The U.S. announced $404 million in aid for Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the region, bringing the total amount of aid from the U.S. to over $674 million since the wore broke out, the State Department announced Tuesday.

"This new funding will provide essential support to vulnerable Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and the region, including food, safe drinking water, health care, protection, education, shelter, and psychosocial support," the State Department said. "We urge other donors to contribute to the humanitarian response in Gaza and the region, increase support to those affected by the conflict, and work together to find lasting solutions to the crisis."

United Nation human rights officials said they were "profoundly shocked" by the Israeli operation that freed four hostages in central Gaza over the weekend, adding that actions by both Israel and Hamas "may amount to war crimes."

"The manner in which the raid was conducted in such a densely populated area seriously calls into question whether the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution -- as set out under the laws of war -- were respected by the Israeli forces," the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, or OHCHR, said in a statement on Tuesday.

The rescue operation in a refugee camp in Nuseirat killed as many as 274 people, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Monday. Hundreds of others were injured, the ministry said. Many of those injured and killed were Palestinian civilians, OHCHR said on Tuesday.

But OHCHR also said it was "deeply distressed" about the way the militant groups continue to hold hostages, "most of them civilians, which is prohibited by international law."

By holding those hostages in densely populated areas, Hamas militants are putting civilians and the hostages at risk, the agency said.

"All these actions, by both parties, may amount to war crimes," OHCHR said.

-ABC News' Joe Simonetti and Kevin Shalvey

At least 274 people were killed and another 698 were injured during Saturday’s Israeli rescue operation that saved four hostages from Hamas custody in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.

Israeli special forces were disguised as Palestinian refugees looking for a place to live when they entered the buildings where hostages were being held in the rescue operation, two Israeli security sources told ABC News.

The hostages were rescued from two locations in Nuseirat, a camp that has become home to thousands of refugees who've fled fighting throughout Gaza.

-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor

The United Nations Security Council on Monday adopted a U.S. draft resolution urging Hamas to accept the latest cease-fire and hostage release deal.

Nate Evans, spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the United Nations, said in a statement ahead of the vote that the deal would enable a pause in fighting, the freeing of a number of hostages and an immediate surge in humanitarian assistance, among other things.

"Israel has accepted this proposal and the Security Council has an opportunity to speak with one voice and call on Hamas to do the same," Evans said. "Doing so would help save lives and the suffering of civilians in Gaza as well as the hostages and their families. Council Members should not let this opportunity pass by and must speak with one voice in support of this deal."

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield made a similar case just before the vote, saying every day the war goes on "needless suffering continues."

"Colleagues, after eight months of devastation and pain and trauma, what is needed now more than ever is for the fighting to end in a sustainable way," she said. "The United States and every single country in this chamber wants to see an immediate cease-fire with the release of hostages. We've heard those calls time and time again since Oct. 7. Now the opportunity is here. We must seize it."

Hamas said in a statement they "welcome" what was included in the U.N. Security Council resolution "regarding a permanent cease-fire in Gaza."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday weighed in on Hamas’ official response to the cease-fire proposal, stressing that a deal is the "single, most effective way" to alleviate civilian suffering and avoid escalation in the region.

“Hamas has proposed numerous changes to the proposal that is on the table," Blinken said at a news conference in Qatar with Qatari officials. "We discussed those changes with Egyptian colleagues, and today with the prime minister [of Qatar]. Some of the changes are workable, some are not."

"Here, in a nutshell is where we stand," Blinken said. "Hamas could have answered with a single word: yes. Instead, Hamas waited nearly two weeks and then proposed more changes, a number of which go beyond positions it had previously taken and accepted."

Blinken said that as a result "the war Hamas started will go on," but that "in the days ahead, we’re going to continue to push on an urgent basis" to "try to close this deal."

Blinken noted that almost everyone he’s spoken with during his eight trips to the Middle East since Oct. 7 made clear they wanted to see a negotiated solution to the conflict.

"I cannot speak for Hamas or answer for Hamas and ultimately, it may not be the path Hamas wants to pursue. But Hamas cannot and will not be allowed to decide the future for this region and its people," he said.

Blinken was pressed on whether the deal was salvageable and whether more pressure needed to be applied to Israel. The secretary declined to characterize Hamas’ response as a rejection, as Israeli officials have, but expressed significant skepticism.

"At some point in a negotiation, and this has gone back and forth for a long time, you get to a point where if one side continues to change its demands, including making demands and insisting on changes for things that it already accepted, you have to question whether they’re proceeding in good faith or not," he said.

Blinken went on to say he believes the gaps are bridgeable, but "it doesn’t mean they will be bridged" because it depends "on people saying yes."

"Hamas had this for 12 days. ... People were suffering throughout those 12 days. The longer this goes on, the more people will suffer," he asserted. "It’s time for the haggling to stop."

Blinken was also adamant that Israel was not the problem.

"Look, Israel accepted the proposal as it was and as it is. Hamas didn’t. So I think it’s pretty clear what needs to happen," he said.

-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford