Israel-Gaza updates: Israel says it agrees to cease-fire, hostage release

Israel is still pushing forward with plans to enter Rafah.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: February 24, 2024, 4:30 PM 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.

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.

Feb 19, 2024, 12:24 PM EST

IDF strikes Hezbollah weapon storage facilities, terrorist infrastructure

The Israel Defense Forces said its fighter jets hit two Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in Lebanon on Monday.

Black smoke and flames rise from a burning warehouse, attacked by Israeli strikes, at an industrial district, in the southern coastal town of Ghazieh, Lebanon, Feb. 19, 2024.
Mohammad Zaatari/AP

The IDF said this was in response to the unmanned aerial vehicle launched toward northern Israel earlier in the day, and the Israelis believe it was most likely launched from Lebanon by Hezbollah.

The IDF also said its fighter jets have struck some Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon on Monday.

Feb 19, 2024, 7:53 AM EST

IDF arrests 200 suspects at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that it has arrested 200 suspects at Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Monday that the IDF arrested medical staff at Nasser Hospital, including the director and the only doctor responsible for caring for patients in the intensive care unit.

PHOTO: Israeli soldiers operate in a location given as Nasser Hospital in Gaza in this picture released on February 18, 2024. Israel Defense Forces via Reuters.
Israeli soldiers operate in a location given as Nasser Hospital in Gaza in this picture released on February 18, 2024. Israel Defense Forces via Reuters.
Israel Defense Forces/via Reuters

Israeli ground forces stormed the hospital last week, looking for members of Hamas who the IDF alleges have been conducting military operations there. Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs Gaza, has denied the allegations.

Nasser Hospital is the main medical center serving southern Gaza and was -- until now -- the only fully functioning hospital in the war-torn enclave. The World Health Organization said Sunday that Nasser Hospital "is not functional anymore" after Israeli troops raided the facility.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller, Morgan Winsor and Samy Zayara

Feb 19, 2024, 4:45 AM EST

IDF continues ground operations in Khan Younis

The Israel Defense Forces said Monday morning that its ground troops and special forces are "continuing to operate" in the western part of Khan Younis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip.

The IDF said its ground troops conducted "targeted raids on terror targets" in western Khan Younis over the past day, "during which AK-47s, drones, an RPG, explosive devices, and additional military equipment were located." The soldiers on the ground also coordinated with the Israel Air Force's fighter jets overhead to kill "terrorists who were operating adjacent to the troops in the area," according to the IDF.

"During additional activity in western Khan Yunis, IDF ground troops used a drone to identify a terrorist cell that was approaching the troops," the IDF said in a statement. "In response, the troops directed an aircraft to eliminate them. A short while after, four additional terrorists were identified in the area, who were also eliminated by an IAF aircraft."

Meanwhile, the IDF said its special forces "encountered armed terrorists, conducted targeted raids on terror targets, seized weapons and directed a helicopter to strike and eliminate an additional terrorist."

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Morgan Winsor

Feb 18, 2024, 4:01 PM EST

Medicine for hostages, weapons found at Nasser Hospital, IDF says

The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday that boxes of medicine intended for Israeli hostages, a large number of weapons and a vehicle belonging to a kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 were found during a raid at Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip.

The IDF said its soldiers located "medicines specifically designated for the Israeli hostages in Gaza, large quantities of weapons and a vehicle belonging to Kibbutz Nir Oz" during its operations in Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis.

The IDF said it also apprehended "hundreds of terrorists and other suspects who were hiding in the Nasser Hospital, some posing as medical staff."

"Boxes of medicine were found with the names of Israeli hostages on them. The packages of medicine that were found were sealed and had not been transferred to the hostages," the IDF said.

-ABC Edward Szekeres

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