What we know
- Satellite images show extensive construction and a wall being built in Egypt along its border with Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah. Dozens of bulldozers and earth movers can be seen clearing the land in the Sinai Desert, and construction equipment is also visible. Across the border, the shelters and tents can be seen in Rafah, where more than 1 million people have sought refuge since Israel launched its ground invasion in the enclave. Egyptian officials have denied they are building an enclosure to house displaced Palestinians.
- A senior U.S. official told NBC News last night that high-level talks about a cease-fire and securing the release of the remaining hostages in Hamas captivity are ongoing, despite an apparent veto by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Disagreement remains over Hamas' demand that 1,500 Palestinian prisoners, including some convicted of murder, be released in exchange for those held in captivity, the source said.
- President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu last night and "reiterated his view that a military operation should not proceed without a credible and executable plan for ensuring the safety of and support for the civilians in Rafah," according to a White House readout of the call.
- At least two people were killed and four wounded when a Palestinian attacker opened fire at civilians in the city of Ashdod in southern Israel, police said today.
- At least five patients have died during Israel's raid on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza's main medical facility. Palestinian health authorities said the deaths were caused by lack of oxygen and power outages during the raid. Doctors, displaced civilians and critically ill patients were also forced to evacuate the complex, although some patients were left behind because they were too weak to move. Israel has accused Hamas of holding hostages at the facility, a claim denied by the militant group.
- More than 28,600 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. More than 68,300 have been injured, and thousands more are missing and presumed dead.
- Israeli military officials said at least 233 soldiers have been killed during the ground invasion of Gaza.
IDF detain WHO aid convoy near Nasser Hospital for hours, Gaza Health Ministry says
The Israel Defense Forces detained a World Health Organization aid convoy near Nasser Hospital for more than seven hours, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The convoy included high-ranking international figures, the ministry said in a Telegram statement.
"The convoy consists of two trucks, one loaded with fuel and the other loaded with water and food, and has been detained for 7 hours," the ministry said. "The Israeli occupation set up holes in front and behind the UN aid convoy to prevent it from reaching the Nasser Medical Complex."
A spillover of Palestinians from Gaza into Egypt ‘would be a disaster for the future of peace,’ says U.N. high commissioner
The U.N. aid chief warned yesterday of the possibility of a spillover of Palestinians amassed in Rafah into Egypt if Israel launches a military operation against the border town.
Around 1.5 million Palestinians are in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, along the border with Egypt. This is more than six times the city's population before Oct. 7, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
"The possibility of a military operation in Rafah, with the possibility of the [border] crossing closing down, with the possibility of spillover ... a sort of Egyptian nightmare ... is one that is right before our eyes," Martin Griffiths told diplomats at the United Nations in Geneva.
Griffiths added that the notion that the people of Gaza could evacuate to a safe place was an "illusion."
"We must all hope that friends of Israel and those who care about Israel’s security give them good counsel at this moment," Griffiths said.
99 journalists killed in 2023, 77 in war on Gaza, organization says
The majority of the 99 journalists and media workers killed in 2023 were killed in the war on Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Of the 77 journalists killed in the war, 72 were "Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza," the organization said. Three were Lebanese and two Israeli.
"The conflict claimed the lives of more journalists in three months than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year," CPJ said.
CPJ found that 78 of the deaths in 2023 were work-related. The organization is still investigating eight more deaths.
The organization expressed concerns that the Israeli military was deliberately targeting Palestinian journalists.
"Cases include that of Issam Abdallah, a Lebanese visual journalist for Reuters," CPJ said. "Independent investigations by international news organizations and rights groups found evidence indicating that Israeli forces targeted a group of reporters — killing Abdallah and injuring six others — in southern Lebanon on October 13."
The journalists were all wearing press insignia and covering crossfire between the IDF and Hezbollah militants "from a location where no fighting was taking place when they were hit by two Israeli shells," CPJ said.
"CPJ, along with other organizations, is now investigating whether a dozen other journalists — and, in some cases, members of their families — killed in the Israel-Gaza war also were targeted by the Israeli military," the organization said.
International Court of Justice rejects South Africa's request for urgent measures to safeguard Rafah
The International Court of Justice rejected South Africa’s request for an urgent measure to safeguard Rafah, according to a statement from the court.
The ICJ said it considered South Africa's letter asking for additional measures in Rafah dated Feb. 12.
"This perilous situation demands immediate and effective implementation of the provisional measures indicated by the Court in its Order of 26 January 2024, which are applicable throughout the Gaza Strip, including in Rafah, and does not demand the indication of additional provisional measures," the court said.
The ICJ did note that the most recent developments in Gaza, specifically the Israeli operation in Rafah, "would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences."
After South Africa took Israel to the ICJ, accusing it of committing genocide in Gaza, the ICJ ruled last month that Israel should take all possible measures to prevent acts of genocide in the enclave.
'Hunger crisis in Gaza reaches unprecedented levels,' aid organization says
The hunger crisis in Gaza has reached "unprecedented levels," ActionAid said in a statement today.
