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Israel-Gaza live updates: IDF says it's discovered one of Hamas' biggest tunnels under Gaza
The 2 1/2-mile-long tunnel is large enough to drive a car through, the IDF said.
The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended on Dec. 1, and Israel has resumed its bombardment of Gaza.
The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
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Latest headlines:
- IDF says it's discovered one of Hamas' biggest tunnels under Gaza
- Hostage captured at music festival confirmed dead, Israel says
- IDF says soldier who shot hostages felt 'threatened' before they opened fire
- IDF mistakenly killed 3 Israeli hostages during combat in Gaza
- Al Jazeera cameraman killed in Gaza
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.
Sullivan: Israel allowing direct delivery of Gaza aid via Kerem Shalom crossing is a 'significant step'
The Kerem Shalom crossing at the Israel-Gaza-Egypt border opened for inspections of humanitarian aid on Tuesday, and Israel is now taking the "significant step" to allow the direct delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing, said national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Sullivan said he learned of Israel’s decision just before he departed Israel on Friday.
Up to 200 trucks per day will be allowed through the Kerem Shalom crossing, according to the Israeli prime minister's office.
"President [Joe] Biden raised this issue in recent phone calls with [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu, and it was an important topic of discussion during my visit to Israel over the past two days," Sullivan said in a statement Friday.
"The United States remains committed to expanding and sustaining the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza. We will continue to work closely with Egypt and other partners on the delivery and distribution of humanitarian assistance through Rafah crossing, and we hope that this new opening will ease congestion and help facilitate the delivery of life-saving assistance to those who need it urgently in Gaza," Sullivan added.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Sullivan: IDF’s long-term goal isn’t to occupy Gaza, but fight will take months
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said at a press conference in Tel Aviv on Friday that it doesn't make sense for Israel to occupy Gaza and that Israel has indicated it does not have long term plans to do so.
Sullivan said the fight against Hamas could take months, but he didn't offer up any details about if the war's intensity will shift gears.
As for the war’s impact on civilians in Gaza, Sullivan said, “The terrorists chose to embed themselves among civilians -- and that creates an incredible burden on the IDF.”
“That burden does not lessen the IDF's responsibility to weigh the distinguishes between terrorist targets and innocent people and to take every precaution to protect civilians and loss of life,” he continued. “It also doesn't lessen the burden, by the way, to ensure that humanitarian assistance flows in sufficient quantities that the Palestinian people have access to the food, water, medicine, sanitation, that they don't just need, that they deserve, as a basic matter of dignity, of human beings.”
“Israel has the right to go after Hamas in these difficult circumstances, and also has a responsibility to do so in a way that comports with our values, with international humanitarian law, and with the strategic necessity to see the fundamental difference between innocent Palestinian people and these evil terrorists of Hamas,” he said.
-ABC News’ Britt Clennett
Biden speaks with Turkish president about Israel-Hamas conflict
President Joe Biden spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan Thursday on a wide variety of topics including the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to the White House.
"President Biden reiterated his support for Israel’s right to defend itself. The leaders also discussed efforts to increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza and protect civilians and the need for a political horizon for the Palestinian people," the White House said in a readout of the conversation.
-ABC News' Fritz Farrow
Israeli health minister meets with ICRC to discuss hostage conditions
Israeli Minister of Health Uriel Buso and Director-General of the Ministry of Health Moshe Bar Siman Tov met Thursday with the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross to stress that the health of the hostages in Gaza is deteriorating by the day.
Israeli officials said they're calling for the ICRC to visit the hostages held by Hamas immediately to ensure they receive life-saving medical care.
"Hamas has already proven to the world that [it] does not hesitate to commit crimes against humanity, including against the elderly, women and children," Buso said. "We expect the president and the organization to do everything possible to end the suffering of the hostages and their families immediately."
There are 114 hostages believed to be alive or unaccounted for in Gaza, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office. Twenty-one hostages were believed to have been killed in captivity and their bodies remain in Gaza, the government said.