A police car is seen outside former U.S. President Donald Trump’s residence in Mar-A-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida on Aug. 8, 2022. (GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Donald Trump privately expressed concerns that turning over potentially classified documents in his possession after a May 2022 subpoena could result in criminal charges while repeatedly engaging in what prosecutors have described as an effort to enlist his lawyers to lie and destroy documents for his benefit, according to transcripts of audio notes reviewed by ABC News.
Prosecutors allege that rather than comply with the subpoena, Trump opted to hide dozens of classified documents from his own lawyers, and federal agents eventually seized 102 classified documents — including 17 top secret documents — after they executed a search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022.
The notes, which ABC News first reported on last year, are at the center of an ongoing legal battle in the former president’s federal classified documents case, where prosecutors have used the detailed notes about Trump’s behavior and statements as key evidence to demonstrate that the former president attempted to obstruct justice by hiding documents from investigators.
Aileen Cannon, the judge overseeing the case, is hearing arguments Tuesday on Trump’s effort to limit prosecutors’ use of the notes and to have the entire case dismissed based on the role of the notes in the government’s case.
Two months before agents searched Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s former lead attorney Evan Corcoran’s notes — which prosecutors have used to bolster their case against the former president — describe that Trump repeatedly blamed his legal troubles on his “political enemies,” was reluctant to allow the review of boxes that prosecutors say contained dozens of classified documents, and engaged in conduct that prosecutors believe was an effort to “corrupt” his attorneys by concealing Trump’s alleged retention of classified documents.
“He raised a question as to, if we gave them additional documents now, would they, would they, the Department of Justice, come back and say well, why did you withhold them and try to use that as a basis for criminal liability or to make him look bad in the press,” according to Corcoran’s notes about what Trump asked his attorneys in May 2022 after prosecutors subpoenaed the former president to turn over any classified documents in his possession, records reviewed by ABC News say.
“Well look isn’t it better if there are no documents?” Trump also asked his attorneys after raising concerns about prosecutors “opening up new fronts against him,” according to Corcoran’s notes.
A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office declined to comment to ABC News. A spokesperson with the Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors alleged in a recent court filing that Trump attempted to “enlist [Corcoran] in the corrupt endeavor” by suggesting he falsely tell the FBI that Trump did not have classified documents or that he hide or destroy them rather than turn them over.
“Trump tried to enlist his attorney in his criminal endeavor, tested his attorney’s receptiveness, and then manipulated his attorney to achieve his criminal ends when the attorney did not accept his overtures,” prosecutors wrote in a recent filing.
Trump pleaded not guilty last year to a 40-count indictment related to his handling of classified materials, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back. Trump has denied all charges and denounced the probe as a political witch hunt.
Defense lawyers have repeatedly argued that the notes from Trump’s lawyer are protected by attorney-client privilege, but a federal judge in Washington, D.C. last year determined that notes could be used as evidence after prosecutors demonstrated that Trump deliberately misled his attorneys in furtherance of a crime, piercing attorney-client privileges invoked by two of his lawyers.
‘I don’t want anybody looking through my boxes’
Corcoran made multiple audio recordings to memorialize his interactions with the former president, including meeting with Trump on May 23, 2022 to discuss his response to a subpoena for any classified documents stored at Mar-a-Lago.
During an approximately one-and-a-half-hour meeting with both Trump and attorney Jennifer Little, Trump brought a box to their first meeting to demonstrate its contents, showing the attorneys his newspaper clippings, Post-it notes, and photos, and other materials.
“I don’t want anybody looking, I don’t want anybody looking through my boxes, I really don’t, I don’t want you looking through my boxes,” Trump said, according to a portion of the notes included in the indictment against Trump. “Look I just don’t want anybody going through these things.”
Corcoran wrote that he attempted to focus on Trump’s response to the subpoena, though the former president frequently returned to the topic that he was being targeted by political opponents.
“He repeated many times that he felt he was really being targeted,” Corcoran noted.
“Look, you know, I have ten different actions against me. They are trying to get me. They’re going after me. These people are ruthless,” Trump remarked while boasting about his own administration. “I’ve done all these great things for the country. I improved the economy, I lowered taxes, I did this, I did that, built the wall.”
Corcoran recalled that he tried to steer the conversation back to the boxes and warned the former president about the legal consequences of not complying with the subpoena.
“Well what if we, what happens if we just don’t respond at all or don’t play ball with them?” Trump asked, according to a portion of the notes included in the indictment.
“Well, there’s a prospect that they could go to a judge and get a search warrant and that they could arrive here and get a search warrant,” Corcoran responded.
According to Corcoran, Trump repeatedly asked during their meeting if it would be “better if we just told them we don’t have anything here.”
During an interview with Smith’s team, Little largely corroborated Corcoran’s recollection of the meeting, telling investigators that she “very clearly” warned Trump about the seriousness of the subpoena and told him “it’s going to be a crime” if he failed to comply but swore otherwise.
After speaking about the subpoena for more than an hour, Trump concluded the meeting to attend a series of interviews before reconvening with the attorneys in the afternoon. According to Corcoran, Trump suggested that the attorneys — who he noted were both single — “take a walk along the beach” and that “maybe … sparks will fly.”
But while waiting poolside at Mar-a-Lago for their next meeting with Trump, Corcoran said Little warned — based on her conversation with two other Trump attorneys — that if they pushed Trump to comply with the subpoena, “he’s just going to go ballistic,” Corcoran noted.
Little added that “there’s no way he’s going to agree to anything and that, that he was going to deny that there were any more boxes at all,” according to Corcoran’s notes.
‘Isn’t it better if there are no documents?’
Later in the afternoon on May 23, 2022, Corcoran and Little met with Trump in a small library at Mar-a-Lago, ditching their phones outside the room at the direction of the former president, according to Corcoran.
Sitting feet from Trump across a small table, Corcoran said Trump asked about the legal consequences for complying with the subpoena while cautioning that prosecutors “really wanted to get him anyway they could.”
Trump blamed the investigation on his “political enemies” who wanted to “weaken him and get him not to run” for president. Trump said he was “just trying to understand what the best way” was to respond to the investigations and claimed that prosecutors would “keep opening up new fronts against him.”
According to Corcoran’s notes, Trump expressed concerns that returning “additional documents” following the subpoena could become the “basis for criminal liability.
“He asked again, he said — Well look, isn’t it better if there are no documents?” Corcoran noted.
Corcoran added that during their meeting, Trump repeatedly recounted that a lawyer for Hillary Clinton “deleted all of her emails” so “she didn’t get into any trouble.”
“He was great, he did a great job,” Trump told the lawyers, according to the notes.
Prosecutors allege that during the meetings with his attorneys, Trump attempted to test Corcoran’s receptiveness to evading the subpoena, though the meeting concluded with the two setting a plan for Corcoran to return to Mar-a-Lago to search through the boxes for documents responsive to the subpoena.
