Israel-Gaza updates: 22, including 18 children, reported dead in Rafah strikes
The IDF says it struck military targets of terrorist organizations in Gaza.
Israel launched a retaliatory strike against Iran early Friday morning local time, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.
The strike followed Iran's attack on Saturday, when Tehran sent a volley of more than 300 drones and missiles toward targets in Israel, according to Israeli military officials. All but a few were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the United States, officials said.
Iran's weekend attack came more than six months after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, after which the Israeli military began its bombardment of Gaza.
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What to know about Iran's attack on Israel
Israeli officials said the country's Iron Dome defense system endured a big test from Iran's attack on Saturday, intercepting 99% of the 300 "threats of various types" thrown at it.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari, launched 170 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), more than 120 ballistic missiles and more than 30 cruise missiles in the attack.
Hagari said "99% of the threats launched towards Israeli territory were intercepted -- a very significant strategic achievement."
Hagari said the attack resulted in only one known Israeli casualty, a 7-year-old girl who was severely injured when she was struck by shrapnel apparently from an intercepted missile.
EU countries sanction 3 terrorist group wings over Oct. 7 sexual and gender-based violence
The European Union has sanctioned three terrorist group wings for "widespread sexual and gender-based violence" that occurred in Israel on Oct. 7, the EU Council said.
The sanctioned entities are the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad; Nukhba Force, a Hamas special forces unit; and the Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas are designated as terrorist organizations by the EU.
"Those listed under the sanctions regime are subject to an asset freeze, and the provision of funds or economic resources, directly or indirectly, to them or for their benefit, is prohibited," the EU Council said.
WHO details the destruction of medical facilities in Khan Younis
The World Health Organization described the destruction in Khan Younis as "disproportionate to anything one can imagine."
Nasser Medical Complex -- once the "backbone" of the health system in southern Gaza -- Al-Amal and Al-Khair hospitals are "non-functional," according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
"These facilities have no oxygen supply, water, electricity or sewage system," he said Thursday on X, a day after WHO team members and partners went to Khan Younis to assess health facilities following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the city.
Jordanian Field Hospital was found to be "minimally operational," he said.
"The once robust health system in Gaza is broken," Ghebreyesus said. "WHO and partners stand ready to support reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts, but we need a ceasefire. Nothing else can bring a lasting and humane outcome."
Erez crossing to remain closed as Israeli builds new road into Gaza
Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters Thursday that Israel is constructing a new land crossing from Israel into northern Gaza to facilitate more aid deliveries.
The Erez crossing, a key pedestrian crossing that was destroyed by Hamas on Oct. 7, will remain closed.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would reopen the crossing for aid after speaking with President Joe Biden following the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen workers by an Israeli airstrike.
Although the timetable for the opening of the new land crossing wasn't revealed, Hagari said it would be located near the Erez crossing but not in the exact same spot.
Hagari said he expected 58 trucks would pass through the new crossing daily.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
White House pressed on whether famine in Gaza was preventable
Following USAID Administrator Samantha Power acknowledging that famine is happening in northern Gaza, the White House was pressed Thursday on whether this could have been prevented if they had pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sooner to increase deliveries of humanitarian aid.
The U.S. has often called on Israel to open more crossings and allow for more aid to reach Gaza, but it wasn't until last week when President Joe Biden told Netanyahu that U.S. policy on Gaza hinges on Israel announcing and implementing measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers.
"Every time the president has spoken to the prime minister there's -- part of that conversation has been to do more humanitarian aid," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said when asked if it was a mistake not to push Netanyahu to open the Ashdod port and Erez crossing sooner to help prevent famine.
She was asked specifically who is to blame for famine in Gaza, but she didn't attribute it to anyone, instead saying the focus is going to be on getting aid in.
"The humanitarian situation in Gaza, obviously, is dire. And that is why the president is doing everything that he can to get more humanitarian aid in," she said. "And that's what our focus is going to be."
-ABC News' Justin R. Gomez
Israeli Defense Minister responds to potential US sanctions on IDF battalion
Israel's Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant held a discussion with IDF Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi regarding the developing report on U.S. intentions to impose sanctions against the IDF’s Netzach Yehuda battalion, an Israeli military unit operating in the West Bank.
"Any attempt to criticize an entire unit casts a heavy shadow on the actions of the IDF, which operates to protect the citizens of Israel," Gallant said in a statement. "Damage to one battalion, affects the entire defense establishment – this is not the right path for partners and friends."
Gallant urged the U.S. not to impose sanctions on the unit.
"Our friends and our enemies are closely watching the ties between Israel and the United States, now more than ever," Gallant said. "I call on the U.S. Administration to withdraw its intention to impose sanctions on the Netzach Yehuda battalion."
Amid reports of possible sanctions, Gallant recently completed a call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Earlier today, Minister Gallant also held a discussion with the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew.
-ABC News' William Gretsky