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(NEW YORK) — Western North America has experienced an unprecedented “hot drought” over the last century, according to new research that shows the amplification of heat in the region over recent decades.

“Hot drought,” a climate phenomenon that occurs amid concurrent heat and drought conditions, has affected the western portion of the continent in recent decades at a frequency and severity that was not seen in the hundreds of years preceding modern times, the paper, published Wednesday in Science Advances, found.

Researchers studied tree rings using a new technique called blue light intensity, which involves shining visible light into the ring on the blue wavelength on the spectrum, Karen King, assistant professor of physical geography at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and author of the study, told ABC News. This allows the observers to gather a surrogate measure of ring density from year to year, which is then used for temperature reconstructions, King said.

Estimates from the tree rings can predict the severity of drought index, as well as seasonal precipitation, and allow the researchers to independently investigate the relationship between summer temperature and summer soil moisture, King said.

The biggest observation the researchers made when comparing data over the last 500 years — starting in the 16th century in 1553 and ending in 2020 — is increased association with hot drought over the past century, especially in the last several decades, King said, citing the relationship between increase in summer maximum temperatures and dwindling amounts of moisture in summer soil.

With increasingly hot and dry conditions across Western North America, the last two decades have been the warmest in the past 500 years in the region, the data shows.

High temperatures appear to have amplified soil moisture deficits and contributed substantially to the frequency, intensity and spatial extent of drought conditions, the researchers found.

The findings also highlighted an increase in frequency and spatial footprint of compound warm and dry summers across Western North America, allowing researchers to get a longer-term picture of the change in frequency of compound climate extremes in the 20th and 21st centuries, King said.

While regions such as the Great Plains and the Colorado River basin have been historically prone to severe hot drought, past events were not as strongly influenced by high temperatures as they are today, according to the paper.

Dendrochronology — or the scientific method of dating tree rings — has been used in the past to study hydroclimate variability, but it was more difficult to capture temperature signals from tree rings prior to this blue light technology, King said.

The new findings “[start] to poke at this question of anthropogenic climate change as a driver, or at least accelerating these processes,” King said.

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(NEW YORK) — More than 100 days since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, the Israeli military continues its bombardment of the neighboring Gaza Strip.

The conflict, now the deadliest between the warring sides since Israel’s founding in 1948, shows no signs of letting up soon and the brief cease-fire that allowed for over 100 hostages to be freed from Gaza remains a distant memory.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Jan 25, 4:33 PM
At least 13 killed, dozens hurt in ‘direct fire’ on UNRWA Khan Yunis Training Center, UNRWA says

At least 13 people were killed and 56 people were injured — 21 of them critically – on Wednesday after a hit by “direct fire” struck the UNRWA Khan Yunis Training Center, where displaced people have been sheltering in Gaza, according to the UNRWA.

“There are 43,000 internally displaced people registered in this massively overcrowded UNRWA shelter, and all of them now find themselves at the epicentre of the war,” Thomas White, the director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, said in a statement. “Many have already been displaced multiple times and have nowhere else to go.”

Jan 25, 2:36 PM
CIA director to travel to Europe for hostage talks: US officials

CIA Director Bill Burns will travel to Europe soon to meet with Qatari, Egyptian and Israeli officials for talks on a potential agreement to free hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a prolonged cessation of hostilities, according to two U.S. officials.

This will be at least the third time Burns has journeyed abroad to push negotiations forward.

Various proposals have been discussed in recent weeks, and the two U.S. officials declined to speculate on the contours of any deal currently on the table. But the officials said the U.S. believes it is now possible to secure the release of all the remaining hostages through a single diplomatic agreement.

The officials said that securing the return of the remains of dead hostages would also be part of the negotiations.

As many as six American hostages — five citizens and one lawful permanent resident — are still believed to be alive in Gaza. The FBI has open cases on the deaths of at least two American hostages whose bodies are believed to still be in Gaza.

-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford

Jan 25, 1:03 PM
Hamas leader says group will abide by any cease-fire decision issued by International Court of Justice

Hamas will abide by any cease-fire decision issued by the International Court of Justice, Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said Thursday.

The International Court of Justice is expected to issue a ruling Friday.

Jan 25, 11:52 AM
Woman recounts moment Israeli army penetrated Khan Younis camp: ‘Afraid that our fate will be death’

Sahar Amer is married with two children, ages 2 and 4, and lives in a camp in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

“Since the beginning of the war, I have believed that this camp was safe — a very densely populated area, and my relatives chose me as our home to seek refuge in to escape the bombing,” Amer, 28, told ABC News.

“Everything has been difficult to obtain since the beginning of the war: food, water and treatment,” Amer said. “But unfortunately, what happened a week ago changed everything. The area became unsafe due to the sudden entry of [Israeli] tanks behind Nasser Hospital, which is only several meters away from us.”

“During the Israeli army’s incursion behind the hospital, we lived a very terrifying night due to intense artillery shelling,” she said. “I could hear the sounds of bullets flying.”

“Then the quadcopter planes started shooting at citizens. One time I was on the roof of the house with my children and we miraculously escaped death,” Amer said.

“I did not expect the army to infiltrate in this way,” she said, noting that her family “took refuge with us, believing that this area is safe and that the army cannot encircle the camp like this.”

One night she headed home and said she found tanks “stationed west of the camp and surround[ing] the place.”

“I felt very afraid that the tanks were approaching my house,” she said. “I was hugging my children.”

Amer wanted to leave her house, but couldn’t find a car. So she took her children and they fled on foot.

“When I approached the road, a tank appeared … and prevented us from passing through,” she said. “I returned home crying and afraid that our fate will be death like the residents of other areas. I sent a message to my mother and sister to pray for me to be saved.”

“I went out with great difficulty the next day. I left my home crying. I do not want to be displaced — I want to remain safe in my home.” she said. “I hope the war will end — there is enough death and destruction.”

ABC News’ Ruwaida Amer

Jan 24, 9:54 AM
UN shelter reportedly hit as fighting escalates in southern Gaza

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said Wednesday that its training center in Khan Younis where hundreds of displaced people are taking shelter “has just been hit” as fighting escalates in the southern Gaza Strip.

In a series of posts on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, the director of UNRWA’s affairs in Gaza, Tom White, wrote that “two tank rounds hit building that shelters 800 people – reports now 9 dead and 75 injured.” White added that people remain trapped inside as teams from UNRWA and the World Health Organization are “trying to reach the centre,” but the “agreed upon route with Israeli Army [is] blocked with earth bank.”

It was unclear who was responsible for the attack on the shelter as Israeli forces battle Gaza’s militant rules, Hamas. There was no immediate comment from either of the warring sides.

Jan 23, 2:34 PM
White House says there are ‘serious discussions about trying to get another pause in place’

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. is “in serious discussions about trying to get another pause” in fighting between Israel and Hamas to secure the release of remaining hostages, but Kirby said he could not confirm specific reports of a possible framework.

Asked about reports that Israel has proposed a two-month cease-fire to release all hostages, civilians and soldiers, and asked if the U.S. was actively working to drum up support for it, Kirby said he was “not able to confirm those specific reports.”

Kirby did note that President Joe Biden’s Middle East coordinator, Brett McGurk, is currently in the region, in part to discuss a hostage deal.

“Certainly, one of the things he’s in the region talking about is the potential for another hostage deal, which would require a humanitarian pause of some length,” Kirby said. “He’ll also be talking about a range of other issues, including humanitarian assistance.”

Kirby also said it was “possible” that an extended pause could be a path to changing the nature of the war, but he stressed that the focus remains getting the hostages released.

-ABC News’ Molly Nagle

Jan 23, 1:59 PM
White House denounces ‘buffer zones,’ comments on potential negotiations of Hamas leaving Gaza

The White House does not support Israel’s plan to build “buffer zones” inside Gaza and along the border with Israel, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.

“We do not want to see the territory of Gaza reduced in any way. We won’t support that,” Kirby said.

Asked if U.S. officials have told Israel that they don’t support creating these buffer zones, Kirby said they’ve consistently shared their beliefs.

“I won’t talk about our diplomatic conversations. We have been very clear and consistent, both in private and publicly, that we do not want to see the territory of Gaza reduced in any way,” Kirby said.

Kirby was also asked if the U.S. supports negotiations that CNN has reported, describing a deal where Hamas leaders can leave Gaza in exchange for a cease-fire.

