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What we know
- President Joe Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office on Thursday as the administration seeks a new funding package for Israel, as well as Ukraine and Taiwan. With a ground assault on Gaza most likely looming, there are questions about what comes next and growing concerns about broader escalation.
- Biden returned to the U.S. overnight after a trip to Israel, where he offered his backing to the country after the Hamas attack and announced a deal with Egypt to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
- Biden's visit was overshadowed by a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital Tuesday that has fueled protests across the Middle East and hampered diplomatic efforts.
- U.S. officials and Western military experts have told NBC News the blast was most likely a misfired Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 471 people were killed in what it called a "targeted" Israeli bombing of the hospital.
- Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told his soldiers Thursday that they will soon see Gaza “from the inside.” Gallant said there would be no forgiveness for the attack on Israel, "only total annihilation of Hamas organization."
- More than 3,700 people have been killed and more than 13,000 have been injured in Gaza. In Israel, 1,400 people have been killed and 3,500 have been wounded.
- NBC News’ Lester Holt, Tom Llamas, Richard Engel, Raf Sanchez, Kelly Cobiella, Josh Lederman, Matt Bradley, Ellison Barber, Chantal Da Silva and Alexander Smith are reporting from the region.
Antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes on the rise in the U.S.
As the Hamas-Israel conflict continues in the Middle East, U.S. officials are spotlighting an increase in reported threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities and institutions in the United States.
Former NBC foreign correspondent says 2 members of wife’s family taken hostage by Hamas
Former NBC News foreign correspondent Martin Fletcher said today that two members of his wife’s family are being held hostage by Hamas.
Fletcher, NBC News’ former Middle East correspondent, told MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle that he found out only today.
“This is a very personal thing,” Fletcher said. The two are Americans from Evanston, Illinois, who were in Israel visiting their grandmother for her 85th birthday, he said.
“They were last seen, their hands tied, being dragged away by the Hamas terrorists,” Fletcher said. “So it’s personal, it’s real, and nobody is really confident that it’s possible to get them back alive. Of course, everybody’s hoping.”
Fletcher said, “Hamas is using the hostages for psychological warfare.”
A spokesman for Hamas, the terrorist group that launched attacks on Israel, has said the militant group held about 200 hostages.
Biden’s call for "building a better Middle East” may be a difficult argument to make, but it’s one that’s necessary, NBC News’ Keir Simmons reports.
American woman who survived attack at Supernova festival pleads for help in Washington
WASHINGTON — A Jewish American woman who survived the Hamas terrorist attack on the Supernova music festival that killed at least 260 people in Israel was in Washington today to plead for support from U.S. government officials.
Natalie Sanandanji, a New Yorker born to Israeli and Iranian parents, said she feels “detached” from her near-death experience.
“I do believe that the fact that I feel so detached is what’s giving me the strength to share my story, and for now I’m going to use that strength because I share my story as much as I can," she told NBC News at the Capitol.
Sanandanji, 28, met with second gentleman Doug Emhoff and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in U.S. history.
She said that in addition to humanitarian and military aid — part of a supplemental funding request the Biden administration is expected to announce this week — lawmakers need to speak up about the uptick in violence and threats against the Jewish community.
“A lot of people have asked me if I feel safe now that I’m back in the states, and honestly, the answer is no,” Sanandanji said, referring to pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the country.
"This isn’t a fight between Israel and Palestine. This is a fight between Israel and Hamas, a terrorist organization," she said. "Killing innocent people is not going to free Palestine, and Hamas is just as complicit in the deaths of innocent Palestinians as they are in the deaths of innocent Israelis.”
Both antisemitic incidents and hate crimes against Palestinians and Muslims, as well as discriminatory rhetoric and threats, have been reported since the war began.
Sanandanji recounted her harrowing experience as she narrowly escaped death nearly two weeks ago.
When she heard the initial rockets, she said, a local told her not to worry — it happens often in that area, and the music would probably resume soon. But minutes later, the rockets only intensified, and Sanandanji was told to get in her car and leave.
“At this point, I thought to myself, ‘We’re going to be stuck in traffic for a while; it’s gonna take a while for us to get out,’” she said. “I went to the bathrooms by the exit of the festival, and a few days ago I saw a video surface of the Hamas terrorists going to those exact bathrooms, moments after I was there, and just shooting at every stall — trying to kill anyone who was hiding. And so that’s one of the moments where it hit me the hardest, how close I was to not being here today.”
After it became clear armed Hamas militants had stormed the area, Sanandanji and her friends ran for four hours to get to the nearest town. They hid under a tree to catch their breath when a white pickup began driving toward them. “We kind of all looked at each other and realized we have nowhere to run to if this is a terrorist. We just kind of all sat back down and accepted our fate.”
But it wasn’t a terrorist. It was a stranger who saved their lives.
"He picked us up. He drove us to his town, and as soon as he dropped us off, I didn’t even have a chance to thank him. He turned right back around to save more kids,” she recalled, holding back tears. “Whether it was God watching over me or whether it was luck, I don’t know. But I’d like to believe that it was God watching over me, and I believe it’s my duty to share this story for all those who can’t.”
Parts of Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza City collapse
Parts of Gaza’s oldest church, which was sheltering displaced families, have collapsed in an explosion.
