People sit near a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul on Dec. 18, 2023. — Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile, testing a warhead that may be capable of striking anywhere in the continental United States, Japanese officials said.
Based on the flight trajectory, the launch appeared to have been an intercontinental ballistic mission with an estimated range of about 9,300 miles, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.
“Following [the missile launch] last night, North Korea launched another ballistic missile today,” Kishida said. “I have given instructions to the government to provide information to the public and conduct safety checks thoroughly. So far, no damage has been reported.”
Monday’s launch had been detected at about 8:24 a.m., South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. It traveled about 1,000 km, or about 621 miles, before crashing into the East Sea, officials said.
The launch was a “a major provocation” that amounted to a disruption of the “peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula,” South Korean military officials said.
“Our military will maintain its ability and readiness to respond overwhelmingly to any provocation while keeping a close eye on North Korea’s various activities under the strong U.S.-Korea united defense posture,” the Joint Chiefs said.
Following the test, the U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke via phone to his Korean and Japanese counterparts, Korean National Security Office Director Cho Taeyong and Japanese National Security Secretariat Secretary General Akiba Takeo.
“The national security advisors condemned the test, which is a flagrant violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions,” the State Department said in a statement.
Japan’s Ministry of Defense, which on Sunday had issued a warning that North Korea may have launched a ballistic missile, asked vessels to alert Japan’s Coast Guard if they spot a fallen object, but not approach it. Vessels in the area were asked to pay attention to future information.
ABC News’ Alex Grainger contributed to this story.
Former Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor appears in this file photo. (David Madison/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will be memorialized this week in the nation’s capital.
O’Connor, who died on Dec. 1 at age 93, will lie in repose in the great hall of the Supreme Court on Monday, where the public will have the ability to pay respects following a private ceremony. Supreme Court police officers will serve on the casket team, and honorary pallbearers will be designated by the family.
A 1999 portrait of O’Connor will be on display while she lies in repose.
Her funeral will be held at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday. The service will not be open to the public, but journalists covering the event will be in attendance.
President Joe Biden and the Supreme Court’s chief justice, John Roberts, will give eulogies at the funeral as will O’Connor’s son Jay.
“Justice O’Connor’s indomitable spirit and unwavering commitment to justice made her a pioneer and an inspiration to generations, breaking barriers and leaving an enduring mark on the nation’s highest court,” said Randolph Marshall Hollerith, dean of the cathedral, which has hosted multiple former presidents’ funerals and other notable memorials. “The Cathedral has been blessed by her many years of service and worship.”
O’Connor’s death was announced by the Supreme Court, citing “complications related to advanced dementia, probably Alzheimer’s, and a respiratory illness.”
She was named as the high court’s first female jurist by then-President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
The former justice, who said during her confirmation hearing that “the proper role of the judiciary is one of interpreting and applying the law — not making it,” was often a swing vote on the court, going on to write landmark opinions on abortion access and affirmative action. More controversially, she was also a key vote in the ruling that allowed George W. Bush to win the 2000 presidential election.
O’Connor later wrote that being the first female jurist was a challenge but that she was “grateful” for opening a door for other women.
“The first woman on the Court was carefully scrutinized by the press, the government, the lawyers, and the public,” O’Connor wrote in her 2013 history of the Supreme Court. “It is not always comfortable to be the object of so much attention. But the appointment of a woman to the Court opened countless doors to women all across the country. For that I am grateful.”
In this file photo, pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai is escorted into a Correctional Services van outside the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong on Feb. 1, 2021. — AFP via Getty Images
(HONG KONG) — After more than three years in prison, pro-democracy activist and media mogul Jimmy Lai’s long-awaited and delayed national security trial opened Monday morning under heavy security in Hong Kong.
In the most high-profile case since Beijing’s imposition of its controversial national security law in 2020, Hong Kong authorities have charged Lai with “colluding with foreign forces” to sanction, blockade or engage in other hostile activities as well as conspiracy to publish seditious material under an existing British colonial-era law.
If convicted, the 76-year-old Lai faces spending the rest of his life in prison. The odds, however, are against him. Earlier this year, Hong Kong’s security chief Chris Tang boasted about the 100% conviction rate under the national security law.
On the first day of what is expected to be a marathon 80-day trial, Lai sat calmly in the glass-encased dock at the back of the courtroom, leaning back on his seat with his arms folded, listening to his defense team argue to dismiss his sedition charges. Dressed in blue shirt and grey-ish beige blazer, he was flanked by at least three uniformed police officers sitting next to and in front of him. When he entered the courtroom earlier in the morning, he waved at his supporters in the public gallery which included his wife, his daughter and his youngest son.
At the bench sat three handpicked national security High Court judges who will preside over the entire trial that will be heard without a jury.
The trial was originally supposed to have gotten underway last December but was delayed several times for Beijing to reinterpret the national security law to allow Hong Kong authorities to bar Lai’s choice of overseas British lawyer from representing him and to allow the prosecution to prepare the translation of nearly 5,000 pages of documents into English.
The proceedings are open to the media and the public with the judiciary even moving the trial from Hong Kong’s High Court to a more spacious venue across the harbor with overflow space for potential observers. While dozens of supporters lined up overnight to secure a spot inside the actual courtroom, the police presence outside Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Law Courts visibly outnumbered them and gathered the media, the roads around the courthouse lined with police vans and at least one armored vehicle.
Beijing and Hong Kong authorities have long painted Lai and his now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, which was forced to close in June 2021, as the main instigators of anti-government protests that rocked Hong Kong in 2019.
Just last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning called Lai “one of the most notorious anti-China elements bent on destabilizing Hong Kong and a mastermind of the riots that took place in Hong Kong.”
“He blatantly colluded with external forces to undermine China’s national security and is responsible for numerous egregious acts,” Mao continued, “This is beyond reproach.”
Authorities have yet to reveal what evidence they have on Lai beyond accusing the businessman using his then-twitter account and Apple Daily to call for sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials.
In an interview with South China Morning Post last month, Hong Kong security minister Chris Tang teased that “when you look at all the details as disclosed, you will see how bad they are.”
Since Beijing imposed the national security law on the former British colony over the summer of 2020, Hong Kong authorities have rounded up nearly the entire pro-democracy camp or forced them into exile. Lai was arrested just over a month after the law was introduced.
In an interview with ABC News while he was out on bail later that summer, Lai reflected, “I knew it would come, I did not know that it would be so fast. but that’s fine, and I’m okay, I accept it. At this time of my life, it’s a pay back time whatever happens is a redemption.”
“I came here with one dollar. Escaped from China when I was twelve. [Hong Kong] gave me everything. My reward is to pay back. It’s my redemption.”
Lai’s trial is being closely watched by the West who have decried Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong. A conviction would risk further inflaming relations between Western capitals and Beijing.
On the eve of Monday’s trial, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller released a statement saying, “The United States condemns the prosecution of pro-democracy advocate and media owner Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong under the PRC-imposed National Security Law. Lai has been held in pre-trial detention for more than 1,000 days, and Hong Kong and Beijing authorities have denied him his choice of legal representation.”
“We call on Hong Kong authorities to immediately release Jimmy Lai and all others imprisoned for defending their rights.”
Representatives from at least 10 western consulates including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia were in attendance Monday morning observing the trial get underway.
(NEW YORK) — The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended on Dec. 1, and Israel has resumed its bombardment of Gaza.
The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 17, 10:20 PM EST
US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman addresses upcoming meeting with Israeli leaders
Gen. C.Q. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that in meetings in Israel on Monday with senior Israeli political and military leaders, he and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will discuss Israel’s criteria for deciding when to transition to stability operations in Gaza at the end of its major military operations and ensuring it is “a smooth transition.”
“The goal here is to have better security than they had prior to the events on 7 October,” Brown told reporters Sunday while en route to Israel.
Austin and Brown speak regularly with their Israeli counterparts about the conflict with Hamas and urge Israel to protect civilian lives as it carries out its operations, but their trip will build on National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s meetings last week in Israel that had a similar focus.
“Part of this is us sharing our own experience and not building a plan for the Israelis, but actually talking through our own experiences and how we’ve gone through various conflicts in the past,” explained Brown.
Brown said the next phase of stability operations in Gaza has to provide
“some level of stability to provide support for security, governance,” and the continued flow of humanitarian aid.
He added that senior U.S. military officers can offer political leaders an idea of what will be needed to carry out those stability operations and ensure a smooth transition.
But Brown said he would also be listening to Israel’s viewpoint.
