk said on X.

Musk's pledge to provide internet amid the communication blackout came in a reply to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who posted on social media that the blackout was "unacceptable" and endangered innocent lives.

Musk did not appear to offer access to other civilians in Gaza.

A Ukrainian official criticized Musk last month after it was revealed that he thwarted an attack on the Russian navy using Starlink. CNN published excerpts from a biography of Musk that said he ordered his engineers to turn off his Starlink satellite network over Russian-occupied Crimea last year.

Musk responded that Starlink was not active in the region at the time and that "SpaceX did not deactivate anything."

Despite a relentless air campaign and the looming threat of a larger ground invasion, people throughout the Gaza Strip today are finding a way forward, picking up aid and looking for clean water.

Photographers, too, are finding ways to get their images out there, even though telecommunications providers in Gaza, like Paltel, have had massive disruptions to service.

ASHDOD, Israel — Israel’s military appears to be keeping up the pace of strikes in Gaza on the heels of last night's overnight bombardment.

Often during the war, after a night of intense airstrikes, there has been a lull the following morning. But today, there’s been a steady drumbeat of booms and rumbles coming from the direction of Gaza and audible in Ashdod less than 20 miles away. 

It’s unclear whether the sounds are airstrikes, tank fire or artillery strikes. But the fire has gone in both directions. Israel says air raid sirens have gone off throughout the morning in Askhelon, Beer Sheva and the area immediately around the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says that Israel has “moved to a new phase in the war” and that “the operation will continue until further notice.”

In an "urgent" advisory from the Israel Defense Forces, residents remaining in the north of the Gaza Strip were again told today to evacuate south.

"This is a temporary measure," Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesman, said in a video on X. "Moving back to northern Gaza will be possible once the intense hostilities end."

It's unclear why the advisory was posted on social media, as Gaza is experiencing an internet and communications blackout.

NBC News has asked the IDF to comment on how the message is being relayed to Gazans.

There is “simply not enough funding to provide relief to those under constant bombardment,” Jan Egeland, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council aid group, said on X today.

He added that he sent a letter to Western donors urging “solidarity with civilians in Gaza and Israel” and an increase in humanitarian funding to the region.

In an earlier tweet, he said the Norwegian Refugee Council had lost contact with 54 colleagues in Gaza.

It is time to “take urgent and immediate action to bring all the hostages safely home,” the parents of one of the Hamas captives said in statement today.

Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin said that their son Hersh Goldberg-Polin was "critically wounded" and that "the expansion of Israel’s ground operation in Gaza is of extreme concern to us.”

Goldberg-Polin attended the Tribe of Nova music festival that Hamas targeted in their Oct. 7 attack. His mother said he sent two text messages that morning: “I love you” and “I’m sorry."

LONDON — Thousands of people descended on the city today to "March for Palestine." Some held placards and Palestinian flags as they called for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi today urged respect for his country's sovereignty and position in the region following incidents in which drones fell on the Egyptian Red Sea towns of Taba and Nuweiba.

Israel said yesterday it was the target of the drones, which it blamed on Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi movement. Egypt’s military did not say who launched the drones.

“Regardless of where it comes from, I have warned of the expansion of the conflict. The region will become a ticking time bomb that impacts us all,” El-Sissi said at a manufacturing expo in Cairo.

He also emphasized that Egypt would continue to play a positive role in the Israel-Hamas conflict and did not want it to expand regionally.

TEL AVIV — Israeli troops were "still in the field" this morning after the Israel Defense Forces started ramping up its "ground operations" in Gaza last night, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said at a briefing earlier today.

It appears to be the first time since Israel launched its response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack that the IDF acknowledged troops were still "in the field" after an incursion into Gaza. Hagari said forces there were "continuing with the war."

IDF Lt. Col. Mikey Hartman, who is stationed in southern Israel, said troops were still in northern Gaza as of this afternoon. Asked for confirmation, an IDF spokesperson referred NBC News to a transcript of Hagari's briefing and had no further comment.

NAHARIYYA, Israel — Loud booms could be heard from the Israeli costal city of Nahariyya as the country's military continued to exchange rocket fire across the border with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

Even so close to the border, just 5 miles to the north, many people appeared to be going about their day in what is usually a popular tourist spot, swimming at the beach or meeting friends for breakfast.

Earlier, a “terrorist cell” tried to fire an anti-tank missile at kibbutz Hanita, right on the border itself, the Israel Defense Forces said. The IDF said it hit back at the cell with a drone strike.

TEL AVIV — The birdsong, dog walkers and family picnics in a Tel Aviv park this afternoon could not have seemed further from the relentless bombardment of Gaza.

But sirens that rang out through the city served as a reminder that the aerial war is only 40 miles away — and sometimes rockets are fired back.

The sirens, which sounded in the south of the city, sent people scurrying behind walls and even trees in this open space, where there is no nearby bunker.

They were followed by at least two loud booms, either an interception by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system or the missile's hitting the ground, as two did yesterday here and in Ashkelon, causing injuries.

After a night of Israeli airstrikes and another incursion in the north, Palestinians went looking for clean water today in Gaza City, top, and Rafah in the south, bottom. They filled plastic jerry cans with drinking water from portable filling points.