Ibrahim Jahshan, a Palestinian Christian who is a singer and caretaker of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrios, said he was there when the blast happened and had been sheltering there with his family.
“We didn’t leave our church. We leave our house, we leave our homes, but we will die here,” he said, adding that there were still bodies under the rubble that people were trying to rescue.
“No one needs war, and the Christians here don’t have any bomb, any guns. Most of us here are sick and old and children,” he said, adding that many Muslims were sheltering there after having fled their homes in the area who had regularly helped out with upkeep of the church.
In a video showing the aftermath of the collapse, civilians and emergency responders use flashlights as they search through piles of rubble in the dark.
Many civilians are reportedly being taken to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, which has been overwhelmed with injured patients.
Several videos verified by NBC News showing Palestinian civilians at al-Shifa Hospital after the collapse have been shared on social media.
One shows injured civilians frantically exiting an ambulance in front of the hospital saying that there are people wounded and that “there are people under the rubble.” Another video shows a civilian pleading for help, saying he is a Christian Muslim in Gaza and has “no place left to live.”
“We don’t want war. We want peace,” Jahshan said. “Please pray for the Christians and Muslims here in Gaza.”
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem denounced what it described as a bombing in a statement obtained by NBC News.
“Targeting churches and its affiliated institutions, in addition to the shelters they provide to protect innocent citizens, especially children and women who lost their homes because of the Israeli bombing of residential areas during the past thirteen days, constitutes a war crime that cannot be ignored,” the statement said.
NBC News has not independently verified that the blast that caused the collapse was from an Israeli strike.
The church’s founding dates to A.D. 407. It became a mosque in the seventh century before a new church was built in the 12th century during the Crusades.
Biden urges aid for Israel and Ukraine and calls on Israel ‘not to be blinded by rage’
WASHINGTON — Biden spoke to the nation in a rare prime-time address tonight, explaining why he believes it’s crucial for Israel and Ukraine to win the wars they’re fighting, as he looks to build support for a hefty aid package aimed at strengthening both countries.
While Biden said Israel endured a horrifying attack from Hamas militants on Oct. 7, he cautioned Israelis not to repeat the mistakes an angered U.S. made after terrorists attacked the country on Sept. 11, 2001.
“When I was in Israel yesterday, I said that when America experienced the hell of 9/11, we felt enraged, as well,” Biden said. “While we sought and got justice, we made mistakes. So I cautioned the government of Israel not to be blinded by rage.”
Biden says he discussed need for Israel to obey laws of war with Netanyahu
Biden said he and Netanyahu “discussed the critical need for Israel to operate by the laws of war” in its war with Hamas.
“That means protecting civilians in combat as best as they can,” Biden said.
He said civilians in Gaza urgently need food, water and medicine, and he referred to an agreement he reached with Israel and Egypt to allow humanitarian assistance to enter Gaza through the Rafah gate in Egypt.
Biden also called on Congress to pass a budget request for assistance for Israel and Ukraine, and he said the U.S. must make sure the Israelis have "what they need to protect their people, today and always."
“We’re going to make sure other hostile actors in the region know that Israel is stronger than ever and prevent this conflict from spreading,” he said.
Biden says ‘America is a beacon to the world’ in call for support for Israel, Ukraine
Biden said tonight that “America is a beacon to the world” as he sought to call for the U.S. to stand by Israel and Ukraine in the wake of war and terrorist attacks.
Biden recalled former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s description of the U.S. as “the indispensable nation.”
“Tonight, there are innocent people all over the world who hope because of us, who believe in a better life because of us, who are desperate not to be forgotten by us, and who are waiting for us,” he said.
“Time is of the essence,” he said. “I know we have our divisions at home. We have to get past them. We can't let petty, partisan, angry politics get in the way of our responsibilities as a great nation."
Biden: ‘We cannot give up on a two-state solution’
In his Oval Office speech tonight, Biden reaffirmed support for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestinians.
“As hard as it is, we cannot give up on peace. We cannot give up on a two-state solution,” Biden said.
“Israel and Palestinians equally deserve to live in safety, dignity and peace,” he said.
Biden also decried “too much hate” in the U.S. that has led to Islamophobia and antisemitism, which have intensified in the wake of the conflict.
He referred to the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy, Wadea Al-Fayoume, and the stabbing of his mother in Illinois in what authorities have said was a hate crime.
“We can’t stand by and stand silent when this happens,” Biden said. He said Americans must "without equivocation" denounce hate against Jewish people and Muslims.
Biden to send 'urgent budget request' on Israel, Ukraine to Congress
Biden will send an “urgent budget request” to Congress seeking assistance for Israel and Ukraine.
He called the request an “unprecedented commitment to Israel’s security” that would help its Iron Dome missile defense system.
Biden said the request would be "to fund America's national security needs, to support our critical partners, including Israel and Ukraine."
Biden called it "a smart investment that's going to pay dividends for American security for generations" and "help us keep American troops out of harm's way."
Biden also said that the U.S. is sending weapons to Ukraine from U.S. stockpiles and that money allocated by Congress is used to replenish U.S. stockpiles with new equipment.
“American leadership is what holds the world together,” he said.
