Latest news on Gaza conflict

Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz urged the international community to be “unequivocal and proactive in their condemnation of terror and antisemitism,” following the death of Jewish-American Paul Kessler during a clash at dueling pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian rallies.

Kessler, 69, “was in a physical altercation with counter-protestor(s)” in California, U.S., the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement, according to NBC News. He fell backwards during the conflict and died on Monday.

“The murder of Jewish-American Paul Kessler should serve as a stark warning sign to the whole world,” Gantz said on social media. “Israel stands today at the forefront of the global fight against the murderous antisemitic ideology behind the Hamas terror attacks of 7.10.”

Attacks against Jewish people and antisemitic sentiments have been on the rise globally since the Oct. 7 terror attacks carried out by Hamas and Israel’s subsequent retaliatory siege of the Gaza Strip.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The United Arab Emirates will set up a field hospital with a 150-bed capacity in the Gaza Strip to deliver essential medical treatment to Palestinian people, the country’s state-run news agency said late Monday.

Five aircrafts carrying supplies and equipment for the medical facility departed from Abu Dhabi and will unload their cargo at the al-Arish airport in Egypt, before being transported to the Gaza Strip — likely by truck, through the Rafah crossing.

The UAE previously announced $20 million of urgent aid to the Palestinian people and an initiative to bring approximately 1,000 Palestinian children from the Gaza Strip, alongside their families, for medical treatment in the UAE.

Abu Dhabi has historically supported the cause of the Palestinian people, but notably normalized relations with Israel in 2020 through the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Israel Defense Forces took control of a Hamas military stronghold in the northern Gaza Strip, the military said in a daily Telegram update covering the events of the past day.

The IDF added that anti-tank missiles and launchers, weapons and intelligence materials were located on the site of the compound.

In addition to claiming it damaged other Hamas weapons and infrastructure, the IDF said it also targeted a cell of 10 operatives of the Palestinian militant group and separately located a number of Hamas agents who “barricaded themselves in a building adjacent to the al-Quds hospital, and planned to carry out an attack on the forces from there.”

CNBC could not independently confirm these reports.

The IDF, which says it is carrying out its air and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip to eliminate the military capabilities of Hamas, has previously accused the group of using Palestinian people as shields and taking cover at or under civilian refuge and medical treatment sites.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Israel Defense Forces said they killed Wael Asefa, commander of the Deir al-Balah battalion of Palestinian militant group Hamas, who was presumed involved in the terror and abduction attack of Oct. 7.

CNBC could not independently verify the report.

The IDF has repeatedly stated the official aim of its campaign in the Gaza Strip is to fully demilitarize Hamas and to kill its commanders.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Jordan said on Monday it was leaving “all options” open in its response to what it called Israel’s failure to discriminate between military and civilian targets in its intensifying bombardment and invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Bisher al Khasawneh did not elaborate on what steps Jordan would take, days after it recalled its ambassador from Israel in protest at Israel’s offensive in Gaza after a cross-border Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Jordan also announced last week that Israel’s ambassador, who left Amman shortly after Hamas’ attack, would not be allowed to come back, effectively declaring him persona non grata.

“All options are on the table for Jordan in our dealing with the Israeli aggression on Gaza and its repercussions,” Khasawneh, whose country signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, told state media.

— Reuters

Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that there will be no cease-fire in Gaza unless Hamas agrees to release Israeli hostages.

“There would be no cease-fire, general cease-fire in Gaza, without the release of our hostages,” he said in an exclusive interview with David Muir, the anchor for ABC News “World News Tonight.”

Asked if there will be a humanitarian pause if hostages are released, Netanyahu said, “There’ll be a cease-fire for that purpose. We’re waiting for that to happen. It hasn’t happened so far.”

Hamas militants currently hold about 240 hostages whom they kidnapped and brought into the Palestinian enclave on Oct. 7. Israel has has launched an air campaign and ground offensive in a bid to remove the militants who run Gaza.

On who should govern Gaza when the war is over, the prime minister said: “Those who don’t want to continue the way of Hamas.” He added that Israel will have to oversee security responsibility in Gaza “for an indefinite period” in order to ensure that Hamas cannot carry out large-scale terrorism acts again.

— Joanna Tan

Activists from the Jewish Voice for Peace staged a sit-in demonstration at the Statue of Liberty. The group has been occupying high-profile New York City locations calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

-Stephanie Keith | Getty Images

NBC News’ Raf Sanchez was given rare access to the expansive tunnel network underneath northern Gaza with the Israel Defense Force.

“We’re in big operation to seize as many tunnels as we can, to investigate them and obviously to terminate them,” IDF Lt. Col. Ariel Gonen told NBC News. “The tunnels are underneath hospitals, everything. We see that they’re under schools, under mosques,” he added.

Read the full story on NBC News.

— Amanda Macias