More than 100 days since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, the Israeli military continues its bombardment of the neighboring Gaza Strip.
The conflict, now the deadliest between Israel and Hamas since Israel’s founding in 1948, shows no signs of letting up soon and the brief cease-fire that allowed for over 100 hostages to be freed from Gaza remains a distant memory.
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More than 25,000 killed in Gaza, health ministry says
More than 25,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, the Gaza Ministry of Health said Sunday.
At least 62,681 people have been injured since the war began, said the ministry, which operates under the Hamas Authority.
Relatives of hostages protest outside Israeli PM’s home
Several relatives of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza protested outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home on Saturday, demanding the government take more steps to free the captives.
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Some protesters camped out in front of his home, in the coastal town of Caesarea.
More than 130 hostages are still held in captivity, according to Israeli officials.
Fatal shooting of Palestinian-American teen in West Bank under investigation
The fatal shooting of a 17-year-old Palestinian-American in the West Bank on Friday remains under investigation, as mourners gathered Saturday for the teen’s funeral.
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Tawfiq Ajaq was killed near the city of Ramallah, according to the Defense for Children International – Palestine advocacy group.
Israeli police said they received a report Friday regarding a “firearm discharge, ostensibly involving an off-duty law enforcement officer, a soldier and a civilian.” Police did not identify who fired the shot but described the shooting as taking place over people “purportedly engaged in rock-throwing activities” along a main highway.
Israeli police said its internal affairs department is investigating the incident.
An initial assessment by the Defense for Children International – Palestine also found that it was unclear who fired the shot that struck the teen.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed the death of a U.S. citizen civilian in the West Bank on Friday.
Asked about the incident at a briefing on Friday, U.S. National Security spokesman John Kirby said White House officials “don’t have perfect context about exactly what happened here” but are “seriously concerned about it.”
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“We’re going to be in constant touch with counterparts in the region to get more information,” he said.
The teen’s funeral was held Saturday in the West Bank. His friends said his family had returned to their home village in the Israeli-occupied territory from Harvey, Louisiana, about a year ago, according to Reuters.
Biden speaks with Netanyahu in 1st known call in 27 days
President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Friday, according to the White House.
This was the first known call between the two leaders since Dec. 23, 2023.
Biden and Netanyahu spoke about a two-state solution, among other things, one day after Netanyahu expressed opposition to a Palestinian state.
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“The president still believes in the promise and the possibility of a two-state solution,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Friday. “He recognizes that it’s going to take a lot of hard work. It’s going to take a lot of leadership, there in the region, particularly, on both sides of the issue. And the United States stands firmly committed to eventually seeing that outcome.”
“We’re not going to agree on everything,” Kirby said. He later added that Netanyahu’s comments will not change Biden’s “strong conviction” that “the best long-term solution for regional security, particularly the security of the Israeli people, is a free, independent Palestinian state that they can live in peace and security with — and this is an important caveat — with Israel’s security also guaranteed.”
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Though Biden will continue to press for a two-state solution, “this isn’t about trying to twist somebody’s arm or force a change in their thinking,” Kirby said.
Kirby said Netanyahu’s comments did not trigger the two leaders’ Friday call.
“This was a call that we’ve been, actually, trying to land on the schedule for quite a bit of time,” he said.
Teen boy shares story of being held hostage by Palestine Islamic Jihad
Yagil Yaacov, now 13, was 12 years old when he was kidnapped at knifepoint from his room at the Nir Oz kibbutz on Oct. 7.
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He told his captors — allegedly members of the Palestine Islamic Jihad — “Don’t take me, I’m too young,” according to his mother, Renana.
Yagil’s brother was also kidnapped and the two were separated. Yagil told ABC News in an exclusive interview that he was first taken to a safe house, and then to another home where he stayed for 30 days.
Yagil said during his time as a hostage he listened to some radio and learned a little Arabic to determine what was happening around him.
He was eventually reunited with his stepmother and brother.
Yagil’s father is still being held hostage.
Netanyahu voices opposition to Palestinian state in post-war Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced his opposition to a Palestinian state in a post-war Gaza.
“For 30 years I have been consistent — this conflict is not about the absence of a Palestinian state but about the existence of a Jewish state. Wherever we vacate territory, we receive terrorism,” he said at a news conference. “It happened in Judea and Samaria and it happened in Gaza. In any agreement, Israel must control all territory west of Jordan. This is what I say to our American friends: I stopped the possibility of a security breach in the State of Israel. This did not prevent me from expanding the circle of peace to four Arab countries, and I am determined to expand it to other countries in the region, together with our American friendship.”
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State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in response that Israel, for the first time, has a “historic opportunity” to “deal with challenges that it has faced since its founding.”
“You see the countries in the region who are ready to step up and further integrate with Israel and provide real security assurances to Israel. The United States is ready to play its part, too, but they all have to have a willing partner on the other side,” Miller said.
Miller also said, regarding the challenges facing Israel after the war eventually ends, “There is no way to solve their long-term challenges, to provide lasting security and there is no way to solve the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza, establishing governance and providing security for Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
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Unclear whether medical aid has reached Israeli hostages in Gaza
It was unclear Thursday whether medical aid had reached Israeli hostages in the war-torn Gaza Strip as part of a Qatari-brokered deal between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas.
During an interview Thursday on CNN, a spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the medicine was received by Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health but that there was not yet confirmation of it being distributed to the Israeli hostages as agreed upon. The spokesperson noted that an ongoing telecommunications blackout in Gaza has made it difficult to get information in real time.
The medical aid, provided by Qatar and France, entered Gaza on Wednesday, according to the Qatari foreign ministry.
As part of the agreement, Hamas was expected to pick up the medicine for the Israeli hostages at designated hospitals and then distribute it among the abductees. Qatar will verify and provide proof to Israel that the medicine was in fact delivered to the hostages, according to Hamas and Qatari officials.
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The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has helped with getting aid into Gaza and transferring some hostages out of the enclave as part of previous deals, said it has no role in the implementation of this agreement, including the delivery of the medicine.
“The ICRC initiated the conversation in its role as a neutral intermediary. The parties negotiated the agreement, including how much medicines would be delivered and by whom, with Qatar brokering the deal,” the ICRC told ABC News in a statement on Thursday. “The mechanism that was agreed to does not involve the ICRC playing any part in its implementation, including the delivery of medication.”
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“The ICRC welcomes the agreement to deliver medications to the hostages and to medical facilities for the residents of Gaza as a positive humanitarian step,” the organization added.
The Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson told CNN on Thursday that the ICRC could not be involved because the security situation in Gaza makes it almost impossible for them to deliver the medicine.
Qatar says it’s brokered deal to allow medicine, aid into Gaza
Qatar said Tuesday it has mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas to deliver medicine to Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Medicine and other humanitarian aid will also be delivered to civilians “in the most affected and vulnerable areas” of the Gaza Strip as part of the deal, Qatar said.
The aid landed in Egypt Wednesday and “includes medicines provided by the State of Qatar and the French Republic, along with food items provided by Qatar Charity to be further transferred to Gaza,” the Qataris said.
Gaza’s telecommunications blackout surpasses 100 hours
NetBlocks, a London-based nonprofit that covers internet connectivity around the world, said Wednesday that the Gaza Strip has been “in the midst of a near-total telecoms blackout for 120 hours.”
“The disruption, now entering its sixth day, is the longest sustained telecoms outage on record since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war,” NetBlocks wrote in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
IDF can’t confirm cause of death of 3 hostages found in Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday informed the families of Ron Sherman, Nick Beiser and Elia Toledano that it is not possible to determine what caused their deaths, ABC News has learned.
Sherman, Beiser and Toledano were among the more than 200 people taken hostage by militants during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. The IDF recovered the bodies of the three abductees from a Hamas tunnel in the city of Jabalia in the Gaza Strip on Dec. 14, near where Ahmed Randour, who commanded Hamas’ forces in the northern part of the enclave, had been killed a month earlier.
ABC News has learned that an investigation subsequently concluded the IDF did not know there were hostages in the area at the time it attacked the tunnel where Randor was staying and that the IDF discovered the bodies while conducting scans of the tunnel afterward.
ABC News has learned that a pathological report showed no signs of trauma or gunshots on the three bodies, and it could not be ruled out or confirmed whether they were killed as a result of suffocation, poisoning or due to an attack by the IDF or Hamas. Samples were taken to conduct a further examination.
