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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.
Israel considering Egypt-Qatar proposal for humanitarian pause: Sources
Israel is considering a proposal presented by Egypt and Qatar for a humanitarian pause in exchange for the release of hostages, sources tell ABC News.
The U.S. is in close coordination with all parties negotiating this possible deal, the sources said and no final deal has been reached yet.
No further details were available.
PRCS gives update on aid trucks
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it received 106 trucks loaded with aid, including food, water and medical supplies, from the Egyptian Red Crescent, Wednesday.
The trucks arrived via the Rafah crossing, PRCS said in a statement.
The group also said it received five ambulance vehicles from Kuwait.
Al-Shifa Hospital receives aid
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and World Health Organization announced Wednesday that medical supplies and medicines have been delivered to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
This is the second delivery to the hospital since the attacks on Gaza began, the two organizations said in a joint statement.
"While welcome, the quantities we delivered are far from sufficient to respond to the immense needs in the Gaza Strip. The medical conditions at Al-Shifa - the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip and one of the oldest Palestinian health institutions - are disastrous." the UNRWA and WHO said.
The organizations said there are currently "almost two patients for every bed available."
"The emergency department and wards are overflowing requiring doctors and medical workers to treat wounded and sick patients in the corridors, on the floor and outdoors," NRWA and WHO said.
Hamas wants 'prisoner exchange deal' for hostages: Spokesperson
The issue of hostages remains a priority for Hamas in its conflict with Israel, the spokesperson of the group's armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades, said Wednesday.
"The only clear path to this issue is a comprehensive or partial prisoner exchange deal," Abu Obeida said in a video statement on Telegram.
He said Hamas has its own civilians and fighters in Israeli prisons, and Israel has the same types of groups in Hamas’ group’s custody.
"There is absolutely no solution to this issue other than this path and a swap category by category or as a comprehensive process," he said.
Obeida accused Israel of "hindering and destroying all efforts to hand over foreign hostages" by refusing to create the right conditions to do so and jeopardizing captives' lives.
The group's fighters have completely or partially destroyed 136 Israeli military vehicles since the start of the ground invasion as they clashed with Israeli forces in northwest and southern Gaza City and the northern part of the Gaza Strip, he said.
-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy
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