“Look, so you’re — so if I’m hearing you right, what you want is to come back and have me or somebody go through and find some, get any classified documents if there are any. That, that, sounds like that’s the plan you want, is it?” Trump said, repeating the plan multiple times, according to the notes.
“We will figure this out. Go through the documents, if we’ve got any classified stuff, get it to DOJ,” Trump said, according to the notes.
Prosecutors allege that Corcoran’s rebuff to Trump’s suggestions resulted in the former president adopting a different plan — deceiving his attorney by having his “trusted body man” and co-defendant Walt Nauta move the boxes from the storage room in Mar-a-Lago to prevent Corcoran from conducting a complete search.
In the days between the May 23 meeting with Trump and Corcoran’s June 2 review of the boxes at Mar-a-Lago, prosecutors allege that Trump coordinated for Nauta to remove 64 boxes out of the storage room to Trump’s personal residence, where Trump planned to “pick from them,” according to text messages between Nauta and a Trump family member. By the time Corcoran returned to Mar-a-Lago to review the boxes, only about 30 of the 64 boxes moved by Nauta were returned for the search.
‘Don’t call me with any bad news’
Corcoran described the process of searching through the boxes in the cramped storage room during a humid June day as a “laborious” and unpleasant task, though Corcoran noted that contents of the boxes — “thousands” of Post-it notes, magazines, emails with senators and heads of state, books, notebooks, and briefing materials — offered a unique window into Trump’s state of mind as president.
“If Robert Caro or some other presidential biographer had been in my position, they would have been absolutely in heaven,” Corcoran said in his notes.
Corcoran also noted that the boxes included an odd variety of contents, including presidential memorabilia, Make America Great Again hats, gifts from foreign leaders, clothing — including underwear and socks — and toiletries like mouthwash, toothpaste, and razors. Some of the boxes were sealed with white duct tape and many included a typed note about the destination for the box, such as “W-H to M-A-L.”
According to Corcoran, Trump’s description of the boxes’ contents suggested they became “catch-all depositories for what he’d gone through day after day” when he reviewed materials in the White House residence.
“I had to read these things at night so that I could be ready, that’s the only time I could read something, and I had to read them so I could be ready for calls or meetings the next day,” Trump told Corcoran about how briefing memos, notes, and emails ended up in the boxes. “I just had boxes in the, in my bedroom, you know, a lot of boxes and I’d just, you know, read these things and then throw them in there.”
While Trump told Corcoran he instructed others to declassify any of the documents that entered his residence, the former president appeared to acknowledge in his conversation with Corcoran that simply bringing the documents into his residence did not result in declassifying the documents.
“I told people to declassify — anything that comes into the residence should be declassified. And I told people. I told lawyers that. I don’t know what was done, I don’t know how they were marked. But that was my position,” Trump said, according to Corcoran.
Corcoran’s search of the room ultimately resulted in a half-inch stack of classified documents, which he sealed in a redweld envelope using duct tape.
“Did you find anything?” Trump asked Corcoran after he concluded his search. “Is it bad? Good?”
According to Corcoran, Trump asked Corcoran about how he planned to store the documents, particularly “anything really bad in there.”
“He made a funny motion as though — well okay why don’t you take them with you to your hotel room and if there’s anything really bad in there, like, you know, pluck it out. And that was the motion that he made. He didn’t say that,” Corcoran noted.
The following day, Corcoran coordinated for Jay Bratt, then the deputy chief of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, and FBI agents to visit Mar-a-Lago to take custody of the responsive documents.
Corcoran received a panicked call from Trump about the visit from federal officials on the morning of their visit, according to Corcoran’s notes.
“Oh that’s very bad. What, you know, what do they want? What are they trying to, why are they trying to get something on me again?” Trump said, according to the notes.
While Corcoran emphasized that the meeting was a routine step that he coordinated, Trump still expressed concern that “this is very bad” and was particularly interested in Bratt’s attendance at the meeting.
“Why is the top guy coming? It’s very unusual, very unusual, you know?” Trump remarked, though Corcoran noted that Trump’s tone about the meeting appeared to change over the day.
According to Corcoran, Trump personally encouraged showing Bratt and the FBI agents the storage room where the documents were stored, over the advice of Corcoran. According to prosecutors, despite Corcoran’s search resulting in return of 38 documents bearing classification markings, Trump still possessed 102 classified documents in Mar-a-Lago — in part due to his effort to hide documents from Corcoran when he attempted to comply with the subpoena — which would be discovered when federal agents returned to Mar-a-Lago two months later with a search warrant.
“I’ve got nothing to hide. I’ve got nothing to hide. If they ask. I want you to show them,” Trump told Corcoran in June.
Later that day, Trump walked into the meeting where Corcoran handed over the classified documents to federal officials, personally shaking the hands of Bratt and the FBI agents.
“I’m glad you’re here. I — I appreciate what you’re doing. If you need anything at all just ask Evan,” Trump said, according to Corcoran.
After Trump left the meeting, Corcoran escorted the federal officials to the storage room where Trump’s boxes were stored, allowing them to look at the room but not touch any of the boxes.
Later that day, Corcoran noted that he received a phone call from Trump, who was onboard his plane en route to New Jersey for the summer.
“Well we’re taking off. But look, Evan, don’t call me with any bad news, okay? Don’t call me with any bad news,” Trump said, according to the notes.
(NEW YORK) — A 32-year-old woman has been arrested after police found a dead woman in the backseat of her car that authorities say was not a result of the single-vehicle accident she had been involved in.
The Olmstead County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota responded to a single-vehicle accident at approximately 7 a.m. on Saturday morning on Interstate 90 going eastbound near the Highway 42 Exit in Olmstead county when police encountered Margot Lewis, a 32-year-old woman being tended to by a somebody passing by, according to a statement from the Olmstead County Sheriff’s Office released on Monday.
“The driver of the vehicle, identified as Margot Lewis, a 32-year-old female of an unknown residence, was out of the vehicle and being tended to by a passerby. In checking to see if anyone else was in the vehicle, a deceased individual, a 35-year-old female, was located in the back seat,” police said. “The condition of the deceased was suspicious, and it was immediately apparent that the death was not a result of the motor vehicle accident.”
Police were able to eventually identify the victim but said that the name of the deceased is currently being withheld until her next of kin has been notified.
“Ms. Lewis was transported by Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service (MCAS) to the hospital, where she was medically cleared. Ms. Lewis was then transported to the Adult Detention Center (ADC) and placed under arrest for Interference with a Dead Body,” authorities said.
Lewis is now expected to make an appearance in court on this case on sometime on Tuesday, according to the Olmstead County Sheriff’s Office.
Minnesota State Patrol, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), Eyota Fire Department, and Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service assisted with the initial call and authorities from the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office said that they extend “sincere condolences to the friends and family of the deceased.”
The investigation into the incident is currently ongoing and no further information will be released at this time.
(NEW YORK) — A 26-year-old woman has drowned after being swept over a waterfall and getting trapped under the gushing water for several minutes, officials said.
The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon when authorities began receiving received multiple 911 calls routed through Glacier County dispatch at approximately 5:20 p.m. saying that an unnamed 26-year-old woman from Pennsylvania was swept over St. Mary’s Falls on the east side of Glacier National Park in Montana and fell approximately 35 feet into the water below, according to a statement from the National Park Service (NPS) released on Monday.
“According to witnesses, the woman was washed over the falls and trapped under water for several minutes,” NPS said. “Bystanders pulled her from the water below the falls and administered CPR until emergency responders arrived. Park rangers and Babb ambulance personnel took over CPR upon arrival.”
Park rangers were on the scene at 5:45 p.m., approximately 25 minutes after the incident was first reported, NPS said.
An ALERT helicopter landed nearby shortly after for further support at about 6:20 pm and assisted with resuscitation efforts but the victim never regained consciousness.
“Resuscitation efforts were terminated at about 7 pm and ALERT personnel pronounced the woman deceased,” NPS said. “ALERT flew the body to the 1913 Ranger Station near St. Mary, MT where they were met by the Glacier County coroner at about 7:30 pm. The coroner is transporting the body to the medical examiner in Missoula, MT for an autopsy.”
The death is currently under investigation while additional details are still being gathered and the victim’s next of kin is currently being notified in advance of releasing the woman’s name.
“Park staff would like to thank Glacier County, ALERT, Babb Ambulance and US Border Patrol for their support, along with numerous bystanders for their immediate assistance,” NPS said. “The park extends their deepest condolences to family and friends of the woman and asks that the public respect their privacy.”
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during an event in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Daniel Steinle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — In two court rulings Monday night, federal judges in Kansas and Missouri halted key aspects of President Joe Biden’s sweeping student loan repayment program.
The SAVE plan, a student loan repayment plan that ties how much someone pays each month to what their income is, has been in place for almost a year and is the jewel of Biden’s surviving student loan efforts — one that he has touted heavily in his re-election campaign.
The rulings Monday will stop the Biden administration from any further implementation of the program — in which eight million are enrolled — but allow people who are enrolled to keep using SAVE as is until the cases are fully litigated.
That means phase two of SAVE, which would’ve reduced monthly payments from 10% of a borrower’s discretionary income down to 5%, is on pause, as is any further cancellation of debt for people who took out smaller initial loan payments and have been paying for 10-plus years.
SAVE is similar to other income-driven repayment plans, which have been used for decades but are more generous because of lower monthly payments — people who make a minimum wage can pay as little as $0 a month — as well as a shorter path to debt relief.
Through SAVE so far, Biden has canceled $5.5 billion in debt for almost 414,000 borrowers.
The lawsuits were brought by Republican states who argued that the Biden administration lacked authority from Congress to enact the SAVE plan — the same states that fought to overturn Biden’s initial debt relief plan last year.
The Department of Education and the White House vowed to fight the rulings.
“We strongly disagree with the Kansas and Missouri District Court rulings, which block components of the SAVE Plan that help student loan borrowers have affordable monthly payments and stay out of default. The Department of Justice will continue to vigorously defend the SAVE Plan,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement late Monday night.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called out Republicans for depriving their constituents of lower student debt payments.
“It’s unfortunate that Republican elected officials and their allies have fought tooth and nail to prevent their constituents from accessing lower payments and a faster path to debt forgiveness — and that courts are now rejecting authority that the Department has applied repeatedly for decades to improve income-driven repayment plans,” she said.
(WASHINGTON) — During a two-hour hearing Monday morning, the judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case pressed government attorneys to provide more information about the funding of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation, at one point remarking that the funding presents a “separation of powers concern.”
The hearing, conducted by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, was a continuation of Friday’s hearing in which defense attorneys sought to have the documents case dismissed on the grounds that Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel.
Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 40 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back. Trump has denied all charges and denounced the probe as a political witch hunt.
Defense lawyer Emil Bove argued Monday that the funding of the special counsel’s office was unconstitutional because it relies on a “permanent indefinite appropriation” that is outside of the normal budget process.
“Is there any cap to the funding?” Judge Cannon asked.
“No, and I think that is part of the reason … to be very wary of who can access it and why,” Bove said. “There is no check on the scope of what’s going on here.”
As Bove hammered at the constitutionality of the special counsel’s office, Smith himself sat just feet away in the courtroom, occasionally jotting down notes during the argument. Smith did not attend Friday’s hearing.
While Cannon appeared skeptical of Bove’s argument at times — including accusing him of doing a “flip flop” on his position about the independence of the special counsel’s office — she pressed assistant special counsel James Pearce about the office’s budget.
“It is the full commitment of the DOJ that the special counsel has the funding to continue this prosecution,” Pearce said.
Pearce claimed that the change in funding source would result in “no effect or change whatsoever” to the case.
However, Bove argued that the Department of Justice funding the special counsel would result in a “very strong” response,” including congressional action and additional motions from defense counsel.
“It is difficult for me to imagine how that resolves the motion here,” Bove said. “I think there would be a very strong political response.”
Cannon appeared to backtrack on some of her comments during the hearing, remarking, “I am not indicating anything. I am just trying to cover the scope of what has been briefed here.”
Cannon heard arguments Monday afternoon about imposing a gag order on Trump to prohibit statements that endanger law enforcement. Previewing his argument at the end of the morning hearing, Bove described the proposed gag order as “truly extraordinary effort to gag [Trump’s] ability to speak at a debate and the campaign trail.”
An airplane (C) that carried Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is pictured on the tarmac at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok on June 25, 2024. (MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — A plane believed to be carrying Julian Assange landed on Tuesday in Bangkok, Thailand.
The WikiLeaks founder was photographed boarding a private plane in the United Kingdom after he reached a deal with prosecutors in the United States to plead guilty to a single felony count.
Assange had been accused by the United States of conspiring with Chelsea Manning, who, as an intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army, leaked to Assange hundreds of thousands of classified documents, including about 250,000 U.S. Department of State cables. WikiLeaks began publishing those documents in 2010.
“Julian Assange is free,” WikiLeaks said in a statement posted to social media early on Tuesday.
Assange early on Monday walked out of London’s Belmarsh High Security Prison after more than five years at the facility, WikiLeaks said. He’d spent 1,901 days there, the group said.
“He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK,” WikiLeaks said.
Assange is expected to stop in Thailand before traveling to a the Northern Mariana Islands, where he’s expected to plead guilty in a U.S. federal court. He’s then expected to continue on to his native Australia.
“After more than five years in a 2×3 metre cell, isolated 23 hours a day, he will soon reunite with his wife Stella Assange, and their children, who have only known their father from behind bars,” WikiLeaks said.
Stella Assange, a longtime partner who married Assange in 2022, released a statement praising the “incredible movement” that had sprung up to protest Assange’s detention and the U.S. charges against him.
“A movement of people from all walks of life, from around the world who support not just Julian, and not just us and our family, but what Julian stands for: Truth and justice,” Stella Assange said. “We still need your help. What starts now with Julian’s freedom is a new chapter.”
Tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip are pictured on June 4, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, negotiations are apparently stalled to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization, and Israeli forces continue to launch incursions in the southern Gazan town of Rafah ahead of a possible large-scale invasion.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jun 25, 6:18 AM Fourteen killed in IDF strikes on two Gaza schools, Gaza officials say
The Israel Defense Forces overnight conducted airstrikes on two schools where internally displaced people were sheltering in Gaza City, killing 14 people according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
The IDF said the strikes were on “terrorists operating inside two structures” and that the targets were “terrorists involved in holding hostages.”
An IDF statement said that “aerial surveillance checks, precise munitions, and additional intelligence measures were all used in order to mitigate harm to civilians.”
Video filmed by a civil defense first responder at the Abdel Fattah Hamoud school in central Gaza City appears to show an unconscious girl being pulled from flaming rubble at one school. Burns appear to cover much of her body.
According to the Ministry of Health, eight people were killed in that strike, including five children.
Jun 24, 4:36 PM Netanyahu says he’s committed to Israeli deal proposal that Biden presented
While addressing Israel’s parliament on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he remains “committed” to the Israeli hostage/cease-fire proposal that President Joe Biden had presented.
“Will not end the war until we return all the abductees — 120 abductees — both the living and the dead. We are committed to the Israeli proposal that President Biden welcomed. Our position has not changed,” Netanyahu said.
He added, “We will not end the war until we eliminate Hamas and until we return the residents of the south and the north safely to their homes. … [And] we will thwart Iran’s intentions to destroy us.”
Senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya told Al Jazeera on Monday evening that “Netanyahu’s statements confirmed our view that he does not want a cease-fire or the return of [Israeli] prisoners. … Netanyahu’s real stance is that he wants to retrieve his prisoners and continue the war.”
“We are ready for genuine negotiations if Netanyahu adheres to the principles outlined by President Biden,” he said. “We are ready for negotiations that achieve a cessation of aggression and a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.”
Jun 24, 4:25 PM Number of children missing, separated from families in Gaza may be as high as 21,000: Report
The number of children who are missing or separated from their families in Gaza may be as many as 21,000, according to humanitarian aid group Save the Children.
This organization — which has been providing support for Palestinian children in the region since 1953 — reports that likely 17,000 children are unaccompanied and separated, and another 4,000 children are likely buried under the rubble based on data from the United Nations and the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza.
“Children who are missing but living are vulnerable, face grave protection risks and must be found. They must be protected and reunited with their families,” said Save the Children’s Regional Director for the Middle East Jeremy Stoner. “For the children who have been killed, their deaths must be formally marked, their families informed, burial rites respected, and accountability sought.”
Jun 24, 4:13 PM Blinken meets with Israel’s defense minister
State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Secretary of State Antony Blinken is emphasizing several points in his ongoing meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday afternoon.
“No. 1, our ongoing commitment to Israel’s security,” Miller said. “No. 2, the importance of Israel developing robust, realistic plans for the day after the conflict, plans that include a path towards governance, towards security, towards reconstruction.”
“He’s going to emphasize the need to avoid further escalation of the conflict, and then he will, as always, emphasize the need to improve humanitarian access [in Gaza], where we have seen somewhat of a slowdown in access in the south,” Miller continued, adding that Blinken hoped to hear “concrete commitments from [Gallant] to work on that problem.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Jun 24, 2:28 PM Pentagon: Only the 1 shipment of 2,000-pound bombs has been delayed
Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments alleging a U.S. slowdown in military aid to Israel, the Pentagon continues to say that only the one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs has been suspended.
“Again, just to clarify, we have paused one shipment to Israel,” Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters on Monday.
“Everything else continues to flow on schedule as normal. It is not diminished,” he said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who is in Washington, D.C., for meetings with U.S. officials, will meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on Tuesday, Ryder said.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Jun 24, 11:32 AM Looting, smuggling hindering delivery of aid in Gaza: UNRWA chief
“Gaza has been decimated” and life there is a “living hell,” Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said in an address to other U.N. officials on Monday.
He said the breakdown of civil order and “catastrophic levels of hunger” have caused looting and smuggling that are hindering the delivery of aid.
“Children are dying of malnutrition and dehydration, while food and clean water wait in trucks,” he said.
Lazzarini also provided an update on the allegations that UNRWA staff members were involved in Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel.
He said out of 19 cases assigned to be investigated: one has been closed and the staffer was reinstated; four were suspended due to insufficient evidence; and 14 investigations are ongoing.
Jun 24, 11:19 AM Netanyahu says he’s committed to Israeli deal proposal that Biden presented
While addressing Israel’s parliament on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he remains “committed” to the Israeli hostage/cease-fire proposal that President Joe Biden had presented.
“Will not end the war until we return all the abductees — 120 abductees — both the living and the dead. We are committed to the Israeli proposal that President Biden welcomed. Our position has not changed,” Netanyahu said.
He added, “We will not end the war until we eliminate Hamas and until we return the residents of the south and the north safely to their homes. … [And] we will thwart Iran’s intentions to destroy us.”
Jun 23, 6:41 PM Israeli airstrike kills eight people in Gaza City: Gaza Ministry of Health
Eight people were killed Sunday in an Israeli airstrike on the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
The IDF said they were targeting Hamas infrastructure and took measures to reduce risk to civilians.
Jun 23, 9:22 AM Netanyahu claims there was ‘dramatic decrease’ in US weapons shipments
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement Sunday claiming there was a “dramatic decrease” in munitions from the United States starting some four months ago, and said he decided to talk about it publicly because of lack of change behind closed doors.
“Since the start of the war, the U.S. has given us support in spirit and in materiel — defensive and offensive means. But four months ago, there was a dramatic decrease in the munitions coming to Israel from the U.S.,” Netanyahu said in the statement. “For long weeks, we turned to our American friends and requested that the shipments be expedited. We did this time and again. We did so at the highest levels, and at all levels, and I want to emphasize — we did so behind closed doors.
“We received all sorts of explanations, but one thing we did not receive; the basic situation did not change. Certain items arrived sporadically but the munitions at large remained behind,” Netanyahu continued.
“After months in which there was no change in this situation, I decided to give this public expression,” he said. “We did so out of years of experience and the knowledge that this step was vital to opening the bottleneck.”
“In light of what I have heard over the past 24 hours, I hope and believe that this issue will be resolved in the near future,” Netanyahu said, in part.
Last week, Netanyahu publicly claimed the Biden administration is broadly withholding military support for Israel amid its ongoing war with Hamas. Biden administration officials flatly denied the allegations.
Netanyahu, referring to a recent meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Israel, had said he told Blinken, “It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”
Blinken had later declined to relate exactly what was said in private diplomatic conversations and did not deny that he had assured Netanyahu the U.S. was working to remove bottlenecks inhibiting the supply of American arms and ammunition to Israel.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Shannon K. Crawford
Jun 22, 12:03 PM 42 killed in strikes in north Gaza
Strikes in multiple neighborhoods across northern Gaza today have killed 42 people according to Gaza’s Civil Defense. Videos from the immediate aftermath of the strike show an entire building leveled, children covered in dust.
A bombing of Al-Shati camp killed 24 people, a bombing in Al-Tufaah killed 18 people — the number of casualties is likely to increase — and a bombing in Al-Zaytoun killed 7 people, according to Civil Defense.
Fifty others were injured in the attacks, according to the Hamas media office.
Several others are still trapped under the rubble.
The Israel Defense Forces told ABC News they struck two Hamas military infrastructure sites in Gaza City.
Jun 21, 11:57 AM Netanyahu says video accusing US of withholding weapons ‘was absolutely necessary’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Punchbowl News that he felt his video publicly accusing the Biden administration of withholding weapons “was absolutely necessary after months of quiet conversation that did not solve the problem.”
“We began to see that we had some significant problems emerging a few months ago. And, in fact, we tried, in many, many quiet conversations between our officials and American officials, and between me and the president, to try to iron out this diminution of supply. And we haven’t been able to solve it,” Netanyahu said.
“I raised this issue with Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken. And I said that we are being told by our Defense Department officials that barely a trickle is coming in. He said, ‘Well, everything is in process. We’re doing everything to untangle it. And to clear up the bottlenecks,'” Netanyahu continued.
The U.S. has pushed back on Netanyahu’s claim, noting that only one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs has been withheld.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that Netanyahu’s video “was vexing and disappointing to us — as much as it was incorrect.”
“No other country is doing more to help Israel defend itself,” Kirby said.
Netanyahu said in his July 24 remarks to Congress, he plans “to speak to the broad spectrum of the American people and to cull bipartisan support that is still solid in America.”
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle and Will Gretsky
Jun 20, 5:59 PM Flow of aid resumes at temporary Gaza pier: Pentagon
The flow of aid through a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza has resumed after it was preemptively detached from the beach to ride out rough seas, the Pentagon confirmed.
“I can confirm that U.S. Central Command personnel re-anchored and re-established the temporary pier to the Gaza beach yesterday,” Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Thursday. “As has been the case in the past, Israeli Defense Force engineers provided all the necessary support to ensure the safe and placement of the pier on the beach. And there were no U.S. boots on the ground during the reestablishment of the pier.”
Since resuming overnight, more than 1.4. million pounds of humanitarian assistance has flowed from Cyprus to Gaza, he said.
Overall, more than 9.1 million pounds have been delivered through the corridor since May 17, he said.
Ryder stressed that no end-date has been established for the pier mission.
“We’ll continue to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian aid via the maritime corridor and as always take necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of the personnel operating the pier to include adjusting to sea states in the eastern Mediterranean Sea,” he said.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Jun 20, 1:56 PM White House: Netanyahu video was ‘perplexing,’ ‘disappointing’
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the video released by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming the U.S. had paused weapons shipments was a surprise.
The video was “perplexing to say the least” and “certainly disappointing, especially given that no other country is doing more to help Israel defend itself,” Kirby told reporters on Thursday.
Netanyahu said in a video Tuesday, “It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”
Asked if the administration had any sense of why Netanyahu felt it was necessary to release the video, Kirby reiterated their frustration.
“No idea. You’d have to talk to the prime minister about what prompted him to do that. Again, it was vexing and disappointing to us — as much as it was incorrect. So difficult to know exactly what was on his mind,” he said.
Kirby was also asked about efforts behind the scenes to get an apology from Netanyahu over the video. Kirby said, “I think we’ve made it abundantly clear to our Israeli counterparts from various vehicles our deep disappointment in the statements expressed in that video and our concerns over the accuracy in the statements made.”
Netanyahu said in response Thursday, “I am ready to suffer personal attacks provided that Israel receives from the U.S. the ammunition it needs in the war for its existence.”
Kirby also confirmed that national security adviser Jake Sullivan was still holding a meeting on Thursday with high-level Israeli officials.
Kirby said the “wide-ranging meeting” will include “everything that’s going on with the Gaza war, with our support to Israel, with our efforts to get a better sense of how they’re continuing to prosecute operations against Hamas, as well as continuing to talk about the importance of closing on this deal.”
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle and Michelle Stoddart
Jun 20, 12:02 PM Netanyahu meets with families of hostages declared dead in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Thursday with the families of hostages declared dead in Gaza.
Netanyahu met with rescued hostages right away but has received criticism for not meeting with the families of the dead until now.
“We are committed to returning all of them, all 120 abductees — the living and the victims alike,” Netanyahu said to the families. “We will not give up on anyone.”
The Hostage Center is holding another large rally on Saturday calling for the government to reach a cease-fire deal and bring the rest of the hostages home.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Jun 19, 7:39 PM Temporary pier to resume flow of aid
The temporary pier (JLOTS) off the coast of Gaza has been reattached to the beach, according to two defense officials. Aid should begin flowing soon says one of the officials.
Since the pier first became operational on May 7, more than 3,500 metric tons of humanitarian aid have been transported to that beach for distribution inside Gaza.
But the pier has had two lengthy breaks in service, the first time when rough seas broke off sections of the pier, and this latest preemptive move to the port of Ashdod so it could ride out rough seas to avoid a repetition of the first break in service.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Jun 19, 4:32 PM Top Israeli officials meeting with US on Thursday
Top Israeli advisers Tzachi Hanegbi and Ron Dermer are traveling from Israel to meet with national security adviser Jake Sullivan at the White House on Thursday, senior administration officials told ABC News.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will also meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in the coming days.
But another high-level meeting focused on Israel’s security, including Iran, has been canceled by the U.S., according to administration officials. The U.S. is looking to reschedule it.
While administration officials said the high-level meeting was never fully finalized on the schedule, other sources inside the White House said there was frustration over Netanyahu’s video claiming the U.S. had paused weapons shipments, which did impact the decision not to hold the meeting.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Jun 19, 2:09 PM IDF spokesman: Hamas is an ‘idea,’ can’t be eliminated
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said in an interview with Channel 13 in Israel that “Hamas is an idea,” adding, “Whoever thinks that it can be eliminated is wrong.”
“The notion that it is possible to destroy Hamas, to make Hamas disappear, is simply to mislead the public,” Hagari said.
This contradicts statements from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has said destroying Hamas is the war’s key objective.
Following Hagari’s interview, the IDF said in a statement that it’s “committed to achieving the goals of the war as defined by the cabinet, has been working in this way throughout the war day and night and will continue to do so.”
“The commanders of the IDF and those who serve fight with determination and persistence to destroy the military capabilities and the governmental and organizational infrastructure of Hamas in Gaza, a distinct military goal,” the IDF said. “In his words, the IDF spokesman referred to the destruction of Hamas as an ideology and an idea, and the words were said by him in a clear and explicit manner. Any other claim is taking things out of context.”
In response to Hagari’s comments, the prime minister’s office said, “The political and security cabinet headed by Prime Minister Netanyahu defined as one of the goals of the war the destruction of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities. The IDF is of course committed to this.”
