Israel-Gaza updates: 17 more hostages released, including 4-year-old American girl, officials say
Fourteen Israeli and three foreign hostages were released Sunday, the IDF said.
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.
3 doctors killed in strike at Al-Awda Hospital
Three doctors were killed in a strike at northern Gaza's Al-Awda Hospital, according to Doctors Without Borders.
The hospital said only medical personnel, patients and the injured were inside the facility at the time.
Hospital officials called on the international community to provide a safe corridor for the evacuation of patients and medical staff.
"We mourn the loss of our colleagues," Doctors Without Borders said in a statement. "We condemn this strike in the strongest terms, and call yet again for the respect and protection of medical facilities, staff and patients. We reiterate our call for an immediate cease-fire to prevent more deaths in Gaza."
Israel hopes 50 hostages will be released within 4 days: Senior official
Israel hopes to secure the release of at least 50 hostages within four days, according to a senior Israeli official with knowledge of the negotiations.
The official told ABC News on Tuesday that all Israeli security forces and agencies are in favor of the proposed deal with Hamas, which was brokered by Qatar.
For two weeks, Israel was against accepting Qatar's original offer, the official said. Among other things, the government did not want to allow people to return to northern Gaza during the cease-fire period, the official said. Israel also wanted to limit the entry of fuel into Gaza to only the days of the cease-fire, according to the official.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller
Hostage deal would involve pause in fighting lasting 4 or 5 days: US official
A U.S. official told ABC News the hostage deal would involve Hamas releasing 50 women and children in exchange for a pause in fighting that would last four or five days. The deal would also involve the release of three Palestinian prisoners for each Israeli hostage, the official said.
The Palestinian prisoners are not considered hostages. Some of them were imprisoned prior to the conflict.
The official cautioned that the deal is not done. President Joe Biden has been personally involved in the negotiations, urging the emir of Qatar to press Hamas to accept the deal and urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the deal, according to the official.
-ABC News' Selina Wang
'We're now very close' on hostage deal, Biden says
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that "we're now very close" on a deal to release the hostages being held by Hamas, but the president did not discuss more details.
"We could bring some of the hostages home very soon, but I don't want to get into the details of things because nothing is done until it's done. And when we have more to say we will, but things are looking good," Biden said.
-ABC News' Molly Nagle
1st group of Israeli hostages freed by Hamas in Gaza, sources say
The first group of Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross, two sources briefed on the matter told ABC News.
The sources said the Red Cross has the hostages and that the "operation" to get them home has begun.
It was expected that 13 Israeli hostages would be freed by Hamas near Gaza's border with Egypt on Friday in a prisoner exchange deal. But it was unclear exactly how many were handed over to the Red Cross.
-ABC News' Matt Gutman and Morgan Winsor