“It’s more of a dialogue that goes both ways, and I’m trying to understand where they’re coming from and what they’re — how they see things,” he said. “And I try to share based on my experience and the things that we see on how best to move forward.”
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Dec 17, 5:04 PM EST
IDF says it’s discovered one of Hamas’ biggest tunnels under Gaza
Israel Defense Forces claimed on Sunday that it has discovered one of Hamas’ biggest tunnels under the Gaza Strip and that it plans to destroy it.
Measuring nearly 2 1/2 miles long and large enough to drive a vehicle through, the tunnel’s entrance was located roughly 1,300 feet from the Erez border crossing between Gaza and Israel, the IDF said in a post on the social media site X.
The shaft, constructed with reinforced concrete and reaching a depth of more than 160 feet, is believed to have taken years to build and millions of dollars to complete, according to the IDF. The tunnel is also equipped with electricity, communications networks and rails, according to the IDF.
It’s unclear when the tunnel was found. The IDF said it also found weapons, militants and booby traps in the tunnel.
The tunnel, according to the IDF, is the brainchild of Mohammed Sinwar, the brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. The IDF released a Hamas video it seized showing Mohammed Sinwar in the passenger seat of a Jeep driving inside the tunnel.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari told reporters that the tunnel would be destroyed.
“Without demolishing the tunnel project of Hamas, we cannot demolish Hamas,” Hagari said.
The IDF claims to have destroyed more than 800 tunnels in Gaza since the beginning of the war.
ABC News’ Ines De La Cuetara
Dec 16, 4:58 PM EST
Shooting of 3 hostages was ‘against the rules of engagement’: IDF head
The Israel Defense Forces commander said the accidental shooting this week of three Israeli hostages in Gaza was “against the rules of engagement.”
The three hostages “did everything possible so that we would understand — they moved around shirtless so that we wouldn’t suspect them of carrying explosives and they held a white cloth, but the tension overcame all of the above,” Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said in a video statement Saturday.
He noted that the shooting of someone who raises a white flag and seeks to surrender “is forbidden.”
“However, this shooting was carried out during combat and under pressure,” Halevi added. “There may be additional cases in which hostages escape or are abandoned during combat, and we have the duty and responsibility to rescue them alive.”
Halevi said he and the IDF are responsible for what happened and “will do everything to prevent such incidents from recurring in future combat.”
-ABC News’ Dorit Long
Dec 16, 8:34 PM EST
Hostage captured at music festival confirmed dead, Israel says
Inbar Hayman, an Israeli hostage who was captured at the Re’im music festival, was killed in Hamas captivity, Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said Saturday.
Hayman, 27, ran from the festival with two friends but was caught by “terrorists riding motorcycles,” the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said in a statement Saturday.
-ABC News’ Dorit Long
Dec 16, 12:26 PM EST
Hostage captured at music festival confirmed dead, Israel says
Inbar Hayman, an Israeli hostage who was captured at the Re’im music festival, was killed in Hamas captivity, Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said Saturday.
Hayman, 27, ran from the festival with two friends but was caught by “terrorists riding motorcycles,” the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said in a statement Saturday.
-ABC News’ Dorit Long and Dana Savir
Dec 16, 9:09 AM EST
IDF says soldier who shot hostages felt ‘threatened’ before they opened fire
The Israel Defense Forces released information regarding its preliminary investigation into the killing of hostages, saying that the incident took place in an area of “very intense fighting.”
The three hostages came out of a building — a few meters from the troops — without shirts, carrying a stick with white cloth. A soldier saw them as a threat and opened fire, killing two hostages instantly, according to an IDF spokesperson.
The third was injured and ran back into the building where all three emerged from and someone cried “help” in Hebrew. At this point, the battalion commander ordered his troops to stop firing. But, despite the order, another burst was fired, killing the third hostage, according to an IDF spokesperson.
The three men killed have been identified as 28-year old Yotam Haim; 26-year old Alon Shamriz; and 22-year old Samer Talalka.
The IDF said the three hostages were ‘mistakenly identified’ as a threat. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident an “unbearable tragedy.”
Dec 15, 6:01 PM EST
IDF mistakenly killed 3 Israeli hostages during combat in Gaza
Israeli forces mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages during combat in Shejaiya, Gaza, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said during a press briefing Friday.
The hostages were identified as: Yotam Haim, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza; Samer Talalka, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Am; and Alon Shamriz, who was taken from Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “an unbearable tragedy.”
“The entire State of Israel will mourn this evening. My heart goes out to the grieving families in their difficult time,” he said.
The IDF said it’s reviewing the incident. The IDF said “immediate lessons from the event have been learned, which have been passed on to all IDF troops in the field.”
Haim, 28, is survived by his parents, brother and sister, the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said. He was a gifted musician, an animal lover and loved to cook Italian food, the forum said.
Shamriz, 26, lived in the Young Generation neighborhood of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, according to the forum.
Shamriz was slated to study computer engineering at Sapir College, the forum said.
“Alon’s family and friends described him as a lover of life and a dedicated basketball fan. He played on the Sha’ar Hanegev basketball team,” the forum said in a statement.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby called the incident “heartbreaking” and a “tragic mistake,” adding it is not particularly a reflection of Israeli’s ability to be precise.
Dec 15, 4:07 PM EST
Kirby: ‘Constructive’ conversations with Israelis about military transition
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said conversations with the Israelis about transitioning to lower intensity military operations have been “constructive.”
“There’s a general agreement that a transition to lower intensity operations obviously is going to be an important next step here,” Kirby said. “The idea of transitioning into different phases is certainly a common practice among militaries as they conduct operations of this kind.”
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Dec 15, 2:33 PM EST
Al Jazeera cameraman killed in Gaza
Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa died in Gaza after he was struck and injured during combat in the region, ABC News has confirmed. He died at the scene before an ambulance could reach him.
Al Jazeera said its correspondent, Wael al-Dahdouh, was injured from shrapnel in the same incident.
Sixty-five journalists have been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Sami Zayara
Dec 15, 1:19 PM EST
Lufthansa to resume flights to Israel
Lufthansa plans to resume flights to Tel Aviv in the new year, the airline confirmed Friday.
Lufthansa said it will offer four weekly flights from Frankfurt and three weekly flights from Munich starting Jan. 8.
Austrian Airlines and SWISS — subsidiaries of Lufthansa — will also resume some flights.
Flights to Beirut, which had also been suspended, resumed service on Friday, the airline said.
Dec 15, 12:01 PM EST
Bodies of 3 hostages recovered in Gaza, returned to Israel
The bodies of three hostages — two Israeli soldiers and one civilian kidnapped from the Supernova music festival — have been recovered in Gaza and returned to Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The civilian was identified as 28-year-old Ella Toledano and the soldiers were identified as Cpl. Nik Beizer and Sgt. Ron Sherman, the IDF said.
Dec 15, 11:40 AM EST
IDF strikes Hamas infrastructure on Gaza-Egypt border
The Israeli Air Force “targeted and destroyed” Hamas military sites, weapons storage facilities and command and control centers along the Gaza-Egypt border, the Israel Defense Forces said.
“The sites that were struck in the Rafah area, where Hamas terrorists were operating, facilitated the smuggling efforts led by the Hamas terrorist organization, including the smuggling of weapons that endanger Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said.
Dec 15, 10:20 AM EST
Sullivan: Israel allowing direct delivery of Gaza aid via Kerem Shalom crossing is a ‘significant step’
The Kerem Shalom crossing at the Israel-Gaza-Egypt border opened for inspections of humanitarian aid on Tuesday, and Israel is now taking the “significant step” to allow the direct delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing, said national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Sullivan said he learned of Israel’s decision just before he departed Israel on Friday.
“President [Joe] Biden raised this issue in recent phone calls with [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu, and it was an important topic of discussion during my visit to Israel over the past two days,” Sullivan said in a statement Friday.
“The United States remains committed to expanding and sustaining the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza. We will continue to work closely with Egypt and other partners on the delivery and distribution of humanitarian assistance through Rafah crossing, and we hope that this new opening will ease congestion and help facilitate the delivery of life-saving assistance to those who need it urgently in Gaza,” Sullivan added.
ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Dec 15, 9:29 AM EST
Sullivan: IDF’s long-term goal isn’t to occupy Gaza, but fight will take months
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said at a press conference in Tel Aviv on Friday that it doesn’t make sense for Israel to occupy Gaza and that Israel has indicated it does not have long term plans to do so.
Sullivan said the fight against Hamas could take months, but he didn’t offer up any details about if the war’s intensity will shift gears.
As for the war’s impact on civilians in Gaza, Sullivan said, “The terrorists chose to embed themselves among civilians — and that creates an incredible burden on the IDF.”
“That burden does not lessen the IDF’s responsibility to weigh the distinguishes between terrorist targets and innocent people and to take every precaution to protect civilians and loss of life,” he continued. “It also doesn’t lessen the burden, by the way, to ensure that humanitarian assistance flows in sufficient quantities that the Palestinian people have access to the food, water, medicine, sanitation, that they don’t just need, that they deserve, as a basic matter of dignity, of human beings.”
“Israel has the right to go after Hamas in these difficult circumstances, and also has a responsibility to do so in a way that comports with our values, with international humanitarian law, and with the strategic necessity to see the fundamental difference between innocent Palestinian people and these evil terrorists of Hamas,” he said.
-ABC News’ Britt Clennett
Dec 14, 5:23 PM EST
Biden speaks with Turkish president about Israel-Hamas conflict
President Joe Biden spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan Thursday on a wide variety of topics including the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to the White House.
“President Biden reiterated his support for Israel’s right to defend itself. The leaders also discussed efforts to increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza and protect civilians and the need for a political horizon for the Palestinian people,” the White House said in a readout of the conversation.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
Dec 14, 5:09 PM EST
Israeli health minister meets with ICRC to discuss hostage conditions
Israeli Minister of Health Uriel Buso and Director-General of the Ministry of Health Moshe Bar Siman Tov met Thursday with the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross to stress that the health of the hostages in Gaza is deteriorating by the day.
Israeli officials said they’re calling for the ICRC to visit the hostages held by Hamas immediately to ensure they receive life-saving medical care.
“Hamas has already proven to the world that [it] does not hesitate to commit crimes against humanity, including against the elderly, women and children,” Buso said. “We expect the president and the organization to do everything possible to end the suffering of the hostages and their families immediately.”
There are 114 hostages believed to be alive or unaccounted for in Gaza, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office. Twenty-one hostages were believed to have been killed in captivity and their bodies remain in Gaza, the government said.
Dec 14, 4:18 PM EST
Woman released by Hamas desperate to reunite with husband who’s still held hostage
Raz Ben Ami was released from Hamas captivity two weeks ago, but her pain is far from over as her husband, Ohad, is still being held hostage.
“I’m not OK,” she told ABC News in an exclusive interview.
“How can I be OK when he is there and I’m here?” she said. “We want our family back together.”
Ben Ami and her husband were kidnapped separately from Kibbutz Be’eri. She said she tried to hide when she heard militants storming into her home and kidnapping her husband, but they found her and took her to Gaza on the back of a motorcycle.
She hasn’t shared the details of her time in captivity with her two daughters.
“She’s very afraid,” said one of her daughters, Ella Ben Ami. “I can just imagine what Hamas did to her.”
The mother and daughters said they will keep fighting for Ohad’s return by joining rallies and speaking to government officials.
“We’re here every night. That’s all we can do. What else can we do? Wait and hope,” Raz Ben Ami said.
-ABC News’ Ines De La Cuetara
Dec 14, 4:10 PM EST
Biden: Israel should focus on ‘how to save civilian lives’ and ‘be more careful’ in Gaza
President Joe Biden said he wants Israel to “be more careful” with its attacks in Gaza and focus on “how to save civilian lives” as casualties continue to climb.
“I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives. Not stop going after a Hamas, but be more careful,” Biden said Thursday during an event at the National Institute of Health.
The president was asked if he wanted Israel to scale back its assault on Gaza by the end of the year and transition to a “lower intensity” phase, but he did not address the question.
-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez
Dec 14, 2:59 PM EST
11 Hamas supporters arrested for allegedly planning terror attacks in Europe
Eleven people known to law enforcement as Hamas supporters were arrested for allegedly planning terrorist attacks in two separate investigations in Europe on Thursday, according to European law enforcement officials.
In one investigation — which started before the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel — three people were detained in Berlin and one person was detained in the Netherlands under suspicion of planning terror attacks targeting Jewish institutions, Interpol officials told ABC News.
The three people detained in Berlin were allegedly trying to obtain heavy weapons since April, and law enforcement found a potential cache for hiding heavy weapons, officials said.
More arrests are expected, the officials added.
-ABC News’ Aicha Elhammar
Dec 14, 2:13 PM EST
US national security adviser discusses Hamas, humanitarian aid during Netanyahu meeting
National security adviser Jake Sullivan is in Israel, where he met Thursday with officials including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Netanyahu and Sullivan discussed the hostages, “the dismantling of Hamas’ military capabilities” and the “elimination of Hamas,” according to a readout from the Israeli prime minister’s office.
The two also discussed “humanitarian aid for the non-involved population” in Gaza.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Sullivan “discussed the next phase of Israel’s military campaign, and he asked hard questions, as we have been doing, about what all that could look like.”
“He did talk about possible transitioning from what we would call ‘high intensity operations,’ which is what we’re seeing [Israel] do now, to lower intensity operations sometime, you know, in the near future,” Kirby said, adding, “I don’t want to put a timestamp on it.”
Sullivan “also discussed efforts Israel is now undertaking to be more surgical and precise in their targeting and efforts that they are taking to help increase the flow of aid,” Kirby said.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Dec 14, 2:08 PM EST
IDF withdraws from Jenin in West Bank after dayslong operation
The Israeli Defense Forces said it has withdrawn from the city of Jenin in the West Bank after a 60-hour counterterror operation, during which 60 people were arrested.
The IDF also said it destroyed some terrorist infrastructures and recovered over 50 weapons and hundreds of explosives.
Dec 14, 1:52 PM EST
Israeli president meets with families of hostages
Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with families of hostages in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv on Thursday.
Herzog and his wife joined the families to light candles on a Hanukkah menorah.
There are 114 hostages believed to be alive or unaccounted for in Gaza, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office. Twenty-one hostages were believed to have been killed in captivity and their bodies remain in Gaza, the government said.
Dec 14, 1:05 PM EST
US national security adviser discusses Hamas, humanitarian aid during Netanyahu meeting
National security adviser Jake Sullivan is in Israel, where he met Thursday with officials including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Netanyahu and Sullivan discussed the hostages, “the dismantling of Hamas’ military capabilities” and the “elimination of Hamas,” according to a readout from the Israeli prime minister’s office.
The two also discussed “humanitarian aid for the non-involved population” in Gaza.
Dec 14, 9:03 AM EST
Leaflets with bounties for Hamas leaders dropped in Gaza
Israeli leaflets allegedly offering bounties for information leading to the capture of Hamas leaders were reportedly dropped in Gaza on Thursday. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was on top of the list, with a reward of $400,000 offered next to his name.
Dec 14, 8:51 AM EST
‘Dumb bombs’ dropped in Gaza
Nearly half of the air-to-ground munitions that Israel has dropped in Gaza have been unguided, otherwise known as “dumb bombs,” which are usually less precise, a U.S. official confirmed to ABC News. The news was first reported by CNN.
Dec 13, 3:57 PM EST
Deadliest year ever for Palestinians in West Bank: UN
There have been 271 Palestinians, including 69 children, killed in the West Bank by Israeli Security Forces since Oct. 7, according to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. It’s been the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the United Nations began recording casualties, the agency said.
Dec 13, 3:13 PM EST
US hopes Kerem Shalom border crossing will open for transit soon
The U.S. hopes that the Kerem Shalom crossing at the Israel-Gaza-Egypt border, which opened for inspections of humanitarian aid on Tuesday, will open for transit soon, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said.
“We hope that Kerem Shalom will be open for transit soon. It’s my understanding that that’s a matter that’s before the Israeli government today — there may be a vote on it today,” Miller said. “We hope it will be approved and that Kerem Shalom will be opened not just for inspections, but for cargo to move in through Kerem Shalom, which would alleviate some of the traffic situation that has existed at [the] Rafah [crossing between Gaza and Egypt] and would help get more aid into the people who need it,” he said.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Dec 13, 3:12 PM EST
Netanyahu and Sullivan to meet Thursday
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet on Thursday with national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who is arriving in Israel on Thursday.
Sullivan will talk to the Israelis about another cease-fire, getting more hostages released and opportunities to expand humanitarian aid, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.
“Jake will also discuss the next phase of the military campaign and efforts to be more surgical and more precise and to reduce harm to civilians,” Kirby said.
He said these will be “extremely serious conversations” with the hope they will be “constructive.”
Dec 13, 2:43 PM EST
Biden was ‘moved’ from meeting with families of American hostages
President Joe Biden was “moved” by the stories from the families of American hostages during their meeting on Wednesday, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.
“The president was very grateful for the time that they afforded him. And he was moved by their stories, by the love they feel, by the hope that they still harbor,” Kirby said.
“These are difficult days for these families. But as we all prepare for the holiday season that’s already upon us, we would do well to remember that for them, there’s going to be an empty chair at the table,” Kirby said.
“There’s going to be irrepressible ache and worry and fear,” he said. “So we should all keep them in our thoughts.”
Biden promised the families “that we’re going to keep them informed every single step of the way,” Kirby added.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
Dec 13, 2:20 PM EST
Israeli hostage killed in captivity
Israeli hostage Tal Chaimi, a 41-year-old man and member of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, was killed in captivity, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Wednesday.
Chaimi is survived by his wife and three children: 9-year-old twins and a 6-year-old son, the forum said.
Dec 13, 1:36 PM EST
American hostages families: There’s ‘no better friend’ than Biden
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, speaking on behalf of the family members of the eight Americans believed to be held hostage by Hamas, told reporters, “We could have no better friend in Washington or in the White House than President Biden himself and his administration.”
He said the families left their “terrific” meeting with Biden on Wednesday feeling the administration was “completely committed” to securing the release of their loved ones.
When asked for updates on their loved ones, the families declined to get into the specifics of the conversation.
But, Dekel-Chen said, “Today’s meeting with President Biden and Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken only reinforced that … they are willing and ready to do all that they possibly can, by any number of means, to get the hostages home.”
Liz Naftali, the great aunt of Abigail, the 4-year-old Israeli-American hostage released last month, said, “Abigail is a miracle.”
Naftali praised Biden and Blinken for their empathy.
“What the president and Secretary Blinken understand is that they’re just not numbers and they’re just not faces,” she said. “They are sons. They are grandparents. They are mothers.”
“We are thankful to the president and to his team, because we know that they are working 24 hours a day and they are going to work through the holidays,” she said. “They are going to do everything they can to make sure that all of our loved ones … come home.”
ABC News’ Molly Nagle and Fritz Farrow
Dec 13, 11:39 AM EST
No more children’s vaccines available in Gaza: Gaza Ministry of Health
Children’s vaccines have run out completely in Gaza, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
This “will cause catastrophic health repercussions on children’s health and the spread of diseases, especially among the displaced in overcrowded shelter centers,” Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra warned.
Dec 13, 11:23 AM EST
Biden meets with families of American hostages
President Joe Biden met privately Wednesday with families of Americans taken hostage by Hamas, according to the White House.
Participants included: Yael Alexander, Adi Alexander, Ruby Chen, Roy Chen, Ronen Neutra, Orna Neutra, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, Gillian Kaye, Aviva Siegel, Elan Siegel, Shir Siegel, Hanna Siegel and Liz Naftali.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Jon Finer, White House deputy national security adviser, also participated in the meeting.
Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, whose 23-year-old son, Hersh, was taken hostage, and Iris Haggai, whose parents were believe to be kidnapped, joined the meeting by phone.
ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Dec 13, 11:13 AM EST
US issues 4th round of sanctions against Hamas officials
The U.S. has announced another round of sanctions against Hamas officials, including key operatives in Turkey who allegedly worked to transfer money into Gaza to fuel Hamas operations.
These sanctions, imposed in coordination with the United Kingdom, are the fourth round imposed by the U.S. since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
The sanctions reflect the administration’s “commitment to dismantling networks that support Hamas funding streams as part of our continuous effort to prevent and deter its terrorist activity,” State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said in a statement.
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Dec 13, 10:13 AM EST
Nearly 200 aid trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday
There were 197 humanitarian aid trucks that crossed through the Gaza-Egypt Rafah border crossing on Tuesday, entering Gaza, according to COGAT, the Israeli agency for civilian coordination with the Palestinians.
Eighty of those trucks were inspected at the Kerem Shalom crossing at the Israel-Gaza-Egypt border, which opened for the first time on Tuesday to expand the amount of aid entering Gaza.
Dec 13, 7:19 AM EST
US urges Israel to be as ‘deliberate as possible’ in Gaza strikes
U.S. officials are continuing to urge the Israeli military to be “as careful and deliberate as possible” as it strikes targets within Gaza, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.
“We want to make sure they get as precise targets as possible to limit civilian casualties,” Kirby told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America on Wednesday.
He added that the U.S. will continue to support Israel, including making sure “they have the weapons to go after Hamas wherever they are inside Gaza.”
Dec 13, 6:27 AM EST
IDF commander among 10 killed overnight, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces reported the deaths of 10 service members overnight, including a high-ranking officer, making Tuesday one of the deadliest days for the country’s military since the ground invasion began in Gaza.
Nine troops died in a single incident, an ambush in northern Gaza, officials said, marking the deadliest incident over the past month for the IDF.
At least 115 service members have been killed since Israel’s ground invasion began. A total of 444 have been killed since Oct. 7, officials said.
Dec 12, 7:31 PM EST
Biden says he doesn’t know if there are hostages in Gaza tunnels
President Joe Biden said he does not know for a fact if there are any hostages in the tunnels under Gaza amid reports that Israel began flooding some of them to target Hamas.
“There [are] assertions being made that they’re quite sure there are no hostages in any of these tunnels, but I don’t know that for a fact,” Biden told reporters during a briefing on Tuesday. “I do know that, though, that every civilian death is a national tragedy.”
Asked if he has spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about how long he believes the operation in Gaza should last, Biden declined to give a timeline.
“I want to make sure that we don’t forget what we’re doing here. We have to support Israel because they’re an independent nation,” he said, adding that the “brutality” of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel is “beyond comparison.”
Dec 12, 4:35 PM EST
Israel pumping seawater into some Gaza tunnels
Israel has recently started to pump seawater into Hamas’ underground network of tunnels, two U.S. officials confirmed to ABC News. It seems the flooding has been limited as Israel evaluates the effectiveness of this strategy compared to its other techniques.
The development was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The Israeli Defense Forces has not publicly commented.
ABC News previously reported that Israel was exploring a range of options to take out Hamas’ tunnels, including flooding them with seawater — an approach some worried could have devastating long-term environmental impacts and other ramifications for Gaza’s civilian population.
In 2015, Egypt used seawater to flood a section of tunnels in the southern stretch of the enclave to disrupt smuggling activity, which led to complaints about damaged homes and crops, as well as contaminated water supplies.
ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Shannon Crawford and Justin Gomez
Dec 12, 3:44 PM EST
Biden says Netanyahu needs to ‘strengthen’ and ‘change’ the Israeli government
President Joe Biden said at a campaign reception that Israel is starting to lose support and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to “strengthen” and “change” the government to find a long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“This is the most conservative government in Israel’s history,” Biden said, adding that the government “doesn’t want a two-state solution.”
“You cannot say there’s no Palestinian state at all in the future. And that’s going to be the hard part,” he said.
“Bibi’s got a tough decision to make,” Biden said, referring to Netanyahu.
Biden added, “In the meantime, we’re not going to do a damn thing other than protect Israel in the process.”
The president also recounted a recent conversation with Netanyahu, saying, “It was pointed out to me — I’m being very blunt with you all — it was pointed out to me that — by Bibi — that. ‘Well, you carpet-bombed Germany. You dropped the atom bomb. A lot of civilians died.'”
“I said, ‘Yeah, that’s why all these institutions were set up after World War II to see to it that it didn’t happen again — it didn’t happen again,” Biden said. “Don’t make the same mistakes we made at 9/11. There was no reason why we had to be in a war in Afghanistan at 9/11. There was no reason why we had to do some of the things we did.”
ABC News’ Molly Nagle, Mary Bruce and Justin Gomez
Dec 12, 1:34 PM EST
IDF recovers bodies of 2 more hostages
The Israel Defense Forces said it has recovered the bodies of two more hostages: 28-year-old Eden Zecharya, who was taken hostage from the Supernova music festival, and 36-year-old soldier Ziv Dado.
The IDF said its special forces recovered their bodies in Gaza and brought them back to Israel.
Dado was a husband and father of a 5-month-old girl.
“Ziv loved helping others, especially underserved populations,” the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said. “During his military service, he received certificates of excellence, was beloved by his commanders and superiors.”
Zecharya’s boyfriend died in the Oct. 7 attack while she was injured and kidnapped.
Zecharya “was filled with joy for life” and planned to study digital marketing, the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said.
She was devoted to her two dogs, and “in her last phone call, she managed to ask her father to look after her dogs,” the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said.
