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Netanyahu reveals his plans for post-war Gaza

An Israeli delegation is traveling to Paris to attend negotiations for a hostage release and cease-fire deal, an official has said.

What we know

  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented his plan for Gaza after the war ends with Hamas It says that Israel would be allowed to operate militarily in the enclave for an indefinite period of time to prevent the resurgence of the militant group. The plan also stipulates that UNRWA, the main aid organization in the Gaza Strip, must be closed.
  • Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA's commissioner general, in a letter yesterday to Dennis Francis, president of the United Nations General Assembly, said his the organization was at a ''breaking point'' at a time of unprecedented need in Gaza. The agency could be forced to cease operations entirely by the end of the month after several countries froze aid after Israel alleged that some of its workers had taken part in Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks.
  • An Israeli delegation is traveling to Paris for negotiations for a hostage release and cease-fire deal, an official said, weeks after Netanyahu dismissed proposals from Hamas as ''delusional.'' Hamas leaders have left Cairo, where days of discussions on a deal had also been taking place.
  • More than 29,500 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. More than 69,400 have been injured, and thousands more are missing and presumed dead.
  • Israeli military officials said at least 238 soldiers have been killed since the ground invasion of Gaza began.

U.N. rights chief criticizes 'entrenched impunity' in the war in Gaza

NBC News

Perpetrators of gross human rights violations in the conflict between Israel and Hamas must be held accountable, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said today.

Volker Turk said in a report on the situation in Gaza that the “entrenched impunity” that his office “has reported on for many years cannot persist.”

He added that this impunity had contributed to violations that could amount to international crimes.

He also urged all parties to the conflict to “put an end to impunity and conduct prompt, independent, impartial, thorough, effective and transparent investigations” into alleged crimes under international law.

Blinken 'disappointed' by Israel's housing plan for occupied West Bank

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said today he was “disappointed” by Israel's plan to build hundreds of new housing units in settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Speaking at a news conference in Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, he said it was long-standing U.S. policy that new settlements are counterproductive to reaching an enduring peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

At least 22 Palestinians killed in an airstrike on a home in central Gaza

NBC News

An NBC News crew found scenes of death and destruction at a family home in Deir al-Balah after, eyewitnesses said, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 22 people.

Bodies could be seen trapped in the rubble while survivors were pulled out.

Journalist killed in Gaza, Palestinian Information Ministry says

Journalist Muhammad Yaghi has been killed in Gaza in an Israeli bombing of the enclave, the Palestinian Information Ministry said in a statement today.

NBC News is not able to independently verify his death.

At least 13 more patients have died at Nasser Hospital, Gaza health officials say

At least 13 more patients have died at Nasser Hospital since Israeli forces stormed it last week, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement today on Telegram, adding that a lack of oxygen had contributed to some of the deaths.

It added that there was also a lack of food and electricity at the facility in the enclave's southern city of Khan Younis, along with poor hygiene conditions and sewage water all over the ground.

On Sunday, the IDF announced the arrest of more than 100 suspected Hamas fighters inside the hospital compound.

More than 400 killed while sheltering in UNRWA camps

More than 400 people have been killed when living at U.N. refugee camps in Gaza, the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians said on X today.

Around 1 million people from all age groups are seeking shelter at UNRWA facilities across the strip, it said.

“Nowhere, & no-one, is safe,” it added.

Strikes injure civilians in Deir al-Balah

Max Butterworth

A Palestinian man covered in ash carries two children to be treated at Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital after being injured in Israeli attacks in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, last night.

Israeli attacks on Gaza continue
Ashraf Amra / Anadolu via Getty Images

Transferring weapons to Israel likely breaching international law, U.N. says

Sending weapons or ammunition to Israel could violate international humanitarian law, the United Nations said on X today, before urging all relevant parties to suspend providing arms to the country.

Hezbollah targets command center in northern Israel

Hezbollah launched drone attacks targeting an Israeli command center, the Lebanese militant group said in a statement on Telegram today.

The Iran-backed group said it targeted the northern Israeli city of Qiryat Shemona, in response to recent Israeli attacks on villages in southern Lebanon.

The IDF said in a statement yesterday that it attacked several targets in southern Lebanon to “remove a threat.”

At least one killed by Israeli bomb on car in Jenin, Palestinian Health Ministry says

Segilola Arisekola

Segilola Arisekola and Larissa Gao

At least one person was killed and 15 were injured when Israel targeted a car in Jenin in the occupied West Bank yesterday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

On its own Telegram channel, the Israel Defense Forces said it targeted “a terrorist who was on his way to commit a terror attack, and who carried out several shooting attacks over the past weeks.”

Hamas leaders leave Egypt after talks

Hamas' political leader has left Egypt after talks with officials in the country about a cease-fire with Israel and a hostage exchange deal, the militant group said in a statement today.

Ismail Haniyeh left with several other Hamas leaders after discussions with Egyptian intelligence director Abbas Kamel, the statement issued on Telegram said. It is unclear whether any progress was made.

The group left after White House Middle East adviser Brett McGurk arrived in Cairo in hopes for talks about a pause in the fighting in Gaza and a potential end to the conflict in the enclave.

IDF troops conduct ground operations in Gaza

Max Butterworth

Israeli soldiers patrol on foot at an undisclosed location during ongoing ground operations in Gaza today.

IDF troops in Gaza on Feb. 23, 2024.
Israeli Army / AFP - Getty Images

There is 'no health system to speak of left in Gaza,' Doctors Without Borders says

There is “no health system to speak of left in Gaza,” the secretary general of Doctors Without Borders said in a briefing to the U.N. Security Council yesterday.

“Israel’s military has dismantled hospital after hospital,” Chris Lockyear said. “What remains is so little in the face of such carnage. It is preposterous.”

"The excuse given is that medical facilities have been used for military purposes, yet we have seen zero independently verified evidence of this," he said.

“In exceptional circumstances where a hospital loses its protected status, any attack must follow the principles of proportionality and precaution,” he added. “Instead of adherence to international law, we see the systematic disabling of hospitals. This has left the entire medical system inoperable.”

British-born woman who joined ISIS as a teen loses appeal against removal of citizenship

Reuters

A British-born woman who went to Syria as a schoolgirl to join the Islamic State terrorist group lost her latest appeal today over the removal of her U.K. citizenship.

The British government took away Shamima Begum’s citizenship on national security grounds in 2019, shortly after she was found in a detention camp in Syria.

Begum, now 24, argued the decision was unlawful, in part because British officials failed to properly consider whether she was a victim of trafficking, an argument that was rejected by a lower court in February 2023.

The Court of Appeal in London rejected her appeal Friday following an appeal in October. Judge Sue Carr said: “It could be argued that the decision in Ms Begum’s case was harsh. It could also be argued that Ms Begum is the author of her own misfortune."

Death toll since Oct. 7 climbs to 29,514 in Gaza, Health Ministry says

Some 29,514 people have been killed in the enclave since Oct. 7, the Gaza Health Ministry said today, as Israel intensifies military operations in the south.

Another 69,000 people have been injured, with thousands still missing under the rubble, it added.

Israel plans to approve hundreds of new homes in the occupied West Bank

The Associated Press

Israel plans to approve the construction of more than 3,300 new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank, a senior Cabinet minister from the far-right wing of the government announced.

Approval of new construction is bound to elicit condemnation from the United States at a time when the relationship between the allies is fraught because of disagreements over the course of Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a statement late yesterday that the new construction is meant as a response to a fatal Palestinian shooting attack near Jerusalem earlier in the day. He said Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant participated in the discussion leading to the decision.

Catch up on NBC News' coverage of the conflict

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