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: December 3, 2023, 2:46 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.

Click here for updates from previous days.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Mar 1, 6:03 am

What we know about the conflict

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.

Dec 03, 2023, 2:46 PM EST

Hundreds of Americans, Canadians approved to leave Gaza

Over 600 foreign passport holders -- nearly half of whom are Americans and Canadians -- were on a list of people approved to leave Gaza on Sunday. Some 566 foreign passport holders, whose nationalities were not released, later exited the Gaza Strip through Egypt’s Rafah border crossing on Sunday, crossing spokesman Wael Abu Omar told ABC News.

PHOTO: Representatives from different embassies stand among people fleeing from the Gaza Strip as they arrive in the Egyptian part of the Rafah border crossing with the Palestinian enclave, on Dec. 3, 2023.
Representatives from different embassies stand among people fleeing from the Gaza Strip as they arrive in the Egyptian part of the Rafah border crossing with the Palestinian enclave, on Dec. 3, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
AFP via Getty Images

Thirteen wounded Gaza residents and 11 of their family members also left Gaza and entered Egypt on Sunday, the spokesman said.

-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy

Dec 03, 2023, 2:29 PM EST

Israel says it's started 'powerful' ground operation in southern Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces has started a ground operation in southern Gaza that "will be no less powerful than" the operations in northern Gaza, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said.

"We have the capabilities to do it in the most thorough way, and just as we did it with strength and thoroughly in the north of the Gaza Strip, we are also doing it now in the south of the Gaza Strip, and we also continue to deepen the achievements in the north of the Gaza Strip," Halevi said.

This picture taken from the southern Gaza Strip shows a rocket fired at Israel and smoke trails on Dec. 3, 2023.
Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images

Palestinians stand on the edge of a crater after an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Dec. 3, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images

The IDF said it's carried out 10,000 airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since fighting began.

"The forces ‘closed circles’ and thwarted terror cells, terror infrastructure, operational apartments, tunnel shafts, weapons warehouses and more,” the IDF said in a statement.

This picture taken from southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on Dec. 3, 2023, shows smoke billowing over the Palestinian enclave during Israeli bombardment amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images

-ABC News' Dana Savir

Dec 03, 2023, 10:03 AM EST

'About 8' Americans remain hostage: Kirby

With the temporary Israel-Hamas cease-fire now over, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told ABC News' "This Week" that the U.S. is "working at this literally by the hour … if we can get these discussions back going" to get a new pause in place.

Kirby said the Israel-Hamas agreement "fell apart because Hamas was unwilling and refused to come with additional [hostage] lists of women and children -- which we know they are holding -- and put them on the list so that Israel can evaluate that and we can get them exchanged."

Mia Schem reunites with her mother and brother following her release after being held hostage by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in Hatzerim military base in Israel, Nov. 30, 2023.
Prime Minister's Office via Reuters

Mia Schem reunites with her mother and brother following her release after being held hostage by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in Hatzerim military base in Israel, Nov. 30, 2023.
Prime Minister's Office via Reuters

Kirby said the U.S. thinks "about eight" Americans remain hostage.

He added, "We don’t have perfect visibility on where they all are, we certainly don’t have perfect visibility on their physical or mental condition."

George Stephanopoulos interviews National Security Council coordinator John Kirby on “This Week.”
6:03

Israel ‘receptive’ to US messaging on minimizing civilian casualties: John Kirby

George Stephanopoulos interviews National Security Council coordinator John Kirby on “This Week.”
ABCNews.com

When asked Sunday about The New York Times report alleging Israel knew about Hamas' attack plan a year in advance, Kirby said the U.S. had no knowledge of the Hamas planning document.

He added, "The focus has got to be on making sure Israel has what it needs to go after Hamas leadership."

Dec 03, 2023, 8:45 AM EST

Record amount of fuel enters Gaza

The United Nations said 138,000 liters of fuel entered Gaza on Saturday -- the highest amount in one day since the Israel-Hamas war began.

People sit around a campfire in the midst of destroyed buildings in the Khezaa district on the outskirts of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis, Nov. 30, 2023.
Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images

Trucks with food, water, medicine and medical supplies also entered Gaza on Saturday, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

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