A Palestinian girl suffered burns to over 60% of her body: This is her monthslong journey out of a war zone

September 13, 2024

Sara Bsaiso (left) and her sister Seham Besaiso in Gaza before Sara’s injury. — Courtesy of Seham Besaiso

(NEW YORK) — If someone asked Sara Bsaiso what her dream was one year ago, it would have been to finish her senior year of high school, complete her final exams and attend college or university.

However, those dreams were dashed when Sara became one of the more than 12,000 children and teenagers in the Gaza Strip who have been injured since the Israel-Hamas war began.

Sara suffered severe third-degree burns to much of her body and went months with limited medical care before she was able to be medically evacuated to the United States, she told ABC News. Two of her brothers were killed in the same strike that injured her, she said.

Now, sitting in a house in New Jersey, having undergone more than a dozen surgeries and with several more on the horizon, her dream now is to recover and for “stability.”

“When I was 17 years old, I had one dream and, now that I am 18 years old, my dreams have changed,” she told ABC News in Arabic. “My life goals have changed and the way [I] look at dreams in general has changed. The one thing I want right now is stability.”

‘I realized I am on fire’

On the day of the Hamas terror attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, Sara, then 17, was in her final year of high school. Sara said she had school in the morning and, as she was waiting to be picked up, she heard a noise that she thought was thunder.

“My dad said, ‘No, that is rockets hitting Tel Aviv’ and we all just started looking at each other,” Sara said. “I went to WhatsApp to ask my friends if they heard the same sounds. Everyone was confused and one of my teachers … was already at school and we told her the sounds are getting louder. [She said], ‘You should go home.’ That was the last time I talked to her, this teacher.”

Sara said her father felt the situation was too dangerous to remain in their home in Rimal — a neighborhood in Gaza City, located in the north — and told the family they should leave. Sara packed a bag that included her school uniform and some clothes and traveled with her eight siblings to her grandmother’s house nearby, also in Rimal.

They stayed there about one week before the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sent flyers ordering civilians to evacuate, Sara said. They fled to Rafah, in southern Gaza, where they stayed for six days before heading back to their grandmother’s house.

On the day of her injury, Dec. 7, Sara said she had just gotten a haircut and her 15-year-old brother, Ahmed, was outside making bread.

“I was just swishing [my hair] left and right,” she said. “We were all in the living room and I was just asking everyone what they thought of my new haircut. ‘What do you think of my hair? Do you see a difference?'”

She said Ahmed came into the house and asked her if she could bring inside her younger brother, Mohammed, who was scared of “fighting noises” outside.

Sara went outside to where her 8-year-old brother was and began to comfort him.

“I am at the door hugging him, telling him, ‘You are strong, don’t be scared,'” she recalled. “All of a sudden, as I tried to turn around, there is something so hot behind me. I took a minute to look at my arms, my legs and asked myself, ‘Where am I?’ Until I realized I am actually on fire.”

The family said a missile strike had hit the courtyard of Sara’s grandmother’s house — and Sara had been caught in the blast.

“It took me a minute to understand. By then, the slippers on my feet were melting so I couldn’t really run,” she said. “I just kept trying to run. …. When I reached the door, I couldn’t move anymore. So, I was about to fall down because my legs were melting.”

Sara said she felt her father grab her as she collapsed to the ground. She could feel water being poured on her and she could hear her brother, Mohammed, screaming. At the time, Sara said she took the screaming as a sign that he was still alive. What she didn’t know was that he had been severely burned as well.

Ahmed was killed instantly, and Mohammed died about a week later, according to the family.

Meanwhile, Sara suffered third-degree burns to about 60% of her body.

As of July 23, at least one quarter — or 22,500 — of those injured in Gaza are estimated to have “life-changing injuries” that will require rehabilitation services for potentially years, the WHO said during a briefing on Thursday. Major extremity injury is the most common injury, followed by amputation, burn, spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury, the WHO said.

Third-degree burns affect the outer layer of skin, the middle layer of skin and fat below the skin. A third-degree burn can also damage sweat glands, hair follicles and nerve endings, and needs to be treated by a health care provider.

In Gaza, where the health care system has nearly collapsed, proper care is much more difficult to obtain.

“The first two days, there was no medicine in my system,” Sara said. “I couldn’t feel pain anywhere. I just wanted to sleep. I was shivering from the cold. Then I started feeling worse and worse and developed a [104 F] fever. I could not speak and I was shaking in place.”

Sara’s family was able to locate medicine, but she said it was expired. When Sara noticed that one of her legs was turning green — discoloration is a prominent sign of gangrene — doctors who visited told her family her wounds had become infected.

Sara said her family was able to get an ambulance amid the fighting to take her to one of Jordan’s field hospitals operating in Gaza, where she stayed for a few days before returning to her grandmother’s house. Doctors were able to give her medicine, but Sara said the hospital was overwhelmed with people injured because of the war as well as people sheltering at the hospital.

“I know the Jordanian hospital is better than being nowhere, but it was absolute torture,” Sara said. “There would be times where there is no time for them to perform surgery on me. There were many times the dressing would unravel or not be strong enough and puss would come through.”

Sara was unable to walk because her burn wounds kept opening up, so she would be carried on a stretcher or transferred by ambulance, her family said. Although Sara was bandaged, she said the dressings were painful because there was no medicine or ointment her family could use to properly wrap the wounds. Her family said she didn’t undergo surgery at a hospital in Gaza but, when her dressings were changed, medical staff would put her under anesthesia when they could.

Israel has said its goal is to eliminate Hamas, and claims Hamas uses schools, hospitals and civilian buildings “to conduct and promote terrorist activity.” Israeli officials also claim that the IDF tries to minimize civilian casualties. Hamas has denied that it is conducting its operations out of civilian buildings and has condemned any of Israel’s attacks that have killed civilians.

The IDF did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment on the alleged attack that led to Sara’s injuries or on the war itself.

The months-long journey to evacuate Sara

Pictures and videos of Sara’s story began to circulate on social media, and eventually made their way to Steve Sosebee, founder of HEAL Palestine. The non-profit organization was set up in January to address the humanitarian needs on the ground in Gaza.

“A friend of mine in Dubai saw her story on social media and forwarded to me and asked if we could help, considering that she was stuck in the north and that she was not able to go south and get treatment, get access to medical care at all,” he told ABC News.

Sosebee said the team in Gaza reached out to Sara’s family to coordinate her evacuation from Gaza City down to southern Gaza and then to cross into Egypt. The family decided that her sister, Seham Besaiso, would accompany her.

Sara and Seham left their grandmother’s house on Jan. 21 and made their way down to the Rafah border, Sara said.

When they arrived at the border that night, the guards did not see their names on the list of people eligible to cross over, according to Sara.

“We tried to find a hospital I could stay at until we could leave,” Sara said. “We stayed at a hospital, I don’t remember the name, but it was a circus. People losing their lives on the floor, people sleeping on the floor, people choking. It was not a place to be with an open wound.”

“Seham and I were crying unsure of what to do. The ambulance driver was very kind and was able to get us a spot in a medical tent in the south,” she added.

The next morning, after waiting at the border for several hours, Sara said the crossing guards found their names on a list and they were able to cross over into Egypt, where they remained for 17 days.

Sosebee said HEAL Palestine secured visas for the sisters and coordinated with Northwell Health Burn Care Center in Staten Island to take on Sara’s case. He helped Northwell send a medical team to Egypt to see if Sara could be moved out of a hospital and be put on a commercial flight to the U.S.

The team “determined that it was not possible for her to fly commercial, given the extent of her injuries in the current state that she was in,” Sosebee said.

The Northwell team concluded Sara needed to be put on a charter medical evacuation flight, Sosebee said. HEAL Palestine teamed up with a partner organization to help cover the cost of the charter, and launched a social media fundraising campaign.

The group was able to raise more than $180,000 to cover the cost of the charter flight as well as additional funds to cover the cost of her medical bills in Egypt and some of the medical bills she would incur in the U.S. Northwell also agreed to cover much of her costs, Sosebee said.

Sara is one of 21 children with medical needs HEAL Palestine has helped evacuate, according to Sosebee, and one of 5,000 people have been evacuated for treatment outside Gaza since October 2023, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

“When all of us came together and worked together on this, we were able to get a plane put together, to get the money raised for it, and to get [Sara] and her sister …. on that flight and on their way to the U.S.,” Sosebee said. “The finances and the money [are] secondary to the health and the obligation that we have to step up and do all we can to get her the medical care that she needs, and it’s minimal in comparison to what Northwell provided in the treatment that they gave her.”

Receiving care leads to dancing down a hallway

The journey took 24 hours, and Sara and Seham arrived in the U.S. on Feb. 6.

Seham said visitors are not typically allowed to stay overnight in the burn center due to infection control procedures, but they let her stay on Sara’s first night.

“On the first day Sara was in Egypt, she wasn’t sleeping … so it was on my mind when I first arrived here to America that Sara isn’t going to sleep,” Seham told ABC News. “[But] while I was talking to her, I looked at her and saw she had fallen asleep.”

At the burn center, Sara underwent several skin grafting procedures, which is when healthy skin from one part of the body is transplanted to another part of the body.

When severe open wounds go without skin grafts for long periods of time, the wounds can take longer to heal and are more susceptible to infection. Seham said this is what happened to Sara’s fingers, which required some of them to be partially or fully amputated.

Seham said she originally told Sara the amputations needed to occur because her fingers had melted, afraid to tell her the real reason.

“I didn’t tell her because it was really [upsetting] her so, when it happened, I was afraid to tell her that ‘This had happened to your fingers,’ so I told her it was because they had melted,” she said. “But they had …. necrosis. So, they couldn’t be left in her body, so they were amputated.”

At the burn center, Sara underwent rehabilitation, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, nutritional therapy, pain management care and palliative care, Sosebee said.

Sara was in the hospital until late May, a little over three months, when she was discharged. On the day she left, a video was recorded and shared to social media of her dancing down the hallway. She said that her physical therapist often encouraged her to dance while she was undergoing treatment.

“This was the last day, and she would tell me, ‘Don’t be shy. We are gonna dance no matter what,'” Sara said. ‘I looked at her like, ‘What do you mean? I am gonna dance in front of all these people?’ She’s like, ‘No, don’t be shy. We’ve danced on the street before.'”

“Basically, we left the burn unit with us all dancing,” she continued. “I was excited, scared and anxious. All the emotions were running through me that day. I had been waiting for this moment since I entered [the hospital].”

Waiting in ‘limbo’ and hoping for the war to end

HEAL Palestine set up Sara, Seham and their mother — who was able to join them in the U.S. after the organization helped secure a visa — with a home in New Jersey.

Sara, now 18, is currently undergoing occupational therapy, which she will need for at least another three months to help her recover. She practices exercises that help her regain her strength and improve the use of her fingers.

Although Sara has undergone at least 20 surgeries so far, she said she will still need several more, including skin grafting procedures. Last month, she was able to take bandages off her fingers for the first time.

Sometimes she looks at old photos or videos “and compare to see if my hair got longer or my skin is better and compare myself from then to now,” she said. “When I look at [them], I feel better.”

Sara said when she can, she talks to her family in Gaza, including her father and two brothers, who remain in northern Gaza and are unable to join the family in the U.S.

“The connection is not secure so it’s hard to reach them and it cuts off a lot, [but] when my dad opens the camera and sees me, he says, ‘Wow,'” Sara said. “He can see the changes and the differences. He would ask me to show my fingers. He wants to see how much progress I have made.”

“As for my brothers, I would tell them I bought something new that we can play with and we will play with them together,” she added. “I just hope this all ends so they can come and be here with me.”

As Sara continues her recovery, Seham and their mother attend all her doctors’ appointments together and help encourage Sara as she practices her occupational therapy exercises.

Prior to the war, Seham, 20, was in her third year of college, studying dentistry. The university has resumed with online classes, but she said it is difficult to start classes again because the third year is “pre-clinic,” which requires practicing dental training, including on dummy heads and plastic teeth.

She said she has paused her studies for now, focusing on helping Sara recover.

“My life from before [the war] will not return. That’s for sure. Because everything is gone. Nothing remains,” Seham said. “We have memories, but even that they took. Thank God, we are still alive. And still, as long as we are here, there is hope inside us that we can return, someday, under better circumstances. Under circumstances that are not like what they are now.”

Both Sara and Seham said they hope the war — which is closing in on the one-year mark — will end and are hoping for “stability” in Gaza so they can return home one day.

“As long as we are in this limbo, I can’t think about what I will study and when I will finish school,” Sara said. “The one thing that we need is for the war to stop. … The most important thing is that this war ends and that voices are heard.”

“Don’t get tired of watching and listening … There are people’s lives destroyed, dreams being buried,” she continued. “People who had hopes and trying to live just like you do, but all of a sudden they found themselves under the ground. God willing, the war ends and people can go back to their lives. That is the most important thing.”

Since Oct. 7, at least 41,000 people in Gaza have been killed and at least 95,000 have been injured, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. In Israel, at least 1,500 people have been killed including more than 800 civilians and 700 IDF soldiers.

Israel-Gaza live updates: Blinken ‘intensely’ focused on cease-fire progress

Luis Diaz Devesa/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, cease-fire discussions are occurring in the Middle East, with officials hoping to bring an end to the conflict.

The United States and its allies continue to plead for a cease-fire deal, with discussions set for this week.

Here’s how the news is developing:

3:37 AM EDT
Blinken ‘intensely’ focused on hostages, cease-fire in Israel visit

Israeli President Isaac Herzog welcomed Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Tel Aviv on Monday morning as President Joe Biden’s administration presses for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Blinken touched down in Israel on Sunday night, beginning his ninth visit to the Middle East since Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel sparked the current conflict.

“The focus of my visit is intensely on getting the hostages back, getting the cease-fire done,” Blinken said. “It is time for everyone to get to ‘yes’ and to not look for any excuses to say ‘no.'”

Blinken said that he was working to make sure there was “no escalation…no provocations…no actions that in any way could move us away from getting this deal over the line, or, for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places and to greater intensity.”

Reaffirming support for Israel, Blinken said, “As you heard [Herzog] say, the United States has taken decisive action to deploy forces here to deter any attacks, and if necessary, to defend against any attacks.”

Herzog said that in the last 24 hours, they have witnessed “ongoing terror attacks by Palestinian terrorists.”

“This is the way we are living these days. We are surrounded by terror from four corners of the Earth, and we are fighting back as a resilient and strong nation,” Herzog said.

Herzog said that hostage negotiations have been held up by Hamas’ “adamant refusal to move forward,” but that Israel is “very hopeful” to continue working on a deal. The president then thanked the U.S., Egypt and Qatar for their role as mediators.

-ABC News’ Lauren Minore

6:35 PM EDT
Hamas says there may still be ‘obstacles’ to cease-fire talks

As cease-fire talks are set to begin again in Cairo this week, Hamas said it fears Israel will put up more “obstacles” that could prevent them from reaching an agreement with Israel.

In a statement Sunday, Hamas leaders accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of putting “more conditions and obstacles in the way of reaching an agreement, in a way that serves his strategy to gain time and prolong the aggression.”

“We hold Netanyahu fully responsible for thwarting the mediators’ efforts, obstructing reaching an agreement, and fully responsible for the lives of his prisoners who are exposed to the same danger that our people are exposed to, as a result of his continued aggression and systematic targeting of all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip,” Hamas said in the statement.

Bomb blast kills 1 in Tel Aviv

One person was killed in a bomb explosion in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday night, according to Israeli police.

The blast occurred around 8 p.m. local time on Lahi Street in southern Tel Aviv, police said.

It was not immediately clear who or what set off the explosive.

A second person received moderate injuries in the incident and was being treated in a hospital, police said.

The name of the person killed was not immediately released.

Police forces from the Ayalon Region and the Tel Aviv District quickly arrived at the scene and launched an investigation.

All investigative avenues are being explored, police said.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Blinken arrives in Israel ahead of new round of cease-fire talks

Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Sunday evening local time ahead of cease-fire talks that are scheduled to resume in Egypt this week.

Following discussions in Doha, Qatar, last week, senior officials are due to meet again this week in Egypt. Israel has said it will send a team to Cairo to continue talks, but Hamas has dismissed any hint of progress as an “illusion.”

While in Israel, Blinken is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials to press for a cease-fire agreement. Netanyahu has expressed “cautious optimism” about the talks, but said Sunday that “there are things we can’t be flexible about.”

-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti

Netanyahu says Israel ‘can’t be flexible’ on some issues

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel “can’t be flexible” about certain things while cease-fire talks continue.

Netanyahu commented on the cease-fire talks during his weekly cabinet meeting and ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s scheduled arrival in Israel on Sunday evening local time.

“We are conducting very complex negotiations when on the other side is a murderous, uninhibited and recalcitrant terrorist organization,” Netanyahu said, referring to Hamas. “But I want to emphasize — we are conducting negotiations, not negotiation. There are things we can be flexible about, and there are things we can’t be flexible about — and we insist on them. We know very well how to differentiate between the two.”

Following discussions in Doha, Qatar, this week, senior officials are due to meet again next week in Egypt. Israel has said it will send a team to Cairo to continue talks, but Hamas has dismissed any hint of progress as an illusion.

“Therefore, besides the great efforts we are making to return our abductees, we stand firm on the principles we have established, which are essential for Israel’s security. These principles — I repeat — are consistent with the May 27 outline, which received American support,” Netanyahu said Sunday.

Netanyahu said Hamas has refused to negotiate, noting it did not send a representative to the talks in Doha.

“Therefore, the pressure should be directed at Hamas and Sinwar, and not at the Israeli government,” he said, referring to Yahya Sinwar, the newly named political leader of Hamas and one of the key architects of Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. “The strong military pressure, and the strong political pressure, this is the way to achieve the release of our abductees.”

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Blinken heads to Tel Aviv as parties work on ‘specific details’ in cease-fire negotiations

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will land in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday evening as talks over a Gaza cease-fire hang in the balance.

Vedant Patel, the State Department’s principal deputy spokesperson, told reporters at a Thursday briefing that the parties are yet to settle “some specific details, some specific implementing factors,” but that there is “broad agreement on the contours” of a proposal set out by President Joe Biden in May.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed “cautious optimism” of progress, though one Israeli official said that “gaps” remain on sensitive topics, including whether or not Israeli forces will withdraw from key strategic areas within Gaza.

Meanwhile, the death toll continues to grow in the devastated strip. This weekend, more than 60 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry.

-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Tom Soufi Burridge

Biden: ‘No one in the region should take actions to undermine’ cease-fire deal

With a cease-fire deal “now in sight,” President Joe Biden said in a statement Friday that “no one in the region should take actions to undermine this process.”

Biden said his teams will “report to me regularly” as they remain on the ground over the coming days. Senior officials “will convene again in Cairo before the end of the week,” he said.

The expectation is for a cease-fire to go into place soon after there is agreement between the parties, a source familiar with the talks told ABC News.

-ABC News’ Justin Gomez

First case of polio confirmed in 10-month-old Gazan baby

A 10-month-old baby has become the first confirmed case of polio in Gaza, as international aid organizations and the United Nations push for a temporary humanitarian cease-fire to administer polio vaccinations, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The baby, located in is in Deir al-Balah, had not received a polio vaccination.

“The continued brutal Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has resulted in a health disaster, as attested by international organizations. The lack of basic hygiene needs, the lack of sanitation services, the accumulation of waste in the streets and around the places where displaced persons are sheltered, and the lack of safe drinking water have created an environment conducive to the spread and transmission of many epidemics, including waterborne diseases such as the vaccine-derived polio virus,” the ministry said in a statement.

Blinken to travel to Israel

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel on Saturday amid reports Hamas and Israel are close to a cease-fire deal.

Blinken will head to Israel Saturday to “continue intensive diplomatic efforts to conclude the agreement for a ceasefire and release of hostages and detainees through the bridging proposal presented today by the United States, with support from Egypt and Qatar,” according to the state department.

Cease-fire talks ‘in the end game,’ senior US official says

Cease-fire negotiations are “now in the end game,” according to a senior U.S. official, who discussed what to expect over the next week as a deal is on the brink of finalizing.

The main elements of the proposal that President Joe Biden laid out on May 31 remain, but negotiators have taken the areas of disagreement and “bridged those in a way that we think basically is a deal that is now ready to close and implement and move forward.”

“There is still more work to do, and over the course of this week, there are working group engagements to talk about everything from the list of hostages and the sequence by which hostages would be released, the list of Palestinian prisoners, because ultimately, this is an exchange, similar to what you saw in the November cease-fire deal,” the official told reporters Friday.

Getting to this point has been “extremely complicated” and the portion of the deal focusing on the exchange of prisoners and hostages was a “large basis” of the talks in Doha, Qatar.

“There was some gaps there, and some trade space between the parties, which I think we’ve now gone a long way to bridge,” the official said.

With tensions remaining high as Iran weighs a retaliatory attack on Israel, the official said if Iran really does want to see a cease-fire deal reached, “now is an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is and to basically work towards the conclusion of this.”

“It’s just ironic, it was Hamas, a proxy of Iran, started this war on Oct. 7, and it would be ironic if Iran were to do something to basically derail what we think is the best opportunity for the comprehensive cease-fire and hostage during these deal that we have had in many months.”

Biden says negotiations are ‘closer than we’ve ever been’

President Joe Biden says negotiators are “closer than we’ve ever been” on reaching a deal and “much, much closer” than they were three days ago.

3 Gazan children present symptoms of polio

Three children have presented with suspected acute flaccid paralysis, a common symptom of polio, weeks after poliovirus was detected in environmental samples from Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.

International aid groups are calling for temporary humanitarian pauses in order to launch polio vaccination campaigns across the Gaza Strip at the end of August and September to prevent the spread of the circulating variant type 2 poliovirus.

“During each round of the campaign, the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and partners, will provide two drops of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) to more than 640 000 children under ten years of age,” the WHO and UNICEF said in a statement.

Hamas said it supports a humanitarian pause in order to vaccinate thousands of children against quadriplegia.

“At least 95% vaccination coverage during each round of the campaign is needed to prevent the spread of polio and reduce the risk of its re-emergence, given the severely disrupted health, water and sanitation systems in the Gaza Strip,” the aid groups said.

Qatar, Egypt, US say new proposal was given to Israel, Hamas

A new “bridge proposal” was presented to Israel and Hamas, according to a joint statement from Qatar, Egypt and the U.S.

Israeli sources told ABC News progress has been made in negotiations and some of the gaps have narrowed. But Hamas said that the Israeli side did not abide by what was agreed upon on July 2 and Netanyahu even backed down from what was stated in the Israeli paper on May 27.

More talks will be held in Cairo next week to bridge the gap and complete the deal, the three countries said.

“Working teams will continue technical work over the coming days on the details of implementation including arrangements to implement the agreement’s extensive humanitarian provisions as well as specifics relating to hostages and detainees,” Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. said.

“There is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay,” the countries said.

IDF issues new evacuation orders, moves humanitarian zone in Khan Younis

Israel is calling on Palestinians sheltering in the humanitarian zone in northern Khan Yunis and eastern Deir al Balah to temporarily evacuate to the adjusted humanitarian area.

“The adjustment is being made following accurate intelligence information according to which the Hamas terrorist organization has established terrorist infrastructure in an area defined as a Humanitarian Area,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

Hamas said forcing thousands of Palestinian civilians to repeatedly displace has led to their overcrowding in harsh conditions that threaten their lives and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis.

“Forcing our people in northern Khan Yunis and eastern Deir al-Balah by the criminal Zionist occupation army to flee to the so-called ‘humanitarian and safe areas’ is nothing but another means to deepen the collective punishment and genocide that our people have been subjected to for more than ten months. The occupation uses displacement as a weapon in its war against defenseless civilians, in an attempt to break their will and increase their human suffering,” Hamas political bureau member Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement.

Israel has continued to conduct strikes on humanitarian areas despite official designations that they are safe zones for civilians.

Hamas says Israeli evasion is obstacle to cease-fire agreement

As negotiations between Hamas and Israel continue in Qatar, Hamas said the obstacle to reaching a cease-fire in Gaza is continued Israel evasion.

Hamas said that any agreement must include a complete withdrawal from Gaza, the return of displaced people and the reconstruction, in addition to a prisoner exchange deal, according to Husam Badran, a member of the Hamas’ political bureau.

At least 1 dead, several injured after Israeli settlers raid West Bank village

At least one person was killed and several others were injured after Israeli settlers raided Jit, a village in the West Bank.

Dozens of Israeli citizens, some of them masked, entered the village of Jit in Samaria Thursday evening and set fire to vehicles and buildings in the village, threw stones and threw Molotov cocktails, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

IDF and Magav forces jumped into the village within minutes of receiving the report, dispersed demonstrations and shot into the air, and removed the Israeli citizens from the village.

Security forces arrested one Israeli citizen, who was handed over to the Israel Police for further treatment.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement on the attack saying “those responsible for any criminal act will be caught and prosecuted.”

Benny Gantz, chairman of Israel’s National United Party, also said those who commited acts of violence on Thursday should be behind bars and said they are “harming the state of Israel.”

“They deserve unequivocal condemnation from all parts of society and from the entire leadership in Israel,” Gantz said in a statement.

IDF claims more than 17,000 militants ‘eliminated’ in Gaza

The Israeli Defense Forces claimed it has “eliminated over 17,000 terrorists” in Gaza on Thursday.

More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Negotiations between Israel, Hamas have started, US says

Negotiations are “just starting there in Doha,” Qatar, despite Hamas saying it will not attend the talks, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters during a call Thursday.

“We’re at a point now where the framework is generally accepted and where the gaps are in the execution of the deal, the individual muscle movements that go with putting the deal in place,” Kirby said.

“In the past, it has worked very similar to how it’s working in Doha today, where mediators will sit and discuss work things out, and then those mediators will be in touch with Hamas, and then the Hamas leaders in Doha then communicate directly with Mr. Sinwar for final answers,” Kirby said.

Netanyahu, IDF chief at odds over withdrawing from Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Forces chief Herzi Halevi are at odds over a key provision amid cease-fire negotiations — IDF withdrawing from the Gaza Strip.

The IDF chief of staff said that holding on to any part of Gaza or the Philadelphi corridor are conditions Israel should not break a potential deal with Hamas over. The IDF can deal with being out of Gaza and giving up the control on Philadelphi, Halevi said.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu firmly stands by the principle that the IDF will remain physically on the Philadelphi axis, according to a source close to Netanyahu.

Cease-fire talks resume in Qatar

A U.S. delegation is in the Qatari capital of Doha for the resumption of cease-fire talks related to Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

CIA chief Bill Burns is part of the U.S. group, while the head of Mossad — David Barnea — is with the Israeli delegation. High level Egyptian officials are also in attendance.

The talks are being hosted by Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Discussions will take place over two days.

Hamas is not taking part in the negotiations. The group announced on Wednesday it would not send a representative in protest of what it said was Israel’s failure to commit to negotiating on the basis of a July 2 cease-fire proposal.

Grim milestone of 40,000 killed in Gaza, says Hamas-run Health Ministry

Israel’s war in Gaza has hit another grim milestone after the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the strip declared that the death toll had passed 40,000 since the start of the war on Oct. 8.

