Israel-Gaza updates: Nasser Hospital no longer 'functional,' WHO chief says
Israel Defense Forces turned the hospital into military barracks.
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.
South Africa files 'urgent request' in UN's top court over Israel’s Rafah offensive
South Africa on Tuesday filed an "urgent request" with the United Nations' top court over Israel's military operations in the southern Gaza Strip.
The South African government said in a statement that it has asked the International Court of Justice to consider whether the Israeli military's decision to extend its operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where 1.2 million Palestinians have sought refuge after being displaced by the war, represents a "further imminent breach of the rights of Palestinians in Gaza."
The Hague-based court handed down a preliminary ruling last month in South Africa's ongoing case accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in neighboring Gaza amid its war with Hamas, the militant group that rules the coastal enclave. A panel of judges ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent the deaths of civilians.
-ABC News' Joe Simonetti and Morgan Winsor
Israel sends delegation to Egypt for truce talks
A delegation from Israel is in Egypt on Tuesday for negotiations regarding the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli political source told ABC News.
Egyptian state-owned television channel Al-Qahera News reported that Israeli, Qatari and U.S. officials are meeting with their Egyptian counterparts in Cairo on Tuesday to "discuss a truce in Gaza."
Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been mediating talks between the warring sides.
-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy, Jordana Miller and Morgan Winsor
Gaza hostage talks may be hitting new snag: US officials
CIA Director Bill Burns will head to Egypt this week to try to move Hamas and Israel closer to a deal to free all hostages in Gaza for an extended pause and humanitarian aid, but two U.S officials said Burns may face a fresh challenge: So far, Israel hasn’t committed to sending representatives to the table.
If Israeli intelligence officials don’t attend the planned talks, a U.S. official said Burns would still press on, working with Egyptian and Qatari partners, even though it would mean none of the main players are directly represented at the meeting.
The official also said that while American and Israeli officials are frequently engaged in high-level talks, the U.S. does not have a clear understanding of Israel’s red lines for a hostage deal.
After two hostages were rescued from Gaza overnight, the official said there could be more targeted rescue missions in the days to come. But, the official said the U.S. believes the vast majority of hostages can only be recovered through diplomacy.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
US downplays Israeli military action in Rafah
U.S. Department of State spokesperson Matt Miller on Monday downplayed recent Israeli military operations in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, saying the United States did not assess that the overnight strikes were a prelude to a full ground incursion there.
The Israelis "have conducted airstrikes against Rafah, really, since going back to the original days of the campaign," Miller said. "It is not our assessment that this airstrike is the launch of a full-scale offensive happening in Rafah."
Miller again stressed that the U.S. wanted to see "a credible plan that they can actually execute" to address humanitarian concerns before Israel undertakes any kind of military campaign in Rafah, and that the State Department was looking forward to receiving briefings on the evacuation preparations Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered last week.
The Israel Defense Forces said details of a civilian evacuation from Rafah are being planned and will take some time.
Miller also dismissed the notion that Israel’s strikes on Rafah could have a detrimental impact on hostage talks.
"I don't think it should and I think that Israelis are well within their rights to do everything in their power to try to get back the hostages that were taken from Israel and continue to be held and held for far too long now," he asserted. "It should in no way impact the negotiations."
-ABC News' Shannon Crawford
Biden, Netanyahu to speak Sunday, US official says
President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plan to speak Sunday in their first call since Biden delivered his strongest rebuke yet of Israel's military operations in Gaza, a U.S. official confirmed to ABC News.
Biden called the Israeli forces' actions "over the top." When asked about Biden's remark in a Sunday interview with ABC's "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl, Netanyahu said, "I don't know exactly what he [Biden] meant by that, but put yourself in Israel's shoes. We were attacked. … I think we've responded in a way that goes after the terrorists and tries to minimize the civilian population.”
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow