(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.
Workers lower a ladder into a monument as they dismantle the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery December 20, 2023, in Arlington, Virginia. CREDIT: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/GETTY IMAGES
(NEW YORK) — More than 60 years after Martin Luther King Jr. uttered ‘Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia,’ racial and historical tensions continue to boil over at Stone Mountain, which doubles as the home of the largest Confederate monument in the world and the Ku Klux Klan’s 20th-century rebirth.
The Confederate monument etched into the mountain is larger than Mount Rushmore, according to the Atlanta History Center. The carving honors three Confederate figures in the Civil War — Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate states, and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson.
Stone Mountain is one of more than 2,000 Confederate memorials still in place across the country, according to the legal advocacy group Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). This list includes monuments, plaques, street and building names, and more.
In 2023, about 49 memorials were removed, including nine Department of Defense forts that have been renamed, according to the SPLC.
According to a Congressional Naming Commission Report, hundreds of Confederate monuments — including names, symbols, monuments, and paraphernalia — honoring figures on Department of Defense land alone were set to be removed by January 2024.
This includes the controversial Reconciliation Monument at the Arlington National Cemetery that the cemetery said promotes “a nostalgic, mythologized vision of the Confederacy, including highly sanitized depictions of slavery.” Monument removals or changes — like the Reconciliation Monument and changes at Stone Mountain — have prompted legal threats and challenges from Confederate heritage groups.
This represents a growing, concerted effort to remove Confederate monuments from public spaces. Critics say these memorials distort history and praise the Confederate fight in favor of slavery.
“These memorials serve the purpose of rewriting history, telling a different story of that war and remaking Confederate heroes as American heroes,” said SPLC historian Rivka Maizlish. “You can imagine the psychological impact, especially on African Americans, but on anyone who does not believe that white supremacy is an American value, and seeing these memorials all over the country.”
She continued, “Another real goal was to claim white spaces. A lot of these memorials are put up in front of courthouses to claim the law as something that is only for whites. After Brown v. the Board of Education made segregation illegal, many schools suddenly changed their names to the names of Confederates, making a clear statement that no matter what the law says, these schools are white spaces.”
There has simultaneously been a fight to preserve these spaces, specifically for those whose ancestors played a role in the Confederate Army and who say that removing these statues removes a piece of their heritage.
Martin O’Toole, of the Georgia branch of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, told ABC News that at least two of his ancestors fought under Jackson in the war.
“Stone Mountain is intended to be a memorial to the sacrifices of the people of Georgia, in particular, but the South in general in the establishment of a southern Republic, and then the sacrifices that were made were tremendous,” said O’Toole.
He continued, “When this current upsurge of destruction of monuments, historical monuments and the like took place, then many of the members became convinced that our charge that we got from General Steven D. Lee … required that we do something in the legal realm to defend these monuments.”
Stone Mountain and the surrounding park are just one of the spaces at the center of controversy.
The park is lined with streets named after Confederate soldiers and Confederate flags waving on its lawns, with the large Confederate rock etchings as their backdrop. Stone Mountain, the city at the base of the park, is a predominantly Black community, according to the U.S. Census.
The park was also the site of the reemergence of the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan in 1915 amid the national success of the controversial Civil War epic film “The Birth of a Nation,” according to the Atlanta History Center.
Before the film came to Atlanta, several men walked up Stone Mountain and set fire to a cross to symbolically resurrect the group — which would later host Klan rallies, member initiations and more for decades, the Atlanta History Center reports.
Much of this memorial is protected by old Georgia law, which states that the memorial must be maintained as “an appropriate and suitable memorial for the Confederacy.”
“The memorial to the heroes of the Confederate States of America graven upon the face of Stone Mountain shall never be altered, removed, concealed, or obscured in any fashion and shall be preserved and protected for all time as a tribute to the bravery and heroism of the citizens of this state who suffered and died in their cause,” read state code on the memorial.
This has made discussion over park changes more difficult.
Those against the Confederate monument, including history teacher Sally Stanhope of the Stone Mountain Action Committee, say they are calling for an end to the upkeep of the monument, to allow it to grow over with biomass. They also say slavery is not mentioned in the signage and historical displays around the park.
However, a museum — dubbed by park officials as a “truth-telling museum” — will address some of these issues. ABC affiliate station WSB-TV in Atlanta reports that the museum will cover the racist past of the monument, including the KKK’s resurgence and the monument’s symbolic origins.
The state has dedicated $11 million for the museum’s construction in a building that also houses the current Stone Mountain Museum, according to WSB-TV. It’s expected to take two years to complete.
O’Toole said that because of these laws, the Sons of Confederate Veterans have threatened the state of Georgia with legal actions over changes that have been proposed, as well as those that have been made at Stone Mountain. This includes changes that have been made to put the park’s Confederate flags in a more inconspicuous area.
O’Toole said the group has filed an ante litem notice in anticipation of a lawsuit, arguing that the changes are unlawful.
“They want to have it sort of basically turned into a civil rights playground,” said O’Toole. “We take the position that they need to obey the law … If they want to change things, they need to change the law.”
Mayor Beverly Jones, the first Black female mayor of Stone Mountain, has already faced backlash for making several changes around the park — this includes renaming streets that honored Confederate figures.
She said she sees these monuments as a glorification of dark aspects of life for Black Americans.
“We don’t ever want to have any cities to have monuments children have to look at every day and feel like ‘[Confederate figures] were powerful and you know, this is someone to look up to.’ We don’t want that to ever happen in the city of Stone Mountain.”
She said that while speaking to high school students who live in the city of Stone Mountain, they told her they never visited.
“They talked about the Klan and they still had this image that they were walking to this area that they have their rallies at,” Jones told ABC News in an interview.
She hopes an MLK Day march on Monday at Stone Mountain can bring attention to the ideals of freedom and King’s cause which he advocated for in his 1963 ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.
Rev. Abraham Mosley, appointed to his position as chairman of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, is at the center of the back-and-forth discussions between the two sides.
He was born and raised in Georgia, but said he has no personal connection to the mountain: “I’m a Black person and it was a place in the past — way back in the past — that a Black person wasn’t seen around,” he said.
He continued, “It’s a lot different now from what it was back then. And we’re still improving.”
However, a football-field-size rock etching is much more difficult to remove than an honorary plaque or a statue, said Mosley.
“Those problems and things that are on that mountain, they didn’t show up overnight and they’re not gonna go away overnight,” said Mosley. “So that’s gonna take some time to try to come to some common ground with everybody.”
(NEW YORK) — History was made Sunday night at the 2024 Miss America pageant.
Miss Colorado Madison Marsh was crowned Miss America, becoming the first active-duty military service member to win the title in the pageant’s nearly 100-year history, according to the U.S. Air Force.
Marsh, 22, is a second lieutenant in the Air Force and recently graduated from the Air Force Academy in Colorado.
“I’m very excited to get to represent women who can break stereotypes,” Marsh said in an interview shared on Miss America’s Instagram story, adding that she is looking forward to sharing “what it means to be a member of the military community and Miss America.”
When asked what advice she wants to share with other women, Marsh said, in part, “You can achieve anything. The sky is not the limit and the only person that’s stopping you is you.”
The U.S. Air Force celebrated Marsh’s win, sharing a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that featured photos of Marsh in uniform and winning the Miss America title.
The Air Force captioned the photos with the hashtag #AimHigh.
Marsh graduated from the Air Force Academy with a degree in physics and a focus on astronomy. She is now pursuing a master’s degree in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School, according to her competition biography.
In an interview with the university’s newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, Marsh said she sees similarities between military service and pageantry, explaining that with both, “you’re serving but in a different way.”
“When I put on my uniform, I serve and I represent our country,” she said. “When I put on the crown and sash, I’m serving, representing my community.”
Marsh, who was crowned Miss Colorado last May, told the newspaper that she started competing in pageants during in her first year at the Air Force Academy.
“I don’t think I ever would have gotten into Harvard if I wouldn’t have gone to the Air Force Academy,” Marsh said. “I don’t think I ever would have become Miss Colorado without the Air Force Academy because they have trained me and honed in on my leadership.”
Marsh said she plans to devote her year of service as Miss America to raising awareness about pancreatic cancer, a disease that led to the death of her mom. Marsh’s foundation for pancreatic cancer research and advocacy is named the Whitney Marsh Foundation, in honor of her late mother.
“I really want to be able to go global with pancreatic cancer and share my mom’s story and be able to raise money and increase research funds for pancreatic cancer,” Marsh said in her post-win interview, shared on Miss America’s Instagram story.
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, 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) — The 2024 primary season is finally beginning, with Iowa kicking it off with its first-in-the-nation Republican caucuses on Monday.
Former President Donald Trump is the overwhelming favorite to win the state — and the ultimate GOP nomination — according to polling tracked by 538, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley are battling for second place and projecting confidence they can prove their viability with voters.
History proves that winning the caucuses is far from a guarantee of an eventual presidential nomination, but a strong margin of victory, or even beating expectations, could serve as a serious boost for a candidate heading into primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Here are five things to watch for heading into voting on Monday night.
If Trump wins — by how much?
The ultimate victor in Iowa’s caucuses looks like it will be Trump, if the months and months of polling is accurate. What remains less clear is how much he might win by.
538’s polling average in Iowa currently shows Trump with about 51% support, a roughly 35-point edge over Haley, his nearest competitor, who sits at about 17%. DeSantis has narrowly fallen behind Haley, with about 16%.
Strategists and the campaigns themselves are widely expecting that to be too much ground to make up for either Haley or DeSantis, with allies casting a strong second place as a victory.
“They’re viewing me as an underdog. I think that’s better,” DeSantis said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
Haley echoed that in a campaign trail appearance later Sunday: “We’re gonna go all the way until the last hour because we know what situation we’re in.”
Trump’s team has said anything beyond a 12-point win — the largest margin of victory ever seen in Iowa — would count as a blowout. 538’s average shows his margin could stretch to three times that amount, but the former president’s campaign is wary of setting sky-high expectations for fear that his supporters would no longer be motivated to turn out and the speculation of weakness that could come if those expectations aren’t met.
Enthusiasm does appear to be on Trump’s side, though. The final Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa poll found that among likely caucusgoers who said they plan on backing Trump, 82% said their mind was completely made up and 49% said they were “extremely enthusiastic.”
Among Haley voters, 63% said their mind was made up and just 9% were “extremely enthusiastic.”
Should Trump top 50% and wipe out Haley and DeSantis by dozens of points, he would enter New Hampshire’s Jan. 23 primary with a head full of steam and help solidify the narrative that 2024’s open GOP primary is anything but. Yet even a 12-point win would mark a massive departure from where polling has estimated the race to be, potentially putting a chink in Trump’s armor and putting wind in the sails of his rivals.
Who gets second place?
There are likely to be major consequences for both Haley and DeSantis, depending on where they end up in the Iowa results.
Haley has placed a larger emphasis on New Hampshire, where independent and undeclared voters can participate, giving her a broader Trump-skeptical base from which to draw. But her leapfrogging of DeSantis in the Iowa polling showed that a second-place finish is a real possibility.
Should she finish behind Trump — and particularly if she’s able to get even remotely close to him in the final tally — Haley would likely establish herself as the top Trump alternative in the eyes of many operatives, journalists and donors as well as anti-Trump voters.
Haley’s campaign itself hasn’t set any expectations for how she’ll do in Iowa, but New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who has endorsed her, has predicted a strong second-place finish for her in the caucuses.
A third-place finish for her, meanwhile, could be a disappointment for a campaign that has been gaining in public perception and polling since the fall.
DeSantis, for his part, has staked virtually his entire campaign on Iowa, essentially ditching New Hampshire and falling to third place in polls there (after former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie left the race).
Finishing in second place — again, especially if the margin with Trump is narrow — would likely reinvigorate a campaign that has been beset by reports of infighting and falling poll numbers, even if New Hampshire is less favorable.
A third-place showing in Iowa, on the other hand, could only fuel chatter about DeSantis’ narrowing path to success.
How much does retail politicking matter?
Crisscrossing Iowa is a tried-and-true tradition for candidates looking to win over caucusgoers. But, like much else in the Trump-era, that old rule may be out the window.
Trump has made just 35 in-person stops across 21 days, according to an ABC News count on Sunday morning. DeSantis, meanwhile, has traveled to all of Iowa’s 99 counties, holding 169 events across 61 days. And Ramaswamy has been to every county twice, holding 326 events over 89 days.
Yet it is Trump who is far ahead, while DeSantis and Ramaswamy are running in third and fourth places, respectively.
“It feels like there’s two different campaigns going on. There’s Trump and his legal battles that he puts front and center as his grievance campaign — ‘they’re out to get me, fight the deep state’ — and then there’s an actual campaign going on between DeSantis and Haley. But it’s only for second place,” said David Kochel, a veteran Iowa GOP strategist.
How much does a popular governor’s endorsement help?
DeSantis seemingly scored a coup in November when he got the endorsement of wildly popular Gov. Kim Reynolds. Now, with polls showing him in third place, it appears Reynolds’ vocal support hasn’t swayed many voters.
Haley scored her own endorsement of from popular governor, New Hampshire’s Chris Sununu, in December, which she’s hoping to translate into a strong finish there, likely on the backs of those who have voted for Sununu in the past.
But while Iowa’s caucuses and New Hampshire’s primary are not apples to apples, the impact — or lack thereof — of Reynolds’ endorsement could be a warning sign for Haley, who still trails Trump in polling even as she has closed the gap there.
How does weather impact turnout?
Iowa is going to be under a wind chill warning until Tuesday, and temperatures may not even break above 0 degrees — certainly not ideal conditions for a crucial caucus day in which they would typically be pushing to rally supporters.
The frigid weather has sparked speculation over whether turnout will take a hit — and who that would impact most.
On the one hand, some Republican strategists speculated that Trump’s supporters are so confident in his margin that they might not brave the weather, considering his victory all but guaranteed. But others wondered whether supporters of Trump’s rivals would make the same calculation and that turning out would not blunt his victory, making venturing out in a virtual tundra seemingly not worth it.
There does remain a third option — that Iowa voters value their caucuses enough that they’ll turn out regardless.
“I’m going to go,” said Karen Kuster, who is still undecided in the caucus. “I’ve thought about not going, but I’m gonna go.”
ABC News’ Nicholas Kerr and Kendall Ross contributed to this report.
