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.
Kirby suggests 'pause' allowed 2 American hostages out, US looking to secure more 'pauses'
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby on Thursday suggested that Israel agreed to a temporary pause in order for the two American hostages to be safely freed last month and said the U.S. would be working toward securing more pauses.
"The president already worked on one such pause when we were able to get those two Americans out. And that's, that's what we're kind of looking at," Kirby added. "When we're talking about humanitarian pause, what we're talking about are temporary, localized pauses in the fighting to meet a certain goal or goals -- as I said, get aid in, get people out."
He said the administration is exploring "as many pauses as might be necessary to continue to get aid out, and to continue to work to get people out safely, including hostages."
Israeli officials said there are 242 hostages in Gaza.
Kirby stressed that the administration isn't "advocating for a general cease-fire at this point."
"We believe that a general cease-fire would benefit Hamas in providing them breathing space and time to continue to plot and execute attacks on the Israeli people," he said.
-ABC News' Fritz Farrow
Blinken says minimizing harm to Palestinians 'very much on the agenda' for Israel meetings
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is en route to Israel and Jordan, said this trip he's focused on de-escalation and the plight of the Palestinians.
"We will be talking about concrete steps that can and should be taken to minimize harm to men, women and children in Gaza," Blinken said.
"When I see a Palestinian child, a boy or a girl, pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building -- that hits me in the gut as much as seeing a child in Israel or anywhere else. So this is something we have an obligation to respond to, and we will," he said.
The secretary identified three key goals for his trip.
"First, to talk to the Israeli government about the ongoing campaign against the Hamas terrorist organization," Blinken said. "Israel has not only the right but the obligation to defend itself, and also to take steps to try to make sure that this never happens again. … We've also said very clearly and repeatedly that how Israel does this matters. We will focus as well on steps that need to be taken to protect civilians who are in a crossfire of the Hamas’ making, and we want to look at concrete steps that can be taken to better protect them."
Blinken said his second objective is getting humanitarian aid into Gaza and getting people who want to leave out of Gaza.
Blinken said his third goal is to try to set the groundwork for a resolution to the conflict.
The secretary added that the administration is still "intensely focused" on the hostages in Gaza and "taking every possible step that we can in concert with others to secure their release."
-ABC News' Shannon Crawford
Total of 300 aid trucks have crossed into Gaza
Forty-five aid trucks crossed from Egypt into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing on Thursday as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens, the Palestinian spokesman for the border crossing, Wael Abu Omar, told ABC News.
A total of 300 trucks have now crossed from Egypt into Gaza since Oct. 21.
677 foreign passport holders have crossed into Egypt: Border spokesman
At least 342 foreign passport holders crossed from Gaza into Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on Thursday, according to Wael Abu Omar, the Palestinian spokesman for the border crossing.
A total of 677 foreign passport holders have crossed into Egypt from Gaza since Wednesday, he said.
Another 97 injured Palestinians have crossed into Egypt. Overall, 118 Palestinians have crossed into Egypt from Gaza, he said.
18-year-old Chicagoan taken by Hamas returns home following release
Natalie Raanan, one of two American women released by Hamas on Oct. 20, has returned home to Chicago, the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest announced Monday.
"I am relieved to see Natalie back home in Chicago. Her family members have been anxiously waiting for her return, and today I am sharing their happiness," Yinam Cohen, consul general of Israel to the Midwest, said in a statement.
"While we're celebrating Natalie's return, we remember the 239 hostages, among them babies, children, women, and the elderly, who are still held by Hamas in Gaza. This week, family members of those still held hostage by Hamas will be in Chicago to share their stories and call for their immediate release," Cohen's statement continued.
Raanan, 18, and her mother, Judith Tai Raanan, 59, were kidnapped by Hamas during the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel. They were held for nearly two weeks before they were released. Two Israeli women were released last week. More than 200 people are still being held hostage by Hamas.
-ABC News' Matt Foster and Danielle Jennings