Israel-Gaza updates: Blinken tells Israel onus is on Hamas to accept cease-fire

The 26-year-old was kidnapped from the Nova music festival.

As the Israel-Hamas war crosses the seven-month mark, negotiations are apparently stalled to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization, and Israeli forces continue to launch incursions in the southern Gazan town of Rafah ahead of a possible large-scale invasion.


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Nikki Haley signs artillery shells in Israel: 'Finish them! America loves Israel!'

Former U.S. presidential candidate and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley visited the northern Israeli border on Tuesday, meeting with Israeli soldiers and Israelis.

During her visit, Haley visited an Israel Defense Forces post with soldiers serving on the northern border.

Haley stopped and signed artillery shells, writing, "Finish them! America loves Israel!" on some of them.

-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman


1 million Palestinians have now fled Rafah: UNRWA

One million Palestinians have been forced to flee Rafah over the last three weeks in search of safety, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Heavy bombardment continued in Gaza overnight, including in Tal Al Sultan, where the U.N. main offices in Gaza are located, according to UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.

Most of the UNRWA staff could not make it to work as they are packing up and moving. The UNRWA is also running out of medical supplies and basic human medicines, according to Lazzarini.

Just over 200 trucks with humanitarian supplies were picked up in southern Gaza in the last three weeks as needs continue to increase exponentially, Lazzarini said.

-ABC News' Will Gretsky


UN secretary-general condemns Rafah strike, says ICJ ruling is 'binding'

The United Nations secretary-general has condemned the deadly strike on Rafah "in the strongest terms," saying Antonio Guterres is "heartbroken by the images of the killed and injured," his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement Tuesday.

"The Secretary-General reiterates his demand for an immediate ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. He recalls the recent orders of the International Court of Justice, which are binding and must be complied with," Dujarric said.

"The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is now compounded by the unconscionable prospect of a man-made famine," Dujarric said.

-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman


Sunday's Rafah strike 'shouldn't have happened,' IDF says

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani admitted to a "mishap" in Sunday's Rafah strike that killed 50 Palestinians and injured at least 249 others, saying it was a "tragic incident that shouldn't have happened."

"The outcome is not the outcome we had in mind when this operation started. That's why we're investigating it. It's a tragic event and it's not the way we operate. We are fighting with Hamas terrorists. We are trying to kill them specifically in a very precise way, intelligence based. And that's why we look at this as a tragic incident that shouldn't have happened," Shoshani said.

Over 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the strike a "tragic mishap" on Monday.

"The mishap was the fire that carried out after the targeted attack, and we are looking into why this fire caught on," Shoshani said. "The attack, per se, was according to procedure, with surveillance before the attack, a very precise attack based on intelligence."

-ABC News' Britt Clennett


Israeli government says it wasn’t told Biden would mention permanent cease-fire

An Israeli government official said the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office wasn’t informed that President Joe Biden’s Friday remarks would include a permanent end to the fighting.

“If you listen to what Biden said, you come to the impression that we agree to a permanent cease-fire without, or, without our conditions being met, and that's not the case,” the official said.

The official said the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was informed 30 minutes before that Biden was giving a speech. The official said Netanyahu was told that the speech would focus on the hostages, with no mention of implementing a permanent cease-fire.

A senior U.S. official said the Biden administration "engaged with the Israelis at multiple levels before the president delivered the speech." The official said the U.S. specifically engaged with the Israeli Prime Minister's Office and the Israeli war cabinet.

The official also pointed to when Biden said in his speech that it was a proposal that the Israelis agreed to. The official noted that Netanyahu himself said that it was an Israeli proposal.

An Israeli official and two other Israeli sources who are familiar with the matter told ABC News that what Biden presented is indeed the outline of the Israeli proposal. The sources said the proposal was approved by all war cabinet members, including Netanyahu, and sent to the mediators earlier in the week.

The sources added that there are “interpretation gaps,” referring to the way the outline was presented by Biden.

Biden presented on Friday what he said was an Israeli proposal to draw the war in Gaza to a close.

Biden said the deal had been transmitted to Israel and Hamas, through Qatar.

The president said the first phase would last for six weeks and include a "full and complete cease-fire, a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza [and] release of a number of hostages." Palestinians would also be able to return to their homes and 600 trucks of humanitarian aid would be delivered to Gaza every day.

The second phase would include a release of all remaining living hostages and the temporary cease-fire would become a permanent cease-fire with Israel withdrawing all forces from Gaza "as long as Hamas lives up to its commitments," Biden said.

In phase three, there would be a major reconstruction of Gaza.

-ABC News’ Britt Clennett, Dana Savir and Michelle Stoddart