Israel launches large ‘targeted raid’ inside Gaza

Bodies pile up in morgues as helpless family members break down in Khan Younis

Helplessness and sorrow loomed over the morgue at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis where Palestinian authorities say a strike killed at least 99 people overnight.

Footage shot by NBC News showed workers laying out bodies, including children, wrapped in white sheets onto racks. Some were covered in white cloth, others with plastic sheets. But some were kept on the ground outside the main room.

Tearful relatives peered through the fence, trying to touch the bodies. One after another these bodies were carried out, with blood seeping through their white cover. They were briefly placed in front of the hospitals as people prayed in front of them before they were loaded onto ambulances.

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs says a member of Hamas is in Moscow

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova confirmed that a member of Hamas’ political branch is in Moscow.

The news comes after the Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reported that Hamas political branch member Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook is in Moscow.

Marzook helped found Hamas in 1987, and served as the group’s first political bureau chief in 1992. He is the chief deputy of Hamas’ political bureau.

Al Jazeera Arabic bureau chief buries family members killed in ‘Israeli airstrike’

Wael Dahdouh, the Gaza bureau chief for Al Jazeera Arabic, buried his family in central Gaza today. The broadcaster said an Israeli airstrike killed Dahdouh’s wife, son, daughter and grandson. The Israeli military said in a statement that it was targeting “terrorist infrastructure in the area.”

The videotaped confessions of Hamas militants who kidnapped and killed civilians

A compilation of videotaped confessions by Hamas militants released earlier this week by Israeli officials largely follows the same pattern. All of the men are seated and handcuffed as they recount — calmly and matter-of-factly — how they helped carry out the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel that killed more than 1,000 civilians, including women, children and the elderly.

The interviews, each filmed individually and compiled into a grim, 12-minute clip reel, were released by Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security service. They were part of a range of materials released by Israeli officials this week that appeared to be designed to remind the world of the savagery of the terrorist attacks.

NBC News was not given access to unedited videos of the interviews by Israeli officials and could not independently verify the accounts or claims of the six men. Israeli officials said the men were not coerced into speaking or abused.

Read the full story here.

Special forces and tank brigade in special Gaza incursion

Richard Engel

JERUSALEM — As Israeli airstrikes flattened the Gaza Strip, the country’s military carried out a significant incursion into the enclave, sending in special forces and tanks from the Givati Brigade.

“Israeli soldiers located and struck numerous terrorists … and operated to prepare the battlefield,” the Israeli military said.

The troops withdrew after the mission and this was not Israel’s much-anticipated full-scale invasion. Thousands of Israeli troops — many of them reservists — remain inside Israel, ringing Gaza.

Last night, Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a ground assault is coming and that only Israel will decide when and how to do it.

Israeli military arrests dozens of suspected Hamas members in the West Bank

Israeli authorities have arrested more than 60 people in the West Bank, including 46 suspected Hamas members, the IDF said in a statement today.

The detentions came after an “extensive arrest operation to thwart terrorism and confiscate weapons” carried out by the IDF and Shin Bet, the internal Israeli security service.

Since the start of the current war on Oct. 7, more than 1,000 people have been arrested, the IDF added, including 660 suspected Hamas members.

Israeli city near Gaza sits empty as troops await orders nearby

SDEROT, Israel — Streets, parks and homes sit empty in Sderot, a city near northern Gaza that was evacuated over a week ago as Israel’s military prepares for its expected ground invasion.

Only soldiers and the few people who chose to stay are still here. A person on a scooter and a handful of vehicles pass through. Everyone else has been evacuated to hotels and residences in safer parts of the country. 

The quiet, sunny streets seem almost peaceful, but not far off a dark cloud of smoke hangs heavy in the sky. 

A soldier quickly approaches, saying to turn back. “There’s anti-tank missile threat here, be careful,” he says, adding not to make any stops. “Just go.” 

Not far away, soldiers stationed near the border await further orders as blasts ring out. It’s still unclear when Israel’s expected ground invasion will commence, with Israel saying it conducted a “targeted raid using tanks” in northern Gaza overnight as part of “preparations for the next stage of combat.”

Hezbollah marks ‘deadliest day’ after more than a dozen fighters killed

Matt Bradley

TYRE, Lebanon — Hezbollah announced that more than a dozen of its militants were killed, marking its “deadliest day” since the Hamas attack. The group claims it is deterring Israel’s ground assault on Gaza as questions mount over how powerful the group really is.

As aid trucks cross into Gaza, agencies say more are needed

JERUSALEM — More vital humanitarian aid entered Gaza today, as the government in the Palestinian enclave called for a permanent opening of the Rafah border crossing on the Egyptian border.

The Hamas-run Rafah Land Crossing Media Office said: “12 new trucks have arrived in the Gaza Strip through the Rafah Crossing, carrying water, foodstuffs, and medicines, bringing the total number of trucks since the beginning of the war to 74 trucks.”

The World Health Organization has warned that much more aid will be needed to meet the needs of more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza. Before today’s aid convoy entered, the WHO said it had enough aid waiting in Egypt to provide basic services for 110,000 people.

In Tel Aviv, shoppers line up for produce from southern Israeli farms

TEL AVIV — At the Azrieli Mall in central Tel Aviv the war feels far away, but the busiest spot isn’t a well-known store.

Instead, shoppers are lining up to by fruit and vegetables grown by farmers in Israel’s south, some of whose farms are now within a closed military zone, others whose workers have evacuated.

Standing in line Shula Gezovitc, 71, told NBC News that her children had traveled south to pick up some of the produce on sale. “It’s hard work,” she said.

Told by a young woman that there were only 70 boxes left, she added, “I better tell my friend not to come.”

Photos: The destruction of a neighborhood in Gaza

Images released by the space technology company Maxar Technologies show Gaza’s Izbat Beit Hanoun neighborhood before and after what appears to be its destruction. The first is dated Oct. 10. The second, with leveled buildings, ash and rubble, is dated Oct. 21.

Graphic photos: A Palestinian journalist buries his family

Wael Dahdouh, the Gaza bureau chief of Al Jazeera Arabic, buried his family in Deir al-Balah today. Al Jazeera said an Israeli airstrike killed Dahdouh’s wife, son, daughter and grandson. Dahdouh’s family had fled to the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the network.

Footage of Dahdouh reacting to the strike has been seen across the world.

“Their home was targeted in the Nuseirat camp in the center of Gaza, where they had sought refuge after being displaced by the initial bombardment in their neighborhood, following Prime Minister Netanyahu’s call for all civilians to move south,” Al Jazeera Media Network said in a statement yesterday.

The Israel Defense Forces told CNN in a statement that it was targeting “terrorist infrastructure in the area.”

Putin warns Israel-Hamas war could spread far beyond region

Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that if the Israel-Hamas war did not end soon, it could expand far beyond the Middle East, and that innocent people in the Gaza Strip should not be punished for the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas.

“Our task today, our main task, is to stop the bloodshed and violence,” he said, according to Reuters, which cited a Kremlin transcript of a meeting he held with Russian religious leaders.

“Otherwise, further escalation of the crisis is fraught with grave and extremely dangerous and destructive consequences. And not only for the Middle East region. It could spill over far beyond the borders of the Middle East.”

Putin also criticized Israel’s continued bombing of Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas attacks, saying “Innocent people should not be held responsible for crimes committed by others.”

At least 77 confirmed dead overnight in Khan Younis as rescuers pull children out of the rubble

JERUSALEM — At least 77 people were killed last night in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, health officials have said.

Dr. Nahid Abu Taema, director of the Nasser Hospital, told NBC News: “Most of them children and women, some of whom were in pieces.”

Footage shot by NBC News in Khan Younis shows that walls had been blown off buildings and a cloud of dust covered the entire street. One rescuer ran with a young boy with a bloodied face in his arms to a car. The child was unconscious and NBC News could not confirm if he survived.

Another man, covered in dust, was lying on the ground with blood dripping from his head as people around him tied a piece of white cloth to stop the bleeding.

Israel releases video showing ‘targeted raid’ into northern Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces said it “conducted a targeted raid,” in the northern Gaza Strip. It added that the raid was “part of preparations for the next stages of combat.”

Gaza health care in ‘state of complete collapse,’ Health Ministry says

ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER — The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says that Gaza’s health care system “is in a state of complete collapse.” At least six hospitals in Gaza have shut down because of a lack of fuel, according to the WHO. NBC News reports on scenes from inside Gaza’s largest hospital.

‘Nowhere is safe in Gaza’ — U.N. calls for protection of civilians

The U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian Territories has declared that “Nowhere is safe in Gaza” and warned that Israel’s “advance warnings make no difference” to the safety of the enclave’s 2.3 million population.

Lynn Hastings said in a statement today that evacuation routes to humanitarian sites are bombed, leaving people with nowhere to go.

“When the essentials for survival are lacking, and when there are no assurances for return, people are left with nothing but impossible choices. Nowhere is safe in Gaza,” she said, adding that civilians must be protected “wherever they are and whether they choose to move or stay.”

Hastings also called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

Biden: Israel has ‘right’ to target Hamas, but must protect civilians

Richard Engel

JERUSALEM — Biden said that Israel must “do everything in its power” to protect civilians, but also said he has “no confidence” the Hamas-provided death toll of Palestinian civilians is accurate. NBC News’ Richard Engel reports.

Hamas calls for worldwide protests to ‘stop the war of extermination’

JERUSALEM — Hamas today called on Muslims and Arabs across the world to “escalate the mass movement” calling for an end to the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, and to permanently open the Rafah crossing with Egypt to allow humanitarian aid to cross.

The group said in a statement it wanted supporters to “participate actively and intensively in the coming Friday and Sunday,” using the slogans “Open the Rafah crossing” and “Stop the war of extermination on Gaza.”

Pro-Palestinian rallies have already taken place across the world.

Israel says it is targeting terrorist targets in Gaza and that it does not control the Rafah crossing.

IDF disputes U.N. agency’s warning that fuel shortage will stop Gaza operations

Israel’s military has questioned a warning from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency that a fuel shortage will force it to end its operations in Gaza.

IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said in a briefing that the statement from UNRWA was not accurate and accused Hamas of stockpiling fuel for military purposes.

“Hamas prefers to have all of the fuel for its warfighting capabilities, leaving civilians without it, and then international organizations ask for help,” he said.

“I think that it’s very important that they point their questions … to the ones who can actually help them and actually govern the Gaza Strip, and that is Hamas, not Israel and not Egypt.”

Biden says he has ‘no confidence’ in Palestinian death toll

Biden said yesterday that he has “no confidence” in the death toll being provided by Palestinian officials, who say more than 6,500 people, including 2,700 children, have been killed by Israeli retaliatory strikes on the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas.

“I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed,” Biden said at a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. “I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war.” 

Biden said Israel should be “incredibly careful” to minimize civilian casualties, but that he had “no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using,” without saying why.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group based in Washington, condemned Biden’s remarks as “dehumanizing” and called on him to apologize.

“Journalists have confirmed the high number of casualties, and countless videos coming out of Gaza every day show mangled bodies of Palestinian women and children,” Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement.

He added that CAIR had received 774 complaints, including reported bias incidents, since the war began, a spike the group says is “driven at least in part by irresponsible rhetoric from government officials.” 

Israel conducts ‘targeted raid’ inside Gaza

Israel’s military said it conducted a “targeted raid” in northern Gaza using tanks overnight.

“Soldiers struck numerous terrorists, terror infrastructure and anti-tank missile launch posts,” the IDF said in a statement.

The forces then left the area, the statement added.

Tanks and armored vehicles, as well as a bulldozer, could be seen in a video published by the IDF on X. Some of the tanks then fired artillery, before the video cuts to what appears to be falling debris.

The video then pans out to show black smoke rising from what appears to be a building.

White House increases outreach to Muslim and Arab Americans

WASHINGTON — Hours before President Joe Biden gave a rare prime-time address last week, his head speechwriter sat down with a group of senior Arab and Muslim American officials to go over the draft and take suggestions.

Dissent was sprouting even inside the White House, where some aides worried that Biden hadn’t shown enough empathy for Palestinian civilians and a Muslim community facing a torrent of anger, said a person familiar with the discussions who, like others, requested anonymity to talk freely.

The hourlong editing session reflects a vigorous outreach effort the White House is undertaking to reassure Arab Americans who feel they’re being scapegoated for the atrocities that Hamas has committed half a world away. Senior advisers have been calling Muslim officials throughout the country and inviting community advocates onto the White House campus for frank conversations. Cabinet secretaries are sounding out federal workers to see how they’re coping with an Israel-Hamas war that has sparked angry protests in the U.S.

Read the full story here.

FBI and DHS issue announcement about threats associated with the war

Michael Kosnar

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued a rare joint public service announcement last night about threats associated with the Israel-Hamas conflict, both in the U.S. and overseas.

The announcement comes after a similar PSA issued Oct. 10 and an FBI/DHS intelligence bulletin that went out to law enforcement Oct. 18. 

Since the Oct. 10 announcement, “the volume and frequency of threats to Americans, especially those in the Jewish, Arab American, and Muslim communities in the United States, have increased, raising our concern that violent extremists and lone offenders motivated by or reacting to ongoing events could target these communities,” the note reads.

The announcement noted the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy in Illinois on Oct. 14, hoax bomb threats against houses of worship and violent online rhetoric.

‘We’re losing an inner sense of humanity’: Aid agency director who has family sheltering in Gaza

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, a body that does humanitarian work in Gaza, has warned of the dire consequences of the war for people living there.

Its director of philanthropy, Hani Almadhoun, detailed the increasingly dire reality for thousands of Palestinians in Gaza on MSNBC.

Israel-Hamas war continues to roil American colleges, sparking walkouts

Dozens of U.S. colleges and universities are increasingly riven by tensions over the war between Israel and Hamas, offering a window into how a rising generation perceives the conflict in the Middle East and the U.S. government’s foreign policy in the region.

In recent days, protests and demonstrations have broken out on several campuses, in some cases drawing national attention and putting intense scrutiny on young people that some observers consider unfair. In some situations, student activism around the war has overlapped with volatile debates about free speech.

The conflict between the Israeli government and the Palestinian people has long been the subject of intense debate in the U.S., especially on college campuses, where political activism is common. But the new war has raised the temperature dramatically, giving rise to social environments on campus that mirror the country’s similarly polarized politics.

Read the full story here.