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.

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 24, 2023, 6:52 AM EDT

'Through hell,' released Hamas hostage says of days in captivity

After Yocheved Lifschitz, 85, was taken hostage by Hamas militants, she was brought into a "huge network" of underground tunnels, which she described on Tuesday as being "like a spider's web."

"I've been through hell," Lifschitz told gathered reporters in the lobby of the Tel Aviv hospital where she's being treated. As Lifschitz spoke in Hebrew, her daughter translated her words into English.

Yocheved Lifshitz speaks to the media alongside her daughter Sharone Lifschitz, left, at Ichilov Hospital after she was released by Hamas last night, on October 24, 2023 in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

The 85-year-old had been taken by motorcycle on Oct. 7, carried away through fields while her captors struck her with sticks and removed her watch and jewelry, she said. She was made to walk a few kilometers to the entrance of one of the many tunnels Hamas has built under Gaza.

The terrorist organization has now released four out of the over 200 hostages taken on Oct. 7 and one of the released hostages is now describing her ordeal saying she “went through hell.”
3:48

Hamas frees 2 more hostages

The terrorist organization has now released four out of the over 200 hostages taken on Oct. 7 and one of the released hostages is now describing her ordeal saying she “went through hell.”
ABCNews.com

She said she was kept during her captivity in a "clean" location, where doctors visited every few days. Medicine was available, she said.

She slept on a mattress on one of the tunnel's floors. She ate white cheese, cucumbers and pita bread, she said.

-ABC News' Joe Simonetti and Bruno Nota

Oct 24, 2023, 1:06 AM EDT

3 Hamas deputy commanders killed: IDF

The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday morning that three Hamas deputy commanders were killed Monday night.

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Monday, Oct. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Francisco Seco/AP

“During the night, IDF aircraft also attacked operational headquarters used by operatives of the terrorist organization Hamas and assembly points of the terrorist organization located inside mosques,” the IDF said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

The deputy commander of the Nusirat battalion, the deputy commander of the Shati battalion and the deputy commander of the Alfurkan battalion of Hamas were killed, the IDF said in the post.

Oct 23, 2023, 10:26 PM EDT

Biden speaks with Netanyahu about hostages' release, humanitarian assistance for Gaza

President Joe Biden spoke with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday afternoon, once again addressing his commitment to efforts to “secure the release of all remaining hostages taken by Hamas – including Americans – and to provide for safe passage for U.S. citizens and other civilians in Gaza,” according to a White House readout of the call. Biden welcomed the news of the two hostages who were released earlier on Monday, per the readout.

During the call, Biden also “underscored the need to sustain a continuous flow of urgently needed humanitarian assistance into Gaza,” according to the readout.

Biden also spoke with Netanyahu about U.S. support for Israel and what the White House said was “ongoing efforts at regional deterrence, to include new U.S. military deployments.”

-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson

Oct 23, 2023, 6:06 PM EDT

Kirby warns of uptick in Iran-linked attacks

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday that in recent days there had been "an uptick in rocket and drone attacks by Iranian-backed proxy groups against military bases housing U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria."

“We know Iran continues to support Hamas and Hezbollah, and we know Iran is closely monitoring these events and in some cases, actively facilitating attacks and spurring on others who may want to exploit for their own good, or for that of Iran," Kirby said.

Kirby said Iran tries to "maintain some level of deniability here, but we’re not going to allow them to do that."

He added that there is still no direct evidence that Iran was involved in Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel.

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson

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