Israel-Gaza updates: Blinken tells Israel onus is on Hamas to accept cease-fire

Israeli Defense Forces have "tactical control over the Philadelphi corridor" in Gaza, an IDF official told reporters Wednesday.

"IDF has tactical control over the Philadelphi corridor, which does mean it doesn't mean that we have boots on the ground across all of the corridor, but it means that we can control and we have the ability to cut off the oxygen line that Hamas has used for replenishing and movement in and around that area," the IDF official said.

-ABC News' Bruno Nota

After comments from Israeli officials predicted the war in Gaza would last through the end of the year, White House national security communications adviser John Kirby expressed a desire to reach an end much sooner than that -- “as soon as possible,” he said.

“I’ll let the defense minister speak for his own views and opinions. Our view, in our opinion, is we gotta get this hostage deal now. The time is now to do it -- to get that temporary cease-fire and to end this conflict as soon as possible,” Kirby said.

“I can tell you that President Biden is committed to seeing that we find a way to end this conflict. And to end as soon as practicable.”

Kirby confirmed that there is a “fresh” proposal on the table that the Israels are “fully supportive of,” but it is too “fresh” to provide details on. He emphasized that the Biden administration still believes there is a path for a cease-fire deal that could “lead to something more sustainable” and a “potential end of the conflict.”

Kirby also said the fighting “could end tomorrow if Mr. Sinwar did the right thing and agreed to this deal,” referring to the Hamas leader.

-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about the catastrophic strike over the weekend in Rafah -- becoming the first top-level U.S. official to publicly respond to the attack in detail.

"The incident a couple days ago was horrific," he said. "I don't think anyone who has seen the images cannot be deeply affected by them, just on a basic human level."

Blinken was also asked about reports indicating that the U.S. supplied the weapons used in the strike; he said he couldn't yet say where they came from, but if Israel's claims that it used small diameter munitions were true, the incident illustrated how even precision attacks could cause immense damage to civilians in Rafah.

"I think we also see that even limited, focused, targeted attacks, designed to deal with terrorists who've killed innocent civilians that are plotting to kill more -- even those kinds of operations can have terrible, horrific, unintended consequences," he said.

Blinken then said it was "very important in this moment after Israel has had real success in helping to destroy Hamas' capacity to repeat October 7th" that Israel "has to ask whether, and especially in the absence of a plan for the day after in Gaza, further incremental gains against Hamas, but gains that may not be durable in terms of Hamas' defeat in the absence of a plan--how that stacks up against some of the, again, unintended, but horrific consequences of military action in a place where the people you're going after are so closely embedded with civilians."

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

A video showing Israeli hostage Alexsander Trufanov, who was captured by Hamas on Oct. 7, was publicly released by the Hostage Families Forum on Tuesday.

"The proof of life from Alexsander (Sasha) Trufanov is additional evidence that the Israeli government must give a significant mandate to the negotiating team, which will be able to lead to a deal for the return of all the hostages - the living to rehabilitation and the murdered to burial," the Hostage Families Forum said in the release with the video.

Israel submitted a new cease-fire proposal to negotiators in Egypt on Monday. They are now awaiting a response from Hamas, according to an Egyptian security source who spoke with ABC News.

-ABC News' Dorit Long and Marwa Mouaki