Israel-Gaza live updates: Israeli commander among 10 killed overnight, IDF says
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.
Click here for updates from previous days.
Latest Developments
Dec 13, 11:39 AM
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.
Dec 13, 11:23 AM
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.
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.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Dec 13, 11:13 AM
US issues 4th round of sanctions against Hamas officials
The U.S. has announced another round of sanctions against Hamas officials, including key operatives in Turkey who allegedly worked to transfer money into Gaza to fuel Hamas operations.
These sanctions, imposed in coordination with the United Kingdom, are the fourth round imposed by the U.S. since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
The sanctions reflect the administration’s "commitment to dismantling networks that support Hamas funding streams as part of our continuous effort to prevent and deter its terrorist activity," State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Dec 13, 10:13 AM
Nearly 200 aid trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday
There were 197 humanitarian aid trucks that crossed through the Gaza-Egypt Rafah border crossing on Tuesday, entering Gaza, according to COGAT, the Israeli agency for civilian coordination with the Palestinians.
Eighty of those trucks were inspected at the Kerem Shalom crossing at the Israel-Gaza-Egypt border, which opened for the first time on Tuesday to expand the amount of aid entering Gaza.
With Kerem Shalom opening for inspection today,
🚚197 humanitarian aid trucks were screened and transferred to the Gaza Strip via the Rafah Crossing today (Dec. 12).
🚛117 trucks inspected at Nitzana
🚛80 trucks inspected at Kerem Shalom. pic.twitter.com/QrVa620Bc1— COGAT (@cogatonline) December 12, 2023
Dec 13, 8:38 AM
US urges Israel to be as 'deliberate as possible' in Gaza strikes
U.S. officials are continuing to urge the Israeli military to be "as careful and deliberate as possible" as it strikes targets within Gaza, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.
"We want to make sure they get as precise targets as possible to limit civilian casualties," Kirby told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America" on Wednesday.
He added that the U.S. will continue to support Israel, including making sure "they have the weapons to go after Hamas wherever they are inside Gaza."
-ABC News' Kevin Shalvey
Dec 13, 6:27 AM
IDF commander among 10 killed overnight, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces reported the deaths of 10 service members overnight, including a high-ranking officer, making Tuesday one of the deadliest days for the country's military since the ground invasion began in Gaza.
Nine troops died in a single incident, an ambush in northern Gaza, officials said, marking the deadliest incident over the past month for the IDF.
At least 115 service members have been killed since Israel’s ground invasion began. A total of 444 have been killed since Oct. 7, officials said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
Dec 12, 7:31 PM
Biden says he doesn't know if there are hostages in Gaza tunnels
President Joe Biden said he does not know for a fact if there are any hostages in the tunnels under Gaza amid reports that Israel began flooding some of them to target Hamas.
"There [are] assertions being made that they're quite sure there are no hostages in any of these tunnels, but I don't know that for a fact," Biden told reporters during a briefing on Tuesday. "I do know that, though, that every civilian death is a national tragedy."
Asked if he has spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about how long he believes the operation in Gaza should last, Biden declined to give a timeline.
"I want to make sure that we don't forget what we're doing here. We have to support Israel because they're an independent nation," he said, adding that the "brutality" of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel is "beyond comparison."
-ABC News' Molly Nagle
Dec 12, 4:43 PM
UN resolution demanding immediate cease-fire passes by large majority
A United Nations resolution demanding an "immediate humanitarian cease-fire" in Gaza passed by a large majority during an emergency session of the U.N. General Assembly.
The resolution is not legally binding but carries symbolic weight.
Ten countries -- including the U.S. and Israel -- voted against the resolution, while 153 member countries voted in favor of the resolution.
Before the vote, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the proposed resolution again failed to condemn Hamas. Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. is working toward “sustainable peace” and that the country agrees with some aspects of the resolution.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Dec 12, 4:35 PM
Israel pumping seawater into some Gaza tunnels
Israel has recently started to pump seawater into Hamas’ underground network of tunnels, two U.S. officials confirmed to ABC News. It seems the flooding has been limited as Israel evaluates the effectiveness of this strategy compared to its other techniques.
The development was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The Israeli Defense Forces has not publicly commented.
ABC News previously reported that Israel was exploring a range of options to take out Hamas’ tunnels, including flooding them with seawater -- an approach some worried could have devastating long-term environmental impacts and other ramifications for Gaza’s civilian population.
In 2015, Egypt used seawater to flood a section of tunnels in the southern stretch of the enclave to disrupt smuggling activity, which led to complaints about damaged homes and crops, as well as contaminated water supplies.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Shannon Crawford and Justin Gomez
Dec 12, 3:44 PM
Biden says Netanyahu needs to 'strengthen' and 'change' the Israeli government
President Joe Biden said at a campaign reception that Israel is starting to lose support and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to "strengthen" and "change" the government to find a long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"This is the most conservative government in Israel's history," Biden said, adding that the government "doesn't want a two-state solution."
"You cannot say there's no Palestinian state at all in the future. And that's going to be the hard part," he said.
"Bibi's got a tough decision to make," Biden said, referring to Netanyahu.
Biden added, "In the meantime, we're not going to do a damn thing other than protect Israel in the process."
The president also recounted a recent conversation with Netanyahu, saying, "It was pointed out to me -- I’m being very blunt with you all -- it was pointed out to me that -- by Bibi -- that. 'Well, you carpet-bombed Germany. You dropped the atom bomb. A lot of civilians died.'"
"I said, 'Yeah, that’s why all these institutions were set up after World War II to see to it that it didn’t happen again -- it didn’t happen again," Biden said. "Don’t make the same mistakes we made at 9/11. There was no reason why we had to be in a war in Afghanistan at 9/11. There was no reason why we had to do some of the things we did."
-ABC News’Molly Nagle, Mary Bruce and Justin Gomez
