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 08, 2024, 2:24 PM EDT

IDF soldiers accused of abusing Palestinian prisoners denied release

Five Israel Defense Forces soldiers who are in custody under suspicion of aggravated abuse of a Palestinian prisoner have been denied release by a military court on Thursday, according to the IDF.

The Military Court of Appeals approved the detention of the suspects until Sunday, stating that from the evidence presented, there is "reasonable suspicion of the commission of the acts attributed to them. The military court also determined that there was a clear cause of danger from the attributed acts," the IDF said.

This handout picture released by the Israeli army on Aug. 2, 2024, shows Israeli troops operating on the ground in the Gaza Strip amid the continuing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli Army/AFP via Getty Images

United Nations experts have called the reported widespread torture of Palestinian detainees a "preventable crime against humanity."

"Reports of alleged torture and sexual violence in Israel’s Sde Teiman prison are grossly illegal and revolting, but they only represent the tip of the iceberg, independent human rights experts warned," U.N. experts said on Tuesday.

Around 9,500 Palestinians, including hundreds of children and women, are currently imprisoned -- about one-third of them without charge or trial, according to the U.N.

Aug 07, 2024, 4:08 PM EDT

27 killed in Gaza, IDF says Hamas weapons workshop found in Khan Younis

At least 27 people were killed in different parts of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. Of those killed, 18 Palestinians were killed in eastern and central Khan Yunis.

The Israeli Defense Forces said they found a Hamas weapons manufacturing workshop in a tunnel below Khan Yunis in a statement Wednesday.

-ABC News' Diaa Ostaz and Jordana Miller

Aug 07, 2024, 2:52 PM EDT

Egypt advises airlines to avoid Iranian airspace

Egypt has issued a notice to all Egyptian airlines to not fly over Iranian airspace at times when Iran is conducting military exercises on Wednesday and Thursday.

Aug 07, 2024, 12:02 PM EDT

59.3% buildings in Gaza Strip damaged or destroyed, CUNY analysis shows

A new map based on open-access satellite data shows the damage across the Gaza Strip through July 27, where an estimated 59.3% of buildings have been damaged or destroyed since Oct. 5, 2023.

According to the analysis, most of the destruction in July was in Rafah, where 750 additional buildings were damaged or destroyed last month, bringing the total infrastructural damage in the southernmost city of Gaza to 45.4%.

Men stand before the collapsed minaret of a mosque following Israeli bombardment in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on July 17, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas.
AFP via Getty Images

The damage analysis of the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite data was done by Corey Scher of CUNY Graduate Center and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University.

-ABC News' Camilla Alcini