Israel-Gaza updates: IDF says 2 hostages rescued from Gaza
More than 1 million people displaced by the war have sought refuge in Rafah.
More than four months since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, the Israeli military continues its bombardment of the neighboring Gaza Strip.
The conflict, now the deadliest between the warring sides since Israel's founding in 1948, shows no signs of letting up soon and the brief cease-fire that allowed for over 100 hostages to be freed from Gaza remains a distant memory.
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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.
Israeli prime minister rejects hostage deal proposal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday rejected the current proposed hostage and cease-fire deal, calling it "delusional," and describing it as a "surrender" that would lead to another massacre. But Netanyahu did not say negotiations were closed.
To the families of the hostages, Netanyahu said in Hebrew, "Your loved ones are always standing before my eyes. ... We do not stop working for the release of our abductees -- even now."
"The continuation of military pressure is a necessary condition for the release of the abductees," he said. "Surrendering to the delusional demands of Hamas ... not only will not lead to the release of the abductees, it will only invite another massacre."
Netanyahu also said it would be "a matter of months" to reach Israel's objectives and achieve "total victory" of completely dismantling Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu said he told Secretary of State Antony Blinken in their meeting Wednesday, "We are within touching distance of a complete victory, which will also be the victory of the entire free world -- not only of Israel."
Netanyahu also said the Israeli military operation will expand to the city of Rafah, where thousands of Gaza residents have fled and are living in makeshift shelters.
-ABC News' Anna Burd and Jordana Miller
New round of hostage negotiations to take place in Cairo: Egyptian state TV
Egypt and Qatar will co-host a new round of negotiations on the proposed hostage and cease-fire deal on Thursday in Cairo, Egyptian state TV reported.
Blinken meets with Netanyahu on latest trip to Israel
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
First, Netanyahu and Blinken "held a long and in-depth meeting in private" before having "an extended meeting" with other Israeli and U.S. officials, according to a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office.
During the meeting, Blinken reaffirmed Israel’s right to eliminate the threat posed by Hamas and the need to protect civilians in Gaza, according to the State Department. Blinken also stressed the importance of a two-state solution -- a prospect Netanyahu has vocally opposed.
It's Blinken's fifth trip to the Middle East since Oct. 7 when war erupted between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that rules the neighboring Gaza Strip. The United States, along with Egypt and Qatar, has been involved in negotiations between the warring sides.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller, Shannon Crawford and Morgan Winsor
US House fails to pass Israel aid bill
The U.S. House failed to pass a $17.6 billion standalone bill to provide aid to Israel.
The bill failed 250-180 during a vote Tuesday evening.
The GOP measure was being considered under suspension, which required a two-thirds majority to pass.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who unveiled the standalone bill over the weekend, blamed President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for its failure.
"The decision by President Biden and Leader Schumer to torpedo this bill to aid the Israeli people in their fight against Hamas is a disappointing rebuke to our closest ally in the Middle East at their time of great need," Johnson said in a statement following the vote.
The Biden administration had issued a veto threat to the bill on Monday, saying it "strongly opposes" the measure after a bipartisan group of senators came to an agreement on a national security supplemental that includes Israel aid.
Schumer said he was against the bill and wanted Israel aid coupled with aid for Ukraine, Taiwan and the border.
-ABC News' John Parkinson and Lauren Peller
IDF deploys 3 divisions to northern border amid Hezbollah attacks
The Israeli military has deployed three divisions to the northern border amid Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said at a press conference Saturday.
He said the IDF is working to “reshape the security reality” on the northern border, so that some 80,000 Israelis displaced by Hezbollah’s attacks can return to their homes.
“We do not choose war as our first option but are certainly ready, and preparing for it all the time, if need be,” Hagari said.
The IDF has struck more than 150 cells, killing some 200 terror operatives, mostly members of Hezbollah, and targeted more than 3,400 Hezbollah sites since the beginning of the war in Gaza, according to Hagari.
-ABC News’ Anna Burd