The war is the deadliest conflict between the two sides in recent history.
More than a month after a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas ended, the Israeli military continues its bombardment of the neighboring Gaza Strip.
The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs Gaza, freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on southern Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
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The latest outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs the Gaza Strip, has passed the four-month mark.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 30,228 people have been killed and 71,377 others have been wounded by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to Gaza's Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
In Israel, at least 1,200 people have been killed and 6,900 others have been injured by Hamas and other Palestinian militants since Oct. 7, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
There has also been a surge in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli forces have killed at least 395 people in the territory since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The ongoing war began after Hamas-led militants launched an unprecedented incursion into southern Israel from neighboring Gaza via land, sea and air. Scores of people were killed while more than 200 others were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities. The Israeli military subsequently launched retaliatory airstrikes followed by a ground invasion of Gaza, a 140-square-mile territory where more than 2 million Palestinians have lived under a blockade imposed by Israel and supported by Egypt since Hamas came to power in 2007. Gaza, unlike Israel, has no air raid sirens or bomb shelters.
Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said in a statement that the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza "will not return alive to their families" unless Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli leaders respond to Hamas’ conditions, "the first of which is a comprehensive and complete cessation of their aggression against the Gaza Strip."
A delegation from Israel is in Egypt for new discussions on swapping Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for Palestinians in prison in Israel, an Egyptian security source confirmed to ABC News.
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
