Israel-Gaza live updates: Israel fighting Hamas in 'heart' of Gaza City, general says
Thousands of people have died and thousands more have been injured since the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel retaliated with a bombing campaign and total siege of the neighboring Gaza Strip, leaving the region on the verge of all-out war.
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Latest Developments
Nov 7, 6:03 PM
Biden said he asked 'for a pause' during Monday call with Netanyahu
President Joe Biden told ABC News' Karen Travers that he asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "for a pause" in fighting during a phone call Monday.
"I didn't get a chance to talk to him today, but I did ask him for a pause…yesterday," Biden said.
When asked for a specific timeline of the pause, the president did not answer.
-ABC News' Justin Fishel and Karen Travers
Nov 7, 3:02 PM
Gaza City 'encircled,' IDF forces inside: Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel Defense Forces have "encircled" Gaza City and are "operating inside it."
"We are increasing pressure on Hamas every hour, every day," he said in remarks translated by Reuters. "We have killed thousands of terrorists, above ground and below ground."
Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, the commander of IDF's Southern Command, said Tuesday they are fighting in "significant centers of the Gaza Strip."
"For the first time in a decade, the IDF is fighting in the heart of Gaza City," Finkelman said in a statement. "Today, at this very hour, our soldiers are eliminating terrorists, discovering tunnels, destroying weapons and continuing to advance into the center of the enemy."
Nov 7, 2:23 PM
Doctor in Gaza says surgery 'medieval' due to dwindling supplies
Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta, a British-Palestinian plastic surgeon, called the conditions of working in a hospital in Gaza right now "medieval."
"There's no pain relief," he told ABC News in a phone interview on Tuesday. "I mean, we operate on patients and then we give them all paracetamol. We've run out of morphine two weeks ago."
Abu Sitta, who has been working at the Shifa and Ahli hospitals in Gaza, said they have had to perform surgery on some children without proper anesthesia.
"These kids are traumatized," he said.
He has seen children who come in with no surviving family, he said.
"It really is heart-wrenching," he said. "From the minute you see them in the emergency room with no one around them, you realize."
-ABC News' Zoe Magee
Nov 7, 2:39 PM
Netanyahu doubles down on no cease-fire without release of hostages
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on his position in brief remarks Tuesday, saying "there will be no cease-fire without the return of the hostages."
Netanyahu also said he has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit the hostages and report on their well-being.
The prime minister offered a warning to both Hamas and Hezbollah, saying in Hebrew remarks, "Gaza will never be a threat to Israel again," and adding, "If Hezbollah chooses to join the war, it will make the mistake of its life."
Netanyahu said he speaks with President Joe Biden frequently and that he "deeply appreciates" his support, as well as the support of the US Congress and American people.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller
Nov 7, 1:53 PM
'Every day is like eternity': Family of those believed to be held hostage by Hamas plead for help
Through tears and voices choked with raw emotion, people whose family members are believed to held hostage by Hamas pleaded for help during a Republican-led press conference at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday.
Doris Liber told reporters that her son, Guy Iluz, called her as Hamas unleashed its terrorist attack against Israel on Oct. 7 and she hasn't heard from him since.
"I'm here because it's been 30 days. Every day is like eternity to me," Liber, who holds joint Israeli-American citizenship, said. "We don't have a list of the hostages. We don't know their condition. I don't have anything. So I need your help."
She described the last time she spoke to her son.
"We hear shots in the background," she said. "He was shot in the arm and he wasn't able to stop the bleeding and he was trying to say his last words."
“I tried to, you know, tell him, ‘Guy I love you. Don't worry, nothing's going to happen. I'm going to end the call now. I'm going to send somebody now to get you,'" she continued. "And that's what I did. I hung up and I regret that since I didn't hear from him since."
Yonatan Lulu-Shamriz said he was awoken by his pregnant wife as the sirens began to sound in their kibbutz. They grabbed their 3-year-old daughter, huddled in a safe room and listened as their neighbors were slaughtered, he said. Soon his brother, Alon, called to report he was under attack, Lulu-Shamriz said.
