Israel-Gaza war

Secretary of State Antony Blinken left late Thursday to the Middle East for the fourth time since Israel launched its war in Gaza. The trip comes on the heels of a U.S. strike that killed an Iran-linked militia commander in Baghdad and a suspected Israeli killing of a Hamas leader in Lebanon that further raised fears of a wider war in the region.

More than 20,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip during the war between Israel and Hamas, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Hostages: More than 100 held in the Gaza Strip have been released. Here’s what we know about those freed by Hamas so far.

Oct. 7 attack: Hamas spent more than a year planning its assault on Israel. A Washington Post video analysis shows how Hamas exploited vulnerabilities created by Israel’s reliance on technology at the “Iron Wall,” the security barrier around the Gaza Strip, to carry out the deadliest attack in Israel’s history. Stock traders earned millions of dollars anticipating the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, a study found.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip has a complicated history. Understand what’s behind the Israel-Gaza war and read about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.