1m ago / 10:26 AM UTC
IDF Searches Hospitals in Northern Gaza
Israeli forces released a video purporting to show a tunnel shaft for an operation and a vehicle that they claimed contained “a number of weapons”. The footage was taken at Al-Shifa Medical Complex, Gaza’s biggest hospital.
Israel Defense Forces released a statement saying that troops were also searching the nearby Rantisi Hospital where they were “continuing to unearth a tunnel operational” and Al-Quds Hospital where “weapons and ammunition were found.”
NBC News does not confirm the IDF’s allegations.
NBC News has confirmed the location of Al-Shifa’s tunnel shaft, but the video, photos and statements released so far by the IDF do not seem to show conclusive evidence that a Hamas control center exists below the hospital. This is a claim Israeli officials have made repeatedly, and Hamas as well as doctors at the hospital strongly denied.
9m ago / 10:18 AM UTC
Singapore fashion brand apologizes for perceived support of Israel
After online backlash, a fashion brand in Singapore apologized for its founders’ perceived Israel support.
“We don’t condone killings of innocent Palestinians.” Daniel Chew, Rebecca Ting and Beyond the Vines’ founders, Rebecca Ting and Daniel Chew, posted yesterday on Instagram that their hearts were heavy, and they had our prayers and thoughts with them. They also said, “We take full responsibility for the insensitivity of our handling of this issue.”
Social media users began to criticize Chew after they pointed out that he was following an Instagram account with a pro Israel Christian. In earlier Instagram posts, the couple tried to respond to the anger in a livestream. However, this only enraged the brand’s followers in Singapore and abroad who accused the company for blocking and deleting comments that supported Palestinians.
Chew stated that he initially followed the Instagram account for its content on culture, food, and travel, but that he unfollowed the account when it became more “political and divisive” in nature. In a recent livestream launching a collection, Ting revealed that Meta, the parent company of Instagram, had told them that the company has a “sensitive filter” which could delete comments or blocks accounts.
35m ago / 9:52 AM UTC
At least three people are killed in an Israeli raid on the Jenin Refugee Camp, located in West Bank.
In a Telegram message today, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that Israeli forces killed three people and injured more than fifteen others during an attack on the Jenin Refugee Camp in the West Bank occupied.
WAFA, a Palestinian news agency reported that Israeli forces had interrogated paramedics and searched ambulances near the hospital. Local sources informed the agency that occupation forces had surrounded the hospital on all sides.
NBC News was unable to independently verify this statement.
In a press release, the Israeli military stated that during a raid against the camp “an armed terror cell” had been struck by an Israeli aircraft. It claimed that at least five “terrorists’ were killed.
“Additional terrorists, who fired and hurled bombs at the security force during the activity, were neutralized,” the report said.
The ministry identified the dead as Bahaa Jamal Al-Hassaniyah (34), Muhammad Jamal Fulu (28), and Bahaa Jamal Al-Hassaniyah (23).
In a separate posting on X, the IDF stated that armed men fled to Ibn Sina Hospital in an ambulance.
NBC News could not independently verify these statements.
40m ago / 9:47 AM UTC
Alon Pinkas, Ambassador of Israel to the United States, says that deal for hostage release is going to be a one-to-one.
Andrea Mitchell, a former Consul General of New York, said in an interview with Andrea Mitchell that the deal between Hamas & Israel “will be one-to-one,” meaning that if one Israeli is released then one Palestinian will be released.
He described an intricate network of communication that could be behind a possible deal to release hostages, saying “Hamas has been speaking to Qatar and to Qataris; we have been talking with the Americans; we’ve also been talking with the Israelis. We will then give some information to Egyptians who, in turn, will pass it on to Americans.
He said that he was unsure of the number and type of hostages who would be freed. “We’re talking about 50, 60 or maybe even 100.” This would include dual citizens, or several dozen foreign workers.
He stated that the deal “probably doesn’t include IDF soldiers of any gender, male or female.”
Pinkas said that “Hamas has asked for a 5-day ceasefire to which Israel is reportedly not agreeing.” “Israel said three days at most, and even that is not enough for some in the IDF who think we shouldn’t, Israel shouldn’t agree to such a long ceasefire.”
40m ago / 9:46 AM UTC
Netanyahu: There are indications that hostages were held in hospital
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, said that the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza was holding hostages before the Israeli Defense Forces began a operation.
In an Interview with CBS News last night, he said, “We have strong evidence that they were being held at Shifa Hospital, which was one of the main reasons we entered the facility. But they were removed.”
Hamas, as well as doctors in the complex, have denied the accusation that the hospital was used to hold hostages. Netanyahu has also not provided any evidence that would corroborate this claim. He said that there was no firefight at Al-Shifa when the IDF arrived because Hamas fighters fled ahead.
When asked where the hostages were being held, the Prime Minister hinted that the military was aware of the situation but refused to confirm any specifics. He said: “We have information… but I will not reveal any details.”
In response to the call for a ceasefire, which was made at protests and demos in the U.S. Netanyahu said that this would happen only “if we are able to get our hostages returned.”
40m ago / 9:46 AM UTC
Photos: Protesters demand a ceasefire on a San Francisco Bridge
While President Joe Biden attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, protesters demanding a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas slowed down traffic on the bridge linking San Francisco to Oakland.
The police quickly arrived to remove the traffic jam.
Noah Berger / AP
Noah Berger / AP
