Israel-Hamas war live updates: Famine is 'imminent' in northern Gaza, U.N. says; IDF raids Al-Shifa Hospital

THE HAGUE — Israel has asked the International Court of Justice not to issue emergency orders for it to step up humanitarian aid to Gaza to address a looming famine, dismissing South Africa’s request to do so as “morally repugnant."

In a legal filing to the United Nations’ top court, made public today, Israel said it “has real concern for the humanitarian situation and innocent lives, as demonstrated by the actions it has and is taking” in Gaza during the war.

Lawyers for Israel denied allegations of deliberately causing humanitarian suffering in the enclave, where thousands have died and hunger is rising, and said South Africa’s repeated requests for additional measures were an abuse of procedures.

More than 450 Jewish creatives, executives and Hollywood professionals have signed an open letter denouncing Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” Oscar speech.

Glazer had just won the Academy Award for best international feature and used his speech to denounce violence in the Middle East while also asking the audience to consider how it could “resist” the “dehumanization” of the war in Gaza.

The signers of the open letter cover a broad swath of the industry, including actors, executives, creators, directors, producers and representatives.

The group’s statement says: “We refute our Jewishness being hijacked for the purpose of drawing a moral equivalence between a Nazi regime that sought to exterminate a race of people, and an Israeli nation that seeks to avert its own extermination.”

Glazer, who is Jewish himself, declined to comment to Variety.

Israeli minister Benny Gantz spoke to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today about a proposal in Canada's Parliament that would unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.

Gantz wrote on X that he told Trudeau he appreciated the commitment that has been made to Israel's security but expressed concern about the vote that is being held in Parliament today. He added that such a recognition after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel "is counter-productive to the mutual goal of long-term regional security and stability, and would ultimately reward terrorism."

"I reiterated to the PM that for the sake of the region, any unilateral actions should be avoided," Gantz said.

Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul has been released 12 hours after Israeli forces arrested him at Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, the Qatari news outlet said in a post on X.

Earlier today, Al Jazeera released a statement saying that eyewitnesses saw al-Ghoul being beaten and arrested by Israeli forces while he was reporting at the hospital. A broadcast vehicle, camera and equipment were also damaged during the incident, according to Al Jazeera.

Israel Defense Forces allegedly bulldozed over a journalists' tent during its raid on Al-Shifa's medical complex and they were forced to surrender, al-Ghoul said following his release. According to his account, the journalists were forced to strip off their clothes while their personal items, including computers and phones, were confiscated.

"The occupation forces handcuffed us, blindfolded us, and interrogated all the journalists present at the location," al-Ghoul said. "The occupation forces left us without clothes for 12 hours, handcuffed and blindfolded."

NBC News has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment. The military previously said it had conducted a precise operation during an overnight raid on the compound where intelligence indicated Hamas militants had regrouped.

President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "at length" today about a possible invasion of Rafah and asked Israel to send a team to Washington to discuss other options, the White House said.

Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, told reporters that a ground invasion into Rafah would be a "mistake" and cause unnecessary civilian casualties. The White House believes there are other means to defeat Hamas in the crowded border city, he said.

"On the call today, President Biden asked the prime minister to send a senior interagency team composed of military intelligence and humanitarian officials to Washington in the coming days to hear our concerns about Israel’s current Rafah planning and to lay out an alternative approach that would target key Hamas elements and Rafah and secure the Egypt Gaza border without a major ground invasion," Sullivan said.

Netanyahu agreed to the proposal, according to Sullivan.

OTTAWA — Canadian legislators are scheduled today to vote on a nonbinding motion backing Palestinian statehood that has drawn condemnation from Israel and that could deepen splits inside the ruling Liberal Party.

Although the government is free to ignore the result of the vote in the House of Commons, it could cause political problems for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The motion was drawn up by the minority left-leaning New Democrats, who are helping keep Trudeau’s Liberals in power and are unhappy by what they see as his failure to do enough to protect the civilian population in Gaza.

“Justin Trudeau could take bold steps for peace and justice, but he doesn’t have the courage. That’s why we brought a motion to force the Liberal government to finally help end this bloodshed,” NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said in a statement, saying Palestinians and Israelis both deserve to live in peace.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with President Joe Biden on the phone this evening, according to a statement from the Israel leader's office that provided a summary of their conversation.

"We discussed the latest developments in the war, including Israel's commitment to achieving all of the war's goals: Eliminating Hamas, freeing all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel — while providing the necessary humanitarian aid that will assist in achieving these goals," the statement said.

The White House confirmed that the two leaders would have a call today, but a readout has not yet been provided from Biden's office. This is the first call the pair have had since Feb. 15, according to White House call logs.

TEL AVIV — The spiraling humanitarian crisis in Gaza was called a “profound failure of humanity,” by the International Rescue Committee today as it responded to the U.N.-backed report warning of an “imminent” famine in the enclave.

“A famine declaration in Gaza is shocking and unprecedented. Children are starving due to an entirely manmade and preventable crisis," Sam Duerden, IRC team lead for occupied Palestinian territory, said in a statement.

Virtually all households in Gaza are skipping meals every day, with at least half of the entire population of roughly 2.3 million people experiencing "catastrophic food insecurity" with increased risk of acute malnutrition and death, the IRC statement said.

In northern Gaza, where aid deliveries have been limited, one in three children under the age of two are now acutely malnourished, it added.

Reiterating it's call for an immediate cease-fire, the IRC also called for a "significant scale up of aid efforts to avert further catastrophe."

Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul was reporting from Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza today when Israeli forces raided the compound and arrested him, the outlet said.

"According to eyewitnesses, Ismail was severely beaten and taken to an unknown location," Al Jazeera said in a statement. "The Network emphasizes that this targeting serves as an intimidation tactic against journalists to deter them from reporting against innocent civilians in Gaza."

Soldiers also destroyed the company's broadcast vehicle, cameras and equipment during the raid, according to Al Jazeera. Three of Al Jazeera’s staff members were killed between December and January.

NBC News has not independently verified Al Jazeera's statement and has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

The IDF said today that it killed a Hamas militant leader during an overnight raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, while Hamas says the man was part of Gaza's civil police force.

According to an IDF statement, Faiq Mabhouh was the head of Hamas' internal security operations and responsible for the "coordination of Hamas terrorist activities in the Gaza Strip." The raid on Al-Shifa was part of a joint operation with the Israeli intelligence agency, and numerous weapons were found in a room adjacent to where Mabhouh was killed, the military said.

"Faiq Mabhouh was eliminated in an encounter with the troops while armed and hiding in a compound at the Shifa hospital, from which he operated and advanced terrorist activity," the IDF statement said.

NBC News has not independently verified the IDF's statement.

Hamas described Mabhouh as a civil police officer, saying in a statement that before his death he had worked with the Palestinian police force to "control the security situation and ensure the arrival of aid."

A huge crowd gathered outside a United Nations Relief and Works Agency warehouse in Gaza City today in the hope of getting some much-needed food.

It came as the U.N. and several other aid agencies warned that famine was imminent in the Gaza Strip.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations' Palestinian refugee agency in the region, said he was denied entry into Gaza by Israeli authorities today.

"@UNRWA has by far the largest presence among all humanitarian organisations in Gaza," he wrote in a post on X. "My visit today was supposed to coordinate & improve the humanitarian response."

Israel's department of Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, or COGAT, said in a responding X post that Lazzarini failed to submit his request to enter through proper channels.

"This was promptly communicated to the relevant UN bodies," the department said. "This is another attempt by UNRWA to blame Israel for their own mistakes."

Israeli officials and UNRWA have long been at odds with each other, and the country's leaders have accused the agency of employing staff members with terrorist ties and said some had participated in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

The United Nations launched an investigation into the matter through its independent agency, and Lazzarini requested a review of UNRWA internal processes following the accusations. Some countries suspended funding to the agency following the accusations, but recently resumed aid amid deteriorating conditions in Gaza.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said last week that the advice it has received is "UNRWA is not a terrorist organization."

The latest report on imminent famine in Gaza is an "appalling indictment" of conditions for civilians in the Palestinian enclave, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said today.

Half the Palestinian population in Gaza is experiencing catastrophic food insecurity, said the report released this morning by 19 aid organizations.

"This is an entirely manmade disaster, and the report makes clear that it can be halted," Guterres said in a statement. "Today's report is Exhibit A for the need of an immediate humanitarian cease-fire."

He called on Israeli authorities to provide access to humanitarian goods throughout Gaza and for the international community to support aid groups efforts.

"We must act now to prevent the unthinkable, the unacceptable, and the unjustifiable," Guterres said.

Oxfam said today that the hunger crisis in Gaza has reached "catastrophic levels" and is "the highest ever recorded."

The global organization that works to end hunger responded to a new report released by an initiative of 19 groups, including Oxfam, that found famine is imminent in northern Gaza and is a risk for the rest of the enclave.

"Never before have we seen such rapid deterioration into widespread starvation," said Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam’s Middle East and North Africa regional director.

“Northern Gaza is days away from famine and the rest of Gaza faces a similar fate," she added. "Children are already dying of malnutrition and starvation under the gaze of the international community. Since December, the number of people in Gaza who have plunged into catastrophic levels of hunger, has nearly doubled."

Al-Shifa Hospital had just restored "minimal" services prior to a raid overnight by the IDF, according to a statement from World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

"Hospitals should never be battlegrounds," he said in a post on X today. "We are terribly worried about the situation at Al-Shifa Hospital in northern #Gaza, which is endangering health workers, patients and civilians. "

Ghebreyesus reiterated his call for a cease-fire and the need for hospitals to be protected.

According to IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari, the raid was conducted following intelligence that Hamas militants had regrouped at the facility. He described it as a precise operation at the hospital, which was previously raided in November.

Israel is “provoking famine” in Gaza, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Joseph Borrell, said today.

“This famine it is not a natural disaster, it is not a flood, it is not an earthquake; it is entirely manmade. By whom? Let’s dare to say it: by whom?” Josep Borrell told a meeting of European foreign ministers in Brussels. “By the one that prevents humanitarian support [from] entering into Gaza; by the lack of access; by the acute insecurity inside Gaza.”

Borrell said he had recently been to Washington, where he had dared to say that "Israel is provoking famine."

When he was asked to provide evidence, he said he replied that hundreds of trucks were waiting to enter Gaza.

At least 81 people have died and 116 people were injured in the last 24 hours, Gaza’s Health Ministry said in a statement on Telegram today.

This brings the death toll in the enclave since Oct. 7, when Hamas launched multipronged attacks on Israel, to 31,726, the ministry said.

“A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them,” the statement said.

Trucks carrying food aid were filmed by an NBC News crew as they arrived in northern Gaza overnight.

Sacks of flour were unloaded at a United Nations depot by volunteers, who said they wanted to ensure that the aid reached those most in need.

Famine is “imminent,” in Gaza where almost half of the population of around 2.2 million people are facing “catastrophic” food conditions, according to a new report from the United Nations’ backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.

“The famine threshold for household acute food insecurity has already been far exceeded and, given the latest data showing a steeply increasing trend in cases of acute malnutrition, it is highly likely that the famine threshold for acute malnutrition has also been exceeded,” says the report, published today.

“Half of the population of the Gaza Strip (1.11 million people) is expected to face catastrophic conditions,” says the report from the U.N.’s hunger monitoring system.

“Conflict continues to place severe limitations on the ability of humanitarian organizations to deliver life-saving food, nutrition, health, water, hygiene, sanitation and other life-saving assistance to the besieged population,” it adds.

Israel's military said in a statement today that its fighter jets struck a military structure and observation post belonging to the Hezbollah miliant group near its border with Lebanon.

The statement added that the strikes in the area near the village of Ramyeh came a day after the Israel Defense Forces hit "terrorist infrastructure," near Naqoura, a small city on Lebanon's southwestern coast.

NBC News could not independently verify the claims.

Red paint was smeared across the building belonging to the foreign ministry in the Netherlands this morning.

A pro-Palestinian group that has accused the Dutch government of being complicit with Israel in its war in Gaza, is believed to be behind the vandalism.

TEL AVIV — Tons of flour, rice and canned foods that were unloaded from the Open Arms ship on Saturday, are yet to be distributed, the charity which organized the delivery has said.

World Central Kitchen, which collected the aid and organized for it to be sailed across the Mediterranean Sea from Cyprus, said today that the aid was still in a warehouse.

The charity has not said why it it has not been distributed or when they expect to start handing it out.

World Central Kitchen, which was launched by celebrity chef  José Andrés and runs a network of kitchens across the Gaza Strip, said it was already loading a second boat with tons of food for people in the enclave.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell said today that he was confident the bloc would find an agreement to impose sanctions on both Hamas and violent Israeli West Bank settlers.

“It seems that today all will agree on putting sanctions on both Hamas and the violent settlers who are harassing Palestinians in the West Bank,” he told reporters ahead of a foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.

TEL AVIV — Grainy footage purporting to show Israeli forces under fire near Gaza City's Al Shifa Hospital has been released by the country's military and security agency, Shin Bet.

They said it showed the detonation of an explosive device near Israeli troops from the medical complex, as well as soldiers receiving fire near the facility.

NBC News could not immediately independently verify the video.

TEL AVIV — An Israeli delegation led by David Barnea, the director of the country's Mossad spy agency, has departed for Qatar for ongoing cease-fire negotiations, an Israeli official told NBC News today.

Although there was little optimism about a breakthrough in this round of talks, the official said all sides remained under intense American pressure to try to get to a deal.

Civilians flee with their belongings after the Israeli forces raided the Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza City this morning.

TEL AVIV — Israel's military launched an overnight raid on Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital, which it said was being used as a Hamas command center.

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a briefing early this morning that Israeli forces were conducting a “high-precision operation” in limited areas of the hospital after receiving “concrete intelligence that demanded immediate action.”

The IDF learned that senior Hamas members had “regrouped” inside the hospital and were using it to command attacks against Israel, Hagari said. He added there was no obligation for patients or medical staff to leave the hospital and a corridor would be established for those who wanted to leave.

Israeli forces had already raided the hospital — once considered Gaza’s main medical facility — in mid-November.

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