Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder holds a press conference at the Pentagon on Oct. 31, 2023 in Arlington, Virginia. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The United States has assessed that Russia launched what is likely a counter space weapon last week that’s now in the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed Tuesday.
“What I’m tracking here is on May 16, as you highlighted, Russia launched a satellite into low Earth orbit that we that we assess is likely a counter space weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low Earth orbit,” Ryder said when questioned by ABC News about the information, which was made public earlier Tuesday by Robert Wood, deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
“Russia deployed this new counter space weapon into the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite,” Ryder continued. “And so assessments further indicate characteristics resembling previously deployed counter space payloads from 2019 and 2022.”
“Obviously, that’s something that we’ll continue to monitor,” Ryder added. “Certainly, we would say that we have a responsibility to be ready to protect and defend the space domain and ensure continuous and uninterrupted support to the joint and combined force. And we’ll continue to balance the need to protect our interests in space with our desire to preserve a stable and sustainable space environment.”
When asked if the Russian counter space weapon posed a threat to the U.S. satellite, Ryder responded: “Well, it’s a counter space weapon in the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite.”
While there are requirements for making advance air and sea notifications for space launches, Ryder wouldn’t discuss whether the U.S. knew in advance that the launch contained a particular type of counter-space weapon.
The surveillance video of Sean “Diddy” Combs assaulting ex-girlfriend Cassie, which was exclusively obtained by CNN and released Friday,has the attention of many and has led to Peloton deciding to stop playing his music in its classes.
Responding to a comment that read, “Dear Peloton, Your next purge needs to be all Diddy classes. Signed, women everywhere,” Peloton issued the following statement: “We take this issue very seriously and can confirm Peloton has paused the use of Sean Combs’ music, as well as removed the Bad Boy Entertainment Artist Series, on our platform.”‘
“This means our instructors are no longer using his music in any newly produced classes,” the company further explained. “Again, thank you for sharing your concerns and thank you for being a member of our Peloton community.”
Peloton is not the only one bothered by Diddy’s behavior in the video. Shyne, a former Bad Boy turned politician, issued a statement denouncing “the repugnant behavior of Sean Diddy Combs captured on the video in which he is seen physically assaulting Mrs. Cassie Ventura-Fine.”
“There is no place for Violence against Women anywhere on the planet. As a father of a precious daughter, a global citizen and the next Prime Minister of Belize I want absolutely nothing to do with people who engage in this pattern of diabolical behavior,” he wrote.
In her own statement, Misa Hylton, the mother of Diddy’s son Justin Combs, said she’s “heartbroken that Cassie must relive the horror of her abuse, and my heart goes out to her.”
“I know exactly how she feels, and through my empathy, it has triggered my own trauma,” she added, noting that she and the mother of Diddy’s other kids have been focused on supporting their children’s needs.
She said she’s praying that Diddy “does the personal work and receives it.”
(LONDON) — He claims to be the pinnacle of masculinity. Andrew Tate — “Top G.”
The former kickboxer in the last four years has flooded social media, taking over newsfeeds, in particular those of young men, preaching views that have brought him the title of the so-called “King of Toxic Masculinity. He revels in controversy, claiming men “own” women in relationships and that women’s empowerment is leading to the fall of Western civilization.
“Humanity cannot survive with female empowerment,” he has said.
“The only happy relationship that can possibly exist is with a man leading and a man in charge. Any other relationship is always misery,” he has also said.
Since the coronavirus pandemic, Tate has built up an enormous following online, despite being banned in 2022 from Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok for violating their “hate speech” rules. For millions of men, and especially teenage boys, he has become an idol. In the United States, some far right conservatives — such as Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens — have given him a platform to talk about himself as a champion for traditional views on men in the culture war raging over gender.
But Tate is now facing three legal cases in two countries, all based around allegations of abusing women.
In Romania, where Tate has made his home for several years, he and his younger brother, Tristan, are awaiting trial on human trafficking and organized crime charges, accused of exploiting seven women. Andrew is also charged with rape. The Tate brothers are also facing possible criminal charges in the U.K., where police have issued arrest warrants on allegations of human trafficking and sexual assault. Four different British women have also served Andrew Tate with a civil lawsuit in the UK on allegations of sexual assault.
At the heart of the legal battles, the question: Is the so-called “King of Toxic Masculinity” guilty of abusing women.
The Tates have denied all the allegations against them in both countries, arguing he is the victim of opportunistic women and what he dubs the “Matrix,” a supposed establishment conspiracy that he claims is targeting him because of his controversial views.
For more than a year, ImpactxNightline has reported on Tate, investigating the allegations against him and exploring the broader so-called “Manosphere” he is part of, hearing accounts from some of the women who accuse him of abuse and speaking with a former employee of his War Room organization, trying to understand his appeal to young men, as well as what it says about the discussion around masculinity.
Allegations against the Tates in Romania
Andrew and Tristan Tate live in a compound on the outskirts of Bucharest, the capital of Romania. The compound, that from outside looks like a warehouse with steel shutters and bristles with cameras, is located on a dusty backroad out by the airport, sitting opposite a rundown apartment block.
In December 2022, heavily armed officers from Romania’s organized crime police stormed the compound. The Tates were arrested on charges of human trafficking and forming an organized criminal group. Andrew was charged with rape. For nearly three months, the brothers were held in a Bucharest jail, until a court changed their detention to house arrest at the compound. Last August, a court eased the restrictions again, permitting the Tates to travel within Romania but not to leave the country, while they await trial.
The Tates have denied the Romanian charges and challenged evidence in the case. In late April, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled a trial should proceed, though a date has yet to be set as the Tates are again appealing that decision.
Romanian prosecutors have charged the Tates, along with two female defendants, of sexually exploiting seven women as models for an erotic webcam business. The prosecution alleges the Tates recruited the women under false pretenses by pretending they were in love with them, and then coercing them through a mixture of intimidation and emotional manipulation into working while the Tates and their associates took most of the earnings.
Central to the case are allegations involving three women — one American, one Moldovan and one British — whom the Tates are accused of luring to Romania and exploiting them on webcam. Prosecutors also allege the Tates recruited four women inside Romania also by deceiving them into believing they were in a relationship.
The Tates have denied the Romanian charges, insisting the women all chose to work for them willingly and that the prosecutors’ allegations are based on lies.
“They’ve told the whole world I’m a human trafficker. You’re expecting to see dungeons, and chains, and girls who are crying,” Tristan Tate told ABC News following a court hearing last May. “Like, you’ll laugh. I’d cry if I didn’t laugh about this, literally.”
Prosecutors accuse the Tates of employing a human trafficking tactic that recruits women through deception, rather than crude violence, and that anti-trafficking experts say is well-known in Romania. The tactic is commonly called the “Lover Boy Method.”
“This is a method that is very subversive because it plays with the minds and the hearts of young girls or young women,” Madalina Turza, who until last year oversaw Romania’s national anti-trafficking strategy, told ABC News in April. She now heads the Romanian office of the anti-slavery charity Justice and Care.
Traffickers will target a woman by pretending to be in love with her, according to Turza. They convince the victim they are in a real relationship, persuading them to move away from family and friends, often abroad. Then the exploitation begins, with the trafficker pressuring the victim into various forms of forced labor, often sex work.
Rares Stan, who until April was the lead prosecutor in the Tates’ case, is known in Romania for prosecuting some of the country’s most high-profile organized crime cases.
Stan said he had left the Tates’ case after handing it on to trial prosecutors, in order to take on a new position at Romania’s attorney general’s office. Speaking in his first interview with international media on the Tate case, Stan told Impact it was “exactly like any other case of human trafficking.”
Romania has one of the highest number of human trafficking victims per capita in Europe, according to the U.S. State Department’s 2023 Trafficking in Persons report. Stan says he has prosecuted hundreds of trafficking cases.
“The unusual thing about this case was the major public interest,” he said. “Because of the people involved.”
The Tates have denied the allegation that they used the “Lover Boy Method.”
But prosecutors have pointed to the fact that for years Tate sold a course online that several experts in human trafficking say taught tactics that closely resemble it: Tate’s “PhD Program” or “Pimping Hoes Degree,” as he’s called it.
Posted as video tutorials, the program’s stated goal is to teach men how to seduce women and then how to monetize them by moving them into working as webcam models.
Silvia Tabusca, a legal expert in human trafficking and organized crime has studied the “Lover Boy Method” worldwide and has focused recently on the Tates case.
“For me, all the ‘Lover Boy’ trafficking methods are present in his Ph.D. program,’ Tabusca, who is based in Bucharest, told Impact.
Tabusca points to an advertisement for the “PhD” course on Tate’s website now taken down, but that she has archived.
“My job was to meet a girl, go on a few dates, sleep with her, test if she’s quality, get her to fall in love with me to where she’d do anything I say, and then get her on webcam so we could become rich together,” the advertisement reads.
In another video, Tate also refers to the “PhD” course as “my recruitment system” and tells men that it is impossible to have a women work for you without having sex with her.
“You can’t get the girl to work for you if you haven’t f—– her before,” Tate says in the video.
Eugene Vidineac, the Tates’ attorney for the Romanian case, told ABC News, he was not aware of all Andrew’s comments on social media, and that prosecutors need more than public statements as evidence, arguing Tate was playing a character online.
“I don’t know how stupid you can be to commit criminal thefts and to go out in public and to say how you committed the crimes, and not expect yourself to be taken [by] the authorities,” said Vidineac, adding it didn’t make sense since “Andrew Tate is so smart. And we see that he has the ability of communication and he is charming.”
Vidineac also points to two women named in the case, Beatrice and Iasmina, who have said on social media and in an interview with Romanian television that they are not victims.
Prosecutors in the indictment allege the two women are still under the control of the Tates. Several human-trafficking experts also said it is common in “Lover Boy” cases that victims refuse to accept they have been exploited.
“They are so much manipulated by their traffickers that they don’t realize that they are trapped into a slavery chain,” said Turza.
Romanian prosecutors have also included in the 481-page indictment as evidence hundreds of WhatsApp and other messages they say are between the Tates and some of the women.
Among them are dozens of messages said to be between the Moldovan woman and Andrew Tate, that appear to show him first persuading her to move to Romania, saying he wants a serious relationship. In one set of messages, she explicitly says before moving she doesn’t want to do webcam.
“I DON’T WANT TO DO VIDEOCHAT,” she wrote on Feb. 9, 2022, according to the indictment.
Andrew Tate replied, “I do NOT want this / and I will never ask you,” according to the indictment.
In the messages the Tates can also be seen allegedly telling some of the women never to go out of the house unaccompanied.
“I own you,” Tate wrote on March 11, 2022, according to the indictment. “You’ll never be around real men again. you’ll never go out alone again. Never”.
According to the indictment, Andrew Tate is charged with raping the Moldovan woman the same month in a hotel room, where, she alleged to prosecutors, he pressured her into having sexual intercourse with him and two of the other women working for him. Tate is charged with raping the woman a second time later that month.
Another British woman in the case alleges that during sexual intercourse Tate began “choking her until she lost consciousness,” according to the indictment. Prosecutors used the alleged incident as an example of how Tate allegedly established psychological control through intimidation.
A spokesperson for the Tates in a statement this month said Andrew “vehemently denies any involvement in criminal activities such as rape or physical abuse. Andrew Tate remains focused on the legal proceedings in Romania and is collaborating closely with his legal team to assert his innocence.”
Allegations in the United Kingdom
Born in the United States, Andrew and Tristan Tate were raised after their parents’ divorce by their mother in Luton, a small city 30 miles north of London and one of the poorest cities in Britain.
In the years before he would become famous as a controversial male influencer, Andrew Tate’s kickboxing career was successful, but the financial rewards were modest. Back in Luton in the early 2010s, as he has described on numerous podcasts, he decided to set up a webcam business there and would use his girlfriends as models.
Four British women are now alleging Andrew Tate sexually assaulted them during this period. The women are now pursuing a civil lawsuit at the U.K.’s High Court against Tate on the allegations, which he denies.
He is now also facing another separate criminal case in the U.K., after local British police recently issued an arrest warrant for the Tates on allegations of human trafficking and sexual assault.
In March, a Romanian court approved the extradition of the Tates to the U.K., pending the conclusion of the Romanian case.
Tate through a spokesperson denied the allegations in both U.K. cases, accusing the women of lying and of seeking to take advantage of the notoriety brought by the Romanian case.
Two of the women, whom ABC News is calling Helen and Sally, have told Impact they worked as models in the early days of Tate’s U.K. webcam business in 2014. The women requested ABC News not use their real names out of fear they may face harassment from Tate’s fans.
A third woman, who ABC News is calling Amelia, accuses Tate of sexually assaulting her and raping her during a relationship in 2013. Amelia, who also asked not to be named out of fear of retribution from Tate’s fans, filed a complaint with police from Britain’s Hertfordshire County in 2014 after ending the relationship. She said she provided police with voice messages and WhatsApp message she says she received from Tate around the time.
In one of the voice messages, which ABC News has heard, a voice that appears to be Tate can be heard saying: “Are you seriously so offended I strangled you a little bit? You didn’t f—— pass out. Chill the f— out. Jesus Christ. I thought you were cool. What’s wrong with you?”
In another WhatsApp message seen by ABC News, Tate allegedly wrote: “I love raping you. And watching u let me while still debating if its a good idea or not. I like the conflict you have. And you do have it. Don’t deny it.”
The woman replied: “Makes you feel powerful?”
Tate allegedly wrote back: No. I’m already powerful. Its honest. Its real.”
A spokeswoman for Tate declined to comment on the messages. The spokesperson did not comment separately on the women’s allegations, but said Tate denies all of the allegations.
After Amelia filed her complaint, police initially took little action. Then a year later, Helen and Sally separately went to Hertfordshire police and filed a complaint alleging rape and assault.
Following the new complaints, in July 2015, Hertfordshire police arrested Tate in relation to an allegation of assault and rape, according to the police force. He was arrested again in December on suspicion of rape, and was released shortly after.
Hertfordshire police investigated the allegations against Tate for four years, before finally forwarding the case to Britain’s prosecutor’s office, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). But in 2019, the CPS closed the case after determining there was no realistic prospect of conviction.
The women allege that decision was wrong and accuse the police of mishandling the case, saying in interviews that the police failed to initially take the allegations sufficiently seriously.
In May, lawyers for Helen, Sally and Amelia served Tate with the civil lawsuit, seeking unspecified damages from him. They also called for police to reopen the case.
“The evidence that was gathered at the time we say was more than sufficient for a criminal prosecution to have taken place,” Matthew Jury, the lead attorney representing the women, told Impact. “It is baffling to us as to why the decision was made not to prosecute in 2019.”
Asked about the women’s case, Hertfordshire police in a statement said “there were some delays to the investigation. This was addressed at the time and apologies were made.”
“The case was only closed in late 2019 after a case file had been sent to the CPS and the decision was made not to prosecute,” it said.
The CPS in a statement told ABC News: “We understand the devastating impact rape can have on victims. In this case, a specialist prosecutor carefully reviewed all the evidence and concluded there wasn’t a realistic prospect of conviction.”
The CPS noted that it and the police have “changed the way rape cases are handled as part of our commitment to drive up the numbers taken to court and improve victim experiences.” It also noted that the women still have the option to request a review of the decision not to prosecute.
A spokesperson for Tate commenting on the allegations told Impact: “Andrew vehemently denies any involvement in criminal activities such as rape or physical abuse. These accusations are not only baseless but are seen as deliberate attempts to defame his character and provoke unwarranted public outrage through mainstream media channels.”
Since the first three women announced their lawsuit, a fourth British woman has come forward and joined the suit with her own allegations of sexual assault. Evie, who has also requested ABC News not use her real name, said she first met Tate in 2014 at a club in Luton.
She said she went home with Tate and had consensual sex. But Evie said they kept in touch via text message and met up again a couple months later, when Tate came over to her place one night after work. The two started having consensual sex but he then allegedly began strangling her during the act, she said.
“We were having sex and he strangled me until I passed out,” Evie told Impact. “When I came back around, he was still having sex with me while I’d been passed out.”
Evie said she had not given consent to the alleged act. She said Tate also made aggressive comments and threats toward her during and afterward.
“He sort of kept saying things like: ‘I own you. You’re mine,'” she said. “He was quite aggressive and kept on, like, holding me against the wall by the neck.”
Evie said the alleged strangulation caused the blood vessels in one of her eyes to burst, temporarily leaving it bloodshot.
Evie, now 30, said she told others about the alleged incident at the time and again over the years but downplayed it. She said she started to realize how serious it was as she got older and learned more about consent. The people Evie told have since confirmed being told about parts of the incident, with one confirming seeing that her eye was bloodshot afterward.
“I didn’t really have any kind of education on consent and kind of what that looked like,” Evie told ABC News. “It was only, like, years later that I looked back and thought, actually that was rape.”
When asked to comment on Evie’s allegations, a spokesperson for Tate told ABC News, Andrew “vehemently denies these accusations and does not condone violence of any kind towards women. All sexual acts that Andrew has partaken in have been consensual and agreed upon before by both parties.”
“He is saddened that a few opportunistic women who he has allegedly spent time with nearly a decade ago have decided to try and take advantage of his current situation.”
Evie joined the other women’s lawsuit in 2023. She has said she had decided to join now because she wanted “justice.”
“For all the, kinda the crimes that he’s done against women. And also to just teach young men that it’s not okay– and young women as well– that it’s not okay to, like, have these views and to treat women like this,” she said.
Romanian prosecutors in their indictment against the Tates have cited two of the women’s police complaints in the U.K. as relevant background to the current case there.
Amid the allegations, in March this year local police from Bedfordshire County in the U.K. issued arrest warrants for both Andrew and Tristian Tate in a new criminal case on allegations of human trafficking and rape. The Tates have said they deny all the new charges. A Bucharest court approved a U.K. extradition request for the Tates, but only once the Romanian case against them concludes.
A trial is likely to take years to begin in court, but could begin as early as this summer.
“Whatever happens in the Romanian prosecution, he is now going to be extradited from Romania to face prosecution also in the U.K.,” Jury said. “So, the civil case aside, he’s got a long many years ahead of him.”
This story includes reporting from ABC News’ ImpactxNightline special “Andrew Tate – Into the Manosphere,” which is available to stream on Hulu from May 16.
The hour-long special includes interviews with some of the women accusing Tate of sexual assault, as well as with a former employee of Tate’s War Room organization.
(LONDON) — One person is dead and dozens others injured after a Singapore Airlines flight encountered “severe” turbulence, the airline said in a social media post.
The Boeing 777-300ER departed London’s Heathrow Airport on Monday with 221 passengers and 18 crew members on board, according the airline.
The flight, SQ 321, encountered turbulence about 90 minutes from its destination of Singapore and was diverted to Bangkok, the carrier said.
A 73-year-old man from Great Britain was killed, according to Kittipong Kittikachorn, general manager for Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Seven people were critically injured, Kittikachorn added, while dozens suffered minor or moderate injuries.
“Suddenly the aircraft starts tilting up and there was shaking so I started bracing for what was happening, and very suddenly there was a very dramatic drop so everyone seated and not wearing a seatbelt was launched immediately into the ceiling,” Dzafran Azmir, a 28-year-old student on the flight, told ABC News. “Some people hit their heads on the baggage cabins overhead and dented it; they hit the places where lights and masks are and broke straight through it.”
Singapore Airlines confirmed one person had died and sent condolences to the family.
“Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased,” the airline said in a statement on Tuesday. “Our priority is to provide all possible assistance to all passengers and crew on board the aircraft.”
The aircraft appeared to have encountered the turbulence in Thai airspace, somewhere over the Andaman Sea.
The flight, which had been scheduled to arrive at Singapore Changi Airport, instead touched down in Thailand at about 3:45 p.m. local time, the carrier said.
“We are in contact with Singapore Airlines regarding flight SQ321 and stand ready to support them,” Boeing said in a statement. “We extend our deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one, and our thoughts are with the passengers and crew.”
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Will Gretsky and Helena Skinner contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — A plan by an International Criminal Court prosecutor to apply for arrest warrants for Israeli leaders is “absurd,” casting a “terrible stain” on the court, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
“We are supplying now nearly half of the water of Gaza. We supplied only 7% before the war. This is completely opposite of what he’s saying. He’s saying we’re starving people?” Netanyahu said on ABC News’ Good Morning America on Tuesday. “We have supplied half million tons of food and medicine with 20,000 trucks. This guy is out to demonize Israel. He’s doing a hit job.”
A prosecutor with the ICC on Monday said he would file applications for arrest warrants for Hamas and Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, alleging that they “bear criminal responsibility” for “war crimes and crimes against humanity” in Gaza.
Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan said he would seek warrants for both Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. Khan laid out a list of allegations against Netanyahu and Gallant, including starvation of civilians, willfully causing great suffering and other “inhumane acts.”
“We submit that the crimes against humanity charged were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population pursuant to State policy,” Khan said in a statement. “These crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day.”
Netanyahu said on Monday that his country didn’t have a “deliberate starvation policy” and the charges detailed by the ICC prosecutor were “fallacious.”
“In fact, we have the opposite policy, to allow maximum humanitarian aid to get people out of harm’s way,” He said, “while Hamas is doing everything to keep them in harm’s way at gun point.”
World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain recently said that “full-blown famine” is occurring in northern Gaza.
President Joe Biden called the prosecutor’s decision to seek arrest warrants for the Israeli leaders “outrageous.”
“And let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas,” Biden said Monday.
The prosecutor’s statement came as Israel continued weighing a potential full-scale invasion into Rafah, a southern Gazan city where many Palestinians have sought refuge during Israel’s war with Hamas.
“The battle in Rafah is critical. It is not only the remaining [Hamas] battalions there but their escape and supply pipelines,” Netanyahu said last week while speaking to troops after taking an aerial tour of the Gaza Strip. “This battle, of which you are an integral part, is a battle that will decide many things in this campaign.”
Netanyahu early this month met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken for more than two hours in the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem. Blinken during that meeting “reiterated the United States’ clear position on Rafah,” Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesperson, said at the time.
U.S. officials have in the weeks since that meeting been in “close communication” with Israeli leaders, letting them know that the U.S. opposes a major military operation in the city, Miller said on Monday.
“We don’t think that would be productive to Israel’s security either in the short term or the long term,” Miller said, “and we think it would have a dramatic impact on the lives of the Palestinian people there and on the ability to get humanitarian assistance in.”
More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting began, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. About 1,200 people were killed on Oct. 7 in the Hamas cross-border attack on southern Israel, according to Israel.
ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Monday asked what would happen when the war was over.
Netanyahu said Hamas would have to be destroyed first, then Israel could “demilitarize” Gaza. After that, there would have to be a civilian administration put in place, he said.
“There is peace and stability and prosperity only through victory,” Netanyahu said. “The road to peace goes through victory over Hamas.”
(LONDON) — One person was dead and several others injured after a Singapore Airlines flight encountered “severe” turbulence about 90 minutes from the plane’s destination of Singapore, the airline said in a social media post.
There were 221 passengers and 18 crew members on board the Boeing 777-300ER, which departed London’s Heathrow Airport on Monday, according to the airline. The flight, SQ 321, was diverted to Bangkok, Thailand, the carrier said.
“Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased,” the airline said in a statement on Tuesday. “Our priority is to provide all possible assistance to all passengers and crew on board the aircraft.”
The aircraft appeared to have encountered the turbulence somewhere over the Andaman Sea.
The flight, which had been scheduled to arrive at Singapore Changi Airport, instead touched down in Thailand at about 3:45 p.m. local time, the carrier said.
(NEW YORK) — A U.S. national has been mistakenly accused of involvement in last weekend’s attempted coup in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Cole Patrick Ducey, an engineer living in Eswatini, told ABC News Monday that he was not involved, despite reports online and in the media. DRC government officials also confirmed to ABC News that Ducey was not involved in the coup attempt over the weekend.
Ducey told ABC News he has been the subject of a “huge case of mistaken identity,” with his name appearing in social media posts and news articles that erroneously suggest he was arrested Sunday in the DRC.
“I learned of what happened yesterday on the news just as you did,” he said.
Authorities in the DRC told ABC News that the coup attempt was led by Christian Malanga, a DRC businessman and politician with U.S. ties. Malanga was killed in the coup attempt, the officials said.
The officials also told ABC News that a U.S. national, Benjamin Zalman-Polun, had been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the coup attempt. ABC News wasn’t immediately able to locate a legal representative for Zalman-Polun.
Ducey verified his identity by sending ABC News a video in which he displayed an identifying document. ABC News further verified Ducey’s identity by reviewing public records.
Ducey told ABC News that he attended the University of Colorado with Zalman-Polun in 2006 and 2007. The two lost contact for many years, Ducey said, until Zalman-Polun contacted Ducey in 2020 about a business opportunity in the mining sector. At that time, Ducey said Zalman-Polun introduced him to Malanga in a phone call.
In 2022, Ducey said, the trio met in Mozambique to review mining concessions. Ducey said they started a limited liability corporation but failed to find a viable spot to mine and did not continue working together.
Zalman-Polun, Malanga and Ducey are listed as partners in that LLC, according to records from the government of Mozambique’s official bulletin.
Those records, which are publicly available, appear to have led to the case of mistaken identity.
However, Ducey claims, and DRC government officials affirm, he was not a part of the attempted coup over the weekend in any capacity.
Palestinians who fled Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip ride with their belongings in the back of a truck, as they arrive to take shelter in Deir el-Balah in the central part of the Palestinian territory on May 12, 2024. – Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war crosses the seven-month mark, renewed negotiations are underway to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization, as Israeli forces continue to prepare for an apparent invasion of the southern Gazan town of Rafah.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
May 20, 6:15 PM Biden: What’s happening in Gaza ‘is not genocide’
President Joe Biden said Monday that what Israel has carried out in Gaza during the war is “not genocide,” while he denounced the application for arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders.
“Let me be clear, we reject the ICC’s application and arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, whatever these warrants may imply, there is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas,” Biden said, in part. “But let me be clear, contrary to allegations against Israel made by the International Court of Justice, what’s happening is not genocide. We reject that.”
Biden made the comments during an event in the Rose Garden celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month where he fiercely defended Israel in the war against Hamas.
“We’ll always stand with Israel and the threats against its security,” he said.
The president also highlighted efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza “who are suffering greatly because of the war” and working toward a two-state solution.
May 20, 4:31 PM Bodies of 4 hostages recovered last week found in tunnel in Jabaliya: IDF
The bodies of four Israeli hostages recovered last week were found in a tunnel in Jabaliya in northern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said Monday.
The bodies of Shani Louk, Amit Buskila, Ron Benjamin and Yitzchak Gelernter — who were killed during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and taken into Gaza — were recovered following a monthslong operation, the IDF said.
Israeli forces also “located intelligence materials and large quantities of weapons” during the night operation, the IDF said.
May 20, 3:01 PM Rafah exodus surpasses 810,000: UNRWA
More than 810,000 people have fled Rafah in the past two weeks amid Israel’s ongoing military operation in the southern Gaza city, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
“Every time families are displaced their lives are at serious risk. People are forced to leave everything behind looking for safety. But, there’s no safe zone,” UNRWA said on X Monday.
May 20, 2:39 PM Congress considering sanctioning ICC: House speaker
Congress is considering sanctioning the International Criminal Court regarding the arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, according to House Speaker Mike Johnson.
“In the absence of leadership from the White House, Congress is reviewing all options, including sanctions, to punish the ICC and ensure its leadership faces consequences if they proceed,” Johnson said in a statement. “If the ICC is allowed to threaten Israeli leaders, ours could be next.”
The ICC has “no authority” over Israel or the U.S., Johnson noted.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller
May 20, 1:33 PM Biden calls ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu outrageous
President Joe Biden called the application for arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders “outrageous.”
“And let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas,” Biden said.
“We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security,” Biden’s statement said
May 20, 7:22 AM ICC to seek arrest warrants for Israel’s Netanyahu, Hamas leader
A prosecutor with the International Criminal Court on Monday said he would file applications for arrest warrants for Hamas and Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for “criminal responsibility for the following war crimes and crimes against humanity” in Gaza.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Kevin Shalvey
May 19, 5:18 PM IDF releases footage of young Israeli hostages it says were forced to film Hamas video under duress
Israel Defense Forces released Sunday raw video footage it says its troops recovered in Gaza that shows former Israeli hostages 8-year-old Ela Elyakim and her 15-year-old sister Dafna Elyakim being forced by Hamas terrorists to film repeatedly.
“The video, which is being released today for the first time was intended to be used by Hamas for psychological terror,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesperson, said in a statement. “But Ela’s family asked us to share it with the world to expose Hamas’s terror, to expose Hamas’s cruelty, to expose Hamas’s barbarism.”
Hagari said the raw footage of the girls recording the video was recovered by IDF troops during Israel’s ground operations in Gaza.
The Elyakim sisters were kidnapped on Oct. 7 from their father’s house in Nahal Oz, according to the IDF. Their father was killed in the surprise attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists, according to the IDF.
Ela and Dafana Elyakim were held hostage for 51 days before Hamas released them in a previous hostage deal, the IDF said.
Ela Elyakim told IDF officials that Hamas terrorists forced her to read from a script and made her change clothes multiple times as they refilmed the video over and over, according to Hagari.
“We will continue doing everything in our power to bring our hostages back home,” said Hagari.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
May 19, 5:18 PM IDF releases footage of young Israeli hostages it says were forced to film Hamas video under duress
Israel Defense Forces released Sunday raw video footage it says its troops recovered in Gaza that shows former Israeli hostages 8-year-old Ela Elyakim and her 15-year-old sister Dafna Elyakim being forced by Hamas terrorists to film repeatedly.
“The video, which is being released today for the first time was intended to be used by Hamas for psychological terror,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesperson, said in a statement. “But Ela’s family asked us to share it with the world to expose Hamas’s terror, to expose Hamas’s cruelty, to expose Hamas’s barbarism.”
Hagari said the raw footage of the girls recording the video was recovered by IDF troops during Israel’s ground operations in Gaza.
The Elyakim sisters were kidnapped on Oct. 7 from their father’s house in Nahal Oz, according to the IDF. Their father was killed in the surprise attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists, according to the IDF.
Ela and Dafana Elyakim were held hostage for 51 days before Hamas released them in a previous hostage deal, the IDF said.
Ela Elyakim told IDF officials that Hamas terrorists forced her to read from a script and made her change clothes multiple times as they refilmed the video over and over, according to Hagari.
“We will continue doing everything in our power to bring our hostages back home,” said Hagari.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
May 18, 11:34 PM GOP Rep. Stefanik to visit Knesset, denounce Biden over weapons pause
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik of New York will be giving remarks in the Israeli Knesset on Sunday, according to her office. Stefanik will be the highest-ranking member of the House to visit Israel following the Oct. 7 attack.
Stefanik plans to slam President Joe Biden for recently halting some military aid to Israel, according to excerpts of her speech reviewed by ABC News.
“I have been clear at home, and I will be clear here: There is no excuse for an American president to block aid to Israel,” Stefanik will say during the address.
Biden announced the U.S. would withhold certain bomb deliveries to Israel over fear they could be used in Rafah, but the Biden administration informed Congress it’s moving forward with more than $1 billion in new arms agreements with Israel.
The congresswoman will address the rise in antisemitism in the U.S., House Republicans’ support for Israel and even mention her close ally, former President Donald Trump.
“I have been a leading proponent and partner to President Trump in his historic support for Israeli independence and security,” Stefanik will say.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller
May 18, 6:14 PM 3 US medical workers remain in Gaza despite warning from US government
Three U.S. medical professionals remain in Gaza despite warnings from the U.S. State Department that the American government may not be able to get them out later.
Tamer Hassan, a registered nurse, Dr. Jomana Al-Hinti and Dr. Adam Hamawy were the only ones out of a group of 20 American medical professionals who stayed behind to help treat patients.
“They understand that the U.S. embassy may not be able to facilitate their departure in the same manner as we have just effected today,” a person with knowledge of the situation told ABC News.
Hamawy released a statement Saturday explaining why he stayed behind.
“We worry that the European Hospital we currently are in will suffer a similar fate of Al-Shifa and Nasser hospitals, where humanitarian workers, patients, and civilians were massacred,” he said.
“To my wife, daughters and son, I know it hurts that I am not coming home this weekend, and I am sorry. But I know that you are proud that I am upholding my oath to never leave anyone behind,” he added.
The doctors who left Gaza “made their way to safety with assistance from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem,” a State Department spokesman said.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty, Nadine Shubailat and Zoe Magee
May 18, 2:36 PM Gantz gives Netanyahu ultimatum: approve post-war plan or he will resign
Israeli cabinet minister Benny Gantz has given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an ultimatum: approve a post-war plan by June 8, or he will resign, Gantz said at a press conference.
“While the Israeli soldiers show supreme bravery on the front, some of the men who sent them into battle behave with cowardice and irresponsibility,” Gantz said.
A leader of the National Unity Party and a minister in the war cabinet, Gantz’s resignation would not necessarily trigger the collapse of the government on its own, but would be politically significant.
The ultimatum come on the heels of a speech by defense minister Yoav Gallant, who is demanding a plan for the “day after” the war.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Dana Savir
May 18, 1:30 PM Body of hostage found, returned to Israel
Israel announced that it has identified the body of a fourth hostage this week. Ron Benjamin, 53, was killed during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and taken into Gaza, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The bodies of three other hostages were also recovered in a tunnel in the same operation, according to the IDF.
Benjamin was a family man who loved cycling, the Hostages Families Forum said in a statement.
“He used to go out for a ride every Saturday, just as he did on that fateful Saturday when he was taken hostage from the Kibbutz Be’eri area while on a cycling trip,” the statement said.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
May 18, 8:53 AM More than 630,000 fled Rafah since May 6, UN says
More than 630,000 people have fled Rafah since May 6 amid widening operations by Israel’s military, with many seeking refuge in Al-Mawasi and Deir al-Balah — areas overcrowded with “dire conditions” — according to the United Nations.
-ABC News’ Emma Ogao
May 17, 3:00 PM Gaza assistance through US maritime corridor not replacement for aid through land: USAID
Humanitarian assistance shipments delivered to Gaza through the U.S.’ maritime corridor should not replace aid coming into the enclave through land crossings where “barely 100 trucks of aid a day” entered over the last two weeks — about a sixth of the level needed to stave off famine — USAID Administrator Samantha Power said in a statement Friday.
“Every moment that a crossing is not open, that trucks are not moving, or where aid cannot safely be distributed, increases the terrible human costs of this conflict,” Power said.
Supplies coming into Gaza through the temporary pier Friday include contributions from the U.S., United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
But, the statement doesn’t say how much aid is now being moved through the corridor at this point or how much of it is sitting in Cyprus waiting to be shipped — so it’s still unclear if and when these deliveries might have a substantial impact.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford and Anne Flaherty
May 17, 2:00 PM 1,400 buildings have been damaged, destroyed in Rafah this month
Almost 1,400 buildings have likely been damaged or destroyed in Rafah, Gaza, since May 4, according to an analysis of satellite imagery by two university researchers.
Data from the radar-enabled Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite operated by the European Space Agency was used to analyze the effects of fighting on the terrain and buildings of Gaza, according to Corey Scher, of the CUNY Graduate Center, and Jamon Van Den Hoek, of Oregon State University.
Between May 4 and May 8, the researchers found evidence that 895 buildings were likely damaged or destroyed in Rafah. From May 8 to May 16 they counted 487.
Since Oct. 5, the researchers have found evidence of likely damage or destruction to 18,176 of the 48,678 buildings in Rafah.
-ABC News’ Chris Looft
May 17, 12:01 PM IDF recovers bodies of 3 hostages in overnight operation
The bodies of three hostages have been recovered, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The bodies of Shani Louk, Yitzhak Gelanter and Amit Buskila were recovered in an operation by the Shin Bet, Israel’s security agency.
The hostages had escaped from the Nova Music Festival and were killed in the area of Kibbutz Mefalsim and their bodies were taken to Gaza, according to the IDF.
“Our hearts go out to them, to the families, at this difficult time and we will leave no stone unturned, we will do everything in our power to find our hostages and bring them home,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the IDF, said. “We will not rest until we do.”
May 17, 11:30 AM 75 launches detected from Lebanon into Israel Friday, IDF says
After Israel killed a senior Hezbollah commander on Thursday, 75 launches were detected crossing from southern Lebanon into Israel on Friday, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Dozens of the launches were intercepted and a launcher in the area of Yaroun was struck and dismantled, preventing more launches, according to the IDF.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
May 17, 7:02 AM US CENTCOM says first trucks carrying aid have moved ashore via temporary pier
The United States Central Command (U.S. CENTCOM) has confirmed that the first trucks carrying humanitarian assistance have now moved ashore via the JLOTS temporary pier on Friday.
“Today at approximately 9 a.m. (Gaza time), trucks carrying humanitarian assistance began moving ashore via a temporary pier in Gaza,” according to a U.S. CENTCOM statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. “No U.S. troops went ashore in Gaza. This is an ongoing, multinational effort to deliver additional aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza via a maritime corridor that is entirely humanitarian in nature, and will involve aid commodities donated by a number of countries and humanitarian organizations.”
May 16, 4:05 PM Thai nationals taken hostage by Hamas declared dead
Two Thai nationals who were taken during the Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel have now been declared dead, according to the Hostages Families Forum Headquarters.
Officials now say Sonthaya Oakkharasri and Sudthisak Rinthalak were killed on the day of the invasion by Hamas and their bodies were taken back to Gaza, where they remain. Both were agricultural workers in the orchards near Kibbutz Be’eri, the Hostage Families Forum said.
“The horrific cruelty of Hamas was directed against anyone in their path without distinction of origin or nationality,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, said in a statement. “In front of our eyes stands the moral duty to bring them all back –- to bring all 132 hostages home as quickly as possible.”
Thirty-nine Thai citizens were killed and 31 Thai citizens were kidnapped to Gaza in the attack on Oct. 7. Large numbers of Thai nationals have traditionally done agricultural work in Israel.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
May 16, 3:09 PM Floating pier in place off coast of Gaza, aid coming ashore soon
The floating pier system — the U.S. military’s Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, or JLOTS, capability — is now in place off the coast of Gaza, the U.S. Central Command announced Thursday morning. Officials said they expect to begin transporting about 500 tons of assistance to shore “in coming days.”
They said the expectation remains that between 90 and 150 truckloads a day of aid will flow into Gaza, but the officials called that characterization “an imperfect measure” and stressed it was more important to focus on the amount of tons of aid. There are currently 500 tons of aid waiting to be offloaded.
Security for U.S. forces and nongovernmental organizations participating in the JLOTS system is a top priority, officials said, adding the Israel Defense Forces will provide security at the point where the aid will arrive and be transferred to the U.N. and other NGOs.
But officials said the security for those working on bringing aid ashore could still be improved.
“The deconfliction measures are not where they need to be at, given the complexity of the environment,” said Sonali Korde, assistant to the administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance. “So those conversations are ongoing. They need to continue and they need to get to a place where humanitarian aid workers feel safe and secure and able to operate safely and I don’t think we’re there yet.”
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
May 16, 11:22 AM IDF confirms they sent more troops into Rafah
The Israel Defense Forces’ Commando Brigade was deployed to southern Gaza’s Rafah overnight, joining the 162nd Division that has been operating in the eastern part of the city since earlier this month.
The move comes as the Israeli government is expected to approve widening the offensive there.
“Additional troops will join the ground operation in Rafah,” Israel Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said Thursday, in remarks after completing an operational situation assessment at the Gaza border in Rafah.
“Several tunnels in the area have been destroyed by our troops and additional tunnels will be destroyed soon. This activity will intensify,” he said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Will Gretsky
May 16, 7:14 AM Floating pier designed to increase aid to Gaza now in place
A floating pier designed to increase the amount of aid getting into Gaza — known as a Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) system — was successfully anchored to the central Gazan shore on Thursday morning, according to IDF Spokesperson Nadav Shoshani.
The Israeli Navy will be securing an aid ship to JLOTS and Israeli soldiers from the 99th Division will be on the ground securing the port area, according to the IDF.
The United Nations, led by the World Food Programme, will be responsible for distributing the aid from JLOTS, the IDF said.
May 16, 6:53 AM Putin and Xi discuss Ukraine, Israel and Hamas war
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping held several hours of talks on Thursday in China, with Putin saying both Russia and China want political solutions to the “Ukrainian crisis” and Xi calling for a two-state solution to stop the war between Israel and Hamas.
Xi also took a moment to praise China’s “everlasting friendship” with Russia.
President Putin was welcomed with pomp expected on his state visit to China, complete with red carpet, military band and hundreds of Chinese militaries standing at attention to welcome him to the Great Hall of the People.
May 15, 1:14 PM Israel has amassed enough troops for full-scale incursion of Rafah: US officials
The U.S. has assessed that Israel has amassed enough troops on the edge of Rafah to move forward with a full-scale incursion into the city, but the U.S. is not sure if Israel has made a final decision to actually do so, according to two U.S. officials.
