Hamas ‘close to reaching a truce,’ group’s leader says
Premature babies are receiving care in Egypt
Possible truce deal in the works, according to multiple reports
TEL AVIV — A possible truce deal is in the works that would include a multi-day cease fire and at least 50 Israeli and international hostages freed in waves, with more to follow, according to multiple news reports quoting Hamas and Israeli officials this morning.
A part of the deal could include exchanging Palestinian women and children detained in Israel for the hostages held by Hamas, the reports added.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the group is “close to reaching a truce agreement” with Israel. Israeli officials declined to comment on the announcement, which came in a statement on Hamas’ website.
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross said its president, Mirjana Spoljaric, had traveled to Qatar, which has been helping broker a deal between Hamas and Israel. Spoljaric will meet with Hamas officials and separately Qatari officials.
The ICRC, which helped with the evacuation of four previously released hostages, does not take part in negotiations leading to their release. Still, Spoljaric’s trip may be another clue that events are moving quickly.
Israeli military say they have encircled Jabalia
Israel Defense Forces said today it had encircled Jabalia, a refugee camp in northern Gaza.
“Terrorists were eliminated and infrastructure was destroyed,” the IDF wrote in a post on X. It added that it was targeting Hamas’ underground shafts in the area. NBC News could not verify its claims.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said its team saw wounded people leaving the area on Monday. One woman said she was leaving Jabalia, “where her home had been bombed and she sustained shrapnel injuries in her abdomen. She had been walking while pressing a towel against her wounds.”
She said she wasn’t able to get treatment at Indonesian Hospital “due to collapse of services there,” OCHA added.
Watch: Workshops and healing for survivors of Hamas attack
Survivors of the deadly Hamas attack on the Nova music festival on Oct. 7 and families of victims are receiving the opportunity to find healing in creative workshops.
IDF says its aircrafts struck 250 targets in Gaza Strip yesterday
The Israel Defense Forces said today its aircrafts attacked some 250 targets in the Gaza Strip yesterday, including Hamas infrastructure, militants and missile launchers.
IDF also destroyed a rocket launcher placed near a residential area, it said in a post on X.
Israeli ground forces also recovered a weapons cache in Gaza, including an anti-tank missile, the IDF said.
NBC News has not verified the claims.
Deadliest month for journalists with most killed being Palestinian, CPJ says
At least 50 journalists, 45 of them Palestinian have been killed since the war began on Oct 7, the Committee to Protect Journalists says. The first four weeks of the conflict were the deadliest month for journalists since the organization began tracking fatalities in 1992, it says.
“Those in Gaza, in particular, have paid, and continue to pay, an unprecedented toll and face exponential threats,” Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, said in a statement on its website.
“Many have lost colleagues, families, and media facilities, and have fled seeking safety when there is no safe haven or exit,” Mansour added.
Hamas leader says group ‘close to’ truce agreement with Israel
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says the group is “close to reaching a truce agreement” with Israel.
Israeli officials declined to comment on the announcement, which came in a statement on Hamas’ website.
Asked yesterday whether a deal was near to secure the release of hostages, President Joe Biden replied, “I believe so.”
Nearly the entire Gaza population is in need of urgent food assistance: WFP
An estimated 2.2 million people in Gaza are in urgent need of food assistance, the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) said in a post on X.
“Existing food systems are collapsing, and to reach those in need, WFP and our partners need increased access and resources like fuel, gas, and connectivity,” said the agency, which provides food and financial resources to hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza and the West Bank.
“To make a real impact, we need hostilities to halt,” it added.
More wounded are fleeing northern Gaza, U.N. agency says
A growing number of wounded Palestinians are fleeing northern Gaza amid continued heavy violence there, the United Nations says.
Some 25,000 people left northern Gaza yesterday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says.
“One woman interviewed reported that she had come from Tal Az Za’tar in Jabalia, where her home had been bombed and she sustained shrapnel injuries in her abdomen,” it said in a report.
“She had been walking while pressing a towel against her wounds,” it said. The woman had attempted to receive treatment at the Indonesian Hospital “but was not admitted due to collapse of the services there.” The besieged hospital has seen bombings and assaults nearby as Israeli forces say they are only responding to fire in the vicinity.