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.
Scores of Palestinians move north in Gaza despite Israel's warning
Scores of Palestinians who had fled to the southern Gaza Strip amid Israeli bombardment were seen trying to return to the north on Friday, following the start of a four-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
This came despite a warning from the Israeli military not to head toward the main combat zone in northern Gaza and there are Israeli checkpoints in place to prevent people from doing so.
"The northern Gaza Strip area is a dangerous war zone and it is forbidden to move around," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on Friday morning. "For your safety, you must remain in the humanitarian zone in the south of the Strip. It is only possible to move from the north of the Strip to its south via Salah al-Din Road."
-ABC News' Nasser Atta, Morgan Winsor and Sami Zayara
Aid trucks arrive in Gaza via Egypt
Footage from the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing showed aid trucks entering the war-torn Gaza Strip on Friday morning.
Egypt's State Information Service said earlier Friday that 200 trucks transporting humanitarian aid, four trucks carrying gasoline and 130,000 liters of diesel would be allowed to enter Gaza via the Rafah border crossing during each day of the agreed upon cease-fire between Hamas and Israel.
That would be an increase from an initial average of around 70,000 liters of diesel that Israel agreed to deliver into Gaza over the past week to meet humanitarian needs set by the United Nations, but would still be well below what aid organizations say is required for daily critical needs.
Egypt will also allow hundreds of Palestinians stranded in the country to re-enter Gaza for the first time since the war broke out, according to the State Information Service.
-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy and Morgan Winsor
Israel says transfer of Palestinian prisoners has begun
The transfer of 39 Palestinian inmates from Damon and Megiddo prisons to the Ofer camp in the West Bank has begun, a spokesperson for the Israel Prison Service told ABC News on Friday afternoon.
Once in the West Bank, the Palestinian prisoners will be released within two hours after the confirmation that 13 Israeli hostages were freed by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and returned home, the spokesperson said.
-ABC News' Yael Benaya and Morgan Winsor
Israel details protocol for hostage release in Gaza
Thirteen people are on a list of hostages who are expected to be released by Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Friday amid a temporary cease-fire, but it remains unclear exactly how many the militant group will free, according to Israel's Government Press Office.
During a press briefing on Friday morning, the Israeli Government Press Office said that the hostages who are released will be received by staff from the International Committee of the Red Cross, who will then take the hostages across the border and hand them over to the Israeli military. It was unknown which of Gaza's borders the hostages would cross -- either into Egypt or Israel.
From there, the Israel Defense Forces will identify each hostage who was released and the individuals will undergo medical examinations. Then they will be allowed to speak with their families via telephone, according to the Israeli Government Press Office.
The hostages will be transferred to one or more of five designated hospitals, depending on their medical needs. They will be physically reunited with their families at the hospitals, the Israeli Government Press Office said.
Among the freed hostages, children will not be debriefed by Israeli authorities but their mothers and other women who are capable will be, according to the Israeli Government Press Office.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller, Dana Savir and Morgan Winsor
Doctor in Egypt says some of evacuated Gaza premature babies are in 'critical' condition
A doctor at Al-Arish Hospital in Egypt shared an update on the condition of the premature babies evacuated from Gaza earlier this week, saying about 10% of them are in "critical" condition.
"When the babies arrived at our hospital … they were facing a lot of bad conditions during transfer, taking their medical history, not accompanying families for them, so you are dealing with … very critical conditions for them," Dr. Ahmed Mahdy told ABC News Wednesday.
Sixteen premature babies were brought to Al-Arish Hospital in Egypt near the border after Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza ran out of fuel to run their incubators and came under attack by IDF forces. Dr. Mahdy said they all had low weight when they arrived at Al-Arish, ranging from 1-2.3 kilograms (2.2 lbs – 5 lbs).
Dr. Mahdy said some of the babies "are very critical," estimating about 10% of them are in that condition. The other infants are "less critical."
One of the struggles doctors at Al-Arish Hospital have run into is that there aren't families or mothers with most of the babies to ask about their history or the mother's history during her pregnancy. Out of 16 babies, only three mothers are accompanying four babies. Still, the doctors persevere to treat the infants.
"They may be at risk, but we are doing our best for them," Dr. Mahdy said. "We are giving them the medications they need, the feeding. You know, the babies need feeding, feeding assessment and feeding progress."