One official added that the U.S. does not have a timeline or estimate on when Israel could potentially move forward with operations.
The official stressed the U.S. continues to have the same concerns for civilian safety in Rafah.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez and Selina Wang
May 15, 1:06 PM Gallant calls on Netanyahu to publicly reject Israeli civil or military governance of Gaza after Hamas
Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant publicly called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make the “tough” decision to declare what a non-Hamas government over the Gaza Strip will look like.
“I must reiterate, I will not agree to the establishment of Israeli military rule in Gaza. Israel must not establish civilian rule in Gaza,” Gallant said.
Failure to do that would undermine the IDF achievements in the war, Gallant warned.
“Since October, I have been raising this issue consistently in the Cabinet, and have received no response. The end of the military campaign must come together with political action,” Gallant said.
“The ‘day after Hamas,’ will only be achieved with Palestinian entities taking control of Gaza, accompanied by international actors, establishing a governing alternative to Hamas’ rule,” Gallant said.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
May 15, 10:03 AM Blinken calls continued closure of Rafah gate ‘urgent problem’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked how long the U.S. would standby while Israel continues to seal off the Rafah gate, cutting off Gaza from the world. Blinken told reporters it is an “urgent problem” that aid isn’t getting into Rafah or Kerem Shalom. He also said the humanitarian situation is at risk of backsliding.
However, there’s no plan for the future, Blinken said.
Israel “cannot and says it does not want responsibility for Gaza. We cannot have Hamas controlling Gaza. We cannot have chaos and anarchy in Gaza. So there needs to be a clear, concrete plan. And we look to Israel to come forward with its ideas,” Blinken said.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty
May 14, 7:02 PM US moving forward with $1B in new weapons deals for Israel: Sources
The Biden administration notified Congress on Tuesday that it is moving forward with more than $1 billion in new weapons deals for Israel, according to sources familiar with the matter at the White House and on Capitol Hill.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters Monday that the United States is continuing to send military assistance to Israel. The only shipment paused involves the 2,000-pound bombs, for fear they’d be used in a major invasion in Rafah, according to a U.S. official.
May 14, 12:52 PM 450,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah, UN says
About 450,000 Palestinians have been displaced from Rafah, fleeing to safety, according to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
“Inland in Rafah is now a ghost town. It’s hard to believe there were over one million people sheltering here just a week ago,” UNRWA spokesperson Louise Wateridge said. “People face constant exhaustion, hunger and fear. Nowhere is safe. An immediate ceasefire is the only hope.”
The development comes as airstrikes continued to hit northern and southern Gaza Tuesday. The Israeli military said it had hit 120 targets in the last 24 hours.
May 14, 12:13 PM International court to hold hearings over Israel’s Rafah attacks
The International Court of Justice said it will hold hearings over Israel’s attacks on Rafah during the war in Gaza, after South Africa sought new emergency measures as part of its ongoing case accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention in its offensive on Gaza.
Hearings will be held on Thursday and Friday in the Hague.
South Africa first brought the case before the ICJ in December alleging Israel violated its obligations in its offensive with regard to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
May 13, 4:16 PM White House says world should be calling on Hamas to accept hostage proposal
National security adviser Jake Sullivan stressed the U.S. is working “urgently and relentlessly” to get a hostage deal in place, but did not have any major progress to share Monday.
Sullivan noted that he met with the families of American hostages this past Friday, and that “they know how hard the president is working on this.”
On where the hostage negotiations stand currently, Sullivan turned to the architect of the Good Friday agreement in Ireland.
“Sen. [George] Mitchell said quite famously, “‘Negotiations are 1,000 days of failure and one day of success.’ And right now, we’re in the former days rather than the latter day,” he said.
“[T]here could be a cease-fire tomorrow if Hamas simply released women, wounded and elderly hostages, all innocents. Israel put a forward-leaning proposal on the table for a cease-fire and hostage deal. The world should be calling on Hamas to come back to the table and accept a deal,” Sullivan said.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
May 13, 4:06 PM US aware of American doctors trapped in Gaza
The State Department on Monday said it was aware of reports that U.S. doctors were trapped in Gaza, and that it’s been working with Israel to reopen the Rafah gate so U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals can leave.
“I can say that we’re aware of these reports of U.S. citizen doctors and medical professionals currently unable to leave Gaza,” principal deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said. “As I said before, we don’t control this border crossing. And this is a incredibly complex situation that has very serious implications for the safety and security of U.S. citizens. But we’re continuing to work around the clock with the government of Israel, with the government of Egypt, to work on this issue.”
He added, “Rafah is a conduit for the safe departure of foreign nationals, which is why we continue to want to see it get opened as swiftly as possible.”
The State Department said it does not have an estimate of Americans still trapped in Gaza, but that it’s helped 1,800 U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents to depart Gaza so far.
“Unfortunately, this is not a border crossing the United States controls but we are continuing to work around the clock with the government of Israel, with the government of Egypt on whatever we can do to make sure that Rafah gets open. … We need to see Rafah open as soon as possible,” Patel said.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty
May 13, 2:23 PM UN worker killed after vehicle struck in Gaza
A United Nations worker was killed and another injured after their vehicle was struck in Gaza on Monday, the organization said.
The staff members of the U.N. Department of Safety and Security were traveling to the European Hospital in Rafah when their U.N. vehicle was struck, the U.N. said.
Details on the incident were not immediately available. The U.N. said it is still gathering information.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has called for a full investigation, his spokesperson said.
“Humanitarian workers must be protected,” Guterres said on X. “I condemn all attacks on U.N. personnel and reiterate my urgent appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire & the release of all hostages.”
More than 190 U.N. staff members have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to Guterres.
Today a @UN vehicle was struck in Gaza, killing one of our colleagues & injuring another. More than 190 UN staff have been killed in Gaza. Humanitarian workers must be protected. I condemn all attacks on UN personnel and reiterate my urgent appeal for an immediate humanitarian…
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) May 13, 2024
May 13, 3:44 AM Almost 360,000 people have fled Rafah, UN agency says
Almost 360,000 people have fled from the southern Gazan city of Rafah since Israel issued an evacuation order last week, the United Nations agency operating in Gaza said on Monday.
“There’s nowhere to go,” the U.N. Agency for Palestine Refugees said on social media. “There’s NO safety without a cease-fire.”
The agency had said Sunday that 300,000 people had evacuated the city as Israel weighs a full-scale invasion.
-ABC News’ Kevin Shalvey
May 12, 5:39 PM IDF say its opened new crossing for humanitarian aid into Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces has announced that it has opened a new crossing to bring humanitarian aid into the famine-stricken Gaza.
The military announced in a Sunday press release the opening of the “Western Erez crossing” between Israel and northern Gaza in coordination with the U.S.
According to the military, the new crossing is located west of the Erez crossing, closer to the seashore. The crossing was constructed by the Israeli military “as part of the effort to increase routes for aid to Gaza, particularly to the North of the strip.”
Earlier Sunday, IDF said it launched a large-scale operation in the area of Jabaliya in the North, while intensifying its military operations in the Eastern portion of Rafah and the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing. It said that it had called on the civilian population to evacuate from Jabaliya to shelters in the west part of Gaza City.
-ABC News’ Dragana Jovanovic
May 12, 2:27 PM White House National Security Advisor speaks to Israeli counterpart, expresses concern over pending Rafah invasion
In a phone call Sunday with his Israeli counterpart, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan expressed an “ironclad U.S. commitment” to Israel but also voiced the Biden administration’s concerns about Israel’s major military operations in Gaza, according to the White House.
During the call with Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi, Sullivan reiterated President Joe Biden’s “longstanding concerns over the potential for a major military ground operation into Rafah, where over one million people have taken shelter,” according to a readout of the call that was released by the White House.
“He [Sullivan] discussed alternative courses of action to ensure the defeat of Hamas everywhere in Gaza,” the readout said. “Mr. Hanegbi confirmed that Israel is taking U.S. concerns into account.”
The White House said Sullivan also expressed condolences on Israel’s Memorial Day, the first since Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office.
Sullivan and Hanegbi also reviewed discussions by officials on both sides of the war about alternatives for a Rafah invasion and agreed to plan an in-person meeting soon, according to the White House.
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
May 12, 6:16 AM 300,000 have fled Rafah, UN agency says
More than 300,000 people have fled Rafah in the week since Israel issued a partial evacuation order, the United Nations agency operating in Gaza said on Sunday.
The U.N. Agency for Palestine Refugees called the evacuation “forced and inhumane.”
“There is nowhere safe to go,” the agency said on social media, repeating the phrase three times for emphasis.
The Israeli military late Saturday called again for civilians to evacuate from much of the eastern part of the city, which is in southern Gaza.
Israel Defense Forces entered Rafah last week, in what they called a “precise” operation ahead of potential invasion.
“Prior to our operations we urge civilians to temporarily move towards humanitarian areas and move away from the crossfire that Hamas puts them in,” the Israel Defense Forces said on a post on Telegram. “Our war is against Hamas, not against the people of Gaza.”
(NEW YORK) — Haiti’s Port-au-Prince airport has been reopened after being closed for nearly three months after unprecedented gang violence forced it to close, effectively sealing the capital city off from the rest of the world.
So far, only Sunrise Airways, a small regional carrier, has resumed flights, but other international flights, including those operated by JetBlue and American Airlines, could start operating again in the next few weeks.
The only way to safely reopen the airport was to bulldoze hundreds of homes in its immediate vicinity, according to two Haitian officials briefed on the plans.
It was from the roofs of these homes that gang members were able to shoot into the airport during early March attacks, at one point even hitting planes parked on the runway.
Residents of the homes who were forced to flee the area are due to be compensated for the moves, according to those officials.
American military flights have landed nearly two dozen times in recent weeks as they shuttle in aid and supplies, much of which is designed to support the upcoming international security mission.
Kenyan Police Heading to Haiti Soon
Dozens of Kenyan police officers who have signed up to be a part of the UN-backed international security force will arrive in Haiti “soon,” according to a senior Kenyan government official. It could be as soon as this week.
The force will eventually grow to roughly 1,000 officers and hundreds of officers from several other countries, many of whom will arrive later in the summer.
The deployment comes just as Kenyan President Ruto is set to have a state visit to Washington, D.C.
(NEW YORK) — Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and other officials died in a helicopter crash Sunday near Iran’s northern border with Azerbaijan, Iranian state media said Monday morning.
The helicopter was part of a convoy of three helicopters returning from an event inaugurating a joint dam project when it crashed in heavy fog in a remote area on Sunday. The fog and rugged terrain hindered search operations. All eight bodies on board were found on Monday.
Raisi’s death comes during heightened international tensions and increased speculation over who will eventually replace Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Raisi was widely considered a potential successor.
ABC contributor Col. Steve Ganyard, a former fighter pilot and a former State Department official, analyzed the crash – and the political repercussions inside Iran and elsewhere – Monday morning with “Start Here.”
START HERE: What do we know about this incident so far?
GANYARD: It seems to be a fairly classic mishap that occurs when helicopter pilots try to skirt underneath weather in very mountainous terrain. So we know that there was a lot of fog in the area. We know that they had dignitaries, very important people, which oftentimes puts an extra, at least mental burden on the pilots to make sure that they get to get to the destination. And when you’re flying in the mountains and you have very low visibility, there’s a natural tendency for helicopter pilots to begin to sort of descend and try to get lower and try to get underneath either the fog or the cloud layer. And they know that they can set the aircraft down if they need to. But oftentimes it leads to tragedy. If you remember, earlier this year, back in February, a marine Corps helicopter was trying to do this very thing, trying to get back to San Diego and in the mountains above San Diego, just to the to the east of San Diego, crashed. And unfortunately, all the Marines on board lost their lives.
START HERE: So we’re looking at an area with dense forest, a lot of rain and fog. The Iranian government saying that they dispatched rescue teams. But we’re not getting a lot of information from them. Is that typical with the Iranian state government?
GANYARD: It is when you have when you have a mishap that involves very senior people. Obviously, this is the president of the country. He’s not the most important guy – Ayatollah Khamenei remains the most important person in terms of the leadership there in Iran. But this is still a very important, very public figure. He is in many ways the elected face of Iran to the rest of the world. And you had the foreign minister. So, interestingly, you had two of the people who are most responsible for the trouble that Iran has been causing in the region. They are, as we know, key supporters of the Houthis, key supporters of Hamas and key supporters of Hezbollah. And so, all of the region’s woes and all of the instability are at least directed in some way, influenced by two of the people that were on that helicopter.
START HERE: Well, and you were kind of alluding to this, the politics there, could this crash change the dynamic and how the U.S. views Tehran, or would you expect that Raisi’s hardline government is going to continue no matter what happens?
GANYARD: Well, Raisi is the most senior elected official in Iran, and his foreign ministers are very public foreign ministers. He is the face of the relations with the rest of the of the world, in particular the rest of the region. But it doesn’t really affect the politics within Iran. The ayatollahs still control all of the power within Iran. But none of the true power rests with the president. It still rests with the mullahs. It still rests with the Ayatollah Khamenei.
START HERE: Well, and I realize, Steve, there are a lot of unknown about what actually caused this crash. Weather obviously is looking to be the primary culprit. But there will be people wondering if Israel could have had a hand in this in any way. Is that something that’s even possible?
GANYARD: It’s possible. You never know. The Israelis have done some amazing operations inside Iran. But we also know that weather was a key problem here, and the fact that there were two other helicopters with the president’s helicopter who were able to land, but they lost sight of the president’s helicopter – it would suggest that it was probably weather related. But at this point, we’ll just have to wait and see. Obviously, the Iranians are never going to admit it if the Israelis did have a hand, and the Israelis probably in this case would not claim responsibility.
START HERE: And Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer saying that U.S. intelligence right now, pointing to that Israel was not behind this. So I want to make that clear. Steve, thanks so much for joining us.
