Fighting is ongoing after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
At least 1,400 people have died and 3,400 others have been injured in Israel after the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented incursion from air, land and sea on Oct. 7, Israeli authorities said.
In Gaza, 3,000 people have been killed and another 12,500 were injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Tensions are high with the prospect of ground war and evacuation orders for Gaza after the Israel Defense Forces called for "all residents of Gaza City to evacuate their homes" and "move south for their protection" early Friday, saying residents should move "and settle in the area south of the Gaza River." The announcement was made, according to the IDF, because it plans to "operate significantly in Gaza City in the coming days" and wanted "to avoid harming civilians."
Click here for the latest updates.
On the morning of Oct. 7, sirens echoed across Israel as Hamas terrorists began a full-fledged surprise attack from the air, sea and ground. Hundreds of armed Hamas fighters stormed into Israel from Gaza, charging into cities and gunning down citizens.
Israeli forces responded by sending wave after wave of bombs into Gaza, killing thousands, trapping civilians and raising fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.
Click here for the full timeline
The number of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza is now believed to be 155, Israel Defense Forces said Sunday.
The number of hostages rose from 126 earlier Sunday, the IDF said. An undetermined number of Americans are believed to be among the hostages, according to U.S. officials.
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:
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.
"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:
