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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Latest headlines:
- At least 500 killed in explosion at Gaza hospital: Gaza Health Ministry
- IDF preparing to implement 'wide range of offensive plans'
- 3,000 tons of aid with nowhere to go as Gaza-Egypt border remains closed
- Biden to visit Israel
- Hostages suffering from amputated limbs, severe injuries from rape: Israeli forum
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
Israel agrees to form emergency unity government
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chairman of the State Camp Benny Gantz on Wednesday agreed on the establishment of an emergency government and a war management cabinet.
The war management cabinet includes the prime minister, the defense minister and the chairman of the state camp. A place in the cabinet will be reserved for the chairman of the opposition if he joins.
During the war period, no bills or government decisions will be promoted that do not concern the conduct of the war.
Israel’s Emergency Unity Government will be sworn in Thursday at 6 p.m. local time.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky and Jordana Miller
Fighting ongoing in south as Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire in north
Fighting is ongoing between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in southern Israel. Meanwhile, Israel and Hezbollah are openly exchanging fire at the northern border.
The Israel Defense Forces said the area of the Gaza Division has been declared a closed military zone and reiterated that entry is strictly prohibited.
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip remained closed for the second day in a row on Wednesday. The crossing was shut indefinitely on Tuesday after it was hit by Israeli warplanes on the Palestinian side three times on Monday and Tuesday.
State Dept. expects number of confirmed dead Americans will rise
The State Department expects that the number of confirmed dead Americans will rise on Wednesday, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said on CNN.
"We continue to work through the list of unaccounted and find that, obviously, some of those we will locate or will report in, some of them we do find, unfortunately, they're deceased, and then others we are able to confirm are taken hostage,” Miller said. “It's a moving target all the time."
-ABC News' Shannon Crawford
Massive rocket barrage on Ashkelon
A barrage of rockets has landed on the Israeli city of Ashkelon on Wednesday morning.
Ashkelon, with a population of over 100,000 people, has essentially been a ghost town since the start of the incursion from Hamas over the weekend.
There have been no immediate reports of injuries or deaths in the aftermath of the attack.
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman
Gaza running out of body bags, says UNRWA chief
With deaths mounting from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, the head of the U.N. Relief and Work Agency said Sunday that Gaza is running out of body bags.
Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA commissioner-general, called a news conference Sunday to "raise the alarm" that as of Sunday he and his colleague are "no longer able to provide humanitarian assistance" in Gaza.
"In fact, Gaza is being strangled and it seems that the world right now has lost its humanity," Lazarrini said.
He said Gaza has no electricity and is running out of water fast.
He added that an "unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding under our eyes" in Gaza.
"Thousands of people have been killed, including children and women. Gaza is now even running out of body bags," said Lazarrini.
The government media office in Gaza said is now considering digging mass graves, according to Reuters.
Lazarrini said 14 staff members of his agency are among the dead.
"They were teachers, engineers, guards and psychologists, an engineer and a gynecologist," Lazzarini said. "Most of our 13,000 UNRWA staff in the Gaza Strip are now displaced or out of their homes."