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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.
UN secretary-general: Something 'clearly wrong' with Israel's military operation
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Reuters NEXT conference that there's something "clearly wrong" with the Israeli military's operations when looking at the number of civilians killed in Gaza.
"There are violations by Hamas when they have human shields. But when one looks at the number of civilians that were killed with the [Israeli] military operations, there is something that is clearly wrong," Guterres said.
More than 4,000 children have died in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
Guterres added that it hurts the world's public opinion of Israel "to see every day the terrible image of the dramatic humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people."
Rafah crossing closed Wednesday over 'security circumstance': State Department
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza was closed Wednesday due to a "security circumstance," Deputy State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said.
Patel said he could not give any details on the security situation.
"We're continuing to work with, in partnership with, the government of Egypt and the government of Israel toward safe passage for more U.S. citizens, eligible family members and lawful permanent resident,” he added.
-ABC News' Shannon Crawford
Hamas says it's ready to release hostages if 'suitable conditions are facilitated'
Hamas is ready to release civilian hostages if "suitable conditions are facilitated," a Hamas spokesperson said in a press conference Wednesday.
"From the beginning we have announced our position very clearly," said Hamas spokesman Bassem Naim at a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon. "We are ready to release all the civilians and foreigners inside the Gaza Strip, if the suitable conditions are facilitated, mainly by the Israelis ... in accepting an immediate cease-fire along the whole Gaza Strip."
Israeli media is reporting that Israel is in advanced talks to come to an agreement on releasing a group of hostages in exchange for a humanitarian pause. Israel wants a much larger group of hostages released than the 10 to 15 being proposed. Qatar and Egypt are leading the negotiations.
State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel declined to confirm or deny the reports on potential hostage negotiations.
"We've seen those reports" but won't "get into the specifics of any of our negotiations or discussions," he said. "I will just reiterate that we have been working around the clock to determine the whereabouts of these hostages. We're working with the Israeli government on every aspect of this including sharing intelligence experts, offering our insight."
Patel did, however, pour some cold water on the notion that Hamas was ready to release hostages or that Israel was refusing a reasonable deal to free them, dismissing recent statements from the group’s military leaders.
"The proof should be in the actions that they undertake, and so if they have a desire to release hostages, we would welcome that," he said.
IDF says it's destroyed 130 Hamas tunnels
The Israel Defense Forces said its soldiers have destroyed 130 Hamas tunnel shafts in northern Gaza since Oct. 7.
Surgeon at Al Shifa hospital gives update
Dr. Ahmed Mokhallalati, the chief plastic surgeon at Al Shifa hospital in Gaza, told ABC News that he is unwilling to leave his scores of burn patients and stayed behind with the some 2,000 people left in the hospital complex and about 500 patients.
Mokhallalati said the hospital is virtually cut off because no one can get in -- they only received two or three patients on Saturday.
But despite having hundreds of burn patients, Mokhallalati doesn’t have much to do because they have only enough power for a single outlet to work. They use it in a clinic which has become the only operating room, because the real ORs require more power.
Mokhallalati said only about 15-20% of the hospital staff remain.
He also said there are some 40 infants in the neonatal units and 60 or so patients on ventilators, who he and the hospital administrators say will die once the generator fuel runs out.
The Israeli military’s civil coordinator said in a video statement Saturday that the eastern exit to the hospital is open, and that people are free to leave. But the images the Israeli military released from inside Gaza show that much of Gaza City and it’s outlying neighborhoods are flattened.
-ABC News' Matt Gutman and Sohel Uddin