Israel-Gaza updates: Hamas has received proposed hostage deal, Qatar says
Israel says the framework of the proposed deal has not yet been agreed upon.
More than 100 days 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.
Framework of proposed hostage deal with Hamas not yet agreed upon, Israeli sources say
The framework of a new proposed hostage deal between Hamas and Israel has not yet been agreed upon by either side, two Israeli sources close to the negotiations told ABC News on Friday.
Talks remain ongoing, the sources said.
Israel is still waiting to hear Hamas' response to the framework. Hamas will then likely request changes to the framework, requiring more negotiations to iron out the details.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Morgan Winsor
Hamas receives proposed hostage deal: Qatari official
Hamas has received a new proposed hostage deal but has not yet responded, a Qatari official told ABC News.
"There is no deal yet," said a Qatari official with knowledge of the negotiations. "Hamas has received the proposal positively but we are waiting for their response."
Some Gazans say they're forced to use bird feed in place of flour
The possibility of a "full-fledged famine" looms large across the entire Gaza Strip, humanitarian groups have warned -- especially in northern Gaza, where some people there say they're using bird feed in place of flour to stave off starvation.
Northern Gaza has been largely cut off for months now, according to the United Nations, and aid trucks carrying flour arrive sporadically and are swarmed by hundreds of hungry people.
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East officials also say Israel provides too few authorizations to make deliveries into some areas and that heavy fighting often makes it too dangerous for aid workers to operate. The aid arriving in northern Gaza has been particularly restricted, the U.N. says. Israel disputes the criticisms.
"For more than two months, we have not received flour due to the difficulty of aid entering and the scarcity of flour in the area," Sami Abu Sweilem, a 55-year-old father who is sheltering in a UNRWA school in northern Gaza, told ABC News.
"Children almost died of hunger, so we thought of a way to save our children from death," he said, explaining how he's been using bird feed and animal fodder in place of precious flour.
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Executive order targets 4 Israeli settlers involved in attacks on Palestinians in West Bank
President Joe Biden signed an executive order Thursday to sanction four Israeli settlers involved in attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, according to the State Department. The sanctions will prohibit them from accessing the U.S. financial system and property in the U.S. and will block them from receiving financial transactions from U.S. citizens.
"This violence poses a grave threat to peace, security, and stability in the West Bank, Israel, and the Middle East region, and threatens the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States," national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.
The move escalates U.S. posture against the hardline elements in Israeli society amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In December, the U.S. imposed a visa ban on Israelis linked to violence and unrest in the West Bank that impacted "dozens" of settlers in the Israeli-occupied territory, according to the State Department.
Following the executive order, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said in a statement, "The absolute majority of the settlers in Judea and Samaria are law-abiding citizens, many of whom are currently fighting regularly and in the reserves for the defense of Israel. Israel acts against all lawbreakers everywhere, so there is no room for exceptional measures in this regard."
-ABC News’ Ben Siegel, Luke Barr and Justin Gomez
UN chief appeals for continued UNRWA funding
The secretary-general of the United Nations appealed on Sunday for continuing funding for the U.N. aid agency responsible for Gaza.
Nine countries, including the United States, paused their funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees after Israel accused 12 of its employees of being involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
Mark Regev, an Israeli spokesman, told ABC News in a phone interview Sunday that Israel gathered intelligence about the alleged connection to terrorism through videos released by Hamas and others during the Oct. 7 attack and claimed there's "clear unrefutable evidence that U.N. paid staff were involved in crimes against humanity."
About 2 million people in Gaza depend on the agency for daily survival, Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement Sunday.
According to Guterres, "Of the 12 people implicated, nine were immediately identified and terminated by the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini; one is confirmed dead, and the identity of the two others is being clarified."
"The abhorrent alleged acts of these staff members must have consequences," he said in the statement.
He added, "But the tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA, many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be penalized. The dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met."
-ABC News' Matt Gutman, Edward Szekeres and Kevin Shalvey