Up to 9,000 Hamas fighters killed or captured, IDF says

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations humanitarian chief says Gaza has become “uninhabitable” three months after Hamas’ horrific attacks against Israel and “a public health disaster is unfolding.”

Martin Griffiths said in a statement Friday that “people are facing the highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded (and) famine is around the corner.”

And Gazans are “witnessing daily threats to their very existence — while the world watches on,” he said.

The U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs said tens of thousands of people, mostly women and children, have been killed or injured, families are sleeping in the open as temperatures plummet, and areas where Palestinians were told to relocate have been bombed.

The few partially functioning hospitals are overwhelmed and critically short of supplies, infectious diseases are spreading, and amidst the chaos some 180 Palestinian women are giving birth every day, he said.

Griffiths reiterated U.N. demands for an immediate end to the war and the release of all hostages, declaring, “It is time for the international community to use all its influence to make this happen.”

He said the humanitarian community is facing an “impossible mission” of supporting more than 2 million people in Gaza while aid workers are killed, communications blackouts continue, roads are damaged, truck convoys are shot at, and vital commercial supplies “are almost non-existent.”

Gaza has shown “the worst of humanity,” Griffiths said, and it’s long past time for the war to end.

PARIS — France announced that a French and a Jordanian military transport aircraft airdropped 7.7 tons of medical aid to a Gaza Strip field hospital during a joint operation.

“The humanitarian situation remains critical in Gaza,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday on X, formerly Twitter. “In a difficult context, France and Jordan delivered aid to the population and to those who are helping them.”

The operation overnight Thursday to Friday was meant to deliver medical aid to the Jordanian field hospital of the southern city of Khan Younis.

The airdrop, a first from a Western country in the Gaza strip, had been agreed during Macron’s recent visit to Jordan, where he met with King Abdullah II last month, the French presidency said.

Video from Reuters showed people scrambling through the rubble of a home in Rafah to look for anyone who may have been trapped after an airstrike hit the residence yesterday.

At least two people were killed and dozens injured in the strike, Reuters reported, citing health officials.

Former Vice President Mike Pence visited the Israeli Defense Forces' Northern Command today, according to an IDF statement. During his visit, he received an operational update and met with reserve soldiers. Pence was briefly a candidate for president, challenging his onetime running mate Donald Trump.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said many people in Gaza are only able to receive care days after being injured, increasing the likelihood of their limbs needing amputation.

"The lack of treatment and experts means people are having all or parts of their arms and legs removed, sometimes with insufficient and anesthesia and pain relief," Tedros wrote in a statement on X.

WHO is working with local partners in Gaza to deliver supplies and assess needs, but Tedros said much more is required to bring back the essential services that have not been able to remain operational during the conflict.

ISTANBUL - As tensions in the Red Sea continue to mount, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be forced to strike a difficult balance in his travels around the Middle East this week, making clear to allies and partners that, while the U.S. will take action to protect their interests, they do not want to see this conflict escalate.

The target of this message is in large part Iran, a senior administration official who has relationships with many of the countries in Blinken's itinerary told NBC News. This is Blinken's fourth trip to the region in three months.

The Houthis, an Iran-backed rebel group from Yemen, have attacked shipping lanes in the Red Sea at least 25 times since November. Earlier this week, a U.S.-led coalition of 12 countries made clear that the group will bear the consequences for continued attacks on commercial interests.

Still, the U.S. does not believe Tehran has been directing the Houthis’ attacks in the Red Sea despite being their long-time arms supplier, another senior administration official said.

While the Islamic republic has been giving their proxy group latitude, the official told NBC News that the Biden administration does not see the Houthis’ actions as an escalation by Iran. The U.S. wants to make clear that any response by the U.S.-led coalition would not be seen as a retaliation against them, the official said.

The head of the Hamas militant group said he hopes Secretary of State Antony Blinken's latest visit to the Middle East, which began yesterday, will focus on ending aggression in the region.

"We hope that the permanent brothers in the Arab and Islamic countries that will meet with the US Secretary will convey to the American administration that the future of our region and its stability are partly linked to our Palestinian cause," Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas, said in a statement on Telegram.

Haniyeh also expressed his hope that Blinken would help "end the occupation of all Palestinian land."

JERUSALEM — The U.N. children’s agency says most young children and pregnant women in the Gaza Strip are not able to meet their basic nutrition needs.

Only a trickle of humanitarian aid has entered the Palestinian territory Oct. 7, when Hamas’ deadly attack into southern Israel ignited the war. Fewer than 200 aid trucks enter each day, less than half the prewar level, and aid groups say the fighting hinders distribution.

A survey by UNICEF released Friday found that 90% of children under age 2 are eating two or fewer food groups each day, mainly bread or milk. A quarter of pregnant women said they only eat from one food group per day.

U.N. officials previously said that one in four Gazans were enduring famine-like levels of starvation.

UNICEF says cases of diarrhea among children under 5 have risen from 48,000 to 71,000, an indication of poor nutrition. Normally, only 2,000 cases of diarrhea are reported each month in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli authorities say there is enough food in the territory, and that they have taken the necessary steps to allow aid in, blaming any shortages on U.N. bodies.

U.N. officials say aid operations are hindered by the Israeli inspections, as well as fighting and road closures within the territory, and have long been calling for a humanitarian cease-fire.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said it is "appalled" by the shelling of Al-Amal Hospital and the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) headquarters nearby in Khan Younis, Gaza.

IFRC's Secretary General Jagan Chapagain said in a statement that a volunteer from the PRCS emergency medical services was injured in the strike, adding to the list of 26 volunteers who have been injured since the beginning of the conflict.

"The continuous bombardments have disrupted PRCS ambulances and paramedics, hindering vital medical aid and basic lifesaving emergency care. Access to medical care is a basic right, and blocking these services is unacceptable," said Chapagain.

The charity said in a post on X yesterday that at least one person had bee killed and six others injured during the shelling on Al-Amal Hospital.