Israel-Gaza live updates: Blinken, Abbas meet on restoring 'calm' in West Bank

The top U.S. diplomat made an unannounced stop in the West Bank on Sunday.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: October 30, 2023, 3:21 PM EDT

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.

Click here for updates from previous days.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Mar 01, 2024, 6:03 AM EST

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.

Oct 30, 2023, 3:21 PM EDT

Netanyahu says no plans to resign, Israel will fight on

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Monday that Israel will keep fighting despite international criticism, and said he has no plans to resign.

Netanyahu said Israel will not agree to a cease-fire, saying doing so would mean surrendering to Hamas.

Family mourn Albert Miles, 80, who was killed in his home in Kibbutz Beeri at his funeral in Kibbutz Revivim, in southern Israel, Oct. 30, 2023.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Palestinian relatives of the eight members of the Kurd family killed in an Israeli airstrike, wait to collect the bodies of the family for burial from the Najjar Hospital, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Oct. 30, 2023.
Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu implored the international community to back Israel, framing the war as a fight for civilization itself.

He said Hamas will continue to use civilians as human shields as long as the international community keeps blaming Israel for their deaths.

The Israeli prime minister was asked about the IDF soldier who was released after being kidnapped by Hamas and discussed the ongoing ground operations in Gaza.
The Israeli prime minister was asked about the IDF soldier who was released after being kidnapped by Hamas and discussed the ongoing ground operations in Gaza.

-ABC News' Matt Rivers

Oct 30, 2023, 1:43 PM EDT

63 UNRWA staff members killed

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees said 63 of its staff members have been killed and at least 22 staffers have been injured since Oct. 7.

Ten have been killed in the last 72 hours.

Young Palestinians walk in front of a damaged building in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 30, 2023.
Mohammed Salem/Reuters

Oct 30, 2023, 12:51 PM EDT

Kidnapped female Israeli soldier rescued, IDF says

Pvt. Ori Megidish, a female Israeli soldier who was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, was rescued during the Israeli military's ground operations overnight, the Israel Defense Forces said Monday.

She's now home with her family, the IDF said.

Editor's Note: An earlier IDF statement said a kidnapped female Israeli soldier was released, but later clarified that she was rescued.

Oct 30, 2023, 12:36 PM EDT

Death of German-Israeli woman kidnapped by Hamas confirmed by Israeli, German governments

The death of Shani Luk, a 23-year-old German-Israeli woman who was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, was confirmed by both the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the German government on Monday.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on social media, "The news of Shani Louk's death is terrible."

"This shows the full barbarity behind the Hamas attack - who must be held accountable." Scholz said. "This is terror, and Israel has the right to defend itself."

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