(NEW YORK) — Over 2,500 flights have been canceled Monday, with airports in Denver, Dallas, Houston and Chicago hit the hardest, as a major winter storm unleashes heavy snow and ice across the South.
Up to 6 inches of snowfall has already buried parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee.
Major cities in the snowstorm’s path for Monday include Little Rock, Arkansas; Memphis, Tennessee; and Nashville, Tennessee.
Near Houston, an 18-wheeler overturned due to ice on a freeway, shutting down traffic in both directions, according to Houston ABC station KTRK.
Schools will be closed Tuesday in Little Rock and Nashville due to the weather.
The snow will keep falling in the South throughout Monday, with an icy mix moving into southern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia at night. Drivers should be on the lookout for slick roads through Tuesday morning.
Record cold settles into Texas, much of the Heartland
Meanwhile, the Heartland is seeing record-low temperatures, with wind chill alerts issued from the U.S.-Canada border in Montana to the Rio Grande in Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border.
All-time lows could be recorded Monday in Sioux City, Iowa; Kansas City, Missouri; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Austin, Texas; and Dallas.
During the Republican presidential caucuses in Iowa Monday night, the wind chill — what the temperature feels like — is forecast to plunge to minus 25 degrees.
On Tuesday, temperatures will be in the teens and single digits for Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.
In Chicago, the wind chill is forecast to drop to minus 23 degrees on Tuesday.
The record cold is forecast to linger over the next couple days from Nebraska to Texas to Mississippi.
Snow on the way for the Northeast, including Philadelphia and New York City
Monday night into Tuesday, snow and ice is expected from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, New York City and Boston. Some areas could see 1 to 3 inches of snow.
Lake-effect snow is also pounding western New York.
Up to 27 inches of snow fell just south of Buffalo, New York, this weekend, with up to 1 foot of snow accumulating in the city.
The Buffalo Bills were set to host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, but the game was pushed to 4:30 p.m. Monday because Sunday’s intense snowfall made driving nearly impossible.
On Monday morning, the Bills were still looking for volunteers to help shovel snow from the stadium.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz warned that many seats may still be covered in snow by game time.
The heaviest snow is ending in Buffalo, but the National Weather Service has issued another winter storm watch for the city for Tuesday night into Thursday, with the possibility of 2 to 3 feet of snowfall.
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Homeland Security has threatened the state of Texas — saying the state is acting unconstitutionally in blocking Customs and Border Protection’s access to Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas, and if the state continues to do so, the Justice Department will take “appropriate action”, according to a letter obtained by ABC News.
“Texas’s actions are clearly unconstitutional and are actively disrupting the federal government’s operations,” DHS General Counsel Jonathan Meyer wrote to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. “We demand that Texas cease and desist its efforts to block Border Patrol’s access in and around the Shelby Park area and remove all barriers to access in the Shelby Park area.”
The Biden administration accused the Texas National Guard of blocking Border Patrol agents from accessing a 2.5-mile stretch of the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas, including Shelby Park.
The letter from Meyer, dated Jan. 14, says Texas has until Wednesday to “cease and desist its efforts to block Border Patrol’s access in and around the Shelby Park area and remove all barriers to access to the U.S.-Mexico border …”
If not, Meyer says they’ll refer the matter to DOJ “for appropriate action and consider all other options available to restore Border Patrol’s access to the border.”
“Texas’s failure to provide access to the border persists even in instances of imminent danger to life and safety,” Meyer said.
Three migrants died at the park last week and CBP accused Texas of not allowing agents to access the park for lifesaving care.
He said that on Jan. 12, 2024, upon learning from Grupo Beta, a group affiliated with the National Institute of Migration of Mexico, that a group of migrants was attempting to cross the river, Border Patrol contacted Texas officials and requested access to the border.
“Texas refused,” Meyer wrote.
“Later, a rescue team from Mexico was able to rescue two individuals from the group, both with signs of hypothermia,” he writes. “Three individuals drowned. Texas has demonstrated that even in the most exigent circumstances, it will not allow Border Patrol access to the border to conduct law enforcement and emergency response activities.”
The Texas Military Department, which runs the National Guard say, that claims the military department blocked border patrol agents are “wholly inaccurate.”
“Turns out @RepCuellar (& some media) were so eager to point finger at Texas for drowning of migrants they forgot to get the facts,” Texas Governor Gregg Abbott said on X. “When BP requested access to river the drownings had already occurred & found in MX. The fact is the deaths are b/c of Biden’s Open Border magnet.”
Meyer said Texas recently indicated it allowed Border Patrol access to the boat ramp in this area it has done so only with restrictions such as requiring information about each Border Patrol individual agent entering the area and reiterated that this access is limited to use of the boat ramp.
The TMD says they were in “direct communication” with CBP on Jan. 12 and that when border patrol arrived, Mexican authorities had already recovered two bodies.
“Border Patrol specifically requested access to the park to secure two additional migrants that were presumed to have traveled with the deceased, though had crossed to the boat ramp,” the statement says. “Two migrants were apprehended by TMD, with one turned over to DPS and the other transferred to EMS in response to initial hypothermic conditions. Additionally, TMD remained engaged with lights, night vision goggles, and thermals to ensure that no additional migrants were in the river or in distress.”
Meyer said despite the deaths, Texas has “continued to this day to deny full access to the area.”
“The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is committed to securing the border and ensuring the apprehension, inspection, and proper processing of noncitizens in accordance with the law, as well as to rendering emergency assistance to individuals in need,” he said. “The recent actions by the State of Texas have impeded operations of the Border Patrol.”
Texas’ actions “conflict with the authority and duties of Border Patrol under federal law and are preempted under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.”
Texas officials also put up concertina wire and physically began obstructing access to the park, Meyer writes.
“Specifically, Texas National Guard is blocking entrances through federally owned and maintained border barriers with armed soldiers,” he writes. “While Texas has claimed that it has re-opened the use of Shelby Park to the public, it continues to prevent Border Patrol from entering, and from using the area under the adjacent port of entry where Border Patrol has certain property stored for use when migrants are apprehended. Border Patrol is being prevented from entering any portion of the 2.5 mile Shelby Park area, with the minor exception of regulated access to the boat ramp in Shelby Park, including being unable to place scope trucks as Border Patrol determines is operationally necessary.”
(PHILADELPHIA) — A group of doctors in Philadelphia is offering free measles vaccines on the heels of an outbreak in the city.
There have been eight confirmed cases of the disease since late December, all among unvaccinated people, according to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.
The first case occurred among a child who was admitted to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in December. At least three other unvaccinated children were exposed at the hospital and contracted measles, according to the city’s Department of Public Health.
Some of the initial patients went to day care instead of following quarantine instructions and exposed other children, health officials said.
In response, The Black Doctors Consortium is holding a pop-up clinic in northern Philadelphia to administer the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, free of charge.
The vaccine will be “provided to unvaccinated children and adults. We will also test you if you’ve been exposed to measles & you’re not sure if you’re protected (immune),” the group wrote in a post on Facebook.
Vaccines will be distributed at the Dr. Ala Stanford Center for Health Equity. No identification is required and there will no out-of-pocket cost, the group said.
The city’s health department is also hosting additional free vaccination sites for residents, but requires participants to provide either an ID or a piece of mail with an address to qualify them as proof of residency.
Measles is a very contagious disease, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) saying every individual infected by the virus can spread it to “up to 9 out of 10 people around him or her” if they are unprotected, including not wearing a mask or not being vaccinated.
Complications from measles can be relatively benign, such as rashes, or they can be much more severe, including viral sepsis, pneumonia and brain swelling.
In the decade before the MMR vaccine became available, approximately three to four million Americans fell ill every year, 48,000 people were hospitalized, and between 400 and 500 people died each year among reported cases, according to the CDC.
The CDC says anybody who either had measles at some point in their life, or who has received two doses of the MMR vaccine, is protected against measles.
One dose of the measles vaccine is 93% effective at preventing infection if the recipient is exposed to the virus and two doses are 97% effective, according to the CDC.
In Philadelphia, at least 93% of children are fully vaccinated against measles by age six, according to the health department. However, experts say 95% of children are required to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, meaning enough people are protected against a disease to the degree that it is unlikely to spread.
In 2000, measles was declared eliminated from the U.S., thanks to a highly effective vaccination campaign, but outbreaks have popped over the last few years in unvaccinated pockets of the country.
Between November 2022 and February 2023, 85 children were sickened with measles in Ohio, 80 of whom were unvaccinated.
In California, an unidentified person with measles who visited Disneyland caused an outbreak, infecting 125 people between December 2014 and February 2015.
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) — The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs Gaza, freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on southern Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
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.
(NEW YORK) — Houthi militants on Monday struck a U.S.-owned and operated container ship with an anti-ship ballistic missile, according to U.S. Central Command.
“The ship has reported no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its journey,” a statement from the command read.
The vessel was struck around 4 p.m. local time and was identified as the M/V Gibraltar Eagle. The missile was fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, CENTCOM said.
A spokesperson for the Houthis said in a statement that it “carried out a military operation targeting an American ship in the Gulf of Aden, with a number of appropriate naval missiles, and the hit was accurate and direct.”
After a volley of U.S. strikes intended to diminish the Houthis’ capabilities, the Yemeni militia group mounted several retaliatory attacks — targeting a U.S. destroyer on Sunday and striking an American-owned commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden on Monday — further escalating tensions in critical Middle Eastern waterways.
The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said that the Gibraltar Eagle, a bulk carrier sailing under the Marshall Islands flag and owned by a Connecticut-based company, was struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, but that the ship “has reported no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its journey.”
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operation said the ship’s captain reported that the vessel was “hit from above by a missile” on its port side.
The Gibraltar Eagle appears to be the first American-owned ship to be hit by a Houthi missile during the Iranian-backed militia’s monthslong assault against maritime traffic in the waters surrounding Yemen.
“It was inevitable that one of these Iranian-provided missiles would eventually find its way to a target,” said Mick Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East and an ABC News analyst.
“This is a blatant act of terrorism,” he continued. “They are using violence against a civilian target to advance their political aims.”
On Sunday, CENTCOM said an anti-ship cruise missile was fired from Houthi controlled areas of Yemen toward the USS Laboon, a Navy destroyer patrolling the Southern Red Sea, but that a U.S. fighter aircraft was able to shoot down the missile.
In the aftermath of sweeping airstrikes on 28 Houthi sites by the U.S. and the U.K. on Thursday, administration officials and military leaders said they expected the militants’ capabilities to launch attacks were diminished—but that they anticipated the group would still be able to mount a response.
“I know we have degraded capability,” Gen. Douglas Sims II, the director of operations of the Joint Staff, said.
The U.S. carried out a second strike in Yemen on Friday, which the Pentagon described as a “follow-on action” mean to eliminate a specific military target. But so far, these measures don’t appear to have had a deterrent effect.
Mulroy says more needs to be done.
“The U.S. should look to take out as many targets as they can identify on the Yemen coast of the Sea of Aden, as they did on the Red Sea coast,” he said. “There should be no radar, launch, or storage sites left.”
American officials initially assessed that the Houthis were not aiming at U.S. holdings—a major reason the Biden administration was hesitant launch a military response.
But the tide shifted in early January when the Houthis launched a barrage of drones and missiles in response to the U.S. sinking of three Houthi vessels while responding to a distress call from a merchant ship under attack from the rebels.
Although no U.S. vessels were hit in the onslaught, which CENTCOM described as a “complex attack,” a Houthi spokesperson claimed during a televised address that the group had “targeted an American ship that was providing support to the Zionist entity.”
Despite international condemnation, the Houthis say they will continue their attacks until Israel ends its siege on Gaza.
A spokesperson for the group said Monday that they “consider all American and British ships and warships participating in the aggression against our country as hostile targets within the target bank of our forces.”
However, many ships struck by the Houthis bear little or no connection to Israel, according to the Israeli government and international registries tracking commercial shipping vessels.
(NEW YORK) — Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was released from the hospital Monday following a two-week stay for treatment of an infection after earlier prostate cancer surgery.
The delay in informing officials of his hospitalization caused controversy and a push for investigation from some lawmakers.
“The Secretary continues to recover well and, on the advice of doctors, will recuperate and perform his duties remotely for a period of time before returning full-time to the Pentagon,” the Department of Defense said in a statement. “He has full access to required secure communications capabilities.”
Austin underwent elective surgery to treat prostate cancer on Dec. 22. Complications from the procedure sent him back to the hospital on Jan. 1.
The Pentagon said Monday that Austin’s cancer was “treated early and effectively, and his prognosis is excellent.” He has no planned further treatment other than regular surveillance, according to the department.
Austin, in his own statement, said he will continue to “recuperate and perform my duties from home” and looked forward to returning to the Pentagon as quickly as possible.
“I’m grateful for the excellent care I received at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and want to thank the outstanding doctors and nursing staff for their professionalism and superb support,” he said. “I also am thankful and appreciative for all the well wishes I received for a speedy recovery.”
Austin and the Pentagon have been under fire for the handling of his hospitalization, which was kept secret from the White House and other officials for three days.
President Joe Biden, commenting on the controversy for the first time last Friday, said Austin showed a lapse in judgement for not not informing him earlier that he was hospitalized.
When asked by a reporter if he still had confidence in Austin, Biden replied he did.
Austin remained hospitalized as tensions escalated in the Red Sea with Iran-backed Houthi militants continuing their attacks on ships in the crucial waterway.
The U.S. on Jan. 11 led a coalition of partners, including the United Kingdom, in launching retaliatory strikes against the Houthis after the group failed to heed international warnings.
The White House and Pentagon detailed Austin’s involvement in the military action, saying he gave the order to Central Command to initiate those strikes and monitored them in real time.
The Houthis vowed to retaliate, and on Sunday fired a missile toward an American warship that was shot down by a U.S. fighter aircraft, U.S. military officials said.
On Monday, the militants struck a U.S.-owned and operated commercial container ship, according to U.S. Central Command. The ship didn’t report any injuries or significant damage.
(NEW YORK) — Over 2,000 flights have been canceled Monday, with airports in Denver, Dallas, Houston and Chicago hit the hardest, as a major winter storm unleashes heavy snow and ice across the South.
Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama have already gotten 4 to 6 inches of snowfall, and more is on the way.
Major cities in the snowstorm’s path for Monday include San Antonio; Little Rock, Arkansas; Memphis, Tennessee; and Nashville, Tennessee.
Near Houston, an 18-wheeler overturned due to ice on a freeway, shutting down traffic in both directions, according to ABC Houston station KTRK.
Schools will be closed Tuesday in Little Rock and Nashville due to the weather.
The snow will keep falling in the South throughout Monday, with an icy mix moving into southern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and northern Georgia at night. Drivers should be on the lookout for slick roads through Tuesday morning.
Record cold settles into Texas, much of the Heartland
Meanwhile, the Heartland is seeing record-low temperatures. All-time-lows could be recorded Monday in Sioux City, Iowa; Kansas City, Missouri; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Waco, Texas; Austin, Texas; and Dallas.
Winds are expected to make the already chilly temperatures feel even colder on Monday. The National Weather Service has issued wind chill alerts for 26 states, from the U.S.-Canada border in Montana to the Rio Grande in Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The record cold is forecast to linger over the next couple days for the central U.S. and the Deep South, from Nebraska to Texas and east to Mississippi.
Then, after a brief moderation in wind chills, another cold blast is expected to hit the nation at the end of the week. The wind chill — what the temperature feels like — is forecast to drop below zero degrees in Chicago by Thursday and Friday.
The cold blast is moving into the Northeast on Monday. Temperatures are in the teens and lower 20s, marking the chilliest day of the season from Washington, D.C., to New York to Boston.
Snow on the way for the Northeast, including Philadelphia and New York City
Snow and some ice is forecast from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, New York City and Boston Monday night into Tuesday. Some areas could see 1 to 3 inches of snow.
The frigid air is also helping produce lake-effect snow in western New York.
So far, up to 27 inches of snow fell just south of Buffalo, New York, with up to a foot of snow accumulating in the city.
The Buffalo Bills were set to host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, but the game was pushed to 4:30 p.m. Monday because Sunday’s intense snowfall made driving nearly impossible.
On Monday morning, the Bills were still looking for volunteers to help shovel snow from the stadium.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz warned that many seats may still be covered in snow by game time.
The heaviest snow is ending in Buffalo, but the National Weather Service has issued another winter storm watch for the city for Tuesday night into Thursday, with the possibility of 2 to 3 feet of snowfall.
(NEW YORK) — Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has warned that “time is running out” for Congress to pass a new funding deal for more military aid for Ukraine.
The Biden Administration and House Republicans have not reached a broader funding agreement, which would include an additional $60 billion in security assistance for Ukraine’s war effort.
In an interview with ABC News, Kuleba claimed more money for Ukraine would potentially avoid a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia, in which American troops would be forced to intervene.
“Whatever the price of supporting Ukraine is now, the price of fixing the mess in the world if Ukraine loses will be much, much higher,” he said.
He also warned the United States and its allies about the type of signal a Russian victory in Ukraine would send to other adversaries.
“If the West is not able to stop Russia in Ukraine, who else is it able to stop in other parts of the world?” Kuleba asked.
However, Kuleba vowed that Ukraine would never give in to Russia.
“Even if we run out of weapons, we will fight with shovels,” he told ABC News during an interview in the Ukrainian capital, “Because what is at stake here for Ukraine is the existence of this nation.”
Pressed on the notion that one day Ukraine would have to negotiate with Russia, Kyiv’s top diplomat ruled out any negotiations with the Putin regime until Ukraine finds itself in a much stronger position on the battlefield.
He conceded the Russian military had “learned their lessons” and was now “far better adapted to this war” but predicted “more defeats” for Russia this year.
Russian forces have become more assertive on the battlefield in recent weeks, gaining small areas of territory in eastern Ukraine around the embattled city of Avdiivka.
However, Ukraine’s foreign minister claimed those “minimal” Russian gains came at “an extremely high price” and he rejected the notion that Russia now has the momentum on the battlefield.
Ukrainian soldiers have told ABC News that Russia’s superior firepower and quantity and quality of lethal, exploding drones are making the war harder and more deadly for Kyiv’s forces.
Kuleba admitted that the war was “difficult” but rejected the notion that Russian President Vladimir Putin was now looking stronger after Ukraine’s failed counteroffensive in the summer.
“Hitler pretended to be very strong for many years and we all know how it ended,” Kuleba said.
As the Republican primary season gets underway, Ukraine’s foreign minister said he didn’t want Ukraine to be featured prominently in American election debates, adding, he hoped Ukraine would be “an issue that unites, not divides.”
Republican frontrunner former President Donald Trump has indicated he would halt aid to Ukraine.
Asked whether he was worried about the prospect of a second Trump presidency, Kuleba insisted that Ukraine is “not afraid of anything” and said his country would not meddle in the U.S. election, something Russia stands accused of doing in the 2016 vote.
In recent months, Ukraine has continually launched explosive drones at targets inside the internationally recognized borders of Russia.
Kuleba refused to comment directly on these attacks, however, he hinted that Kyiv was trying to show that the war in Ukraine was having an adverse impact back home, in Russia.
“President Putin must explain to his people why all of this is happening,” he said.
“I think it’s helpful to force them [Russian residents] from time to time to realize that the reality outside of their TV is different and can be much, much worse than their propaganda.”
ABC News has seen evidence that components made by Western and American companies are being used in missiles that Russia has launched against Ukraine.
Ukraine’s foreign minister called on those companies and the U.S. government to do more to prevent those components from being sold to Russia via indirect and sometimes opaque trading routes.
Kuleba conceded that there was “no obvious solution” but hinted that “business channels can be disrupted” because “financial intelligence” can “pretty easily” reveal the routes the components take and claimed measures could be taken “through very thorough, daily work.”
A report last week by the U.S. Defense Department’s inspector general found that around a billion dollars worth of U.S. military items sent to Ukraine were not properly logged and tracked by U.S. officials.
Kuleba promised the American public that “everything you give to us is used for the best purpose of ending this war with Ukraine’s victory as soon as possible.”
Investigations by the U.S. and the European Union have uncovered no evidence that Western military aid sent to Ukraine has been misused.
“Every attempt by Russia to disinform the world about (the) alleged leak or illicit traffic of U.S. weapons into other parts of the world… turned out to be fake,” Ukraine’s foreign minister added.
“So don’t believe in fakes, believe in Ukraine,” Kuleba concluded.
(NEW YORK) — Over 1,800 flights have been canceled Monday, with airports in Denver, Dallas, Houston and Chicago hit the hardest, as a major winter storm unleashes heavy snow and ice across the South.
Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama have already gotten 4 to 6 inches of snowfall, and more is on the way.
Major cities in the snowstorm’s path for Monday include San Antonio; Little Rock, Arkansas; Memphis, Tennessee; and Nashville, Tennessee.
Near Houston, an 18-wheeler overturned due to ice on a freeway, shutting down traffic in both directions, according to ABC Houston station KTRK.
Schools will be closed Tuesday in Little Rock and Nashville due to the weather.
The snow will keep falling in the South throughout Monday, with an icy mix moving into southern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and northern Georgia at night. Drivers should be on the lookout for slick roads through Tuesday morning.
Record cold settles into Texas, much of the Heartland
Meanwhile, the Heartland is seeing record-low temperatures. All-time-lows could be recorded Monday in Sioux City, Iowa; Kansas City, Missouri; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Waco, Texas; Austin, Texas; and Dallas.
Winds are expected to make the already chilly temperatures feel even colder on Monday. The National Weather Service has issued wind chill alerts for 26 states, from the U.S.-Canada border in Montana to the Rio Grande in Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The record cold is forecast to linger over the next couple days for the central U.S. and the Deep South, from Nebraska to Texas and east to Mississippi.
Then, after a brief moderation in wind chills, another cold blast is expected to hit the nation at the end of the week. The wind chill — what the temperature feels like — is forecast to drop below zero degrees in Chicago by Thursday and Friday.
The cold blast is moving into the Northeast on Monday. Temperatures are in the teens and lower 20s, marking the chilliest day of the season from Washington, D.C., to New York to Boston.
Snow and some ice is forecast from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, New York City and Boston Monday night into Tuesday. Some areas could see 1 to 3 inches of snow.
The frigid air is also helping produce lake-effect snow in western New York.
So far, up to 27 inches of snow fell just south of Buffalo, New York, with up to a foot of snow accumulating in the city.
The Buffalo Bills were set to host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, but the game was pushed to 4:30 p.m. Monday because Sunday’s intense snowfall made driving nearly impossible.
On Monday morning, the Bills were still looking for volunteers to help shovel snow from the stadium.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz warned that many seats may still be covered in snow by game time.
The heaviest snow is ending in Buffalo, but the National Weather Service has issued another winter storm watch for the city for Tuesday night into Thursday, with the possibility of 2 to 3 feet of snowfall.
A passport application from April 1983 when Epstein sought to replace a lost passport in time for a trip to London is seen. CREDIT: U.S. State Department
(NEW YORK) — In June 2011, the U.S. Department of State received an urgent request from an American businessman who sought a second U.S passport for impending trips to Europe and multiple African nations.
“I am frequently required on extremely short notice to schedule international trips with itineraries to multiple destinations requiring me to obtain multiple visas at the same time, which is simply not possible on such short notice without a second passport,” the letter said.
The applicant, who identified himself as the president of an international financial consulting firm, said he had business trips scheduled in the coming weeks to France, Sierra Leone, Mali and Gabon.
“Please issue me a second passport so I may have the 3 visas issued for Africa while I am using my current passport in France,” he wrote.
The businessman’s name: Jeffrey Edward Epstein.
Three years earlier, Epstein had pleaded guilty in Florida to solicitation of an underaged girl, a felony that required him to register as a sex offender for life.
The letter is found among several passport applications and renewal forms submitted over three decades by Epstein, whose staggering wealth and proximity to power have long defied ready explanation.
More than 50 pages from Epstein’s files were obtained by ABC News in a public records request to the State Department. The records span from the early 1980s, when Epstein was an unknown bushy-haired broker from Brooklyn, to 2019, when his indictment in New York for alleged sex-trafficking of children made him notorious worldwide.
The documents reveal Epstein’s penchant for reporting lost passports and his intentions to travel to far-flung destinations, including several countries — Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, and Senegal — that have not appeared in other accounts of Epstein’s travel.
The earliest application is from April 1983 when Epstein sought to replace a lost passport in time for an upcoming trip to London. In barely legible handwriting, then 30-year-old Epstein lists his occupation as “banker” and his address as an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The stapled color photograph depicts Epstein, who in later years favored loose-fitting track suits, in a crisp black suit and glossy tie.
In the mid-1980s, Epstein was a college dropout who taught math at an exclusive Manhattan private school and later worked for five years as a self-described “financial strategist” on Wall Street. After an abrupt exit from Bear Stearns, he claimed to have launched a career as a self-employed investment adviser for the uber-rich.
Epstein twice more in the 1980s reported his U.S. passport lost or stolen; once left behind in a London black taxi, and once stolen “out of [his] jacket pocket” as he dined at a restaurant, according to his explanations in the files.
In an application to replace his passport on Feb. 26, 1985, Epstein reported he was then residing in London. The address he provided, which has not previously been associated with Epstein, is in an area surrounded by foreign embassies.
In his affidavit of loss, Epstein indicated he had a flight booked the next day to Sweden. Less than a week later, former Miss Sweden Eva Andersson was the host of a televised musical contest in the country. Video of the event, unearthed by YouTube user “Green Clown2021,” shows Epstein in the audience, clapping half-heartedly between musical acts. Andersson would later testify, in Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal trial in 2021, that she and Epstein dated on and off in the 1980’s.
Epstein’s 1993 passport application shows his hair graying and his fortunes improving. His listed address on East 69th in New York City was the former residence of the Iranian ambassador which had been taken over by the State Department before Epstein rented the property. The government later terminated Epstein’s lease after he sublet the townhouse, without permission, and jacked up the rent.
The records obtained by ABC News also contain multiple instances in which Epstein applied for a second passport “in order to avoid conflicting visa stamps” when traveling to Israel and certain Arab states, including Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Epstein had long-standing connections to Ehud Barak, a former prime minister of Israel. Barak publicly acknowledged visiting Epstein “more than ten but much less than a hundred” times, including one visit to Epstein’s private estate in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He told The Daily Beast in 2019 that he had “never attended a party” with Epstein and had never met with him “in the company of women or girls.”
A New York Times columnist reported in 2019 that Epstein had boasted, without evidence, of speaking often with Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.
“For both safety and business reasons, it is imperative that Mr. Epstein have the necessary flexibility of a second passport,” one of his corporate representatives wrote in 2003.
State Department policies permit certain frequent international travelers to carry a second passport, particularly in cases where a visa stamp from one country might prohibit entry into another.
The issue arose again two years later, when Epstein reported a scheduled trip to Israel and Afghanistan.
As part of a request for an additional passport, Epstein submitted travel itineraries indicating he had booked two first-class trips in the spring of 2005.
The first was from London to Tel Aviv on March 29 that year. Epstein also provided details of a journey that would take him on April 7, 2005, to Istanbul, where he would connect through Baku, Azerbaijan, to Kabul. The records do not indicate whether he actually made the trip. On the day of Epstein’s scheduled departure from Kabul, the late former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made an unannounced visit to the Afghan capital for a joint press conference with President Hamid Karzai. There is no evidence that Rumsfeld and Epstein’s visits were connected.
While Epstein was apparently traveling in southern Asia, police officers in southern Florida were hunting for evidence in trash cans outside his Palm Beach mansion. Three weeks earlier, the parents of a 14-year-old girl had reported to police that their daughter had been molested by a white-haired man who went by the name “Jeff.” The police investigation that followed would turn up dozens of alleged underage minor victims and begin a saga that would ultimately lead to Epstein’s permanent status as a sex offender.
But that designation would have little impact on Epstein’s ability to obtain a U.S. passport or to travel internationally, until Congress passed the “International Megan’s Law” in 2016. That legislation allowed the government to revoke the passports of sex offenders, who must re-apply for a special passport carrying a notice inside that reads, “The bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor, and is a covered sex offender,” according to the State Department. It also strengthened a requirement that registered sex offenders provide advance notice of all intended international travel.
Epstein’s files indicate that a passport issued to him in 2016, and valid for ten years, was revoked. A second passport valid until 2020 was also revoked. His final application in the state department files indicates his last US passport was issued in March of 2019.
ABC News has previously obtained records of the United States Marshals Service that show the agency was looking into Epstein’s foreign trips. “Investigation reveals EPSTEIN travels Internationally quite frequently using private planes and may have failed to report all his International travel,” a January 2019 report stated.
Six months later, he was arrested at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, after his private Gulfstream Jet touched down from Paris. A federal indictment charged him with conspiracy and child sex-trafficking.
When FBI agents executed a search warrant at Epstein’s New York home later that day, they found a locked safe that contained 48 loose diamonds and $70,000 in cash.
Also recovered were three U.S. passports and one Austrian passport with Epstein’s picture, but with someone else’s name and an address in Saudi Arabia.
Epstein’s defense attorneys, seeking to secure bail for their client, said that two of the US passports were expired. The foreign passport, they claimed, was given to Epstein “by a friend,” and he had never used it to travel. They argued he received it in the 1980s for personal protection when traveling in the Middle East.
“Some Jewish-Americans were informally advised at the time to carry identification bearing a non-Jewish name when traveling internationally in case of hijacking,” his attorney said.
Partly because of that foreign passport and Epstein’s history of international travel, a judge determined Epstein was a flight risk and refused to grant bail. Three weeks later, Epstein was dead. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging.
Following his death, the Marshals service investigation into his travel was dropped.
Thomas Volscho, a contributor to ABC News, is a professor of sociology at City University of New York, Staten Island. He is writing a book about the tactics of wealthy sex-traffickers.
