The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel ended on December 1 and Israel resumed its bombardment of Gaza.
The end of the ceasefire came after Hamas freed more than 100 of the more than 200 people taken hostage by its militants in the Oct. 7 bliss of attack on Israel. In return, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
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The Israel-Hamas war has now passed the two-month mark.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 20,000 people have been killed and more than 53,300 others have been wounded by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to figures released by Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health and the Hamas government media office.
In Israel, at least another 1,200 people have been killed and 6,900 wounded by Hamas and other Palestinian militants since Oct. 7, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
There has been an increase in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli forces have killed at least 297 Palestinians in the territory since October 7, according to Palestinian health authorities.
President Joe Biden said he did not call for a ceasefire in a phone call Saturday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Today I had a long verbal exchange with Netanyahu. It’s a personal verbal exchange,” he told reporters as he left the White House to spend Christmas at Camp David.
He later said, “I didn’t ask for a ceasefire. “
The leaders discussed Israel’s military operation in Gaza, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and securing the release of the remaining hostages, according to a readout of the call released by the White House. The two agreed to remain in “regular consultation,” the readout stated.
Biden also did not respond to questions about a new Wall Street Journal report that in the days after the Oct. 7 attack he convinced Netanyahu against a preemptive strike on Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.
ABC News has not confirmed the report.
-Lauren Peller and Jay O’Brien of ABC News
Gadi Hagi, a 73-year-old Israeli-American hostage and member of Kibbutz Nir Oz, was found dead, the kibbutz said.
Hagi was killed on October 7 at the kibbutz and his body was transported to Gaza, where he remains in detention, according to a kibbutz spokesman.
Hagi’s wife, 70-year-old Judy Weinstein, is wounded and being held hostage, the kibbutz said.
Hagi and his wife were shot and kidnapped on Oct. 7, according to the Hostage Center.
“Gadi is a humorous guy who knew how to make those around him laugh,” the Hostage Center said in a statement. “A musician at heart, a talented flutist, he played in the IDF orchestra and devoted himself to music all his life. “.
Hagi is the father of four children and grandfather of seven.
Hagi will have ties to New York.
“May Gadi’s memory be a blessing,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul wrote on social media. “There are still many hostages, many of them with ties to New York, held captive through Hamas. “
President Joe Biden said he was “heartbroken by the news. “
“We continue to pray for the well-being and return of his wife, Judy,” Biden said in a statement. “We pray for their four children, seven grandchildren and other loved ones and mourn this tragic news with them. “
Biden said Hagi’s daughter joined, via phone, his meeting last week with families of hostages.
“Those families bravely shared with me the harrowing ordeal that they have endured over the past months as they await news of their loved ones,” Biden said. “I reaffirm the pledge we have made to all the families of those still held hostage: we will not stop working to bring them home.”
The United Nations Security Council adopted a solution calling for urgent action to allow humanitarian aid to expand safely, unimpeded and reach all of Gaza.
Thirteen nations voted in favor, none voted against and two — the U.S. and Russia — abstained.
UN Security Council adopts solution on aid to Gaza
U. S. Ambassador to the U. N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the U. S. abstained from the vote because “the Council failed to condemn the horrific Hamas terrorist attack on October 7. “
“I can’t understand why some Council members are standing in the way, and why they refuse to condemn these evils unequivocally,” she said. “I will never understand why some Council members have remained silent in the face of such evil.”
Reacting to the adoption of the resolution, the Red Cross said in a statement that it welcomed calls for humanitarian access, the release of hostages and respect for foreign humanitarian law.
But with the Gaza death toll climbing and the living conditions continuing to deteriorate, “much more is clearly needed,” the statement said. “The only way fully to protect Palestinian lives, enable a sufficient humanitarian response, and offer the best chance of hostage release, is to stop the fighting.”
“The failure of the [U.N. Security Council] to demand an immediate and sustained ceasefire is unjustifiable,” the Red Cross said.
Israeli forces — which are “almost in full operational control” of northern Gaza — are continuing to fight on the ground in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, and are now “preparing to expand operations” to more parts of southern Gaza, said Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.
This week, in Issa, south of Gaza City, Hagari said Israeli forces had discovered and destroyed an underground tunnel many meters long with command rooms and living quarters.
Asked about Israel’s investigation into how Hamas carried out its October 7 attack, Hagari noted: “Some spaces in the [Hamas] tunnels were attacked in the afterlife and restored; We’ll read about why we felt recovery would take longer. »
The Israeli military claimed on Sunday to have discovered one of Hamas’ largest tunnels under the Gaza Strip and plans to destroy it.
Measuring nearly 2 1/2 miles long and large enough to drive a vehicle through, the tunnel’s entrance was located roughly 1,300 feet from the Erez border crossing between Gaza and Israel, the IDF said in a post on the social media site X.
The shaft, constructed with reinforced concrete and reaching a depth of more than 160 feet, is believed to have taken years to build and millions of dollars to complete, according to the IDF. The tunnel is also equipped with electricity, communications networks and rails, according to the IDF.
It is not known when the tunnel was discovered. The Israeli military said it also discovered weapons, militants and booby traps in the tunnel.
The tunnel, according to the IDF, is the brainchild of Mohammed Sinwar, brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. The Israeli military released a Hamas video it seized showing Mohammed Sinwar in the passenger seat of a jeep driving through the tunnel.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari told reporters that the tunnel would be destroyed.
“Without demolishing Hamas’ tunnel project, we cannot demolish Hamas,” Hagari said.
The IDF claims to have destroyed more than 800 tunnels in Gaza since the beginning of the war.
Inés de la Cuetara, de ABC News.