Netanyahu makes surprise visit to southern Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli troops in southern Gaza on Thursday as their tanks continue to drive into Rafah. The visit comes as Netanyahu is set to address the U.S. Congress next week in Washington.

The surprise visit came after Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir visited a contested holy site in Jerusalem the same day.

Netanyahu’s office announced the visit after he left southern Gaza. He later released a statement saying, “Only the military pressure helps us advance the hostage deal.”

Earlier, the Knesset — Israel’s parliament — easily passed a resolution opposing the creation of a Palestinian state.

John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said Israeli politicians should not fan the flames in the wake of Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

“We would continue to urge our Israeli counterparts to do nothing that inflames passions or could lead to or encourage violent activity one way or the other,” Kirby said.

Fighting continued Thursday as 21 people were killed from Israeli bombardment of refugee camps and strikes on Gaza City.

Israeli airstrikes killed 16 in Zawayda and the Bureij and Nuseirat camps, as well as the city of Deir al-Balah, which hadn’t previously been invaded by Israeli troops, according to health officials.

Israel’s military said the airstrikes killed two Islamic Jihad commanders, including one who took part in the October 7, 2023, attack. Palestinian medics said five people were killed from the two strikes.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday that fighting in southern Gaza has pushed all health facilities in southern Gaza, including a 60-bed Red Cross hospital, to a breaking point in terms of ability to care for patients with life-threatening injuries.

"Another mass casualty event would force our doctors and nurses to make extremely difficult choices," William Schomburg, Gaza head of the ICRC delegation, said in a statement.

"The current medical needs of civilians dramatically outstrip the limited availability of supplies and healthcare response, as hospitals have repeatedly been compelled to close."

Israel’s land and air assault on Gaza has killed more than 38,700 people, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.

Nearly three-quarters of Gaza's 2.3 million population is displaced, and nearly the entire population is at risk of famine, according to the United Nations.

Report details attacks

A report by Human Rights Watch documents what the group says are several dozen cases of serious violations of international humanitarian law by Hamas’ military wing and at least four other Palestinian armed groups during the October 7 assault on southern Israel.

The 236-page report was released Wednesday and details how Palestinian fighters committed summary killings, hostage-taking, murder, wrongful imprisonment and what the group said were other grave offenses.

In a statement on the group’s website, Human Rights Watch crisis and conflict director Ida Sawyer said their research "found that the Hamas-led assault on October 7 was designed to kill civilians and take as many people as possible."

She said the "atrocities should spur a global call to action for an end to all abuses against civilians in Israel and Palestine."

The group said between October 2023 and June 2024, they interviewed 144 people, including 94 Israeli and other nationals, who witnessed the attacks, victims’ family members, first responders and medical experts for the report.

Researchers also verified and analyzed over 280 photographs and videos taken during the assault.

Human Rights Watch has called on governments with influence over the armed groups to press for the urgent release of civilian hostages — whose captivity it describes as an ongoing war crime — and for those responsible to be brought to justice.

The group had previously published reports addressing violations by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 7.

Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and captured about 250 hostages in their terror attack last October on Israel that sparked the war.

Israel says it believes Hamas is still holding 116 hostages, including 42 that the military says are dead.

Citing a U.S. official, Reuters news agency reported U.S. Middle East envoy Brett McGurk was traveling to the Middle East on Thursday for talks on the Gaza conflict with regional officials.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters McGurk had stops planned in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, but offered no further details.