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.
Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Mar 1, 2024, 6:03 am
What we know about the conflict
The latest outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs the Gaza Strip, has passed the four-month mark.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 30,228 people have been killed and 71,377 others have been wounded by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to Gaza's Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
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 395 people in the territory since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The ongoing war began after Hamas-led militants launched an unprecedented incursion into southern Israel from neighboring Gaza via land, sea and air. Scores of people were killed while more than 200 others were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities. The Israeli military subsequently launched retaliatory airstrikes followed by a ground invasion of Gaza, a 140-square-mile territory where more than 2 million Palestinians have lived under a blockade imposed by Israel and supported by Egypt since Hamas came to power in 2007. Gaza, unlike Israel, has no air raid sirens or bomb shelters.
Dec 13, 2023, 2:20 PM EST
Israeli hostage killed in captivity
Israeli hostage Tal Chaimi, a 41-year-old man and member of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, was killed on Oct. 7 and his body remains in Gaza, the Israeli prime minister's office confirmed on Wednesday.
Because his body remains in Gaza, the Israeli government believes his body is being held hostage.
Chaimi is survived by his wife and three children: 9-year-old twins and a 6-year-old son, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.
There are currently 114 hostages believed to be alive or unaccounted for in Gaza, according to the Israeli government. Twenty-one hostages were believed to have been killed in captivity and their bodies remain in Gaza.
Dec 13, 2023, 1:36 PM EST
American hostages families: There's 'no better friend' than Biden
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, speaking on behalf of the family members of the eight Americans believed to be held hostage by Hamas, told reporters, “We could have no better friend in Washington or in the White House than President Biden himself and his administration.”
He said the families left their "terrific" meeting with Biden on Wednesday feeling the administration was "completely committed" to securing the release of their loved ones.
Family members of American hostages held by Hamas speak to the press outside the White House in Washington, Dec. 13, 2023, after a meeting with President Joe Biden.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
When asked for updates on their loved ones, the families declined to get into the specifics of the conversation.
But, Dekel-Chen said, "Today’s meeting with President Biden and Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken only reinforced that … they are willing and ready to do all that they possibly can, by any number of means, to get the hostages home."
6:57
Families of American hostages issue remarks following meeting with Biden Families have been pushing for more pauses in fighting to allow Israel to negotiate the release of remaining hostages.
ABCNews.com
Liz Naftali, the great aunt of Abigail, the 4-year-old Israeli-American hostage released last month, said, “Abigail is a miracle."
Naftali praised Biden and Blinken for their empathy.
"What the president and Secretary Blinken understand is that they're just not numbers and they're just not faces,” she said. “They are sons. They are grandparents. They are mothers."
"We are thankful to the president and to his team, because we know that they are working 24 hours a day and they are going to work through the holidays," she said. "They are going to do everything they can to make sure that all of our loved ones … come home."
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle and Fritz Farrow
Dec 13, 2023, 11:38 AM EST
No more children's vaccines available in Gaza: Gaza Ministry of Health
Children's vaccines have run out completely in Gaza, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
This "will cause catastrophic health repercussions on children's health and the spread of diseases, especially among the displaced in overcrowded shelter centers," Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra warned.
A woman holds a baby next to a girl, as displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, shelter in a tent camp near the border with Egypt, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Dec. 11, 2023.
Mohammed Salem/Reuters
Dec 13, 2023, 11:23 AM EST
Biden meets with families of American hostages
President Joe Biden met privately Wednesday with families of Americans taken hostage by Hamas, according to the White House.
Participants included: Yael Alexander, Adi Alexander, Ruby Chen, Roy Chen, Ronen Neutra, Orna Neutra, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, Gillian Kaye, Aviva Siegel, Elan Siegel, Shir Siegel, Hanna Siegel and Liz Naftali.
People release balloons for Israeli hostages, who are being held in the Gaza Strip as the country observes the start of Hanukkah in Tel Aviv, Israel Dec. 7, 2023.
Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Jon Finer, White House deputy national security adviser, also participated in the meeting.
Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, whose 23-year-old son, Hersh, was taken hostage, and Iris Haggai, whose parents were believe to be kidnapped, joined the meeting by phone.