“We don’t want to see Hamas in charge of Gaza anymore. They chose to violate the cease-fire that was in place, and we certainly agree with our Israeli counterparts that whatever the future of post-conflict Gaza looks like, it can’t include Hamas leaders. Now, how that’s actualized, I think I’d refer to the Israeli Defense Forces to speak to,” he said, declining to get ahead of discussions underway.

“The last thing I’ll say on this is we have been very consistent, that whatever governance looks like in Gaza, after this is over, it’s got to be representative of the aspirations of the Palestinian people who are not represented by Hamas, and who do not, [in] majority, don’t support what Hamas has put them through in visiting this kind of violence inside the strip,” Kirby said.

-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett

Jan 23, 1:42 PM
Deadliest day for IDF since war began as 24 soldiers killed

The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that 21 of its reservists were killed “during operational activity” in the central Gaza Strip a day earlier.

An “RPG missile was apparently fired by terrorists” at an Israeli tank that was securing an area near the Gaza-Israel border where Israeli troops were rigging buildings with explosives for demolition, according to IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.

“At the same time, an explosion occurred in two two-storey buildings, which collapsed as a result, while most of the force was inside and near them,” Hagari said in a statement Tuesday. “The buildings apparently exploded as a result of mines that our forces planted in them and were about to explode the buildings, the terrorist infrastructure in the area.”

The IDF is “investigating the details of the incident and the cause of the explosion,” according to Hagari.

“War has a very painful and heavy price,” he added. “The dedicated reservists, who stood up for the flag, sacrificed the most precious of all, for the security of the State of Israel and so that we can all live here safely.”

Three more Israeli soldiers were killed in a separate incident in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Monday, bringing the toll to 24, according to the IDF. It was the deadliest day for the Israeli military since the war with Hamas began on Oct. 7.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “one of the hardest days since the war broke out.”

“We must learn the necessary lessons and do everything to safeguard the lives of our fighters.” Netanyahu said in a statement Tuesday. “On behalf of our heroes, for our very lives, we will not stop fighting until total victory.”

“Our hearts are with the dear families in their most difficult time,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.

He added, “This is a war that will determine the future of Israel for decades to come — the fall of the fighters is a requirement to achieve the goals of the war.”

A total of 221 Israeli troops have been killed in Gaza since the ground operation began late last year, according to the IDF.

-ABC News’ Yael Benaya, Jordana Miller, Dana Savir, Joe Simonetti and Morgan Winsor

Jan 23, 7:48 AM
MSF staff ‘can feel the ground shaking’ inside major hospital in southern Gaza

The international medical charity Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym MSF, warned Tuesday that its staff at Nasser Hospital, the largest still functioning in the war-torn Gaza Strip, “report they can feel the ground shaking.”

“There is a sense of panic among staff, patients and displaced people sheltering inside the building,” MSF wrote in a series of posts on X, the social media platform formerly known as X.

Nasser Hospital is the only major hospital still accessible in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, which has been under siege by Israeli forces amid the ongoing war with Hamas, Gaza’s militant rulers.

“All the hospital wards at Nasser are full and there is no way to evacuate medical staff and patients safely due to exit routes from the facility being blocked,” MSF wrote.

The organization said its “staff fear the fighting, shelling and bombing will get worse and closer to Nasser hospital.”

“There has been heavy ongoing bombing mainly in the southern and northern parts of Khan Younis since yesterday evening,” MSF added.

Jan 23, 6:33 AM
Deadliest day for IDF since war began as 24 soldiers killed

The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that 21 of its reservists were killed while fighting in the central Gaza Strip a day earlier.

An “RPG missile was apparently fired by terrorists” at an Israeli tank that was securing an area near the Gaza-Israel border where Israeli troops were rigging buildings with explosives for demolition, according to IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.

“At the same time, an explosion occurred in two two-storey buildings, which collapsed as a result, while most of the force was inside and near them,” Hagari said in a statement Tuesday. “The buildings apparently exploded as a result of mines that our forces planted in them and were about to explode the buildings, the terrorist infrastructure in the area.”

The IDF is “investigating the details of the incident and the cause of the explosion,” according to Hagari.

“War has a very painful and heavy price,” he added. “The dedicated reservists, who stood up for the flag, sacrificed the most precious of all, for the security of the State of Israel and so that we can all live here safely.”

