At least 20 killed by Israeli fire in crowd waiting for aid, Gaza Health Ministry says
Israeli shelling hit a crowd of people waiting for humanitarian aid at a roundabout in central Gaza, the Palestinian enclave’s health ministry has said.
In a statement posted to Telegram today, health ministry spokesman Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra said the Israeli military “committed a new massacre against thousands of hungry mouths who were waiting for humanitarian aid.”
Twenty people were killed and 150 were injured, he said. He added that the incident unfolded in the Kuwaiti Square of Gaza City and that the number of dead “would likely increase as a result of dozens” of critical injuries that were still being attended to at Shifa hospital in the city.
NBC News was unable to independently verify the claims. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It said it was looking into the reports, according to The Associated Press news agency.
In a video published by Reuters on Wednesday, mass crowds of panicked residents are seen fleeing amid sounds of gunfire in what appears to be a humanitarian aid distribution point in Gaza City.
Shots ring out in the background as hundreds of residents are seen running, many carrying aid boxes, with some on donkey-led carts but mostly by foot.
The man filming the video can be heard panting breathlessly as he runs, saying that Israeli forces are “opening fire at citizens as they receive humanitarian aid” in the Al Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City. He locates the chaos to Kuwait Square.
Wounded Gazans receive treatment at Nasser Hospital
A doctor carefully seals stitches on a head injury, a man seeks advice for a bleeding stomach wound, and a man lies on a bloodstained floor, wrapped in a blanket.
The scenes were filmed yesterday by an NBC News team at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, the city in southern Gaza that in recent days has been the focus of Israel’s military operation in the enclave.
Other footage captured groups of residents scrambling to bring wounded Palestinians into the medical complex.
“The situation in Khan Younis has been very intense for six days now,” said Majeed Diab Dahanu, who has been sheltering in the facility, adding that there had been Israeli shelling nearby.
“It is a state of fear and terror for the displaced people, even for the patients; so many people have been displaced from this hospital,” he added.
Separately, Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, a spokesperson for the Gaza Health Ministry, said that the “humanitarian situation” at the hospital was “extremely catastrophic.”
He added that the hospital is operating within 10% of its capacity.
We expect ICJ to toss ‘completely absurd’ genocide case, Israel says
Israel says it expects the International Court of Justice to “throw out the completely absurd and ridiculous charges pressed by South Africa,” which has accused it of genocide.
The ICJ, the United Nations’ top court, is set to give a ruling tomorrow on South Africa’s request for it to order a temporary cease-fire in Gaza while the full case is heard, a complex legal process that could take years.
“We suggest let’s wait and see what the ICJ has to say,” Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said in a news briefing, while noting he expected the case to be tossed out.
South Africa is accusing Israel of breaching the Genocide Convention of 1948 by prosecuting its war with the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part,” the Palestinian people. Israel vehemently denies this, saying it is only targeting Hamas, whose tactics it blames for the high level of civilian casualties killed in the Israeli bombing and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip.
‘Fauda’ star released from hospital after being badly injured in Gaza blast
Idan Amedi, an Israeli pop singer and actor from Netflix’s hit show “Fauda,” was released from hospital today after suffering severe injuries in an explosion while he was serving in combat in Gaza.
Speaking from the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv, he told members of the foreign press: “Although I was seriously injured, my spirit is strong. I refuse to make this injure the story of my life. It’s just another milestone.”
He said hoped would be able to return to his music career once the war is over. But before that, he wants to return to the battlefield in Gaza.
“I will come back to sing and act, and with God’s help, I will also return to fight for my country,” he added. “The Israeli people are the strongest in the world. when we are united — we are invincible.”
Father hails ‘miracle’ daughters who were pulled from rubble after Israeli strike
ANKARA, Turkey — Mira Nijim, 9, was still in a wheelchair. Her left leg — mangled in the airstrike that killed her brother, sister and mother — was held in a cast buttressed by metal joints and rods. But in a pastry shop in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, this week, Mira, her surviving sister, Miral, 14, and their father, Mahdi, managed some smiles.
It was a miracle they are alive, Mahdi, 42, told NBC News. “They are the only survivors.”
On Oct. 26, an Israeli airstrike brought down the apartment building where they were staying with relatives in Khan Younis, Gaza’s second largest city. Dozens of people were killed, Mahdi said, including his wife, Mayada, 41; their daughter Maria, 12; and their 5-year-old son, Ahmed.
More than two months after their deaths, Mahdi is still accounting for their losses: their presence, of course, and the life they were building together, as well as their memories, their dreams and their wishes, the grieving man said. “Everything is gone.”
Read the full story here.
British foreign secretary says he told Netanyanhu there should be an ‘immediate humanitarian pause’ in Gaza
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said today that he told Netanyahu there should be an “immediate humanitarian pause” in the fighting in Gaza.
In a statement, the former prime minister said that the scale of the suffering in the enclave was “unimaginable.”
“More must be done, faster, to help people trapped in this desperate situation,” he said, adding that he told Netanyahu in a meeting yesterday that “far more trucks need to be able to enter Gaza and more crossings need to open.”
“We need an immediate humanitarian pause to get aid in and hostages out, followed by a sustainable cease-fire, without a return to hostilities.” he said.
Freed hostage says she met with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar while she was held
TEL AVIV — An Israeli woman held hostage by Hamas for more than 50 days said yesterday that she met the militant group’s leader Yahya Sinwar during her time in captivity.
