Israel-Gaza updates: Biden speaks with Netanyahu about hostages' release, Gaza humanitarian assistance
The hostages are two elderly women who are both Israeli nationals.
Thousands of people have died and thousands more were injured after 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.
At least 1,400 people have died and 4,629 others have been injured in Israel, according to Israeli authorities. In Gaza, 5,087 people have died and 15,273 have been wounded, according to the Palestinian Health Authority.
Aid workers and officials fear that Israel's call for an evacuation of the northern part of Gaza is precipitating a humanitarian disaster as electricity and other supplies have been cut off in preparation for what appears to be an imminent ground offensive.
Humanitarian groups have urged Israel to call off the evacuation and agree to a cease-fire, even as the country has asserted a right to defend itself -- a right the United States endorses.
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Latest headlines:
Israeli forces preparing for air, ground, sea operations
Israeli forces are "preparing thoroughly for the next step -- a multilateral operation in the air, ground and sea," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday.
To the soldiers, Gallant said in Hebrew, "Keep preparing for our operation, it will come soon."
"Do your work, get ready," he said. "We will need you.”
Gaza death toll tops 5,000
In the last 24 hours, at least 436 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Authority, which is run by Hamas.
The Gaza death toll has now climbed to 5,087 since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, according to the Palestinian Health Authority.
Cousins of freed American hostages speak out
Ayelet and Or Sella recalled to ABC News the moment they were finally able to embrace their cousins Judith and Natalie Raanan at home in Israel one day after the mother and teenage daughter were released by Hamas kidnappers.
"I realized I hadn't breathed for two weeks," Ayelet said.
"I've never felt a hug this intense in my life," Or added.
But eight of their family members are still being held hostage.
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Hundreds of Gaza targets struck overnight, Israel says
The Israeli military struck more than 320 targets in Gaza overnight, the Israel Defense Forces said Monday.
At least 40 people were killed and dozens more were injured in two Israeli airstrikes in northern Gaza, the Palestinian Interior Ministry said.
The Jabalia refugee camp, where most of those killed were women and children, was among the targets, Palestinian officials said.
-ABC News' Joe Simonetti
Humanitarian worker in Gaza talks dire wait for aid
It’s not money that people in the Gaza Strip need right now, but rather food, water, medicine and other basic necessities, according to a humanitarian worker there.
"If we have money, we can’t buy anything. There's nothing to buy in the stores, it’s empty shelves," Omar Alnajjar, project manager for nonprofit Save Your Future, told ABC News in a telephone interview from the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.
As Israeli forces continue to bomb "terror targets" in Gaza in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack carried out by the Hamas militant group that governs the territory, an estimated 1 million people are displaced there, including over 520,000 people staying in "emergency shelters in increasingly dire conditions," according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
That's why it's crucial Egypt allows humanitarian aid convoys parked at its northwestern border with Gaza to cross into the war-torn territory and deliver the lifesaving supplies as soon as possible, Alnajjar said. But as of Friday afternoon, the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing remains closed.
"People are just waiting," he added.
-ABC News' Ibtissem Guenfoud, James Longman and Morgan Winsor