Yahoo Sports Israel-Gaza live updates: American-Israeli-Canadian hostage confirmed dead
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 28, 1:28 PM
IDF says it found tunnel shaft inside mosque
The Israel Defense Forces said its soldiers found a tunnel shaft and rocket launcher inside a mosque, which was next to a school near Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
The soldiers, who destroyed the tunnel shaft, also found areas to store weapons, the IDF said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Dec 28, 1:00 PM
2023 deadliest year on record for children in West Bank: UNICEF
Eighty-three children have been killed in the West Bank over the last 12 weeks -- which is more than double the number of children killed in all of 2022 and marks the deadliest year on record for children in the West Bank, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Adele Khodr said Thursday.
A total of 297 people have been killed in the West Bank since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
"As the world watches on in horror at the situation in the Gaza Strip, children in the West Bank are experiencing a nightmare of their own. Living with a near-constant feeling of fear and grief is, sadly, all too common for children affected. Many children report that fear has become a part of their daily life, with many scared even walking to school or playing outside," Khodr said in a statement. “The suffering of children in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, must not fade into the background of the current conflict -- it is part of it."
Dec 28, 1:20 PM
American-Israeli-Canadian hostage confirmed dead
Judy Weinstein, a 70-year-old American-Israeli-Canadian hostage, was confirmed dead on Thursday, Kibbutz Nir Oz said in a statement.
Weinstein was fatally wounded during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and her body remains held in Gaza, the kibbutz said.
Her husband, American-Israeli Gad Haggai, was also killed on Oct. 7 and his body also remains in Gaza, the kibbutz said. His death was confirmed last week.
Weinstein, a mother of four and grandmother of seven, was an English teacher who specialized in helping children with special needs, Kibbutz Nir Oz said.
"For the past few years she has also taught Mindfulness to children and teenagers who suffered from anxiety caused by the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza," the kibbutz said. "Judy was a poet, entrepreneur, and pursued many initiatives to advance peace in the region."
Judy Weinstein was the last American woman being held hostage by Hamas who had not been released, according to the Hostage Families Forum.
Dec 27, 3:33 PM
Israeli forces destroy tunnel near Gaza hospital: IDF
Israeli forces have destroyed an underground tunnel near the Rantisi Hospital in northern Gaza, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a briefing.
The tunnel infrastructure, several kilometers long, “connected different locations in the Strip,” Hagari said. “[Israeli] forces uncovered three tunnel shafts in the area of the hospital, with one of them coming out of a school.”
“The tunnel network included steel doors, command control rooms, emergency rooms, many weapons that were underground and other intelligence materials,” he said.
This comes as Israeli forces “are at a very high level of readiness for the expansion of the war” in northern Gaza, Hagari said.
“We are in the final stages of the attack in the Al Burj area in the northern Gaza Strip, where we killed many terrorists,” he said.
Hagari added that Israel is also “attacking all the infrastructure that Hezbollah has built near the [Lebanon-Israel] border.”
In southern Gaza, Israeli “forces are fighting in several areas,” Hagari said. “One in the area called Al Burj in the central [Gaza] camps, where we are attacking for a third day. The second is in Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip, a major terror center of Hamas. There we expanded the operation -- today we added another division to this area and we continue to operate there with new combat methods above and below the ground.”
Dec 27, 1:54 PM
Egyptian president meets with King of Jordan, says 'international community must push' for cease-fire
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Egypt on Wednesday and said "the international community must push towards" a cease-fire.
“Both leaders affirmed their complete rejection of all attempts to liquidate the Palestinian issue or to displace the Palestinians from their lands or their internal displacement, stressing that the only solution that the international community must push towards implementing is an immediate cease-fire, and the entry of relief aid in the necessary quantities and at the speed that will make a real difference in alleviating the suffering of the people of the Gaza Strip,” according to a readout from the Egyptian spokesman for the Presidency Counselor Ahmed Fahmy.
“Talks also focused on regional developments, especially in the Gaza Strip and the humanitarian tragedy it faces, which resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries and the displacement of hundreds of thousands,” the readout added.
ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy
Dec 27, 1:43 PM
WHO delivers aid, supplies to Gaza hospitals
The World Health Organization said it delivered much-needed aid and supplies to Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza and the Palestine Red Crescent Society's Al-Amal Hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday.
Al-Shifa and Al-Amal hospitals are also operating as shelters for displaced residents, sheltering 50,000 people and 14,000 people respectively, according to the WHO.
Gaza has 13 partially functioning hospitals, two minimally functioning hospitals and 21 hospitals that are not functioning at all, causing the hospitals that are functioning to become overloaded with patients who need help, according to the WHO.
"Today I repeat my call on the international community to take urgent steps to alleviate the grave peril facing the population of Gaza and jeopardizing the ability of humanitarian workers to help people with terrible injuries, acute hunger, and at severe risk of disease," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
Tedros said a cease-fire is needed "to spare civilians from further violence and begin the long road towards reconstruction and peace."
Dec 27, 12:08 PM
20 killed in strike in Khan Younis
Twenty people have been killed in a strike on a building near the Red Cross Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. The death toll is likely to rise, the Gaza Ministry of Health said.
-ABC News Nasser Atta
Dec 27, 11:07 AM
At least 241 killed in Gaza in 24 hours
At least 241 people have been killed in Gaza in a 24-hour period, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
This comes as Israeli forces expand their ground offensive to central Gaza, launching over 200 rockets in one day, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
Dec 26, 9:53 PM
Blinken, Sullivan meet with Israeli minister over hostages, humanitarian situation in Gaza
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer Tuesday night, where they discussed freeing hostages still held in Gaza.
During the meeting, they covered four key points, officials familiar with the meeting told ABC News, including the transition to a different phase of the war to maximize Israel's focus on precision targeting of high value Hamas targets. They also worked on practical steps to improve the humanitarian situation and minimize harm to civilians. Planning for after the war ends was also covered, with discussions about governance and security in Gaza, a political horizon for the Palestinian people and continued work on normalization and integration.
The meeting came on the same day President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Qatar's Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani. According to a read-out of the call, the two leaders spoke about the efforts to see hostages released and ongoing efforts to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
-ABC News' Lauren Peller and Jay O'Brien
Dec 27, 11:08 AM
Gaza faces another telecommunications blackout: PRCS
Gaza is facing another telecommunications blackout, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
“This presents a significant challenge for emergency medical teams in reaching the wounded and injured,” the organization warned.
