In Gaza, 3,000 people have been killed and another 12,500 were injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Tensions are high with the prospect of ground war and evacuation orders for Gaza after the Israel Defense Forces called for "all residents of Gaza City to evacuate their homes" and "move south for their protection" early Friday, saying residents should move "and settle in the area south of the Gaza River." The announcement was made, according to the IDF, because it plans to "operate significantly in Gaza City in the coming days" and wanted "to avoid harming civilians."
Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Oct 16, 2023, 2:47 PM EDT
Timeline: The Hamas attack and response
On the morning of Oct. 7, sirens echoed across Israel as Hamas terrorists began a full-fledged surprise attack from the air, sea and ground. Hundreds of armed Hamas fighters stormed into Israel from Gaza, charging into cities and gunning down citizens.
Friends and family mourn Dor Reder, who was killed following a deadly infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, at his funeral in Beit Kama, southern Israel, Oct. 16, 2023.
Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters
Israeli forces responded by sending wave after wave of bombs into Gaza, killing thousands, trapping civilians and raising fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.
At least nine Americans have been killed in Israel since Saturday as a result of attacks launched by the Hamas militant group, according to an official with the United States National Security Council.
"At this time, we can confirm the death of nine U.S. citizens," the official told ABC News in a statement on Monday. "We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected, and wish those injured a speedy recovery. We continue to monitor the situation closely and remain in touch with our Israeli partners, particularly the local authorities."
Two French citizens are among those killed in Israel, the French Foreign Ministry said.
-ABC News' Molly Nagle
Oct 09, 2023, 8:06 AM EDT
'No one else should get involved in this,' top US official warns
The United States is warning against other countries from becoming involved in the Israel-Gaza conflict amid fears that it could spread into a wider war in the Middle East.
"That is part of why the United States has moved the Carrier Strike Group to the eastern Mediterranean to send a strong and unmistakeable signal that no one else should get involved in this," he added. "We'll see how things unfold in the course of the coming days."
Finer also emphasized that the U.S. believes "Israel has every right to defend itself full-stop."
"Israel will ultimately make the decisions about how it chooses to go about and conduct that defense," he said. "We are offering support in a number of ways."
Finer noted that "more U.S. steps to show support and solidarity for Israel" can be expected.
This is a locator map of Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
AP
"The U.S. is going to offer support at every level for Israel's defense and we are working through details those details with our intelligence professionals, our military and our diplomats," he added. "We are in daily -- in fact, many times a day -- contact with Israeli counterparts to see what they need and offer it."
The U.S. "strongly suspect[s] that there will be American citizens among those killed" in the ongoing conflict, according to Finer.
"We are looking obviously very intensively into whether there were any Americans were among those who have been abducted and brought to Gaza. This is still ongoing," he said. "There is still fighting inside Israel as we speak and there is a bit of fog of war in terms of the ability to gather specific information. And so, we will have much more to say about this at the right time."
When asked for comment on a recent report by The Wall Street Journal that Iran was behind Hamas' latest attack on Israel, Finer responded: "We have no direct information to confirm that report. We've obviously seen it, we're looking into it, but we do not have the ability to corroborate it at this time."
"What we can be quite clear about is that Iran is broadly complicit in these attacks for having supported Hamas going back decades -- for having provided financial support, for having provided training, for having provided weapons to Hamas," he added. "What we don't have is direct information that shows Iranian involvement in ordering or planning the attacks that took place over the last couple days. It's something that we’re going to keep looking at closely."
3:36
US pledges support to Israel after deadly surprise attack
Deputy national security adviser Jon Finer discusses how the Biden administration is prepared to support Israel in the midst of the deadly conflict with Hamas.
Oct 09, 2023, 7:04 AM EDT
Dozens of Palestinian children among those killed in Gaza, advocacy group says
At least 33 Palestinian children have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Saturday morning as Israel continues its retaliatory airstrikes, according to the advocacy group Defense for Children Palestine.
-ABC News' Joe Simonetti
Palestinians mourn the death of their relatives following an Israeli airstrike on the refugee camp of Jabalia in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 9, 2023.
Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images
Oct 09, 2023, 6:49 AM EDT
Hamas claims 4 Israeli hostages were killed in airstrikes
Four Israeli hostages were killed alongside their militant captors in the Gaza Strip by Israeli airstrikes on Sunday night and Monday morning, according to Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
There was no official confirmation on the hostage deaths from the Israeli side.
-ABC News' Joe Simonetti.
Palestinians gather around the rubble of a building destroyed in Israeli strikes, in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 9, 2023.