>> Announcer: THIS IS "NBC NIGHTLY NEWS" WITH LESTER HOLT. >> GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE, AND WELCOME. TONIGHT ISRAEL'S DEFENSE CHIEF IS PREDICTING THE WAR WITH HAMAS WILL LAST SEVERAL MONTHS, BUT DECLARING ISRAEL WILL WIN AND DESTROY HAMAS. HIS REMARKS COMING AS PRESIDENT BIDEN ONCE MORE SPOKE OUT ABOUT RISING CIVILIAN DEATHS IN GAZA. TODAY URGING ISRAEL TO BE MORE CAREFUL. BUT SOURCES TELLING NBC NEWS TODAY THAT NEARLY HALF OF THE AERIAL WEAPONS DROPPED ON GAZA BY ISRAEL SO FAR IN THE WAR HAVE BEEN UNGUIDED SO-CALLED DUMB BOMBS ACCORDING TO AN INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENT SHARED WITH CONGRESS. UNGUIDED WEAPONS ARE CHEAPER AND LESS PRECISE THAN SMART BOMBS. GAZA'S HAMAS-RUN HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS IT HAS TALLIED NEARLY 19,000 DEATHS IN THE WAR, AND NOW AMID FEARS THE WAR COULD TRIGGER A WIDER CONFLICT AND TERROR ATTACKS, A SERIES OF ARRESTS OF SUSPECTED HAMAS OPERATIVES IN EUROPE TODAY MAY HAVE FOILED ATTACKS AGAINST JEWISH PEOPLE THERE. RICHARD ENGEL JOINS US. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THESE ALLEGED PLOTS, RICHARD? >> Reporter: LESTER, THE SEVEN SUSPECTS WERE ARRESTED IN GERMANY, DENMARK, AND THE NETHERLANDS. FOUR OF THEM DESCRIBED AS LONG-STANDING HAMAS MEMBERS. THEY'RE ACCUSED OF PLOTTING ATTACKS AGAINST JEWISH INSTITUTIONS ACROSS EUROPE. THE ATTACKS WERE STILL IN THE PLANNING STAGE. THE DANISH PRIME MINISTER DESCRIBING THEM AS SERIOUS AS IT GETS. IT COMES AS THE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER FOR PRESIDENT BIDEN CAME HERE IN ISRAEL TODAY TO DISCUSS THE WAR IN GAZA. AS ISRAEL'S WAR ON HAMAS DEVASTATES THE GAZA STRIP, PRESIDENT BIDEN WAS ASKED IF ISRAEL NEEDS TO TONE DOWN ITS MILITARY OPERATIONS? >> I WANT THEM TO BE FOCUSED ON HOW TO SAVE CIVILIAN LIVES, NOT STOP GOING AFTER HAMAS, BUT BE MORE CAREFUL. >> Reporter: NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER JAKE SULLIVAN MEETING ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU TODAY. TWO U.S. OFFICIALS FAMILIAR WITH THE DISCUSSION TELL NBC NEWS SULLIVAN TOLD THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT THE ADMINISTRATION WANTS ISRAEL TO END ITS LARGE-SCALE GROUND CAMPAIGN IN GAZA AND TRANSITION TO A MORE TARGETED PHASE OF ITS WAR AGAINST HAMAS, BUT THAT SULLIVAN DID NOT SPECIFY A TIMETABLE TO DO THIS. ISRAELI MILITARY OFFICIALS TELL NBC NEWS TONIGHT THEY ANTICIPATE A LONG MILITARY CAMPAIGN BUT RECOGNIZE THEY ARE UNDER PRESSURE BECAUSE OF PALESTINIAN CASUALTIES AND THE HUMANITARIAN COLLAPSE IN GAZA. OUR CREW FILMED THE AFTERMATH OF ISRAELI STRIKES TODAY AND FOLLOWED THE VICTIMS TO A HOSPITAL. THIS WAS IN SOUTHERN GAZA WHERE PALESTINIANS HAVE BEEN ORDERED TO GO. ISRAEL SAYS ITS WAR IS MORE THAN JUSTIFIED AFTER HAMAS MASSACRED AT LEAST 1200 ISRAELIS AND TOOK 240 HOSTAGES ON OCTOBER 7th. A MONTH AGO, WE JOINED THE DAVID FAMILY FOR A SHABBAT DINNER. ELI BLESSED THE WINE AND PRAYED FOR HIS BROTHER, KIDNAPPED FROM A MUSIC FESTIVAL AND THEN DRAGGED INTO GAZA IN A HEADLOCK. TONIGHT ELI WAS IN TEL AVIV, ALONG WITH OTHER HOSTAGE FAMILIES AND ISRAEL'S PRESIDENT, LIGHTING THE MENORAH FOR THE LAST DAY OF HANUKKAH, AWAY FROM THE CROWD SAT HIS MOTHER, GALEA. SHE IS CRUSHED AND CAN'T BRING HERSELF TO BE AROUND TOO MANY PEOPLE. >> THIS IS MY SON'S BIRTHDAY. >> Reporter: EBUTAR IS ONE OF DOZENS OF YOUNG MEN STILL HELD HOSTAGE. FREED HOSTAGES SAYS HAMAS HAS BEEN BEATING AND TORTURING THEM. THE MALE HOSTAGES RARELY GET TALKED ABOUT IN THE NEWS. >> THEY STILL HOPE AND BELIEVE THAT THEY WILL COME HOME. EVYATAR WILL COME HOME SAFE. >> RICHARD, I WANT TO GO BACK TO THIS NEW U.S. INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENT ABOUT THE BOMBS ISRAEL HAS BEEN USING IN GAZA. WHAT'S THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THAT REPORT? >> WELL, THE ASSESSMENT SAYS THAT ABOUT 40 TO 45% OF THE AIR-TO-GROUND MUNITIONS, 29,000