Israel-Gaza updates: IDF says it exposed Hamas tunnel under Shifa Hospital

World Health Organization officials visited the hospital in Gaza on Saturday.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: November 19, 2023, 11:27 AM 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.

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.

Nov 17, 2023, 5:46 AM EST

150,000 liters of fuel for hospitals reportedly entering Gaza

An additional 150,000 liters (40,000 gallons) of fuel will be delivered to the Gaza Strip on Friday, according to Egyptian media.

The fuel, which is earmarked for Gaza's hospitals, will enter the war-torn enclave from neighboring Egypt through the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing, according to Egyptian state-allied television channel Al-Qahers News.

Al-Qahers News reported that "Egyptian pressure on all parties have succeeded in increasing the volume of aid" and "restoring the flow of fuel" to Gaza.

World Health Organization spokesperson Tarik Jašarević had said last month that 150,000 liters of fuel are required to offer basic services in Gaza's five main hospitals.

-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy

Nov 16, 2023, 6:32 PM EST

Discussions over release of hostages remain fluid, source says

Many details remain up in the air regarding a deal to release the Hamas-held hostages in exchange for a pause in fighting in Gaza, according to U.S. officials.

One of the biggest sticking points is the number of hostages that will be released, according to an Israeli source.

Israel wants all the children, their mothers and all of their family members released, the source said. If you count just women and young children, that's about 50 hostages; if you add the family members, you get up to about 80 hostages, according to the source.

The discussions remain fluid, the source said.

It's too soon to tell if a deal will come together, but people participating in negotiations have yet to throw in the towel, the U.S. officials said.

Asked about the deal by "World News Tonight" anchor David Muir on Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. is focused "intensely" on bringing hostages home.

"But having said that, honestly the less that I say the better at this moment because we don't want to jeopardize anything that we're doing to try to bring people home," he said. "I'm hopeful that we can bring people home."

David Muir speaks with the Secretary of State about the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas conflict, including intelligence over alleged Hamas activity in hospitals.
6:27

Antony Blinken discusses latest in US role in Israel-Hamas conflict

David Muir speaks with the Secretary of State about the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas conflict, including intelligence over alleged Hamas activity in hospitals.
ABCNews.com

-ABC News' Shannon K. Crawford and Matt Gutman

Nov 16, 2023, 4:29 PM EST

State Department: 'Impossible' to safely evacuate patients from Al-Shifa Hospital

State Department spokesperson Matt Miller, who said earlier that the U.S. supported evacuating patients from Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital and was liaising with partners who could potentially carry that out, said Thursday the conditions in Gaza wouldn't allow for it.

"There are third parties that have expressed an interest to do so," he said, however, "it’s been impossible to ensure that they could move safely to conduct these evacuations."

He later specified that "the problem has been Hamas."

Israeli soldier stands near boxes labelled "Medical Supplies" at the Al Shifa hospital complex in Gaza City, Nov. 15, 2023 in this handout image.
Israeli Defense Forces via Reuters

Miller again expressed confidence in U.S. intelligence supporting the assertion that Hamas was using Al-Shifa Hospital as cover for a command-and-control center.

Miller disagreed with the assertion that the evidence supplied by the Israel Defense Forces -- like weapons recovered from the hospital -- was not compelling.

“I saw a host of assault rifles," Miller said. "I’m not aware that there’s a sort of acceptable threshold level for assault rifles held in hospitals -- that’s not general humanitarian practice."

Weapons are laid out on the ground that were located in a vehicle of Hamas terrorists that was planned to go to the massacre of October 7, at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza, Nov. 16, 2023.
Israel Defense Forces

Miller later added, "It is an ongoing operation. I think people should wait until the operation is finished to draw their own conclusions.”

About 300 American citizens as well as approximately 600 legal, permanent U.S. residents and their eligible family members remain in Gaza, Miller said.

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

Nov 16, 2023, 2:07 PM EST

Body of 65-year-old hostage found near Al-Shifa Hospital, IDF says

The body of Yehudit Weiss, a 65-year-old woman who was abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, was found at a "structure adjacent" to Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital, the Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement Thursday.

Her body was "extracted" and "transferred to Israeli territory," the IDF said.

"In the structure in which Yehudit was located, military equipment including Kalashnikov rifles and [rocket-propelled grenades] were also found," the IDF said.

ABC News’ Patrick Reevell has the details as the IDF announces the body of another has been found near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
4:23

Body of a hostage found in Gaza, IDF says

ABC News’ Patrick Reevell has the details as the IDF announces the body of another has been found near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
ABCNews.com

"For us, it is too late," Weiss' daughter-in-law told The Times of Israel. "But it is important for us to support all the families of the hostages, and to tell the world -- bring them home now."

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