Israel-Gaza live updates: Khan Younis bombardment death toll rises to 129

(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’s how the news is developing:

129 killed, over 400 injured in Khan Younis as Israeli operation continues

At least 129 Palestinians have been killed and 416 others have been injured in and around Khan Younis since the beginning of the Israeli operation there earlier this week, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said Wednesday.

The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged the operation in Khan Younis was ongoing in another release Wednesday.

-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz and Jordana Miller

5 people removed, arrested from House gallery during Netanyahu address

Five people have been removed and arrested from the House of Representatives gallery for disrupting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, according to U.S. Capitol Police

Capitol Police also said they deployed pepper spray toward part of a crowd of protesters that they alleged became “violent.”

“The crowd failed to obey our order to move back from our police line. We are deploying pepper spray towards anyone trying to break the law and cross that line,” Capitol Police said in tweet on X.

Schumer did not shake Netanyahu’s hand, some Senate Democrats not clapping for certain lines

As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered the chamber, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer did not shake his hand.

Notably, a group of Senate Democrats sitting in the front row middle section of the chamber, including Schumer and Sen. Mark Kelly, stood but did not clap as Netanyahu entered the chamber — and many of them are not clapping at the applause lines that the majority of the chamber is clapping for.

In the earliest stages of his remarks, the group is seeming to be very strategic about which sentiments they do clap for.

Though they didn’t clap at Netanyahu’s entrance, they did all rise and stand to clap when Schumer said, “America and Israel must stand together.”

The group that appears to be being selective with their clapping includes Sens. Gary Peters, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kelly, Maggie Hassan, Cory Booker, Alex Padilla, Schumer, Debbie Stabenow, Richard Blumenthal and Amy Klobuchar.

21 Senate Democrats skip Netanyahu’s address to congress

Twenty-one Senate Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris were not in attendance for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress.

Thirty senate democrats were in the chamber on Wednesday. Sen. Ben Cardin, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is presiding over the chamber.

Notably, Rep. Rashida Tlaib — the only Palestinian-American in Congress — is sitting in the House chamber. She has said in the past Netanyahu should be arrested and is a war criminal. As Netanyahu entered the chamber, she remained seated.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is in attendance and sitting front and center on the aisle.

Sen. Mark Kelly, a potential vice president pick for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, is seated in the second row.

-ABC News’ Lauren Peller and Allie Pecorin

No confirmed polio cases in Gaza yet, vaccination rate drops from 99% to 89%

No cases of poliovirus infection have been reported in Gaza yet, days after evidence of poliovirus was detected in wastewater across Gaza, Gaza Ministry of Health’s first care manager, Dr. Musa Abed, told ABC News.

Before the start of the conflict in October 2023, Polio vaccination coverage — conducted through routine immunization — was estimated at 99% in 2022, Abed said, confirming a United Nations report.

However, this number decreased with the outbreak of the war. The latest World Health Organization-UNICEF routine immunization statistics said that the number fell to approximately 89% in 2023 as newborns did not get vaccinated.

“Premature infants, children, and those with weak immunity are the groups most in need of these vaccinations,” Abed added.

He explained that people who were vaccinated before the war do not need to repeat the vaccination “because vaccination consists of several doses once in a lifetime.”

The Israel Defense Forces said it is planning to vaccinate troops that have been deployed to Gaza to prevent polio infection “to maintain the health of both the soldiers and Israeli citizens.”

-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz, Jordana Miller, Emma Ogao and Morgan Winsor

Khan Younis bombardment death toll rises to 73

Gaza health officials said Tuesday that at least 73 people have been killed — including 24 children and 15 women — amid the Israeli military’s raids on eastern Khan Younis, which it had designated as a humanitarian zone.

The bombardment began early Monday as the Israel Defense Forces ordered people to evacuate.

About 200,000 Palestinians have evacuated the area since then, according to the IDF, and still many remain behind not knowing where to go.

