Israel-Gaza updates: More hostages released, including 4-year-old American girl

Fourteen Israeli and three foreign hostages were released Sunday, the IDF said.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: November 21, 2023, 11:24 AM EST

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.

Mar 01, 2024, 6:03 AM EST

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.

Nov 21, 2023, 11:24 AM EST

'We're now very close' on hostage deal, Biden says

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that "we're now very close" on a deal to release the hostages being held by Hamas, but the president did not discuss more details.

"We could bring some of the hostages home very soon, but I don't want to get into the details of things because nothing is done until it's done. And when we have more to say we will, but things are looking good," Biden said.

ABC News’ Matt Gutman reports on the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas war.
ABC News’ Matt Gutman reports on the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas war.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

Nov 21, 2023, 10:57 AM EST

WHO says it's planning to evacuate 3 hospitals in Gaza

The World Health Organization said Tuesday that at least three hospitals in the war-torn Gaza Strip have requested help with evacuating patients.

Speaking at a press briefing in Geneva, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said planning was underway to evacuate Al-Shifa Hospital, Indonesian Hospital and Al-Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza, but that such an event was a last resort.

"It's robbing the entire population of the north of the means to seek health [care]," Lindmeier told reporters.

-ABC News' Will Gretsky and Morgan Winsor

Nov 21, 2023, 10:49 AM EST

Israeli strikes reportedly kill 2 journalists, 1 civilian in southern Lebanon

Two journalists were killed by Israeli bombing near the Lebanon-Israel border on Tuesday, according to Al-Mayadeen, the Beirut-based television channel they worked for.

Al-Mayadeen confirmed that reporter Farah Omar and photojournalist Rabie Al-Maamari were both killed near the southern Lebanese town of Tir-Harfa, about a mile from the Israeli frontier.

"The occupation targeted the Al-Mayadeen team directly and definitely intentionally," the channel said in a statement on Tuesday. "I tell the Israeli enemy that you will not be able to silence the voices of Al-Mayadeen. We will remain and continue our coverage and our honorable journalistic work, whose priority is covering the crimes of the occupation in Gaza, the West Bank, Palestine and Lebanon."

The Lebanese National News Agency reported that a civilian -- an 80-year-old woman -- was also killed by an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese village of Kafr Kila, about 35 miles northwest of Tir-Harfa.

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which has voiced support for Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip and has been clashing with Israeli forces along the Lebanon-Israel border in recent weeks, released a statement on Tuesday "strongly condemning" the deaths.

"This aggression and the accompanying martyrdom of other citizens will not pass without a response from the fighters of the Islamic Resistance who are fighting in the field," the group added.

Hezbollah later issued another statement saying it had retaliated with a missile attack on Israeli troops near the border. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed in a separate statement that a number of rocket launches were identified from Lebanon toward Israeli territory in recent hours.

-ABC News' Ghazi Balliz, Marcus Moore, Bruno Roeber and Morgan Winsor

Nov 21, 2023, 9:17 AM EST

Israeli government to vote on hostage deal on Tuesday night, source says

Israel’s government will begin voting to approve a hostage deal with Hamas on Tuesday, an Israeli senior political source told ABC News.

Voting will likely be completed on Wednesday, according to the source.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday that, "in light of the developments regarding the release of our abductees," Netanyahu will convene the war cabinet at 6 p.m. local time, the political-security cabinet at 7 p.m. local time and the full government at 8 p.m. local time.

PHOTO: The parents and relatives of children kidnapped on Oct. 7, along with families of hostages and their supporters take part in a demonstration to protest 40 children held hostage in Gaza on World's Children Day on Nov. 20, 2023, in Tel Aviv, Israel.
The parents and relatives of children kidnapped on Oct. 7, along with families of hostages and their supporters take part in a demonstration outside the UNICEF headquarters to protest their silence to 40 children held hostage in Gaza on World's Children Day on Nov. 20, 2023, in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Both cabinets would have to approve a hostage deal before it could be brought to the full government for a final vote.

Earlier Tuesday, while visiting Israeli troops, Netanyahu told reporters that his government was "making progress" on an agreement with Hamas.

"I don't think it's worth saying too much, not even at this moment,” he added, "but I hope there will be good news soon."

-ABC News' Victoria Beaulé, Jordana Miller and Morgan Winsor

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