Israel-Gaza updates: US is 'strengthening' military force in Middle East over 'escalating' tensions
Israel alleges the Khan Younis area is being used by Hamas terrorists.
As the Israel-Hamas war continues, tensions are escalating after the assassinations of two Hamas and Hezbollah leaders this week.
Latest headlines:
- Hamas leaders decline 'new conditions' in cease-fire talks
- IDF expands evacuation orders in Khan Younis
- World leaders react to Israeli attack on school killing 85 Palestinians
- Scores killed following strike on school in Gaza City
- State Department decides against penalizing IDF unit accused of human rights violations
27 killed in Gaza, IDF says Hamas weapons workshop found in Khan Younis
At least 27 people were killed in different parts of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. Of those killed, 18 Palestinians were killed in eastern and central Khan Yunis.
The Israeli Defense Forces said they found a Hamas weapons manufacturing workshop in a tunnel below Khan Yunis in a statement Wednesday.
-ABC News' Diaa Ostaz and Jordana Miller
Egypt advises airlines to avoid Iranian airspace
Egypt has issued a notice to all Egyptian airlines to not fly over Iranian airspace at times when Iran is conducting military exercises on Wednesday and Thursday.
59.3% buildings in Gaza Strip damaged or destroyed, CUNY analysis shows
A new map based on open-access satellite data shows the damage across the Gaza Strip through July 27, where an estimated 59.3% of buildings have been damaged or destroyed since Oct. 5, 2023.
According to the analysis, most of the destruction in July was in Rafah, where 750 additional buildings were damaged or destroyed last month, bringing the total infrastructural damage in the southernmost city of Gaza to 45.4%.
The damage analysis of the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite data was done by Corey Scher of CUNY Graduate Center and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University.
-ABC News' Camilla Alcini
2 killed, 6 injured in Israeli strike on southern Lebanon
At least two people were killed and six others were injured in an Israeli drone raid on the town of Joya in southern Lebanon Wednesday.
The attack comes as Israel awaits a military response from Hezbollah or Iran after it assassinated leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas.
Hezbollah said it carried out three retaliatory strikes on northern Israel on Wednesday -- attacking the Al-Raheb site with artillery shells, the Jal Al-Alam site with artillery shells and the Al-Malikiyah site with rockets.