Short of necessities, Gaza women sew diapers

A Palestinian woman sews diapers in Rafah, southern Gaza, Feb. 15, 2024.
Fatima Shbair / AP
A Palestinian woman sews diapers in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024.
Fatima Shbair / AP

Palestinian women sew diapers in Rafah today.

Doctor pulls patient from car and treats him in makeshift medical facility after Nasser Hospital evacuation

Holding the young man’s head, Dr. Mohammad Harara helped to pull him from a car today before carrying him into a tent where patients were being treated outside a hospital in Rafah.

“Wake up, wake up,” Harara shouted as he carried the young man into the makeshift facility, moans and cries of injured patients audible.

Harara was among those forced to flee the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, but was already back treating patients at the Kuwait Speciality Hospital in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, where more than 1 million people are sheltering ahead of an expected Israeli ground assault.

Harara, who has been filmed on multiple occasions by NBC News, said that some of his colleagues at the Nasser Hospital had been arrested. Some of the patients, like the one he was treating, had been transferred by car, “because we don’t have ambulances to take them to another hospital,” he said.

His patient appeared unconscious as he walked past beds in the makeshift medical facility, where other patients are surrounded by medical staff and equipment.

Turning around, he called out for a stethoscope, and after one arrived he checked the man’s body for injuries. “Open his chest,” Harara said.

Israel will not tolerate attacks from Lebanon, defense minister says

Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said today on X that he told his American counterpart Lloyd Austin that his country would not tolerate attacks from the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.

Gallant said Israel will ensure its security along the northern border “via diplomatic or military means.”

He added that he had discussed the Israeli military’s activities in the Gaza Strip and mentioned an operation in the enclave’s southernmost city of Rafah that had secured the release of two hostages.

U.N. refugee agency chief warns of ‘negative cashflow’ by next month

Cash woes are worsening for the U.N.’s agency for Palestinian refugees after a number of its donors suspended funding, its commissioner general said today.

“We will hit a negative cashflow as from March and then it will be accelerated in April unless this frozen contribution is unlocked,” Philippe Lazzarini told Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ, referring to a situation when an organization has more expenditure than revenue.

Hezbollah says Israel will ‘pay price’ after deadly day

Hezbollah said today that Israel would pay “the price” for killing 10 people including five children in southern Lebanon, the deadliest day for Lebanese civilians in four months of hostilities.

An Israeli strike killed seven people in the city of Nabatieh late yesterday including three children, sources in Lebanon said. It followed an earlier attack that killed a woman and her two children in the village of al-Sawana at the border.

“The enemy will pay the price for these crimes,” Hezbollah politician Hassan Fadlallah told Reuters. “The resistance will continue to practice its legitimate right to defend its people.”

Amal Atwi, the mother of Hussein Jalal Mohsin, who was killed in an Israeli strike last night, mourns during his funeral procession in Qantara, south Lebanon, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024.
Amal Atwi, the mother of Hussein Jalal Mohsin, who was killed in an Israeli strike last night, mourns during his funeral procession in Qantara, south Lebanon.Mohammed Zaatari / AP

U.S. strikes hit Houthi targets in Yemen, Centcom says

Four strikes were launched against targets in parts of Yemen, U.S. Central Command said on X today.

Centcom said it hit anti-ship cruise missiles, drones and one explosive unmanned surface vessel “that were prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea,” in seven strikes yesterday.

It added that they posed “an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels.”

The strikes “will protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy and merchant vessels,” the post added.

IDF says it ‘apprehended’ a number of people in Nasser Hospital raid

Israeli forces have “apprehended” a number of suspects in their raid on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, the country’s military said in a statement.

Calling the assault a “precise and limited” operation, the Israel Defense Forces said its goal was to reach Hamas operatives, including individuals suspected of involvement in the Oct. 7 attacks.

The IDF said it had contacted the director the hospital on Tuesday calling for the “immediate cessation of all Hamas terrorist activity from within the hospital and the immediate evacuation of all Hamas terrorists” from the medical center.

NBC News was not immediately able to independently verify the IDF’s account.

Earlier today, IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told NBC News that the military was acting on “credible intelligence from a number of sources, including from released hostages” indicating that Hamas held hostages at the Nasser Hospital.

The IDF said the operation was still ongoing as of this moment. It said it could not provide further details on the people apprehended during the raid.

Israeli special forces enter Nasser Hospital

Israeli special forces entered the main hospital in southern Gaza, the country’s military said today, raiding a site where thousands of Palestinians had sought shelter.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, told NBC News that it had “credible intelligence from a number of sources, including from released hostages, indicating that Hamas held hostages at the Nasser Hospital,” in Khan Younis.

He added that the “sensitive operation was prepared with precision and is being conducted by IDF special forces who underwent specified training.”

Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, a spokesperson for Gaza’s health ministry said in a separate statement on Telegram that Israeli forces had targeted the facility’s ambulance headquarters and tents housing displaced people on the site. He added that intensive care patients were being kept without medical staff inside the hospital.

U.S. allies warn Israel against ‘catastrophic’ Rafah operation

The prime ministers of Australia, Canada and New Zealand called for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, saying Israel’s planned military offensive in the city of Rafah would be “catastrophic.”

“We urge the Israeli government not to go down this path. There is simply nowhere else for civilians to go,” the three leaders said today in a joint statement, noting that the 1.5 million Palestinians taking refuge in the area include many of their own citizens.

Israel is obligated to protect civilians, ensure the delivery of basic services and provide essential humanitarian assistance, they said, citing a ruling last month by the International Court of Justice in a genocide case brought by South Africa.

They added that any cease-fire “cannot be one-sided,” and that Hamas must also lay down its arms and immediately release all remaining hostages.

Doctor in Rafah says hospital sees ‘hundreds of patients’ after each attack

A doctor in Rafah told NBC News that she works 24/7 taking care of patients injured by the ongoing attacks from Israel and that the toll is “more than catastrophic.”

“The situation is getting worse day after day because of the Israeli attacks,” Dr. Noor Alwhidi at Kuwait Hospital told NBC News.

Alwhidi said that the hospital deals with “hundreds of patients” after every Israeli attack and that most injuries are critical.

“Most of the patients are children, babies, women. They are bombing them and killing them,” she said, adding there are more than 1 million people displaced in the area.

Buildings searched as IDF operations continue in Gaza

Israeli Soldiers in Gaza
Israeli Army / AFP – Getty Images
Israeli Soldiers in Gaza
Israeli Army / AFP – Getty Images

Israeli soldiers search a building at an undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip during ongoing ground operations by IDF forces today.

Catch up with NBC News’ latest coverage of the war

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