Israeli forces storm Gaza’s main hospital for a second time

‘One horror does not justify another,’ E.U. foreign policy chief tells Israel

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged Israel on today not to be consumed by rage in its response to last month’s Hamas attack, declaring that “one horror does not justify another.”

Speaking alongside Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen after the two men had visited Kibbutz Be’eri, a focal point of the Oct. 7 assault, Borrel said: “I understand your rage but let me ask you not to be consumed by rage. I think that’s what the best friends of Israel can tell you.”

Borrell also stressed the E.U.’s solidarity with Israel and its support for the country’s right to defend itself in line with international law.

“But one thing is to defend Israel and another thing’s to take care of the people in need,” he added.

Five-day march to Jerusalem goes into third day

Max Butterworth

Hundreds of people, led by the families of hostages, gather at the beginning of the third day of the five-day March to Jerusalem in Beit Hashmonai, Israel today.

Trickle of information from Gaza’s largest hospital appears to dry up

Virtually no information has emerged from Gaza’s Al-Shifa today after an Israeli raid of the hospital that has become a worldwide symbol of the plight of Palestinian civilians during the war.

Yesterday, the IDF said it had launched a “targeted” operation inside the hospital, and doctors in the facility spoke of seeing Israeli tanks inside. The Israeli army has since released a video purporting to show weaponry and equipment that it says belongs to Hamas militants inside the hospital. NBC News is unable to independently verify that claim.

Since then, the IDF has not released new footage or information about what is happening in the hospital, other than to say that their operation is ongoing. Hamas also has not released a statement on Al-Shifa or what the conditions are for civilians, medical staff and displaced people inside.

Dr. Nahed Abu Taaema, the director of Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, told Reuters that contact had been lost with medical staff inside Al-Shifa. “The situation at Al-Shifa Hospital is very dangerous and catastrophic,” he said. “We are unable to ascertain the events inside the al-Shifa complex, including violations against the medics and patients by the Zionist enemy.”

NBC News has tried calling three doctors at the hospital, but the calls were not answered. Officials in Gaza warned yesterday that they expected a telecommunications blackout as electricity and power completely ran out.

50 Israeli soldiers killed so far inside Gaza, IDF says

TEL AVIV — The Israeli military says 50 of its soldiers have been killed inside Gaza since launching its ground operation in the enclave three weeks ago.

The death toll, confirmed to NBC News in a message from the Israel Defense Forces, brings the total number of the country’s personnel killed since Oct. 7 to 371.

During Israel’s last major ground assault into Gaza in 2014, 67 Israeli soldiers were killed in just over six weeks.

At least 85 people arrested in West Bank, prisoners’ society says

Israeli forces have arrested at least 85 people from the West Bank in less than 24 hours, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said in a statement today. A young graduate student was detained at her university residence as part of the crackdown, the statement added.

“The arrest campaign was accompanied by widespread harassment, severe beatings, and threats against detainees and their families,” the statement said, adding that Israeli forces had also destroyed and sabotaged some of their homes.

A group of detainees were later released, it said. Arrests in West Bank have sharply risen in the past few weeks with the society saying today the total number of arrests has risen to 2,735 since the Oct 7. attacks.

NBC News was unable to independently verify these claims.

Gunmen killed after opening fire at Jerusalem crossing, police say

TEL AVIV — Three gunmen opened fire at a crossing in Jerusalem, injuring seven people before they were shot dead by officers, a police spokesperson told NBC News via WhatsApp today.

The gunmen “arrived in a suspicious vehicle, and opened fire towards our forces,” near the Tunnels Crossing, the spokesperson said, adding that “seven individuals sustained injuries of varying degrees” and they were “evacuated for medical treatment.”

“Jerusalem district bomb disposal units are operating in the area,” they said.

Military operation is ongoing at Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital, IDF says

TEL AVIV — The Israeli military operation inside the Al-Shifa hospital complex is still ongoing, an IDF spokesperson told NBC News today.

The Israeli Defense Forces began the raid on the hospital — which Israeli authorities say was being used to store weapons — yesterday. Hamas said that the accusation that the hospital was being used for military purposes was “lies and cheap propaganda.”

Dr. Adnan Al-Barsh, head of Al-Shifa’s orthopedic department, said Wednesday night that Israeli soldiers had “vandalized” medical equipment inside the hospital.

NBC News cannot confirm the IDF’s claims that weapons were being stored weapons under the hospital nor that it was being used as a command and control center. It also cannot confirm Hamas’ claims that medical equipment had been vandalized by Israeli forces.

Shooting at a checkpoint between West Bank and Jerusalem

Max Butterworth

Police secure the scene after an attack by gunmen at a checkpoint between the West Bank and Jerusalem today.

Chaotic scenes at DNC HQ as pro-Palestinian protesters clash with police

There were chaotic scenes at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in Washington D.C. last night, as pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with police.

U.S. Capitol Police said in a short statement on X shortly after 10 p.m. that what it called a “large group of illegal protesters” had been cleared out, adding that officers were staying at DNC offices out of an “abundance of caution.”

Numerous lawmakers were in the DNC headquarters when the protest erupted. One person was arrested and accused of assaulting an officer; six officers in total were treated for injuries, the force said.

Protesters, however, accused the police of heavy-handed treatment. The Jewish group IfNotNow posted on X that police were being “extremely violent,” alongside video showing officers pushing protesters.

Read the full story here

IDF says it strikes residence of top Hamas leader

The Israeli military said it struck the residence of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh overnight. The building was “terrorist infrastructure,” the IDF added.

During its takeover of Shati camp in northern Gaza, it found and destroyed “a Hamas naval forces weapons cache, containing diving gear, explosive devices, and weapons,” the IDF added.

NBC News has not verified the claims.

Driver arrested in Tokyo after car strikes barricade near Israeli embassy

TOKYO — Police in Tokyo arrested a driver on Thursday after a vehicle rammed into a barricade near the Israeli Embassy, injuring a police officer.

A man in his 50s who is believed to be a member of a right-wing group was arrested on the spot, local media reported, citing a police source. The police officer suffered a hand injury and was taken to a hospital.

It was not clear what the motive might have been or whether the embassy was being targeted.

Aid organization ‘extremely worried’ for civilians at Al-Shifa

Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders, is “extremely worried” for the lives of innocent people who are at Al-Shifa Hospital.

“As Israeli forces enter Al Shifa hospital, we call once again for the protection of medical staff, patients and displaced civilians sheltered inside the hospital,” the organization said in a post on X today.

“We are extremely worried for their lives.”

Cancer patients transported from Gaza to Turkey

Max Butterworth

Two planes carrying more than two dozen Palestinian cancer patients, many of them children, arrived in Turkey for treatment early today.

Patients who had crossed from Gaza into Egypt are carried on a stretchers after arriving at the Esenboga Airport in Ankara.

2 arrested in ‘spontaneous’ protest where Trudeau was eating dinner

At least two people were arrested last night after around 250 people gathered in what Vancouver Police Department described as “spontaneous” protest outside where Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was having dinner.

Sgt. Steve Addison told reporters today that police did not receive advanced notice of a demonstration but approximately 100 officers were sent to the Chinatown location to disperse the crowd so that Trudeau could be escorted out.

Video posted to social media appeared to show a group of people chanting “cease-fire now” at Trudeau inside of a restaurant before he got up and left. The incident occurred an hour before the Chinatown protest and police did require significant response, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Trudeau’s office confirmed in a statement the prime minister was approached by demonstrators in Vancouver and said it does not comment on his security detail or process with regard to specific interactions.

Palestinian officials say harder to update death toll as health system buckles

RAMALLAH — Palestinian health authorities said on Wednesday it was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain accurate casualty figures from Gaza due to the collapse of the hospital and health system in parts of the Israeli-besieged enclave.

The Palestinian health ministry has been issuing a constantly updated total of the casualties from the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, launched in the wake of the deadly attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen on Oct. 7.

But as Israeli forces have pushed deep into the Gaza Strip and communications infrastructure has been degraded, contact with hospitals has buckled and systematic data collection has become more problematic, the ministry said.

“For the fourth consecutive day, the ministry faces challenges in updating the number of casualties because of services and communications collapsing in hospitals in the north,” it said in a statement.

Israel calls it a humanitarian corridor, but for fleeing Palestinians, it’s forced displacement

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — On the eastern edge of Gaza City, hundreds of families march down Salah al-Din road as the sun begins to set on Wednesday afternoon. Many carry babies and small children, while others push the elderly in wheelchairs. Some wave large white flags, while all carry what few possessions they can on a journey with no clear end in sight.

“There’s tens of thousands of people leaving their neighborhoods in Gaza coming through here going south,” Maj. Shraga of the Jerusalem Brigade told NBC News, whose last name the IDF asked to be withheld for security reasons. 

Israel has said its evacuation routes from northern Gaza are designed to get Palestinian civilians to safety, which it says is proof of its commitment to protecting innocents even as it targets Hamas. More than 11,200 people have been killed during Israel’s offensive on Gaza in the weeks since Hamas’ attack on Israel, according to the Gaza health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas.

But for many of the more than 1.6 million people who the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says have already been displaced in Gaza since the conflict began, the route feels like a forced exodus.

Read the full story here.

WATCH: Biden says Hamas committed war crime with headquarters under hospital

President Joe Biden focused on the hostages in Gaza and said he is doing everything in his power to bring them home. 

Speaking at a news conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Biden said he was doing everything in his power to bring them home but he would not send American forces into Gaza.

NBC News’ latest coverage of the Israel-Hamas war