Dec 12, 1:16 PM EST
8-year-old girl in Gaza: ‘Save us’
As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens by the day, ABC News spoke with several children in Gaza whose lives have been upended.
“We started building tents with our own hands,” said Neda, an 8-year-old girl. “People became literally crazy. Whenever we found anything good or not, we would wear it.”
“Oh world, save us from this war,” Neda said. “We are young people, children who want to live like the rest of the children in the world.”
She wondered, “They wanted to remove Hamas, but what is our fault?”
Rama, a 9-year-old girl, said her “house was shaking” from “all the missiles.”
She asked, “If they bomb all the hospitals, where will we be treated?”
At a fundraiser in Washington, D.C., President Joe Biden said Israel is starting to lose support and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has to strengthen and change” the government to find a long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Bibi’s got a tough decision to make,” Biden said, referring to Netanyahu, according to a pool report.
“This is the most conservative government in Israel’s history,” Biden said, adding that the government “doesn’t want a two-state solution.”
ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Dec 12, 11:59 AM EST
IDF recovers bodies of 2 more hostages
The Israel Defense Forces said it has recovered the bodies of two more hostages: 27-year-old Eden Zakaria, who was taken hostage from the Supernova music festival, and 36-year-old soldier Ziv Dado.
The IDF said its special forces recovered their bodies in Gaza and brought them back to Israel.
Dec 12, 11:27 AM EST
Biden to meet with family members of American hostages
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden will hold a meeting at the White House with family members of Americans taken hostage by Hamas, according to a White House official.
This appears to be the first in-person meeting between Biden and relatives of hostages. The president held a Zoom call with the families on Oct. 13.
ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Dec 12, 10:41 AM EST
Kerem Shalom crossing at Israel-Gaza-Egypt border opens
The Kerem Shalom crossing at the Israel-Gaza-Egypt border opened on Tuesday to expand the amount of aid into Gaza, according to COGAT, the Israeli agency for civilian coordination with the Palestinians.
The first batch of humanitarian aid trucks underwent inspection at Kerem Shalom Tuesday morning and is now en route to the Gaza-Egypt Rafah border crossing, COGAT said.
The simultaneous security checks at the Kerem Shalom crossing and the Israel-Egypt Nitzana crossing will double the volume of aid delivered through Rafah and admitted into the Gaza Strip, COGAT said Monday.
Dec 12, 8:20 AM EST
Twenty killed in airstrikes on Rafah in southern Gaza, health ministry says
At least 20 people were killed in airstrikes on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
The city has been designated a safe zone by the Israeli military for displaced civilians in war-torn Gaza.
Dec 12, 6:03 AM EST
IDF says 20 soldiers killed by accident in Gaza since start of war, most by friendly fire
Twenty Israeli soldiers have been killed by accident in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, most by friendly fire, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The IDF confirmed to ABC News on Tuesday that a total of 105 soldiers have died since ground operations were launched in Gaza, 20 of which were considered accidents. Of those 20 accidental deaths, 13 were due to friendly fire, one was caused by firing irregularities and six were accidents involving weaponry, machinery or trampling, according to the IDF.
Dec 12, 5:19 AM EST
Biden says commitment to Israel is ‘unshakable,’ but warns ‘the whole world’s public opinion can shift overnight’
U.S. President Joe Biden hosted a Hanukkah reception at the White House on Monday evening, reaffirming his country’s support for Israel as the war in the Gaza Strip continues.
“My commitment to the safety of Jewish people, and the security of Israel and its right to exist, is independent — as an independent Jewish state is unshakable,” Biden said.
But the president cautioned that Israel has to “be careful” because “the whole world’s public opinion can shift overnight.”
“We can’t let that happen,” he said.
Biden also highlighted efforts his administration is taking to secure the release of hostages still being held by militants in Gaza and the continuation of military support for Israel “until they get rid of Hamas.”
“We’ve gotten more than 100 hostages out and we’re not going to stop till we get everyone on the home,” he added.
He also touted U.S. efforts to “lead the world in humanitarian assistance to innocent Palestinian civilians” in Gaza.
Dec 11, 5:17 PM EST
Physician shot inside Gaza Hospital: Doctors Without Borders
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières said one of its surgeons inside the Al-Awda hospital was injured by a shot fired from outside the facility.
“Reports coming out of Al-Awda hospital are harrowing and we are gravely worried for [the] safety of patients and staff inside. Let us be clear: Al Awda is a functioning hospital with medical staff and many patients in vulnerable condition. Targeting medical workers as they care for their patients is utterly reprehensible, utterly inhumane,” Renzo Fricke, MSF’s head of mission, said in a statement.
The international humanitarian group said the attacks on the hospital have killed five staff so far including two of their members.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Dec 11, 4:28 PM EST
Israel targeting 2 hospitals in northern Gaza: Palestinian Health Ministry
Israeli forces are targeting and operating near two hospitals in northern Gaza, the Kamal Adwan Hospital and the Al-Awda Hospital, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The director of Al-Awda Hospital, Ahmed Muhanna, said Israeli tanks were surrounding the hospital.
Doctors Without Borders said one of its surgeons was injured inside Al-Awda Hospital by a shot fired from outside the facility.
“Reports coming out of Al-Awda hospital are harrowing and we are gravely worried for safety of patients and staff inside,” Doctors Without Borders said.
The Israel Defense Forces said it could not comment on troops’ locations.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta, Jordana Miller and Cindy Smith
Dec 11, 4:15 PM EST
Israel doesn’t intend to stay permanently in Gaza: Defense minister
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday that Israel “will take any measures in order to destroy Hamas, but we have no intention to stay permanently in the Gaza Strip.”
“We only take care of our security and the security of our citizens alongside the border with Gaza and elsewhere,” Gallant said.
Gallant said “a new civil body will be established to try and look after the welfare of the residents.”
“The key condition is that this body will not act with hostility towards the state of Israel,” Gallant said. “All the rest, in my opinion, can be discussed. It certainly will not be Hamas, and also will not be Israel. We will maintain our freedom to act, to operate militarily against any threat.”
Speaking directly to Hamas, Gallant said, “To the terrorists, to their commanders and to the battalion commanders: surrender. If you surrender, you can save your lives. If not, your fate is sealed.”
Dec 11, 3:09 PM EST
‘Cruelty I hadn’t seen before’: Psychiatrist who treated hostages
Dr. Renana Eitan, a psychiatrist who treated people held by Hamas, said some of the now-released hostages experienced “cruelty that I haven’t seen before.”
“I’ve been a psychiatrist for over 20 years,” she said. “We are [a] national center for sexual trauma and for PTSD for the refugees from Africa, so I thought I saw all the worst PTSD patients.”
Some hostages were held “in inhumane sanitary conditions” and “subject to severe physical, sexual and mental abuse,” Eitan said.
“I have never seen anything like that before,” Eitan said.
“One of the patients, she was kept in total darkness for four days. This is inhumane. She became psychotic. She had hallucinations,” Eitan said. “I’ve never seen such things in my life.”
According to the Israel Defense Forces, 137 people are still being held hostage by Hamas.
Dec 11, 2:58 PM EST
Kerem Shalom crossing at Israel-Gaza-Egypt border to open Tuesday
The Kerem Shalom crossing at the Israel-Gaza-Egypt border will open on Tuesday for security checks on aid shipments from Egypt, according to COGAT, the Israeli agency for civilian coordination with the Palestinians.
The simultaneous security checks at the Kerem Shalom crossing and the Israel-Egypt Nitzana crossing will double the volume of aid delivered through the Gaza-Egypt Rafah crossing and admitted into the Gaza Strip, COGAT said.
Dec 11, 2:21 PM EST
Protesters calling for cease-fire chain themselves to White House fence
A group of 18 protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza chained themselves to the White House fence on Monday.
The protesters were from Jewish Voice for Peace, a group that defines itself as “Jews organizing toward Palestinian liberation.” They chanted, “Biden, Biden pick a side, cease-fire not genocide,” and, “Cease-fire cannot wait, no Hanukkah to celebrate.”
U.S. Park Police said its officers used bolt cutters to remove the chains from the fencing and cleared the group from the area after roughly 30 minutes.
The demonstration came hours before President Joe Biden holds a Hanukkah reception at the White House.
-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez
Dec 11, 1:58 PM EST
134 UNRWA workers killed since beginning of the war, UN says
The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees said 134 of its workers have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began two months ago.
Although northern Gaza was the first region intensely targeted by Israeli forces, the UNRWA said half of its killed staffers died in middle and southern Gaza.
There are 1.9 million people now displaced in Gaza, where conditions are continuing to deteriorate, the UNRWA said.
