15m ago / 7:01 AM EST
Saudi Arabia calls for an ‘extraordinary summit’ on Gaza
Leaders from across the Arab and Islamic world have begun arriving in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh for an emergency summit “in response to the unprecedented circumstances in Gaza,” the kingdom’s foreign ministry, announced today in a post on X.
Iran, Saudi Arabia’s historic regional rival, will join the summit, represented by President Ebrahim Raisi, in the first visit to Saudi Arabia by an Iranian head of state after years of regional hostility.
“Gaza is not an arena for words. It should be for action,” Raisi said in televised comments at Tehran airport before departing for the summit of Arab and Islamic nations in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh. “Today, the unity of the Islamic countries is very important,” he added.
42m ago / 6:35 AM EST
Photos: Israeli military destroys buildings in Gaza
Images released by the Israel Defense Forces show a gun firing at a building inside the Gaza Strip (top) and troops taking position as an army bulldozer demolishes a building.
41m ago / 6:35 AM EST
U.N. rights chief expresses ‘very serious concerns’ about attacks on civilians
Volker Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said yesterday that Israel must end its use of “high impact explosive weapons,” which were causing indiscriminate destruction and high civilian deaths across Gaza.
“It is clear that enduring peace and security cannot be delivered by the exercise of fury and pain against people who have no responsibility for the crimes that were committed,” Türk said. “This is unprecedented, outrageous and deeply heartbreaking.”
Türk called for Israel to “immediately end the use of such methods and means of warfare, and the attacks must be investigated.” The U.N. is monitoring Israeli strikes in densely populated residential areas across Gaza, Türk said, adding: “We have very serious concerns that these amount to disproportionate attacks in breach of international humanitarian law.”
36m ago / 6:40 AM EST
Gaza City’s Al-Shifa medical complex out of service as bombardment continues
TEL AVIV — At Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, doctors and health officials are reporting electricity outages amid heavy bombardment through the night and into Saturday morning.
Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Health, said in a news conference this morning that the Al-Shifa medical complex was out of service due to heavy bombardment. He said the intensive care and pediatric departments were hit with power outages, resulting in at least two deaths.
Dr. Marwan Abusada, a surgeon at the hospital who is also head of International Cooperation at Gaza’s Ministry of Health, told NBC News that the electricity in the intensive care unit had been cut. He said at least two people died, including an infant, “because we did not have electricity.” NBC News was not immediately able to independently confirm the situation on the ground.
Abusada said doctors are still providing care for patients in the ICU and relying on “a battery system.” But he said that with the relentless bombardment around the hospital and the sounds of shooting outside, he fears for the safety of the thousands of people taking shelter there.
He and Al-Qudra each also warned that vital resources were dwindling. “We don’t have electricity. We don’t have water. Even, we don’t have food,” Abusada said.
The Israel Defense Forces told NBC News that in the early hours of the morning, there was “ongoing intense fighting against Hamas in the vicinity” of Al-Shifa hospital. A spokesperson said the IDF could not address questions on “specific military activity currently underway.”
35m ago / 6:41 AM EST
Death toll in Gaza tops 11,000
The death toll in Gaza has reached 11,078, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, with at least 27,490 people wounded.
At least 4,500 of the dead are children, the Ministry added, representing over 40% of those killed.
The death toll has increased sharply since the beginning of Israel’s ground invasion at the end of October. Over 1,400 people have also been killed in Israel, most on Oct. 7, according to Israeli government figures released on Tuesday.
35m ago / 6:41 AM EST
Group of Jews and Arabs come together to spread peace in Israel
A group of Jews and Arabs are working together to protect each other and spread peace across the ancient city of Jaffa, Israel.
The group, which has around 3,000 members, puts up posters promoting peace and offering a helpline for reporting violence.
“This land can hold more than one narrative, more than one religious national narrative,” volunteer Jean-Marc Liling said. “I think we have to get beyond the justified fear of each other.”
34m ago / 6:42 AM EST
Netanyahu meets heads of communities from around Gaza Strip
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised the resilience of communities near the Gaza Strip that were targeted in deadly attacks by Hamas last month, and he renewed a vow to neutralize the Palestinian militant group.
At a meeting with community leaders from the region Friday, Netanyahu said: “First of all [our priority is] to restore security — to make sure that there is no Hamas and that Hamas does not return — but also to make sure that there will be a strong life afterward.”
32m ago / 6:44 AM EST
Palestinian-American family describe fear, humiliation in Gaza
A Palestinian-American family expressed gratitude that they were able to return home to Massachusetts this week, after spending a month trapped in Gaza as Israeli forces showered the enclave with airstrikes.
Abood Okal, Wafaa Abuzayda, and their 1-year-old son, Yousef Okal, were visiting relatives in northern Gaza when Hamas militants attacked Israel, sparking retaliatory waves of shelling and leaving them trapped in Gaza.
For the next 27 days, they prayed for their survival.
“Our biggest hope was that this is a nightmare that we wake up from,” Abood Okal said.
28m ago / 6:48 AM EST
U.S. working to get fuel to Gaza hospitals, diplomat tells U.N.
A top U.S. official at the United Nations told the U.N. Security Council that the U.S. has been working to help get fuel to hospitals in Gaza.
“We know that hospitals are in desperate need of fuel. The United States has been working tirelessly to put in place mechanisms to enable the fuel to reach hospitals and to meet other urgent needs in the south,” Robert Wood, a U.S. representative in the United Nations, said on Friday. “But I also want to make clear that we share Israel’s concerns about Hamas’ hoarding and siphoning of fuel in northern Gaza. This is unacceptable, and we must all call it out.”
Though hundreds of aid trucks have entered Gaza since the war began last month, they have not been allowed to bring fuel because of Israel’s concern that it could be used by Hamas to power rockets.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said yesterday on social media that the Al-Quds hospital in northern Gaza was at risk of closing within hours because as it runs out of fuel.
