Israel-Gaza updates: US making progress toward escape for Americans in Gaza

IDF shared a video appearing to show bulldozers breaking through a barricade.

ByKevin Shalvey and Jon Haworth
Last Updated: October 26, 2023, 6:39 PM EDT

Thousands of people have died and thousands more have been injured since the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel retaliated with a bombing campaign and total siege of the neighboring Gaza Strip, leaving the region on the verge of all-out war.

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Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Mar 1, 6:03 am

What we know about the conflict

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.

Oct 26, 2023, 1:53 PM EDT

What a potentially wider Israel-Hamas war could mean for the US economy

A potential escalation of the Israel-Hamas war and the possibility that it could widen into a regional conflict could send gas prices above $5 a gallon, trigger an overall surge of inflation and plunge the U.S. economy into a recession, economists and oil industry analysts told ABC News.

A conflict that ensnares the Middle East could send oil prices soaring, which in turn would hike costs not only for gasoline but also for many consumer products that depend on diesel and jet fuel for transport, the experts said.

Click here to read more.

-ABC News' Max Zahn

A war that ensnares the Gulf region could send gas prices above $5 a gallon and plunge the U.S. into a recession.
1:03

What a wider Middle East war could mean for the US economy

A war that ensnares the Gulf region could send gas prices above $5 a gallon and plunge the U.S. into a recession.
ABCNews.com

Oct 26, 2023, 12:26 PM EDT

Iran issues warning to United States

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the minister of foreign affairs for Iran, chastised the United States and issued a warning in a speech at the United Nations during an emergency session to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Amir-Abdollahian said that America was "managing the genocide" of Palestinians and "that we do not welcome the expansion of war in the region, but I warn if the genocide in Gaza continues, they will not be spared from this fire."

Palestinians react at the site of Israeli air strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct.26, 2023.
Mohammed Salem/Reuters

The U.S. has cautioned against Iran becoming directly involved in the conflict and sent two aircraft carriers to the region to serve as a deterrent.

There have, however, been smaller skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon and the U.S. shot down cruise missiles fired by the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Both groups are backed by Iran.

Oct 26, 2023, 6:06 AM EDT

Israeli military briefly enters northern Gaza, IDF says

Israeli tanks and infantry personnel briefly entered northern Gaza in "preparation for the next stages of combat," the Israel Defense Forces said early Thursday.

Israeli armoured vehicles take part in an operation, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, at a location given as the northern Gaza Strip in this still image taken from handout video released Oct. 26, 2023.
Israel Defense Forces/via Reuters

"IDF tanks & infantry struck numerous terrorist cells, infrastructure and anti-tank missile launch posts," the military said in a post on social media.

The post included a video that appeared to show bulldozers breaking through a barricade-like structure, followed by footage of a military convoy traveling along dirt roads and then several explosions.

Israeli armoured vehicles take part in an operation, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, at a location given as the northern Gaza Strip in this still image taken from handout video released Oct. 26, 2023.
Israel Defense Forces/via Reuters

"The soldiers have since exited the area and returned to Israeli territory," IDF said. The video could not be independently verified.

Oct 25, 2023, 5:46 PM EDT

House passes resolution defending Israel

The House of Representatives passed a resolution defending Israel and condemning Hamas after the group's attack earlier this month and the escalating war in the Gaza Strip.

The resolution passed in a 412-10 vote. Six members voted present. Nine of the 10 "no" votes came from progressive Democrats, while Rep. Thomas Massie, Ky., was the only Republican to vote against the resolution.

-ABC News' Lauren Peller and Tal Axelrod

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