Israel-Gaza updates: IDF says 2 hostages rescued from Gaza

More than 1 million people displaced by the war have sought refuge in Rafah.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: February 11, 2024, 3:20 PM EST

More than four months since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, the Israeli military continues its bombardment of the neighboring Gaza Strip.

The conflict, now the deadliest between the warring sides since Israel's founding in 1948, shows no signs of letting up soon and the brief cease-fire that allowed for over 100 hostages to be freed from Gaza remains a distant memory.

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.

Feb 02, 2024, 2:23 PM EST

Blinken to travel to the Middle East next week

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to the Middle East next week, making stops in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the West Bank, the State Department announced.

This will be Blinken’s fifth visit to the region since Oct. 7.

People walk past destroyed buildings in the Maghazi camp for Palestinian refugees, which was severely damaged by Israeli bombardment in the central Gaza Strip, Feb. 1, 2024.
Anas Baba/AFP via Getty Images

Smoke rises over buildings in Khan Yunis during Israeli bombardment on February 2, 2024.
Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images

During this trip, Blinken will focus on reaching "an agreement that secures the release of all remaining hostages and includes a humanitarian pause that will allow for sustained, increased delivery of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza," State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said.

Blinken is also looking to prevent the conflict from spreading while "reaffirming that the United States will take appropriate steps to defend its personnel and the right to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea," Miller said.

-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford

Related Topics