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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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.


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House passes Israel aid package bill

The House of Representatives passed a GOP-led bill to provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel, setting up a fight with the Biden administration and Democratic-controlled Senate.

The final vote was 226-196.

The bill provides $4 billion in funding for the Iron Dome and David’s Sling missile defense systems. It also leaves out humanitarian aid for Gaza.

The Biden administration requested Congress to pass an aid package for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and the border together, but House Speaker Mike Johnson decided to split up the requests as funding for Ukraine is unpopular among the Republican conference.

The bill would pay for the Israel funding with cuts to the IRS.

The White House has threatened to veto it.

-ABC News' Lauren Peller and Alexandra Hutzler


IDF says its 'encirclement of the city of Gaza has been completed'

The Israeli military's "encirclement of the city of Gaza has been completed," according to Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.

Israeli soldiers are now "attacking positions, command centers, firing posts, firing infrastructure and eliminating terrorists in face-to-face combat," he said Thursday.


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


Doctors Without Borders says conflict has reached ‘new low’ after ambulance strike

Doctors Without Borders called for a ceasefire Saturday saying the conflict has reached "a new low in an endless stream of unconscionable violence." The organization, which has been providing medical care to people in Gaza, also condemned world leaders for not calling for a ceasefire.

"The deadly attack outside the gate of Al-Shifa hospital impacting an ambulance is horrendous. This is a lethal attack outside Gaza's main and busiest hospital, where our staff work daily to provide lifesaving medical care. We have repeatedly called for an immediate and total ceasefire, for the protection of healthcare facilities, as well as medics, patients and people who are taking shelter there," Doctors Without Borders said in a statement Saturday.

"This is a new low in an endless stream of unconscionable violence. The repeated strikes on hospitals, ambulances, densely populated areas and refugee camps are disgraceful. How many people have to die before world leaders wake up and call for a ceasefire?" Doctors Without Borders said.

This comes as the Palestinian death toll rises to 9,488 -- including 3,900 children and 3,509 women -- and 24,158 Palestinians were injured, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

One physician described seeing an ambulance hit outside Al-Shifa hospital.

"We were standing inside the hospital gate when the ambulance was directly hit in front of us. There were bloody bodies everywhere. Many were killed immediately, while we rushed others to the operating room for emergency care," Dr. Obaid, a Doctors Without Borders doctor at Al Shifa hospital, said.

The Israel Defense Forces claimed its aircraft hit an ambulance that it believes was being used by Hamas and called for civilians to move south for safety.

-ABC News' Cindy Smith and Emma Ogao