Israel-Gaza updates: US is 'strengthening' military force in Middle East

Israel alleges the Khan Younis area is being used by Hamas terrorists.

Last Updated: August 11, 2024, 3:45 PM EDT

As the Israel-Hamas war continues, tensions are escalating after the assassinations of two Hamas and Hezbollah leaders this week.

Aug 06, 2024, 11:32 AM EDT

Lebanon aims to prevent Hezbollah response to avoid wider war, says foreign minister

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said the country is working to ensure that Hezbollah's response to Israel does not trigger a total war, saying, "It would not benefit any of the countries involved."

"Only those who want to incite conflict would gain from such a situation. We, as officials, do not want any war. Therefore, if a response is necessary, it should not be collective or so severe that it escalates into a broader conflict," Bou Habib said.

Aug 06, 2024, 11:07 AM EDT

At least 8 Palestinians killed during Israeli military raids in occupied West Bank

At least eight Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces during military raids in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, Palestinian health authorities said.

Five were killed in the city of Jenin, two in the nearby village of Khafer Dan and one in the city of Bethlehem, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank.

Palestinians inspect the destruction following an Israeli raid in Jenin city in the occupied West Bank on Aug. 6, 2024.
Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP via Getty Images

Earlier, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said at least 15 people were injured during the raid in Jenin on Tuesday. A spokesperson for PRCS told ABC News that the organization’s medical teams were stopped by Israeli troops from reaching the wounded.

ABC News has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

-ABC News' Nasser Atta and Camilla Alcini

Aug 06, 2024, 10:16 AM EDT

Palestinians in West Bank being blocked from medical care: New report

Palestinians in the West Bank are being restricted access to medical care, including for physical injuries and mental trauma, according to a new report from Doctors Without Borders.

"Access to medical care for Palestinians in Hebron is rapidly deteriorating because of restrictions imposed by Israeli forces and violence perpetrated by Israeli soldiers and settlers," Doctors Without Borders said.

Ministry of Health clinics across Hebron, in the West Bank, have been forced to close, pharmacies have run short of medications and ambulances transporting the sick and wounded have been obstructed and attacked. Faced with restrictions on their movements and the threat of violence, many sick people delay seeing a doctor or have no choice but to stop medical treatments altogether, according to data collected by Doctors Without Borders between June 2023 and April 2024.

"The movement restrictions, and harassment and violence by Israeli forces and settlers, is inflicting immense and unnecessary suffering on Palestinians in Hebron," said Frederieke van Dongen, the group's humanitarian affairs manager.

Aug 06, 2024, 9:16 AM EDT

Israeli prisons are 'network of torture' for Palestinians: Human rights group

B’tselem, a major Israeli human rights group, published a report alleging that the Israeli prison system has become a "network of torture camps" for Palestinians arrested since Oct. 7.

The group reported abuse including "frequent acts of severe, arbitrary violence; sexual assault; humiliation; deliberate starvation and sleep deprivation."

The number of Palestinians in Israeli jails and detention centers stands at 9,623, the rights group said, including, 4,781 held without charge. An estimated 60 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody.

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir talks to emergency responders at the scene of a suspected stabbing attack in Holon, Israel, Aug. 4, 2024.
Ricardo Moraes/Reuters, FILE

The Israeli army and government have denied allegations of systematic abuse, and the prisons service said it is are not aware of the claims in the report.

But, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right minister for national security who is in charge of the prisons service, has long championed the deteriorating conditions in prisons for Palestinian prisoners, who he said are "terrorists," as a matter of policy.

"Since I assumed the position of Minister of National Security, one of the highest goals I have set for myself is to worsen the conditions of the terrorists in the prisons, and to reduce their rights to the minimum required by law," he said in July. "Everything published about the abominable conditions of these vile murderers in prison was true."

In response to claims of overcrowding, Ben-Gvir has advocated the death penalty as a response.

-ABC News' Guy Davies