Justin Timberlake’s DWI case in Sag Harbor, New York, has been adjourned until Aug. 2.
At that time Justin will be arraigned on misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated and failing to keep right, WABC-TV reports. The new arraignment is due to a problem with the way Justin was initially charged. He did not appear in court on Friday, according to WABC-TV.
Justin will now appear virtually Aug. 2 in Sag Harbor Village Justice Court. He’s been accused of running a stop sign and swerving out of his lane while leaving The American Hotel in his BMW.
According to WABC-TV, in his first public comments since the arrest, Timberlake’s attorney Ed Burke contended Justin “was not intoxicated,” adding, “I’ll say it again. Justin Timberlake was not intoxicated. And we are very confident that charge, that criminal charge, will be dismissed.”
Burke argued in court that the case should be thrown out due to a “defective accusatory instrument,” which is another way of saying there was an issue with the way that Justin was charged.
“The police made a number of very significant errors in this case … and there are many others,” Burke continued. “Sometimes the police, like every one of us, make mistakes. And that’s the case in this very instance.”
According to the criminal complaint, Justin “was driving drunk, had bloodshot, glassy eyes, slowed speech, was unsteady on his feet and performed poorly on a field sobriety test.” He told the arresting officer he’d only had one drink and refused to take a chemical test, WABC-TV reports.
The next date of Justin’s Forget Tomorrow World Tour is Friday in Poland.
(KYIV, Ukraine) — Solomiya Fomeniuk, 16, recalled the Russian missile strike on the Okhmatdyt pediatric hospital in Ukraine earlier this month with horror, but also as a case of miraculous survival.
The girl was one of five children in the dialysis department at the moment of the attack on July 8. Two people — a doctor and a teacher — died as a result of the strike. A 7-year-old boy died later after he was transported away from the site, officials said.
Solomiya is disabled due to spinal hernia. The girl was admitted to the Kyiv hospital in late May 2022 after kidney failure.
“It’s the best clinic in Ukraine with a dialysis department and the only one where we can actually live to receive treatment regularly,” Solomiya’s mother, Oksana Fomeniuk, told ABC.
July 8 started as usual, she said, adding that even when the sirens went off, it didn’t initially scare the parents nor hospital staff.
“We’ve been here for a while, there were at least two impacts nearby during the past two years, but we always thought that a hospital is a safe place,” she said. “We are always anxious of course, but the kids learned to be courageous and patient since dialysis lasts for 4 to 5 hours and they can’t move during the procedure”.
However, when the first missiles hit the ground a couple kilometers from the hospital Oksana and others quickly went down to the shelter while doctors and nurses decided to go into the room to switch the kids off from the dialysis equipment and take them downstairs too. At that moment the missile hit.
“The first thing I saw was a piece of ceiling above me,” Solomiya recalled. “The equipment around prevented it from falling on me. I even raised my hands to try to hold it. I couldn’t breathe, there was dust and hot air around. And this smell…”
The girl saw two injured female doctors and a nurse lying on the floor bleeding, she said.
“One doctor, Anastasia, shook up from our cries, stood up and came up to pull me from the rubbles,” Solomiya said. “She is so tiny herself, but somehow managed to carry me to the window where men who ran from the street were already helping.”
Most of all the girl was worried about her mom, she confessed. Oksana herself barely got out of the rubble as the missile hit right at the foundation of the building.
“I smelled death,” she said. “I was in the rubble by the knees and couldn’t breathe because of the dust and the smell of the fuel.”
Oksana managed to run out through the back door.
“The second thing that shocked me was the scale of the damage,” she said. “Everything was in a black smoke, the building was destroyed, others half damaged. And all I could think about was where my Solomiya were.”
Oksana saw pieces of furniture and mattresses around, a body inside the premise, children coming out of the building through the broken windows, nurses carrying them out — and said she couldn’t believe that her daughter was alive.
“The nurse was running and shouting that Solomiya was OK and she was taken to another building, but I only believed that when I saw her there. I’m telling you, God saved us. Because if my girl were in another bed, as before, she could have died.”
Svitlana Lukyanchuk, a 30-year-old nephrologist, was later identified as the woman who had died in the room. The head of the dialysis department, Olha Babicheva, was also severely injured, officials said.
Young surgeon Oleh Golubchenko also said he believed he was lucky to be alive. Photos and videos of him in a white bloody uniform as he helped to search the debris went viral.
“My grandma carefully washed and whitened the robe right on the day before. I think I haven’t even thrown it away yet,” Golubchenko said, laughing both bitterly and with relief.
He had been performing a halo rhinoplasty on a 5-month-old patient on the morning of July 8.
“It’s a complicated procedure, but very interesting for me as a specialist. I pre-planned everything on the weekend, designed a model of the expected result,” Golubchenko told ABC.
The surgeon, anesthesiologist Yaroslav Ivanov, second surgeon Ihor Kolodko and nurse Olha Baranovych were halfway through the surgery when the siren went off in Kyiv.
“We don’t start operations during the air raid alert, but if we have already started we have to continue because you can’t move the patient quickly, especially a kid. So we carried on, stayed calm and even joked,” Golubchenko recalled.
When the missile hit the nearby building the wave threw him a couple of meters away from the operating table. “I was shocked for a few seconds and then saw everyone on the floor, bleeding. I shouted, ‘Is everyone alive?’ Olha, the nurse, was apparently severely injured, I saw her face really damaged. Yaroslav was bleeding too but got up.”
The doctors rushed to their little patient covered by surgical gowns. The boy was intubated, so Golubchenko couldn’t check if he was actually OK.
“I ran in the corridor to find an Ambu bag. The boy’s mom was there, shouting hysterically … I found the bag, the anesthesiologist disconnected the boy and quickly carried him away, I followed him … on my way I stopped to help another nurse as she was bleeding, so I bandaged her … There was such a chaos, total mess,” he said.
When Oleh went outside, the first person to call him was his friend, Rostyslav, who is also a surgeon, as he heard of the strike.
“I asked him to pick my patient and finish the surgery,” Golubchenko said. “He literally was here in 15 minutes and took the boy.” Taras, the boy who had been in surgery, and his parents are well now, Golubchenko said.
Only later did Golubchenko notice that he himself was covered in blood.
“I just felt something warm on my back and legs. Those were all small wounds from the glass. The doctors took everything away and said I had a concussion. I think I escaped with a fright. Big fright,” the surgeon said, sighing. “You know, before the surgery, the patient’s father asked me whether I believed in God. What a question! But now my outlook has transformed. I’m telling you, I went to the church the following day and prayed as I could.”
It’s painful for Golubchenko to see his department damaged as it had been just renovated. It was even more painful for many Ukrainians. Okhmatdyt, which in Ukrainian means protection of motherhood and childhood, is the best pediatric hospital in Ukraine. The doctors say they received incredible support from the management, while parents admit everything was done from the heart here, with great love to kids so that they experience as much fun and comfort here as possible.
In just one day, people and businesses raised more than $7 million for Okhmatdyt through the joint project of the UNITED24 presidential fundraising platform and Monobank. Germany accepted kids from the Kyiv hospital and pledged about 10 million euros for the reconstruction of the hospital.
Oleh Holubchenko said he himself received calls from his American colleagues who have helped a lot, in particular Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft-focused organization, and American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association
Fomeniuk and her daughter, Solomiya, said their hopes for Solomiya’s kidney transplantation, which they have been waiting for since last fall, have now now faded a bit due to the strike. But they still showed their support for the hospital and optimism for the doctors, who they hope keep going.
The attack on Okhmatdyt on July 8 was one of more than 1,800 such strikes in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022, according to the World Health Organizaition.
Oksana confessed she sometimes thinks that horrible strike didn’t actually happen and it was just a horror movie because it doesn’t seem real.
“The missiles flying in Kyiv are not something normal by default,” she said. “When kids who are fighting for their lives have to suffer even more during the attacks is something totally, totally over the line.”
(PARIS) — The 2024 Paris Summer games are set to formally kickoff Friday in what will be an opening ceremony like no other before its time.
There will be all of the pageantry and spectacle you’d come to expect from an Olympics opening ceremony, only there will be one big difference. Instead of parading around a stadium, some 10,000 plus athletes will get on boats and sail down the heart of Paris on the Seine River.
Olympic organizers say this will be the first time in the history of the Summer Games that it will be held outside of a stadium.
Roaring back from the pandemic era
The Paris Games somewhat represent a return to normalcy. The last Summer Olympics in Tokyo occurred in 2021, delayed a year amid a global pandemic, which for the Games meant large-scale restrictions — no spectators, quiet stadiums and mask mandates.
Paris aims to offer a stark contrast.
According to Paris’ Tourism Board, some 11 million tourists are expected to visit the French capital for the Games.
Paris 2024 Olympic Organizers on Thursday said that Paris Games broke the record for most tickets sold or allocated in the event’s history, the AP reported.
In total, 9.7 million tickets have been so far for this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games, breaking the previous ticket sales record set in 1996 during the Atlanta Games when 8.3 million were sold.
Massive security operation
Paris officials knew that floating the opening ceremony down the Seine would not come without security risks and as the Games are about to officially open, the streets are flooded with 45,000 police officers and an additional 10,000 soldiers — including search dogs, bomb squads and tactical teams — essentially transforming the French capital into a maximum security site, complete with checkpoints and metal barricades.
As it gets closer to the ceremony, the airspace in and around the Seine will close, stretching some 93 miles. Four nearby airports will also be shuttered as a result, including Paris Charles de Gaulle, one of Europe’s three largest airports.
Floating down the Seine River
More than 300,000 spectators are expected to gather along the Seine River to watch the historic opening ceremony on Friday night as dozens of team boats will ferry 10,000 Olympic athletes from east to west along the river, a route that extends nearly four miles, passing famed landmarks and bridges along the way.
There, the Eiffel Tower will serve as an illustrious backdrop for the remainder of the ceremony.
Coco Gauff and LeBron James picked as Team USA flagbearers
Tennis star Coco Gauff will represent Team USA as the female flag bearer at the opening ceremony, joining NBA star LeBron James.
Gauff will make history as the first American tennis player to carry the flag.
“I had no idea and it was definitely very shocking,” Gauff told ABC News when recounting the moment she found out she would be carrying the flag.
“And I haven’t met LeBron yet,” she added. “but I am excited to meet him.”
First Lady Jill Biden arrived in Paris on Thursday, the eve of the opening ceremony, and spent the day meeting Olympic athletes and their families before representing the United States at the opening ceremony on Friday evening.
SNCF employees and French gendarmes inspect the scene of a suspected attack on the high speed railway network at Croiselles, northern France on July 26, 2024. (Photo by DENIS CHARLET/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Arson attacks on France’s rail network have taken place in what authorities are calling a “massive attack to destabilize the railway system,” just hours before the 2024 Paris Olympic Games opening ceremony is set to take place.
