Israel-Gaza updates: 17 more hostages released, including 4-year-old American girl, officials say

Fourteen Israeli and three foreign hostages were released Sunday, the IDF said.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: November 26, 2023, 4:32 PM EST

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.

Click here for updates from previous days.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Mar 1, 2024, 6:03 am

What we know about the conflict

The latest outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs the Gaza Strip, has passed the four-month mark.

In the Gaza Strip, at least 30,228 people have been killed and 71,377 others have been wounded by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to Gaza's Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.

In Israel, at least 1,200 people have been killed and 6,900 others have been injured by Hamas and other Palestinian militants since Oct. 7, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

There has also been a surge in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli forces have killed at least 395 people in the territory since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The ongoing war began after Hamas-led militants launched an unprecedented incursion into southern Israel from neighboring Gaza via land, sea and air. Scores of people were killed while more than 200 others were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities. The Israeli military subsequently launched retaliatory airstrikes followed by a ground invasion of Gaza, a 140-square-mile territory where more than 2 million Palestinians have lived under a blockade imposed by Israel and supported by Egypt since Hamas came to power in 2007. Gaza, unlike Israel, has no air raid sirens or bomb shelters.

Nov 23, 2023, 5:52 PM EST

New details in hostage release: Source

ABC News has learned more details about how the tentative release of Israeli hostages will play out from an Israeli source with direct knowledge of the current plan.

The Red Cross will pick up the hostages and transfer them through Egypt to Israel, the source said.

Once on the Israeli side a specially trained group of soldiers will identify them and cross-reference them from a list, according to the source.

Then the hostages will be offered a chance to speak to loved ones by phone, and then the adult hostages will be debriefed by the Shin Bet, the source said.

Women and girls released will be offered a rape kit, according to the source.

The hostages will be reunited with their families and be transported to several hospitals, the source said.

-ABC News' Matt Gutman

Nov 23, 2023, 5:34 PM EST

'This is a hard and tense evening for us all': IDF spokesperson

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari provided an update Thursday evening as families await the negotiated return of some of the hostages from Hamas.

He said they received the list of women and children who will be part of the first group released and the IDF has informed their families.

"This is a hard and tense evening for us all," Hagari said.

He reiterated that the current negotiation with Hamas is "not the end of the process of returning the hostages, but the beginning of it."

"Our hearts are with the families, and we will continue to accompany them, to keep them updated with the reliable information that we have," he said.

-ABC News' Dana Savir

Nov 23, 2023, 11:20 AM EST

Gaza to receive medical supplies, fuel during cease-fire

All areas of the Gaza Strip will receive medical supplies and fuel and cooking gas during the cease-fire, according to Hamas.

In a statement, Hamas said Israeli planes will stop flying over the southern Gaza Strip entirely during the cease-fire. Planes will stop flying over the northern Gaza Strip for six hours a day during the cease-fire.

Israel confirmed that it has received a list of hostages who will be released and officials are in contact with the hostages' families.

Nov 23, 2023, 9:36 AM EST

Qatar says cease-fire to start Friday at 7 a.m. local time

The Qatar Foreign Ministry announced that the cease-fire will begin on Friday at 7 a.m. local time and will last for four days.

The first hostages will be released at 4 p.m. local time, according to Dr. Majid bin Mohammed Al Ansari, the Qatar Foreign Ministry's spokesperson. Thirteen women and children from the same families will be among the first to be released.

Fifty hostages will be released over four days, Qatar said.

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