New reports of bombardments in the Gaza Strip alongside a communications blackout are "extremely distressing," World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Ghebreyesus wrote on X this morning that he was unable to get in touch with his team on the ground in Gaza and was very worried about their well-being.

"Evacuation of patients is not possible under such circumstances, nor to find safe shelter," he wrote. "The blackout is also making it impossible for ambulances to reach the injured."

He added that WHO is appealing for anyone with the power to push for a cease-fire to "act NOW."

The Palestinian Prisoners Authority says 25 people were apprehended in the West Bank in a series of overnight arrests.

Arrest raids were concentrated in the Jalazone camp in Ramallah and Bethlehem, according to the Prisoners Authority. Other reported arrests were spread through Hebron, Nablus, Tulkarm and Jerusalem.

The agency said 1,555 people have been arrested since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.

ASHDOD, Israel — As the sun rose this morning, all appeared to be relatively quiet after a night of heavy bombardment in Gaza.

During the night, loud booms could be heard frequently ringing out from Gaza, which is roughly 20 miles south of Ashdod.

The Israel Defense Forces has said it is “progressing with the war stages,” but it is still unclear whether and when it will announce a full ground invasion of Gaza, as has been expected.

An IDF reservist stationed closer to the Gaza border, Staff Sgt. Ben Hardin, said the feeling on the ground was that Israel’s operations into Gaza “won’t be over quickly” and that “it will take time.” The IDF has expressed that repeatedly, Hardin said. And among troops, “the feeling matches that.”

The reason, he said, was that “our morality as a people and as a military means it will take longer to minimize civilian interference as much as possible.”

Already, more than 7,000 people, including women and children, have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials. In Israel, about 1,400 people have died.

Israel must "immediately get out of this state of madness and stop its attacks," Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan said today on X.

ErdoÄŸan, who has put himself as a potential mediator between the warring factions, accused Israel of targeting "women, children and innocent civilians" in its "ever-increasing" attacks on Gaza.

He said this week that he had canceled a planned trip to Israel, accusing it of “taking advantage” of Turkey’s “good intentions.”

In marked contrast to other NATO members and the E.U., which Turkey has long hoped to join, Ankara has not designated Hamas as a terrorist organization, and it has hosted the group in its territory.

The Israel Defense Forces said that its fighter jets killed Ratib Abu Tzahiban, who it said was the commander of Hamas' "naval forces" of the Gaza City Brigade.

Tzahiban planned and commanded attempts to infiltrate Israel by sea using a cell of divers Tuesday, which was thwarted by the IDF, the Israelis said. NBC News has not been able to independently confirm his death.

The air force and the navy aided ground forces in attacking numerous Hamas targets, including "observation posts, anti-tank missile launchers, and a military compound," the statement added.

Before its attack on Gaza last night, Israel cut off communications to and within the strip, significantly hampering civilian rescue efforts and humanitarian and medical responses to bombardments.

ASHDOD, Israel — The Israel Defense Forces said its fighter jets killed Asem Abu Rakaba, who it said directed attackers who used paragliders to enter Israel on the Oct. 7 attacks.

He was head of Hamas’ “Aerial Array,” the IDF said today.

“He took part in planning the October 7 massacre and commanded the terrorists who infiltrated Israel on paragliders and was responsible for the drone attacks on IDF posts,” it said on social media.

Video released by the IDF showed an airstrike hitting what appeared to be a building. The IDF said Abu Rakaba “was responsible for Hamas’ UAVs, drones, paragliders, aerial detection and defense.”

NBC News has not independently confirmed his death.

AMES, Iowa — GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy previewed the speech he’s scheduled to give at the Republican Jewish Coalition Summit as he spoke to the media after a campaign event.  

Ramaswamy stands in stark contrast to the rest of the Republican presidential field in his messaging for American support to Israel in its war with Hamas. He has been speaking out against an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza without Israel's clearly defining its objectives. He says a ground invasion might spark a broader regional conflict that could result in American boots on the ground.  

“I’m planning on talking about [former Israel Prime Minister] David Ben Gurion,” he said, previewing the speech he’s set to give this morning in Las Vegas. “He wanted Israel to stand on its own feet without relying on the sympathies of anybody else."  

"The whole point of Israel was to say that the Jews would never rely on the fleeting sympathies of those in another land. That it was going to be the Jews, by their own self-sufficiency, that had the Jewish state unto itself."

ASHDOD, Israel — The Israel Defense Forces said its fighter jets struck 150 “underground targets” in northern Gaza.

They included “terror tunnels, underground combat spaces and additional underground infrastructure,” the IDF said.

“Furthermore, several Hamas terrorists were killed,” the military said. Video released by the IDF shows blasts illuminating the night sky, as well as overhead video of airstrikes hitting buildings.

NBC News crews witnessed bombardments in Gaza that were the most sustained seen in their time by the Israel-Gaza border. Israel’s military also said it was increasing ground operations.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said today that “we reject outright the U.N. General Assembly’s despicable call for a cease-fire” and vowed that Hamas would be crushed.

“Israel intends to eliminate Hamas just as the world dealt with the Nazis and ISIS,” Cohen wrote on X.

Earlier, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution that called for a humanitarian truce but that was criticized for not mentioning Hamas. The U.S. was among the countries that voted against it, citing the omission.

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Netanyahu has weathered many political storms, but the Oct. 7 attack is the strongest one yet