Trains at all major Paris stations have been delayed after fires and at least 800,000 people have been affected in the “arson attacks were set to damage our installations,” according to a statement from rail company, SCNF.
Authorities have not called this a terror attack, but fires began to be reported overnight at 4 a.m. local time and that trackside signal boxes have were set on fire and cables on the lines had been cut, which has caused major disruptions in the north and east of France.
“Coordinated malicious acts targeted several TGV lines last night and will seriously disrupt traffic until this weekend,” said the French transport minister. “I strongly condemn these criminal actions which will compromise the departures on vacation of many French people.”
France’s high-speed rail lines seem to be the intended target, officials said Friday morning, as fires were set along three lines while a fourth fire on another line was stopped.
SCNF says it will take all weekend to repair while Eurostar has already been advising passengers to postpone their trips to Paris.
All this is happening just hours before the opening ceremonies of the 2024 Olympic Games are set to take place in Paris on Friday evening.
“Early this morning, acts of sabotage were carried out in a planned and coordinated manner on SNCF installations, said French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. “The consequences for the rail network are massive and serious. I express my gratitude to our firefighters who intervened on the affected sites and to the SNCF agents who will carry out the necessary work to restore the network.”
“My thoughts are with all the French people, all the families, who were preparing to go on holiday. I share their anger and salute their patience, their understanding and the civic-mindedness they demonstrate,” Attal continued. “Our intelligence services and our law enforcement are mobilized to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts.”
(NEW YORK) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau authorized the Canadian Armed Forces to respond on Thursday to wildfires raging in Alberta.
Trudeau said he was sending “resources, evacuations support, and more emergency wildfire resources to the province immediately — and we’re coordinating firefighting and airlift assistance.”
More than 400 firefighters from Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South Africa are also on their way to help fight the wildfires in Alberta, he said.
“Alberta, we’re with you,” Trudeau said in a social media post.
The town of Jasper and Jasper National Park in Alberta have closed and were evacuated due to active wildfires in the park.
Since the two wildfires were initially reported on Monday near Jasper, the wildfire situation “remains out of control,” Jasper National Park said Thursday.
Wildfires reached the town of Jasper on Wednesday evening, the park said, as firefighters worked to combat multiple structural fires and protect critical infrastructure.
“Today has been an exceptionally difficult day for Jasperites, incident personnel, and everyone who loves Jasper,” Jasper National Park said in an update Wednesday night. “As the pictures and videos circulating online show, significant loss has occurred within the townsite.”
Park officials were unable to provide an update on the extent of damage in the area.
“As the heartbreaking images from Jasper emerge, I want to thank the brave first responders who are in Alberta right now, fighting to save every home and every community they can,” Trudeau said Thursday.
There have been no reported injuries due to the wildfires, Jasper National Park said in an update Thursday morning.
More than 25,000 people were ordered to evacuate from the park and areas nearby this week due to the wildfires, officials said.
The evacuation impacted 15,000 people who were visiting and staying in the park when the order was issued, as well as about 10,000 people in the town of Jasper, including seasonal workers, according to the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.
“The Town of Jasper and Parks Canada’s priority is the safety of our staff, residents and visitors,” Jasper National Park said in a statement on Tuesday. “We acknowledge this is a stressful time and appreciate patience as this is an evolving and complex situation.”
Thousands of residents and visitors already evacuated Monday into Tuesday, as two wildfires burned in Jasper National Park, the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies, the park said.
Parks Canada mobilized additional firefighting resources and aircraft to assist in battling the blazes, according to Jasper National Park.
“Our priority is to protect the town and community of Jasper, limiting wildfire growth towards town, Highway 16 and critical infrastructure,” Jasper National Park said.
Reservations through Aug. 6 in Jasper National Park have been canceled. A reopening date has not yet been announced.
Alberta is experiencing “extreme wildfire conditions,” with more than 170 wildfires burning across the province, according to the government of Alberta.
ABC News’ Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — United States and Canadian fighter jets intercepted four Russian and Chinese bombers that were flying in international airspace near Alaska on Wednesday, officials said.
This marked the first time that Chinese military aircraft had been intercepted in that area.
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement that it had “detected, tracked, and intercepted two Russian TU-95 and two PRC [Peoples Republic of China] H-6 military aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on July 24, 2024.”
NORAD said that American and Canadian fighter jets conducted the intercept and noted that the Russian and Chinese remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian airspace.
U.S. territorial airspace and waters extend at a distance of 12 nautical miles from the shoreline, but the ADIZ is a zone that stretches out 150 miles from the U.S. coastline, where the U.S. requires aircraft to identify themselves.
It is not unusual for Russian bombers flying through the ADIZ to be intercepted, as was the case in February and March.
But Wednesday’s joint Russian and Chinese flight was the first such occurrence in that zone and was notable for being the first intercept of Chinese military aircraft near Alaska.
NORAD stressed that the flight “is not seen as a threat” and that it will continue to monitor activity near North America “and meet presence with presence.”
The joint Russian and Chinese flight reflects the growing military ties between the two nations.
Earlier this week, a top Defense Department official noted China’s growing military interest in the Arctic region and cooperation with Russia as the Pentagon unveiled its latest Arctic Strategy.
“Melting Arctic ice caps are opening new shipping lanes and attracting increased interest and activity from both the People’s Republic of China and Russia,” said Kathleen Hicks, the deputy secretary of Defense.
“More troubling, we’ve seen growing cooperation between the PRC and Russia in the Arctic, commercially with the PRC being a major funder of Russian energy exploitation in the Arctic and increasingly militarily with Russia and China conducting joint exercises off the coast of Alaska,” she said.
Another top official said that in recent years the U.S. has seen China’s military operating “more regularly” in the region noting the presence of several Chinese warships off the coast of Alaska a few weeks ago and in recent combined exercises with Russia in the same area.
“We’re keeping a watchful eye on how they’re developing their capacity for operating in the region,” Iris Ferguson, deputy assistant Secretary of Defense for Arctic and Global Resilience, told reporters Monday.
“As we say in the department, you know, they are our long-term pacing challenge. And I think that includes in the Arctic,” Ferguson said.
(NEW YORK) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau authorized the Canadian Armed Forces to respond on Thursday to wildfires raging in Jasper National Park in Alberta.
More than 25,000 people were ordered to evacuate from the park and areas nearby, officials said. The town of Jasper and Jasper National Park in Alberta have closed and are being evacuated due to active wildfires, the park said Tuesday.
Trudeau said he was sending “resources, evacuations support, and more emergency wildfire resources to the province immediately — and we’re coordinating firefighting and airlift assistance.”
“Alberta, we’re with you,” he added.
The evacuation impacts 15,000 people who were visiting and staying in the park when the order was issued, as well as about 10,000 people in the town of Jasper, including seasonal workers, according to the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.
“The Town of Jasper and Parks Canada’s priority is the safety of our staff, residents and visitors,” Jasper National Park said in a statement on Tuesday. “We acknowledge this is a stressful time and appreciate patience as this is an evolving and complex situation.”
Thousands of residents and visitors already evacuated overnight, as multiple wildfires burn in Jasper National Park, the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies, the park said.
Parks Canada is mobilizing additional firefighting resources and aircraft to assist in battling the blazes, according to Jasper National Park.
“Our priority is to protect the town and community of Jasper, limiting wildfire growth towards town, Highway 16 and critical infrastructure,” Jasper National Park said.
Reservations through Aug. 6 in Jasper National Park have been canceled. A reopening date has not yet been announced.
Alberta is experiencing “extreme wildfire conditions,” with more than 170 wildfires burning across the province, according to the government of Alberta.
(NEW YORK) — The planet reached the hottest day on record for the second day in a row, according to preliminary data from Copernicus, Europe’s climate change service.
Earth’s daily global average temperature hit 17.15 degrees Celsius (62.87 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, setting a new record for the warmest day in the organization’s dataset, which started in 1940.
This beats the previous record of 17.09 degrees Celsius (62.76 degrees Fahrenheit) set the day before, Copernicus announced Wednesday in an updated report.
The top 10 highest annual maximum daily average temperatures on record all occurred in the last 10 years, according to Copernicus. Multiple years between 2015 to 2024 not only set new records but broke them by large margins, the data show.
Earth’s warmest days on record
1. July 22, 2024: 17.15 degrees Celsius (62.87 degrees Fahrenheit)
2. July 21, 2024: 17.09 degrees Celsius (62.76 degrees Fahrenheit)
4. Aug. 13, 2016: 16.80 degrees Celsius (62.24 degrees Fahrenheit)
Much of the U.S. will continue to experience scorching heat in the coming week
The global average temperature typically reaches its peak between late July and early August.
In the U.S., persistent, extreme heat will be blanketing much of the country for the foreseeable future, forecasts show.
July tends to be the hottest month in the U.S. The majority of the country will likely experience above-average temperatures for the remainder of July into early August, with several significant heat waves likely for parts of the Northeast and West.
The South typically sees peak average temperatures during the second half of August, while the West Coast sees its hottest temperatures into September.
Summer nighttime low temperatures in the U.S. are warming nearly twice as fast as summer daytime high temperatures, according to Climate Central.
Earth has experienced 13 consecutive months of record-breaking global temperatures, according to Copernicus.
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, efforts to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization are ongoing, and Israeli forces have launched an assault in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Here’s how the news is developing:
129 killed, over 400 injured in Khan Younis as Israeli operation continues
At least 129 Palestinians have been killed and 416 others have been injured in and around Khan Younis since the beginning of the Israeli operation there earlier this week, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said Wednesday.
The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged the operation in Khan Younis was ongoing in another release Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz and Jordana Miller
5 people removed, arrested from House gallery during Netanyahu address
Five people have been removed and arrested from the House of Representatives gallery for disrupting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, according to U.S. Capitol Police
Capitol Police also said they deployed pepper spray toward part of a crowd of protesters that they alleged became “violent.”
“The crowd failed to obey our order to move back from our police line. We are deploying pepper spray towards anyone trying to break the law and cross that line,” Capitol Police said in tweet on X.
Schumer did not shake Netanyahu’s hand, some Senate Democrats not clapping for certain lines
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered the chamber, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer did not shake his hand.
Notably, a group of Senate Democrats sitting in the front row middle section of the chamber, including Schumer and Sen. Mark Kelly, stood but did not clap as Netanyahu entered the chamber — and many of them are not clapping at the applause lines that the majority of the chamber is clapping for.
In the earliest stages of his remarks, the group is seeming to be very strategic about which sentiments they do clap for.
Though they didn’t clap at Netanyahu’s entrance, they did all rise and stand to clap when Schumer said, “America and Israel must stand together.”
The group that appears to be being selective with their clapping includes Sens. Gary Peters, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kelly, Maggie Hassan, Cory Booker, Alex Padilla, Schumer, Debbie Stabenow, Richard Blumenthal and Amy Klobuchar.
21 Senate Democrats skip Netanyahu’s address to congress
Twenty-one Senate Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris were not in attendance for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress.
Thirty senate democrats were in the chamber on Wednesday. Sen. Ben Cardin, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is presiding over the chamber.
Notably, Rep. Rashida Tlaib — the only Palestinian-American in Congress — is sitting in the House chamber. She has said in the past Netanyahu should be arrested and is a war criminal. As Netanyahu entered the chamber, she remained seated.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is in attendance and sitting front and center on the aisle.
Sen. Mark Kelly, a potential vice president pick for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, is seated in the second row.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller and Allie Pecorin
No confirmed polio cases in Gaza yet, vaccination rate drops from 99% to 89%
No cases of poliovirus infection have been reported in Gaza yet, days after evidence of poliovirus was detected in wastewater across Gaza, Gaza Ministry of Health’s first care manager, Dr. Musa Abed, told ABC News.
Before the start of the conflict in October 2023, Polio vaccination coverage — conducted through routine immunization — was estimated at 99% in 2022, Abed said, confirming a United Nations report.
However, this number decreased with the outbreak of the war. The latest World Health Organization-UNICEF routine immunization statistics said that the number fell to approximately 89% in 2023 as newborns did not get vaccinated.
“Premature infants, children, and those with weak immunity are the groups most in need of these vaccinations,” Abed added.
He explained that people who were vaccinated before the war do not need to repeat the vaccination “because vaccination consists of several doses once in a lifetime.”
The Israel Defense Forces said it is planning to vaccinate troops that have been deployed to Gaza to prevent polio infection “to maintain the health of both the soldiers and Israeli citizens.”
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz, Jordana Miller, Emma Ogao and Morgan Winsor
Harris will separately meet with Netanyahu after Biden’s meeting
Vice President Kamala Harris will meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he meets with President Joe Biden, according to a White House official, who said that this was the plan prior to Biden announcing he’s exiting the race.
A cease-fire-hostage deal is believed to be close to being secured, with the United States saying to the Israelis, that it’s “too good a deal to pass up,” the official said.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Khan Younis bombardment death toll rises to 73
Gaza health officials said Tuesday that at least 73 people have been killed — including 24 children and 15 women — amid the Israeli military’s raids on eastern Khan Younis, which it had designated as a humanitarian zone.
The bombardment began early Monday as the Israel Defense Forces ordered people to evacuate.
About 200,000 Palestinians have evacuated the area since then, according to the IDF, and still many remain behind not knowing where to go.
Hamas, Fatah sign unity declaration in Beijing
Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed a unity declaration in Beijing working to end a yearslong rift, Chinese state media said Tuesday.
This is the 16th signed agreement between the rivals over the past decade. However, this agreement highlights China’s attempt to deepen its influence in the Middle East.
In a statement, Hamas described the so-called Beijing Declaration as an “additional positive step on the path to achieving Palestinian national unity,” adding “its importance comes in terms of the location and the host country.”
Hamas leader Hossam Badran described the declaration as “an important step on the path to national unity” and highlighted the host country’s role and “international weight.”
Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz condemned Fatah “embracing” Hamas “instead of rejecting terrorism.”
“In reality, this won’t happen because Hamas’s rule will be crushed, and Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar. Israel’s security will remain solely in Israel’s hands,” Katz said.
Families of hostages visit White House, urge Netanyahu to accept deal
Following their 10th meeting at the White House Monday, the families of Americans being held by Hamas demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accept a deal with Hamas to free the hostages.
“There are no more major security issues to be solved on Israel’s part, it is time to bring this to an end, to end the suffering of millions on the Palestinian side,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, told reporters following the meeting. “It is time to make that decision. No more delays.”
Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, told reporters their assumption is that Netanyahu will thank America for its steadfast support over the last 10 months and announce that he is “ready to be doing this deal.”
“If this deal doesn’t start, if the process doesn’t start, it will be seen as a failure,” she said. “We know that there are just a couple people deciding at this point. And we have optimism and hope and faith that these deciders will make the right decisions and we can start this process now.”
The families declined to share any details from their meeting with the White House National Security Council, which comes ahead of Netanyahu’s address to Congress this week.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Netanyahu arrives in DC
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in Washington, D.C., according to the Embassy of Israel to the USA.
He is scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden and give an address to Congress this week.
Sen. Ben Cardin to preside over Netanyahu address to Congress: Source
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., will preside over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress on Wednesday, a source confirmed to ABC News.
Cardin, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will be behind Netanyahu in the House chamber for the address.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the first in line to preside over the session, will be traveling on Wednesday and therefore not be in attendance.
A separate source confirmed to ABC News that Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. — who, as the Senate president pro tempore, is second in line for presiding — declined to preside.
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
At least 70 killed in Khan Younis area after new evacuation order: Gaza Health Ministry
At least 70 people were killed Monday in areas in eastern Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
It’s not clear how many of those 70 people were in a designated humanitarian safe zone or in areas where people were forced to evacuate.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed its forces hit more than 30 terror infrastructure sites in Khan Younis on Monday.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
2 hostages ‘no longer alive,’ IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces on Monday said two hostages, Alex Dancyg and Yagev Buchshtab, who were taken by Hamas militants, were “no longer alive.”
Their bodies “were being held by the Hamas terror organization,” IDF said in a statement. They were determined to be dead based on intelligence gathered by Israel’s Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Ministry of Religious Services and the Israel Police, the IDF said.
“The circumstances of their death in Hamas captivity are being examined by all the professional authorities,” IDF said.
There are 120 abductees still in Gaza. Of those, 46 abductees are no longer alive, according to the prime minister’s office.
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
Netanyahu shares what he will discuss with Biden on US trip
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will land in the U.S. on Monday, released a statement detailing what he plans to discuss with President Joe Biden.
He said they’ll talk about “how to advance in the critical months ahead the goals that are important for both our countries — achieving the release of all our hostages, defeating Hamas, confronting the terror axis of Iran, and ensuring that all of Israel’s citizens can return safely to their homes in the north and the south.”
Netanyahu added, “This will be an opportunity to thank him for the things he did for Israel in the war and during his long and distinguished career in public service, as senator, vice president, and president.”
Gaza death toll passes 39,000
The death toll in Gaza has risen to 39,006, with another 89,818 people hurt since the war broke out on Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
About one-third of the war victims were children, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health
Dozens killed, including children, in Israeli strike in Khan Yunis, hospital official says
At least 44 people, including six children, were killed in an Israeli strike on Khan Yunis, in the Gaza Strip, an official at Nasser Hospital told ABC News.
At least 90 people were injured, the hospital’s head of nursing said.
The Israeli military on Monday ordered the evacuation of part of a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza. The military said it will begin an operation against Hamas militants who are in the area and use it to launch rockets toward Israel.
The deadly strike in Khan Yunis began Sunday night before the evacuation order was announced.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
2 hostages ‘no longer alive,’ IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces on Monday said two hostages, Alex Dancyg and Yagev Buchshtab, who were taken by Hamas militants, were “no longer alive.”
Their bodies “were being held by the Hamas terror organization,” IDF said in a statement. They were determined to be dead based on intelligence gathered by Israel’s Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Ministry of Religious Services and the Israel Police, the IDF said.
“The circumstances of their death in Hamas captivity are being examined by all the professional authorities,” IDF said.
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
Poliovirus detected in wastewater across Gaza: WHO
Poliovirus has been detected in wastewater in multiple locations of the Gaza Strip, including two major cities in the region, the World Health Organization (WHO), Gaza health and Israeli officials confirmed on Sunday.
Among the locations where the poliovirus has been found in wastewater are Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Younis in southern Gaza, two major cities where the majority of people in the war-torn region currently reside, the officials said.
WHO officials said that while they have received no reports of people contracting polio symptoms in Gaza, an investigation is underway to identify how the virus has spread. WHO said it is working with UNICEF and the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to investigate and establish “prompt vaccination campaigns.”
Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that largely affects children under 5 years of age, according to WHO’s website. Since 1988, poliovirus cases worldwide have decreased by 99%, according to WHO.
The Israel Defense Forces announced Sunday that it will vaccinate all soldiers operating in Gaza to prevent the spread of poliovirus.
The IDF also said is is working with international organizations to provide polio vaccines for people in Gaza.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of WHO, sounded the alarm in a statement on Friday, saying, “The decimation of the health system, lack of security, access obstruction, constant population displacement, shortages of medical supplies, poor quality of water and weakened sanitation are increasing the risk of vaccine-preventable diseases, including polio.”
Ghebreyesus added, “This poses a risk for children and creates the perfect environment for diseases like polio to spread.”
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé
Netanyahu to meet with Biden on Tuesday in Washington
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with President Joe Biden in Washington on Tuesday, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Sunday.
The meeting between the two leaders is scheduled to occur at noon on Tuesday, Netanyahu’s office said.
Netanyahu’s flight to Washington is scheduled to leave Israel on Monday morning, the prime minister’s office said.
The meeting between Biden and Netanyahu will come ahead of the Israeli prime minister’s July 24 address to a joint session of Congress.
The two governments had tentatively scheduled a meeting between Biden, who is recovering from COVID, and Netanyahu on Monday.
However, a Biden administration official on Sunday disputed that a date and time have been set for the meeting with Netanyahu, and that an exact date and time are still dependent on when the president tests negative for COVID and returns to Washington, D.C. Biden has been self-isolating in Rehoboth, Delaware.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé and Justin Ryan Gomez
Jul 20, 2024, 2:05 PM EDT Houthis say ‘multiple’ dead, injured in Israeli airstrike on Yemen
Multiple people were killed and others have been injured in an Israeli strike on oil storage facilities in the port of Hodeidah in Yemen, according to the Houthis who said the attack will “only increase the resolve […] of the Yemeni people.”
The Houthis accused Israel of an attack that “targeted civilian facilities, oil tanks and the electricity station in Hodeidah, with the aim of doubling people’s suffering and pressuring Yemen to stop supporting Gaza.”
Israel said its attack came in response to over 200 projectiles that the Houthis have launched toward Israel, saying they targeted the port as as the main supply route for weapons transfers with Iran.
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, efforts to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization are ongoing, and Israeli forces have launched an assault in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Here’s how the news is developing:
5 people removed, arrested from House gallery during Netanyahu address
Five people have been removed and arrested from the House of Representatives gallery for disrupting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, according to U.S. Capitol Police
Capitol Police also said they deployed pepper spray toward part of a crowd of protesters that they alleged became “violent.”
“The crowd failed to obey our order to move back from our police line. We are deploying pepper spray towards anyone trying to break the law and cross that line,” Capitol Police said in tweet on X.
Schumer did not shake Netanyahu’s hand, some Senate Democrats not clapping for certain lines
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered the chamber, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer did not shake his hand.
Notably, a group of Senate Democrats sitting in the front row middle section of the chamber, including Schumer and Sen. Mark Kelly, stood but did not clap as Netanyahu entered the chamber — and many of them are not clapping at the applause lines that the majority of the chamber is clapping for.
In the earliest stages of his remarks, the group is seeming to be very strategic about which sentiments they do clap for.
Though they didn’t clap at Netanyahu’s entrance, they did all rise and stand to clap when Schumer said, “America and Israel must stand together.”
The group that appears to be being selective with their clapping includes Sens. Gary Peters, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kelly, Maggie Hassan, Cory Booker, Alex Padilla, Schumer, Debbie Stabenow, Richard Blumenthal and Amy Klobuchar.
21 Senate Democrats skip Netanyahu’s address to congress
Twenty-one Senate Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris were not in attendance for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress.
Thirty senate democrats were in the chamber on Wednesday. Sen. Ben Cardin, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is presiding over the chamber.
Notably, Rep. Rashida Tlaib — the only Palestinian-American in Congress — is sitting in the House chamber. She has said in the past Netanyahu should be arrested and is a war criminal. As Netanyahu entered the chamber, she remained seated.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is in attendance and sitting front and center on the aisle.
Sen. Mark Kelly, a potential vice president pick for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, is seated in the second row.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller and Allie Pecorin
No confirmed polio cases in Gaza yet, vaccination rate drops from 99% to 89%
No cases of poliovirus infection have been reported in Gaza yet, days after evidence of poliovirus was detected in wastewater across Gaza, Gaza Ministry of Health’s first care manager, Dr. Musa Abed, told ABC News.
Before the start of the conflict in October 2023, Polio vaccination coverage — conducted through routine immunization — was estimated at 99% in 2022, Abed said, confirming a United Nations report.
However, this number decreased with the outbreak of the war. The latest World Health Organization-UNICEF routine immunization statistics said that the number fell to approximately 89% in 2023 as newborns did not get vaccinated.
“Premature infants, children, and those with weak immunity are the groups most in need of these vaccinations,” Abed added.
He explained that people who were vaccinated before the war do not need to repeat the vaccination “because vaccination consists of several doses once in a lifetime.”
The Israel Defense Forces said it is planning to vaccinate troops that have been deployed to Gaza to prevent polio infection “to maintain the health of both the soldiers and Israeli citizens.”
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz, Jordana Miller, Emma Ogao and Morgan Winsor
Harris will separately meet with Netanyahu after Biden’s meeting
Vice President Kamala Harris will meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he meets with President Joe Biden, according to a White House official, who said that this was the plan prior to Biden announcing he’s exiting the race.
A cease-fire-hostage deal is believed to be close to being secured, with the United States saying to the Israelis, that it’s “too good a deal to pass up,” the official said.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Khan Younis bombardment death toll rises to 73
Gaza health officials said Tuesday that at least 73 people have been killed — including 24 children and 15 women — amid the Israeli military’s raids on eastern Khan Younis, which it had designated as a humanitarian zone.
The bombardment began early Monday as the Israel Defense Forces ordered people to evacuate.
About 200,000 Palestinians have evacuated the area since then, according to the IDF, and still many remain behind not knowing where to go.
Hamas, Fatah sign unity declaration in Beijing
Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed a unity declaration in Beijing working to end a yearslong rift, Chinese state media said Tuesday.
This is the 16th signed agreement between the rivals over the past decade. However, this agreement highlights China’s attempt to deepen its influence in the Middle East.
In a statement, Hamas described the so-called Beijing Declaration as an “additional positive step on the path to achieving Palestinian national unity,” adding “its importance comes in terms of the location and the host country.”
Hamas leader Hossam Badran described the declaration as “an important step on the path to national unity” and highlighted the host country’s role and “international weight.”
Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz condemned Fatah “embracing” Hamas “instead of rejecting terrorism.”
“In reality, this won’t happen because Hamas’s rule will be crushed, and Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar. Israel’s security will remain solely in Israel’s hands,” Katz said.
Families of hostages visit White House, urge Netanyahu to accept deal
Following their 10th meeting at the White House Monday, the families of Americans being held by Hamas demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accept a deal with Hamas to free the hostages.
“There are no more major security issues to be solved on Israel’s part, it is time to bring this to an end, to end the suffering of millions on the Palestinian side,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, told reporters following the meeting. “It is time to make that decision. No more delays.”
Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, told reporters their assumption is that Netanyahu will thank America for its steadfast support over the last 10 months and announce that he is “ready to be doing this deal.”
“If this deal doesn’t start, if the process doesn’t start, it will be seen as a failure,” she said. “We know that there are just a couple people deciding at this point. And we have optimism and hope and faith that these deciders will make the right decisions and we can start this process now.”
The families declined to share any details from their meeting with the White House National Security Council, which comes ahead of Netanyahu’s address to Congress this week.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Netanyahu arrives in DC
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in Washington, D.C., according to the Embassy of Israel to the USA.
He is scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden and give an address to Congress this week.
Sen. Ben Cardin to preside over Netanyahu address to Congress: Source
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., will preside over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress on Wednesday, a source confirmed to ABC News.
Cardin, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will be behind Netanyahu in the House chamber for the address.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the first in line to preside over the session, will be traveling on Wednesday and therefore not be in attendance.
A separate source confirmed to ABC News that Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. — who, as the Senate president pro tempore, is second in line for presiding — declined to preside.
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
At least 70 killed in Khan Younis area after new evacuation order: Gaza Health Ministry
At least 70 people were killed Monday in areas in eastern Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
It’s not clear how many of those 70 people were in a designated humanitarian safe zone or in areas where people were forced to evacuate.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed its forces hit more than 30 terror infrastructure sites in Khan Younis on Monday.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
2 hostages ‘no longer alive,’ IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces on Monday said two hostages, Alex Dancyg and Yagev Buchshtab, who were taken by Hamas militants, were “no longer alive.”
Their bodies “were being held by the Hamas terror organization,” IDF said in a statement. They were determined to be dead based on intelligence gathered by Israel’s Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Ministry of Religious Services and the Israel Police, the IDF said.
“The circumstances of their death in Hamas captivity are being examined by all the professional authorities,” IDF said.
There are 120 abductees still in Gaza. Of those, 46 abductees are no longer alive, according to the prime minister’s office.
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
Netanyahu shares what he will discuss with Biden on US trip
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will land in the U.S. on Monday, released a statement detailing what he plans to discuss with President Joe Biden.
He said they’ll talk about “how to advance in the critical months ahead the goals that are important for both our countries — achieving the release of all our hostages, defeating Hamas, confronting the terror axis of Iran, and ensuring that all of Israel’s citizens can return safely to their homes in the north and the south.”
Netanyahu added, “This will be an opportunity to thank him for the things he did for Israel in the war and during his long and distinguished career in public service, as senator, vice president, and president.”
Gaza death toll passes 39,000
The death toll in Gaza has risen to 39,006, with another 89,818 people hurt since the war broke out on Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
About one-third of the war victims were children, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health
Dozens killed, including children, in Israeli strike in Khan Yunis, hospital official says
At least 44 people, including six children, were killed in an Israeli strike on Khan Yunis, in the Gaza Strip, an official at Nasser Hospital told ABC News.
At least 90 people were injured, the hospital’s head of nursing said.
The Israeli military on Monday ordered the evacuation of part of a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza. The military said it will begin an operation against Hamas militants who are in the area and use it to launch rockets toward Israel.
The deadly strike in Khan Yunis began Sunday night before the evacuation order was announced.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
2 hostages ‘no longer alive,’ IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces on Monday said two hostages, Alex Dancyg and Yagev Buchshtab, who were taken by Hamas militants, were “no longer alive.”
Their bodies “were being held by the Hamas terror organization,” IDF said in a statement. They were determined to be dead based on intelligence gathered by Israel’s Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Ministry of Religious Services and the Israel Police, the IDF said.
“The circumstances of their death in Hamas captivity are being examined by all the professional authorities,” IDF said.
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
Poliovirus detected in wastewater across Gaza: WHO
Poliovirus has been detected in wastewater in multiple locations of the Gaza Strip, including two major cities in the region, the World Health Organization (WHO), Gaza health and Israeli officials confirmed on Sunday.
Among the locations where the poliovirus has been found in wastewater are Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Younis in southern Gaza, two major cities where the majority of people in the war-torn region currently reside, the officials said.
WHO officials said that while they have received no reports of people contracting polio symptoms in Gaza, an investigation is underway to identify how the virus has spread. WHO said it is working with UNICEF and the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to investigate and establish “prompt vaccination campaigns.”
Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that largely affects children under 5 years of age, according to WHO’s website. Since 1988, poliovirus cases worldwide have decreased by 99%, according to WHO.
The Israel Defense Forces announced Sunday that it will vaccinate all soldiers operating in Gaza to prevent the spread of poliovirus.
The IDF also said is is working with international organizations to provide polio vaccines for people in Gaza.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of WHO, sounded the alarm in a statement on Friday, saying, “The decimation of the health system, lack of security, access obstruction, constant population displacement, shortages of medical supplies, poor quality of water and weakened sanitation are increasing the risk of vaccine-preventable diseases, including polio.”
Ghebreyesus added, “This poses a risk for children and creates the perfect environment for diseases like polio to spread.”
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé
Netanyahu to meet with Biden on Tuesday in Washington
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with President Joe Biden in Washington on Tuesday, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Sunday.
The meeting between the two leaders is scheduled to occur at noon on Tuesday, Netanyahu’s office said.
Netanyahu’s flight to Washington is scheduled to leave Israel on Monday morning, the prime minister’s office said.
The meeting between Biden and Netanyahu will come ahead of the Israeli prime minister’s July 24 address to a joint session of Congress.
The two governments had tentatively scheduled a meeting between Biden, who is recovering from COVID, and Netanyahu on Monday.
However, a Biden administration official on Sunday disputed that a date and time have been set for the meeting with Netanyahu, and that an exact date and time are still dependent on when the president tests negative for COVID and returns to Washington, D.C. Biden has been self-isolating in Rehoboth, Delaware.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé and Justin Ryan Gomez
Jul 20, 2024, 2:05 PM EDT Houthis say ‘multiple’ dead, injured in Israeli airstrike on Yemen
Multiple people were killed and others have been injured in an Israeli strike on oil storage facilities in the port of Hodeidah in Yemen, according to the Houthis who said the attack will “only increase the resolve […] of the Yemeni people.”
The Houthis accused Israel of an attack that “targeted civilian facilities, oil tanks and the electricity station in Hodeidah, with the aim of doubling people’s suffering and pressuring Yemen to stop supporting Gaza.”
Israel said its attack came in response to over 200 projectiles that the Houthis have launched toward Israel, saying they targeted the port as as the main supply route for weapons transfers with Iran.