Jun 19, 11:42 AM Hezbollah leader says they’re not ruling out sending forces into Israel
As tensions between Israel and Lebanon escalate, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah once again threatened to enter Israel with Hezbollah forces.
Speaking at a memorial service for a Hezbollah commander who was killed by the Israeli military, he said entering Galilee in northern Israel “remains on the table if the confrontation develops.”
Nasrallah also claimed Hezbollah has obtained new weapons.
Jun 19, 11:36 AM Biden’s team enraged, frustrated by Netanyahu’s video: US official
President Joe Biden’s team is enraged and frustrated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s video that criticized the U.S. for withholding certain weapons, a U.S. official told ABC News.
U.S. officials have made clear to the Israelis that Netanyahu’s video is inaccurate and out of line, the official said.
Jun 19, 11:32 AM US-Israel meeting canceled after Netanyahu criticizes US
A meeting between U.S. and Israeli officials set for Thursday to discuss Iran has been canceled in the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement on Tuesday that criticized the U.S. for withholding certain weapons, according to an Israeli source familiar with the discussions.
A specific time had not been finalized for the meeting at the time of the cancellation, two U.S. officials told ABC News.
One official said national security adviser Jake Sullivan had been traveling and was looking to reschedule. The U.S. is working with Israeli counterparts to find a different time for the meeting.
Netanyahu said when he met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Israel recently, he told Blinken, “It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”
“Israel, America’s closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies,” Netanyahu said. “Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks. I certainly hope that’s the case. It should be the case.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew told Netanyahu Tuesday that the ammunition and weapons that he referred to are in the process of being delivered to Israel, according to the prime minister’s office.
“With the exception of ongoing discussion regarding large diameter munitions, other items are either delivered or in the process of being delivered, or in the normal review process,” the embassy said.
Two U.S. officials involved in approving arms transfers to Israel told ABC News Tuesday that shipments continue to be greenlit as the administration executes on both longstanding orders in the pipeline as well as new requests made after the onset of the war.
The sole exception, the officials said, is the frozen shipment of the 2,000-pound bombs. The officials said the decision to pause that delivery was made by the White House and that, if it’s ultimately lifted, they expect that order will come from the White House, too.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang and Michelle Stoddart
Jun 19, 11:06 AM Netanyahu tells coalition partners to ‘get a hold of themselves’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is criticizing members of his coalition in a new statement. There have been reports of increased infighting since the war cabinet’s dissolution on Monday.
“We are fighting on several fronts and face great challenges and difficult decisions. Therefore, I demand that all coalition partners get a hold of themselves and rise to the importance of the hour,” Netanyahu said.
“This is not the time for petty politics or for legislation that endangers the coalition, which is fighting for victory over our enemies,” he said. “We must all focus solely on the tasks at hand: Defeating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and returning our residents securely to their homes, both in the north and the south.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Jun 19, 10:35 AM US-Israel meeting canceled after Netanyahu criticizes US
A meeting between U.S. and Israeli officials set for Thursday to discuss Iran has been canceled in the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement on Tuesday that criticized the U.S. for withholding certain weapons, according to an Israeli source familiar with the discussions.
Netanyahu said when he met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Israel recently, he told Blinken, “It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”
“Israel, America’s closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies,” Netanyahu said. “Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks. I certainly hope that’s the case. It should be the case.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew told Netanyahu Tuesday that the ammunition and weapons that he referred to are in the process of being delivered to Israel, according to the prime minister’s office.
“With the exception of ongoing discussion regarding large diameter munitions, other items are either delivered or in the process of being delivered, or in the normal review process,” the embassy said.
Two U.S. officials involved in approving arms transfers to Israel told ABC News Tuesday that shipments continue to be greenlit as the administration executes on both longstanding orders in the pipeline as well as new requests made after the onset of the war.
The sole exception, the officials said, is the frozen shipment of the 2,000-pound bombs. The officials said the decision to pause that delivery was made by the White House and that, if it’s ultimately lifted, they expect that order will come from the White House, too.
Jun 18, 4:59 PM Pentagon says US withheld 1 shipment to Israel, defensive security assistance will continue
Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday that the U.S. continues to withhold a single shipment of heavy bombs to Israel and that a final decision on that shipment hasn’t been made.
Ryder declined to address Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s accusation that the U.S. is slowing weapon shipments to Israel in general.
“We are absolutely committed to Israel’s inherent right to defend itself,” Ryder said. “Since Hamas’ vicious attack on Oct. 7, we’ve rushed billions of dollars in security assistance to Israel to enable them to defend themselves. And we are going to continue to provide them the security assistance they need for defense.”
Two U.S. officials involved in approving arms transfers to Israel told ABC News that shipments continue to be greenlit as the administration executes on both longstanding orders in the pipeline as well as new requests made after the onset of the war.
The sole exception, the officials said, is the frozen shipment of the 2,000-pound bombs. The officials said the decision to pause that delivery was made by the White House and that, if it’s ultimately lifted, they expect that order will come from the White House, too.
While the process of actually delivering approved transfers happens across a wide network, including the Department of Defense and private companies, the officials said they weren’t aware of any other holdups that might be perceived as a bottleneck.
In the first weeks and months of the conflict, the Biden administration worked to speed up deliveries to Israel. On two occasions in December, Secretary Antony Blinken invoked an emergency authority to expedite arms sales to Israel, bypassing congressional approval.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty and Shannon Crawford
Jun 18, 3:02 PM Biden’s special envoy calls Hezbollah-Israel conflict ‘urgent’
The Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday that “operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon were approved and validated, and decisions were taken on the continuation of increasing the readiness of troops in the field.”
White House officials are worried about a second war front opening between Israel and Lebanon at Israel’s northern border, dispatching a top aide to President Joe Biden to the region.
Amos Hochstein, a special envoy and deputy assistant at the White House, met Tuesday with Nabih Berri, the speaker of the Lebanese parliament.
“It’s in everyone’s interest to resolve it quickly and diplomatically. That is both achievable and it is urgent,” Hochstein said, according to a transcript provided by the White House.
When asked if the two countries are on the brink of war, Hochstein said he believes a diplomatic solution is possible, adding, “But this is a very serious situation that we are in.”
This meeting followed Hochstein’s in-person meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials on Monday.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby confirmed on Monday that the administration was concerned about the war in Gaza widening to Lebanon.
“If we weren’t concerned about the possibility of escalation and a full blown, second front there, to the north, we wouldn’t still be involved in such intense diplomacy that Mr. Hochstein is over there right now,” Kirby told reporters in a press call.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty
Jun 18, 2:21 PM Netanyahu criticizes US for withholding certain weapons
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement Tuesday criticized the U.S. for withholding certain weapons.
Netanyahu said when he met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Israel recently, he told Blinken, “It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”
“Israel, America’s closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies,” Netanyahu said. “Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks. I certainly hope that’s the case. It should be the case.”
Netanyahu then quoted former U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
“During World War II, Churchill told the United States, ‘Give us the tools, we’ll do the job,'” Netanyahu said. “And I say, give us the tools and we’ll finish the job a lot faster.”
At a news conference Tuesday, Blinken declined to relate exactly what was said in private diplomatic conversations and did not deny that he had assured Netanyahu that the U.S. was working to remove bottlenecks inhibiting the supply of American arms and ammunition to Israel.
Blinken did repeatedly underscore the Biden administration’s commitment to Israel’s defense.
“It’s very important to remember that our security relationship with Israel goes well beyond Gaza. Israel is facing a multiplicity of threats and challenges including in the north, from Hezbollah, from Iran, from the Houthis in the Red Sea, from various groups that are aligned against Israel and in many cases beholden to Iran,” Blinken said.
President Joe Biden “will do everything he can to make sure that Israel has what it needs to effectively defend itself against these threats,” Blinken said. “And a big part of that, as well, is making sure that in providing that assistance to Israel, it has a strong deterrent, which is the best way to avoid more conflict, to avoid more war, to avoid what we’re already seeing in Gaza spreading to other areas.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration is surprised by Netanyahu’s claim of the U.S. withholding weapons.
“We generally do not know what he’s talking about,” she said Tuesday.
Jun 18, 11:12 AM Netanyahu criticizes US for withholding certain weapons
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement Tuesday criticized the U.S. for withholding certain weapons.
Netanyahu said when he met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Israel recently, he told Blinken, “It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”
“Israel, America’s closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies,” Netanyahu said. “Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks. I certainly hope that’s the case. It should be the case.”
Netanyahu then quoted former U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
“During World War II, Churchill told the United States, ‘Give us the tools, we’ll do the job,'” Netanyahu said. “And I say, give us the tools and we’ll finish the job a lot faster.”
Jun 17, 2:58 PM End of Rafah operation weeks away: IDF
The Israeli military is “weeks” away from wrapping up the main part of its controversial ground invasion in and around Rafah in southern Gaza, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told ABC News.
“We are there to dismantle the military framework of the [Hamas’] Rafah Brigade,” Hagari said on Monday.
“We are weeks now just from achieving this goal,” he said.
The Israeli military now controls over 60% of the Rafah area, Israeli defense officials told ABC News on Monday.
-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge, Hugo Leenhardt and Dana Savir
Jun 17, 1:49 PM Israeli forces kill ‘key’ Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that its soldiers have killed Muhammad Mustafa Ayoub, describing him as a “key operative” in Hezbollah’s rocket and missile department in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah confirmed Ayoub’s death in a brief statement.
Jun 17, 8:54 AM Israeli war cabinet disbanded, official says
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has disbanded his war cabinet, the small group of government officials who had been tasked with overseeing decisions about the war against Hamas, a spokesperson said.
The prime minister said there was “no more need for an extra branch of government,” the spokesperson said.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Jun 17, 6:37 AM Netanyahu’s security cabinet to handle war decisions, Israeli official says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government’s security cabinet will now make decisions about the war against Hamas, an Israel official told ABC News.
Netanyahu is now expected to make critical decisions on the war during small ad hoc meetings while seeking final approval from the wider security cabinet.
The decision came about a week after one of three core members of Netanyahu’s war cabinet’s said he would resign from the influential body.
Israeli minister Benny Gantz on Sunday, June 9, said he would resign from both the coalition government led by Netanyahu and the prime minister’s war cabinet.
The war cabinet had been formed on Oct. 11, in the days following the Oct. 7 surprise terrorist attack by Hamas militants.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Kevin Shalvey
Jun 16, 6:41 PM Israeli security cabinet discusses steps to ‘strengthen’ West Bank settlements
The Israeli political security cabinet “discussed steps to strengthen settlements in the West Bank, among other things, in response to countries that unilaterally recognized a Palestinian state after October 7,” in a meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Spain, Ireland and Norway recognized Palestine as a state at the end of May. Separately, 143 of the 193 members in the UN General Assembly voted in favor of a resolution stating that Palestinians qualify for full-member status at the United Nations at the beginning of May, according to the New York Times.
The cabinet also discussed “a series of reactions against the Palestinian Authority following its actions against Israel in international bodies,” the statement added.
The Israeli minister of defense and the deputy prime minister “requested an additional period of time to make their comments,” the statement says, and then the prime minister will “bring all the proposals to a vote at the next cabinet meeting.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Jun 16, 4:35 PM Biden cites pain of Muslims in Gaza in Eid al-Adha holiday statement
President Joe Biden issued a statement Sunday commemorating the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha in which he acknowledged the pain and suffering of innocent civilians in Gaza.
“In Gaza, innocent civilians are suffering the horrors of the war between Hamas and Israel.,” Biden said. “Too many innocent people have been killed, including thousands of children. Families have fled their homes and seen their communities destroyed. Their pain is immense.”
Biden added that his administration is working to end the war and make progress toward a two-state solution.
“And I strongly believe that the three-phase ceasefire proposal Israel has made to Hamas and that the U.N. Security Council has endorsed is the best way to end the violence in Gaza and ultimately end the war,” Biden said.
Biden also cited the conflict in Sudan as well as the targeting of Muslim communities in Burma and China.
He used the holiday to celebrate the contributions of the Muslim community in America and also to say that he is committed to fighting Islamophobia in the United States.
“Hate has no place in America, whether it is targeted at American Muslims, Arab Americans including Palestinians, or anyone else,” Biden said.
He added, “In the spirit of Eid al-Adha, let us all renew our commitment to values that unite us — compassion, empathy, and mutual respect — which are both American and Islamic.”
ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
Jun 16, 5:49 AM Netanyahu not briefed before ‘tactical pause’ announcement, Israeli official tells ABC News
When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heard the reports on Sunday about a daily “tactical pause” along an aid route, he contacted his military secretary and made it clear that this was unacceptable to him, an Israeli official told ABC News.
After an inquiry, the prime minister was informed that there was no change in Isreal Defense Forces policy and that the fighting in Rafah would continue as planned, the official said.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari released a statement in Hebrew shortly after announcement saying the pause will affect a single aid route.
“There is no cessation of fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, and the fighting in Rafah continues,” Hagari said. “Also, there is no change in the introduction of goods into the Gaza Strip.”
-ABC News Jordana Miller, Victoria Beaule and Kevin Shalvey
(NEW YORK) — An upcoming report by the American Heart Association estimates that closing gaps in women’s heart health could add 1.6 million years of quality of life and boost the economy by $28 billion dollars a year by 2040.
The report calls for earlier diagnosis and more treatment in addition to specific focus in pregnancy, menopause and among Black women to effectively close the gender gap in heart health for over 60 million women who are living with heart disease in the United States.
The report will be published later this month in the journal Circulation and builds on previous research done in partnership with the McKinsey Health Institute and World Economic Forum, the AHA said.
ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton, a board-certified physician in obstetrics and gynecology and obesity medicine, reported this dire call to action Monday in an exclusive first look on ABC’s Good Morning America.
“The American Heart Association is really calling loudly, yelling in fact, for closing that gender gap when you look at heart disease,” Ashton said.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, but there are some key areas that disproportionately impact women compared to their male counterparts. Women are more likely to die from a heart attack than men, and women 45-65 years old have the greatest rise in high blood pressure, according to the report.
The AHA report calls for an approach across the life course to effectively close these gaps and highlights two important life stages for women: pregnancy and menopause, “two critically important hormonal times in a woman’s life,” Ashton said.
“It’s time to connect the dots on these hormonal times,” she added.
Pregnancy places added stress on a woman’s heart and can be associated with health conditions like high blood pressure and gestational diabetes, which increase a woman’s risk of heart disease in addition to poor pregnancy outcomes such as pre-eclampsia and premature birth.
Many preventable maternal deaths are due to heart disease. The AHA report calls for prevention of maternal deaths through better access to care, treatment and monitoring during the time surrounding pregnancy.
Women are also at increased risk of having heart disease during and after menopause. Research has shown that women with severe menopausal hot flashes have a higher risk of heart disease than similarly aged men. The AHA report calls for improved research to better understand this increased risk and to help find better treatments.
Disparities also exist among women. More Black women have heart disease than non-Black women and have greater rates of complications from heart disease. The report calls for an end to racial disparities in heart health by recognizing role of structural racism, addressing biases and health-related social needs, as well as tailoring the healthcare system to better care for these communities.
Supporters of Julian Assange demonstrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice as the High Court is set to deliver a ruling whether Assange can appeal against the US’s extradition order in London, United Kingdom on May 20, 2024. (Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department has reached an agreement with Julian Assange to plead guilty to a single felony count of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information, in a deal that is expected to resolve the WikiLeaks founder’s charges in the U.S. with no further time in prison, according to court documents unsealed Monday evening.
The deal is expected to effectively bring to an end to a yearslong legal battle by the U.S. to prosecute Assange over the publishing of classified military and diplomatic materials that were leaked by former American soldier Chelsea Manning in 2010, including some that showed possible war crimes committed by American forces in Iraq.
According to a letter posted by U.S. prosecutors, Assange will plead guilty in U.S. federal court in the Northern Mariana Islands and is expected to return afterward to Australia, indicating prosecutors will not be requesting a judge sentence him beyond the term of time served for the five years he has spent in London’s Belmarsh prison fighting extradition.
The plea deal would resolve charges federal prosecutors brought against Assange under the Espionage Act over WikiLeaks’ publication of the leaked diplomatic and military documents that has come under criticism by First Amendment advocates over its potential implications for media freedom, as well as Assange’s ongoing detention in the U.K. which has been widely condemned by human rights organizations.
The deal should mean that Assange will finally walk free after spending more than a decade in some form of confinement while seeking to avoid prosecution by the U.S.
For the past five years, Assange has been imprisoned in London’s Belmarsh prison, one of the U.K.’s most secure jails, while he fought a U.S. extradition effort.
Before that, Assange spent seven years confined inside Ecuador’s embassy in London, where he fled in 2011 to avoid potential sexual assault charges brought in Sweden. Assange was granted asylum by Ecuador’s government, which permitted him to live in the embassy building while British police mounted a permanent watch outside.
But in 2019, Ecuador’s government evicted Assange, and British police arrested him on the embassy steps. Although by then, Swedish prosecutors had dropped the sexual assault case, a U.K. court convicted Assange of breaching his bail conditions and sentenced him to 50 weeks in prison. Despite long since serving that sentence, he has remained held in Belmarsh ever since.
After his arrest in London, U.S. prosecutors swiftly revealed a sealed indictment charging Assange with conspiring to hack into a classified Pentagon computer network and sought his extradition. Weeks later, the Justice Department under the Trump administration then announced a second superseding indictment charging Assange with 17 additional counts of violating the Espionage Act.
That decision to prosecute Assange under the Espionage Act prompted heavy criticism from press freedom groups as well as major U.S. media organizations, which feared it risked setting a precedent that could criminalize any media outlet publishing classified information. Leading news organizations, including the New York Times, had urged the Biden administration to drop the case.
But the Biden administration continued to pursue the Espionage Act charges and after years of legal challenges, Assange appeared to be inching closer to extradition in the past year. But in May, Britain’s High Court ruled Assange had grounds to again appeal against the U.K. government’s effort to extradite him, once more prolonging the legal battle.
Amid the court fight, President Joe Biden earlier this year said publicly he was “considering” a request from Australia to end the prosecution against Assange.
An international campaign to free Assange has been ongoing for years, joined by celebrities and press freedom advocates. In 2019, a UN Special Rapporteur on torture criticized Assange’s treatment by U.K. authorities, saying the handling of his case put in doubt Britain’s commitment to human rights and that his treatment in Belmarsh amounted to “psychological torture.”
Assange’s wife, Stella Assange, has been helping lead the campaign to free him. Stella, who has two young sons with Assange, had said she feared for her husband if he was extradited to the U.S.
Speaking to ABC News outside Belmarsh prison last summer after visiting Assange, Stella said, “If he’s taken to the U.S., I can feel it that he will never come home.”
(NEW YORK) — The world’s tallest male dog Kevin, who could stretch to approximately 7 feet tall when standing on his hind legs, has died just days after his record-breaking achievement was announced to the world, according to Guinness World Records.
The three-year-old Great Dane, who lived in West Des Moines, Iowa with his family, passed away this week following an unplanned surgery after falling ill, according to Guinness World Records.
“Our whole family is devastated about Kevin. He was just the best giant boy,” Kevin’s owner Tracy Wolfe said in a statement. “We are so glad that he was able to break the record and have that light on him. He absolutely adored the attention. I wish these giant breeds, and all dogs, could live longer than they do. It’s never enough time.”
Kevin claimed his record after measuring in at 0.97 m (3 ft 2 in) tall from his feet to his withers, although he was around 7 ft tall when he stood up on his hind legs, according to Guinness.
“Kevin’s favourite activity is probably taking naps. Holding the couch down is his favorite pastime, I think,” said Wolfe. “Kevin is funny and he is super duper friendly. In fact, overly friendly. You don’t want to keep your mouth open too much when he’s around … But everybody loves seeing him as long as they don’t get whipped by his tail.”
The average Great Dane is around 0.76 m (2 ft 6 in) to the withers and when he stood on his hind legs, he was taller than his other owner, Roger Wolfe.
“He was also a bit of a scaredy cat who was terrified of the vacuum and would run away whenever it came near him,” Guinness said in their statement announcing his death.
A spokesperson for Guinness World Records said: “We are deeply saddened to learn that Kevin suddenly passed away after unexpected health complications. Tracy and the team at the vet clinic she works in did everything they could to save Kevin after he became ill. Our thoughts and support are with the Wolfe family as they navigate this difficult time.”
