Israel-Gaza updates: Blinken, Abbas meet on restoring 'calm' in West Bank, State Department says
The top U.S. diplomat made an unannounced stop in the West Bank on Sunday.
Thousands of people have died and thousands more have been injured since 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.
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Latest headlines:
- Blinken meets with Iraqi prime minister
- Blinken visits West Bank, meets with Palestinian Authority leader Abbas
- Blinken in Jordan reaffirms need for 'increased, sustained' humanitarian aid for Gaza
- ABC News' Ian Pannell embeds with IDF in Gaza
- Doctors Without Borders says conflict has reached ‘new low’ after ambulance strike
What we know about the conflict
The latest outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs the Gaza Strip, has passed the four-month mark.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 30,228 people have been killed and 71,377 others have been wounded by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to Gaza's Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
In Israel, at least 1,200 people have been killed and 6,900 others have been injured by Hamas and other Palestinian militants since Oct. 7, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
There has also been a surge in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli forces have killed at least 395 people in the territory since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The ongoing war began after Hamas-led militants launched an unprecedented incursion into southern Israel from neighboring Gaza via land, sea and air. Scores of people were killed while more than 200 others were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities. The Israeli military subsequently launched retaliatory airstrikes followed by a ground invasion of Gaza, a 140-square-mile territory where more than 2 million Palestinians have lived under a blockade imposed by Israel and supported by Egypt since Hamas came to power in 2007. Gaza, unlike Israel, has no air raid sirens or bomb shelters.
Jordan says it air-dropped aid into Gaza
King Abdullah II of Jordan says his country dropped aid by parachute into northern Gaza at midnight.
"Our fearless air force personnel air-dropped at midnight urgent medical aid to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza," read a post on X (formerly Twitter). "This is our duty to aid our brothers and sisters injured in the war on Gaza. We will always be there for our Palestinian brethren."
The king posted two photos of a crate with the flag of Jordan on it being loaded onto an airplane.
IDF says it's making progress in Gaza operation
The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday it had "reached the seashore in the southern part of the city of Gaza and encircled the city of Gaza," calling the encirclement a "significant step" in the fight against Hamas.
"We will continue to attack strongly and continue to intensify our ground operation in the northern Gaza Strip and Greater Gaza City," the IDF said.
The IDF is still urging residents in northern Gaza to move south.
"We are intensifying our attack and this is already happening tonight significantly," the IDF warned.
Netanyahu: No cease-fire without return of hostages
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday at the Ramon Air Force Base in Israel that "there will be no cease-fire without the return of the hostages."
Israeli officials say 241 people have been taken hostage.
Blinken meets with Iraqi prime minister
Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Iraq to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Sunday following the secretary's visits to Israel, Jordan and the West Bank.
Blinken told reporters that his meeting with the Iraqi prime minister was productive and said he emphasized the need to prevent spillover from the conflict in Gaza.
"I made very clear that the attacks, the threats coming from militia that are aligned with Iran are totally unacceptable," Blinken said. "We're not looking for conflict with Iran. We've made that very clear. But we'll do what's necessary to protect our personnel."
"We're working very hard to make sure that the conflict in Gaza does not escalate, does not spread to other places, whether it's here, whether it's elsewhere in the region," he said.
Blinken was asked about Arab leaders' instance that nothing short of a total cease-fire would be acceptable.
"I think everyone would welcome humanitarian pauses -- there's no doubt about that," Blinken responded.
He said pauses "advance things that we're all trying to accomplish," including getting more humanitarian aid into Gaza, getting people out of Gaza and getting hostages home.
On his meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Blinken said the PA was "playing a very important role right now in the West Bank in trying to keep stability there."
-ABC News' Shannon Crawford
66 aid trucks arrived in Gaza in last 24 hours
Another 66 aid trucks with food, water and medicine arrived in Gaza over the last 24 hours -- the "highest single-day delivery so far" -- and "dozens of more trucks are expected to clear today," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday.
But "it’s a trickle compared to what needs to get in," Kirby said, "and we’re gonna keep working that, very, very hard.”
Kirby said the U.S. is continuing to push for safe passage for civilians in Gaza and the resumption of essential services, including water and fuel.
Kirby also said President Joe Biden is set to speak with Jordan's King Abdullah II on Tuesday "to discuss further cooperation with Arab partners to address the worsening humanitarian situation."
-ABC News' Justin Ryan Gomez