First aid crosses into Gaza from Egypt

Friends and families of Hamas hostages protested in central Tel Aviv, demanding greater efforts from their government and the international community to bring their loved ones home.

NBC News' Social Newsgathering team is helping fight the fog of war, working to get an accurate, confirmed set of facts about the situation in Israel and Gaza.

Here’s how journalists are using tech tools and old-fashioned reporting to get to the truth about viral videos and images.  

As Biden declared unwavering support for Israel in the days after Hamas’ terrorist attack in Israel, Ahmad Ramadan, a former Biden adviser now leading coalition efforts for the Michigan Democratic Party, called the state party chair to raise the alarm about what he was hearing.

Michigan has one of the largest Muslim and Arab American populations in the country, and they say their support for Biden was instrumental to putting him over the top in the critical swing state in 2020. But now, Ramadan and other Democratic leaders in the state were hearing nothing but frustration with Biden — and threats to not vote for him again.

In a series of more than a dozen roundtable discussions with Muslim community leaders in the two weeks since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, Ramadan said the main takeaway is that “people are very disappointed.” They say they “will not forget what President Biden did and why he lied to them,” he added.

“Joe Biden has single-handedly alienated almost every Arab American and Muslim American voter in Michigan,” said state Rep. Alabas Farhat, a Democrat whose district includes Dearborn, which is home to one of the largest Muslim and Arab American communities in the country. 

Read the full story here.

ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER — Throughout the day, missile strikes have been launched from Gaza into central and southern Israel, and there have also been airstrikes and artillery bombardments inside Gaza.

In Gaza City, an area near the Al Shatea refugee camp was hit. At least one home that was struck had people inside it.

After hearing the blast, a woman arrived at the scene as rescuers were combing through debris, searching for survivors. She then walked 2 miles to a hospital, where she discovered nine of her family members had been killed in the blast.

The woman's mother, father, brother and sister-in-law were among those killed.

Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Ben Cardin, D-Md., led a meeting today with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia to advance U.S.-Saudi interests and discuss the escalating war between Israel and Hamas.

The bipartisan delegation of 10 U.S. senators also spoke about the need for humanitarian assistance in Gaza and how best to promote peace and stability amid fears of a widening conflict in the region, according to a statement.

Graham had announced on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the bipartisan delegation would be traveling to Saudi Arabia and Israel.

“Free, free Palestine!” People at rallies today across the U.S. echoed the chant in support of Palestinians, but their messages differed. Some advocated for resistance to Israel and its allies in the U.S., while others called for a cease-fire in Gaza.

Speakers at the National March for Gaza in Washington, D.C., demanded an immediate stop to the violence before a large crowd in front of the Washington Monument. 

“I want this to end either way. If they kill us now, it’s so much better than killing us slowly,” said one speaker, who called for the return of hostages abducted by Hamas, as well as the release of prisoners from Israeli jails.

Adam Sawada, whose brother was recently killed in a bombing in Gaza, said in a speech that he is trying to remain “positive” about the difference he and others around the world can make in ending the bloody war. 

“Enough is enough,” he said. “It’s time to put an end to this and make peace. That’s it.”

The protest was hosted by American Muslims for Palestine and the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations, groups that mobilize the Muslim community in the U.S. to advocate for Palestinian rights.

In Providence, Rhode Island, hundreds of protesters clutched umbrellas in heavy rain on the steps of the State House, calling for an end to U.S. aid to Israel. 

“We are here today standing against genocide. We are here today resisting Israel’s apartheid regime,” said one speaker, a Palestinian Muslim and student at Rhode Island College. The rally was organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which, according to its website, “stands in solidarity with working-class and oppressed people around the world who are resisting capitalist exploitation and imperialist domination.”

New York’s pro-Palestinian protests also emphasized different messages this weekend. A march to Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s Manhattan office last night advocated for a cease-fire, while protesters at the Flood Brooklyn for Palestine rally today shouted: “When Palestine is under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” 

In Chicago, protesters marched through the streets this afternoon carrying a giant banner that read, “Stop the U.S.-backed genocide against Gaza.” Before the march, the crowd broke out in a chant calling Biden and Netanyahu war criminals.

Two people were arrested and are awaiting charges, according to a Chicago Police Department spokesperson, who did not provide additional details.

Worldwide demonstrations have been ongoing since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas.

Israeli forces plan to step up their attacks on Hamas strongholds in northern Gaza, officials said today, as Israel prepares for a ground assault.

"We'll continue attacking targets that can be a threat to our ground forces," Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman, said in a statement, adding that the military "will intensify" its campaign against Hamas.

He also called on residents of northern Gaza to continue evacuating to the south, where humanitarian aid began entering today from the border with Egypt.

He said the aid includes food, water and medicine but not fuel.

A brother of Shaaban Sawada, who was fatally wounded in an Israeli air attack in Gaza this week, said at a pro-Palestinian rally today in Washington, D.C., that he believes strained resources in the hospitals led to his death.

"My brother was standing outside, you know, just standing and doing nothing, really. They dropped a bomb next door, and his leg, the leg, went cut off," Adam Sawada said.

"At the hospital, they left him a few minutes until they get to him because, and this is my theory — I think they have too many kids to try to take care of before my elderly brother, because he was, like, about 65," Sawada added, "and by the time they got to him, he was dead."

Humanitarian groups applaud the 20 trucks of supplies that entered Gaza on Saturday but say the aid falls dangerously short of what is needed to help civilians on the ground.

A joint statement issued by groups including UNICEF, World Health Organization, World Food Programme and others called Saturday's relief efforts "only a small beginning and far from enough."

"More than 1.6 million people in Gaza are in critical need of humanitarian aid. Children, pregnant women and the elderly remain the most vulnerable," the statement read in part, noting minors comprise nearly half the population of Gaza.

"With so much civilian infrastructure in Gaza damaged or destroyed in nearly two weeks of constant bombings, including shelters, health facilities, water, sanitation, and electrical systems, time is running out before mortality rates could skyrocket due to disease outbreaks and lack of health-care capacity," the statement went on. "Gaza was a desperate humanitarian situation before the most recent hostilities. It is now catastrophic. The world must do more."

Qatar played a central role in securing the surprise release Friday of an American mother and daughter held hostage by Hamas. Now that Judith Raanan and her daughter, Natalie, are free, negotiators in Qatar hope that the release of more captives by Hamas “could lead to wider dialogue or mediation,” aimed at averting a full-scale war, a diplomat with knowledge of the talks told NBC News on Saturday.

There were “ups and downs” during the discussions, said the diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly. Ultimately the American mother and daughter walked free because negotiators were able to convince Hamas that the unconditional release of two hostages could serve as a confidence building measure.

Read the full story here.

The White House released a statement from President Biden on the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza in which he said that the U.S. is committed to ensuring that civilians in Gaza “will continue to have access to food, water, medical care and other assistance, without diversion by Hamas.”

Before the war between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7, hundreds of trucks loaded with humanitarian aid passed regularly into Gaza. So while the 20 truck convoy that entered through Egypt’s Rafah crossing earlier today was greeted with relief, the need remains vast.

UNICEF, which has been designated the “water cluster lead” for the humanitarian supplies, said that it was only able to send a fraction of the water needed into Gaza today. It is unclear when the border will open again.

Vast sections of Gaza’s infrastructure, including water and sanitation systems, have been reduced to rubble in nearly two weeks of escalating violence. According to UNICEF, water production capacity is at 5% of normal levels, and the nearly 2.3 million residents in Gaza are now surviving on 3 liters, less than a gallon, of water per person per day. The average American uses 100 gallons of water per day.

The World Health Organization has warned repeatedly over the past week that the water situation in Gaza is at a crisis point. Included in today’s deliveries were four trucks with WHO provided medical supplies including trauma medicines.

"With one million children in Gaza now facing a critical protection and humanitarian crisis, the delivery of water is a matter of life or death. Every minute counts,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

UNICEF says it currently has mobile latrines, thermal blankets, medicine and water purification tablets for up to 250,000 people prepositioned at the Rafah crossing that can be brought into Gaza “in a matter of hours.” Humanitarian organizations say still approximately 200 trucks with 3,000 tons of assistance are waiting on the the Egyptian side of the border.

Relatives of people kidnapped by Hamas militants hold the pictures of their loved ones during a protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday.

TEL AVIV — The streets might be quieter than usual in parts of Tel Aviv, but along the promenade on the Mediterranean seashore, there are bursts of life.

Families swim in the sea, groups of friends play soccer and at least a dozen people, drawn to the beach by strong winds, were seen kitesurfing as sunset fell over the city.

It’s a peaceful scene, but just an hour or so before, sirens warning of a potential air attack sounded, sending beachgoers running to the nearest shelter.

One kitesurfer, said she had to quickly bring down her kite and race to the nearest shelter when the sirens sounded. She said it felt strange to return to a semblance of normalcy in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, but she said: “It’s been two weeks that I wasn’t doing anything for my soul. You know, you just got to be a bit human.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas struck a defiant note at the Cairo peace summit, but also made a point of calling for “the release of all civilians, prisoners and detainees.”

TEL AVIV — The father of Sagui Dekel-Chen, a U.S. citizen who was taken hostage by Hamas, has said he is "happy for the family" of Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Shoshana Raanan, who were released by the militant group last night — but he said he still doesn't know what the development means for his son, a 35-year-old father of two, and others still held captive.

"It’s impossible to say what bearing that might have on the fate of the rest of the hostages," Jonathan Dekel-Chen, 60, said. "Time will tell. It’s just impossible to tell if this is a sign of things to come."

In the days since his son was taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, Dekel-Chen said he has had to "just stay steady" every time there's an update on those taken hostage. "Don’t get too high when things seem to be moving in the right direction and don’t get too low when they don’t," he said.

"As time goes by, this doesn't get any easier," he said. "And the tension around what the continuation of this war is going to look like and what that would mean for the safety and well-being of our loved ones — that just gets even more unbearable by the moment."

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said he has no plans to visit Israel and isn’t interested in “sending a virtue signal by showing up somewhere.”

“I don’t expect to make that trip right now. Only if I think there was something useful I could add, right. If this is going to be some sort of campaign stunt, forget about it. That’s not useful right now,” Ramaswamy told NBC News.

His remarks came after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis contended in an interview with the conservative news outlet Newsmax on Friday that politicians who have visited the country are “just getting in the way of what’s going on.”

President Joe Biden, as well as congressional lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, have visited Israel in recent days.

“Look, I think as president, it’s a reasonable— it’s a reasonable thing to go and it’s a symbolic gesture,” Ramaswamy said.

ASHDOD, Israel — The Israeli strategy has changed in light of the American hostage release from Hamas and aid into Gaza.

The military said that it has made recent decisions to expand the operations underway, and that it intends to proceed with the ground offensive.

The International Committee of the Red Cross expressed support for the U.N. brokered deal that brought a convoy of 20 trucks with humanitarian aid into Gaza, calling it a “welcome step.”

Still, the needs in Gaza require far more than 20 trucks, a spokesperson told NBC News.

“We need a steady stream of aid into Gaza as well as a pause in the fighting to work safely and effectively to meet the needs,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also stressed the need for medical staff including war surgeons and first responders to gain entry to Gaza. The Red Cross has been able to deliver fuel in “small batches,” but hospitals and water treatment plants need a constant flow to function.

Hamas has a clear stance on Israeli army captives, according to spokesperson Osama Hamdan.

"The issue regarding exchanging captives will not be discussed until the (Israeli) occupation ends its aggression on the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian people," Hamdan said in Arabic at a televised press conference.

LONDON — Thousands of people turned out to protest against the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

The Metropolitan Police estimates that 100,000 people attended the pro-Palestinian march in central London, according to a post on X.

This is the second weekend in a row that demonstrators marched in support of Palestinians, calling for a cease-fire to end the attacks on civilians in Gaza. There was no official police estimate to the number of people in London's 2016 protest against Brexit, but one organizer estimated it to be 50,000, according to Reuters.

There is a cautious feeling of hope among negotiators that yesterday's release of two people taken captive by Hamas "can lead to more hostages being released," a diplomat with knowledge of the talks says.

"The Israelis have been clear they are not willing to talk until all the hostages are released. So it may be better for Hamas to release them faster because that may lead to wider dialogue or mediation," the diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said.

They said there were "ups and downs" during the discussions, with a positive moment after Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Doha being followed by a pause in talks after the deadly hospital blast in Gaza.

With the release of two hostages, American mother and daughter Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Shoshana Raanan, "the hope is that this is seen as an olive branch," they said, adding that "with the aid coming in, while not a trade or part of a deal, these are positive steps that will hopefully will lead to more positive steps and willingness."

President Joe Biden shared his phone call with released American hostages Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Shoshana Raanan in a video posted on X this morning. 

Raanan and her daughter, Natalie, were among the roughly 200 people taken hostage by Hamas during the militants' surprise terror attack on Oct. 7.

“I’m just delighted we’re able to get you out. We’ve been working on it a long time,” Biden said on the call. “We’re going to get them all out, God willing.”

Jordan's King Abdullah II denounced the international community for its "silence" and "apathy" toward the Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip, during his speech at the Cairo Summit for Peace, which convened Saturday.

"The message the Arab world is hearing is loud and clear: Palestinian lives matter less than Israeli ones. Our lives matter less than other lives," King Abdullah said. "The application of international law is optional. And human rights have boundaries — they stop at borders, they stop at races, and they stop at religions."

He slammed the displacement of Palestinians as a war crime and called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and for the delivery of humanitarian aid, food and medicines to the territory.

Addressing Israeli leadership specifically, King Abdullah said no military solution would solve their security concerns. The recurring bouts of violence would only lead to a "zero-sum game of death and destruction."

He endorsed a two state-solution, instead, as the path forward.

"The only path to a safe and secure future for the people of the Middle East and the entire world — for the Jewish people, for Christians, for Muslims alike — starts with the belief that every human life is of equal value and it ends with two states, Palestine and Israel, sharing land and peace from the river to the sea," he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed the Israel-Gaza war in a Saturday phone call between the leaders, in which they agreed on the "need to ensure the protection of civilians and respect for humanitarian law," Zelenskyy said in a statement on Telegram.

Erdogan has offered himself as a potential negotiator in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas. Zelenskyy has long been a defender of Israel, and has previously said he wants Ukraine to resemble a “big Israel” with a thriving security industry and visible army, when it rebuilds after the Russian invasion.

According to the Ukrainian embassy in Israel, 207 Ukrainian citizens, including 63 children, were evacuated from Tel Aviv to Romania last week.

Volunteers help pack aid for the Gaza Strip at a donation center set up by the Emirates Red Crescent in Dubai, on Saturday.

ZIKIM, Israel — Through the haze of a warm, Mediterranean evening, towers of smoke billow on the horizon.

This is 3 miles from the Gaza border, where dull thuds can be heard, and felt, several times an hour.

The mood is one of anticipation and anxiety. Soldiers stationed here said just a few days ago militants managed to get into Israel within 400 yards of their position. Troops in tactical gear can be seen treading carefully along the roadside, assault rifles aimed into the bushes.

This is an asymmetric war, with Palestinians unable to respond to anywhere near the level of Israel’s bombardment. But sometimes rockets evade Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. Near Zikim itself, a huge cloud of smoke rises from one such impact.

There is black humor. One soldier picks up what he says is a fragment of rocket. “Take this home to your wife instead of chocolate,” he says.

Ahead of an expected ground assault, these military men and women are not glib. “It’s not nice to see,” one soldier with a nose piercing said of the interception, “but we saw it happen.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed this morning that a 20-truck convoy of humanitarian assistance has crossed the Rafah border into Gaza — the first time aid has arrived there since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel. 

“The opening of this essential supply route was the result of days of exhaustive U.S. diplomatic engagement in the region and an understanding President Biden reached with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during his recent historic visit to Israel,” Blinken said in a statement.

He stressed the importance of keeping the Rafah crossing open and said Hamas should not interfere with the provision of aid. 

“As President Biden stated, if Hamas steals or diverts this assistance it will have demonstrated once again that it has no regard for the welfare of the Palestinian people,” Blinken said.

The terror attack in southern Israel has evoked agonizing memories for many Jewish people around the world — including people in Israel who once saw the Jewish state as a refuge from violence. World leaders like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden have drawn explicit parallels between the Oct. 7 assault and the Holocaust, when 6 million Jews were annihilated by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime.

But not everyone is comfortable with this stark comparison, and some have expressed reservations about how Netanyahu’s war Cabinet could use the horrors of the past to rally support for its military actions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Read the full story here.

The IDF retaliated against militants who fired rockets and missiles from near the Lebanese border, the Israeli military said in a statement Saturday.

Militants fired rockets toward Har Dov, a small strip of land between the Lebanese and Syrian borders and the Israeli-occupied area of Golan Heights, and anti-tank missiles were fired toward Kibbutz Hanita, the statement said. It added that the IDF responded to both attacks using aircraft.

“Hits were identified during both strikes,” the statement said. Soldiers also responded to anti-tank missiles directed toward the northern region of Margaliot using live fire, it added.

NBC News was not able to independently verify this report.

The mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the remaining 201 hostages taken captive by Hamas, is imploring the world to be energized by the release of American citizens Judith and Natalie Raanan on Friday.

“We were very relieved for Natalie and Judith’s release last night and the message we want to get out: ‘Let’s keep going, let’s keep doing everything we can.’ We still have 201 hostages there,” Rachel Goldberg said in a telephone interview Saturday.

Goldberg-Polin, an American citizen, was gravely injured during the terrorist attack on a music festival near the Gaza border on Oct. 7. A member of Hamas threw a grenade into a bunker where he and his friend were taking shelter along with other young Israelis. Goldberg-Polin's left arm was blown off in the explosion.

“He is wounded horribly and needs humanitarian care immediately as do the other 200 people who are there,” Goldberg said. The hostages are presumed to be held in the labyrinth of tunnels under Gaza.

“Hersh might be dying,” she added. “I feel like he is dying and I need to know that I did everything with every molecule of my body to get him out.”

Debris near Zikim, Israel, 3 miles from the Gaza border, that Israeli soldiers said came from a rocket intercepted by the Iron Dome.

UNICEF, the U.N. agency responsible for providing humanitarian and emergency relief to children worldwide, has sent 44,000 bottles of drinking water to Gaza — just enough for 22,000 people — as part of the 20-truck convoy of aid deliveries that crossed Egypt's border with Gaza on Saturday.

"This first, limited water will save lives, but the needs are immediate and immense — not just for water, but for food, fuel, medicine, and essential goods and services," UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement. "Unless we can provide humanitarian supplies consistently, we face the real threat of life-threatening disease outbreaks," she added.

The entire convoy contains just 3% of what is needed by civilians on a daily basis, the Gaza health ministry said, and does not include any fuel.

ZIKIM, Israel — On a hill near Zikim, an Israeli community 3 miles from the Gaza border, smoke rises from a wooded area where a missile landed a mile or so away. A little further away is Gaza, where smoke rises from the ongoing bombardment, and distant booms can be heard and even felt.

BAT HADAR, Israel — Just 5 miles from the Gaza border, the small community of Bat Hader is deserted. Houses are shuttered, and hulking cylinders of concrete block the roads. The shuddering force of Israel’s aerial bombardment of Gaza can be felt here.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The aid trucks that entered Gaza Saturday are carrying just 3% of what was required on a daily basis “in terms of health and humanitarian needs,” before the war with Israel erupted, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement.

The medical aid “will be important,” it said, but “excluding the inclusion of fuel within humanitarian aid will maintain the danger to the lives of the sick and wounded and the continuation of life-saving services.”

It added that hospitals in the enclave had “completely dried up their resources due to the lack of the most basic emergency treatment supplies, including fuel.”

TEL AVIV — The release of an American mother and daughter held hostage by Hamas suggests the militant group has fears over Israel's expected ground invasion into Gaza and may be willing to negotiate to stop or delay it, two former IDF intelligence officers have told NBC News.

“Of course it’s good that those two are released,” Eldad Shavit, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv who previously served in senior roles in Israeli Defense intelligence and in the Prime Minister’s Office, said in a phone interview today. “But for Hamas ... it’s probably a manipulation," he said.

“My assumption is that Hamas is conducting now a military operation and also a political campaign,” said Shavit. “Releasing the two hostages of American nationality, I think by that they hope that they can push pressure on the international community,” he said. “To pressure Israel not to proceed with plans, military plans.”

Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at INSS who previously served as an Israeli intelligence officer and a former government official, said he believed Hamas was "very concerned [by] the ground incursion and they will do whatever they can in order to prevent it." Still, he said the group was unlikely to be considering releasing all roughly 200 hostages.

"The hostages are their insurance policy to prevent the Israeli incursion, to enable humanitarian aid, in order to improve their image vis-à-vis the international community," he said.

LONDON — A protest in solidarity with Palestinians has begun at Marble Arch in central London, where thousands of people have converged carrying signs demanding a ceasefire and an end to the siege on Gaza.

Protesters will march through the city center and finish the rally at Downing Street, the official residence of U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

At a similar march last week, which ran through London's central shopping district of Oxford Circus, over 150,000 people are estimated to have attended.

Israel's military said today that plans have been approved to "expand operational activities," after two weeks of threats of a looming ground invasion.

The Israel Defense Forces said in an statement that its soldiers have been deployed and engaged in field exercises, including those in reserve services. Lt. Commander Or Volozhinsky, head of the 188th brigade, said that the brigade's soldiers are ready near the Gaza Strip "at this very moment."

"We will achieve what is required with the spirit of battle and determination in order to bring security to our people for many years to come," Volozhinsky said.

The aid convoy of 20 trucks entered the strip just after 2.30 p.m. (07.30 a.m. E.T.), according to NBC News producers at the border, bringing with it a small lifeline for more than 2 million Palestinians trapped in Gaza as Israel's siege continues.

Israel said it would allow food, water, and medicine to cross into Gaza from Egypt after pressure from President Joe Biden. Egyptian officials pushed for a deal to open the Rafah border that would include humanitarian aid.

Pallets from 20 trucks were transferred to Palestinian trucks, a convoy that the World Health Organization called a "drop in the ocean" for what was needed in Gaza. Hamas, which was behind the attack that killed 1,400 people two weeks ago and controls the enclave, has also demanded the crossing remain open, saying in a statement this morning that the convoy won't change the "humanitarian catastrophe" in the strip.

Foreign nationals are also expected to be able to cross into Egypt sometime today, according to the U.S. Embassy.

Clean drinking water is running out in Gaza, further threatening an already catastrophic situation.

After Hamas’ surprise terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, which killed more than 1,400 people, Israel cut off water, electricity and fuel to the Gaza Strip in retaliation.

“If we look at the issue of water — we all know water is life — Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life,” Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said in a statement last weekend. 

Read the full story here

Volunteers and NGO staff wave Egyptian flags as they celebrate after unloading aid supplies bound for Gaza and returning to the Egyptian side of the border Saturday.

As fears grow of a wider conflict in the Middle East, the war between Israel and Hamas appears to be deepening the divide between the United States and its allies on one side and China and its partner Russia on the other.

The divide has been apparent this week at the United Nations Security Council, where efforts to pass a resolution in response to the conflict were stymied by disagreements among members including the United States, Russia and China, all of whom wield vetoes.

As of Saturday, the conflict has killed more than 4,000 people in the Gaza Strip and 1,400 people in Israel, with at least 32 Americans, 19 Russians and four Chinese among the casualties.

While President Joe Biden has emphasized U.S. support for Israel, condemning Hamas’s brutal Oct. 7 attack and backing “restrained” retaliation by Israeli forces, Presidents Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia have taken a different approach.

Read the full story here.

Getting aid into the Gaza Strip is "not a normal humanitarian operation," United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Saturday.“

“It’s an operation in a war zone,” Guterres told a group of world leaders at the Cairo Peace Summit, in the Egyptian capital Saturday. “And that is the reason why I have appealed for a humanitarian ceasefire.”

“We don’t want to punish the Gaza people twice, first, because of the war and second because of the lack of humanitarian aid,” he added. “But it is clear that humanitarian ceasefire will make things much easier and much safer for everybody.”

Aid workers gather around trucks carrying humanitarian aid that entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on Saturday.

Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas by phone to discuss the “latest situation resulting from the ongoing brutalities of Israeli occupation forces against innocent Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank,” a Pakistani government statement said Saturday.

Kakar expressed Pakistan’s strong condemnation of the Israeli strikes on Gaza, the statement added. Kakar described the Israeli strikes on Gaza “as deplorable and willful acts of Israeli aggression against innocent Palestinians.” Both leaders emphasized the need for the international community “to urge Israel to immediately halt the bloodshed,” it added.

The two sides agreed on the necessity of lifting the blockade on Gaza to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and medical assistance to affected people. Pakistan dispatched its first batch of assistance to Palestinian people on a plane that landed in Egypt on Friday.

CAIRO — Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi called on the international community to find a permanent solution to the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians during a hastily-arranged peace summit in Cairo today.

The president said that the potential displacement of Palestinians in Gaza into the Sinai desert would amount to the “termination of the Palestinian cause.”

"We should not believe or be convinced that the Palestinian people wish to leave their land, even if the land is being bombed," he said.

The Egyptian people "one by one, citizen by citizen ... are wholeheartedly against the liquidation of the Palestinian cause. And this will never happen at the expense of Egypt," he added.

El-Sisi called for an end to the crisis by granting Palestinians a "sovereign independent state" which would uphold their civil rights. His sentiments were echoed by King Abdullah of Jordan, who also castigated world leaders for their neglect of the Palestinian issue.

Yesterday’s release of two Hamas-held hostages may be the the first of many, but there are lots of complicating factors.

Qatar has been working pretty much since day one to make it happen and last night Majid Al Ansari, a spokesman for the country's foreign ministry, said in a statement that his country would "continue our dialogue with both the Israelis and Hamas."

The Israelis will have been determined not to be seen to "negotiate with terrorists," but the news that of aid has entered the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt suggests there was a deal.

A diplomat with knowledge of the talks told NBC News hostage negotiations had taken place between the Israelis, Qataris and the U.S. while separate talks on aid had been held by Americans with the Egyptians and the Israelis.

Yesterday’s hostage release with be viewed as a trust building exercise. But many hurdles remain. Immediately after the release Israel stepped up its bombing campaign. Hamas on the other hand may want to attempt to use the hostage release process to delay a ground invasion. Under so much pressure, these delicate hostage talks can easily collapse.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — An estimated 700,000 people have moved to the south Gaza Strip as Israel's bombardment continues, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said today.

The military promised to attack Hamas "even stronger" in an effort to bring all those abducted by Hamas home.

"The message is clear: whoever tries to infiltrate will be killed; and whoever fires at Israel will be hit," Hahari said.

Notices have been made to 210 hostage families, but that number could change in the coming days.

TEL AVIV — Despite American officials saying they expect Gaza’s southern border with Egypt to open, allowing foreign nationals to leave today, many in the strip are suspicious and wary of such an offer.

“We heard about the border possibly opening, but it’s not guaranteed — we don’t know if it’s going to open or not,” said Mohammad Ghalayini, 44, a British Palestinian who returned to his homeland of Gaza from Manchester, England, in September for a career break.

Although the border is just 5 miles from Khan Younis, the Gazan city where he and thousands of others have been forced to flee, getting to Rafah is “very costly,” he added, in terms of “effort, financially, emotionally, and risk.” Then there's the need for extra drinking water, the Strip’s most precious commodity. “Especially if you don’t know if you’ll be let through,” he said.

Ghalayini received an email from the British Foreign Office, seen by NBC News, which relays the information from the American Embassy in Egypt that the border is expected to open. It urges people to “assess your personal safety before traveling,” notes the crossing may be “very busy and the situation may change quickly,” and emphasizes “we cannot guarantee” their safe passage.

Ghalayini says he knows humanitarian aid trucks are preparing to enter Gaza. But he has not heard of anyone being allowed through the other way. He also has moral concerns.

“So, what if I can get out? But what about everyone else?” he asked in a voice note. “Do I just leave them to their fate: This bombardment and genocidal ethnic cleansing,” he added, referencing a warning by Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, who accused Israel of the same thing.

Israel says it is targeting terrorist sites in Gaza and has sought to avoid civilian property.

Samia al-Atrash holds the body of her sister, who the family says was killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, in Rafah on Saturday.

Today's one-off delivery of aid is not enough to meet the needs of more than 2 million Gazans as this war continues, according to the United Nations World Food Programme.

The organization has given 60 metric tons of food in the delivery of aid expected to enter Gaza and has 930 more waiting when access is allowed in again, the WFP said in a statement. But the deal with Israel to allow the convoy in today has come with conditions, and it's unclear whether when or if another delivery will be made.

Cindy McCain, WFP's executive director, called for "continuous, safe access for humanitarians and civilians."

“This food is desperately needed as the conditions inside southern Gaza are truly catastrophic," McCain said. "These twenty trucks are an important first step, but this convoy has to be the first of many."

Reports that the Al-Quds hospital in the southern Gaza strip has been given evacuation orders by the IDF were “disturbing,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on X Friday.

“As @WHO has repeatedly stressed, it is impossible for these overcrowded hospitals to safely evacuate patients,” he added.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said on X that they had been given evacuation orders by the Israeli military on Friday, and called on the international community to avert “another catastrophe like Al-Ahli Hospital.”

“PRCS is unable to evacuate Al-Quds Hospital with 500 patients, including those in the ICU,” the organization added in a separate post. It said that 12,000 displaced people were using the hospital as a sanctuary, 70% of whom were children and women.

Israel has denied responsibility for the attack on Al-Ahli hospital on Tuesday, which is estimated to have killed 500 people. It blamed the destruction on a rocket misfire by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is now saying the focus is on the 10 additional Americans who remain unaccounted for along with around 200 others allegedly taken by Hamas. NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell reports on the diplomatic efforts underway.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Security Council have released a joint statement advising citizens against travel to much of the Arab world, as well as other Muslim-majority countries such as Malaysia and Bangladesh.

“Israelis abroad are under threat” the statement said, adding that there had been a “significant increase in anti-Israel protests in the past few days in countries around the world.” It added that “hostility and violence have been displayed against Jewish and Israeli symbols.”

Travel alerts to Egypt, including Sinai, and Jordan were raised to level 4 — indicative of a “high threat level” — while Morocco's threat level was raised to 3, warning against any “non-essential travel.” Citizens were told to avoid going to “any Middle Eastern or Arab countries” or “Muslim countries” including those in which no travel alerts had previously been issued, such as the Maldives.

“The rhetoric of global jihad has become more extreme, which is calling to harm Israelis and Jews around the world,” the statement said.

Aid convoy trucks make their way across the Rafah border from the Egyptian side today in North Sinai, Egypt. The aid is now being transferred to Palestinian trucks to make its way into Gaza.

World leaders have arrived in Cairo for a hastily-convened peace summit as fears spark over an encroaching ground invasion into Gaza by Israel and a broader regional war.

Attending the event are a number of key regional leaders, including Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Jordanian King Abdullah, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres, EU council president Charles Michel, E.U. foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are also attending, as well as representatives from Germany, France, Russia, China and the U.K.

The absence of top Israeli or U.S. officials has limited expectations of the event, which is proceeding amidst "differences" amongst leaders over a common summit declaration and final resolution text, an E.U. source told Reuters.

At least 20 trucks of aid that have been waiting on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing finally made their way to the Palestinian side at around 10.30 a.m. local time (3.30 a.m. ET.).

None of the vehicles have yet officially entered Gaza, as the gate on the Palestinian side of the border has not yet opened. Aid is being offloaded from trucks that crossed from Egypt onto Palestinian trucks to be taken into Gaza, according to NBC News producers at the crossing.

President Joe Biden tonight suggested that one of the reasons why Hamas attacked Israel was to stop the country from normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia.

Speaking at a campaign fundraiser, Biden said Hamas may have attacked Israel “because they knew I was about to sit down with the Saudis.”

“Guess what? The Saudis wanted to recognize Israel,” Biden said, and “were about to recognize Israel.”

Read the full story here.

ASHDOD, Israel — The Israel Defense Forces said it’s fighter jets continued to strike “a large number of Hamas terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip” overnight.

It said the targets included operational command centers, anti-tank missile launchers, and strategic Hamas infrastructure. Hamas anti-tank missile, sniper, and observation posts located in multi-story buildings were also hit, it said. NBC News was not immediately able to independently verify the information.

Shaking could be felt in Ashdod, some 20 miles away from the Gaza border, throughout the night and seemed to intensify after the release of two American hostages, Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Shoshana Raanan, were released by Hamas.

There were also multiple sirens warning of possible incoming air attacks in the area, including one that unfolded as many would have been sitting down for Friday night Sabbath dinner.

A handful of influential but unreliable accounts, some of which have been promoted by Elon Musk, are dominating the flow of news on X around the Israel-Hamas war and easily outpacing established mainstream news outlets, according to research published Friday by the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public.

Researchers analyzed viral posts about the conflict during a three-day period starting from the beginning of the attack against Israel on Oct. 7. They concluded that the most popular posts about the crisis revealed how news on the platform is “faster, more disorienting, and potentially more shaped by Musk himself.”

The new work adds data to a swell of recent anecdotal accounts from researchers, academics and journalists who have noted a change for the worse in the way news and information moves and is incentivized on Twitter over the last year, especially since the start of the Israel-Hamas crisis. A separate analysis published Thursday by NewsGuard, a nonpartisan company that tracks false narratives online, found verified accounts were responsible for nearly three-fourths of the most viral misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war on Twitter. 

Read the full story here.

A Jewish-American woman from New York, Natalie Sanandaji, shares chilling details of her escape from the Hamas terrorist assault on an Israeli music festival on Oct. 7.

Protests against Israel and the United States intensified today as crowds skirmished with authorities.

The protests also simultaneously came in pro-Hamas and pro-Hezbollah form and erupted from Bagdad to Bahrain.

A big fear for supporters of a cease-fire and long-term peace is the specter of a second war front between Iran-backed, Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Israel, already focused on Hamas in Gaza.

Skirmishes between Hezbollah and Israel have been taking place along Israel’s northern edge, and the country plans to evacuate 20,000 from the northern city of Qiryat Shemona.

Here are just some of the articles we've published on nbcnews.com in the last 24 hours.

• Biden says Hamas attacked Israel in part to stop a historic agreement with Saudi Arabia
• Iran is not currently seeking direct war with United States, U.S. officials say
• Two U.S. hostages have been released by Hamas
• An artist and a recent H.S. grad: These are the two American hostages released by Hamas
• 7 influential accounts are warping Israel-Hamas news on X, researchers find
• Vivek Ramaswamy wants the U.S. to have an Iron Dome. It’s not so simple.
• As Israel-Hamas war rages, a school blast shows Gazans have nowhere to run
• Massive protests seen at U.S. embassies in several countries after Gaza hospital bombing
• Israeli family fears child may spend his 9th birthday as a hostage of Hamas
• White House seeks more aid for Israel and Ukraine in $105B funding request
• Hamas attack evokes memories of the Holocaust for many Jews