What we know
- Israeli forces remained inside Al-Shifa, the Gaza Strip’s main hospital, after they stormed it for a second time in 24 hours, Israeli officials say. According to Palestinian reports, the Israel Defense Forces conducted a second raid on the hospital.
- The IDF says it discovered AK-47s, hand grenades, military uniforms and a laptop that included a photo of a kidnapped Israeli soldier in the hospital.
- Yehudit Weiss, a hostage abducted by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack, was found dead in a structure "adjacent" to Al-Shifa hospital, the IDF said in a statement.
- Video shared after the IDF's initial raid doesn’t appear to show definitive evidence that a Hamas command center exists beneath the hospital, a claim that Israeli officials have repeatedly made and Hamas and doctors at the hospital have forcefully denied.
- President Joe Biden has said that he doesn’t believe the Israel-Hamas war will end “until there’s a two-state solution.”
- Three gunmen opened fire at a crossing in Jerusalem, injuring seven people, before they were shot dead by officers, police said. Israeli officials also said they were opening an investigation into crimes committed during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, including allegations of sexual violence.
- More than 1.6 million people have been displaced in Gaza, and health officials there say more than 11,200 have been killed. Israel estimates 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas terrorist attack Oct. 7, with 239 people still held hostage in Gaza.
- NBC News’ Keir Simmons, Raf Sanchez, Erin McLaughlin, Matt Bradley, Jay Gray and Chantal Da Silva are reporting from the region.
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‘We want our loved ones back’: Families of hostages speak out
Twelve relatives of Americans kidnapped by Hamas spoke to NBC News' Lester Holt about their collective hope to see their loved ones returned home safe.
"There's a huge amount of pressure on Israel to supply humanitarian support to the Gaza Strip, we understand," one of the family members said. "Where is the pressure to get our kids back home? Where is the pressure to get the Red Cross in? We don't feel that pressure."
Humanitarian chiefs will not take part Gaza in unilateral 'safe zones' proposals
A coalition of humanitarian leaders will not participate in so-called "safe zones" in Gaza without the agreement of all parties, according to a statement today from the Inter-Agency Standing Committee.
"Without the right conditions, concentrating civilians in such zones in the context of active hostilities can raise the risk of attack and additional harm," the statement said. "No 'safe zone' is truly safe when it is declared unilaterally or enforced by the presence of armed forces."
The statement was signed by representatives from numerous organizations that include the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the director-general of the World Health Organization, and the chief executive of Save the Children.
"We also renew our call for a humanitarian ceasefire to ease the suffering and to help facilitate humanitarian operations, and the release of all hostages," the statement said.
Three of the signatories — Amy E. Pope of the International Organization for Migration; Cindy McCaine of the World Food Programme; and Catherine Russell of UNICFE — were Biden administration appointments. President Joe Biden has rejected calls for a cease-fire in favor of "humanitarian pauses."
IDF says it recovered body of soldier Noa Marciano, who had been taken hostage
Israel’s military said Friday local time that its forces recovered the body of Noa Marciano, a 19-year-old soldier taken hostage by Hamas.
The Israel Defense Forces said earlier this week that Marciano was dead. She had been shown in a video released by the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing.
The IDF said her body was recovered from a structure adjacent to Al-Shifa Hospital, in northern Gaza.
IDF officials informed her family Thursday that her body had been transferred to Israeli territory, the IDF said.
“The national task before our eyes is to locate the missing and return the abducted persons home,” the military said in a statement.
U.N. experts warns that no cease-fire risks 'spiralling towards a genocide'
The United Nations' independent body of experts warned that Israel's response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack points to a "genocide in the making" against Palestinians.
In a statement issued today, the experts pointed to violent rhetoric from some Israeli politicians, as well as the large death toll and destruction of basic infrastructure, to emphasize the danger facing Palestinians. It also described hostilities in the West Bank as creating a "coercive environment" that has led to forced displacement.
"The failure to urgently implement a ceasefire risks this situation spiralling towards a genocide conducted with 21st century means and methods of warfare,” the statement said.
The U.N. experts also warned that "Israel remains the occupying power in the occupied Palestinian territory" and that it must respond to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack within the framework of international law. Hamas' use of tunnels in parts of Gaza still does not mean civilians and civilian infrastructure can disproportionately suffer.
U.S. warns Israel it can’t bar Palestinian Americans from entering West Bank
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is warning Israel that blocking Palestinian Americans in the West Bank from entering Israel is a violation of their visa waiver agreement, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said today.
The Visa Waiver Program allows certain countries’ passport holders to enter the U.S. for up to 90 days without obtaining visas.
“We have expressed concerns about that to the government of Israel. I won’t get into full details of our private diplomatic conversations, but we expect Israel to address those concerns,” Miller said. “We expect them to be in full compliance with the Visa Waiver Program, and there are remedial measures that are available to us if they are not.”
The Biden administration moved up Israel’s acceptance into the program to Oct. 14 after the Hamas attack; it had been scheduled for the end of this month. The State Department said the U.S. can pursue a variety of measures to push Israel into compliance, including suspension from the program.
Suspect arrested in death of Jewish protester who fell after clash at dueling rallies in California
A suspect has been arrested in connection with the death of Paul Kessler, a Jewish protester who fell after a confrontation at dueling rallies in California for Israel and Palestinians this month.
Loay Alnaji, 50, who was taken into custody this morning, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and battery causing serious bodily injury, officials said.
Kessler, 69, was at a pro-Israel gathering on Nov. 5 in Thousand Oaks when he got into a “physical altercation” with a pro-Palestinian protester, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said. He fell backward and hit his head on the ground and died the following day.
Alnaji, of Moorpark, was being held tonight with bail set at $1 million, according to online records.
Photos: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators fill Rotterdam train station
Pro-Palestinian protesters held a sit-in protest at Rotterdam Centraal Station, the Netherlands city's main transit hub, to show solidarity with the people of Gaza.
Blinken: 'Hamas embeds itself in civilian infrastructure'
"Hamas embeds itself in civilian infrastructure," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, pointing to operations established under hospitals.
"This is something that's really monstrous in what Hamas has done to try to embed itself among civilians," Blinken told NBC News' Lester Holt.
Blinken also said that "far too many" Palestinian civilians have been killed and reiterated that the U.S. has been urging Israel to do everything possible to minimize civilian casualties.
Blinken said that he remains hopeful about the hostage situation, "but the less said, the better." U.S. officials have often declined to discuss the hostage situation in depth, fearing it could affect negotiations or a possible release.
Civilian deaths 'cannot be dismissed as collateral damage,' U.N. rights commissioner says
Civilian deaths in the Israel-Hamas war "cannot be dismissed as collateral damage," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said today in Geneva.
Türk described Israel's bombardment of the Palestinian enclave as one "rarely experienced in this century." He added that all conflict is a result of "failure" and urged everyone to remember that all lives have equal value.
"We must not let rage submerge our moral compass. We must not lose our grip on reality to the myth that pain can be eradicated by unleashing it on a scapegoat. We must insist on the truth," Türk said.
"And we must continue to insist on the humanity, and the value, of every life that is affected or destroyed in this fighting," he said.
Rally calling for cease-fire blocks San Francisco traffic as Biden, leaders meet
SAN FRANCISCO — At least 50 protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza were detained and arrested Thursday after shutting down all lanes of a major bridge into San Francisco.
The protest comes as Biden, world leaders and CEOs gathered in the city for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ conference.
At least 15 vehicles were towed after protesters parked on the bridge and threw their keys into the sea shortly before 8 a.m., disrupting the morning commute, said California Highway Patrol division chief Ezery Beauchamp at a news conference on Bay Bridge. He said more arrests were expected.
Protest organizers say 200 people took part. Photos provided by organizers showed demonstrators on the ground with white sheets over their bodies as part of a “die-in.” Aisha Nizar with the Palestinian Youth Movement said in the statement that Biden was “hosting cocktail parties in San Francisco” while thousands of people were being killed in Gaza.