Adina Moshe, 72, was taken captive from kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7 and freed in late November as part of an exchange with Palestinian prisoners.
Speaking to Israel’s Channel 12 TV station yesterday, she said she met Sinwar while she was being held underground with a group of fellow hostages. Speaking in Hebrew, Sinwar asked them how they were, she said. The hostages bowed their heads and did not respond.
NBC News was not able to independently verify her account.
Qatar will not ‘jeopardize’ hostage talks, official tells NBC News after Netanyahu spat
After a series of angry exchanges over a leaked recording of Netanyahu criticizing Qatar, an official in the wealthy Gulf nation told NBC News today that the country “would never jeopardize” talks to free hostages held by Hamas.
In a leaked recording from a meeting with hostage families that aired on Israel’s Channel 12 news on Tuesday, Netanyahu called Qatar “problematic” and suggested that it funded Hamas.
Asked about the comments, a government spokesperson said Israel “cannot go into details regarding the efforts and steps taken to release the hostages.”
Responding on X, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Majed Al Ansari, said Qatar was “appalled by the alleged remarks attributed to the Israeli Prime Minister,” adding that if they were found to be true, Netanyahu would only be obstructing and undermining the mediation process, for reasons that appear to serve his political career.”
Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, responded by accusing Doha of “supporting and funding terrorism,” on X, before going on to say that Qatar was “largely responsible” for the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
Qatar, a long-time champion of the Palestinian cause, has financed reconstruction and government operations in Gaza with the knowledge of the Israeli government.
In a bid to temper the ongoing feud, the Qatari officials said today that the mediation was “about saving lives of the hostages and of Palestinian civilians and not about politicians.” He added that Qatar ‘would never jeopardize’ the talks because of “differences with individuals.”
International Court of Justice to rule on part of Israel genocide case tomorrow
The International Court of Justice has said it will rule on granting emergency measures against Israel following South Africa’s genocide case against Israel tomorrow.
The 17-judge panel will not rule on whether Israel is committing genocide but will look at emergency measures requested by South Africa to restrain Israel’s actions in Gaza.
South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor will travel to The Hague in the Netherlands to be present at the court as it delivers its judgment, the country’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation said in a statement.
Attacks on civilian sites in Khan Younis ‘are utterly unacceptable,’ UNRWA chief says
Persistent attacks on civilian sites in the city of Khan Younis “are utterly unacceptable and must stop immediately,” Thomas White, director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, said in a statement today.
“The situation in Khan Younis underscores a consistent failure to uphold the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law: distinction, proportionality and precautions in carrying out attacks,” he said. “This is unacceptable and abhorrent and must stop.”
His comments came a day after at least 12 people were killed and 75 injured after an attack on an UNRWA training center in the city where hundreds of people were sheltering. White said it was hit by two shells and caught fire.
The IDF has said it is investigating the incident.
Rocket sirens sound in Israeli border communities
For the first time in days, rocket sirens were sounded today in Netiv Ha’Assara in southern Israel, a community near the Gaza border..
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Attacks on Israeli cities have dropped significantly as the IDF’s campaign pushes into southern Gaza.
China denies providing weapons to Gaza
HONG KONG — China has denied it has provided weapons to Hamas after Israeli media reports claiming a number of Chinese weapons had been used in Gaza.
“Since the beginning of the Israel-Palestine conflicts, China has provided food, health care and other first aid, but never sent any weapons to Gaza,” a spokesperson for the Chinese Defense Ministry said in a news conference today.
Senior Col. Wu Qian added that Beijing had always adopted a “prudent and responsible” attitude in terms of weapons exports.
“We strictly abide by three principles, including contributing to the legitimate self-defense capability of the recipient country, not jeopardizing the peace, safety and stability of the region and not interfering in the internal affairs of other countries.”
Hostages’ families attempt to block aid to Gaza
TEL AVIV — Some of the relatives of Israelis still held hostage in Gaza attempted to block aid from reaching the enclave this morning amid mounting frustration over the lack of a deal to see their loved ones released.
Families were expected to attempt to block the Kerem Shalom crossing at Israel’s border with Gaza around 8 a.m. local time, according to the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum, which represents families whose loved ones remain in Hamas’ captivity.
In photos published by the Times of Israel, some demonstrators could be seen marching toward the border. “Nobody can stop us,” Danny Elgarat, who has relatives held in Gaza, told the newspaper.
It was not immediately clear if the demonstrators made it to the border crossing or were successful in blocking aid into Gaza, where a humanitarian crisis has spiraled over the months since the war began. A spokesperson for the forum representing hostages’ families told NBC News there appeared to have been difficulties in reaching the border because of road blocks.
IDF says its aerial forces and artillery didn’t strike U.N. facility
The Israel Defense Forces has ruled out the possibility that a strike against a United Nations facility in Khan Younis came from its aerial forces or artillery.
Twelve people were reported killed and others were injured in the strike at a facility of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which an agency official said came from two tank shells.
“After an examination of our operational systems, the IDF has currently ruled out that this incident is a result of an aerial or artillery strike by the IDF,” the IDF said in a statement. “A thorough review of the operations of the forces in the vicinity is underway.”
“The IDF is also examining the possibility that the strike was a result of Hamas fire,” the statement said.
United Nations shelter struck in southern Gaza
Smoke and flames rise from a UNRWA building where displaced civilians had been taking shelter in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza yesterday.
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