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.

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 04, 2023, 10:41 AM EDT

Doctors Without Borders says conflict has reached ‘new low’ after ambulance strike

Doctors Without Borders called for a ceasefire Saturday saying the conflict has reached "a new low in an endless stream of unconscionable violence." The organization, which has been providing medical care to people in Gaza, also condemned world leaders for not calling for a ceasefire.

"The deadly attack outside the gate of Al-Shifa hospital impacting an ambulance is horrendous. This is a lethal attack outside Gaza's main and busiest hospital, where our staff work daily to provide lifesaving medical care. We have repeatedly called for an immediate and total ceasefire, for the protection of healthcare facilities, as well as medics, patients and people who are taking shelter there," Doctors Without Borders said in a statement Saturday.

"This is a new low in an endless stream of unconscionable violence. The repeated strikes on hospitals, ambulances, densely populated areas and refugee camps are disgraceful. How many people have to die before world leaders wake up and call for a ceasefire?" Doctors Without Borders said.

A screen grab captured from a video shows a street following the Israeli attacks on the entrance of the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Gaza on Nov. 3, 2023.
APAImages via Polaris

This comes as the Palestinian death toll rises to 9,488 -- including 3,900 children and 3,509 women -- and 24,158 Palestinians were injured, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

One physician described seeing an ambulance hit outside Al-Shifa hospital.

"We were standing inside the hospital gate when the ambulance was directly hit in front of us. There were bloody bodies everywhere. Many were killed immediately, while we rushed others to the operating room for emergency care," Dr. Obaid, a Doctors Without Borders doctor at Al Shifa hospital, said.

The Israel Defense Forces claimed its aircraft hit an ambulance that it believes was being used by Hamas and called for civilians to move south for safety.

-ABC News' Cindy Smith and Emma Ogao

Nov 04, 2023, 9:47 AM EDT

Turkey withdraws its Israeli ambassador over 'humanitarian tragedy in Gaza'

Turkey announced it is recalling its ambassador to Israel due to the "humanitarian tragedy in Gaza caused by the continuing attacks by Israel against civilians," the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday.

"In view of the unfolding humanitarian tragedy in Gaza caused by the continuing attacks by Israel against civilians, and Israel’s refusal of calls for ceasefire and continuous and unhindered flow of humanitarian aid, it was decided to recall our Ambassador in Tel Aviv, H.E. Mr. Şakir Özkan Torunlar, to Ankara for consultations," according to a statement.

People queue for bread in front of a bakery that was partially destroyed in an Israeli strike, in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, on Nov. 4, 2023, as battles continue between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement.
Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Zuma Press

A Palestinian inspects the rubble of the destoyed Al Sheikh Zayed mosque following Israeli air strikes in the northern Gaza Strip, Nov. 4, 2023.
Mohammed Saber/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has now added a stop in Ankara, Turkey, during his diplomatic mission to the region.

-ABC News' Cindy Smith and Davonne Morales

Nov 04, 2023, 6:47 AM EDT

Secretary Blinken in Jordan for talks with Middle East foreign ministers

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah on Saturday and will join a meeting of foreign ministers of five Arab countries, also attended by a representative of the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas.

The prime objective of the talks is to ease Gaza’s growing humanitarian crisis, but that mission is complicated by Israel's insistence there can be no temporary cease-fire until all hostages held by Hamas are released. Israel has also presented the argument that a cease-fire would be in Hamas’s favor.

Israeli forces operate in the northern Gaza Strip, on Nov 3, 2023.
EPN via Newscom

Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has again called for an immediate cease-fire to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, saying the conditions in Gaza are now "horrific" with food and water needed along with fuel for generators that power hospitals.

The U.N.’s director for Palestinian refugees says that the average Gaza inhabitant is living on two pieces of bread made from flour the UN had stockpiled and that people in southern Gaza have been forced to do all their washing on the beach using seawater as clean water runs out.

Nov 03, 2023, 4:15 PM EDT

13 killed from strikes on ambulances at gate of Gaza hospital: Gaza Health Ministry

Thirteen people were killed and 26 were injured from a blast that struck ambulances at the gate of Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital complex, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the group of ambulances were returning to the hospital from a mission to transport injured people to the Gaza-Egypt Rafah border crossing.

The Israel Defense Forces said its aircraft hit an ambulance that it believes was being used by Hamas.

People gather around an ambulance damaged in a strike in front of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Nov. 3, 2023.
Momen Al-Halabi/AFP via Getty Images

People gather around an ambulance damaged in a reported Israeli strike in front of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Nov. 3, 2023, as battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement continue.
Momen Al-halabi/AFP via Getty Images

"We have information which demonstrates that Hamas' method of operation is to transfer terror operatives and weapons in ambulances," the IDF said.

"A number" of Hamas terrorists were killed in the blast, the IDF said.

The IDF said, "We emphasize that this area is a battle zone. Civilians in the area are repeatedly called upon to evacuate southwards for their own safety."

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