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."
Unrest at Rafah crossing as displaced Palestinians storm gate
Hundreds of displaced Palestinians in Gaza demonstrated in front of the Rafah crossing gate into Egypt, according to eyewitness accounts from the Egyptian and Palestinian people of Rafah. The demonstrators burned a number of car tires, with smoke from the fires rising into the sky over the Egypt-Gaza crossing.
An Egyptian security source responsible for the administration of the Rafah crossing told NBC News that protesters and demonstrators from the displaced Palestinians in Rafah stormed the gate and blocked the path of humanitarian aid trucks, preventing them from entering Gaza.
Contact was made with the Rafah crossing administration and the Palestinian police, who arrived in the area, the source said.
The Rafah crossing was reopened from both sides after the police arrived and the Palestinian Authority was able to control the situation completely, according to the source.
Former Hamas hostages say rape and abuse occured while in captivity
MUNICH — Former Hamas hostages and family members of hostages shared their stories at a sideline event at the Munich Security Conference.
Aviva Adrienne Siegal, 62, had been taken captive by Hamas on Oct. 7 and was released after 51 days in captivity in underground tunnels in Gaza. “I am standing here and I cannot believe I am still alive to tell you the story,” she said. “I never thought that I would see my kids again.”
Siegal said that women who were held captive with her had been sexually abused and raped by Hamas. Women worried about getting their periods, she said. NBC News has not independently verified these claims.
“My heart is broken,” she said. “We need your help.”
Hunt for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar heats up after video emerges
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza — The video shows a woman in a hijab walking down a tunnel, followed by a young girl and two boys. One of the boys holds a light against the gloom. And then a man with white hair and prominent ears enters the frame, his back to the camera.
Israel’s military says it is Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who was in charge of the day-to-day governance in Gaza before Oct. 7 and the man they accuse of being the architect of the terrorist attack that day.
Filmed three days after the assault, the grainy footage shows the 61-year-old Sinwar and his family fleeing into a tunnel in southern Gaza, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said Tuesday.
Michael Koubi, a former Israeli intelligence officer who spent more than 150 hours interrogating Sinwar during the 13 years he was imprisoned in Israel, told NBC News last week he had “no doubt in my mind that’s him” because he recognized the militant leader’s gait and distinctive ears.
'It's zero law and order': U.N. official says crime and banditry hampering food distribution
JERUSALEM — Half a million people in Gaza are at risk of famine by May, according to the United Nations World Food Program, which says that "zero law and order" is hampering food distribution in the besieged region.
“A million people are living really precariously right now across the (Gaza) Strip,” said Matthew Hollingworth, country director for the WFP, currently on the ground in southern Gaza. “Here at Rafah, we’ve been able to get in a lot of food in the past few weeks, in particular since January. So we know that that level has been saturated. But it is very much a fragile system.”
The war between Israel and Hamas following the Oct. 7 terror attacks has destroyed Gaza’s previously robust agricultural production and driven prices for what food remains soaring high.
The WFP reported that 300,000 of the half a million people at risk of famine are in northern Gaza, where the organization has only been able to get in five food convoys since the beginning of January.
“This is not a logistics problem,” Hollingworth said. “This is not a logistics crisis. We have the food available in the region to feed all 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip. It’s getting to them which is the problem.”
The Israeli air campaign and ground invasion has led to a mass displacement of the civilian population in Gaza and a breakdown of civil services and infrastructure. While the active fighting is a major impediment to distributing food, the WFP cited crime and banditry as a significant issue as well.
“It’s zero law and order at this stage,” Hollingworth said, “because after this many months of fighting, there are no police, there is no stability, and people are desperate.”
The WFP is calling on Israel to open more entry points and supply routes to Gaza, as well as speed up approval times for access.
Vice President Kamala Harris meets Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Munich
Vice President Kamala Harris met Israeli President Isaac Herzog during the Munich Security Conference today, according to the Israeli Government Office.
Herzog thanked Harris for her support for the country and stated during their meeting that Israel's main concern is the "immediate and unconditional return of the hostages," the government office said.
North Sinai governor denies Egypt is building an enclosure for displaced Gazans
The governor of Egypt's North Sinai region denied that Egypt is building an enclosure for displaced Gazans today, after satellite footage emerged showing extensive construction near the country's border with the besieged enclave.
Maj. Gen. Mohamed Abdel Fadil Shousha said Egypt's position from the start of Israel's war with Hamas was that it would not allow the forced displacement of Palestinians across its northern border with Gaza.
He added that rubble was being removed at the site, which sits across the border from Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city. An inventory was also being taken on homes that were destroyed in anti-terrorism operations in the area, he said.
Egypt was prepared for all possible scenarios ahead of a possible assault by the Israeli military on Rafah, where more than 1 million people have sought shelter during the war.
UNRWA chief should step down, Israel's foreign minister says
MUNICH — The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees should step down, Israel’s foreign minister said today.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Israel Katz said the United Nations Relief and Works Agency was “the problem, not the solution," to the situation in Gaza.
Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA's commissioner general, should step down, Katz said, adding that agencies like the World Food Programme should take over aid operations in Gaza.
Israel has long accused UNRWA of being used by Hamas to conceal weapons and entrances to tunnels.
Katz also said that Israel would work with the U.S. and present a plan to evacuate civilians from the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than 1 million people have sought shelter from Israel’s military campaign.
Netanyahu has said that a ground assault on the city is necessary in the campaign against Hamas.
Video and satellite photos appear to show new Egyptian construction near the Gaza border
Egypt appears to be building a wall and is leveling land near its border with the Gaza Strip ahead of an anticipated Israeli offensive targeting the enclave's southernmost city of Rafah.
Satellite images and footage filmed on the ground shows construction work underway, along with heavy machinery.
At least two killed by gunman in southern city of Ashdod, Israeli police say
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.
Master Sgt. Dean Elsdunne said the attacker had driven to the central Re’em junction and started firing toward a group of civilians, before he was killed by a civilian at the scene.
He added that the wounded suffered "moderate to severe injuries" and had been taken to hospital.
In a separate statement, the Magen David Adom paramedic service said two of the injured were in serious condition and two in moderate condition.
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Retailers demand more action from E.U. to resolve Red Sea crisis
The European retail industry body Eurocommerce called on European Union institutions and member states to resolve the Red Sea crisis that has disrupted trade, saying in a letter to Belgium’s foreign minister that it has already had “massive impacts” on businesses.
Shipping companies have rerouted container vessels away from the Red Sea to avoid Houthi militant attacks that have multiplied since early December, disrupting supply chains for firms reliant on the Suez Canal to get products from Asia to Europe.
Eurocommerce members include supermarket giants Ahold Delhaize, Carrefour, Lidl, Tesco and M&S, and fashion retailers H&M, Inditex and Primark.
“The longer carriers are forced to reroute, the more businesses, and ultimately consumers, will suffer from additional costs adding to the already high costs of living in Europe,” Eurocommerce said in the letter to Hadja Lahbib.
Statehood would be 'huge reward' for Oct. 7 attacks, Netanyahu says as he rejects Palestinian state
Israel will not be pressured into accepting a Palestinian state, Netanyahu said today in a statement published following a call with Biden.
“Israel categorically rejects international dictates regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians,” Netanyahu said. “Israel will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.”
He added that statehood would be a “huge reward” in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, which led to his country's war in Gaza.
Such an arrangement can only be reached in direct negotiations between the two sides, he added, although no talks have been held since 2014.
Biden urges Netanyahu against Rafah operation without plan for civilians
TEL AVIV — Biden reiterated his view that a military operation should not take place in Gaza’s southernmost city without “ a credible and executable plan,” in a call with Netanyahu.
Biden “reaffirmed his commitment to working tirelessly to support the release of all hostages as soon as possible, recognizing their appalling situation after 132 days in Hamas captivity,” a White House readout of the call said.
It added that they also “discussed the situation in Gaza, and the urgency of ensuring that humanitarian assistance is able to get to Palestinian civilians in desperate need.”
Biden “also raised the situation in Rafah,” the readout said, referring to the city in southern Gaza where more than 1 million people have sought shelter following Israel’s invasion of the enclave.
The readout added that Biden “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.”
Children at risk in ICU after generators fail at Gaza's Nasser Hospital, Health Ministry says
Children in intensive care were being put at risk as electrical generators fail at the main medical facility in southern Gaza, the enclave's Health Ministry warned yesterday.
“We fear the death of six in intensive care and three in the children’s nursery at any moment as a result of the cessation of their oxygen,” it said in a statement on Telegram. International institutions should “quickly intervene,” it added.
The Health Ministry later said that four patients in intensive care had died due to the lack of power and oxygen at the medical center.
Satellite images show a wall being constructed in Rafah, Egypt
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.
Catch up with NBC News’ latest coverage of the war
- Palestinian doctor flees hospital stormed by IDF only to go back to work in overcrowded Rafah
- ‘Where do we go?’: Desperation grows in Rafah as Israeli ground assault looms
- How the Israel-Hamas conflict has spread beyond the Mideast
- The Senate passed critical aid for Ukraine and Israel. Here’s what the House could do next.
- Biden and king of Jordan discuss hostage release efforts at White House meeting