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 23, 2023, 4:56 PM EDT

2 Israeli hostages released by Hamas, Israeli Hostage Center says

Two hostages have been released by Hamas, the Israeli Hostage Center confirmed.

The hostages are two elderly women who are both Israeli nationals, the center said. The released hostages are 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz and 79-year-old Nurit Cooper, both from the Nir Oz kibbutz, the center said.

Yocheved Lifshitz,85, in an undated photo.
The Hostage Center

Nurit Cooper, 79, who was held as hostage by Palestinian Hamas militants, is seen in this handout picture obtained by Reuters, Oct. 23, 2023, as Hamas announced she would be released.
Hostages And Missing Families Forum via Reuters

The Red Cross said it helped transport the hostages out of Gaza Monday evening. The hostages have since arrived back in Israel, the hostage center said.

Yocheved Lifshitz is transported after being released by Hamas militants to Israel, in this video screengrab, October 23, 2023.
Al Qahera News/via Reuters

Nurit Cooper is transported after being released by Hamas militants to Israel, in this video screengrab, October 23, 2023.
Al Qahera News via Reuters

The Israeli military said Monday that at least 222 hostages were taken by Hamas since Oct. 7. Two American hostages, a mother and daughter, were released on Friday.

The Family Forum of the Missing and Hostages said in a statement, "Over 200 Israeli citizens are being held in deplorable conditions and have been waiting to return home for 17 days. We call on the Israeli government and world leaders to bring everyone home now."

Oct 23, 2023, 3:42 PM EDT

Biden: 'We should have those hostages released and then we can talk'

President Joe Biden was asked by a reporter Monday if the U.S. is supporting a deal for hostages in exchange for a cease-fire.

Biden replied, "We should get -- we should have a cease-fire -- not a cease-fire -- we should have those hostages released, and then we can talk."

Photographs of the missing are seen as a "Shabbat Dinner" table is prepared at the Tel Aviv museum plaza, with 200 empty seats, representing the hostages and missing people on Oct. 20, 2023 in Tel Aviv Israel.
Leon Neal/Getty Images

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson

Oct 23, 2023, 3:33 PM EDT

Top US priority is 'going after Hamas,' Kirby says

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby was asked by ABC News whether there are competing goals between Israel and America, with Israel repeatedly saying its top priority is destroying Hamas and the U.S. saying its highest priority is the hostages.

Israeli supports show placards with the faces and names of people believed to be taken hostage and held in Gaza, during a protest in Trafalgar Square, London, Oct. 22, 2023.
Frank Augstein/AP

At first, Kirby said America's top priority "is to make sure Israel has the tools and the capacity and the capabilities to go after Hamas terrorists, and to make sure humanitarian assistance flows in, and to make sure we can get innocent civilians who want to leave Gaza out."

When pressed on the discrepancy with Israel’s stated top goal, Kirby said, "We agree the top priority has got to be going after Hamas."

Locals walk past as Palestinian emergency services and local citizens search for victims in buildings destroyed during Israeli air raids in the southern Gaza Strip on Oct. 22, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza.
Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images

Kirby repeatedly declined to say if there's an effort from the U.S. and other countries to urge Israel to delay the ground invasion. Kirby said he would not speak for the Israeli Defense Forces or other countries, but that the U.S. has been communicating with Israel from the start about their intentions and goals.

-ABC News' Selina Wang

Oct 23, 2023, 2:38 PM EDT

UN experts urge Israel's lawyers to refuse authorizing acts that could be war crimes

United Nations experts said they're urging the lawyers advising Israeli forces "to refuse legal authorisation for acts that may amount to war crimes."

The lawyers' "advice about issues such as lawful targets of attack, the choice and use of weapons, and the means and methods of warfare is essential to the operational planning of military campaigns," the U.N. experts said in a statement Monday.

Soldiers walk next to a house damaged by Hamas militants at Kibbutz Kissufim in southern Israel, Oct. 21, 2023.
Francisco Seco/AP

"Under international law, Israel has a right to self-defence, but its response must be proportionate and in full respect of the UN Charter and the rules that apply to the use of force in armed conflict," the experts said.

"If such lawyers approve actions that amount to massive human rights violations and war crimes, they may bear accomplice liability for those acts," the experts warned.

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