Israel to begin daily four-hour pauses in fighting, U.S. says

UNRWA chief warns of record high death tolls in the West Bank

Settler violence and military incursions by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank have caused record high death tolls among Palestinians, the commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said today.

Speaking a conference in Paris attended by French President Emmanuel Macron, Philippe Lazzarini said he was “deeply concerned about the potential spillover of this conflict beyond Gaza.”

UNRWA focuses on providing relief to Palestinian refugees. It operates 150 schools and buildings across the Gaza strip, where more than 700,000 displaced people are now sheltering, said Lazzarini.

The shelters are overcrowded and running out of food and water, he added.

Son of hostage asks whether Israel’s furious offensive will save hostage lives

TEL AVIV — Yonatan Zeigen’s mother, 74-year-old Vivian, was taken from Kibbutz Beeri on Oct. 7, one of the more than 240 hostages kidnapped by Hamas in a terror attack that sparked the Israeli military’s aerial bombardment, ground offensive and seige of the Gaza Strip.

Zeigen, 35, is still waiting for her to be released, as the military response continues to intensify with little sign of abating. In an interview with NBC News one month on, Zeigen, 35, that saving hostages is “not the first priority here, which is maddening.”

When he hears the chant, “no ceasefire without all the hostages,” Zeigen said, what he hears is not a call to save the hostages at all costs, but a call to continue the military assualt, “and we’ll see who’s left of the hostages.”

“It’s not realistic,” Zeigen said. “I’m fearful that that we’ve given up on the hostages. Because we can’t get them back without a ceasefire. We can’t get them back without talking.”

However, Zeigen said that his pessimism is mixed with hope. Israel and Palestine are not the only countries have been seemingly locked in an intractable conflict. Britain and France have been, as well as the Jewish people and Germany during WWII. “We have great relations with Germany now,” Zeigen said. Perhaps this war could turn into “a big shift, a tectonic move,” in Israeli-Palestinian relations, Zeigen said.

Israel to implement four-hour pauses in fighting, U.S. says

Israel will implement four-hour pauses in fighting in areas of the northern Gaza Strip every day, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said today.

An announcement would be made three hours before the pauses, Kirby told reporters. The Israeli military had told the U.S. that there would be no military operations in the areas involved during the pauses, he added.

“We remain concerned that Hamas will discourage or prevent civilians from fleeing the same time when encouraging people to leave,” Kirby added. “It’s critical, absolutely vital, that humanitarian supplies and assistance are expanded in the areas where people are moving, in this case, southern Gaza.”

Palestinian group’s leader among those arrested ahead of anti-war protest

The leader of a Palestinian group was arrested today ahead of an anti-war protest in the Israeli city of Nazareth, a legal advocacy group said.

Mohammad Barakeh, leader of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, was detained, along with the four members of the Balad political party, Adalah, The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel said in a statement.

“We are witnessing a draconian ban by police being implemented on the ground,” said Hassan Jabareen, the group’s general director.

He added that the police were “silencing all forms of criticism and suppressing the freedom of expression and assembly of Palestinian citizens and their leaders.”

Erdogan accuses Western nations of weakness in the face of Gaza civilian deaths

Turkey’s president has accused Western nations of “weakness” in the face of civilian deaths in Gaza and called on Muslim nations to display unity against Israel’s actions.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been a vocal critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza, made the comments today at a meeting of the 10-member Economic Cooperation Organization in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

He said Western nations and organizations are observing these “massacres by Israel” from afar but are “too weak to even call for a cease-fire, let alone criticize child murderers.” He added: “If we, the Economic Cooperation Organization, as Muslims, are not going to raise our voices today … when will we raise our voices?”

Erdogan also said Turkey would continue with its diplomatic efforts to implement a cease-fire and prevent the spread of the conflict.

No plans to evacuate Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, surgeon says

Almost 1,000 patients are currently in the emergency department of the Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, its director told an NBC News crew yesterday.

“What to do with this huge number of injured people? How to evacuate these people?” said Dr. Marwan Abu Saada, adding that there were “around 450 patients who are on renal dialysis on daily basis.”

Vowing that the medical staff would stay at the hospital, where the corridors are overflowing with people and others have camped outside in tents, he said they “will not leave our patients” even if Israeli troops arrived.

Israeli president: No ‘real offer’ from Hamas to free hostages

JERUSALEM — Israel has received no substantial offer from Hamas on a deal to free the hostages being held in the Gaza Strip, the country’s president has told NBC News, rejecting reports that a deal may be close at hand. 

“There is no real proposal that is viable from Hamas’ side on this issue,” Isaac Herzog said in an interview in his office in Jerusalem today.

He also denied any rift with the U.S. over humanitarian pauses in the fighting, which could form part of any agreement.

Read the full story here.

Hostages’ families appeal to China for help

HONG KONG — Families of hostages taken by Hamas asked China to help secure their release today.

At a news briefing with Hong Kong media, Adva Adar said her 85-year-old grandmother Yaffa “was kidnapped from her bed,” adding that her elderly relative had been without her medicines for a month. “We are very worried for her condition. We can’t let her die slowly, painfully,” Adar said.

Eilon Bibas, whose 10-month-old cousin Kfir was kidnapped along with his parents, Shiri and Yarden Bibas, and his sister Ariel, 4, said it was driving them “crazy that one month later, we don’t have any piece of information about them.” He added that they wanted their families back “but we want them alive.”

Both Adar and Bibas appealed directly to the Chinese government for help to secure the release of their family members.

Ash clouds fill the sky as Gaza bombing goes on

Max Butterworth

A smoke plume rises from buildings in northern Gaza after an Israeli bombardment, seen from a position across the border in southern Israel today.

Fights break out between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups at L.A. movie screening

LOS ANGELES — Clashes broke out between rival groups outside the screening of a documentary made by the Israeli military based on footage captured during the Oct. 7 attacks.

The LAPD said there were at least two reports of misdemeanor battery outside Los Angeles’ Museum of Tolerance yesterday.

Police added that they were aware of video footage appearing to show multiple skirmishes and would be investigating.

Around 2,000 people marched in silence in Cologne, Germany, to mark the 85th anniversary of “Kristallnacht.” The commemoration was intended to show support for the victims of the Hamas attack in Israel in October.

Both Israel and Hamas are committing war crimes, U.N. human rights chief says

Both Israel and Hamas have been accused of committing war crimes by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Calling for an immediate cease-fire and the release of hostages, Volker Türk said yesterday that Hamas holding people captive was a war crime, as was Israel’s “collective punishment” of Palestinian civilians.

“Even in the context of a 56-year-old occupation, the current situation is the most dangerous in decades, faced by people in Gaza, in Israel, in the West Bank but also regionally,” Türk told reporters on the Egyptian side of Gaza’s Rafah border crossing.

“The international community needs to be part of finding a just and equitable future for the Palestinian and Israeli people,” he added.

Smoke rises from refugee camp in the West Bank

Max Butterworth

A young man looks at black smoke rising from the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank during an Israeli military operation this morning.

British home secretary criticized for calling pro-Palestinian protesters ‘hate marchers’

LONDON — British Home Secretary Suella Braverman has come under pressure today for describing pro-Palestinian demonstrators as “hate marchers” who support terrorism.

The Conservative Party politician criticized a large march planned in London on Saturday, following similar protests in the British capital since Hamas’ attack Oct. 7 and Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza.

“We have seen with our own eyes that terrorists have been valorized, Israel has been demonized as Nazis and Jews have been threatened with further massacres,” she wrote in The Times of London, adding that the marches were “disturbingly reminiscent” of sectarian groups in Northern Ireland.

Jonathan Reynolds, a senior lawmaker for the opposition Labour Party, told Sky News that Braverman was “out of control” and said Prime Minster Rishi Sunak should fire her if he had not signed off on the article. But a spokesperson for the prime minister later said that Sunak had “full confidence” in Braverman.

Virtually abandoned, Jerusalem’s Old City feels like it is holding its breath

JERUSALEM — A walk through Jerusalem’s Old City feels like strolling through a city abandoned. Most of the tourist shops around the holy sites are shuttered for lack of tourists. Food stalls and shops selling basic essentials are open but with fewer customers than usual. 

In the Christian quarter, we breeze into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre through an archway where we’re told there would typically be an hourlong wait. The heavy smell of incense fills the air inside, with only the occasional sight of a pair of monks or a solitary nun going about their business. 

From there, we walked to the Muslim quarter and, after some negotiation, Israeli military guards allow us to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque. They demanded we leave cameras outside “because of the war,” although we could keep our mobile phones.  

As night falls,  the emptiness of the compound inside feels unusual. Old Jerusalem feels like it is holding its breath, waiting, like the rest of us, for what comes next.

Muslim group criticizes Tlaib’s congressional censure as ‘hypocritical and racist’

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim advocacy group in the United States, criticized the House of Representatives for censuring Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., over her remarks on the Israel-Hamas war, saying she was targeted for supporting Palestinian human rights.

“The American Muslim community stands against this hypocritical and racist targeting of Representative Tlaib, whose voice is indispensable in representing the concerns of millions of Americans who are horrified by the war crimes our government supports against the Palestinian people,” the group’s national executive director, Nihad Awad, said in a statement yesterday. “She should wear this cowardly censure as a badge of honor.” 

Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, was censured in a 234-188 vote Tuesday for “promoting false narratives” regarding the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and “calling for the destruction of the state of Israel,” based largely on a video she posted on social media. Twenty-two of her fellow Democrats voted for the measure.

Tlaib, who is one of the few lawmakers calling for a cease-fire rather than a “humanitarian pause,” argued before the vote that she was protected by free speech.

Australian store pulls ‘Merry Ham-mas’ Christmas bag

The Australian retail chain Kmart has removed a Christmas-themed ham bag that says “Merry Ham-mas” from its website after coming under fire from a Jewish group.

The Australian Jewish Association flagged the item yesterday, saying it had “politely” suggested that it be pulled. “Although this is potentially funny (the AJA committee has tossed around some non-PC jokes) it’s really not a good look,” the group said in a post on X.

The group later said it had been contacted by senior management at Kmart’s parent company, Wesfarmers, and told that it would be removed from the website and all stores.

“We got it wrong on this occasion, and we apologize unreservedly,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement. “When designing this product we clearly didn’t think through all the implications and the product has been removed from sale.”

IDF tanks push through northern Gaza

Max Butterworth

Israeli soldiers are pictured on top of a tank as they pass a shattered building in northern Gaza yesterday, during ongoing military ground operations in the region.

About 50,000 people fled northern Gaza yesterday, U.N. says

Tens of thousands of Palestinians are again set to move south from northern Gaza today in a corridor established by the Israeli military.

It comes after the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated that “50,000 people evacuated during the day” yesterday, by far the largest number since the corridor opened Nov. 5.

Most of the evacuees are moving on foot, it said. That estimate matches numbers given by the IDF for yesterday’s exodus.

IDF says it captured stronghold after 10-hour battle, killed top Hamas commander

The Israeli military said this morning its troops had captured a Hamas stronghold after a 10-hour battle in northern Gaza.

The IDF also said it had killed a Hamas commander in charge of anti-tank operations.

Ibrahim Abu-Ma’asiv had operated many anti-tank missile launches toward civilians and soldiers, the IDF said.

NBC News has not verified the claims.

IDF says it destroyed 130 Hamas tunnels in Gaza

As Israel’s ground operation inside Gaza continued within the strip, the Israel Defense Forces said its troops have destroyed a total of 130 tunnel shafts used by Hamas since the war began.

“The enemy’s preparation for a prolonged stay in the tunnels can be seen based on water and oxygen means found in the tunnels,” IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.

Macron opens aid conference with call to work for a cease-fire

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron said that countries must ‘work for a cease-fire’ in Gaza, as he opened a conference in Paris with various heads of state from Western and Arab countries to coordinate aid delivery.

Amnesty International also called on the leaders to push for a cease-fire.

“For this cease-fire to be effective, States must ensure it covers the entire Gaza Strip and that it’s long enough to allow a substantive alleviation of suffering,” Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard said in a statement.

Palestinian Red Crescent receives 106 aid trucks via Egypt

More than a hundred aid trucks were sent through Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt yesterday containing food, water and medical supplies, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said.

“The total number of trucks received since October 21, 2023, until now is 756 trucks, which is approximately 39 trucks per day,” it said, adding no fuel has yet been allowed to enter the enclave.

The number of aid trucks entering Gaza has slowly increased over the past few days amid mounting international pressure on Israel to allow deliveries.

A closer look at the fighting on Israel’s border with Lebanon

Josh Lederman

HAIFA, Israel — Troops from Israel and Hezbollah are sitting on either side of the border between Israel and Lebanon, watching and waiting to see what the other does as they communicate through a language of strikes and artillery shells, each range and caliber used signifying a different message.

One group of Israeli troops has been camped out for a month. When the order comes, they have four minutes to load their canon, aim and fire, often into no man’s land, to avoid escalating the conflict into a war.

There are very simple rules of engagement, an IDF lieutenant colonel told NBC News, explaining that his troops know where to shoot to avoid escalation.

Patients in corridors, U.N. agencies say as they deliver aid to Al-Shifa Hospital

Critical medical supplies were delivered to the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City yesterday, U.N. agencies said, making it the second such supply to the crisis-hit hospital near the center of fighting between Israel and Hamas.

“The emergency department and wards are overflowing requiring doctors and medical workers to treat wounded and sick patients in the corridors, on the floor, and outdoors,” the United Nations Relief and Works agency said in a joint statement with the World Health Organization.

Patients at the hospital were undergoing immense pain as anesthetics are running out, the statement added, with the aid delivered “far from sufficient.”

U.S. hits Iranian facility in Syria, sending a message amid escalating attacks

U.S. fighter jets conducted “a self-defense strike” at a weapons storage facility in Syria that was being used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said yesterday.

The strike in eastern Syria was carried out at President Joe Biden’s direction, Austin said in a statement. “This precision self-defense strike is a response to a series of attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by IRGC-Quds Force affiliates,” he said.

The message to Iran is “we want you to direct your proxies and militia groups to stop attacking us,” a senior defense official said. 

Read the full story here.

A child mourns a lost relative in Khan Younis, Gaza

Max Butterworth

A Palestinian woman from the Abu Taim family comforts a little girl as they collect the body of a relative for burial from the Al-Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, this morning.

Catch up with NBC News’ latest coverage of the Israel-Hamas war