LIVE UPDATES

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.

Click here for updates from previous days.


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.


0

632 foreign passport holders cross from Gaza into Egypt Thursday

A Rafah border crossing official said 632 foreign passport holders crossed from Gaza into Egypt on Thursday.

Twelve wounded Palestinians and 10 of their family members also crossed into Egypt on Thursday, the official said.


Congressional progressives reject humanitarian pause, demand cease-fire

Several Congressional progressives continued calls for a cease-fire in Gaza while pushing back against a four-hour humanitarian pause.

"What we need is to stop the bombing," Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., said outside of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday during a press conference while joined by anti-war veterans in support of a cease-fire.

The event comes after National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby announced Thursday that Israel will start to implement four-hour pauses in fighting in areas of northern Gaza each day.

"Four hours? We don't want four hours. We don't want 16 hours. We don't want 22. We want a cease-fire now," Bush said.

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., said a humanitarian pause does not account for the 2 million people stuck in Gaza.

"Any pause that doesn't take into account that this is still a collective punishment once the four hours has ended is not sufficient," Lee said.

-ABC News' John Parkinson and Lauren Peller


Israel agrees to 4-hour pauses in Gaza each day: White House

Israel will start to implement four-hour pauses in fighting in areas of northern Gaza each day, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby announced Thursday.

"We've been told by the Israelis that there will be no military operations in these areas over the duration of the pause, and that this process is starting today," Kirby said.

Israel Defense Forces spokesman Richard Hecht said the pauses are already being held. Kirby said the pauses will be announced three hours ahead of time.

Kirby said these pauses are a "step in the right direction" and "significant first steps" to help civilians reach safer areas, away from the fighting.

"A four-hour pause for instance will allow, potentially, to move humanitarian assistance into that localized area, over that span of time. It could also provide enough of a window to help people get out of harm's way," Kirby said. "It could also provide brief windows of opportunity for safe passage for those hostages from where they're being held, to safer ground."

He said the Israelis have also agreed to a second humanitarian corridor that will allow people to leave hostile areas of northern Gaza.

"The second route along the coastal road will enable many more thousands to reach safer areas in the south," Kirby said. "Of course, we remain concerned that Hamas will discourage or prevent civilians from fleeing. At the same time, when encouraging people to leave areas of active operations, it's critical, absolutely vital, that humanitarian supplies and assistance are expanded in the areas where people are moving, in this case, southern Gaza."

Hecht, the IDF spokesman, stressed that it will only be "tactical, local pauses for humanitarian aid of a limited time and area," and the evacuation corridors would be for people to move south for humanitarian aid.

-ABC News' Justin Ryan Gomez


Biden calls for longer pauses, says no possibility of a cease-fire

President Joe Biden confirmed that he has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a three-day pause in Gaza. Biden said he's also asked for an even bigger window to get the remaining hostages out.

Biden told reporters his message to the families of hostages is: "We're not going to stop until we get them out."

Israeli officials say Hamas had 239 hostages in Gaza. Four hostages were released from Gaza over the last few weeks: two American women and two Israeli women. The Israel Defense Forces said a fifth hostage, a female Israeli soldier, was rescued during the Israeli military's ground operations in Gaza.

Asked if there would be a cease-fire, Biden responded, "None. No possibility."

-ABC News' Justin Ryan Gomez and Tia Humphries


Israel accuses Hamas of using hospital as shield for underground complex

The Israeli military on Monday accused Hamas militants of building "a whole tunnel system under" Sheikh Hamad Hospital in Gaza.

The practice of using hospitals as civilian shields has been "absolutely normal" for the militants, IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said.

"Why it is this important? Because hospitals and other humanitarian facilities are supposed to enjoy special protections," Conricus said in a morning briefing. "But what Hamas is doing is that they've violating that special protection and using it for combat purposes."

More than 500 people have died in at least 102 strikes near or on health care facilities since Oct. 7, the World Health Organization said on Sunday.

"Over half of health attacks and over a half of hospitals damaged were in Gaza City," WHO officials said on social media. "Health care is #NotATarget."

During Monday's briefing, Conricus shared an IDF video that he said demonstrated there were Hamas tunnels under the hospital. He also shared several photos that he said dated back to at least 2010, when the hospital was being constructed. The groundwork for the Hamas tunnels was put in place at that time, he said. ABC News was not immediately able to verify the claims.

In a photo said to be from 2023, rocket-launching sites could be seen along the outskirts of the facility, Conricus said. He presented another photo of what he said was the opening of a Hamas tunnel on the grounds.

"We know that underneath this entire complex, there's an entire Hamas infrastructure underground," Conricus said. "And it is absolutely normal. This is how Hamas operates all around the Gaza Strip."

-ABC News' Kevin Shalvey