Israel-Gaza updates: US ambassador to Israel demands return of hostages

Israeli War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz warned Wednesday that "Hamas will regain control" of the Gaza Strip if the Israeli military ceases combat operations there.

"We must go on. If we stop now, Hamas will regain control," Gantz, a retired army general who previously served as Israel's defense minister and alternate prime minister, said during a press conference in Tel Aviv. "In most areas, we have completed the phase of operational takeover and now, we are deep in the phase of dismantling the terrorist infrastructure, which will lead to the demilitarization of the strip."

However, Gantz noted that "the most urgent thing is the return of the abductees." More than 100 Israeli citizens are believed to still be held hostage by militants in Gaza after being taken captive during the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.

"This has precedence over every move in combat," he said.

Gantz also warned that the Israeli military "will act in southern Lebanon as we act in northern Gaza" if the neighboring country "continues to serve as an Iranian terrorist outpost." His remarks came as Israeli forces continue to exchange fire with Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, amid fears that regional tensions could escalate into a wider war in the Middle East.

"This is not a threat to Lebanon," Gantz added. "It is a promise to the residents of [northern Israel]."

Israel's war cabinet is expected to meet on Wednesday evening, followed by a meeting of the wider security cabinet.

-ABC News' Dana Savir and Morgan Winsor

The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday claimed to have found "further evidence of Hamas' exploitation of the civilian population for terrorist activity across the Gaza Strip."

The 55th Brigade combat team made the alleged discovery in recent days while "operating to destroy terror infrastructure" in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to the IDF.

"During the operations on the military targets, the soldiers located a UAV launch post, a loaded rifle underneath a child's bed, along with grenades, cartridges, Hamas uniforms, and many intelligence materials inside the residences of terrorist operatives," the IDF said in a statement. "During the operation, the soldiers found a tunnel shaft near a school, a rocket launcher near a kindergarten, and a training compound near a mosque."

Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs Gaza, has denied Israel's claims that it deliberately shelters behind civilians by hiding its fighters, infrastructure and weapons in hospitals, schools and other areas populated by civilians.

-ABC News' Morgan Winsor

More than 40 people, including a journalist, were killed Wednesday when Israeli forces bombed an inhabited house across the street from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas Government Media Office.

Hamas claimed the Israeli military had declared the city of Deir al-Balah safe before striking the area.

There was no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital is the last functioning hospital in central Gaza and a number of civilians are said to be sheltering there amid the heavy fighting that's taken place between Israeli troops and Hamas militants in recent days.

Earlier Wednesday, the IDF said its aircraft and ground troops were continuing to operate against Hamas in central Gaza within the area of the Maghazi refugee camp, a couple miles north of Deir al-Balah.

-ABC News' Morgan Winsor

Speaking from a podium in Tel Aviv, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that he and Israeli officials had agreed on a plan to carry out a United Nations-led mission in Gaza that will pave the way for displaced Palestinians to return to their homes in the north -- a significant step toward restoring a sense of normalcy in the enclave.

"As Israel's campaign moves to a lower intensity phase in northern Gaza, and as the IDF scales down its forces there, we agreed today on a plan for the U.N. to carry out an assessment mission. It will determine what needs to be done to allow displaced Palestinians to return safely to homes in the north," he said.

"Now, this is not going to happen overnight. There are serious security, infrastructure and humanitarian challenges," Blinken cautioned, later describing traps and explosives left by Hamas as a hinderance. "But the mission will start a process that evaluates these obstacles and how they can be overcome."

Blinken stressed the U.S. focus on humanitarian issues stemming from the conflict, but he also slammed a case brought by South Africa before the U.N.’s highest legal body, the International Court of Justice, which accuses Israel of carrying out genocide in Gaza, declaring that it "distracts the world" from vital efforts.

"Moreover, the charge of genocide is meritless," Blinken asserted. "It's particularly galling given that those who are attacking Israel -- Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, as well as their supporter, Iran -- continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews."

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Secretary Blinken delivers remarks following high-level meeting in Israel

The meeting in Tel Aviv comes amid some differences between the U.S. and Israel over the war in Gaza.

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-ABC News' Shannon K. Crawford