A protester lobs back a teargas canister at police during a nationwide strike to protest against tax hikes and the Finance Bill 2024 in downtown Nairobi, on June 25, 2024. (Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — In a major turn of events, Kenyan President William Ruto announced Wednesday afternoon from the State House in Nairobi, Kenya, that he is withdrawing the contentious 2024 finance bill.
The bill rocked the East African nation, sparking huge protests nationwide over the past two weeks that turned deadly on Tuesday. At least 23 people were killed and more than 300 injured, according to Amnesty International.
Ruto said he had “reflected” and listened “keenly” to the people of Kenya. He said he concedes, and will not sign the bill.
“The people have spoken,” said Ruto, adding the government has listened to calls from the public for the government to make concessions.
The controversial legislation was aimed at raising $2.7 billion in revenue to alleviate debt and reduce borrowing. Critics argue corruption and greed at the hands of Kenya’s politicians have stolen money from the economy and that ordinary people should not be the ones to pay the price.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange hugs his wife, Stella Assange, after arriving at Canberra Airport in Canberra on June 26, 2024. (William West/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Julian Assange arrived on Wednesday in his native Australia, with the WikiLeaks founder stepping off the plane in Canberra and hugging his wife, Stella.
“Touchdown!” WikiLeaks said on social media. “After enduring nearly 14 years of arbitrary detention in the UK, 5 years in maximum security prison, for his groundbreaking publishing work with WikiLeaks, Julian Assange has arrived home on Australian soil.”
Assange waved to a gathered crowd as he walked along the tarmac. He paused and offered a double thumbs up before entering a terminal building.
Assange had pleaded guilty to a single felony in a U.S. court in the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday and left a free man.
Assange’s release follows a yearslong fight by the U.S. government to extradite him on charges related to documents published by WikiLeaks in 2010.
U.S. prosecutors had accused Assange of conspiring with Chelsea Manning, who, as an intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army, leaked to Assange hundreds of thousands of classified documents, including about 250,000 U.S. Department of State cables.
The Justice Department said Monday it had reached an agreement with Assange to plead guilty to a single felony count of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information.
Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, who had advocated for the charges to be dropped, said in a statement on Wednesday that he’d spoken with Assange, welcoming him home during a phone call.
Albanese also thanked the United States and United Kingdom for making Assange’s return possible.
“As Prime Minister, I have been clear — regardless of what you think of his activities, Mr. Assange’s case had dragged on for too long,” he said. “I have clearly and consistently — at every opportunity and at every level — advocated for Mr Assange’s case to be concluded.”
U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, accused of espionage, looks out from inside a glass defendants’ cage prior to a hearing in Yekaterinburg’s Sverdlovsk Regional Court on June 26, 2024. (NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — The trial of Evan Gershkovich, an American journalist charged with espionage in Russia, was convened on Wednesday behind closed doors, as U.S. officials accused the Kremlin of using the case “to achieve its political objectives.”
The proceedings in Sverdlovsk Regional Court in Yekaterinburg, a city hundreds of miles from Moscow, will mark the first time prosecutors have laid out their evidence against the Wall Street Journal reporter, who they’ve accused of working for the CIA.
The case against the journalist has been widely denounced by U.S. officials and press-freedom advocates, along with Gershkovich’s editor and publisher.
“When his case comes before a judge this week, it will not be a trial as we understand it, with a presumption of innocence and a search for the truth,” Emma Tucker, the Journal’s editor-in-chief, wrote in an open letter published Tuesday.
Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023 while reporting in the Sverdlovsk region, where Russian officials claimed he was collecting secrets on the “production and repair of military equipment” for the CIA. The indictment against Gershkovich was approved by prosecutors earlier this month, sending the case to the regional court for trial.
The reporter appeared in court on Wednesday with a shaved head, briefly smiling at the gathered photographers from inside the glass cage common for defendants in Russian courtrooms. The press were expected to be asked to leave the courtroom prior to the start of the secret trial.
Officials from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow traveled to the courthouse on Wednesday and were given brief access to Gershkovich before the proceedings began, according to a statement. Russian authorities have failed to provide evidence supporting the charges, the statement said.
“His case is not about evidence, procedural norms, or the rule of law,” the statement said. “It is about the Kremlin using American citizens to achieve its political objectives.”
U.S. officials declared in April 2023 that Gershkovich’s detention was wrongful, accusing Russia at the time of attempting to quiet opposition voices and conducting an “ongoing war against the truth.”
The Kremlin’s efforts to suppress dissent have in the last year become “even more oppressive,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in March, as he marked a year since the journalist’s arrest.
“To date, Russia has provided no evidence of wrongdoing for a simple reason: Evan did nothing wrong,” Blinken said. “Journalism is not a crime.”
Gershkovich and his lawyers attempted to appeal for release several times over the the 15 months, but those appeals were all denied. His pre-trial detention had been extended until June 30.
“They have made false claims about his behavior, about his actions, about associations with the United States government that simply aren’t true,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters during a briefing on Tuesday in Washington.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly made clear, he wants to trade Gershkovich, most likely as a prison exchange for Russians held in the United States.
Russia and the United States carried out similar high-profile swaps in 2022, when WBNA star Brittney Griner was exchanged for Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms trafficker, and a former U.S. Marine, Trevor Reed, was traded for a pilot convicted of drug smuggling.
Negotiations between Russia and the U.S. continue but so far have not produced a result. A senior Russian official last week claimed Russia had made a proposal to the U.S. but alleged that it appeared for now the U.S. was unwilling to accept it.
The Biden administration has said it considers Gershkovich and the case of another American held in Russia, former Marine Paul Whelan, as top priorities and is continuing to negotiate with Russia for their release.
“Russia should stop using individuals like Evan Gershkovich or Paul Whelan as bargaining chips,” the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said in its Wednesday statement. “They should both be released immediately.”
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. officials are defending President Joe Biden’s decision to build a $230 million temporary pier off Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid as a better-than-nothing solution to the worsening crisis there, even as rough waves have forced its closure several times in the past month and aid workers on shore say it’s nearly impossible to distribute the supplies due to safety concerns.
According to the military, which invited reporters to tour the pier for the first time on Tuesday, the structure has enabled the delivery of some 13.6 million pounds of food to a United Nations-run warehouse on shore. The amount is roughly equivalent to what the U.N. says can fit inside 200 to 600 of its ground trucks — less than half of what aid organizations say Gaza’s two million residents might need in a day.
“This is a temporary solution to help rush aid into the zone, again recognizing the dire security situation there. But we’re going to continue to look at all ways to get security in there,” said Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary.
Biden’s decision to build the pier came amid frustration with the Israelis that they were allowing too few aid trucks inside Gaza, citing security concerns. The plan was that the pier would enable some two million meals a day — or 150 trucks — that could augment ground convoys carrying supplies through border crossings like Kerem Shalom in Israel and Rafah in Egypt.
But that hasn’t happened.
Since being anchored in mid-May, the pier has been operational about half the time it has been in place. The temporary structure, built to rise and fall with the waves, has had to be moved twice to the Israeli port of Ashdod due to rough seas — including once because portions of the pier broke and it had to be repaired.
In an interview with ABC News, Army Col. Samuel Miller, commander of the 7th Transportation Brigade, said the hope is that seas are calmer in July. He said it’s possible though that weather will become more of a factor in August and into fall.
“We knew coming here there were going to be challenges. And we’ve seen just about every one of those challenges,” Miller told ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz in an interview on Tuesday from the pier.
For now, he later added, “We’re resolute and we’re back out here.”
Officials say the military warned the White House beforehand of the likely complications, including high seas, that would make the pier inoperable. But with few other options, Biden announced his decision during his State of the Union speech last March and ordered 1,000 U.S. troops to deploy to facilitate the maritime corridor.
Aid organizations say an even bigger problem is that there’s no system to distribute the aid once it arrives. The U.N.’s World Food Programme had struck an agreement with the military to deliver the aid that arrives via the pier, as Biden has insisted that no U.S. troops deploy on shore in Gaza. But WFP temporarily suspended operations earlier this month, pending a security review, and has not resumed operations.
“The risks, frankly, are becoming increasingly intolerable,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the U.N. secretary-general, told reporters on Tuesday.
Kate Phillips-Barrasso, vice president of global policy and advocacy for Mercy Corps, which operates inside Gaza, said the issue isn’t with the pier itself but the “complete lack” of safety guarantees to aid workers from the Israelis.
“It doesn’t matter if the aid comes in over land or through the sea. It’s impossible to deliver at a scale that would prevent massive food insecurity and potential famine” without guarantees given to aid workers and safe corridors, Phillips-Barrasso said.
When asked about the U.N. potentially suspending humanitarian operations across Gaza, the Pentagon’s Ryder said there were no plans for U.S. service members to fill that role should that happen.
“We’re going to continue to work with humanitarian organizations via USAID and other regional partners to ensure that we can find a way to get that,” he said.
In the meantime, Col. Miller said the military troops tending to the pier will keep going until they are told to stop.
“We’re out here to do our mission — to move those pallets — and those above us will make those decisions,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — An American who traveled to the Bahamas to attend a yoga retreat has been missing for nearly a week, her family and police said.
Taylor Casey, 41, of Chicago, was last seen on June 19 in the area of Paradise Island, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
The search for Casey continued on Tuesday, with authorities searching by ground and with drones, the police force told ABC News.
Her family said she disappeared while attending a yoga retreat on Paradise Island and that they are “deeply concerned” for her safety.
“I believe Taylor is in danger because she was eager to share her yoga retreat experience with others upon her return,” her mother, Colette Seymore, said in a statement on Monday. “Taylor would never disappear like this.”
Casey, who has been practicing yoga for 15 years, was last seen at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat Bahamas, her family said.
She was attending a yoga certification retreat when she failed to attend classes on the morning of June 20, the yoga retreat said. She was last seen the evening of June 19 at the retreat, according to the organization, which said it asked police to investigate.
“The Ashram is asking anyone with information on Ms. Casey to contact the local police,” the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat Bahamas said in a statement to ABC News on Tuesday. “In the interim it is collaborating with the authorities on their investigation.”
The organization said it also advised Casey’s family and the U.S. Embassy about her disappearance.
A State Department spokesperson told ABC News that they are aware of reports of a U.S. citizen missing in the Bahamas.
“When a U.S. citizen is missing, we work closely with local authorities as they carry out their search efforts, and we share information with families however we can,” the spokesperson said. “The Department of State has no higher priority than the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad. We stand ready to provide assistance to U.S. citizens in need and to their families.”
The spokesperson said the State Department had no further comment due to privacy concerns.
Casey is described as a light-skinned Black woman, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall and 145 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She has natural hair that is often covered by a durag, her family said.
Her family urged anyone with information on Casey’s whereabouts to come forward.
“We are deeply concerned for Taylor’s safety and well-being,” her mother said. “We love Taylor and want her home.”
An airplane (C) that carried Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is pictured on the tarmac at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok on June 25, 2024. (MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Julian Assange pleaded guilty to a felony at a United States federal courthouse in the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday and walked out of court a free man.
The Justice Department had reached an agreement for Assange to plead guilty to a single felony count of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information. The judge in the case sentenced Assange to time served.
Speaking outside the court in Saipan following the hearing, Assange’s chief U.S. lawyer, Barry J. Pollack, called the prosecution of Assange “unprecedented.”
“[The Espionage Act] has never been used by the United States to pursue a publisher, a journalist,” Pollack said.
“He has suffered tremendously in his fight for free speech, for freedom of the press, and to ensure that the American public and the world gets truthful and important newsworthy information,” he continued. “We firmly believe that Mr. Assange never should have been charged under the Espionage Act and engaged in exercise that journalists engage in every day, and we are thankful that they do.”
The WikiLeaks founder arrived at the U.S. territory, located in the western Pacific, to “formalize the plea deal,” WikiLeaks said.
He was photographed arriving at the U.S. District Court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, Wednesday morning local time wearing a dark suit and brown tie.
Following the plea hearing, Assange is expected to travel to his native Australia.
Assange was photographed earlier Tuesday boarding a private plane in the United Kingdom after he reached a deal with prosecutors in the U.S. to plead guilty to a single felony count.
Assange had been accused by the United States of conspiring with Chelsea Manning, who, as an intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army, leaked to Assange hundreds of thousands of classified documents, including about 250,000 U.S. Department of State cables. WikiLeaks began publishing those documents in 2010.
“Julian Assange is free,” WikiLeaks said in a statement posted to social media early on Tuesday.
Assange on Monday walked out of London’s Belmarsh High Security Prison after more than five years at the facility, WikiLeaks said. He’d spent 1901 days there, the group said.
“He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK,” WikiLeaks said.
“After more than five years in a 2×3 metre cell, isolated 23 hours a day, he will soon reunite with his wife Stella Assange, and their children, who have only known their father from behind bars,” WikiLeaks added.
Stella Assange, a longtime partner who married Assange in 2022, released a statement praising the “incredible movement” that had sprung up to protest Assange’s detention and the U.S. charges against him.
“A movement of people from all walks of life, from around the world who support not just Julian, and not just us and our family, but what Julian stands for: Truth and justice,” Stella Assange said. “We still need your help. What starts now with Julian’s freedom is a new chapter.”
(LONDON) — When Wikileaks founder Julian Assange sets foot in his native Australia Wednesday, he will be a free man for the first time after 14 years spent in some form of confinement while attempting to avoid U.S. prosecution.
He will also meet his two young sons for the first time ever outside of prison.
Assange is due to appear in federal court in the Northern Marianas Islands, a remote U.S. territory in the Western Pacific, early Wednesday morning local time, where he will plead guilty to one felony count of illegally obtaining and classified information as part of a plea deal with U.S. prosecutors. After that, he is expected to fly to his native Australia. There he will be met by his wife, Stella and their two young sons, who have never known him outside of captivity.
“When we met he was under house arrest. It will be the first time that I get to see him as a fully free man,” Stella Assange told Reuters on Tuesday, after news of the plea deal was announced.
Stella first met Assange as his lawyer in 2011 when he was under house arrest in the U.K. fighting extradition to Sweden on potential sexual assault charges. Shortly afterward, Assange fled to Ecuador’s embassy in London to avoid the charges. He remained trapped there for seven years, facing arrest if he stepped outside.
Assange and Stella began a relationship while he was confined in the embassy, and they conceived their two sons there.
In 2019, Assange was arrested by U.K. police after Ecuador evicted him from the embassy and a British court sentenced him to 50 weeks in London’s Belmarsh prison for violating his bail conditions related to the Swedish sexual assault charges, even though Swedish prosecutors by then had dropped the charges. Since then, Assange has spent the past five years in Belmarsh, one of the U.K.’s most high-security prisons.
The couple’s sons, Gabriel and Max, aged 7 and 5, have only ever met their father in visitor rooms during twice-a-month visits to Belmarsh. In 2022, Stella and Assange married in a ceremony held at the prison.
Stella Assange described the visits to ABC News last summer, saying each time she and the boys had to endure searches by guards, including in their mouths, and be examined by sniffer dogs.
At the time, Stella said she feared Assange wouldn’t survive being extradited to the U.S.
“If he’s taken to the U.S. I can feel it that he will never come home,” she told ABC outside the prison, following one such visit.
Assange was confined to his cell in Belmarsh 23 hours a day, according to a journalist who wrote in The Nation about visiting him in prison last year. A United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture in 2019 criticized British authorities, saying the handling of Assange’s case put in doubt the U.K.’s commitment to human rights, and saying his treatment in Belmarsh amounted to “psychological torture”.
Stella Assange said the family now plans to spend time recovering in Australia, where the government has pressed the U.S. for years to free Assange. The sensitivity of the plea deal and the need to avoid leaks meant Stella decided not to tell her sons of their father’s release even as they flew to Australia to meet him, she said in an interview with BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday.
“We got on the plane and I told them that we were going to visit our family, their cousin, their grandfather and so on. And they still don’t know,” she told Radio 4. “We’ve been very careful because, obviously, no one can stop a five- and a seven-year-old from shouting it from the rooftops at any given moment.
Stella Assange led the campaign to free Assange over the years, defending him as a journalist being persecuted for his publishing evidence of misconduct by the U.S. government and military.
U.S. prosecutors’ decision to charge Assange under the Espionage Act alarmed press freedom advocates and also leading U.S. media organizations, which feared the decision risked setting a precedent that could criminalize the publication of government secrets, something news outlets routinely do. Major news organizations, including The New York Times, had urged the Biden administration to drop the case.
Stella Assange said the plea deal still posed that danger to news organizations in the U.S. because even though it carried no additional prison time, Assange had still been convicted under the Espionage Act. She said Assange’s team intends to seek a full pardon following his release.
“The correct course of action from the U.S. government should have been to drop the case entirely,” she told Reuters. “The fact that there is a guilty plea under the Espionage Act in relation to obtaining and disclosing national defense information is obviously a very serious concern for journalists.”
Protesters react after being pushed by Kenya Police officers while demonstrating during a nationwide strike to protest against tax hikes and the Finance Bill 2024 in downtown Nairobi, on June 25, 2024. (Luis Tato/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Police allegedly fired live ammunition at anti-government protesters in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi on Tuesday, as thousands of people demonstrated against proposed tax hikes in the East African nation.
Mathias Kinyoda, spokesperson for Amnesty International in Kenya, told ABC News that the death toll from Tuesday’s clashes between police and protesters was at least eight people, but said it was still too early to say with certainty.
An airplane (C) that carried Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is pictured on the tarmac at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok on June 25, 2024. (MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — A plane believed to be carrying Julian Assange landed on Tuesday in Bangkok, Thailand.
The WikiLeaks founder was photographed boarding a private plane in the United Kingdom after he reached a deal with prosecutors in the United States to plead guilty to a single felony count.
Assange had been accused by the United States of conspiring with Chelsea Manning, who, as an intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army, leaked to Assange hundreds of thousands of classified documents, including about 250,000 U.S. Department of State cables. WikiLeaks began publishing those documents in 2010.
“Julian Assange is free,” WikiLeaks said in a statement posted to social media early on Tuesday.
Assange early on Monday walked out of London’s Belmarsh High Security Prison after more than five years at the facility, WikiLeaks said. He’d spent 1,901 days there, the group said.
“He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK,” WikiLeaks said.
Assange is expected to stop in Thailand before traveling to a the Northern Mariana Islands, where he’s expected to plead guilty in a U.S. federal court. He’s then expected to continue on to his native Australia.
“After more than five years in a 2×3 metre cell, isolated 23 hours a day, he will soon reunite with his wife Stella Assange, and their children, who have only known their father from behind bars,” WikiLeaks said.
Stella Assange, a longtime partner who married Assange in 2022, released a statement praising the “incredible movement” that had sprung up to protest Assange’s detention and the U.S. charges against him.
“A movement of people from all walks of life, from around the world who support not just Julian, and not just us and our family, but what Julian stands for: Truth and justice,” Stella Assange said. “We still need your help. What starts now with Julian’s freedom is a new chapter.”
Tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip are pictured on June 4, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, negotiations are apparently stalled to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization, and Israeli forces continue to launch incursions in the southern Gazan town of Rafah ahead of a possible large-scale invasion.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jun 25, 6:18 AM Fourteen killed in IDF strikes on two Gaza schools, Gaza officials say
The Israel Defense Forces overnight conducted airstrikes on two schools where internally displaced people were sheltering in Gaza City, killing 14 people according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
The IDF said the strikes were on “terrorists operating inside two structures” and that the targets were “terrorists involved in holding hostages.”
An IDF statement said that “aerial surveillance checks, precise munitions, and additional intelligence measures were all used in order to mitigate harm to civilians.”
Video filmed by a civil defense first responder at the Abdel Fattah Hamoud school in central Gaza City appears to show an unconscious girl being pulled from flaming rubble at one school. Burns appear to cover much of her body.
According to the Ministry of Health, eight people were killed in that strike, including five children.
Jun 24, 4:36 PM Netanyahu says he’s committed to Israeli deal proposal that Biden presented
While addressing Israel’s parliament on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he remains “committed” to the Israeli hostage/cease-fire proposal that President Joe Biden had presented.
“Will not end the war until we return all the abductees — 120 abductees — both the living and the dead. We are committed to the Israeli proposal that President Biden welcomed. Our position has not changed,” Netanyahu said.
He added, “We will not end the war until we eliminate Hamas and until we return the residents of the south and the north safely to their homes. … [And] we will thwart Iran’s intentions to destroy us.”
Senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya told Al Jazeera on Monday evening that “Netanyahu’s statements confirmed our view that he does not want a cease-fire or the return of [Israeli] prisoners. … Netanyahu’s real stance is that he wants to retrieve his prisoners and continue the war.”
“We are ready for genuine negotiations if Netanyahu adheres to the principles outlined by President Biden,” he said. “We are ready for negotiations that achieve a cessation of aggression and a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.”
Jun 24, 4:25 PM Number of children missing, separated from families in Gaza may be as high as 21,000: Report
The number of children who are missing or separated from their families in Gaza may be as many as 21,000, according to humanitarian aid group Save the Children.
This organization — which has been providing support for Palestinian children in the region since 1953 — reports that likely 17,000 children are unaccompanied and separated, and another 4,000 children are likely buried under the rubble based on data from the United Nations and the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza.
“Children who are missing but living are vulnerable, face grave protection risks and must be found. They must be protected and reunited with their families,” said Save the Children’s Regional Director for the Middle East Jeremy Stoner. “For the children who have been killed, their deaths must be formally marked, their families informed, burial rites respected, and accountability sought.”
Jun 24, 4:13 PM Blinken meets with Israel’s defense minister
State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Secretary of State Antony Blinken is emphasizing several points in his ongoing meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday afternoon.
“No. 1, our ongoing commitment to Israel’s security,” Miller said. “No. 2, the importance of Israel developing robust, realistic plans for the day after the conflict, plans that include a path towards governance, towards security, towards reconstruction.”
“He’s going to emphasize the need to avoid further escalation of the conflict, and then he will, as always, emphasize the need to improve humanitarian access [in Gaza], where we have seen somewhat of a slowdown in access in the south,” Miller continued, adding that Blinken hoped to hear “concrete commitments from [Gallant] to work on that problem.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Jun 24, 2:28 PM Pentagon: Only the 1 shipment of 2,000-pound bombs has been delayed
Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments alleging a U.S. slowdown in military aid to Israel, the Pentagon continues to say that only the one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs has been suspended.
“Again, just to clarify, we have paused one shipment to Israel,” Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters on Monday.
“Everything else continues to flow on schedule as normal. It is not diminished,” he said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who is in Washington, D.C., for meetings with U.S. officials, will meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on Tuesday, Ryder said.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Jun 24, 11:32 AM Looting, smuggling hindering delivery of aid in Gaza: UNRWA chief
“Gaza has been decimated” and life there is a “living hell,” Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said in an address to other U.N. officials on Monday.
He said the breakdown of civil order and “catastrophic levels of hunger” have caused looting and smuggling that are hindering the delivery of aid.
“Children are dying of malnutrition and dehydration, while food and clean water wait in trucks,” he said.
Lazzarini also provided an update on the allegations that UNRWA staff members were involved in Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel.
He said out of 19 cases assigned to be investigated: one has been closed and the staffer was reinstated; four were suspended due to insufficient evidence; and 14 investigations are ongoing.
Jun 24, 11:19 AM Netanyahu says he’s committed to Israeli deal proposal that Biden presented
While addressing Israel’s parliament on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he remains “committed” to the Israeli hostage/cease-fire proposal that President Joe Biden had presented.
“Will not end the war until we return all the abductees — 120 abductees — both the living and the dead. We are committed to the Israeli proposal that President Biden welcomed. Our position has not changed,” Netanyahu said.
He added, “We will not end the war until we eliminate Hamas and until we return the residents of the south and the north safely to their homes. … [And] we will thwart Iran’s intentions to destroy us.”
Jun 23, 6:41 PM Israeli airstrike kills eight people in Gaza City: Gaza Ministry of Health
Eight people were killed Sunday in an Israeli airstrike on the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
The IDF said they were targeting Hamas infrastructure and took measures to reduce risk to civilians.
Jun 23, 9:22 AM Netanyahu claims there was ‘dramatic decrease’ in US weapons shipments
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement Sunday claiming there was a “dramatic decrease” in munitions from the United States starting some four months ago, and said he decided to talk about it publicly because of lack of change behind closed doors.
“Since the start of the war, the U.S. has given us support in spirit and in materiel — defensive and offensive means. But four months ago, there was a dramatic decrease in the munitions coming to Israel from the U.S.,” Netanyahu said in the statement. “For long weeks, we turned to our American friends and requested that the shipments be expedited. We did this time and again. We did so at the highest levels, and at all levels, and I want to emphasize — we did so behind closed doors.
“We received all sorts of explanations, but one thing we did not receive; the basic situation did not change. Certain items arrived sporadically but the munitions at large remained behind,” Netanyahu continued.
“After months in which there was no change in this situation, I decided to give this public expression,” he said. “We did so out of years of experience and the knowledge that this step was vital to opening the bottleneck.”
“In light of what I have heard over the past 24 hours, I hope and believe that this issue will be resolved in the near future,” Netanyahu said, in part.
Last week, Netanyahu publicly claimed the Biden administration is broadly withholding military support for Israel amid its ongoing war with Hamas. Biden administration officials flatly denied the allegations.
Netanyahu, referring to a recent meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Israel, had said he told Blinken, “It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”
Blinken had later declined to relate exactly what was said in private diplomatic conversations and did not deny that he had assured Netanyahu the U.S. was working to remove bottlenecks inhibiting the supply of American arms and ammunition to Israel.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Shannon K. Crawford
Jun 22, 12:03 PM 42 killed in strikes in north Gaza
Strikes in multiple neighborhoods across northern Gaza today have killed 42 people according to Gaza’s Civil Defense. Videos from the immediate aftermath of the strike show an entire building leveled, children covered in dust.
A bombing of Al-Shati camp killed 24 people, a bombing in Al-Tufaah killed 18 people — the number of casualties is likely to increase — and a bombing in Al-Zaytoun killed 7 people, according to Civil Defense.
Fifty others were injured in the attacks, according to the Hamas media office.
Several others are still trapped under the rubble.
The Israel Defense Forces told ABC News they struck two Hamas military infrastructure sites in Gaza City.
Jun 21, 11:57 AM Netanyahu says video accusing US of withholding weapons ‘was absolutely necessary’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Punchbowl News that he felt his video publicly accusing the Biden administration of withholding weapons “was absolutely necessary after months of quiet conversation that did not solve the problem.”
“We began to see that we had some significant problems emerging a few months ago. And, in fact, we tried, in many, many quiet conversations between our officials and American officials, and between me and the president, to try to iron out this diminution of supply. And we haven’t been able to solve it,” Netanyahu said.
“I raised this issue with Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken. And I said that we are being told by our Defense Department officials that barely a trickle is coming in. He said, ‘Well, everything is in process. We’re doing everything to untangle it. And to clear up the bottlenecks,'” Netanyahu continued.
The U.S. has pushed back on Netanyahu’s claim, noting that only one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs has been withheld.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that Netanyahu’s video “was vexing and disappointing to us — as much as it was incorrect.”
“No other country is doing more to help Israel defend itself,” Kirby said.
Netanyahu said in his July 24 remarks to Congress, he plans “to speak to the broad spectrum of the American people and to cull bipartisan support that is still solid in America.”
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle and Will Gretsky
Jun 20, 5:59 PM Flow of aid resumes at temporary Gaza pier: Pentagon
The flow of aid through a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza has resumed after it was preemptively detached from the beach to ride out rough seas, the Pentagon confirmed.
“I can confirm that U.S. Central Command personnel re-anchored and re-established the temporary pier to the Gaza beach yesterday,” Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Thursday. “As has been the case in the past, Israeli Defense Force engineers provided all the necessary support to ensure the safe and placement of the pier on the beach. And there were no U.S. boots on the ground during the reestablishment of the pier.”
Since resuming overnight, more than 1.4. million pounds of humanitarian assistance has flowed from Cyprus to Gaza, he said.
Overall, more than 9.1 million pounds have been delivered through the corridor since May 17, he said.
Ryder stressed that no end-date has been established for the pier mission.
“We’ll continue to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian aid via the maritime corridor and as always take necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of the personnel operating the pier to include adjusting to sea states in the eastern Mediterranean Sea,” he said.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Jun 20, 1:56 PM White House: Netanyahu video was ‘perplexing,’ ‘disappointing’
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the video released by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming the U.S. had paused weapons shipments was a surprise.
The video was “perplexing to say the least” and “certainly disappointing, especially given that no other country is doing more to help Israel defend itself,” Kirby told reporters on Thursday.
Netanyahu said in a video Tuesday, “It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”
Asked if the administration had any sense of why Netanyahu felt it was necessary to release the video, Kirby reiterated their frustration.
“No idea. You’d have to talk to the prime minister about what prompted him to do that. Again, it was vexing and disappointing to us — as much as it was incorrect. So difficult to know exactly what was on his mind,” he said.
Kirby was also asked about efforts behind the scenes to get an apology from Netanyahu over the video. Kirby said, “I think we’ve made it abundantly clear to our Israeli counterparts from various vehicles our deep disappointment in the statements expressed in that video and our concerns over the accuracy in the statements made.”
Netanyahu said in response Thursday, “I am ready to suffer personal attacks provided that Israel receives from the U.S. the ammunition it needs in the war for its existence.”
Kirby also confirmed that national security adviser Jake Sullivan was still holding a meeting on Thursday with high-level Israeli officials.
Kirby said the “wide-ranging meeting” will include “everything that’s going on with the Gaza war, with our support to Israel, with our efforts to get a better sense of how they’re continuing to prosecute operations against Hamas, as well as continuing to talk about the importance of closing on this deal.”
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle and Michelle Stoddart
Jun 20, 12:02 PM Netanyahu meets with families of hostages declared dead in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Thursday with the families of hostages declared dead in Gaza.
Netanyahu met with rescued hostages right away but has received criticism for not meeting with the families of the dead until now.
“We are committed to returning all of them, all 120 abductees — the living and the victims alike,” Netanyahu said to the families. “We will not give up on anyone.”
The Hostage Center is holding another large rally on Saturday calling for the government to reach a cease-fire deal and bring the rest of the hostages home.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Jun 19, 7:39 PM Temporary pier to resume flow of aid
The temporary pier (JLOTS) off the coast of Gaza has been reattached to the beach, according to two defense officials. Aid should begin flowing soon says one of the officials.
Since the pier first became operational on May 7, more than 3,500 metric tons of humanitarian aid have been transported to that beach for distribution inside Gaza.
But the pier has had two lengthy breaks in service, the first time when rough seas broke off sections of the pier, and this latest preemptive move to the port of Ashdod so it could ride out rough seas to avoid a repetition of the first break in service.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Jun 19, 4:32 PM Top Israeli officials meeting with US on Thursday
Top Israeli advisers Tzachi Hanegbi and Ron Dermer are traveling from Israel to meet with national security adviser Jake Sullivan at the White House on Thursday, senior administration officials told ABC News.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will also meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in the coming days.
But another high-level meeting focused on Israel’s security, including Iran, has been canceled by the U.S., according to administration officials. The U.S. is looking to reschedule it.
While administration officials said the high-level meeting was never fully finalized on the schedule, other sources inside the White House said there was frustration over Netanyahu’s video claiming the U.S. had paused weapons shipments, which did impact the decision not to hold the meeting.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Jun 19, 2:09 PM IDF spokesman: Hamas is an ‘idea,’ can’t be eliminated
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said in an interview with Channel 13 in Israel that “Hamas is an idea,” adding, “Whoever thinks that it can be eliminated is wrong.”
“The notion that it is possible to destroy Hamas, to make Hamas disappear, is simply to mislead the public,” Hagari said.
This contradicts statements from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has said destroying Hamas is the war’s key objective.
Following Hagari’s interview, the IDF said in a statement that it’s “committed to achieving the goals of the war as defined by the cabinet, has been working in this way throughout the war day and night and will continue to do so.”
“The commanders of the IDF and those who serve fight with determination and persistence to destroy the military capabilities and the governmental and organizational infrastructure of Hamas in Gaza, a distinct military goal,” the IDF said. “In his words, the IDF spokesman referred to the destruction of Hamas as an ideology and an idea, and the words were said by him in a clear and explicit manner. Any other claim is taking things out of context.”
In response to Hagari’s comments, the prime minister’s office said, “The political and security cabinet headed by Prime Minister Netanyahu defined as one of the goals of the war the destruction of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities. The IDF is of course committed to this.”
Jun 19, 11:42 AM Hezbollah leader says they’re not ruling out sending forces into Israel
As tensions between Israel and Lebanon escalate, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah once again threatened to enter Israel with Hezbollah forces.
Speaking at a memorial service for a Hezbollah commander who was killed by the Israeli military, he said entering Galilee in northern Israel “remains on the table if the confrontation develops.”
Nasrallah also claimed Hezbollah has obtained new weapons.
Jun 19, 11:36 AM Biden’s team enraged, frustrated by Netanyahu’s video: US official
President Joe Biden’s team is enraged and frustrated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s video that criticized the U.S. for withholding certain weapons, a U.S. official told ABC News.
U.S. officials have made clear to the Israelis that Netanyahu’s video is inaccurate and out of line, the official said.
Jun 19, 11:32 AM US-Israel meeting canceled after Netanyahu criticizes US
A meeting between U.S. and Israeli officials set for Thursday to discuss Iran has been canceled in the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement on Tuesday that criticized the U.S. for withholding certain weapons, according to an Israeli source familiar with the discussions.
A specific time had not been finalized for the meeting at the time of the cancellation, two U.S. officials told ABC News.
One official said national security adviser Jake Sullivan had been traveling and was looking to reschedule. The U.S. is working with Israeli counterparts to find a different time for the meeting.
Netanyahu said when he met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Israel recently, he told Blinken, “It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”
“Israel, America’s closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies,” Netanyahu said. “Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks. I certainly hope that’s the case. It should be the case.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew told Netanyahu Tuesday that the ammunition and weapons that he referred to are in the process of being delivered to Israel, according to the prime minister’s office.
“With the exception of ongoing discussion regarding large diameter munitions, other items are either delivered or in the process of being delivered, or in the normal review process,” the embassy said.
Two U.S. officials involved in approving arms transfers to Israel told ABC News Tuesday that shipments continue to be greenlit as the administration executes on both longstanding orders in the pipeline as well as new requests made after the onset of the war.
The sole exception, the officials said, is the frozen shipment of the 2,000-pound bombs. The officials said the decision to pause that delivery was made by the White House and that, if it’s ultimately lifted, they expect that order will come from the White House, too.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang and Michelle Stoddart
Jun 19, 11:06 AM Netanyahu tells coalition partners to ‘get a hold of themselves’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is criticizing members of his coalition in a new statement. There have been reports of increased infighting since the war cabinet’s dissolution on Monday.
“We are fighting on several fronts and face great challenges and difficult decisions. Therefore, I demand that all coalition partners get a hold of themselves and rise to the importance of the hour,” Netanyahu said.
“This is not the time for petty politics or for legislation that endangers the coalition, which is fighting for victory over our enemies,” he said. “We must all focus solely on the tasks at hand: Defeating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and returning our residents securely to their homes, both in the north and the south.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Jun 19, 10:35 AM US-Israel meeting canceled after Netanyahu criticizes US
A meeting between U.S. and Israeli officials set for Thursday to discuss Iran has been canceled in the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement on Tuesday that criticized the U.S. for withholding certain weapons, according to an Israeli source familiar with the discussions.
Netanyahu said when he met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Israel recently, he told Blinken, “It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”
“Israel, America’s closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies,” Netanyahu said. “Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks. I certainly hope that’s the case. It should be the case.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew told Netanyahu Tuesday that the ammunition and weapons that he referred to are in the process of being delivered to Israel, according to the prime minister’s office.
“With the exception of ongoing discussion regarding large diameter munitions, other items are either delivered or in the process of being delivered, or in the normal review process,” the embassy said.
Two U.S. officials involved in approving arms transfers to Israel told ABC News Tuesday that shipments continue to be greenlit as the administration executes on both longstanding orders in the pipeline as well as new requests made after the onset of the war.
The sole exception, the officials said, is the frozen shipment of the 2,000-pound bombs. The officials said the decision to pause that delivery was made by the White House and that, if it’s ultimately lifted, they expect that order will come from the White House, too.
Jun 18, 4:59 PM Pentagon says US withheld 1 shipment to Israel, defensive security assistance will continue
Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday that the U.S. continues to withhold a single shipment of heavy bombs to Israel and that a final decision on that shipment hasn’t been made.
Ryder declined to address Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s accusation that the U.S. is slowing weapon shipments to Israel in general.
“We are absolutely committed to Israel’s inherent right to defend itself,” Ryder said. “Since Hamas’ vicious attack on Oct. 7, we’ve rushed billions of dollars in security assistance to Israel to enable them to defend themselves. And we are going to continue to provide them the security assistance they need for defense.”
Two U.S. officials involved in approving arms transfers to Israel told ABC News that shipments continue to be greenlit as the administration executes on both longstanding orders in the pipeline as well as new requests made after the onset of the war.
The sole exception, the officials said, is the frozen shipment of the 2,000-pound bombs. The officials said the decision to pause that delivery was made by the White House and that, if it’s ultimately lifted, they expect that order will come from the White House, too.
While the process of actually delivering approved transfers happens across a wide network, including the Department of Defense and private companies, the officials said they weren’t aware of any other holdups that might be perceived as a bottleneck.
In the first weeks and months of the conflict, the Biden administration worked to speed up deliveries to Israel. On two occasions in December, Secretary Antony Blinken invoked an emergency authority to expedite arms sales to Israel, bypassing congressional approval.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty and Shannon Crawford
Jun 18, 3:02 PM Biden’s special envoy calls Hezbollah-Israel conflict ‘urgent’
The Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday that “operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon were approved and validated, and decisions were taken on the continuation of increasing the readiness of troops in the field.”
White House officials are worried about a second war front opening between Israel and Lebanon at Israel’s northern border, dispatching a top aide to President Joe Biden to the region.
Amos Hochstein, a special envoy and deputy assistant at the White House, met Tuesday with Nabih Berri, the speaker of the Lebanese parliament.
“It’s in everyone’s interest to resolve it quickly and diplomatically. That is both achievable and it is urgent,” Hochstein said, according to a transcript provided by the White House.
When asked if the two countries are on the brink of war, Hochstein said he believes a diplomatic solution is possible, adding, “But this is a very serious situation that we are in.”
This meeting followed Hochstein’s in-person meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials on Monday.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby confirmed on Monday that the administration was concerned about the war in Gaza widening to Lebanon.
“If we weren’t concerned about the possibility of escalation and a full blown, second front there, to the north, we wouldn’t still be involved in such intense diplomacy that Mr. Hochstein is over there right now,” Kirby told reporters in a press call.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty
Jun 18, 2:21 PM Netanyahu criticizes US for withholding certain weapons
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement Tuesday criticized the U.S. for withholding certain weapons.
Netanyahu said when he met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Israel recently, he told Blinken, “It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”
“Israel, America’s closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies,” Netanyahu said. “Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks. I certainly hope that’s the case. It should be the case.”
Netanyahu then quoted former U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
“During World War II, Churchill told the United States, ‘Give us the tools, we’ll do the job,'” Netanyahu said. “And I say, give us the tools and we’ll finish the job a lot faster.”
At a news conference Tuesday, Blinken declined to relate exactly what was said in private diplomatic conversations and did not deny that he had assured Netanyahu that the U.S. was working to remove bottlenecks inhibiting the supply of American arms and ammunition to Israel.
Blinken did repeatedly underscore the Biden administration’s commitment to Israel’s defense.
