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.
22 Doctors Without Borders staff cross from Gaza into Egypt
Doctors Without Borders said 22 of its staff members -- all foreign nationals -- crossed into Egypt from Gaza via the Rafah crossing on Wednesday.
A new team of workers "is ready to enter Gaza as soon as the situation allows," Doctors Without Borders said. "Meanwhile, many of our Palestinian colleagues continue to work and provide lifesaving care in hospitals and across the Gaza Strip, while the most basic protections for hospitals and medical personnel are not guaranteed."
"We reiterate our call for an immediate cease-fire," the organization said. "Critically needed humanitarian supplies and staff must be allowed into Gaza where hospitals are overwhelmed and the healthcare system is facing total collapse."
2nd airstrike on Jabalia refugee camp, Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says
Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, the most populous refugee camp in the region, was hit by a second airstrike on Wednesday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that on Wednesday, "based on precise intelligence, IDF fighter jets struck a Hamas command and control complex" in Jabalia, and that Hamas fighters were killed in the strike.
"Hamas deliberately builds its terror infrastructure under, around and within civilian buildings, intentionally endangering Gazan civilians," the IDF said. "The IDF has been urging Gazans in this neighborhood to evacuate as part of its efforts to mitigate harm to civilians. The IDF continues to call on all residents of northern Gaza and Gaza City to evacuate southwards to a safer area."
The IDF also took responsibility for the first strike on Tuesday, saying the blast killed a Hamas official who the IDF claimed was one of the leaders of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
The United Nations Human Rights Office said, "Given the high number of civilian casualties & the scale of destruction following Israeli airstrikes on Jabalia refugee camp, we have serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes."
76 patients, 335 foreign passport holders cross from Gaza into Egypt
Seventy-six injured Gazan residents have crossed from Gaza into Egypt on Wednesday, hours after the Rafah border crossing opened for the first time since the Israel-Hamas conflict began on Oct. 7, according to Palestinian Rafah Crossing spokesman Wael Abu Omar.
The World Health Organization said it's working with officials in Egypt to help establish "a comprehensive triage, stabilization, and medical evacuation system" and "ensure that psychological trauma support services are available to patients."
At least 335 foreign passport holders -- including dual nationals and foreigners -- also crossed from Gaza into Egypt on Wednesday, he said.
As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens, 51 aid trucks crossed the border Wednesday to head into Gaza, he said. A total of 268 aid trucks have now entered Gaza.
More Americans expected to leave Gaza, Biden says
President Joe Biden posted on social media on Wednesday confirming that the U.S. "secured safe passage for wounded Palestinians and for foreign nationals to exit Gaza."
"We expect American citizens to exit today, and we expect to see more depart over the coming days," Biden wrote.
Five American aid workers are among the foreign nationals who crossed the Rafah border from Gaza into Egypt on Wednesday, according to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund.
A Rafah crossing spokesman said at least 335 foreign passport holders -- including dual nationals and foreigners -- have crossed from Gaza into Egypt.
Israeli tanks apparently reach main highway of Gaza Strip
Israeli military tanks apparently reached the main highway of the Gaza Strip on Monday morning, pushing deep into the eastern part of the territory, according to statements from Hamas officials as well as reports from Palestinian journalists.
The Hamas government media office said in a statement that "a few" Israeli tanks targeted civilian cars on the outskirts of Gaza City during an incursion along Salah al-Din Road, which connects the north to the south. Israeli troops then used a bulldozer to cut the street before Hamas militants "forced them to retreat," according to the office.
"There is currently no presence of occupation army vehicles on Salah al-Din Road, and citizen movement has returned to normal on it," the office added.
Izzat Al-Rishq, a member of Hamas' political bureau, also released a statement about the alleged incident on Salah al-Din Road, saying an Israeli tank had "positioned itself for 15 minutes" on the highway and "bombed a civilian car that was returning from the south of the Gaza Strip to its north."
"The car, crowded with a civilian family, tried to return, but the tank bombarded it with a shell," Al-Rishq said in a statement. "The Al-Qassam and Resistance Brigades engaged in violent clashes with the tanks, which penetrated all the way to Salah al-Din Road and hit at least one tank directly. The tanks turned back and they realized that the area in front of them was a minefield."
Video filmed by a Palestinian journalist purportedly shows an Israeli tank striking a car that was attempting to turn around and drive away on Salah al-Din Road on the outskirts of Gaza City.
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters during a press briefing on Monday morning that he can't comment on the location and movement of troops in Gaza.
-ABC News' Nasser Atta, Bruno Nota and Morgan Winsor