Israel-Hamas war: 24 soldiers killed in deadliest day for the IDF in Gaza war

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is "appalling" as aid workers fight visa delays, unsafe conditions and rejected access to regions inside the Palestinian enclave, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in remarks to the Security Council today.

"It is fantasy to think that 2.2 million people can survive on aid alone," Guterres said. "Basic commodities from the private sector must enter in meaningful quantities — as they did for many years before the current fighting."

He once again called for a humanitarian cease-fire in his speech to the council, where the U.S. vetoed a resolution demanding a cease-fire months ago. Guterres noted the ever-increasing fear that the conflict will spill into a regional war as skirmishes escalate in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq.

"The right of the Palestinian people to build their own fully independent state must be recognized by all," Guterres said. "And any refusal to accept the two-state solution by any party must be firmly rejected.

"What is the alternative?" he continued. "How would a one-state solution look with such a large number of Palestinians inside without any real sense of freedom, rights and dignity? This would be inconceivable. "

The United Nations' Palestinian refugee agency shared images on X of Palestinian families who were forced to leave Khan Younis after the Israeli military moved its operations against Hamas to south Gaza.

According to the post, it is not the first time these Gazans have had to leave as they've been displaced again by violence. They appear to be on their way to Rafah, where UNRWA says the population has quadrupled.

"Exhausted parents carrying hungry children," the post said. "The elderly pushed in wheelchairs. All looking for safety where there is none."

The World Food Program said today that very little food aid had made it beyond southern Gaza since the start of the conflict with Israel, and pockets of the Palestinian enclave remained at risk of famine.

Israel’s offensive, launched in the wake of a deadly rampage by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, has displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population and caused acute shortages of food, water and medical supplies.

Over 25,000 people have been killed, according to Palestinian authorities, with thousands more feared buried under rubble.

“It’s difficult to get into the places where we need to get to in Gaza, especially in northern Gaza,” said WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa. “I think the risk of having pockets of famine in Gaza is very much still there.”

A Biden campaign rally focused on abortion rights was interrupted 13 times today by war protesters criticizing the president’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

During his speech, a protester shouted, “Genocide Joe,” while another called for a “cease-fire now.” A separate demonstrator held a sign that read “Let Gaza women live,” and another waved a Palestinian flag.

The interruptions were staggered just a few minutes apart, with the crowd of Biden supporters attempting to drown out the protesters with chants of “Four more years” and other cheers backing him as he tried to power through.

“They feel deeply,” Biden said in response to a protester.

He also acknowledged that the interruptions are likely to persist.

“This is going to go on for a while,” Biden said. “They have this planned.”

Read the full story here.

TEHRAN, Iran — The supreme leader of Iran urged other Muslim governments to pressure Israel by severing economic and political ties, instead of making statements in support of a cease-fire in Gaza.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged countries in the region “to cut off the lifeline” of Israel, without elaborating, the state-run IRNA news agency reported today.

In recent months, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, which are allied with Iran, have attacked ships in the region’s waterways that they say are either linked to Israel or heading to Israeli ports.

“Sometimes the positions and statements of the officials of the Islamic countries are wrong, because they talk about an issue such as the cease-fire in Gaza, which is beyond their control,” Khamenei said at a public meeting, adding that Mideast nations should refrain from supporting Israel.

The U.S. late today carried out strikes against three facilities in Iraq used by Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups. The facilities include headquarters, storage and training locations for rocket, missile and one-way attack drone capabilities, according to two U.S. defense officials.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed the strikes in a statement noting that they had been authorized by President Joe Biden.

"We do not seek to escalate conflict in the region. We are fully prepared to take further measures to protect our people and our facilities," Austin said. "We call on these groups and their Iranian sponsors to immediately cease these attacks."

Earlier today, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed to have launched two drone attacks on Ain Al-Assad base in western Iraq, where American troops are located.

The group also claimed responsibility for attacks on that base over the weekend.

