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Israel-Gaza live updates: 3 premature babies die at Al-Shifa Hospital, doctor says
The hospital has been treating thousands of wounded people.
Thousands of people have died and thousands more have been injured since the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel retaliated with a bombing campaign and total siege of the neighboring Gaza Strip, leaving the region on the verge of all-out war.
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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.
Schumer says he urged Netanyahu to clamp down on settler violence in West Bank
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders on Monday and reiterated to them that the "U.S. has Israel's back in this dark hour."
Schumer said he told Netanyahu that they must work to protect Palestinian lives, and said he urged Israeli leaders to stop the settler violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
Israel has "a responsibility to protect innocent Palestinian civilian life. We know this is not easy, but it must be done," Schumer said. "We must likewise work together to send critical humanitarian aid to innocent civilians in Gaza who have nothing to do with Hamas."
"I also strongly urge the Israeli government to quickly clamp down on settler violence against and displacement of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. Violence and displacement against these Palestinian civilians is not just wrong -- it risks spreading the current crisis beyond Gaza at a time when Israel and America are working hard to deter other actors from taking advantage of the situation," Schumer said.
-ABC News' Mariam Khan
92 UNRWA workers killed
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said 92 of its employees have now been killed in Gaza, the highest number ever seen in a single conflict.
"We are never going to be the same without them," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said. "Once again I call for a cease-fire for the sake of humanity."
Gaza evacuation corridor opens again
A civilian evacuation corridor from northern Gaza to southern Gaza opened again on Wednesday.
"Due to the substantial response," the corridor was open for an extra hour, running from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. instead of ending at 2 p.m., "allowing many more Gazans to move south for their safety," the Israel Defense Forces said.
Israel 'cannot occupy' Gaza, Blinken says
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said Israel "cannot occupy" Gaza "not now, not after the war."
The top U.S. diplomat added that a transition period may be necessary when the bombings and shooting stop in Gaza.
"I think we've been very clear from day one that when it comes to post-conflict governance in Gaza, a few things are clear and necessary," Blinken said in Tokyo, where he's attending G7 meetings. "One, Gaza cannot continue to be run by Hamas. That simply invites a repetition of Oct. 7, and Gaza used as a place from which to launch terrorist attacks. It's also clear that Israel cannot occupy Gaza."
Blinken said G7 members stood united on the globe's major crises. The group's "first focus was the crisis in the Middle East." The group's joint communique called for "humanitarian pauses," short of a cease-fire.
"We all agreed that humanitarian pauses would advance key objectives to protect Palestinian civilians, to increase the sustained flow of humanitarian assistance, to allow our citizens and foreign nationals to exit, and to facilitate the release of hostages," Blinken said
-ABC News' Christopher Boccia and Joe Simonetti
Blinken meets with Iraqi prime minister
Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Iraq to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Sunday following the secretary's visits to Israel, Jordan and the West Bank.
Blinken told reporters that his meeting with the Iraqi prime minister was productive and said he emphasized the need to prevent spillover from the conflict in Gaza.
"I made very clear that the attacks, the threats coming from militia that are aligned with Iran are totally unacceptable," Blinken said. "We're not looking for conflict with Iran. We've made that very clear. But we'll do what's necessary to protect our personnel."
"We're working very hard to make sure that the conflict in Gaza does not escalate, does not spread to other places, whether it's here, whether it's elsewhere in the region," he said.
Blinken was asked about Arab leaders' instance that nothing short of a total cease-fire would be acceptable.
"I think everyone would welcome humanitarian pauses -- there's no doubt about that," Blinken responded.
He said pauses "advance things that we're all trying to accomplish," including getting more humanitarian aid into Gaza, getting people out of Gaza and getting hostages home.
On his meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Blinken said the PA was "playing a very important role right now in the West Bank in trying to keep stability there."
-ABC News' Shannon Crawford