Israel-Gaza updates: IDF says 3,500 'terror targets' hammered in 10 days

In a heated exchange with a reporter, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that while it's proven Hamas deliberately targeted civilians to kill, he said he has not seen evidence that Israel is deliberately killing civilians.

6:17

Israel expands ground offensive into all parts of Gaza

ABC News foreign correspondent Tom Soufi Burridge and ABC News national security and defense analyst Mick Mulroy report on Israel’s latest military offensive in Gaza.

ABCNews.com

"I'm surprised I don't hear more people saying, 'Why doesn't Hamas lay down its arms? Why doesn't Hamas move out of schools?'" Miller said.

At a different point in the briefing, Miller said Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli officials during his recent trip to Israel that the U.S. would like to see more precision and restraint in Israel's operations in southern Gaza, compared to the initial bombardment in northern Gaza, to limit civilian casualties.

"We've seen a much more targeted request for evacuations here, where the Israeli Defense Forces have identified specific neighborhoods where they plan to conduct military operations, and urged in advance of those operations that people in those neighborhoods to move, rather than telling an entire city or an entire region to vacate their homes. So that is an improvement on what's happened before," he said.

Miller added, "They have instructed them to move to areas that we know are deconfliction zones. It's one of the things we discussed with them last week."

-ABC News' Matt Seyler

The women and children freed from captivity in Gaza all lost between 10% to 15% of their body weight, according to Dr. Yael Moze from the Schneider Children's Medical Department.

One family took three showers during their 54 days held hostage, while one child hostage took no shower during all 54 days in captivity, Moze said.

Hostages also suffered psychological abuse, Moze said, recalling one teenager who was allegedly told he'd be held hostage for at least a year.

As Israel steps up its bombing campaign again, all telecommunications have been knocked out in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestine Telecommunications Company, or Paltel.

"We regret to announce that all telecom services in Gaza Strip have been lost due to the cut off of main fiber routes. Gaza is blacked out again," Paltel said.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told ABC News this weekend that he predicts the war in its current intensity will last at least another two months.

After that, Gallant thinks Israel will be fighting in Gaza for multiple months doing mop-up operations and "taking out pockets of terrorist resistance."

Gallant said the only way Israel would consider resuming any negotiation talks with Hamas is if "Hamas fulfills the original agreement and returns the 15 women and two children it is still holding" hostage, with no preconditions and nothing in return.

Gallant said he's committed to bringing home the rest of the more than 100 people who remain hostage in Gaza.

He added, "The only way with Hamas is to use force. Eventually they will give you something. … Hamas has two options: to die in the tunnels or on the surface, or surrender with no conditions.”

Gallant said Israel's goals for the war are to kill Hamas’ Gaza leader and Oct. 7 architect Yehye Sinwar, "break [Hamas'] chain of command" and ensure Hamas will “no longer function as a military organization that can launch organized attacks against Israel."

-ABC News' Matt Gutman