Israel's military hit targets in southern Lebanon that it said were sites connected to Hezbollah as the country continues to exchange fire with the militant group over the border.

There were a series of strikes in Lebanon, the IDF said, including one on what it said was a Hezbollah military compound. Lebanon's state news said today that Israel hit locations in the town of Al-Jumaijmeh and in a woodland area near Nabatieh.

Hezbollah also reported its own attacks on Israel, including a gathering of soldiers and two bases today.

Palestinian men were seen digging graves for dozens of bodies outside Al Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza in a video shot by an NBC News team on the ground yesterday.

The footage showed wrapped bodies being carried from the medical complex to a small outdoor area. At one point, a woman wept and prayed over one of the buried bodies. In another frame, a young boy could be seen shoveling sand to make way for the incoming dead. Men created makeshift tombstones out of rough slabs of concrete to distinguish the graves in the otherwise unmarked area.

Residents said the cemetery was unreachable because of the presence of Israeli tanks and heavy fire nearby.

"We're burying martyrs outside Nasser Hospital in the ground here because it's tough to take them out and to go to any cemetery to bury them, because we are besieged," Abdel Karim Ahmed, a Gazan man sheltering at the hospital, said.

"Anyone who moves outside the complex, they will target him," he added.

Yesterday, a Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman said that at least 50 people had been killed and more than 100 injured in the area of Khan Younis where the hospital is located. Dr. Nahud Abu Taima, the director of surgery at Al Nasser, provided NBC News with the same death toll.

After defeating Hong Kong today at the Asian Cup, the Palestinian soccer team will advance from the tournament's group stage for the first time.

The 3-0 victory enables the Palestinian team to compete in the upcoming round of 16. Iran, the highest-ranked team in the group, beat the United Arab Emirates to move ahead, as well. This is the Palestinian team's first-ever win at the Asian Cup and a significant victory for a squad that has been limited in their ability to play due to the ongoing war.

The three most prominent members of Israel's war Cabinet issued joint statements on the 24 soldiers killed in Gaza yesterday, offering condolences while emphasizing that the country will continue its fight against Hamas.

Three soldiers were killed in battle, while 21 reservists separately died in a single incident near the Gaza-Israel border while many were wiring a building to be demolished.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised the public that Israel's government would learn lessons from the soldiers' deaths but also said the military is "not relenting — even for a moment." He described the war as having unparalleled justification.

Benny Gantz, a member of the war Cabinet, expressed condolences to the soldiers' families. "I have no doubt that when they went out yesterday on their mission, they intended for us to continue, and this is what we will do," he said.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant similarly said the IDF will continue "with the spirit of the fallen — to complete our missions and do everything necessary." 

Eylon Levy, spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister's office, defended Israel against accusations that it is limiting deliveries of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Palestinians inside the enclave stand on the precipice of famine, and the United Nations said last week that it was repeatedly denied access to northern Gaza while trying to make aid deliveries. The U.N. estimated that 69% of its missions in the first half of January were denied.

“There is still a problem that U.N. agencies are unable to distribute the aid as quickly as Israel is processing it,” Levy said. “And it is lamentable that U.N. officials — who have also been covering for the fact Hamas hijacks aid and wages war out of hospitals — are trying to cover up their systemic failure by demanding the opening of new entry routes, when there is excess capacity at the existing ones.”

The U.S. and British militaries launched a fresh round of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen last night, defense officials said. The attacks, which were carried out by manned aircraft and ships, were the second round of strikes the two militaries have launched against Houthi sites. 

Six displaced Palestinians were killed when a bombardment hit the largest United Nations shelter in Khan Younis yesterday, according to the organization's Palestinian refugee agency.

Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general at UNRWA, wrote in a post on X that "many more" people were injured in fighting around the facility in southern Gaza. The IDF said last night that its battle against Hamas in Khan Younis was "more challenging" than that in Gaza City due to the dense population.

"Terrified staff, patients and displaced people are now trapped inside the few remaining hospitals in Khan Younis as heavy fighting continues," Lazzarini said. "I call on all parties to take every precaution to minimize harm and protect civilians, medical facilities and personnel."

Eylon Levy, a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister's office, released the names of the 21 IDF soldiers killed in a single incident yesterday near the southeastern Gaza-Israel border.

During a news briefing today, Levy said all were reservists who had "ordinary lives and jobs and families" when the war began.

Levy said the soldiers, who ranged in age from 24 to 40, were wiring what he described as "terrorist infrastructure" for demolition when Hamas militants launched a rocket-propelled grenade at a tank that was defending the building. At the same time, an explosion caused two buildings where the soldiers were working to collapse on them.

The IDF has launched an inquiry into the incident, Levy added, but it's believed that the blast was caused by the explosives the IDF had been laying to demolish the buildings.

Three other IDF soldiers were also killed yesterday, making it the deadliest day for Israeli troops since Oct. 7.

A United Nations team gained access to the Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza yesterday. Olga Cherevko, spokesperson for the U.N. Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said in a video posted on X that the complex has "effectively become a shelter for thousands of people looking for safety."

"Equipment, fuel, water and food are all in very short supply," she said, adding: "We all bleed the same blood, and unless we are enabled with safe, meaningful and sustained access to these areas, Gaza will simply bleed out."

More than three months of relentless shelling and fighting have pushed Gaza’s health system to near-collapse, causing a cascade of preventable deaths and permanent injuries.

As Israeli forces surround Khan Younis, Doctors Without Borders said yesterday that reports from its staff at the Nasser Hospital indicate that the facility's wards are full and there is no safe way to evacuate.

"They can feel the ground shaking and that there is a sense of panic among staff, patients and displaced people sheltering inside the building," the group said in a series of posts on X.

"There is no way to evacuate medical staff and patients safely due to exit routes from the facility being blocked," the organization wrote, adding that staff "fear the fighting, shelling and bombing will get worse and closer to Nasser hospital."

In a statement today, Hamas called on the United Nations and international aid organizations to take "immediate action" to protect hospitals in Khan Younis.

The organization accused Israel of committing war crimes "in front of the entire world." The IDF, meanwhile, alleges that Hamas uses civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, as cover.

IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi said in a statement today that the 21 Israeli soldiers killed in battle were part of a "defensive operation separating the Israeli communities from Gaza."

"The sole purpose of this mission is to create the security conditions for the safe return of the residents of the Gaza Strip to their homes," Halevi said, adding that he hoped the information would be of some consolation to the families of the soldiers.

Hamas claimed responsibility for their deaths, saying its fighters had targeted a home while an IDF engineering team was inside, which in turn triggered an explosion. The IDF said the team had been preparing two two-story buildings to be demolished.

Halevi said that he visited the site, vowing to learn lessons after speaking with commanders at the scene. He added that the war will be long and the military is "refreshing the forces and changing combat methods."

Hamas' Qassam Brigades has claimed responsibility for yesterday's incident that killed 21 Israel Defense Forces soldiers.

In a statement on Telegram today, Hamas' military wing said its forces "targeted a house" in which an Israeli engineering force was "holed up."

That led to an "explosion of the ammunition and engineering equipment it was in possession of, completely blowing up the house," Hamas said.

The statement also said Hamas fighters destroyed an IDF tank and detonated a minefield in the same area as the house, which led to further injuries and deaths.

Hezbollah today said it struck the Meron air base in northern Israel, achieving "direct hits" in what it said was a response to the "repeated attacks on civilians and homes."

The Lebanese militant group launched missiles at the base, a significant Israeli position on Mount Meron, for the second time in a month.

The group said in a statement that Tuesday’s barrage was in response to “recent assassinations in Lebanon and Syria, and the repeated attacks on civilians and homes” in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military said some of the launches were intercepted by air defenses and others landed, causing “minor damage” to infrastructure at the base but no injuries.

One of the most widely followed photojournalists in Gaza, Motaz Azaiza, has said he is leaving the besieged enclave.

"I had to evacuate for a lot of reasons," he wrote alongside a video posted on X and Instagram today.

"This is the last time you will see me with this heavy, stink vest," Azaiza said in the video, referring to the press jacket that he has worn during his coverage of the war.

"Hopefully soon I'll jump back and help to build Gaza again," he said.

More than 18 million people follow his account on Instagram, which has become a daily chronicle of Israel's assault on Gaza.

At least 195 people were killed in Gaza in the last 24 hours, the enclave's Health Ministry said today, bringing the death toll since Oct. 7 to 25,490.

The statement on Telegram added that 354 people were injured over the previous day, as Israel intensified its campaign around the southern city of Khan Younis.

The toll was announced after the Israel military said that 24 soldiers were killed yesterday, the deadliest day for the IDF since it began its campaign.

The IDF today warned residents near Nasser Hospital and Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza to flee further toward the coastline.

"You must move immediately to the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi via Al-Bahr Street," the IDF's spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on X in Arabic, addressing residents in the area.

It comes after the IDF said its troops had encircled the city, following the launch of an intense new assault on the area yesterday.

Young children are seen rummaging and sifting through animal fodder in a northern Gaza refugee camp yesterday amid growing hunger in the Palestinian enclave.

In a video verified by NBC News, Palestinian journalist Anas Al Sharif says he found children in the Jabalia camp who were attempting to clean animal feed in the hopes of turning it into flour and bread.

"Of course, there are insects in this fodder and there is a lot of dirt, but the children clean it to get bread," he says in the video.

He added that the lack of aid reaching northern parts of Gaza means "this scene exists everywhere." Despite the fodder not being suitable for animals, he remarks how desperate and hungry Gazans are.

The video comes as the United Nations and humanitarian aid groups warn that Gaza's residents are at grave risk of famine. The government media office in the Hamas-ruled enclave said the Israeli military's assault and siege on the strip had left people in the north to grind animal feed after running out of food staples, such as flour and rice.

"The occupation has forced our people in the North Gaza Governorate to grind animal feed and grains instead of wheat, and they are facing real famine in light of the continued aggression and in light of the occupation tightening the siege on our Palestinian people," the statement said.

TEL AVIV — Hours after families of hostages stormed a parliamentary committee meeting to demand action from the government, Israeli officials told NBC News that they proposed a two-month pause in the war in exchange for the release of hostages in Gaza.

Israel is destroying Gaza's food system as it presses ahead with its military campaign in the enclave, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food has said.

"It’s unprecedented to make an entire civilian population go hungry this completely & quickly," Michael Fakhri wrote on X last night.

"Israel is intentionally imposing a high rate of disease, prolonged malnutrition, dehydration + starvation by destroying civilian infrastructure," he added.

American and British airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen will not go “unpunished,” a spokesperson for the Iran-backed militia said today in a post on Telegram.

Yahya Saree said more than a dozen raids had been carried out in several governates in around the capital Saana.

The strikes came after the Houthis vowed to continue attacking ships bound for Israel, stoking fears of a wider conflict in the region.

Members of the Jabr Abu Eid family yesterday gathered outside the truck in which they have been living in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. The vehicle was abandoned because of fuel shortages. The family of seven sought refuge in Rafah province to protect themselves from Israeli bombardments.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian will visit Pakistan next week, as the two countries try to stabilize ties after exchanging deadly missile attacks on each other's territories.

In a joint statement, the two countries said they have also agreed that their ambassadors can return to their respective posts by Friday.

Amirabdollahian and his Pakistani counterpart agreed to de-escalate the situation in a phone call last week after Pakistan recalled its ambassador to Iran and prevented Iran’s envoy from returning to Islamabad.

It came after both countries launched strikes across their border. Both claimed they were targeting militant groups. At least 11 people were killed.

Around 570,000 people or around a quarter of the Gaza Strip's population are facing “catastrophic hunger,” the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said in a post on X today.

Warning of a famine, it said intense fighting, communications blackouts and the denial of access to the Strip were hampering the agency's ability to safely and effectively deliver aid.

TEL AVIV — Israel must learn “necessary lessons” from the war in Gaza, Netanyahu said today following the deaths of 21 soldiers.

“Yesterday, we experienced one of the most difficult days since the outbreak of the war,” the Israeli prime minister said in a post on X. “I mourn for our fallen heroic soldiers. I hug the families in their time of need and we all pray for the peace of our wounded," he said.

Netanyahu noted that the IDF has launched an investigation “into the disaster.”

“We must draw the necessary lessons and do everything to preserve the lives of our warriors,” he said, adding that Israel would not “stop fighting until the absolute victory.”

Israeli troops have encircled the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the IDF said today in a statement, a day after it deepened its campaign in the area with an intense new assault that Palestinian officials said left many civilians who had fled there in danger.

"Over the past day, IDF troops carried out an extensive operation during which they encircled Khan Yunis and deepened the operation in the area. The area is a significant stronghold of Hamas’ Khan Yunis Brigade," the IDF said in a statement.

"IDF ground troops engaged in close-quarters combat, directed IAF strikes, and used intelligence to coordinate fire, resulting in the elimination of dozens of terrorists," it added.

The IDF also said it found weaponry and military compounds in the area.

NBC News has not verified the claims.

TEL AVIV — Current and former Israeli officials said they were stunned when news began to spread of the deadliest day for Israeli soldiers since the start of the war with Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that it was “one of the most difficult days since the outbreak of the war,” in a post on X.

“I would like to stand by the dear families of our heroic fighters who fell on the battlefield,” Netanyahu said in the post. “I know that for these families, their lives will change forever.”

The news of the incident stunned Israelis, many of whose attention has been focused on intense fighting around Khan Younis, where Israeli forces have closed in. Some in the intelligence community believe Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar may be hiding in tunnels beneath the southern city in the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Red Crescent has said hundreds of Gazans have been killed in recent days in Khan Younis and said civilians there don’t have the aid they need.

An image released by the Israeli Army yesterday shows IDF soldiers aiming weapons during ground operations in the Gaza strip.

TEL AVIV — Israeli leaders marked an “unbearably difficult” morning after 21 soldiers were killed yesterday in Gaza.

“On behalf of the entire nation, I console the families and pray for the healing of the wounded,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a post on X. He said the soldiers had fallen in a “war that has every justification.”

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said it was a “hard and painful morning,” adding “our hearts are with our precious families during their hardest hour.”

“This war will determine the fate of Israel in the next decades — our fallen soldiers are an imperative to achieve war objectives,” he said.

TEL AVIV — The Israeli military has said that 21 soldiers were killed in an incident in Gaza yesterday, thought to be the deadliest single attack for the country's troops since the war began.

The reservists were operating in what IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari called the “buffer zone” between Israeli communities and the Palestinian enclave when the incident occurred. He said forces were demolishing buildings and infrastructure in the area, around 600 meters from the border, as part of an effort to secure the area so residents of southern Israel could eventually return back home.

The soldiers had been preparing two two-story buildings with explosives to be demolished, Hagari said this morning. At around 4 p.m. local time, an RPG missile was fired at a tank that was helping to protect the soldiers, he said. At the same time, an explosion occurred in the buildings, causing them to collapse on top of the soldiers.

Hagari said the IDF was still investigating the exact circumstances of the incident.

A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing over the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday.

• Dozens of deaths reported in Khan Younis as Israel deepens its ground offensive ‘to the west’
• U.S. and U.K. launch new strikes against Houthi sites in Yemen
• Oldest Holocaust survivor turns 112 amid rise in antisemitism
• Navy identifies two SEALs lost at sea during raid and later declared dead
• Hostage talks continue as Israel rejects Hamas demand for full IDF withdrawal and a permanent cease-fire