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.
13 killed from strikes on ambulances at gate of Gaza hospital: Gaza Health Ministry
Thirteen people were killed and 26 were injured from a blast that struck ambulances at the gate of Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital complex, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the group of ambulances were returning to the hospital from a mission to transport injured people to the Gaza-Egypt Rafah border crossing.
The Israel Defense Forces said its aircraft hit an ambulance that it believes was being used by Hamas.
"We have information which demonstrates that Hamas' method of operation is to transfer terror operatives and weapons in ambulances," the IDF said.
"A number" of Hamas terrorists were killed in the blast, the IDF said.
The IDF said, "We emphasize that this area is a battle zone. Civilians in the area are repeatedly called upon to evacuate southwards for their own safety."
Over 100 Americans and relatives left Gaza Thursday, more expected Friday
The U.S. Embassy in Cairo helped more than 100 U.S. citizens and family members who left Gaza for Egypt on Thursday, according to the White House. "Another large group of Americans" is expected to leave Gaza on Friday, the White House said.
The U.S. is aware of more Americans and family members who left Gaza on Thursday and didn't seek out help from the embassy in Cairo, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
-ABC News' Justin Ryan Gomez
Egyptian Red Crescent says it's about to run out of aid to send to Gaza
Ramy ElNazer, CEO of the Egyptian Red Crescent, warned Friday that the organization is about to run out of its stock of humanitarian aid to send to Gaza.
Explosion reported at Gaza City's biggest hospital
A large explosion has been reported at Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza City's biggest hospital. An ambulance was apparently on fire following the blast.
A spokesman for the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said, "We informed the Red Cross in accordance with international law that the convoy of wounded was moving via ambulances from Al-Shifa Hospital, but the occupation targeted the convoy in more than one location: in front of the hospital door, at the Ansar roundabout, and on Al-Rashid (Al-Bahr) Street leading to the south of the Gaza Strip."
UN secretary-general: 'I condemn the killing of civilians'
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement Tuesday that he's "deeply alarmed by the intensification of the conflict between Israel and Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in Gaza," including the Israeli military's expansion of ground operations in Gaza and continued airstrikes on Gaza.
He reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire, for more humanitarian assistance allowed into Gaza and for the release of the hostages held by Hamas.
He also condemned both Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the killing of civilians in Gaza.
"International humanitarian law establishes clear rules that cannot be ignored. It is not an a la carte menu and cannot be applied selectively. All parties must abide by it, including the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution," Guterres said. "With too many Israeli and Palestinian lives already lost, this escalation only increases the immense suffering of civilians."
-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman