Israel-Gaza updates: IDF preparing for 'wide range of offensive plans'

Fighting is ongoing after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: October 17, 2023, 4:16 PM EDT

At least 1,400 people have died and 3,400 others have been injured in Israel after the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented incursion from air, land and sea on Oct. 7, Israeli authorities said.

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."

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Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Oct 16, 2023, 2:47 pm

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.

Click here for the full timeline

Oct 16, 2023, 1:25 PM EDT

Israeli airstrike hits road close to Rafah border

An Israeli airstrike struck a road close to the Rafah border crossing and also hit a nearby United Nations Relief and Works Agency warehouse, according to an Egyptian military source.

This is the fourth strike near the border since the war began.

The Hamas terrorist attack on Israel this weekend comes amid the backdrop of a longstanding history of conflict over land and independence that has plagued the region. 
3:35

A history of conflict: An ongoing war between Israel and Palestine

The Hamas terrorist attack on Israel this weekend comes amid the backdrop of a longstanding history of conflict over land and independence that has plagued the region. 
ABCNews.com

Oct 16, 2023, 11:46 AM EDT

IDF says it killed head of Hamas general intelligence

The Israel Defense Forces said its soldiers have killed Hamas' head of general intelligence in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas is an Islamic political and militant organization that controls the Gaza Strip.
1:06

What is Hamas?

Hamas is an Islamic political and militant organization that controls the Gaza Strip.
Getty

Oct 16, 2023, 9:58 AM EDT

Blinken meets with Netanyahu

Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Israel on Monday to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Blinken discussed his "firm support" of Israel's right to defend itself and efforts to provide humanitarian aid and free hostages, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Blinken also met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog. The State Department said the officials discussed "the coordination underway to focus on the safety and protection of civilians placed in harm’s way by Hamas."

A Palestinian baby, wounded in Israeli strikes, lies on a bed while getting medical attention at a hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza strip, Oct. 16, 2023.
Ahmed Zakot/Reuters

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

Oct 16, 2023, 9:41 AM EDT

'Acute security threats' preventing US from aiding Americans at Rafah crossing

As Americans inside Gaza wait for the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza to open, a senior State Department official said that Egypt has informed the U.S. that “there are acute security threats" preventing U.S. officials and others from aiding Americans inside Gaza.

The official added that the State Department has placed a team on the Egypt side of the border "as close to the border as conditions permit."

Susannah Heschel, Chair of the Jewish Studies Program at Dartmouth University, and Chuck Freilich, a former deputy national security adviser in Israel, explain the conflict.
5:24

Experts breakdown Israel-Hamas conflict

Susannah Heschel, Chair of the Jewish Studies Program at Dartmouth University, and Chuck Freilich, a former deputy national security adviser in Israel, explain the conflict.
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Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Monday that Israel has not allowed the opening of the Rafah border crossing from the Gaza side.

Shoukry said, since the crisis broke out, Egypt "has been seeking to keep the crossing operational and in a way that allows the entry of humanitarian aid."

"Until now, unfortunately, the Israeli government has not taken a position to allow the opening of the crossing from the Gaza side for the entry of aid or the exit of nationals of [other] countries," Shoukry said. "We are ready and Egyptian authorities on the border are ready to get aid in and get nationals of third countries out."

He added that Egypt aims to keep normal operation of the border "for the entry of Palestinians with medical needs or the normal movement between the Strip and Egypt."

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

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