Clashes inside Gaza; Netanyahu rejects cease-fire

Israeli military releases more video of its ground operation inside the Gaza Strip

The Israeli military released video of what it said were troops operating in the Gaza Strip. The footage showed vehicles clearing paths for tanks and troops walking by destroyed buildings.

Thousands evacuate south Lebanon, IDF says as its warplanes attack Hezbollah

The Israel Defense Forces said today its warplanes attacked Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon.

“We will attack in response to any attempted attack, and we will eliminate any squad that tries to shoot or penetrate our territory,” spokesperson Daniel Hagari said.

Hagari added that thousands of Lebanese have left southern part of the country in the recent week, “on their own initiative, fearing that Hezbollah will bring war on them.”

Mother of Israeli hostages breaks down at Kibbutz house

Max Butterworth

Hadas Kalderon, whose children have been taken hostage, and her mother and niece killed, breaks down in tears while looking through the burnt out home of her late mother Rina Sutzkever in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel on Monday.

Journalist turns himself in to IDF to free his detained wife, CPJ reports

Mohamed Bader, a journalist with Saudi news outlet al-Hadath, turned himself in to the IDF on Saturday after his wife was arrested in the West Bank, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The Palestinian Prisoners Authority said Bader’s wife, fellow journalist Soujoud Al-Assi, was arrested as part of a series of overnight raids in which 25 people were arrested. The IDF confirmed to NBC News Sunday it arrested 23 people “suspected of involvement in terrorist activity” but did not answer specifically to Al-Assi’s arrest.

CPJ confirmed Bader’s surrender with al-Hadath editor-in-chief Rola Sarhan and spoke to Al-Assi after she was released Saturday. Al-Assi told CPJ that she was arrested to pressure her husband into surrendering himself to the IDF.

Bader had previously been in a four-month administrative detention from April to August, according to Palestinian news website Amad.

U.S. rejects Russian allegations the West was behind the Dagestan riot

The U.S. has nothing to do with the Russian claims the west was behind the riots in Dagestan in Russia, U.S. National Security spokesperson John Kirby said yesterday, calling it as “classic Russian rhetoric.”

Hundreds of people swarmed a flight coming from Israel on the weekend at the airport in Makhachkala, breaking glass doors around the airport and injuring police officers. Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of organizing the chaos.

“The West had nothing to do with this. This is just hate, bigotry and intimidation. Pure and simple,” said Kirby.

Hostage total rises to 240, IDF says

JERUSALEM — The number of hostages held in Gaza has risen to 240, the Israeli military said in a statement this morning.

The updated toll came even after the Israel Defense Forces said it rescued one of its soldiers, Private Ori Megidish, last night. The total increased from 239 amid what the IDF said was a “complex identification” process.

“We will continue to make every effort, and take advantage of every opportunity, to return them back home,” IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said in the statement.

The Israeli government and its military has come under increasing pressure to free the captives, with emotional protests in Tel Aviv and elsewhere calling for a cease-fire or a prisoner exchange with Palestinians being held in Israel.

Israeli ambassador to the U.N. wears a yellow star drawing a sharp rebuke from Israel’s Holocaust memorial

The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations wore a yellow star on his lapel yesterday, likening the current crisis to the Holocaust. Yad Vashem, the official Israeli memorial for the Holocaust, described the act as dishonorable.

“This act dishonors both the victims of the Holocaust and the State of Israel,” Dani Dayan, the chairman of Yad Vashem, wrote on X. “The yellow star symbolizes the helplessness of the Jewish people and being at the mercy of others,” he said.

“Today we have an independent country and a strong army. We are masters of our destiny,” Dayan said, emphasizing that Israelis now wear a blue-and-white flag, “not a yellow star.”

Humanitarian cease-fire ‘a matter of life and death,’ U.N. agency chief says

As Israeli bombardment of Gaza shows no sign of relenting, UNRWA, the U.N. agency charged with the development of the enclave, repeated its call for a ceasefire and more aid to be sent in.

“An immediate humanitarian ceasefire has become a matter of life and death for millions,” Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told the UN Security Council yesterday, adding a ceasefire is necessary for a “safe, unimpeded, substantial and continuous flow of humanitarian aid, including fuel.”

According to UNRWA, 64 of its aid workers have been have been killed so far, underscoring the dangers of providing humanitarian aid during Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza. It is the “highest number of U.N. aid workers killed in a conflict in such a short time,” Lazzarini said.

Day breaks over the rubble in Rafah

Max Butterworth

A young man steps through the rubble of destroyed buildings in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

Hamas describes encounters with Israeli ground forces

Hamas’s military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, said today that it has targeted an Israeli ground force with mortar shells in northern Gaza, near the border.

In an update posted on Telegram, al-Qassam Brigades claimed to have struck three Israeli vehicles with missiles in northern Gaza, adding that they opened fire from an “ambush.”

Top Hamas commander killed, IDF says

The Israel Defense Forces said today that its fighter jets killed Nasim Abu Ajina, a top Hamas commander, who is alleged to have played a key role in the Oct 7. attacks on Israel. Hamas has not separately confirmed Abu Ajina’s death.

The IDF said it also killed several Hamas militants that “fired both anti-tank missiles and machine gun fire.”

“The soldiers killed terrorists and directed air forces to real-time strikes on targets and terror infrastructure,” IDF said, adding it had struck over 300 targets since yesterday, as Israel continues to intensify its ground incursions into Gaza. Targets included “military compounds inside underground tunnels,” IDF said.

Freed teen hostage Natalie Raanan returns to Chicago

Natalie Raanan, the teen who was taken hostage by Hamas along with her mother and later released, has now returned to Chicago, Israel’s embassy said.

“Her family members have been anxiously waiting for her return, and today I am sharing their happiness,” Yinam Cohen, Israel’s consul general to the Midwest, said in a statement.

Raanan and her mother, Judith Raanan, were released Oct. 20, but the family believes seven more members are still missing, and another was confirmed to have been killed by Hamas.

“While we’re celebrating Natalie’s return, we remember the 239 hostages, among them babies, children, women, and the elderly, who are still held by Hamas in Gaza,” Cohen said.

Shattered buildings in devastated Gaza City neighborhood

Max Butterworth

Flames and smoke rise behind destroyed buildings in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City last night.

Catch up with NBC News’ latest coverage of the Israel-Hamas war