U.N. agencies warn of ‘explosion’ in Gaza child deaths
As Gaza faces increasingly dire food and water shortages, U.N. agencies warned in a joint assessment that preventable child deaths could explode in the enclave, which is “on the brink of a nutrition crisis.”
“Children’s nutrition will continue to plummet, leading to preventable deaths or health issues which will affect the children of Gaza for the rest of their lives,” Ted Chaiban, UNICEF’s deputy executive director for humanitarian action and supply operations, said.
At least 90% of children under age 5 are suffering from one or more infectious diseases, and the limited food they can access is of “the lowest nutritional value,” according to the U.N. agencies.
“Hunger and disease are a deadly combination,” said Mike Ryan, the executive director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Program.
575 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the war started
At least 575 Israel Defense Forces soldiers have been killed since Oct. 7, according to Elyon Levy, the prime minister’s spokesperson.
“That’s up by one since our last update,” he said during his briefing today.
Staff Sgt. Maoz Morel died yesterday after being injured in battle last week in southern Gaza.
Since Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza began, at least 237 IDF soldiers have died.
Cease-fire resolution fails at Security Council after another U.S. veto
A cease-fire resolution proposed by Algeria was blocked at the Security Council meeting after the U.S. used its veto.
It was the third time the U.S. has blocked a cease-fire resolution since the start of the war. But this time, the U.S. said it would offer a different proposal for a vote. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield defended the decision to the rest of the council members, saying the Algerian resolution would not bring about durable peace or secure the release of hostages.
“Sometimes hard diplomacy takes more time than any of us might like,” she said. “Any action this Council takes should help and not hinder these sensitive ongoing negotiations.”
Biden’s Middle East adviser plans to visit Egypt and Israel
Brett McGurk, President Joe Biden’s top Middle East adviser, is slated to visit Israel and Egypt this week. A U.S. official confirmed that his visit will include talks on Israel’s possible military operation in Rafah and the efforts to secure the release of the hostages still held by Hamas.
Troops entering Rafah would endanger hostages, Israel’s culture minister says
Miki Zohar, Israel’s culture minister, warned today that if Israel sends troops into Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, that would endanger the hostages held there by Hamas.
“It’s clear that we don’t want to put anyone in danger, not a single hostage,” Zohar said in a committee meeting at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. “But the answer is yes, going into Gaza will endanger the hostages.”
Following the comment, he wrote on X that the only way to reach a deal was “massive military pressure on Hamas.”
IDF orders evacuation of two Gaza neighborhoods
Israel’s military warned residents to evacuate two neighborhoods in central Gaza today, ahead of a new offensive.
People living in the Alzayton and Turkmen neighborhoods have been asked to “move immediately,” IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee said today in a post on X in Arabic.
He added that they should go to a “humanitarian area” in Al-Mawasi on the coast in southern Gaza.
Prince William concerned about scale of suffering in Gaza
Britain’s Prince William today called for an “end to the fighting” in Gaza, saying in a statement that there is a “desperate need” for increased aid to the war-ravaged enclave.
“Sometimes it is only when faced with the sheer scale of human suffering that the importance of permanent peace is brought home,” the Prince of Wales said in a statement.
“Too many have been killed,” he said, while also calling for the return of all hostages held by Hamas.
U.N. experts call for probe into alleged violations against Palestinian women and girls
TEL AVIV — United Nations experts have called for an investigation into alleged violations against Palestinian women and girls in Gaza and the occupied West Bank since the start of the war.
“We are shocked by reports of the deliberate targeting and extrajudicial killing of Palestinian women and children in places where they sought refuge, or while fleeing,” a group of experts appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council said in a statement Monday. “Some of them were reportedly holding white pieces of cloth when they were killed by the Israeli army or affiliated forces.”
They also expressed concern over the alleged arbitrary detention of hundreds of Palestinian women and girls in Gaza and the occupied West Bank since the start of the war. They said many detainees were reportedly subjected to “inhuman and degrading treatment,” including being held under difficult conditions, severely beaten and denied menstruation pads, food and medicine.
They said multiple cases of rape and sexual abuse have also been reported. NBC News was not able to independently verify the allegations.
Food deliveries into northern Gaza paused until conditions improve, World Food Program says
Deliveries of lifesaving food aid to northern Gaza will be paused until conditions in the enclave allow for safe distribution, the U.N. World Food Program said in a statement today.
“The decision to pause deliveries to the north of the Gaza Strip has not been taken lightly, as we know it means the situation there will deteriorate further and more people risk dying of hunger,” the statement said.
New video of hostage family ‘tore our hearts out,’ relative says
TEL AVIV — Relatives of a family held hostage by Hamas have described their heartbreak after watching footage shared by the Israel Defense Forces yesterday appearing to show their loved ones.
“It really tore our hearts out,” Ofri Bibas-Levy, the sister of Yarden Bibas, said in a video news conference today. “Everything still feels unbearable.”
IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said yesterday that the footage showed Shiri Bibas and her sons Kfir and Ariel being kidnapped and transferred into a car in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Shiri’s husband, Yarden, was also kidnapped but was separated from the family, he said.
NBC News could not independently geolocate the footage or confirm the date or identities of those seen in it. The IDF said it was taken from security cameras.
Kfir was 10 months old when he was kidnapped and is believed to be the youngest person taken during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. Ariel was 4 years old.
Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, had previously said Shiri Bibas and her sons were killed by Israeli bombing in November. NBC News has not been able to independently verify that claim.
Hagari said the IDF was “very concerned” for their condition and safety.
Ofri Bibas-Levy also called on “decision makers in Israel and worldwide to be involved in negotiations” to secure a deal to see hostages released, as well as to “prioritize the return of these children.”
U.S. congressional delegation visits Rafah
CAIRO — A House of Representatives delegation led by Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., is today visiting the Rafah border crossing into Gaza to inspect the delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave, according to the regional Egyptian governor’s office.
Smith, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, arrived at Al-Arish Airport, where he was greeted by North Sinai’s governor, Maj. Gen. Muhammad Abdel Fadil Shusha, according to a statement.
Food crisis in Gaza has worsened significantly, U.N. report warns
TEL AVIV — The mounting food crisis in Gaza has “worsened significantly,” with almost all the babies and pregnant women in the enclave grappling with “severe food poverty,” a new report warned today.
Over 90% of babies ages 6 to 23 months and pregnant and breastfeeding women are eating two or fewer food groups a day, according to the report from the Global Nutrition Cluster, a coalition of humanitarian groups.
“The food they have access to is of the lowest nutritional value,” the report says, adding that that 81% of households lack safe and clean water, with average household access at less than 1 liter per person per day — far from the minimum standard of at least 15 liters per person per day.
The report emphasized that this was particularly concerning for babies relying on infant formula, of which there has been a rise in the midst of the war.
Hamas leader arrives in Egypt for new talks
Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh has arrived in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, for new talks about the war in Gaza.
Haniyeh arrived this morning at the head of a delegation “to hold discussions with Egyptian officials” about the war, Hamas said in a statement.
Israeli forces search buildings in Gaza
An image released by the Israeli army today shows soldiers searching a building at an undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip.
26 E.U. countries warn Israel against ‘catastrophic’ Rafah offensive
BRUSSELS — All European Union countries except Hungary warned Israel yesterday against launching an offensive in Rafah that they said would deepen the catastrophe of some 1.5 million refugees crammed into the city on the southern edge of Gaza.
“An attack on Rafah would be absolutely catastrophic … it would be unconscionable,” Ireland’s Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said before a meeting of foreign ministers from the 27 E.U. member states in Brussels.
After the talks ended, all but one of them called in a joint statement for “an immediate humanitarian pause that would lead to a lasting ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and the provision of humanitarian assistance.”
The statement was issued in the name of “Foreign Ministers of 26 Member-States of the European Union” and diplomats said Hungary — a close ally of the Israeli government — was the sole country that did not sign up.
“We ask the Israeli Government not to take military action in Rafah that would worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian situation and prevent the urgently needed provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance,” the ministers said.
Israel is preparing to mount a ground invasion of Gaza’s southernmost city, which it has called a last bastion of Hamas control after almost five months of fighting. Israel accuses Hamas fighters of hiding among civilians, something the militant group denies, and says “extraordinary measures” were being taken to avoid civilian casualties.
But E.U. foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said it would be impossible to prevent civilian deaths.
“We have to continue putting pressure on Israel to make them understand that there are so many people in the streets of Rafah, it will be impossible to avoid civilian casualties,” he said.
Catch up with NBC News’ latest coverage of the conflict
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