Airstrikes hit Gaza following Israel's deadly raid in West Bank
The skies of Gaza lit up with Palestinian rocket fire and Israeli air strikes today. Just hours after Israeli troops stormed into the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday. The raid conducted in broad daylight, meeting resistance from an angry crowd of Palestinians hurling rocks and fireballs. The Israeli military says it was disrupting an imminent attack by terrorists from a group known as the Lions Den. They were surrounding the Minahaus and when they refused to surrender, destroying it with a rocket. Eleven Palestinians killed in the raid and hundreds more injured according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Several of the dead were militants, but others were civilians, the ministry says.
This the moment a Palestinian nurse realizes his own elderly father is among the dead. And Israel's military say they are investigating this video that NBC News has verified with people familiar with the location and timing of the incident, which appears to show a Palestinian man shot in the back as he runs away. The Palestinian Authority calling the raid a massacre and the State Department voicing concern. We recognize the very real security concerns facing Israel. At the same time, we are deeply concerned by the large number of injuries and the loss of civilian lives. Israelis in the West Bank now at its worst in 20 years according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. And this morning in Gaza, Palestinian groups firing rockets into Israel.
Most were intercepted. Israel's air force striking back against what it says were Hamas militant compounds. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showing no signs of backing down in the face of questions and criticism over the deadly raid. Telling his cabinet, we have a clear policy to strike terror powerfully and to deepen our roots in our lands. Hours after the air strikes, Netanyahu giving new administrative powers over the West Bank to one of the most far-right members of his coalition government and openly defying the Biden administration. This month, approving Jewish settlements on the West Bank previously considered illegal, even under Israel's own laws. Today, meeting with a delegation of Republican U.
S. senators showing their support for Israel, led by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Expected to also meet Democrats led by Chuck Schumer, who are also in Israel. It all comes as Netanyahu faces ongoing mass protests over his plans to weaken Israel's judiciary. He says it's a badly needed reform to curb activist judges. But critics warn the move could fatally undermine Israeli democracy. The Palestinian Authority hemorrhaged credibility with its own people and losing security control in parts of the West Bank.
Now with Palestinian anger rising, gunmen on the streets, and Israel holding its hard line, fears the worst may yet be to come. A tense situation playing out there. RAF joins us tonight from Tel Aviv. So RAF, historically, the U.S. has always played an active role in trying to settle these disputes. Do we know what the Biden administration is doing right now? Well, Tom, big picture, there really is no plan.
You speak to Biden administration officials. They are very pessimistic about restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. They're very pessimistic about one day getting to a two-state solution where you have an independent Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. But in the narrower sense, they do have a plan to try to strengthen the Palestinian security forces. And the American hope is if the Palestinians can take on these militant groups themselves, the Israelis will stop raiding cities like Nablus, and that might buy some quiet, at least in the short term. Tom. Thanks for watching our YouTube channel.
Follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the NBC News app.
NBC News NOW