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Israel-Gaza live updates: IDF says it's discovered one of Hamas' biggest tunnels

The 2 1/2-mile-long tunnel is large enough to drive a car through, the IDF said.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: December 17, 2023, 5:01 PM EST

The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended on Dec. 1, and Israel has resumed its bombardment of Gaza.

The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

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.

Dec 15, 2023, 2:33 PM EST

Al Jazeera cameraman killed in Gaza

Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa died in Gaza after he was struck and injured during combat in the region, ABC News has confirmed. He died at the scene before an ambulance could reach him.

Al Jazeera said its correspondent, Wael al-Dahdouh, was injured from shrapnel in the same incident.

Sixty-five journalists have been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Smoke billows over the northern Gaza Strip during Israeli bombardment from southern Israel on Dec. 15, 2023.
Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

-ABC News' Nasser Atta and Sami Zayara

Dec 15, 2023, 1:19 PM EST

Lufthansa to resume flights to Israel

Lufthansa plans to resume flights to Tel Aviv in the new year, the airline confirmed Friday.

Lufthansa said it will offer four weekly flights from Frankfurt and three weekly flights from Munich starting Jan. 8.

Austrian Airlines and SWISS -- subsidiaries of Lufthansa -- will also resume some flights.

Flights to Beirut, which had also been suspended, resumed service on Friday, the airline said.

Dec 15, 2023, 12:00 PM EST

Bodies of 3 hostages recovered in Gaza, returned to Israel

The bodies of three hostages -- two Israeli soldiers and one civilian kidnapped from the Supernova music festival -- have been recovered in Gaza and returned to Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The civilian was identified as 28-year-old Ella Toledano and the soldiers were identified as Cpl. Nik Beizer and Sgt. Ron Sherman, the IDF said.

A person takes a picture of images of Israeli hostages who are being held in the Gaza Strip, displayed at a table with the colors of the Israeli flag, as the country observes Hanukkah, in Tel Aviv, Israel Dec. 12, 2023.
Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters

Dec 15, 2023, 11:40 AM EST

IDF strikes Hamas infrastructure on Gaza-Egypt border

The Israeli Air Force "targeted and destroyed" Hamas military sites, weapons storage facilities and command and control centers along the Gaza-Egypt border, the Israel Defense Forces said.

"The sites that were struck in the Rafah area, where Hamas terrorists were operating, facilitated the smuggling efforts led by the Hamas terrorist organization, including the smuggling of weapons that endanger Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip," the IDF said.

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