Israel-Gaza live updates: At least 68 killed in airstrike on refugee camp

The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended on Dec. 1, and Israel has resumed its bombardment of Gaza.

The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

Click here for updates from previous days.

Latest Developments

Dec 25, 8:58 AM

At least 68 killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza refugee camp, health ministry says

At least 68 people were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Sunday night, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

Palestinians mourn relatives, who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, during a mass funeral at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Dec. 25, 2023.

The strike hit the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, east of Deir al-Balah. At least 12 women and seven children were among the dead, according to The Associated Press, which cited early hospital figures.

An aerial view shows Palestinians inspecting the damage from an overnight Israeli airstrike at the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, east of Deir al-Balah, on Dec. 25, 2023.

Displaced Palestinian children watch from inside a tent as a man mourns relatives, who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, during a mass funeral in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Dec. 25, 2023.

When asked for comment, the Israel Defense Forces told ABC News on Monday: “The IDF received reports of an incident in the Maghazi camp and is reviewing the incident. Despite the challenges posed by Hamas terrorists operating within civilian areas in Gaza, the IDF is committed to international law including taking feasible steps to minimize harm to civilians.”

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller, Tomek Rolski and Morgan Winsor

 Dec 24, 1:14 PM

IDF suffers heavy losses

Fifteen Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip over the weekend, the Israeli military said Sunday.

Mourners attend the funeral of Israeli soldier Staff sergeant David Bogdanovskyi, who was killed in the Gaza Strip during the Israeli army’s ongoing ground operation in Gaza, at a cemetery in Haifa, Israel, Dec. 24, 2023.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the fatalities a “very heavy price.”

This weekend’s fatalities bring the total number of Israeli soldiers killed since the ground offensive began to 153, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Family and friends of Israeli soldier Lt. Yaacov Elian mourn over his grave during his funeral at Kiryat Shaul cemetery in Tel Aviv, Israel, Dec. 22, 2023.

 Dec 24, 1:03 PM

Israel ‘deepening the war’ in Gaza: Netanyahu

Israel is “deepening the war” in Gaza, and Israeli soldiers “will continue to fight until the complete victory over Hamas,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address Sunday.

A picture taken from southern Israel bordering the Gaza Strip on Dec. 22, 2023, shows an Israeli army tank rolling past debris of buildings in the Gaza Strip amid ongoing battles with the Hamas militant group.

“This is the only way to return our abductees, eliminate Hamas and ensure that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu said. “It will take time, but we are united — the fighters, the people and the government.”

A man grieves his friends at an installation on the site of the Nova festival, where people were killed and kidnapped during the October 7 attack by Hamas gunmen from Gaza, in Reim, in Southern Israel, Dec. 22, 2023.

 Dec 23, 5:11 PM

Biden says he did not ask for cease-fire on call with Netanyahu

President Joe Biden said he did not ask for a cease-fire during a call earlier Saturday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I had a long talk with Netanyahu today. It was a private conversation,” he told reporters while leaving the White House for Christmas at Camp David.

He later said, “I did not ask for a cease-fire.”

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.

-ABC News’ Lauren Peller and Jay O’Brien

 Dec 22, 4:42 PM

US hostage confirmed dead

Gadi Hagi, a 73-year-old American-Israeli hostage and member of Kibbutz Nir Oz, has been confirmed dead, the kibbutz said.

Hagi was killed on Oct. 7 at the kibbutz and his body was taken to Gaza where it’s still being held, according to a kibbutz spokesperson.

Hagi’s wife, 70-year-old Judy Weinstein, is wounded and still being held hostage, the kibbutz said.

Gadi Hagi and his wife Judy Weinstein.

Hagi and his wife were shot and kidnapped on Oct. 7, according to the Hostage Center.

“Gadi was a man full of humor who knew how to make those around him laugh,” the Hostage Center said in a statement. “A musician at heart, a gifted flautist, he played in the IDF Orchestra and was involved with music his whole life.”

Hagi was a father of four and a grandfather of seven.

Hagi reportedly has 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 — including many with New York connections — being held in Hamas captivity.”

A man walks past portraits of Israeli hostages, held in Gaza since the October 7 attack, posted on a wall in Tel Aviv on December 15, 2023.

President Joe Biden said he was “heartbroken by the news.”

“We continue to pray for the well-being and safe return of his wife, Judy,” Biden said in a statement. “We are praying for their four children, seven grandchildren, and other loved ones and are grieving 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.”

Pictures of hostages taken by Hamas line a walkway at Ben Gurion Airport, December 17, 2023, in Lod, Israel.