Israel-Gaza updates: IDF says it expects war to last all of 2024

The Israeli army said it destroyed a key hideout for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: December 31, 2023, 4:50 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.
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 25, 2023, 4:36 PM EST

IDF says it found Hamas infrastructure in Indonesian Hospital in Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces said its soldiers have discovered “evidence connecting Hamas’ terrorist activities” to northern Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital.

The IDF said a white Toyota truck “of the same type used by Hamas” in the Oct. 7 attack was found “in the inner compound of the hospital,” “along with additional weapons.”

The IDF also said that in the hospital’s inner compound was a Toyota Corolla belonging to the family of Samer Talalka, who was one of the three Israeli hostages held in Gaza who was mistakenly killed by the IDF. Bloodstains belonging to another hostage were found in the car, the IDF said.

Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz, and Samer Al-Talalka were mistakenly shot by Israeli troops on Dec. 15, 2023, in a battle-torn neighborhood of Gaza City.
Courtesy of the Haim Family, the Shamriz family, the Al-Talalka family via AP

“The finding of the vehicle directly links the hospital to the brutal events of October 7th,” the IDF said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Dec 25, 2023, 12:34 PM EST

Netanyahu heckled by families of hostages: Report

Families of hostages reportedly heckled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he gave a speech in Parliament on Monday, according to Reuters.

The families, sitting in the chamber, held posters of their loved ones and interrupted Netanyahu as he spoke, per Reuters.

Netanyahu said in his address that military pressure is needed to free the remaining people being held hostage by Hamas, Reuters reported.

PHOTO: People take part in a demonstration against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist coalition government, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Dec. 23, 2023.
People take part in a demonstration against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist coalition government, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, December 23, 2023.
Ammar Awad/Reuters

Dec 25, 2023, 11:11 AM EST

Lebanon carries out launches toward Israel, IDF says

Lebanon has carried out a number of launches toward several locations in northern Israel over the last few hours, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

“A short while ago,” Israeli tanks hit Hezbollah infrastructure sites in Lebanon "used for directing terrorist activity," according to the IDF.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Dec 25, 2023, 10:55 AM EST

Hamas, Islamic Jihad reject Egypt's proposal for cease-fire, hostage release: Egyptian security source

Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have rejected an Egyptian proposal that they relinquish power in the Gaza Strip in return for a permanent cease-fire, an Egyptian security source confirmed to ABC News.

An Israeli soldier stands on a tank near the border with Gaza on December 22, 2023, in Southern Israel, Israel.
Amir Levy/Getty Images

Egypt proposed a "vision,” also backed by Qatari mediators, that would involve a cease-fire in exchange for the release of more hostages and lead to a broader agreement involving a permanent cease-fire, along with an overhaul of leadership in Gaza, the Egyptian security source said. However, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad rejected the proposal, the source said.

PHOTO: An aerial view shows Palestinians inspecting the damage from an overnight Israeli airstrike at the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, east of Deir al-Balah, on Dec. 25, 2023.
An aerial view shows Palestinians inspecting the damage from an overnight Israeli airstrike at the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, east of Deir al-Balah, on Dec. 25, 2023, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza's militant rulers, Hamas.
Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images

The Israeli War Cabinet was planning on meeting to discuss this proposal Monday evening local time. It is unclear if they will still discuss the proposal.

-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy and Jordana Miller

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