Israel-Gaza updates: 22, including 18 children, reported dead in Rafah strikes

The IDF says it struck military targets of terrorist organizations in Gaza.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: April 21, 2024, 4:13 PM EDT

Israel launched a retaliatory strike against Iran early Friday morning local time, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.

The strike followed Iran's attack on Saturday, when Tehran sent a volley of more than 300 drones and missiles toward targets in Israel, according to Israeli military officials. All but a few were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the United States, officials said.

Iran's weekend attack came more than six months after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, after which the Israeli military began its bombardment of Gaza.

Apr 14, 11:27 am

What to know about Iran's attack on Israel

Israeli officials said the country's Iron Dome defense system endured a big test from Iran's attack on Saturday, intercepting 99% of the 300 "threats of various types" thrown at it.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari, launched 170 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), more than 120 ballistic missiles and more than 30 cruise missiles in the attack.

Hagari said "99% of the threats launched towards Israeli territory were intercepted -- a very significant strategic achievement."

Hagari said the attack resulted in only one known Israeli casualty, a 7-year-old girl who was severely injured when she was struck by shrapnel apparently from an intercepted missile.

Apr 07, 2024, 10:29 AM EDT

Israel withdraws ground troops from southern Gaza Strip: IDF

Israel has withdrawn all ground troops from the southern Gaza Strip, after four straight months of fighting in the Khan Younis area, according to Israel Defense Forces sources.

Israeli troops operate in the Gaza Strip amid continuing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Apr. 4, 2024.
Israeli Defense Forces/AFP via Getty Image

A significant force led by Israel's 162nd division and the Nahal Brigade continues to operate in the Gaza Strip, preserving the IDF’s freedom of action and its ability to conduct precise intelligence-based operations, according to the IDF sources.

-ABC News' Dana Savir and Jordana Miller

Apr 07, 2024, 9:37 AM EDT

'War against humanity,' WCK founder Jose Andres tells ABC News

Chef José Andrés claimed Israel is committing a "war against humanity itself" during an exclusive sit-down interview with "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz, following the Israeli drone strike attack that killed seven of his World Central Kitchen workers.

Andrés, who founded the humanitarian organization in 2010, pushed back against the Israel Defense Forces' findings on the WCK convoy strike, telling Raddatz, "Every time something happens, we cannot just be bringing Hamas into the equation."

"This is not anymore about the seven men and women of World Central Kitchen that perished on this unfortunate event. This is happening for way too long. It's been six months of targeting anything that seems moves," Andrés said. "This doesn't seem a war against terror. This doesn't seem anymore a war about defending Israel. This really, at this point, seems it's a war against humanity itself."

The IDF findings released on Friday said there were three strikes on the convoy. It also said WCK workers hit in the first vehicle were hit again while moving to another vehicle in the convoy. The IDF confirmed that the aid group had coordinated their movements correctly with them in advance, but conceded that Israeli officials failed to update its brigade on the coordinated humanitarian operation.

Asked by Raddatz if he was satisfied with the report's findings, Andrés thanked the IDF for conducting "such a quick investigation" though called for a more thorough, independent one.

"I will say something so complicated, the investigation should be much more deeper," he said. "And I would say that the perpetrator cannot be investigating himself."

Watch the full interview with Andrés on "This Week" Sunday morning on ABC.

-ABC News' Meredith Deliso

Apr 07, 2024, 5:42 AM EDT

Israel 'still unhealed' 6 months into war, UK prime minister says

Six months into Israel’s war with Hamas, Israel’s “wounds” caused by the terror attack on Oct. 7 remain “unhealed,” U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.

And Palestinians, including children, in the Gaza Strip need a humanitarian pause “immediately,” as well as a sustainable long-term cease-fire, Sunak said in a statement on Saturday.

“After six months of war in Gaza, the toll on civilians continues to grow — hunger, desperation, loss of life on an awful scale,” he said.

Palestinians inspect the damage in the area around Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital after the Israeli military withdrew, Apr. 1, 2024.
AFP via Getty Images

The U.K. continues to stand by Israel’s right to defend itself and defeat Hamas, he said, but he also called for the “terrible” conflict to end. The hostages must be released and aid must “be flooded in” to Gaza, he said.

“But the whole of the U.K. is shocked by the bloodshed, and appalled by the killing of brave British heroes who were bringing food to those in need,” Sunak said, referring to World Central Kitchen aid workers killed in Israeli military strikes.

Apr 06, 2024, 3:22 PM EDT

UN issues report on Al-Shifa Hospital, calling for cease-fire

The United Nations said it finally gained access to Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa, following a days-long Israeli raid and found what the head of the World Health Organization called "an empty shell," with most buildings destroyed.

PHOTO: People are seen in the area where Al-Shifa Hospital and its surrounding are located in Gaza City, Gaza, on April 1, 2024.
People are seen in the area where Al-Shifa Hospital and its surrounding are located in Gaza City, Gaza, on April 1, 2024. The Israeli army said Monday that it wrapped up its military operation at the Al-Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City, following a 14-day siege and incursion that resulted in scores of casualties and hundreds of arrests.
Khaled Daoud/APAImages via Polaris

The destruction in the dialysis unit at Gaza's devastated Al-Shifa hospital is shown on April 3, 2024, two days after the Israeli military withdrew from the hospital complex amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas militant group.
AFP via Getty Images

"The scale of devastation has left the facility completely non-functional, further reducing access to life-saving health care in Gaza. Restoring even minimal functionality in the short term seems implausible and will require substantial efforts to assess and clear the grounds for unexploded ordnance to ensure safety and accessibility for partners to bring in equipment and supplies," WHO said in a statement.

The WHO said its efforts to reach the hospital "to medically evacuate patients and staff and conduct an assessment were denied, delayed or impeded 6 times between 25 March and 1 April." According to the WHO at least 20 patients died due to lack of access to care.

The WHO said numerous shallow graves, and many partially buried bodies, were found just outside the emergency department after the Israeli siege.

Palestinians inspect the damages at Al Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces withdrew from the Hospital and the area around it following a two-week operation, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, on April 1, 2024.
Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters

"During the visit, WHO staff witnessed at least five bodies lying partially covered on the ground, exposed to the heat. The team reported a pungent smell of decomposing bodies engulfing the hospital compound. Safeguarding dignity, even in death, is an indispensable act of humanity," according to the WHO.

The destruction of Shifa and the main hospital in southern Gaza - Nasser - "has broken the backbone of the already ailing health system," the WHO said.

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