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Residents of Khan Younis on Oct. 8 cleared rubble and searched for survivors after the Israel Defense Forces launched overnight airstrikes on Gaza. (Video: Reuters)

Israel-Hamas conflict live updates U.S. to provide arms, shift naval group toward Mideast; death toll in Israel, Gaza passes 1,100

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The United States will move an aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean Sea while providing munitions and other equipment to help Israel in its newly declared war against Hamas. President Biden pledged his “full support” to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to White House readout of a Sunday morning call between the leaders, their second in two days. Israel pounded Gaza with strikes, promising retaliation for an unprecedented attack by the militant group that took Israeli security forces by surprise. The death toll has risen to 700 in Israel and thousands have been injured, according to local media, while Palestinian authorities said at least 413 were killed and about 2,300 injured in Gaza. At least 260 bodies were recovered at the site of a music festival near the Gaza border in southern Israel, which was attacked by Hamas on Saturday, Israeli media reported. Fears of a regional spillover grew after Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it attacked Israeli targets near the border “in solidarity” with Hamas and Israel said it struck back.

Key updates
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Israel’s declaration of war, a mostly symbolic formality, would allow the government to enact a wider mobilization of military reserves and compel the government to identify specific wartime objectives, raising the specter of a ground invasion of Gaza.
Hamas and the Israeli military said earlier that Hamas militants were holding Israeli military personnel and civilians hostage. The Washington Post has verified videos appearing to show captives held in Gaza and surrounding areas.
Saturday’s attack by Hamas militants follows months of rising tensions, including over Israeli raids at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and bouts of violence in the blockaded Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. The attack comes as Israel faces domestic turmoil over the plans of Netanyahu’s far-right government to restrict the power of the Supreme Court, in defiance of mass street protests.
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Israel’s declaration of war, a mostly symbolic formality, would allow the government to enact a wider mobilization of military reserves and compel the government to identify specific wartime objectives, raising the specter of a ground invasion of Gaza.
Hamas and the Israeli military said earlier that Hamas militants were holding Israeli military personnel and civilians hostage. The Washington Post has verified videos appearing to show captives held in Gaza and surrounding areas.
Saturday’s attack by Hamas militants follows months of rising tensions, including over Israeli raids at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and bouts of violence in the blockaded Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. The attack comes as Israel faces domestic turmoil over the plans of Netanyahu’s far-right government to restrict the power of the Supreme Court, in defiance of mass street protests.
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Israel-Hamas conflict

Israel issued a formal declaration of war against Hamas after an unprecedented attack by the militant group surprised Israeli security forces and killed hundreds. Follow live updates.

Photos and videos: See scenes from the Gaza Strip and videos verified by The Washington Post of Palestinian fighters breaching the border. Read first-hand accounts from an Israeli music festival that was among the first targets in the attacks.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Here is a timeline of the decades-old problem that led to the recent flare-up and what to know about the more recent violence in Israel and Gaza.

Global response: Authorities in cities across Europe and the United States are implementing tighter security at Jewish holy sites and for local communities in the wake of Hamas’s attack on Israel.