Israel-Gaza updates: IDF says 3,500 'terror targets' hammered in 10 days

"Civil order is breaking down in Gaza," a UNRWA official said.

The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended on Dec. 1, and Israel has resumed its bombardment of Gaza.

The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

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.


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Turkish president denounces UN Security Council after US vetoes ceasefire resolution

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced the United Nations Security Council after the U.S. vetoed a ceasefire resolution for Gaza. He called the international body the "Israel protection council," according to the Times of Israel.

"Since October 7, the Security Council has become an Israel protection and defense council," Erdogan said, according to the Times.

"Is this justice?" Erdogan asked, adding that “the world is bigger than five,” a reference to the five veto-wielding nations in the U.N. Security Council, according to the Times.

U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood told the council on Friday that the resolution "was divorced from reality" and "would not move the needle forward on the ground in any concrete way" in explaining why the U.S. could not support it.


Blinken speaks with International Committee of the Red Cross president

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with International Committee of the Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger on Friday to "emphasize the importance of the ICRC's humanitarian response to the conflict in Gaza," a statement from the agency said.

Blinken thanked the ICRC for delivering "life-saving assistance and protection of civilians," according to the statement.

"The Secretary and ICRC President also discussed efforts to strengthen civilian protections and expand the flow of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza. The Secretary reiterated the call for the immediate release of all hostages and highlighted the need for the ICRC to be granted access to the remaining hostages," Blinken said.


Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place to be a child: UNICEF

As the death toll continues to climb, UNICEF called the Gaza Strip the most dangerous place in the world for children.

"The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them," UNICEF said in a statement.

Close to 1 million children in Gaza have been "forcibly displaced from their homes," according to UNICEF.

"They are now being pushed further and further south into tiny, overcrowded areas without water, food, or protection, putting them at increased risk of respiratory infections and waterborne disease. Their lives are further threatened by dehydration, malnutrition and disease," UNICEF said.

"UNICEF and other humanitarian actors have been ringing the alarm for weeks. Our team on the ground describe meeting children with missing limbs and third-degree burns, and children left shell-shocked by the continuing violence that surrounds them," UNICEF said.

UNICEF called for an immediate ceasefire.

"An immediate, long-lasting humanitarian ceasefire is the only way to end the killing and injuring of children, the only way that civilians can be protected, and the only way to enable the urgent delivery of desperately needed lifesaving aid," UNICEF said.


Families confirm death of hostage

The death of Sahar Baruch was confirmed in a statement by Kibbutz Be'eri and the families of the hostages. Baruch, 25, was from kibbutz Be'eri and abducted by Hamas from his home on Oct 7.

The statement does not mention the circumstances of Baruch's death, but his name and images were mentioned in the Hamas statement and video announcing his death following the failed special ops raid.


US believes 8 American hostages remain in Gaza, Kirby says

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