(NEW YORK) — In Senegal, rising sea temperatures and years of overfishing have depleted the country’s stocks of fish which are crucial to the economy and the population’s diet. A third of the country lives in poverty, and even with an education, it’s difficult for many to find sustainable jobs.
That’s why Djiby, a Senegalese man, told ABC News that he saw no other choice but to embark on a small wooden boat called a pirogue, hoping to reach Spain’s Canary Islands via the Atlantic.
“I’m going to Spain to support my family,” he told ABC News before he set out for his journey.
The Canary Islands are roughly a thousand miles away from the shorelines of Senegal. It’s also one of the most used routes by migrants hoping to reach Europe, according to international migration experts. But the journey across the water is dangerous, and at worse, deadly.
More than 3,500 people died last year alone trying to reach Europe according to UNCHR. Other NGO’s estimate the death toll is much higher.
And still, people are willing to risk paying the ultimate price for a chance at a better life.
Mbene Kane is a single mom and has been considering taking that trip to the Canary Islands with her 6-year-old daughter. Kane used to work selling fish and said that rising prices and lower supply have left her unable to provide the life she wants for her daughter.
“Having all those needs and assuming that there is somewhere you can go and satisfy those needs, you don’t care about the risks – you go,” Kane told ABC News.
Kane attempted to make the journey once before, but her boat was struck by dangerous waters that forced her to return to shore.
“The water was getting into the boat. As the water came in, we tried to scoop it out, but more waves were coming in,” she recalled.
Kane said she does have concerns about her and her daughter’s safety if she decides to attempt the trip once more.
And for good reason.
One of the deadliest incidents last year took place in August off the coast of Cabo Verde when a boat of 100 Senegalese migrants sank.
Assane was one of the passengers on the boat and he described the harsh conditions he faced.
“The boat didn’t move for two days. Two bars of cookies were given to everybody daily. When we were out of food, a lot more people were dying,” he told ABC News. “All I was thinking about was death. It was just a question of days, but I was convinced I would die.”
Assane still has scars on his face and neck from the ropes that were used to save the boat he was on for 35 days. He vowed never to make the journey again.
“We rely on the sea but there is nothing left in this sea,” he said.
While the ocean is the deadliest migrant route of all, many Africans hoping to get to Europe have to cross the grueling Sahara Desert first.
Georgette is from Benin in West Africa and decided to make the journey through the desert with her son so she could meet her husband in Libya. Once there, they plan on heading to Italy for a better life.
“If you don’t have money, you have nothing in life. You can’t just make a baby. A baby can’t find food. It’s not good,” she told ABC News.
Georgette waited three weeks in Niger to cross more than 800 miles of desert. She and her son rode in the back of a pickup truck with dozens of other migrants for six days.
The trip cost Georgette $500 but the physical and emotional toll of the trip was much higher.
After days under the relentless sun and with little water left, Georgette found herself weak, exhausted and dehydrated.
“The sun bothers me too much. In this route, there is too much of suffering,” she said.
More than 5,600 people have died or gone missing in the Sahara since 2014, according to the United Nation’s International Organization for Migration. However, the route is so dangerous and the smuggling shrouded in secrecy, that the actual death toll is thought to be much higher.
Georgette and her son were lucky, they made it to Libya. If and when they take a boat to cross the Mediterranean to Italy, there’s no doubt another dangerous journey awaits.
ABC News’ Sohel Uddin, Aicha El Hammar and Adoum Moussa contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — As some of Alaska Airlines’ 737 MAX aircraft take flight again on Friday, online travel booking website Kayak has seen an uptick in users who are filtering out the airplane when searching for flights.
Kayak first rolled out its aircraft filter in March 2019, but the company said it saw 15 times the typical use of the tool between Saturday, Jan. 6 and the following Thursday, specifically for 737 MAX planes immediately following the Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines incident, in which a door plug fell off of a 737 MAX 9 aircraft a few minutes after takeoff.
Kayak filter for Boeing 737 Max models
Kayak recently added a capability to its filter for users to specify 737 Max 8 and 737 Max 9 models, which are still in flight, and moved the filter higher on their website’s landing page to make the tool more prominent for travelers.
“KAYAK makes it easy for concerned travelers to avoid 737 Max flights. We’ve increased the prominence of the MAX filter on site. Airlines do often substitute equipment – so travelers should double check before departure,” Kayak CEO Steve Hafner told ABC News in an emailed statement.
FAA approves inspection process for Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft
Earlier this week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved a thorough inspection and maintenance process for the 737 MAX 9 aircraft, which Alaska Airlines said it is ready to perform.
“Each of our aircraft will only return to service once the rigorous inspections are completed and each aircraft is deemed airworthy according to the FAA requirements,” a representative for Alaska Airlines said in a written statement to ABC News. “We have 65 737-9 MAX in our fleet. The inspections are expected to take up to 12 hours for each plane.”
The first of the airline’s 737 MAX 9 aircraft will resume flying commercial service on Friday, the statement said, adding that more planes will be added “as inspections are completed and each aircraft is deemed airworthy.”
Alaska Airlines said its maintenance technicians, at the FAA’s request, “completed preliminary inspections on 20” of those aircraft, and that data from those inspections was provided to the FAA for further analysis.
“Those findings informed the FAA’s final orders for thorough inspections of the door plug on each of our 737-9 MAX aircraft,” the airline stated. “We are now ready to implement those final orders.”
What happened on Alaska Airlines’ Boeing 737 Max 9 flight
After an investigation into the Jan. 5 incident, the National Transportation Safety Board found that the fuselage door plug of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, which was a Boeing 737 Max 9, fell off a few minutes after the aircraft took off from Portland International Airport. That resulted in a depressurized cabin which exposed passengers to open air at about 16,000 feet above the ground.
No one was seriously injured and the plane made an emergency landing safely.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at his caucus night event at the Iowa Events Center, Jan. 15, 2024 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump is on trial this week in New York City to determine whether he will have to pay former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll additional damages for defaming her in 2019 when he denied her allegations of sexual assault.
Last year, in a separate trial, a jury determined that Trump was liable for sexually assaulting Carroll in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the 1990s, and that he defamed her in a 2022 social media post by calling her allegations “a Hoax and a lie” and saying “This woman is not my type!”
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has said he doesn’t know who Carroll is.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 26, 10:27 AM
Carroll’s attorney says Trump was ‘trying to ruin her’
Prior to Donald Trump’s dramatic and unexpected exit, E. Jean Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan had been telling the jury, in her closing statement, that Trump responded to Carroll’s 2019 sexual assault claim “by trying to ruin her,” thereby triggering “a tsunami of attacks” against her.
Trump shook his head, silently disagreeing, as the attorney reminded the jury that a prior trial found Trump sexually assaulted Carroll and, when she later accused him, unleashed “vicious attacks against her.”
“This case is about how to compensate Ms. Carroll for the harm Donald Trump’s original statements in June 2019 caused her,” she said. “This case is also about punishing Donald Trump for what he has done and for what he continues to do. It’s about punishing him for the malicious nature of his original attacks in 2019, and considering his continued attacks. This trial is about getting him to stop once and for all.”
The attorney took aim at the defense’s argument that Trump’s statements made Carroll more famous, enlarged her following, and enabled new career opportunities.
“Being known as a liar and whack job is different than being known as a respected advice columnist,” she said.
Jan 26, 10:12 AM
Trump walks out during plaintiff’s closing statement
Former President Trump walked out of the courtroom as Carroll’s attorney was delivering her closing statement.
Judge Lewis Kaplan interrupted.
“The record will reflect that Mr. Trump just rose and walked out of the courtroom,” the judge said.
Jan 26, 10:05 AM
Judge warns courtroom to be silent during closings
Before the jury was brought into the courtroom, Judge Lewis Kaplan issued a warning to all present prior to the start of closing arguments.
“No one in the courtroom is to say anything except for opposing counsel to say objection,” the judge said. “No audible comments by anybody else.”
Kaplan did not direct the warning at anyone in particular, but earlier in the trial he threatened to boot Trump from courtroom after the former president made comments that the jury could hear.
Before the jury entered, the defense asked permission to show the jury tweets from 2019 that Twitter users had written about E. Jean Carroll prior to Trump’s defamatory statements denying her assault claim. Earlier, Trump’s attorneys had argued that Trump wasn’t responsible for the online attacks on Carroll, because she was already being attacked before Trump issued his denial.
The judge did not allow the defense to display the additional tweets.
When Trump attorney Alina Habba attempted to press ahead with her argument, Kaplan interrupted.
“You are on the verge of spending some time in the lockup — now sit down,” Kaplan boomed.
Jan 26, 9:15 AM
Trump arrives at courthouse
Former President Trump has arrived at the courthouse for closing arguments this morning.
Jurors are expected to begin deliberations today after attorneys for Trump and E. Jean Carroll deliver their closings.
Jan 23, 3:52 PM
Trial now scheduled to resume Thursday
Former President Trump’s defamation damages trial has been postponed an additional day and is scheduled to resume on Thursday morning.
The postponement was announced in an update posted to the court’s docket.
The trial was adjourned Monday morning due to COVID-19 concerns.
Jan 22, 4:39 PM
Trial to resume Wednesday
Donald Trump’s defamation damages trial, which was adjourned Monday morning due to COVID-19 concerns, will resume Wednesday.
Judge Lewis Kaplan had originally said court would resume on Tuesday, but has now pushed that back a day.
“This Court functioned all the way through the worst of the COVID pandemic,” Judge Kaplan said this morning before court was adjourned. “We conducted over a hundred jury trials right through the lockdowns and everything else. So we have gotten through all of that — I’m sure we’ll get through all of this too.”
Jan 22, 10:26 AM
Defense wants Trump’s testimony moved due to NH primary
After Judge Kaplan adjourned the trial until Tuesday due to COVID-19 concerns, defense attorney Alina Habba asked him to postpone former President Trump’s testimony until Wednesday because “tomorrow is the New Hampshire primary.”
Trump, sitting at the defense table, appeared visibly irritated, actively conferring with Habba before she raised concerns about the timing.
The judge did not immediately rule on her request.
Carroll’s attorneys opposed the delay.
The judge also denied the defense’s latest motion for a mistrial, which they filed on Friday.
“The defense made a motion for a mistrial, again,” the judge said. “That motion is denied.”
Trump spent an additional 30 minutes inside the courthouse after the trial was adjourned, then drove off in his motorcade.
Jan 22, 10:06 AM
Court adjourned until Tuesday due to COVID-19 concerns
Court is adjourned Monday due to health concerns on the part of several participants.
The proceedings will resume Tuesday, pending everyone’s good health, Judge Lewis Kaplan announced.
A juror reported feeling “hot and nauseous,” so the judge sent him home for the day with instructions to get a COVID-19 test.
Additionally, defense attorney Alina Habba reported she is not feeling well. One or both of her parents had COVID-19 and she was exposed at a dinner with them three days ago, she said.
Habba said she had a fever 48 hours ago but a court-administered COVID-19 test this morning came back negative.
“We will not take testimony today,” Kaplan said.
Former President Trump sat between Habba and her law partner Michael Madaio as the judge made the announcement.
“See you tomorrow, I hope,” Judge Kaplan said.
Jan 22, 8:41 AM
Judge expected to closely monitor Trump’s testimony
If Donald Trump takes the stand as expected today, the judge in the case is likely to closely supervise his testimony based on the ground rules the judge has laid down for the trial.
Judge Lewis Kaplan, who threatened to throw Trump out of the courtroom last week for making comments within earshot of the jury, established in a pretrial ruling that Trump is barred from arguing that he did not sexually abuse Carroll or that he never met her.
As Judge Kaplan has instructed the jury, it is not their responsibility to determine the truthfulness of Carroll’s allegations because a jury last year already found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and then defaming her; their job is only to determine whether Trump will have to pay Carroll additional damages beyond the $5 million awarded in the earlier trial.
According, Kaplan ruled, Trump cannot argue that he believed the two statements he made in June 2019 denying Carroll’s allegations.
Instructing the jury last week on the facts of the case, Kaplan said, “Because you must accept them as true, this trial is not a do-over of the previous trial which determined those facts. What remains for you to decide are only two very limited issues relating to damages for Mr. Trump’s publication of those two statements.”
Jan 22, 8:11 AM
Trump’s request for mistrial is meritless, Carroll’s lawyer argues
E. Jean Carroll’s attorney has asked the judge in the case to promptly deny former President Trump’s request for a mistrial.
In a letter to the judge on Sunday, lawyer Roberta Kaplan accused Trump’s defense team of creating a “spectacle” when they requested a mistrial in front of the jury last week.
On Friday, Trump attorney Alina Habba, in a written request, renewed her request for a mistrial in the case by arguing that Carroll failed to preserve evidence when she deleted some the death threats she received after she accused Trump of sexual assault in 2019.
In her response, Carroll’s attorney argued that Carroll’s testimony has been consistent with her past statements, and Habba merely muddled the issue during her cross-examination.
“This muddled testimony, which resulted from muddled and shouted questions, is hardly sufficient to carry Mr. Trump’s burden of demonstrating that Ms. Carroll deleted evidence when she was under an obligation to preserve it,” Kaplan wrote.
Kaplan added that Carroll had not filed her lawsuit when she initially deleted some of the death threats that filled her inbox in 2019, and that Habba’s request to preclude the jury from considering damages for the death threats would unfairly limit the jury’s role.
Jan 19, 7:26 PM
Trump expected to attend trial, possibly testify Monday
Former President Trump is expected to attend the trial on Monday, sources tell ABC News, cautioning that the former president’s plans are flexible.
Lawyers for E. Jean Carroll plan to call former Elle editor-in-chief Robbie Myers on Monday morning as their final witness, after which Trump’s attorneys plan to call Trump to the stand, followed by Carol Martin, a former television newswoman with whom Carroll confided about Trump’s alleged assault.
Once the defense rests its case, Carroll’s team could present a brief rebuttal case before closing statements.
Trump attorney Alina Habba told the court that the defense’s case would run roughly two days.
Jan 19, 3:52 PM
Trump’s attorney renews request for mistrial
Trump attorney Alina Habba renewed her request for a mistrial in the case Friday, arguing that E. Jean Carroll failed to preserve evidence when she deleted the death threats she received after she accused Trump of sexual assault in 2019.
“Despite being served with a subpoena in connection with this action, Plaintiff failed to take reasonable steps to preserve relevant evidence. In fact, she did much worse — she actively deleted evidence which she now attempts to rely on in establishing her damages claim,” Habba wrote in a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan Friday.
Habba originally requested a mistrial during her cross-examination of Carroll on Wednesday, which Kaplan immediately denied.
Carroll explained during cross-examination that she deleted some emails and messages that were “filled with threats” before 2023.
“I deleted them early on because I didn’t know how to handle death threats. I had no idea,” Carroll testified. “I thought deleting them was the smartest, best, quickest way to get it out of my life.”
Renewing her request in writing Friday, Habba asked for Judge Kaplan to either declare a mistrial, preclude Carroll from seeking damages based on the death threats, or instruct the jury about the “spoliation of relevant evidence.”
Jan 18, 4:27 PM
Defense challenges expert on reputation repair
Donald Trump’s defense attorneys contested the conclusion of a plaintiff’s expert who said restoring E. Jean Carroll’s reputation would cost as much as $12 million.
Defense attorney Michael Madaio challenged the validity of Northwestern University professor Ashlee Humphreys’ report, suggesting that it failed to consider Carroll’s increased social media following and career prospects after she accused Trump of rape.
Madaio also argued that some of the negative attention Humphreys calculated really came from articles about the allegation, and not from Trump’s statements denying the claim.
“It’s likely more people know her name,” Humphreys allowed.
Humphreys also conceded that she had never, herself, carried out a reputation repair campaign.
“Do you have any real-world experience other than being a professor?” Madaio asked. “Have you ever applied the methodologies in the report in the real world?”
“No,” Humphreys responded. “I teach students how to apply these methodologies.”
At several points during the cross-examination, Judge Kaplan expressed frustration with Madaio’s questions and the pace of his cross-examination.
“We’re now wasting time — big time,” Kaplan thundered at one point.
Court was subsequently adjourned for the day after Humphreys stepped down from the witness stand. The trial is currently scheduled to resume on Monday.
Jan 18, 1:48 PM
Repairing Carroll’s reputation would cost $12M, says expert
Former President Trump’s defamatory denial of E. Jean Carroll’s rape allegation was seen online as many as 25 million times and 63 million times on television, causing “severe” damage to Carroll’s reputation that would cost more than $12 million to repair, an expert called by Carroll’s attorneys testified.
The expert, Northwestern University professor Ashlee Humphreys, said Trump’s statements reached between 85 and 104 million people. Not everyone believed them — maybe a fifth to a quarter — but they altered the associations attached to Carroll’s name, Humphreys said.
Before June 2019, Humphreys said Carroll was known as a journalist, a “truth-teller and sassy advice columnist.” After her allegation became public and Trump responded to it, Carroll was publicly associated with being a liar or a Democratic operative, Humphreys said.
“I found that damage to her reputation was severe and the costs to repair it were considerable,” Humphreys testified. She estimated it would cost $12 million to repair Carroll’s reputation by placing positive messages about her on television, with social media influencers and on blogs.
Jan 18, 12:26 PM
‘It took great courage to come forward,’ Carroll says
E. Jean Carroll testified on redirect examination that she would prefer to have the reputation she had prior to her allegation against then-President Trump than the one she has now — despite defense assertions that her online following and her income have increased.
“Would you prefer to have the reputation you have now with all those Twitter followers, or the reputation you had before June 2019? Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan asked.
“Before,” Carroll responded.
Carroll testified she did not go public with the accusation to enhance her social status, get herself on a magazine cover, or make money. “No, it took great courage to come forward and say what happened,” Carroll said.
While she said she anticipated backlash, Carroll said that Trump’s defamatory statements made the backlash worse than what she expected.
After earlier conceding under cross-examination that she received negative messages in the hours before the White House issued a public denial of her rape claim, she testified on redirect that the messages became more threatening and abusive after Trump’s statement.
Regarding the tweets Carroll received after she went public but before Trump’s denial, Carroll’s attorney asked her, “Did any of those tweets accuse you of being a paid Democratic operative?”
“No,” Carroll responded.
“Did any of those tweets threaten your life?” her attorney asked.
“No,” Carroll said.
“Did any of those tweets say you should be in jail?” her attorney asked.
“No,” Carroll answered.
“Did any of those tweets say you should be raped?” her attorney asked.
“No,” Carroll replied.
Carroll then stepped down from the witness stand, concluding her testimony. Her lawyers next plan to call a reputational repair expert to the stand.
Jan 18, 11:16 AM
Defense presses Carroll on her ‘bigger status’
E. Jean Carroll’s Twitter followers increased from about 12,000 to 282,000 after she went public with her rape allegation against then-President Trump, Carroll said under cross-examination.
Carroll testified that the increase was the “result of hard work,” but defense attorney Alina Habba asked, “You don’t believe any of that increase came from coming forward with your story?”
The defense has suggested that Carroll craved attention, took on Trump to revive her flagging career, and relished the verdict in an earlier trial — known as Carroll II — that established Trump was liable for sexually abusing and then defaming her.
“Did the Carroll II verdict, in your opinion, provide you with bigger status in New York?” Habba asked.
“It provided me with enormous elation,” Carroll responded.
The defense has also suggested that Carroll assumed the burden for any abusive or threatening messages by appearing on television, participating in a podcast, and sitting for an interview with The New York Times.
“Do you believe you are more well-known because of the allegations you brought against my client, Donald Trump?” Habba asked.
“Yes I am more well-known, and I’m hated by a lot more people,” Carroll responded. “I am partaking in this trial to bring my old reputation and status back.”
“So you sued Donald Trump to get your old reputation back?” Habba asked.
“Yeah,” Carroll bluntly answered, ending the cross-examination.
Jan 18, 10:42 AM
Carroll concedes she was attacked online before Trump’s denial
E. Jean Carroll, who testified yesterday that she’s been inundated with online attacks ever since then-President Trump fiercely denied her rape allegation on June 21, 2019, conceded on cross-examination that, after the allegation was published, people were sending her negative messages in the hours before the White House publicly issued Trump’s denial.
“Nothing like making up fake news to ruin the president’s win in 2020,” one message said. “I’ve got some advice for you drop this lie because it’s a bad look for you,” said another. A third called Carroll a “lying sack of s— making false accusations right after a presidential run announcement.”
“And that was before President Trump’s tweet?” defense attorney Alina Habba asked Carroll.
“Yes,” Carroll said.
Habba attempted to show more of the messages sent to Carroll, but Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, interrupted, saying, “We’ll stipulate that there were nasty tweets sent to Ms. Carroll prior to 5:17 p.m.,” the time of the first Tweet repeating Trump’s denial.
Habba is trying to convince the jury that the former president should not be financially liable for the negativity hurled at Carroll by others. Carroll, who is seeking at least $10 million in damages, suggested that all of the negative, threatening messages she received mimic Trump.
“They want to emulate him,” Carroll testified. “They’re standing up for the man that they admire.”
Jan 18, 8:21 AM
Cross-examination of Carroll to resume
E. Jean Carroll will return to the witness stand this morning to resume her cross-examination — this time without Donald Trump in the courtroom.
After attending the first two days of the trial, Trump will be absent today to attend the funeral of former first lady Melania Trump’s mother, Amalija Knavs, who died last week after a long health battle.
During yesterday’s proceedings, Judge Lewis Kaplan, for a third time, denied a request from Trump’s legal team to pause the trial so Trump could attend the funeral.
“We would have assumed that for a trial like this, it’s not an emergency in terms of timing, the judge would have been very nice, and they would let me go because I want to be at every trial day,” Trump told reporters after court yesterday, calling Kaplan a “radical Trump hater.”
Trump’s attorney Alina Habba told Judge Kaplan she intends to question Carroll for less than an hour today, after which Carroll’s lawyers plan to call to the stand an expert on reputational harm, as well as Robbie Myers, the former editor of the magazine where Carroll worked as an advice columnist.
Jan 17, 4:53 PM
Carroll agrees she did not shy away from publicity
E. Jean Carroll conceded on cross-examination that she anticipated “blowback” would follow the publication of her rape allegation against then-President Trump, and that she did not shy away from publicity that she now says has shattered her reputation.
“You’ve continued to publicize every lawsuit you had against President Trump?” defense attorney Alina Habba asked.
“Yes,” Carroll responded. “Because I wanted people to know that a woman can speak up and win a trial. I wanted people to know. I’m 80. I don’t want to be quiet. It’s not right to make a woman be quiet. It has gone on for too long.”
The defense has been trying to portray Carroll as an attention-loving woman who is overplaying her emotional accounts of how the backlash following her rape accusation affected her.
Carroll also said under questioning that she hosted watch parties in her lawyer’s office that were attended by comedian Kathy Griffin and Trump’s niece Mary Trump, both of whom are critics of the former president.
“Isn’t Kathy Griffin known for holding up a severed head of President Trump?” Habba asked.
“Yes,” Carroll said.
Court subsequently adjourned for the day, with Carroll scheduled to return to the witness stand on Thursday for additional cross-examination.
Trump indicated he would be making remarks to the press later this afternoon.
Jan 17, 4:24 PM
Judge promptly rejects defense request for mistrial
In the middle of E. Jean Carroll’s cross-examination, former President Trump’s defense attorney Alina Habba sought a mistrial, which the judge promptly denied.
Habba was questioning Carroll about threatening emails she said she received. Carroll said she deleted many of those messages because “I didn’t know how to handle death threats. I thought deleting them was the easiest way to get them out of my life.”
When Carroll said she had deleted some messages around the time of her earlier trial involving Trump, Habba asked for a mistrial, saying, “The witness has just admitted to deleting evidence herself.”
Judge Kaplan immediately denied the request and said, “The jury will disregard everything Ms. Habba just said.”
Habba also questioned whether Carroll received disparaging messages after publishing her account of the sexual assault at Bergdorf Goodman, but before Trump issued his denial.
“Some of the slime happened before the president issued his statement?” Habba asked.
“No,” Carroll responded. “Because they were reacting to the White House statement.”
Asked how she knew, Carroll said, “Because of the wording,” prompting Habba to say, “So a denial from the White House would mean that any statement echoing it would be President Trump’s fault?”
Jan 17, 2:46 PM
Cross-examination of Carroll stumbles at the start
The direct examination of E. Jean Carroll ended with her telling the jury she would “never get used to attacks” like the ones she has continued to endure from former President Trump and his followers.
“Was he posting about you as recently as yesterday? Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan asked regarding Trump.
“That’s what I’ve been told,” Carroll answered before she was shown a Truth Social post from Tuesday, during the lunch break, in which Trump called the trial a “fake case from a woman I’ve never met, seen or touched.”
The cross-examination of Carroll began on a discordant note when defense attorney Alina Habba tried to confront Carroll with some of her testimony from an earlier deposition.
There was a dispute over whether Habba had properly told the judge which part of the deposition she intended to introduce.
“We’re going to do it my way, Ms. Habba,” Judge Kaplan said.
“Sure,” Habba replied, abandoning that line of questioning.
Jan 17, 2:01 PM
Judge denies defense motion for him to recuse himself
Following the a lunch break, the defense team made an immediate motion for Judge Kaplan to recuse himself from the trial because of the “general hostility” defense attorney Michael Madaio said the judge has shown toward Trump’s side.
Kaplan responded with a single word: “Denied.”
Carroll is now returning to the witness stand to continue her testimony.
Jan 17, 1:17 PM
‘You can’t control yourself,’ judge admonishes Trump
At the lunch break, Judge Lewis Kaplan threatened to boot former President Trump from the courtroom if he continues to make side comments within earshot of the jury.
The warning came after E. Jean Carroll’s attorney Shawn Crowley complained for a second time about Trump’s comments.
“The defendant has been making statements that we can hear at counsel table,” she said, quoting Trump as saying, “It is a witch hunt” and “It really is a con job.”
When a video of Trump disparaging E. Jean Carroll was played for the court, Crowley said Trump remarked, “It’s true.”
Judge Kaplan, in response, addressed the defense from the bench.
“Mr. Trump has the right to be present here. That right can be forfeited and it can be forfeited if he is disruptive, which is what has been reported to me,” the judge said. “Mr. Trump, I hope I don’t have to consider excluding you from the trial.”
“I understand you are probably very eager for me to do that,” the judge added, to which Trump threw his up his arms and said, “I would love it, I would love it.”
“I know you would, because you can’t control yourself in this circumstance,” Kaplan replied. “You just can’t.”
Jan 17, 12:38 PM
Carroll says she’s always on ‘hyper alert’ due to threats
Ever since then-President Trump defamed her in June of 2019, E. Jean Carroll told the jury, she has been inundated with threats of physical and sexual violence.
In one message, Carroll said of the sender: “He wants me to stick a gun in my mouth in pull the trigger.”
Another message said, “I hope someone really does attack, rape and murder you.”
When another message was displayed for the jury, Carroll said, “I’m sorry people in the courtroom have to see this.” Her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, replied, “I’m sorry to have to ask you about it, Ms. Carroll.”
The message said, “i will rape u e jean carroll.”
Carroll described her visceral reaction to these messages. “The body believes it’s going to happen,” she said. “It feels like it’s going to happen.”
Carroll said she now lives her life on “hyper alert” for potential threats in and around her home in upstate New York.
“I have a pit bull rescue. He’s a great dog, but I never, never had him off the leash. When the first threats came in, I let him off the leash and he now patrols,” Carroll said. “I alerted the neighbors to be on the watch and I bought bullets for the gun I had inherited from my father.”
“Where do you keep that gun?” Kaplan asked. “By my bed,” Carroll responded.
Jan 17, 12:00 PM
Judge instructs Trump to keep his voice down
Former President Trump has been making side commentary during E. Jean Carroll’s testimony within earshot of the jury, Carroll’s lawyer complained during a break in the proceedings, outside the jury’s presence.
“Mr. Trump is sitting at the back table and has been loudly saying things” like “‘Carroll’s statements are false’ and ‘she now seems to have gotten her memory back,'” the attorney, Shawn Crowley, told Judge Kaplan.
Sitting at the defense table, Trump has been seen scoffing, chuckling, and encouraging his attorney, Alina Habba, to interject during the proceedings. He has been visibly shaking his head at some of what Carroll asserts on the witness stand.
When, earlier, Judge Kaplan denied the defense’s request for an adjournment and instructed Habba to “sit down,” Trump was heard saying, “He is a very nasty guy.”
During Carroll’s testimony in which she said she interpreted Trump’s remark that “she’s not my type” to mean “I’m too ugly to assault,” Trump was heard laughing after the judge overruled a defense objection.
Before the jury returned to the courtroom, Judge Kaplan addressed Trump’s side comments and instructed him to “take special care” to keep his voice down when conferring with counsel, “so that the jury does not overhear it.”
Jan 17, 11:35 AM
Trump ‘ended the world that I had been living in,’ Carroll says
Recounting her response when Trump denied her rape claim in 2019, Carroll said that when Trump said “she’s not my type,” she interpreted it to mean “I’m too ugly to assault.”
“What did it feel like to have the President of the United States say those things about you?” her attorney Roberta Kaplan asked.
“To have the President of the United States, one of the most powerful persons on Earth, calling me a liar for three days and saying I’m a liar 26 times — I counted them — it ended the world that I had been living in. And I entered a new world,” Carroll responded as Trump sat at the defense table. “I was attacked. I was attacked on Twitter, I was attacked on Facebook, I was attacked in news blogs, I was attacked, brutally attacked, in messages.”
The jury saw some of those messages, which mimicked Trump’s statements, calling her “lying old hag” or saying “shame on you and your lying I-hate-Trump story.”
Carroll testified that the messages started instantly and have not stopped. She said she sometimes receives “scores and scores, sometimes hundreds a day.”
Jan 17, 11:25 AM
Carroll says she’s paid ‘as dearly as is possible to pay’
“I’ve paid just about as dearly as is possible to pay,” E. Jean Carroll testified about her life after then-President Trump fiercely denied her rape claim in a series of defamatory statements in 2019.
When New York magazine, on June 21, 2019, published an excerpt of Carroll’s book that included her allegation that Trump raped her in a department store dressing room, she testified that she expected him to respond.
“I expected him to deny it but to say it was consensual, which it was not, but that’s what I expected him to say,” Carroll testified.
“Is that what he did?” her attorney Roberta Kaplan asked. “No,” Carroll answered.
According to a reporter’s Tweet from 5:17 p.m. on June 21, 2019, which was shown in court, Trump responded to the allegation by saying, “I’ve never met this person in my life.”
“That is a lie,” Carroll said. “He said I made up an accusation to sell a book. That is a lie. He said I made up the accusation for publicity’s sake. That is a lie. He said my accusation damaged the real victims of sexual assault. That is a lie.”
Carroll read additional statements by Trump reacting to her allegation.
“He said people like me, who make false accusations, are very dangerous, in very dangerous territory, that I shouldn’t have done it for the sake of publicity. That is also a lie,” Carroll said.
Jan 17, 10:32 AM
Carroll takes the stand as Trump looks on
Eight months after a jury determined that former President Trump was liable for sexually assaulting and defaming E. Jean Carroll, the former magazine columnist is back on the witness stand this morning — this time with Trump in attendance.
“I’m here because Donald Trump assaulted me and, when I wrote about it, he lied and he shattered my reputation,” Carroll told the jury after taking the stand. “Yesterday I opened up Twitter and it said ‘Hey lady, you’re a fraud.'”
The courtroom seating arrangement, with Carroll on the witness stand and Trump looking on from the defense table, brings the two of them face-to-face after they appeared to avoid eye contact during the trial’s first day Tuesday.
Jan 17, 10:24 AM
‘I said sit down,’ judge admonishes Trump attorney
The start of former President Trump’s defamation trial this morning was delayed briefly by a juror transportation issue.
As proceedings got underway, outside the jury’s presence, a tense exchange unfolded between the judge and defense attorney Alina Habba, who again repeated a request to adjourn the trial on Thursday so Trump can attend the funeral of former first lady Melania Trump’s mother, Amalija Knavs.
“I am asking your honor to have the kindness that my client deserves,” Habba said to Judge Lewis Kaplan, who has already twice denied the defense’s request to postpone the trial due to Thursday’s funeral.
Kaplan, interrupting Habba, said, “Indeed Ms. Habba, the right that he has according to the Supreme Court of the United States is to be present either in person or through counsel.”
Habba persisted, with Trump looking on, prompting the judge to instruct her to “sit down” and make no further argument.
“I said sit down,” Kaplan said.
“I don’t like to be spoken to that way,” Habba responded. “I am asking your honor to please refrain from speaking to me that way. I am asking for an adjournment.”
“It’s denied. Sit down,” Kaplan said.
Jan 17, 9:32 AM
Trump arrives at courthouse
Former President Trump has arrived at Manhattan federal court for Day 2 of his defamation damages trial.
His motorcade pulled up to the courthouse at around 9:15 a.m. ET.
Jan 17, 7:37 AM
Carroll set to testify as first witness
Donald Trump is expected to be in the courtroom this morning when E. Jean Carroll takes the stand to testify about how the then-president’s defamatory denial of her sexual assault allegations in 2019 upended her life.
Trump “unleashed his followers to go after her online” after Carroll went public with her allegations, damaging her reputation as a writer and making her feel unsafe in her own home, Carroll’s attorney Shawn Crowley told the jury in her opening statement yesterday.
“Ms. Carroll bought bullets for the gun that she inherited from her father, and she now sleeps with it right beside her bed. She checks her surroundings every time she leaves her house or gets out of her car,” Crowley said. “She’s afraid — afraid that someday, somebody is going to make good on their threats and come after her in person.”
Despite sitting feet from each other in the courtroom yesterday, Carroll and Trump avoided eye contact and never interacted during the first day of the trial. However, when Carroll takes the stand to testify this morning, she will speak directly in front of the counsel table where Trump is seated.
Jan 16, 8:30 PM
Trump expected to attend trial Wednesday, sources say
Former President Trump, who was campaigning in New Hampshire Tuesday evening, is expected to return to New York to attend the second day of his defamation trial on Wednesday, sources tell ABC News.
Trump is then scheduled to return to New Hampshire later Wednesday.
Jan 16, 6:02 PM
Trial is ‘straight out of banana republic,’ says Trump attorney
Donald Trump’s legal counsel Boris Epshteyn briefly spoke to reporters outside court at the conclusion of Tuesday’s proceedings, calling the trial “straight out of [a] banana republic.”
“Manhattan is 90-95% Democrat,” Epshteyn said, despite voter registration records showing the borough is about 70% Democratic. “Does anybody think the President will get a fair trial here? Absolutely not,” he said.
Despite a jury last year finding Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll, Epshteyn alleged that Carroll is making “false accusations.”
“President Trump has consistently stated that he did not commit the allegation and did not commit the acts that the plaintiff alleges. He has been steadfast in that. And it is right to defend himself from false accusations,” Epshteyn said.
Epshteyn declined to comment on whether Trump plans to attend court tomorrow.
Carroll did not speak to reporters when she left court.
Jan 16, 4:52 PM
Carroll seeking a ‘windfall’ over ‘mean Tweets,’ Trump attorney says
E. Jean Carroll is looking for a “windfall” over a series of “mean Tweets from Twitter trolls,” Trump attorney Alina Habba said during the defense’s opening statement, in which Habba sought to cast doubt on the severity of the alleged harm Carroll said she endured.
Habba told the jury they do not have to believe Carroll’s account of how she has suffered as a result of Trump’s defamatory statements.
“Her career has prospered and she has been thrust back into the limelight like she has always wanted,” Habba said, accusing Carroll of using her story “to obtain as much fame and notoriety as possible.”
The defense framed Carroll’s lawsuit as nothing more than an attempt to shake down Trump for money over scores of critical Tweets that have nothing to do with the defamatory statements by Trump that are at issue in the trial.
“She expects you as the jury to give her an award for every negative comment that was thrown her way,” Habba said. “She is looking for you to give her a windfall because some people on social media said mean things about her.”
Habba showed a photo of Carroll in the company of Trump critic Kathy Griffin and said Carroll is close with another critic of the former president, his niece Mary Trump.
“This is someone who craves fame and seeks fame wherever she can get it,” Habba said. “She got what she wanted.”
The proceedings were dismissed for the day after both sides concluded their opening statements. The trial will resume Wednesday with the first witness in the case.
Jan 16, 4:00 PM
Trump ‘unleashed his followers,’ Carroll’s attorney says
Donald Trump’s lies about E. Jean Carroll “unleashed his followers to go after her,” and as Trump campaigns for president he “continues to lie about Ms. Carroll,” Carroll’s attorney said in her opening statement.
“How much money will it take to make him stop?” Carroll’s attorney, Shawn Crowley, said. “He kept up those very same lies even after a federal jury sat in this courtroom and unanimously found that he sexually assaulted her and defamed her.”
Crowley reminded the jury that Trump “was president when he made those statements and he used the world’s biggest microphone to humiliate her” — the result of which was that he “wrecked” Carroll’s reputation in a matter of days, Crowley said.
“Donald Trump’s response was swift and brutal,” Crowley said. “Donald Trump did not just deny the assault. He went much, much further.”
She quoted Trump’s statements from June 22, 2019: “‘People should pay dearly for making up accusations” about him.
Crowley also quoted Trump saying “she’s not my type” on that day in 2019. “In other words, she was too ugly to assault. She must have been lying because she was too unattractive for Mr. Trump to sexually assault,” Crowley said.
Carroll, who is now 80, sat at the plaintiff’s table as her attorney showed the jury messages Trump’s followers posted calling her ugly and urging her to kill herself.
“When Donald Trump called Ms. Carroll a fraud and a liar, they listened and they believed and they decided to go after her,” Crowley said. “Donald Trump knew exactly what he was unleashing.”
Jan 16, 3:40 PM
‘This is not a do-over,’ judge instructs jury
Judge Lewis Kaplan told the nine jurors that they must accept as true that Trump forcibly sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll and defamed her when he denied it.
“Ms. Carroll did not make up her claim of forcible sexual abuse,” Judge Kaplan told the panel. “His false statements tended to disparage Ms. Carroll or tended to expose her to hatred or to induce an unsavory opinion of her.”
The judge made it clear the jury was only determining damages related to two defamatory statements Trump made in June 2019 when he denied Carroll’s rape allegation. He said the trial was not an opportunity to re-litigate the prior trial, in which a jury found Trump liable for defamation and sexual assault.
“This trial is not a do-over of the previous trial which determined those facts,” Kaplan said.
Jan 16, 3:18 PM
Trump departs before opening statements
Former President Trump has departed Manhattan federal court prior to the delivery of opening statements in his defamation damages trial.
Trump voluntarily showed up to court for jury selection this morning, and did not return after the lunch break. He has a campaign event scheduled later today in New Hampshire.
His attorney suggested Trump would return to court for at least part of tomorrow’s proceedings, when E. Jean Carroll is expected to be the first witness.
The jury has been sworn in, with opening statements to begin following instructions from the judge.
Jan 16, 2:08 PM
2 election deniers don’t make cut as jury is seated
A jury of nine has been selected to hear the evidence in the case.
One juror is a married father of two grown children who works in the subway system. and said he is an avid local news viewer. Another juror is a German native who emigrated to the United States and said she does not watch the news.
The jury also includes a newlywed who works in property management and gets his news from social media, a woman with a master’s degree who works as a publicist for a tech firm, and a single man who works in television.
Two people who said they believed that the election was stolen from Donald Trump by President Joe Biden did not make the jury. Nor did a man who said he believed Trump was being treated unfairly by the United States court system.
Opening arguments will begin follow the lunch break. As they exited the courtroom, Trump and Carroll came within feet of each other but appeared to ignore one another.
Jan 16, 12:11 PM
Prospective jurors questioned about political leanings
Former President Trump has been twisting and turning in his seat at the defense table as prospective jurors answer the judge’s questions about their political affiliations, voting habits, campaign donations, and any experience with sexual assault — and whether they ever watched The Apprentice or read E. Jean Carroll’s advice column in Elle magazine.
As another columnist was known to say, “Only in New York, kids.”
One prospective juror, number 68, affirmed that he donated to Trump’s campaign, followed him on social media, and believed that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump by President Joe Biden.
Prospective juror 63 was excused after he said that his knowledge of Trump’s criminal indictments — of which there are four that the former president is currently facing — would impact his ability to be fair and impartial.
The majority of prospective jurors signaled they were registered to vote, prompting the judge to ask if they had voted in 2016 and 2020. Trump turned to look at those who answered in the affirmative.
Three prospective jurors said they had donated to Trump’s campaign. Eleven said they donated to either the Obama, Clinton or Biden campaigns. At least ten watched The Apprentice.
Jan 16, 11:32 AM
Judge explains case to prospective jurors
Judge Kaplan explained the case to prospective jurors, saying, “Ms. Carroll sued Mr. Trump for defamation for certain statements he made” shortly after she publicly accused him of raping her.
“This trial is limited to the issue of the money damages, if any, that Ms. Carroll should receive for those publications. The reason that’s so is that the court determined in a previous decision that Mr. Trump is liable,” Kaplan said. “It has been determined already that Mr. Trump did sexually assault Ms. Carroll.”
To whittle down the jury pool, Kaplan began with this question: “Having heard what you have heard about this case so far, would you be unable to give both sides a fair trial and to decide this case solely on the basis of the evidence you hear during this trial and the instructions I give you?”
Three prospective jurors were immediately excused for signaling they could not be fair.
One woman said she worked for Ivanka Trump’s company from 2017 to 2018. “Would that experience have any effect on your ability to be fair and impartial to both sides in this case?” Judge Kaplan asked regarding her connection to Trump’s eldest daughter. “No,” the woman replied.
After the judge asked if anyone else had worked for Trump or his family, a man indicated he was an officer in the U.S. Navy while Trump was commander in chief. The man said it would have no impact on his ability to be fair.
Jan 16, 11:23 AM
Prospective jurors enter courtroom to begin selection process
As prospective jurors filed into the courtroom for jury selection, Donald Trump surveyed the group. One woman appeared to smile upon recognizing Trump. A man leaned forward and appeared to stare for several seconds.
“You’ve been summoned for possible service in a civil case,” Judge Kaplan said before introducing the plaintiff and defendant. “This case is between a writer, advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, and former President Donald Trump,” he said.
Jurors were told the case is expected to last three to five days and that they would sit through Thursday and, if necessary, return on Monday. They were also told they will be anonymous.
“That means neither your names nor the names of the jurors who are ultimately selected will be made public,” Judge Kaplan said. He had earlier cited Trump’s rhetoric as among the reasons for the anonymous jury.
Jurors will assemble daily at an off-site location and be driven to court under guard, the judge said.
“This is for your own protection. As you may understand, this case has attracted media attention and that’s likely to continue,” Kaplan said.
Jan 16, 10:40 AM
Layout of courtroom has Trump sitting 2 tables behind Carroll
Unlike courtrooms where the counsel tables are arranged side by side, the counsel tables in the courtroom this morning are arranged behind one another, with Trump and his attorneys seated two tables behind Carroll and her counsel.
Trump appeared to take note of that arrangement when he entered the courtroom.
He appeared to point at Carroll, then he and his team asked a man seated at the table between them to slide over — possibly to block Trump’s view of Carroll, or to provide a better view of the proceedings.
Jan 16, 10:27 AM
Judge again declines to delay trial
On Friday, Judge Kaplan denied a request from Trump’s attorneys to postpone the trial for a week so Trump could attend Thursday’s funeral of Amalija Knavs, the mother of former first lady Melania Trump, who died last Tuesday after a long health battle.
In court this morning, Trump attorney Alina Habba repeated her request for an adjournment so Trump can attend Knavs’ funeral.
“You asked me for a week’s adjournment and I denied it,” Judge Kaplan said. “The repetition is not accomplishing anything.”
The judge said Friday that he would grant a continuance so the trial, which was initially scheduled to conclude this week, would be extended so Trump could testify on Monday, Jan. 22.
Jan 16, 10:12 AM
Defense lodges several objections as court gets underway
“The court has made a number of rulings precluding evidence and argument,” said Judge Lewis Kaplan as court got underway, asking each side’s lead attorney to affirm that the parties understood the rules.
The defense objected, arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction. Kaplan quickly dispensed with the objection, saying, “Overruled.” Kaplan, who has a reputation as a no-nonsense judge, also overruled several other defense objections.
“I do think these are issues that will become an issue on appeal. We still don’t know what witnesses are coming in and which aren’t,” Trump attorney Alina Habba said, before Kaplan interrupted, saying, “Ms. Habba you have had a witness list for months.”
Habba pressed on, with Kaplan noting her objections.
“I have heard you, I have considered what you have to say and I have ruled,” Judge Kaplan said.
Jan 16, 9:56 AM
Trump seated in courtroom
Donald Trump has taken a seat in court, where jury selection in his defamation trial is scheduled to get underway this morning.
His decision to attend this trial is a clear shift for the former president, whose lawyers portrayed his absence from last year’s defamation and battery trial as a service to New York City, saying the city would not have to suffer the “logistical and financial burdens” of Trump’s attendance.
Carroll’s attorneys, however, pounced on Trump’s absence.
“He didn’t even bother to show up here in person,” attorney Roberta Kaplan told the jury.
Writing on social media last month, Trump blamed his absence at the trial on “not good advice” from his then-lawyer Joe Tacopina.
“I was asked by my lawyer not to attend–‘It was beneath me, and they have no case.’ That was not good advice,” Trump wrote.
Trump attorney Alina Habba is serving as Trump’s lead defense attorney for this week’s trial.
Jan 16, 9:21 AM
Carroll arrives for trial
E. Jean Carroll has arrived at the courthouse for the first day of the trial.
She smiled to reporters as she entered court.
Jan 16, 9:03 AM
Trump arrives at courthouse
Following his victory in Iowa, former President Trump landed at 3:30 a.m. in New York and just arrived at his civil defamation trial in lower Manhattan.
Trump is not required to attend the trial, though his decision not to attend last year’s defamation and battery trial by the same plaintiff, writer E. Jean Carroll, was mocked by Carroll’s attorney.
Trump’s motorcade pulled up to the courthouse this morning at at 8:50 a.m. ET.
Jan 16, 8:51 AM
On heels of Iowa victory, Trump is back on trial
When Donald Trump’s federal defamation trial gets underway in lower Manhattan this morning, it will be only about 11 hours since the former president claimed victory in the Iowa caucuses.
The trial is expected to take about a week, which could take Trump right to the doorstep of the New Hampshire Primary, scheduled for next Tuesday.
Trump has said that he plans to attend the trial at some point during the week, but has not indicted when.
The former president did not attend last year’s trial, held at the same courthouse, where a New York jury found him liable for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll and defaming her when he denied her accusation in a 2022 social media post.
A man holds the body of a small child as he and others mourn while collecting the bodies of friends and relatives killed in an airstrike on January 13, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza. (Photo by Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images)
(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:
Jan 26, 8:00 AM
UN’s top court orders Israel to prevent genocide in Gaza but no cease-fire
The United Nations’ top court on Friday demanded that Israel try to contain death and damage in its military offensive in the neighboring Gaza Strip but stopped short of ordering a cease-fire.
With a panel of 17 judges in The Hague, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “all measures within its power” to prevent committing genocide against Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinian residents amid the ongoing war with Hamas, the militant group that rules the tiny, coastal territory.
Friday’s ruling is part of a preliminary decision in South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza — charges which Israel vehemently denies. South Africa had asked the court to order Israel to halt its military operation in the war-torn enclave while the case is being reviewed.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Morgan Winsor
Jan 26, 7:42 AM
UN’s top court won’t throw out genocide case against Israel
The United Nations’ top court decided Friday not to throw out South Africa’s case accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague is also set to announce its decision on “provisional measures,” which could include ordering Israel to halt its military operations in Gaza.
“The court is acutely aware of the extent of the human tragedy that is unfolding in the region and is deeply concerned about the continuing loss of life and human suffering,” ICJ president Joan Donoghue told the packed courtroom.
A final ruling on the genocide allegations, which Israel vehemently denies, is expected to take years.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Morgan Winsor
Jan 26, 6:16 AM
UN’s top court to announce interim ruling on Israel’s genocide case
The United Nations’ top court is set on Friday to deliver its first interim ruling in the genocide case brought against Israel by South Africa.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague will not yet decide whether Israel has committed genocide — a ruling that is expected to take years — but instead will announce its decision on “provisional measures,” which could include ordering Israel to halt its military operations in the neighboring Gaza Strip. The bar for ordering such measures is much lower than the final genocide ruling. For Friday, the court only has to decide if there is a “plausible” risk Israel is committing genocide against Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinian residents amid the war with Hamas, the militant group that rules the enclave. The panel of judges could also reject South Africa’s case and shut down the trial — a move that many legal experts say is unlikely.
Israel has vehemently denied the genocide allegations and can ignore any rulings from the ICJ , as it’s done in the past. But the court’s decisions would apply more pressure to Israel and its allies, including the United. States. The country has vehemently denied the genocide allegations.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell and Morgan Winsor
Jan 25, 4:33 PM
At least 13 killed, dozens hurt in ‘direct fire’ on UNRWA Khan Yunis Training Center, UNRWA says
At least 13 people were killed and 56 people were injured — 21 of them critically – on Wednesday after a hit by “direct fire” struck the UNRWA Khan Yunis Training Center, where displaced people have been sheltering in Gaza, according to the UNRWA.
“There are 43,000 internally displaced people registered in this massively overcrowded UNRWA shelter, and all of them now find themselves at the epicentre of the war,” Thomas White, the director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, said in a statement. “Many have already been displaced multiple times and have nowhere else to go.”
Jan 25, 2:36 PM
CIA director to travel to Europe for hostage talks: US officials
CIA Director Bill Burns will travel to Europe soon to meet with Qatari, Egyptian and Israeli officials for talks on a potential agreement to free hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a prolonged cessation of hostilities, according to two U.S. officials.
This will be at least the third time Burns has journeyed abroad to push negotiations forward.
Various proposals have been discussed in recent weeks, and the two U.S. officials declined to speculate on the contours of any deal currently on the table. But the officials said the U.S. believes it is now possible to secure the release of all the remaining hostages through a single diplomatic agreement.
The officials said that securing the return of the remains of dead hostages would also be part of the negotiations.
As many as six American hostages — five citizens and one lawful permanent resident — are still believed to be alive in Gaza. The FBI has open cases on the deaths of at least two American hostages whose bodies are believed to still be in Gaza.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Jan 25, 1:03 PM
Hamas leader says group will abide by any cease-fire decision issued by International Court of Justice
Hamas will abide by any cease-fire decision issued by the International Court of Justice, Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said Thursday.
The International Court of Justice is expected to issue a ruling Friday.
Jan 25, 11:52 AM
Woman recounts moment Israeli army penetrated Khan Younis camp: ‘Afraid that our fate will be death’
Sahar Amer is married with two children, ages 2 and 4, and lives in a camp in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
“Since the beginning of the war, I have believed that this camp was safe — a very densely populated area, and my relatives chose me as our home to seek refuge in to escape the bombing,” Amer, 28, told ABC News.
“Everything has been difficult to obtain since the beginning of the war: food, water and treatment,” Amer said. “But unfortunately, what happened a week ago changed everything. The area became unsafe due to the sudden entry of [Israeli] tanks behind Nasser Hospital, which is only several meters away from us.”
“During the Israeli army’s incursion behind the hospital, we lived a very terrifying night due to intense artillery shelling,” she said. “I could hear the sounds of bullets flying.”
“Then the quadcopter planes started shooting at citizens. One time I was on the roof of the house with my children and we miraculously escaped death,” Amer said.
“I did not expect the army to infiltrate in this way,” she said, noting that her family “took refuge with us, believing that this area is safe and that the army cannot encircle the camp like this.”
One night she headed home and said she found tanks “stationed west of the camp and surround[ing] the place.”
“I felt very afraid that the tanks were approaching my house,” she said. “I was hugging my children.”
Amer wanted to leave her house, but couldn’t find a car. So she took her children and they fled on foot.
“When I approached the road, a tank appeared … and prevented us from passing through,” she said. “I returned home crying and afraid that our fate will be death like the residents of other areas. I sent a message to my mother and sister to pray for me to be saved.”
“I went out with great difficulty the next day. I left my home crying. I do not want to be displaced — I want to remain safe in my home.” she said. “I hope the war will end — there is enough death and destruction.”
ABC News’ Ruwaida Amer
Jan 24, 9:54 AM
UN shelter reportedly hit as fighting escalates in southern Gaza
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said Wednesday that its training center in Khan Younis where hundreds of displaced people are taking shelter “has just been hit” as fighting escalates in the southern Gaza Strip.
In a series of posts on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, the director of UNRWA’s affairs in Gaza, Tom White, wrote that “two tank rounds hit building that shelters 800 people – reports now 9 dead and 75 injured.” White added that people remain trapped inside as teams from UNRWA and the World Health Organization are “trying to reach the centre,” but the “agreed upon route with Israeli Army [is] blocked with earth bank.”
It was unclear who was responsible for the attack on the shelter as Israeli forces battle Gaza’s militant rules, Hamas. There was no immediate comment from either of the warring sides.
Jan 23, 2:34 PM
White House says there are ‘serious discussions about trying to get another pause in place’
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. is “in serious discussions about trying to get another pause” in fighting between Israel and Hamas to secure the release of remaining hostages, but Kirby said he could not confirm specific reports of a possible framework.
Asked about reports that Israel has proposed a two-month cease-fire to release all hostages, civilians and soldiers, and asked if the U.S. was actively working to drum up support for it, Kirby said he was “not able to confirm those specific reports.”
Kirby did note that President Joe Biden’s Middle East coordinator, Brett McGurk, is currently in the region, in part to discuss a hostage deal.
“Certainly, one of the things he’s in the region talking about is the potential for another hostage deal, which would require a humanitarian pause of some length,” Kirby said. “He’ll also be talking about a range of other issues, including humanitarian assistance.”
Kirby also said it was “possible” that an extended pause could be a path to changing the nature of the war, but he stressed that the focus remains getting the hostages released.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Jan 23, 1:59 PM
White House denounces ‘buffer zones,’ comments on potential negotiations of Hamas leaving Gaza
The White House does not support Israel’s plan to build “buffer zones” inside Gaza and along the border with Israel, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.
“We do not want to see the territory of Gaza reduced in any way. We won’t support that,” Kirby said.
Asked if U.S. officials have told Israel that they don’t support creating these buffer zones, Kirby said they’ve consistently shared their beliefs.
“I won’t talk about our diplomatic conversations. We have been very clear and consistent, both in private and publicly, that we do not want to see the territory of Gaza reduced in any way,” Kirby said.
Kirby was also asked if the U.S. supports negotiations that CNN has reported, describing a deal where Hamas leaders can leave Gaza in exchange for a cease-fire.
“We don’t want to see Hamas in charge of Gaza anymore. They chose to violate the cease-fire that was in place, and we certainly agree with our Israeli counterparts that whatever the future of post-conflict Gaza looks like, it can’t include Hamas leaders. Now, how that’s actualized, I think I’d refer to the Israeli Defense Forces to speak to,” he said, declining to get ahead of discussions underway.
“The last thing I’ll say on this is we have been very consistent, that whatever governance looks like in Gaza, after this is over, it’s got to be representative of the aspirations of the Palestinian people who are not represented by Hamas, and who do not, [in] majority, don’t support what Hamas has put them through in visiting this kind of violence inside the strip,” Kirby said.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Jan 23, 1:42 PM
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.”
“Our hearts are with the dear families in their most difficult time,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.
He added, “This is a war that will determine the future of Israel for decades to come — the fall of the fighters is a requirement to achieve the goals of the war.”
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 23, 7:48 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.
Jan 23, 6:33 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 while fighting 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.”
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.
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.”
“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.”
-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez
Jan 22, 11:25 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, 10:04 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 22, 7:08 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?”
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, 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, 5:39 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.
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
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, 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, 5:39 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
Jan 20, 12:54 PM
Relatives of hostages protest outside Israeli PM’s home
Several relatives of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza protested outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home on Saturday, demanding the government take more steps to free the captives.
Some protesters camped out in front of his home, in the coastal town of Caesarea.
More than 130 hostages are still held in captivity, according to Israeli officials.
Jan 20, 12:01 PM
Fatal shooting of Palestinian-American teen in West Bank under investigation
The fatal shooting of a 17-year-old Palestinian-American in the West Bank on Friday remains under investigation, as mourners gathered Saturday for the teen’s funeral.
Tawfiq Ajaq was killed near the city of Ramallah, according to the Defense for Children International – Palestine advocacy group.
Israeli police said they received a report Friday regarding a “firearm discharge, ostensibly involving an off-duty law enforcement officer, a soldier and a civilian.” Police did not identify who fired the shot but described the shooting as taking place over people “purportedly engaged in rock-throwing activities” along a main highway.
Israeli police said its internal affairs department is investigating the incident.
An initial assessment by the Defense for Children International – Palestine also found that it was unclear who fired the shot that struck the teen.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed the death of a U.S. citizen civilian in the West Bank on Friday.
Asked about the incident at a briefing on Friday, U.S. National Security spokesman John Kirby said White House officials “don’t have perfect context about exactly what happened here” but are “seriously concerned about it.”
“We’re going to be in constant touch with counterparts in the region to get more information,” he said.
The teen’s funeral was held Saturday in the West Bank.
Jan 19, 3:18 PM
Biden speaks with Netanyahu in 1st known call in 27 days
President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Friday, according to the White House.
This was the first known call between the two leaders since Dec. 23, 2023.
Biden and Netanyahu spoke about a two-state solution, among other things, one day after Netanyahu expressed opposition to a Palestinian state.
“The president still believes in the promise and the possibility of a two-state solution,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Friday. “He recognizes that it’s going to take a lot of hard work. It’s going to take a lot of leadership, there in the region, particularly, on both sides of the issue. And the United States stands firmly committed to eventually seeing that outcome.”
“We’re not going to agree on everything,” Kirby said. He later added that Netanyahu’s comments will not change Biden’s “strong conviction” that “the best long-term solution for regional security, particularly the security of the Israeli people, is a free, independent Palestinian state that they can live in peace and security with — and this is an important caveat — with Israel’s security also guaranteed.”
Though Biden will continue to press for a two-state solution, “this isn’t about trying to twist somebody’s arm or force a change in their thinking,” Kirby said.
Kirby said Netanyahu’s comments did not trigger the two leaders’ Friday call.
“This was a call that we’ve been, actually, trying to land on the schedule for quite a bit of time,” he said.
ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
Jan 19, 11:43 AM
Teen boy shares story of being held hostage by Palestine Islamic Jihad
Yagil Yaacov, now 13, was 12 years old when he was kidnapped at knifepoint from his room at the Nahal Oz kibbutz on Oct. 7.
He told his captors — allegedly members of the Palestine Islamic Jihad — “Don’t take me, I’m too young,” according to his mother, Renana.
Yagil’s brother was also kidnapped and the two were separated. Yagil told ABC News in an exclusive interview that he was first taken to a safe house, and then to another home where he stayed for 30 days.
Yagil said during his time as a hostage he listened to some radio and learned a little Arabic to determine what was happening around him.
He was eventually reunited with his stepmother and brother.
Yagil’s father is still being held hostage.
ABC News’ Matt Gutman
Jan 18, 2:54 PM
Netanyahu voices opposition to Palestinian state in post-war Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced his opposition to a Palestinian state in a post-war Gaza.
“For 30 years I have been consistent — this conflict is not about the absence of a Palestinian state but about the existence of a Jewish state. Wherever we vacate territory, we receive terrorism,” he said at a news conference. “It happened in Judea and Samaria and it happened in Gaza. In any agreement, Israel must control all territory west of Jordan. This is what I say to our American friends: I stopped the possibility of a security breach in the State of Israel. This did not prevent me from expanding the circle of peace to four Arab countries, and I am determined to expand it to other countries in the region, together with our American friendship.”
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in response that Israel, for the first time, has a “historic opportunity” to “deal with challenges that it has faced since its founding.”
“You see the countries in the region who are ready to step up and further integrate with Israel and provide real security assurances to Israel. The United States is ready to play its part, too, but they all have to have a willing partner on the other side,” Miller said.
Miller also said, regarding the challenges facing Israel after the war eventually ends, “There is no way to solve their long-term challenges, to provide lasting security and there is no way to solve the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza, establishing governance and providing security for Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
Jan 18, 12:41 PM
Unclear whether medical aid has reached Israeli hostages in Gaza
It was unclear Thursday whether medical aid had reached Israeli hostages in the war-torn Gaza Strip as part of a Qatari-brokered deal between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas.
During an interview Thursday on CNN, a spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the medicine was received by Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health but that there was not yet confirmation of it being distributed to the Israeli hostages as agreed upon. The spokesperson noted that an ongoing telecommunications blackout in Gaza has made it difficult to get information in real time.
The medical aid, provided by Qatar and France, entered Gaza on Wednesday, according to the Qatari foreign ministry.
As part of the agreement, Hamas was expected to pick up the medicine for the Israeli hostages at designated hospitals and then distribute it among the abductees. Qatar will verify and provide proof to Israel that the medicine was in fact delivered to the hostages, according to Hamas and Qatari officials.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has helped with getting aid into Gaza and transferring some hostages out of the enclave as part of previous deals, said it has no role in the implementation of this agreement, including the delivery of the medicine.
“The ICRC initiated the conversation in its role as a neutral intermediary. The parties negotiated the agreement, including how much medicines would be delivered and by whom, with Qatar brokering the deal,” the ICRC told ABC News in a statement on Thursday. “The mechanism that was agreed to does not involve the ICRC playing any part in its implementation, including the delivery of medication.”
“The ICRC welcomes the agreement to deliver medications to the hostages and to medical facilities for the residents of Gaza as a positive humanitarian step,” the organization added.
The Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson told CNN on Thursday that the ICRC could not be involved because the security situation in Gaza makes it almost impossible for them to deliver the medicine.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky, Jordana Miller, Cindy Smith and Morgan Winsor
Jan 17, 1:29 PM
Qatar says it’s brokered deal to allow medicine, aid into Gaza
Qatar said Tuesday it has mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas to deliver medicine to Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Medicine and other humanitarian aid will also be delivered to civilians “in the most affected and vulnerable areas” of the Gaza Strip as part of the deal, Qatar said.
The aid landed in Egypt Wednesday and “includes medicines provided by the State of Qatar and the French Republic, along with food items provided by Qatar Charity to be further transferred to Gaza,” the Qataris said.
Jan 17, 11:38 AM
Gaza’s telecommunications blackout surpasses 100 hours
NetBlocks, a London-based nonprofit that covers internet connectivity around the world, said Wednesday that the Gaza Strip has been “in the midst of a near-total telecoms blackout for 120 hours.”
“The disruption, now entering its sixth day, is the longest sustained telecoms outage on record since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war,” NetBlocks wrote in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Morgan Winsor
Jan 17, 11:28 AM
IDF can’t confirm cause of death of 3 hostages found in Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday informed the families of Ron Sherman, Nick Beiser and Elia Toledano that it is not possible to determine what caused their deaths, ABC News has learned.
