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Israel-Gaza live updates: 'Constructive meeting' but 'gaps' remain: Israeli PM

Israel alleged several UNRWA staff members were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: January 28, 2024, 2:21 PM EST

More than 100 days 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.

Jan 22, 2024, 2:51 PM EST

Biden 'under no illusions' how difficult 2-state solution would be: White House

President Joe Biden is "under no illusions" about "how difficult" a two-state solution would be after the war in Gaza ends, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Monday.

A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip during Israeli bombardment, Jan. 22, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
AFP via Getty Images

Kirby’s comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he "firmly" stands by his belief to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state as long as he’s in power. Biden said Friday, "We’ll be able to work something out."

"When we say two-state solution, what does it actually mean? And there's many different interpretations. There's lots of different ways you can get at that ultimate solution," Kirby said. "And the president, as he has always done, kept an open mind about trying to pursue that."

A Palestinian woman cries as she sits next to her girl wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip while receiving treatment at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Southern Gaza Strip, Jan. 22, 2024.
Mohammed Dahman/AP

"If this was easy, I mean, my goodness, we've had a two-state solution for years now," Kirby continued. "It's going to require negotiation, it's going to require sacrifices, again, on both sides. The president understands that."

Kirby kept characterizing Biden’s phone calls with Netanyahu as "good conversations" and said the president is "not going to let go of this."

Palestinians walk through destruction from the Israeli bombardment in the Nusseirat refugee camp in Gaza Strip, Jan. 19, 2024.
Adel Hana/AP

-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez

Jan 22, 2024, 11:25 AM EST

Hostage families storm Israel's parliament in protest

Relatives of Israeli hostages being held by militants in the Gaza Strip stormed Israel's parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem on Monday in protest of the government's failure to bring their loved ones home.

"You will not sit here while our children die," some of the family members yelled while disrupting a finance committee hearing. "What about ransoming captives?"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the families of hostages at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, telling them there’s no "real proposal from Hamas" on the table right now.

"Contrary to what they say, there is no real proposal from Hamas,” he said. “I say this as clearly as I can because there are so many false things that must be tormenting you. In contrast, there is an initiative of ours, and I will not elaborate."

-ABC News' Jordana Miller, Dana Savir and Morgan Winsor

Jan 22, 2024, 10:04 AM EST

Israeli bombardment intensifies near southern Gaza hospital, rescue agency's headquarters

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said Monday that it had "completely lost contact with" its teams in the besieged city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip as Israeli tanks surrounded Al-Amal Hospital, headquarters of the humanitarian organization.

The PRCS added that its ambulances were "unable to reach the wounded" in Khan Younis due to the ground invasion.

"Israeli occupation forces are besieging the PRCS ambulance center, and targeting anyone attempting to move in the area," the organization wrote in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

The PRCS said it was "deeply concerned" about the safety of its teams as well as people taking shelter at its facilities in the besieged city.

-ABC News' Morgan Winsor

Jan 21, 2024, 1:27 PM EST

IDF confirms death of kidnapped soldier

The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday announced that Sgt. Shay Levinson, who until now had been identified as a hostage, was killed in battle on Oct. 7 and his body is being held in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials say 532 IDF soldiers have been killed, including 195 since the ground operations in Gaza began.

-ABC News' Anna Burd

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