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."
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Latest headlines:
- At least 500 killed in explosion at Gaza hospital: Gaza Health Ministry
- IDF preparing to implement 'wide range of offensive plans'
- 3,000 tons of aid with nowhere to go as Gaza-Egypt border remains closed
- Biden to visit Israel
- Hostages suffering from amputated limbs, severe injuries from rape: Israeli forum
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
More than 700 dead in Israel: Health officials
More than 700 people are dead in Israel and over 2,100 others injured, Israeli health officials said.
The Palestinian Health Authority said there are 370 people dead in Gaza and 2,200 others injured.
Biden tells Netanyahu 'additional assistance' for IDF is on its way
President Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday and informed him the U.S. was providing "additional assistance for the Israeli Defense Forces" was already on its way "with more to follow over the coming days," according to the White House.
-ABC News' Fritz Farrow
Biden directs 'additional support for Israel,' receives briefing on attacks
President Joe Biden "directed additional support for Israel in the face of this unprecedented terrorist assault by Hamas," the White House said Sunday.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris received briefings Sunday morning on the attacks in Israel.
-ABC News' Fritz Farrow
Blinken says Americans believed to be among dead and missing
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said the Biden administration is working to verify reports that U.S. citizens are among the dead and missing in Isreal following Saturday's unprecedented attacks from Hamas into Israel from Gaza.
“We have reports that several Americans were killed. We are working overtime to verify that,” Blinken told CNN's "State of the Union. "There are reports of missing Americans."
Blinken called the attack the worst since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, but added that there is a "fundamental difference."
"That was a war that was state-to-state, country-to-country, army-to-army. This is a massive terrorist attack that is gunning down Israeli civilians in their towns and their homes," Blinken said. "As we've seen so graphically, they're literally dragging people across the border with Gaza, including a Holocaust survivor in a wheelchair, women and children. You can imagine the impact this is having throughout Israel and the world should be revolted at what it's seen."
-ABC News' Joe Simonetti
USS Eisenhower carrier strike group to move to Eastern Mediterranean
The USS Eisenhower carrier strike group will move to the Eastern Mediterranean to join the USS Ford carrier strike group that arrived there earlier this week, a senior U.S. official and a U.S. official told ABC News.
U.S. officials have said publicly this week that the presence of the USS Ford carrier strike group in the Eastern Mediterranean was intended as a deterrent to Iran and Hezbollah, not to get involved in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The Eisenhower joining the Ford will increase the show of force enhancing that message of deterrence.
The Eisenhower strike group includes the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower and the cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG-58), and the destroyers USS Laboon (DDG-58), USS Mason (DDG-87) and USS Gravely (DDG-107).
The strike group left Norfolk, Virginia, on Saturday bound for a previously scheduled deployment that would take it to the Middle East via the Mediterranean Sea. While in the Mediterranean it was to have participated in previously-scheduled exercises in the U.S. European Command area of responsibility.
Earlier this week the Pentagon issued a statement that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would "continue to review both the Eisenhower and Ford’s deployment plans as he considers the appropriate balance of maritime capability across theaters in support of national security priorities."
-ABC News' Martha Raddatz and Luis Martinez