Israel-Gaza updates: Israel says ground operation underway in southern Gaza
The IDF said it's carried out 10,000 airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
Last Updated: November 29, 2023, 1:48 PM EST
The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended early Friday, and Israel has resumed its bombardment of Gaza.
The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
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.
Nov 29, 2023, 1:23 PM EST
2 Russian-Israeli hostages released by Hamas
The Israel Defense Forces said two Israeli-Russian hostages were released by Hamas on Wednesday and are on their way to Israel. The hostages, 50-year-old Yelena Trupanob and her mother, 73-year-old Irena Tati, were released in addition to the list of abductees scheduled to be released Wednesday, the IDF said.
Yelena Trupanob.
Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum
Irena Tati.
Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum
The mother and daughter, who had emigrated from Russia to Israel, were kidnapped from their home at the Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7. Trupanob's husband was killed and her son, 28, and his girlfriend, 29, are still being held hostage, the IDF said.
Hamas officials said on Wednesday that they've released two female Russian hostages.
"They were handed over to the Red Cross a short while ago as a prelude to handing them over to representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry," Hamas said in a statement via Telegram.
Nov 29, 2023, 12:25 PM EST
'All my dreams were shattered,' bride in Gaza says
A young couple from southern Gaza planned to marry on Oct. 8 -- but the Israel-Hamas war changed all that.
Palestinians inspect the destruction caused by Israeli strikes in Wadi Gaza, in the central Gaza Strip, Nov. 28, 2023, amid a truce in battles between Israel and Hamas.
Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images
Israeli soldiers walk past Palestinians fleeing the north along the Salaheddine road in the Zeitoun district on the southern outskirts of Gaza City, Nov. 28, 2023.
Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images
The house they were going to live in was destroyed by Israeli bombs.
The couple -- not yet married -- spoke to ABC News as they sifted through the rubble, trying to salvage whatever they could.
"How do I feel? Sad. I wanted to be like any bride, to have a house," Heba Abu Taima told ABC News. "Everything was beautiful before the 7th of October. After the 7th of October, everything ended."
Heba Abu Taima, right, and her fiance, Saif Abu Taima, had planned to marry on Oct. 8. The couple returned to their home in Bani Suheila in southern Gaza on Nov. 29, 2023, to find it bombed during the Israeli campaign.
ABC News
"All my dreams were shattered," she continued. "Everything in the house is gone, the house in which we planned to have a sweet and happy life is gone."
"I dreamed of beautiful things, for example, children," said her fiancé, Saif Abu Taima. "I used to say, 'Boy,' and she used to say, 'No, girl.' And we also used to go out and [I'd] tell her, 'We will live a beautiful life and achieve our beautiful dream.'"
Saif Abu Taima had planned to marry his fiancee on Oct. 8 before the Hamas attacks the next day. The couple returned to their home in Bani Suheila in southern Gaza on Nov. 29, 2023, to find it bombed during the Israeli campaign.
ABC News
She added, "We desperately want to live in safety like other countries. To have a good life, to live freely and in peace."
-ABC News' Sami Zayara
Nov 29, 2023, 11:59 AM EST
UN calls for 'irreversible' move toward 2-state solution
Tatiana Valovaya, director-general of the United Nations at Geneva, is calling for an "irreversible" move toward a two-state solution.
"We must be united in demanding an end to the occupation and the blockade of Gaza," Valovaya said. "It is long past time to move in a determined, irreversible way towards a two-state solution, on the basis of United Nations resolutions and international law, with Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states."
Nov 29, 2023, 11:39 AM EST
Hamas claims 3 hostages, including 10-month-old, were killed by previous Israeli strikes on Gaza
Hamas' military wing al-Qassam Brigades alleged Wednesday that three hostages have died as a result of the Israeli military's previous bombings in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement posted on a Telegram channel associated with the al-Qassam Brigades, the slain hostages were identified as Shiri Silverman Bibas, Kfir Bibas and Ariel Bibas. It was unclear when the trio had allegedly died and ABC News was unable to verify the claim.
Ofri Bibas Levy, whose brother Yarden was taken hostage with his wife Shiri and 2 children Kfir and Ariel holds with her friend Tal Ulus pictures of them during an interview with Reuters in Geneva, Switzerland, Nov. 13, 2023.
Denis Balibouse/Reuters
Several members of the Bibas family, including 32-year-old Shiri, her 4-year-old son Ariel and her 10-month-old son Kfir, were kidnapped from their kibbutz in southern Israel during Hamas' attack on Oct. 7 and taken hostage to Gaza, according to relatives and Israeli authorities.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed in a statement Wednesday that it is investigating the reports of their deaths.
"IDF representatives spoke with the Bibas family following the recent reports and are with them at this difficult time. The IDF is assessing the accuracy of the information," the IDF said. "Hamas is wholly responsible for the security of all hostages in the Gaza Strip. Hamas must be held accountable."
In a statement obtained by ABC News, the Bibas family said Wednesday that they are "updated on the latest Hamas publication."
"We are waiting for the news to be confirmed or hopefully refuted soon by military officials," the family added. "We thank the people of Israel for the warm embrace but ask to maintain our privacy at this complex time."
-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy, Anna Brund, Jordana Miller, Dana Savir and Morgan Winsor