Volunteers fight a wildfire near Penteli, on August 12, 2024. Greece’s civil protection authorities ordered the evacuation of several towns in the north-eastern suburbs of Athens, threatened by a violent fire that started the day before and is spreading. (Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Hundreds of firefighters battled dozens of wildfires into submission in Greece over two days, a “superhuman effort” that had been paired with a “rapid operational response” to slow fast-moving blazes that threatened Athens, officials said.
There are no active fires at the moment, the Hellenic Fire Service spokesperson said Tuesday evening local time in Greece.
“Firemen are watering the fire-affected areas today and will keep watering them [over the] next days to keep the ground moist and control possible rekindling,” the spokesperson said.
Fire crews will remain vigilant for possible flare-ups, the spokesperson added.
The European Union’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service estimates that 10,409.7 hectares, or more than 25,000 acres, were burned in the affected area in the Attica region of Greece.
Fire crews battled 41 wildfires over the past 24 hours, the Hellenic Fire Service said in an update earlier Tuesday.
The fire danger is expected to continue into Wednesday, with a “very high risk of fire” predicted in several areas in the regions of Central Macedonia, Eastern Macedonia and the North Aegean, according to the Hellenic Fire Service, which said there will be aerial surveillance patrols due to the risk.
The wildfires, which arrived amid extreme heat, had been cropping up throughout the country since at least Saturday, European officials said.
Greek officials, who said an “outbreak” began Sunday, asked the European Commission for help battling the fires on Monday, according to a notice published by the Commission’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre.
Greek authorities said Tuesday that two minors were arrested for allegedly setting an intentional fire in a forest area in the country’s Attica region, where some wildfires have been raging.
ABC News on Tuesday visited the scene of a shop that was engulfed in flames in the north Athens suburb of Vrilissia, where local authorities said the burned body of a woman was found late Monday. The circumstances of the death were still unclear, but authorities said it appeared the woman had stayed behind or may have been trapped as others evacuated the building, which was located some 18 miles from where a wildfire erupted in the wider Attica region.
Hundreds of firefighters had been working to stop the fast-moving wildfires Monday near Athens, with tens of thousands of people under evacuation orders in the region, emergency officials said. Those fires burned some 6,600 hectares, or about 25 square miles, in the East Attica region, European officials said.
Government officials warned of heightened risk for fire in several areas, including the Athens peninsula and the region north of it. The fire risk category in those areas had been raised to “extreme,” weather officials said in a statement released Sunday.
Those fires burned in a “rugged” location, where firefighters had to navigate mountains, forests and villages, Vassilis Kikilias, the Greek climate minister, said Tuesday.
“This is the reality: despite the rapid operational response — the new doctrine combined with technological support from drones, which has been applied to hundreds of wildfires throughout the summer — when extreme conditions prevail, the problem becomes insurmountable,” he said.
But calmer winds had helped firefighters near Athens get the upper hand on several fires burning in the suburbs.
European countries were sending assistance, including firefighters and vehicles. Italy was sending two planes, and France was sending a helicopter, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said on Monday. Teams of firefighters were on their way from Czechia and Romania, she said.
Temperatures near Athens were expected to climb on Tuesday to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with daily highs expected to be over 95 degrees for the remainder of the week, according to the Hellenic National Meteorological Center.
Dozens of blazes were burning Monday along the edges of a fire that broke out in Varnavas on Sunday afternoon, Col. Vassilios Vathrakogiannis, of the country’s fire service, said in a statement on Monday.
More than 700 firefighters and nearly 200 vehicles were working with the Civil Protection agencies, he said. Eighteen helicopters and 17 other firefighting aircraft had been in use since the Varnavas blaze began spreading.
Kikilias, the climate minister, said the people in towns north of Athens knew that “the firefighters, the Police, the Local Government, the volunteers, and the Army were there, fighting with superhuman efforts to prevent worse consequences.”
“These same firefighters have been working throughout the summer, extinguishing one fire after another,” he said.
ABC News’ Emma Ogao, Ellie Kaufman, Guy Davies, Britt Clennett and Daphne Tolls contributed to this report.
Ukrainian tank crew take a break while operating a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Ukrainian forces are still seeking to advance deeper into Russia’s Kursk region, but appear to be coming up against increased Russian resistance more than a week since Ukraine launched its unprecedented incursion across the border.
Russia’s Defense Ministry and pro-Kremlin military bloggers reported Tuesday that Ukrainian forces again launched multiple attempts overnight to break through Russian defensive lines roughly 20 km, or about 12 miles, inside the Kursk region, seeking to further expand a bridgehead captured there in the first days of the Ukrainian offensive operation.
Those reports claimed the Ukrainian attacks were largely rebuffed, but that Russian positions remained under pressure. More Russian forces continue to also arrive to counterattack Ukraine’s surprise attack, which is the first foreign incursion into Russia since World War II.
On the border of Ukraine’s Sumy region, foreign journalists, including The New York Times, reported seeing columns of Ukrainian troops and armored vehicles continuing to cross over into Russia, passing unhindered through the border crossing.
Ukrainian troops are trying to expand their area of control from the border town of Sudzha in multiple directions. They have been attempting for several days to capture the village of Korenevo, which is about 40 km northwesterly, which would allow them to move toward a key highway, but so far have been unable to dislodge Russian units, according to Russian military bloggers.
Ukraine’s top commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskiy, told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday that Ukraine controlled roughly 1,000 square km, or about 386 square miles, of Russian territory in Kursk.
Ukrainian forces have not moved significantly forward in the past several days, suggesting that advancing has become more difficult as Russia recovers from the initial surprise and rushes more reinforcements to the region. Russia has been using aircraft and drones to target Ukrainian units.
An increased number of videos appearing to show destroyed Ukrainian vehicles have been appearing on pro-Russian social media accounts, including some associated with Russia’s military.
Russian analysts have also warned Ukraine could attempt to launch new incursions at other points along the border.
Volunteers fight a wildfire near Penteli, on August 12, 2024. Greece’s civil protection authorities ordered the evacuation of several towns in the north-eastern suburbs of Athens, threatened by a violent fire that started the day before and is spreading. (Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Hundreds of firefighters battled dozens of wildfires into submission in Greece over an about 40-hour period, a “superhuman effort” that had been paired with a “rapid operational response” to slow fast-moving blazes that threatened Athens, officials said.
“Forty hours after the extremely dangerous wildfire broke out in Varnavas, we can now say that there is no active front, only scattered hotspots,” Vassilis Kikilias, the Greek climate minister, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Firefighters detected and fought some 44 wild blazes in the 24 hours leading up to Monday evening, curbing all but eight of them in their “initial stage,” the Greek Fire Service said in a release late Monday.
The wildfires, which arrived amid extreme heat, had been cropping up throughout the country since at least Saturday, European officials said.
Greek officials, who said an “outbreak” began Sunday, asked the European Commission for help battling the fires on Monday, according to a notice published by the Commission’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre.
Greek authorities said Tuesday that two minors were arrested for allegedly setting an intentional fire in a forest area in the country’s Attica region, where some wildfires have been raging.
Hundreds of firefighters had been working to stop fast-moving wildfires Monday near Athens, with tens of thousands of people under evacuation orders in the region, emergency officials said. Those fires burned some 6,600 hectares, or about 25 square miles, in the East Attica region, European officials said.
Government officials warned of heightened risk for fire in several areas, including the Athens peninsula and the region north of it. The fire risk category in those areas had been raised to “extreme,” weather officials said in a statement released Sunday.
Those fires burned in a “rugged” location, where firefighters had to navigate mountains, forests and villages, Kikilias said Tuesday.
“This is the reality: despite the rapid operational response — the new doctrine combined with technological support from drones, which has been applied to hundreds of wildfires throughout the summer — when extreme conditions prevail, the problem becomes insurmountable,” he said.
But calmer winds had helped firefighters near Athens get the upper hand on a number of fires burning in the suburbs. Those winds were expected to pick on Tuesday evening.
In the next 48 hours, “the fire danger forecast is expected from high to very extreme across most of central Greece,” the Emergency Response Coordination Centre said.
European countries were sending assistance, including firefighters and vehicles. Italy was sending two planes, and France was sending a helicopter, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said on Monday. Teams of firefighters were on their way from Czechia and Romania, she said.
Temperatures near Athens were expected to climb on Tuesday to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with daily highs expected to be over 95 degrees for the remainder of the week, according to the Hellenic National Meteorological Center.
Dozens of blazes were burning Monday along the edges of a fire that broke out in Varnavas on Sunday afternoon, Col. Vassilios Vathrakogiannis, of the country’s fire service, said in a statement on Monday.
More than 700 firefighters and nearly 200 vehicles were working with the Civil Protection agencies, he said. Eighteen helicopters and 17 other firefighting aircraft had been in use since the Varnavas blaze began spreading.
Kikilias, the climate minister, said the people in towns north of Athens knew that “the firefighters, the Police, the Local Government, the volunteers, and the Army were there, fighting with superhuman efforts to prevent worse consequences.”
“These same firefighters have been working throughout the summer, extinguishing one fire after another,” he said.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is underway conducting a composite training unit exercise, March 6, 2012. (Petty Officer 3rd Class Jerine Lee/U.S. Navy, FILE)
(WASHINGTON) — The White House is warning that the United States assesses Iran could launch a retaliatory attack on Israel as early as “this week,” and that the U.S. has to be prepared for an attack that could be “significant.”
The warning comes as the U.S. has bolstered its force posture in the Middle East and has been very public in announcing its military moves — something U.S. officials say is intended to deter Iran from possibly attacking and de-escalate tensions in the region.
That includes the Pentagon’s announcement Sunday that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln’s arrival to the region was being “accelerated,” as well as the rare public announcement that the guided missile submarine USS Georgia was being sent to the Middle East from its current deployment.
The U.S. assessment is in line with a reported Israeli assessment of a possible Iranian retaliatory attack as soon as this week, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Monday.
“We share the same concerns and expectations that our Israeli counterparts have with respect to potential timing here, could be this week,” Kirby said.
“We have to be prepared for what could be a significant set of attacks,” he added.
A Hezbollah commander, Fouad Shukr, and a top Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, were killed in separate incidents last month. Israel took responsibility for the strike that killed Shukr but has not said if it was also behind the attack that killed Haniyeh in Tehran, which Iran has blamed on Israel.
The recent assassinations of Shukr in Beirut and Haniyeh in Tehran have the Middle East on edge that Iran could retaliate against Israel by once again launching a strike toward Israel, as it did in mid-April.
On Monday, President Joe Biden spoke with the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom to discuss the escalating tensions in the Middle East, and the increased force posture by the U.S. in the region.
“The president is confident that we have the capability available to us to help defend Israel, should it come to that,” Kirby said.
“Nobody wants to see it come to that, which is why we continue to have these diplomatic conversations in earnest over the last few days to see what can be done to de-escalate this situation,” he continued.
U.S. officials told ABC News that the announcement about the USS Georgia’s deployment was intended as a message of deterrence to Iran about the continued presence of the U.S. military in the region, and that the United States is capable of surging military resources as needed.
In April, hundreds of Iranian drones and ballistic missiles were brought down by a combination of U.S. and Israeli aircraft, as well as Israeli and U.S. air defense systems, officials have said.
Ahead of that attack, the U.S. had quietly moved in additional aircraft and vessels to the region to assist Israel. This time, the United States has been public in announcing it was sending an additional squadron of Air Force F-22 aircraft, carrier-based Navy F/A-18s to a base on land, and deploying additional destroyers and the Lincoln to the region.
U.S. officials said the public announcements are intended to send a message to Iran that American military capabilities could be used against an Iranian attack.
One U.S. official indicated the deployment of the USS Georgia — and the 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles aboard — also sends a strong message of significant offensive capability.
The Lincoln strike group is currently in the South China Sea and may take some time to arrive in the Middle East to replace the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, currently off the coast of Oman.
One U.S. official said its arrival will give U.S. military planners more options for carrier operations as the situation develops in the coming weeks, which could impact whether there is a simple handoff or if both carriers end up operating in the region.
“We obviously don’t want to see Israel have to defend itself against another onslaught, like they did in April. But if that’s what comes at them, we will continue to help them defend themselves,” Kirby said.
On Monday, the State Department said it would continue its diplomatic push to encourage Iran to scale down any retaliation.
“We continue to work diplomatically to prevent any major escalation in this conflict,” deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said. “We obviously don’t want to see any kind of attack or response happen in the first place.”
Multiple officials within the department say they are still cautiously optimistic Iran will limit the scope of its retaliation and hope it will avoid significant escalation out of concern it would disrupt cease-fire deal talks the U.S., Egypt and Qatar aim to relaunch on Thursday.
A joint statement issued by the mediators last week urging both sides to return to the table was designed not only to pressure the parties involved but as a message to Iran that an agreement was in the offing and meant to persuade the country against military action that could scuttle a deal, according to an official.
However, Hamas issued an announcement on Sunday saying it would not participate in the upcoming round of negotiations, casting significant doubt over whether talks would indeed resume.
A public spat playing out between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over support for a hostage release and cease-fire deal also threatens to undercut messaging to Iran signaling that a deal was in reach.
Despite the uncertainty, Patel said mediators “fully expect talks to move forward as they should” in order to “bring this deal to conclusion.”
(KURSK, Ukraine) — Ukrainian troops have captured more than two dozen settlements in Russia’s western Kursk region since launching its incursion nearly a week ago, as thousands of residents have been ordered to evacuate, Russian officials said.
Alexey Smirnov, the acting governor of Kursk, said Monday the situation in the region remains “difficult.”
“As of today, the enemy controls 28 settlements, the penetration depth into Kursk Oblast is 12 kilometers, the width is 40 kilometers,” Smirnov said during an operational meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Monday that Ukraine controls about 386 square miles of Russian territory as it continues its offensive operation in the Kursk Oblast.
Some 180,000 residents of Kursk have been ordered to evacuate and about 121,000 of them have left their homes in the areas near the border with Ukraine, Smirnov said.
At least 12 people have been killed and 121 others have been wounded in the Kursk region since the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched the cross-border offensive on Aug. 6, according to Smirnov.
Putin said Russia will give “an appropriate response” to Ukraine and that “all the goals facing us will be achieved, undoubtedly.”
“[It] looks like the enemy seeks to improve its negotiating positions in the future,” Putin said during the operational meeting. “But what kind of negotiations can we talk about with people who indiscriminately target civilians, civilian infrastructure, and try to create a threat to nuclear power facilities? What can we even talk about with them?”
The Russian Nuclear Agency Rosatom claimed that Ukrainian forces attacked the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southeastern Ukraine on Sunday, hitting its cooling systems in drone strikes and causing a fire.
Ukraine, however, is claiming that Russia started the fire at the power plant. A Ukrainian intelligence source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told ABC News the Russians set fire to a large pile of tires to create the fire. The source interpreted it as an attempt to frame Ukraine and to send a warning amid its ongoing incursion into Russia.
Amid the incursion, small Ukrainian units have been spotted in villages northeast toward the Kursk nuclear power station, which is located roughly 80 miles from the border, according to accounts from Russian military bloggers. Russia has beefed up security at the plant, though most analysts believe it is still too far for Ukrainian troops to reach.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday that additional forces and systems are being delivered to build up a Russian group of forces and form reserves in the Kursk region.
“The military communications service has organized the delivery of additional forces and systems to reinforce a group of forces and form reserves. Soldiers, military hardware, ammunition and other supplies required for combat operations and comprehensively supporting troops are being transported,” it said.
Specialists of the logistics units of the northern group of forces are working to “repel the attempted Ukrainian military incursion into the territory of the Russian Federation,” it said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the Kursk offensive on Monday.
“We are grateful to all soldiers and commanders for their resilience and decisive actions,” he said in a statement on social media. “Among other things, we have instructed the Minister of Internal Affairs, other Government officials, and the Security Service of Ukraine to prepare a humanitarian plan for the area of operation.”
A house burns during a wildfire in Varnavas, north of Athens, on August 11, 2024. (Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Hundreds of firefighters were battling fast-moving wildfires Monday near Athens amid scorching temperatures throughout Greece, emergency and weather officials said, as evacuations are underway in the region.
Government officials warned of a high fire hazard in several areas, including the Athens peninsula and the Boeotia region northwest of it.
Both areas were among those where the risk category was raised to five, meaning there’s an extreme risk of fire, weather officials said in a statement released Sunday.
Dozens of blazes were burning Monday along the edges of a fire that broke out in Varnavas on Sunday afternoon, Col. Vassilios Vathrakogiannis, of the country’s fire service, said in a statement .
That fire had been buffeted by strong winds, he said, adding they were “making the work of civil protection forces on the ground extremely difficult.”
More than 700 firefighters and nearly 200 vehicles were working with the Civil Protection agencies, he said. Eighteen helicopters and 17 other firefighting aircraft had been in use since the Varnavas blaze began spreading.
Two firefighters were injured, Vathrakogiannis said. One had minor burns and the other had respiratory issues, he said. Thirteen other people have been provided medical care for minor respiratory issues, he said.
Countries including France, Italy and the Czech Republic are sending assistance, including firefighters and vehicles, officials said.
Officials have issued evacuation orders for several towns north and northwest of Athens, including New and Old Penteli, Patima Chalandriou, Patima Vrilission, Krasa Ano Vrilission, as well as from Dionysos and Marathon, Vathrakogiannis said.
More than 30,000 residents were ordered to evacuate from Marathon toward the neighboring beach town of Nea Makri, according to Reuters.
More than 250 people were evacuated with the help of police officers near Athens, the Greek Police said on social media. About 380 officers were working in the area, with dozens of vehicles and two-wheelers, police said.
Local emergency responders were notified they should be “on increased civil protection readiness in order to face any fire incidents immediately,” the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection said.
Temperatures near Athens were expected to climb on Monday to about 95 degrees Fahrenheit, before spiking to about 100 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the Hellenic National Meteorological Center.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — An 11-year-old girl and a 34-year-old woman were stabbed in Leicester Square in central London on Monday, police said.
A man has been arrested and investigators “don’t believe there are any outstanding suspects,” according to London’s Metropolitan Police Service
There is currently no evidence to suggest the incident is terror-related, police said.
The girl and the woman were taken to a hospital, police said, adding in an update that the 11-year-old will require further treatment, although her injures are not considered life-threatening. The 34-year-old woman sustained more minor injures, according to police.
The incident occurred as the U.K. remains on edge after a week of violence as far-right rioters clashed with police. The riots took place across England and Wales and were fueled by far-right activists using social media to spread misinformation.
Those riots follow the deaths of three girls, who were stabbed in a “ferocious” attack during a July 19 dance event in Southport, a seaside town, according to police.
A 17-year-old was arrested and charged with murder, police said. The suspect was from Banks, a coastal village in Lancashire, and was born in Cardiff, Wales, police said.
The Crown Court released the suspect’s name after a judge ruled it could be released despite his age. Although the suspect was born in the United Kingdom, online rumors spread calling into question his immigration status, police said.
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, tensions are escalating after the assassinations of two Hamas and Hezbollah leaders this week.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Hamas leaders decline ‘new conditions’ in cease-fire talks
Hamas leaders are asking mediators of the cease-fire negotiations with Israel to present a plan based upon previous talks instead of engaging in new ones, according to a statement Sunday.
Hamas also appeared to decline to discuss the “new conditions” proposed to the cease-fire plan by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July, saying Israel then “went on to escalate its aggression against our people and commit more massacres.”
The new development in the ongoing cease-fire negotiations came after a diplomatic push from the United States, Egypt and Qatar for a new round of talks to take place between Israel and Hamas on Aug. 15 in either Doha or Cairo. Israel agreed to send a delegation, but Hamas had yet to respond –- until now.
The upcoming talks were widely seen as the last, best possible chance at securing an agreement between the warring parties.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz, Nasser Atta
IDF expands evacuation orders in Khan Younis
The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday ordered civilians in the al-Jalaa neighborhood of northern Khan Younis to evacuate as Israeli troops began raiding the area it alleges is being used by Hamas terrorists.
The IDF said the area — part of a humanitarian zone the Israeli military had initially set up in the southwestern Gaza Strip — was being exploited by Hamas “for terrorist activity” and is now considered “dangerous.” As a result, the IDF said, the boundaries of the humanitarian zone would be adjusted to exclude the al-Jalaa neighborhood.
The move comes just days after the Israeli military launched a fresh assault on Khan Younis, ordering civilians to evacuate the heavily destroyed eastern districts, where many Palestinians had returned less than two weeks ago after the IDF’s last incursion into Gaza’s second-largest city in July, according to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency. The area was also once part of the designated humanitarian zone.
“Due to significant terrorist activity, exploitation of the Humanitarian Area for terrorist activity and rocket fire toward the State of Israel from the al-jalaa area, remaining in this area has become dangerous,” the IDF said in a statement Sunday morning. “Accordingly, at this time, the Humanitarian Area will be adjusted. The adjustment is being carried out in accordance with precise intelligence indicating that Hamas has embedded terrorist infrastructure in the area defined as a Humanitarian Area.”
The IDF said early warnings to civilians were being made to mitigate harm to the civilian population and keep civilians away from areas of combat.
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
World leaders react to Israeli attack on school killing 85 Palestinians
Leaders around the world have condemned an Israeli strike on a school in Gaza, making an appeal to the international bodies to stop the killing of civilians and protect displaced Palestinians. They also address the potential damage this attack has on the potential cease-fire negotiations.
“The deliberate killing of these huge numbers of unarmed civilians whenever the mediators’ efforts intensified to try to reach a formula for a ceasefire in the Strip is conclusive evidence of the absence of political will on the part of the Israeli side to end this fierce war,” the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Qatar called for an independent international investigation into the strike and for full protection for displaced people.
“The State of Qatar has strongly condemned the Israeli occupation’s bombing of a school sheltering displaced people east of Gaza city, which led to dozens of martyrs and injured, and deemed it as horrific massacre and brutal crime against defenseless civilians and a flagrant infringement of the fundamental precepts of international humanitarian law,” Qatar said in a statement.
Turkey also called it “a new crime against humanity.”
“This attack demonstrated once again that the Netanyahu Government intends to sabotage the negotiations for a permanent ceasefire. International actors who do not take steps to stop Israel are complicit in Israel’s crimes,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.
The European Union said it was “horrified” by the images of the strike.
“At least 10 schools were targeted in the last weeks. There’s no justification for these massacres We are dismayed by the terrible overall death toll,” Josep Borrell High Representative of the EU said in a statement.
Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur, called Gaza the “largest and most shameful concentration camp of the 21st Century.”
“Israel is genociding the Palestinians one neighborhood at the time, one hospital at the time, one school at the time, one refugee camp at the time, one ‘safe zone’ at the time. With US and European weapons. And amid the indifference of all ‘civilised nations.’ May the Palestinians forgive us for our collective inability to protect them, honoring the most basic meaning of intl law,” Albanese said.
Scores killed following strike on school in Gaza City
Scores have been killed following a strike on Al-Tabeen School in Gaza City early Saturday.
Al-Tabeen School is in Al Darj area of Gaza city and the school was housing hundreds of displaced persons, officials in Gaza said.
Many of the displaced people sheltering at the school had been performing dawn prayers at the time of the strike, according to the Government Information Office in Gaza.
Initial reports from Gaza officials said almost 100 people have been killed and dozens wounded, with an official casualty count expected to come from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
“Today, an Air Force aircraft attacked, under the intelligence guidance of the Israel Defense Forces, the Shin Bet and the Southern Command, terrorists who were operating in a military headquarters located in the ‘Al-Tabin’ school complex near the mosque in Darje Tafah area, which is used as a shelter for the residents of Gaza City,” read a statement from the IDF following the strike.
Gaza’s Civil Defence said two floors of the school were targeted: the first was housing women and the ground was a prayer hall for the displaced.
There were a total of “93 martyrs, including 11 children and 6 women, as a result of the massacre committed by the occupation against the displaced people in the Al-Tabaeen School in the Al-Daraj neighborhood,” according to the Gaza Civil Defense.
Israel raids eastern Khan Younis for at least 4th time in past month
For at least the fourth time in the past month, the Israel Defense Forces raided the eastern part of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Israeli forces have killed at least 29 people in the central and southern areas of Gaza so far on Friday, including 19 in Khan Younis, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
The IDF ordered civilians east of Khan Younis to evacuate Thursday. On Friday morning, the IDF announced that its troops have begun “operational activity in the Khan Younis area” after receiving “intelligence indicating the presence of terrorists and terror infrastructure.”
The IDF withdrew from the east of Khan Younis just 10 days ago.
Since dawn on Friday, there have been dozens of bombardments and shelling in various areas across war-torn Gaza, including the southern city of Khan Younis. The hardest-hit areas were Al-Maghazi camp, east of Al-Nuseirat camp; the eastern areas of Khan Younis; Bait Lahia in the north of Gaza; and Zaytoon neighborhood in the east of Gaza City.
At least 23 people have been killed in the central and southern areas of Gaza so far on Friday, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
US official says there’s ‘significant’ work to be done in cease-fire negotiations
A senior U.S. official told ABC News on Thursday that the call from President Joe Biden, the Egyptian President and the Qatari Amir for Israel and Hamas to return to the negotiating table to work out a cease-fire deal was a step forward, despite more work needing to be done.
“It’s not like the agreement is going to be ready to be signed on Thursday,” the official said. “There’s still a significant amount of work to do, but we do believe that what’s left here really can be bridged, and there’s really just no time to lose.”
The official said that both Israel and Hamas have “very firm positions” on “about four or five issues” each. And though the official said they might seem to be “unbridgeable,” they have been able to find a way forward working through the issues one by one.
“We are determined to do all that we possibly can, recognizing that lives are on the line,” the official added.
US, Egypt and Qatar call on Israel and Hamas to resume cease-fire talks
In a joint statement, leaders from the U.S., Egypt and Qatar called on Israel and Hamas to resume discussions on Gaza.
