Israel-Gaza updates: Nasser Hospital no longer 'functional,' WHO chief says
Israel Defense Forces turned the hospital into military barracks.
ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: February 19, 2024, 4:03 AM EST
More than four months 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.
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 15, 2024, 9:08 PM EST
Biden again tells Netanyahu he opposes a Rafah military operation that doesn’t consider civilians’ safety
President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday -- their second call in less than one week -- and again said the U.S. believes any planned military operation in Rafah that does not credibly consider civilians’ safety "should not proceed," according to the White House.
Biden told Netanyahu the same thing during a call on Sunday.
The two leaders also spoke about ongoing negotiations to secure another hostage deal and the "urgency" of getting humanitarian aid into Gaza, the White House said.
-ABC News' Fritz Farrow
Feb 15, 2024, 5:04 PM EST
Hostage center confirms another death from Kibbutz Nir Oz
Yair Yaakov, a 59-year-old hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz, has been killed, according to the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum headquarters.
He was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with his children -- Or, 17, and Yagil, 13, -- and his partner Meirav Tal. His partner and children were released in the prisoner exchange deal.
His body is still being held captive by Hamas in Gaza, according to the forum.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
Feb 15, 2024, 4:50 PM EST
Egyptian authorities preparing for influx of refugees from Gaza: Source
Egyptian authorities are preparing for a large influx of refugees from Gaza in a worst-case scenario event where negotiations between Israel and Hamas break down and a large number of refugees are forced to cross from Gaza into Egypt, a source familiar with the talks told ABC News.
The preparations are a preemptive measure to prevent any potential repetition of chaos caused when Palestinians poured into Egypt in 2008.
But, there is a sense of optimism after the Hamas delegation visited Cairo this week to discuss results of the quartet Cairo meeting and there is a chance a deal can be reached but things will be clearer on Friday, according to the source.
-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy
Feb 15, 2024, 12:59 PM EST
Israel claims it killed senior Hezbollah commander
The Israel army claims it killed a senior Hezbollah commander, Ali Muhammad Aldbas; his deputy commander, Ibrahim Issa; and an operative in airstrikes on Nabatieh, Lebanon, that targeted Hezbollah military structures.
The Israel Defense Forces claimed Aldbas was among those who directed the terrorist attack at the Megiddo Junction in Israel in March 2023 and claimed he led, planned and carried out terrorist activity against Israel during this war.
Lebanese state media reported that 10 civilians died in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, in what was the deadliest day in over four months of border exchanges.
Smoke billows following Israeli bombardment in the village of Shihin in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel on February 13, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
Kawnat Haju/AFP via Getty Images
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah vowed to retaliate for Wednesday's strikes, which hit in the city of Nabatiyeh and a village in southern Lebanon, just hours after projectiles from Lebanon killed an Israeli soldier. Hezbollah did not officially claim responsibility for the strike that killed the soldier.
The IDF also claimed it struck a Hezbollah military structure in the area of Blida and a Hezbollah military structure in the area of Maroun al-Ras on Thursday.
"We have no interest in war but we must prepare," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Thursday. "The planes that are currently flying over the skies of Lebanon have targets -- and they know how to change the attack from place to place. In the event of a war, the prices for the State of Israel are heavy, but they are catastrophic for Lebanon and Hezbollah."
