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, 6:27 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, 4:54 PM EST
16 hostages released Wednesday including American-Israeli woman
Sixteen hostages were released from Gaza on Wednesday.
Ten hostages were released in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners, according to the Qatari foreign minister, just before the truce was set to expire.
Among the 10 hostages exchanged for the Palestinian prisoners was 49-year-old Liat Beinin Atzili, an American-Israeli dual national.
People react as they hear the news of the release of 13 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Nov. 24, 2023.
Ariel Schalit/AP
The other released Israeli hostages were: 13-year-old Gali Tarshanksy, 17-year-old Ofir Engel, 54-year-old Raaya Rotem, 57-year-old Raz Ben Ami, 36-year-old Yarden Roman, 16-year-old Amit Shani, 18-year-old Itay Regev, 40-year-old Stela Yanai and 18-year-old Liam Or.
In addition, two Russian-Israeli citizens and four Thai citizens were also handed over to the Red Cross outside the framework of the agreement, the Qatari foreign minister said.
Hostages who were abducted by Hamas gunmen during the October 7 attack on Israel are handed over by Hamas militants to the International Red Cross in the Gaza Strip, Nov. 29, 2023.
Al-qassam Brigades via Reuters
Hostages who were abducted by Hamas gunmen during the October 7 attack on Israel are handed over by Hamas militants to the International Red Cross in the Gaza Strip, Nov. 29, 2023.
Al-qassam Brigades via Reuters
Thai nationals' travel in a bus as they leave the Shamir Hospital in Ramle, Israel, Nov. 29, 2023, on their way back to Thailand, after being released from Hamas custody.
Maya Levin/AP
According to officials, 145 people remain hostages.
Nov 29, 2023, 4:17 PM EST
US envoy to UN hopeful truce can be extended: 'All in the hands of Hamas'
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. representative to the United Nations, said the U.S. is "hopeful" that the truce between Israel and Hamas -- set to expire Wednesday night -- will be extended.
Israeli soldiers deployed on the southern border with the Gaza Strip gather for a briefing next to battle tanks, Nov. 29, 2023.
Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images
Another extension "is all in the hands of Hamas," she said. "The Israelis have said if they continue to release 10 hostages a day, they will extend by a day. So it truly is … it is in their hands. But I do think there is a potential for that, and we're actively working to extend the deal."
Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters accompany a newly released hostage before handing them over to the Red Cross in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, Nov. 28, 2023.
-/AFP via Getty Images
"We will not rest until all hostages are free," she continued. "And if Hamas chooses to continue to release hostages, then Israel is prepared to continue the pause in the fighting."
Nov 29, 2023, 3:44 PM EST
Palestinian dad awaits daughter's release: 'I'm looking forward to hugging her again'
Dania Hanatsheh's name is on a list of 30 Palestinian women, girls and teenage boys expected to be released Wednesday as part of another exchange of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
The family said Hanatsheh, 21, was arrested on Nov. 21 when Israeli soldiers raided their home in the West Bank.
Palestinians prisoners (wearing grey jumpers) cheer among supporters after being released from Israeli jails in exchange for hostages released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank early on Nov. 26, 2023.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images
The Israeli Justice Department said Hantsheh is accused of "supporting terrorism."
Hantsheh's father, Saqer, believes his daughter was arrested because of her social media posts.
"I am proud of my daughter," he told ABC News. "When she posted asking people to stand with Gaza, I support her with that because it's her right to do that."
He said he's looking forward to "hugging my daughter again."
But his happiness is tinged with sadness for the suffering in Gaza.
"The prisoners are getting released, but the price of this is the blood of women and kids in Gaza," he said.
Palestinian girls sit on a couch at the remains of their house hit in Israeli strikes during the conflict, amid the temporary truce between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Nov. 29, 2023.
Mohammed Salem/Reuters
-ABC News' Tom Soufi Burridge
Nov 29, 2023, 3:39 PM EST
Families of American hostages demand increased transparency
Eight relatives of American hostages spoke to reporters in Washington, D.C., before they address the House Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday afternoon and meet with national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Thursday.
Israeli freed hostage Yocheved Lifshitz (L) takes part in a protest with her family members outside the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, Nov. 28, 2023.
Oren Ziv/AFP via Getty Images
Ronen Neutra, the father of 19-year-old hostage Omer Neutra, said he wants more pressure for soldiers and men held hostage to be released. Omer Neutra is a Long Island native and Israel Defense Forces soldier. His mother, Orna Neutra, said he was pulled from his IDF tank by Hamas and taken into Gaza.
Ruby Chen, father of missing IDF soldier Itay Chen, said having no knowledge of his son's condition is a living hell.
Liz Naftali, relative of 4-year-old Israeli-American hostage Abigail Edan who was released this week, said the families' approach to their meeting with Sullivan is not going to be advising the administration on how to conduct hostage negotiations, but instead to consult with them.
Released Israeli hostages Tal Goldstein Almog, 9, left, and his brother Gal, 11 are seen as they return to Israel in an IAF helicopter, after being held hostage by militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Nov. 27, 2023.
Israel Defense Forces/AP
"Abigail coming home is proof that it works -- proof that if we hope, we pray, and we do all the work, these hostages come home," she said. "But we still have a lot of work to do. And we hope that you all will leave here and continue to be partners in this incredibly challenging work."
Abigail Edan who returned last night to Israel, sits with her aunt Liron at the Schneider Children's Medical Center, Nov. 27, 2023.
