Israel-Gaza updates: Hostage speaks 1st time since release
Noa Argamani is one of the four hostages rescued in a deadly IDF raid on June 8.
As the Israel-Hamas war continues, negotiations have stalled to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization, and Israeli forces continue to launch incursions in the southern Gazan town of Rafah ahead of a possible large-scale invasion.
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State Department reissues travel alert for Lebanon
As tension continues to simmer along the Israel-Lebanon border, the State Department is reminding U.S. citizens about the risks associated with traveling to Lebanon, urging them to "strongly reconsider."
"The Lebanese government cannot guarantee the protection of U.S. citizens against sudden outbreaks of violence and armed conflict," the alert said.
The State Department also notes that while most of Lebanon is classified as a level 3 (reconsider travel) the southern portion of the country, the Lebanon-Syria border area, and refugee settlements are at a level 4 (do not travel).
Officials say this reminder is not a predictor of escalation to come and that the situation in Lebanon is under continuous review.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Some ambulance service stopped in Gaza due to fuel shortages
As the fight over aid into Gaza continues and as the United Nation cites the dangers to humanitarian workers, the Palestine Red Crescent Society now says 18 of its ambulances -- about one-third of its fleet -- have been taken out of service due to fuel shortages.
"The fuel quantities entering through the Karm Abu Salem crossing do not meet the medical and relief sector’s needs," the PRCS said in a statement.
"With the Israeli occupation continuing to keep the Rafah border crossing closed for about 52 days… the PRCS appeals to the international community for urgent intervention to reopen the Rafah border crossing and allow the flow of humanitarian aid, especially fuel," the agency said.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Israel's Gallant addresses military aid after US visit: 'Obstacles were removed'
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant shared an update with reporters Wednesday after meeting with U.S. officials on the latest in the Israel-Hamas conflict and rising tensions with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Gallant met with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and several other U.S. officials in Washington, D.C. this week.
"During the meetings we made significant progress, obstacles were removed, and bottlenecks were addressed, in order to advance a variety of issues and more specifically the topic of force build-up and supply of munition,” Gallant said.
Gallant said he discussed "several issues," including "Lebanon, Gaza, Iran, the hostage issue, the transition to the next phase in Gaza, and how this will impact the region."
During Gallant's visit to the U.S., Hezbollah released a video message in which the group threatened to attack crucial Israeli buildings if a full-scale conflict were to break out in Lebanon.
“Hezbollah understands very well that we can inflict massive damage in Lebanon if a war is launched,” Gallant said
Over the past months, the Israeli Defense Forces have eliminated 400 Hezbollah terrorists, according to Gallant.
Regarding the conflict with Hamas, Gallant said, "Hamas as a military formation has been mostly dismantled. We have destroyed most of the Hamas battalions and formations and are now fighting pockets of resistance."
Gallant thanked the U.S. government and the American public "for their enduring support for the State of Israel.
US, Israel worked through 'misunderstandings' on weapons shipments, White House says
Israeli and American officials sifted through "every single case" of weapons shipments at a meeting in Washington, D.C., clearing up any "misunderstandings" and making "real progress," a senior administration official said.
That does not mean, however, that the U.S. is going to begin shipping the large bombs that have been paused since May, after the president aired concerns about their use in highly populated areas, like Rafah. That pause is still under review, the official said.
In terms of other weapons and supplies, though, the official said there were misunderstandings that the delegations worked through stemming from "complexities" in the U.S.'s highly bureaucratic approval system and requests for certain items to be prioritized.
"We were able to go through everything, and I think where there were some misunderstandings, those were clarified -- about where certain cases might be in the course of our process, which can be complex," the senior administration official said.
"There was real progress in a mutual understanding of where things stand, of prioritization of certain cases over others, so that we can make sure that we are moving things in ways that meet the needs of the Israelis, and with the only exception being one shipment of MK-84s [the 2,000-pound bombs] that remains paused and under review," the official said.
This meeting comes after a video released June 18 by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing the U.S. of slowing weapons shipments, which the U.S. has denied.
That video was not discussed in Thursday’s meeting between Israeli Defense Minister Yaov Gallant and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, the official said.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Military pier in Gaza to be taken offline again: US official
The U.S. military pier in Gaza will be taken offline again on Friday and moved to the Israeli port of Ashdod due to high seas, according to a U.S. official.
This is a precautionary move to protect the pier from breaking due to rough waves, the official said.
This is the third time the pier has had to be moved to Ashdod because of weather. The pier has been operational only about half of the time since it opened in mid-May.
“I don't have a date of when the pier would be reinstalled,” Defense Department deputy spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters Friday, noting that Centcom will assess the sea conditions over the weekend.
As the pier was moved away Friday, two U.S. officials told ABC News that officials are considering not re-installing the pier until the humanitarian aid that it brought to Gaza gets distributed. More than 19 million pounds of aid has been delivered to Gaza via the pier but it’s now piling up at the staging point at the edge of the pier, Singh said.
Inspectors General at the Pentagon and the U.S. Agency for International Development announced Thursday that they’re launching reviews of the mission to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza via the military's temporary pier system.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty and Luis Martinez