Israel-Gaza updates: Biden speaks with Netanyahu about hostages, Gaza aid

The hostages are two elderly women who are both Israeli nationals.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: October 23, 2023, 4:29 PM EDT

Thousands of people have died and thousands more were injured after 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.

At least 1,400 people have died and 4,629 others have been injured in Israel, according to Israeli authorities. In Gaza, 5,087 people have died and 15,273 have been wounded, according to the Palestinian Health Authority.

Aid workers and officials fear that Israel's call for an evacuation of the northern part of Gaza is precipitating a humanitarian disaster as electricity and other supplies have been cut off in preparation for what appears to be an imminent ground offensive.

Humanitarian groups have urged Israel to call off the evacuation and agree to a cease-fire, even as the country has asserted a right to defend itself -- a right the United States endorses.

Click here for previous updates.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Oct 19, 2023, 12:38 PM EDT

Israeli military has 'green light' to move into Gaza, official says

The Israeli military has a "green light" to move into Gaza whenever it's ready, a member of the country’s security cabinet told ABC News.

The Israeli military has a “green light” to move into Gaza whenever it's ready, a member of the country’s security cabinet told ABC News.
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Israeli military has 'green light' to move into Gaza, official saysThe Israeli military has a “green light” to move into Gaza whenever it's ready, a member of the country’s security cabinet told ABC News.
ABCNews.com

Hostages and civilian casualties will be secondary to destroying Hamas, Economy Minister Nir Barakat told ABC News, "even if it takes a year."

A formation of Israeli tanks and other military are positioned near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel Oct. 19, 2023.
Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters

Asked about the miles of tunnels Hamas has built under Gaza, he said they’d become the "world’s biggest cemetery." Hamas has claimed to be holding some or all of the 203 Israeli hostages it’s taken within that vast network.

"We shall do all efforts to bring our hostages, to bring our hostages [back] alive…" he said, but the "first and last priority" is destroying Hamas.

ABC News’ Linsey Davis spoke with warfare expert and Reichman University Assistant Professor Daphné Richemond-Barak about the intricate Hamas tunnel system in Gaza.
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Warfare expert calls Hamas tunnels ‘a major threat to civilians on both sides’ABC News’ Linsey Davis spoke with warfare expert and Reichman University Assistant Professor Daphné Richemond-Barak about the intricate Hamas tunnel system in Gaza.
ABCNews.com

Hamas and Islamic Jihad together have about 50,000 fighters, said Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, former head of Shin Bet, the Israel Security Agency.

-ABC News’ Matt Gutman

Oct 19, 2023, 12:02 PM EDT

State Department issues 'worldwide caution' alert

The State Department on Thursday issued a bulletin for "worldwide caution" because of "increased tensions" around the world and "the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations or violent actions."

The State Department warned that Americans abroad should stay alert, enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program and follow the State Department on social media.

The State Department is instructing its embassies and consulates around the world to conduct emergency security reviews amid ongoing protests sparked by the Israel-Hamas war, according to sources familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by ABC News.

Protests have erupted in Lebanon outside the French Embassy and a United Nations facility.
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Protests turn violent in Lebanon Protests have erupted in Lebanon outside the French Embassy and a United Nations facility.
ABCNews.com

Secretary of State Antony Blinken also instructed personnel to evaluate whether embassies should issue alerts to Americans in their respective countries about threats posed by the demonstrations, as many have already done.

A number of posts have asked the State Department to modify their operations due to security concerns, sources said, but at this point it does not appear that any additional embassies have asked to go on authorized departure, and so far none have requested a full evacuation.

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

Oct 19, 2023, 11:00 AM EDT

What is Palestinian Islamic Jihad?

Israel has blamed Palestinian Islamic Jihad for Tuesday night's deadly blast at a Gaza hospital.

The radical Islamist movement was founded in 1980 by Palestinian Fathi Shaqaqi.
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What is Palestinian Islamic Jihad? The radical Islamist movement was founded in 1980 by Palestinian Fathi Shaqaqi.
ABCNews.com

Like Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a Gaza militant group involved in the conflict and has claimed to have taken Israelis hostages.

Click here to read what you need to know about the group.

Oct 19, 2023, 10:53 AM EDT

1,524 children among those killed in Gaza, health ministry says

At least 3,785 people have been killed in Gaza, including 1,524 children, 1,000 women and 120 elderly people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The father of Alma Al Majayda, 3, killed in Israeli strikes, reacts while carrying her body during her funeral, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 19, 2023.
Mohammed Salem/Reuters

Palestinians work to remove debris as they search for bodies at the site of an Israeli strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 19, 2023.
Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters

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