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Israel-Gaza live updates: 'Constructive meeting' but 'gaps' remain: Israeli PM

Israel alleged several UNRWA staff members were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: January 28, 2024, 1:04 AM 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 01, 2024, 6:03 AM EST

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.

Jan 27, 2024, 5:13 PM EST

9 nations suspend contributions to UNRWA due to Oct. 7 allegations

The number of nations pausing funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East has risen to 9 -- an unprecedented number for a UN agency. This withdrawal of funding comes amid allegations from Israeli officials that some of the agency's staff were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

On Saturday, Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland joined the U.S., Australia and Canada in pausing funding to UNRWA.

"UNRWA lifesaving assistance is about to end following countries decisions to cut their funding to the Agency. Our humanitarian operation, on which 2 million people depend as a lifeline in Gaza, is collapsing. I am shocked such decisions are taken based on alleged behavior of a few individuals and as the war continues, needs are deepening & famine looms," the commissioner general of UNRWA said in a statement.

"Palestinians in Gaza did not need this additional collective punishment. This stains all of us," the statement said.

-ABC News' Matt Gutman, Dana Savir, Guy Davies

Jan 27, 2024, 5:34 PM EST

Netanyahu says war to continue despite ICJ ruling

A ruling on Friday from the International Court of Justice stopped short of ordering a ceasefire but ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians and do more to help civilians.

In response to the ruling, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the war aimed at eliminating Hamas would continue.

Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Jan. 26, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
AFP via Getty Images

-ABC News' Edward Szekeres

Jan 26, 2024, 11:19 PM EST

Biden, El-Sisi discussed 'a Palestinian state' and 'attempts to release' hostages: WH

President Joe Biden spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Friday, according to a statement from the White House.

The two leaders discussed the ongoing war and the efforts being made "to secure the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas," according to the release.

The White House said Biden and El-Sisi spoke about a "prolonged humanitarian pause" in fighting and intensifying efforts to further increase "life-saving humanitarian assistance into and throughout Gaza."

Biden thanked El-Sisi and they agreed to continue their close coordination to increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza while setting conditions for sustainable peace in the Middle East, including the "establishment of a Palestinian state and equal measures of dignity and security for Palestinians and Israelis alike," the White House said.

Jan 26, 2024, 3:24 PM EST

Hamas releases video showing 3 hostages still in captivity

Hamas has released a video of three women who are still being held in captivity in Gaza.

Shown in the video are 19-year-old Karina Ariev, 19-year-old Daniel Gilboa and 30-year-old Doron Steinbrecher, according to the Hostage Families Forum.

Ariev and Gilboa were kidnapped from the Nahal Oz kibbutz and Steinbrecher was kidnapped from the Kfar Aza kibbutz.

According to a SITE Intelligence Group translation, Ariev, addressing Israeli government officials, said in the video, "In my name and the names of all the hostages and soldiers, I ask that you get us home, stop this war, and reach an agreement. Bring us back alive. Do everything you can to get us home before we are added to the list of dead hostages. Get me home before I become a corpse."

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