“It’s very important to remember that our security relationship with Israel goes well beyond Gaza. Israel is facing a multiplicity of threats and challenges including in the north, from Hezbollah, from Iran, from the Houthis in the Red Sea, from various groups that are aligned against Israel and in many cases beholden to Iran,” Blinken said.
President Joe Biden “will do everything he can to make sure that Israel has what it needs to effectively defend itself against these threats,” Blinken said. “And a big part of that, as well, is making sure that in providing that assistance to Israel, it has a strong deterrent, which is the best way to avoid more conflict, to avoid more war, to avoid what we’re already seeing in Gaza spreading to other areas.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration is surprised by Netanyahu’s claim of the U.S. withholding weapons.
“We generally do not know what he’s talking about,” she said Tuesday.
Jun 18, 11:12 AM Netanyahu criticizes US for withholding certain weapons
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement Tuesday criticized the U.S. for withholding certain weapons.
Netanyahu said when he met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Israel recently, he told Blinken, “It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”
“Israel, America’s closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies,” Netanyahu said. “Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks. I certainly hope that’s the case. It should be the case.”
Netanyahu then quoted former U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
“During World War II, Churchill told the United States, ‘Give us the tools, we’ll do the job,'” Netanyahu said. “And I say, give us the tools and we’ll finish the job a lot faster.”
Jun 17, 2:58 PM End of Rafah operation weeks away: IDF
The Israeli military is “weeks” away from wrapping up the main part of its controversial ground invasion in and around Rafah in southern Gaza, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told ABC News.
“We are there to dismantle the military framework of the [Hamas’] Rafah Brigade,” Hagari said on Monday.
“We are weeks now just from achieving this goal,” he said.
The Israeli military now controls over 60% of the Rafah area, Israeli defense officials told ABC News on Monday.
-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge, Hugo Leenhardt and Dana Savir
Jun 17, 1:49 PM Israeli forces kill ‘key’ Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that its soldiers have killed Muhammad Mustafa Ayoub, describing him as a “key operative” in Hezbollah’s rocket and missile department in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah confirmed Ayoub’s death in a brief statement.
Jun 17, 8:54 AM Israeli war cabinet disbanded, official says
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has disbanded his war cabinet, the small group of government officials who had been tasked with overseeing decisions about the war against Hamas, a spokesperson said.
The prime minister said there was “no more need for an extra branch of government,” the spokesperson said.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Jun 17, 6:37 AM Netanyahu’s security cabinet to handle war decisions, Israeli official says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government’s security cabinet will now make decisions about the war against Hamas, an Israel official told ABC News.
Netanyahu is now expected to make critical decisions on the war during small ad hoc meetings while seeking final approval from the wider security cabinet.
The decision came about a week after one of three core members of Netanyahu’s war cabinet’s said he would resign from the influential body.
Israeli minister Benny Gantz on Sunday, June 9, said he would resign from both the coalition government led by Netanyahu and the prime minister’s war cabinet.
The war cabinet had been formed on Oct. 11, in the days following the Oct. 7 surprise terrorist attack by Hamas militants.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Kevin Shalvey
Jun 16, 6:41 PM Israeli security cabinet discusses steps to ‘strengthen’ West Bank settlements
The Israeli political security cabinet “discussed steps to strengthen settlements in the West Bank, among other things, in response to countries that unilaterally recognized a Palestinian state after October 7,” in a meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Spain, Ireland and Norway recognized Palestine as a state at the end of May. Separately, 143 of the 193 members in the UN General Assembly voted in favor of a resolution stating that Palestinians qualify for full-member status at the United Nations at the beginning of May, according to the New York Times.
The cabinet also discussed “a series of reactions against the Palestinian Authority following its actions against Israel in international bodies,” the statement added.
The Israeli minister of defense and the deputy prime minister “requested an additional period of time to make their comments,” the statement says, and then the prime minister will “bring all the proposals to a vote at the next cabinet meeting.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Jun 16, 4:35 PM Biden cites pain of Muslims in Gaza in Eid al-Adha holiday statement
President Joe Biden issued a statement Sunday commemorating the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha in which he acknowledged the pain and suffering of innocent civilians in Gaza.
“In Gaza, innocent civilians are suffering the horrors of the war between Hamas and Israel.,” Biden said. “Too many innocent people have been killed, including thousands of children. Families have fled their homes and seen their communities destroyed. Their pain is immense.”
Biden added that his administration is working to end the war and make progress toward a two-state solution.
“And I strongly believe that the three-phase ceasefire proposal Israel has made to Hamas and that the U.N. Security Council has endorsed is the best way to end the violence in Gaza and ultimately end the war,” Biden said.
Biden also cited the conflict in Sudan as well as the targeting of Muslim communities in Burma and China.
He used the holiday to celebrate the contributions of the Muslim community in America and also to say that he is committed to fighting Islamophobia in the United States.
“Hate has no place in America, whether it is targeted at American Muslims, Arab Americans including Palestinians, or anyone else,” Biden said.
He added, “In the spirit of Eid al-Adha, let us all renew our commitment to values that unite us — compassion, empathy, and mutual respect — which are both American and Islamic.”
ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
Jun 16, 5:49 AM Netanyahu not briefed before ‘tactical pause’ announcement, Israeli official tells ABC News
When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heard the reports on Sunday about a daily “tactical pause” along an aid route, he contacted his military secretary and made it clear that this was unacceptable to him, an Israeli official told ABC News.
After an inquiry, the prime minister was informed that there was no change in Isreal Defense Forces policy and that the fighting in Rafah would continue as planned, the official said.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari released a statement in Hebrew shortly after announcement saying the pause will affect a single aid route.
“There is no cessation of fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, and the fighting in Rafah continues,” Hagari said. “Also, there is no change in the introduction of goods into the Gaza Strip.”
-ABC News Jordana Miller, Victoria Beaule and Kevin Shalvey