On Thursday, officials in Gaza said a total of 40,005 people had been killed in the conflict.

That figure does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. However, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said there were more than 11,000 women and more than 16,000 children among the dead.

The true death toll in Gaza, after more than 10 months of war, could be significantly higher than the Health Ministry’s figure because officials in Gaza estimate that an additional 10,000 people in Gaza are unaccounted for because of the war.

Latest on the state of play for high-stakes Gaza cease-fire talks

On the eve of what is supposed to be a critical, final push to seal the Gaza cease-fire/hostage release deal, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is working the phones with key mediators as the U.S. works to make sure negotiations will indeed press on.

In his conversations with his Qatari and Egyptian counterparts, Blinken discussed efforts to reach an agreement and stressed that “no party in the region should take actions that would undermine efforts to reach a deal,” according to readouts of the calls.

This comes as Hamas continues to assert that it will not participate in the talks in Doha, Qatar — accusing Israel of moving the goal posts and insisting it will only move forward with the version of the deal it agreed to in early July.

Qatar has assured the Biden administration that it will drum up some sort of Hamas representative to fill the group’s seat at the negotiating table, U.S. officials said. However, Qatar has made no promise about the quality of said representation. Getting messages to Hamas’ ultimate power and deciding vote, Yahya Sinwar, can take days or even weeks, so to be effective in the talks, the intermediary needs to have a good idea of what Sinwar might ultimately sign off on and what’s a nonstarter.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is insisting on maintaining operational control over the Philadelphi Corridor — a narrow strip of land separating Gaza from Egypt — through the duration of any cease-fire, as well as implementing additional procedures for Gazans that would be returning to their homes in the North, according to officials familiar with the matter.

As for Hamas, the group has called for more than two dozen changes to the framework that was rolled out in May, which U.S. officials have repeatedly insisted is “nearly identical” to a deal Hamas previously agreed to.

Regarding Iran, U.S. officials don’t have a crystal-clear view of Tehran’s position, but the administration does put stock into the idea that Iran doesn’t want to do anything to jeopardize a peace deal and sees the looming talks as a potential reason there hasn’t yet been retaliation against Israel for the killing of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Two Hezbollah fighters killed, IDF and Hezbollah say

Israeli forces said they killed two Hezbollah members in Lebanon on Wednesday.

Hezbollah also confirmed the death of two of their fighters in statements released on Wednesday.

The IDF said an Israeli Air Force aircraft “eliminated two Hezbollah terrorists” in the area of Marjayoun in southern Lebanon.

Netanyahu gives negotiating team more flexibility: Israeli official

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expanded the mandate and positions of the Israeli negotiators, an Israeli official told ABC News, giving the team more flexibility ahead of the cease-fire talks in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday.

The development comes as he faces growing criticism to reach a cease-fire deal.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

White House expects cease-fire talks to ‘move forward as planned’

The White House expects Thursday’s cease-fire negotiations in Doha, Qatar, to “move forward as planned” and said the announcement of Hamas not sending a delegation is just “public posturing” in advance of those discussions.

“We expect these talks to move forward as planned. [CIA] Director [Bill] Burns and Brett McGurk, [White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa], will both travel to Qatar for these discussions. There’s always a lot of public posturing in advance. We’ve seen that before. It’s not new of these talks, and I’m not going to certainly weigh in on any of that, just like I’m not going to discuss the details of the negotiation,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday.

Israel closes humanitarian route through Rafah

Israeli forces “temporarily” closed the humanitarian route in the area of Rafah, in southern Gaza, on Tuesday, saying Hamas operatives “opened fire” toward the route.

This is the second time the IDF has closed this route in the past week.

The route is an 8-mile road going from the Kerem Shalom crossing, near Rafah, north near Khan Younis and the humanitarian zone.

Hamas not attending cease-fire negotiations in Qatar

Hamas said it will not be attending cease-fire negotiations in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday.

“The movement demands a clear commitment from the occupation to what was agreed upon on July 2, according to the clarifications conveyed by the mediators, and if that happens, the movement is ready to enter into the mechanisms for implementing the agreement,” Hamas Political Bureau Member Dr. Suhail al-Hindi told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed TV.

Israel to send delegation to Qatar to negotiate cease-fire

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the sending of an Israeli delegation to Doha, Qatar, on Thursday to continue negotiations for a cease-fire agreement.

This comes as Netanyahu is receiving pushback internally and externally amid reports he changed the parameters of what he would agree to.

Biden expects Iran to hold off on retaliatory attack if a cease-fire deal is reached

President Joe Biden addressed the rising tensions in the Middle East Tuesday after U.S. officials warned Iran could launch a retaliatory attack on Israel as early as “this week.”

Biden told reporters he expects Iran to hold off on carrying out a retaliatory attack against Israel if a cease-fire deal with Hamas is reached.

“That’s my expectation, but we’ll see,” Biden said after arriving in New Orleans, LA.

Last week, Biden along with the leaders of Egypt and Qatar jointly called for Israel and Hamas to return to the negotiating table and reach an agreement that would free hostages and end the war in Gaza.

Hamas leaders declined the new set of cease-fire conditions on Sunday, asking for negotiations to resume around what was presented in July.

US approves $20 billion more in arms sales to Israel

The U.S. State Department has signed off on several large arms transfers to Israel, notifying Congress on Tuesday that it has approved the sale of more than $20 billion worth of weaponry and military equipment.

All of the sales surpass the value threshold that requires the State Department to formally notify Congress 15 days before initiating the transfer process. Congress can move to reject the transaction by adopting a joint resolution of disapproval within that timeframe.

Some of the items aren’t scheduled to arrive in Israel for years.

Israeli forces kill two Hezbollah fighters, IDF says

Israeli forces killed two Hezbollah fighters from its Southern Front on Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement. Hezbollah has confirmed the death of two of their fighters on Tuesday.

These attacks come as Israel awaits a response from Hezbollah and Iran for killings in recent weeks.

CIA director, Biden aide to head to Middle East to salvage hostage talks

Several U.S. officials are headed to the Middle East this week in a bid to de-escalate regional tensions and try to salvage hostage negotiations, as the window for a deal appears to be closing.

CIA Director Bill Burns is expected to arrive in Doha, Qatar, this week, where he will lead a crucial meeting on the hostages, according to a U.S. official. It’s not clear, however, whether a representative of Hamas will attend.

Meanwhile, Brett McGurk, Biden’s top adviser on the Middle East at the White House, was expected to travel separately to Cairo, according to the U.S. official.

Axios first reported the travel plans for Burns and McGurk, noting that McGurk’s plan was to nail down a security plan for the Egypt-Gaza border.

The diplomatic trip also comes as the U.S. has been scrambling to revive a coalition of countries that helped to defend Israel last April during an attack by Iran.

Israel has been bracing for Iran to launch a retaliatory attack following the assassination of a senior Hamas official in Tehran.

The U.S. official acknowledged “there have been complications” with getting some of the Arab countries on board but added they’ve been “able to put in place preparations” to defend Israel successfully.

-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty

Western leaders call on Iran to ‘stand down’

The leaders of the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Italy called on Iran to “stand down” and expressed their support for Israel’s defense “against Iranian aggression” during a call on Monday, according to a joint statement released by the White House.

“We called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place,” the statement said.

The leaders also expressed their support for ongoing efforts to reach a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza, according to the statement.

-ABC News’ Justin Gomez

Hostage deal talks expected to move forward: State Department

As the Middle East continues its uneasy wait for Iran’s response to the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, the State Department is pressing on with its high-stakes diplomatic campaign to constrain military action from Tehran amid fresh waves of uncertainty.

“We continue to work diplomatically to prevent any major escalation in this conflict,” deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters Monday. “We obviously don’t want to see any kind of attack or response happen in the first place.”

Multiple officials within the State Department said they are still cautiously optimistic that Iran will limit the scope of its retaliation, but that they increasingly expect the country will strike at Israel before Thursday — the date the Biden administration, along with Egypt and Qatar, set to relaunch hostage/cease-fire deal talks in hopes of bringing Israel and Hamas back to the table for a final push.

A joint statement issued by the mediators last week was designed not only to pressure the parties involved, but as a message to Iran that an agreement was in the offing meant to persuade the country against military action that could scuttle a deal, according to an official.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby also publicly warned Monday that Iranian military action could impede progress at a critical point in the negotiations.

However, Hamas’ earlier announcement that it would not participate in the round of negotiations and public infighting among top Israeli officials have cast significant doubt over whether the Thursday meeting will even happen — undercutting the administration’s intended message to Tehran.

At the podium Monday, Patel said mediators “fully expect talks to move forward as they should” in order to “bring this deal to conclusion.”

He declined to say whether Hamas or Israel was the bigger impediment.

“I’m not going to color it one way or the other,” Patel said while noting that “the prime minister of Israel immediately welcomed this initiative and confirmed that the Israeli team will be there, and they’ll be prepared to finalize the details of implementing the deal.”

-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston

Retaliatory attack on Israel could come ‘this week’: Kirby

A United States assessment shows a retaliatory attack by Iran and its proxies against Israel could be launched “this week,” the White House said Monday.

“We share the same concerns and expectations that our Israeli counterparts have with respect to potential timing here. Could be this week,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. “We’re continuing to watch it very, very closely.”

Kirby said it’s difficult to ascertain what a potential attack could look like at this time but that “we have to be prepared for what could be a significant set of attacks.”

Meanwhile, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari told reporters on Monday that Israel remains “on high alert.”

“We take seriously the threats of our enemies and that is why we are on high alert offensively and defensively,” he said.

Hagari said the IDF will “work hard to give the public time to get organized.”

-ABC News’ Justin Gomez

Netanyahu accuses defense minister of ‘adopting anti-Israel narrative’

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant appeared to take a swing at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a Knesset committee meeting about Israel’s response to ongoing cross-border tensions with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

“I hear all the heroes with the war drums, the ‘absolute victory’ and this gibberish,” Gallant reportedly said, alluding to Netanyahu’s slogan through the war, according to Israeli media.

Netanyahu’s office released a statement shortly after, saying Gallant too is bound by the policy of “absolute victory.”

“When Gallant adopts the anti-Israel narrative, he hurts the chances of reaching a deal for the release of the abductees,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said. “He should have attacked [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, who refuses to send a delegation to the negotiations, and who was and remains the only obstacle to the kidnapping deal.”

National Unity Party Chairman Benny Gantz warned about internal divisions in Israel during an address on Monday.

“If we don’t come to our senses, there will be a civil war here,” Gantz said.

He said there have been “heroes,” from soldiers to volunteers, in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack, but also “leadership that dissolves, networks that poison the well from which we live.”

“The patriotic Israeli majority should stop the hatred and make amends,” Gantz said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Hezbollah says it is still determined to attack Israel

While the weekend passed with no direct retaliation from Hezbollah for the killings of several top leaders by Israeli strikes, the group said it still plans to strike.

“The response is coming and inevitable and there is no turning back from it,” Ali Damoush, the deputy chairman of the Executive Council of Hezbollah, said Monday.

The Hezbollah official saif America, Great Britain, Germany and everyone who supplies Israel with weapons is a partner in the Gaza massacres.

“Israel does not find any practical and serious response to its massacres, and this is what encourages it to continue committing crimes and massacres, and without effective pressure Netanyahu will not stop his crimes,” Damoush claimed.

Israeli Air Force bans travel abroad

Amid fears that an attack from Iran may be imminent, the commander of Israel’s Air Force, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, has issued an order barring servicemembers from traveling abroad. The directive applies to career officers and non-commissioned officers, not conscripts, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

US is ‘strengthening’ military force in Middle East over ‘escalating’ tensions

The U.S. is “strengthening” its capabilities in the Middle East by sending an additional guided missile submarine to the region “in light of escalating regional tensions,” according to a statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder issued on Sunday.

The update comes the same day Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.

“Secretary Austin reiterated the United States’ commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel,” according to the statement.

Secretary Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, equipped with F-35C fighters, to accelerate its transit to the Middle East, which was previously expected to get there by the end of the month.

The Lincoln was already en route to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt, but will now add to the capabilities of the Roosevelt

Additionally, Austin has ordered the USS Georgia guided missile submarine to the Middle East.

The statement doesn’t say how soon the Lincoln or the USS Georgia will arrive in the region.

Israeli forces intercept ‘projectiles’ crossing from Lebanon, no injuries: IDF

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intercepted approximately 30 “projectiles” that were identified as crossing from Lebanon into northern Israel early Monday morning local time, the IDF said in a statement.

No injuries were reported from the attacks, the IDF said.

“The IDF is striking the sources of fire,” the IDF added.

Israel-Gaza live updates: Israeli forces strike another school in Gaza, killing two

Luis Diaz Devesa/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, cease-fire discussions are occurring in the Middle East, with officials hoping to bring an end to the conflict.

The United States and its allies continue to plead for a cease-fire deal, with discussions set for this week.

Here’s how the news is developing:

More arrests, terrorism charges after West Bank settler violence

Four people — including a minor — have been arrested on terrorism charges in connection with recent deadly violence in the occupied West Bank.

Last week, Israeli settlers set fire to homes and cars in the Palestinian village of Jit, killing one Palestinian resident and injuring another. One person was arrested that night on Aug. 15 when Israeli security forces intervened. There have now been a total of five arrests.

In a joint statement issued Thursday, the Israel Police and the Israel Securities Authority (ISA) said the detainees are “suspected in several acts of terrorism against Palestinians, including the severe riots” that occurred in Jit.

“This was a severe terror event that included setting fire to buildings and vehicles, stone and Molotov cocktail hurling, as well as live fire, resulting in the killing of one Palestinian and the injuring of another,” the statement said.

The investigation of the events is ongoing, the statement said.

Israeli forces strike another school in Gaza, killing 2

Two people were killed and 15 others were injured after Israeli forces conducted a strike on the Salah al-Din school in Gaza City on Wednesday.

This is the second strike conducted on a school in Gaza this week. Israeli forces repeatedly claim Hamas uses and operates out of schools inside Gaza.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

1 killed in Lebanon as tensions continue to rise

One man was killed in an Israeli strike on Sidon in southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. Hezbollah also announced the death of another of its members on Wednesday.

Hezbollah also released statements taking responsibility for 10 attacks on northern Israel.

About 50 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon toward northern Israel, a number of which struck the town of Katzrin, where about 8,000 people live, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

One person was injured and is in moderate condition, according to Israeli emergency services.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Ghazi Balkiz

1 dead, 19 injured in strikes on Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley

One person was killed and 19 others have been injured from Israeli strikes on the Beqaa Valley, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said Tuesday.

Separately, Hezbollah officials announced that four of their fighters were killed Tuesday.

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

‘Time is of the essence,’ Blinken says of cease-fire talks

Before wrapping up his trip to the Middle East, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to members of the media on a tarmac in Qatar, emphasizing the urgency behind the latest push for a hostage release and cease-fire agreement in Gaza.

“Our message is simple, it’s clear, and it’s urgent. We need to get the cease-fire and hostage agreement over the finish line, and we need to do it now,” he said.

“Time is of the essence, because with every passing day, the well-being and lives of the hostages are in jeopardy. Time is of the essence, because every single day, women, children, men in Gaza are suffering,” he said. “And time is of the essence because with every passing day, there’s the danger of escalation in the region.”

Blinken said Qatar and Egypt remain “in direct contact with Hamas working to bring it along” with the bridging proposal, but he again made clear that even if that were to happen, all sides would still need to complete “detailed implementation agreements that go along with putting the cease-fire into effect.”

Netanyahu throws cold water on reaching a cease-fire deal, hostage forum says

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told representatives of the hostage families that “Israel will not under any circumstances withdraw from the Philadelphie axis and the Netzer Corridor despite tremendous pressure to do so,” according to a release from the Tikva Forum of hostage families.

“I’m not sure there will be a deal, but if there is a deal — the deal will be one that preserves the interests that I repeat over and over again, which are the preservation of Israel’s strategic assets. The demand that there be negotiations, even in the future — a demand that is unacceptable, even if there is a deal — after 42 days, we will return to fighting immediately, until the elimination of Hamas, even while negotiating the next steps,” Netanyahu told hostage families.

“The military pressure will continue with full force, this is the only thing that makes Hamas drop its unreasonable demands,” Netanyahu added.

Asked by ABC News, Netanyahu’s office said they had nothing to add beyond a press release that did not include the comments.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Dana Savir

Bodies of hostages found in area where IDF had previously operated, IDF spokesman says

The bodies of six hostages recovered by Israeli Defense Forces were found in an area where Israeli forces had previously operated in Khan Younis, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said in remarks to the press Tuesday.

The circumstances of the hostages’ deaths are being investigated, Hagari added.

“The operation was led by the 98th Division, which returned to operate in the Khan Younis area for the third time a few weeks ago, this time with new intelligence and new targets,” Hagari said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

US official criticizes Netanyahu’s reported comments

As U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken continues his meetings with Middle Eastern mediators working toward a Gaza cease-fire deal, a senior U.S. official traveling with his delegation is criticizing comments about the process emanating from both Israel and Hamas, casting them as unproductive.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, addressed reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a hawkish stance in a meeting with hostage families, telling them he was “unsure” there would be an agreement to return those held captive in Gaza and that he would not withdraw troops from strategic areas of the enclave — a key sticking point in negotiations.

“Maximalist statements like this are not constructive to getting a cease-fire deal across the finish lines,” the official said. “And they certainly risk the ability of implementing and working level and technical talks to be able to move forward when both parties agree to a bridging proposal.”

The senior official also dismissed Hamas’ latest statement accusing the U.S. of “blind bias towards Israel.”

“They say a lot of things and they do a lot of different things,” the official said, suggesting the militant group’s ongoing engagement was an indication that Hamas was still involved in the negotiation process despite its insistences to the contrary.

-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston

Over 115 projectiles crossed from Lebanon into northern Israel, IDF says

Israeli forces have identified over 115 projectiles crossing from Lebanon into northern Israel on Tuesday, the IDF said.

Hezbollah has also released statements about eight different attacks on northern Israel Tuesday.

Two people were killed after Israeli strikes on the town of Al-Dhahira Tuesday, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Ghazi Balkiz

IDF strikes Gaza school sheltering displaced Palestinians

At least 12 people have been killed in another strike on a school in the Gaza Strip where displaced people were sheltering, the Gaza Civil Defense said Tuesday.

The Mustafa Khaft school in western Gaza City was hit by the Israeli air force, Israel confirmed in a statement, alleging that Hamas was using the facility as a command center.

“The command and control center was embedded and hidden by the Hamas terrorist organization inside,” the IDF statement said. “Hamas terrorists used the command and control center to plan and execute attacks against IDF troops and the state of Israel.”

The IDF said it took “numerous steps” to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, “including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence.”

A number of people are still missing after the strike, according to the Gaza Civil Defense. Around 700 people were sheltering in the school, according to Palestinian officials.

Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted Gaza schools — some of which are doubling as shelters for people displaced by the fierce fighting — they say are being used as Hamas military hubs and weapon storage sites.

Earlier this month, the U.N. Human Rights Office accused Israel of “systematic attacks” on schools following a strike on the Al Tabae’en School in Gaza City.

-ABC News’ Sami Zayara and Joe Simonetti

IDF strikes Gaza school

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has confirmed a fresh strike on a school in the Gaza Strip, with unconfirmed reports of at least 10 people killed.

The Mustafa Khaft school in western Gaza City was hit by the Israeli Air Force (IAF), the IDF said in a statement, alleging that Hamas was using the facility as a command center.

The IDF said it took “numerous steps” to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, “including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence.”

Earlier this month, the U.N. Human Rights Office accused Israel of “systematic attacks” on schools following a strike on the Al Tabae’en School in Gaza City.

Bodies of six hostages recovered from southern Gaza

The bodies of six Israeli hostages were recovered in an overnight operation inside the Gaza Strip.

The six men were found in a tunnel in the southern city of Khan Younis during a joint Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency — also known as Shin Bet — operation.

The hostages are Alex Dancyg, 75, Yagev Buchshtav, 35, Chaim Peri, 79, Yoram Metzger, 80, Nadav Popplewell, 51, and Avraham Munder, 78.

All had been declared dead before their bodies were recovered. The cause of their deaths has not been revealed. Funerals are expected for some of the dead later on Tuesday.

Senior Hamas official throws cold water on Blinken’s announcement

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s talk about approving an updated proposal means that the U.S. administration failed to convince Netanyahu of the previous deal that Hamas had already agreed to back on July 2.

