Relatives were amoung the group that found Hind Rajab’s body, Red Crescent says
TEL AVIV — Some of six-year-old Hind Rajab’s relatives were among a group that found her body 12 days after she was last heard from in a call with an emergency dispatcher, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society spokesperson told NBC News today.
After Israeli troops appeared to leave the Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City some of her family members entered the area, said Nebal Farsakh. There, they found her body, along with the remains of her aunt, uncle and four cousins, she added.
Farsakh said they also found the remains of first responders Yusuf Zeino and Ahmed Al-Madhoun, who were sent to rescue the little girl, after she made a desperate plea for help on a call with an emergency dispacther, the audio of which was later released by the PRCS.
Photos published online by the PRCS appear to show the ambulance completely destroyed.
Farsakh said the ambulance was attacked after the PRCS had coordinated with the Israeli military through a third party to allow the team to conduct the rescue in a desperate bid to save Hind.
NBC News could not independently verify this claim and has asked the Israel Defense Forces for comment.
Moody’s downgrades Israel’s credit rating
Moody’s is the first major credit agency to downgrade Israel’s credit rating on Friday, citing material, political and financial risks to the country over its prolonged war with Hamas.
Moody’s downgraded Israel’s credit rating from A1 to A2, keeping its credit outlook at “negative,” meaning that a future downgrade is possible. The downgrade implies a higher credit risk of lending to Israel, but the rating is still within the middle of an “investment grade” category, suggesting low credit risk.
“The main driver for the downgrade of Israel’s rating to A2 is Moody’s assessment that the ongoing military conflict with Hamas,” said Moody’s in a statement, adding that the war and its “wider consequences” raise “political risk for Israel as well as weaken its executive and legislative institutions.”
“While fighting in Gaza may diminish in intensity or pause, there is currently no agreement to end the hostilities durably and no agreement on a longer-term plan that would fully restore and eventually strengthen security for Israel,” Moody’s said in a statement Friday. It’s review into Israel’s downgrade began on October 19, the statement added.
Hezbollah and Israel trade fire over Lebanese border
Israel and the Hezbollah militatnt group traded fire over Lebanon’s border today.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on Telegram that its fighter jets struck a military compound around a-mile-and-a-half north of the border. It added that it had also hit an observation post in the border town of Markaba.
IDF forces also struck a “command center” and a “military site” used by Hezbollah yesterday, the statement said, although it did not specify the location of the attacks.
Separately, Hezbollah said in a Telegram post today that it had attacked a barracks in northern Israel using rocket fire this afternoon.
NBC News could not independently verify either claim.
Death toll in Gaza tops 28,000
The death toll in Gaza since Oct. 7 has risen to 28,064, the enclave’s health ministry said in a Telegram post today. It added that 117 people were killed in the last 24 hours.
More than 67,000 people have also been injured, the post said.
NBC News cannot independently verify the figures and it is thought that more bodies remain unaccounted for under the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes on the Strip.
Palestinians mourn after identifying bodies of relatives
Palestinians mourn at a hospital in Rafah after identifying the bodies of relatives killed by Israeli strikes on southern Israel.
Hezbollah chief receives Iranian foreign minister in Beirut
The Hezbollah militant group hosted diplomatic talks with representatives from Iran’s foreign ministry, Lebanese media reported today, amid heightening tensions with Israel on Lebanon’s southern border.
Hezbollah’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah received Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s minister of foreign affairs, alongside a delegation from the ministry and Iran’s diplomats in Lebanon, according to Al-Manar TV, a broadcaster owned by Hezbollah.
Iran is a key financial and political backer of Hezbollah, co-ordinating training of the group alongside its own Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and supplying it with weapons.
Exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah have increased in recent months. Hezbollah has increased the scale of rocket attacks over the border in support of Hamas and in protest of Israel’s…
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