Hamas, Fatah sign unity declaration in Beijing

Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed a unity declaration in Beijing working to end a yearslong rift, Chinese state media said Tuesday.

This is the 16th signed agreement between the rivals over the past decade. However, this agreement highlights China’s attempt to deepen its influence in the Middle East.

In a statement, Hamas described the so-called Beijing Declaration as an “additional positive step on the path to achieving Palestinian national unity,” adding “its importance comes in terms of the location and the host country.”

Hamas leader Hossam Badran described the declaration as “an important step on the path to national unity” and highlighted the host country’s role and “international weight.”

Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz condemned Fatah “embracing” Hamas “instead of rejecting terrorism.”

“In reality, this won’t happen because Hamas’s rule will be crushed, and Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar. Israel’s security will remain solely in Israel’s hands,” Katz said.

Families of hostages visit White House, urge Netanyahu to accept deal

Following their 10th meeting at the White House Monday, the families of Americans being held by Hamas demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accept a deal with Hamas to free the hostages.

“There are no more major security issues to be solved on Israel’s part, it is time to bring this to an end, to end the suffering of millions on the Palestinian side,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, told reporters following the meeting. “It is time to make that decision. No more delays.”

Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, told reporters their assumption is that Netanyahu will thank America for its steadfast support over the last 10 months and announce that he is “ready to be doing this deal.”

“If this deal doesn’t start, if the process doesn’t start, it will be seen as a failure,” she said. “We know that there are just a couple people deciding at this point. And we have optimism and hope and faith that these deciders will make the right decisions and we can start this process now.”

The families declined to share any details from their meeting with the White House National Security Council, which comes ahead of Netanyahu’s address to Congress this week.

-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett

Netanyahu arrives in DC

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in Washington, D.C., according to the Embassy of Israel to the USA.

He is scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden and give an address to Congress this week.

Sen. Ben Cardin to preside over Netanyahu address to Congress: Source

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., will preside over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress on Wednesday, a source confirmed to ABC News.

Cardin, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will be behind Netanyahu in the House chamber for the address.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the first in line to preside over the session, will be traveling on Wednesday and therefore not be in attendance.

A separate source confirmed to ABC News that Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. — who, as the Senate president pro tempore, is second in line for presiding — declined to preside.

-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin

At least 70 killed in Khan Younis area after new evacuation order: Gaza Health Ministry

At least 70 people were killed Monday in areas in eastern Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

It’s not clear how many of those 70 people were in a designated humanitarian safe zone or in areas where people were forced to evacuate.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed its forces hit more than 30 terror infrastructure sites in Khan Younis on Monday.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

2 hostages ‘no longer alive,’ IDF says

The Israel Defense Forces on Monday said two hostages, Alex Dancyg and Yagev Buchshtab, who were taken by Hamas militants, were “no longer alive.”

Their bodies “were being held by the Hamas terror organization,” IDF said in a statement. They were determined to be dead based on intelligence gathered by Israel’s Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Ministry of Religious Services and the Israel Police, the IDF said.

“The circumstances of their death in Hamas captivity are being examined by all the professional authorities,” IDF said.

There are 120 abductees still in Gaza. Of those, 46 abductees are no longer alive, according to the prime minister’s office.

-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor

Netanyahu shares what he will discuss with Biden on US trip

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will land in the U.S. on Monday, released a statement detailing what he plans to discuss with President Joe Biden.

He said they’ll talk about “how to advance in the critical months ahead the goals that are important for both our countries — achieving the release of all our hostages, defeating Hamas, confronting the terror axis of Iran, and ensuring that all of Israel’s citizens can return safely to their homes in the north and the south.”

Netanyahu added, “This will be an opportunity to thank him for the things he did for Israel in the war and during his long and distinguished career in public service, as senator, vice president, and president.”

Gaza death toll passes 39,000

The death toll in Gaza has risen to 39,006, with another 89,818 people hurt since the war broke out on Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

About one-third of the war victims were children, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health

Dozens killed, including children, in Israeli strike in Khan Yunis, hospital official says

At least 44 people, including six children, were killed in an Israeli strike on Khan Yunis, in the Gaza Strip, an official at Nasser Hospital told ABC News.

At least 90 people were injured, the hospital’s head of nursing said.

The Israeli military on Monday ordered the evacuation of part of a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza. The military said it will begin an operation against Hamas militants who are in the area and use it to launch rockets toward Israel.

The deadly strike in Khan Yunis began Sunday night before the evacuation order was announced.

-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian

2 hostages ‘no longer alive,’ IDF says

The Israel Defense Forces on Monday said two hostages, Alex Dancyg and Yagev Buchshtab, who were taken by Hamas militants, were “no longer alive.”

Their bodies “were being held by the Hamas terror organization,” IDF said in a statement. They were determined to be dead based on intelligence gathered by Israel’s Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Ministry of Religious Services and the Israel Police, the IDF said.

“The circumstances of their death in Hamas captivity are being examined by all the professional authorities,” IDF said.

-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor

Poliovirus detected in wastewater across Gaza: WHO

Poliovirus has been detected in wastewater in multiple locations of the Gaza Strip, including two major cities in the region, the World Health Organization (WHO), Gaza health and Israeli officials confirmed on Sunday.

Among the locations where the poliovirus has been found in wastewater are Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Younis in southern Gaza, two major cities where the majority of people in the war-torn region currently reside, the officials said.

WHO officials said that while they have received no reports of people contracting polio symptoms in Gaza, an investigation is underway to identify how the virus has spread. WHO said it is working with UNICEF and the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to investigate and establish “prompt vaccination campaigns.”

Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that largely affects children under 5 years of age, according to WHO’s website. Since 1988, poliovirus cases worldwide have decreased by 99%, according to WHO.

The Israel Defense Forces announced Sunday that it will vaccinate all soldiers operating in Gaza to prevent the spread of poliovirus.

The IDF also said is is working with international organizations to provide polio vaccines for people in Gaza.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of WHO, sounded the alarm in a statement on Friday, saying, “The decimation of the health system, lack of security, access obstruction, constant population displacement, shortages of medical supplies, poor quality of water and weakened sanitation are increasing the risk of vaccine-preventable diseases, including polio.”

Ghebreyesus added, “This poses a risk for children and creates the perfect environment for diseases like polio to spread.”

-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé

Netanyahu to meet with Biden on Tuesday in Washington

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with President Joe Biden in Washington on Tuesday, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Sunday.

The meeting between the two leaders is scheduled to occur at noon on Tuesday, Netanyahu’s office said.

Netanyahu’s flight to Washington is scheduled to leave Israel on Monday morning, the prime minister’s office said.

The meeting between Biden and Netanyahu will come ahead of the Israeli prime minister’s July 24 address to a joint session of Congress.

The two governments had tentatively scheduled a meeting between Biden, who is recovering from COVID, and Netanyahu on Monday.

However, a Biden administration official on Sunday disputed that a date and time have been set for the meeting with Netanyahu, and that an exact date and time are still dependent on when the president tests negative for COVID and returns to Washington, D.C. Biden has been self-isolating in Rehoboth, Delaware.

-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé and Justin Ryan Gomez

Jul 20, 2024, 2:05 PM EDT
Houthis say ‘multiple’ dead, injured in Israeli airstrike on Yemen

Multiple people were killed and others have been injured in an Israeli strike on oil storage facilities in the port of Hodeidah in Yemen, according to the Houthis who said the attack will “only increase the resolve […] of the Yemeni people.”

The Houthis accused Israel of an attack that “targeted civilian facilities, oil tanks and the electricity station in Hodeidah, with the aim of doubling people’s suffering and pressuring Yemen to stop supporting Gaza.”

Israel said its attack came in response to over 200 projectiles that the Houthis have launched toward Israel, saying they targeted the port as as the main supply route for weapons transfers with Iran.

-ABC News’ Ahmed Bader, Dana Savir and Bruno Nota