Israel-Gaza updates: IDF to begin daily 'tactical pause' along Gaza aid route

Military action will be paused on the route from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Israel said.

As the Israel-Hamas war continues, negotiations are apparently 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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Israel won’t send delegation for further talks on deal: Israeli source

Israel will not send a delegation for further talks on a cease-fire deal, an Israeli source confirms to ABC News.

The U.S., Egypt and Qatar are still trying to pressure Hamas to return to the outline of a cease-fire deal presented by President Joe Biden.

Hamas in a statement Thursday said they have "demonstrated, in all stages of negotiations to stop the aggression, the required positivity to reach a comprehensive and satisfactory agreement, based on the fair demands of our people for a definitive cessation of aggression, a complete withdrawal [of IDF forces] from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced, the reconstruction and a serious prisoner exchange deal."


WHO, UN warn of 'famine-like conditions' amid rising malnutrition in Gaza

A "significant portion" of people living in the Gaza Strip are "now facing catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions," the head of the World Health Organization said, as neighboring Israel continues to restrict supplies of food and other basic necessities to the war-torn enclave.

"Despite reports of increased delivery of food, there is currently no evidence that those who need it most are receiving sufficient quantity and quality of food," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing Wednesday.

More than 8,000 children under the age of 5 in Gaza have been diagnosed and treated for acute malnutrition, including 1,600 with severe acute malnutrition. But only two stabilization centers for severely malnourished patients can currently operate in Gaza due to insecurity and lack of access, according to Tedros.

At least 32 deaths in Gaza since the war with Israel began on Oct. 7 have been attributed to malnutrition, including 28 among children under 5 years old, Tedros said.

More than 1 million people in Gaza -- half of the territory's population -- are "expected to face death and starvation by the middle of July," according to the most senior official dedicated to humanitarian affairs at the United Nations.

-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor


Over 40 projectiles launched from Lebanon toward Israel's northern border: Israeli military

Over 40 projectiles have been launched from Lebanon across Israel's northern border toward the Galilee and Golan Heights area since Thursday morning, Israeli military officials told ABC News.

Two people were hit by shrapnel and wounded in the Golan Heights, according to Israeli Emergency Services.

The Israel Defense Forces said military exercises are continuing in the north to increase readiness.

-ABC News’ Dana Savir, Jordana Miller, Tom Soufi Burridge and Hugo Leenhardt


Inside Hamas’ new demands

Hamas’ new demands in response to the latest cease-fire proposal include an insistence that the timetable be moved up for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from all Gazan territory, according to a U.S. official with knowledge of the negotiations.

The official also said that Hamas communicated additional demands for assurances that a lasting cease-fire would be achieved that were not included in the previous version of the agreement.

In the first days of May, Hamas seemingly accepted a hostage deal presented by Qatar and Egypt, only for Israel to say it had not signed off on that draft, sparking mass confusion. Later, Israel did say it would return to the negotiating table, which eventually led to the formation of the proposal on the table.

-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford


Israel’s actions during hostage rescue may amount to war crimes, UN agency says

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