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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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.
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
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."
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."
Biden speaks after 5 American aid workers enter Egypt from Gaza
-ABC News' Justin Ryan Gomez
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel and Jordan on Friday, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller announced.
Blinken will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to get an update on their military plans.
While meeting with the Israelis, Blinken "will reiterate U.S. support for Israel's right to defend itself in accordance with international humanitarian law and discuss the need to take all precautions to minimize civilian casualties, as well as our work to deliver humanitarian assistance," Miller said.
In Jordan, Blinken will "underscore the importance of protecting civilian lives and our shared commitment to facilitating the sustained delivery of life saving humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, the resumption of essential services, and ensuring that Palestinians are not forcibly displaced outside of Gaza," Miller said.
"He will also reaffirm the U.S. commitment to working with partners to set the conditions for a durable and sustainable peace in the Middle East to include the establishment of a Palestinian state that reflects the aspirations of the Palestinian people in Gaza and in the West Bank," Miller continued. "And of course, he will discuss the ongoing work to secure the release of all hostages.”
-ABC News' Shannon Crawford
Doctors Without Borders said 22 of its staff members -- all foreign nationals -- crossed into Egypt from Gaza via the Rafah crossing on Wednesday.
A new team of workers "is ready to enter Gaza as soon as the situation allows," Doctors Without Borders said. "Meanwhile, many of our Palestinian colleagues continue to work and provide lifesaving care in hospitals and across the Gaza Strip, while the most basic protections for hospitals and medical personnel are not guaranteed."
"We reiterate our call for an immediate cease-fire," the organization said. "Critically needed humanitarian supplies and staff must be allowed into Gaza where hospitals are overwhelmed and the healthcare system is facing total collapse."
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