Israel-Gaza updates: Gaza sees deadliest day since conflict began

At least 700 people died in Gaza on Tuesday, OCHA said.

ByMorgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, and Ivan Pereira
Last Updated: October 25, 2023, 4:40 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.

Click here for updates from previous days.

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 25, 2023, 10:31 AM EDT

'Some progress' in hostage negotiations, Qatar says

"Some progress" has been made as Qatar continues its hostage negotiations with Hamas, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said at a news conference.

Women stand before a wall of posters identifying the Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants since the Oct. 7 attack, during a demonstration near Azrieli Mall in Tel Aviv on Oct. 24, 2023.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images

"If we compare where we started and where we are right now, there is some progress and some breakthrough and we will remain hopeful," he said. "The negotiations are still ongoing and at any moment of time, I think that if we will be able to get along between the two parties, I think we will see some breakthroughs hopefully soon."

Israel reported that 222 hostages were taken by Hamas. Four hostages have been released in the last week: two American women and two Israeli women.

People attend a demonstration calling for the release of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants since the Oct. 7 attack, near Azrieli Mall in Tel Aviv on Oct. 24, 2023.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images

Oct 25, 2023, 10:01 AM EDT

UN meeting Thursday to debate Israel-Hamas war

The United Nations General Assembly will be called back into an emergency special session in New York on Thursday morning to debate the Israel-Hamas war.

The general assembly could vote on moves, including a humanitarian pause in Gaza and the establishment of an international protective presence in Gaza.

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

Oct 25, 2023, 5:35 AM EDT

IDF says it targeted Hamas, Hezbollah, Syrian military in 'wide-scale strikes'

The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday morning that it has carried out "wide-scale strikes" in the neighboring Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours.

The Israeli airstrikes hit Hamas infrastructure, including tunnels, military headquarters and weapons warehouses, as well as "several terrorists," including a Hamas commander, according to the IDF.

Palestinians search for casualties at the site of Israeli strikes on houses, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct 25, 2023.
Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters

Palestinians search for casualties at the site of Israeli strikes on houses, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 25, 2023.
Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters

The IDF said it also killed five Hezbollah militants in neighboring Lebanon who tried to launch missiles and rockets against Israeli forces in the last day.

Two rockets were fired into Israel from neighboring Syria and the IDF said it responded by attacking infrastructure and positions of the Syrian military.

-ABC News' Morgan Winsor

Oct 24, 2023, 6:35 PM EDT

US intelligence assess 'with high confidence' that Israel was not responsible for Gaza hospital explosion

An official with the U.S. Office of the Director of Intelligence told reporters Tuesday that the office has updated its assessment of last week's explosion of al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza, which killed hundreds, and stated "with high confidence that Israel was not responsible for the explosion."

The official added, "We assess with low confidence that Palestine Islamic Jihad, PIJ, was responsible for launching the rocket that landed on the hospital,” the official added, noting that they suspect based on their analysis that the rocket responsible likely suffered a "catastrophic motor failure."

A satellite image taken on Oct. 18, 2023, of the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza (lower left), and the aftermath of the explosion that took place the day prior.
2023 Maxar Technologies

The intelligence official said they were drawing on “intelligence, missile activity, open-source video and images of the incident,” including an examination of the blast effects.

"If an Israeli munition was responsible for this blast, we would expect that Palestinian militants would be very directly and clearly showing what they thought was an Israeli munition," the official said. "We've looked at all of the images and in none of them do we assess that there are remnants, Israeli munitions."

-ABC News' Cindy Smith

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