What we know
- Some Palestinians have decided to try to flee Rafah as a United Nations official warned that an Israeli assault on Gaza's southernmost city could lead to a "slaughter." The U.N. also said it will not assist in the evacuation if Israel does go ahead with a ground offensive on the city, which is now home to around 1.4 million people, many of whom have fled other parts of the enclave.
- Israel's government faced calls for tougher action on the country's border with Lebanon after a deadly rocket attack in northern Israel this morning. Clashes with the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah have so far not escalated into broader conflict amid the war in Gaza.
- The State Department said last night that it was reviewing reports that Israel has harmed civilians in its Gaza offensive as part of a set of guidelines ensuring recipients of U.S. arms follow international law. President Joe Biden has become increasingly vocal in his frustration with Israel's conduct during the offensive.
- Talks in Cairo to reach a new cease-fire and hostage deal ended inconclusively yesterday. CIA Director William Burns took part in the negotiations with Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian officials for a temporary pause in the fighting, but no deal was reached.
- More than 28,400 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. More than 68,100 have been injured, and thousands more are missing and presumed dead.
- Israeli military officials said at least 232 soldiers have been killed during the ground invasion of Gaza.
Biden to allow Palestinians to stay in the U.S. beyond their set departure dates as humanitarian crisis in Gaza grows
President Joe Biden signed a memorandum today allowing Palestinians who are already in the U.S. to stay an extra 18 months beyond their scheduled departure dates because "humanitarian conditions in Gaza have significantly deteriorated."
The White House said in a statement that the U.S. is "giving them a temporary safe haven."
"This grant of deferred enforced departure would provide protections for most Palestinians in the United States, with certain exceptions," the White House said.
Those convicted of felonies or are otherwise deemed to pose a public safety threat are not eligible for the "deferred enforced departure," it said.
Anyone who voluntarily returns to the Palestinian territories would lose their "safe haven" protections, the White House said.
Doctor in Rafah says hospital sees 'hundreds of patients' after each attack
A doctor in Rafah told NBC News that she works 24/7 taking care of patients injured by the ongoing attacks from Israel and that the toll is “more than catastrophic.”
“The situation is getting worse day after day because of the Israeli attacks,” Dr. Noor Alwhidi at Kuwait Hospital told NBC News.
Alwhidi said that the hospital deals with “hundreds of patients” after every Israeli attack and that most injuries are critical.
“Most of the patients are children, babies, women. They are bombing them and killing them,” she said, adding there are more than 1 million people displaced in the area.
U.S. condemns Israel's demolishing East Jerusalem community leader’s home
The State Department condemned Israel’s demolition of the home of Fakhri Abu Diab, a community leader in East Jerusalem.
“We believe that demolition not only obviously damages his home and his family and the lives that they have built there, but the entire community who live in fear that their homes may be next,” Matt Miller, a State Department spokesperson, said at a briefing this afternoon.
Miller said the home had been in the family for generations and that part of the structure dated back to before 1967.
“He had been an outspoken community leader, including against demolitions, and now his family has been displaced,” Miller said.
He added that the U.S. condemns the demolitions and that such acts “obstruct efforts to advance a durable and lasting peace, peace and security that would benefit not just Palestinians but Israelis.”
Miller said that the U.S. believes there is a path forward that is an alternative “to the one that Israel has pursued today to provide lasting peace and security for Israel, and it would include the establishment of two states.”
“We will continue to pursue that path,” he said.
Family recounts death of Palestinian American teen they say was at hands of Israeli gunfire
BIDDU, West Bank — Hamad Khdour remembers Saturday as a rare morning when his Palestinian American family all gathered together for breakfast at their apartment in the West Bank town of Biddu.
“We were laughing and enjoying,” says Hamad, 25. “I didn’t even remember when was the last time that we sat together.”
Hamad’s 17-year-old brother, Mohammed, decided to spend the day with his cousin and friends at a picnic in a rural area outside of town. The boys ate cake and joked with one another while making videos.
Around 4:30 p.m. Mohammed started the drive home with his cousin, 16-year-old Malek Mansour, in the passenger seat beside him. Suddenly, Malek says, he heard gunshots. Mohammed was struck twice in the back of the head and slumped over on Malek. With Mohammed’s foot still on the accelerator, the car plunged down the rocky hill and rolled several times. Malek, somehow unharmed, ran for help at nearby houses. By the time they got Mohammed to a hospital in the West Bank capital, Ramallah, he was declared dead.
Four days after the shooting, Malek wears the same Adidas jacket he had on that afternoon. His cousin’s blood stains the shoulder.
“I have to live,” he recalls thinking during the attack, “or no one will know what happened.”
The Khdour family believes that the gunman was an Israeli settler known in the area to harass Palestinians.
“He was back and forth all around, looking for somebody to kill,” says Ahmed Khdour, 63, Mohammed’s father. “People, they recognize him and they know this guy. He looking for somebody to kill.”
When asked about the incident, the Israeli military referred NBC News to Israeli domestic security services, known as Shin Bet. They have not responded.
In a statement, the U.S. State Department confirmed the death of an American citizen in the West Bank on Saturday, but declined to name the victim.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the family,” a State Department spokesperson said. “We are working to gather more information and have pressed the Government of Israel for further information.”
The Palestinian human rights organization Defense for Children International says that 98 Palestinian minors have been killed by Israeli settlers or Israeli forces since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks.
On Wednesday morning the Khdour family was once again gathered together at their apartment, all but Mohammed. “Everything is changed after what happened,” says Ahmed. “All our life has changed. We are not the same as before. Everything’s different.”
Mohammed’s mother, Hanan Khdour, 46, tearfully remembers her son, twisting a tissue in her hands.
“I won’t forget him,” she says. “But what happened is very hard. Mohammed was simple and innocent. He loved life. He wished to finish high school and to give us the high school diploma to bring joy to me, his father and his family.”
At Mohammed’s funeral on Monday, his 12-year-old brother knelt down and patted his chest.
“Don’t be scared,” he whispered as he kissed Mohammed’s cheeks.
IDF says fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets
The IDF said Wednesday that its fighter jets struck a series of Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
The IDF said the targets included military compounds, operational control rooms and infrastructure used by Hezbollah. Several facilities belonged to the Redwan Forces, the IDF said.
Earlier in the day, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the military’s fighter jets began an “extensive wave of attacks in Lebanese territory.”
U.N. agency says Gazans are being 'pushed further into abyss'
The United Nations' humanitarian agency in Palestine has warned that continued bombardment has forced displaced families to move yet again, as Israel's military turns its sights on the city of Rafah.
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) said in a post on X on Wednesday: "The exodus continues as people move from Rafah to middle parts of the Gaza Strip, in search of safety where there is none."
The agency added: "How many times have these families been displaced?"
Lebanon state news says Israeli airstrike targeted civilian house, killing wife and two children
The National News Agency, Lebanon’s state news, said that at around 1:45 p.m. local time Wednesday afternoon, Israeli airstrikes targeted a house belonging to a citizen, Jalal Hussein Mohsen, with two missiles, leading to the death of the man’s wife and two children.
The National News Agency said the man’s wife, Rawa’a Al-Muhammad; 13-year-old son, Hassan Jalal Hussein Mohsen; and their 2-year-old son, Amir, were killed.
Ambulance teams worked to remove the rubble from the destroyed house and to transport the bodies to hospitals, the state new agency said.
Hezbollah said in a statement that the attacks that took place in southern Lebanon, where a number of civilians and children were killed, “cannot pass without a response at all.”
“There will undoubtedly be a response, and this response will be at the required and appropriate level,” the group said.
U.S. is reviewing reports of civilian harm by Israel using American weapons
The State Department is investigating reports of civilian harm by Israel as part of a review process set up by the Biden administration last fall to monitor U.S. weapons use.
The process, called the Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance (CHIRG), examines allegations of abuse brought forward internally through diplomatic channels, from interagency or from outside NGOs, human rights monitoring groups and public reports.
“As we have said before, we are reviewing incidents in the current conflict according to the process set out in the CHIRG,” spokesperson Matt Miller said Tuesday. He also said the conclusions of those reviews may not be imminent.
“That process is not intended to function as a rapid response mechanism. Rather, it is designed to systematically assess civilian harm incidents and develop appropriate policy responses to reduce the risk of such incidents occurring in the future, and to drive partners to conduct military operations in accordance with international humanitarian law,” he said.
Miller declined to provide further details on the incidents that were being assessed as part of that process. However, he has said the agency is looking into Israel’s use of white phosphorus in southern Lebanon last October. White phosphorus, according to the World Health Organization, can cause deep and severe burns, even penetrating through bone.
One killed, 10 citizens injured by Israeli airstrikes in southern town, Lebanon state news says
The National News Agency, Lebanon’s state news, said Wednesday that one person was killed and 10 citizens injured by Israeli airstrikes in a town in southern Lebanon that also caused major damage to commercial establishments, shops, homes and cars.
The 10 injured citizens were rushed to nearby hospitals as civil defense teams worked to remove the rubble caused by the raid, the National News Agency said.
The person who was killed was identified as Hassan Ali Najm, who the National News Agency said was mourned by Hezbollah in a statement Wednesday afternoon