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Israel-Gaza live updates: Khan Younis bombardment death toll rises to 129

Khan Younis had been designated as a humanitarian zone by Israel.

Last Updated: July 24, 2024, 2:30 PM EDT

As the Israel-Hamas war continues, efforts to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization are ongoing, and Israeli forces have launched an assault in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

2:30 PM EDT

21 Senate Democrats skip Netanyahu's address to congress

Twenty-one Senate Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris were not in attendance for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress.

Thirty senate democrats were in the chamber on Wednesday. Sen. Ben Cardin, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is presiding over the chamber.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to speak to a joint meeting of Congress to seek support for Israel's fight against Hamas and other adversaries, at the Capitol in Washington, July 24, 2024.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Notably, Rep. Rashida Tlaib -- the only Palestinian-American in Congress -- is sitting in the House chamber. She has said in the past Netanyahu should be arrested and is a war criminal. As Netanyahu entered the chamber, she remained seated.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is in attendance and sitting front and center on the aisle.

Sen. Mark Kelly, a potential vice president pick for Kamala Harris' presidential campaign, is seated in the second row.

-ABC News' Lauren Peller and Allie Pecorin

Jul 24, 2024, 11:28 AM EDT

No confirmed polio cases in Gaza yet, vaccination rate drops from 99% to 89%

No cases of poliovirus infection have been reported in Gaza yet, days after evidence of poliovirus was detected in wastewater across Gaza, Gaza Ministry of Health's first care manager, Dr. Musa Abed, told ABC News.

Before the start of the conflict in October 2023, Polio vaccination coverage -- conducted through routine immunization -- was estimated at 99% in 2022, Abed said, confirming a United Nations report.

However, this number decreased with the outbreak of the war. The latest World Health Organization-UNICEF routine immunization statistics said that the number fell to approximately 89% in 2023 as newborns did not get vaccinated.

Women injured during Israeli bombardment arrive at the emergency ward at al-Nassr hospital in Khan Yunis, on the southern Gaza Strip, July 23, 2024.
Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images

"Premature infants, children, and those with weak immunity are the groups most in need of these vaccinations," Abed added.

He explained that people who were vaccinated before the war do not need to repeat the vaccination "because vaccination consists of several doses once in a lifetime."

The Israel Defense Forces said it is planning to vaccinate troops that have been deployed to Gaza to prevent polio infection "to maintain the health of both the soldiers and Israeli citizens."

-ABC News' Diaa Ostaz, Jordana Miller, Emma Ogao and Morgan Winsor

Jul 23, 2024, 5:05 PM EDT

Harris will separately meet with Netanyahu after Biden's meeting

Vice President Kamala Harris will meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he meets with President Joe Biden, according to a White House official, who said that this was the plan prior to Biden announcing he’s exiting the race.

A cease-fire-hostage deal is believed to be close to being secured, with the United States saying to the Israelis, that it's "too good a deal to pass up," the official said.

-ABC News' Selina Wang

Jul 23, 2024, 3:06 PM EDT

Khan Younis bombardment death toll rises to 73

At least 73 people have been killed -- including 24 children and 15 women -- and 270 others were injured amid the Israeli military's raids on eastern Khan Younis, which it had designated as a humanitarian zone, according to Gaza health officials.

The bombardment began early Monday as the Israel Defense Forces ordered people to evacuate.

Displaced Palestinians leave an area in east Khan Yunis towards the west, after the Israeli army issued a new evacuation order for parts of the city, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 22, 2024.
Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images

About 200,000 Palestinians have evacuated the area since then, according to the IDF, and still many remain behind not knowing where to go.

"A number of victims are still under rubble and on the roads, and ambulances and civil defense crews cannot reach them," the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said Tuesday.

-ABC News' Nasser Atta and Jordana Miller

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