Fire breaks out at Gaza hospital after Israeli strike

Filippo Grandi, the U.N.'s high commissioner for refugees, said a cease-fire in the Middle East is needed to "stem the tide to a major regional war."

Speaking to the executive committee for the U.N. refugee agency, Grandi said he was stating the "obvious" when he said that all he heard from those he met when he visited Lebanon and Syria recently "is that they want peace."

The hundreds of thousands of civilians who have been displaced want to go home, which can be accomplished only with an end to war, he added.

"A cease-fire for Lebanon but also — as is desperately needed in Gaza — a cease-fire that is sustained by a meaningful peace process, difficult as it may be," Grandi said. "This is the only way to break the cycle of violence, of hatred and of misery."

Foreign ministers from France, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom jointly condemned the reported attacks by Israeli soldiers on the U.N. Interim Forces in Lebanon.

The joint statement expressed "deep concern" over the wave of attacks that have injured several peacekeepers. It demanded the attacks stop immediately, saying any "deliberate attack" on UNIFIL is a violation of international law.

"We call on Israel and all parties to uphold their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel at all times and to allow UNIFIL to continue carrying out its mandate," the statement said.

Netanyahu denied the assertions that the IDF has deliberately attacked UNIFIL forces, calling it "completely false."

The Israeli military has launched a series of deadly strikes in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, including on a flour distribution center, a school and a hospital where displaced Palestinians were sheltering.

Video of a fire at a tent camp yesterday that started after Israeli forces launched an airstrike on Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah showed harrowing scenes.

The fire was shown in multiple videos shared on social media and verified by NBC News. At least one person could be seen reaching their hands out from the flames as they were burned alive. Others could be seen racing from the fire, some carrying the injured, while others ran toward the blaze to help.

At least four people were killed in the strike and its fiery aftermath, with dozens more injured, including women and children, local health officials said.

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Australia has changed its travel status for Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories to "Do Not Travel," Foreign Minister Penny Wong said today.

"The Australian Government has serious concerns the security situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories could deteriorate rapidly," Wong wrote on X.

Smartraveller, an official Australian government account, urged people to leave while it's still safe.

More than 200 people were arrested during a Jewish Voice for Peace protest outside the New York Stock Exchange today, police said.

Around 500 people wore red "Not in Our Name" shirts and chained themselves to the building in an anti-war demonstration, Jewish Voice for Peace said in a statement. Ros Petchesky, 82, a MacArthur fellow, said the group was there to demand an arms embargo on Israel.

"Politicians should not be allowed to profit from genocide, but at least 50 members of Congress or their spouses own stock from Lockheed Martin or Raytheon," Petchesky said. "There can be no business as usual while the U.S. arms Israel and profits from genocide."

Israel's military has apparently cut off aid to northern Gaza as it intensifies its operations in an "absolute disregard" for civilian lives, the U.N human rights office said in a letter today.

"Israel, as the occupying power, has the obligation to ensure food, water, medical care and other basic necessities for civilians in Gaza, including by complying with its duty to ensure public order and civil life," the letter said.

Israel's military ordered civilians to leave north Gaza even as the area was bombed, and many who have been forcibly displaced multiple times have reportedly refused to leave. The U.N. human rights office letter also expressed concern about reports that soldiers were shooting at people who tried to flee, saying the alleged action amounted to a war crime.

The IDF and other Israeli authorities have repeatedly denied violations of international law.

Vice President Kamala Harris wrote yesterday on X that the U.N. reported that no aid has gone into northern Gaza in two weeks, adding that Israel "must do more" to facilitate aid.

"Civilians must be protected and must have access to food, water, and medicine," Harris wrote. "International humanitarian law must be respected."

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees accused Israel's military of killing 10 people and injuring 40 others by firing "shells inside and outside" its food distribution center in Jabalia in northern Gaza today.

"At least 10 people were reportedly killed and another 40 were injured," UNRWA wrote on X. "This happened while people were trying to get food from the centre."

The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres is aware of the "very disturbing reports" of a strike at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where people were apparently burned alive, his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, told reporters today.

The strike hit a group of displaced Palestinians sheltering in tents in the compound in central Gaza's Deir al-Balah. Videos showed graphic scenes, including at least one person appearing to reach their hands out from the flames as they were burned.

"The secretary-general condemns a large number of civilian casualties in the intensifying Israeli campaign in northern Gaza, including its schools, displacing sheltered Palestinian civilians," Dujarric said at a briefing today.

Zvika Haimovich, former head of Israeli air defense, told NBC News that the missile defense system being sent to Israel can be installed in a matter of days.

The deployment of both the THAAD system and U.S. troops to operate it comes as the world awaits a promised strike on Iran from Israeli officials.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied allegations that the military attacked peacekeeping forces in Lebanon, calling the accusations "completely false."

In a video statement, Netanyahu said Israel has "repeatedly" instructed the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon to "get out of harm's way" as its soldiers fought Hezbollah. He accused Hezbollah of using UNIFIL posts "as cover."

"We regret any harm done to UNIFIL personnel, and the IDF is doing its utmost to prevent such incidents," Netanyahu said. "But the best way to assure the safety of UNIFIL personnel is for UNIFIL to heed Israel’s request and to temporarily get out of harm’s way.”

UNIFIL has publicized incidents at multiple posts, including its headquarters, where IDF forces have fired upon. One incident includes IDF forces destroying its camera system at a post in Labbouneh.

The forces have refused to leave their posts along the border with Israel, where hostilities are being monitored by an order of the U.N. Security Council.

More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the enclave's Health Ministry, which also said that more than double that number of people have been wounded.

The death toll has reached 42,289 people and another 98,684 others have been wounded, the ministry said today, adding that civil defense crews have been unable to reach bombing sites to search for people under the rubble.

Over the last day, at least 62 people were killed and 220 brought to hospitals with injuries, the ministry said.

Hundreds of thousands of Gazan children are scheduled to receive a second round of polio vaccinations in an operation handled by Gaza's Health Ministry, Israeli authorities, the United Nations and the World Health Organization.

The second round of vaccinations began this morning in the central area of Gaza, the ministry said.

The Israeli military's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said people in the enclave's central area will be administered the vaccines for the next three days.

Children in southern Gaza will begin to receive their second dose on Saturday, and children who remained in northern Gaza will get their vaccinations next week, COGAT said.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today in a speech in London.

Speaking at the British think tank Chatham House, Pelosi said that President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party has always supported a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinian people.

Asked if a two-state solution was still viable, Pelosi said “not with Netanyahu,” adding that she didn't think he had “ever believed in peace or two-state solution.”

She went on to say that while the U.S. supports its ally Israel, it does not approve of the level of “collateral damage" — the unintended death and injury of civilians or damage to property during war.

Displaced Lebanese families say they are exhausted trying to make sense of Israel’s evacuation orders and airstrikes, which some said have been launched without any warning.

“Today nowhere is safe — that’s what most Lebanese are saying today,” Hassan Choukair, a journalist from the southern village of Mais el Jabal told NBC News after he was displaced to Beirut.

“How can you be safe? Some of us are receiving evacuations’ orders, ‘you have to evacuate within two hours or less.’ Others are being bombarded without any previous warning.”

Some evacuation orders received by civilians also appeared to have been “fake,” creating “panic among different communities,” Choukair said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a visit to the Golani military base in northern Israel where four IDF soldiers were killed by a Hezbollah drone attack.

Netanyahu made a short video address in Hebrew from the base, which was blurred in the background, and offered his condolences to the fallen soldiers' families. He praised the unit's soldiers and medics for their spirit, calling it the most important thing as the war continues.

"From here, I’m going to visit the wounded who were injured in this attack yesterday," Netanyahu said. "Together with the entire nation, I pray for their speedy recovery."

He also vowed to continue fighting against Hezbollah and Iran's proxies, noting the gunfire in the background as he spoke.

An Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building in northern Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 21 people, according to the Lebanese Red Cross.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military and it was not clear what the target was. The strike hit a small apartment building in the village of Aitou, which is part of the country’s Christian heartland in the north and far from the Hezbollah militant group’s main areas of influence in the south and east.

Videos from Lebanese media showed a large plume of smoke rising from the hilly village, with several destroyed cars next to a severely damaged building, as people tried to remove bodies from beneath rubble and trees.

The strike came a day after a Hezbollah drone attack on an army base in northern Israel killed four soldiers — all of them 19 years old — and severely wounded seven others in the deadliest strike by the militant group since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon nearly two weeks ago.

In just a few weeks, Iran’s message has shifted dramatically. Last month at the United Nations, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called for a "new era of cooperation."

Now Iran appears to be saying that talking to America isn’t working.

“Due to the regional situation, we have halted indirect message exchanges with America,” Abbas Araghchi, the country’s foreign minister, told reporters today in Oman’s capital, Muscat.

Iran's leaders have been openly and frantically trying to blunt a promised Israeli strike, visiting America’s Arab allies and partners, urging them not to support any action.

The United Kingdom today announced a sweeping package of sanctions against Iran, targeting military figures and national organizations believed to be linked to the "dangerous and destabilizing activity across the Middle East."

Senior figures in the Iranian army and air force and organizations tied to Iran's ballistic and cruise missile development are among those sanctioned.

“The U.K. is clear that a wider regional conflict must be avoided at all costs and is committed to working with partners to secure a cease-fire on all sides,” the government said in a news release.

