Israel-Gaza updates: IDF says it has completed the 'dismantling of Hamas' military framework'
The IDF gave an assessment Sunday of the first three months of the war.
More than a month after a temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended, Israel continues 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.
Latest headlines:
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.
Refugee camps hit in Gaza amid fierce fighting
Palestinians reported fierce Israeli tank fire and aerial bombing in Khan Younis in southern Gaza overnight, and strikes appear to be continuing this morning.
Israel said its forces in Gaza eliminated "dozens of terror operatives" in the past day. Planes also carried out a series of air strikes on the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, according to medics and Palestinian journalists.
Residents in the urban refugee camp of Bureij, a recent hot spot of combat along with Nuseirat, also reported Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Saturday. Israeli forces have been pounding Khan Younis in preparation for an anticipated further advance into the main southern city, swaths of which they captured in early December.
Israel said Saturday its troops have advanced further in southern Gaza, while raiding Hamas sites in Khan Younis, including the headquarters of the terror group’s intelligence division in the city.
According to Israel, the intelligence HQ was responsible for all of Hamas’s intelligence activity in the Khan Younis area.
'Hamas still has a significant force posture inside Gaza,' White House says
The White House was pressed on Wednesday about how close Israel may be to its stated goal of eradicating Hamas, as the death count in Gaza surpasses 22,000.
Notably, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby declined to give specific stats on damage done to Hamas but said, “Hamas still has a significant force posture inside Gaza.”
“We have estimates. I’m loath to put the numbers out there now because they are just estimates but Hamas still has a significant force posture inside Gaza,” he said in response to a question about how many more Hamas fighters are left.
He added that Israel has said they’ve been successful “against a range of leadership” and have “without question” had an effect on “Hamas' ability to command and control itself, to resource itself, and quite frankly to lead their troops.”
But he wouldn’t give specifics on how many members of Hamas have been killed or any measures of progress that Israel has made.
“I've been trying real hard not to give them a report card here and I think that is a wise thing for us to do, is to refrain from analyzing and armchair-quarterbacking their military operations,” Kirby said.
Still, on multiple occasions, he was asked if Israel can still eradicate Hamas, which has been the country’s stated goal.
“It can be done militarily. Are you going to eliminate the ideology? No. And are you likely going to erase the group from existence? Probably not. But can you eliminate the threat that Hamas poses to the Israeli people? Absolutely,” Kirby said.
-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett