The three Israelis held by Hamas were shot and killed after an Israeli soldier misidentified them as a threat as they exited a building in Gaza, according to a preliminary report by Israel's military.
In a city synonymous with the birth of Jesus, Christmas is typically a time when Bethlehem is full of visitors. But with war raging, the city's Christian leaders have canceled public celebrations.
In the Palestinian territory's second-largest city, Khan Younis, thousands have taken shelter on the grounds of Nasser Medical Complex, where staff describe an increasingly desperate situation.
Hemmed in by Israeli forces and the Mediterranean Sea, Palestinians in Gaza seemingly have only one place left to go — across the border to Egypt. But Egypt is resistant to letting them in.
The war draws together Iran-backed Shia and Sunni militants in what appears to be closer cooperation between groups that differ in ideology but are united by opposition to Israel and the U.S.
The Biden administration said it has approved the emergency sale of nearly 14,000 rounds of ammunition worth more than $106 million as Israel intensifies its military operations in southern Gaza.
The centuries-old Omari Mosque, Gaza's oldest, was badly damaged in an Israeli strike. An Israeli official told NPR it was targeted because militants were using a tunnel near the structure.
The apparent drive to encircle Gaza's second-largest city of Khan Younis, a Hamas stronghold, was forcing people to flee further south to escape the fighting.
As Israel's military begins to concentrate its siege in southern Gaza, a United Nations agency warns that the people there could soon begin dying from diseases as well as Israel's bombardment.
The nonprofit group Heritage for Peace's preliminary findings show 104 historic religious buildings, museums and archaeological sites have been destroyed or damaged.
Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, is widely believed to have helped mastermind the unprecedented Hamas attack that changed the course of Israeli-Palestinian history.
More than 60 journalists and media workers have been killed so far, most of them Palestinian journalists in Gaza. Gaza's journalists have reported while also suffering personal losses.
The announcement from the Islamist militant group came after a third hostages-for-prisoners swap with Israel in which 17 captives and 39 Palestinian prisoners were released.
As aid trucks slowly make their way into Gaza, another gate at Rafah is for people departing the besieged territory — the only exit for those permitted to leave, including the critically wounded.
