Israel-Gaza updates: Israeli forces preparing for 'wide range of offensive plans'
Fighting is ongoing after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
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:
- At least 500 killed in explosion at Gaza hospital: Gaza Health Ministry
- IDF preparing to implement 'wide range of offensive plans'
- 3,000 tons of aid with nowhere to go as Gaza-Egypt border remains closed
- Biden to visit Israel
- Hostages suffering from amputated limbs, severe injuries from rape: Israeli forum
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.
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
Abbas pulls out of Biden meeting
Mahmoud Abbas, president of the State of Palestine, is pulling out of his Wednesday meeting with President Joe Biden.
"President Mahmoud Abbas decided to return to the homeland tonight, and he called for an emergency leadership meeting tonight," a senior adviser said Tuesday.
Biden is expected to leave the U.S. Tuesday night to head to Israel and Jordan.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
At least 500 killed in explosion at Gaza hospital: Gaza Health Ministry
At least 500 people have been killed in an explosion at Al Ahli Arab Hospital in the middle of Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The hospital served as a shelter for thousands of residents who fled their homes in northern Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces denied responsibility for the explosion, saying a failed launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad caused the blast.
"From the analysis of the operational systems of the IDF, an enemy rocket barrage was carried out towards Israel, which passed in the vicinity of the hospital, when it was hit," IDF said.
The World Health Organization condemned the blast and called for "the immediate active protection of civilians and health care" workers.
This hospital "was one of 20 in the north of the Gaza Strip facing evacuation orders from the Israeli military," the WHO said in a statement. "The order for evacuation has been impossible to carry out given the current insecurity, critical condition of many patients, and lack of ambulances, staff, health system bed capacity, and alternative shelter for those displaced."
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has declared three days of mourning following the attack.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
Israeli official: Gaza aid must not go to Hamas
Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said Tuesday that officials plan to create "safe zones" in southern Gaza as the only places where residents can receive humanitarian aid.
The aid would be "on one condition," Hanegbi said in Hebrew. "If this aid does not reach civilians, but goes to murderers, [the safe zones] will simply not exist."
Rafah border crossing endured 4 bombings from Israel, Egypt says
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza has now endured four bombings from Israel, according to a spokesperson for Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Rafah crossing was shut on Oct. 10 after it was hit by Israeli warplanes on the Palestinian side three times on Oct. 9 and 10.
"We are in constant contact with all U.N. agencies to extract a safe passage for the relief aid," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told BBC Radio. "There is not yet any sort of authorization for a safe passage from the other side of the crossing.”
Shoukry also called out Israeli leaders who urged Gaza residents to move south, saying, "Israel’s call for displacement to the South is in full contradiction to international humanitarian law, leaving people with no water, electricity or food."
Christie says dysfunction of House could delay aid to Israel
Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie slammed the dysfunctionin> the U.S. House of Representatives, where a small group of Republican lawmakers last week voted along with the Democratic minority to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy, for leaving it without a way to pass legislation, including foreign aid to Israel.
"What I would be doing is making sure, one, that Israel has everything that it needs to be able to take whatever actions it needs to take. And this is the problem with not having a speaker right now," Christie, the former New Jersey governor, told ABC News' "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos.
Christie, a former ABC News contributor, added, "The actions taken by some members of my party were wholly irresponsible without this going on. They're now even putting a brighter light on the irresponsibility of not having someone in place."
Christie also said his top priorities if he were president would be engaging allies in the region, such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia, to keep the conflict from spreading and to serve as a "sounding board" to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to help him "think through the ramifications of every step they're going to take to defend themselves and to try to do the best they can to eliminate the leadership of Hamas."
-ABC Nicholas Kerr