Israel-Gaza updates: Harris to meet with Israeli war Cabinet member on Monday

Kamala Harris will meet with Benny Gantz at the White House, an official said.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: March 3, 2024, 2:06 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.

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 29, 2024, 12:23 PM EST

Over 100 killed while waiting for food aid in northern Gaza

Israeli forces allegedly opened fire on hungry Palestinians who were waiting for food aid in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday morning, according to a spokesperson for Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

At least 112 people were killed and 760 others were injured in the incident at Al-Nabulsi roundabout near Al-Rashid Street in the southwest of Gaza City, the health ministry spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the death toll was expected to rise as dozens of the wounded were in critical or serious condition. Patients from the incident who were admitted to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City suffered from injuries consistent with gunshot wounds, being hit by tank artillery shells and being trampled, according to the health ministry spokesperson.

When asked for comment, the Israel Defense Forces told ABC News on Thursday: "Early this morning, during the entry of humanitarian aid trucks into the northern Gaza Strip, Gazan residents surrounded the trucks, and looted the supplies being delivered. During the incident, dozens of Gazans were injured as a result of pushing and trampling. The incident is under review."

Palestinians receive medical care at Kamal Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on Feb. 29, 2024, after Israeli soldiers allegedly opened fire on a crowd waiting for food aid.
AFP via Getty Images

Israeli security officials told ABC News on Thursday that the crowd approached IDF troops securing the passage of aid trucks in a manner that posed a threat to the troops, who responded with live fire. There was no use of artillery fire, airstrikes or drone strikes in the incident, according to Israeli security officials.

Northern Gaza has been isolated by the Israeli military and almost completely cut off from humanitarian aid for weeks, according to the United Nations, which continues to warn about the threat of famine for people still living there.

One of the truck drivers who delivers humanitarian aid to northern Gaza, Ahmed Ayad, told ABC News on Wednesday that crowds of people waiting for food aid on Al-Rashid Street block the vehicles from reaching their final destination, prompting Israeli soldiers to open fire.

"They fire so that we can advance comfortably," Ayad said. "But people don't respond to the shooting, so they move toward us and take aid from the truck. They're waiting. Everyone is anxious and the amount [of food] arriving is not enough."

A Palestinian man receives medical care at Kamal Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on Feb. 29, 2024, after Israeli soldiers allegedly opened fire on a crowd waiting for food aid.
AFP via Getty Images

U.S.President Joe Biden said Thursday that the White House is looking into the reports of Israeli forces killing civilians.

"There are two complete versions of what happened. I don’t have an answer yet," Biden said, adding that this will complicate the cease-fire negotiations.

The Biden administration is considering airdropping aid into Gaza, a U.S. official told ABC News.

-ABC News' Nasser Atta, Morgan Winsor and Samy Zyara

Feb 29, 2024, 4:53 AM EST

Death toll tops 30,000 in Gaza

More than 30,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the latest outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel began on Oct. 7, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

Over 70,000 others have been injured in Gaza since Oct. 7, the health ministry said in a statement on Thursday morning.

Of those killed, 75% are children, women and elderly people, according to a separate statement from Hamas.

The World Health Organization, the global health arm of the United Nations, also confirmed the grim milestone with Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus writing in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that "a large majority" of those killed in Gaza are "women and children."

Tedros called for a cease-fire, saying: "This horrific violence and suffering must end."

-ABC News' Morgan Winsor

Feb 28, 2024, 3:58 PM EST

US urges Israel to allow access to Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan

U.S. Department of State spokesperson Matt Miller had no comment on Hamas' calls for a march on Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, but Miller did call on the Israeli government to allow worshipers to access the site during the holy month of Ramadan, stressing it was in Israel's national security interest to avoid fueling tension in the occupied West Bank.

"I don’t have any comment on the call for marches," Miller said during a press briefing Wednesday. "I would just say, as it pertains to Al-Aqsa, we continue to urge Israel to facilitate access to Temple Mount for peaceful worshipers during Ramadan, consistent with past practice."

A general view of the Dome of the Rock is pictured at the compound of the Al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem, Feb. 20, 2024.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images

When asked whether the United States had received assurances that Israel -- a close ally -- would allow such access, Miller told reporters that the Biden administration was aware of "plans under consideration," but said he did not know if a final decision had been made.

"It's not just the right thing to do, it’s not just a matter of granting people religious freedom that they deserve, to which they have a right, but it's also a matter that directly is important to Israel’s security," he added.

The United States, along with Egypt and Qatar, has been mediating talks between Hamas and Israel since the war began.

-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford

Feb 28, 2024, 3:14 PM EST

Israeli official says negotiations are slow

Progress toward reaching a hostage and cease-fire deal is slow, according to an Israeli political official with knowledge of the negotiations.

Families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza start a four-day march from the Nova music festival near the border with Gaza, Israel, Feb. 28, 2024.
Abir Sultan/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Gaps remain in the discussions surrounding the redeployment of Israeli forces to the Gaza Strip, residents returning to northern Gaza and how many Palestinian prisoners Israel is willing to release, the official said.

Israel’s war cabinet is expected to meet Thursday to discuss progress in the negotiations, the official said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

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