The statement — signed by President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar — called for both sides to meet in Doha or Cairo on Aug. 15.
“It is time to bring immediate relief both to the long-suffering people of Gaza as well as the long-suffering hostages and their families,” the statement read. “The time has come to conclude the ceasefire and hostages and detainees release deal.”
Palestinian death toll climbs to 39,755
At least 39,755 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
On Oct. 7, about 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.
IDF soldiers accused of abusing Palestinian prisoners denied release
Five Israel Defense Forces soldiers who are in custody under suspicion of aggravated abuse of a Palestinian prisoner have been denied release by a military court on Thursday, according to the IDF.
The Military Court of Appeals approved the detention of the suspects until Sunday, stating that from the evidence presented, there is “reasonable suspicion of the commission of the acts attributed to them. The military court also determined that there was a clear cause of danger from the attributed acts,” the IDF said.
United Nations experts have called the reported widespread torture of Palestinian detainees a “preventable crime against humanity.”
“Reports of alleged torture and sexual violence in Israel’s Sde Teiman prison are grossly illegal and revolting, but they only represent the tip of the iceberg, independent human rights experts warned,” U.N. experts said on Tuesday.
Around 9,500 Palestinians, including hundreds of children and women, are currently imprisoned — about one-third of them without charge or trial, according to the U.N.
27 killed in Gaza, IDF says Hamas weapons workshop found in Khan Younis
At least 27 people were killed in different parts of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. Of those killed, 18 Palestinians were killed in eastern and central Khan Yunis.
The Israeli Defense Forces said they found a Hamas weapons manufacturing workshop in a tunnel below Khan Yunis in a statement Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz and Jordana Miller
Egypt advises airlines to avoid Iranian airspace
Egypt has issued a notice to all Egyptian airlines to not fly over Iranian airspace at times when Iran is conducting military exercises on Wednesday and Thursday.
59.3% buildings in Gaza Strip damaged or destroyed, CUNY analysis shows
A new map based on open-access satellite data shows the damage across the Gaza Strip through July 27, where an estimated 59.3% of buildings have been damaged or destroyed since Oct. 5, 2023.
According to the analysis, most of the destruction in July was in Rafah, where 750 additional buildings were damaged or destroyed last month, bringing the total infrastructural damage in the southernmost city of Gaza to 45.4%.
The damage analysis of the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite data was done by Corey Scher of CUNY Graduate Center and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University.
-ABC News’ Camilla Alcini
2 killed, 6 injured in Israeli strike on southern Lebanon
At least two people were killed and six others were injured in an Israeli drone raid on the town of Joya in southern Lebanon Wednesday.
The attack comes as Israel awaits a military response from Hezbollah or Iran after it assassinated leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas.
Hezbollah said it carried out three retaliatory strikes on northern Israel on Wednesday — attacking the Al-Raheb site with artillery shells, the Jal Al-Alam site with artillery shells and the Al-Malikiyah site with rockets.
IDF calls Sinwar terrorist following appointment, remains committed to killing him
Shortly after Hamas announced it appointed Yahya Sinwar as a the head of its political bureau after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, a spokesperson for the IDF said Israel remains committed to killing him.
“Yahya Sinwar is a terrorist, who is responsible for the most brutal terrorist attack in history – October 7th. There is only one place for Yahya Sinwar, and it is beside Mohammed Deif and the rest of the October 7th terrorists. That is the only place we’re preparing and intending for him,” Daniel Hagari said in an interview with Al-Arabia.
Last Israeli designated missing after Oct. 7 attack confirmed dead
Bilha Yinon, the last hostage who was unaccounted for by the Israeli government, has now been confirmed dead.
Yinon was killed on Oct. 7, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Yahya Sinwar will replace Haniyeh as head of Hamas political bureau
Hamas has announced that Yahya Sinwar will replace Ismail Haniyeh as the head of the group’s political bureau after Israel’s assassination of Haniyeh. Sinwar was the head of Hamas in Gaza.
Sinwar has a $400,000 bounty on his head following the group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Sinwar was chosen unanimously in negotiations managed by leadership, according to a top Hamas official.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Ghazi Balkiz
‘Hezbollah is obligated to respond’ to Israel, Nasrallah says
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to respond to the Israeli assassination of senior official Fouad Shukr, and predicted a response from Iran after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran last week.
“After the assassination of Commander Sayyed Fouad Shukr, Hezbollah is obligated to respond, and the enemy is waiting, anticipating, and calculating that every shout at him is a response. This Israeli weeklong waiting in anticipation — for a Hezb response — is part of the punishment, part of the response,” Nasrallah said in a speech Tuesday.
Multiple IDF troops injured in Rafah, humanitarian road closed
Several Israeli troops were injured and a humanitarian road was shut down after anti-tank missiles were fired toward them during operations in Rafah.
Injured troops have been evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment.
The Kerem Shalom Crossing and the other entry routes for humanitarian aid are operating, according to the IDF.
Lebanon aims to prevent Hezbollah response to avoid wider war, says foreign minister
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said the country is working to ensure that Hezbollah’s response to Israel does not trigger a total war, saying, “It would not benefit any of the countries involved.”
