Israel-Gaza updates: Israeli forces preparing for 'wide range of offensive plans'

Fighting is ongoing after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: October 17, 2023, 4:16 PM EDT

At least 1,400 people have died and 3,400 others have been injured in Israel after the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented incursion from air, land and sea on Oct. 7, Israeli authorities said.

In Gaza, 3,000 people have been killed and another 12,500 were injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Tensions are high with the prospect of ground war and evacuation orders for Gaza after the Israel Defense Forces called for "all residents of Gaza City to evacuate their homes" and "move south for their protection" early Friday, saying residents should move "and settle in the area south of the Gaza River." The announcement was made, according to the IDF, because it plans to "operate significantly in Gaza City in the coming days" and wanted "to avoid harming civilians."

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Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Oct 16, 2023, 2:47 pm

Timeline: The Hamas attack and response

On the morning of Oct. 7, sirens echoed across Israel as Hamas terrorists began a full-fledged surprise attack from the air, sea and ground. Hundreds of armed Hamas fighters stormed into Israel from Gaza, charging into cities and gunning down citizens.

Friends and family mourn Dor Reder, who was killed following a deadly infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, at his funeral in Beit Kama, southern Israel, Oct. 16, 2023.
Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters

Israeli forces responded by sending wave after wave of bombs into Gaza, killing thousands, trapping civilians and raising fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.

Click here for the full timeline

Oct 09, 2023, 11:39 AM EDT

Israel wants artillery, missiles, Iron Dome interceptors from US: Biden administration

Israel is seeking a resupply of specific weapons from the United States, including artillery rounds, interceptors for its Iron Dome missile defense system and precision-guided munitions, a Biden administration official told congressional leaders on a Sunday night conference call, according to two sources familiar with the call.

More U.S. aid approved by Congress will be critical for Israel's defense in the coming weeks as the conflict continues, the sources said, describing the Biden administration's message to lawmakers.

The mother of Israeli Col. Roi Levy cries during her son's funeral at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on Oct. 9, 2023.
Maya Alleruzzo/AP

-ABC News' Ben Siegel

Oct 09, 2023, 11:09 AM EDT

Dozens of Israeli fighter jets strike Gaza

Dozens of Israeli fighter jets have struck several targets in the Al Forqan area of the Gaza Strip, which serves as a hub for Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces said. Massive blasts were seen igniting over the area at the same time.

Many of the operations against Israel this weekend were launched from the Al Forqan area, the IDF said.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller

Oct 09, 2023, 10:56 AM EDT

Israel Defense Forces: 'Unprecedented attack ... will be followed by an unprecedented Israeli response'

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, called Hamas' attack "unprecedented," and said the assault will be "followed by an unprecedented Israeli response."

"I could not imagine at that time [when the incursion began Saturday] that Hamas would have the audacity … to do what they have done," he told ABC News Monday. "To launch such an unprecedented, brutal, merciless attack on Israeli citizens. … And cause the amount of casualties that Israel has never experienced ever in its history."

In Israel, at least 700 people have died and more than 2,300 others have been injured since Saturday.

The Israel Defense Forces has since launched retaliatory airstrikes on Gaza. At least 560 people have died and another 2,900 have been injured in Gaza since Saturday, Palestinian authorities said.

The IDF said it's struck 130 targets in the last three hours.

Rockets fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza City are intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome defence missile system in the early hours of Oct. 8, 2023.
Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images

Oct 09, 2023, 10:53 AM EDT

US Embassy staff in Israel under curfew, banned from personal travel to West Bank

Personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Israel are now under a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and "are urged to stay as close to home as possible outside the curfew hours," the U.S. Embassy said in a new alert.

Israelis inspect the rubble of a building a day after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 8, 2023.
Oded Balilty/AP

In addition to a ban on personal travel to Gaza and the surrounding areas, the new alert said all U.S. government personnel are also prohibited from personal travel to the West Bank.

"U.S. citizens in Israel who have family members missing in the Gaza periphery can go to the Israel National Police’s combined assistance center at 4 HaNegev Street in Airport City," the alert said.

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

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