American Maha Elbanna woke up in Gaza on Thursday unsure if she'd be able to cross the border into Egypt. She found her name on the approved list and said she had enough fuel in her car for one shot at getting to the border.

Thursday night, from her hotel in Cairo, she told ABC News that she's been in Gaza for other wars, but this time is different.

"It's brutal," she said. "The total number of people killed is too high, too fast. Too many women and children -- can't be justified."

She said the decision to leave Gaza wasn't easy.

"I'm leaving everyone I know -- my brothers, sisters, nieces, my cousins, my friends, my co-workers," she said.

But she also has four children in New Jersey. She said she’s grateful she is able to go home to have Thanksgiving with them.

She said she wants people to know that Gazans are human.

"They're beautiful. They have dreams and hopes and aspirations. We do everything like all other normal people. We eat, we breathe, we play, we dance … we do yoga. we ride our bikes. It's normal life," she said. "It's people who deserve life."

-ABC News' Maggie Rulli

The U.S. has been flying unarmed MQ-9 Reaper drones above Gaza to assist with hostage recovery efforts, a U.S. official said.

The official would not discuss where the MQ-9 flights are originating for operational security reasons.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez

Secretary Blinken and Prime Minister Netanyahu met earlier this morning behind closed doors and are now meeting with the Israeli War Cabinet, according to the pool producer on the ground.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now holding a private meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, at the Kirya in Tel Aviv. They will also meet with the members of the War Cabinet," the Israeli PM tweeted.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken descended the plane stairs and greeted newly sworn-in Ambassador Jack Lew and the former Chargé d’Affaires, now Deputy Chief of Mission Stephanie Hallett, as he arrived in Tel Aviv on Friday morning.

Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Chief of State Protocol Gil Haskel and MFA North Americas Bureau Director Yaron Sideman also welcomed the secretary.

Blinken will meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu, members of the Israeli War Cabinet and President Herzog this morning and will hold a press availability at 8 a.m. ET (2 p.m. local) after the meetings.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended Israel's military actions against Hamas at a Friday news conference in Israel after meeting with Israeli leaders, saying, "This right to self-defense, indeed, this obligation to self-defense, belongs to every nation. No country could, or should, tolerate the slaughter of innocents."

Blinken said during his Friday meetings with Israeli leaders he viewed more footage from Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, describing the videos as "almost beyond the human capacity to process."

In one video, he said, a father at a kibbutz grabbed his two sons, who appeared about 10 or 11 years old, and pulled them from the house into a shelter.

The family was "followed seconds later by a terrorist who throws a grenade into that small shelter," Blinken said.

When the dad came stumbling out of the shelter, he was shot, Blinken said.

The sons then ran from the shelter into the house, crying, "Where's daddy?" he said.

The terrorist then "casually opens the refrigerator and starts to eat from it," Blinken said.

"It is striking, and in some ways, shocking, that the brutality of the slaughter has receded so quickly in the memories of so many. But not in Israel and not in America," he said.

After sharing details of the terror inflicted on Israeli children during the conflict, Blinken touched on the images of young Palestinian boys and girls pulled from the rubble of buildings.

"When I see that, when I look into their eyes through the TV screen, I see my own children," he said.