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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ABC News' Ian Pannell embeds with IDF in Gaza

ABC News' senior foreign correspondent Ian Pannell reports from inside Gaza with IDF forces.


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


Turkey withdraws its Israeli ambassador over 'humanitarian tragedy in Gaza'

Turkey announced it is recalling its ambassador to Israel due to the "humanitarian tragedy in Gaza caused by the continuing attacks by Israel against civilians," the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday.

"In view of the unfolding humanitarian tragedy in Gaza caused by the continuing attacks by Israel against civilians, and Israel’s refusal of calls for ceasefire and continuous and unhindered flow of humanitarian aid, it was decided to recall our Ambassador in Tel Aviv, H.E. Mr. Şakir Özkan Torunlar, to Ankara for consultations," according to a statement.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has now added a stop in Ankara, Turkey, during his diplomatic mission to the region.

-ABC News' Cindy Smith and Davonne Morales


Secretary Blinken in Jordan for talks with Middle East foreign ministers

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah on Saturday and will join a meeting of foreign ministers of five Arab countries, also attended by a representative of the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas.

The prime objective of the talks is to ease Gaza’s growing humanitarian crisis, but that mission is complicated by Israel's insistence there can be no temporary cease-fire until all hostages held by Hamas are released. Israel has also presented the argument that a cease-fire would be in Hamas’s favor.

Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has again called for an immediate cease-fire to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, saying the conditions in Gaza are now "horrific" with food and water needed along with fuel for generators that power hospitals.

The U.N.’s director for Palestinian refugees says that the average Gaza inhabitant is living on two pieces of bread made from flour the UN had stockpiled and that people in southern Gaza have been forced to do all their washing on the beach using seawater as clean water runs out.


Israeli officials release statement after reports of protesters storming Russian airport

Israeli officials released a statement Sunday following reports, including from The Associated Press, that hundreds of people stormed the Makhachkala main airport and landing field in southern Russia to protest the arrival of a flight from Tel Aviv. The AP cited Russian news agencies and social media.

"The State of Israel takes seriously attempts to harm Israeli citizens and Jews everywhere," the Israeli Prime Minister's Office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a joint statement Sunday.

"The Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Security Headquarters (NSH) are monitoring the development of events in southern Russia in the Dagestan province," it continued. "Israel expects the Russian law enforcement authorities to protect the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews wherever they may be and to act resolutely against the rioters and against the wild incitement directed against Jews and Israelis."

"Israel's ambassador to Russia, Alex Ben-Zvi, is working with the authorities in Russia to ensure the safety of Israelis and Jews there," the joint statement read.

The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency said, "The measures are in effect until the situation normalizes. Law enforcement agencies are working on the spot," adding that "the planes that were supposed to land in Makhachkala were redirected to alternate airfields."

In a statement, Sergei Melikov, the head of Dagestan, said the actions of the crowd were a gross violation of the law. "There is no courage in waiting in a crowd for unarmed people who have not done anything forbidden," Melikov said. "There is no determination to break into the airport territory. There is no honor in swearing at strangers, reaching into their pockets and trying to check their passport. There are no good intentions in attacking women with children who were undergoing treatment abroad."

"What happened at our airport is outrageous and should receive an appropriate assessment from law enforcement agencies! And this will definitely be done,” he added.

More than 20 people were injured at the Makhachkala airport, the Ministry of Health of Dagestan said early Monday local time. Two people of the 10 in hospitals were in serious condition, the Ministry said. More than 10 people received medical aid at the airport.

-ABC News' Bruno Nota, Natalia Shumskaia and Will Gretsky