Houthi missile hits Tel Aviv, causes casualties

The State Department's lack of boots on the ground in Syria isn't interfering in its efforts to track down missing American journalist Austin Tice, spokesperson Matthew Miller contended on Monday.

The department has had "more than one communication" with rebel group HTS "over the past week," he told reporters. It was also in touch with other groups, like the White Helmets, that were helping with the search, he said.

"We feel that right now we are able to get good information," he said.

Tice, an American freelance journalist and Marine Corps veteran, was kidnapped while reporting in Syria more than a decade ago.

In a recent letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu obtained by ABC News, Tice's family "urgently" asked the Israelis to pause their strikes in a neighborhood in Damascus where they believe he may be held prisoner and to deploy assets to the area to help search for him.

"I'm going to be looking for help anywhere I can, and what I've learned in 12 years and four months is go to the top first," Tice's mother, Debra Tice, told reporters on Monday when asked about the outreach.

"I think it would be polite to say the least, that perhaps they’re not bombing as people are trying to clear the prison. That would be my first suggestion," she added.

ABC News has reached out to the prime minister's office for comment.

-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston and Will Gretsky

Israeli officials are expressing optimism about the prospects of a ceasefire deal in Gaza.

"We are closer to a deal than in any other point since the previous deal, the matter is top priority," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said while addressing the Knesset on Monday, according to the spokesperson of the foreign affairs and security committee.

The remarks come after Mossad chief David Barnea traveled to Doha, Qatar, last week for ceasefire negotiations.

Former Syrian President Bashar Assad on Monday released his first statement since the collapse of his regime, posting a statement to the presidency's official Telegram channel.

"My departure from Syria was neither planned nor did it occur in the final hours of the battles," Assad said. "As terrorist forces infiltrated Damascus, I moved to Latakia in coordination with our Russian allies to oversee combat operations."

"Upon arrival at the Khmeimim air base that morning, it became clear that our forces had completely withdrawn from all battle lines and that the last army positions had fallen," the statement continued.

"As the field situation in the area continued to deteriorate, the Russian military base itself came under intensified attack by drone strikes."

"With no viable means of leaving the base, Moscow requested that the base's command arrange an immediate evacuation to Russia," Assad wrote.

"This took place a day after the fall of Damascus, following the collapse of the final military positions and the resulting paralysis of all state institutions," he added.

-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian, Ghazi Balkiz and Joe Simonetti

A series of Israeli airstrikes across Gaza over the weekend and into Monday morning pushed the total death toll in the strip since Oct. 7, 2023, to more than 45,000 people, according to data from the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Per ministry figures, more than 2% of Gaza's total pre-war residents of 2.23 million people have been killed in 14 months of conflict with Israel.

-ABC News' Joe Simonetti