Israel-Gaza updates: Hamas military chief target of strike that killed 90 people

Mohammed Deif has been the head of Hamas' military wing.

Last Updated: July 13, 2024, 3:14 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.

Jul 08, 2024, 12:31 PM EDT

Israeli forces attacking in Khan Younis, Gaza City and Rafah

Israeli forces have been attacking in Rafah, Khan Younis and Gaza City, the Israel Defense Forces said Monday.

Over the past day in Rafah, Israeli troops "operated to eliminate more than 30 terrorists who posed a threat to IDF troops," IDF said in a statement.

A man stands in one of the upper stories of a destroyed building in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 8, 2024.
Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images

In the areas of Khan Younis and Gaza City, "two ready-to-use launch sites aimed at Israeli territory were struck by the IDF," the statement continued.

In the past 24 hours, 40 people were killed and 75 injured in Gaza, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said Monday.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller, Dorit Long in Israel and Diaa Ostaz

Jul 07, 2024, 5:06 PM EDT

American hurt by Hezbollah rocket fire: US Embassy

A U.S. citizen was injured Sunday by one of multiple rockets fired into Israel from Lebanon by the terrorist group Hezbollah, according to the U.S. embassy in Israel.

Embassy officials said they received information regarding the injured private U.S. citizen. The embassy confirmed the individual does not work for the U.S. government.

The embassy was working to gather more information on the injured person, officials said.

Further details about the incident were not immediately disclosed.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller

Jul 06, 2024, 6:26 PM EDT

IDF gives more details on strike on school

Israel Defense Forces released details about a strike on a school in Nuseirat refugee camp that Gaza officials said killed 16 and wounded at least 50.

The IDF claimed its intelligence found that the site allegedly "served as a hideout and operational infrastructure from which attacks against IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip were directed and carried out."

"Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken in order to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise aerial surveillance and additional intelligence," the IDF said without disclosing what steps were taken.

-ABC News' Dorit Long

Jul 06, 2024, 4:19 PM EDT

IDF admits it'll be fighting Hamas insurgency in Gaza for 5 years

Israel is planning for a long insurgency against Hamas, saying it expects Hamas to still exist in five years, but it said the group is no longer capable of perpetrating an Oct. 7-style attack.

"Will you and me be talking five years from now about Hamas as a terror organization in Gaza? The answer is yes," Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari told ABC News.

Hagari is the first Israeli official to publicly admit that the insurgency will be long and difficult, in stark contrast to the bombast of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who continues to vow the quick destruction of Hamas.

Gaza, and even to some degree Hezbollah, are "perpetual wars" distracting Israel from what he called their main enemy, Iran, a senior Israeli official told ABC News.

-ABC News' Matt Gutman