The U.S. Embassy in Lebanon said on Monday its citizens were “strongly encouraged” to leave the country.

Additional flights the embassy organized for its citizens traveling out of Beirut “will not continue indefinitely,” it said in a statement.

“U.S. citizens who choose not to depart at this time should prepare contingency plans should the situation deteriorate further,” the statement said, adding that such plans “should not rely on the U.S. government for assisted departure or evacuation.”

Warning sirens are blaring through central Tel Aviv as residents are warned to take cover, according to NBC News crews in the city.

The Lebanese Red Crescent said today that least 18 people were killed and four wounded after an Israeli airstrike on Aitou, a small village in northern Lebanon known for its population of Maronite Catholics.

Seven teams from the Lebanese Red Cross were dispatched to the village, the group said in a statement.

The European Union's top diplomat said today that the 27-nation bloc should have criticized Israel's attack against the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon sooner.

“It takes too long to say some things which are quite evident,” Josep Borrell told the E.U. foreign affairs council. “It is quite evident that we should be against Israeli attacks against UNIFIL, especially because our soldiers are there.”

“I would appreciate if Members States could have reached an agreement on that quicker,” he added.

The second polio vaccination campaign for children in Gaza has begun today, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said.

"To reach as many children as possible with this critical vaccine, all parties must respect area humanitarian pauses," the agency said in a post on X. The agency had previously said the war in Gaza was hurting vaccination efforts.

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said it was carrying out the campaign jointly with UNICEF and WHO, adding nearly 341,000 doses of the vaccine has entered the strip since the war began.

Iran says it has halted indirect communications with the United States over the ongoing conflict in the region.

“It is known that unofficial channels for communication were established through Oman," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was quoted as saying today in Iran’s semiofficial news agency Farsna.

"We do not see any grounds for discussions until we can resolve the ongoing crisis," he added in the interview conducted during a visit to Oman's capital, Muscat.

"After that, we will decide whether to enter into new negotiations and how to proceed," he added.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez today called for the European Union to suspend the bloc's free trade agreement with Israel over its war in Gaza.

Spain made the joint call with Ireland, and the two countries have been among the most vocal critics of Israel in the E.U. and were also the first to move to recognize an independent Palestinian state.

They say Israel may be breaching a human rights clause in its partnership agreement with the E.U.

A former senior Israeli air defense chief says drones like the one that killed four Israeli soldiers and wounded more than 60 people at a base last night were "the most challenging" and most complicated threats" Israel is facing.

"They are very small. Low altitude. Low speed, a huge challenge for the detection," he said. "If you’re not detecting the UAVs, you are not alerting and you will not intercept."

"We are not prepared enough for situation, and the fact is that our enemies recognize that," Haimovich added.

Fire breaks out in an encampment housing displaced civilians after Israeli attacks in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al Balah, central Gaza, in the early hours of today.

Hezbollah's drone strike on Israel last night has injured at least 61 people, three of whom are in critical condition, Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency services said today, declaring a "mass casualty event."

A total of 37 victims had been airlifted to hospitals, it added.

It had earlier said dozens were injured in the attack that also killed four of Israeli soldiers and severely wounded seven others.

IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said earlier that all soldiers on the military base there had been told to call their families to tell them they are safe.

Sirens had been sounded in central Israel this morning as the Israeli military said it had intercepted all the rockets fired from Lebanon.

Hezbollah had earlier said it fired rockets towards a military base northern Israel, but it is unclear if the rockets intercepted by IDF were part of the same attack.

At least 10 people were killed in Israeli strikes on a flour distribution center in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, an official at Al-Awda Hospital in the camp told NBC News.

The official said 40 more were injured in the attack.

A renewed Israeli operation in northern Gaza has put the Jabalia camp and the hospitals in the area under siege. More than 200 people have been killed in the new Israeli offensive in the area.

Iran did not have prior knowledge of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel a year ago and did not take part in the assault, Iran’s mission to the United Nations said in a statement.

Iran’s U.N. mission was responding to reports in The New York Times and The Washington Post citing secret Hamas documents seized by Israeli forces. The documents cited by the media reports showed Hamas discussed the planned attack with Iranian commanders in advance and had asked Iran and Hezbollah to take part in the attacks.

“While Doha-stationed Hamas officials have themselves stated that they, too, had no prior knowledge of the operation and that all the planning, decision-making, and directing were solely executed by Hamas’s military wing based in Gaza, any claim attempting to link it to Iran or Hezbollah—either partially or wholly—is devoid of credence and comes from fabricated documents,” Iran’s U.N. mission said.

• U.S. officials say Israel has narrowed down its targets for strike on Iran
• Destruction like Gaza or civil war? Netanyahu’s warning adds to questions over Israel’s goals in Lebanon
• A year from Oct 7, tens of thousands killed and fears of a ‘forever war’