(NEW YORK) — AAA forecasts 79.9 million people will travel by car, plane or another mode of transportation for Thanksgiving — up 1.7 million people compared to last year.
Here’s what you need to know before you head to the airport or hit the highway:
Air travel
Hopper expects this will be the busiest Thanksgiving holiday ever for U.S. airports, with 36.5 million seats booked between Saturday, Nov. 23, and Tuesday, Dec. 3 — a 4.8% increase from the same period last year.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving — Dec. 1 — will be the busiest day to fly, according to Hopper.
The cheapest days to leave for your trip are Thanksgiving Day or three days earlier, on Monday, Nov. 25, Expedia said. The cheapest days to fly home are Black Friday (Friday, Nov. 29) or Travel Tuesday (Tuesday, Dec. 3).
Expedia predicts the busiest and most expensive days to fly will be the day before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
The most popular U.S. destinations this year are Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas, Las Vegas and Chicago, Hopper found.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Denver International Airport are poised to be the most crowded airports, Hopper said.
Road travel
A record 71.7 million people are expected to travel by car for Thanksgiving — up by 1.3 million people from last year, according to AAA.
The worst times to drive before Thanksgiving are the afternoons of Monday, Nov. 25, Tuesday, Nov. 26, and Wednesday, Nov. 27, according to analytics company INRIX. It’s best to wait until Thanksgiving Day — Nov. 28 — when the roads will be quieter.
If you’re heading home on Saturday, Nov. 30, or Sunday, Dec. 1, INRIX recommends hitting the road before 1 p.m.
Traffic could be more than double what it is on a typical day in cities including Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Seattle, INRIX warned.
(LOS ANGELES) — Erik and Lyle Menendez’s infamous case will be back in front of a judge on Monday for a hearing regarding the brothers’ habeas corpus petition, which was filed last year for a review of new evidence not presented at trial.
One piece of new evidence is allegations from a former member of the boy band Menudo, who revealed last year that he was raped by the brothers’ father, Jose Menendez.
The second piece of evidence is a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin eight months before the murders detailing his alleged abuse from his father. The cousin testified about the alleged abuse at trial, but the letter — which would have corroborated the cousin’s testimony — wasn’t found until several years ago, according to the brothers’ attorney.
The Monday afternoon court appearance is scheduled as a status hearing. Lyle and Erik Menendez are expected to attend remotely.
No decisions are expected to be made Monday, but the brothers could speak and the hearing could shape how their multiple attempted avenues to release move forward.
The case began in 1989, when Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, fatally shot their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in the family’s Beverly Hills home. The defense claimed the brothers acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual abuse by their father, but prosecutors alleged they killed for money.
The first trial, which had separate juries for each brother, ended in mistrials. In 1996, after the second trial — during which the judge barred much of the sex abuse evidence — the brothers were convicted and both sentenced to two consecutive terms of life without parole.
As the habeas corpus petition moves through the courts, the brothers have two other potential paths to freedom.
One path is through resentencing. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced last month he was recommending the brothers’ sentence of life without the possibility of parole be removed, and they should instead be sentenced for murder, which would be a sentence of 50 years to life. Because both brothers were under 26 at the time of the crimes, they would be eligible for parole immediately with the new sentence.
The DA’s office said its resentencing recommendations take into account many factors, including rehabilitation in prison, and abuse or trauma that contributed to the crime. Gascón praised the work Lyle and Erik Menendez did behind bars to rehabilitate themselves and help other inmates.
Shortly after Gascón’s announcement, he lost his race for reelection to Nathan Hochman. The incoming DA, who is set to take office on Dec. 2, said he plans to read through the evidence — including confidential prison files and interviews with family, lawyers and law enforcement — before showing his support for resentencing.
The next hearing in the resentencing case is Dec. 11.
The other possible path to freedom is the brothers’ request for clemency, which they’ve submitted to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Last week, Newsom said he’ll defer to Hochman’s “review and analysis of the Menendez case prior to making any clemency decisions.”
(LONDON) — Ukrainian authorities said that at least 23 people were injured and 41 buildings damaged by a Russian missile strike in the northeastern city of Kharkiv overnight into Monday, as Moscow’s troops launched a fresh offensive effort in the region and claimed battlefield gains all along the eastern front.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram that the S-400 anti-aircraft missile impact in Kharkiv was part of a multi-pronged barrage against Ukrainian cities overnight. Kyiv, Odessa and Zaporizhzhia were all also targeted.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 145 drones, 71 of which were downed and 71 were lost during flight. One UAV flew into Belarusian airspace, the air force said.
The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, claimed to have downed 23 Ukrainian drones over multiple regions. The ministry also said it downed eight ballistic missiles, though did not specify their type.
Vladislav Shapsha, the governor of Kaluga Oblast that borders Moscow Oblast to the southwest, said falling drone debris sparked a fire at a manufacturing facility. Ukraine’s General Staff, though, said its strikes destroyed the Kaluganefteproduct oil depot in the city of Kaluga.
“In total, since yesterday evening, Russia has used about one and a half hundred attack drones, aerial bombs and missiles against more than 10 of our regions,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram early Monday.
“These attacks by Russia on Ukrainian life can be stopped,” he added. “With pressure, sanctions, blocking the occupiers’ access to the components they use to create the tools of this terror, arms packages for Ukraine and a determination that must be unwavering.”
Only 19 miles from the Russian border, Ukraine’s “second city” of Kharkiv has faced near-constant attacks since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in early 2022.
Russian forces failed to encircle and capture Kharkiv during the opening weeks of the invasion, but fighting has continued along the shared border throughout the conflict.
Ukraine’s General Staff said in a post to Facebook on Monday that Russian forces launched assaults the settlement of Kozacha Lopan, around 2 miles from the border and 16 miles north of Kharkiv.
The Ukrainian Deep State Telegram military blogger reported that Russian forces also launched an amphibious operation across the Oskil River in eastern Kharkiv region, where Russian troops have been pushing towards the strategic objective of Kupyansk.
The Russian force established a foothold on the Ukrainian-controlled side of the waterway, Deep State wrote. The blogger’s claims could not be immediately be verified.
(CAIRO) — Dozens of tourists are feared missing after a diving boat sank off Egypt’s Red Sea coast, authorities said on Monday.
The Sea Story, as the boat is known, sank off the southeastern Egyptian town of Marsa Alam, near the Shaab Satayah area, which is popular for its coral reefs, the Red Sea Governorate said in a statement.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Matviy, a 6-year-old boy, has been attending a school named Ridne Slovo, which means “native word” in Ukrainian, for two years and primarily focusing on reading and writing in Ukrainian — to become fluent in his mother tongue, despite being separated from it by thousands of miles.
Ukrainian Saturday school in Vancouver is not just about the educational process — it is, rather, about building the Ukrainian community, letting children preserve their attachment to Ukraine, their motherland, said Yulia, the mother of the boy.
This educational project of New Westminster Eparchy was established in 2014 by local Ukrainian families, who were interested in more diverse and comprehensive Ukrainian-speaking educational curriculum in comparison with the regular Canadian schools.
After more than 20 years in Canada, Yulia now serves as a head of the parents’ council of the school, saying that joining the school was not even a matter of choice: “We want our son to feel himself a part of the community, to understand that he is not alone and his parents are not the only Ukrainians around,” she said.
At the very beginning, there were only several dozens of pupils in the school. But this year the number has grown to 160 children — the smallest is just over 2 years old and the eldest is 14 years old, said Iryna Dziubko, a school administrator.
“A lot of newcomers from Ukraine joined the school — now there is an equal split between them and children who didn’t directly flee the full-scale Russian invasion,” Dziubko said.
As she sees it, these new students have changed the vibe of the school as children began to use Ukrainian language during the breaks and before that the school administration were struggling with English language in the corridors.
“The actual war refugees helped us deal with this problem enabling local children to practice Ukrainian language not only during classes,” she said.
Fifteen teachers, including seven people who have also recently relocated from Ukraine, teach children how to write and read in Ukrainian, Ukrainian studies, history, math, logic and Bible studies, as preparation for the first communion.
“At first it was all about providing mostly Ukrainian cultural studies but now, with the new wave of children from Ukraine, we understood that we also can level up the general knowledge criteria,” Dziubko said. The school is also trying to help young Ukrainians to overcome the war traumas, in part by pushing the student to study — but also to relax and enjoy themselves, she said.
Ihor, 40, an IT specialist who relocated his family from Lviv, Ukraine, on March 1, 2022, just a week after the full-scale invasion began, said he and his wife are trying to help to their two boys, 13 and 11, and 9-year-old daughter, experience the benefits of attending the Canadian and Ukrainian schools at the same time.
“Our eldest son had a traumatic experience with the school back in Ukraine, he literally hated it against the background of the Canadian school he attends here — it was about the indifference of the teachers and cruelty among the students,” Ihor said.
He said he wanted his children to know why it is so important for them to learn about Ukrainian culture and identity.
“It is all about remembering where you are from, about having friends in here and enjoying the community of your own,” Ihor said.
As he sees it, for parents this school is about community and cultural opportunity to keep holding to Ukrainian identity and consciousness in order to secure its transit to their children.
“I became a volunteer in this school, trying to be a role model and help my children with adaptation, to involve them into the learning process in the new surroundings,” said Olena.
She said she found the school while in Sri-Lanka, browsing online for schooling opportunities for her children. Her daughter, Maggie, is almost 9 years old and son, Misha, is 6, and both have been attending Ridne Slovo since last winter.
“My children got used to this school despite the fact that they assigned more homework in a week than it has been assigned during the whole year in the Canadian school.”
The whole family arrived in Sri-Lanka three days before the Russian invasion to Ukraine, hoping to spend their two weeks’ vacation there, but got stuck. They attended a local British school for 18 months. Back then, Olena realized that she had to start speaking Ukrainian instead of Russian.
“My husband is British and I am the only keeper of the Ukrainian heritage in our family — I bite it off with my teeth,” she said. “So, it was my decision to let our children attend this school as Ukrainian language is now very important, although it was not a part of our family before the war — all of us were Russian speaking.”
“Sri-Laka it is almost India, India is a friend of Russia, and the Russians feel themselves very comfortable there — like somewhere in Krasnodar region,” she said. “There were a lot of them there and if you are speaking Russian there is almost no difference between you and them. So, they tend to make you one of them — saying that we are all together in the same boat, let’s hug each other and cry together.”
Therefore, the family relocated to Vancouver and there, in this school, Olena was deliberately looking for other Ukrainian-speaking children, hoping that they would interact more and become friends with her daughter and son.
“I hope, my children will understand who they are, where are they from — it is very important in here — in Canada where there are so many people representing different races and nationalities,” she said.
The language issue is also a key argument for Yevhen, 34, whose family moved to Canada 2 years ago after spending 8 years in Poland. He and his Polish wife are raising three children and the eldest son, 5, attends Ukrainian school.
“The language is the main issue for me — one of my biggest fears is that my children will not speak Ukrainian,” said Yevhen, who speaks four languages fluently. It was a matter of Yevhen’s personal choice to switch from Russian to Ukrainian when he turned 16 and decided to change his name to Yevhen, instead of the more Russian Yevheniy, on his passport.
“Our son was born in Poland, we are raising him in Canada, he has never got to know Ukraine for real, so, this school is the only option for us to build up some identity in him, give him the understanding who he is,” he said, adding, “I want him to promote Ukrainian culture, proving that it is as good as the others.”
The school has become a central part of the lives of some who fled the war, even if they didn’t initially intend it to become so. Alina Novytska, from Dnipro, Ukraine, was not a teacher back in her home city, but 5 years ago she joined this school community. First here two girls attended, and then she became a teacher. Now she is responsible for Ukrainian language classes, Ukrainian studies and Bible studies curriculum. “Smaller children are just singing songs about God and others are preparing for the First Communion,” she said.
As a professional graphic designer, Alina is also involved in creative workshops and art classes with children. Currently teachers are using workbooks from Ukraine, adopting them according to their schedule. Alina said she sees a difference between newcomers and children who were born in Canada or have been here for a while.
“Due to the peculiarities of the educational system and methodology, it is easier for us to work with children from Ukraine as they are more disciplined, they are listening to the teacher, are precisely following all instructions and need no additional incentives,” she said.
At the same time, the newcomers also tend to demonstrate a generally higher level of knowledge if compared to the schoolers of the same age from Canada. But, as Alina said, it is not just about education: “Some parents may barely afford this school as it is not free of charge but their children are the ones who are asking to let them have this small native island.”
Ridne Slovo serves as a native island for the children of Father Mykhailo Ozorovych, the abbot of the Holy Eucharist Cathedral in New Westminster and the director of the school.
“As a married priest and father, I can see how important the community, other children and this experience of each other, this growth in knowledge, in Ukrainian culture is important for my children,” he said.
In Ozorovych’s opinion, being Ukrainian means not just language, embroidery and borscht — it is something bigger and different, it is a way of thinking, way of life, attitude to the world.
On the one hand, the director admits that the religion is not a must at school and it is just offering more to the children in comparison to the regular schools in Canada. On the other hand, he insists that Ukrainians have to keep together making sure that the children have strong Christian connections. He called his school the investment into the future victory of Ukraine.
“At some point, the war will be over,” he said, “there will be a time for the renewal and I want these children, these teachers, all together to rebuild Ukraine.”
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., a prominent ally of Donald Trump, said voters don’t care who conducts background checks into the president-elect’s Cabinet picks and that Trump would fire members of his administration who don’t follow the policy he sets out.
In an interview with “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl, Hagerty lambasted the records of some of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet members and insisted that Trump will command compliance from top members of his upcoming administration.
Name-checking Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for the bloody withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, Hagerty said, “They’ve not been held to account.”
“President Trump will fire people that don’t do their job well. I fully expect everybody coming into the Cabinet will listen to President Trump. They’ll let him set the policy, and they’ll execute according to that plan.”
Trump has moved at a rapid pace to flesh out his Cabinet, including picking Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii to be director of national intelligence and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Trump also tapped former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to head the Justice Department after former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., withdrew from consideration amid a tumultuous sexual misconduct investigation in the House Ethics Committee.
Hagerty said Trump hopes to have his Cabinet nominees swiftly confirmed, telling Karl that Trump “clearly expects to hit the ground running” and “wants us to have these hearings done quickly and expeditiously.”
However, others besides Gaetz have been hit with scandal.
Kennedy has been a prominent vaccine skeptic and supported abortion access, riling anti-abortion groups allied with Trump. Gabbard has blamed the U.S. and NATO for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and met with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. And Hegseth is mired in a sexual misconduct controversy over payments to a woman who alleges he assaulted her at a conference.
With Gaetz out of the running, the spotlight has mostly shifted to Hegseth, who has also ruffled feathers by saying that he doesn’t agree that women should serve in combat roles in the military.
Hagerty praised Hegseth and insisted that the Trump transition team has thoroughly vetted all of its candidates — but that he isn’t concerned with who does a formal background check on them before the confirmation process formally begins.
“Don’t let these allegations distract us. What we need is real significant change. The Pentagon has been more focused on pronouns than they have lethality the past four years. We need to get back to business, and I think Pete is just the person to do it,” Hagerty said.
“The transition team has been working for months to prepare for this. I’m certain that there was significant vetting that has taken place, it has for every candidate,” Hagerty added.
FBI background checks have been standard practice for nominees requiring Senate confirmation, but the Trump transition team has yet to sign the necessary agreements to allow such screenings to occur.
However, while some Republican senators have said they’d like to see an FBI background check done on Hegseth, Hagerty said, “I don’t think the American public cares who does the background checks. What the American public cares about is to see the mandate that they voted in delivered upon.”
Hagerty also said that he supports the use of recess appointments — allowing Trump to temporarily put Cabinet picks in office while Congress is out of session — though he did demur when pressed by Karl over whether Trump would do so if the person lacked sufficient Republican support to be confirmed in the Senate.
“I haven’t spoken with President Trump about the specific plans. What he wants to do is see these appointments made quickly. He wants to see us get through the confirmation process. And again, I think everything should be on the table,” he said.
Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar emphasized Sunday the importance of FBI background checks for Trump’s Cabinet nominees, which she said was necessary for their confirmation.
“I want to make a decision on each one of them on the merits, as I’ve done in the past, and I can’t do that without the background checks,” Klobuchar told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl. “Why wouldn’t we get these background checks for the most important job in the United States government?”
