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.
Israel didn't give US heads-up on Gaza evacuation order
While the U.S. and Israel have been coordinating efforts to lessen civilian casualties in Gaza, Israel did not give the U.S. a heads-up on Israel's mass evacuation order for northern Gaza, according to a US official.
Hundreds of Palestinian families with their belongings flee following the Israeli army's warning to leave their homes and move south before an expected ground offensive, in Gaza City on Oct. 13, 2023.
Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images
"Of course, we're concerned about any additional loss of innocent human life," said John Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council.
"We are working very aggressively with the Israelis and the Egyptians to try to find a safe passage out of southern Gaza," he said.
-ABC News' Mary Bruce, Shannon Crawford and Justin Fishel
Oct 13, 2023, 2:54 PM EDT
WHO begs for 'immediate reversal of Gaza evacuation order'
The World Health Organization is begging Israel to immediately reverse its evacuation order for the over 1 million living north of Wadi Gaza, saying "a mass evacuation would be disastrous for patients, health workers and other civilians left behind or caught in the mass movement."
"With ongoing airstrikes and closed borders, civilians have no safe place to go," the WHO said in a statement. "Almost half of the population of Gaza is under 18 years of age. With dwindling supplies of safe food, clean water, health services, and without adequate shelter, children and adults, including the elderly, will all be at heightened risk of disease."
3:51
Israel urges more than a million Palestinians to evacuate Northern Gaza
The Israel Defense Force signals it's preparing for a ground invasion, but Hamas is telling people to stay where they are.
"Of the thousands of patients with injuries and other conditions receiving care in hospitals, there are hundreds that are severely wounded and over 100 who require critical care," the WHO said. "Many thousands more, also with wounds or other health needs, cannot access any kind of care. The compressed timeframe, complex transport logistics, damaged roads, and, above all, lack of supportive care during transport all add to the difficulty of moving them."
Oct 13, 2023, 1:45 PM EDT
Blinken: 'Our focus now is on helping to create safe zones' in Gaza
At a press conference with the Qatari prime minister, Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed efforts to implement safe zones in Gaza and provide other humanitarian assistance, but did not shed additional light on efforts to evacuate Americans and other foreign nationals ahead of a potential Israeli ground incursion.
3:56
Death toll could skyrocket if Israel launches a ground incursion in Gaza
ABC News national security and defense analyst Mick Mulroy joins ABC News Live anchor Diane Macedo to break down Israeli military movements.
"When it comes to providing for civilians in Gaza, both ensuring that they can be out of harm's way and that they can have access to the support that they need -- the humanitarian assistance the food, the medicine, water -- our focus now is on helping to create safe zones. And we're doing that with leading international organizations, and we're doing that engaged with Israel," Blinken said.
But Blinken said that those efforts to help Palestinians were still being actively hindered by Hamas.
Mourners attend a funeral of Palestinians in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 13, 2023.
Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
Palestinians flee their houses heading toward the southern part of Gaza Strip after Israel's call for more than 1 million civilians in northern Gaza to move south within 24 hours, amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza City, Oct. 13, 2023.
Ahmed Zakot/Reuters
"Hamas continues to use innocent civilians as human shields," he said.
"We know the humanitarian situation is urgent. We're actively engaged with partners, including Qatar, to get aid to the those who need it," he said.
-ABC News' Shannon Crawford
Oct 13, 2023, 1:33 PM EDT
Convoy of fleeing civilians struck in Gaza, 70 killed
Seventy people were killed and 200 were injured in an Israeli strike on a convoy of civilians heading from northern Gaza to central Gaza, according to the Palestinian government press office.
