Israel-Gaza updates: IDF says it's 'dismantled' Hamas' military framework
The IDF gave an assessment Sunday of the first three months of the war.
ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: January 7, 2024, 2:35 PM EST
More than a month after a temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended, Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza.
The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
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.
Jan 01, 2024, 10:29 AM EST
Israel to move some troops out of Gaza, IDF announces
The IDF announced Monday it is adjusting deployment plans for forces in Gaza and the reserve system.
Some reservists will return to their families and employment, while others will return to scheduled training. The IDF says this is expected "to significantly alleviate economic burdens and enable them to gather strength for upcoming activities in the next year, as the fighting will persist, and their services will still be needed."
"These adaptations aim to ensure effective planning and preparation for the continuation of operations in 2024" in anticipation of further warfare into the year, according to the IDF statement.
Dec 31, 2023, 4:46 PM EST
IDF says it expects war to last all of 2024
The war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group is expected to last all of 2024, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces said Sunday.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a statement that the Israeli military is making adjustments to its deployment of troops in the Gaza Strip as it anticipates the war lasting for the entirety of 2024.
Israeli soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip amid continuing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Dec. 29, 2023.
Israeli Defense Forces/AFP via Getty Image
"We are adjusting the fighting methods to each area in Gaza, as well as the necessary forces to carry out the mission in the best way possible," Hagari said. "Each area has different characteristics and different operational needs."
Hagari added that as 2024 begins, "The goal of the war requires lengthy fighting, and we are prepared accordingly."
The Israeli military, according to Hagari, will be carrying out "smart" management of its forces in Gaza, allowing reservists to return home to help boost the economy, and allowing standing army troops to train to become commanders.
"It will result in considerable relief for the economy, and will allow them to gain strength for operations next year, and the fighting will continue and we will need them,” Hagari said.
He said the adjustments are necessary for the IDF to endure the long road ahead.
"The IDF needs to plan ahead, out of the understanding that we will be needed for additional missions and continued fighting during the entire coming year,” Hagari said.
ABC News' Jordana Miller
Dec 31, 2023, 1:12 PM EST
Israeli president urges world leaders to demand hostages be released
In 10 posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, in 10 different languages, Israeli President Isaac Herzog issued a New Year's call to world leaders and people around the globe to advance the immediate return of the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.
"As we enter 2024, I call on the entire family of nations, on all world leaders, to demand and work for the immediate, unconditional release of our 133 hostages," he wrote Sunday.
"Their immediate release is at the core of our battle with Hamas terrorists in Gaza," he added.
According to the Israeli prime minister's office, there are 129 hostages being held by Hamas -- including at least 23 people believed to be dead whose bodies are still being held in Gaza.
-ABC News' Edward Szekeres
Dec 30, 2023, 2:31 PM EST
Hunger spreads in Gaza, Israel fires on UN aid convoy: UN
A quarter of the population is starving because too few trucks enter with food, medicine, fuel and other supplies, according to U.N. monitors.
U.N. monitors said operations at the Israeli-run Kerem Shalom crossing halted for four days this week because of security incidents, such as a drone strike and the seizing of aid by desperate Gaza residents. They said the crossing reopened Friday, and that a total of 81 aid trucks entered Gaza through Kerem Shalom and the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border -- a fraction of the typical pre-war volume of 500 trucks a day.
The United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees said Friday that Israeli soldiers fired on a U.N. aid convoy returning from a delivery in northern Gaza, an incident U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths condemned as "unlawful."