Klobuchar expressed concern that the Trump transition team has yet to sign the necessary agreements to allow such screenings to occur, and she believes this will create “a delay in getting these Cabinet officials in.”
Klobuchar said she “of course” has concerns about Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general who Trump selected for his attorney general after former Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration, but she plans to meet with her and hear her out.
“Does it concern me that revenge would be part of [Bondi’s] mission? Of course it does,” she said. “I hope that’s not the case. I hope that what she wants to do is uphold the Constitution, because that is a really important job.”
During Trump’s first term, Klobuchar voted against both of his attorney general nominees, Jeff Sessions and William Barr, but voted yes on about half of his nominees.
When asked what it would take for her to vote to confirm Bondi, Klobuchar said she “doesn’t know yet.”
“I never weigh in unless it’s something as absurd as Matt Gaetz,” she said, emphasizing her disapproval of Trump’s initial attorney general selection.
Klobuchar added she is “concerned with all these nominees,” pointing to Pete Hegseth’s comments opposing women in combat and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s questioning of vaccines.
She emphasized the need for Cabinet members to have “views consistent with the American people,” in addition to having the necessary qualifications.
However, she added, “As with every nominee, I believe you need to hear them out.”
In regards to Trump making recess appointments and whether Cabinet nominees could be approved without Senate confirmation, Klobuchar said, “I don’t think that’s going to happen.” She cited “a number” of Republican senators who have “both publicly and privately” said “they will not go along with that.”
(NEW YORK) — Two people have been charged in the death of Dartmouth College student Won Jang, 20, who was found dead by the Connecticut River on the school’s New Hampshire campus in July, according to police.
The Hanover Police Department announced misdemeanor charges for providing alcohol to persons under 21 years of age at an event Jang attended before his death.
A sorority was also charged as a corporation for facilitating an underage alcohol party, which was organized by its members, according to the Hanover Police.
Jang was found dead off the shore of the Connecticut River on the school’s campus on July 7 after drinking at a fraternity party the night before, according to police.
At the time of his death he had a blood alcohol level of 0.167.
Dartmouth College previously suspended a sorority and fraternity on campus in relation to Jang’s death.
The college said its Greek organizations have a responsibility to ensure the school remains a safe, respectful, equitable and inclusive community.
“Following the tragic loss of Won Jang during the summer, Dartmouth immediately suspended both Alpha Phi and Beta Alpha Omega, and an internal investigation was initiated. These suspensions remain in effect pending the results of Dartmouth’s internal investigation and conduct process, which is still ongoing,” Dartmouth said in a statement to ABC News Friday.
(LONDON) — The Israel Defense Forces continued its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza — particularly in the north of the strip — and in Lebanon, with Israeli attacks on targets nationwide including in the capital Beirut. The strikes form the backdrop for a fresh diplomatic push by the White House ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office in January.
Tensions also remain high between Israel and Iran after the former launched what it called “precise strikes on military targets” in several locations in Iran following Tehran’s Oct. 1 missile barrage.
Hostage killed in northern Gaza, Hamas says
Hamas has released a statement announcing that a female hostage being held in Gaza was killed in recent weeks, and a second hostage was injured.
The statement says Hamas has only just been able to make contact with the fighters holding these hostages after contact was “interrupted for weeks” in northern Gaza. The statement says the life of the injured hostage is “still in danger.”
The statement does not elaborate on how the other hostage was killed. The IDF has not yet commented to ABC News.
There are only 12 women hostages left in Gaza, three of whom were already confirmed to have been killed. Only one American woman was still being held and has been confirmed dead.
-ABC News’ Samy Zyara
North Gaza hospital remains under siege, at least 12 injured in latest attack
Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza remains under siege by Israeli forces, with a dozen people wounded in the latest attack, the facility’s director said Saturday morning.
“The occupation forces targeted the hospital with drone bombs and bullets from yesterday afternoon until midnight,” Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya said in a statement. “The bombing directly and repeatedly targeted the entrance to the reception and emergency departments, the courtyards, the electricity generators, and the hospital gates.”
At least 12 people were injured, including “a doctor, a nurse, and an administrator who were inside the reception and emergency department,” according to Safiya. The bombing “disabled the electric generator, the oxygen and water network, and terrified the injured and sick children and women,” the hospital director said.
Kamal Aswan Hospital in the city of Beit Lahia, just north of Jabalia, currently houses 86 injured patients, including eight people in intensive care on ventilators and 13 children receiving treatment, according to Safiya.
“We receive cases of malnutrition of children on a regular basis,” he added. “We call on the world to intervene urgently to bring in medical and surgical delegations, medical supplies and ambulances.”
Israeli air and ground forces have been continuously raiding multiple areas in northern Gaza for weeks, leaving about 2,300 people dead or missing, according to a spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense.
“The occupation is deliberately displacing citizens from the northern Gaza Strip,” the spokesperson said in a statement Saturday. “Running out of fuel is a major dilemma facing our crews and hindering the crews from arriving.”
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
At least 15 dead, more injured in powerful Israeli strikes on central Beirut
Rescue efforts were underway after Israeli airstrikes targeted central Beirut on Saturday morning, killing at least 15 people, Lebanese authorities said.
The powerful strikes occurred at around 4 a.m. local time, destroying an eight-story residential building in the densely populated Basta neighborhood in the heart of Lebanon’s capital. So far, emergency responders have pulled 23 people alive but wounded from the rubble as well as the lifeless bodies of others, according to the Lebanese Civil Defense, which noted that the casualty count was provisional as search and rescue operations were still underway as of 10:30 a.m. local time.
