Israel-Gaza live updates: IDF attacking in Khan Younis, Gaza City and Rafah

(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, efforts to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization are ongoing, and Israeli forces have launched an assault in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Here is how the news is developing:

Jul 08, 2024, 7:50 PM EDT
More flexibility from Hamas in cease-fire and hostage talks: US officials

With CIA Director Bill Burns and White House Middle East adviser Brett McGurk working to advance a cease-fire and hostage release deal in the Middle East, two U.S. officials familiar with the negotiations said they see more flexibility from Hamas than they did previously.

The officials assessed this is coming from Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar; however, they stopped short of saying they felt a breakthrough was in the offing.

The officials also said they believe Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still committed to achieving a deal.

The American delegation headed by Burns arrived in Cairo earlier Monday to continue Gaza cease-fire talks, Egyptian state TV reported.

Jul 08, 2024, 6:30 PM EDT
Latest Gaza evacuation order will affect life-saving care: WHO

A new evacuation order in Gaza will “further impede delivery of very limited life-saving care,” the World Health Organization said Monday.

The Israel Defense Forces issued an evacuation order in Gaza City on Monday, telling people to go to designated safe zones.

Al-Ahli and Patients’ Friendly hospitals are now “out of service,” with some patients referred to hospitals that are experiencing shortages of beds and medical supplies, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Multiple health care centers are also located within the evacuation zone, while three hospitals are close by, he said.

“These key hospitals and medical facilities could quickly become non-functional due to hostilities in their vicinity or obstruction to access,” he said in a statement.

The IDF said Monday it launched a “counterterrorism operation in Gaza City targeting Hamas and Islamic Jihad infrastructure.”

“Civilians were warned and a route was opened for their safe evacuation,” the IDF said.

Jul 08, 2024, 1:34 PM EDT
Israel says it’s killed another Hezbollah leader in Lebanon

Israeli forces claimed Monday they have killed another Hezbollah leader in southern Lebanon.

An Israel Defense Forces aircraft “struck and eliminated the Hezbollah terrorist Mustafa Hassan Salman in the area of Qlaileh,” the military said in a statement.

The IDF accused Salman of participating in the “planning and execution of numerous terror attacks” against Israel.

Last week, the IDF said it assassinated Muhammad Ni’Mah Nasser, one of the most senior Hezbollah commanders killed since the group began firing at Israel in solidarity with Gaza on Oct. 8.

Attacks between Israel and Hezbollah forces continued Monday.

Jul 08, 2024, 1:19 PM EDT
Hostages and Missing Families Forum asks Netanyahu to delay US trip

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay his trip to the United States at the end of the month and stay in Israel to “prioritize finalizing a hostage release deal.”

Netanyahu is currently scheduled to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress on July 24.

“For 9 months, 120 innocent men, women, children, and elderly have been held captive in Gaza by Hamas,” the Hostages Families Forum said in a statement on Monday. “These hostages endure unimaginable horrors daily. Every moment in captivity is a risk to their lives and well-being.”

Jul 08, 2024, 12:31 PM EDT
Israeli forces attacking in Khan Younis, Gaza City and Rafah

Israeli forces have been attacking in Rafah, Khan Younis and Gaza City, the Israel Defense Forces said Monday.

Over the past day in Rafah, Israeli troops “operated to eliminate more than 30 terrorists who posed a threat to IDF troops,” IDF said in a statement.

Jul 07, 2024, 5:07 PM EDT
American hurt by Hezbollah rocket fire: US Embassy

A U.S. citizen was injured Sunday by one of multiple rockets fired into Israel from Lebanon by the terrorist group Hezbollah, according to the U.S. embassy in Israel.

Embassy officials said they received information regarding the injured private U.S. citizen. The embassy confirmed the individual does not work for the U.S. government.

The embassy was working to gather more information on the injured person, officials said.

Further details about the incident were not immediately disclosed.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Jul 06, 2024, 6:26 PM EDT
IDF gives more details on strike on school

Israel Defense Forces released details about a strike on a school in Nuseirat refugee camp that Gaza officials said killed 16 and wounded at least 50.

The IDF claimed its intelligence found that the site allegedly “served as a hideout and operational infrastructure from which attacks against IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip were directed and carried out.”

“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken in order to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise aerial surveillance and additional intelligence,” the IDF said without disclosing what steps were taken.

-ABC News’ Dorit Long

Jul 06, 2024, 4:19 PM EDT
IDF admits it’ll be fighting Hamas insurgency in Gaza for 5 years

Israel is planning for a long insurgency against Hamas, saying it expects Hamas to still exist in five years, but it said the group is no longer capable of perpetrating an Oct. 7-style attack.

“Will you and me be talking five years from now about Hamas as a terror organization in Gaza? The answer is yes,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari told ABC News.

Hagari is the first Israeli official to publicly admit that the insurgency will be long and difficult, in stark contrast to the bombast of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who continues to vow the quick destruction of Hamas.

Gaza, and even to some degree Hezbollah, are “perpetual wars” distracting Israel from what he called their main enemy, Iran, a senior Israeli official told ABC News.

-ABC News’ Matt Gutman