The organization says that every person in the enclave is experiencing extreme levels of hunger, adding that food is scarce, prices are high and food aid distribution is "limited and inconsistent."
"The prices are expensive," a displaced mother, Heba, told ActionAid. "If you buy a kilo of lentils it costs 20 shekels. It was originally 10 shekels. ... With difficulty, they bring us [food] vouchers but it is not enough. ... It gives us just a can of beans and a can of chickpeas for a family of seven."
The crisis is mostly affecting pregnant women and children under 5. UNICEF warns that up to 10,000 children could be affected by child wasting, "the most dangerous kind of malnutrition in children," ActionAid said.
Bisan, a mother of six, gave birth to her son after she was displaced from her home in northern Gaza.
"I have difficulty breastfeeding my son. There is no milk, and he keeps vomiting. Prices are high and milk is expensive," she told the organization.
Riham Jafari, the organization's advocacy and communications coordinator, said the situation in northern Gaza is the most bleak, where some are grinding up animal feed to use as flour.
"It is appalling to watch the world standing by as the people of Gaza slowly starve in what is a completely avoidable catastrophe," Jafari said. "The recent International Court of Justice ruling clearly stated that the supply of humanitarian aid into Gaza must be facilitated yet instead, people have grown hungrier by the day."
IDF says 'dozens' apprehended at Nasser Hospital
The Israel Defense Forces said it apprehended "dozens" of people at Nasser Hospital, including some inside the hospital.
"The operation in the heart of the city at the Nasser Hospital helped us apprehend dozens of terrorists," said Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, commanding officer of the Southern Command. NBC News cannot independently verify these claims.
Finkelman said the operation at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis is "precise, high-quality, focused."
Nasser Hospital continues to be besieged by Israeli tanks and intense fighting in and around Khan Younis over the last three weeks that “is causing loss of life and damage to civilian infrastructure,” according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. Around 10,000 people are seeking shelter at the hospital.
"We will continue, we will operate and we will fight everywhere, including here in the city of Khan Younis, in the heart of the city, and also everywhere in the Gaza Strip," Finkelman said.
Israeli airstrikes kill 10 in Lebanon; Hezbollah responds with rockets
Hezbollah said on Thursday it fired dozens of rockets at a northern Israeli town in a “preliminary response” to the killing of 10 civilians in southern Lebanon, the deadliest day for Lebanese civilians in four months of cross-border hostilities.
The United Nations urged a halt to what it called a “dangerous escalation” of the conflict, which has played out in parallel to the Gaza war and fuelled concerns of a wider confrontation between the Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel.
The Israeli military said it had killed a commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan unit, his commander and another operative in a “precise airstrike” in Nabatieh in Lebanon on Wednesday, without mentioning the civilian deaths.
Hezbollah said three of its fighters had been killed on Wednesday and later confirmed that among them was Ali al-Debs, a commander in the Radwan unit.
Seven of the civilians were killed in Nabatieh late on Wednesday when a rare Israeli strike on the southern city hit a multistory building, sources in Lebanon said. The dead were from the same extended family and included three children.
It followed an earlier attack on the village of al-Sawana at the border that killed a woman and two children who were buried on Thursday.
Israel said it had hit dozens of Hezbollah targets across the south on Thursday. Sirens sounded in northern Israel on Thursday and Israeli medics and police said several rockets struck Kiryat Shmona in Israel, causing damage. There was no immediate word of casualties.
Hezbollah said on Thursday it had struck Kiryat Shmona with dozens of rockets in a preliminary response to the killings in Nabatieh and Sawana. It also announced five of its fighters had been killed in Thursday’s strikes.
Strikes on dense urban areas far from the border, like those on Nabatieh on Wednesday, are considered rare.
10,000 people seeking shelter within Nasser Hospital, UNRWA says
Around 10,000 displaced people are seeking shelter within Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Nasser Hospital continues to be besieged by Israeli tanks and intense fighting in and around Khan Younis over the last three weeks that "is causing loss of life and damage to civilian infrastructure," the organization said.
Nearly 1.5 million people are in Rafah, which is more than six times the city’s population before Oct. 7, UNRWA added. Increased airstrikes on the southern Gaza city heighten fears that they will further affect humanitarian operations.
"The number of trucks entering Gaza remains well below the target of 500 per day, with significant difficulties in bringing supplies in through both Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) and Rafah," the organization said.
Hungry Palestinians line up for free food in Rafah
International aid agencies say Gaza is suffering from shortages of food, medicine and other basic supplies.
84% of health facilities in Gaza affected by attacks, UNRWA says
Around 84% of health facilities in Gaza have been affected by attacks amid Israeli bombardment of the enclave, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said on X.
The organization shared video of destruction in Gaza, including to a UNRWA health center.
"+70% of civilian infrastructure- including homes, hospitals & schools- have been destroyed or severely damaged," the organization wrote. "Nowhere is safe."