ABC News has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment on the strikes.
It’s the fourth round of Israeli strikes to hit Beirut in less than a week, shaking the city as the Israeli military presses its offensive against the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The escalation comes on the heels of U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein’s trip to the region earlier this week in an attempt to clinch a cease-fire deal to end the more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which has erupted into full-on war in the past two months with Israeli ground troops invading southern Lebanon as warplanes bomb Hezbollah strongholds in both the south and in the capital.
Israeli forces conduct airstrike in southern suburbs of Beirut
Israeli forces conducted a strike in Beirut’s southern suburb Friday evening, causing a bright flash in the dark.
At least 62 people were killed and 111 people were wounded from Israeli attacks in Lebanon Thursday, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said in a post on X.
Israeli forces issued an evacuation order to residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut Friday in a post on X.
At least 3,645 people have been killed and 15,355 people have been wounded since Israel’s increased attacks on Lebanon began in mid-September, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.
-ABC News’ Bruno Nota
38 killed in Gaza Friday, IDF conducts operations in northern and central Gaza
At least 38 people have been killed in Gaza since Friday morning, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said Friday.
Israeli forces said they conducted an operation in Beit Lahia in the northern area of the Gaza Strip during the night between Wednesday and Thursday. During the operation, two Hamas company commanders were killed, the IDF said in a statement about the operation.
Israeli forces also killed the commander of the Islamic Jihad’s Rocket Unit in central Gaza with an Israeli airstrike Wednesday, the IDF said in a separate statement.
The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza said Israeli forces targeted the hospital with bombings two days in a row Thursday and Friday. One doctor and a number of patients were injured from the attacks, the director said.
-ABC News’ Sami Zyara, Diaa Ostaz and Jordana Miller
Hungary prime minister says Netanyahu won’t be arrested in his county
Hungarian Prime Viktor Orban said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would face no risk of arrest if he visited Hungary, after the International Criminal Court issued arrest a warrant for the Israeli official.
Orban branded the arrest warrants a “brazen, cynical and completely unacceptable decision.”
Orban, who is often at odds with his European Union peers, has forged close ties with Netanyahu.
“Today I will invite Israel’s prime minister, Mr. Netanyahu, for a visit to Hungary and in that invite I will guarantee him that if he comes, the ICC ruling will have no effect in Hungary, and we will not follow its contents,” Orban said in a statement Friday.
Multiple countries and blocs, including Ireland, Norway, the EU, the Netherlands and Canada, said they would carry out the ICC arrest warrant commitment issued on Thursday.
The U.S., which is not a party to the court, said the ICC does not have jurisdiction to issue the warrants. Netanyahu called the arrest warrants “absurd” and “anti-semitic.”
More health workers, patients killed proportionally in Lebanon than anywhere else
The World Health Organization said Friday that more health workers and patients have been killed proportionally in Lebanon than anywhere else in the world over the past year, including Gaza and Ukraine.
Data shows that 47% of attacks on health care have proven fatal to at least one health worker or patient in Lebanon since Oct. 7, 2023. This is a higher percentage than in any active conflict today across the globe, with nearly half of all attacks on health causing the death of a health worker, according to the WHO.
White House rejects ICC warrants for Israeli officials
The White House said it rejects the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials, saying the U.S. is working with its partners on steps that could include possible sanctions against the court.
“Let me just say more broadly that we fundamentally reject the court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for senior Israel officials. We remain deeply concerned by the prosecutors’ rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday.
“The United States has been clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter,” Jean-Pierre said.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
At least 66 killed in massive strike in northern Gaza
At least 66 people were killed and dozens more suffered serious injuries in a strike on Northern Gaza near the Kamal Adwan Hospital. Rescue operations are continuing with some people still missing.
Kamal Adwan Hospital has been under siege for nearly a month.
Israeli carries out 4 rounds of airstrikes on Beirut
Israeli forces carried out four rounds of airstrikes on Beirut and continued striking areas in southern Lebanon on Thursday, according to IDF statements and IDF evacuation orders posted on X.
At least 47 people were killed and 22 others were wounded in various Israeli attacks on the region Thursday, Lebanese governate Baalbeck-Hermel said in a post on X.
Several UNESCO World Heritage sites are located in Baalbeck, including ancient Roman temples.
At least 25 people were killed and 121 people were wounded from Israeli attacks across Lebanon on Wednesday, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said in a post on X.
Israeli forces issued three separate evacuation orders for areas of southern Beirut on Thursday, according to posts on X. The IDF also issued evacuation orders for several Lebanese villages and Tyre in southern Lebanon, according to posts on X.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
US envoy had ‘constructive’ meeting with Israeli minister for strategic affairs
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein met with Israeli officials on Thursday about a potential cease-fire agreement between Israel and Lebanon. He arrived in Israel after meeting with Lebanese officials earlier this week in Beirut.
Hochstein had a constructive meeting with Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer Wednesday night, an Israeli official told ABC News.
Hochstein is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz Thursday.
Netanyahu’s office ‘rejects with disgust’ ICC arrest warrant
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions and charges against it,” after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the arrest of the prime minister and his former defense minister.
The arrest warrant issued Thursday morning alleges that Netanyahu and the minister, Yoav Gallant, were party to alleged war crimes in Gaza.
The statement issued by Netanyahu said the court, which is based in The Hague, was “a biased and discriminatory political body.”
“There is nothing more just than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza since the October 7, 2023, coup, after the terrorist organization Hamas launched a murderous attack against us, committing the greatest massacre committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” his office said.
The statement pointed a finger at Karim Khan, accusing the ICC’s chief prosecutor of bias and describing him as “corrupt.”
– ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Kevin Shalvey
ICC issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.
The Hague issued the warrants for alleged war crimes in Gaza, according to a statement. The ICC said that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant committed war crimes, and added that Israel’s acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction is not required
Dozens killed in massive strike in northern Gaza Dozens of people have been killed and many more are feared dead after a large strike hit a residential neighborhood in northern Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
The strike occurred in a neighborhood near Kamal Adwan Hospital, officials said.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Kevin Shalvey
Israel wants freedom to strike Hezbollah under any cease-fire deal, foreign minister says
Israel wants to “keep the freedom to act if there will be violations” by Hezbollah in any cease-fire agreement reached between Lebanon and Israel, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in comments Wednesday.
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein is in Beirut meeting with officials about the proposed cease-fire deal and is expected to travel to Israel Wednesday night to continue discussions.
Israeli forces kill Hezbollah commanders, strike over 100 targets in Lebanon, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said it killed Hezbollah’s anti-tank missile and operations commanders “in the coastal area” on Sunday.
Israeli forces “struck over 100 terror targets in Lebanon” in the last day, the Israeli Defense Forces said Wednesday. Israel said it is continuing “limited, localized, targeted raids in southern Lebanon.”
On Tuesday, 14 people were killed, and 87 people were wounded in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
US vetos Gaza UN Security Council cease-fire resolution
The U.S. vetoed another United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza because it did not include a hostage release.
This is the 12th time the Security Council voted on a draft resolution since the war in Gaza started 13 months ago.
At least 43,972 people have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
In June, the Security Council passed a U.S.-drafted cease-fire deal that President Joe Biden approved. At the time, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said “we voted for peace.”
US sanctions Hamas leaders as officials say group’s political wing has rebased in Turkey
The U.S. is rolling out sanctions against six senior Hamas leaders accused of facilitating the transfer of weapons and funds into Gaza to support the group’s terror activities as well as smuggling in construction materials to build the underground tunnels critical to its operations, according to the Biden administration.
“There is no distinction between Hamas’ so-called military wing and its political leadership,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement announcing the tranche of sanctions.
Three of the targeted individuals are based in Turkey, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Despite the denials coming from Hamas and the Turkish government, two U.S. officials say that the bulk of Hamas’ political wing has now relocated to Turkey following the group’s ouster from Qatar.
The U.S. has turned a blind eye to Hamas’ relationship with NATO ally Turkey for years, which allows the U.S. designated terror group to openly recruit, fundraise and interface with its government officials.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he hopes to strengthen ties with the U.S. when President-elect Donald Trump takes office. However, Trump’s cabinet is expected to feature many staunchly pro-Israel voices who will object to Turkey’s tolerance of Hamas — potentially complicating Erdogan’s plans.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
Hospitals in northern Gaza running out of medical supplies, requesting patient transfers as attacks continue
Kamal Adwan Hospital is running out of medical supplies, and more people with cases of malnutrition are arriving at the hospital because of the lack of food and water allowed into northern Gaza, the hospital director said in comments Tuesday.
“There are a number of cases of malnutrition that have begun to arrive, including children and the elderly,” Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan hospital said.
“The health system is working under extremely harsh conditions to the point that we have started losing numbers of infected people due to the lack of medical supplies,” Abu Safia added.
At least 50 people were killed, and 110 people were injured in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Palestine Red Crescent Society transferred 15 patients from Al Awda Hospital in north Gaza to Al Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City Sunday, the ICRC said in a statement Tuesday. The patient transfers were requested by the hospitals, the ICRC said.
The organizations also delivered medical supplies to three hospitals in Gaza City Monday, the ICRC said in a post on X.
“The delivery and medical transfer came in the wake of another large-scale attack in the Beit Lahia area of the Northern Governorate, in which dozens of people were killed and many more injured,” the ICRC said.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz and Sami Zyara
UN peacekeepers, buildings targeted in 3 incidents in south Lebanon
United Nations peacekeeping forces in Lebanon and facilities were targeted in “three separate incidents in south Lebanon,” Tuesday, UNIFIL said in a post on X.
Four Ghanian peacekeepers on duty “sustained injures as a rocket … hit their base,” UNIFIL said in a post on X. Three of the injured peacekeepers were transferred to a hospital in Tyre, Lebanon for treatment, UNIFIL said.
In a different attack, a UNIFIL building was “impacted by five rockets,” UNIFIL said.
“In another incident, UNIFIL Sector West Headquarters in Shama was impacted by five rockets, which struck the maintenance workshop,” UNIFIL said. “Although it caused heavy damage to the workshop, no peacekeeper was injured. This was the second time this UNIFIL base was impacted by the ongoing clashes in the area in less than a week.”
In a third incident, a UNIFIL patrol was “passing through” a village, and “an armed person directly fired at the patrol,” UNIFIL said. No injuries were reported from this incident.
UNIFIL is investigating the incidents and has informed the Lebanese armed forces about them, UNIFIL said.
“UNIFIL once again reminds all actors involved in the ongoing hostilities to respect the inviolability of United Nations peacekeepers and premises,” UNIFIL said in a post on X.
5 killed, 31 injured after Israeli strike on central Beirut
At least five people were killed, 31 were injured and at least two people remain missing after an Israeli airstrike in the Zuqaq al-Blat neighborhood of central Beirut, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.
The Israeli Defense Forces did not issue a warning before conducting this airstrike on central Beirut Monday.
At least 28 people were killed and 107 were wounded across Lebanon from Israeli attacks Monday, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.
Overall, 3,544 people have been killed, and 15,036 have been injured since Israel’s increased attacks on the country began in mid-September, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said in a post on X.
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein met with Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut Tuesday, according to Lebanese state media.
After meeting with Hochstein for two hours, Berri said the cease-fire negotiations were “good in principle,” but warned Israel could change its minds about the proposal as it has done before.
Berri said the U.S. is managing guarantees about Israel’s position on the proposal, according to Lebanese state media.
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
Israel kills 5 in central Beirut strike, officials say
At least five people were killed and 31 wounded by an Israeli strike in the Zuqaq al-Blat neighborhood of central Beirut on Monday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. Two other people are missing.
The Israel Defense Forces did not appear to issue any public evacuation order prior to the strike. ABC News has reached out to the IDF for comment on the target of the strike.
The attack made Monday the second consecutive day of Israeli strikes within central Beirut. To date, the vast majority of airstrikes on the capital have hit the southern Dahiya suburb, known as a Hezbollah stronghold.
Israel has intensified its bombardment in and around Beirut over the past week, while Hezbollah has continued missile fire into Israel. Fresh discussions are ongoing as to a potential cease-fire to end the fighting.
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor, Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
Israel demands ‘immediate’ action against pro-Iran militias in Iraq
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Tuesday published a letter sent to the president of the United Nations Security Council in which he called for “immediate action regarding the activity of the pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, whose territory is being used to attack Israel.”
“The Iraqi government is responsible for everything that happens on its territory,” Saar wrote, noting Israel’s right to self-defense.
“I called on the Security Council to act urgently to make sure that the Iraqi government meets its obligations under international law and to make these attacks on Israel stop,” Saar said.
Iran-backed Iraqi militias have been launching drone attacks into Israel from the east in support of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon, with whom Israeli forces have been engaged since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Nearly 100 aid trucks looted: UNRWA
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said Monday their aid convoy was “violently” looted over the weekend, one of the largest such cases of looting since the war began.
The 109-truck U.N. convoy was carrying food supplies to people in Gaza when it was looted on Saturday, UNRWA said.
“The vast majority of the trucks, 97 in total, were lost and drivers were forced at gunpoint to unload aid,” UNRWA said in a statement.
UNRWA said the Israel Defense Forces made the convoy leave a day earlier than planned.
The IDF has not yet commented on this incident.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Israel’s October attack damaged some of Iran’s nuclear program: Netanyahu
Israel damaged some of Iran’s nuclear program in its October attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday.
Iran’s air defense, ballistic missile production and ability to produce “solid fuel” were impacted, Netanyahu said during remarks to Israel’s parliament.
“There is a certain element of their nuclear program that was damaged in this attack,” he said, though added that its ability to operate “has not yet been thwarted.”
Netanyahu said Iran’s nuclear threat must be dealt with.
“If we don’t deal with the nuclear program, then all the other problems will come back and resurface, both in the axis, and in armaments, and in other things,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu also said Israel is “currently talking about possible negotiations for a settlement” to be reached between Israel and Lebanon, but added, “Even if there is a cease-fire, no one says it will last.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
US envoy en route to Lebanon for cease-fire talks, official says
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein is on his way to Lebanon for talks on a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel, an official familiar with the plans confirmed to ABC News.
Hochstein left from the U.S. for Lebanon on Monday, the official said.
Israel is getting close to being ready to agree to the U.S.-backed cease-fire proposal, which is very similar to the proposal that was floated by the U.S. at the end of September. The U.S. needs to see how Hezbollah feels about this proposal, which is what Hochstein aims to do during his trip, according to the official.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
4 killed in Israeli attack in Beirut: Health ministry
Four people were killed and at least 18 injured in an Israeli attack in Beirut, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said Monday.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
1 killed, 10 injured in strike on residential building in Israel: Officials
A woman was killed and 10 people injured after a Hezbollah rocket directly hit a residential building in northern Israel, Israeli emergency services said Monday.
Dozens of projectiles were fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel Monday afternoon, the Israel Defense Forces said. Not all of the projectiles were intercepted, the IDF said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
US sanctions entity, 3 individuals tied to West Bank violence
The State Department said Monday it is sanctioning three individuals and one entity for allegedly undermining “peace, security, and stability in the West Bank.”
The department accuses the entity, Eyal Hari Yehuda Company LTD, of having supported Yinon Levi, an Israeli settler who was sanctioned by the Biden administration over accusations of attacks and harassment against Palestinians earlier this year.
The three impacted individuals are Itamar Levi, Shabtai Koshlevsky and Zohar Sabah, the State Department said. Itamar Levi, the brother of Yinon Levi, is being designated for his role as the owner of the aforementioned company, while Koshlevsky is accused of holding a leadership position at Hashomer Yosh, an Israeli nongovernmental organization that provides material support to U.S.-designated outposts in the West Bank and was sanctioned in August of this year.
Sabah is accused of engaging “in threats and acts of violence against Palestinians, including in their homes” as well as “a pattern of destructiveness targeting the livestock, grazing lands and homes of local Palestinians to disrupt their means of support,” the State Department said in a press release.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
Hamas denies that leaders relocated from Qatar to Turkey
Hamas denied reports in Israeli media that its leadership has relocated from Qatar to Turkey amid a breakdown in Doha-supported cease-fire talks earlier this month.
Hamas dismissed the news reports as “rumors” spread by Israeli authorities in a statement posted to its official website.
Qatar told Israel and Hamas earlier this month it could not continue to mediate cease-fire and hostage release talks “as long as there is a refusal to negotiate a deal in good faith.”
Doha is under U.S. pressure to expel Hamas leaders. A senior administration official told ABC News earlier this month that the group’s “continued presence in Doha is no longer viable or acceptable.”
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz, Shannon K. Kingston and Somayeh Malekian
Gaza death toll nears 44,000, health officials say
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Monday that 43,922 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct. 7, 2023, with nearly 104,000 more injured.
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 96 people and wounded at least 60 in Gaza through the weekend, officials said. The dead included 72 people in north Gaza and more than 20 from other areas of the strip.
Most of those killed were displaced women and children sheltering in residential buildings in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, officials said.
Beit Lahiya is at the heart of the Israel Defense Forces’ recent northern offensive, which has been accompanied with sweeping evacuation orders and spiking civilian casualties.
-ABC News’ Samy Zyara and Joe Simonetti
Hezbollah positive on US cease-fire proposal, reports say
Hezbollah responded positively to the U.S.-proposed cease-fire deal between Israel and Lebanon, Israeli and Lebanese media reported Monday.
U.S. special envoy for Lebanon Amos Hochstein is expected to arrive in Beirut on Tuesday to discuss the proposal before heading to Israel to speak with leaders there.
The proposal is reportedly based on the United Nations Security Council’s resolution 1701 that sought to end the last major cross-border conflict in 2006.
That deal ordered Hezbollah to withdraw all military units and weapons north of the Litani River, which is around 18 miles north of the Israeli border. The resolution also prohibited Israeli ground and air forces from crossing into Lebanese territory.
Israeli leaders have demanded open-ended freedom to act against threats in Lebanon, a stipulation reportedly opposed by Hezbollah and Lebanese leaders.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
Khamenei meets with ambassador injured in pager attacks
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with the country’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, as the latter continues his recovery from injuries sustained during Israel’s detonation of Hezbollah communication devices in September.
Khamenei’s official X account posted a short video of their interaction on Monday, in which Amani told the Iranian leader he lost around half of the vision in his right eye in the attack.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Hezbollah media relations chief killed in Israeli strike
Mohammed Afif, Hezbollah’s media relations chief, was killed in an Israeli strike Sunday, Hezbollah confirmed.
The strike on central Beirut partially collapsed a building and injured three others, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The Israel Defense Forces also confirmed Afif’s death. In a statement, the IDF said he joined Hezbollah in the 1980s and went on to become a “central and veteran figure in the organization who greatly influenced Hezbollah’s military activity.”
Citing one particular incident, the statement claimed that he had played a key role in the drone attack on Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea in October.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Pope calls for investigation to determine whether Israeli attacks on Gaza are ‘genocide’
Pope Francis, in an upcoming book to be released ahead of his 2025 jubilee, called for an investigation to determine whether Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide, according to the Vatican.
“In the Middle East, where the open doors of nations like Jordan or Lebanon continue to be a salvation for millions of people fleeing conflicts in the region: I am thinking above all of those who leave Gaza in the midst of the famine that has struck their Palestinian brothers and sisters given the difficulty of getting food and aid into their territory,” he wrote in a passage released by the Vatican.
“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” the pope wrote. “It should be carefully investigated to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies.”
(WASHINGTON) — Scott Bessent, a billionaire hedge fund manager who has helped fundraise for Donald Trump, is the president-elect’s choice to lead the Department of Treasury.
Bessent has advised Trump on economic policy and has been a frequent presence at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club over the last two weeks.
The announcement for the job, which needs Senate approval, was supposed to come earlier but had been stalled due to intense infighting among Trump’s top advisers — including transition co-chair Howard Lutnick — about who should get the job.
“Scott is widely respected as one of the World’s foremost International Investors and Geopolitical and Economic Strategists. Scott’s story is that of the American Dream,” Trump said in his announcement statement.
Bessent, 62, has been involved in financial firms for over 35 years.
Born and raised in Conway, South Carolina, Bessent graduated from Yale University in 1984.
After graduating from Yale in 1984, Bessent went to work for different investment companies.
He worked for Democratic megadonor George Soros from 1991 to 2000, where he was a managing partner. Later, he returned to Soros Fund Management (SFM) – the private investment firm that manages assets for the Open Society Foundations – as chief investment officer from 2011 to 2015.
Bessent has also been associated with Brown Brothers Harriman, The Olayan Group, Kynikos Associates and Protégé Partners.
Economists from both sides of the aisle believe Bessent is a middle-of-the-road pick.
Bessent made large donations supporting Trump and served as an economic adviser. He has also made several television appearances on behalf of the president-elect.
Bessent spoke at a conference run by the Manhattan Institute in June, where he laid out a three-point economic plan that he intended to propose to Trump.
“Well, I might even advise him to campaign on three arrows,” Bessent said. “It would be 3% real economic growth, and how do you get that? Through deregulation, more U.S. energy production, slaying inflation and forward guidance on competence for people to make investments — so that the private sector can take over from this bloated government spending.”
Bessent, who is gay, resides in New York City with his partner and two children.
As the highly anticipated treasury pick lingered, Elon Musk threw his support behind Howard Lutnick over Scott Bessent.
“Would be interesting to hear more people weigh in on this for @realDonaldTrump to consider feedback. My view [for what it’s worth] is that Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas @howardlutnick will actually enact change,” Musk wrote on X. “Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt, so we need change one way or another.”
