Israel-Gaza live updates: Deadliest day for IDF since war began as 24 soldiers killed

More than 100 days since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, the Israeli military continues its bombardment of the neighboring Gaza Strip.

The conflict, now the deadliest between the warring sides since Israel’s founding in 1948, shows no signs of letting up soon and the brief cease-fire that allowed for over 100 hostages to be freed from Gaza remains a distant memory.

Click here for updates from previous days.

Latest Developments

Jan 23, 7:50 AM

MSF staff ‘can feel the ground shaking’ inside major hospital in southern Gaza

The international medical charity Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym MSF, warned Tuesday that its staff at Nasser Hospital, the largest still functioning in the war-torn Gaza Strip, “report they can feel the ground shaking.”

“There is a sense of panic among staff, patients and displaced people sheltering inside the building,” MSF wrote in a series of posts on X, the social media platform formerly known as X.

Nasser Hospital is the only major hospital still accessible in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, which has been under siege by Israeli forces amid the ongoing war with Hamas, Gaza’s militant rulers.

“All the hospital wards at Nasser are full and there is no way to evacuate medical staff and patients safely due to exit routes from the facility being blocked,” MSF wrote.

The organization said its “staff fear the fighting, shelling and bombing will get worse and closer to Nasser hospital.”

“There has been heavy ongoing bombing mainly in the southern and northern parts of Khan Younis since yesterday evening,” MSF added.

-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor

 Jan 23, 6:43 AM

Deadliest day for IDF since war began as 24 soldiers killed

The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that 21 of its reservists were killed “during operational activity” in the central Gaza Strip a day earlier.

An “RPG missile was apparently fired by terrorists” at an Israeli tank that was securing an area near the Gaza-Israel border where Israeli troops were rigging buildings with explosives for demolition, according to IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.

“At the same time, an explosion occurred in two two-storey buildings, which collapsed as a result, while most of the force was inside and near them,” Hagari said in a statement Tuesday. “The buildings apparently exploded as a result of mines that our forces planted in them and were about to explode the buildings, the terrorist infrastructure in the area.”

The IDF is “investigating the details of the incident and the cause of the explosion,” according to Hagari.

“War has a very painful and heavy price,” he added. “The dedicated reservists, who stood up for the flag, sacrificed the most precious of all, for the security of the State of Israel and so that we can all live here safely.”

Three more Israeli soldiers were killed in a separate incident in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Monday, bringing the toll to 24, according to the IDF. It was the deadliest day for the Israeli military since the war with Hamas began on Oct. 7.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “one of the hardest days since the war broke out.”

“We must learn the necessary lessons and do everything to safeguard the lives of our fighters.” Netanyahu said in a statement Tuesday. “On behalf of our heroes, for our very lives, we will not stop fighting until total victory.”

A total of 221 Israeli troops have been killed in Gaza since the ground operation began late last year, according to the IDF.

-ABC News’ Yael Benaya, Jordana Miller, Dana Savir, Joe Simonetti and Morgan Winsor

  Jan 22, 2:51 PM

Biden ‘under no illusions’ how difficult 2-state solution would be: White House

President Joe Biden is “under no illusions” about “how difficult” a two-state solution would be after the war in Gaza ends, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Monday.

A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip during Israeli bombardment, Jan. 22, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Kirby’s comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he “firmly” stands by his belief to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state as long as he’s in power. Biden said Friday, “We’ll be able to work something out.”

“When we say two-state solution, what does it actually mean? And there’s many different interpretations. There’s lots of different ways you can get at that ultimate solution,” Kirby said. “And the president, as he has always done, kept an open mind about trying to pursue that.”

A Palestinian woman cries as she sits next to her girl wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip while receiving treatment at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Southern Gaza Strip, Jan. 22, 2024.

“If this was easy, I mean, my goodness, we’ve had a two-state solution for years now,” Kirby continued. “It’s going to require negotiation, it’s going to require sacrifices, again, on both sides. The president understands that.”

Kirby kept characterizing Biden’s phone calls with Netanyahu as “good conversations” and said the president is “not going to let go of this.”

Palestinians walk through destruction from the Israeli bombardment in the Nusseirat refugee camp in Gaza Strip, Jan. 19, 2024.

-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez

 Jan 22, 11:26 AM

Hostage families storm Israel’s parliament in protest

Relatives of Israeli hostages being held by militants in the Gaza Strip stormed Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem on Monday in protest of the government’s failure to bring their loved ones home.

“You will not sit here while our children die,” some of the family members yelled while disrupting a finance committee hearing. “What about ransoming captives?”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the families of hostages at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, telling them there’s no “real proposal from Hamas” on the table right now.

“Contrary to what they say, there is no real proposal from Hamas,” he said. “I say this as clearly as I can because there are so many false things that must be tormenting you. In contrast, there is an initiative of ours, and I will not elaborate.”

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller, Dana Savir and Morgan Winsor

 Jan 22, 10:05 AM

Israeli bombardment intensifies near southern Gaza hospital, rescue agency’s headquarters

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said Monday that it had “completely lost contact with” its teams in the besieged city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip as Israeli tanks surrounded Al-Amal Hospital, headquarters of the humanitarian organization.

The PRCS added that its ambulances were “unable to reach the wounded” in Khan Younis due to the ground invasion.

“Israeli occupation forces are besieging the PRCS ambulance center, and targeting anyone attempting to move in the area,” the organization wrote in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

The PRCS said it was “deeply concerned” about the safety of its teams as well as people taking shelter at its facilities in the besieged city.

-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor

 Jan 21, 1:27 PM

IDF confirms death of kidnapped soldier

The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday announced that Sgt. Shay Levinson, who until now had been identified as a hostage, was killed in battle on Oct. 7 and his body is being held in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials say 532 IDF soldiers have been killed, including 195 since the ground operations in Gaza began.

-ABC News’ Anna Burd

 Jan 21, 2:35 PM

Inside Hamas tunnel where IDF says hostages were kept

ABC News’ Matt Gutman got a close-up look at a vast Hamas tunnel complex where hostages were reportedly held captive.

Video: Inside Hamas tunnel where hostages were kept

 Jan 21, 12:41 PM

Netanyahu says war to continue ‘on all fronts,’ rejects Hamas’ ‘terms of surrender’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will “continue the war on all fronts and in all sectors.”

“We do not give immunity to any terrorist — not in Gaza, not in Lebanon, not in Syria and not anywhere,” Netanyahu said in the statement Sunday, written in Hebrew.

The prime minster added, “Whoever tries to hurt us — we hurt him.”

Netanyahu said he’s working to secure the return of all the hostages “around the clock,” and added: “But to be clear: I reject outright the terms of surrender of the monsters of Hamas.”

Netanyahu also said he had a conversation with President Joe Biden over the weekend, in which he emphasized “determination to complete all war objectives, and to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” according to the prime minister’s statement.

“That is why I insist that after we achieve complete victory, after we eliminate Hamas — there will be no factor in Gaza that finances terrorism, educator of terrorism or courier of terrorism,” Netanyahu said.

“Gaza must be demilitarized, under full security control of the State of Israel,” he said. “I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of Jordan.”

Netanyahu added he will continue to “firmly” stand by his insistence to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state for as long as he is prime minister.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

 Jan 21, 5:50 AM

More than 25,000 killed in Gaza, health ministry says

More than 25,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, the Gaza Ministry of Health said Sunday.

Citizens inspect a car that was destroyed by Israeli air strikes on Jan. 21, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza.

At least 62,681 people have been injured since the war began, said the ministry, which operates under the Hamas Authority.

A ministry spokesperson said at least 178 bodies were brought to hospitals in the last day.

-ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Edward Szekeres