Israel-Gaza live updates: Blinken to travel to Egypt for fresh talks

The Israel Defense Forces said it "eliminated" the head of the Islamic Jihad militia group's southern rocket and missile unit in a Monday airstrike on a humanitarian zone in southern Gaza.

Ahmed Aish Salame al-Hashash was the commander of the Islamic Jihad's rocket forces in the southern Rafah area, the IDF said in a statement. He was "an important source of knowledge of rocket fire within the Islamic Jihad terror organization in Gaza," the IDF added.

Al-Hashash was killed while "operating inside the Humanitarian Area in Khan Younis," the IDF said, referring to one of the areas designated by the Israeli military as safer locations for civilians amid the devastating campaign in Gaza.

"Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence," the IDF said.

The IDF often launches strikes inside Gaza humanitarian zones in pursuit of militant leaders.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry published a 649-page document identifying 34,344 people killed in the strip between Oct.7, 2023 and Aug. 31, 2024.

The document includes the name, age, gender and identification number of each person killed.

The first thirteen pages of the document include names of people all under 1 year old.

The document only includes the names of those the Health Ministry said it has been able to identify. Thousands more who are a part of the overall death toll are considered missing, the ministry said.

The current death toll in Gaza is 41,226 as of Sept. 16, according to the Hamas-run ministry.

-ABC News' Sami Zyara, Camilla Alcini and Ellie Kaufman

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt this week to discuss efforts to reach a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal, the State Department said.

Blinken will travel to Egypt Wednesday through Friday to co-chair the opening of the U.S.-Egypt Strategic Dialogue with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, the department said.

He will also meet with Egyptian officials "to discuss ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza that secures the release of all hostages, alleviates the suffering of the Palestinian people, and helps establish broader regional security," the State Department said in a statement.

-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston

State Department spokesperson Matt Miller declined to predict when a new Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal proposal might be ready.

"We continue to engage with our partners in the region, most specifically with Egypt and Qatar, about what that proposal will contain, and making sure -- or trying to see that it’s a proposal that can get the parties to an ultimate agreement," Miller told reporters Monday.

"I don't have a timetable for you other than to say that we are working expeditiously to try to develop that proposal, try to find something that would bring both the parties to say yes and to formally submit it," Miller added

Secretary of State Antony Blinken had previously said more than a week ago that a proposal would be presented to both Israel and Hamas "in the coming days."

Miller said Monday that -- just like in the negotiations overall -- the main hurdles for creating the new proposal were the security situation in the Philadelphi corridor and the number of hostages and Palestinian prisoners that would be released.

-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston