(NEW YORK) — Thousands of people have died and thousands more were injured after the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel retaliated with a bombing campaign and total siege of the neighboring Gaza Strip, leaving the region on the verge of all-out war.
At least 1,400 people have died, and 4,629 others have been injured in Israel, according to Israeli authorities. In Gaza, 5,087 people have died and 15,273 have been wounded, according to the Palestinian Health Authority.
Aid workers and officials fear that Israel’s call for an evacuation of the northern part of Gaza is precipitating a humanitarian disaster as electricity and other supplies have been cut off in preparation for what appears to be an imminent ground offensive.
Humanitarian groups have urged Israel to call off the evacuation and agree to a cease-fire, even as the country has asserted a right to defend itself — a right the United States endorses.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Oct 23, 4:56 PM EDT
2 Israeli hostages released by Hamas, Israeli Hostage Center says
Two hostages have been released by Hamas, the Israeli Hostage Center confirmed.
The hostages are two elderly women who are both Israeli nationals, the center said. The released hostages are 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz and 79-year-old Nurit Cooper, both from the Nir Oz kibbutz, the center said.
The Red Cross said it helped transport the hostages out of Gaza Monday evening. The hostages have since arrived back in Israel, the hostage center said.
The Israeli military said Monday that at least 222 hostages were taken by Hamas since Oct. 7. Two American hostages, a mother and daughter, were released on Friday.
The Family Forum of the Missing and Hostages said in a statement, “Over 200 Israeli citizens are being held in deplorable conditions and have been waiting to return home for 17 days. We call on the Israeli government and world leaders to bring everyone home now.”
Oct 23, 3:48 PM EDT
Biden: ‘We should have those hostages released and then we can talk’
President Joe Biden was asked by a reporter Monday if the U.S. is supporting a deal for hostages in exchange for a cease-fire.
Biden replied, “We should get — we should have a cease-fire — not a cease-fire — we should have those hostages released, and then we can talk.”
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Oct 23, 3:33 PM EDT
Top US priority is ‘going after Hamas,’ Kirby says
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby was asked by ABC News whether there are competing goals between Israel and America, with Israel repeatedly saying its top priority is destroying Hamas and the U.S. saying its highest priority is the hostages.
At first, Kirby said America’s top priority “is to make sure Israel has the tools and the capacity and the capabilities to go after Hamas terrorists, and to make sure humanitarian assistance flows in, and to make sure we can get innocent civilians who want to leave Gaza out.”
When pressed on the discrepancy with Israel’s stated top goal, Kirby said, “We agree the top priority has got to be going after Hamas.”
Kirby repeatedly declined to say if there’s an effort from the U.S. and other countries to urge Israel to delay the ground invasion. Kirby said he would not speak for the Israeli Defense Forces or other countries, but that the U.S. has been communicating with Israel from the start about their intentions and goals.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Oct 23, 3:22 PM EDT
2 Israeli hostages released by Hamas, Israeli Hostage Center says
Two hostages have been released by Hamas, the Israeli Hostage Center confirmed.
The hostages are two elderly women who are both Israeli nationals, the center said. The released hostages are 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz and 79-year-old Nurit Cooper, both from the Nir Oz kibbutz, the center said.
The Red Cross said it helped transport the hostages out of Gaza Monday evening.
The Israeli military said Monday that at least 222 hostages were taken by Hamas since Oct. 7.
Oct 23, 2:38 PM EDT
UN experts urge Israel’s lawyers to refuse authorizing acts that could be war crimes
United Nations experts said they’re urging the lawyers advising Israeli forces “to refuse legal authorisation for acts that may amount to war crimes.”
The lawyers’ “advice about issues such as lawful targets of attack, the choice and use of weapons, and the means and methods of warfare is essential to the operational planning of military campaigns,” the U.N. experts said in a statement Monday.
“Under international law, Israel has a right to self-defence, but its response must be proportionate and in full respect of the UN Charter and the rules that apply to the use of force in armed conflict,” the experts said.
“If such lawyers approve actions that amount to massive human rights violations and war crimes, they may bear accomplice liability for those acts,” the experts warned.
Oct 23, 2:30 PM EDT
20 aid trucks cross into Gaza: UN
Twenty aid trucks crossed from Egypt to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing on Monday, according to the United Nations.
The Rafah border crossing was shut on Oct. 10 after it was hit by Israeli warplanes on the Palestinian side three times on Oct. 9 and 10.
After nearly two weeks of humanitarian conditions worsening by the day, the crossing briefly opened on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22, permitting a small amount of aid to enter Gaza. The U.N. said 34 trucks entered this weekend.
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, called this only “a drop in the bucket.”
“The number of trucks that usually went into Gaza every day was about 450 or so, and now we’re seeing 20 or 30, and we’re not seeing any fuel, which is a great concern,” Dujarric said. “For the 14th consecutive day, Gaza remains under a full electricity blackout. The situation in hospital remains dire given the shortage of electricity, medicine, equipment and specialized personnel.”
Oct 23, 1:25 PM EDT
Israeli forces preparing for air, ground, sea operations
Israeli forces are “preparing thoroughly for the next step — a multilateral operation in the air, ground and sea,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday.
To the soldiers, Gallant said in Hebrew, “Keep preparing for our operation, it will come soon.”
“Do your work, get ready,” he said. “We will need you.”
Oct 23, 9:16 AM EDT
Gaza death toll tops 5,000
In the last 24 hours, at least 436 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Authority.
The Gaza death toll has now climbed to 5,087 since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, according to the Palestinian Health Authority.
Oct 23, 8:44 AM EDT
Cousins of freed American hostages speak out
Ayelet and Or Sella recalled to ABC News the moment they were finally able to embrace their cousins Judith and Natalie Raanan at home in Israel one day after the mother and teenage daughter were released by Hamas kidnappers.
“I realized I hadn’t breathed for two weeks,” Ayelet said.
“I’ve never felt a hug this intense in my life,” Or added.
But eight of their family members are still being held hostage.
Oct 23, 7:00 AM EDT
Hundreds of Gaza targets struck overnight, Israel says
The Israeli military struck more than 320 targets in Gaza overnight, the Israel Defense Forces said Monday.
At least 40 people were killed and dozens more were injured in two Israeli airstrikes in northern Gaza, the Palestinian Interior Ministry said.
The Jabalia refugee camp, where most of those killed were women and children, was among the targets, Palestinian officials said.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 23, 4:49 AM EDT
Hamas hostages total 222, Israel says
At least 222 hostages have been taken by Hamas since their attack on Israel on Oct. 7, the Israeli military said Monday.
The increase from the previously stated total of 212 includes foreign nationals, whose status took longer to verify, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Jordana Miller
Oct 22, 8:15 PM EDT
Biden speaks with Western leaders over Israel
President Joe Biden convened a call Sunday afternoon with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, President Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom regarding the ongoing conflict between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas, according to the White House.
The Western leaders “reiterated their support” for Israel and its “right to defend itself” and “called for adherence to international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians,” according to a readout from the White House.
“The leaders committed to continue close diplomatic coordination, including with key partners in the region, to prevent the conflict from spreading, preserve stability in the Middle East, and work toward a political solution and durable peace,” the readout also said.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Oct 22, 6:31 PM EDT
15 trucks carrying aid arrive in Gaza from Egypt
Fifteen trucks carrying humanitarian aid have arrived into Gaza from Egypt, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
The trucks include food, water and medical supplies, the Palestinian Red Crescent said in a statement Sunday evening.
Earlier on Sunday, 17 trucks crossed the Egyptian-Gaza border, according to a source in Egypt’s security forces.
Under the agreement between Egypt and Israel, Egypt can send humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel has demanded it inspect those shipments at a nearby Israeli checkpoint before they pass into Gaza.
-ABC News’ Desiree Adib
Oct 21, 3:23 PM EDT
Israel is about to step up attacks on Gaza, IDF says
Israel plans to step up its attacks on the Gaza Strip starting Saturday as preparation for the next stage of its war on Hamas, Israel’s military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, said Saturday.
Asked about a possible ground invasion into Gaza, Hagari told reporters that the military was trying to create optimal conditions beforehand.
“We will deepen our attacks to minimize the dangers to our forces in the next stages of the war. We are going to increase the attacks, from today,” Hagari said.
Hagari also said the IDF will conduct the invasion when it serves the IDF best. He repeated his call for residents of Gaza City to head south for their safety.
Oct 21, 2:00 PM EDT
Hamas claims all of Israel’s targets in Gaza are civilian
In a statement Saturday, Hamas claimed all of Israel’s targets in Gaza were civilian in addition to its blockage of electricity, water, fuel and medicine.
“The Israeli targets across Gaza were all civilian including children, women, civil defense rescue teams, hospitals, ambulances, media and press offices, bakeries, mosques, churches and the public infrastructure,” Hamas said in a statement.
Hamas said that four hospitals are now out of service and 25 others have been damaged due to Israeli bombing. It also claimed that Israel has told the Red Crescent Society to evacuate Al-Quds Hospital which Hamas claims is currently hosting about 12,000 displaced people.
Hamas also said the aid convoy delivered through the Rafah crossing will not meet the needs of the people in Gaza, calling for more aid to be sent and for safe passage of injured civilians to be allowed.
“We call for the urgent entry of fuel for the hospitals and health centers as they are almost running out of fuel for their generators, and to avoid turning these hospitals into mass graves,” Hamas said.
Oct 21, 1:15 PM EDT
King of Jordan calls ‘relentless bombing’ of Gaza a ‘war crime’
World leaders gathered in Egypt for the Cairo Summit for Peace, as part of efforts to end the war in Gaza. Jordan’s King Abdullah II condemned Israel’s “bombing campaign” of Gaza, calling it a war crime.
“The relentless bombing campaign underway in Gaza as we speak, is cruel and unconscionable on every level. It is collective punishment of a besieged and helpless people. It is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. It is a war crime,” King Abdullah II said.
King Abdullah called for an end to the war and the protection of civilians lives. He also called for an end to the displacement of Palestinians and for the continuous passage of humanitarian aid.
“Anywhere else, attacking civilian infrastructure and deliberately starving an entire population of food, water, electricity, and basic necessities would be condemned,” he said.
Oct 21, 11:07 AM EDT
Death toll in Gaza rises to 4,385: Palestinian officials
As the Hamas-Israel war continues, the Palestinian death toll has risen to 4,385 deaths — including 1,756 children and 967 women — in addition to 13,561 injuries since the start of escalation on Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said fuel being left out of the aid that went into Gaza has dangerous repercussions on the health services. According to the ministry, the convoy that delivered aid to Gaza on Saturday only has 3% of the daily needs.
According to the ministry, seven hospitals and 25 health-care centers are now out of service due to running out of fuel. Bed occupancy in the hospitals have reached more than 150%, which led to tents to absorb the huge number of injuries.
Oct 21, 10:03 AM EDT
Blinken applauds international community for passage of aid convoy into Gaza
A 20-truck convoy of humanitarian assistance has been delivered to the people in Gaza after the Rafah border crossing was opened Saturday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked the international community for facilitating the safe passage of the convoy.
“With this convoy, the international community is beginning to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza that has left residents of Gaza without access to sufficient food, water, medical care, and safe shelter,” Blinken said in a statement.
“We urge all parties to keep the Rafah crossing open to enable the continued movement of aid that is imperative to the welfare of the people of Gaza. We have been clear: Hamas must not interfere with the provision of this life-saving assistance. Palestinian civilians are not responsible for Hamas’s horrific terrorism, and they should not be made to suffer for its depraved acts,” Blinken said in a statement.
Oct 21, 6:14 AM EDT
No fuel included in Saturday’s aid convoy to Gaza, IDF says
The humanitarian aid that was delivered into the Gaza Strip via Egypt on Saturday morning contained food and medicine but no fuel, according to Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.
Oct 21, 6:11 AM EDT
Palestinian Civil Defense member injured in Israeli airstrike near Rafah border
The Palestinian Civil Defense said one of its members was injured by an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on Saturday morning, only about a mile from the Rafah border crossing where humanitarian aid convoys were arriving from Egypt.
The Palestinian Civil Defense is tasked with emergency and rescue services under the control of the Palestinian Authority.
Oct 21, 5:38 AM EDT
Egypt reaches agreement with US on sustainable operation of Rafah crossing
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi told the ongoing Gaza summit in Cairo he has “agreed with U.S. President Joe Biden to [allow] the Rafah border crossing to operate in a sustained manner” and to ensure “the safe, full, rapid and sustainable flow of humanitarian aid” into Gaza.
Oct 21, 5:09 AM EDT
Rafah border crossing opens briefly, allowing 20 aid trucks into Gaza
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the besieged Gaza Strip opened briefly on Saturday morning, allowing the first wave of humanitarian aid to be delivered.
The border closed again after 20 trucks carrying much-needed supplies — mostly medicine — crossed into Gaza from the Egyptian side, according to an aid worker there and Egyptian state media.
Oct 21, 3:14 AM EDT
Rafah border crossing between Egypt, Gaza to open Saturday
The U.S. Embassy in Israel said it has received information that the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the besieged Gaza Strip will open on Saturday at 10 a.m. local time.
“If the border is opened, we do not know how long it will remain open for foreign citizens to depart Gaza,” the embassy said in a statement. “We anticipate that many people would attempt to cross should the border open, and U.S. citizens attempting to enter Egypt should expect a potentially chaotic and disorderly environment on both sides of the crossing.”
“The situation remains dynamic and fluid and the security environment is unpredictable,” the embassy added. “You should assess your personal safety and security before choosing to move toward the border or trying to cross.”
A source involved in the discussions about opening the border told ABC News on Saturday morning that the opening of the border crossing was delayed due to “security concerns.” More than 100 trucks carrying humanitarian aid have been parked in a long queue on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, waiting to enter Gaza. When it does open, the plan is to allow entry for an initial 20 trucks led by the Egyptian Red Crescent before scaling that number up over the coming days, according to the source.
Oct 20, 9:44 PM EDT
Father of freed American hostage gives update: ‘She looks very good’
Uri Raanan, the father of Natalie Raanan, 17, who was released by Hamas along with her mother, Judith Raanan, spoke to the media Friday evening, giving an update on their conditions.
“I spoke with my daughter earlier today, she sounds very good, she looks very good, she was very happy and she’s waiting to come home. Her mother has a little scratch on her hand but she told me it’s nothing, she’s okay,” Uri Raanan said.
“Hopefully I’m going to see them next week, next week is Natalie’s birthday,” Uri Raanan added.
Oct 20, 6:06 PM EDT
Former congressman says relatives were killed in explosion on Gaza church
Former Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan said Friday several of his relatives were killed in the blast at a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza.
Amash, the son of a Palestinian Christian immigrant, shared a photo on X, formerly known as Twitter, of two of the relatives who were killed in the blast at the Church of Saint Porphyrios in Gaza.
The church was being used as a shelter for Palestinians.
“The Palestinian Christian community has endured so much. Our family is hurting badly,” Amash said in his post.
Oct 20, 4:15 PM EDT
More Americans being held hostage, Blinken says
Although two American hostages were released by Hamas on Friday, 10 Americans remain unaccounted for, and some of them are among the estimated 200 people being held by Hamas, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
“When I was in Israel last week, I met the families of U.S. citizens that Hamas has taken hostage,” Blinken said. “It’s impossible to adequately put into words the agony they’re feeling.”
“What I shared with the families, as the president did as well, is that the entire United States government will work every minute of every day to secure their release, to bring their loved ones home,” he said.
Oct 20, 3:24 PM EDT
2 hostages, mom and daughter from Illinois, released by Hamas
Two American hostages have been released by Hamas — Judith Raanan, 59, and her daughter, Natalie Raanan, 17 — and are now back in Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Their conditions were not immediately clear.
The Raanans are from Illinois. Judith Raanan’s son said his mom and sister were in Israel for a relative’s birthday when they were taken hostage at the Nahal Oz kibbutz.
President Joe Biden said in a statement, “I am overjoyed that they will soon be reunited with their family, who has been wracked with fear.”
“From the earliest moments of this attack, we have been working around-the-clock to free American citizens who were taken hostage by Hamas, and we have not ceased our efforts to secure the release of those who are still being held. I thank the government of Qatar and the government of Israel for their partnership in this work,” Biden said. “As I told those families when I spoke with them last week — we will not stop until we get their loved ones home.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the hostages were received “at the border of the Gaza Strip” and were being taken to “a meeting point at a military base in the center of the country, where their family members are waiting for them.”
Meir Hecht, a rabbi in Illinois, told reporters that Judith Raanan came to services at his congregation every Shabbat and holiday.
The rabbi said he’s “overjoyed” to hear of Judith and Natalie Raanan’s release and said there will be a “huge celebration” once they’re back home.
He added that he’s still “deeply and painfully concerned for the 200-plus hostages that are still there in Gaza.”
Hamas said in a statement that the two American hostages were released “for humanitarian reasons, and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless.”
Oct 20, 3:18 PM EDT
2 hostages, mom and daughter from Illinois, released by Hamas
Two American hostages have been released by Hamas — Judith Raanan, 59, and her daughter, Natalie Raanan, 17 — and are now back in Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Their conditions were not immediately clear.
The Raanans are from Illinois. Ben Raanan, the brother of Natalie Raanan and son of Judith Raanan, said his mom and sister were in Israel for a relative’s birthday when they were taken hostage at the Nahal Oz kibbutz.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the hostages were received “at the border of the Gaza Strip” and were being taken to “a meeting point at a military base in the center of the country, where their family members are waiting for them.” He added, “The Government of Israel, the IDF and the entire security establishment will continue to operate with the best of their abilities and efforts in order to locate all the missing and return the abductees are all home.”
Meir Hecht, a rabbi in Illinois, told reporters that Judith Raanan came to services at his congregation every Shabbat and holiday.
The rabbi said he’s “overjoyed” to hear of Judith and Natalie Raanan’s release and said there will be a “huge celebration” once they’re back home.
He added that he’s still “deeply and painfully concerned for the 200-plus hostages that are still there in Gaza.”
Hamas said in a statement that the two American hostages were released “for humanitarian reasons, and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless.”
Oct 20, 2:08 PM EDT
Family of trapped American in Gaza says Israeli airstrikes ‘have increased in intensity’
An American humanitarian aid worker who remains trapped in the Gaza Strip has told her family that Israeli airstrikes “have increased in intensity” in recent days.
“[They’ve increased] even in the south where people were told they’d be safe,” her niece, Leah Okumura, told ABC News in a remote interview on Friday. “It sounds like fireworks where she’s staying just constantly.”
Okumura’s aunt, Ramona, traveled to Gaza several weeks ago to work with children in need of prosthetic limbs. She evacuated from a [U.N.] compound in northern Gaza last week, moving south and heeding Israel’s call to do so as it launched retaliatory airstrikes on the Hamas militant group that rules the territory. She is now waiting to cross into Egypt, but the border remains closed “despite several promises” from the U.S. Department of State that Americans would be allowed through, according to her niece.
“She currently has limited access to food and water,” Okumura said. “We’re grateful that she does have access to any at all.”
“We love her very much and we are doing everything that we can,” she added. “I just want her to come home.”
-ABC News’ Ibtissem Guenfoud, James Longman, Zoe Magee and Morgan Winsor
Oct 20, 1:51 PM EDT
‘They may die,’ lawyer says of American families trapped in Gaza
A lawyer who has been in touch with multiple American families trapped in the Gaza Strip said the U.S. Department of State has offered them no plan, timeline or departure option.
“They continue to be mislead with bad information,” Sammy Nabulsi told ABC News in a remote interview on Friday.
One of those families is waiting to cross into Egypt via the Rafah border crossing, which remains closed despite State Department officials indicating that it would open and Americans would be able to leave Gaza, Nabulsi said. In recent days, the family has run out of drinking water and the house they’re staying in was almost hit by an Israeli airstrike, according to Nabulsi, who noted that “the intensity of bombing and airstrikes in the area has increased.”
“My biggest fear is that if this continues … they may die,” he said. “That’s frankly where we’re headed at the moment.”
-ABC News’ Ibtissem Guenfoud, James Longman, Zoe Magee and Morgan Winsor
Oct 20, 1:12 PM EDT
Biden: Aid trucks will enter Gaza in next 24-48 hours
President Joe Biden said Friday he believes the first 20 humanitarian aid trucks will enter Gaza “in the next 24 to 48 hours.”
“I got a commitment from the Israelis and the president of Egypt that the crossing will be opened,” he said.
Oct 20, 12:51 PM EDT
Northern Israeli city evacuated amid Hezbollah fight
The northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona was the latest town along the northern border to be evacuated, allowing Israeli forces to “expand its operational freedom to act against the Hezbollah terrorist organization,” an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said.
Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have engaged in artillery exchanges since the outbreak of the latest war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas. Hezbollah has voiced strong support for Hamas, sparking fears that the war could spread into Lebanon.
The IDF said one of its drones “struck a terrorist in Lebanese territory” on Thursday night and that Israeli forces also struck “several military assets belonging to” Hezbollah.
Oct 20, 12:02 PM EDT
‘This cannot continue,’ prominent Palestinian activist says of Israel-Hamas war
With Israel and the Hamas militant group on the verge of an all-out war, “the only way out of this is an immediate cease-fire,” according to veteran Palestinian activist Mustafa Barghouti.
“How many more thousands of children should die before they are satisfied?” Barghouti said, referring to Israel’s total siege and blockade of the neighboring Gaza Strip in retaliation for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 3,785 people, including women and children, in Hamas-ruled Gaza since Oct. 7, and now people are running out of food and water, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
In addition to an immediate cease-fire on both sides, Barghouti called for an exchange of all prisoners and the free passage of humanitarian aid for all those in Gaza “who badly need it.”
“This cannot continue,” he added. “Palestinians are also human beings and cannot be treated in such a manner.”
-ABC News’ Ibtissem Guenfoud, James Longman and Morgan Winsor
Oct 20, 10:29 AM EDT
High-tech expert talks efforts to track down hostages
A team of high-tech experts is helping track down the people who were taken hostage or have disappeared in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
“In the last two weeks, we were really working around the clock,” one of the experts, Karine Nahon, told ABC News in a telephone interview on Friday.
Currently, there are about 100 people whose whereabouts remain unknown, according to Nahon. Various experts, government agencies and volunteers have joined forces in an effort to locate them. The team is using “an array” of methods and technologies, from creating new algorithms to matching photos of the missing with videos taken by Hamas, Nahon said.
“We combine them in one space and, together, we’re actually able to identify hundreds of people and what’s their status,” she added.
-ABC News’ Ibtissem Guenfoud, James Longman and Morgan Winsor
Oct 20, 9:50 AM EDT
Humanitarian worker in Gaza talks dire wait for aid
It’s not money that people in the Gaza Strip need right now, but rather food, water, medicine and other basic necessities, according to a humanitarian worker there.
