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

The Senate will start working on a compressive aid package for Israel despite dysfunction in the House of Representatives, which remains without a speaker, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday.

"We’re not waiting for the House. We believe if the Senate acts in a strong bipartisan way, it may indeed improve the chances that the House, even with its current dysfunction, will act," Schumer told reporters in Tel Aviv.

Schumer led a bipartisan delegation of senators to Israel to meet with high-ranking government officials following the Oct. 7 deadly terror attacks by Hamas. On Sunday, Schumer and other members of the delegation were rushed into a bomb shelter in Tel Aviv to wait out a rocket attack, according to a social media post from the New York senator.

-ABC News' Davone Morales

ABC foreign correspondent James Longman spoke with former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who said Israel has taken "a big hit, there's no way around that."

"But we're at war right now," he said. "We're between the first phase where we took the huge hit and the second phase where we're hitting back."

"Over the next few days, we're going to launch a massive attack on Hamas. It's going to be tough, it's going to be long," Bennett continued, later adding: "Israel is ready to fight."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday during an during an emergency cabinet meeting, "Hamas thought we would be demolished. It is we who will demolish Hamas," Reuters reported.

Watch Bennett's interview here:

8:11

Tensions in Israel rise ahead of potential ground invasionFormer Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett calls Hamas a "Nazi regime" and says Israel plans to eradicate the terrorist group.

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As time dwindles ahead of an anticipated Israeli ground invasion of Gaza, the U.S. is calling on fleeing citizens to head toward the southern border crossing to Egypt.

"We have been working around the clock. We have an entire dedicated team that is working on nothing but this: helping American citizens who are in Gaza be able to get safe passage through the border crossing to Egypt," Jake Sullivan told ABC "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday.

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem on Sunday morning urged U.S. citizens trapped in the Gaza Strip to move to southern Gaza along the main highway, the Salah al-Din Street.

7:20

Biden has ‘no higher priority’ than getting American hostages back: SullivanABC News’ Martha Raddatz interviews national security adviser Jake Sullivan on “This Week.”

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"Our goal is to ensure that every American who is in Gaza has safe passage out, and we will not rest until that happens," Sullivan said.

Watch more here:

"We are currently striking Hamas in its entirety," Israel Defense Forces Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told ABC News "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday.

"We did not ask for this war, but we will win it," he said.

Lerner also had a message for Hezbollah.

"I would highly recommend that Hezbollah watch very closely what is happening to Hamas and the organization in Gaza as we speak," he said. "They should be very cautious of crossing that threshold, because we are determined to defend the state of Israel."

Israeli forces have been engaging in skirmishes with the Lebanese militant group along Israel's northern border with Lebanon in the days since Hamas' surprise attack on Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7.

Watch the interview here:

6:45

‘We did not ask for this war, but we will win it’: IDF spokesmanABC News’ Martha Raddatz interviews IDF spokesman Peter Lerner on “This Week.”

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-ABC News' Tal Axelrod