Dec 11, 12:21 PM EST
IDF says it recovered explosives, rifles in UNRWA-labeled bags in Gaza home
The Israel Defense Forces said its soldiers found explosives, AK-47 rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade hidden inside UNRWA-labeled bags in a home in Gaza.
The IDF said it also found long-distance rockets inside a truck near a school in Gaza.
The Israeli army has “directed aerial strikes on dozens of terrorists in the Gaza Strip” over the last day, the IDF said, and “in one incident, armed terrorists spotted exiting a medical clinic during operational activity were struck by the IDF.”
Dec 11, 6:43 AM EST
104 Israeli troops killed since fighting began, IDF says
At least 104 Israeli service members have been killed since the country’s war with Hamas began on Oct. 7, Israel Defense Forces officials said Monday.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Dec 10, 5:29 PM EST
Global health organizations call for immediate cease-fire over dire conditions in Gaza
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and the World Health Organization released updates on a deteriorating situation in Gaza, imploring for an immediate cease-fire to allow aid to enter and civilians to take shelter.
The MSF is seeing a “complete collapse” in the healthcare system in Gaza, the organization said. It has been 10 days since MSF was forced to stop providing support to Martyrs and Beni Suheila clinics due to the Israeli forces’ evacuation orders for the area, according to the statement.
In Rafah, on the southernmost area of the Gaza Strip and where people from Khan Younis and central Gaza have been pushed to, health services are extremely limited, according to MSF.
“The United Nations Security Council must demand an immediate and sustained ceasefire, to lift the siege and ensure unrestricted aid to the entire Gaza Strip,” the MSF statement read.
Meanwhile, according to the WHO, a mission it conducted with partners to deliver essential trauma and surgical supplies to Al-Ahli hospital to cover the needs of 1500 people, and to transfer 19 critical patients, was successful.
The high-risk delivery was managed despite active shelling and artillery fire in the region, according to a statement from the organization.
The hospital itself has been substantially damaged, and in acute need of oxygen and essential medical supplies, water, food and fuel as well as medical personal, the WHO said.
“We cannot wait any longer for a sustained ceasefire and a safe, scaled-up humanitarian response,” WHO officials said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Will Gretzky
Dec 10, 4:49 PM EST
IDF claims it has struck 3,500 targets in Gaza since end of cease-fire
Since the end of the cease-fire on Dec. 1, the Israeli Air Force has struck 3,500 targets in the Gaza Strip, Israel Defense Forces confirmed to ABC News on Sunday.
Many of the targets hit by the IAF were identified by IDF forces on the ground, IDF officials said in a statement.
Since beginning of the war, more than 22,000 “terror targets” have been struck in the Gaza Strip, according to the IDF.
Among the targets hit by the Israeli forces are ones in Jabalya, Shejaiya, Beit Hanoun and Khan Yunis, the IDF said. Troops are also conducting raids on Hamas terrorist strongholds across the Gaza Strip, according to the IDF.
Numerous terrorists have been killed in the raids and terrorist infrastructure has been destroyed, according to the IDF.
Additionally, IDF naval troops are operating off the coast of the Gaza Strip, striking terror targets from the sea and supporting IDF ground troops, according to the IDF.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Dec 09, 3:14 PM EST
Biden administration approves emergency tank ammunition sale to Israel
The Biden administration approved the possible sale of tank ammunition to Israel through an emergency order, circumventing Congress.
In a release, the State Department notified Congress about the emergency sale on Friday.
“The Secretary of State determined and provided detailed justification to Congress that an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale to the Government of Israel of the above defense articles and services in the national security interests of the United States, thereby waiving the Congressional review requirements under Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act, as amended,” the release states.
The sale — of 120mm tank cartridges and related equipment — is estimated to cost $106.5 million.
(NEW YORK) — Millions of Americans are gearing up to hit the highway and take to the skies ahead of the holidays.
Here’s what you need to know before packing your bags:
Holiday travel by air
AAA predicts this holiday season will be the busiest ever for air travel, with 7.5 million people projected to fly from Saturday, Dec. 23 to Monday, Jan. 1. This would break the record high of 7.3 million flyers set during the 2019 holiday season.
Thursday, Dec. 21 and Friday, Dec. 22 are forecast to be the busiest days for departures, according to Hopper.
Domestic airfares are averaging $349 round trip — a 3% increase from last year, according to Hopper.
The cheapest days to fly will be Dec. 19, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, according to Hopper. The most expensive days are Dec. 22 and Dec. 26.
United Airlines said it expects its busiest-ever holiday travel season, with about 9 million passengers planning to fly from Dec. 21 to Jan. 8. This is a 12% jump from last year.
United said it anticipates Dec. 22 and Dec. 23 will be its busiest days for Christmas travel, while Jan. 2 will be the busiest day for New Year’s travel.
Delta Air Lines is preparing for nearly 9 million customers during its holiday travel period, which runs from Dec. 21 to Jan. 7.
Delta said its peak days are expected to be Dec. 21 to Dec. 22 and Dec. 26 to Dec. 30.
Holiday travel by road
AAA expects 104 million people to hit the road over the holidays — a 1.8% increase from last year.
The busiest days are forecast to be Saturday, Dec. 23; Thursday, Dec. 28; and Saturday, Dec. 30, according to transportation analytics company INRIX.
If you’re leaving for the holidays on Dec. 23, the best time to head out the door is before 10 a.m., according to INRIX. And if you’re heading home the day after Christmas, the roads will be emptiest before noon, INRIX said.
(NEW YORK) — More than 130,000 customers were without power in Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey on Monday morning, as a powerful storm system moved north, according to poweroutage.us.
A large swath of residents along the Eastern Seaboard are under flood and wind alerts as the storm system that inundated the South moves north, bringing the same threats with it.
Residents living along the I-95 corridor can expect a dangerous commute on Monday morning as heavy rain and strong winds continue to affect the region.
The East Coast storm was moving on Monday through the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, bringing with it with blinding rain, flash flooding and strong winds.
Eleven states from Maryland to Maine were under flood watch on Monday morning. And high wind alerts were issued from North Carolina to Maine, with wind gusts expected to be up to 60 mph.
South Carolina was hit hard with flooding rains on Saturday, setting records in the process, according to the National Weather Service. Charleston, South Carolina, measured its highest “non-tropical” tide on record, and its fourth-highest tide, when accounting for those that occurred amid tropical systems.
More than 16 inches of rain fell in some areas between Charleston and Georgetown, flooding neighborhoods, stalling cars and prompting flash flood emergency for the area. A few areas received about 6 inches of rain in six hours.
Severe thunderstorms had also been possible on Sunday across the coastal Carolinas, including Charleston, and Wilmington, North Carolina. The main hazards had been expected to be damaging winds and a tornado threat, along with flooding.
Authorities made dozens of rescues during the flooding rains, Jackie Broach, public information officer for Georgetown County, told The Associated Press. There have been no reports of injuries or deaths.
More than 25,000 customers had been without power in North Carolina and South Carolina on Sunday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us. About 5,000 customers, mostly in North Carolina, were without power Monday morning.
Street flooding is also a significant concern across the Northeast.
The remainder of the watches up the East Coast extend into Monday.
Heavy rain had been expected to be more isolated in New York City by 7 a.m. Monday, as the heavy rain moves farther north, into upstate New York and the rest of New England.
Lingering heavy rainfall may still be causing numerous problems for Monday morning commuters in the Northeast, forecasts show.
The flood and wind alerts will begin in upper New England late Sunday and extend through Monday into Tuesday morning — the last expiring at 7 a.m. in Bar Harbor, Maine.
A high wind warning is in effect for the New England Coast, with wind gusts up to 65 mph expected. This will include Long Island, New York; Providence, Rhode Island; Boston and Portland, Maine. The strong winds will accompany the heaviest rain.
The storm is expected to move into New England later Monday, with rain ending in NYC and the South shortly by about 1 p.m.
In Boston and New England the rain will linger into the mid-afternoon hours. Gusty winds 40 to 50 mph will continue for NYC and Boston with coastal Long Island and eastern New England getting gusts 60 to 70 mph.
Due to the strong winds bringing higher storm surges, coastal flooding will also be a widespread issue, with 20 million people under coastal flood alerts.
The East Coast is still predicted at a wide swath to accumulate 2 inches to 6 inches of rain, with locally higher amounts reaching up to 8 inches. Shoreline communities could possibly see 1 foot to 2 feet of inundation along low-lying areas near waterways.
Many roads become impassable, and some damage to vulnerable structures may begin to occur due to coastal flooding, according to the National Weather Service.
