Sorrow and anger in Israel after military kills 3 hostages
U.S. Defense secretary embarks on multiday Middle East trip
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will embark on a multiday trip to the Middle East today, stopping first in Israel before heading to Qatar and Bahrain.
He will meet with Israeli military leaders to discuss an “eventual” cessation of high-intensity ground operations and airstrikes, a senior defense official at the Pentagon said yesterday.
Austin’s meetings in Qatar — a country that has played a critical role in facilitating negotiations with Hamas — will focus on the U.S.’ “gratitude” for “their work with us on a range of regional and global objectives,” the official said.
In Bahrain, Austin is expected to visit U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and attempt to convene a “multinational framework” to reduce threats to shipping, in light of “increasing Houthi aggression in the Red Sea,” the official added.
Al Jazeera journalist killed in Gaza is laid to rest
At a funeral today, mourners wept over the body of Al Jazeera journalist Samer Abu Daqqa, who was killed in a drone strike while covering the aftermath of strikes on a school in Khan Younis yesterday.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, as of yesterday, 64 journalists and media workers have been confirmed dead since Oct. 7. Most were Palestinian journalists.
David Miliband: ‘It’s impossible to deliver aid’ or ‘protect civilians’ because of combat in Gaza
International Rescue Committee President and CEO David Miliband told NBC News, “It’s impossible to deliver aid, and it’s impossible to protect civilians, while the fighting is going on. That’s the humanitarian case for the cease-fire.”
“Now we can also and must ameliorate the situation literally minute by minute, hour by hour. There’s an International Rescue Committee team in Egypt at the moment. We have medical expertise. We have expertise in containing contagious diseases,” Miliband said. “We have partners inside Gaza, but it’s impossible to work while there’s such a threat to life and limb from the fighting.”
Her parents were told to seek safety in Rafah. A piece of shrapnel killed the 7-year-old in her sleep.
TEL AVIV — The shrapnel pierced through the thin film of 7-year-old Sidal Abu Jamea’s tent, tearing a hole through the pink blanket she was wrapped in and killing her as she slept.
“She didn’t scream,” her mother, Najwa Abu Jamea, told NBC News. “I didn’t even hear her breathe.”
It’s a death that has played out thousands of times in Gaza — a child, the most blameless of civilians, killed in a war that the Israel Defense Forces said is targeting Hamas, but has exacted a toll of more than 18,700 so far, according to Palestinian health authorities. At least 70% of those killed have been women and children.
The family, originally from Khan Younis, had fled south to a refugee camp in Rafah, on the Egyptian border, inside a shrinking corner of the Gaza Strip where the IDF had told Palestinians they would be safe.
Netanyahu on a mission to maintain power, shore up support
Israel’s Netanyahu has spent the past several weeks maneuvering to maintain power and shore up public support amid attacks from political rivals, pressure from the Biden administration, and growing international criticism of his handling of the war.
In an apparent effort to play to his right-wing base, Netanyahu publicly broke this week with President Biden and rejected any talk of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He called the Oslo peace agreement, which established the Palestinian Authority in 1994 and gave it the power to govern the West Bank and Gaza, a “mistake” that should not be repeated. The statement was a blunt rebuke of Biden, who has called for a “revamped” Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza after Hamas is defeated.
Netanyahu’s move follows a long-running pattern of the Israeli leader making hard-line statements for his own political gain, according to current and former Israeli officials, who asked not to be named.
U.S. and Israeli officials told NBC News that they fear Netanyahu has adopted some positions in the war against Hamas to prolong his own political survival.
Protest erupts in Tel Aviv after IDF admits it mistakenly killed 3 Israeli hostages
TEL AVIV — “Free the hostages! Now!”
The chant that has become an almost daily occurrence in Tel Aviv rang out with renewed vigor tonight, after the IDF revealed it mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages in northern Gaza during the offensive to free the dozens still held captive by Hamas.
Hundreds of people filled the streets for an impromptu march outside Israel’s Defense Ministry, bringing traffic to a halt as they called on Israel’s leadership to do more to see the more than 100 hostages released.
“We came to support the hostages’ families whose children and babies, mothers, daughters, grandparents are kidnapped in Gaza,” said Guy Anitz, 30. Holding up an Israeli flag as he joined the march, he said that he didn’t personally know anyone taken hostage but felt compelled to make his voice heard.
“We’re asking our government to do more to bring them back — and safe,” Anitz said. He said he largely blamed Hamas for the IDF’s accidental killing of three hostages.
He said he believed the fighting will continue until Hamas militants “put their guns down” and release the hostages.
