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 28, 2023, 3:03 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.
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 28, 2023, 3:03 PM EST
Egypt puts forward proposal for new hostage, cease-fire deal
Egypt has put forward a new proposal for a hostage and cease-fire deal, Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s state information service, said.
Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Dec.28, 2023.
Israel Defense Forces via Reuters
The proposal “aims to bring viewpoints closer between all sides involved, in an effort to stop the Palestinian bloodshed, end the aggression against the Gaza Strip and restore peace and stability in the region,” Rashwan said in a statement Thursday.
Egypt said it has not yet received any responses to the proposed framework.
-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy
Dec 28, 2023, 2:31 PM EST
American-Israeli-Canadian hostage confirmed dead
Judy Weinstein, a 70-year-old American-Israeli-Canadian hostage, was confirmed dead on Thursday, Kibbutz Nir Oz said in a statement.
3:00
Kibbutz spokesperson confirms 2nd American hostage killed
A second American hostage kidnapped during the Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel has reportedly been killed, a spokesperson for the Nir Oz kibbutz said.
Weinstein was fatally wounded during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and her body remains held in Gaza, the kibbutz said.
Her husband, American-Israeli Gad Haggai, was also killed on Oct. 7 and his body also remains in Gaza, the kibbutz said. His death was confirmed last week.
Gad Haggai and his wife Judy Weinstein.
The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum
Weinstein, a mother of four and grandmother of seven, was an English teacher who specialized in helping children with special needs, Kibbutz Nir Oz said.
"For the past few years she has also taught Mindfulness to children and teenagers who suffered from anxiety caused by the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza," the kibbutz said. "Judy was a poet, entrepreneur, and pursued many initiatives to advance peace in the region."
President Joe Biden said in a statement that he's "devastated" to learn of Weinstein's death.
"We are holding Judith and Gad’s four children, seven grandchildren, and other loved ones close to our hearts," Biden said. "I will never forget what their daughter, and the family members of other Americans held hostage in Gaza, have shared with me. They have been living through hell for weeks. No family should have to endure such an ordeal. And I reaffirm the pledge we have made to all the families of those still held hostage: we will not stop working to bring them home."
Weinstein was the last American woman being held hostage by Hamas who had not been released, according to the Hostage Families Forum.
Israeli youth, led by Israeli Scouts from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, rally for the release of hostages being held in Gaza that were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Jerusalem, Dec. 28, 2023.
Ammar Awad/Reuters
Dec 28, 2023, 1:58 PM EST
Netanyahu to hostage families: ‘We are not giving up’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with representatives of the families of hostages on Thursday and promised them, "We are not giving up."
The families shared their concerns about the conditions of their loved ones and their questions about what will be done to promote their release.
Women walk to attend a rally with Israeli youth, led by Israeli Scouts from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, for the release of hostages being held in Gaza that were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Jerusalem, Dec. 28, 2023.
Ammar Awad/Reuters
"We are in contact, even at this moment,” Netanyahu said at the beginning of the meeting.
"I cannot detail the status," he said, adding, "We are working to return everyone -- that is our goal."
Israeli youth, led by Israeli Scouts from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, rally for the release of hostages being held in Gaza that were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Jerusalem, Dec. 28, 2023.
Ammar Awad/Reuters
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Dec 28, 2023, 1:50 PM EST
IDF publishes findings into investigation of accidental killing of 3 hostages
The Israel Defense Forces has published the findings of its investigation into the accidental killing of three hostages by IDF soldiers in the Shejaiya area of Gaza on Dec. 15.
The IDF Chief of the General Staff concluded that "the IDF failed in its mission to rescue" them and "the entire chain of command feels responsible."
The three hostages -- 28-year-old Yotam Haim, 26-year-old Alon Shamriz and 22-year-old Samer Talalka -- were carrying a stick with a white cloth, and the IDF initially said its forces "mistakenly identified" the men as a threat. Soldiers opened fire, killing two of the men.
The third hostage, who was injured, ran back into the building where all three had emerged from, and someone cried "help" in Hebrew. The battalion commander ordered his troops to stop firing, but, despite the order, another burst was fired, killing the third hostage, according to the IDF.
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 investigation “revealed that the command ranks had information about the presence of hostages in the Shejaiya area and even took actions to prevent strikes on locations suspected of having hostages inside," the findings said.
But the probe also revealed that "IDF soldiers involved in the incident experienced complex combat situations in the days preceding the incident and were in a state of high alert for a threat," the findings said. "During the battles, they encountered deceptions by the enemy and attempts to draw them into pits and buildings rigged with explosives."
Days before Dec. 15, IDF soldiers heard cries for help in Hebrew.
"The forces interpreted this as a terrorist deception attempt," the investigation said.
“Some of the forces heard the cries but suspected it was an attempt by the terrorists to draw the forces inside the building to harm them, as had happened in the past," the investigation said.