Sherman, Beiser and Toledano were among the more than 200 people taken hostage by militants during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. The IDF recovered the bodies of the three abductees from a Hamas tunnel in the city of Jabalia in the Gaza Strip on Dec. 14, near where Ahmed Randour, who commanded Hamas’ forces in the northern part of the enclave, had been killed a month earlier.
ABC News has learned that an investigation subsequently concluded the IDF did not know there were hostages in the area at the time it attacked the tunnel where Randor was staying and that the IDF discovered the bodies while conducting scans of the tunnel afterward.
ABC News has learned that a pathological report showed no signs of trauma or gunshots on the three bodies, and it could not be ruled out or confirmed whether they were killed as a result of suffocation, poisoning or due to an attack by the IDF or Hamas. Samples were taken to conduct a further examination.
ABC News’ Dana Savir and Morgan Winsor
Jan 17, 9:59 AM
Blinken says Palestinians need own state but must ‘work with Israel’
Speaking at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the scenes in the war-torn Gaza Strip as “gut-wrenching” and said Palestinians need a state of their own but must “work with Israel to be effective.”
Blinken said the Palestinian Authority, which exercises partial civil control over areas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, could lead such a state but only “with the help of Israel, not with its active opposition.”
“The question now is, is Israeli society prepared to engage on these? Is it prepared to have that mindset?” Blinken asked. “You’re not going to get the genuine security you need absent that [Palestinian state].”
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Morgan Winsor
Jan 17, 9:08 AM
IDF says it killed top militant in West Bank strike
The Israel Defense Forces said early Wednesday that it has killed a top Palestinian militant in an airstrike in the occupied West Bank, averting “an imminent, large-scale terrorist attack” he was allegedly planning.
Ahmed Abdullah Abu Shalal and members of his terrorist cell were “eliminated in a precision airstrike” at the Balata refugee camp in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, according to the IDF. It was unclear exactly how many individuals were killed in the strike.
“Abdullah was responsible for carrying out a number of terrorist attacks over the last year, including the shooting attack in the Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood in Jerusalem last April during which two Jerusalem residents were injured,” the IDF said in a statement. “Additionally, he was responsible for the bombing attack against IDF soldiers last October during which a soldier was injured.”
“Under Abdullah’s leadership, the terrorist infrastructure in the Balata camp in Nablus has received funding and guidance from Iranian sources who are in cooperation with terrorist headquarters in both the Gaza Strip and abroad,” the IDF added.
Jan 16, 3:35 PM
Qatar says it’s brokered deal to allow medicine, aid into Gaza
Qatar said Tuesday it has mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas to deliver medicine to Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Medicine and other humanitarian aid will also be delivered to civilians “in the most affected and vulnerable areas” of the Gaza Strip as part of the deal, Qatar said.
The medication and aid is expected to depart Doha on board two Qatari Armed Forces aircraft on Wednesday, bound for Arish, Egypt, before being transported to the Gaza Strip, Qatar said.
Jan 16, 3:22 PM
2 Israeli hostages who appeared in Hamas video confirmed dead: Kibbutz
Itay Svirsky, 35, and Yossi Sharabi, 53 — two hostages who appeared in a video released by Hamas earlier this week — have been confirmed dead, according to Kibbutz Be’eri.
“Their bodies are in the hands of Hamas, we will demand their return with the rest of our abductees,” Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the communities attacked by the terrorist group on Oct. 7, said in a statement on Tuesday. “Our hearts are with the families in their immense pain. May they rest in peace.”
Svirsky was at his parents’ home in the kibbutz when he was abducted, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Hamas released a video on Sunday showing the two men, as well as 26-year-old Noa Argamani, while calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war on Gaza.
Following the release of the hostage video, the IDF said they told the men’s families that “there is grave concern for their lives” and denied Hamas’ claims that Israeli forces shot Svirsky.
Jan 16, 12:07 PM
Jordan accuses Israel of hindering aid delivery to Gaza
Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi said Tuesday that Israel is creating hurdles to the entry of aid into the war-torn Gaza Strip.
Jordan is working in coordination with the United Nations to deliver aid to Gaza, but only 10% of the total needs of the more than 2 million Palestinians who live there are currently being met, according to Safadi.
“The reality now is that Israeli measures are preventing sufficient aid from arriving and only a fraction is being delivered,” Safadi said during a press conference in Amman.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Morgan Winsor
Jan 15, 1:27 PM
At least 1 dead, 17 injured in car-ramming attacks in Israel, police say
At least one person was killed and 17 others were injured on Monday afternoon in car-ramming attacks that took place in various locations across Ra’anana, Israel, authorities said.
Two suspects — identified as a pair of Palestinian men from the Hebron area in the Israeli-occupied West Bank — allegedly stole multiple vehicles before ramming them into crowds of pedestrians in Ra’anana, about 13 miles north of Tel Aviv, according to the Israel Police.
Both suspects have since been arrested. The incidents and the motive remains under investigation, police said.
The victim killed was an elderly woman, according to police.
Fourteen of the 17 injured remained hospitalized Monday evening, officials said. At least seven children were among the injured.
ABC News’ Jordana Miller, Bruno Nota, Dana Savir and Morgan Winsor
Jan 15, 11:59 AM
What life is like for displaced Palestinians in Rafah’s tent city
Ahmad Ismael said his “whole world turned upside down” after Oct. 7.
The Palestinian father of four now lives with his family in a tent in Rafah, the southernmost region of the Gaza Strip. They are among the almost 1.9 million people — 85% of Gaza’s population — who are displaced from their homes, nearly half of whom are crammed inside Rafah.
“We want the tragic situation we are living in to end,” Ismael told ABC News in an interview Sunday. “We hope from God that the war will stop.”
Ismael said Israel’s intense bombardment forced him and his family to flee their home in northern Gaza. They have been living in Rafah’s tent city for the past 70 days, he said.
“We fled with only our souls,” he told ABC News. “We didn’t bring anything with us.”
Ismael showed ABC News around his family’s makeshift shelter and explained what life is like there amid the latest outbreak of war between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas.
“People wake up at 5 or 6 in the morning,” he told ABC News. “You wake up to think about the situation of the tent. Is there water flowing or not? Because of the rain, how will we provide wood for the fire? How will we provide today’s food for the children?”
Ismael said they receive some canned food from a U.N. agency’s warehouse every two or three days. But it’s not enough to feed his family, so they must try to buy other food and cook it over an open fire.
“Everything is expensive and scarce,” he told ABC News. “We used to buy this oil for 7 or 6 shekels. Today, I buy this for 20 shekels. One day you find it and the next day you don’t.”
“Firewood is also very expensive, not cheap, and even I can no longer afford it,” he continued.
“What I’m telling you is not just about my life,” he added, “but the lives of all of us here.”
ABC News’ Rashid Haddou-Riffi, Morgan Winsor and Sami Zayara
Jan 15, 10:52 AM
Another communications blackout in Gaza
NetBlocks, a London-based nonprofit that covers internet connectivity around the world, said Monday that the Gaza Strip has been “largely offline” for the past 72 hours.
“The disruption is the longest sustained telecoms blackout on record since the onset of the Hamas-Israel war, and is likely to significantly limit visibility into events on the ground,” NetBlocks wrote in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Morgan Winsor
Jan 15, 9:22 AM
At least 1 dead, 16 injured in car-ramming attacks in Israel, police say
At least one person was killed and 16 others were injured on Monday afternoon in car-ramming attacks that took place in various locations across Ra’anana, Israel, authorities said.
Two suspects — identified as a pair of Palestinian men from the Hebron area in the Israeli-occupied West Bank — allegedly stole multiple vehicles before ramming them into crowds of pedestrians in Ra’anana, about 13 miles north of Tel Aviv, according to the Israel Police.
Both suspects have since been arrested. The incidents and the motive remains under investigation, police said.
At least four of the wounded victims were hospitalized in critical condition, according to Israel’s rescue service MDA.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller, Bruno Nota, Dana Savir and Morgan Winsor
Jan 15, 5:07 AM
What we know about the conflict
The Israel-Hamas war has reached the three-month mark.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 24,100 people have been killed and 60,834 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.
Jan 15, 4:59 AM
Shots fired as crowd seeks humanitarian aid in Gaza
Gunshots rang out as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sought food from humanitarian aid trucks in the war-torn Gaza Strip on Sunday.
Video of the incident in Sheikh Iljlin, a neighborhood in southern Gaza City, shows a large crowd gathering to receive flour from aid trucks parked near an Israeli military checkpoint. Then the sound of gunfire erupts and people are seen frantically running.
ABC News was not able to independently verify who fired the shots and whether anyone was killed or injured.
The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on Monday.
-ABC News’ Felicia Alvarez, Nasser Atta, Helena Skinner and Morgan Winsor
Jan 14, 7:29 PM
Hamas releases video showing 3 Israeli hostages in captivity
Hamas released a video on Sunday showing three Israeli hostages who are still being held in captivity in Gaza.
The three hostages that appear in the video are 26-year-old Noa Argamani, 35-year-old Itai Svirsky and 53-year-old Yossi Sharabi.
The video released by Hamas called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war on Gaza.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Jan 14, 6:47 PM
100 days into war, IDF says its ‘goals are complex to achieve and will take a long time’
As the Israel-Hamas war reached its 100th day Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces says it’s goals “will take a long time” to achieve.
“To achieve real results, we must continue to operate in enemy territory, not to allow extortion attempts for a cease-fire,” IDF Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said in a televised address Saturday.
“We must continue applying pressure and that is exactly what we are doing,” he said. “[Our] goals are complex to achieve and will take a long time. To dismantle Hamas, patience is both necessary and essential.”
The IDF also said it’s now moving to intensify its operations in southern Gaza, where it believes Hamas’ leadership is hiding.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Jan 13, 4:56 PM
Netanyahu says Israel will pursue war with Hamas until victory
Israel will pursue its war against Hamas until victory and will not be stopped by anyone, including the world court, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a defiant speech Saturday evening.
Netanyahu spoke after the International Court of Justice at The Hague held two days of hearings on South Africa’s allegations that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians, a charge Israel has rejected as libelous and hypocritical.
South Africa asked the court to order Israel to halt its blistering air and ground offensive in an interim step.
“No one will stop us, not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anyone else,” Netanyahu said in televised remarks, referring to Iran and its allied militias.
The case before the world court is expected to go on for years, but a ruling on interim steps could come within weeks. Court rulings are binding but difficult to enforce.
Netanyahu made clear that Israel would ignore orders to halt the fighting, potentially deepening its isolation. Netanyahu also said a decision had yet to be made about a potential military takeover of the “Philadelphi Corridor” along the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt.
-ABC News’ Bruno Nota
Jan 13, 2:44 PM
Israel-Hamas war reaches 100th day
Saturday marked 100 days since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, the deadliest conflict between the two sides in recent history.
The fighting began on Oct. 7 when Hamas launched a surprise attack in southern Israel. Since then, Israel has launched numerous airstrikes and a ground offensive. The Israeli government has previously claimed it is defending itself.
More than 23,300 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Meanwhile, 1,200 people have been killed in Israel along with 520 Israel Defense Forces officers since Oct. 7.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the U.N’s Palestinian Relief Agency, issued a statement marking 100 days of the war, saying there are now 1.4 million people in U.N. shelters in Gaza and facing a “looming famine.”
Meanwhile, families of the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza are holding a series of events Saturday to mark 100 days since their captivity began.
-ABC News’ Mary Kekatos and Patrick Reevell
Jan 13, 8:22 AM
More than half a million people are starving in Gaza, UN says
About 577,000 people in Gaza, equal to a quarter of the population, are now starving, Arif Husain, chief economist for the U.N.’s World Food program, told ABC News.
Hussain has worked as an expert assessing hunger crises for 20 years and said, in terms of scale of severity and speed, he has never seen what is unfolding in Gaza right now, calling it “unprecedented.”
Even before the war with Israel, Gaza relied on humanitarian assistance to meet around 75% to 80% of its needs. With Israel now allowing very few supplies into Gaza, it has quickly run into massive shortages.
“If things continue as they are, or if things worsen, we are looking at a full fledged famine within the next six months,” he said.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Jan 12, 12:59 PM
Deal reached to get medicine to hostages, Israel says
A deal has been reached to get medicine to the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza over the next few days, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s office.
The families of the hostages are insisting that the Israeli war cabinet “demand visual proof that the medications did indeed reach the abductees, as a condition for any return from Israel.”
“After 98 days in the Hamas tunnels, all the abductees are in immediate danger and need life-saving medication,” the families said in a statement.
Jan 12, 9:30 AM
Israel rejects genocide charges at UN’s top court
Israel on Friday called on the United Nations’ top court to dismiss South Africa’s request to halt its offensive in the Gaza Strip amid “grossly distorted” accusations of genocide.
During opening statements to a panel of judges at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Israeli legal adviser Tal Becker said the country is fighting a “war it did not start and did not want.”
“In these circumstances, there can hardly be a charge more false and more malevolent than the allegation against Israel of genocide,” Becker added.
He noted that “Israel is in a war of defense against Hamas, not against the Palestinian people,” and that the suffering of civilians during wartime does not amount to genocide.
“The key component of genocide, the intent to destroy a people in whole or in part, is totally lacking,” he said.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres and Morgan Winsor
Jan 11, 12:18 PM
Blinken says he found new willingness to discuss Gaza’s future, denies conflict is escalating
As Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up his trip to the Middle East, he said he encountered a new appetite among Middle Eastern leaders to discuss contributing to what he often refers to as “the day after” in Gaza.
“I have to say what was different about this trip is that on our previous trips here, I think there was a reluctance to talk about some of the day after issues and long-term stability and security on a regional basis, but now we’re finding that our partners are very focused on that and wanting to engage on those questions,” Blinken said.
On his major goal of preventing the Israeli-Hamas war from spreading across the region, Blinken was optimistic.
“I don’t think the conflict is escalating. There are lots of danger points; we’re trying to deal with each of them,” he said.
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Jan 11, 12:11 PM
Hostage families beg for Israel to ‘take the deal’: ‘This is hell’
The families of hostages held by Hamas came together for a news conference Thursday demanding that the Israeli war cabinet prioritize their loved ones’ return and approve any deal that would lead to their release.
“I demand the cabinet take any deal on the table,” said Shay Wenkert, whose son, Omer Wenkert, was kidnapped from the music festival on Oct. 7.
“My son has colitis,” Wenkert said. “This is hell. I’m begging you — you had opportunities for other deals and didn’t take them. Take action. You have to take the deal. Bring them home now.”
“No one is doing us any favors in Israel. They must do everything to release the hostages, at any price,” said Gilad and Nitza Corngold, parents of Tal Shoham, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri. “I suggest anyone who says ‘It’s not worth it’ to bring a family member of theirs and make a personal exchange with me — to give me their son and take mine out. Their time is running out.”
Jan 11, 11:48 AM
Genocide case against Israel begins at UN’s top court
Israel is defending itself in the United Nations’ top court starting Thursday against allegations that its ongoing military campaign in the neighboring Gaza Strip amounts to genocide of the Palestinian people — a claim that Israel vehemently denies.
South Africa, which brought forward the allegations, is initially asking the Netherlands-based International Court of Justice to order an immediate suspension of the Israeli military offensive against Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas, as part of a landmark case that is likely to take years to resolve.
“Genocides are never declared in advance, but this court has the benefit of the past 13 weeks of evidence that shows incontrovertibly a pattern of conduct and related intention that justifies as a plausible claim of genocidal acts,” South African attorney Adila Hassim told the panel of judges inside a packed courtroom in The Hague during Thursday’s opening statements. “Nothing will stop the suffering except an order from this court.”
South Africa insists Israel is committing genocide by design and that the country’s latest war in Gaza is part of its decadeslong oppression of Palestinians. South Africa’s ruling political party, the African National Congress, has a long history of solidarity with the Palestinian cause and sees parallels with its own struggle against the apartheid regime of white minority rule that ended in 1994.
“The violence and the destruction in Palestine and Israel did not begin on Oct. 7, 2023,” South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola said. “The Palestinians have experienced systematic oppression and violence for the last 76 years.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has called South Africa’s allegations “atrocious and preposterous,” while Secretary of State Antony Blinken has dismissed the case as “meritless.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in response Thursday called South Africa’s allegations “upside-down.”
“Israel is fighting against murderous terrorists who have committed terrible crimes against humanity: they slaughtered, they raped, they burned, they dismembered, they killed children, women, the elderly, young men, young women. A terrorist organization that committed the most terrible crime against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, and now there are those who come to defend it in the name of the Holocaust,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue to fight the terrorists, we will continue to repel the lies, we will continue to maintain our right to defend ourselves and secure our future.”
Lawyers for Israel will address the court on Friday.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Edward Szekeres and Morgan Winsor
Jan 11, 11:08 AM
Man who lost entire family sifts through rubble in Gaza
The main highway connecting south and north Gaza, Salah al-Din Road, which Israeli forces used for a civilian corridor, has become impassable in Deir al Balah in central Gaza.
“When we came here, we were surprised — Salah al-Din is a main road connecting the north and the south in four directions, 70 meters wide,” Gaza resident Yahya Deeb Al-Laham told ABC News. Now there’s “no infrastructure, no electricity, no roads, buildings and areas are non-existent … there is nothing here, there are no signs of life. Homes for families have completely disappeared and not a single one of them remains.”
The Israelis have recently left the area.
One of the families who followed Israeli military instructions, evacuating from northern Gaza to Deir al Balah, has been completely wiped out.
The surviving family member, Muhammad Fouad Abu Safi, returned to the site to sift through the rubble and try to find what might be left of his family.
“They left me no family member, no sister, no brother, no cousin, no child,” he told ABC News. “There were about 50 people here. Only three children, girls, came out alive … the rest here were taken out as body parts or decomposing bodies.”
“Humanity has ended, mercy has ended,” he said. “Neither from America nor from any country, there is no humanity or mercy.”
ABC News’ Samy Zayara
Jan 11, 8:32 AM
UN court opens hearings on South Africa’s accusation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza
Israel is defending itself in the United Nations’ top court starting Thursday against allegations that its ongoing military campaign in the neighboring Gaza Strip amounts to genocide of the Palestinian people — a claim that Israel vehemently denies.
South Africa, which brought forward the allegations, is initially asking the International Criminal Court of Justice to order an immediate suspension of the Israeli military offensive in Gaza as part of a landmark case that is likely to take years to resolve.
“Genocides are never declared in advance, but this court has the benefit of the past 13 weeks of evidence that shows incontrovertibly a pattern of conduct and related intention that justifies as a plausible claim of genocidal acts,” South African attorney Adila Hassim told the panel of judges in a packed courtroom at The Hague during Thursday’s opening statements. “Nothing will stop the suffering except an order from this court.”
South Africa insists Israel is committing genocide by design and that the country’s latest war in Gaza is part of its decadeslong oppression of Palestinians. South Africa’s ruling political party, the African National Congress, has a long history of solidarity with the Palestinian cause and sees parallels with its own struggle against the apartheid regime of white minority rule that ended in 1994.
“The violence and the destruction in Palestine and Israel did not begin on Oct. 7, 2023,” South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola said. “The Palestinians have experienced systematic oppression and violence for the last 76 years.”
Lawyers for Israel will address the court on Friday.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has called South Africa’s allegations “atrocious and preposterous,” while U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has dismissed the case as “meritless.”
Jan 10, 1:31 PM
Hamas official says hostages won’t return alive if Netanyahu doesn’t accept cease-fire
Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said in a statement that the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza “will not return alive to their families” unless Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli leaders respond to Hamas’ conditions, “the first of which is a comprehensive and complete cessation of their aggression against the Gaza Strip.”
Jan 10, 11:50 AM
Israelis in Egypt for hostage talks: Egyptian security source
A delegation from Israel is in Egypt on Wednesday for new discussions on swapping Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for Palestinians in prison in Israel, an Egyptian security source confirmed to ABC News.
Jan 10, 11:18 AM
Israeli minister warns ‘Hamas will regain control’ if combat in Gaza stops
Israeli War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz warned Wednesday that “Hamas will regain control” of the Gaza Strip if the Israeli military ceases combat operations there.
“We must go on. If we stop now, Hamas will regain control,” Gantz, a retired army general who previously served as Israel’s defense minister and alternate prime minister, said during a press conference in Tel Aviv. “In most areas, we have completed the phase of operational takeover and now, we are deep in the phase of dismantling the terrorist infrastructure, which will lead to the demilitarization of the strip.”
However, Gantz noted that “the most urgent thing is the return of the abductees.” More than 100 Israeli citizens are believed to still be held hostage by militants in Gaza after being taken captive during the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.
“This has precedence over every move in combat,” he said.
Gantz also warned that the Israeli military “will act in southern Lebanon as we act in northern Gaza” if the neighboring country “continues to serve as an Iranian terrorist outpost.” His remarks came as Israeli forces continue to exchange fire with Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, amid fears that regional tensions could escalate into a wider war in the Middle East.
“This is not a threat to Lebanon,” Gantz added. “It is a promise to the residents of [northern Israel].”
Israel’s war cabinet is expected to meet on Wednesday evening, followed by a meeting of the wider security cabinet.
ABC News’ Dana Savir and Morgan Winsor
Jan 10, 10:06 AM
IDF claims to have found ‘further evidence of Hamas’ exploitation’
The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday claimed to have found “further evidence of Hamas’ exploitation of the civilian population for terrorist activity across the Gaza Strip.”
The 55th Brigade combat team made the alleged discovery in recent days while “operating to destroy terror infrastructure” in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to the IDF.
“During the operations on the military targets, the soldiers located a UAV launch post, a loaded rifle underneath a child’s bed, along with grenades, cartridges, Hamas uniforms, and many intelligence materials inside the residences of terrorist operatives,” the IDF said in a statement. “During the operation, the soldiers found a tunnel shaft near a school, a rocket launcher near a kindergarten, and a training compound near a mosque.”
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs Gaza, has denied Israel’s claims that it deliberately shelters behind civilians by hiding its fighters, infrastructure and weapons in hospitals, schools and other areas populated by civilians.
ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
Jan 10, 9:49 AM
At least 40 killed in Israeli strike near Gaza hospital, Hamas says
More than 40 people, including a journalist, were killed Wednesday when Israeli forces bombed an inhabited house across the street from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas Government Media Office.
Hamas claimed the Israeli military had declared the city of Deir al-Balah safe before striking the area.
There was no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces.
Earlier Wednesday, the IDF said its aircraft and ground troops were continuing to operate against Hamas in central Gaza within the area of the Maghazi refugee camp, a couple miles north of Deir al-Balah.
In this June 5, 2023, file photo, Apple CEO Tim Cook stands next to the new Apple Vision Pro headset, displayed during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, Calif. — Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, FILE
(NEW YORK) — Apple Vision Pro, a mixed reality headset, arrives in stores next week promising a personal movie theater wherever users go and screen navigation at the tap of a finger.
The buzzy product, however, bears a price sure to deflate some customers. The most affordable model runs $3,499 while a higher-powered version reaches nearly $4,000.
The high price owes to costs associated with production of the Vision Pro, as well as an initial focus on reaching professionals such as developers who could enhance the product with additional apps, analysts said.
“It’s a very early product,” Ben Bajarin, analyst at research firm Creative Strategies, told ABC News. “There’s a scale and manufacturing challenge that Apple is up against.”
Apple did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Here’s what to know about why the Vision Pro costs $3,499 and whether customers will pay it:
Why is the Vision Pro priced at $3,499?
The price reflects the costly development and production behind the Vision Pro, which required the company to build components specifically for the headset, analysts said.
Laminated glass operates as a surface for the cameras and sensors on the device, while a flexible Light Seal helps mold the product to a user’s face, Apple says. A brand-new R1 chip, Apple says, allows the machine to process inputs from a person’s eye and hand motions.
“If anything, the price is on the low side given the technology that’s packed into this,” Avi Greengart, lead analyst at research firm Techsponential, told ABC News.
Speaking to ABC’s Good Morning America in July, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the price of the Vision Pro is rooted in the high costs of producing what he considers a technological breakthrough.
“The engineering and depth of engineering in it is mind blowing,” Cook said. “Does it come for free? It costs something to do that. But I think it’s a great value.”
Since Apple has yet to build full-scale manufacturing for the product, the company faces difficulty making the large quantity of headsets necessary to quench a mass market at a lower price point, analysts added.
Plus, they said, initial uptake among developers and other professionals most willing to pay a premium for the Vision Pro will enhance its offerings when it reaches a wider audience.
“Apple has been pretty clear in positioning this product as a blank canvas for developers to create and make something brand new,” Bajarin said.
The price also aligns with Apple’s typical role as a maker of items that cost more than their competitors’ products but aim to make up for the disparity with a better user experience, Angelo Zino, senior industry analyst at CFRA Research, told ABC News, noting a similar dynamic with its smartphone.
“Apple is being who Apple is,” Zino said.
Will customers pay the high price for a Vision Pro?
Initial response to the Vision Pro suggests customers are willing to pay the high price — at least some of them.
The product won’t be available in stores until next week, but pre-orders sold out almost immediately when they opened on Jan. 19, Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities, said in a Medium post on Monday. Within hours, shipping times jumped to as long as seven weeks, he added.
In all, Kuo found, the company sold as many as 180,000 headsets in the first weekend they were available for preorder.
Consumer appetite appeared to ebb quickly, however, Kuo said. Within 48 hours, shipping times had stabilized, contrasting with the prolonged extensions of shipping delays that typically come in response to iPhone model releases, Kuo added.
“The inability to sustain a steady increase in pre-order demand is a major concern,” he said.
Analysts who spoke to ABC News said they expect the company to sell roughly 500,000 headsets this year. By comparison, Apple sold roughly 232 million iPhones in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available.
“They’ll sell every Vision Pro they can make,” Bajarin said, pointing to the production challenges as the primary impediment to higher sales.
(NEW YORK) — More rain is on the way as another winter storm takes aim at the southern and eastern United States.
As of early Friday, a flood watch remains in effect for five states — Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana and New York. Some of the flooding that’s impacting the Midwest and the Northeast is due to the heavy rain on top of snow melt and ice jams.
There are also numerous flood warnings issued from Texas to Ohio due to rainfall over the past few days as well as snow melt and ice jams.
A new storm system is forecast to move out of the Rocky Mountains on Friday and combine with moisture in the Gulf of Mexico to produce more flash flooding from Texas to Alabama. The highest threat of floods will be from Lake Charles, Louisiana; to New Orleans; Jackson, Mississippi; and Mobile, Alabama.
On Saturday, the system is expected to move into Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, where flash flooding will be possible. There could also be tornadoes and damaging winds for Alabama and the Florida panhandle, including major cities such as Birmingham, Alabama; Montgomery, Alabama; Mobile, Alabama; and Pensacola, Florida.
The storm is forecast to move north and east on Saturday night into Sunday, with heavy rain possible for the Interstate 95 travel corridor and snow from Michigan to upstate New York and into the New England area. Rainfall could accumulate to 1 to 2 inches locally along the I-95 corridor and more than a half of a foot of snow could blanket areas from upstate New York into New England. A few inches of snowfall is also possible in Michigan and Ohio.
Over the weekend, an atmospheric river is expected to set up for the Pacific Northwest, aimed at Washington and Oregon. The system will be warm so any snowfall will be above major interstates and passes. Rainfall totals could reach close to a half of a foot in some places.
Meanwhile, more than two dozen states — from Texas, north to the Dakotas and east to New Jersey — are on alert for dense fog. Visibility was less than a quarter of a mile in some places early Friday, which could force airports to delay flights. The thick fog is expected to linger for some areas into the weekend as the mild weather remains.
King Charles III attends the Sunday service at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham estate on January 7, 2024 in Sandringham, England. (Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Britain’s King Charles III has arrived at a London hospital for scheduled treatment this morning, according to a statement released by Buckingham Palace.
The monarch entered the private clinic for previously scheduled treatment in the Marylebone neighborhood of London after arriving back in London from Sandringham on Thursday.
The palace released a statement regarding the king’s health on Friday morning.
“The King was this morning admitted to a London hospital for scheduled treatment,” Buckingham Palace said. “His Majesty would like to thank all those who have sent their good wishes over the past week and is delighted to learn that his diagnosis is having a positive impact on public health awareness.”
The palace has not said how long he will remain under care at the hospital.
The king was accompanied by his wife, Queen Camilla, which is notably different than the protocol of the late Queen Elizabeth II who would always arrive separately at the hospital from her husband, Prince Philip.
Prince William’s wife, Kate Middleton, is also currently being treated at the same hospital King Charles III has been admitted to on Friday morning.
In this June 21, 2023, file photo, the Golden Pass LNG plant is shown under construction in Sabine Pass, Texas. — picture alliance via Getty Images, FILE
(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration announced a pause on applications for liquified natural gas export terminals on Friday to consider their impact on climate change, a major step coming from the world’s largest exporter of natural gas.
The Department of Energy will be launching a review to determine how to factor in the impact of climate change in whether to approve new natural gas export facilities but will not halt current natural gas exports.
It would be the first time the federal government has considered blocking this kind of project because it could contribute to climate change.
Liquified natural gas, or LNG, is natural gas that has been cooled to make it easier to transport. In 2023, the U.S. became the largest LNG exporter in the world, partly due to the increase in domestic production and construction of new LNG export terminals, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
In a statement announcing the news, President Joe Biden said the pause comes as part of his focus to do more on climate change.
“From Day One, my Administration has set the United States on an unprecedented course to tackle the climate crisis at home and abroad – securing the largest climate investment in the history of the world, unlocking clean energy breakthroughs that will power a clean economy and create thousands of jobs, advancing environmental justice for all, and rallying world leaders to transition away from the fossil fuels that jeopardize our planet and our people,” Biden said in a statement.
“But more action is needed,” he continued.
There will be an exception, Biden said, for ” unanticipated and immediate national security emergencies.”
“During this period, we will take a hard look at the impacts of LNG exports on energy costs, America’s energy security, and our environment. This pause on new LNG approvals sees the climate crisis for what it is: the existential threat of our time,” he added.
Climate advocacy groups and local activists are calling the announcement a major win after lobbying Biden to block new LNG export terminals, saying the U.S. should not build new fossil fuel infrastructure.
“LNG projects are enormous carbon bombs, and each one of them is dozens of coal-fired power plants,” Vice President of Evergreen Action Craig Segall told ABC News.
“So we’ve already made a commitment to the world at COP28 that we are moving away from fossil fuels. Biden’s already passed the biggest climate law in U.S. history,” he added. “Now, it’s really important for the U.S. not to double down on pushing fossil products to the rest of the world.”
The American Petroleum Institute, a trade group that represents the natural gas industry, said U.S. LNG exports helped stabilize global energy markets after Russia attacked Ukraine. It also said that this decision undermines Biden’s promise to help Europe move away from Russian gas.
“This is nothing more than a broken promise to U.S. allies, and it’s time for the administration to stop playing politics with global energy security,” API President Mike Sommers said in a statement this week.
The announcement does not stop current exports of natural gas but delays any decisions on whether to expand the country’s export capacity in the future until they develop a process to consider the impact on climate change.
Senior administration officials emphasized that it will not halt any exports of natural gas to Europe or other allies.
“Anyone who tells you that a project that is currently being proposed is for the European energy crisis that we saw a couple of years ago is selling you a red herring because the end of the day these projects are not even going to be online until the 2030s,” Gillian Giannetti, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, told ABC News.
Biden faced intense criticism from climate advocates last year for approving the Willow Project to drill oil in Alaska amid a social media campaign for him to block it. The administration argued it didn’t have the legal authority to block the project but took steps to reduce emissions and protect other areas in the region.
Climate advocacy groups say they plan to highlight Biden’s record on climate change going into the 2024 presidential election, especially if former President Donald Trump becomes the Republican nominee.
Segall said Friday’s announcement shows the administration is taking the calls from climate activists seriously.
“I think it’s a winner. We saw the youth climate movement — and those votes are so important to this election — be really clear,” he said. “They want to see a pivot on fossil fuel extraction.”
(WASHNGTON) — Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm can relate to Americans’ anxiety over electric vehicles.
The former governor of Michigan and longtime EV owner (who currently drives a Ford Mach-E) says she has experienced her own challenges with public charging on road trips. She has heard from drivers who are reluctant to give up their eight-cylinder engines and large trucks and SUVs for an electric model. But she is convinced that more Americans will soon realize the benefits of owning one, helping to change the current anti-EV rhetoric in this country.
“The Ford F-150 is a great example of a big car that has gone electric. But people have to make their own decisions,” Granholm told ABC News in an interview Thursday. “I get it — nobody is gonna force anybody to make these decisions. I honestly think … as the price of the electric vehicle comes down, and it has dropped 23% year-over-year, and the price of operating the car and not having to go to the gas station and being able to ‘fill it up’ for much less and more conveniently, honestly, I think it’s going to sell itself.”
She added, “People love their cars. And I think they’ll love their EVs, too.”
Tesla, which commands 56% of the U.S. electric vehicle market, has largely been responsible for the boost in EV sales, which hit a record of nearly 1.2 million units in 2023. According to data from Edmunds, the average transaction price of a new EV last December was $62,526 versus the industry average of $48,408.
Tesla on Wednesday said it sold 1.8 million vehicles in 2013, a 35% jump from 2022, but warned that sales growth would be “notably” slower this year. The carmaker has slashed prices on its popular Model 3 and Model 7 models to maintain its market share. The company’s shares tanked on Thursday even with the announcement of a “next generation low-cost vehicle” coming in late 2025.
Electrifying the U.S. auto industry is a top priority for President Joe Biden. The federal government has provided millions of dollars in funding for the expansion of the nation’s public charging infrastructure, including the maintenance of broken or nonfunctioning chargers. Sales of new electric vehicles totaled 7% of the U.S. market in 2023 though Biden’s goal is to reach at least 50% by 2030.
Owning an electric vehicle and supporting the industry’s push to go green eclipses blue state and red state politics, Granholm argued.
She pointed to the thousands of workers in the South who work on assembly lines building electric SUVs and batteries for major automakers like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Ford, Volkswagen, Volvo and Genesis. Mercedes-Benz, for example, invested $1 billion in a state-of-the-art battery factory in Alabama. Hyundai Motor Group has teamed up with LG Energy Solution on a $4.3 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Georgia.
“All of those factories that I was talking about regarding building electric vehicles and electric vehicle batteries, 60% of them are going into red states. So, you know, people in red states love their EVs, too, and are working at these factories,” Granholm said. “I just think that over time, the political nonsense about it will die down and people’s experience will speak much more loudly.”
She went on, “For those who care about global warming [and] climate change, EVs are a solution for them. For those who care about cost, EVs are a solution for them. For those who care about power, EVs are a solution.”
ABC News’ complete interview with Secretary Granholm will be published on Monday, Jan. 29.
Kaylee Goncalves — Courtesy of the Goncalves family
(MOSCOW, Idaho) — The family of Kaylee Goncalves, one of four students killed in the University of Idaho murders, is desperate for a trial date to be set as the case returns to court Friday.
Goncalves, 21, one of five siblings in a close-knit family, was killed in November 2022, just weeks before she was set to graduate college early and move to Texas to start her career.
The family is “in limbo” until a trial begins, Kaylee’s mom, Kristi Goncalves, told ABC News. She said Kaylee’s siblings don’t want to take new jobs, move away and risk missing the proceedings.
The high-profile case has also largely been veiled in secrecy due to a gag order in place — and the Goncalves family thinks more information needs to be revealed.
“It keeps being locked away from the people, and it encourages — it, pretty much, manifests — an environment where speculations and rumors and conspiracies thrive,” said Kaylee’s dad, Steve Goncalves.
In the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022, roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle, as well as Kernodle’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin, were stabbed to death in the girls’ off-campus home. Two other roommates survived.
Steve and Kristi Goncalves said there was an indication their daughter fought for her life.
The way the bedroom was set up, Steve Goncalves said, if someone came in, “You can’t get out of that room.”
“Completely, totally trapped,” Kristi Goncalves said. “The bed was the entire room — could barely open up the door without swiping the foot of the bed.”
The suspect, Bryan Kohberger, who was a criminology Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University at the time of the gruesome crime, was arrested weeks later. He has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.
The house where the four students were killed was demolished on Dec. 28, 2023, despite objections from the Goncalves and Kernodle families.
The Goncalves said knocking down the house would “destroy one of the most critical pieces of evidence in the case” before a trial date was even set.
“Jurors are notoriously unpredictable and they tend to make decisions on a variety of facts and circumstances,” the family said in a statement last month. “It would be foolish of us to try and foresee what they will want or need to make a just verdict in this case.”
University president Scott Green said in December, “It is time for its removal and to allow the collective healing of our community to continue. After the trial was delayed earlier this fall, both the prosecution and defense asked for access to the house and have both gone into the house in the last two months. Neither has asked for the house to be retained.”
Chapin’s family also supported the demolition.
Kristi Goncalves said that when university officials notified her via email that the house would be demolished over winter break, she “lost it.”
Then, on the morning of Dec. 28, “I was waiting for a Hail Mary,” she said. “I was in denial. … and I turned on the TV — and the house was being torn down.”
The equipment was “actually taking a swipe at Kaylee’s room right when I turned on the TV,” she said. “It was horrible.”
The Goncalves are hoping a trial date will be set at Friday’s court appearance, during which there will be arguments over Kohberger’s requests for Judge John Judge to reconsider his decision not to toss out the charges.
Kohberger’s defense had previously made two different attempts to get the indictment dismissed. In one, the defense argued that the grand jury was given inaccurate instructions — that they used the wrong standard of proof. In the other, the defense argued that prosecutors withheld evidence that might aid Kohberger in defending himself, and biased the grand jury. The judge denied both in December.
“We got to get this case over,” Steve Goncalves said. “Let’s do it. Let’s stop playing these delay tactics, let’s just get it done.”
If convicted, Kohberger could face the death penalty.
Kristi Goncalves said, “Justice is such a hard word for me because … there is no justice — him dying is not gonna bring her back.”
“This is like a book,” Kristi Goncalves added. “That chapter will be closed, but the book never will be,” she said.
ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report.
