At a press conference with the Qatari prime minister, Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed efforts to implement safe zones in Gaza and provide other humanitarian assistance, but did not shed additional light on efforts to evacuate Americans and other foreign nationals ahead of a potential Israeli ground incursion.

"When it comes to providing for civilians in Gaza, both ensuring that they can be out of harm's way and that they can have access to the support that they need -- the humanitarian assistance the food, the medicine, water -- our focus now is on helping to create safe zones. And we're doing that with leading international organizations, and we're doing that engaged with Israel," Blinken said.

But Blinken said that those efforts to help Palestinians were still being actively hindered by Hamas.

"Hamas continues to use innocent civilians as human shields," he said.

"We know the humanitarian situation is urgent. We're actively engaged with partners, including Qatar, to get aid to the those who need it," he said.

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

Seventy people were killed and 200 were injured in an Israeli strike on a convoy of civilians heading from northern Gaza to central Gaza, according to the Palestinian government press office.

-ABC News' Will Gretsky

The first U.S. charter flight to evacuate Americans from Israel has departed the country and is now en route to Europe, John Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council, told reporters on Friday. Kirby didn’t provide the exact destination in Europe.

He said more flights are expected to depart "in the coming days" and that "the State Department will continue to organize these charter flights for as long as there is a demand from US citizens for departure assistance."

He said the U.S. is still exploring "other options" to expand evacuation capacity, which also includes an option by sea.

Kirby also spoke to the heightened alert across the U.S.

"I want to be completely and crystal clear on one thing: At this time, none of our intelligence agencies have any specific intelligence indicating a threat to the United States stemming from the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel," Kirby stressed.

-ABC News' Justin Gomez

Israeli special forces have been inside Gaza over the last few days trying to locate hostages, according to an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson.

"Infantry and armored forces searched and gathered in the area for findings that may help in the effort to locate the missing and thwarted terrorist infrastructure and terrorist cells found in the area, among which a cell of the terrorist organization Hamas fired anti-tank fire at Israeli territory," the IDF said. Israel's air force is continuing its attacks on Hamas in Gaza, the IDF said.

Israel said its alerted 120 families that their loved ones are held in Gaza.

In remarks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at least 25 Americans had now been confirmed dead in Israel.

Netanyahu described some of the atrocities committed by Hamas.

"Hamas has shown itself to be an enemy of civilization: The massacring of young people in an outdoor music festival, the butchering of entire families, the murder of parents in front of their children and the murder of children in front of their parents. The burning of people alive, the beheadings," he said.

"Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated," he said. "They shouldn't be spit out from the community of nations. No leader should meet them. No country should harbor them. And those that do should be sanctioned."

Blinken said he was speaking not only as an American diplomat, but as a Jew, a husband and a father of young children, saying it was impossible for him to look at photos of families killed "and not think of my own children."

"The same time that we've been shocked by the depravity of Hamas, we've also been inspired by the bravery of Israel citizens," he said. "The grandfather who drove over an hour to a kibbutz under siege, armed only with a pistol and rescued his kids and grandkids. The mother who died shielding her teenage son with her body, giving her life to save his -- giving him life for a second time."

Blinken remarked that some U.S. aid had already been delivered, and that more military aid was on his way. He said the administration would work with Congress to meet Israel’s additional needs and that bipartisan support for Israel was "overwhelming."

The secretary called on world leaders to condemn Hamas.

Blinken also reiterated that Israel "has the right -- indeed, the obligation -- to defend itself" but that it was "so important to take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians."

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford