What we know
- At least five people have been killed and an unknown number injured by aid packages dropped from aircraft into Gaza today, the enclave's civil defense has said. A U.S. official rejected reports that U.S. airdrops were to blame, saying all U.S. "aid bundles landed safely on the ground."
- President Joe Biden has warned Israel that humanitarian assistance cannot be "a bargaining chip." In his State of the Union address, Biden outlined plans for a pier on the Palestinian enclave's coast to deliver aid. The U.S. and allies announced a joint maritime corridor that could open this weekend.
- Biden also called for an immediate, temporary cease-fire in Israel's war with Hamas and pointed to hostages' families in attendance at the speech, but hopes for a new truce deal by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan have faded after no breakthrough in the talks in Egypt.
- The death toll in Gaza has passed 30,800, according to the territory's Health Ministry, amid surging fears of starvation among its more than 2 million residents. The Israeli military said that at least 247 soldiers have been killed since the ground invasion of Gaza began.
‘We have nothing’: Hunger and desperation as insufficient aid arrives in Gaza
An NBC News camera crew filmed desperate crowds struggling to secure aid from the few trucks allowed into Gaza City overnight.
Explosions and gunfire could be heard nearby and some people appeared wounded, but there are conflicting reports about exactly what happened.
Top E.U. official in Cyprus to check on plans to send Gaza aid by sea
E.U. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is in Cyprus today to meet with President Nikos Christodoulides in the capital Nicosia, according to the commission.
Leyen will also visit the Larnaca port and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre as she checks up on the plan for opening a humanitarian corridor into Gaza.
‘Treat us all equally’: Families of hostages react to Biden focusing on Hamas captives at State of the Union
Family members of Americans detained abroad gave remarks outside of the White House today, in front of the new flag for their cause ahead of tomorrow’s Inaugural U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day.
Asked by NBC News what they thought of President Biden’s State of the Union remarks promising to secure the release of Israeli-Americans held hostage by Hamas, Maryam Kamalmaz, co-chair of the Bring Our Families Home Campaign, had strong words.
“We’re very happy for them, we’re not jealous,” she said of the Israeli-American hostages’ families who have met with Biden. "But treat us all equally. We’re human. We’re all Americans. That’s all we’re saying. Don’t differentiate between hostages.”
Harrison Li, whose father has been wrongfully detained in China — and who attended the SOTU as a guest of Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) — said he didn’t expect President Biden to name everyone held abroad, but was concerned by the complete omission.
“We’re all in agreement that the hostages being brutally captured by Hamas need to come home — as do all American hostages, all wrongful detainees — there is no question about that,” said Li. “All we are asking is for our government to give us equal treatment. And for President Biden to consistently ignore us, pretend that we don’t even exist?”
Pentagon denies U.S. aid drops responsible for any civilian casualties
The Pentagon denied that U.S. airdrops of aid were responsible for any civilian casualties in Gaza after the enclave's civil defense said the five people were killed today by "aircraft incorrectly dropping aid."
At a Department of Defense press briefing this afternoon, Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said that reports of U.S. airdrops resulting in civilian casualties on the ground are false "as we’ve confirmed that all of our aid bundles landed safely on the ground."
CIA director back in Mideast for more talks on cease-fire, hostage release
CIA Director William Burns is in the Middle East again to hold more talks on a possible hostage release and cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Burns’ trip included a stop in Cairo before heading to the Qatari capital of Doha today, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
The unannounced trip was reported first by CBS News.
Biden's temporary port in Gaza could take up to 60 days to be fully operational
The maritime corridor that President Biden announced last night in his State of the Union address could take up to 60 days to be fully operational, according to two senior U.S. officials.
The corridor will include a floating dock and a pier where humanitarian aid can be staged and then ferried to Gaza.
The U.S. military will do much of the setup, what they usually refer to as a Joint Logistics Over The Shore (JLOTS) operation.
The officials said they are hoping to get the system up and running in as little as 30 days, but 45 to 60 is more realistic.
Video appears to show the aid drop that Gaza authorities say killed 5 people
A video posted to Instagram by Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail Al-Ghoul appears to show the botched air drop of aid that Gaza's civil defense said killed five people today. The video does not show anyone getting harmed and it is unclear if Al-Ghoul took it himself. NBC News has not independently verified the claims.
The caption reads: "This is what the airdrop on Gaza City left behind, a martyr and several injuries as a result of a failed drop on citizens’ homes north of the Beach Camp."
U.N. torture expert investigating allegations of mistreatment of Palestinian detainees in Israel
The United Nations expert on torture told Reuters today that she was investigating allegations of torture and mistreatment of Palestinians detained in Israel.
In an exchange with Reuters during a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Dr. Alice Jill Edwards said she had recently received allegations concerning Palestinians who were being held in the Israeli-occupied West Bank or detained because of the conflict in Gaza.
"I'm looking into that as we speak and carrying out a fact-finding investigation," said Edwards, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
"I'm calling on ... Hamas, the state of Palestine, Israel to put their torture tools down, to really have a focus on peace and a prospect of living side-by-side as neighbors in the future," she added, according to a Reuters report on the exchange.
Israel's military has insisted that its military operations in the Gaza Strip are intended to dismantle Hamas and rescue hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas attackers in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, is considered a terror organization by the U.S. and the U.K.
‘There are no houses’: Civilians return to destroyed Khan Younis neighborhood
An NBC News camera crew filmed former residents of the Al-Amal area of Khan Younis as they tried to salvage belongings from the rubble of their destroyed homes before the possible return of Israeli tanks.
Abbas welcomes Biden's State of the Union speech
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he welcomed Biden's comments on the Israel-Gaza war in his State of the Union speech.
Abbas' office said in a statement on its Telegram channel today that it expressed its "satisfaction and appreciation" for Biden's words, particularly on the need for a six-week cease-fire and an eventual two-state solution.
This was, the Palestinian Authority said, "consistent with the Palestinian truth and demands that President Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly expressed."
"The U.S. President stressed that Israel has a primary responsibility to protect civilians, and to allow more aid to pass through, warning Israeli leaders that humanitarian aid cannot be considered a secondary issue or a bargaining chip," the statement said.
Humanitarian groups criticize U.S. plan to construct temporary pier in Gaza as a 'distraction'
Prominent aid organizations dubbed the Biden administration's plans to construct a temporary pier to help the flow of much-needed aid in Gaza as "not realistic" and a "distraction."
Following Biden's announcement in his State of the Union address last night, the International Rescue Committee continued to call for a "sustained" cease-fire.
"A temporary pier that could take weeks to construct or airdrops are not a solution," it said in a statement. "The U.S. must use its influence to ensure that Israel lifts its siege of Gaza, reopens its crossings, including the Karni and Erez crossings in the north, and allows the safe and unimpeded movement of humanitarian workers and aid — including fuel, food, and medical supplies.”
Since the beginning of the war, the Israeli government has imposed a near-total siege on food and water supplies in Gaza, and its military inspects aid trucks coming into the Palestinian territory.
Doctors without Borders and Medical Aid for Palestinians, a British-based charity, similarly criticized the Biden plan as not enough to stave off cases of malnutrition, infectious disease and looming famine in the war-torn enclave.
“The US plan for a temporary pier in Gaza to increase the flow of humanitarian aid is a glaring distraction from the real problem: Israel’s indiscriminate and disproportionate military campaign and punishing siege," said Avril Benoît, Doctor's without Borders executive director in the U.S.
She called on Israeli authorities to "facilitate rather than block" critical aid supplies as humanitarian relief workers report numerous aid trucks either rejected or delayed while sitting at the two functioning border crossings.
"This is not a logistics problem; it is a political problem. Rather than look to the US military to build a work-around, the U.S. should insist on immediate humanitarian access using the roads and entry points that already exist," Benoît added.
Melanie Ward, CEO of Medical Aid for Palestinians, said the U.S. and its allies must use their "substantial weight" to pressure Israel to open more land crossings into Gaza for "safe and unfettered access for aid and aid workers."