Parts of Florida got up to 5 inches of rain from the same system since Saturday.
Fort Lauderdale picked up 1.07 inches of rain on Saturday, bringing their record-smashing total rainfall for 2023 to 111 inches. The region has gotten more than 9 feet of rain in the last 11 and a half months, according to the NWS.
Orlando and Daytona Beach saw about 2.5 inches of rain, while Melbourne got more than 3 inches.
Flood watches were in effect for parts of northeast Florida, including Palm Coast, Ocala and Palatka, until 6 a.m. Sunday.
Heavy rain continued on Sunday morning in Jacksonville and Gainesville, which have gotten more than 3 inches of rain so far. A flood watch remained in the region until 10 a.m.
Cross City, in the Big Bend of Florida, neared the 5-inch mark as rain continued on Sunday morning, as the system pushed north into Georgia and the Carolinas. A flood watch is in effect in Charleston, South Carolina, until 1 p.m.
(GALVESTON, Texas) — A city in Texas has lifted a shelter-in-place after a “temporary increase in sulfur dioxide emissions” earlier Sunday at the Marathon Galveston Bay Refinery.
“The shelter-in-place has now been lifted. All roadways are open, and there is no longer a need to shelter in place,” the city said in an updated news alert on its website. “Multiple agencies have been conducting air monitoring, and all readings in the affected areas and throughout the city are normal. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
Personnel at the refinery “have resolved an operational upset that had led to a temporary increase in sulfur dioxide emissions earlier today,” Marathon Petroleum Corp. said in a statement. “Emissions have returned to normal levels.”
No injuries have been reported.
Earlier Sunday, the city issued a shelter-in-place for residents in “the area south of FM-519 to the Texas City Y” and said at the time the affected roads were loop 197, the 519 at the 149, and 4th Avenue South at loop 197.
“If you are in the affected area, please remain indoors with all doors and windows closed, and turn off your heat or A/C until further notice,” the city had said. “Several intersections are barricaded, and traffic is not allowed through. Please avoid the area at this time.”
In a subsequent update, the city said it continues to closely monitor the situation, adding: “At this time, there are no air monitoring readings that indicate danger to life or health.”
“There have been no injuries. Air monitoring has been deployed in the community, and the City of Texas City has issued a shelter-in-place for an area south of the refinery,” Marathon Petroleum Corp. said in a previous statement.
“The safety of personnel and the public is our top priority as we work to resolve the situation,” it added.
ABC News’ Vanessa Navarrete contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — With less than a month until the first votes are cast in the 2024 Republican primary, former President Donald Trump spent his latest rally in New Hampshire praising multiple authoritarian leaders and quoting Russian President Vladimir Putin to try and discredit the criminal indictments against him — while sparking new backlash from critics that his anti-immigrant sentiment echoes Adolf Hitler.
“They’re poisoning the blood of our country. That’s what they’ve done,” Trump said Saturday in Durham, New Hampshire. “They’re coming into our country, from Africa, from Asia, over the world. They’re pouring into our country.”
The former president, again, praised authoritarian leaders including Hungary’s Viktor Orban, China’s Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un — and called President Joe Biden a “threat to democracy,” reversing a frequent attack of Biden on him.
Trump went on to quote Russia’s president when calling the criminal cases pending against him “politically motivated.” Prosecutors have rejected that accusation and defended their work.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the 91 charges he faces across four cases in three states and Washington, D.C.
“Putin of Russia says that Biden’s, and this is a quote, ‘politically motivated persecution of his political rival’ is very good for Russia because it shows the rottenness of the American political system, which cannot pretend to teach others about democracy,'” Trump said at the rally. “So we talk about democracy, but the whole world is watching the persecution of a political opponent that’s kicking his ass.”
The Biden campaign quickly seized on the comments, blasting the former president in a rapid response email on Saturday night, saying Trump “channeled his role models as he parroted Adolf Hitler, praised Kim Jong Un, and quoted Vladimir Putin while running for president on a promise to rule as a dictator and threaten American democracy.”
“He is betting he can win this election by scaring and dividing this country. He’s wrong,” Biden campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement. “In 2020, Americans chose President Biden’s vision of hope and unity over Trump’s vision of fear and division — and they’ll do the same next November.”
The former president has repeatedly used the phrase “poisoning the blood” when talking about some immigrants throughout the 2024 campaign cycle, drawing scrutiny from critics who say that language is used by white supremacists and Hitler, who infamously wrote about “blood poisoning” in his book “Mein Kampf.”
Trump doubled down on those remarks after Saturday’s rally, posting similar statements about unauthorized immigrants on his social media platform.
During his four years in the White House, Trump implemented a series of strict policies to limit immigration, including for people who enter the country illegally, travel from certain largely Muslim countries or who seek to claim asylum in the U.S.
That often drew outcry from advocates, such as when officials separated migrant families — some of whom remain separated, according to activists — as part of prosecutions of illegal border crossings.
With polls indicating a rematch between Biden and Trump next November is increasingly likely, Biden has focused on an argument that Trump would be dangerous to democracy if reelected while Trump accuses Biden of ruining the country, particularly on issues like the border, as he vows to act as a form of retribution for himself and his supporters.
During a Veterans Day rally in New Hampshire, Trump vowed to “root out” his political opponents, who he said “live like vermin” as he warned supporters that America’s greatest threats come “from within” — yet again startling experts and critics who said his words echoed those of past fascist dictators like Hitler and Benito Mussolini. A Trump campaign spokesman dismissed the backlash to that speech.
Trump’s campaign rhetoric includes repeated recent comments that he won’t be a dictator as president “except for day one,” so that he could focus on the border and on drilling, though after receiving criticism from those remarks, the former president attempted to course correct and claim he was only joking.
Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie, a former ally-turned vocal critic of Trump’s who is running against him in the 2024 race, admonished Trump’s latest speech in an interview on Sunday — and extended his criticism to other Republicans like fellow 2024 candidate Nikki Haley, whom Christie said isn’t doing enough to keep Trump out of office.
“Donald Trump realized the walls are closing in, and he’s becoming crazier, and now he’s citing Vladimir Putin as a character witness, a guy who is a murderous thug around the world,” Christie said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“What he’s doing is dog-whistling to Americans who feel absolutely under stress and strain from the economy and from the conflicts around the world and he’s dog-whistling to blame it on people that don’t look like us,” Christie said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, when asked Saturday in Iowa if that’s the type of language that should be used by someone who wants to be president, said he hadn’t heard the comments himself yet but repeated his rhetoric on border issues. (Haley and GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment.)
“Well, I didn’t hear what he said. And so I don’t want to respond until I get to see,” DeSantis told reporters on the trail. “What I would say, though, is we have to be smart about what we’re doing in this country. And when you have people that are coming to this border, coming across our border illegally, from countries that are hostile to us — we’re going to be very tough on who’s able to come into this country, because I think that what’s going on now, at the border in particular, has been a total train wreck.”
(WASHINGTON) — Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen on Sunday said the Biden administration is not being heeded in its entreaties for Israel to reduce the civilian death toll from the military campaign against Hamas extremists in Gaza, which is being carried out with U.S. support.
“I don’t think it’s getting through clearly enough because we continue to see unacceptably high levels of civilian casualties,” Van Hollen told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl. “And when it comes to the humanitarian crisis [in Gaza], we still have a near-total siege.”
The Maryland lawmaker, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, acknowledged there had recently been some positive developments, such as Israel opening an important border crossing into the territory — but “it shouldn’t take this long.”
“Look, President [Joe] Biden has been absolutely right to stand with Israel in the objective of ending the military threat from Hamas. No more Oct. 7s,” Van Hollen said, referencing the Hamas terror attack on Israel that sparked the war.
“But,” the senator continued, “he’s also right that how Israel conducts this operation, how the Netanyahu government conducts this operation, is important — and that is why it’s really essential that these issues be addressed. And they’re not being addressed sufficiently enough to my mind.”
Nearly 19,000 people have died in Gaza since the fighting began two months ago, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry; 1,200 people were killed in Israel in the October attack, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office.
The concern from Van Hollen comes amid Israel’s continued aerial and ground offensives in Gaza, intended to dismantle Hamas throughout the territory.
The Biden administration is providing key arms and other assistance to Israel, including recently bypassing Congress to send Israel almost 14,000 tank cartridges as part of what it called an “emergency” need.
At the same time, the president and others like Secretary of State Antony Blinken have been increasingly vocal that Israel should narrow its retaliatory campaign to limit the widespread death and destruction to civilians in Gaza.
Some progressives in the Democratic Party have joined pro-Palestinian activists in pushing for a total cease-fire. Biden has rejected that, saying it would help Hamas, but said last week that Israel was losing support internationally and should change course.
“Nothing will stop us. We are going on to the end, until victory, nothing less,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week.
While Israeli military officials insist they take steps to save civilians, despite the death toll, they also say Hamas is deliberately embedded in civilian communities — making it that much harder.
“The United States is not a bystander to this. We are a big supplier, of course, a supplier of military assistance to Israel,” Van Hollen said Sunday. “So we are with them [Israel] entirely in the objective of ending the military threat. But again, we need to make sure that our values are reflected in this so long as we are providing all of this equipment.”
Van Hollen criticized “very loose rules of engagement” and suggested there is a relative lack of restraint by Israeli forces who are focused on pursuing Hamas leaders.
Van Hollen also knocked Netanyahu over recent comments where Netanyahu touted his past efforts against an independent Palestinian state — contending Palestinians are a threat to Israel.
Van Hollen argued the Israeli government should have taken more steps to support the Palestinian Authority, a Hamas rival which recognizes Israel’s right to exist, while limiting controversial moves like expanding Jewish settlements in the Palestinian West Bank.
“Instead of trying to find peace or at least preventing the conditions on the ground from changing, with additional settlements to allow a two-state solution, he has shut the door on that effort,” Van Hollen said.
Fears over broader violence in the Middle East have escalated amid what officials have said are clashes on Israel’s northern border with Hezbollah, attacks by Iranian proxies on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria and drone and ballistic missile launches on commercial ships from Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.
Van Hollen praised the Biden administration’s response so far in the Red Sea, after U.S. and other warships shot down projectiles from Yemen, but warned there would be a heavy price to pay if any American was hurt or killed.
He also said that the U.S. taking large-scale action against the Houthis could risk America being “bogged down” or distracted in the region.
“I think that the administration has been smart in terms of how it’s responded to those attacks, but clearly the risk of an American being killed in the process is high, and that would obviously create a big response for the United States,” he said.
(WASHINGTON) — Former U.N. ambassador and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley sat down alongside New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu to tout his endorsement of her in a joint interview with ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl.
“It’s huge, you know, first to have the endorsement of the largest conservative, freedom-loving grassroots organization in the country with Americans for Prosperity and then go get the endorsement of the ‘Live Free or Die’ governor,” Haley told Karl in an interview that aired on Sunday, referring to the backing of Americans for Prosperity Action. “I mean, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
Sununu, who appeared with Haley this week at several campaign stops, sang her praises as a candidate who he said will fight to earn the support of Granite State voters, though she still seriously trails front-runner Donald Trump in both state and national polling.
“No one in New Hampshire is gonna vote for Nikki Haley just because the governor says so right? You earn it,” Sununu said. “I think we’ve been pretty successful in knowing how to earn it, how to engage with constituencies.”
“For the next 40 days, we’re partners because we honestly believe we have a country to save and we’re determined to do it,” Haley added, touting Sununu’s new help on the campaign trail.
On Trump: ‘Y’all want me to either love him or hate him all the time’
Despite the endorsement and a recent increase in several nationwide and statewide polls, Haley has a lot of ground to try and make up with Republican voters before the primary begins in just a few weeks. Trump, despite his controversies and legal troubles — he denies wrongdoing — remains very popular with the base.
While she has stepped up her criticism of the former president, Haley still insists that Trump was “the right president at the right time” and that he is “fit” for office.
“Looking at the situation now, our country’s in disarray. The world is on fire and chaos follows him,” Haley said. “And we can’t have a country in chaos for four more years or we won’t survive it.”
“But is it chaos follows him or does he create the chaos?” Karl pushed back on Haley. “I mean, that sounds so passive — ‘chaos follows him.'”
“Rightly or wrongly, you call it whatever you want to call it. But when you feel it, it’s chaos,” Haley responded.
Last week, the special counsel leading the federal election subversion case against Trump asked the Supreme Court to step in and decide the issue of Trump’s presidential immunity. The former president’s legal team has sought to dismiss the case citing what they claim is Trump’s “absolute immunity” from prosecution for actions taken while serving in the nation’s highest office. Trump has pleaded not guilty to his charges.
“Do you believe a president has absolute immunity for anything that happens while they’re president?” Karl asked.
“I’m gonna let the courts figure that out. I mean, the last thing you’re gonna see me do is weigh in or learn the details about any of his court cases because I can’t follow 91 charges. I’m not going to,” Haley said.
Karl pushed back, asking Haley whether she agreed with the issue on principle – that a president has absolute immunity for anything done while in office. Haley again deferred to the courts.
“I think the court issues are: Do you have immunity when you’re president, when you’re not president? At what point does that line fall? I’m gonna let judges decide that,” she said. “President Trump’s gonna have to defend himself no matter what. If he’s found guilty, he’s found guilty. If he’s found innocent, he’s found innocent. It would be wasted energy for me to sit there and focus on court cases and not focus on how to win that room [of voters] that we just left.”
At a town hall on Wednesday in Newport, New Hampshire, a voter challenged Haley to “turn it up on Donald Trump” and “go after him hard.” Karl asked what Haley says to those voters who say she needs to draw a firmer line on where she stands on Trump.
“Anti-Trumpers want me to hate him, pro-Trumpers want me to love him, but this is where I stand. There are things I agree with the president on. … There are things I don’t agree [with],” Haley said, highlighting differences with Trump on his handling of China, fentanyl and the national debt when he was president.
When Karl continued to press Haley on the former president, Haley attempted to redirect those questions, saying he should answer them, not her.
“You want to talk about Trump, if you really want to talk about Trump, why don’t you go ask him if he’s gonna get on a debate stage in Iowa, where Iowa’s voting? Why don’t you go ask him if he’s gonna get on a debate stage in New Hampshire, where Granite Staters are voting?” Haley said.
“That’s what you should be asking as the media, not asking about what he happened to say today,” she said.
Abortion: ‘It’s not as cut and dry as everybody wants’
Karl also sought to clarify Haley’s position on the controversial Texas Supreme Court ruling on abortion last week. The court ruled that 31-year-old Kate Cox could not receive an abortion, even though her fetus had been diagnosed with a nearly always fatal condition and doctors had said her health and future fertility were potentially in jeopardy.
“Did you agree with that decision by the Texas Supreme Court?” Karl asked.
“I think that it is the right thing that unelected justices no longer decide this and it’s in the hands of the people,” Haley said, referring to the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 that removed nationwide abortion access protections. “I appreciate that Texas went more on the pro-life side. But as we go through this, listen, my heart broke for her because I had trouble having my children.”
“The states are now going to have to look at these because what we don’t want to see is a woman with a rare condition having to carry a baby until term,” Haley said.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is also seeking the Republican presidential nomination, has criticized Haley for her response on the court case, saying it’s a “word salad” without directly answering if the court decision was right or wrong.
Karl noted Christie’s criticism, asking Haley, “Can you give a direct answer now?”
Haley said that the Texas Supreme Court responded by interpreting state law, and that lawmakers now have an opportunity to change it.
“The court had to follow the law,” she said. “Now it’s up to the Legislature in Texas to say, ‘How do we make sure there are no more Kates that go through that?’ … It’s not as cut and dry as everybody wants, but states will self-correct to this. That’s what they do.”
Sununu on N.H.: ‘It’s an absolute win.’
Questioned if she needs to win a state like New Hampshire in order to put her in the position for ultimately winning the GOP nomination over Trump, Haley said her goal is to be “strong” in the early voting states beginning next month.
“My goal is to be strong in Iowa, strong in New Hampshire, strong in South Carolina,” she said.
“But, you you need to win somewhere? Right? I mean–” Karl challenged the former governor.
“You’re saying that. What I’m saying is, why don’t we try and do the best we can in every state and let the people decide which way this goes?” she responded.
“I think I’m going to be strong in Iowa. I think I’m going to be strong in New Hampshire. I think we’re going to be strong in South Carolina [in February] and I think we’re gonna take it and we’re not settling for anything else,” she said.
The governor of the Granite State stepped in to predict that Haley, despite the polling, will win the state in a “landslide.”
“It’s an absolute win. No, it’s a win and a reset button. If everyone that could vote in the primary comes out and votes … she’s gonna win in a landslide, and that’s not an exaggeration,” Sununu insisted.
“No, it’s not an expectation, it’s people getting excited.”
“We can feel it on the ground,” Haley said, echoing Sununu. “We’re going to do this.”
