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.

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.

Jan 03, 2024, 1:38 PM EST

Hezbollah leader warns of response for killing of top Hamas official

The head of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassam Nasrallah, said in a speech Wednesday that the killing of deputy Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri was a "serious and heinous crime that will not remain without response and punishment."

"Whoever thinks about war with us will regret it and it will be costly," al-Arouri said in Arabic.

Civil defense workers inspect a vehicle that was damaged near the building hit by an Israeli strike targeting Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri in the southern suburb of Beirut, Jan. 3, 2024.
Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images

Nasrallah said they did receive messages that the assassination of al-Arouri was "not targeting Lebanon and the southern suburbs."

The speech Wednesday was the first time the leader of the Lebanese group has spoken since Nov. 3. It followed the death Tuesday of al-Arouri in a bombing.

Israel has not claimed responsibility, but Hamas and Hezbollah have pointed the blame.

-ABC News' Ghazi Balkiz and Ellie Kaufman

Jan 03, 2024, 1:01 PM EST

Israel says it dismantled tunnels under Al-Shifa Hospital

The Israeli army said in a release Wednesday it had destroyed Hamas' tunnels underneath the Al-Shifa Hospital without causing damage to the hospital complex.

Israel said the tunnels under the hospital spanned over 250 meters and "led to a number of significant terrorist centers and was used for carrying out terrorist operations." It added that humanitarian operations continued at the hospital.

Israeli soldiers cover their ears as they a fire mortar round from an armored vehicle at a position along the border in southern Israel on Jan. 3, 2024.
Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

Hamas, as well as doctors at the hospital, has denied that terrorists were operating from the hospital complex.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller

Jan 02, 2024, 3:42 PM EST

US denounces Israeli officials' remarks on emigration from Gaza

The U.S. State Department is denouncing recent comments from Israel’s far right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calling for the emigration of Palestinians from Gaza, calling the officials' statements "inflammatory and irresponsible."

"The United States rejects recent statements from Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza," State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement. "We have been told repeatedly and consistently by the Government of Israel, including by the Prime Minister, that such statements do not reflect the policy of the Israeli government. They should stop immediately."

-ABC News' Shannon K. Crawford

Jan 02, 2024, 2:11 PM EST

Top Hamas leader killed in Beirut strike, official says

A top Hamas leader and at least five others were killed in a strike in Beirut on Tuesday, a Hamas official said.

PHOTO: Firefighters try to extinguish the fire inside an apartment following an explosion in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Jan. 2, 2024. The TV station of Lebanon's Hezbollah group says top Hamas official Saleh Arouri was killed Tuesday.
Firefighters try to extinguish the fire inside an apartment following a massive explosion in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. The TV station of Lebanon's Hezbollah group says top Hamas official Saleh Arouri was killed Tuesday in an explosion in a southern Beirut suburb.
Hussein Malla/AP

The leader, identified by the official as Saleh Arouri, was second in command in Hamas and the head of Hamas in the West Bank.

PHOTO: This photo released by the Hamas Media Office shows deputy Saleh Arouri upon his arrival in in Gaza City from Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018.
This photo released by the Hamas Media Office shows deputy Saleh Arouri upon his arrival in in Gaza City from Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018. The TV station of Lebanon's Hezbollah group says top Hamas official Saleh Arouri was killed Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024, in an explosion in a southern Beirut suburb.
Mohammad Austaz/Hamas Media Office via AP, FILE

Lebanese Security Services said six people were killed in the strike, which Hamas blamed on Israel.

An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson declined to comment on the incident, but told ABC News that Israel "is on high alert and prepared for any scenario."

"I want to be clear we are focused on the fight against Hamas," the spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, added.

PHOTO: Emergency services pictured at the site of an explosion in the southern district of Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Jan. 2, 2024.
Emergency services pictured at the site of an explosion in the southern district of Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Jan. 2, 2024. According to Lebanese state media four people were killed in the explosion including Hamas deputy head, Saleh al Arouri.
Abbas Salman/EPA via Shutterstock

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