Israel-Gaza updates: Israeli forces preparing for 'wide range of offensive plans'

Fighting is ongoing after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

At least 1,400 people have died and 3,400 others have been injured in Israel after the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented incursion from air, land and sea on Oct. 7, Israeli authorities said.

In Gaza, 3,000 people have been killed and another 12,500 were injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Tensions are high with the prospect of ground war and evacuation orders for Gaza after the Israel Defense Forces called for "all residents of Gaza City to evacuate their homes" and "move south for their protection" early Friday, saying residents should move "and settle in the area south of the Gaza River." The announcement was made, according to the IDF, because it plans to "operate significantly in Gaza City in the coming days" and wanted "to avoid harming civilians."

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Timeline: The Hamas attack and response

On the morning of Oct. 7, sirens echoed across Israel as Hamas terrorists began a full-fledged surprise attack from the air, sea and ground. Hundreds of armed Hamas fighters stormed into Israel from Gaza, charging into cities and gunning down citizens.

Israeli forces responded by sending wave after wave of bombs into Gaza, killing thousands, trapping civilians and raising fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.

Click here for the full timeline


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Death toll of Americans in Israel rises to 9

At least nine Americans have been killed in Israel since Saturday as a result of attacks launched by the Hamas militant group, according to an official with the United States National Security Council.

"At this time, we can confirm the death of nine U.S. citizens," the official told ABC News in a statement on Monday. "We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected, and wish those injured a speedy recovery. We continue to monitor the situation closely and remain in touch with our Israeli partners, particularly the local authorities."

Two French citizens are among those killed in Israel, the French Foreign Ministry said.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle


'No one else should get involved in this,' top US official warns

The United States is warning against other countries from becoming involved in the Israel-Gaza conflict amid fears that it could spread into a wider war in the Middle East.

"This is not the moment for other parties who are hostile to Israel to seek advantage or to seek to exploit the attacks that have taken place," Jon Finer, deputy national security adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, Monday on "Good Morning America."

"That is part of why the United States has moved the Carrier Strike Group to the eastern Mediterranean to send a strong and unmistakeable signal that no one else should get involved in this," he added. "We'll see how things unfold in the course of the coming days."

Finer also emphasized that the U.S. believes "Israel has every right to defend itself full-stop."

"Israel will ultimately make the decisions about how it chooses to go about and conduct that defense," he said. "We are offering support in a number of ways."

Finer noted that "more U.S. steps to show support and solidarity for Israel" can be expected.

"The U.S. is going to offer support at every level for Israel's defense and we are working through details those details with our intelligence professionals, our military and our diplomats," he added. "We are in daily -- in fact, many times a day -- contact with Israeli counterparts to see what they need and offer it."

The U.S. "strongly suspect[s] that there will be American citizens among those killed" in the ongoing conflict, according to Finer.

"We are looking obviously very intensively into whether there were any Americans were among those who have been abducted and brought to Gaza. This is still ongoing," he said. "There is still fighting inside Israel as we speak and there is a bit of fog of war in terms of the ability to gather specific information. And so, we will have much more to say about this at the right time."

When asked for comment on a recent report by The Wall Street Journal that Iran was behind Hamas' latest attack on Israel, Finer responded: "We have no direct information to confirm that report. We've obviously seen it, we're looking into it, but we do not have the ability to corroborate it at this time."

"What we can be quite clear about is that Iran is broadly complicit in these attacks for having supported Hamas going back decades -- for having provided financial support, for having provided training, for having provided weapons to Hamas," he added. "What we don't have is direct information that shows Iranian involvement in ordering or planning the attacks that took place over the last couple days. It's something that we’re going to keep looking at closely."


Dozens of Palestinian children among those killed in Gaza, advocacy group says

At least 33 Palestinian children have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Saturday morning as Israel continues its retaliatory airstrikes, according to the advocacy group Defense for Children Palestine.

-ABC News' Joe Simonetti


Hamas claims 4 Israeli hostages were killed in airstrikes

Four Israeli hostages were killed alongside their militant captors in the Gaza Strip by Israeli airstrikes on Sunday night and Monday morning, according to Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.

There was no official confirmation on the hostage deaths from the Israeli side.

-ABC News' Joe Simonetti.


'Acute security threats' preventing US from aiding Americans at Rafah crossing

As Americans inside Gaza wait for the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza to open, a senior State Department official said that Egypt has informed the U.S. that “there are acute security threats" preventing U.S. officials and others from aiding Americans inside Gaza.

The official added that the State Department has placed a team on the Egypt side of the border "as close to the border as conditions permit."

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Monday that Israel has not allowed the opening of the Rafah border crossing from the Gaza side.

Shoukry said, since the crisis broke out, Egypt "has been seeking to keep the crossing operational and in a way that allows the entry of humanitarian aid."

"Until now, unfortunately, the Israeli government has not taken a position to allow the opening of the crossing from the Gaza side for the entry of aid or the exit of nationals of [other] countries," Shoukry said. "We are ready and Egyptian authorities on the border are ready to get aid in and get nationals of third countries out."

He added that Egypt aims to keep normal operation of the border "for the entry of Palestinians with medical needs or the normal movement between the Strip and Egypt."

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford