What we know
- Qatar has said it was appalled by leaked comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disparaging its role as a mediator with Hamas. In a meeting with hostages' families, Netanyahu reportedly said the Gulf state's role as a broker with the militant group was “problematic.” Qatar said that was “irresponsible and destructive,” but a Qatari official told NBC News today that the country “would never jeopardize” hostage talks.
- CIA Director William Burns is set to meet with Qatar's prime minister and the director of Mossad this weekend in an effort to secure a hostage release deal, a diplomat with knowledge of the plans said.
- The International Court of Justice is expected to rule tomorrow on South Africa’s request for the United Nations court to order a temporary cease-fire in Gaza while a full case accusing Israel of genocide is heard. An Israeli government spokesperson said he expected the case to be tossed out.
- The United Nations said a shelter housing thousands of displaced civilians in Gaza was hit by tank shells, killing at least 12 people amid intensified fighting in the area. Israel has denied responsibility for the strike in the southern city of Khan Younis, and it said it is investigating whether Hamas was behind the explosion. The U.S. denounced the deadly attack and emphasized the need to protect civilians.
- Houthi naval forces claimed to have directly hit a U.S. warship in the Red Sea yesterday, forcing two merchant ships to ''retreat.'' The U.S. said that it shot down two of the three missiles and that there were no injuries or damage from the latest attack by the Iran-backed militants.
- More than 25,700 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. More than 63,700 have been injured, and thousands more are missing and presumed dead.
- Israeli military officials said at least 219 soldiers have been killed during the ground invasion of Gaza. About 1,200 people were killed and about 240 hostages were taken after Hamas launched multipronged attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.
- NBC News’ Richard Engel, Raf Sanchez, Matt Bradley, Chantal Da Silva, Anna Schecter and Ali Arouzi are reporting from the region.
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Nasser Hospital out of anesthesia and food as Palestinians seek aid in Khan Younis
Nasser Hospital, the main health facility in Khan Younis, is nearly out of supplies as desperate civilians seek care after days of bombardment in the southern Gaza city.
Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, reported that the hospital has no more pain-relieving medications to offer patients and that the operating rooms are completely out of anesthesia. There is reportedly no more food, even as many seek shelter at the facility.
"The remaining amount of fuel is sufficient for less than five days in Nasser Medical Complex," Al-Qudra said.
The Health Ministry also reported that the area surrounding the hospital's complex has been subjected to intense fighting. The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement this morning responding to a request from NBC News, the IDF said: "The IDF is carrying out precise operations against the Hamas terrorist organization in Khan Yunis. IDF intelligence indicates that Hamas terrorists are operating from inside and around the Nasser hospital and Al-Amal hospital in Khan Yunis. The systematic use of hospitals across Gaza by Hamas has been repeatedly documented and distributed. This includes an incident two weeks ago, where IDF radar systems identified a rocket launch from within the Nasser hospital compound."
It added that "the IDF has been liaising with the hospital directors and medical staff, on the phone and on the ground, to ensure that the hospitals can remain operational and accessible. The IDF communicated that there is no obligation to evacuate the hospitals. On the contrary, we have reiterated the importance of safeguarding and protecting these hospitals so that they can continue providing medical services to the people of Gaza. IDF forces were briefed about the importance of operating with caution in the area of the hospitals and designated shelters prior to their operation against Hamas in this area."
"Gazans who wish to move from the Nasser and Al-Amal hospitals, as many have chosen to do, can pass through the corridor on the Al-Bahar street, located on the western side of the hospitals"
Deaths of Israeli soldiers in explosion highlight friendly fire accidents in Gaza
TEL AVIV — The explosion could be heard across central Gaza.
As they got ready to destroy a Hamas facility used to build rockets, Israeli combat engineers were busy lining the site with explosive charges, making final preparations for a controlled detonation.
And then, according to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces, a nearby tank crew, believing it had spotted Hamas fighters, opened fire. The shell toppled an electricity pole, which fell and triggered the explosives.
Six soldiers were killed and 14 were injured in the explosion on Jan. 8, the IDF said, after television crews inside Gaza captured two gray plumes of smoke towering over the Bureij refugee camp.
Poll finds 35% of Americans believe Israel is guilty of genocide
More than a third of Americans believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, according to a poll published late yesterday.
The wide-ranging survey of 1,659 people, conducted by pollster YouGov and The Economist magazine, found that 35% answered yes to the question: “Do you think Israel is committing genocide against Palestinian civilians?”
Slightly more, 36%, answered no, and 29% said they were undecided. Younger Americans were more likely to say Israel is committing genocide: 49% of those ages 18 to 29 compared with 21% of people over 65. And Democrats (49% yes — 21% no) were more likely to agree than Republicans (18% — 57%). The questions were asked from Sunday to Tuesday, with an margin of sampling error of 3.1%.
South Africa has brought a genocide case against Israel at the United Nations’ top court, which is deliberating. Israel has vehemently denied the allegations, saying it is targeting only Hamas militants and has made every effort to avoid civilian casualties.
Israel ‘close to the last best chance’ of freeing hostages, which depends on ‘permanent cease-fire,’ expert says
CIA Director William Burns will head to Europe to help broker a deal between Hamas and Israel to release the hostages. Ex-CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos and The Soufan Group researcher Colin Clarke joined Ryan Nobles to discuss a possible hostage deal.
“We’re getting close to the last best chance to free the hostages, though. The big issue, the breaking point, is, you know, whether or not to agree to a permanent cease-fire,” Clarke said. “I think if there is the opportunity to reach a deal, I do think these are the individuals best positioned to do it, and it would also alleviate some of the pressure that we’re seeing from all of these other Iranian proxies that have been highly active in the region.”
Houthi and Russian officials met to discuss Red Sea conflict, group's spokesperson said
Yemen's Houthi rebels met with Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, to discuss the group's conflict with the U.S. over Houthi-led attacks in the Red Sea.
Mohammed Abdulsalam, the Houthi spokesperson, wrote on X that the position asserted to Bogdanov is that there must be intensified international efforts to pressure the U.S. and Israel to implement a cease-fire in Gaza.
"Yemen's position was clarified in support of Gaza and the American-British aggression it was subjected to in order to protect Israel, and that it is better for America to stop the aggression against the Gaza Strip and bring humanitarian aid into it, not to go towards militarizing the Red Sea," Abdulsalam wrote, according to a translation of the post.
Since October, the Houthis have attacked vessels in the Red Sea believed to be supporting Israel and hindering global shipping as a result.
The U.S. and the U.K. have issued strikes in Yemen twice and just today announced a round of sanctions on Houthi leaders in an attempt to dissuade the group’s attacks.
Hamas lays out conditions for hostage release if International Court of Justice orders cease-fire
Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official in Beirut, described the general conditions the group wants in order to release more than 100 hostages who remain captive in Gaza.
Hamdan told reporters that Hamas is closely following the genocide case against Israel brought to the International Court of Justice and suggested it would adhere to a court-ordered cease-fire if Israel agrees to the same. He added that the group would release hostages if Israel releases Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas also demands an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza, which has been in effect since 2007, with Israel controlling land, sea and air access to the Palestinian enclave.
There has been no significant movement toward a second hostage deal since a temporary pause in hostilities fell apart at the end of November. Hamas told NBC News on Sunday that it would not agree to a deal without a permanent cease-fire, a condition that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected in public statements. Israeli officials have pointed out that a cease-fire was in place at the time of Oct. 7, when Hamas breached the Gaza-Israel border and attacked Israeli civilians.
Blinken says U.S. 'reaffirmed' to Israel need to protect civilians after U.N. facility hit
The U.S. has "reaffirmed" to Israel the need to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza after the United Nations says multiple people were killed yesterday in a hit on one of its facilities, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters today.
A training center in Khan Younis where thousands of displaced Palestinians have been seeking shelter was hit by tank fire, the international organization said. The Israeli Defense Forces denied it struck the facility, saying it was investigating whether Hamas was responsible.
Blinken described the United Nations work in Gaza as life-saving and desperately needed in the conflict zone.
"And no else can do it, no one else is doing it," Blinken said. "And it only underscores the importance of making sure that its facilities — including facilities that it's erected or are maintaining — that are housing the many, many, displaced Palestinians until they can go back to their homes ... it has to be protected."
CIA director to meet with Mossad director, Qatari prime minister over hostage deal deadlock
CIA Director Bill Burns will meet with representatives from Israel and Qatar this weekend in Europe to try to break the deadlock in their efforts to negotiate a deal to secure the release of the hostages in Gaza, a diplomat with knowledge of the matter confirmed to NBC News.
Burns is set to meet with Mossad Director David Barnea and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, according to the diplomat.
There has been no movement on hostage releases since December, when a temporary cease-fire and hostage exchange deal fell apart. Hamas has repeatedly stated it will not release any of the more than 100 people still captive without a permanent end to hostilities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to agree to such terms, reportedly floating the idea of a two-month pause instead.
Israel orders evacuation of U.N. facility hit by tank fire, UNRWA says
Hundreds of displaced Palestinians taking shelter at a United Nations facility in Khan Younis have been ordered to leave by the Israeli military by tomorrow evening, a spokesperson for the UNRWA told Agence France-Presse today.
The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News on the report.
The facility is the same one the agency said was hit by direct tank fire yesterday, killing a dozen people and injuring dozens more. The IDF has denied it was its artillery that hit the facility and said it was investigating whether it was caused by Hamas fire.
Thomas White, director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, said today that more than 43,000 civilians are registered to the overcrowded facility and many have nowhere to go because they've already fled their homes.
"This shelter has been impacted directly and indirectly by military activity twenty-two times since 7 October 2023," White said in a statement. "Yesterday’s strike was the third direct hit on this compound. Buildings flying the UN flag have been hit at least twice by tank fire, without warning."
U.S. and U.K. issue joint sanctions on Houthi leaders
Another round of joint action has emerged from the U.S. and U.K. as the allies announced sanctions on Houthi rebel leaders today, the latest development as the Yemen-based militia says it is undeterred from attacking vessels in the Red Sea.
There are four people designated for sanctions: Muhammad Fadl Abd al-Nabi, commander of the Houthi naval forces; Muhammad Ali al-Qadiri, chief of the Houthi coastal defense force; Mohamed al-Atifi, Houthi defense minister; and Muhammad Ahmad al-Talibi, assistant minister of defense for logistics and director of the procurement department.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury said that all assets belonging to the leaders in U.S. control must be reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and any outside institutions working with the leaders would be subject to enforcement. In its own statement, the U.K. government added that it would be issuing a travel ban on the individuals.
Foreign Secretary David Cameron described the sanctions as a response to the Houthis' "unacceptable and illegal actions" that have impeded trade and put lives at risk.
"These sanctions reinforce our clear message to the Houthis in recent weeks," Cameron said. "We can degrade their ability to attack international shipping. We are determined to protect freedom of navigation."
The Houthi rebels have repeatedly stated they attack ships the group believes to support Israel and will continue to do so until Israel's siege on Gaza is over.