Israel-Gaza live updates: UNRWA warns operations will shut down without funding

Written by ABC AUDIO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on February 1, 2024

(NEW YORK) — 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.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Feb 01, 12:00 PM
Executive order targets four Israeli settlers involved in attacks on Palestinians in West Bank

President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order Thursday to sanction four Israeli settlers involved in attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, according to the State Department. The sanctions will prohibit them from accessing the U.S. financial system and property in the U.S. and will block them from receiving financial transactions from U.S. citizens.

The move escalates U.S. posture against the hardline elements in Israeli society amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In December, the U.S. imposed a visa ban on Israelis linked to violence and unrest in the West Bank that impacted “dozens” of settlers in the Israeli-occupied territory, according to the State Department.

Feb 01, 11:05 AM
Biden to sign executive order targeting Israeli settlers involved in attacks on Palestinians

President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order to sanction Israeli settlers involved in attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, two sources familiar with the plans confirmed to ABC News. The news was first reported by Axios.

The move would escalate U.S. posture against the hardline elements in Israeli society amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

It was not immediately clear how many Israelis would be targeted by the administration’s actions. In December, the U.S. imposed a visa ban on Israelis linked to violence and unrest in the West Bank that impacted “dozens” of settlers in the Israeli-occupied territory, according to the State Department.

Feb 01, 7:40 AM
UNRWA warns operations will be shut down by end of February without funding

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East warned Thursday that it “will most likely be forced to shut down” its operations in the war-torn Gaza Strip and the wider region “by the end of February” if funding does not resume.

Sixteen donor countries, including the United States, have suspended financial support to the U.N. agency over Israel’s allegations that 13 UNRWA staff members were involved in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terror attack. UNRWA said it is investigating the accusations and that “full accountability and transparency are expected out of this process, should the allegations be substantiated.”

“As the war in Gaza is being pursued unabated, and at the time the International Court of Justice calls for more humanitarian assistance, it is the time to reinforce and not to weaken UNRWA. The Agency remains the largest aid organization in one of the most severe and complex humanitarian crises in the world,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement Thursday. “I echo the call of the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres to resume funding to UNRWA. If the funding remains suspended, we will most likely be forced to shut down our operations by end of February not only in Gaza but also across the region.”

Feb 01, 6:21 AM
What we know about the conflict

The latest outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs the Gaza Strip, has reached the three-month mark.

In the Gaza Strip, at least 27,019 people have been killed and 66,139 others have been wounded by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.

In Israel, at least 1,200 people have been killed and 6,900 others have been injured by Hamas and other Palestinian militants since Oct. 7, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

There has also been a surge in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli forces have killed at least 297 people in the territory since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The ongoing war began after Hamas-led militants launched an unprecedented incursion into southern Israel from neighboring Gaza via land, sea and air. Scores of people were killed while more than 200 others were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities. The Israeli military subsequently launched retaliatory airstrikes followed by a ground invasion of Gaza, a 140-square-mile territory where more than two million Palestinians have lived under a blockade imposed by Israel and supported by Egypt since Hamas came to power in 2007. Gaza, unlike Israel, has no air raid sirens or bomb shelters.