Hamdan made the comments during an interview with Al Jazeera on Monday evening local time after Blinken’s meeting with Netanyahu in Israel and announcement that Netanyahu had voiced support for the U.S.-backed bridging proposal.

Hamdan said that all the U.S. side is doing is buying time for Israel to “continue its crimes of genocide.”

-ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Guy Davies

Wife of American-Israeli hostage and former hostage ‘happier and more optimistic’ after Blinken meeting

Freed Israeli hostage Aviva Siegel, whose husband Keith is still held captive, said she was feeling “happier and more optimistic than before” after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday. After hearing from Blinken, Siegel said she wants to believe that her husband, an American-Israeli citizen, will be home soon.

Siegel said Blinken gave her the impression that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants the deal that’s on the table, but cautioned that it sounds like hard work needs to be done to close the gaps with Hamas.

Outside of the building where families of the hostages met Blinken, crowds chanted “SOS USA” and waved American flags, with a message to Blinken that the U.S. government is their main lifeline to bring the hostages home.

Despite the optimism from the Biden administration, momentum appears to have slowed. Talks in Doha did not end with any major breakthrough, and a U.S.-presented “bridging proposal” has been dismissed by Hamas, who accuse Netanyahu of adding new conditions and obstacles, including the rejection of a permanent ceasefire.

Blinken travels to Egypt tomorrow, where he says he’ll get the latest from Egyptian and Qatari leaders on Hamas’ intentions.

-ABC News’ Britt Clennett, Guy Davies, Anna Burd and Tomer Slutzky

3:50 PM EDT
8 injured from Israeli strikes in Lebanon

At least eight people have been injured from Israeli strikes on the Beqaa Valley, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said Monday.

Among the wounded are six Lebanese citizens, a 5-year-old Syrian girl and a 15-year-old Syrian girl. All of them were treated in the emergency room at nearby hospitals, the Ministry of Public Health said.

There were seven Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Monday, according to Lebanese local media.

In two separate statements Monday, the IDF acknowledged conducting operations “in the area of Houla in southern Lebanon,” “in the area of Beqaa in Lebanon” and in “the area of Tayibe in southern Lebanon.”

-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz

2:39 PM EDT
Netanyahu would accept US cease-fire proposal, will send negotiators to new talks: Blinken

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday afternoon that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed in their earlier meeting that he supports and would accept the U.S.-backed bridging proposal that emerged after meetings in the region last week, and that Israel would send negotiators.

“It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same,” Blinken told reporters on his ninth trip to the region since Oct. 7. “And then, the parties, with the help of the mediators — the United States, Egypt and Qatar — have to come together and complete the process of reaching clear understandings about how they’ll implement the commitments that they’ve made under this agreement. But the next important step is for Hamas to say yes.”

Blinken acknowledged the “complex issues” would still “require hard decisions by the leaders,” but said he still felt “a real sense of urgency, here, across the region, on the need to get this over the finish line and to do it as soon as possible.”

But given Hamas’ unwillingness to engage in the latest round of negotiations, the secretary was pressed on whether there was any real hope the militant group would sign on to the proposal.

“Tomorrow, when I see the leaders of both Egypt and Qatar, I’ll get the latest from them on what they are hearing,” he responded. “I can’t speculate on exactly what Hamas’ intentions are. We’ve seen public statements, but we’ve seen public statements before that don’t fully reflect where Hamas is.”

Blinken will then travel to Qatar after visiting Egypt on Tuesday, he said.

-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston

12:15 PM EDT
Hamas takes responsibility for attack in Tel Aviv that injured one

Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, took responsibility for an attack in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening that left one person injured and the bomber dead.

In a joint statement released Monday, Israeli Police and Shin Bet said the explosion had been a terror attack.

“It can now be confirmed that this was a terror attack involving the explosion of a powerful explosive,” the Israeli police and Shin Bet said. “As a result of the explosion, a passerby was moderately injured (according to medical sources) and was transported to receive medical treatment.”

11:58 AM EDT
American Airlines suspends Tel Aviv flights through March 2025

American Airlines has extended their suspension of flights to and from Tel Aviv until March 29, 2025, the airline said Monday.

American Airlines said they would allow customers whose travel plans are impacted by the extension to rebook their flights without a fee or cancel and receive a refund.

“We will continue to work closely with our partner airlines to assist customers traveling between Israel and European cities with service to the U.S.,” the airline said in a statement.

11:38 AM EDT
Colleagues mourn another journalist killed in Gaza

Journalist Ibrahim Muhareb was killed by an Israeli airstrike while on duty in the Khan Younis area on Sunday, his employer, the online newspaper BDN, said in a statement.

A video filmed by Muhareb’s friend and colleague, Abdallah Alattar, showed the moment the journalist’s body — his press vest laid on top of him — arrived at Nasser Hospital after being found in Hamad Town early on Monday morning.

Muhareb had been covering the events in western Khan Younis with other colleagues when they were targeted, BDN said.

“His traces were lost after occupation artillery targeted a group of journalists in the place yesterday,” BDN said in a statement, adding that Muhareb had been working regularly with them throughout the war while also freelancing for others.

As of Aug. 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ preliminary investigations showed at least 113 journalists and media workers have been killed since the war began, making it the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992. Of those killed, 108 were Palestinian, two were Israeli and three were Lebanese.

Palestinian journalists strongly protested what they say is the deliberate targeting of the media and the lack of support from international colleagues on July 31, following the killing of Al Jazeera’s Ismail Al-Ghoul and Rami Al Refee by an Israeli strike while they were working in Gaza City. Israel alleges that Al-Ghoul was a member of Hamas, an allegation that the network denied.

“Even before the start of the Israel-Gaza war, CPJ had documented Israel’s pattern of accusing journalists of being terrorists without producing credible evidence to substantiate their claims,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martínez de la Serna. “Smear campaigns endanger journalists and erode public trust in the media. Israel must end this practice and allow independent international investigations into the journalists’ killings.”

-ABC News’ Camilla Alcini

11:58 AM EDT
Blinken meets with Netanyahu and Herzog

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for three hours on Monday, Netanyahu’s press office said in a release.

The meeting was “positive and was held in a good atmosphere,” the release said.

“The meeting lasted approximately three hours. The Prime Minister reiterated Israel’s commitment to the current American proposal on the release of our hostages, which takes into account Israel’s security needs, which he strongly insists on,” the release said.

The meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary Antony Blinken has concluded; the meeting was positive and was held in a good atmosphere. pic.twitter.com/vVfnWvi9ih

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) August 19, 2024

Blinken also met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday, according to the U.S. State Department.

“The Secretary reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region,” a spokesperson for the State Department said in a statement. “The Secretary reiterated the urgent need to finalize the ceasefire agreement that would release the hostages, allow a surge of humanitarian assistance, and create the conditions for broader regional stability.”

Blinken is expected to head to El Alamein, Egypt, on Tuesday for additional meetings.