Israel-Gaza updates: Gantz rejects Netanyahu's request, resigns

The U.S. State Department has sanctioned a militant Palestinian group operating in the West Bank known as "Lions’ Den," it announced Thursday.

The department said the group claimed responsibility for several drive-by shootings around Nablus in 2022, injured and killed Palestinian civilians during clashes with Palestinian Authority Security forces that same year, and that its fighters reportedly targeted Israeli forces at a checkpoint this past April.

The Lions’ Den was the target of an Israeli raid in February. The group has been blamed for much of the surging violence in the West Bank during recent months.

"The United States condemns any and all acts of violence committed in the West Bank, whoever the perpetrators, and we will use the tools at our disposal to expose and hold accountable those who threaten peace and stability there," State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said.

The Biden administration has also imposed a number of sanctions on Israeli West Bank settlers earlier this year; targets include organizations accused of fundraising for extremist settlers and allies of Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

The United States and 16 other countries released a joint statement this morning calling on Hamas to accept a cease-fire proposal and hostage release deal outlined by President Joe Biden.

"We note that this agreement would lead to an immediate ceasefire and rehabilitation of Gaza together with security assurances for Israelis, and Palestinians, and opportunities for a more enduring long-term peace and a two-state solution," the joint statement said.

The statement was issued by leaders of the United States, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Thailand and the United Kingdom.

-ABC News' Justin Gomez and Kevin Shalvey

Dozens of people were killed and scores were injured in an Israeli strike on a school in Gaza, the local U.N. agency said on Thursday.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the airstrike, saying the school had a Hamas compound "embedded inside" of it.

"Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists who belonged to the Nukhba Forces and took part in the murderous attack on communities in southern Israel on October 7th were operating in the compound," IDF officials said in a statement.

The death toll was expected to be be 35 and 45 people, the U.N. Agency for Palestine Refugees said, adding that it had not yet been able to independently verify those figures.

The school in the Nuseirat area, near central Gaza, was struck overnight or early in the morning on Thursday, UNRWA said. There were possibly a few strikes, the agency said.

IDF officials said they had taken measures to "to reduce the risk of harming uninvolved civilians during the strike, including conducting aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence information."

- ABC News’ Victoria Beaule and Kevin Shalvey

The Israeli government announced Wednesday there will be 50,000 additional reserve soldiers in preparation for possible escalation on the Lebanon front.

The announcement, made on Israeli Army Radio, came on the same day as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the northern border.

Netanyahu said Israel is "prepared for a very strong action in the north."

-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman