In an aerial view, salvage crews continue to clean up wreckage from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Patapsco River on June 11, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(BALTIMORE) — The Port of Baltimore’s federal channel was safely reopened to its original dimensions of 700 feet wide by 500 feet deep without any major injuries, The White House said.
Work continues to remove debris outside of the McHenry Federal Channel, and a safety zone will be maintained to protect workers. Deep draft vessels will be required to have a single escort tug until the work is complete.
The preliminary costs to rebuild the bridge as quoted by the Department of Transportation are between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion, officials said.
A 984-foot-long cargo ship, the Dali, struck the Key Bridge on March 26, triggering a collapse that killed six workers and affected entry into the port. The ship was refloated and moved from the crash site on May 20.
Around 50,000 tons of steel were cleared, equivalent to 3,800 fully loaded dump trucks, according to Maj. Gen. Butch Graham of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Graham credited crane operators, divers, mariners and salvage workers for their efforts, stating they have been working below, underneath and on the Patapsco River since March 30.
According to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, traffic redirected to other ports earlier should now be able to pass through.
“Our belief and expectation is that all of those disruptions and adaptations, as important as they were, were temporary and that traffic that would have been going to Baltimore the day before this happened, belongs in Baltimore today,” the secretary said.
He added, “We have every indication that that is what is taking place, but we’ll be reinforcing that expectation as we speak with players up and down the supply chains, including a conversation that we plan to have later this week.”
Buttigieg said the port opening’s major impact would be on local workers, especially the International Longshoremen’s Association workers, as they were not working with ships not arriving at the Port of Baltimore.
“We felt enormous urgency about making sure that we did everything we could to get back to normal there,” he said. “And now those workers can count on that business returning. It’s been a gradual process, and some of them have been working for some time. Now we can say that it is fully back to normal.”
Buttigieg reiterated President Joe Biden’s intention to secure federal funding for rebuilding the bridge and added that the Maryland delegation is leading a process in Congress to make that happen.
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — Police in Memphis have detained two people after three juveniles and one adult were left critically injured in a shooting incident on Tuesday night, officials said.
Memphis Police responded to a shooting call at 5:12 p.m. CT near 240 West and Poplar Avenue.
Four people found injured were taken to Baptist East hospital, where they remain in critical condition, police said.
While investigating, officers spotted a suspect vehicle and police began a pursuit, officials said. As the chase ensued, one officer was in a car wreck at the 3500 block of James.
With other officers still in pursuit of the suspect vehicle, the suspect — who has not been named — also ended up in a wreck.
Police detained two individuals after what they said was “a brief foot chase” that followed the vehicle pursuit.
The officer who was involved in the wreck is uninjured, Memphis police said.
(ATLANTA) — The Georgia Bureau of Investigations said Tuesday night it’s stepping in at the request of the Atlanta Police Department to investigate following an officer-involved shooting at an Atlanta mall earlier in the day.
Jeremy Malone, 34, who the GBI has identified as a suspect, went to the Peachtree Center Mall in Atlanta, Georgia, around 2:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Inside the mall, he “got into an altercation with a man, and Malone pulled out a gun and shot him,” the GBI alleged.
The suspect also shot and injured two other people in the food court, police and the GBI said.
As people fled for safety, an off-duty Atlanta police officer confronted the armed suspect and shot him, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said.
The three victims and the suspect were treated at local hospitals. The victims are said to be in stable condition and receiving treatment, the GBI said Tuesday night.
The victims were identified as a 47-year-old man, a 69-year-old woman and a 70-year-old woman, police said.
Malone has since been released into the custody of the Atlanta police, officials said.
The suspect’s handgun was recovered, police said.
The suspect has served prison time for armed robbery, Schierbaum said.
“This is an individual who should have never been possessing a gun,” Schierbaum said.
(NEW YORK) — Xavier Walker’s biggest fear when he was outed as gay was that he would be killed.
“In the community, going to school, I had to be very mindful,” Walker, an asylum seeker from Jamaica living in the United States, told ABC News, reflecting on his embattled childhood.
“Pretend you are straight, act straight, don’t make eye contact, don’t try to draw attention to yourself because once they figure out you’re gay, you’re going to be in trouble,” Walker said.
In Jamaica, it is illegal to be gay under the country’s Offences Against the Person Act.
Anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment has been growing around the world, according to the human rights research group Institute for Strategic Dialogue, as political movements rallying against gender and sexual minorities gain traction.
“I think eventually – hopefully – Jamaica will become a way where you’re more open-minded, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon,” said Walker. “Sometimes when I see, for example, Gay Pride happening there, I think: ‘Okay, they’re being more open.’ But then I hear on the news ‘Oh, someone just got killed because he’s gay.'”
He continued, “Every time you think they’re taking one step forward, they take 20 steps back.”
The Jamaican government has argued that it doesn’t enforce its 1864 anti-sodomy laws, however, it remains on the books despite pleas from activists for it to be repealed.
Walker said he was a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of an older male relative when he was about 9 years old. He said some in his community didn’t see him as a victim, instead blaming him for the abuse, which he said incited years of anti-gay discrimination and stigma.
“Queer people suffer rampant rates of discrimination across all elements of public and private life, ranging from seeking public services and health care to education and employer discrimination,” Hester Moore, director of gender-based violence programs with HIAS, an international nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian aid and assistance to refugees, told ABC News.
Walker left Jamaica to seek asylum in America nine years ago around the age of 22. He has been waiting to have his application accepted ever since as a client of Immigration Equality, which provides free legal help to LGTBQ+ asylum seekers and refugees.
“The language is essentially the same,” Moore said of anti-migration sentiment toward queer asylum seekers around the world. “It weaves this global fabric of otherness, of exclusion. It’s a very specific, targeted type of violence that refugees, and particularly those with gendered experiences of harm, feel most acutely.”
For some queer migrants, the U.S. is seen as a safe haven — despite a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and hate alongside an increasingly intensified spotlight on migration policies.
“There’s a harsh reality, for folks who are seeking protection in the United States that, sure, they may not be in imminent danger once they’re able to enter the country but the dangers of being a queer person, or being a trans person or being a gay person, don’t disappear,” Derek Loh, an attorney for the Acacia Center For Justice, told ABC News.
Loh said the “bureaucracy of the immigration process” can be grueling, especially for those arguing for asylum on the basis of discrimination for being queer.
Individuals seeking asylum in the U.S. must demonstrate a “well-founded fear of persecution” citing one of five factors: race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group, according to Immigration Equality, which notes that being a part of the LGBTQ+ community is classified as a particular social group.
Examples of corroborating evidence to submit an asylum claim include: proving your sexual orientation, proving you are transgender or non-binary, proving persecution in your native country, proving the conditions of intolerance in your native country or providing HIV status, if applicable, according to LGBT Immigration Law.
While there is no official public data on how many migrants seek asylum under LGBTQ+ related social groups, a 2021 study from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law found that 1.3 million adult immigrants in the U.S. identify as LGBTQ+ — including 289,700 who are undocumented and 984,800 who are documented.
Loh said detailing asylum claims can be incredibly vulnerable for individuals who have spent their whole lives hiding their identities for safety.
“The immigration system is asking them to share all those very intimate details, oftentimes in settings that are not confidential or private,” Loh said, adding that these discussions are often in communal, ICE detention centers.
“So the danger levels and the fears are all heightened,” Loh continued.
“It’s about finding the time and space to help folks tell their stories in ways that are clear and fit this relatively narrow definition of what asylum is under U.S. immigration law,” Loh said.
Seeking asylum in the U.S. could take years due to the backlog of applications and limited staffing in the immigration courts and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), according to Emem Maurus, an attorney with the Transgender Law Center.
“You’re not climbing one mountain, you’re climbing like six,” Maurus told ABC News of asylum-seeking, adding that the militarization of the process acts as a “deterrence policy.”
“We have definitely had a number of people give up,” Maurus said.
President Joe Biden recently signed an executive order to turn away migrants seeking asylum along the southern border if the encounters there have exceeded 2,500 daily encounters for seven consecutive days.
“The administration is taking decisive action designed to strengthen the security of our southern border and reduce unlawful migration by suspending the entry of individuals across the southern border,” a Biden administration official said earlier this month.
The migrant’s country of origin doesn’t matter, officials said, and individuals will be removed to their country of origin in a matter of “days, if not hours,” under the new executive rule.
“I thank God that I already passed through that process, and that I’m already saved, but I’m just thinking about people that are just trying to get to the U.S. just to survive,” said Nelson García, an asylum grantee from Venezuela. “They’re just asking for help. And when you see all these barriers and walls built to not allow them to request a safe haven here, it’s really concerning.”
García waited seven years after fleeing his country due to persecution for his sexual orientation.
“Uncertainty, doubt, frustration, sadness – that was part of my day-by-day throughout those seven years,” García, who now works as an immigration paralegal manager, told ABC News.
García, a gay man, said discrimination came from “everywhere.”
“Not only from the government, but also from my classmates, from my professors, even from my own family,” he said. “It was more like a psychological abuse that I endured, at some point it got physical, but that was when I was exiting the country that I got apprehended by the police once and I was beaten.”
When he came to the U.S. at 21 years old, he said he still felt lost and alone.
“I was coming from a very traumatizing experience that I was enduring for almost my entire life there,” García said. “I was literally struggling to survive day-to-day,” until he found help from Immigration Equality, a nonprofit organization that advocates for LGBTQ+ people in the immigration system.
Experiencing Pride month in the U.S. as someone who faced discrimination in hostility for sexual orientation in Venezuela has been a comforting experience for García.
“I feel complete,” he told ABC News. “I made peace with myself and say: ‘You see, there was nothing that you needed to change. because you are gay, … there’s nothing that you have to be worried about who you are and what you are right now.'”
During Pride Month 2024, Maurus reflected on a quote attributed to Marsha P. Johnson, a transgender pioneer and key figure in the 1969 Stonewall riots: “No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.”
“Pride is a month to remind ourselves of how far we’ve come,” Maurus said, “but until LGBTQ+ people are not in detention centers and being unnecessarily harmed during an arduous migration process, we still have a ways to go towards the liberation of all of us.”
(WASHINGTON) — For the second time in as many years, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) has defeated a fierce primary challenge in South Carolina’s 1st congressional district.
With 27% of the vote reporting as of 8:40 p.m ET., the Associated Press projects Mace will win South Carolina’s first district with an outright majority of more than 57%.
During a speech in the Charleston area, Mace emphatically thanked Trump for his support in this race while vaguely referring to her controversial reputation.
“President Trump, South Carolina will have your back in November. Thank you all for standing by me and sticking with me, and many of you for sticking up for me,” Mace said during her celebration speech.
The result is a stunning victory for the sophomore representative, whose lead opponent, former state director of labor, licensing and regulation Catherine Templeton, outraised her in 2024 and received an endorsement and financial support from former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-C.A.). McCarthy-linked group Majority Committee PAC donated $10,000 to Templeton’s run, per FEC filings.
Mace’s second campaign for reelection put on display the shifting allegiances of the fractious modern GOP. Once a vocal critic of Trump, Mace had former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s endorsement in 2022 and received financial contributions from PACs linked to top GOP leaders as she faced a primary opponent endorsed by the former president.
Since then, the roles have reversed: Trump enthusiastically backed Mace after she endorsed him in the state’s presidential primary over Haley, and McCarthy has sought vengeance for Mace’s vote to oust him from the speakership.
Trump and Mace’s detente would have been nearly unthinkable two years ago.
One day after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Mace said Trump’s “entire legacy” was “wiped out” by the siege. Later, during the 2022 midterms, Trump called Mace “terrible” and a letdown.
“Frankly, she is despised by almost everyone, and who needs that in Congress, or in the Republican Party?” Trump said in a statement on his social media while endorsing Arrington.
(ATLANTA) — One person was fatally shot in connection with a bus hijacking that prompted a police chase through two Georgia counties on Tuesday, authorities said.
The incident began at approximately 4:35 p.m. ET in downtown Atlanta, when police responded to a report of gunfire on a Gwinnett County Transit bus and a “possible hostage situation,” the Atlanta Police Department said.
“Upon the officers’ arrival at the scene, the bus fled the location, and a pursuit ensued,” the Atlanta Police Department said in a press release.
Several passengers were on the bus when it was hijacked, police said.
The ensuing pursuit spanned multiple jurisdictions, during which police attempted “various tactics” to stop the bus, police said. The vehicle ultimately stopped in Stone Mountain in DeKalb County, approximately 16 miles northeast of where the incident began, police said.
Once the bus came to a stop, DeKalb County SWAT officers “strategically positioned the Bearcat to prevent any avenues of escape,” the DeKalb County Police Department said in a statement.
The suspect — a 39-year-old man — was taken into custody without further incident, police said.
SWAT officers found the gunshot victim while clearing the bus, DeKalb County police said. The victim was transported in critical condition to a local hospital, where they died, Atlanta police said. No further details on the victim were provided by police.
No other injuries were reported.
The investigation remains ongoing, Atlanta police said.
(DETROIT) — School officials are investigating after a now-former employee at a Michigan middle school allegedly choked a 14-year-old student with a shirt, in an incident captured on surveillance footage.
The employee is no longer working at Ypsilanti Community Schools “effective immediately,” the school district said Monday.
The alleged “assault” occurred on June 4 at Ypsilanti Middle School and involved the teen’s “trusted coach,” according to the family’s attorney, Jordan Vahdat.
Surveillance footage of the incident shows the employee approaching the student from behind as the teen, identified by his family as Michael Moon, walks down a hallway. The employee then appears to raise a shirt over the head of the teen, who then struggles to get loose before breaking free and walking away, the footage shows. The incident captured in the video lasted fewer than 20 seconds.
Vahdat said in a statement to ABC News that his firm is “investigating the horrific assault and battery” on the student-athlete.
The employee is no longer working at the school district and is not allowed to be on school property or attend school events, according to Ypsilanti Community Schools Superintendent Alena Zachery-Ross.
“Our district is dedicated to creating a safe and supportive environment for all students,” Zachery-Ross said in a statement. “The actions of the employee are absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our district.”
“We will continue to implement and enforce policies that protect our students and ensure their well-being,” her statement continued.
In a letter sent to the school community on Monday, Zachery-Ross said the school district “immediately” contacted social services authorities and began cooperating with local law enforcement upon learning about the incident.
“We understand the concern this incident may cause within our community,” the letter stated. “Please know that we are committed to continuing to fully cooperate with the involved authorities.”
Michael’s parents said they reported the incident to police, who subsequently showed them the surveillance footage of the incident. His mother, Yolanda Ellis, told Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ she was “horrified” by what she saw and the incident made her “lose trust in that coach, because he was someone that Michael looked up to.”
MORE: Transgender student alleges assault after using bathroom, family calls for charges The incident allegedly occurred after the coach — who also served as a hall monitor — ordered Michael to do pushups because he was horsing around in the hallway, but the teen declined because he had hurt his hand, his parents told WXYZ.
His parents are calling for charges in the incident.
“I need this man to pay for what he did to my son, and that means being fired, losing his job and sitting in jail,” Michael’s father, Steve Moon, told WXYZ. “I need him to know that what he did was wrong.”
The Ypsilanti Police Department referred ABC News to the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office. ABC News has reached out to the prosecutor’s office for an update on the case and whether any charges will be filed.
Efforts to reach the former employee for comment were unsuccessful.
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 11, 6:09 PM Israeli forces kill 6 in West Bank raid: Palestinian health officials
Israeli troops shot and killed six Palestinians during a raid on a small village near the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday amid escalating violence there, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The Israel Defense Forces said its soldiers killed “four armed terrorists” and injured “additional ones” amid “exchanges of fire” while conducting “counterterror activity” in the Kafr Dan area.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Dana Savir
Jun 11, 4:51 PM Hamas submits its response to cease-fire proposal
Qatar and Egypt have received a response from Hamas and the Palestinian factions regarding the truce proposal, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad said in a statement, “The response prioritizes the interest of our Palestinian people. The need to completely stop the ongoing aggression against Gaza. The Palestinian delegation expressed its readiness to deal positively to reach an agreement to end this war against our people, based on a sense of national responsibility.”
A U.S. official familiar with negotiations describes Hamas’ response as not an outright yes or no, but a counter with questions about provisions included in the proposal and some additional demands.
Another official said that while the U.S. is still analyzing Hamas’ response, mediators see the potential to bridge remaining gaps at this point and will coordinate with all parties involved on the next steps — which will likely include another round of talks.
Israel received the Hamas response from the mediators Tuesday evening, according to a senior Israeli official. In its response, Hamas rejected the outline of the deal for the release of the abductees presented by President Joe Biden, the official said.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford and Dana Savir
Jun 11, 1:02 PM 4 hostages rescued from Gaza released from hospitals
All four hostages rescued from Gaza this weekend have been discharged from hospitals, local officials told ABC News.
The three male hostages — Almog Meir Jan, 22; Andrei Kozlov,27; and Shlomi Ziv, 41 — were discharged from Sheba Medical Center on Tuesday, according to the medical center.
Noa Argamani, 26, was transferred to Ichilov Medical Center on Saturday to be with her mother, who is in the hospital, officials said. Argamani was discharged on Tuesday morning, a hospital spokeswoman told ABC News.
-ABC News Jordana Miller and Dana Savir
Jun 11, 10:38 AM US announces $404M in aid for Gaza
The U.S. announced $404 million in aid for Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the region, bringing the total amount of aid from the U.S. to over $674 million since the wore broke out, the State Department announced Tuesday.
“This new funding will provide essential support to vulnerable Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and the region, including food, safe drinking water, health care, protection, education, shelter, and psychosocial support,” the State Department said. “We urge other donors to contribute to the humanitarian response in Gaza and the region, increase support to those affected by the conflict, and work together to find lasting solutions to the crisis.”
Jun 11, 6:23 AM Israel’s actions during hostage rescue may amount to war crimes, UN agency says
United Nation human rights officials said they were “profoundly shocked” by the Israeli operation that freed four hostages in central Gaza over the weekend, adding that actions by both Israel and Hamas “may amount to war crimes.”
“The manner in which the raid was conducted in such a densely populated area seriously calls into question whether the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution — as set out under the laws of war — were respected by the Israeli forces,” the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, or OHCHR, said in a statement on Tuesday.
The rescue operation in a refugee camp in Nuseirat killed as many as 274 people, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Monday. Hundreds of others were injured, the ministry said. Many of those injured and killed Palestinians were civilians, OHCHR said on Tuesday.
But OHCHR also said it was “deeply distressed” about the way the militant groups continue to hold hostages, “most of them civilians, which is prohibited by international law.”
By holding those hostages in densely populated areas, Hamas militants are putting civilians and the hostages at risk, the agency said.
“All these actions, by both parties, may amount to war crimes,” OHCHR said.
Jun 10, 4:11 PM More than 200 killed during hostage rescue raid: Gaza Ministry of Health
At least 274 people were killed and another 698 were injured during Saturday’s Israeli rescue operation that saved four hostages from Hamas custody in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
Israeli special forces were disguised as Palestinian refugees looking for a place to live when they entered the buildings where hostages were being held in the rescue operation, two Israeli security sources told ABC News.
The hostages were rescued from two locations in Nuseirat, a camp that has become home to thousands of refugees who’ve fled fighting throughout Gaza.
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
Jun 10, 4:09 PM UN Security Council adopts US draft resolution supporting Gaza cease-fire deal
The United Nations Security Council on Monday adopted a U.S. draft resolution urging Hamas to accept the latest cease-fire and hostage release deal.
Nate Evans, spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the United Nations, said in a statement ahead of the vote that the deal would enable a pause in fighting, the freeing of a number of hostages and an immediate surge in humanitarian assistance, among other things.
“Israel has accepted this proposal and the Security Council has an opportunity to speak with one voice and call on Hamas to do the same,” Evans said. “Doing so would help save lives and the suffering of civilians in Gaza as well as the hostages and their families. Council Members should not let this opportunity pass by and must speak with one voice in support of this deal.”
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield made a similar case just before the vote, saying every day the war goes on “needless suffering continues.”
“Colleagues, after eight months of devastation and pain and trauma, what is needed now more than ever is for the fighting to end in a sustainable way,” she said. “The United States and every single country in this chamber wants to see an immediate cease-fire with the release of hostages. We’ve heard those calls time and time again since Oct. 7. Now the opportunity is here. We must seize it.”
Hamas said in a statement they “welcome” what was included in the U.N. Security Council resolution “regarding a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.”
Jun 10, 3:16 PM Israeli special forces dressed as Palestinian refugees to go undercover before hostage rescue operation: Sources
Israeli special forces were disguised as Palestinian refugees looking for a place to live when they entered the buildings where hostages were being held in the Israeli rescue operation this weekend, two Israeli security sources told ABC News.
Special forces were already in position near the buildings where the hostages were being held before they were given the “go” command by Israeli forces, the sources added.
The “go” command was given at 11 a.m. local time, sources said.
The helicopters carrying the hostages and wounded police officers landed at Sheba Medical Center in Israel starting at 12:15 p.m. local time and the last helicopter landed at 12:45 p.m. local time.
The Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security forces, Israeli Defense Forces and Israeli SWAT team members participated in the rescue operation, now called “Operation Arnon” by the Israeli military. The name of the operation was given to honor the one security officer who was killed during the operation.
– ABC News’ Dana Savir
Jun 10, 11:06 AM US calls for Security Council vote on Gaza cease-fire, hostage deal resolution
The U.S. is calling for the United Nations Security Council to vote on a draft resolution urging Hamas to accept the ceasefire-hostage release deal on the table, according to a statement from the spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the UN.
“Israel has accepted this proposal and the Security Council has an opportunity to speak with one voice and call on Hamas to do the same,” the statement read. “Doing so would help save lives and the suffering of civilians in Gaza as well as the hostages and their families. Council Members should not let this opportunity to pass by and must speak with one voice in support of this deal.”
The Security Council vote has been scheduled for 3 p.m. Monday.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Jun 10, 9:19 AM Blinken urges Middle East to ‘press Hamas to say yes’ to proposal
On a tarmac in Egypt, Secretary of State Antony Blinken laid out his objectives for his tour through the Middle East this week, calling on countries with connections to Hamas to push them to take the cease-fire deal on the table, while also emphasizing the need to develop a “day after” plan for Gaza, calling it “a critical moment.”
“My message to governments throughout the region, to people throughout the region: If you want a cease-fire, press Hamas to say yes,” Blinken said. “If you want to alleviate the terrible suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, press Hamas to say yes. If you want to get all the hostages home, press Hamas to say yes. If you want to put present Palestinians and Israelis alike on the path to more durable peace and security, if you want to prevent this conflict from spreading, press Hamas to say yes.”
He said a cease-fire would open a path to “more durable security, calm, peace in Gaza.”
“For that, it’s critical that we continue to work on plans for the day after to make sure that when it comes to security in Gaza, when it comes to governance, when it comes to reconstruction, we have the plans in place to come forward,” he said. “That’s going to be a critical part of my conversations here in the region as we go on to Israel and then to Jordan and then to Qatar.”
Blinken didn’t say when he expected Hamas to give its formal response to the proposal but said “there’s a sense of urgency among all concerned.”
“Our Egyptian counterparts were in communication with Hamas as early — as recently as a few hours ago,” he said. “Ultimately, I can’t put myself, none of us can put ourselves, in the minds of a Hamas or its leaders, so we don’t know what the answer will be.”
Blinken was adamant that Israel stood behind the proposal, stressing it was only Hamas preventing it from being implemented.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Jun 10, 8:56 AM 4 rescued hostages ‘in less severe condition’ physically than expected
The four hostages rescued from Gaza this weekend are physically “in less severe condition than we kind of prepared for,” said Itai Pessach, head of the medical team at the Sheba Medical Center, where the hostages are being treated.
But the worry is mainly on the long-term psychological impact, as “they underwent continuous, psychological abuse,” Pessach told ABC News.
The rescued hostages — Noa Argamani, 25; Almog Meir Jan, 21; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 40 — were kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, according to the Israel Defense Forces. They were all rescued in good condition, the IDF said.
Argamani has been discharged while the three men remain at the hospital. But Argamani will still be receiving medical treatment from the Sheba team for an indefinite period, Pessach said.
“It’s a very, very long process of rehabilitation. And we received captives that came back six months ago, and we’re just now starting to see the initial post-traumatic response coming up,” Pessach said. “They have seen a lot of war-related things that happened and all of that is part of their trauma, and we will need to care for that.”
“When you see the eyes and you see, you know, they get silent for a second and you understand that there’s a trigger, there’s something in their minds, and you see a tear, or they ask to be left alone for a moment or something like that. This is when you really feel, under the surface there’s so much that’s waiting for us,” Pessach said.
-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge, Dana Savir, Omer Manor and Hugo Leenhardt
Jun 09, 11:34 PM US calls for Security Council vote on Gaza cease-fire, hostage deal resolution
The U.S. is calling for the United Nations Security Council to vote on a draft resolution urging Hamas to accept the ceasefire-hostage release deal on the table, according to a statement from the spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the UN.
“Israel has accepted this proposal and the Security Council has an opportunity to speak with one voice and call on Hamas to do the same,” the statement read. “Doing so would help save lives and the suffering of civilians in Gaza as well as the hostages and their families. Council Members should not let this opportunity to pass by and must speak with one voice in support of this deal.”
The State Department said it was consulting with Israel on the draft resolution last week, even though Israel is not a member of the Security Council. A specific vote time has not yet been set, but State Department officials anticipate it will happen in the coming days.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Jun 09, 6:23 PM United States doubling down on efforts for Israel to reach a cease-fire
The United States is doubling down efforts to reach a cease-fire deal as pressure mounts on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling to Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Qatar this week to discuss a cease-fire agreement that secures the release of all hostages, according to the State Department’s announcement Friday.
While Blinken traveling to the region should not be seen as a marker of further progress in reaching a deal, he will be putting pressure on the respective countries’ officials when he’s there.
A U.S. official told ABC News the intelligence that the U.S. provided to Israel in the latest hostage rescue operation was related to “support with locating individuals.”
Currently, there are five American hostages the U.S. believes are still living and three that the U.S. has confirmed are deceased.
The White House is not commenting on the resignation of Centrist Israeli minister Benny Gantz on Sunday, as they don’t comment on domestic Israeli politics.
-ABC News’ Selina Weng
Jun 09, 3:39 PM Gantz resigns from emergency government in blow to Netanyahu
Centrist Israeli minister Benny Gantz announced Sunday that he was resigning from the emergency government because of what he has described as a lack of a plan from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the “day after” in Gaza.
During a televised news conference, Gantz announced he was resigning from the coalition government, taking with him his State Party and the seats it held in the Knesset. Netanyahu’s coalition government will still retain a majority, but the move by Gantz is considered a major blow to the prime minister.
“Netanyahu is preventing us from progressing towards a true victory,” Gantz said. “For this reason, we are leaving the emergency government today, with a heavy heart, yet wholeheartedly.”
He also called on Netanyahu to set a date for elections.
Gantz was set to make the announcement on Saturday but called it off amid the news of an Israel Defense Forces operation in Gaza that led to the rescue of four Israeli hostages.
Gantz is a member of Israel’s three-member war Cabinet, which includes Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
On Saturday, Netanyahu appealed to Gantz on X, saying, “This is the time for unity and not for division. We must remain united within ourselves in the face of the great tasks before us. I call on Benny Gantz — do not leave the emergency government. Don’t give up on unity.”
Following Gantz’s resignation, Netanyahu released a statement on X, saying, “Israel is in an existential war on several fronts.”
“Benny, this is not the time to abandon the campaign — this is the time to join forces,” Netanyahu said. “Citizens of Israel, we will continue until victory and the achievement of all the goals of the war, primarily the release of all our hostages and the elimination of Hamas.”
Netanyahu added, “My door will remain open to any Zionist party that is ready to get under the stretcher and assist in bringing victory over our enemies and ensuring the safety of our citizens.”
In May, Gantz issued an ultimatum to Netanyahu, saying he would resign if the prime minister did not approve a post-war plan by June 8, saying at the time, “While the Israeli soldiers show supreme bravery on the front, some of the men who sent them into battle behave with cowardice and irresponsibility.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden joined gun control activists Tuesday in pushing forward more initiatives to combat gun violence and trumpeted his administration’s stricter gun laws.
Biden’s prescheduled remarks at the advocacy group Everytown’s Gun Safety University conference in Washington, D.C., came hours after his son Hunter was convicted on three felony counts in his federal gun trial in Delaware.
The president did not mention his son or the case during his remarks Tuesday afternoon.
“Look, folks, you’ve helped power a movement that is turning this cause into reality,” Biden said. “Especially young people who demanded our nation do better and protect us all, who protested, who organized, who voted, who ran for office and yes, who marched for their lives. From my perspective, today is about celebrating you.”
He touted new FBI data that shows overall crime, including violent crime and murder, has fallen in the first three months of 2024 compared to the same period last year.
“The year before I came to the presidency, the murder rate was the highest increase on record. Last year, we saw the largest decrease of murder in the history of it, and those rates are continuing to fall faster than ever,” he said.
Biden later said tackling gun violence has been “a passion of mine for a long, long time,” saying he understood the pain of losing someone.
“I give you my word. I know what that feels [like], that black hole when you receive that phone call. It seems like your black hole in your chest and you’re being sucked into it. Just showing up here and all the work you’ve done takes some courage because it reminds you of the moment you got that phone call,” the president said.
During his remarks, Biden cited several of his administration’s gun control initiatives, including changing federal law to make gun trafficking and straw purchases a federal crime and strengthening gun background checks for people under 21.
“Since the law was passed and implemented, the FBI stopped more than 700 sales of firearms for individuals under 21, and about 20,000 unlicensed firearms dealers are now required to become licensed to run background checks,” the president said.
Biden calls for ban on assault weapons: ‘This time we must actually do something’ Biden noted there is still a way to go, as thousands of innocent lives are lost to gun violence each year.
The president said, in part, that it was again time to “ban assault weapons,” which he has called for the in past — including at this year’s State of the Union address.
“Who in God’s name needs a magazine which can hold 200 shells? Nobody,” Biden said Tuesday.
ABC News’ Fritz Farrow contributed to this report.
(ATLANTA) — A fight sparked a shooting that injured three people in a food court at a downtown Atlanta shopping center on Tuesday afternoon, according to Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.
An altercation between two people broke out at the Hub at Peachtree Center, and then one person pulled out a handgun and shot the person they were fighting with, police said.
The suspect, 34, also shot and injured two other people in the food court, police said.
As people fled for safety, an off-duty Atlanta police officer confronted the armed suspect and shot him, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said.
Everyone injured is “alert, conscious and breathing,” police said.
The victims were identified as a 47-year-old man, 69-year-old woman and 70-year-old woman, police said.
The suspect’s handgun has been recovered, police said.
The suspect has served prison time for armed robbery, Schierbaum said.
“This is an individual who should have never been possessing a gun,” Schierbaum said.
