Israel-Gaza updates: Harris to meet with Israeli war Cabinet member on Monday
Kamala Harris will meet with Benny Gantz at the White House, an official said.
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.
Click here for updates from previous days.
Latest headlines:
- Netanyahu adviser says Israel helped coordinate US airdrops in Gaza
- VP Harris to hold White House meeting with Israeli war Cabinet member: Official
- Malnutrition reportedly kills at least 10 children in northern Gaza: UNICEF
- Ceasefire deal talks underway amid plans for future Gaza aid
- Food drop part of ‘sustained effort’ to get more aid into Gaza: CENTCOM
- US dropped aid into Gaza, two officials confirm
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.
Qatar says no breakthrough in talks between Israel, Hamas
A spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday that there is no breakthrough to announce concerning a potential deal between Israel and Hamas on a cease-fire and hostage release.
"Many developments have occurred. Nothing to announce today, but we feel optimistic," the spokesperson told reporters.
The spokesperson said the talks remain "ongoing" and they cannot comment on U.S. President Joe Biden's remarks that a deal is expected by next Monday.
Qatar, along with Egypt and the United States, has been mediating talks between the warring sides.
-ABC News' Emma Ogao and Morgan Winsor
Hamas' demands in negotiations 'are still delusional,' Israeli official says
An Israeli official told ABC News on Tuesday that Hamas' demands in ongoing negotiations "are still delusional."
"Military pressure and determined negotiation have helped free 112 hostages to date. Israel will get the remaining hostages home," the official said. "A deal was done in November and another deal can be made once Hamas comes to reality. Hamas demands are still delusional."
-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Morgan Winsor
Biden 'hopes' for cease-fire in Gaza by next Monday
President Biden said he "hopes" to have a cease-fire in Gaza by March 4.
"I hope by the end of the weekend," the president told reporters Monday. "My national security advisor tells me that we’re close, it's not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire."
The comments came during a stop at Van Leeuwen’s ice cream shop in New York City as the president visited NBC "Late Night" host Seth Meyers.
State Department says there's been 'progress' in hostage talks
State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Monday that there’s been "progress" in hostage talks over the last few days, but he said it’s unclear whether Hamas would accept the latest proposal.
"We’ve had progress with the conversations we've had between Egypt, Israel, the United States and Qatar," Miller said.
He was then asked if they might reach a deal before Ramadan, which begins on March 10.
"I can't make that assessment because it depends on Hamas. We believe a deal is possible and we hope Hamas will agree to one," he said.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Netanyahu adviser says Israel helped coordinate US airdrops in Gaza
An adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied the US airdrops of aid in Gaza are a sign the Biden administration has lost confidence in the Israeli government’s ability or willingness to get a grip on the humanitarian crisis there.
In an interview with ABC News on Sunday, Netanyahu advisor Ophir Falk said the U.S. airdrops on Saturday were "fully coordinated with Israel."
Falk pushed back on any suggestion Israel was not letting enough aid into Gaza while children were starving to death, saying Israel "is enabling thousands of trucks to get into Gaza."
Falk denied that people are dying of starvation in Gaza, despite a statement Sunday from a UNICEF official that at least 10 children have reportedly died of malnutrition recently at a northern Gaza hospital. Some doctors working in Gaza have also reported the deaths of children as a result of malnutrition.
Falk said "maybe tens of thousands" of aid trucks have gone into Gaza since the beginning of the war in October.
"No other country would do that," Falk said.
Israel has said it is trying to prevent aid from ending up in the hands of the Hamas terrorist organization.
"We have to verify it’s not being stolen by Hamas," Falk said, something he claimed is happening "on a daily basis."
-ABC News' Tom Soufi Burridge