What we know
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered his military to prepare for evacuating Rafah ahead of a ground assault. It comes after the U.S. joined aid groups and U.N. officials voicing mounting fears about an Israeli incursion into the Palestinian enclave's southernmost city, where more than a million people are sheltering in dire conditions.
- President Joe Biden said Israel's military offensive in Gaza has been ''over the top,'' offering what appeared to be his most pointed criticism yet of the U.S. ally's response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. He added that he was working to secure a sustained pause in the fighting, with a Hamas delegation in Egypt for new hostage talks.
- More than 27,900 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. More than 67,400 have been injured, and thousands more are missing and presumed dead.
- Israeli military officials said at least 224 soldiers have been killed during the ground invasion of Gaza.
- NBC News’ Keir Simmons, Raf Sanchez, Matt Bradley and Chantal Da Silva are reporting from the region.
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Airstrike hits building in Rafah, killing children
An NBC News camera crew was at the Kuwait Hospital in Rafah when victims from an Israeli airstrike were brought there.
The strike hit a nearby building. Children and babies were among the dead and wounded.
"We moved from Gaza to Khan Younis and from Khan Yonis to Rafah because we thought it would be safe, but as you can see, there is no safety," one man said.
Panic spreading in Rafah after Netanyahu statement on evacuation, Amnesty International says
Netanyahu's announcement of the military expansion into Rafah, in southern Gaza, and a mass evacuation of the governate has "spread panic," Amnesty International said.
"Such an operation will have catastrophic consequences for more than a million people — the vast majority of them displaced — who are living in desperate conditions in Rafah, squeezed into overcrowded areas, makeshift tents and schools or sleeping on the streets, who have nowhere to go," the organization said on X.
"Many have already faced successive waves of displacement. If these mass 'evacuation orders' are indeed issued they may amount to the crime of forcible transfer," the organization wrote, adding that a ground operation in Rafah will have "a disastrous impact" on the humanitarian aid system in Gaza.
Biden's comments that Israel is 'over the top' reflect growing divide with Netanyahu, senior official says
President Biden’s first on-camera remarks sharply criticizing Israel last night reflect a growing divide between the administration and Prime Minister Netanyahu that has become more pronounced during Secretary of State Blinken’s last two trips to the region, including the visit that just concluded Thursday.
At his news conference last night, Biden said “the conduct of the response in Gaza, in the Gaza strip, has been over the top.†A senior administration official tells NBC News that President Biden’s comments last night reflect a growing divide between the U.S. and Netanyahu over a potential hostage deal and Israel’s continuing offensive in Gaza.
According to the official, after Blinken’s meeting Wednesday with Netanyahu, the prime minister once again went on camera publicly rejecting the U.S. position before Blinken could address the media — this time, by rushing out to hold his own news conference. On Blinken’s last visit, Netanyahu released a video rejecting the U.S position. Â
During this week’s trip, which concluded Thursday, Netanyahu immediately rejected the Hamas counter-offer to the framework that CIA Director Burns had helped broker in Paris for a pause in the fighting and an initial hostage release in exchange for Palestinian prisoners as “delusional.â€Â
Three Israeli intelligence officials — from Mossad, Shin Bet and the IDF — represented Israel’s government in Paris and signed the text that was agreed to there the weekend before last among the U.S., Egypt, Qatar and Israel. A few hours after Netanyahu denounced the Hamas response, Blinken told a news conference in Tel Aviv that although “there were clearly nonstarters in what was put forward (by Hamas) ... “we also see space in what came back to pursue negotiations.†He added, “We believe the space is there and we believe that should pursue it.â€
At the same time, the senior administration official said Israel is privately still part of negotiations for the hostages. Two senior administration officials tell NBC News the administration believes Netanyahu’s public comments are partly a negotiating tactic to get a better deal with Hamas, along with an effort to reassure two hardline ministers that he will not accept a bad deal. The ministers have threatened to quit the coalition government over the negotiations, which would bring down the government.
There is even sharper disagreement between the U.S. and Netanyahu, according to the administration official, over the high number of civilian casualties. That has come to a head because the prime minister is now signaling he is preparing a ground offensive in Rafah, the southernmost area of Gaza where more than a million displaced Palestinians have been sheltering — many in tent camps.
Blinken made his opposition to a ground offensive in Rafah clear at his Tel Aviv news conference Wednesday night, as well as communicating the U.S. position privately to Netanyahu. Last night, Israel launched airstrikes against Rafah — but the U.S. believes Israel is not yet ready for a ground offensive that would spare the civilian population.
As part of his recent efforts to meet separately with key military and opposition leaders, Blinken had scheduled a meeting with the IDF chief of staff while in Tel Aviv. According to the senior administration official and a former Israeli official, “Bibi barged into the meeting†so the chief of staff would not meet one-on-one with the secretary.
Blinken did meet separately the next day with an opposition member of the coalition government, former General Benny Gantz, as well as with General Gadi Eisenkot, who has been publicly critical of Netanyahu’s war strategy. General Eisenkot lost both his son and his nephew in the Gaza fighting since Oct. 7th.
While there is also disagreement over the urgency to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza, two senior administration officials and a former Israeli official tell NBC News that both the U.S. and Israel agree on using UNRWA to deliver aid to Gaza for now until other agencies can replace the U.N. refugee organization.
According to the U.S., although the administration suspended future aid to UNRWA after Israel accused 12 of its workers of taking part in the Oct. 7th Hamas massacre, the Senate has removed the aid from the newly negotiated supplemental and Congress will not approve more money to the U.N. refugee agency. In addition, the U.S suspension only affects $300,000 currently in the pipeline for this year, not a critical amount. The suspension by European countries includes larger amounts that are more urgently needed for current humanitarian deliveries.
More than half a million children out of school in Gaza, UNRWA commissioner-general says
More than half a million children are out of primary and secondary school in Gaza as a result of four months of war, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said.
"Every day of war deepens the scars, risking a lost generation vulnerable to exploitation," Lazzarini wrote on X. "Children are being robbed of childhood."
Lazzarini reiterated calls for a cease-fire in Gaza to help "reverse" the war's effect on children.
Israeli forces enter Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, Palestine Red Crescent Society says
Israeli forces have entered Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
"We are concerned about the safety of our teams inside Al-Amal Hospital, as well as the wounded and patients, due to the continuous occupation raid on the hospital," the organization wrote on X.
PRCS previously said that Israel forces targeted Al-Amal Hospital and the organization's headquarters in Khan Younis for several days, killing at least 43 people.
NBC News has not independently verified the details of the PRCS updates. The IDF said in a statement today that it is conducting a "precise sweep and clear operation to locate terrorists and dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the vicinity" based on intelligence that Hamas is conducting terrorist activities within the hospital.
U.N. secretary general worried about Israeli operation in Rafah, says Gazans in city ‘have nowhere to go’
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres expressed concern in a briefing yesterday about the Israeli military's "focus" on Rafah.
"Half of Gaza’s population is now crammed into Rafah. They have nowhere to go," Guterres said in his remarks on the U.N.'s 2024 priorities. "They have no homes — and they have no hope. They are living in over-crowded make-shift shelters, in unsanitary conditions without running water, electricity and adequate food supplies."
Guterres said the situation in Gaza "underscores the need for full respect for international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians and ensuring their essential needs are met." One of the U.N.'s convoys was damaged by "Israeli naval artillery" this week and only 10 out of 61 aid convoys reached their planned destination in the north of the strip last month, Griffiths said.
"Let’s be clear: Denial of humanitarian access means denial of humanitarian relief for civilians," he said. Guterres reiterated calls for a cease-fire and the release of all hostages.
"And we need real, visible, concrete steps towards a two-State solution — based on U.N. resolutions, international law and previous agreements," he said.
IDF says it's 'possible' hostage Yossi Sharabi was killed due its own strikes
TEL AVIV — The IDF has said it is possible that Israeli hostage Yossi Sharabi, whose death Hamas announced weeks ago, was killed due to the actions of its own forces in Gaza.
The IDF said today that an investigation found it was "possible" Sharabi, who was 53, died in the collapse of a building near a structure that came under attack from Israeli forces.
The IDF said the structure it hit was a "legitimate target" that was approved according to procedure. It said intelligence suggested that an "attack on IDF forces" was "intended" to be launched from the structure.
Raz Matalon, the brother-in-law of Sharabi and his brother, Eli Sharabi —who remains held by Hamas — told NBC News the IDF informed his family of the development earlier today. He said he wanted people to know Sharabi was a "great man" — and that his family had always feared that the fighting in Gaza "endangers the hostages."
“This is what we’ve been afraid of from the beginning. You don’t have to be a soldier to understand it," Matalon said. He said his family is now clinging to hope that they will see Eli Sharabi, who turns 52 next week, emerge from Gaza alive.
Noa Argamani, who remains held in Gaza, and Itay Svirsky, who Hamas also said died last month along with Sharabi, were held in the same building that collapsed. But the IDF maintained that Svirsky was killed by Hamas and it said it could not be ruled out that Sharabi was also possibly killed by Hamas.
Houthis to be designated terrorist group unless they cease activities in Red Sea, U.S. ambassador to Yemen says
The Houthis will be designated as a terrorist group next week unless they cease activities in Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Steven Fagin said.
"The designation of the Houthis as a terrorist group will take effect February 16, but it can be reviewed if the Houthi militia ceases their activities in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden," Fagin said on X.
Satellite images show swelling population of Rafah as Gazans flee fighting elswhere in the country
Satellite images of Rafah, southern Gaza, on Oct. 13, 2023, and Jan. 14, 2024, show how sprawling tent camps now dot the city. The town is normally home to 280,000 people. But its population has swelled to over 1.5 million — roughly three quarters of Gaza’s population — as people flee fighting elsewhere in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s plans for Rafah assault 'dangerous prelude' to displacing our people, Palestinian presidency says
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned ground assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah — and evacuation of civilians from the area in advance of an assault — is as "a real threat and a dangerous prelude" to the displacement of Palestinians, the Palestinian presidency said today.
The administration held Israel fully responsible for the situation in Rafah, as well as the U.S., and stressed that the Palestinian people will not accept displacement.
“It is time for everyone to bear their responsibility in confronting the creation of another catastrophe that will push the entire region into endless wars," the administration said in the statement, obtained by Palestinian news agency, Wafa.
El-Sissi confirms alignment of Egypt and U.S. on achieving a cease-fire in Gaza
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi confirmed President Biden's remarks on the alignment of Egypt and the U.S. achieving calm and a cease-fire in Gaza, according to a statement from his office published on Facebook.
The countries are also working together to enforce humanitarian truces and allow entry of sufficient aid to Gaza and categorically reject "any forced displacement," per the el-Sissi's office.
"Committed to their strategic partnership, Egypt and the U.S. stand united in their unwavering commitment to establishing and solidifying peace, security and stability in the Middle East," the statement read.
The office stated that "from the first moment, Egypt has opened the Rafah border crossing from its side without any restrictions or conditions and has mobilized massive humanitarian aid and relief," to Gaza.
The only solution to the situation in the region, according to the president's office, "is embodied in the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, along the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital."
Half of U.N. requests to deliver aid to Gaza denied, UNRWA says
Half of the U.N. requests to deliver aid to Gaza have been denied, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
"Our team continue to distribute food & lifesaving aid to northern #Gaza — but 50% of our mission requests this year have been denied," the agency said on X.
Protesters block aid to Gaza at Israel-Egypt border, demand release of hostages
Several dozen protesters gathered at a border crossing between Israel and Egypt today in a bid to prevent humanitarian aid from reaching the Gaza strip.
Gathering at the Nitzana Crossing, videos posted by the Tzav 9 protest group show crowds waving Israeli flags and chanting on megaphones.
In a statement by the Tzav 9 movement and translated by NBC News, the group implored aid to stop flowing into Gaza until the hostages still held in Gaza are released. Protesters have previously gathered in Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing.
"For about weeks now, thousands of Israelis have been marching to the crossings from all over the country saying in a clear voice ‘No aid will pass until the last abductee returns," their statement from Wednesday said.
Rescue efforts after an Israeli strike in Deir al Balah
Palestinians search for survivors after an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah, central Gaza, today.
Netanyahu orders military to prepare for evacuating Rafah ahead of expected ground assault
Netanyahu has ordered his military to evacuate civilians from the southern Gaza city of Rafah ahead of an expected ground assault, according to a statement published on X today.
The statement published by the Israeli prime minister's office read:
"It is impossible to achieve the war goal of eliminating Hamas and leaving four Hamas battalions in Rafah. On the other hand, it is clear that a massive operation in Rafah requires the evacuation of the civilian population from the combat zones.
That is why the Prime Minister directed the IDF and the security establishment to bring to the cabinet a dual plan for both the evacuation of the population and the dismantling of the battalions."
The U.S. warned yesterday that a ground incursion into the city risked "disaster," joining aid officials in sounding the alarm for the more than 1 million people thought to be sheltering there.
Ireland women’s basketball team refuses to shake hands with Israel after antisemitism allegation
The Ireland women’s basketball team, in response to an allegation by an Israeli player about antisemitism, chose not to shake hands with the Israeli players at their EuroBasket 2025 qualifier in Riga yesterday.
The Israeli Basketball Association published an interview with player Dor Saar on Tuesday, during which she made the allegation.
“It’s known that they are quite antisemitic, and it’s no secret; maybe that’s why a strong game is expected,†Saar said.
Basketball Ireland reported the comments to the International Basketball Federation, saying they were “inflammatory and wholly inaccurate.â€
Basketball Ireland also announced that its players would not be partaking in traditional pre-match arrangements with Israel.
“This includes exchanging of gifts, formal handshakes before or after the game, while our players will line up for the Irish -national anthem by our bench, rather then the centre court,†it said in a statement.
Israel won the game 87-57.
Protesters arrested by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank
Israeli security forces arrest activists during a protest against Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, at a junction leading to Jericho city in the occupied West Bank today.
Biden releases new memo detailing conditions for countries receiving U.S. military aid
The White House has released a new memorandum that will require countries receiving U.S. military aid to give "credible and written assurances" that the aid will be used in accordance with international humanitarian law.
The countries will also be required to "not arbitrarily deny, restrict or otherwise impede" U.S. humanitarian assistance, when the aid is used in an armed conflict.
The State Department and the Pentagon will be required to issue "periodic congressional reports" for oversight purposes. The U.S. policy is also for the relevant bodies "to share and learn best practices for reducing the likelihood of and responding to civilian casualties" with foreign partners, the memo added.
UNICEF says Rafah escalation would put thousands more children at risk
The United Nations children’s agency called on all parties to refrain from a military escalation in Rafah, at the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, warning that there are more than 600,000 children in the area, some of whom have been displaced more than once since the war began four months ago.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement late yesterday that military escalation in Rafah would mark “another devastating turn in a war†that has killed more than 27,000 people according to health officials in Gaza.
She said it could leave thousands more dead through violence or lack of essential services, and further disrupt humanitarian assistance.
“We need Gaza’s last remaining hospitals, shelters, markets and water systems to stay functional,†Russell said. “Without them, hunger and disease will skyrocket, taking more child lives.â€
More than half of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million people have fled to Rafah, heeding Israeli evacuation orders ahead of the military’s expanding ground offensive. Evacuation orders now cover two-thirds of the besieged, tiny enclave.
Russell appealed to all parties to the conflict to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law, which includes taking the utmost care to spare civilians and civilian infrastructure.
U.S. conducts new strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen
The U.S. military has conducted a new round of aerial strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, U.S. Central Command said last night in a post on X.
Four unmanned vessels were targeted, in addition to seven anti-ship cruise missiles that were "prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea."
"They presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region," it said, adding the strikes will protect U.S. naval assets and merchant ships in the region.
Gaza doctor breaks down in tears seeing his injured son brought into the ER
The doctor treating the victims of an Israeli bomb attack on the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah had been examining one patient after another in the crowded emergency room when he saw him.
There, amid the din of screaming children and moaning grownups, amid the cries of medical workers for more medicine and bandages, Dr. Rami Abu Libdeh spotted a paramedic carrying his 9-year-old son, Mohammad.
Bursting into tears, Libdeh, 32, grabbed the boy, whose head was bandaged and whose red top was covered with a layer of dust. Falling to his knees, Libdeh peppered his weeping son with questions about his missing mother and their house before surrendering the boy to the other medics in the room for treatment.
An NBC News team was at the Kuwaiti Hospital when it recorded the heartbreaking father-and-son reunion.
Israel launches new airstrikes on overcrowded Rafah
Israel bombed targets in overcrowded Rafah this morning, hours after Biden administration officials warned Israel against expanding its Gaza ground offensive to the southern city where more than half of the territory’s 2.3 million people have sought refuge.
Airstrikes hit two residential buildings in Rafah, killing eight Palestinians, and a third strike targeted a kindergarten-turned-shelter for the displaced in central Gaza, killing at least four people, according to hospital officials and Associated Press journalists who saw bodies arriving at hospitals.
According to the AP, shortly after midnight, a residential building was struck near Rafah’s Kuwaiti Hospital, killing five people from the al-Sayed family, including three children and a woman, while a second Rafah strike killed three more people.
John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesperson, had said an Israel ground offensive in Rafah is “not something we would support.â€
Gaza death toll nears 28,000
At least 27,949 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its military assault in the strip following Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks, the enclave’s Health Ministry said today.
Another 67,459 people have been injured, it added, with just more than 100 people killed in the last 24 hours.
"A number of victims are still under rubble and on the roads," it said, adding Israeli forces were preventing emergency services from reaching them.
Biden says Israel’s military response in Gaza has been ‘over the top’
Speaking to reporters at the White House last night, Biden offered one of his most pointed criticisms of the Israeli government since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack, characterizing the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip as “over the top.â€
He added that his administration was working to secure a pause in the fighting.
Biden has expressed support for Israel while increasingly putting pressure on Netanyahu to scale back Israeli military operations in Gaza. Biden’s backing of Israel has been a point of contention among key voting blocs as he seeks re-election.
Bombardment continues in Rafah
Palestinians search for their belongings after an Israeli attack in Rafah, southern Gaza, today.
Catch up with NBC News’ coverage of the war
- Gaza doctor breaks down in tears seeing his injured son brought into the ER
- Sailing away? Israeli leaders have discussed an Arafat-style exit for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar
- Months after Hamas committed a massacre in their town, they returned home to live among the ‘ghosts’
- Senate Republicans sink border bill as Schumer eyes a separate Israel and Ukraine aid vote
- The U.S. is drawing up options to recognize a Palestinian state — here’s why that would be so significant