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.
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.
5 American aid workers cross from Gaza into Egypt
Five American aid workers have crossed the Rafah border from Gaza into Egypt, according to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund. They work for the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund, Catholic Relief Services and Doctors Without Borders.
Rafah border crossing opens, allowing foreign nationals to exit Gaza
The border crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened on Wednesday, allowing some foreign nationals and injured Gaza residents to exit the enclave for the first time since the Israel-Hamas conflict began on Oct. 7.
Seventeen ambulances, each transporting one injured Gazan, have crossed the border into Egypt, ABC News has confirmed.
The Rafah border crossing, which is controlled by Egypt, was expected to allow about 500 foreign passport holders to exit, according to the Gaza Borders and Crossings Authority, which released a list of names of those who would be allowed across.
At least 110 dual nationals have crossed the Rafah border into Egypt, ABC News confirmed.
Five American aid workers are among those at Rafah waiting to cross into Egypt, according to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund.
Israeli troops in Gaza City
Israeli troops are operating in Gaza City and are "encircling it from several directions," said chief of the Israeli General Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.
Israeli forces are now also "engaged in a ground operation in the northern Gaza Strip," Halevi said.
Halevi said less than half of the total strength of the Israeli Air Force is operating in the Gaza Strip.
"Most of the force is prepared and ready, with bombs on the wings and people who are ready to be scrambled at any moment to the planes, to go out and strike in other arenas as soon as required," he said.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller