Michael Kurilla, head of the United States Central Command meets with IDF chief Aviv Kohavi at the Nevatim airbase in Be’er Sheva, Israel, Nov. 15, 2022. — Israeli Defense Forces/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden told reporters Friday afternoon he expects an Iranian strike on Israel to occur “sooner than later” amid urgent concerns that Iran was about to retaliate for the bombing of its consulate in Damascus, Syria, earlier this month.
Asked for his message to Iran in the tense moment, Biden was blunt, saying simply, “Don’t.”
“Would the U.S. respond?” ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce asked repeatedly as the president walked away after finishing an unrelated event. He paused, thought a moment and returned to the lectern.
“We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said.
Biden’s comments come as other high-level U.S. officials worked urgently behind the scenes to pressure Iran to back down from its threat to launch a retaliatory strike — the latest challenge facing the Biden administration as it tries to avert an all-out regional war in the Middle East.
At the same time, the U.S. was moving troops and other assets to the Middle East as Iran readied a large number of missiles and drones for a potential strike against Israel, according to U.S. officials.
The deployment of American troops was intended to try to deter Iran from launching a large-scale attack and protecting U.S. troops in the region
Two U.S. officials said that Iran has readied more than a hundred cruise missiles for a possible strike.
The U.S. assets being moved into the region in response could assist with air defense, according to one official.
Some 3,400 US troops are in Iraq and Syria with tens of thousands more U.S. personnel in the Middle East region.
Earlier Friday, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the administration was monitoring the situation “very, very closely,” and that while its top priority was ensuring Israel is able to defend itself from a potential Iranian attack, the U.S was also “doing everything we can to protect our people and our facilities.”
“It would be imprudent if we didn’t take a look at our own posture in the region, to make sure that we’re properly prepared as well,” he said.
In a sign of how seriously the U.S. views the risk of escalation, the Pentagon confirmed on Thursday that Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, had “moved up” a previously scheduled trip to Israel to meet with senior Israeli military leaders “due to recent developments.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also spoke by phone with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday afternoon “to discuss the current situation in the Middle East and to reaffirm the U.S.’s ironclad commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and its proxies,” according to Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary.
Although the U.S. does not have direct diplomatic ties to Iran, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had been working the phones with his counterparts in countries that do — encouraging them to use their influence to dissuade Iran from taking military action in response to the consulate bombing.
In his conversations with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Blinken made clear “that escalation is not in anyone’s interest and that countries should urge Iran not to escalate,” according to Miller.
U.S. officials previously told ABC News that the administration believes Iran could retaliate against Israel in the coming days — potentially using drones and missiles to attack “regional assets” — and that information about the threat has been shared with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
At a White House news conference on Wednesday, President Biden said Iran was “threatening to launch a significant attack on Israel” and that he had assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. commitment to his country’s security was “ironclad.”
“We’re going to do all we can to protect Israel’s security,” he said.
While officials say they still believe Iran may could change course, the State Department announced it had placed new restrictions on U.S. personnel in Israel on Thursday, prohibiting employees and their family members from undertaking personal travel outside of the greater Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Be’er Sheva areas until further notice.
According to a travel alert from the department, the limits were imposed “out of an abundance of caution.” Miller declined to speak to any specific security assessments that motivated the change in policy but acknowledged Iran’s vow for revenge.
“Clearly we are monitoring the threat environment in the Middle East and specifically in Israel, and that’s what led us to give that warning to our employees and their family members and to make it public so all U.S. citizens who either live in Israel or traveling there are aware of it,” he said.
The renewed concern over a widening conflict in the Middle East was sparked by a strike on an Iranian facility in Syria that Tehran says was carried out by Israel and killed 12 people, including Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior leader in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Although Israel has attacked a number of targets linked to Iran in recent years, primarily as part of its efforts to disrupt arms transfers to Hezbollah and other proxy groups in the region, the Israeli military has not taken credit for the incident in Damascus, which occurred on April 1.
(NEW YORK) — An Israeli attack in Gaza on a convoy of aid workers from World Central Kitchen, the relief organization providing desperately needed food to Palestinians, has generated outrage from the group’s founder, celebrity chef José Andrés and condemnation from around the world.
Israel has apologized for the strikes, which killed seven members of the group late Monday, saying it was an accident in “the fog of war.” They have promised a thorough investigation of the incident, which Andrés said was deliberate.
Nearly six months after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, the Israeli military continues its bombardment of the neighboring Gaza Strip. About 1,200 people were killed in the initial terrorist attack, according to Israeli officials, while Israel’s bombing of Gaza has killed more than 32,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 12, 1:51 PM Iran has readied over 100 cruise missiles for possible strike on Israel: US officials
U.S. officials continue to see indicators that Iran could be ready to attack Israel with missile and drone strikes.
Iran has readied a large number of missiles for a possible strike, according to three U.S. officials. Two of the officials said that Iran has readied more than 100 cruise missiles for a possible strike. Iran has also readied a sizeable number of drones that could be used in an attack on Israel, according to one official.
The officials said that Iran has been readying the missiles and drones over the last week.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Apr 12, 1:32 PM 1 dead after settlers storm West Bank village: Palestinian Health Ministry
At least one person is dead and 18 others injured after Israeli settlers allegedly stormed the village of Al-Mughayir in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Some 1,500 settlers burned more than 40 homes and vehicles in the village, according to Marzouq Abu Naim, the deputy mayor of the Al-Mughir Village Council.
The Israel Defense Forces said that “violent riots” erupted in the area while forces searched for a missing 14-year-old boy.
“During the incident, rocks were hurled at IDF soldiers, who responded with fire. Hits were identified,” the IDF said in a statement. “Furthermore, IDF and Israel Border Police forces operated to withdraw Israeli civilians who entered the town of Al Mughayyir.”
The crowds have since dispersed and there are no longer any Israeli civilians present within the town, the IDF said.
Apr 12, 12:54 PM EU countries sanction 3 terrorist group wings over Oct. 7 sexual and gender-based violence
The European Union has sanctioned three terrorist group wings for “widespread sexual and gender-based violence” that occurred in Israel on Oct. 7, the EU Council said.
The sanctioned entities are the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad; Nukhba Force, a Hamas special forces unit; and the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas are designated as terrorist organizations by the EU.
“Those listed under the sanctions regime are subject to an asset freeze, and the provision of funds or economic resources, directly or indirectly, to them or for their benefit, is prohibited,” the EU Council said.
Apr 12, 11:49 AM WHO details the destruction of medical facilities in Khan Younis
The World Health Organization described the destruction in Khan Younis as “disproportionate to anything one can imagine.”
Nasser Medical Complex — once the “backbone” of the health system in southern Gaza — Al-Amal and Al-Khair hospitals are “non-functional,” according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“These facilities have no oxygen supply, water, electricity or sewage system,” he said Thursday on X, a day after WHO team members and partners went to Khan Younis to assess health facilities following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the city.
Jordanian Field Hospital was found to be “minimally operational,” he said.
“The once robust health system in Gaza is broken,” Ghebreyesus said. “WHO and partners stand ready to support reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts, but we need a ceasefire. Nothing else can bring a lasting and humane outcome.”
Apr 11, 5:36 PM Erez crossing to remain closed as Israeli builds new road into Gaza
Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters Thursday that Israel is constructing a new land crossing from Israel into northern Gaza to facilitate more aid deliveries.
The Erez crossing, a key pedestrian crossing that was destroyed by Hamas on Oct. 7, will remain closed.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would reopen the crossing for aid after speaking with President Joe Biden following the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen workers by an Israeli airstrike.
Although the timetable for the opening of the new land crossing wasn’t revealed, Hagari said it would be located near the Erez crossing but not in the exact same spot.
Hagari said he expected 58 trucks would pass through the new crossing daily.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Apr 11, 3:47 PM White House pressed on whether famine in Gaza was preventable
Following USAID Administrator Samantha Power acknowledging that famine is happening in northern Gaza, the White House was pressed Thursday on whether this could have been prevented if they had pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sooner to increase deliveries of humanitarian aid.
The U.S. has often called on Israel to open more crossings and allow for more aid to reach Gaza, but it wasn’t until last week when President Joe Biden told Netanyahu that U.S. policy on Gaza hinges on Israel announcing and implementing measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers.
“Every time the president has spoken to the prime minister there’s — part of that conversation has been to do more humanitarian aid,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said when asked if it was a mistake not to push Netanyahu to open the Ashdod port and Erez crossing sooner to help prevent famine.
She was asked specifically who is to blame for famine in Gaza, but she didn’t attribute it to anyone, instead saying the focus is going to be on getting aid in.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza, obviously, is dire. And that is why the president is doing everything that he can to get more humanitarian aid in,” she said. “And that’s what our focus is going to be.”
-ABC News’ Justin R. Gomez
Apr 11, 3:41 PM US enacts new travel restrictions for personnel in Israel
The State Department revealed that U.S. government employees and their family members are now prohibited from undertaking any personal travel in Israel outside of the greater Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Be’er Sheva areas “until further notice.”
The alert says the restrictions were imposed “out of an abundance of caution” and shared to help other Americans in Israel make their own security plans.
“In response to security incidents and without advance notice, the U.S. Embassy may further restrict or prohibit U.S. government employees and their family members from traveling to certain areas of Israel (including the Old City of Jerusalem) and the West Bank,” the alert adds.
Asked whether the limitations were directly connected to Iran’s threats, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller declined to speak to the specific assessments motivating the policy but acknowledged the public warnings from Iran and said Israel is in “a very tough neighborhood.”
“Clearly we are monitoring the threat environment in the Middle East and specifically in Israel, and that’s what led us to give that warning to our employees and their family members and to make it public so all U.S. citizens who either live in Israel or traveling there are aware of it,” he said.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Apr 10, 7:33 PM US Central Command leader to meet with Israel about Iran threat, building piers
Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, is set to meet with officials in Israel about Iran and the Joint logistics over-the-shore floating piers which U.S. military officials currently on the ground in Israel have been working to coordinate with Israeli military officials, an Israeli official told ABC News.
The official said there has been a “marathon of calls” between Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the National Security Council, the State Department and the Pentagon, which the official credits with increasing statements of support by the administration for Israel in case it’s attacked by Iran. Those talks were an extension of the meetings two weeks ago when the White House summoned Israeli officials to Washington to discuss the urgent need to increase humanitarian aid in Gaza.
After months of U.S. calls for Israel to massively increase aid, multiple Israeli security officials tell ABC News that Israel heard the message loud and clear this time.
“We heard what they said about the humanitarian effort,” the official told ABC News, noting Gallant came back from his trip to the U.S. and gave a “directive: ‘We need to make an immediate impact on the scope and speed of the humanitarian aid going into Gaza,’ and that’s what we’ve done.”
Apr 10, 1:43 PM US skeptical that Hamas has enough hostages to fulfill 1st phase of proposed deal: Source
U.S. officials are skeptical that Hamas is holding enough Israeli hostages to meet the requirements for the first phase of the proposed deal currently on the table, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.
The proposal calls for Hamas to hand over 40 hostages who are either: children; women not affiliated with the Israel Defense Forces; sick adults; or adults over 50 years old, according to the officials.
In exchange, Israel would free an undefined number of Palestinian prisoners and implement a cease-fire of at least six weeks.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Apr 10, 1:36 PM World Central Kitchen worker hurt in separate IDF strike
World Central Kitchen said one of its workers was injured in a separate airstrike in Gaza on the same day that seven WCK workers were killed.
Fifteen minutes before the Israeli attack that killed seven workers on April 1, “One of our brave Palestinian staff members was gravely injured in a reportedly deadly airstrike at al-Bashir Mosque in Deir al-Balah,” World Central Kitchen said in a statement.
The two attacks were within miles of each other, WCK said.
The Palestinian staff member, Amro, suffered “serious head and hand injuries while he was off duty in a home close to the mosque in the area surrounding our warehouse and newly established kitchen in Deir al-Balah,” WCK said.
He was in a coma for some time and is now recovering, the agency said.
“Amro joined the WCK team just after the start of the year,” WCK said. “He was given rare opportunities to leave Gaza for Egypt several times, but he refused. He always says, ‘I am here serving people hot food every day. I will not leave my job and let them suffer.'”
Apr 10, 1:21 PM 3 sons of Hamas political chief killed in Israeli strike, Hamas says
Three sons of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, according to a statement from Hamas.
Three of the brothers’ children were also killed in the strike.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the strike and said the sons were part of Hamas’ military wing.
Apr 10, 10:47 AM 3 sons of Hamas political chief killed in Israeli strike, Hamas says
Three sons of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, according to a statement from Hamas.
Three of the brothers’ children were also killed in the strike.
Apr 09, 7:06 PM ‘No higher priority’: Harris meets with American hostages’ families
During a meeting at the White House on Tuesday with the families of Americans being held hostage by Hamas, Vice President Kamala Harris said there is “no higher priority than reuniting the hostages with their loved ones,” according to a White House readout.
Harris also reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to bringing home the remains of those hostages who have been confirmed dead, according to the readout.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose 23-year-old son Hersh is being held hostage by Hamas, described the meeting with Harris as “very productive.”
“There is a possibility of holding two truths,” Goldberg-Polin told reporters outside the White House. “You can believe, as we do, that it is horrible that innocent civilians in Gaza are suffering, and at the same time you can also know that it is horrible and against international law for hostages to be held against their will.”
Goldberg-Polin said her son got his arm blown off during Hamas’ attack at the Nova Music festival on Oct. 7. Her husband, Jonathan Polin, said that they “have no choice but to stay hopeful.”
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the father of American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, called on Hamas to reach a deal to release the hostages.
“We are waiting now and the world waits for Hamas to get to yes,” Dekel-Chen told reporters. “It is in their court.”
Apr 09, 6:48 PM Biden calls for cease-fire ‘now’ to get aid into Gaza in Univision interview
President Joe Biden called for an immediate cease-fire to get food and aid into Gaza in an interview airing Tuesday night on Univision.
“So I what I’m calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a cease-fire, allow for the next six, eight weeks total access to all food and medicine going into the country,” Biden said in the interview with Univision’s Enrique Acevedo. “I’ve spoken with everyone from the Saudis to the Jordanians to the Egyptians. They’re prepared to move in. They’re prepared to move this food in. And I think there’s no excuse to not provide for the medical and the food needs of those people. It should be done now.”
Biden did not mention tying the cease-fire to a hostage deal, according to a transcript of the interview, which would be a shift for the administration. ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment.
Last week, officials pushed back on suggestions that they were separating calls for a cease-fire from hostage negotiations in their readout of Biden’s call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Our conviction remains that we need to see an immediate cease-fire to enable the release of hostages but also to enable a dramatic surge in humanitarian assistance, as well as obviously better protecting civilians,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on April 4.
In the Univision interview, Biden also called Netanyahu’s approach in Gaza “a mistake” when asked if he believed the prime minister was “more concerned about his political survival than he is in the national interest of his people” as calls for Netanyahu’s resignation have increased following the strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen workers.
“Well, I will tell you, I think what he’s doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with his approach. I think it’s outrageous that those four, three vehicles were hit by drones and taken out on a highway where it wasn’t like it was along the shore, it wasn’t like there was a convoy moving there, etc.,” Biden said in the interview.
The hour-long interview, which is airing at 10 p.m. ET, was taped a day before Biden’s call with Netanyahu on April 4.
Apr 09, 4:00 PM US effort to build humanitarian pier off Gaza expected to top $180M
President Joe Biden’s plan to use the military to build a giant pier off the coast of Gaza to deliver food, water and medicine will cost at least $180 million and could top $200 million, ABC News has learned.
The price tag was described by two people familiar with the initial estimate, which has not been released by U.S. Central Command.
The price tag is expected to fluctuate as U.S. officials scramble to finalize key details on the project, including which humanitarian organizations and foreign governments are willing to help carry the shipments to shore and distribute them.
The floating dock is expected to be nearly the size of a football field — about 97 feet wide and 270 feet long — stationed about 3 miles offshore. Container ships would screen their cargo in Cyprus before taking it to the floating dock and unloading it. From there, the aid would be moved aboard small Army ferries that would transport it to an 1,800-foot “trident” pier that connects to shore.
Officials also continue to discuss how to protect the service members who will be 3 miles offshore, where Hamas is believed to still operate.
The project — which triggered the deployment of six Army and Navy ships and will involve some 1,000 U.S. military troops — is on track to become operational in early May, enabling the delivery of some 2 million meals per day.
Apr 09, 2:36 PM New record number of aid trucks enter Gaza, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said 468 aid trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday — the highest number to enter Gaza in one day since the war began.
More than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza over the last three days, according to the IDF and Israeli aid agency COGAT.
Apr 09, 2:02 PM Blinken gets emotional about Americans directly impacted by Israel-Hamas war
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke emotionally Tuesday about the Americans directly impacted by the Israel-Hamas war, touching on both the hostages still held captive and the aid workers killed in Gaza.
At a news conference with his United Kingdom counterpart, David Cameron, Blinken was asked about Rachel Goldberg, whose 23-year-old son, American-Israeli Hersch Goldberg-Polin, was captured by Hamas. Goldberg is asserting that negotiators have failed.
“I know Rachel well. If I were sitting in her shoes, I’d undoubtably be feeling and saying the same thing,” Blinken said. “Because until the day that Hersch is home, we will not have succeeded in doing what we’re determined to do — which is to bring him and bring all the hostages back.”
Blinken also said he spoke with the family of Jacob Flickinger, a 33-year-old dual U.S.-Canadian citizen who was one of the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza last week.
“I spoke over the weekend to Jacob’s father and to his partner. I heard directly from them,” he said. “Separately, Jacob leaves an 18-month-old son. Leaving everything else aside, just on a purely human level, my heart goes out to that family and to that little boy who now has no father.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Apr 09, 1:52 PM Blinken says Israel hasn’t communicated date for Rafah operation, but he doesn’t ‘see anything imminent’
Asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that Israel had set a date for its offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Tuesday that the U.S. was in the dark. But Blinken added that he doesn’t think the operation is imminent.
“No, we do not have a date for any Rafah operation — at least one that’s been communicated to us by the Israelis,” Blinken said at a news conference with his United Kingdom counterpart, David Cameron. “On the contrary, what we have is an ongoing conversation with Israel about any Rafah operation. The president has been very clear about our concerns — our deep concerns about Israel’s ability to move civilians out of harm’s way.”
Blinken said he expected talks between Israeli and American officials on the matter would press on into next week and that he didn’t want to “prejudge” an outcome.
“I don’t anticipate any actions being taken before those talks,” he said. “I don’t see anything imminent.”
As other Biden administration officials have done, Blinken stressed that the administration’s evaluation of Israel’s efforts to meet dire humanitarian needs in Gaza would be ongoing, and that officials would be “looking at a number of critical things that need to happen in the coming days.”
Blinken said that list of items includes: opening a new portal for aid in northern Gaza; using Israel’s Port of Ashdod to bring in supplies on a regular basis; maximizing the flow of assistance from Jordan; repairing water lines throughout Gaza; and “putting in place a much more effective deconfliction mechanism with the humanitarian groups that are providing assistance.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Apr 09, 12:23 PM McConnell criticizes Biden, claims he’s caving to political pressure on Israel
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is claiming President Joe Biden is caving to political pressure on Israel.
McConnell criticized Biden for expressing outrage at the deaths of the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, who were killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza last week, after his administration had called it a tragic accident.
“[That] begs the question whether he’s also outraged at the way Israel’s cherished aggressors violate international law by turning hospitals and schools [in Gaza] into fighting positions,” McConnell said Tuesday. “Instead of welcoming Israel’s swift investigation and efforts to hold personnel accountable for their mistakes — accountability that has been sorely lacking during President Biden’s own administration — the president caved further to domestic political pressure. He indulged his radical base.”
-ABC News’ John Parkinson
Apr 09, 11:07 AM Harris to meet with American hostages’ families on Tuesday
Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with the families of American hostages being held by Hamas on Tuesday afternoon, according to the White House.
Harris will “express her continued support for these families and the hostages and will provide an update on our administration’s efforts to broker a deal to secure the release of all hostages and an immediate cease-fire,” a White House official said.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan met with the families on Monday.
The families told Sullivan they were appreciative of the Biden administration’s support, but also disappointed that a deal still hadn’t been reached to bring home the remaining hostages, which include eight American-Israeli citizens, the Hostages Families Forum Headquarters said.
The families said they told Sullivan they’re worried their loved ones will be the next to die if the negotiators don’t reach a deal soon.
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Apr 09, 10:54 AM Israel says IDF killed head of Hamas’ Emergency Bureau
The Israel Defense Forces said its fighter jets struck and killed Hatem Alramery, the head of Hamas’ Emergency Bureau, in Gaza on Monday night.
Hamas said civilians were also killed in the strike.
Apr 09, 10:48 AM Hamas says Israel is being ‘stubborn’ in negotiations
Hamas officials are accusing the Israelis of being “stubborn” during the latest round of negotiations in Cairo.
“Despite this,” Hamas officials said in a statement, Hamas leaders are “studying the submitted proposal … and will inform the mediators of its response once this is completed.”
CIA Director Bill Burns presented a new hostage/cease-fire proposal in Cairo this weekend, which included an initial release of 40 hostages in exchange for six-week cease-fire, a source familiar with the negotiations told ABC News.
Apr 09, 8:49 AM Harris to meet with American hostages’ families on Tuesday
Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with the families of American hostages being held by Hamas on Tuesday afternoon, according to the White House.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan met with the families on Monday.
Harris will “express her continued support for these families and the hostages and will provide an update on our administration’s efforts to broker a deal to secure the release of all hostages and an immediate cease-fire,” a White House official said.
Apr 08, 8:33 PM CIA director presented new hostage-release deal: Source
A source tells ABC News that CIA Director William J. Burns presented a new hostage-release/cease-fire proposal in Cairo last weekend to help broker a deal between Israel and Hamas.
The source confirmed the proposal included an initial release of 40 hostages in exchange for a six-week cease-fire.
Officially, the CIA did not provide a comment.
Apr 08, 3:52 PM Highest number of aid trucks enter Gaza since start of war
A total of 419 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday, marking the highest number of aid trucks to enter Gaza in one day since the start of the war, according to Israeli aid agency COGAT.
This beats the record that was set one day earlier, when 322 trucks entered Gaza.
Apr 08, 1:11 PM Netanyahu says Israel has set a date to enter Rafah
Israel has set a date for its forces to enter Rafah in southern Gaza, though the date has not been announced, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a brief video message in Hebrew on Monday.
“Today I received a detailed report on the [negotiation] talks in Cairo,” Netanyahu said. “We are working all the time to achieve our goals, primarily the release of all our hostages and achieving a complete victory over Hamas.”
“This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there,” he continued. “It will happen — there is a date.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Apr 08, 12:39 PM White House still reviewing IDF report on WCK strike, Kirby says
The White House is still reviewing the Israel Defense Force’s investigation of the Israeli strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza, according to White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
Officials are “still working our way through it,” Kirby told reporters Monday. He didn’t provide any update on when that assessment will be done.
Kirby also said the postponed visit by the Israeli delegation to the White House to discuss the IDF’s presence in Rafah in southern Gaza will likely be delayed again.
“I’m not sure that it’s going to actually happen this week,” he said. “I think folks are really sort of circling around sometime next week.”
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Apr 07, 5:00 PM Egypt to dramatically increase number of aid trucks through Rafah crossing
Egypt has decided to increase the number of aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip through its Rafah border crossing to 300 trucks per day, Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s State Information Service, said Sunday.
The average number of trucks entering the crossing daily since the beginning of April has been 55, Egyptian officials said.
A total of 322 trucks entered North Gaza via Rafah during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Rashwan said.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, more than 19,000 relief trucks have entered the Gaza Strip through Rafah, Rashwan said.
Rashwan also said 66,759 foreign passport holders and dual nationals exited Gaza into Egypt through Rafah since the war began. Some 3,764 wounded Palestinians and patients, along with 6,191 relatives have also left Gaza into Egypt, according to Rashwan.
-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy
Apr 07, 3:48 PM Talks to resume Sunday in Egypt, Israeli source says
An Israeli delegation has arrived in Cairo, Egypt, for a new round of cease-fire and hostage release talks, an Israeli source confirmed Sunday to ABC News.
-ABC News Jordana Miller
Apr 07, 2:51 PM Troop withdrawal was to prepare for missions, including in Rafah, Israeli defense minister says
The withdrawal Sunday of Israeli troops from Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip was done to prepare forces for future missions, including in Rafah, according to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
“The withdrawal of troops from Khan Younis was carried out once Hamas ceased to exist as a military framework in the city,” Gallant said Sunday. “Our forces left the area in order to prepare for their future missions, including their mission in Rafah.”
Speaking to reporters during a visit to the Israel Defense Forces’ southern command, Gallant said, “We saw examples of such missions in Shifaa, and [will see] such missions in the Rafah area. We will reach a point when Hamas no longer controls the Gaza Strip and does not function as a military framework that poses a threat to the citizens of the State of Israel.”
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi also confirmed Sunday that “the war in Gaza continues” and Israel is “far from stopping.”
Senior Hamas officials are still hiding in the southern Gaza Strip area, Halevi said in a statement.
“We will get to them sooner or later,” Halevi said, adding that the IDF “will know how to return to fighting in the event of a truce as part of a hostage deal and that returning the hostages is a more urgent matter than other goals.”
Halevi also said Israel is preparing to defend itself from a possible strike from Iran, which has vowed to retaliate against an airstrike allegedly carried out by Israel in Syria last week that killed a top Iranian commander.
Halevi said the IDF is fully prepared to deal with Tehran “in attack and defense.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Apr 07, 11:31 AM Israeli reforms after strike on aid workers must be verified: White House
John Kirby, the White House National Security Council spokesperson, said Sunday that any reforms by Israel after its deadly strike on the World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid convoy in Gaza last week have to be verified to restore “confidence.”
Seven WCK workers were killed in the attack, which Israel has described as a “terrible mistake.” The Israeli government and military have taken some steps in response, including allowing more aid into Gaza and disciplining some officers involved in the WCK drone strike.
“We need to see change over time,” Kirby told ABC News “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz. “So, these announcements, Martha, they’re very welcomed, and they’re good. And they are some of the things that the president asked specifically for Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu to do in terms of opening up additional crossings, allowing more trucks in, getting the deconfliction process in place.”
Kirby added, “But now we have to judge it over time, we have to see past the announcements and see if they actually meet these commitments over time, in a sustained and verifiable way, so that confidence can be restored not just between aid workers and [Israel’s forces], but between the people of Gaza and Israel.”
-ABC News’ Tal Axelrod
Apr 07, 10:31 AM Israel withdraws ground troops from southern Gaza Strip: IDF
Israel has withdrawn all ground troops from the southern Gaza Strip, after four straight months of fighting in the Khan Younis area, according to Israel Defense Forces sources.
A significant force led by Israel’s 162nd division and the Nahal Brigade continues to operate in the Gaza Strip, preserving the IDF’s freedom of action and its ability to conduct precise intelligence-based operations, according to the IDF sources.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir and Jordana Miller
Apr 07, 9:52 AM ‘War against humanity,’ WCK founder Jose Andres tells ABC News
Chef José Andrés claimed Israel is committing a “war against humanity itself” during an exclusive sit-down interview with “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz, following the Israeli drone strike attack that killed seven of his World Central Kitchen workers.
Andrés, who founded the humanitarian organization in 2010, pushed back against the Israel Defense Forces’ findings on the WCK convoy strike, telling Raddatz, “Every time something happens, we cannot just be bringing Hamas into the equation.”
“This is not anymore about the seven men and women of World Central Kitchen that perished on this unfortunate event. This is happening for way too long. It’s been six months of targeting anything that seems moves,” Andrés said. “This doesn’t seem a war against terror. This doesn’t seem anymore a war about defending Israel. This really, at this point, seems it’s a war against humanity itself.”
The IDF findings released on Friday said there were three strikes on the convoy. It also said WCK workers hit in the first vehicle were hit again while moving to another vehicle in the convoy. The IDF confirmed that the aid group had coordinated their movements correctly with them in advance, but conceded that Israeli officials failed to update its brigade on the coordinated humanitarian operation.
Asked by Raddatz if he was satisfied with the report’s findings, Andrés thanked the IDF for conducting “such a quick investigation” though called for a more thorough, independent one.
“I will say something so complicated, the investigation should be much more deeper,” he said. “And I would say that the perpetrator cannot be investigating himself.”
Watch the full interview with Andrés on “This Week” Sunday morning on ABC.
-ABC News’ Meredith Deliso
Apr 07, 5:42 AM Israel ‘still unhealed’ 6 months into war, UK prime minister says
Six months into Israel’s war with Hamas, Israel’s “wounds” caused by the terror attack on Oct. 7 remain “unhealed,” U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.
And Palestinians, including children, in the Gaza Strip need a humanitarian pause “immediately,” as well as a sustainable long-term cease-fire, Sunak said in a statement on Saturday.
“After six months of war in Gaza, the toll on civilians continues to grow — hunger, desperation, loss of life on an awful scale,” he said.
The U.K. continues to stand by Israel’s right to defend itself and defeat Hamas, he said, but he also called for the “terrible” conflict to end. The hostages must be released and aid must “be flooded in” to Gaza, he said.
“But the whole of the U.K. is shocked by the bloodshed, and appalled by the killing of brave British heroes who were bringing food to those in need,” Sunak said, referring to World Central Kitchen aid workers killed in Israeli military strikes.
Apr 06, 3:22 PM UN issues report on Al-Shifa Hospital, calling for cease-fire
The United Nations said it finally gained access to Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, following a days-long Israeli raid and found what the head of the World Health Organization called “an empty shell,” with most buildings destroyed.
“The scale of devastation has left the facility completely non-functional, further reducing access to life-saving health care in Gaza. Restoring even minimal functionality in the short term seems implausible and will require substantial efforts to assess and clear the grounds for unexploded ordnance to ensure safety and accessibility for partners to bring in equipment and supplies,” WHO said in a statement.
The WHO said its efforts to reach the hospital “to medically evacuate patients and staff and conduct an assessment were denied, delayed or impeded 6 times between 25 March and 1 April.” According to the WHO at least 20 patients died due to lack of access to care.
The WHO said numerous shallow graves, and many partially buried bodies, were found just outside the emergency department after the Israeli siege.
“During the visit, WHO staff witnessed at least five bodies lying partially covered on the ground, exposed to the heat. The team reported a pungent smell of decomposing bodies engulfing the hospital compound. Safeguarding dignity, even in death, is an indispensable act of humanity,” according to the WHO.
The destruction of Shifa and the main hospital in southern Gaza – Nasser – “has broken the backbone of the already ailing health system,” the WHO said.
Apr 06, 3:15 PM UN marks ‘terrible milestone’ as Gaza faces ‘man-made famine’
The people of Gaza are facing the “immediate prospect of a shameful manmade famine,” United Nations Humanitarian Chief Martin Griffiths said, as he called for an end to the war.
“We have arrived at a terrible milestone,” Griffiths said in a statement marking six months of the Israel-Hamas war. He called the prospect of further escalation in Gaza “unconscionable.”
“Rarely has there been such global outrage at the toll of conflict, with seemingly so little done to end it and instead so much impunity,” Griffiths said.
-ABC News’ Nadine Shubailat
Apr 05, 4:21 PM Sullivan to meet with hostage families on Monday
National security adviser Jake Sullivan will meet families of hostages at the White House on Monday, which is one day after the war reaches the six-month mark, a senior administration official said.
President Joe Biden on Friday wrote letters to the president of Egypt and the emir of Qatar on the state of the talks, and he urged them to secure commitments from Hamas to agree to and abide by a deal, the official added.
“The president made clear that everything must be done to secure the release of hostages, including American citizens, now held by Hamas terrorists for nearly six months,” the senior administration official said.
“They discussed the importance of fully empowering Israeli negotiators to reach a deal, which in its first phase would secure the release of women, elderly, sick and wounded hostages,” the official said.
A new round of talks will take place this weekend in Cairo.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Apr 05, 3:49 PM Strike on World Central Kitchen workers was ‘a terrible chain of errors,’ IDF says
The Israeli Defense Forces issued a new statement in English calling the Israeli military’s strikes that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers on Monday a “tragedy.”
“It was a terrible chain of errors and it should never have happened,” the IDF said. “The IDF takes full responsibility for this regrettable loss of life.”
The IDF said earlier that the airstrike came after Israeli forces misidentified a WCK worker in the convoy as a Hamas gunman.
The IDF said WCK correctly coordinated its movements with the IDF prior to the night the workers were killed and that there was a “comprehensive plan” in place for the WCK workers’ movements on Monday.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Apr 05, 10:05 AM US ‘carefully’ reviewing Israel’s report on WCK attack, Blinken says
U.S. officials are reviewing Israel’s report on the Israel military’s attack on World Central Kitchen aid workers “very carefully” and “will be discussing its conclusions with Israeli officials and with humanitarian organizations in the days to come,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters.
The Israel Defense Forces said its airstrike in Gaza that killed seven WCK aid workers on Monday came after Israeli forces misidentified a WCK worker in the convoy as a Hamas gunman.
Blinken said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “indicated” to President Joe Biden in their Thursday call “that Israel would be making further changes to its procedures to make sure that those who are providing assistance to people who so desperately need it in Gaza are protected.”
“It’s very important that Israel is taking full responsibility for this incident. It’s also important that it appears to be taking steps to hold those responsible accountable,” Blinken said. “Even more important is making sure that steps are taken going forward to ensure that something like this can never happen again.”
Blinken said the U.S. would be “looking to see not just what steps are being taken, but the results that follow” from potential changes to Israeli military operations.
-ABC News’ Chris Boccia
Apr 05, 9:43 AM Kirby: US must ‘start seeing meaningful changes’ from Israel
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby warned Friday that if the U.S. doesn’t “start seeing meaningful changes in the way Israel is prosecuting these [military] operations [in Gaza] and allowing for humanitarian assistance [in Gaza], and working toward a hostage deal and cease-fire, then we’re going to have to make changes in our Gaza policy.”
In his interview with ABC News’ Good Morning America, Kirby would not say if those changes in Gaza policy would mean conditioning U.S. aid.
But Kirby said President Joe Biden was very clear on his call Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. must “see some changes.”
“We’ve got to see the humanitarian situation improve in Gaza, or otherwise we will have to try to take a look at our own policy and make decisions, and change the way that we’re supporting Israel,” Kirby said.
The U.S. still wants an immediate cease-fire in exchange for the release of the Israeli hostages and for getting more aid into Gaza, Kirby stressed. U.S. officials will be among the negotiators meeting this weekend in Cairo, he said.
Apr 05, 7:09 AM IDF says there were 3 strikes on WCK convoy, misidentified worker as Hamas gunman: ‘Misjudgment’
Israel Defense Forces released a statement Friday about the deadly airstrike in Gaza that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers on April 1.
The IDF said it misidentified a WCK worker in the convoy as a Hamas gunman.
“After the vehicles left the warehouse where the aid had been unloaded, one of the commanders mistakenly assumed that the gunmen were located inside the accompanying vehicles and that these were Hamas terrorists. The forces did not identify the vehicles in question as being associated with WCK,” the IDF said in a statement Friday.
“Following a misidentification by the forces, the forces targeted the three WCK vehicles based on the misclassification of the event and misidentification of the vehicles as having Hamas operatives inside them, with the resulting strike leading to the deaths of seven innocent humanitarian aid workers,” the statement continued.
The report said there were three strikes on the convoy. It also said WCK workers hit in the first vehicle were hit again while moving to another vehicle in the convoy.
“The investigation’s findings indicate that the incident should not have occurred. Those who approved the strike were convinced that they were targeting armed Hamas operatives and not WCK employees,” the IDF said. “The strike on the aid vehicles is a grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification, errors in decision-making, and an attack contrary to the Standard Operating Procedures.”
It said WCK correctly coordinated its movements with the IDF prior to the night the workers were killed and that there was a “comprehensive plan” in place for the WCK movement on April 1.
Apr 05, 5:16 AM ‘The real test is results’: Blinken reacts to Israel border crossing announcements
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked about the announcement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office’s announcement overnight that additional crossings into Gaza would be opened up for aid to enter.
He said the U.S. “welcomed” the development but that “the real test is results, and that’s what we’re looking to see in the coming days, the coming weeks.”
“Is the aid effectively reaching the people who need it throughout Gaza?” he said. “Do we have a much better system for deconfliction and coordination so that the humanitarian workers, the folks who are delivering the aid, can do it safely and securely? All of these things are critical.”
Blinken said these aims would be measured by clear metrics “like the number of trucks that are actually getting in on a sustained basis,” and the aid making it to those in need through the enclave — “including critically northern Gaza.”
He said the administration would be closely watching to see if other measurements were reversed, including “the fact that almost 100% of the population is acutely food insecure” as well as indicators of potential famine.
“So really, the proof is in the results,” he said.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Apr 04, 10:18 PM Partner of killed aid worker calls for answers: ‘We need the truth of what happened’
The partner of one of the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza this week is pleading for answers into the deadly attack.
“We need some answers,” Sandy Leclerc, the partner of Jacob Flickinger, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, told ABC News on Thursday, in her first television interview since the attack. “We need the truth of what happened because this situation is so unclear.”
“Please Mr. Biden, give us the truth of what happened,” she asked of President Joe Biden as she spoke with ABC News correspondent Phil Lipof.
Apr 04, 6:17 PM Israel to open another border crossing point after Biden-Netanyahu call: Official
Israel has decided to open another border crossing point — the Erez checkpoint — to allow humanitarian aid to cross into Gaza, according to an Israeli official.
The decision comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden spoke by phone earlier Thursday.
“This increased aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis and is necessary to ensure the continuation of the fighting and to achieve the goals of the war,” the official said in a statement. “In light of this, Israel will allow the temporary delivery of humanitarian aid through Ashdod (port) and the Erez checkpoint and will increase the Jordanian aid coming in through Kerem Shalom.”
The U.S. military’s emergency pier system to get humanitarian aid into Gaza is still en route, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Thursday.
Ryder said that USAID continues to work with organizations to finalize a distribution plan for the aid once it’s transferred by the system — known as JLOTS — to shore. He also acknowledged that the deadly Israeli strike that killed seven humanitarian aid workers this week “certainly doesn’t make that job easier.”
He added that it “has not deterred us from continuing to work with groups and NGOs to come up with solutions.”
Ryder confirmed that Israel has committed to providing security on shore for the pier and port system.
“I know Israel’s investigating in terms of the strike on World Central Kitchen and we trust that Israel will provide the security that we need on the shore,” he said.
Ryder said the system is expected to be operational by the end of April or early May.
“We’re not changing the mission. We’ve been tasked to provide a temporary pier. Everything is on track on schedule at this point,” he said.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Apr 04, 5:17 PM Child in Gaza ate grass to survive, UNICEF spokesperson says
A UNICEF spokesperson on the ground in Gaza told ABC News Live she is “shocked” by the conditions she has seen in hospitals, including malnourished children.
The spokesperson, Tess Ingram, said she recently visited Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza and met a 7-year-old boy who was “eating grass.”
“He was so sick and in so much pain,” Ingram told ABC’s Terry Moran Thursday. “Thankfully, the doctors there think he will make a full recovery, but he is one of hundreds of children they said that they’re treating for malnutrition at the moment.”
“This has to be unacceptable, particularly when the aid is just a few kilometers away, as is the nutrition treatments that we have that can save children’s lives,” she added.
Asked how to protect those providing humanitarian resources in Gaza, following the Israeli airstrike on an aid convoy that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers earlier this week, Ingram said “it’s called international humanitarian law.”
“That is what we are calling on the parties to the conflict to respect,” she said.
-ABC News’ Luis Rodriguez, Isabella Meneses, Kiara Brantley-Jones and Robinson Perez
Apr 04, 4:15 PM World Central Kitchen attack is part of pattern, NGOs operating in Gaza say
Officials from humanitarian organizations operating in the Gaza Strip stressed to reporters Thursday that they believe the Israeli airstrikes that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers on Monday is part of a pattern.
They said other humanitarian workers were targeted and killed before, including doctors, nurses and journalists, but they were Palestinians.
“The condemnation for the World Central Kitchen incident is right and just, but where is it for every other humanitarian worker, for every other hospital that is destroyed, for every attempt to manipulate the media?” said Christopher Lockyear, secretary general of Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières. “What happened to [World Central Kitchen] is part of a pattern. … This is about impunity and total disregard of rules of war.”
Asked if the World Central Kitchen attack will significantly decrease humanitarian work in Gaza, Lockyear responded, “We remain present in Gaza, but we are assessing the risks on a daily basis.”
-ABC News’ Camilla Alcini and Ellie Kaufman
Apr 04, 4:11 PM US warns of policy changes if Israel doesn’t take action to better protect civilians
President Joe Biden spoke Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, their first conversation since seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.
Biden had strongly condemned the incident, which Israel’s said was unintentional, saying he was “outraged.”
Biden further expressed to Netanyahu that the strikes on the food relief workers and the overall humanitarian crisis in Gaza are “unacceptable,” according to a White House readout of the call.
For the first time, the White House hinted the president may consider a change in U.S. policy with respect to Gaza if Israel doesn’t take action to better protect civilians and aid workers.
“He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” the readout read. “He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”
Prince William, Prince of Wales and Prince George of Wales look on alongside Tyrone Mings of Aston Villa during the UEFA Europa Conference League 2023/24 Quarter-final first leg match between Aston Villa and Lille OSC at Villa Park on April 11, 2024 in Birmingham, England. — Marc Atkins/Getty Images
(BIRMINGHAM, England) — Prince William and his son Prince George had a father-son night out Thursday, attending an Aston Villa soccer game in Birmingham, England.
The game marked William’s first public appearance since the announcement by his wife Kate, the Princess of Wales, in late March that she had been diagnosed with cancer and begun chemotherapy.
William and George, 10, the eldest of William and Kate’s three children, sat next to each other at the game as they cheered on Aston Villa to a 2-1 victory over French team Lille.
William is not reported to have made any public comments about Kate’s health at the game, but he did confirm to one reporter that George is following in his footsteps as an Aston Villa fan.
When asked by Sunday Paper sports reporter Neil Moxley if George is “part of the pride,” William is said to have replied, “Oh yes, he’s loving it,” according to an account of the exchange shared by Moxley on X.
Both William and Kate have remained out of the public eye since Kate’s March 22 announcement, shared in a video message, that cancer was discovered in post-operative tests after she underwent planned abdominal surgery in mid-January.
The type of cancer has not been disclosed. Kate started a course of preventative chemotherapy in late February, according to Kensington Palace.
The palace said at the time of Kate’s announcement that William would take a break from public engagements during his children’s Easter holiday from school. George and his siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, attend the Lambrook School, a private school near the family’s home in Windsor, England.
Kate stepped back from public engagements at the time of her abdominal surgery in mid-January, and has continued that pause through today. The princess asked for privacy for her family in her message announcing her diagnosis, and the palace has said only that she will return to public duties once she is medically cleared to do so.
William and Kate and their children did not join other members of the royal family, including King Charles III, who is also battling cancer, for the Easter service at St. George’s Chapel on March 31.
The Waleses are believed to be spending much of their time out of the spotlight at Anmer Hall, their country estate in Norfolk, England, near the royal family’s Sandringham estate.
Michael Kurilla, head of the United States Central Command meets with IDF chief Aviv Kohavi at the Nevatim airbase in Be’er Sheva, Israel, Nov. 15, 2022. — Israeli Defense Forces/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — High-level U.S. officials are urgently trying to pressure Iran to back down from its threat to launch a retaliatory strike against Israel — the latest challenge facing the Biden administration as it tries to avert an all-out regional war in the Middle East.
In a sign of how seriously the U.S. views the risk of escalation, the Pentagon confirmed on Thursday that Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, had “moved up” a previously scheduled trip to Israel to meet with senior Israeli military leaders “due to recent developments.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also spoke by phone with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday afternoon “to discuss the current situation in the Middle East and to reaffirm the U.S.’s ironclad commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and its proxies,” according to Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary.
Although the U.S. does not have direct diplomatic ties to Iran, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had been working the phones with his counterparts in countries that do — encouraging them to use their influence to dissuade Iran from taking military action in response to the bombing of its consulate in Damascus, Syria.
In his conversations with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Blinken made clear “that escalation is not in anyone’s interest and that countries should urge Iran not to escalate,” according to Miller.
U.S. officials previously told ABC News that the administration believes Iran could retaliate against Israel in the coming days — potentially using drones and missiles to attack “regional assets” — and that information about the threat has been shared with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
At a White House press conference on Wednesday, President Joe Biden said Iran was “threatening to launch a significant attack on Israel” and that he had assured Israeli Prime Minister that the U.S. commitment to his country’s security was “ironclad.”
“We’re going to do all we can to protect Israel’s security,” he said.
While officials say they still believe Iran may could change course, the State Department announced it had placed new restrictions on U.S. personnel in Israel on Thursday, prohibiting employees and their family members from undertaking personal travel outside of the greater Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Be’er Sheva areas until further notice.
According to a travel alert from the department, the limits were imposed “out of an abundance of caution.” Miller declined to speak to any specific security assessments that motivated the change in policy but acknowledged Iran’s vow for revenge.
“Clearly we are monitoring the threat environment in the Middle East and specifically in Israel, and that’s what led us to give that warning to our employees and their family members and to make it public so all U.S. citizens who either live in Israel or traveling there are aware of it,” he said.
The renewed concern over a widening conflict in the Middle East was sparked by a strike on an Iranian facility in Syria that Tehran says was carried out by Israel and killed 12 people, including Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior leader in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Although Israel has attacked a number of targets linked to Iran in recent years, primarily as part of its efforts to disrupt arms transfers to Hezbollah and other proxy groups in the region, the Israeli military has not taken credit for the incident in Damascus, which occurred on April 1.
(YAP, Federated States of Micronesia) — Three sailors were rescued from a remote Pacific Island after being stranded for over a week and writing “HELP” with palm leaves on the white sand beach, the U.S. Coast Guard announced this week.
The unnamed sailors, all men in their 40s, were rescued from Pikelot Atoll — one of the outer islands of the State of Yap, part of the Federated States of Micronesia — on April 9, the U.S. Coast Guard announced in a press release.
“In a remarkable testament to their will to be found, the mariners spelled out “HELP” on the beach using palm leaves, a crucial factor in their discovery,” Lt. Chelsea Garcia, the search and rescue mission coordinator on the day they were located, said in the release. “This act of ingenuity was pivotal in guiding rescue efforts directly to their location.”
The men were on a fishing trip that began March 31 when their 20-foot open skiff sailboat equipped with an outboard motor was damaged and non-functional, leaving them stranded ashore Pikelot Atoll, according to officials.
The search and rescue mission began on April 6 when a relative of the sailors called the Joint Rescue Sub-Center (JRSC) Guam, reporting the men had not returned home.
The U.S. Coast Guard says a “breakthrough” in the rescue efforts came the next day, when a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft flying over the island identified the sailors, “confirming their presence and condition.”
On April 8, a U.S. Coast Guard aircraft crew relocated the men and dropped a radio to establish communication. “The mariners confirmed they were in good health, had access to food and water, and recovered their skiff,” according to the release.
The aircraft crew successfully deployed survival packages to the stranded sailors until the USCGC Oliver Henry could re-route to Pikelot Atoll on April 9 to complete the rescue operation, officials said.
The ship rescued the sailors and their equipment, and returned them to their home island Polowat Atoll, more than 100 miles away, according to the release.
“Our unwavering dedication to the search and rescue mission not only ensures the safety and well-being of mariners and coastal communities, but also reinforces the strong bonds of friendship and cooperation between the United States and the FSM and with our DoD partners,” Capt. Nicholas Simmons, commander of U.S. Coast Guard, said in the release.
In August 2020, a similar search-and-rescue operation took place on Pikelot Atoll when three men had been missing in the western Pacific Ocean for nearly three days when their giant message outlined on the beach of tiny Pikelot Island was spotted from above by searchers in an Australian and U.S. aircraft.
(GAZA) — A man in the Gaza Strip is using solar panels to clean water for his neighbors – a seemingly small gesture that has large consequences at a time when the region is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis.
“Yesterday, I filled this car with clean water from the well, 6,500 liters, and distributed it among people in need of water,” Mohammed Assalia told ABC News. “Some people use these wheelchairs to transport the water they fill, which is kinda sad but it does the thing.”
As the resource becomes more scarce, Assalia said he is now looking for a way to reach more people in the most devastated area of the Gaza Strip, six months since Israel declared war on Hamas. The high costs involved with the project may hinder his ability to do so without help, he says.
“With the solar-powered well in my house, at least 1,000 people benefitted and received clean water every day,” Assalia said. “Now people from other neighborhoods have come to use it and we’re trying to help more by operating as many wells as possible.”
Assalia said he has coordinated a group of people to help with his project, capitalizing on each person’s expertise: Khalil Samara, an alternative energy engineer; Mohammed Hajj-Ali, a welder installing the bases for the solar panels; and Masoud Nabhan, a plumber experienced with fixing wells.