“We don't know what is their condition," Lulu-Shamriz said. "This is a wake-up call not only for Israel, not only for the Jewish community. This is a wake-up call for all of you -- all of you here, all of America, all of Europe. You are next. You are next. And we should do everything that we can to stop these atrocities."
House Speaker Mike Johnson vowed to "take action."
"We're resolved to help," the newly minted speaker said. "House Republicans want to do that."
-ABC News' John Parkinson and Lauren Peller
Nov 7, 12:14 PM
Mother of days-old newborn discusses struggle in Gaza
A mother of four in Gaza told ABC News she is worried about getting vaccinations for her days-old newborn and keeping her children warm and fed.
"I'm afraid for him because there is no warmth, no vaccinations, and no good health supplies," Maha al Sharbsy, 32, said of her fourth child, Mohammed, who was born on Saturday. "The child has started to show signs of jaundice, and his condition is unstable."
Al Sharbsy said she and her children evacuated northern Gaza days after the war started following "intense" bombings. Now in southern Gaza, she said her children cannot sleep "because there are no winter clothes and no food," and she doesn't have money to buy food.
"I want the children to live in peace, cleanliness, and good health conditions. At the very least, for the sake of the children," she said. "We, the adults, are not the issue; the children are what matter."
Her 9-year-old son, Riad, told ABC News he misses his room and toys and is worried for his family.
"I'm afraid of the rockets, I'm afraid of people getting injured and dying, and I'm afraid of planes bombing our homes," he said.
-ABC News' Sami Zayara and Zoe Magee
Nov 7, 12:14 PM
Red Cross on war's impact on children: 'This is a moral failing'
One month into the Israel-Hamas war, the International Committee of the Red Cross called on both sides to "deescalate now" to prevent more suffering among the civilians in Gaza and Israel, particularly children.
The organization called for the release of hostages "immediately" and for the restoration of "critical services," such as water, electricity and health care, in Gaza.
"Among the most shocking impact is the agony children have had to bear. Children have been ripped from their families and held hostage. In Gaza, ICRC surgeons treat toddlers whose skin is charred from widespread burns," ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement. "What more must children endure? The images of suffering, dead and wounded children will haunt us all. This is a moral failing."
Nov 7, 11:54 AM
Over 400 Americans and their family members depart Gaza: State Department
More than 400 Americans and their family members have now been able to exit Gaza through the Rafah border crossing, according to the State Department.
"We have assisted more than 400 U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and other eligible individuals to depart Gaza," State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Tuesday.
-ABC News' Shannon K. Crawford
Nov 7, 11:02 AM
Over 2 dozen suspected militants arrested in West Bank: Israeli officials
Amid operations in the West Bank, Israeli officials said they have arrested 28 suspected militants overnight in the territory.
Meanwhile, funerals are being held Tuesday for several people reportedly killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank during the ongoing operations.
Since Oct. 7, 163 people have been killed and another 2,100 injured in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Nov 7, 8:12 AM
'Thousands' leave northern Gaza as civilian corridor opens, Israel says
Israeli officials again opened on Tuesday a corridor for civilian evacuations from northern Gaza into the south, the Israel Defense Forces said, marking the second day the IDF has appealed to Gaza residents to use the corridor.
An IDF spokesperson posted to social media in Arabic, saying the southbound evacuation corridor on the major Gaza street of Salah-El-Deen was expected to be open between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time.
"Thousands" of people were passing through the corridor midday on Tuesday, Israel's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories said in another a statement posted to social media.
Israeli officials released a short video Tuesday showing a line of people moving along a street, which they said was filmed earlier in the day.
Some of the people in the footage appeared to be waving white flags as they walked. A tank stood in the foreground and a row of partially destroyed buildings lined the road behind them.
-ABC News' Zoe Magee