“Only those who want to incite conflict would gain from such a situation. We, as officials, do not want any war. Therefore, if a response is necessary, it should not be collective or so severe that it escalates into a broader conflict,” Bou Habib said.
At least 8 Palestinians killed during Israeli military raids in occupied West Bank
At least eight Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces during military raids in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, Palestinian health authorities said.
Five were killed in the city of Jenin, two in the nearby village of Khafer Dan and one in the city of Bethlehem, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank.
Earlier, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said at least 15 people were injured during the raid in Jenin on Tuesday. A spokesperson for PRCS told ABC News that the organization’s medical teams were stopped by Israeli troops from reaching the wounded.
ABC News has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Camilla Alcini
Palestinians in West Bank being blocked from medical care: New report
Palestinians in the West Bank are being restricted access to medical care, including for physical injuries and mental trauma, according to a new report from Doctors Without Borders.
“Access to medical care for Palestinians in Hebron is rapidly deteriorating because of restrictions imposed by Israeli forces and violence perpetrated by Israeli soldiers and settlers,” Doctors Without Borders said.
Ministry of Health clinics across Hebron, in the West Bank, have been forced to close, pharmacies have run short of medications and ambulances transporting the sick and wounded have been obstructed and attacked. Faced with restrictions on their movements and the threat of violence, many sick people delay seeing a doctor or have no choice but to stop medical treatments altogether, according to data collected by Doctors Without Borders between June 2023 and April 2024.
“The movement restrictions, and harassment and violence by Israeli forces and settlers, is inflicting immense and unnecessary suffering on Palestinians in Hebron,” said Frederieke van Dongen, the group’s humanitarian affairs manager.
Israeli prisons are ‘network of torture’ for Palestinians: Human rights group
B’tselem, a major Israeli human rights group, published a report alleging that the Israeli prison system has become a “network of torture camps” for Palestinians arrested since Oct. 7.
The group reported abuse including “frequent acts of severe, arbitrary violence; sexual assault; humiliation; deliberate starvation and sleep deprivation.”
The number of Palestinians in Israeli jails and detention centers stands at 9,623, the rights group said, including, 4,781 held without charge. An estimated 60 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody.
The Israeli army and government have denied allegations of systematic abuse, and the prisons service said it is are not aware of the claims in the report.
But, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right minister for national security who is in charge of the prisons service, has long championed the deteriorating conditions in prisons for Palestinian prisoners, who he said are “terrorists,” as a matter of policy.
“Since I assumed the position of Minister of National Security, one of the highest goals I have set for myself is to worsen the conditions of the terrorists in the prisons, and to reduce their rights to the minimum required by law,” he said in July. “Everything published about the abominable conditions of these vile murderers in prison was true.”
In response to claims of overcrowding, Ben-Gvir has advocated the death penalty as a response.
Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire, killing at least five in Lebanon and injuring two in Israel
Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets and drones toward northern Israel on Tuesday morning and afternoon, injuring at least two people, after an earlier Israeli airstrike killed at least five people in southern Lebanon, according to authorities on both sides.
The Lebanese militant group said in separate statements that Tuesday’s attacks against Israel — at least four so far — were carried out both in support of the Palestinian people in the war-torn Gaza Strip and in response to recent Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon.
One of those drones was intercepted by Israeli air defense and the falling shrapnel injured “several civilians” south of Nahariya, the northernmost coastal city of Israel, according to the IDF.
Israel’s Magen David Adam rescue service said its first responders were deployed to the scene and treated a 30-year-old man in serious condition and a 30-year-old woman in mild-to-moderate condition with shrapnel injuries to the lower limbs. Both patients were transported to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya.
“We saw the male unconscious in the car with a severe head injury from shrapnel. A female who was fully conscious with shrapnel injuries to her lower limbs was in a parking lot nearby,” paramedic Roi Vishna and senior EMT Noam Levi said in a joint statement released by MDA.” We treated the male including ventilating him and providing medications, and evacuated him by MICU in very serious condition to hospital. The female casualty was evacuated in mild to moderate condition.”
Hezbollah launched the counterattacks after an Israeli airstrike on the town of Mifdoun in southern Lebanon killed at least five people on Tuesday morning, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. It was not immediately clear whether civilians were among the casualties.
Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily strikes for the past 10 months amid the ongoing war in Gaza. But regional tensions have soared following last week’s assassinations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran’s capital and Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Lebanon’s capital.
Israel kills another Hezbollah commander
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Monday they had killed another Hezbollah commander in a strike on Lebanon. Ali Jamal Aldin Jawad, a commander in Hezbollah’s Radwan Force, was killed in the strike.
The death was also confirmed by Hezbollah.
“His elimination significantly degrades the capabilities of the Hezbollah terrorist organization to promote and carry out terror activities from southern Lebanon against northern Israel,” the IDF said.
Israel’s killing of a Hezbollah official in Beirut, Fuad Shukr, and a Hamas official in Iran, Ismail Haniyeh, has pushed the Middle East to the brink of further war.
Remains of about 80 deceased Palestinians returned after being taken by IDF
The deceased remains of an estimated 80 Palestinians — which Israeli forces took from Gazan cemeteries to identify whether hostages had been buried there — were returned by the Israel Defense Forces.
The bodies were decomposed beyond recognition, with Gazan officials saying between three and four bodies were in each bag. They will be reburied in a mass grave in Khan Younis.
A Gazan civil defense official on the ground said there is no data as to who these individuals were.
“I wished I could find him, to be at peace,” Suwa Abu Rajilah, a mother who traveled to the site to see if her son, killed in the war, was there. “To say I buried him, but I couldn’t find him.”
-ABC News’ Dia Ostaz
9 UN employees fired after investigation into ties to Oct. 7 attack
The U.N. has fired nine employees following a lengthy investigation into ties to the Oct. 7 attacks, the organization said.
The U.N.’s Office of Internal Oversight Services investigated 19 staff members with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East as part of the probe.
For nine of the staffers, evidence was found that they “may have been involved in the armed attacks,” the U.N. said.
“The employment of these individuals will be terminated in the interests of the Agency,” the organization said in a statement.
There was no evidence or insufficient evidence that the other investigated staffers had been involved, they added.
At least 7 Hezbollah attacks Monday
In another active day on the northern Israeli border, Hezbollah launched at least seven attacks on Monday.
The IDF said they “successfully intercepted” the projectiles, and no injuries were reported.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying in a statement they had launched them “in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their valiant and honorable resistance.”
The IDF also said Monday that they had “identified a terrorist cell operating a drone in the area of Meiss El Jabal in southern Lebanon.”
“Shortly following the identification, the IAF struck and eliminated the terrorists,” they said.
Israeli officer and soldier injured in aerial attack from Lebanon: IDF
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer and a soldier were injured after an aerial attack in northern Israel’s upper Galilee region near Ayelet HaShahar early Monday morning local time, the IDF said in a statement.
The aerial targets crossed from Lebanon, the IDF said.
“Israel Fire Services are currently operating to extinguish a fire that was ignited in the area as a result of the attack,” the IDF said.
Netanyahu says Israel will strike wherever necessary
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel is prepared to stand against attacks from Iran and its proxies.
“Iran and its detractors seek to surround us with a choke ring of terrorism on seven fronts. Their open aggression is insatiable,” Netanyahu said during a state memorial service commemorating the death of Revisionist Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky in 1940.
Netanyahu added, “We are determined to stand against them on every front, in every arena, far and near. “
Netanyahu’s comments came just days after the assassination in Iran of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. He was killed in an explosion on Wednesday at a guest house in Tehran that he was staying in while attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel has not claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s death.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for “revenge” against Israel.
Haniyeh’s assassination followed the death of Mohammed Deif, commander of Hamas’ military wing, in a “precise, targeted strike” in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis on July 13. Deif was allegedly one of the masterminds of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
IDF officials also announced that they killed top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in a precision missile strike Tuesday in Beirut, Lebanon. Officials claim he had been orchestrating drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel, including one on July 27 in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 children and teenagers playing soccer.
“Anyone who murders our citizens, anyone who harms our country, will not be cleared of responsibility,” Netanyahu said Sunday. “He will pay a very heavy price. Our long hand strikes in the Gaza Strip, in Yemen, in Beirut, wherever necessary.”
Netanyahu said Israel’s goals are to “secure our future” and the ensure that hostages taken by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 attack in Israel are returned home.
“We will continue to press the pedal,” Netanyahu said. “We did not let up from the pressure in all combat areas. We will take an offensive, creative, persistent initiative — until victory comes.”
A house burns during a wildfire in Varnavas, north of Athens, on August 11, 2024. (Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Wildfires were burning Monday morning near Athens amid scorching temperatures throughout Greece, emergency and weather officials said.
Government officials warned of an high fire hazard in several areas, including the Athens peninsula and the Boeotia region northwest of it.
Both areas were among those where the risk category was raised to five, meaning there’s an extreme risk of fire, weather officials said in a statement released Sunday.
Officials issued on Monday evacuation orders for several towns north and northwest of Athens, including Anatoli, Daou Penteli, Nea Penteli and parts of Dione, according to 112 Greece, the country’s emergency hotline.
Local emergency responders were notified they should be “on increased civil protection readiness in order to face any fire incidents immediately,” the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection said.
Temperatures near Athens were expected to climb on Monday to about 95 degrees, before spiking to about 100 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the Hellenic National Meteorological Center.
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, the U.S. military announced it is moving more forces to the Middle East.
Here’s how the news is developing:
US is ‘strengthening’ military force in Middle East over ‘escalating’ tensions
The U.S. is “strengthening” its capabilities in the Middle East by sending an additional guided missile submarine to the region “in light of escalating regional tensions,” according to a statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder issued on Sunday.
The update comes the same day Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.
“Secretary Austin reiterated the United States’ commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel,” according to the statement.
Secretary Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, equipped with F-35C fighters, to accelerate its transit to the Middle East, which was previously expected to get there by the end of the month.
The Lincoln was already en route to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt, but will now add to the capabilities of the Roosevelt
Additionally, Austin has ordered the USS Georgia guided missile submarine to the Middle East.
The statement doesn’t say how soon the Lincoln or the USS Georgia will arrive in the region.
Israeli forces intercept ‘projectiles’ crossing from Lebanon, no injuries: IDF
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intercepted approximately 30 “projectiles” that were identified as crossing from Lebanon into northern Israel early Monday morning local time, the IDF said in a statement.
No injuries were reported from the attacks, the IDF said.
“The IDF is striking the sources of fire,” the IDF added.
