The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended on Dec. 1, and Israel has resumed 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.
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Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
The Israel-Hamas war has now passed the two-month mark.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 20,000 people have been killed and more than 52,600 others have been wounded by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to figures released by Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health and the Hamas government media office.
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 297 Palestinians in the territory since Oct. 7, according to Palestinian health authorities.
As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens, the World Health Organization said Gaza has no fully functioning hospitals left.
Twenty-three hospitals are not functioning at all, nine are partially functioning and four are minimally functioning, the WHO said.
A Palestinian child wounded in an Israeli strike receives treatment at Nasser hospital, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Dec. 20, 2023.
“Gaza’s health system needs urgent resuscitation,” the organization stressed, and the WHO again called for a cease-fire.
People inspect the damage in a room following Israeli bombardment at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, Dec. 17, 2023.
GoPro footage from an Israel Defense Forces canine unit dog shows the three Israeli hostages five days before they were mistakenly killed by IDF forces, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a press briefing Wednesday.
“Five days before the abductees were killed by the IDF, amid the encounter of the Golani patrol, the dog came forward to clean the area,” Hagari said. “Terrorists shot the dog. Analyzing the voices in the video, we could recognize the abductees.”
“All three of them were identified by voice recognition,” Hagari said, adding that they were one kilometer from where they were mistakenly killed days later.
Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz, and Samer Al-Talalka were mistakenly shot by Israeli troops on Dec. 15, 2023, in a battle-torn neighborhood of Gaza City.
Hagari said the three Israeli hostages were able to escape because the Hamas terrorists holding them captive were killed.
“From there they went through a heroic journey of escape until that terrible tragedy happened,” Hagari said.
The IDF said on Friday its forces mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages who were carrying a stick with a white cloth in an area of “very intense fighting” in Gaza. The IDF said the three hostages were “mistakenly identified” as a threat.
The three men were identified as 28-year-old Yotam Haim; 26-year-old Alon Shamriz; and 22-year-old Samer Talalka.
Israeli troops have secured control over Hamas’ “Elite Quarter” in the center of Gaza City, including the area of the “Palestine Square,” the Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday.
“The complex includes a large network of tunnels that connects terrorist hideouts, bureaus, and residential apartments belonging to Hamas’ senior leadership,” the IDF said. “This complex, both above and below ground, was a center of power for Hamas’ military and political wings.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. is heading into next year focused on ensuring that Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel cannot happen again, as well as bringing the conflict in Gaza to an end as quickly as possible.
“We’re more determined than ever to ensure that out of this horrific tragedy comes a moment of possibility for Israelis, for Palestinians, for the region, to live in lasting peace and lasting security,” Blinken said at his end-of-year news conference Wednesday.
Relatives of Ohad ben Ami, 65, an Israeli hostage held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attack by Hamas, pose for a picture with his portrait during a visit to Kibbutz Beeri in southern Israel near the border with Gaza, Dec. 20, 2023.
Blinken spoke about the need to downshift the scale of warfare, but he didn’t set a firm timeline.
“It’s clear that the conflict will move and needs to move to a lower intensity phase. And we expect to see, and want to see, a shift to more targeted operations with a smaller number of forces that’s really focused in on dealing with the leadership of Hamas, the tunnel network and a few other critical things,” Blinken said. “As that happens, I think you’ll see as well, the harm done to civilians also decrease significantly.”
A young Palestinian injured in Israeli airstrikes arrives to be treated at Nasser Medical Hospital, Dec. 20, 2023, in Khan Yunis, Gaza.
Blinken also addressed intense negotiations over an Arab-sponsored United Nations Security Council resolution to ramp up humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and impose a halt in the fighting. That resolution is expected to come to a vote soon and it’s possible that the U.S. could veto it.
The secretary said the U.S. wanted to make sure the measure would actually advance the effort to move aid into Gaza and “doesn’t do anything that could actually hurt the delivery of humanitarian assistance — make it more complicated.”
Palestinians line up for a free meal in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Dec. 20, 2023.
He added that the U.S. was engaged “in good faith with other countries.”
“We’ve been working this intensely. I’ve been on the phones about this for the last the last couple of days,” Blinken said. “So, I hope we can get to a good place.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
