IDF bombs Beirut for 6th consecutive day

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum authorized the publication Wednesday of a video released by Palestinian Islamic Jihad of hostage Alexander "Sasha" Troufanov -- the first video of a living captive for several months.

Troufanov, 29, was kidnapped from his parents' home in the border kibbutz of Nir Oz on Oct. 7, 2023. His mother Yelena, grandmother Irena and partner Sapir were also kidnapped, but released in a November 2023 prisoner swap deal. His father, Vitaly, was killed in the attack.

In the video released Wednesday, Troufanov said he and other surviving hostages were running out of food and basic hygiene products. Troufanov urged the Israeli public to continue pressing for a hostage release deal and said he feared being accidentally killed by the Israel Defence Forces.

PIJ released two videos of Troufanov in May.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement posted to social media, "It's inconceivable and incomprehensible that almost a year has passed since the last hostage release deal."

"The hostages have no time left -- a deal for their release is the only way to bring them all back to us: the living for rehabilitation and those who were murdered for proper burial."

-ABC News' Joe Simonetti

The Israel Defense Forces ordered residents of several areas in the southern Beirut suburbs to flee their homes on Wednesday morning ahead of an imminent resumption of airstrikes.

The target locations were in the Hezbollah stronghold suburb of Dahiya, which has been the focus of Israeli airstrikes since September.

The Wednesday morning evacuation orders came after a night of heavy bombardment in the area, which the IDF claimed targeted "Hezbollah weapons storage facilities and command centers."

Lebanese authorities say Israeli strikes have killed more than 3,200 people since Oct. 8, 2023. Around a quarter of Lebanon's population -- some 1.2 million people -- have been forced from their homes by Israel's operation, per United Nations figures.

Vedant Patel, the State Department's principal deputy spokesperson, denied at a Tuesday briefing that the U.S. is giving Israel "a pass" after President Joe Biden's administration said it would not withhold weapons earmarked for the country over dire humanitarian conditions inside Gaza.

Tuesday saw the expiry of a 30-day deadline set by the U.S. for Israel to "surge" aid into the devastated Palestinian territory, or risk restrictions on military aid. Patel said Israel met some -- but not all -- U.S. demands set out in an Oct. 13 letter signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

"Certainly I would not view it as giving them a pass, because one, no one is up here -- certainly I'm not -- saying that the situation in Gaza or the humanitarian circumstances are rosy," Patel told journalists at a Tuesday briefing.

"It is a very dire circumstance," he added. "And what we need to see is we need to see these steps acted on. We need to see them implemented."

-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston

Following a State Department press briefing with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the White House released a statement saying they’ve seen Israel has "taken steps" to improve humanitarian aid in Gaza but "there's more work to be done."

“We have seen, certainly some improvement. And again, we are going to do everything that we can," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told ABC News.

"The United States, we are indeed, the largest provider of humanitarian aid, humanitarian assistance into Gaza to relieve the pain of the Palestinian people. And what we're seeing and you're right, it is dire. But those discussions continue, and we're going to be laser-focused on that," Jean-Pierre added.

-ABC News' Justin Gomez