The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday morning that its aircraft had bombed "approximately 250 terror targets in the Gaza Strip" over the last day amid what it described as "intensive battles."

"During these strikes, terrorists from the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations were eliminated, and a number of terrorist infrastructure were destroyed," the IDF said in a statement.

Israeli soldiers also located "one of the largest weapons depots" in Gaza "near a clinic and a school" in the northern part of the Hamas-controlled territory, according to the IDF.

"The depot contained hundreds of RPG missiles and launchers of various types, dozens of anti-tank missiles, dozens of explosive devices, long-range missiles aimed at central Israel, dozens of grenades and UAVs," the IDF added. "All of the terrorist infrastructure was found close to civilian buildings in the heart of a civilian population. This is additional proof of Hamas' cynical use of the residents of the Gaza Strip as human shields."

Hamas has denied Israel's claims that it deliberately shelters behind civilians in Gaza.

-ABC News' Morgan Winsor

The United States believes eight Americans are still being held hostage by militants in the war-torn Gaza Strip, according to White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.

"We think there's about eight hostages that are Americans. We know of at least one woman in that group," Kirby told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an interview Wednesday on "Good Morning America."

"We're doing everything we can to try to get them released," he continued. "We're constantly engaged with our partners in the region to try to get this humanitarian pause back in place, so that the flow of hostages can renew."

Although a temporary cease-fire between Israel and Gaza's militant rulers, Hamas, ended last week, the U.S. is "still flowing in humanitarian assistance" to civilians in Gaza, according to Kirby.

"And we're trying to get it up to the level that it was during the pause," he noted.

When asked about what Israel's "endgame" might be in its war against Hamas as Israeli troops expand their offensive across all of Gaza, Kirby said: "That's really something for the Israeli's to speak to."

"We obviously want to see Hamas eliminated as a threat to the Israeli people," he added. "That hasn't been achieved yet. They're going after the leadership as best they can. They believe they need to operate in the south. We've told them you know we’ll continue to support their military operations but we want to make sure that as they do that they're factoring in those innocent civilian lives as much as possible."

-ABC News' Morgan Winsor

Al-Awda Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip is "besieged" by Israeli forces, a spokesperson said Wednesday.

There are currently 95 employees and 38 patients inside the hospital in the city of Jabalia, north of Gaza City, according to the spokesperson.

Just four hospitals remain operational in the north, according to the Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

-ABC News' Nasser Atta and Morgan Winsor

A hospital in the Middle Area of the Gaza Strip has seen an influx of dead and wounded arrive at its doors over the last day, according to Palestinian health officials.

Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Wednesday morning that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital has received 73 dead and 123 injured patients in the past 24 hours amid intense bombardment by the Israeli military.

-ABC News' Nasser Atta and Morgan Winsor

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Wednesday that he's invoked Article 99 of the U.N. Charter for the first time in his six years as leader.

Article 99 says that the secretary-general "may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security."

"Facing a severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza, I urge the Council to help avert a humanitarian catastrophe & appeal for a humanitarian cease-fire to be declared," Guterres said in a post on X.

In a letter to the U.N. Security Council president, Guterres said, "The situation is fast deteriorating into a catastrophe with potentially irreversible implications for Palestinians as a whole and for peace and security in the region. … The international community has a responsibility to use all its influence to prevent further escalation and end this crisis."