“If we have money, we can’t buy anything. There’s nothing to buy in the stores, it’s empty shelves,” Omar Alnajjar, project manager for nonprofit Save Your Future, told ABC News in a telephone interview from the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.
As Israeli forces continue to bomb “terror targets” in Gaza in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack carried out by the Hamas militant group that governs the territory, an estimated 1 million people are displaced there, including over 520,000 people staying in “emergency shelters in increasingly dire conditions,” according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
That’s why it’s crucial Egypt allows humanitarian aid convoys parked at its northwestern border with Gaza to cross into the war-torn territory and deliver the lifesaving supplies as soon as possible, Alnajjar said. But as of Friday afternoon, the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing remains closed.
“People are just waiting,” he added.
-ABC News’ Ibtissem Guenfoud, James Longman and Morgan Winsor
Oct 20, 6:37 AM EDT
‘We appreciate President Biden’s support,’ Netanyahu’s office says
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reacted to U.S. President Joe Biden’s rare address to Americans on Thursday night.
“We appreciate President Biden’s support and the strong bipartisan support in America,” Netanyahu’s office told ABC News in a statement on Friday, when asked for comment.
Biden’s speech emphasized the need for both global and U.S. national security to assist Israel and Ukraine in their respective conflicts, which he said threaten broader disruptions in the Middle East and Europe.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Morgan Winsor
Oct 20, 5:55 AM EDT
Aid convoys still waiting to enter Gaza from Egypt
A queue of more than 100 trucks carrying humanitarian aid waited to enter the Gaza Strip from Egypt on Friday morning, but the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing remained closed.
The aid convoys will be allowed to start entering war-torn Gaza “in the next day or so,” according to Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
“We are in deep and advanced negotiations with all relevant sides to ensure that an aid operation into Gaza starts as quickly as possible and with the right conditions,” Laerke told reporters in Geneva. “We are encouraged by reports that the different sides are nearing an agreement on the modalities, and that a first delivery is due to start in the next day or so.”
During a press briefing in Tel Aviv, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht could not say when aid would be allowed to enter Gaza from Egypt but confirmed that an agreement had not yet been reached and the border crossing was not open.
-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy, Jordana Miller, Emma Ogao and Morgan Winsor
Oct 20, 2:57 AM EDT
Israel strikes Hezbollah targets in Lebanon amid clashes along border
The Israel Defense Forces said one of its drones “struck a terrorist in Lebanese territory” on Thursday night as tensions flared along the Israel-Lebanon border.
The IDF said its forces also struck “several military assets belonging to” the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, in response to rockets that were fired from Lebanon toward Israel on Thursday.
Israeli forces and Lebanese armed groups have engaged in artillery exchanges since the outbreak of the latest war in the Gaza Strip between the Israeli military and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs the territory. Hezbollah has voiced strong support for Hamas, sparking fears that the war could spread into Lebanon.
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
Oct 20, 1:59 AM EDT
Israel says it killed Hamas operative in overnight strikes across Gaza
Israeli fighter jets struck more than 100 “terror targets” belonging to the militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip overnight, according to a joint statement released Friday morning by the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Securities Authority.
Those targets included “an underground tunnel, weapon warehouses, and dozens of operational command centers,” the IDF and ISA said.
Amjad Majed Muhammad Abu ‘Obdeh, a Hamas naval operative who allegedly took part in the Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel, was killed during the Israeli airstrikes overnight, according to the statement. There was no official confirmation from Hamas.
Israeli fighter jets also “neutralized” what the IDF and ISA described as “a terror squad belonging to the Hamas aerial array … after they attempted to fire rockets at a jet.”
“In addition, terror assets and weapons located in a mosque in the Jabaliya neighbourhood were destroyed, which was used as observation posts and staging ground by Hamas terrorists,” the IDF and ISA added.
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
Oct 20, 12:06 AM EDT
Israel’s Iron Dome intercepted 6,000 rockets within first week of conflict: IDF
An Israel Defense spokesperson told ABC News’ Britt Clennett the Iron Dome is holding strong against the increase in rockets launched at the country.
Within the first week of the conflict, the Iron Dome intercepted more than 6,000 rockets, the IDF spokesperson told Clennett.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden said the U.S. was “going to keep Iron Dome fully supplied so it can continue standing sentinel over Israeli skies, saving Israeli lives.”
The Iron Dome first became operational in 2011, with the IDF spokesperson saying the coming days were going to be challenging but the Iron Dome and “our other active air defense systems were designed exactly for this mission.”
-ABC News’ Britt Clennett
Oct 19, 4:15 PM EDT
Navy ship shoots down cruise missiles potentially heading to targets in Israel
The USS Carney, a Navy destroyer in the Red Sea, shot down multiple missiles launched by Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen on Thursday, officials said.
“We cannot say for certain what these missiles and drones were targeting but they were launched from Yemen heading north along the Red Sea potentially to targets in Israel,” a Pentagon spokesman said.
Oct 19, 4:07 PM EDT
Rafah gate negotiations ongoing, no promise Americans can leave Gaza if it’s opened: State Department
There are some signs of progress toward moving aid into Gaza, but negotiations to open the Rafah border crossing remain ongoing, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Thursday.
Miller also did not guarantee that moving aid to Gaza would necessarily mean Americans who want to leave could leave.
“If Rafah gate is open to allow humanitarian aid to go in, we will be trying to get out to the American citizens who are in Gaza who want to leave,” he said.
Miller also noted there’s a concern that Hamas would seize the humanitarian aid.
“There is not an Israeli military force in Gaza, there’s not a U.N. peacekeeping force in Gaza. The people with guns inside Gaza are Hamas, and so Hamas may try to divert this assistance and keep it from getting to the civilians who it is intended for,” Miller said. “We think that’s a legitimate concern.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 19, 3:23 PM EDT
Eligible Israelis can apply for visa-free travel for short-term visits to US, DHS announces
Starting Thursday, eligible Israeli citizens and nationals can begin applying for visa-free travel for short-term visits to the U.S. through Customs and Border Protection’s Electronic System for Travel Authorization, the Department of Homeland Security announced.
Israel’s designation in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program was announced last month and will allow eligible travelers to come to the U.S. for tourism or business for up to 90 days without first obtaining a visa, DHS said.
Oct 19, 2:48 PM EDT
Rafah crossing will open Friday: Egyptian state-run media
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza will open on Friday to allow aid to enter into Gaza, according to Egyptian state-run media.
Among the organizations waiting to bring aid into Gaza are the International Committee of the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders and the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
Oct 19, 2:25 PM EDT
203 kidnapped, 100 unaccounted for: IDF
The Israel Defense Forces said its latest tally finds that 203 people have been kidnapped and 100 remain unaccounted for.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank, the Israeli military arrested 70 suspected Hamas members on Thursday, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 19, 1:51 PM EDT
32 Americans dead, 11 unaccounted for
Thirty-two Americans have been confirmed dead in Israel and another 11 U.S. citizens are unaccounted for, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Thursday.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 19, 1:43 PM EDT
Israeli defense minister: Troops should ‘be ready’ to enter Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told troops on Thursday to “get organized” and “be ready” to enter Gaza.
“The order will come,” Gallant said, according to The Associated Press. “Whoever sees Gaza from afar now, will see it from the inside. I promise you.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 19, 1:13 PM EDT
Gaza hospitals operating at 150% capacity, health ministry says
Gaza hospitals are operating at 150% capacity, with some patients lying on the ground or in corridors, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
Fourteen health centers were forced to stop operations, and all health facilities are at risk of shutting down due to power outages and fuel, the ministry said.
Oct 19, 12:38 PM EDT
Israeli military has ‘green light’ to move into Gaza, official says
The Israeli military has a “green light” to move into Gaza whenever it’s ready, a member of the country’s security cabinet told ABC News.
Hostages and civilian casualties will be secondary to destroying Hamas, Economy Minister Nir Barakat told ABC News, “even if it takes a year.”
Asked about the miles of tunnels Hamas has built under Gaza, he said they’d become the “world’s biggest cemetery.” Hamas has claimed to be holding some or all of the 203 Israeli hostages it’s taken within that vast network.
“We shall do all efforts to bring our hostages, to bring our hostages [back] alive…” he said, but the “first and last priority” is destroying Hamas.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad together have about 50,000 fighters, said Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, former head of Shin Bet, the Israel Security Agency.
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman
Oct 19, 12:02 PM EDT
State Department issues ‘worldwide caution’ alert
The State Department on Thursday issued a bulletin for “worldwide caution” because of “increased tensions” around the world and “the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations or violent actions.”
The State Department warned that Americans abroad should stay alert, enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program and follow the State Department on social media.
The State Department is instructing its embassies and consulates around the world to conduct emergency security reviews amid ongoing protests sparked by the Israel-Hamas war, according to sources familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by ABC News.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken also instructed personnel to evaluate whether embassies should issue alerts to Americans in their respective countries about threats posed by the demonstrations, as many have already done.
A number of posts have asked the State Department to modify their operations due to security concerns, sources said, but at this point it does not appear that any additional embassies have asked to go on authorized departure, and so far none have requested a full evacuation.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 19, 10:52 AM EDT
1,524 children among those killed in Gaza
At least 3,785 people have been killed in Gaza, including 1,524 children, 1,000 women and 120 elderly people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Forty-four medical personnel are also among those killed, the health ministry said.
Another 12,493 people in Gaza have been injured.
Gaza hospitals are at 150% capacity, the ministry said. Fourteen health centers were forced to stop operations, and all health facilities are at risk of shutting down due to power outages and fuel shortages, the health ministry said.
Oct 19, 6:48 AM EDT
203 Israeli hostages taken since conflict began, IDF says
A total of 203 hostages have been taken since Hamas militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, Israel’s military said.
At least 306 members of the Israeli military have been killed, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said.
Oct 18, 11:06 PM EDT
IDF says it’s attacked Hezbollah targets
The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday morning that it had attacked Hezbollah targets on the northern Israeli border with Lebanon.
“Among the targets, an observation post towards the sea was attacked from where anti-tank fire was launched at Rosh Hankara yesterday,” the IDF said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
The IDF said the attacks were carried out due to “incidents of shooting at Israel in the last day.”
Oct 18, 6:53 PM EDT
British PM to visit Israel Thursday
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will visit Israel and meet with Israeli leaders on Thursday, his office announced.
The two-day trip will include meetings with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog “before traveling to a number of other regional capitals,” his office said in a statement.
“The attack on al-Ahli Hospital should be a watershed moment for leaders in the region and across the world to come together to avoid further dangerous escalation of conflict. I will ensure the UK is at the forefront of this effort.” Sunak said in a statement.
The prime minister “will stress that any civilian death is a tragedy and tell fellow leaders that, as an international community,” Sunak’s office said in a statement.
Oct 18, 6:00 PM EDT
White House provides more detailed assessment of Gaza hospital explosion
White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson released a statement Wednesday providing more details about their assessment that Israel was not responsible for the hospital explosion in Gaza that killed over 500 people.
“Intelligence indicates that some Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip believed that the explosion was likely caused by an errant rocket or missile launch carried out by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The militants were still investigating what had happened,” she said in the statement.
Watson reiterated that intelligence officials are “continuing to work to corroborate whether it was a failed PIJ rocket.”
Oct 18, 5:50 PM EDT
Biden says aid likely to arrive in Gaza Friday
President Joe Biden told reporters aboard Air Force One that Egypt’s president has agreed to open the Rafah crossing gate to allow up to 20 trucks with aid to travel to Gaza.
He said there are potholes in the road that have to be fixed before the trucks can go through, so the aid may not get there until Friday.
“This has been a very blunt negotiation,” Biden said.
The president said according to the agreement, if the aid trucks cross the border, the U.N. will be on the other side to distribute it. However, if Hamas confiscates the supplies, or if it doesn’t get through “then it’s going to end,” Biden said.
The Rafah crossing was shut on Oct. 10 after it was hit by Israeli warplanes on the Palestinian side three times on Oct. 9 and 10.
Gaza has been under siege by Israeli forces for over a week and humanitarian groups, doctors and others on the ground have pleaded for more supplies.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Oct 18, 5:35 PM EDT
UK government advises citizens to leave Lebanon
The United Kingdom issued an advisory to its citizens living in Lebanon to “leave now while commercial options remain available.”
The advisory warned of ongoing mortar, artillery exchanges and airstrikes in the southern part of the country which borders Israel. It also stated there’s “a risk of civil unrest.”
“Events in Lebanon are fast moving. The situation has potential to deteriorate quickly and with no warning,” the government said in the advisory.
The government warned that “the British Embassy may be increasingly limited in the assistance that it can provide,” if things escalate.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Oct 18, 5:11 PM EDT
Biden to address US response to Hamas’ attacks Thursday
The White House announced that President Joe Biden will “address the nation to discuss our response to Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel and Russia’s ongoing brutal war against Ukraine,” in a televised address from the Oval Office at Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.
Oct 18, 5:00 PM EDT
Biden says aid likely to arrive in Gaza Friday
President Joe Biden told reporters aboard Air Force One that Egypt’s president has agreed to open the Rafah crossing gate to allow up to 20 trucks with aid to travel to Gaza.
He said there are potholes in the road that have to be fixed before the trucks can go through, so the aid may not get there until Friday.
“This has been a very blunt negotiation,” Biden said.
The president said according to the agreement, if the aid trucks cross the border, the U.N. will be on the other side to distribute it. However, if Hamas confiscates the supplies, or if it doesn’t get through “then it’s going to end,” Biden said.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Oct 18, 3:38 PM EDT
Congressional Intelligence Committees confident hospital blast wasn’t result of Israeli military action
The chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said in a statement that, based on intelligence received by the committee, they believe Tuesday’s blast at a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds was not the result of an Israeli airstrike.
“The Senate Intelligence Committee has received and reviewed intelligence related to the attack on al-Ahli hospital in Gaza. Based on this information, we feel confident that the explosion was the result of a failed rocket launch by militant terrorists and not the result of an Israeli airstrike,” Sens. Mark Warner and Marco Rubio said in a joint statement Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner and Ranking Member Jim Himes drew similar conclusions.
“Based on information the House Intelligence Committee received from the Administration regarding the hospital attack in Gaza, we believe this was not the result of Israeli military action,” Turner and Himes said.
The hospital blast killed at least 471 and injured another 314 people, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Israel and Hamas have traded blame for the explosion with the Israeli military claiming it was a result of a “failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization,” while Hamas has said it was the result of an Israeli airstrike. Two U.S. officials told ABC News the Pentagon independently concluded the blast was likely caused by an errant Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket that fell short of its target.
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
Oct 18, 3:32 PM EDT
Protesters gather at Capitol calling for ceasefire
A large group of protesters from Jewish Voice for Peace is demonstrating in the Cannon Office Building of the U.S. Capitol complex, calling for a cease-fire in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Some are carrying signs reading, “ceasefire” and “let Gaza live.”
Some protesters have been arrested.
Outside the Capitol, hundreds of protesters blocked the intersection of Independence Avenue and New Jersey Avenue, directly in front of the Capitol building.
The Anti-Defamation League, a leading Jewish group that combats antisemitism and other discrimination, has labeled Jewish Voice for Peace as “radical” and “anti-Israel,” with views that fall outside the “mainstream Jewish community.”
-ABC News’ Jay O’Brien, Luke Barr and Jack Date
Oct 18, 3:14 PM EDT
Archbishop calls hospital blast a ‘crime against humanity’
Archbishop Hosam Naoum, primate of the Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East, called Tuesday’s explosion at the Al Ahli Baptist Hospital a “crime against humanity.”
It’s the oldest hospital in Gaza and the only Christian-led hospital in the area.
“The hospital itself is a sanctuary for people and what happened there is a crime … a massacre,” he said.
The blast killed at least 471 and injured another 314 people, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Israel and Hamas have traded blame for the hospital explosion with the Israeli military claiming it was a result of a “failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization,” while Hamas has said it was the result of an Israeli airstrike. Two U.S. officials told ABC News the Pentagon independently concluded the blast was likely caused by an errant Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket that fell short of its target.
On the questions surrounding who bombed the hospital, the archbishop said, “What we know is what we saw on TV” and that the victims are “people of the church, not military.”
“We hope that … people will come to conclusion that enough with this war, and enough with the lives that have been lost on every side,” he said.
-ABC News’ Emmanuelle Saliba
Oct 18, 2:36 PM EDT
US vetoes UN Security Council resolution calling for ‘humanitarian pauses’ in Gaza
The U.S. on Wednesday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for “humanitarian pauses” to deliver lifesaving aid to millions in Gaza, with U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield saying the “resolution did not mention Israel’s right of self-defense.”
Meanwhile, Israeli and Palestinian officials both chastised the U.N. at the meeting.
Israel called it a “disgrace” that the U.N. has not condemned Hamas.
“It is really unfathomable! You cannot unite even on that basic thing,” Israel Ambassador Gilad Erdan said. “Instead, the council is fixated only on humanitarian corridors and aid. These are important and noble causes, but they are certainly not a solution to prevent Hamas’ next atrocious massacre.”
The Palestinian ambassador said failure to demand a cease-fire is opening a Pandora’s box of risk for the world.
“The events of the last 10 days may shape the next 10 years in our region and beyond. What happens next is decisive,” Palestinian Ambassador to the U.N. Riyad Mansour said. “Anyone thinks this is a situation under control for which you can plan and implement they are making false and irresponsible assumptions. This is the kind of war where you will know how it starts and have no clue how it ends.”
-ABC News’ Brian Hartman
Oct 18, 2:25 PM EDT
70% of Gaza victims are children, women, the elderly
Of the more than 3,000 killed and 12,000 injured in Gaza, 70% are children, women and the elderly, said Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesman for the Health Ministry in Gaza.
He said the Ministry of Health has received about 1,300 reports of missing people under the rubble, including 600 children. He said the ministry believes there are some survivors in the rubble.
Tuesday marked the largest single-day death toll in Gaza’s history, he said, attributed to the explosion at the Al Ahli Baptist Hospital that killed at least 471. The blast injured another 314 people, including 28 patients who are in critical condition, he said.
Israel and Hamas have traded blame for the hospital explosion with the Israeli military claiming it was a result of a “failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization,” while Hamas has said it was the result of an Israeli airstrike. Two U.S. officials told ABC News the Pentagon independently concluded the blast was likely caused by an errant Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket that fell short of its target.
Oct 18, 2:18 PM EDT
Palestinian activist: ‘US launching war on Palestinians’
Hundreds of protesters took to a square in the West Bank, calling for Hamas to take over and for more rockets to hit Tel Aviv.
Among them was Palestinian activist Jamal Juma, who told ABC News he supports increased fighting and doesn’t believe that Hamas committed atrocities in Israel.
Despite the thousands of dead in Gaza and Israel tightening its security across the West Bank, Juma said the Oct. 7 Hamas attack gave many Palestinians hope, because, he said, the battle lines are now clearly drawn.
He said there’s as much anger at the Palestinian Authority and the U.S. as Israel.
“It’s so clear the anger of the people against the PA — in the middle of the massacres against Gaza, and [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas wanted to go meet [President Joe] Biden in Jordan … it’s so clear to Palestinians that what’s launching war against the Palestinians is not Israel, it’s [the] United States of America,” he said. “They mobilized the world against the Palestinians. We do not differentiate at all between Israel and the U.S.”
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman and Becky Perlow
Oct 18, 2:12 PM EDT
Protests erupt across Middle East, Africa following Gaza hospital blast
Protests have erupted across the Middle East and North Africa following an explosion at a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds Tuesday night.
Israel and Hamas have traded blame for the explosion with the Israeli military claiming it was a result of a “failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization,” while Hamas has said it was the result of an Israeli airstrike.
Protests turned violent outside the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, where tear gas was deployed.
U.S. Embassy spokesperson Jake Nelson said protesters damaged private property in the neighborhood surrounding the U.S. Embassy, but Embassy personnel and facilities remain safe.
At the U.S. consulate in Adana, Turkey, there were reports overnight of large-scale protests, attempts to breach the compound and demonstrators throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.
The State Department said the U.S. consulate in Adana will be closed to the public until further notice.
Crowds also gathered in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Jordan.
Oct 18, 1:50 PM EDT
‘Unprecedented catastrophe’ unfolding in Gaza: UN
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Work Agency, is urging the foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation “to firmly and unconditionally support the humanitarian efforts to safeguard civilians in Gaza.”
“An unprecedented catastrophe is unfolding” in Gaza, Lazzarini said in a statement on Wednesday.
Thousands of civilians have been killed, including women and children, and at least 1 million people have been forced from their homes yet remain trapped in Gaza as food, water and medicine supplies dwindle.
“Not one shipment of aid has been allowed into the Gaza Strip since the start of this conflict due to the full siege imposed,” he said.
Lazzarini asked for an immediate end to attacks “targeting civilians and civilian objects, including UN and humanitarian personnel and premises.”
He said the delivery of the urgent aid that’s needed “can be achieved through an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to allow without further delay, unimpeded and safe access to humanitarian assistance.”
He continued, “UNRWA must receive adequate resources. The Agency is short of US$ 100 million for its core budget for this year. … Additionally, UNRWA has issued a Flash Appeal of US$ 104 million for its immediate emergency response to more than a million displaced and vulnerable Palestine Refugees. This appeal will most likely soon be revised upwards.”
Oct 18, 11:45 AM EDT
Biden departs Israel after 8.5 hours on the ground
President Joe Biden is on his way back to the United States after spending 8.5 hours on the ground in Israel meeting with Israeli officials, first responders and families of the victims and hostages from the terror attacks.
Oct 18, 11:29 AM EDT
Treasury sanctions key members of Hamas
The Treasury Department announced new sanctions on key members of Hamas, as part of a “continuous effort by the United States to root out Hamas’s sources of revenue in the West Bank and Gaza and across the region.”
“The United States is taking swift and decisive action to target Hamas’s financiers and facilitators following its brutal and unconscionable massacre of Israeli civilians, including children,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.
The sanctions target six individuals associated with Hamas’ secret investment portfolio, two senior Hamas officials, and a Gaza-based virtual currency exchange, along with the operator of that exchange.
This is part of a “broad campaign” that is being done with American allies and partners over the coming months that will involve sanctions and “other tools.”
“What we’re doing today is we’re cutting them off from access to their money,” a senior administration official said on a call with reporters Wednesday morning. “It’ll mean that they have fewer resources to pay their fighters to buy the weapons to support their destabilizing activities.”
“Our goal was to make sure that we cut them off from as many sources as possible, make it as hard for them as possible to continue their destabilizing activities in the region,” they added.
To date, the Treasury Department says it has targeted nearly 1,000 individuals and entities connected to terrorism and terrorist financing by the Iranian regime and its proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah and others.
Oct 18, 10:37 AM EDT
Biden says Israel agreed humanitarian assistance can move from Egypt to Gaza
President Joe Biden said Israel agreed to allow humanitarian assistance to move from Egypt to Gaza. He said it will be subject to inspections and will go to civilians, not Hamas.
“If Hamas diverts or steals the assistance, they will have demonstrated once again that they have no concern for the welfare of the Palestinian people, and it will end as a practical matter,” Biden said. “It will stop the international community from being able to provide this aid.”
“Separately, I ask Israel that the global community demand that the International Red Cross be able to visit hostages,” he continued. “I’m also announcing $100 million in new U.S. funding for humanitarian assistance in both Gaza and the West Bank. This money will support more than 1 million displaced in conflict affected Palestinians, including emergency needs in Gaza.”
Oct 18, 10:16 AM EDT
Biden: ‘Pursuing every avenue’ to bring home hostages
President Joe Biden said Wednesday he comes to Israel with a single message: “You’re not alone.”
“To those who are living in limbo, waiting desperately to learn the fate of a loved one, especially to families of the hostages, you’re not alone,” Biden said in remarks from Israel. “We’re working with partners throughout the region, pursuing every avenue to bring home those who are being held captive by Hamas.”
“I can’t speak publicly about all the details, but let me assure you, for me, as the American president, there is no higher priority than the release and safe return of all these hostages,” he said.
Oct 18, 9:12 AM EDT
Pentagon independently concluded Islamic Jihad responsible for hospital blast
President Joe Biden was asked by a reporter in Israel on Wednesday what made him confident that the Israelis weren’t behind the explosion that killed hundreds at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday.
Biden responded that it was “the data I was shown by my Defense Department.”
Two U.S. officials told ABC News the Pentagon independently concluded the Gaza hospital blast was likely caused by an errant Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket that fell short of its target.
Israeli authorities are blaming the hospital blast on a misfired rocket launched by militants in Gaza, while Palestinian officials are claiming it was an Israeli airstrike.
The Gaza Health Ministry said 471 were killed and 314 others were injured.
Oct 18, 9:44 AM EDT
Biden has emotional meeting with families, first responders
In Israel on Wednesday, President Joe Biden met with first responders and families of victims and hostages.
Biden spoke with a pediatric physician who moved from New York to Israel eight years ago. She said she “never could have prepared” for the mass casualty event she experienced following the attacks and described for the president the wounded children and soldiers she treated.
One first responder was overcome with emotion as he recounted the atrocities the Hamas militants inflicted on women and children.
Biden also met with a woman who lost two of her family members in the attacks. The woman said one of her killed relatives was an American citizen.
Oct 18, 9:12 AM EDT
Biden says Defense Department data is why he believes Israel wasn’t behind hospital blast
President Joe Biden was asked by a reporter in Israel on Wednesday what made him confident that the Israelis weren’t behind the explosion that killed hundreds at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday.
Biden responded that it was “the data I was shown by my Defense Department.”
Israeli authorities are blaming the hospital blast on a misfired rocket launched by militants in Gaza, while Palestinian officials are claiming it was an Israeli airstrike.
Oct 18, 7:19 AM EDT
Biden vows US support ‘to prevent more tragedy’
President Joe Biden on Wednesday vowed U.S. support for Israel as members of his administration began a larger meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet.
“In the wake of Hamas’ appalling terrorist assault — brutal, inhumane, almost beyond belief what they did, this cabinet came together and standing strong, standing united and I want you to know you are not alone,” Biden said in Tel Aviv.
He added, “You are not alone. As I emphasized earlier, we will continue to have Israel’s back, as you work to defend your people. We’ll continue to work with you and partners across the region to prevent more tragedy to innocent civilians.”
Oct 18, 6:40 AM EDT
Pope appeals for peace in Middle East
Appealing for peace in the Holy Land, Pope Francis expressed concern at the end of his weekly public audience in the Vatican for the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
“Also today our thoughts go to Israel and Palestine. Casualties are rising and the situation in Gaza is desperate,” he said on Wednesday, speaking in Italian. “Please do everything possible to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe.”
He added, “Disturbing is the possible widening of the conflict, while in the world so many war fronts are already open. Silence the guns! Let the cry for peace of peoples, of people, of children be heard! Brothers and sisters, war does not solve any problem, it only sows death and destruction, increases hatred and multiplies revenge. War erases the future. I urge believers to take only one side in this conflict: that of peace; but not with words, with prayer, with total dedication.”
He also called on all parties to lay down their weapons and all Christians to pray and fast on Oct. 27, calling it “a day of fasting and prayer, of penance.”
Oct 18, 5:29 AM EDT
Biden says Gaza hospital explosion ‘done by the other team’ as Netanyahu thanks Biden for ‘unprecedented’ level of cooperation
During a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, U.S. President Joe Biden said he was “deeply saddened and outraged” by the deadly hospital explosion in Gaza, and seemed to determine that Israel was not to blame, saying it was “done by the other team.”
“I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday. And based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you. But there’s a lot of people out there, not sure, so we’re gonna have to overcome a lot of things,” the president said.
That assessment from Biden seems to have evolved quickly and in only a matter of hours. In his statement just last night, the president said his national security team would “continue gathering information about what exactly happened.”
Biden opened his remarks saying he was in the country to tell Israelis and the world “to know where the United States stands” and that “Americans are grieving with you” and worried because “this is not an easy field to navigate.”
Biden also said he was going to “make sure” that Israel continues to receive the defense assistance it needs to defend themselves during this time and added that Hamas “does not represent all the Palestinian people” and has “brought them only suffering.”
He also briefly discussed the need for humanitarian aid for Gaza to help Palestinians “who are innocent, caught in the middle of this” as Netanyahu thanked Biden for the “unequivocal” support for Israel, saying it mirrors the “overwhelming will of the American people.”
“I’ve seen your support every day and the depth and breadth of cooperation that we have had since the beginning of this war. A level of cooperation that is truly unprecedented in the history of the great alliance between our two nations,” Netanyahu said.
Oct 18, 3:53 AM EDT
President Biden arrives in Israel on high-stakes diplomatic trip to war-torn region
President Joe Biden arrived in Israel under heavy security on Wednesday as he visits the war-torn region on a high-stakes diplomatic trip.
His visit comes a day after a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital killed at more than 500 people, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The White House said Tuesday evening that the death toll resulting from Hamas’ initial attack in Israel had risen to 31 Americans killed, with 13 Americans still unaccounted for.
The update came from press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and spokesman John Kirby, during an audio-only briefing aboard Air Force One while en route to Israel.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is planning to impose new sanctions on several Hamas leaders this week, according to a U.S. official.
The Treasury Department is planning to announce the sanctions sometime this week, the official said. The Treasury Department declined to comment.
Earlier Tuesday, a top Treasury official pledged that his agency would “bring our tools to bear against Hamas’ financing and the overall funding of terrorism.”
“Disrupting Hamas’ financing operations is not new to us; this has been a priority for Treasury for decades,” Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said at a conference. “We are equipped to target this infrastructure and its supporters, whether they be political leadership, operatives, facilitators, financiers, investors, or entire global procurement networks.”
Oct 18, 1:07 AM EDT
IDF again calls for people in northern Gaza to evacuate to the south
The Israel Defense Forces have again called on residents of Gaza City to evacuate.
“The IDF calls on #GazaCity residents to evacuate south for their protection,” read a post on the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories X page (formerly Twitter) early Wednesday morning local time.
Col. Elad Goren, head of the Civil Department at COGAT, said in a video message that humanitarian aid will be sent to the areas they are asking people to evacuate to “if necessary.”
“In recent days, the IDF has been calling on the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate their homes and move to the south of Wadi Gaza,” he said in the video post shared on X. “This measure was taken to protect them. We recommend moving to open areas in western Khan Yunus and if necessary international humanitarian aid will be sent there. Hamas is trying to prevent the population from evacuating northern Gaza.”
Maps were shared in the post, showing where the IDF wanted people to move.
Oct 17, 11:47 PM EDT
Biden’s Israel visit has an ‘immensely intricate’ security plan: Secret Service
An official briefed on President Joe Biden’s arrangements told ABC News that planning for an Israel trip began more than a week ago when the idea seemed highly unlikely.
The planning proceeded throughout the week and into the weekend, and the agency went through various permutations and contingencies, taking into account different location possibilities and the amount of time Biden wanted to stay in the region.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service said, “While there will be an immensely intricate security plan implemented in coordination with our military, State Department and Israeli partners, we are not in a position to comment on specifics of the movement.”
Oct 17, 11:24 PM EDT
US death toll in Israel rises to 31: Officials
The death toll resulting from Hamas’ initial attack had risen to 31 Americans killed and 13 still unaccounted for, said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby while aboard Air Force One Tuesday night.
Kirby also said President Biden will have a chance to “meet with some of the families. It’ll be some of the families of those who have lost loved ones in Israel, and some of the families who still don’t know the fate of their loved ones. And in fact, some of the family members, we expect, will also be family members of hostages that we know Hamas has taken.”
Oct 17, 11:52 PM EDT
US to impose new sanctions on Hamas leaders: Official
The U.S. is planning to impose new sanctions on several Hamas leaders this week, according to a U.S. official.
The Treasury Department is planning to announce the sanctions this week, the official said.
Earlier Tuesday, a top Treasury official pledged that the agency would “bring our tools to bear against Hamas’ financing and the overall funding of terrorism.”
“Disrupting Hamas’ financing operations is not new to us; this has been a priority for Treasury for decades,” Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said at a news conference. “We are equipped to target this infrastructure and its supporters, whether they be political leadership, operatives, facilitators, financiers, investors, or entire global procurement networks.”
Axios first reported this development Tuesday night.
Oct 17, 7:36 PM EDT
‘I am outraged and deeply saddened’ by hospital attack: Biden
President Joe Biden released a statement saying he was “outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted.”
“Immediately upon hearing this news, I spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and have directed my national security team to continue gathering information about what exactly happened. The United States stands unequivocally for the protection of civilian life during conflict and we mourn the patients, medical staff and other innocents killed or wounded in this tragedy,” he said.
Oct 17, 7:09 PM EDT
Biden prepares $100B package that includes aid for Israel: Sources
The Biden administration is preparing a foreign aid package for $100 billion that will include assistance for Israel, two people familiar with the details told ABC News.
Details on the spending request were still being finalized ahead of an official request sent to Congress later this week, according to the sources.
The specifics of the aid package are now circulating among U.S. officials, according to sources.
One source told ABC News the “bulk” of the assistance will likely go toward Ukraine, while another person with knowledge of the proposal said the latest draft included $10 billion for Israel, as requested.
Oct 17, 11:50 PM EDT
Palestinian Authority president calls for ‘unity,’ following hospital attack
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas blamed Israel for the attack on the Gaza hospital that has left over 500 people dead.
Abbas called for “unity” for all Palestinians in a speech delivered early Wednesday morning local time.
“Nobody will use division but the enemy of the Palestinian people,” he said.
Abbas claimed the world was “silent” and called on the U.S. Security Council and others to condemn the attack.
“We warn the international community of the crimes of the Israeli occupations. [and] in this tough moment, to make the Israeli accountable and to protect the Palestinian people,” he said.
Oct 17, 6:35 PM EDT
IDF claims to have evidence showing they are not responsible for hospital attack
A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces claimed during a news conference they have evidence they were not responsible for the strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
Daniel Magari told reporters that the IDF plans to release evidence showing Israeli forces were not responsible for the attack.
Magari claimed there were no IDF airstrikes next to the hospital. He added there was an “air force event” but it used a different kind of ammunition.
“We don’t have any indication that it hit the hospital, but it does not fit the footage that we have in the hospital,” he said.
Oct 17, 5:58 PM EDT
President departs for trip to Israel
President Joe Biden departed via Air Force One at 5:55 p.m. ET for his trip to Israel.
The president is expected to arrive early Wednesday morning and meet with Israeli leaders about the ongoing conflict.
A planned meeting in Jordan with King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been canceled, according to a U.S. official, who added it was a “mutual decision.”
“The president sent his deepest condolences for the innocent lives lost in the hospital explosion in Gaza, and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded. He looks forward to consulting in person with these leaders soon, and agreed to remain regularly and directly engaged with each of them over the coming days,” a White House official said.
-ABC News’ Mary Bruce
Oct 17, 5:35 PM EDT
Biden prepares $100B aid package for Israel: Sources
The Biden administration is preparing a foreign aid package for $100 billion that will include assistance for Israel, two people familiar with the details told ABC News.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty, Ben Siegel, and Allison Pecorin
Oct 17, 5:28 PM EDT
Biden departs White House to Joint Base Andrews for Israel trip
President Joe Biden has departed the White House and is en route to Joint Base Andrews where he will depart for Israel.
He is expected to meet with Israeli officials on Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Mary Bruce
Oct 17, 5:12 PM EDT
Hamas mulling release of some hostages: Senior US official
Hamas is considering releasing women and children hostages who aren’t Israeli through negotiations with Qatar, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.
Roughly 50 of the hostages are non-Israeli, including some Americans, according to the official.
The official added that the majority of the hostages are being held in tunnels underneath Gaza.
-ABC News’ Martha Raddatz
Oct 17, 4:16 PM EDT
Abbas pulls out of Biden meeting
Mahmoud Abbas, president of the State of Palestine, is pulling out of his Wednesday meeting with President Joe Biden.
“President Mahmoud Abbas decided to return to the homeland tonight, and he called for an emergency leadership meeting tonight,” a senior adviser said Tuesday.
Biden is expected to leave the U.S. Tuesday night to head to Israel and Jordan.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 17, 2:24 PM EDT
At least 500 killed in strike targeting Gaza hospital: Gaza Health Ministry
At least 500 people have been killed in a strike that targeted Al Ahli Arab Hospital in the middle of Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The hospital served as a shelter for thousands of residents who fled their homes in northern Gaza.
The World Health Organization condemned the attack and called for “the immediate active protection of civilians and health care” workers.
This hospital “was one of 20 in the north of the Gaza Strip facing evacuation orders from the Israeli military,” the WHO said in a statement. “The order for evacuation has been impossible to carry out given the current insecurity, critical condition of many patients, and lack of ambulances, staff, health system bed capacity, and alternative shelter for those displaced.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has declared three days of mourning following the attack.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 17, 1:08 PM EDT
Israeli official: Gaza aid must not go to Hamas
Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said Tuesday that officials plan to create “safe zones” in southern Gaza as the only places where residents can receive humanitarian aid.
The aid would be “on one condition,” Hanegbi said in Hebrew. “If this aid does not reach civilians, but goes to murderers, [the safe zones] will simply not exist.”
Oct 17, 12:13 PM EDT
Rafah border crossing endured 4 bombings from Israel, Egypt says
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza has now endured four bombings from Israel, according to a spokesperson for Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Rafah crossing was shut on Oct. 10 after it was hit by Israeli warplanes on the Palestinian side three times on Oct. 9 and 10.
“We are in constant contact with all U.N. agencies to extract a safe passage for the relief aid,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told BBC Radio. “There is not yet any sort of authorization for a safe passage from the other side of the crossing.”
Shoukry also called out Israeli leaders who urged Gaza residents to move south, saying, “Israel’s call for displacement to the South is in full contradiction to international humanitarian law, leaving people with no water, electricity or food.”
Oct 17, 12:11 PM EDT
Gaza school sheltering families hit by airstrikes
Six people were killed and dozens were injured when a Gaza school sheltering refugees was hit by Israeli airstrikes, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said.
At least 4,000 people have taken refuge in the school, UNRWA said.
Oct 17, 11:32 AM EDT
IDF preparing to implement ‘wide range of offensive plans’
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that it’s “preparing to implement a wide range of offensive plans” after mobilizing hundreds of thousands of reserves and several days of combat.
Oct 17, 11:14 AM EDT
Gaza death toll climbs to 3,000
In Gaza, at least 3,000 people have been killed, including about 1,000 women and 1,000 children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Another 12,500 people in Gaza have been injured.
Oct 17, 11:00 AM EDT
Turkey, France in talks with Hamas
French President Emmanuel Macron said there’s been contact with Hamas via “several friendly intermediary powers” to try and negotiate the release of hostages.
Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hakan Fidan, said it’s launched talks with Hamas’ political wing as it efforts the release of foreigners, civilians and children.
Oct 17, 10:42 AM EDT
Another Hamas leader killed
The Israel Defense Forces said its fighter jets have killed Iman Nofal, a senior Hamas member who was a former leader of Hamas’ military intelligence.
Oct 17, 10:23 AM EDT
Gaza hospitals running out of fuel
Gaza hospitals are estimated to have less than 24 hours of fuel left, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
Oct 17, 9:17 AM EDT
John Kirby discusses safety concerns for Biden’s trip to Israel and Jordan
President Joe Biden departs for the Middle East on Tuesday for in-person meetings with Israeli and Arab leaders amid concerns of an expanded conflict in the Israel-Hamas war.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told ABC News’ Good Morning America that Biden’s focus is on the hostage situation, to make sure humanitarian aid can flow to civilians in Gaza, and to get an update from Israeli counterparts on their plans and ground operations.
Asked about safety concerns, Kirby said “there’s always a concern” wherever the president goes, and those concerns would be “appropriately addressed through the necessary force protection and personnel protection measures. “
Asked if Biden’s visit also includes urging Israel to avoid a full-scale ground invasion of Gaza, Kirby reiterated that the U.S. is not telling the Israeli military how to operate but that civilians should be protected.
Kirby added that it’s “vital” that the administration gets supplemental funding from Congress for Israel and Ukraine.
Oct 17, 9:06 AM EDT
3,000 tons of aid with nowhere to go as Gaza-Egypt border remains closed
The Egyptian Food Bank has nearly 3,000 tons of aid, including food, medicine and blankets, ready to cross into Gaza to help its trapped residents, its CEO said. But for now, the trucks are sitting still as the Gaza-Egypt border remains closed.
Mohsen Sarhan, the CEO of the Egyptian Food Bank, told ABC News he went to the border on Tuesday morning.
“You can see people dying, like, few miles away from you,” he said. “Everyone in the world knows that these people have run out of water, and they have run out of medicine and have they have run out of food. And you have all that right in front of you. And you can’t give it to the people. It’s a human rights crisis. And it’s very frustrating.”
Oct 17, 8:07 AM EDT
Hamas says its holding 200 to 250 hostages
Hamas said its holding between 200 and 250 hostages. Hamas said, “We will release detainees of different nationalities when the means of doing so are available on the ground.”
Israel has said 199 hostages were taken.
Oct 17, 6:51 AM EDT
2,000 US military personnel available for possible deployment to the Middle East
Roughly 2,000 U.S. troops have been put on a heightened state of readiness for possible deployment to the Middle East, a Pentagon official said Tuesday morning.
The statement from deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh also says Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has extended the deployment of the USS Ford carrier strike group, which was coming to the end of a planned six-month deployment to Europe.
The Ford CSG was sent to the eastern Mediterranean after the Hamas terror attack on Israel as a deterrent to Iran and its proxies. It will be joined by the USS Eisenhower CSG.
“No decisions have been made to deploy any forces at this time. The Secretary will continue to assess our force posture and remain in close contact with allies and partners,” the statement said.
Oct 17, 6:11 AM EDT
Israeli strikes kill at least 71, Gaza officials say
Overnight Israeli air raids killed at least 71 people and injured at least 50 others, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
The strikes included attacks on Rafah, near a border crossing controlled by Egypt, and three homes that were bombed in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, official said.
The Israel Defense Forces says it hit Hamas targets.
Khan Younis is an area where the Israeli army has been urging people from northern Gaza to flee to. The border crossing in Rafah has seen thousands of people gather, waiting to cross into Egypt.
Oct 17, 1:26 AM EDT
IDF says it’s attacked Hamas tunnels, warehouses
Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday morning it had “attacked over 200 military terrorist infrastructures of” Hamas throughout the Gaza Strip.
The IDF said it hit targets including a bank used by Hamas to “finance terrorism in the Gaza Strip.” Also attacked were underground tunnels, warehouses that IDF said contained weapons and “operational headquarters in the center of Gaza City.”
Oct 17, 12:00 AM EDT
Top US military commander in Middle East arrives in Israel for ‘high-level’ meetings
Gen. Erik Kurilla, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, has arrived in Israel.
“I’m here to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself, and am particularly focused on avoiding other parties expanding the conflict,” Gen. Kurilla said in a statement provided by U.S. Central Command.
Kurilla is set to conduct “high-level” meetings with Israel’s military leadership “to gain a clear understanding of Israel’s defense requirements” and outline American support efforts “to avoid expansion of the conflict.”
Oct 16, 11:25 PM EDT
State Department says 4,000 seats offered to Americans leaving Israel
A State Department official said Monday night that the department has offered 4,000 American citizens and their immediate family members help to depart Israel via government-organized transportation since Friday.
“Since Oct. 13, we have augmented the limited commercial flight availability by offering more than 4,000 seats on U.S. government-chartered transport by air and sea to U.S. citizens and their immediate family members,” one official said. “We have communicated the availability of departure assistance options for U.S. citizens via targeted, individualized messaging as well as via broad public messaging.”
Departing flights, though, were not nearly at capacity, the official said.
“The departure options we have offered have generally departed at half capacity or less. Nearly 1,000 U.S. citizens and their immediate family members have departed on U.S. government-chartered transport,” an official said.
The official added that 3,000 other American citizens have told the State Department that they were able to leave Israel and the West Bank on their own.
Oct 16, 8:54 PM EDT
Biden to visit Israel
President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced on Monday night.
Blinken made the announcement following a lengthy meeting with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Oct 16, 7:30 PM EDT
Hamas releases video of apparent 21-year-old hostage
A 21-year-old Israeli hostage appeared in a video released by Hamas on Monday.
Mia Schem’s family confirmed to ABC News that she is the person who is speaking in the 78-second video.
It was not known when the video was filmed.
Schem’s family was slated to hold a news conference Tuesday morning local time.
Oct 16, 7:24 PM EDT
IDF says it killed Hamas council member, attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon
Israeli Defense Forces and the Shin Bet said they killed the head of the Shura Council of Hamas, Osama al-Mazini, in the Gaza Strip.
The IDF added that it is now attacking military targets of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanese territory.
Oct 16, 6:40 PM EDT
Over 2,700 killed in Gaza: Health official
A spokesman for the Gaza Ministry of Health told reporters at a news conference Monday that 2,778 people have been killed and 9,938 injured.
Dr. Ashraf Aqudra added that 371 families have been killed.
Authorities said they have registered about 1,200 reports of missing people under the rubble of houses, including about 500 children.
“We call on the international community to urgently intervene to send the medical relief teams and equipment to help clear the massive rubble and save the lives that can be saved,” Aqudra said.
Oct 16, 5:46 PM EDT
Netanyahu speaks with Putin
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday evening, his office said.
“The Prime Minister made it clear that Israel had been attacked by brutal and abhorrent murderers, had gone to war determined and united and would not stop until it had destroyed Hamas’s military and governing capabilities,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Clark Bentson
Oct 16, 5:28 PM EDT
Gaza hospital official says facility resources are being depleted with surge of patients
Muhammad Abu Salima, the director of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, provided an update on the dire conditions in the city after 10 days of attacks by Israel.
Many of the wounded patients are children and women, Abu Salima said.
He added that water is scarce inside the hospital due to the lack of electricity and there is a shortage of medicines and fuel.
The hospital added more beds to accommodate the extra patients, Abu Salima said.
-ABC News’ Desiree Adib
Oct 16, 4:58 PM EDT
McConnell says Hamas should be wiped ‘from the face of the Earth’
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called on the United States to continue providing maximum assistance to Israel in the face of the “savage cold-blooded violence” perpetrated by Hamas.
In his first Senate floor remarks since the Oct. 7 attack, McConnell painted a visceral picture of “charred corpses” and “beheadings of children shot dead in their homes.”
“Make no mistake, the surest way to stop violence against Israelis and oppression of Palestinians is to wipe terrorists like Hamas from the face of the Earth,” he said. “To that end, the United States must continue to provide maximum support to Israel’s counterterrorist operation as long as it takes.”
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
Oct 16, 4:40 PM EDT
UN says still no aid has entered Gaza in over a week
The blockade of supplies into Gaza continues, according to a spokeswoman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
“No fuel, no food, no water, and no other kind of aid,” Juliette Touma, the spokeswoman for the UNRWA, said in a statement.
The UNRWA also estimated the number of displaced people in Gaza at 1 million people and denied reports of fuel entering through Rafah.
Oct 16, 4:40 PM EDT
UN says still no aid has entered Gaza in over a week
The blockade of supplies into Gaza continues, according to a spokeswoman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
“No fuel, no food, no water, and no other kind of aid,” Juliette Touma, the spokeswoman for the UNRWA, said in a statement.
The UNRWA also estimated the number of displaced people in Gaza at 1 million people and denied reports of fuel entering through Rafah.
Oct 16, 4:34 PM EDT
Schumer urges Senate to work on aid package
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, fresh off his return from Israel, harshly condemned the Hamas attacks on Israel and repeatedly insisted that the Senate act quickly to provide an aid package to Israel.
In the coming days, Schumer said he’d work with the administration to craft a package that includes military, humanitarian, intelligence and diplomatic aid. The administration has not yet presented a formal ask for Israeli relief, but Schumer said in a conversation with Israeli leaders, he’s learned what the nation needs most.
He also said it’s incumbent on the Senate to begin work on the package to “give Israel the tools it needs to defend itself” and to move on it quickly, even as the House remains without a speaker. He said supporting Israel must be “at the front and center of our attention.”
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
Oct 16, 3:40 PM EDT
Israel’s security chief apologizes for intelligence failure
Ronen Bar, director of Israel’s Shin Bet security service, said in a letter, “We were unable to generate a sufficient warning” for Hamas’ attack.
“As the one who is at the head of the organization — the responsibility for this is mine,” he wrote.
Bar said there will be time for an investigation, but for now, Israelis are fighting.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 16, 3:19 PM EDT
DC protesters call for cease-fire in Gaza
A large group of protesters are rallying outside the White House calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Multiple people have been arrested.
Oct 16, 2:36 PM EDT
Blinken and Netanyahu sheltered in a bunker for 5 minutes
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sheltered in a bunker for five minutes with the war cabinet and the rest of their meeting participants after rocket sirens went off in Tel Aviv on Monday, according to State Department spokesperson Matt Miller.
The meeting has since been moved and participants are going to an Israel Defense Forces command center to continue their discussions, Miller said.
Blinken returned to Israel on Monday to meet with Netanyahu. Miller said earlier that Blinken discussed in their meeting his “firm support” of Israel’s right to defend itself and efforts to provide humanitarian aid and free hostages.
Oct 16, 1:49 PM EDT
Hostages suffering from amputated limbs, severe injuries from rape: Israeli forum
The Israeli hostages in Gaza include an elderly women with Parkinson’s disease, a 60-year-old man with multiple sclerosis and children with autism, according to the Israeli Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
Other hostages are suffering from amputated limbs and severe injuries from rape, the group said.
The hostages are “enduring extreme conditions as time runs critically short,” the group said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said its met with Hamas leadership and is pushing Hamas for immediate release of the hostages.
The Red Cross is also asking Hamas to allow access to the hostages to provide care and to permit hostages to communicate with their families.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 16, 1:25 PM EDT
Israeli airstrike hits road close to Rafah border
An Israeli airstrike struck a road close to the Rafah border crossing and also hit a nearby United Nations Relief and Works Agency warehouse, according to an Egyptian military source.
This is the fourth strike near the border since the war began.
Oct 16, 1:10 PM EDT
IDF says it killed head of Hamas general intelligence
The Israel Defense Forces said its soldiers have killed Hamas’ head of general intelligence in the Gaza Strip.
Oct 16, 11:07 AM EDT
Hostages suffering from amputated limbs, severe injuries from rape: Israeli forum
The Israeli hostages in Gaza include an elderly women with Parkinson’s disease, a 60-year-old man with multiple sclerosis and children with autism, according to the Israeli Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
Other hostages are suffering from amputated limbs and severe injuries from rape, the group said.
The hostages are “enduring extreme conditions as time runs critically short,” the group said.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 16, 9:59 AM EDT
Blinken meets with Netanyahu
Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Israel on Monday to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Blinken discussed his “firm support” of Israel’s right to defend itself and efforts to provide humanitarian aid and free hostages, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
Blinken also met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog. The State Department said the officials discussed “the coordination underway to focus on the safety and protection of civilians placed in harm’s way by Hamas.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 16, 9:41 AM EDT
‘Acute security threats’ preventing US from aiding Americans at Rafah crossing
As Americans inside Gaza wait for the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza to open, a senior State Department official said that Egypt has informed the U.S. that “there are acute security threats” preventing U.S. officials and others from aiding Americans inside Gaza.
The official added that the State Department has placed a team on the Egypt side of the border “as close to the border as conditions permit.”
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Monday that Israel has not allowed the opening of the Rafah border crossing from the Gaza side.
Shoukry said, since the crisis broke out, Egypt “has been seeking to keep the crossing operational and in a way that allows the entry of humanitarian aid.”
“Until now, unfortunately, the Israeli government has not taken a position to allow the opening of the crossing from the Gaza side for the entry of aid or the exit of nationals of [other] countries,” Shoukry said. “We are ready and Egyptian authorities on the border are ready to get aid in and get nationals of third countries out.”
He added that Egypt aims to keep normal operation of the border “for the entry of Palestinians with medical needs or the normal movement between the Strip and Egypt.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 16, 9:36 AM EDT
Death toll continues to mount on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel more than a week ago, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 1,400 people have died, and 3,400 others have been injured, according to Israeli officials.
In Gaza, at least 2,750 people have been killed in retaliatory strikes from Israel with another 9,700 more injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
In the West Bank, at least 54 have been killed.
Oct 16, 6:21 AM EDT
199 hostages taken, Israel says
Hamas militants have taken at least 199 hostages since their ground invasion into Israel began on Oct. 7, a spokesperson for the Israeli military said on Monday.
-ABC News’ Clark Bentson
Oct 16, 3:29 AM EDT
No cease-fire agreed, Netanyahu’s office says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Monday that there was no cease-fire agreement ahead of the expected re-opening of an Egyptian border in Rafah.
“There is no ceasefire,” the office said in a two-line statement.
Oct 16, 2:52 AM EDT
Israelis near Lebanon border to be evacuated
Israelis residents living near the border with Lebanon will be evacuated, state officials said Monday.
People living within the 28 Israeli towns that sit within 2 km of the border will be evacuated, the Israeli Ministry of Defense’s National Emergency Management Authority and the Israel Defense Forces said in a joint statement.
-ABC News’ Clark Bentson
Oct 16, 2:39 AM EDT
US committed to Israel ‘as it defends itself,’ Blinken says
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday reaffirmed the U.S.’s commitment to Israel “as it defends itself.”
“The United States is also actively working to ensure the people of Gaza can get out of harm’s way and the assistance they need — food, water, medicine — can get in,” he said on social media. “Hamas does not care if Palestinians suffer.”
The secretary is expected on Monday to travel to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Over the past few days, I’ve traveled to Israel, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt,” Blinken said. “What I’ve heard from every partner is a shared view to prevent the conflict from spreading, to safeguard innocent lives, and to get assistance to those in Gaza who need it.”
-ABC News’ Lauren Minore
Oct 14, 5:26 PM EDT
USS Eisenhower carrier strike group to move to Eastern Mediterranean
The USS Eisenhower carrier strike group will move to the Eastern Mediterranean to join the USS Ford carrier strike group that arrived there earlier this week, a senior U.S. official and a U.S. official told ABC News.
U.S. officials have said publicly this week that the presence of the USS Ford carrier strike group in the Eastern Mediterranean was intended as a deterrent to Iran and Hezbollah, not to get involved in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The Eisenhower joining the Ford will increase the show of force enhancing that message of deterrence.
The Eisenhower strike group includes the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower and the cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG-58), and the destroyers USS Laboon (DDG-58), USS Mason (DDG-87) and USS Gravely (DDG-107).
The strike group left Norfolk, Virginia, on Saturday bound for a previously scheduled deployment that would take it to the Middle East via the Mediterranean Sea. While in the Mediterranean it was to have participated in previously-scheduled exercises in the U.S. European Command area of responsibility.
Earlier this week the Pentagon issued a statement that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would “continue to review both the Eisenhower and Ford’s deployment plans as he considers the appropriate balance of maritime capability across theaters in support of national security priorities.”
-ABC News’ Martha Raddatz and Luis Martinez
Oct 14, 5:14 PM EDT
29 Americans now confirmed dead in Israel: State Department
Twenty-nine Americans have been confirmed dead in Israel, according to a State Department spokesperson, up from 27.
Additionally, 15 U.S. citizens and one lawful permanent resident of the U.S. are still unaccounted for, the spokesperson said.
“State Department personnel have been in contact with their families,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “The U.S. government is working around the clock to determine their whereabouts and is working with the Israeli government on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government to advise the Israeli government on hostage recovery efforts.”
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Crawford
Oct 14, 4:53 PM EDT
Austin phones Israeli Defense Minister to discuss ‘importance of adhering to the law of war’
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday and “discussed the importance of adhering to the law of war, including civilian protection obligations, and addressing the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza while Israel continues its operations to restore security,” according to the Pentagon.
President Joe Biden spoke on Saturday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
On Biden’s call with Abbas, the president “reiterated that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination” and “offered President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority his full support for these important and ongoing efforts,” according to the White House.
Oct 14, 3:53 PM EDT
Demonstrators gather outside White House
Demonstrators in support of the Palestinian people have gathered in the rain outside the White House Saturday.
The demonstrators are calling for action, including a ceasefire from Israel, the opening of a humanitarian coordinator and unwavering support for Palestinians trapped in Gaza.
Oct 14, 3:41 PM EDT
Flights bringing Floridians home from Israel to depart Saturday: DeSantis
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters in Iowa Saturday that flights transporting Floridians home from Israel will leave Saturday and land throughout the day on Sunday.
“We have a lot of Floridians there,” DeSantis said Friday. “The federal government really wasn’t doing what they needed to do get people out, so we just did an executive order yesterday. We’re going to be sending flights from Israel, back to Florida.”
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie and Hannah Demissie
Oct 14, 1:31 PM EDT
Israel to strike Gaza City ‘very soon’
Israel will “broadly attack Gaza City very soon,” Israel Defense Forces Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a national broadcast address Saturday.
Oct 14, 1:17 PM EDT
35,000 sheltering at Gaza’s main hospital
About 35,000 people are sheltering at Shifa Hospital, Gaza City’s main hospital, ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive, according to a hospital official.
Oct 14, 12:54 PM EDT
Protests in Tel Aviv: ‘Bibi is a murderer’
People have taken to the streets of Tel Aviv in protest of the Israeli government, blaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu for not protecting Israel’s citizens.
Some chanted, “Bibi is a murderer.”
Posters of kidnapped men, women and children are plastered on the wall outside where Israeli leaders are meeting.
Many Israelis are concerned a ground incursion into Gaza would put hostages in harm’s way and they said more focus should be on bringing hostages home.
Oct 14, 12:39 PM EDT
Israeli military prepares for ‘coordinated attack,’ ‘significant ground operation’
The Israel Defense Forces said it’s preparing to implement an “integrated and coordinated attack from the air, sea and land” with an emphasis on a “significant ground operation.”
Oct 14, 11:33 AM EDT
‘Time is running out,’ UNRWA says
With 1 million people already displaced, Julia Touma, director of communications for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, said she’s concerned that the conditions for Gaza residents will soon worsen.
“No humanitarian agency, including UNWRA, has been able to bring in any supplies for one week,” she told ABC News Live on Saturday. “[There’s] no drinking water and 2 million people are at the risk of dehydration. So it is very, very critical that humanitarian passage is given, that the siege on Gaza is lifted, so that organizations like my own, UNWRA, are able to deliver assistance.”
“Time is running out. It’s becoming a matter of life and death,” she warned.
Oct 14, 10:58 AM EDT
Blinken meets with Saudi FM
As Secretary of State Antony Blinken continues his tour through the Middle East, there continues to be a disconnect between the U.S. stance and the stance of other nations more closely aligned with the Palestinians as they stop short of directly condemning Hamas.
“It’s a disturbing situation. It’s a very difficult situation,” Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud said in remarks with Blinken. “And the primary sufferer of this situation are civilians – civilian populations on both sides are being affected. And here it’s important, I think, that we all condemn the targeting of civilians in any form, at any time, by anyone.”
Blinken repeated that “no country can or should be expected to tolerate what Israel has just been on the receiving end of.”
“Hamas is not representative of the Palestinian people or their legitimate aspirations for the future,” Blinken added. “Hamas is a terrorist group. Its only agenda is to destroy the state of Israel and to murder Jews. And it’s important that the entire world see it as such.”
In readout of their private meeting, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Blinken against emphasized “the United States’ unwavering focus on halting terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel” as well as “continued engagement with regional partners to prevent the spread of conflict in the region and their shared commitment to taking steps to help protect civilians.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 14, 10:33 AM EDT
How to help victims of Israel-Hamas conflict
As the horrendous carnage from the Israel-Hamas conflict grows, the need for humanitarian support has become more urgent on both sides of the border.
Among the organizations people can donate to are: IsraAid, American Red Cross, UNICEF and The Jewish Federation.
Oct 14, 9:53 AM EDT
Gaza, Egypt border not open yet for foreign evacuees
The Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt is not yet open to foreigners, including Americans, looking to evacuate. But if Americans who want to evacuate can move closer to the border crossing they should do so, because “there may be very little notice if the crossing opens and it may only open for a limited time,” a U.S. Embassy spokesperson said.
We will continue to be in touch with private U.S. citizens to determine what assistance we may be able to provide,” the spokesperson said.
A senior State Department official said the department is “in touch with a number of the roughly” 500 to 600 Palestinian-Americans “who have expressed interest in receiving information about leaving.”
Oct 14, 9:10 AM EDT
Hamas says 9 hostages killed in airstrikes
Hamas said nine hostages in Gaza have been killed by Israeli airstrikes over the last day.
Oct 14, 8:14 AM EDT
Death toll continues to mount on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel one week ago, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 1,300 people have died, and 3,227 others have been injured, according to Israeli officials.
In Gaza, at least 2,215 people have been killed — including 724 children and 458 women — in retaliatory strikes from Israel with an estimated 8,714 more injured, including 2,450 children and 1,536 women, with those numbers expected to climb.
In the West Bank, at least 49 have been killed and more than 950 are wounded.
Oct 14, 8:05 AM EDT
Hamas commando forces leader killed, Israel says
The Israeli army and Israeli intelligence said they’ve targeted and killed Hamas commando forces leader Ali Qadi.
Oct 14, 7:52 AM EDT
US did not ask Israel to hold off on a ground invasion: Official
The United States did not ask Israel to hold off or delay a ground invasion of Gaza, ABC News has learned.
“U.S. officials have not asked Israel to slow down. But discussions did include the importance of taking into account the safety of civilians during any operations,” according to a U.S. official.
The official said the Israelis took it under advisement.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Oct 14, 6:58 AM EDT
Agreement reached to allow foreigners to leave Gaza
Egypt, Israel and the United States have agreed to allow foreigners in Gaza to pass through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, according to a senior State Department official.
“So we have been trying to facilitate access for [the Rafah Border Crossing] to be open from 12 to 5 today. The Egyptians, the Israelis and the Qataris have been working with us on that,” the official said.
They added: “That said, it’s not clear at all if Hamas was going to allow people to make it to Rafah.”
When asked about the number of U.S. citizens, the official said, “We are in touch with a number of the roughly 500-600 (Palestinian-Americans)…who have expressed interest in receiving information about leaving.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 14, 12:32 AM EDT
‘The Palestinian citizens in Gaza are not our enemies’: IDF
Early Saturday morning, Israel Defense Forces Lt Col. Jonathan Conricus went live on X to give an update on the 24-hour evacuation notice issued in Gaza on Friday.
Conricus stated, “The Palestinian citizens in Gaza are not our enemies,” saying IDF doesn’t assess them as such, and if they did “the situation in Gaza would be different.”
“We have seen a significant movement of Palestinian civilians toward the south, we have seen people listening to our warning, understanding that they are moving out of a dangerous area,” said Conricus.
The IDF advertised their intentions in advance “not because it has any military logic” but because “we want civilians not to be affected by the war,” said Conricus.
“They are not our enemy, we are not trying to kill or injure any civilians, we are fighting against Hamas.”
Oct 13, 10:09 PM EDT
Human Rights Watch says IDF used white phosphorus munitions over Gaza
Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using white phosphorus munitions in military operations in Gaza on Wednesday, saying it violated international humanitarian law by putting civilians at unnecessary risk.
In a report released Thursday, Human Rights Watch said it based its determination on a video it said it has verified, as well as two eyewitness accounts.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement to ABC News that claims they used white phosphorus in Gaza are “unequivocally false.”
ABC News geolocated a video showing a jellyfish-shaped plume of white smoke over the port of Gaza. The video was posted on Wednesday by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA and matches images posted on social media and by other news outlets on the day.
Two experts — Amael Kotlarski, the weapons team manager for the defense intelligence firm Janes, and Amnesty International weapons investigator Brian Castner — told ABC News that images suggested munitions deployed over the port of Gaza on Wednesday appeared to contain white phosphorus.
“We have verified that Israeli artillery forces striking Gaza are equipped with M825 and M825A1155mm white phosphorus projectiles,” Castner told ABC News, pointing to photographs by an Anadolu Agency photographer taken on Monday and showing Israeli troops handling shells labeled “M825A1.”
Kotlarski said visual evidence alone was not sufficient to confirm that these specific shells were used in the Gaza port strikes.
There are “perfectly legal” military uses for white phosphorus munitions, Kotlarski said, including to create a smoke screen to conceal movements, to mark targets for artillery or air strikes, or to illuminate a battlefield. However, its use in urban areas is “problematic due to the higher risk of collateral damage,” Kotlarski said, including the munitions’ potential to cause severe burns.
White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton said Friday the U.S. had not independently verified allegations Israel used white phosphorous “so that is not something I would want to speculate about or weigh in on at this time.”
-ABC News’ Christopher Looft, Ben Gittleson and Jordana Miller
Oct 13, 8:07 PM EDT
What are the rules of war? And how do they apply to Israel’s actions in Gaza?
Six days after a brutal attack by armed Hamas militants on Israeli civilians, Israel ordered an evacuation of more than 1 million Palestinians in northern Gaza ahead of what could be an unprecedented ground offensive there against Hamas.
The U.S. and other nations have repeatedly warned Israel to follow the “rules of war.”
But what are they? And will they prevent civilians from being hurt?
Here’s what to know about international humanitarian laws and how they might apply in the Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty
Oct 13, 6:57 PM EDT
20K US citizens contact State Dept. for help amid conflict: Officials
As the Biden administration intensifies efforts to help American nationals leave Israel and Gaza, more than 20,000 U.S. citizens have reached out to the State Department asking for help in the wake of the Hamas attacks, including several hundred seeking to leave Gaza, according to two U.S. officials.
While not all have actively sought assistance with transportation, “many thousands” across Israel have indicated they needed help finding flights out of the country, the officials said.
Government-chartered planes have now started to ferry U.S. citizens from Israel to other countries in the region, though one official said the State Department still cannot share a detailed breakdown on the number of Americans whose departure it has already facilitated or the number of Americans still waiting for help “given this is an unfolding situation.”
For Americans in Gaza, the U.S. is still eyeing the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt as a means of safe passage. Officials say they are very hopeful they will be able to work with Israel and Egypt to establish a corridor for U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals, but that it could take days to make substantial progress.
The Israeli government estimated that between 100 to 130 Americans were living in Gaza earlier this year. An official says the State Department believes hundreds more are visiting — putting the total number in Gaza potentially between 500 and 600.
The State Department estimates that roughly 500,000 American citizens reside in Israel.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Crawford
Oct 13, 6:35 PM EDT
Biden speaks about his call with families of missing Americans
President Joe Biden on Friday spoke briefly about his phone call with family members of missing Americans.
“We’re working around the clock to secure the release of Americans held by Hamas,” Biden said.
“They’re going through agony not knowing what the status of their sons, daughters, husbands, wives, children are,” Biden said. “It’s gut-wrenching. I assured them my personal commitment to do everything possible, everything possible, to return every missing American to their families.”
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Oct 13, 6:32 PM EDT
UNICEF calls for immediate humanitarian pause in Gaza
UNICEF on Friday urged Israel to rescind its call for a mass evacuation of northern Gaza, saying there needs to be an immediate humanitarian pause to “scale and sustain lifesaving services for children.”
“The situation is catastrophic, with unrelenting bombing and a massive increase in the displacement of children and families. There are no safe places,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement. “An immediate ceasefire and humanitarian access are the top priorities to allow much needed aid to children and families in Gaza.”
“There are rules of war,” the statement continued. “Children in Gaza need lifesaving support and every minute counts.”
