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.
Kidnapped female Israeli soldier rescued, IDF says
Pvt. Ori Megidish, a female Israeli soldier who was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, was rescued during the Israeli military's ground operations overnight, the Israel Defense Forces said Monday.
She's now home with her family, the IDF said.
Editor's Note: An earlier IDF statement said a kidnapped female Israeli soldier was released, but later clarified that she was rescued.
Death of German-Israeli woman kidnapped by Hamas confirmed by Israeli, German governments
The death of Shani Luk, a 23-year-old German-Israeli woman who was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, was confirmed by both the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the German government on Monday.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on social media, "The news of Shani Louk's death is terrible."
"This shows the full barbarity behind the Hamas attack - who must be held accountable." Scholz said. "This is terror, and Israel has the right to defend itself."
Hamas releases new hostage video
Hamas has released a new video that claims to show three female hostages. One of the hostages speaks in Hebrew pleading for their release, blaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for Hamas' Oct. 7 attack and calling on Netanyahu to help free the hostages.
The group that represents the hostage families confirms the names of the three women in the video as Rimon Buchshtab Kirsht, 36; Danielle Aloni, 44; and Yelena (Lena) Trupanob, 50.
Netanyahu's office in a statement called the video "cruel psychological propaganda by Hamas-ISIS."
"We embrace the families and are doing everything to return all of the captives and missing to their families," Netanyahu's office said.
According to the Israeli military, 230 people were taken hostage by Hamas.
4 prominent Hamas operatives killed, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said four prominent Hamas operatives, including a commander of Hamas' naval forces, have been killed in the last few hours.
This comes after the IDF says it "expanded" its ground operations in Gaza overnight.
74 Americans, family members have left Gaza: White House
Seventy-four U.S. citizens and family members have crossed from Gaza into Egypt, a senior Biden administration official said, adding that the numbers are fluid and changing in real time.
President Joe Biden said at the White House Thursday, "We got out today 74 American folks, out that are dual citizens, and coming home."