Israel-Gaza updates: Blinken, Abbas meet on restoring 'calm' in West Bank, State Department says
The top U.S. diplomat made an unannounced stop in the West Bank on Sunday.
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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Latest headlines:
- Blinken meets with Iraqi prime minister
- Blinken visits West Bank, meets with Palestinian Authority leader Abbas
- Blinken in Jordan reaffirms need for 'increased, sustained' humanitarian aid for Gaza
- ABC News' Ian Pannell embeds with IDF in Gaza
- Doctors Without Borders says conflict has reached ‘new low’ after ambulance strike
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.
5 American aid workers cross from Gaza into Egypt
Five American aid workers have crossed the Rafah border from Gaza into Egypt, according to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund. They work for the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund, Catholic Relief Services and Doctors Without Borders.
Rafah border crossing opens, allowing foreign nationals to exit Gaza
The border crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened on Wednesday, allowing some foreign nationals and injured Gaza residents to exit the enclave for the first time since the Israel-Hamas conflict began on Oct. 7.
Seventeen ambulances, each transporting one injured Gazan, have crossed the border into Egypt, ABC News has confirmed.
The Rafah border crossing, which is controlled by Egypt, was expected to allow about 500 foreign passport holders to exit, according to the Gaza Borders and Crossings Authority, which released a list of names of those who would be allowed across.
At least 110 dual nationals have crossed the Rafah border into Egypt, ABC News confirmed.
Five American aid workers are among those at Rafah waiting to cross into Egypt, according to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund.
Ground fighting between IDF, Hamas near Jabalia
The Israel Defense Forces said Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants fought overnight near Jabalia in northern Gaza. This comes as the IDF said it's "significantly" deepening its ground operations.
The IDF said it's hit more than 11,000 targets in Gaza since Oct. 7.
11 Israeli soldiers killed in ground fighting Tuesday
The Israel Defense Forces said 11 of its soldiers were killed in ground fighting in Gaza on Tuesday.
The total number of Israeli soldiers killed now stands at 326, according to the IDF.
13 killed from strikes on ambulances at gate of Gaza hospital: Gaza Health Ministry
Thirteen people were killed and 26 were injured from a blast that struck ambulances at the gate of Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital complex, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the group of ambulances were returning to the hospital from a mission to transport injured people to the Gaza-Egypt Rafah border crossing.
The Israel Defense Forces said its aircraft hit an ambulance that it believes was being used by Hamas.
"We have information which demonstrates that Hamas' method of operation is to transfer terror operatives and weapons in ambulances," the IDF said.
"A number" of Hamas terrorists were killed in the blast, the IDF said.
The IDF said, "We emphasize that this area is a battle zone. Civilians in the area are repeatedly called upon to evacuate southwards for their own safety."