UNICEF said the situation is becoming “increasingly difficult and dangerous” and humanitarians have been warned to leave Gaza City, but that it will stay to provide support for children in need.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Oct 13, 5:46 PM EDT
Lufthansa suspending flights to and from Beirut
Lufthansa is suspending flights to and from Beirut, Lebanon, “due to the current situation in the Middle East,” the airline said in a statement on Friday.
Lufthansa and Eurowings flights to the region will be suspended through Oct. 16.
Oct 13, 4:27 PM EDT
Members of Congress urge US airlines to resume Israel flights
At least 32 members of Congress wrote a letter to the CEOs of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines urging them “to resume flights as soon as possible to Tel Aviv and keep your operations flexible to assist with bringing Americans home and moving innocent civilians out of harm’s way.”
While U.S.-based airlines have stopped flights to and from Tel Aviv, they have been working with the U.S. government to bolster their operations in Europe to help get fleeing Americans home after they land in European cities.
The lawmakers wrote that certain “barriers” to resuming operations “may seem too complex or too difficult, but as long as there are Americans in need and a way to operate safely — we must try.”
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Oct 13, 4:17 PM EDT
Asked what worries him about ground invasion, Biden says, ‘Death’
When a reporter on Friday asked President Joe Biden what worries him about a potential Israeli ground invasion into Gaza, Biden responded, “Death.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned earlier Friday that Israel’s call for more than 1 million people to evacuate northern Gaza “is extremely dangerous, and in some cases, simply not possible.”
He warned that “hospitals in the south of Gaza are already at capacity and will not be able to accept thousands of new patients from the north.”
“The health system is on the brink of collapse; morgues are overflowing,” Guterres said at the UN headquarters in New York. “The entire territory faces a water crisis, its infrastructure has been damaged, and there is no electricity to power pumps and desalinization plants.”
Israeli forces have postponed the demand to evacuate Gaza’s Al Awda Hospital until 6 a.m. local time.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson and Mary Bruce
Oct 13, 3:58 PM EDT
Biden speaks about his call with families of missing Americans
President Joe Biden on Friday spoke briefly about his phone call with family members of missing Americans.
“We’re working around the clock to secure the release of Americans held by Hamas,” Biden said.
“They’re going through agony not knowing what the status of their sons, daughters, husbands, wives, children are,” Biden said. “It’s gut-wrenching. I assured them my personal commitment to do everything possible, everything possible, to return every missing American to their families.”
Oct 13, 3:53 PM EDT
UN: Gaza evacuation ‘extremely dangerous, and in some cases, simply not possible’
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned Friday that Israel’s call for more than 1 million people to evacuate northern Gaza “is extremely dangerous, and in some cases, simply not possible.”
He warned that “hospitals in the south of Gaza are already at capacity and will not be able to accept thousands of new patients from the north.”
“The health system is on the brink of collapse; morgues are overflowing,” Guterres said at the UN headquarters in New York. “The entire territory faces a water crisis, its infrastructure has been damaged, and there is no electricity to power pumps and desalinization plants.”
Israeli forces have postponed the demand to evacuate Gaza’s Al Awda Hospital until 6 a.m. local time.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Oct 13, 3:12 PM EDT
UN: Gaza evacuation ‘extremely dangerous, and in some cases, simply not possible’
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned Friday that Israel’s call for more than 1 million people to evacuate northern Gaza “is extremely dangerous, and in some cases, simply not possible,”
He warned that “hospitals in the south of Gaza are already at capacity and will not be able to accept thousands of new patients from the north.”
“The health system is on the brink of collapse; morgues are overflowing,” Guterres said at the UN headquarters in New York. “The entire territory faces a water crisis, its infrastructure has been damaged, and there is no electricity to power pumps and desalinization plants.”
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Oct 13, 3:07 PM EDT
Israel didn’t give US heads-up on Gaza evacuation order
While the U.S. and Israel have been coordinating efforts to lessen civilian casualties in Gaza, Israel did not give the U.S. a heads-up on Israel’s mass evacuation order for northern Gaza, according to a US official.
“Of course, we’re concerned about any additional loss of innocent human life,” said John Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council.
“We are working very aggressively with the Israelis and the Egyptians to try to find a safe passage out of southern Gaza,” he said.
-ABC News’ Mary Bruce, Shannon Crawford and Justin Fishel
Oct 13, 2:54 PM EDT
WHO begs for ‘immediate reversal of Gaza evacuation order’
The World Health Organization is begging Israel to immediately reverse its evacuation order for the over 1 million living north of Wadi Gaza, saying “a mass evacuation would be disastrous for patients, health workers and other civilians left behind or caught in the mass movement.”
“With ongoing airstrikes and closed borders, civilians have no safe place to go,” the WHO said in a statement. “Almost half of the population of Gaza is under 18 years of age. With dwindling supplies of safe food, clean water, health services, and without adequate shelter, children and adults, including the elderly, will all be at heightened risk of disease.”
“Of the thousands of patients with injuries and other conditions receiving care in hospitals, there are hundreds that are severely wounded and over 100 who require critical care,” the WHO said. “Many thousands more, also with wounds or other health needs, cannot access any kind of care. The compressed timeframe, complex transport logistics, damaged roads, and, above all, lack of supportive care during transport all add to the difficulty of moving them.”
Oct 13, 12:09 PM EDT
Doctors Without Borders: Israeli order to evacuate northern Gaza ‘outrageous’
Doctors Without Borders issued a statement Friday calling the Israeli government’s 24-hour notice to leave northern Gaza “outrageous.”
“We are talking about more than a million human beings,” Doctors Without Borders said in a statement. “‘Unprecedented’ doesn’t even cover the medical humanitarian impact of this. Gaza is being flattened, thousands of people are dying. This must stop now. We condemn Israel’s demand in the strongest possible terms.”
Over 423,000 people have been displaced in Gaza so far, according to the United Nations.
Oct 13, 12:00 PM EDT
London sees rise in antisemitism, police up patrols
Police in London are upping patrols amid a rise in antisemitism following the Hamas terror attack, the Metropolitan Police said.
“Officers have visited more than 200 schools as well as more than 300 synagogues, mosques and other places of worship,” police said. “Some of our communities are telling us they feel very vulnerable and we are working with their leaders, faith groups and others to reassure them and ensure they feel safe.”
Police said they’re expecting thousands of people to participate in a pro-Palestine march in London on Saturday.
Oct 13, 10:45 AM EDT
Fighting ongoing near Lebanon border
Fighting is ongoing in northern Israel near the Lebanon border, where huge plumes of smoke are visible.
The Israel Defense Forces said there was an explosion Friday at the security fence adjacent to Hanita, Israel, which is along the border. The IDF said it’s responding with artillery fire toward Lebanon.
“Additionally, an alert was activated concerning the infiltration of terrorists into the community,” the IDF said, and Israeli “soldiers are currently searching the area.”
Oct 13, 10:13 AM EDT
Hamas using roofs of residential buildings to launch drones: IDF
The Israel Defense Forces said Hamas is using roofs of residential buildings in Gaza to launch its hostile unmanned aerial vehicles.
Israeli planes have targeted dozens of these launch sites, the IDF said.
“This is further proof Hamas deliberately uses civilian building for military purposes,” the IDF said. “The IDF will continue to operate in order to destroy Hamas’ hostile UAV capabilities.”
Oct 13, 10:01 AM EDT
Death toll continues to mount on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel on Saturday, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 1,300 people have died, and 3,227 others have been injured, according to Israeli officials.
In Gaza, at least 1,799 people have died, including 583 children and 351 women, officials said. Another 7,388 people were injured.
Oct 13, 9:39 AM EDT
Gaza evacuation: ‘Those who want to save their life, please go south’
In his first on-camera comments about Israel’s evacuation request for northern Gaza, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant urged Gaza residents to head south. He noted that Hamas will use them as “camouflage,” “therefore we need to separate them.”
“Those who want to save their life, please go south. We are going to destroy Hamas infrastructures, Hamas headquarters, Hamas military,” he said.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who appeared at the press conference with Gallant, dodged ABC News’ question about how Israel could end the Hamas terror threat without inevitably risking civilian lives. Austin called Israel’s military “professional” and “disciplined.”
Austin described how ISIS had also embedded themselves in civilian populations and how the anti-ISIS coalition “protected civilians and created corridors for humanitarian movement even in the midst of a pretty significant fight. So again, this is a professional force. It is well led, and I have every expectation that it will be disciplined.”
Austin added, “I would tell you that in countering ISIS, I felt as if we were staring evil in the eye, it was truly evil. And what we’ve seen from Hamas, it takes that evil to another level.”
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler and Luis Martinez
Oct 13, 9:20 AM EDT
Death toll continues to mount on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 1,300 people have died, and 3,227 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 1,527 people have died and another 6,612 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials. On Thursday, at least 45 were killed in a strike on a residential building in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp.
In the West Bank, 31 people have been killed and more than 600 were wounded.
Oct 13, 9:03 AM EDT
Sec. Blinken meets with Palestinian Authority President Abbas
During his meeting in Jordan with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken conveyed the need to cool tension across the West Bank and prevent the conflict from becoming broader, the State Department said.
“The Secretary extended his condolences to the families of Palestinian civilian victims of this conflict, and reiterated that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s legitimate right to dignity, freedom, justice, and self-determination,” a readout from department spokesperson Matt Miller said.
“The Secretary thanked President Abbas and his team for their work to further calm the situation for the benefit of Palestinians, Israelis, and the tens of thousands of Americans who also call the West Bank home. Secretary Blinken reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to cooperation with the Palestinian leadership and people on efforts to ensure security for all,” Miller continued.
Oct 13, 8:29 AM EDT
Kirby says IDF calls for civilians to leave Gaza in the next day is ‘a tall order’
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby avoided saying if the U.S. believed Israel’s calls for civilians in Gaza to evacuate in the next 24 hours was possible but acknowledge that it was a “tall order” given how densely populated the area is.
“Well, I think we’re going to be careful not to get into armchair quarterbacking the tactics on the ground by the IDF. What I can tell you is we understand what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to move civilians out of harm’s way and giving them fair warning. Now, it’s a tall order. It’s a million people, and it’s a very urban, dense environment, already a combat zone. I don’t think anybody’s underestimating the challenge here of affecting that evacuation,” Kirby said in an interview on CNN Friday morning.
“But it’s pretty clear that what they’re trying to do is to the maximum extent possible avoid civilian casualties and also separate Hamas from the human shields. I mean, Hamas actually gave a counterorder telling Palestinians in Gaza to stay at home. Why? Because having human shields, they think, protects them,” Kirby continued.
Asked about their efforts to secure a safe passage for civilians out of Gaza, Kirby reiterated that the U.S. is talking to Israel and Egypt but would not comment further on progress.
On the Rafah crossing specifically, Kirby said “So far it’s still closed. But that doesn’t mean were not going to still try as hard as we can to talk to the Israelis and Egyptians about getting it open and having some sort of safe passage out. It’s important that we also continue to work to make sure that humanitarian assistance can get in. The United States has no intention of stopping our efforts to continue to deliver humanitarian assistance, but there has to be a path in, there has to be a path out.”
Kirby had no update on the Americans who are believed to be held hostage in Gaza and could not confirm reports that 13 hostages have been killed by Israeli airstrikes, as Hamas has claimed.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Oct 13, 7:53 AM EDT
President Biden expected to speak with families of missing Americans
In a new clip from a 60 Minutes interview, set to air in full Sunday on CBS, President Biden says he feels strongly about doing this so the families know that their president “cares deeply” about what has happened and will do “everything in our power to get them home if we can find them.”
“I think they have to know that the president of the United States of America cares deeply about what’s happened to them, deeply. We have to communicate to the world–this is critical, this is not even human behavior. It’s pure barbarism. And we’re going to do everything in our power to get them home if we can find them,” Biden said in the short clip.
-ABC News’ Mary Bruce and Molly Nagle
Oct 13, 3:23 AM EDT
Secretary of Defense Travels to Tel Aviv to Show Support for the People of Israel
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Tel Aviv early Friday morning and will meet with Israeli leaders face-to-face to “underscore the unwavering support of the U.S. for the people of Israel and commitment to ensuring Israel has what it needs to defend itself,” according to a Department of Defense statement.
“While in Israel, Secretary Austin will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, and the Israeli War Cabinet. He will also see firsthand some of the U.S. security assistance delivered to Israel. This is Secretary Austin’s second visit to the country this year, and his third as Secretary of Defense,” the statement read.
Oct 13, 1:56 AM EDT
UN Agency for Palestine Refugees relocates central operation to southern Gaza
The U.N. Agency for Palestine Refugees relocated its central operation center and international staff to southern Gaza, the UNRWA said in a post on X early Friday morning local time.
“UNRWA relocated its central operations centre + international staff to the south to continue its humanitarian operations and support to its staff and Palestine Refugees in #Gaza. We urge the Israeli Authorities to protect all civilians in @UNRWA shelters including schools,” the statement read.
The announcement comes as Israel Defense Forces called for “all residents of Gaza City to evacuate their homes” and “move south for their protection” early Friday morning.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Oct 13, 12:39 AM EDT
IDF tells ‘all residents of Gaza City to evacuate’
Israel Defense Forces called for “all residents of Gaza City to evacuate their homes” and “move south for their protection” early Friday morning local time in a series of posts on X.
The IDF told residents to move “and settle in the area south of the Gaza River.”
The announcement was made, according to the IDF, because it plans to “operate significantly in Gaza City in the coming days” and wanted “to avoid harming civilians.”
The IDF said in its posts that it believes Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City, including in buildings with “innocent civilians” inside.
“[D]istance yourself from the Hamas terrorists who use you as a human shield,” the post read.
The message was released a short time after the UN made a similar announcement, also citing Israel’s military.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Oct 13, 12:10 AM EDT
‘Approximately 1.1 million’ people in Gaza told to evacuate within 24 hours
United Nations team leaders in Gaza were informed by their liaison officers in the Israeli military that “the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours,” a U.N. spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News.
“This amounts to approximately 1.1 million people,” the spokesperson added.
“The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences,” the spokesperson said.
-ABC News’ Samy Zyara and Ellie Kaufman
Oct 12, 5:23 PM EDT
Israel issues warning ahead of ‘Day of Rage’
The Israeli government has issued a warning for Israelis around the world to be vigilant ahead of Friday, when Hamas is calling on their supporters to hold worldwide “Day of Rage” protests that could turn violent.
In the U.S., every major city police department is on a heightened state of alert.
In New York City, the police department has canceled vacations and instructed all members to show up in uniform.
The FBI also said it is “aware” of open-source reporting about the global call for action by Hamas.
“We are working closely with our law enforcement partners across the country to share information and identify and disrupt any threats that may emerge,” the FBI said in a statement.
Oct 12, 4:25 PM EDT
US Embassy to help Americans evacuate Israel
The U.S. Embassy said it’ll offer transportation for Americans looking to leaving Israel beginning on Friday.
“It will take some period of time to schedule everyone seeking to depart,” the embassy said. “Transportation will be by air to Athens or Frankfurt, or sea from Haifa to Cyprus. You will not be able to choose your destination – we will assign you to the next available flight or ship.”
“You should be prepared to depart within 8-12 hours of receiving notice of your booking. Each traveler may bring one small carry on item no more than 22 pounds (10 kg) and one suitcase no more than 35 pounds (16 kg),” the embassy said.
Delta Air Lines said it’s partnering with the government to help set up flights through Athens.
United Airlines said it’s adding extra flights with capped fares between Athens and Newark, New Jersey, and will use a larger plane for its Athens to Washington flight. “We’re in close touch with the U.S. State Department as it seeks to add additional options for Americans traveling from the region,” United said.
The U.S. expects “these initial travel options to facilitate the safe departure of thousands of U.S. citizens per week,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.
A separate official said that the State Department remains in contact with “several thousand” American citizens in Israel, but it’s unclear how many will ultimately decide to leave. Some have already departed.
The State Department estimates that roughly 500,000 American citizens live in Israel.
-ABC News’ Amanda Maile, Will Gretsky and Shannon Crawford
Oct 12, 4:14 PM EDT
Death toll continues to mount on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 1,200 people have died, and 2,900 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 1,527 people have died and another 6,612 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials. On Thursday, at least 45 were killed in a strike on a residential building in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp.
In the West Bank, 31 people have been killed and more than 600 were wounded.
Oct 12, 4:06 PM EDT
Israel issues warning ahead of ‘Day of Rage’
The Israeli government has issued a warning for Israelis around the world to be vigilant ahead of Friday, when Hamas is calling on their supporters to hold worldwide “Day of Rage” protests that could turn violent.
In the U.S., every major city police department is on a heightened state of alert.
In New York City, the police department has canceled vacations and instructed all members to show up in uniform.
Oct 12, 3:45 PM EDT
Israel says no electricity will be turned on in Gaza until hostages are returned
As the humanitarian crisis worsens in Gaza, Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said no electrical switch will be turned on, no water tap will be opened and no fuel truck will enter Gaza until the Israeli hostages are returned home.
Gaza relies on Israel for most of its power, which was cut off following the attack. Its sole power plant ran out of fuel on Wednesday.
Oct 12, 3:26 PM EDT
US Embassy to help Americans evacuate Israel
The U.S. Embassy said it’ll offer transportation for Americans looking to leaving Israel beginning on Friday.
“It will take some period of time to schedule everyone seeking to depart,” the embassy said. “Transportation will be by air to Athens or Frankfurt, or sea from Haifa to Cyprus. You will not be able to choose your destination – we will assign you to the next available flight or ship.”
“You should be prepared to depart within 8-12 hours of receiving notice of your booking. Each traveler may bring one small carry on item no more than 22 pounds (10 kg) and one suitcase no more than 35 pounds (16 kg),” the embassy said.
Delta Air Lines said it’s partnering with the government to help set up flights through Athens.
The U.S. expects “these initial travel options to facilitate the safe departure of thousands of U.S. citizens per week,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.
A separate official said that the State Department remains in contact with “several thousand” American citizens in Israel, but it’s unclear how many will ultimately decide to leave. Some have already departed.
The State Department estimates that roughly 500,000 American citizens live in Israel.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Shannon Crawford
Oct 12, 2:55 PM EDT
No plans for US troops on the ground in Israel
The White House said there are no intentions to send U.S. troops to Israel.
“The Israelis have made it very clear that they don’t want foreign troops on their soil. That they want to prosecute these operations on their own and they have every right to want to do that,” said John Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council.
Kirby said the U.S. would “do everything we can to improve” the capabilities of the Israeli military.
And as humanitarian concerns grow in Gaza, Kirby told reporters that there are “ongoing conversations” with Israeli counterparts about the need for the “continued flow of humanitarian assistance” to the area.
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez and Molly Nagle
Oct 12, 11:33 AM EDT
El Al to fly on Shabbat for 1st time in more than 40 years
Israeli airline El Al said it’ll fly on Shabbat — which is from Friday night to Saturday night — this weekend for the first time since 1982.
The flights from New York and Bangkok will bring soldiers to Israel.
Oct 12, 11:18 AM EDT
Hamas suspect detained on festival grounds
A suspected Hamas terrorist appeared with a knife Thursday at the grounds of the music festival in southern Israel where hundreds of concertgoers were killed by Hamas this weekend.
Israeli soldiers immediately took down the suspect and took him into custody.
Oct 12, 11:04 AM EDT
American survivor shares her story with Blinken
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday visited an Israel donation center, where he was greeted by applause and cries of “God bless America.”
Blinken dropped off his own contribution to benefit survivors who have lost everything.
He then spoke to Lior Gelbaum, a 24-year-old American-Israeli dual citizen, who was attending the music festival that was attacked by Hamas.
Through tears, she told Blinken that many of her friends were killed or taken hostage.
“Thank you for being here. It’s really important,” she said. “And if there is any way to help — first priority, first priority is our friends and family that are still in Gaza.”
“We’re thinking of them and trying to do everything we can. We want to bring them home,” Blinken responded. “I admire your strength.”
Another volunteer told Blinken he had just come from the fourth funeral of a friend who lost a child. The volunteer said all of the mourners had expressed that after concluding their mourning period, they would rebuild the country.
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 12, 10:47 AM EDT
Empire State Building will light up for Israel
New York City’s Empire State Building will shine blue and white lights in honor of Israel from 10 p.m. local time Friday until sunrise on Saturday.
The Empire State Building’s lights usually extinguish at 2 a.m. local time, but they will be extended in this case so people in Israel can see in real-time.
Oct 12, 10:13 AM EDT
Death toll continues to mount on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 1,200 people have died, and 2,900 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 1,417 people have died and another 6,268 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials. At least 447 children and 248 women are among those killed in Gaza.
Oct 12, 9:27 AM EDT
Emirates suspends flights to and from Tel Aviv
Emirates announced it will suspend flights to and from Tel Aviv through Oct. 20.
The airline also said customers with onward connections to Tel Aviv will not be accepted for travel at their point of origin until further notice.
Oct 12, 8:44 AM EDT
Death toll continues to mount on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 1,200 people have died, and 2,900 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 1,353 people have died and more than 6,000 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials. Sixty percent of the injured in Gaza are children and women, the health ministry said.
Oct 12, 8:27 AM EDT
At least 25 Americans confirmed dead in Israel: Blinken
In remarks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at least 25 Americans had now been confirmed dead in Israel.
Netanyahu described some of the atrocities committed by Hamas.
“Hamas has shown itself to be an enemy of civilization: The massacring of young people in an outdoor music festival, the butchering of entire families, the murder of parents in front of their children and the murder of children in front of their parents. The burning of people alive, the beheadings,” he said.
“Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated,” he said. “They shouldn’t be spit out from the community of nations. No leader should meet them. No country should harbor them. And those that do should be sanctioned.”
Blinken said he was speaking not only as an American diplomat, but as a Jew, a husband and a father of young children, saying it was impossible for him to look at photos of families killed “and not think of my own children.”
“The same time that we’ve been shocked by the depravity of Hamas, we’ve also been inspired by the bravery of Israel citizens,” he said. “The grandfather who drove over an hour to a kibbutz under siege, armed only with a pistol and rescued his kids and grandkids. The mother who died shielding her teenage son with her body, giving her life to save his — giving him life for a second time.”
Blinken remarked that some U.S. aid had already been delivered, and that more military aid was on his way. He said the administration would work with Congress to meet Israel’s additional needs and that bipartisan support for Israel was “overwhelming.”
The secretary called on world leaders to condemn Hamas.
Blinken also reiterated that Israel “has the right — indeed, the obligation — to defend itself” but that it was “so important to take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians.”
Oct 12, 7:02 AM EDT
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Kirya in Tel Aviv,
At the start of the expanded meeting, Netanyahu thanked Blinken for his statement: “We are here; we are not going anywhere.”
Also participating in the meeting were Foreign Affairs Minister Eli Cohen, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, the prime minister’s chief of staff, the director of the National Security Council, the prime minister’s military secretary, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and the prime minister’s foreign policy adviser. Among those attending for the American side were the acting U.S. ambassador to Israel, the assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs and the diplomatic adviser.
Afterwards, Netanyahu and Blinken will meet privately and then issue statements to the media.
Following the statements, there will be an additional expanded meeting with the participation of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, National Unity Chairman MK Benny Gantz and MK Gadi Eisenkot.
Oct 12, 5:59 AM EDT
How many Americans live in Israel and Gaza?
The State Department does not meticulously track the number of U.S. citizens in any given location, and in Gaza, the circumstances don’t necessarily provide for perfect recordkeeping, but as part of its efforts to join the U.S. visa waiver program this summer, the Israeli government estimated the number of Americans living in Gaza at between 100 and 130, and the Biden administration accepted that range.
Meanwhile, the State Department estimates that roughly 500,000 American citizens reside in Israel, a larger number than many other available calculations likely because Israel’s parameters for who qualifies as a full-time resident of the country are more stringent.
Oct 12, 5:26 AM EDT
Hamas is no longer in control of certain parts of the Gaza Strip: IDF
According to Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Daniel Hagari, Hamas is no longer in control of certain parts of the Gaza Strip and the IDF is currently focused on killing Hamas leaders and their terrorist fighters.
Meanwhile, fighting is ongoing in the south of Israel and there were four different incidents with 15 militants killed overnight, Hagari said.
The IDF has now notified another 200 families of lost IDF soldiers while engineers are working as quickly as possible to fix the Gaza border fence, according to Hagari.
Oct 12, 3:03 AM EDT
Secretary Austin and NATO counterparts to be briefed by Israeli Defense Minister
United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warmly greeted each other before the second day of NATO sessions at its Brussels headquarters.
Austin invoked the conflict in Israel ahead of the meetings, saying “I know you share our outrage at the terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas and also our determination to support Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Austin and his counterparts are expected to discuss support for Ukraine, NATO’s missions and operations in Kosovo and Iraq and will also be briefed on the ongoing situation in Israel by Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, Stoltenberg said.
“On all of these issues, the Middle East, Ukraine, Iraq — the United States, and you personally, Secretary Austin, provides security and leadership for all the NATO allies, and that is something we really, really appreciate.” Stoltenberg said.
Sharing similar sentiments, Austin said that “NATO is as strong and as united as I’ve ever seen it.”
Oct 12, 12:03 AM EDT
20-year-old IDF commander recounts attack by Hamas militants: ‘All I saw was hate’
Yuval Patiev, a young Israel Defense Forces commander, recounted to ABC’s David Muir on Wednesday night’s special edition of 20/20 what happened early Saturday morning when he was among the first to respond to the Hamas attacks.
“One terrorist climbed under the tank,” Patiev told Muir of the militants who charged at his unit. “He put an explosive bomb right under my seat.”
The bomb went off and injured the 20-year-old, who is now in a hospital.
“When it exploded, I flew in the air. At that moment, I knew that I broke my leg,” he said.
Fearing he could lose his leg, Patiev took immediate action.
“I told my commander that he should take my tourniquet and should put it on that,” he said, adding, “I just did what they trained us [to do].”
The young soldier’s unit was trapped in their tank for hours, and from his hospital bed, he recalled seeing the faces of the militants who attacked.
“You look at them, and how could you do this to someone? All I saw was hate,” Patiev said. “So we just fought for our lives … and [we were] trying to pray that they won’t get to open the tank, won’t explode it. And God was with us; that’s all I can say.”
Oct 11, 10:39 PM EDT
IDF launches ‘extensive attack’ on Hamas in Gaza
The IDF announced Thursday morning that it has launched an “extensive attack” on “many centers” of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The post was shared on X.
Oct 11, 10:01 PM EDT
About 220,000 Palestinians sheltering in UN facilities across Gaza
An estimated 220,000 Palestinians are sheltering throughout 92 United Nations relief and refugee facilities across the Gaza Strip, according to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Guterres called for “rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access now,” early Thursday morning, local time.
Oct 11, 9:33 PM EDT
Health services in Gaza have reached ‘critical stage’
Hospitals in Gaza are working at full capacity and have run out of space for those “wounded from Israeli airstrikes” to be treated, the Palestinian-Gaza Strip Ministry of Health said in a press release Wednesday.
The Ministry called for urgent action to be taken to provide safe passage for medical supplies and to transfer the wounded. Health services have reached a critical stage, according to the release, with “medicines, medical consumables and fuel” expected to run out imminently.
Oct 11, 7:45 PM EDT
IDF talks to David Muir about possible ground incursion
An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson addressed a possible ground incursion in an interview with ABC’s David Muir, as the World News Tonight anchor reports from Israel.
IDF Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told Muir Wednesday that the “carnage” in the kibbutz of Be’eri, where more than 100 bodies were found, “definitely put things into perspective.”
Following Hamas’ attack, 360,000 Israeli reservists have been called up and tanks and soldiers are amassing on the Gaza border.
“One could deduce that from the troops that we have called up that it is what they will be tasked to do,” Conricus told Muir, adding that at the end of the war, Hamas “won’t have the military ability to kill or hurt Israeli civilians ever again.”
Asked whether there was any scenario where a ground incursion would not happen, Conricus responded that it’s “difficult to say.”
“I personally don’t think so. But that matters less,” he said. “Our job is to be prepared and have all the troops ready for whatever assignment and however it is decided to implement them.”
Oct 11, 7:07 PM EDT
Where diplomatic efforts to free hostages stand
Two U.S. officials familiar with the diplomatic efforts to free hostages told ABC News it appears that allies and partners in the Middle East in communication with Hamas are being helpful in advocating for their release.
The officials say Hamas has shown no real willingness to partake in diplomacy up to this point.
Hamas’ designation as a foreign terrorist organization also complicates any negotiations involving the U.S., because the official label makes it illegal for any American to knowingly provide “material support or resources,” which includes personnel.
Deputy Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Steve Gillen is among the U.S. delegation en route to Israel with the Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In remarks earlier Wednesday, President Joe Biden said “there’s a lot we’re doing” to bring the hostages home.
“In the days ahead we’re gonna continue to work closely with our partners in Israel and around the world,” he said.
Oct 11, 6:36 PM EDT
Hamas official claims they planned attack for two years: Report
A Hamas official in Lebanon claimed in an interview with Russian state media that the terrorist group planned Saturday’s attack on Israel for two years.
The official, Ali Baraka, told the Russian state-controlled network RT in an interview posted earlier this week that Hamas prepared for the attack while Israel believed it was busy governing Gaza.
Oct 11, 6:17 PM EDT
State Department raises travel advisory level for Israel, West Bank
The State Department has raised its travel advisory level for Israel and the West Bank to “level 3 — reconsider travel” due to terrorism and civil unrest.
“Terrorist groups, lone-actor terrorists and other violent extremists continue plotting possible attacks in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza,” an alert from the department states. “Terrorists and violent extremists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, and local government facilities.”
Both regions were previously at “level 2 — exercise increased caution.”
The advisory also adds increased restrictions for U.S. government employees, declaring they can only travel to Israel for “mission-critical travel.”
Gaza remains at “level 4 — do not travel.”
Oct 11, 6:05 PM EDT
Biden speaks with UAE President bin Zayed
President Joe Biden spoke with United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Wednesday to discuss the attacks in Israel, stressing his condemnation of Hamas’ brutality, according a White House readout of the call.
The two leaders also discussed ensuring humanitarian assistance for those in need and Biden’s warnings against countries and organizations who may exploit the situation, according to the readout.
Oct 11, 4:55 PM EDT
Biden on hostages: ‘Have not given up hope’
President Joe Biden said at a roundtable with Jewish leaders on Wednesday that the U.S. is “doing a lot” to rescue the Americans held hostage by Hamas.
“We’re working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel, including deploying experts to advise and assist with recovery efforts,” he said. “I have not given up hope of bringing these folks home.”
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff also delivered remarks at the roundtable. Emhoff, the first Jewish spouse of a president or vice president, said, “Like all Jews, I feel a deep visceral connection to Israel and its people.”
“We witnessed a mass murder of innocent civilians,” he said. “The images that we saw will be seared in our brains forever. Rockets falling on cities, people dragged from their homes and shot dead, children sheltering from bullets, bodies lining the streets. And all the while, we see videos of these terrorists cheering on these atrocities. “
“I know you’re all hurting. The entire Jewish community is hurting, I’m hurting,” he said.
Oct 11, 4:31 PM EDT
US ‘exploring contract options’ for citizens who want to leave Israel
The State Department said it’s “exploring contract options” to help Americans looking to leave Israel travel to nearby countries.
Though there are still commercial flights available from Israel, they are limited, the State Department noted.
An official familiar with the discussions said the State Department may bring in charter flights to get Americans from Israel to nearby countries where they can then take commercial flights to the U.S.
A separate State Department spokesperson said the administration was “acutely aware of the currently limited capacity on commercial flights and the high demand from U.S. citizens wanting to depart,” and said that for now, Americans should “take advantage of commercial flights that involve transiting a third country if they are unable to book a direct flight to the United States.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 11, 3:52 PM EDT
Women, kids account for most of the injured in Gaza
Women and children account for most of the thousands injured in Gaza from the airstrikes, according to Doctors Without Borders.
Doctors Without Borders said all of the patients they received at one of their clinics in Gaza City were children between the ages of 10 to 14.
Oct 11, 3:42 PM EDT
Acting US ambassador choked up while visiting kibbutz
Stephanie Hallett, the chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, posted a video on X showing her standing in front of the wreckage at Israel’s Be’eri kibbutz, where many residents were killed by Hamas terrorists.
“It’s really unbelievable,” she said, choking up. “As a mother, and just as a human being, to see and to know what happened here, it’s really important to say that we’ve been here, we’ve seen it, and it is evil. And we stand with Israel.”
Today I came to bear witness to the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists. The United States stands with Israel. pic.twitter.com/rBVSD5XxU2
— Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Stephanie Hallett (@USAmbIsrael) October 11, 2023
Oct 11, 3:14 PM EDT
US working with Egyptian, Israeli counterparts to secure safe passage out of Gaza
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. is working with its Israeli and Egyptian counterparts to secure safe passage out of Gaza for civilians.
“Civilians are not to blame for what Hamas has done,” Kirby said. “I don’t have an announcement to make today — I can’t tell you a specific route or corridor. I just want to make it clear that we are actively working on this with our Egyptian and our Israeli counterparts. Civilians are protected under the laws of armed conflict, and they should be given every opportunity to avoid the fighting.”
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Oct 11, 3:04 PM EDT
17 Americans missing
Seventeen Americans are missing, including an unknown number of Americans being held hostage by Hamas, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
“I think we all need to steel ourselves for the very distinct possibility that these numbers will keep increasing and that we may, in fact, find out that more Americans are part of the hostage pool,” Kirby said.
He said the conditions and whereabouts of the hostages are not known.
“We don’t know where they are, we don’t know if they’re all in one group, or broken up into several groups. We don’t know if they’re being moved, and with what frequency and to what locations. All of those questions we’re working hard to answer,” he said.
Pressed by ABC News if U.S. officials have seen any proof of life, Kirby said, “I am not aware of any specific proof of live on any individual hostage.”
Asked if the U.S. has had any communication with Hamas, directly or through allies, Kirby said, “We’re in discussions not only with the Israelis about what hostage recovery can look like, but with other allies and partners in the region. And there are some countries like Qatar that have open lines of communication with Hamas. So, of course, we’re casting the net wide.”
“We haven’t made any policy options or operational decisions with respect to hostage recovery at this time,” he said.
Kirby said there is no “specific evidence that Iran was directly involved with these specific sets of attacks” on Israel, but he added, “We are going to keep looking at it — the book is not closed.”
In recent days, the White House has consistently said there was no evidence pointing to Iran’s participation but said Iran was broadly complicit with their past funding and support for Hamas.
-ABC News’ Mary Bruce
Oct 11, 2:01 PM EDT
House lawmaker traveled to Israel to help evacuate Americans
Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., a freshman lawmaker and veteran who served in Iraq, has traveled to Israel and is working to help evacuate Americans through Jordan, a spokesperson confirmed to ABC News. News of his trip was first reported by The Floridian.
-ABC News’ Ben Siegel and Lauren Peller
Oct 11, 1:44 PM EDT
9 workers from United Nations Relief and Works Agency killed
Nine workers from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency have been killed from strikes on Gaza, the agency said.
“UNRWA staff are working around the clock to respond to the needs of the displaced in the shelters,” the agency said. “However, some are overcrowded and have limited availability of food, other basic items and potable water.”
Oct 11, 1:21 PM EDT
‘Hostile aircraft’ entering Israeli air space was false alarm
Reports of an infiltration into Israeli air space from Lebanon have been determined to be a false alarm, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Multiple alerts were heard along the northern border.
Israel and Hezbollah were openly exchanging fire at the northern border earlier in the day.
Oct 11, 12:56 PM EDT
Gaza without power
Gaza is now without power. The main hospital remains at full capacity.
Gaza relies on Israel for most of its power, which was cut off following the attack. Its sole power plant ran out of fuel on Wednesday.
Oct 11, 12:42 PM EDT
Death toll continues to mount on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 1,200 people have died, and 2,900 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 1,100 people have died and another 5,339 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials. Sixty percent of the injured in Gaza are children and women, the health ministry said.
Oct 11, 12:37 PM EDT
‘Key munitions’ have arrived in Israel: Defense secretary
“Key munitions” have arrived in Israel, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday, adding that the U.S. will be providing more Iron Dome interceptors.
He confirmed that the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group has arrived in the eastern Mediterranean and that the deployment of U.S. Air Force fighter aircraft in the Middle East have been extended.
“The more you learn about the sickening atrocities, the worse it gets,” Austin said. “Hamas deliberately targeted civilians and massacred them just because they are Jews. … The United States continues to stand firm with Israel and the Israeli people.”
Austin also emphasized that the supply of weapons to Israel won’t impact the flow of military aid to Ukraine.
Oct 11, 11:21 AM EDT
Israel agrees to form emergency unity government
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chairman of the State Camp Benny Gantz on Wednesday agreed on the establishment of an emergency government and a war management cabinet.
The war management cabinet includes the prime minister, the defense minister and the chairman of the state camp. A place in the cabinet will be reserved for the chairman of the opposition if he joins.
During the war period, no bills or government decisions will be promoted that do not concern the conduct of the war.
Israel’s Emergency Unity Government will be sworn in Thursday at 6 p.m. local time.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Jordana Miller
Oct 11, 11:12 AM EDT
Fighting ongoing in south as Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire in north
Fighting is ongoing between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in southern Israel. Meanwhile, Israel and Hezbollah are openly exchanging fire at the northern border.
The Israel Defense Forces said the area of the Gaza Division has been declared a closed military zone and reiterated that entry is strictly prohibited.
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip remained closed for the second day in a row on Wednesday. The crossing was shut indefinitely on Tuesday after it was hit by Israeli warplanes on the Palestinian side three times on Monday and Tuesday.
Oct 11, 10:44 AM EDT
Death toll continues to mount on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 1,200 people have died, and 2,900 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 1,055 people have died and another 5,184 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials. Sixty percent of the injured in Gaza are children and women, the health ministry said.
Oct 11, 8:30 AM EDT
State Dept. expects number of confirmed dead Americans will rise
The State Department expects that the number of confirmed dead Americans will rise on Wednesday, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said on CNN.
“We continue to work through the list of unaccounted and find that, obviously, some of those we will locate or will report in, some of them we do find, unfortunately, they’re deceased, and then others we are able to confirm are taken hostage,” Miller said. “It’s a moving target all the time.”
Oct 11, 7:37 AM EDT
Massive rocket barrage on Ashkelon
A barrage of rockets has landed on the Israeli city of Ashkelon on Wednesday morning.
Ashkelon, with a population of over 100,000 people, has essentially been a ghost town since the start of the incursion from Hamas over the weekend.
There have been no immediate reports of injuries or deaths in the aftermath of the attack.
Oct 11, 5:57 AM EDT
Death toll continues to mount on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 1,200 people have died, and 2,900 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 1,055 people have died and another 5,184 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials.
Oct 11, 5:32 AM EDT
Over 263,000 people internally displaced in Gaza, UN says
The United Nations said Wednesday that there are now more than 263,000 people internally displaced in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli airstrikes destroy buildings and homes in response to Saturday’s attack by Hamas.
That figure includes at least 137,500 people who are currently sheltering in hospitals and schools in Hamas-ruled Gaza, according to the U.N.
Oct 11, 1:47 AM EDT
IDF releases names of 14 soldiers killed Tuesday
The Israel Defense Forces released the names early Wednesday morning of 14 soldiers who were killed on Tuesday. Their ages ranged from 19 to 32 years old.
The IDF called all 14 soldiers “martyrs” and said their families had all been notified.
The names released by IDF:
Dolev Amoyel, 21
Noam Abramowitz, 19
Eli Adani, 21
Ido Binenstock, 19
Eli Zissar, 27
Dvir Zakai, 20
Itamar Cohen, 19
Tomer Yaakov Mizrahi, 21
Sahar Midani, 20
Emil Smoilov, 22
Bachor Sweid, 32
Amichai Shimon Rubin, 23
Yedidia Moshe Raziel, 31
Ben Bronstein, 24
Oct 10, 10:35 PM EDT
IDF warplanes attack ‘over 450 targets’ in Gaza neighborhood
Israeli warplanes have struck more than “450 targets” in the Al-Furqan area in Gaza, marking the third attack in the last day, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement early Wednesday local time.
Hamas allegedly had operations in the Al-Furqan neighborhood, and it served as a terror nest where many activities against Israel were carried out, according to the IDF.
The IDF said it will “continue to act powerfully against the infrastructures of the terrorist organization Hamas,” including “extensive waves of attacks in the Gaza Strip.”
Oct 10, 10:33 PM EDT
Four UN workers killed in Gaza
Four employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) were killed as a result of air strikes on Gaza and at least 14 of its facilities were damaged “directly and indirectly,” the UN said in a release Tuesday.
According to the release, the agency was forced to close its 14 food distribution centers and reduce its operations due to the UN not being able to bring any humanitarian supplies to the Strip since Oct. 7.
There are still shops open with some supplies but Juliette Touma, director of Media and Communications for the URNWA expressed concern that basic supplies, including fuel, would run out in the next few weeks, according to the UN News.
Oct 10, 7:40 PM EDT
IDF fighter jets attack neighborhood in Gaza Strip
Dozens of fighter jets attacked more than 70 targets in a neighborhood in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Hamas allegedly had operations in the neighborhood and carried out activities against Israel, according to the IDF.
The IDF said it also attacked a military building that was allegedly used by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.
Oct 10, 6:11 PM EDT
WHO calls for access to health and humanitarian assistance
The World Health Organization repeated its call to end hostilities in the Israel-Gaza region and offered assistance to health officials in both countries.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi agreed to a WHO request to facilitate the delivery of health and other humanitarian supplies from WHO to Gaza via the Rafah crossing, the organization said.
“In the Gaza Strip, hospitals are running on back-up generators with fuel likely to run out in the coming days. They have exhausted the supplies WHO pre-positioned before the escalation,” the organization said in a statement. “The life-saving health response is now dependent on getting new supplies and fuel to health care facilities as fast as possible.”
Oct 10, 5:51 PM EDT
‘Hamas was always an obstacle to peace’: Former Israeli FM
Former Israeli Foreign Minister and former Knesset member Tzipi Livni spoke with ABC News Live about the recent Hamas attacks on Israel and argued the group is “not just an Israeli problem.”
Livni said, “Hamas was always an obstacle to peace,” and called on the entire international community to stand against them.
“They don’t represent the Palestinian people,” Livni said about Hamas. “They represent this extreme religious ideology that does not accept not only Israel, [but also] the U.S., or our liberal values, [and] democratic ideas.”
She thanked President Joe Biden for his support of Israel shortly after he delivered remarks, and said that for Israelis listening it was “the first light in dark days.”
Oct 10, 5:03 PM EDT
First plane with US ammunition lands in Israel
The IDF said the first plane bringing U.S. ammunition landed in Israel Tuesday.
“We are grateful for the American backing and assistance to the IDF in particular, and to the State of Israel in general, during this challenging period,” the IDF said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 10, 4:35 PM EDT
US intelligence ‘did not see anything’ suggesting this scale of attack
U.S. intelligence “did not see anything that suggested an attack of this type was going to unfold” in Israel, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday.
Sullivan wouldn’t tell reporters if President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed on their Tuesday call the possibility of an Israeli ground incursion into Gaza, and how that might affect American hostages.
Sullivan did defend Israel’s targeting of Hamas sites in Gaza after being asked how long the U.S. would support the airstrikes, saying this is “not retaliation,” but instead it’s “Israel standing up to defend itself.”
People walk through the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City…Read More
Sullivan also said that “at this point” there is no plan for the U.S. to put American troops on the ground to help Israel.
He added, “The president was very clear today that we will be making a request to the Congress, and it will include a request for funding for support to Israel. And he has also been equally clear that we are going to renew our request to the Congress for aid to Ukraine.”
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Oct 10, 4:01 PM EDT
Netanyahu: ‘Barbarism that has not been seen since the Holocaust’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, in his conversation with President Joe Biden on Tuesday, he called Hamas’ attack on Israel “barbarism that has not been seen since the Holocaust.”
“Hundreds of people were slaughtered,” including soldiers whose heads were cut off, Netanyahu said.
“Entire families were murdered in their beds and homes, women were brutally raped and murdered, [and] more than a hundred were kidnapped, including children,” he said.
Netanyahu said he told Biden that “Hamas is worse than ISIS — and that they should be treated that way.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 10, 3:43 PM EDT
About 20 Americans missing in Israel: State Department
The United States is tracking about 20 Americans who are still missing in Israel, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Tuesday.
Miller said that doesn’t necessarily mean they are being held by Hamas.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel this week to work with Israeli partners directly to determine “how we can continue to best support them,” Miller said.
Blinken will most likely leave on Wednesday to arrive in Israel on Thursday, he said.
Biden has not spoken with the families of the 14 Americans killed in Israel, but the State Department has been in constant contact with their families, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday.
“The president has been making this his highest priority as he receives briefings each day about what we are doing to try to determine both what’s happening with the missing and also to ensure that we can secure the bodies of those that have perished and ensure that they get returned to their loved ones,” he said.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford and Mary Bruce
Oct 10, 3:36 PM EDT
Death toll mounts on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 900 people have died and 2,600 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 900 have died — among them 260 children and 230 women — and another 4,500 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials.
Oct 10, 3:23 PM EDT
American Airlines suspends flights through Dec. 4
American Airlines said it will suspend flights to and from Tel Aviv through Dec. 4.
Delta suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until the end of October, while United said its flights to and from Tel Aviv are suspended “until conditions allow them to resume.”
Oct 10, 2:47 PM EDT
‘We stand with Israel,’ Biden says
President Joe Biden said Tuesday in an address to the American people, “We stand with Israel. And we will make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens — defend itself and respond to this attack.”
Biden stressed, “Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination. Their state of purpose is the annihilation of the state of Israel on the murder of Jewish people. They use Palestinian civilians as human shields. Hamas offers nothing but terror and bloodshed, with no regard to who pays the price.”
Biden said among the horrors were “parents butchered, using their bodies to try to protect their children. Stomach churning reports of being babies being killed. Entire families slain. … Women raped, assaulted, paraded as trophies.”
“There’s still so many families desperately waiting to hear the fate of their loved ones, not knowing if they’re alive or dead or hostages,” Biden said. “Infants in their mother’s arms, grandparents in wheelchairs, Holocaust survivors abducted and held hostage. Hostages whom Hamas has now threatened to execute in violation of every code of human morality.”
“It’s abhorrent,” Biden said, adding that Hamas’ “brutality … brings to mind the worst rampages of ISIS. This is terrorism. But sadly, for the Jewish people, it’s not new.”
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the day.
Biden said, “We’re surging additional military assistance, including ammunition and interceptors, to replenish Iron Dome. We’re going to make sure that Israel does not run out of these critical assets to defend its cities and its citizens. My administration has consulted closely with Congress throughout this crisis, and when Congress returns, we’re going to ask them to take urgent action to fund the national security requirements of our critical partners.”
“This is a moment for the United States to come together, to grieve with those who are mourning,” Biden said, adding, “There is no place for hate in America — not against Jews, not against Muslims, not against anybody.”
Oct 10, 2:40 PM EDT
Biden: 14 Americans killed in ‘act of sheer evil’
At least 14 Americans have been killed in the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, President Joe Biden said Tuesday in an address to the American people.
He condemned Hamas’ incursion as an “act of sheer evil.”
Biden confirmed that American citizens are among those being held by Hamas.
He said he’s directed his “team to share intelligence and deploy additional experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts.”
Oct 10, 2:22 PM EDT
At least 155 Israeli soldiers killed
The families of 155 Israeli soldiers have received death notices so far, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Oct 10, 1:33 PM EDT
US reaching out to families of missing Americans
The U.S. has started reaching out to the families of Americans missing in Israel as part of its efforts to identify the U.S. citizens who may be among the hostages taken to Gaza by Hamas, according to an official.
But due to the dynamic situation and lack of visibility inside Gaza, the U.S. still can’t say how many may be detained.
There’s also a level of reluctance from U.S. officials to shine a spotlight on any Americans among the hostages for fear that they might be singled out by their Hamas captors.
Other sources said American officials are working the phones with allies in the Middle East who have leverage over Hamas, encouraging them to pressure the militants to free the hostages.
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 10, 1:25 PM EDT
US discussing whether to send 2nd carrier to eastern Mediterranean
United States officials are discussing whether a second U.S. aircraft carrier should be deployed to the eastern Mediterranean in the wake of the Israel-Hamas crisis, two U.S. officials confirmed.
The USS Dwight Eisenhower was previously scheduled to depart Norfolk, Virginia, later this week for the Middle East, via the Mediterranean Sea.
Officials must decide whether it will now remain in the Mediterranean and head to the east to join the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier — which was deployed on Sunday — or whether it will relieve the Ford.
Either way, the Eisenhower will soon be in the Mediterranean for the previously scheduled transit and a training rotation.
ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Oct 10, 12:42 PM EDT
Biden to deliver remarks
President Joe Biden on Tuesday will give an update to the American people on the attacks in Israel as the violent conflict enters its fourth day.
Biden will speak at 1 p.m. ET at the White House, which was lit up in blue and white on Monday evening in a show of support for Israel.
Oct 10, 12:00 PM EDT
IDF engages with Hezbollah
The Israel Defense Forces said its tanks have now attacked observation posts of the Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah in response to 15 launches carried out from Lebanese territory.
Oct 10, 10:54 AM EDT
IDF says it killed 2 senior Hamas leaders
The Israel Defense Forces said one of its aircraft overnight struck and killed Zachariah Abu Ma’amar, a senior member of Hamas and head of its office for internal relations.
The IDF also said one of its aircraft struck and killed Joad Abu Shmalah, the Hamas minister of economy in the Gaza Strip. He held security positions in Hamas and led a number of operations targeting Israeli civilians.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 10, 10:44 AM EDT
Death toll mounts on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 900 people have died and 2,600 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 830 have died and another 4,250 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials.
Oct 10, 9:52 AM EDT
Biden, Harris to speak with Netanyahu
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kama Harris will speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to discuss our support for Israel and our efforts coordinated with partners and allies to defend Israel,” the White House said in a statement Tuesday.
Before their call with Netanyahu, the president and vice president “will meet with their national security teams to receive a situation update and give direction on next steps,” the White House said.
Oct 10, 9:40 AM EDT
Over 187,000 people internally displaced in Gaza, UN says
The United Nations said Tuesday that there are now more than 187,000 people internally displaced in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli airstrikes destroy buildings and homes in response to Saturday’s attack by Hamas.
That figure includes 137,500 people who are currently sheltering in 83 U.N. schools in Hamas-ruled Gaza, according to the U.N.
Oct 10, 9:28 AM EDT
Death toll mounts on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 900 people have died and 2,600 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 765 people have died and 4,000 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials.
Oct 10, 8:16 AM EDT
Seven Palestinian journalists killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, Palestinian authorities say
At least seven Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since Saturday, according to Palestinian authorities.
Palestinian authorities identified the slain journalists as: Ibrahim Lafi, Muhammad Jargon, Muhammad Al-Salhi, Asaad Shamlikh, Said Al-Taweel, Muhammad Subh Abu Rizq and Hisham Al-Nawajaha.
Funerals for some of them were expected to take place in Gaza on Tuesday.
Oct 10, 8:01 AM EDT
1,500 Palestinian militants found dead along Israeli-Gaza border, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that the bodies of 1,500 Palestinian militants have been found along the Israeli-Gaza border.
All of the militants were killed while fighting with Israeli soldiers in recent days, according to the IDF.
Oct 10, 7:53 AM EDT
Americans ‘could be among those being held hostage by Hamas,’ Kirby says
The United States is still working to determine how many Americans remain unaccounted for after Saturday’s attack on Israel by Hamas and whether any are among those being held hostage in the neighboring Gaza Strip, according to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
In an interview Tuesday with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America, Kirby said the number of unaccounted Americans in Israel “keeps changing” as families contact the U.S. Department of State.
“We’re trying to get a handle on where they are and how they are,” he added. “Sadly, we have to accept the possibility — the grim possibility — that some of those unaccounted for Americans could be among those being held hostage by Hamas.”
So far, U.S. officials have confirmed that at least 11 Americans were among those killed in Israel over the weekend when Hamas fighters stormed into the country from Gaza. U.S. officials are “preparing for the very distinct possibility that there’ll be more American deaths,” Kirby said.
Meanwhile, there’s currently no specific information on whether any Americans were among those taken hostage, according to Kirby. Israeli authorities have estimated that Hamas is currently holding “between 100 to 150” hostages in Gaza, including Americans.
“We’re working at this really, really hard, talking to the Israelis every single day — almost every hour — to try to get more information about the Americans that are unaccounted for,” Kirby said, “but we just don’t know where they are.”
U.S. officials have reached out to their Israeli counterparts to offer assistance in the form of intelligence and hostage recovery expertise, according to Kirby.
“It remains to be seen if there’s Americans in that group, what more can be done,” he said. “If there’s Americans being held hostage, we’ll do everything possible to get them home to their families where they belong.”
When asked whether the U.S. would be prepared to pay ransom, Kirby said: “I don’t want to get too far ahead of where we are.”
“We don’t even know if there are Americans in this population of hostages,” he added.
Oct 10, 7:07 AM EDT
Israeli airstrikes target Gaza-Egypt border crossing
An Israeli airstrike hit near the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on Tuesday for the second time in two days, Palestinian authorities said.
“The occupation aircrafts re-bombed the gate of the Rafah crossing between the Palestinian and Egyptian sides after it was repaired yesterday, preventing the departure and arrival of passengers,” Iyad Al-Bozom, spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Interior, said in a statement.
Operations at the frontier were disrupted on Monday after an Israeli airstrike hit near the border on the Gaza side. Officials on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday asked crews on the Palestinian side to immediately evacuate the crossing following threats to hit it, according to Al-Bozom.
Oct 10, 6:47 AM EDT
Iran denies involvement in Hamas attack on Israel
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that Tehran was not involved in Hamas’ recent incursion on Israel but hailed the attack.
“We kiss the hands of those who planned the attack on the Zionist regime,” said Khamenei, who was seen wearing a Palestinian scarf in his first televised speech since Saturday’s attack.
“The Zionist regime’s own actions are to blame for this disaster,” he added.
Iran, which does not recognize Israel, has acknowledged giving financial and moral support to Hamas, the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip.
Oct 10, 5:52 AM EDT
Hamas holding ‘between 100 and 150’ hostages, Israeli’s UN ambassador says
Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan said “between 100 and 150” hostages are currently being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“We estimate a number that is between 100 and 150. I think it’s an unprecedented number,” Erdan told CNN during an interview late Monday. “It includes Americans. We don’t know the exact number.”
Oct 10, 5:18 AM EDT
IDF says Hamas fighters ‘are still hiding’ in Israeli communities
Hamas fighters are believed to be “still hiding” in some communities in southern Israel even after the Israeli military took back control, according to Israel Defense Forces spokesman Maj. Doron Spielman.
“We are in control of the communities, but we actually assume that there are Hamas terrorists that are still hiding in these areas, including in the road where we are now,” Spielman told ABC News during an interview Monday in Sderot, Israel. “In all these communities, we’ve seen terrorist come out of hiding. Just yesterday, they took over an ambulance.”
“We’re still being very, very careful,” he added. “This is a war zone with active terrorists that are operating here.”
Sderot is a southwestern Israeli city located near the county’s border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. A police station there was stormed by Hamas fighters on Saturday as part of the militant group’s wider incursion, leaving at least six Israeli police officers dead. The IDF then bombed the police station with the Hamas fighters inside, demolishing it.
Hamas fighters and other Palestinian militants are “striking strategic locations” along the border fence, allowing them to drive through in pickup trucks, Spielman said. Civilians in some of the local communities have been ordered to evacuate, while others have left voluntarily, according to Spielman.
“We do have a lot of ground troops in this area. We have a lot of tanks. We have, in addition, artillery. And we’re prepared forever for anything,” he said. “And if it happens, the next stage, it’s going to happen here because this is the area that was the flashpoint and this is the area we’re going to be presenting ourselves and finishing this battle. We, of course, have no choice but to finish.”
When asked about the mounting casualties of Palestinian civilians in Gaza as a result of the IDF’s retaliatory airstrikes, Spielman said: “We always try to avoid civilian casualties. However, I would say that this is war and our first priority here is to destroy Hamas.”
Oct 10, 3:19 AM EDT
IDF fighter jets strike over 200 ‘terror targets’ in Gaza overnight
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday morning that its fighter jets had struck more than 200 “terror targets” in the Gaza Strip overnight.
All targets were located in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City and the southern city of Khan Yunis, which the IDF said are both used as “terror hubs” for Gaza’s militant rulers Hamas and that “a large number of terror attacks against Israel are directed there.”
Among the targets struck were a Hamas weapons storage site and a Hamas operational command center, both located inside a mosque, according to the IDF.
Oct 09, 9:38 PM EDT
FBI ‘aggressively’ investigating any reports of impacted Americans in Israel
The FBI said it is working “aggressively” to investigate reports of Americans who have been impacted by the Hamas attacks on Israel.
“We are closely coordinating with our counterparts in the region as well as other international partners,” the FBI said in a statement posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Monday.
The statement continued: “Through our Legal Attache’ office in Israel, FBI personnel are working with our partners on the ground to locate and identify any impacted Americans. Reports of deceased, injured or missing Americans are being treated with the utmost urgency and aggressively investigated. The FBI’s Victim Services Division is coordinating with the Department of State to assist, as necessary, with family engagement.”
Oct 09, 8:57 PM EDT
IDF says it will fight war ‘as long as it takes’
The Israel Defense Forces will fight this war “as long as it takes,” spokesperson Lt. Col. Res. Jonathan Conricus told ABC News in an interview on Monday.
“The goal that we have been given so far by the Israeli government is to make sure that Hamas doesn’t have any military capabilities that they can use to threaten or murder Israeli citizens. That means to eradicate their ability to terrorize Israelis,” Conricus said.
“That’s what we’ve been tasked to do so far — that may change, expand, and include political things as well as in their ability to govern, but as of now, what we’re focusing on with the aerial strikes that are ongoing and the preparations of the other troops around the Gaza Strip is to strip Hamas of all of their military capabilities,” he added.
The IDF is looking at “difficult and hard passes ahead,” but Saturday’s attack by Hamas fighters was a “watershed moment” that has fundamentally changed how the IDF responds, according to Conricus.
“Bottom line, what was true and perhaps worked for years before, won’t cut the situation now and we are moving forward,” he said.
In addition, 300,000 IDF reservists who were called up are “now in southern Israel,” according to Conricus.
“We have mobilized our troops before — the second Lebanon war comes to mind,” he added. “But this is definitely very, very significant.”
Oct 09, 6:42 PM EDT
US, France, Germany, Italy, UK release joint statement condemning Hamas
The White House released a statement shortly after President Biden spoke with key allies about the latest developments in Israel.
The leaders expressed their “steadfast and united support to the State of Israel, and our unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and its appalling acts of terrorism.”
“We make clear that the terrorist actions of Hamas have no justification, no legitimacy, and must be universally condemned,” the statement read.
The leaders said they will support Israel’s right to defend itself.
“We further emphasize that this is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage,” they said.
At the same time, the leaders said they “recognize the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people, and support equal measures of justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
“But make no mistake: Hamas does not represent those aspirations, and it offers nothing for the Palestinian people other than more terror and bloodshed,” the statement read.
Oct 09, 6:27 PM EDT
Biden to give remarks on terrorist attacks in Israel Tuesday: White House
President Joe Biden will deliver remarks on the terrorist attacks in Israel from the White House at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday, according to a White House official.
Oct 09, 6:16 PM EDT
Son ‘sad,’ ‘anxious’ as 74-year-old mother remains missing
A 74-year-old mother who is missing in Israel fought for peace her whole life, her son told ABC News Live on Monday.
Yonatan Zeigen said he last heard from his mother, Vivian Silver, at 11:07 a.m. on Saturday morning while she was hiding in a closet as Hamas fighters entered her house.
Zeigen added that he didn’t know if Israeli soldiers had been to her house yet and hadn’t heard “anything concrete” about the search yet.
Zeigen talked about his mother’s commitment to peace, since Silver moved to a kibbutz in Israel in the 1990s.
“She fought for equality,” he said. “She’s been involved with a lot of different organizations promoting peace and promoting solution for the conflict.”
“Up until recently, she would drive sick Palestinians from the Gaza border to Israeli hospitals through an organization called Road to Recovery,” Zeigen said.
“No, I’m primarily sad, and anxious,” Zeigen said when asked if he was angry about the situation. “War is blind. You can do what you do in your life…it doesn’t make you any less of a target in times of war.”
Oct 09, 5:48 PM EDT
Obama reacts to attack on Israel
Former President Barack Obama released a statement Monday evening condemning Hamas’ attack on Israel over the weekend.
“All Americans should be horrified and outraged by the brazen terrorist attacks on Israel and the slaughter of innocent civilians,” Obama said in his statement. “We grieve for those who died, pray for the safe return of those who’ve been held hostage, and stand squarely alongside our ally, Israel, as it dismantles Hamas.”
Oct 09, 5:39 PM EDT
IDF says it struck Hamas command center inside Gaza mosque
The Israeli Defense Forces said it “struck terror targets” belonging to Hamas in Gaza.
“IDF aircraft struck a Hamas operational command center in a mosque and an offensive tunnel entry point that was used by terrorists to invade Israel,” the IDF said in a statement.
The IDF also claimed it struck an “Islamic Jihad operational meeting point inside a house that was occupied by a large number of terrorists.”
“Two terrorists were killed when they attempted to flee the scene,” the IDF said.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 09, 5:29 PM EDT
State Department confirms Americans are missing, unknown if any are hostages
The State Department confirmed Monday evening that there are still missing Americans in Israel but couldn’t immediately provide an exact number or estimate.
The department couldn’t say yet if any of the missing Americans were hostages.
White House spokesperson John Kirby echoed this sentiment to ABC News’ Linsey Davis.
“We don’t really know whether they’re just missing somewhere, or are lost, or whether they’re being held hostage. I think we have to accept the possibility that at least some of them are being held hostage by Hamas,” he said.
Of the Americans previously confirmed dead, a State Department official said they were all thought to be dual U.S.-Israeli citizens primarily residing in Israel.
Staffers at the U.S. Embassy in Israel are fully accounted for and are communicating with impacted Americans around the clock over the telephone and via the online form the department launched for U.S. nationals who believe their family members are among those missing, according to the agency.
The State Department is also urging Americans in the affected areas who are safe to contact their loved ones directly and/or update their status on social media.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 09, 4:29 PM EDT
At least 11 Americans killed, more may be among those held by Hamas
At least 11 Americans are among those killed in Israel, President Joe Biden said in a statement.
He added, “While we are still working to confirm, we believe it is likely that American citizens may be among those being held by Hamas.”
“American citizens still remain unaccounted for, and we are working with Israeli officials to obtain more information as to their whereabouts,” Biden said. “My heart goes out to every family impacted by the horrible events of the past few days. The pain these families have endured, the enormity of their loss, and the agony of those still awaiting information is unfathomable.”
“I have directed my team to work with their Israeli counterparts on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts,” Biden said.
Oct 09, 4:21 PM EDT
Latest on travel to and from Israel
All major U.S. airlines and a number of foreign carriers have suspended service to and from Israel.
Delta said it has suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until the end of October. American Airlines has canceled flights to and from Tel Aviv through Oct. 13. United Airlines said its flights to and from Tel Aviv “will remain suspended until conditions allow them to resume.”
Many other airlines, including Israeli flag carrier El Al, continue to operate flights.
The Federal Aviation Administration urged U.S. airlines and pilots to use caution when flying in Israeli airspace.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued a Conflict Zone Information Bulletin for the airspace of Israel on Sunday, recommending air operators “ensure that a robust risk assessment is in place together with a high level of contingency planning for their operations and to be ready for short notice instructions from the Israeli authorities.”
-ABC News’ Amanda Maile
Oct 09, 3:48 PM EDT
Death toll in Gaza Strip rises to 687
At least 687 people have died, including at least 140 children and 105 women, from Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since Saturday, according to Palestinian officials.
The death toll has continued to grow on both sides as Israeli forces strike back at Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 3:36 PM EDT
Netanyahu: Israel will set up emergency government
In the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said, “I call on the opposition leaders to immediately establish a national emergency government without preconditions.”
“The people are united, and now the leadership needs to unite,” he said, translated from Hebrew.
Netanyahu said Israeli’s strikes on Hamas “have only begun.”
“We have eliminated many hundreds of terrorists and we will not stop there,” he said.
The prime minister said he’s in constant contact with President Joe Biden and thanked the U.S. leader for his words and action.
He said “an American aircraft carrier, one of the largest in the world, is on its way to our region.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 09, 1:17 PM EDT
Israel death toll climbs over 900
The Israel death toll has climbed over 900 since Saturday, with more than 2,500 others injured, according to the Israeli Health Ministry.
Oct 09, 1:12 PM EDT
Israeli Defense Forces mobilizes record 300,000 reserves
The Israel Defense Forces has mobilized 300,000 reserves — the largest and quickest call-up in Israel’s history, according to an IDF spokesman.
Oct 09, 12:47 PM EDT
Gaza hospital, communication center out of service
Gaza’s main hospital, Beit Hanoun Hospital, has been damaged and is now out of service after Israeli forces repeatedly targeted the area, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
A main communication center in Gaza was also destroyed from airstrikes, making it difficult to get internet access or make phone calls.
Oct 09, 12:16 PM EDT
Survivors recount ‘living hell’ at Israel music festival
A 30-year-old Israeli told reporters it was “living hell” when Hamas gunmen opened fire and rockets were unleashed on a music festival in southern Israel, killing hundreds.
“I’ve been in wars, in two wars in my life, and never seen anything like this. Bodies at all places,” the 30-year-old said. “They didn’t care if you are a man or a woman, if you are young or an old man.”
At least 260 bodies were removed from the music festival venue, according to an Israeli rescue service.
Another survivor, Elad Hakim, told Reuters in Hebrew that the festival was “the best party I’ve been to in my life” until it went “from paradise to hell in one second.”
“Girls started screaming,” Hakim said. “People didn’t understand where to go, what to do.”
“There were two men on motorcycles on the road … who started spraying us [with bullets] as we drove by,” Hakim said. “The vehicles that were behind [us] were left behind.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 09, 11:53 AM EDT
Death toll in Gaza Strip rises to 560
At least 560 people have died, including at least 91 children, from Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since Saturday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Another 2,900 have been injured.
The death toll has continued to grow on both sides as Israeli forces strike back at Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers, after the Palestinian Islamist group launched an unprecedented incursion.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 11:53 AM EDT
Death toll in Gaza Strip rises to 560
At least 560 people have died, including at least 91 children, from Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since Saturday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Another 2,900 have been injured.
The death toll has continued to grow on both sides as Israeli forces strike back at Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers, after the Palestinian Islamist group launched an unprecedented incursion.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 11:39 AM EDT
Israel wants artillery, missiles, Iron Dome interceptors from US: Biden administration
Israel is seeking a resupply of specific weapons from the United States, including artillery rounds, interceptors for its Iron Dome missile defense system and precision-guided munitions, a Biden administration official told congressional leaders on a Sunday night conference call, according to two sources familiar with the call.
More U.S. aid approved by Congress will be critical for Israel’s defense in the coming weeks as the conflict continues, the sources said, describing the Biden administration’s message to lawmakers.
ABC News’ Ben Siegel
Oct 09, 10:30 AM EDT
Israel Defense Forces: ‘Unprecedented attack … will be followed by an unprecedented Israeli response’
Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, called Hamas’ attack “unprecedented,” and said the assault will be “followed by an unprecedented Israeli response.”
“I could not imagine at that time [when the incursion began Saturday] that Hamas would have the audacity … to do what they have done,” he told ABC News Monday. “To launch such an unprecedented, brutal, merciless attack on Israeli citizens. … And cause the amount of casualties that Israel has never experienced ever in its history.”
In Israel, at least 700 people have died and more than 2,300 others have been injured since Saturday.
The Israel Defense Forces has since launched retaliatory airstrikes on Gaza. At least 560 people have died and another 2,900 have been injured in Gaza since Saturday, Palestinian authorities said.
Oct 09, 9:12 AM EDT
Death toll in Gaza Strip rises to 560
At least 560 people have died and another 2,900 have been injured by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since Saturday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The death toll has continued to grow on both sides as Israeli forces strike back at Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers, after the Palestinian Islamist group launched an unprecedented incursion.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 8:52 AM EDT
Death toll of Americans in Israel rises to 9
At least nine Americans have been killed in Israel since Saturday as a result of attacks launched by the Hamas militant group, according to an official with the United States National Security Council.
“At this time, we can confirm the death of nine U.S. citizens,” the official told ABC News in a statement on Monday. “We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected, and wish those injured a speedy recovery. We continue to monitor the situation closely and remain in touch with our Israeli partners, particularly the local authorities.”
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Oct 09, 8:06 AM EDT
‘No one else should get involved in this,’ top US official warns
The United States is warning against other countries from becoming involved in the Israel-Gaza conflict amid fears that it could spread into a wider war in the Middle East.
“This is not the moment for other parties who are hostile to Israel to seek advantage or to seek to exploit the attacks that have taken place,” Jon Finer, deputy national security adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, Monday on Good Morning America.
“That is part of why the United States has moved the Carrier Strike Group to the eastern Mediterranean to send a strong and unmistakeable signal that no one else should get involved in this,” he added. “We’ll see how things unfold in the course of the coming days.”
Finer also emphasized that the U.S. believes “Israel has every right to defend itself full-stop.”
“Israel will ultimately make the decisions about how it chooses to go about and conduct that defense,” he said. “We are offering support in a number of ways.”
Finer noted that “more U.S. steps to show support and solidarity for Israel” can be expected.
“The U.S. is going to offer support at every level for Israel’s defense and we are working through details those details with our intelligence professionals, our military and our diplomats,” he added. “We are in daily — in fact, many times a day — contact with Israeli counterparts to see what they need and offer it.”
The U.S. “strongly suspect[s] that there will be American citizens among those killed” in the ongoing conflict, according to Finer.
“We are looking obviously very intensively into whether there were any Americans were among those who have been abducted and brought to Gaza. This is still ongoing,” he said. “There is still fighting inside Israel as we speak and there is a bit of fog of war in terms of the ability to gather specific information. And so, we will have much more to say about this at the right time.”
When asked for comment on a recent report by The Wall Street Journal that Iran was behind Hamas’ latest attack on Israel, Finer responded: “We have no direct information to confirm that report. We’ve obviously seen it, we’re looking into it, but we do not have the ability to corroborate it at this time.”
“What we can be quite clear about is that Iran is broadly complicit in these attacks for having supported Hamas going back decades — for having provided financial support, for having provided training, for having provided weapons to Hamas,” he added. “What we don’t have is direct information that shows Iranian involvement in ordering or planning the attacks that took place over the last couple days. It’s something that we’re going to keep looking at closely.”
Oct 09, 7:42 AM EDT
Death toll in Gaza Strip rises to 511
At least 511 people have died and another 2,750 have been injured by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since Saturday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The death toll has continued to grow on both sides as Israeli forces strike back at Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers, after the Palestinian Islamist group launched an unprecedented incursion.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 7:04 AM EDT
Dozens of Palestinian children among those killed in Gaza, advocacy group says
At least 33 Palestinian children have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Saturday morning as Israel continues its retaliatory airstrikes, according to the advocacy group Defense for Children Palestine.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 6:49 AM EDT
Hamas claims 4 Israeli hostages were killed in airstrikes
Four Israeli hostages were killed alongside their militant captors in the Gaza Strip by Israeli airstrikes on Sunday night and Monday morning, according to Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
There was no official confirmation on the hostage deaths from the Israeli side.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 6:40 AM EDT
Fresh rockets fired toward Jerusalem, Tel Aviv
The sound of rocket alert sirens rang out in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities on Monday morning.
One of the fresh rockets launched on Monday by Hamas militants from the neighboring Gaza Strip landed near Ben Gurion International Airport in southern Israel.
Several people were reportedly injured by rockets in the southern Israeli cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon on Monday.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 5:59 AM EDT
Israel cuts off Gaza in ‘total siege’
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced Monday that he has ordered a “total siege” of the neighboring Gaza Strip, allowing no food, fuel or electricity to enter the Hamas-ruled territory.
“We are fighting barbaric terrorists and we will act accordingly,” Gallant said.
Since Saturday’s surprise attack on Israel launched by Hamas militants, Israeli forces have struck back. Hundreds of buildings and homes have been destroyed in Gaza, leaving more than 123,000 people displaced, according to the United Nations.
Unlike Israel, the Gaza Strip has no air raid sirens or bomb shelters. Over 73,000 people are currently sheltering in schools, according to the U.N.
Meanwhile, hospitals in Gaza are struggling to cope with the number of casualties, the U.N. said. At least 493 people have died and another 2,751 have been injured there, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 4:39 AM EDT
Fighting has stopped in southern Israel, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that fighting with militants in southern Israel has stopped and it has retaken control of all communities around the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Israeli soldiers have successfully blocked the holes in the border fence separating Gaza from Israel, which are now secured by tanks on the ground and fighter jets above, according to the IDF.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 4:22 AM EDT
70 militants infiltrated Be’eri kibbutz overnight, IDF says
A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said Monday morning that 70 militants had infiltrated Be’eri kibbutz in southern Israel overnight.
Speaking to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the IDF spokesperson said they suspect there is a tunnel in the area of Be’eri, which the military has been unable to wrest from the Hamas militant group. The kibbutz is located near Israel’s southeastern border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
The IDF is still gathering information on the Israeli civilians and soldiers being held hostage in Gaza, and not all families have been updated yet, according to the spokesperson.
-ABC News’ Clark Bentson
Oct 09, 1:17 AM EDT
IDF claims to have hit 500 militant targets in Gaza Strip
For an operation now dubbed “Swords of Iron,” the Israel Defense Forces said Monday that it had struck 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip.
The attacks were carried out through the use of jets, helicopters and other aircraft, according to the IDF.
The IDF said seven of Hamas’ command centers were struck in the mission.
-ABC News’ Bruno Nota
Oct 09, 12:40 AM EDT
Iranian Mission to UN says Iran had no involvement in Hamas attack on Israel
An Iranian official at the UN denied that Iran had any involvement in Hamas’ attack on Israel.
Israeli officials, including President Isaac Herzog, had claimed on Saturday that Iran helped coordinate the attacks on Israel.
On Sunday, however, Iran’s Mission to the UN, denied the claims.
“We emphatically stand in unflinching support of Palestine; however, we are not involved in Palestine’s response, as it is taken solely by Palestine itself.,” the Iranian Mission to the UN said in a statement late Sunday. “The resolute measures taken by Palestine constitute a wholly legitimate defense against seven decades of oppressive occupation and heinous crimes committed by the illegitimate Zionist regime.”
A U.S. official said Saturday it was “too early” to tell if Iran had involvement in the attacks.
“We are going to be looking at that very closely,” a senior administration official said.
-ABC News’ Kirit Radia
Oct 08, 10:41 PM EDT
Israel attacks targeted locations on Gaza Strip: IDF
Israeli Defense Forces attacked the Gaza Strip early Monday morning local time, the IDF said in a series of posts on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
The IDF attacked a building where it said Hamas operatives were and several operational headquarters of the organization, the IDF said in the posts.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Oct 08, 10:30 PM EDT
UN Security Council emergency meeting fails to condemn attack on Israel
An emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council failed to condemn the Hamas attacks on Israel Sunday evening.
Deputy U.S. Ambassador the U.N. Robert Wood said the situation was “still fluid” and “very dangerous.”
“What is important now is that the international community needs to show its solidarity with Israel. We have Israel’s back fully as the United States, and the condemnation of Hamas needs to continue until they end this violent terrorist activity against the Israeli people,” Wood said after the meeting.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Oct 09, 12:24 AM EDT
At least 4 Americans among 700 dead in Israel
At least four American citizens were killed in the attacks in Israel over the weekend, senior administration officials told top House lawmakers on a call Sunday evening, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
That figure could rise in the coming days, the Biden administration officials told Congress. The administration is also still investigating unconfirmed reports of American citizens being taken hostage by Hamas.
Participants on the call included senior members of the relevant House committees and party leaders — including Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-North Carolina, the temporary House speaker, two sources told ABC News.
As previously reported, Senate leaders will receive a similar briefing tonight.
–ABC News’ Ben Siegel
Oct 08, 8:59 PM EDT
Senate briefing on current situation in Israel tonight
Senate leadership, chairs and ranking members of relevant committees will receive an unclassified briefing on the situation in Israel Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET, a Senate source told ABC News.
The chairs and ranking members from the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Committee on Armed Services are among those who will be briefed.
Oct 08, 10:46 PM EDT
‘Several’ Americans killed in Hamas attacks on Israel
American citizens were killed in the attacks on Israel, U.S. officials confirmed Sunday.
“We can confirm the deaths of several U.S. citizens. We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected,” a U.S. official told ABC News in a statement.
–ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks, Shannon Crawford
Oct 09, 12:25 AM EDT
The world’s largest pilot’s union says its airlines have suspended flight operations to Israel and evacuated personnel
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) — which represents more than 74,000 pilots between 42 US and Canadian airlines, including majors like JetBlue, Delta, and United — told members today its “working diligently” with carriers that fly to Israel to “ensure the safety of each of [its] members.”
-ABC News’ Amanda Maile
Oct 08, 4:38 PM EDT
US has for decades had vast weapons stockpile in Israel
The White House has pledged assistance to Israel in responding to Hamas’ attack — and America has for decades maintained a vast pre-positioned military stockpile inside Israel.
First established in the wake of the Yom Kippur War of 1973, when it took time for the U.S. to send supplies to Israel, the munitions are available in case of emergencies.
It’s possible that Israel will ask the U.S. to tap into this stockpile, which contains weapons systems including tanks and ammunition stored in warehouses.
While not especially well known to the public, the supplies got some exposure earlier this year when the U.S. planned to use them in order to send artillery to Ukraine in responding to Russia’s invasion.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Oct 08, 3:54 PM EDT
Hundreds killed at music festival in Israel that came under attack
Israeli rescue service Zaka said at least 260 bodies were removed from the venue of the music festival in southern Israel that came under a Hamas attack.
Oct 08, 3:54 PM EDT
United says Tel Aviv flights will remain suspended
United Airlines said Sunday its Tel Aviv flights will remain suspended until conditions allow for them to resume.
The airline operated two scheduled flights out of TLV late Saturday and early Sunday.
“The safety of our customers and employees is our top priority,” United said.
-ABC News’ Amanda Maile
Oct 07, 5:54 PM EDT
High-ranking IDF commander killed in action, military says
A high-ranking Israel Defense Forces commander was killed in action Saturday, the military said.
Col. Jonathan Steinberg, 42, the commander of the Nahal Brigade, was killed during a confrontation with Hamas, IDF said.
Oct 07, 5:49 PM EDT
United Hatzalah says it has treated nearly 1,000 injured people in Israel
United Hatzalah, a community-based volunteer EMS organization, said so far it has treated nearly 1,000 people for “various injuries” in southern and central Israel.
The organization said it has also transported an unspecified number of patients to hospitals in the regions via ambulance and helicopter.
Oct 07, 5:12 PM EDT
At least 50 Israelis being held hostage: Israeli Command
At least 50 Israelis are currently being held hostage by Hamas, according to Israeli Command. That number may change as Israeli forces get a handle on the situation on the ground.
Oct 07, 5:11 PM EDT
Blinken calls on Palestinian leadership to ‘condemn’ attacks
During a call with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on the region’s leadership to “condemn” the Hamas attacks, according to a readout from the State Department.
“The Secretary reiterated the United States’ unequivocal condemnation of the terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel, and called on all leadership in the region to condemn them,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement. “The Secretary urged the Palestinian Authority to continue and enhance steps to restore calm and stability in the West Bank.”
Earlier Saturday, Abbas said his people have the right to defend themselves against the “terror of settlers and occupation troops,” according to Reuters.
Oct 07, 5:01 PM EDT
Israeli ambassador to US calls attacks ‘war crimes’
In a strongly worded statement, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. labeled the Hamas attacks as “war crimes” and vowed that Israel will fight back.
“Those of our enemies who believe that Israel is weak because of its internal debate have totally miscalculated. When under attack, Israelis close ranks and join together in fighting for Israel’s self-defense,” Michael Herzog declared. “This is war. We will fight to win and deter the terrorists from any future attacks.”
The ambassador also directly blamed Iran for the surprise attack, saying, “Hamas is a U.S. and E.U. designated terror organization and a close ally of Iran. Iran’s hands are evidently behind the scenes, leading the so-called Axis of Resistance to Israel’s existence.”
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Crawford
Oct 07, 4:43 PM EDT
Israel will take ‘vengeance for this black day’: Netanyahu
Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel will “reach every place Hamas is hiding” during an address late Saturday and urged “Gaza’s people to leave those places now.”
Israel will take “vengeance for this black day,” he added.
At least 300 people have been killed and thousands injured since Hamas launched its surprise attack. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 232 are dead and another 1,790 injured in Gaza. According to the Israeli Health Ministry, over 100 people are dead and over 900 others are injured — though multiple Israeli news outlets are reporting at least 250 Israelis have been killed and another 1,500 injured.
Israeli army spokesman Richard Hech also reported “severe” hostage situations were ongoing in Kibbutz Be’eri and Ofakim, with an unknown number of Israelis being held hostage.
Israel said the assault started at sunrise, when Hamas attacked 22 sites bordering Gaza by breaching some border fences.
Oct 07, 3:11 PM EDT
Biden administration to remain in ‘constant contact’ with leaders in the region
President Joe Biden said he spoke with Jordanian King Abdullah II, members of the U.S. Congress and directed his national security team to remain in contact with their Israeli counterparts.
“I’ve also directed my team to remain in constant contact with leaders throughout the region including Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, UAE, as well as our European partners and the Palestinian Authority,” Biden said.
Oct 07, 2:59 PM EDT
Biden says support for Israel’s security is ‘rock solid and unwavering’
President Joe Biden delivered remarks from the White House on Saturday expressing U.S. support for Israel in light of Hamas’ attack.
“We will not ever fail to have their back,” Biden said.
“Israel has the right to defend itself and his people full stop. There is never a justification for terrorist attacks and my administration’s support for Israel security is rock solid and unwavering. Let me say this as clearly as I can. This is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage. The world is watching,” Biden said.
Oct 07, 2:57 PM EDT
Blinken speaks with Israeli president, foreign minister
Secretary of State Antony Blinken “reaffirmed” the U.S.’ solidarity with Israel during a call with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, a State Department spokesperson said.
“Secretary Blinken reiterated his condolences for the victims of the terrorist attacks against Israel and condemned those attacks in the strongest terms,” the spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said in a statement. “Secretary Blinken also discussed measures to bolster Israel’s security. The Secretary underscored the United States’ unwavering support for Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Oct 07, 2:27 PM EDT
Biden to speak at 2:30 p.m.
President Joe Biden is set to deliver remarks at 2:30 p.m. on the attacks in Israel from the State Dining Room, according to the White House.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
Oct 07, 2:13 PM EDT
US embassy in Israel issues security alert, tells Americans in Gaza to check pathway to Egypt
The U.S. Embassy in Israel issued a security alert on Saturday warning Americans in Gaza seeking to flee to check the status of the Rafah Crossing into Egypt and to remain vigilant.
“U.S. citizens are reminded to remain vigilant and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness as security incidents, including mortar and rocket fire, often take place without warning. U.S. citizens in Gaza who wish to leave and can do so safely are advised to check the status of the Rafah Crossing into Egypt,” the embassy alerted.
“U.S. Embassy personnel are still currently sheltering in place. U.S. government personnel continue to be prohibited from travel to Gaza and areas within seven miles of Gaza,” the embassy said.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow and MaryAlice Parks
Oct 07, 1:23 PM EDT
UN to hold private meeting on the unfolding Israeli-Palestinian crisis
The United Nations will hold a private meeting on Sunday to discuss the unfolding Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
Oct 07, 1:17 PM EDT
Over 300 dead, thousands injured in Gaza, Israel, authorities say
The death toll continues to climb with over 300 people reported dead in Gaza and Israel.
The Palestinian Health Authority said 198 are dead and 1,610 others are injured in Gaza. According to the Israeli Health Ministry over 100 people are dead and over 900 others are injured.
Just before sundown in a western Gaza City, a massive explosion and fireball were reported after Israel warplanes hit a high-rise apartment complex. The Gaza Interior Ministry said the building housed approximately 100 families.
Oct 07, 1:00 PM EDT
Defense Secretary Austin spoke with Israeli counterpart
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant on Saturday to convey his condolences.
“Secretary Austin made clear to Minister Gallant his ironclad support for the Israeli Defense Forces and the Israeli people. He reaffirmed that the Department’s commitment to Israel’s security and its absolute right to defend itself from acts of terrorism is unwavering. Secretary Austin has directed his team to ensure that DoD is closely consulting with all of our Allies and partners who share a commitment to peace and oppose terrorism. Secretary Austin will continue to consult with Minister Gallant in the coming days and weeks to ensure that Israel has the support it needs,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
Oct 07, 12:38 PM EDT
Police in New York, Beverly Hills increase patrols in sensitive areas
Police in New York, where there are locations sensitive to both Israeli and Palestinian interests, are adjusting patrols in response to the situation in Israel.
“The NYPD’s Counterterrorism and Intelligence Division consistently work at a level of high alert. When events from around the world could possibly affect NYC or we get Intel on a threat to NYC, we always increase our presence around houses of worship and certain areas when these conflicts arise,” the NYPD said in a statement.
The Beverly Hills Police Department also said it increased security and patrols around Jewish institutions in the City and continues to work closely with law enforcement partners in the region to ensure public safety.
Law enforcement and Homeland Security officials will be assessing the potential for residual violence in the U.S.
Increased security around Jewish facilities and on university campuses — particularly where there is a history of confrontational interactions — is to be expected. Increased attention is expected to be paid to potential cyber threats and online activities intended to inspire violence by Iran, Hezbollah and other extremists threat actors.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Alex Stone
Oct 07, 12:21 PM EDT
United, American, Delta airlines to suspend Israel operations
United Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Airlines announced they will suspend operations to Israel Saturday night following unrest in the region. After two departures scheduled for Saturday, United’s future operations will be suspended until conditions allow them to resume, the airline said.
“The safety of our customers and crew is our top priority. We are closely monitoring the situation and we are adjusting flight schedules as required,” the carrier told ABC News.
American Airlines said it will temporarily suspended operations to and from Tel Aviv and will continue to monitor the situation, adjusting its operations as needed.
“American Airlines has temporarily suspended operations to and from Tel Aviv, Israel (TLV) [Saturday] and [Sunday], and has issued a travel alert providing additional flexibility to customers whose travel plans are affected. We will continue to monitor the situation with safety and security top of mind and will adjust our operation as needed,” American Airlines said in a statement.
Delta Air Lines has canceled scheduled flights in and out of Tel Aviv this weekend. The airline said its working to “safely transport Delta people back to the U.S. and will work with the U.S. government as needed to assist with the repatriation of U.S. citizens who want to return home.”
-ABC News’ Amanda Maile and Sam Sweeney
Oct 07, 11:19 AM EDT
Biden speaks with Netanyahu, offers ‘all appropriate means of support’
President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling him that the U.S. “condemns” Hamas’ assault on Israel.
“I made clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the Government and people of Israel. Terrorism is never justified. Israel has a right to defend itself and its people. The United States warns against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation. My Administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden also extended his condolences for lives lost and wished those wounded a “swift recovery.”
“My team and I are tracking this situation closely, and I will remain in close touch with Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Biden said.
Oct 07, 10:25 AM EDT
Blinken says US condemns Hamas’ attack on Israel
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement condemning Hamas’ attack on Israel, saying the U.S. will “remain in close contact with our Israel partners.”
“The United States unequivocally condemns the appalling attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israel, including civilians and civilian communities. There is never any justification for terrorism. We stand in solidarity with the government and people of Israel, and extend our condolences for the Israeli lives lost in these attacks,” Blinken said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 07, 10:23 AM EDT
Death toll, number of injured rise after Hamas fires rockets, Israel declares war
The death toll has risen after Hamas fired rockets into Israel from Gaza in a surprise attack and Israel declared war.
According to Israeli officials, at least 40 people have died in Israel and more than 700 people have been injured. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 160 people were killed in Gaza and over a 1,000 others were injured.
According to Al Jazeera, Israeli forces have surrounded a house in the Israeli settlement of Ofakim and negotiations are underway with Palestinian fighters who are allegedly holding hostages. According to the Jerusalem Post, dozens of hostages are being by Hamas in the Kibbutz Be’eru in southern Israel.
Oct 07, 9:50 AM EDT
Biden briefed on attacks in Israel
President Joe Biden was briefed Saturday “on the appalling Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel,” according to the White House.
“Senior national security officials briefed the President this morning on the appalling Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel. The President will continue to receive updates and White House officials remain in close contact with Israeli partners,” the White House said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
Oct 07, 8:58 AM EDT
Defense secretary says US will ‘work to ensure that Israel has what it needs’
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin released a statement saying he is “closely monitoring” the situation in Israel and extended his condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives.
“Over the coming days the Department of Defense will work to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself and protect civilians from indiscriminate violence and terrorism,” Austin said.
Separately, a U.S. defense official said that Austin had a call with his team Saturday morning, including U.S. Centcom Commander Gen. Eric Kurilla. Israel falls under Centcom’s area of responsibility.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Oct 07, 8:01 AM EDT
Netanyahu says Israel is at ‘war’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a video statement on social media, saying simply, “We are at war. We will win,” in his first comments, made in Hebrew, after the attack.
“Citizens of Israel, we are at war, not in an operation or in rounds, but at war. This morning, Hamas launched a murderous surprise attack against the State of Israel and its citizens. We have been in this since the early morning hours. I convened the heads of the security establishment and ordered – first of all – to clear out the communities that have been infiltrated by terrorists,” Netanyahu said. “This currently is being carried out. At the same time, I have ordered an extensive mobilization of reserves and that we return fire of a magnitude that the enemy has not known. The enemy will pay an unprecedented price. In the meantime, I call on the citizens of Israel to strictly adhere to the directives of the IDF and Home Front Command. We are at war and we will win it.”
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