Israel-Gaza updates: Hamas has received proposed hostage deal, Qatar says

Israel says the framework of the proposed deal has not yet been agreed upon.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: February 3, 2024, 4:50 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.

Feb 03, 2024, 4:52 PM EST

House plans vote on standalone Israel aid bill next week

House Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Saturday the House will vote on a standalone $17.6 billion Israel aid package next week.

“Next week, we will take up and pass a clean, standalone Israel supplemental package. During debate in the House and in numerous subsequent statements, Democrats made clear that their primary objection to the original House bill was with its offsets. The Senate will no longer have excuses, however misguided, against swift passage of this critical support for our ally,” Johnson said in a letter to colleagues obtained by ABC News.

This news is a major reversal after House Republicans previously approved a $14.3 billion Israel funding package that included cuts to IRS funding. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer did not bring this legislation to the floor for vote because of Democrats’ opposition to IRS funding cuts.

Johnson again emphasized the Senate negotiated supplemental will face an uphill battle in the House and attacked Senators for excluding him and the House from the bipartisan talks.

-ABC News’ Lauren Peller

Feb 03, 2024, 3:18 PM EST

IDF deploys 3 divisions to northern border amid Hezbollah attacks

The Israeli military has deployed three divisions to the northern border amid Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said at a press conference Saturday.

He said the IDF is working to “reshape the security reality” on the northern border, so that some 80,000 Israelis displaced by Hezbollah’s attacks can return to their homes.

“We do not choose war as our first option but are certainly ready, and preparing for it all the time, if need be,” Hagari said.

PHOTO: Smoke billows over the southern Lebanese village of Shihine on the border with Israel during an Israeli air strike on Jan. 22, 2024.
Smoke billows over the southern Lebanese village of Shihine on the border with Israel during an Israeli air strike on Jan. 22, 2024, amid increasing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.
Kawnat Haju/AFP via Getty Images

The IDF has struck more than 150 cells, killing some 200 terror operatives, mostly members of Hezbollah, and targeted more than 3,400 Hezbollah sites since the beginning of the war in Gaza, according to Hagari.

-ABC News’ Anna Burd

Feb 02, 2024, 2:23 PM EST

Blinken to travel to the Middle East next week

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to the Middle East next week, making stops in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the West Bank, the State Department announced.

This will be Blinken’s fifth visit to the region since Oct. 7.

People walk past destroyed buildings in the Maghazi camp for Palestinian refugees, which was severely damaged by Israeli bombardment in the central Gaza Strip, Feb. 1, 2024.
Anas Baba/AFP via Getty Images

Smoke rises over buildings in Khan Yunis during Israeli bombardment on February 2, 2024.
Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images

During this trip, Blinken will focus on reaching "an agreement that secures the release of all remaining hostages and includes a humanitarian pause that will allow for sustained, increased delivery of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza," State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said.

Blinken is also looking to prevent the conflict from spreading while "reaffirming that the United States will take appropriate steps to defend its personnel and the right to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea," Miller said.

-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford

Feb 02, 2024, 4:41 AM EST

Framework of proposed hostage deal with Hamas not yet agreed upon, Israeli sources say

The framework of a new proposed hostage deal between Hamas and Israel has not yet been agreed upon by either side, two Israeli sources close to the negotiations told ABC News on Friday.

Talks remain ongoing, the sources said.

Israel is still waiting to hear Hamas' response to the framework. Hamas will then likely request changes to the framework, requiring more negotiations to iron out the details.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Morgan Winsor