He set up a fundraiser to tackle the inflated costs of solar panels and materials he needed, which he said were available but cost around four times the pre-war amount.
“All of the needed materials are currently available here in the North [of Gaza], Al-Yazji company for solar energy and other companies still have materials. However, these materials have become very expensive. An example is a 535-watt solar panel used to be 700 NIS ($192). Now it costs 2,400 NIS, ($657),” Assalia said.
Since the start of the blockade Israel imposed on Gaza after Hamas launched a terrorist incursion on Oct. 7, shortages and contamination have severely impeded health care access, creating a water crisis, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) monitoring the area.
“Access to sufficient amounts of clean water is a matter of life and death. Children in Gaza have barely a drop to drink,” UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell said in December.
In February, UNRWA reported that around 70% of the population of Gaza was drinking salinized or contaminated water. UNICEF said at the time at least half of the water and sanitation facilities in Gaza had been destroyed or damaged.
Flu, dehydration and hepatitis are among some of the main consequences of the water crisis in Gaza, according to MSF staff on the ground.
While both the United Nations and MSF mobilized to mitigate the water crisis, both organizations have said that other types of shortages stand in the way, including the limited number of trucks allowed into the enclave carrying aid and fuel.
People in Gaza have to rely heavily on grassroots projects like that of Assalia’s group. When he started, he said he used his own savings to operate the water well for his neighbors.
“Most of the wells could not run due to the lack of electricity and destruction of the infrastructure,” he said. “So I contacted an alternative energy engineer and I had him power up a personal well on solar energy. I paid him 400 shekels ($107).”
He added, “I don’t want anything in return, all I want is to help my people and leave a footprint.”
(LONDON) — At least two people were killed and two others were missing after being buried in a large avalanche at a ski resort in Austria on Thursday, authorities said.
Emergency officials in Tyrol in Vent, Austria, reported that at least four people were buried in the avalanche. However, according to initial police estimates, 18 people have been affected, though these numbers have not been confirmed by local authorities.
A massive search-and-rescue operation was immediately launched at a ski resort near the town of Soelden in the Austrian Alps, officials said.
At least two people were found dead, officials said. At least two others were unaccounted for, according to authorities.
The victims were apparently part of a ski touring group from the Netherlands that was skiing towards a mountain refuge with four Austrian guides, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the Tirol state police.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — A major rescue operation with dog handlers and helicopters is underway after a large avalanche in Austria has reportedly buried several people, ABC News has learned.
Authorities in Tyrol in Vent, Austria, are reporting that at least four people have been buried and rescued during the initial search operation. However, according to initial police estimates, 18 people have been affected though these numbers have not been confirmed by local authorities.
(WASHINGTON) — The United States believes Iran may retaliate against Israel in coming days, according to two sources familiar with intelligence on the matter.
The intelligence that Iran could use drones and missiles to attack “regional assets” by Israel has been shared with U.S. lawmakers.
U.S. officials believe the attacks would be done in retaliation for Israel’s airstrike in Damascus, Syria, last week, which killed a top commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps along with six other personnel. If Iran’s retaliatory happens, officials believe the attacks have the potential to widen the scope of the war in Gaza.
“They’re threatening to launch a significant attack on Israel,” Biden said at a news conference Wednesday.
“As I told Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu, our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad. Let me say it again, ironclad. We’re going to do all we can to protect Israel’s security,” he added.
Last week, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said Israel “will be punished and that America is responsible for the regime’s attack on the Iranian embassy and must be held accountable.”
“The response will be crushing,” he added.
Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, posted a warning Wednesday to Iran on the social media site X.
“If Iran attacks from its territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran,” Katz wrote.
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant made similar remarks Wednesday.
“We will know to respond very quickly in a necessary offensive in the territory of whoever attacks Israel, no matter where — anywhere in the Middle East,” Gallant said while visiting an Iron Dome battery in Israel’s north.
According to one U.S. official, it’s believed that Iran could choose to retaliate in a proportional response targeting an Israeli diplomatic facility like the Iranian diplomatic location that was struck on Monday in Syria. Or, the official said, it’s possible that Iran could strike directly at Israel.
A second person familiar with the intelligence confirmed that officials believed Israel’s “regional assets” were at significant risk.
Threats to U.S. assets is less clear. Officials have long been concerned that Iranian-backed militias might resume targeting U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria.
Those attacks stopped Feb. 4 following U.S. airstrikes in retaliation for the death of three service members.
But while U.S. officials say they do not see any specific threats to troops in the region, the concern remains that an Iranian attack could further destabilize the region.
Israeli tanks move along the border with the Gaza Strip before entering into the Gaza Strip, Apr. 10, 2024, in Southern Israel. (Amir Levy/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Three sons of Hamas’ political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed.
Amir, Mohammad and Hazem Haniyeh were killed by an Israeli Air Force aircraft strike, directed by the IDF and Israel Security Forces (ISA).
In a statement Wednesday, the IDF claimed the three sons were “three Hamas military operatives that conducted terrorist activity in the central Gaza Strip.”
“The three operatives that were struck are Amir Haniyeh, a cell commander in the Hamas military wing, Mohammad Haniyeh, a military operative in the Hamas terrorist organization and Hazem Haniyeh, also a military operative in the Hamas terror organization,” the IDF said in a statement.
The deadly airstrike took place on Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the month-long observance of Ramadan.
Ismail Haniyeh also confirmed the death of his sons in a statement Wednesday, saying, “Gaza residents have paid a heavy price with the blood of their children, and I am one of them.”
Haniyeh said 60 of his family members have been killed in the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas that began after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in Israel.
About 1,200 people were killed in the initial terrorist attack, according to Israeli officials, while Israel’s bombing of Gaza has killed more than 33,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
In his statement Wednesday, Haniyeh said, “the blood of my sons is not more precious than the blood of our martyred people in Gaza, as they are all my sons.”
Haniyeh maintained that “targeting the sons of leaders” will not “break the resolve of our people.”
“We say to the occupation that this blood will only make us more steadfast in our principles and adherence to our land,” Haniyeh said.
The strike on one of Hamas’ senior leaders’ family comes amid failed attempts at a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden called for an immediate cease-fire to get food and aid into Gaza in an interview on Univision.
“So, I what I’m calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a cease-fire, allow for the next six, eight weeks total access to all food and medicine going into the country,” Biden said in the interview with Univision’s Enrique Acevedo.
On Wednesday, Israel’s Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant responded to Biden’s call in a media briefing.
“Let me say loud and clear – the defense establishment takes the United States very seriously,” Gallant said. “Since the establishment of the state of Israel and since the start of this war, the U.S. has been standing with Israel.”
The aid approvals announced include the Ashdod Port in Israel, “to increase the entry of goods and streamline security checks,” Gallant said.
The approval of the new Northern Crossing, “will provide a route to bring aid directly to northern Gaza and reduce pressure on Kerem Shalom,” according to Gallant. Kerem Shalom is the crossing into southern Gaza.
Gallant also announced Israeli forces will work to boost aid through Jordan and establish the Coordination and Deconfliction Cell, “part of a wider effort to increase cooperation with international organizations, implement lessons learned, and work with new partners.”
