Israel-Gaza updates: Houthis claim 'hypersonic' missile attack on Israel

The World Health Organization said it had evacuated at least 97 patients and 155 companions from Gaza on Wednesday, taking them to the United Arab Emirates for medical treatment.

This was the largest medical evacuation from Gaza since October 2023, according to Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the occupied Palestinian territory.

Patients were transported in ambulances via the Kerem Shalom crossing from Gaza to Ramon Airport in Israel for travel to Abu Dhabi.

Patients included 45 children and 52 adults with a wide range of diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, congenital anomalies, blood and liver diseases, trauma and injuries.

-ABC News' Will Gretsky

It is possible 2,000-pound bombs were used in deadly Israeli strike in the humanitarian area of Al Mawasi in Gaza on Sept. 10, two experts told ABC News.

At least 19 people were killed and 60 others were injured in the attack, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Videos and photo captured from the site of the deadly strike show two large craters with fabric and debris buried in the sand. A photo captured by Quds News Network shows what appears to be a conical-shaped missile fragment.

The remnant of a missile recovered from the site and large craters suggest the most likely munition used to conduct the attack was "a 2,000-pound-class air-delivered bomb fitted with an Israeli-made SPICE 2000 guidance kit," N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of the consultancy Armament Research Services, told ABC News.

Satellite imagery captured the day before the attack show a cluster of a dozen tents at the location of the strike in the densely populated Al Mawasi area. Imagery captured after the attack shows the temporary structures are nowhere to be seen, replaced instead by two large craters, one measuring almost 46 feet in length.

The craters are consistent with "multiple MK-84s which are 2,000 pounds" and "the fragment recovered appears to be from a Spice-2,000 bomb guidance kit tail section," Trevor Ball, a former US Army EOD specialist, told ABC News after reviewing the photos and satellite imagery.

The United Nations' Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said the kill radius of a 2,000-pound bomb is almost 110 feet.

-ABC News' Chris Looft

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday accused Hamas of blocking a cease-fire and hostage-release deal.

"Hamas is trying to hide the fact that it continues to oppose the hostage release deal and prevents it from materializing," Netanyahu said in a statement posted to X.

Netanyahu said Israel accepted the offer put forward by the U.S. on Aug. 16, but that "Hamas rejected it and murdered six hostages in cold blood."

"The world must demand that Hamas release the hostages immediately.," the prime minister said, referring to the 101 hostages still held in Gaza, around half of whom are believed to be alive.

Hamas has repeatedly blamed Netanyahu for the gridlock, alleging the prime minister is intentionally sabotaging talks to retain political power in Israel.

Egyptian and Qatari officials met with a top Hamas official in Doha on Wednesday in a bid to restart cease-fire negotiations, which fell apart after the last round of talks in August.

Hamas released a statement on Wednesday evening reiterating they want to revert to the deal proposed on July 2.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres accused Israel of "dramatic violations of international humanitarian law" over its continued airstrikes on schools-turned-shelters in the Gaza Strip.

Six United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) were among at least 17 people killed in a Wednesday strike on the Al-Jaouni School in Nuseirat in central Gaza, the agency confirmed. It is the fifth time that the school has been targeted since Oct. 7.

Guterres wrote on X: "What's happening in Gaza is totally unacceptable. A school turned shelter for around 12,000 people was hit by Israeli airstrikes again today." The attacks "need to stop now," he added.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X: "Endless & senseless killing, day after day."

"Humanitarian staff, premises & operations have been blatantly & unabatedly disregarded since the beginning of the war," he added, noting that at least 220 UNRWA staff have been killed in Gaza.

"The longer impunity prevails, the more international humanitarian law & the Geneva conventions will become irrelevant," he wrote, adding it was time for both a cease-fire and "accountability."

The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that the strike targeted "a Hamas command and control center in the area."

Israel's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories body hit back at Lazzarini's social media complaint, alleging in its own post that Gaza schools "have been Hamas weapons storage facilities, tunnel access points, and bases of operation for over a decade."

"Maybe if you hadn't turned a blind eye to Hamas's use of UNRWA schools, the current situation would be entirely different," the organization wrote.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller, Will Gretsky and Victoria Beaule