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: November 5, 2023, 5:13 PM EST

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 1, 6:03 am

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.

Nov 02, 2023, 9:19 AM EDT

American who escaped Gaza: 'People are frustrated, they’re desperate'

Barbara Zind, a pediatrician from Colorado who was in Gaza working with the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund, said the scene at the Gaza-Egypt border was pure chaos.

"Everyone rushed in and they were pressing the doors," she told ABC News. "They did have a list up of who was on the list to leave."

“People are frustrated. They’re desperate. People are angry. There were a couple of fist fights," she said.

Up to 7,000 foreign nationals, including Americans, are expected to be able to escape Gaza through the Rafah border crossing after weeks of waiting.
4:34

Race to escape Gaza as fierce fighting rages

Up to 7,000 foreign nationals, including Americans, are expected to be able to escape Gaza through the Rafah border crossing after weeks of waiting.
ABCNews.com

Zind, one of the first five Americans to leave Gaza on Wednesday, said she has survivor's guilt.

"I just left so I might get a little emotional, but these people are just being slaughtered," she said. "These are my friends."

Zind said the bombing was constant.

She said often it was near impossible to contact people outside Gaza. At one point she was in a total communication blackout for 18 hours and unable to tell her husband and son that she was safe.

Ramona Okumura and Barbara Zind have crossed the border from Gaza and are now in Egypt according to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund.
Palestinian Children's Relief Fund

As conditions worsened, she said at one point they were down to consuming 800 calories per day, with two days left of supplies. She said one man risked his life to drive into Gaza City to get more supplies for everyone to eat for another week.

Zind has made many trips to Gaza to work with children and families there. When asked if she would go back, she said, definitely.

-ABC News' Maggie Rulli

Nov 02, 2023, 7:13 AM EDT

Border crossings continue in Rafah for 2nd day

Hundreds of foreign nationals and dual citizens, including about 400 Americans, were eligible to cross from the Gaza Strip into Egypt, local officials said Thursday.

Civilians leaving display their documents as dual national Palestinians and foreigners prepare to cross the Rafah border point with Egypt, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Nov. 2, 2023.
Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images

Civilians leaving Gaza display their documents as dual national Palestinians and foreigners prepare to cross the Rafah border point with Egypt, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Nov. 2, 2023.
Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images

Egyptian authorities published a list of some 600 names of those who would be permitted to leave though the Rafah crossing on the second day it’s been open since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

In total some 7,000 foreign nationals from about 60 countries were eligible to leave, officials said.

The president called for a cease-fire in Gaza to help recover hostages. Meanwhile, more Americans trapped in Gaza are set to leave through the border with Egypt. ABC News' Justin Finch reports.
1:51

Biden calls for 'pause' in fighting

The president called for a cease-fire in Gaza to help recover hostages. Meanwhile, more Americans trapped in Gaza are set to leave through the border with Egypt. ABC News' Justin Finch reports.
ABCNews.com

Lena Beseiso, a 57-year-old American from Salt Lake City, Utah, was on the list on Thursday. Beseiso had previously told ABC News she had made the trip to the border twice only to be turned away.

"Our government has the power to demand the Egyptians to open the border. Why do they delay, keeping our lives in danger?" she told ABC News last month.

Nov 01, 2023, 5:21 PM EDT

IDF claims they have broken through Hamas' front line

The Israel Defense Forces released a statement claiming they broke through "the forward Hamas perimeter [in] the northern Gaza Strip."

The IDF said it killed the head of Hamas' anti-tank array in an air strike.

"The array is a deadly and capable anti-tank force and eliminating it will impact Hamas' future fighting capabilities," the IDF said in a statement.

-ABC News' Will Gretsky

Nov 01, 2023, 4:53 PM EDT

'Handful of Americans' expected to leave Gaza Wednesday: White House

A "handful of Americans" are expected to leave Gaza on Wednesday and enter Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.

According to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund, five American aid workers crossed from Gaza into Egypt on Wednesday.

Kirby called the exit of Americans "a significant breakthrough."

Palestinians look from windows at the damage caused by Israeli airstrikes in Jabaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, Nov. 1, 2023.
Abed Khaled/AP

Approximately 400 Americans, as well as 600 of their family members, have been trapped in Gaza, according to the State Department.

"We've gotten through a bottleneck," Kirby said, but the evacuations will "take some time."

He cautioned that "the situation remains very fluid" and explained the "complicated process" to identify Americans and make sure they have proper documentation and can access an available route to exit safely and efficiently.

President Joe Biden said later Wednesday afternoon, "American citizens were able to exit today as part of the first group of probably over 1,000. We’ll see more of this process going on in the coming days. We're working nonstop to get Americans out of Gaza, as soon and as safely as possible."

Five American aid workers entered Egypt from Gaza at the Rafah border crossing, ABC News correspondent Mary Alice Parks reports from the White House.
6:05

Biden speaks after 5 American aid workers enter Egypt from Gaza

Five American aid workers entered Egypt from Gaza at the Rafah border crossing, ABC News correspondent Mary Alice Parks reports from the White House.
ABCNews.com

-ABC News' Justin Ryan Gomez

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