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."

Click here for the latest updates.


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


0

50 Israeli hostages freed, IDF says

Up to 50 Israelis who were being held hostage by Hamas have been freed, according to an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson.

They were being held in the dining hall of Kibbutz Be'eri in southern Israel, though the situation has been "neutralized," the IDF spokesperson said.

Officials still believe hostages are being held in Gaza but an exact number hasn't been released.


FBI and DHS issue public safety alert

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have issued a "Public Safety Notification" to law enforcement around the U.S., urging them to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity in the midst of the ongoing situation in Israel.

The notice says the agencies "do not currently have specific intelligence indicating a threat to the United States stemming from the Hamas attacks in Israel" but that "foreign terrorist organizations and their supporters remain committed to attacking the United States within and beyond our borders."

"In recent years, there have been several events and incidents in the United States that were purportedly motivated, at least in part, by the conflict between Israel and Hamas," the notice continued. "These have included the targeting of individuals, houses of worship, and institutions associated with the Jewish and Muslim faiths with acts of physical assault, vandalism, or harassment."

-ABC News' Mike Levine


High-ranking IDF commander killed in action, military says

A high-ranking Israel Defense Forces commander was killed in action Saturday, the military said.

Col. Jonathan Steinberg, 42, the commander of the Nahal Brigade, was killed during a confrontation with Hamas, IDF said.


United Hatzalah says it has treated nearly 1,000 injured people in Israel

United Hatzalah, a community-based volunteer EMS organization, said so far it has treated nearly 1,000 people for "various injuries" in southern and central Israel.

The organization said it has also transported an unspecified number of patients to hospitals in the regions via ambulance and helicopter.


'No one else should get involved in this,' top US official warns

The United States is warning against other countries from becoming involved in the Israel-Gaza conflict amid fears that it could spread into a wider war in the Middle East.

"This is not the moment for other parties who are hostile to Israel to seek advantage or to seek to exploit the attacks that have taken place," Jon Finer, deputy national security adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, Monday on "Good Morning America."

"That is part of why the United States has moved the Carrier Strike Group to the eastern Mediterranean to send a strong and unmistakeable signal that no one else should get involved in this," he added. "We'll see how things unfold in the course of the coming days."

Finer also emphasized that the U.S. believes "Israel has every right to defend itself full-stop."

"Israel will ultimately make the decisions about how it chooses to go about and conduct that defense," he said. "We are offering support in a number of ways."

Finer noted that "more U.S. steps to show support and solidarity for Israel" can be expected.

"The U.S. is going to offer support at every level for Israel's defense and we are working through details those details with our intelligence professionals, our military and our diplomats," he added. "We are in daily -- in fact, many times a day -- contact with Israeli counterparts to see what they need and offer it."

The U.S. "strongly suspect[s] that there will be American citizens among those killed" in the ongoing conflict, according to Finer.

"We are looking obviously very intensively into whether there were any Americans were among those who have been abducted and brought to Gaza. This is still ongoing," he said. "There is still fighting inside Israel as we speak and there is a bit of fog of war in terms of the ability to gather specific information. And so, we will have much more to say about this at the right time."

When asked for comment on a recent report by The Wall Street Journal that Iran was behind Hamas' latest attack on Israel, Finer responded: "We have no direct information to confirm that report. We've obviously seen it, we're looking into it, but we do not have the ability to corroborate it at this time."

"What we can be quite clear about is that Iran is broadly complicit in these attacks for having supported Hamas going back decades -- for having provided financial support, for having provided training, for having provided weapons to Hamas," he added. "What we don't have is direct information that shows Iranian involvement in ordering or planning the attacks that took place over the last couple days. It's something that we’re going to keep looking at closely."