Jehad Adwan, a nursing professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato, said he and his wife, Fatma Abumousa, found out early Sunday that five of her relatives were killed, and another five were injured, after a bomb hit her family's home in Gaza.
Many more truckloads of aid are waiting in Egypt. Hundreds of trapped Americans had come to the border, hoping the aid delivery could be chance to escape the violence. But none were allowed to leave.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas has led to accusations of war crimes on both sides, as combatants are bound by international humanitarian law to minimize the impact on civilians.
Negotiations over how to deliver the aid had continued into Friday morning. The humanitarian situation in Gaza has grown dire, aid groups say, with shortages of food, water and medicine.
Biden says he knew he had a lot on the line during his 31-hour dash to Tel Aviv. Now he'll follow that with an Oval Office speech to push for foreign spending, another gamble he can't afford to lose.
Israeli airstrikes have pounded locations across the Gaza Strip, including parts of the south that Israel had declared as safe zones. The attacks early Thursday have heightened fears among more than 2 million Palestinians trapped in the territory that nowhere was safe.
A rally in support of Palestinians drew a large crowd to the Minnesota State Capitol Wednesday night. Demonstrators protested Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and called for an end to both the siege of Gaza and American support for Israel.
The Israel-Hamas war has tragically affected one local family in Blaine, Minn. A bomb strike Sunday in southern Gaza killed several members of Fatma Abumousa’s family and critically injured others.