“Airdrops, temporary seaports and the like are not realistic or lasting solutions to stave off looming famine and sustain life in Gaza,” she said.
Biden: Only path to peace in Gaza is a two-state solution
Biden addressed the attack on Israel on Oct. 7 during his State of the Union address last night. He reiterated that he is a long-standing supporter of Israel, but that there is no path for peace for Israel and Palestinians to “live in dignity” other than a two-state solution.
Israeli settlements grow by record amount and threaten chance for Palestinian state, U.N. rights chief says
Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories have grown by a record amount and threaten any chance of a viable Palestinian state, the U.N. human rights chief said today, summarizing a report he plans to deliver to the Human Rights Council in Geneva later this month.
Volker Türk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, said that the expansion of Israeli territories amounts to "the transfer by Israel of its own civilian population into the territories that it occupies." He characterized that as a war crime under international law.
"The West Bank is already in crisis. Yet, settler violence and settlement-related violations have reached shocking new levels, and risk eliminating any practical possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian State," Türk said in a blistering statement accompanying the 16-page report.
The report, drawn from tracking conducted by the U.N. and outside sources, documented 24,300 new Israeli housing units in the occupied West Bank during a one-year period, from Nov. 1, 2022, to Oct. 31, 2023.
The U.N. said that was the most settlement activity on record since monitoring started in 2017.
At least 5 people killed after airdropped aid fell on them, Gaza authorities say
At least five people have been killed and an unknown number injured by aid packages dropped from aircraft into Gaza today, the enclave's civil defense has said.
"There were 5 martyrs and a number of injuries as a result of civilian aircraft incorrectly dropping aid, which fell on the heads and homes of citizens northwest of Gaza City this afternoon," a spokesman for Gaza's Civil Defense said.
NBC News has not independently verified the claims.
The United States has been delivering food and other aid to Gaza via the air, as have allies, including Jordan. It is not known which country dropped the parcels that led to today's incident.
Israel's Rafah offensive must not be allowed to happen, U.N. human rights office says
The United Nations' High Commission for Human Rights in Geneva has said that under no circumstances should Israel be allowed to launch a planned ground offensive on Gaza's southern city of Rafah.
U.N. spokesman Jeremy Laurence said in a statement Friday that the office fears "this already catastrophic situation may slide deeper into the abyss" if troops are sent into the heavily populated city.
The U.N. said 1.5 million people are sheltering in Rafah, many of them displaced from other parts of the Gaza Strip since the current Israel-Hamas war began Oct. 7.
"Any ground assault on Rafah would incur massive loss of life and would heighten the risk of further atrocity crimes. This must not be allowed to happen," the statement said, noting that the people of Gaza are preparing to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Efforts to secure a new cease-fire before next week have stalled, leading to renewed fears about a Rafah offensive.
The statement added that the U.N. was concerned that new restrictions on access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan could "further inflame tensions."
Food shortages hit southern Gaza, where families go hungry in Rafah
Osama Salim Abid told an NBC News crew in Rafah that some days, his family of 10 has nothing at all to eat as food shortages impact southern Gaza.
IDF says probe finds its troops fired at Gazans posing a 'threat' near aid convoy
The Israeli military said today that its review into a deadly incident around a Gaza aid convoy last week found that its troops had "fired precisely" when Gazans posing a "threat" approached them.
Gaza's Health Ministry said more than 100 people were killed when a crowd of thousands of Palestinians approached aid trucks hoping to get food and were fired on by Israeli troops.
The IDF said that its review "found that IDF troops did not fire at the humanitarian convoy, but did fire at a number of suspects who approached the nearby forces and posed a threat to them."
"The command review reveals that while the trucks were traveling toward the distribution centers, a crowd of about 12,000 Gazans gathered around them and looted the equipment they were transporting," it said in a statement this morning.
"During the course of the looting, incidents of significant harm to civilians occurred from the stampede and people being run over by the trucks. In addition, during the incidents of crowding, dozens of Gazans advanced towards nearby IDF troops, up to several meters from them, and thereby posed a real threat to the forces at that point. At this stage, the forces fired cautionary fire in order to distance the suspects. As the suspects continued to advance toward them, the troops fired precisely toward a number of the suspects to remove the threat."
U.S. and allies launch maritime corridor for Gaza aid deliveries
The United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United Arab Emirates are among the countries who this morning announced their "intent to open a maritime corridor to deliver much-needed additional amounts of humanitarian assistance by sea" to Gaza.
The effort will include inspections in Cyprus, the partners said in a joint statement. "The delivery of humanitarian assistance directly to Gaza by sea will be complex, and our nations will continue to assess and adjust our efforts to ensure we deliver aid as effectively as possible. This maritime corridor can — and must — be part of a sustained effort to increase the flow of humanitarian aid and commercial commodities into Gaza through all possible routes," the statement added.
A ship belonging to Spain’s Open Arms charity will make a pilot voyage to test the sea corridor today, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said, with hope that the effort could begin more fully by Sunday.
A brief return home in southern Gaza
Palestinians carry or transport on carts some personal belongings, as they leave the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday after returning briefly to check on what remains of their homes.
Israel welcomes Biden port plan and will inspect aid in Cyprus, official says
TEL AVIV — Israel welcomes Biden’s plan for the U.S. military to build a temporary pier off Gaza but will check humanitarian aid in Cyprus before it is delivered to the Palestinian enclave by sea, an Israeli official has told NBC News.
The screening system will be similar to what is in place at the Egyptian border crossing of Rafah, where Israel is deeply involved in screening all shipments bound for Gaza. Israel welcomes any “humanitarian solutions to reach populations in need,” the official said.
The president’s plan has not yet been voted on by Israel’s Cabinet but is likely to be approved once details are finalized, the official said.
Britain to work with U.S. in creating a maritime corridor for aid deliveries to Gaza
David Cameron, Britain's foreign secretary, has said his country will work with the United States and others to create a maritime corridor for the delivery of aid to Gaza, following Biden's announcement of a temporary port last night.
"People in Gaza are in desperate humanitarian need," Cameron wrote on X this morning. "Alongside the US, the U.K. and partners have announced we will open a maritime corridor to deliver aid directly to Gaza."
Cameron, a former British prime minister who unexpectedly returned to government last year, added: "We continue to urge Israel to allow more trucks into Gaza as the fastest way to get aid to those who need it."
U.S. shoots down Houthi missiles and drones in Yemen
The U.S. Central Command shot down four Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles and a drone in Yemen yesterday afternoon, it said in a post on X.
It also shot down three more drones launched toward the Gulf of Aden, it said, adding the strikes were taken to "protect freedom of navigation."
The Iran-backed militants have been hurling missiles and drones at ships passing through the Red Sea since the war began Oct. 7. On Wednesday, three people were killed from such attacks on a merchant ship.
Hostages' families at Biden's speech given some hope that a deal may still be in the cards
Families of American hostages at last night's State of the Union speech as guests of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told NBC News that they were given some hope by national security adviser Jake Sullivan that hostage talks are not completely over.
CIA Director William Burns is in the region, including Egypt and Doha, even though there are no four-way talks for a new cease-fire agreement. A person familiar with his plans says he is not going to Israel, as some Israeli media have reported.
The U.S. has been pushing Hamas and Israel to reach a deal by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan next week.
Inside the mission to airdrop desperately needed aid into Gaza
With the humanitarian crisis worsening in Gaza and some people close to starvation, NBC News joined a Jordanian air force mission to drop food aid by air.
Catch up with our latest war coverage
U.S. food drops over Gaza are criticized as too little and ineffective
In the ruins of Gaza, children are starving to death and there’s no cease-fire in sight
As malnutrition deaths are reported and hunger grows, will ‘famine’ be declared in Gaza?
At least 3 killed on shipping vessel in first fatal Houthi attack since start of Israel-Hamas war
U.N. finds ‘clear and convincing’ information that hostages have been raped in Gaza