Israel-Gaza updates: Gaza to run out of fuel Wednesday night, UNRWA says

Without fuel, the agency said it'll "be forced to halt our operations."

Last Updated: October 24, 2023, 3:39 PM EDT

Thousands of people have died and thousands more have been injured since the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel retaliated with a bombing campaign and total siege of the neighboring Gaza Strip, leaving the region on the verge of all-out war.

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Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
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.

Oct 24, 2023, 1:06 PM EDT

Israeli UN ambassador calls on UN Secretary General to resign

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, is calling on U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to resign, saying he's "completely disconnected from the reality in our region."

People leave their vehicles to take cover during a rocket attack from the Palestinian Gaza Strip along a main road in Tel Aviv on October 24, 2023.
Gil Cohen-magen/AFP via Getty Images

At the United Nations Security Council meeting, Gutteres delivered some of most forceful rhetoric on the Israel-Hamas war to date, demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire “to ease epic suffering, make the delivery of aid easier and safer and facilitate the release of hostages.”

The Secretary-General’s speech, especially his assertion that “the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum," sparked immediate backlash from Erdan.

"The shocking speech by the UN Secretary-General at the Security Council meeting, while rockets are being fired at all of Israel, proved conclusively, beyond any doubt, that the Secretary-General is completely disconnected from the reality in our region and that he views the massacre committed by Nazi Hamas terrorists in a distorted and immoral manner," Erdan said. "His statement that, 'The attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum,' expressed an understanding for terrorism and murder."

"It’s truly sad that the head of an organization that arose after the Holocaust holds such horrible views," Erdan said.

"There is no justification or point in talking to those who show compassion for the most terrible atrocities committed against the citizens of Israel and the Jewish people," Erdan said.

Guterres' spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, told ABC News, "The Secretary said what he said. Spokesman is not responding further."

The Hamas terrorist attack on Israel this weekend comes amid the backdrop of a longstanding history of conflict over land and independence that has plagued the region. 
3:35

A history of conflict: An ongoing war between Israel and Palestine

The Hamas terrorist attack on Israel this weekend comes amid the backdrop of a longstanding history of conflict over land and independence that has plagued the region. 
ABCNews.com

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

Oct 24, 2023, 11:54 AM EDT

784 slain in Israel identified, Israeli police say

The Israeli police said they've identified at least 784 people killed by Hamas.

Police said some bodies were in such bad condition that they have not yet been identified.

Family and friends of Nadav Goldstien and his daughter Yam Goldstien mourn at thier funeral, after they were murdered and the rest of the family were kidnaped during Hamas' attack on Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Oct. 23, 2023 in Shfaiem, Israel.
Amir Levy/Getty Images

At least 1,400 people have died and 4,629 others have been injured in Israel since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli authorities.

Oct 24, 2023, 11:35 AM EDT

US sends 3-star Marine general to advise Israel

The Biden administration has sent Lt. Gen. James Glynn, a three-star Marine general who is currently serving as the head of Marine personnel, to Israel to advise the country on its military operations, according to a U.S. official.

The news was first reported by Axios on Monday.

Glynn is "not directing operations" but rather is "purely there to provide military advice and pose hard questions to help [the Israel Defense Forces] think through various scenarios," the U.S. official told ABC News.

The official said Glynn was in Israel "temporarily" and was not expected to still be there when a ground operation starts.

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson

Oct 24, 2023, 11:30 AM EDT

Fuel 'most vital commodity' in Gaza, WHO says

Fuel is now the "most vital commodity" in Gaza, according to the World Health Organization.

The limited aid trucks trickling into Gaza have not included any fuel, the organization said. Before Oct. 7, hundreds of trucks entered Gaza every day, including about 45 trucks bringing fuel, said Tamara Alrifai, spokesperson for the U.N. agency for Palestine refugees.

A woman reacts next to the rubble of a building following Israeli strikes on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on October 24, 2023.
Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images

Without fuel, "trucks can’t move and generators can’t produce electricity for hospitals, bakeries and water desalination plants,” said Alrifai.

Alrifai said the United Nations Relief and Works Agency would be responsible for delivering the fuel to hospitals and water desalination plants and keeping it out of Hamas' hands.

The WHO said one in three hospitals in Gaza and two in three clinics are not functioning, with the health system overwhelmed by more than 16,000 injured people.

Dr. Rick Brennan, WHO emergencies director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, said he's begging "all those in a situation to make a decision or influence decision makers, to give us the humanitarian space to address this human catastrophe."

Marah Mahdi, a 24-year-old journalist, lost her home in Northern Gaza and is sheltering in the south.
3:36

Young journalist in Gaza describes life without power

Marah Mahdi, a 24-year-old journalist, lost her home in Northern Gaza and is sheltering in the south.
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