Three more Israeli soldiers were killed in a separate incident in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Monday, bringing the toll to 24, according to the IDF. It was the deadliest day for the Israeli military since the war with Hamas began on Oct. 7.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “one of the hardest days since the war broke out.”

“We must learn the necessary lessons and do everything to safeguard the lives of our fighters.” Netanyahu said in a statement Tuesday. “On behalf of our heroes, for our very lives, we will not stop fighting until total victory.”

Jan 22, 2:51 PM
Biden ‘under no illusions’ how difficult 2-state solution would be: White House

President Joe Biden is “under no illusions” about “how difficult” a two-state solution would be after the war in Gaza ends, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Monday.

Kirby’s comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he “firmly” stands by his belief to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state as long as he’s in power. Biden said Friday, “We’ll be able to work something out.”

“When we say two-state solution, what does it actually mean? And there’s many different interpretations. There’s lots of different ways you can get at that ultimate solution,” Kirby said. “And the president, as he has always done, kept an open mind about trying to pursue that.”

“If this was easy, I mean, my goodness, we’ve had a two-state solution for years now,” Kirby continued. “It’s going to require negotiation, it’s going to require sacrifices, again, on both sides. The president understands that.”

Kirby kept characterizing Biden’s phone calls with Netanyahu as “good conversations” and said the president is “not going to let go of this.”

-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez

Jan 22, 11:25 AM
Hostage families storm Israel’s parliament in protest

Relatives of Israeli hostages being held by militants in the Gaza Strip stormed Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem on Monday in protest of the government’s failure to bring their loved ones home.

“You will not sit here while our children die,” some of the family members yelled while disrupting a finance committee hearing. “What about ransoming captives?”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the families of hostages at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, telling them there’s no “real proposal from Hamas” on the table right now.

“Contrary to what they say, there is no real proposal from Hamas,” he said. “I say this as clearly as I can because there are so many false things that must be tormenting you. In contrast, there is an initiative of ours, and I will not elaborate.”

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller, Dana Savir and Morgan Winsor

Jan 22, 10:04 AM
Israeli bombardment intensifies near southern Gaza hospital, rescue agency’s headquarters

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said Monday that it had “completely lost contact with” its teams in the besieged city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip as Israeli tanks surrounded Al-Amal Hospital, headquarters of the humanitarian organization.

The PRCS added that its ambulances were “unable to reach the wounded” in Khan Younis due to the ground invasion.

“Israeli occupation forces are besieging the PRCS ambulance center, and targeting anyone attempting to move in the area,” the organization wrote in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

The PRCS said it was “deeply concerned” about the safety of its teams as well as people taking shelter at its facilities in the besieged city.

-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor

Jan 22, 7:08 AM
Hostage families storm Israel’s parliament in protest

Relatives of Israeli hostages being held by militants in the Gaza Strip stormed Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem on Monday in protest of the government’s failure to bring their loved ones home.

“You will not sit here while our children die,” some of the family members yelled while disrupting a finance committee hearing. “What about ransoming captives?”

Jan 21, 1:27 PM
IDF confirms death of kidnapped soldier

The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday announced that Sgt. Shay Levinson, who until now had been identified as a hostage, was killed in battle on Oct. 7 and his body is being held in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials say 532 IDF soldiers have been killed, including 195 since the ground operations in Gaza began.

-ABC News’ Anna Burd

Jan 21, 12:41 PM
Netanyahu says war to continue ‘on all fronts,’ rejects Hamas’ ‘terms of surrender’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will “continue the war on all fronts and in all sectors.”

“We do not give immunity to any terrorist — not in Gaza, not in Lebanon, not in Syria and not anywhere,” Netanyahu said in the statement Sunday, written in Hebrew.

The prime minster added, “Whoever tries to hurt us — we hurt him.”

Netanyahu said he’s working to secure the return of all the hostages “around the clock,” and added: “But to be clear: I reject outright the terms of surrender of the monsters of Hamas.”

Netanyahu also said he had a conversation with President Joe Biden over the weekend, in which he emphasized “determination to complete all war objectives, and to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” according to the prime minister’s statement.

“That is why I insist that after we achieve complete victory, after we eliminate Hamas — there will be no factor in Gaza that finances terrorism, educator of terrorism or courier of terrorism,” Netanyahu said.

“Gaza must be demilitarized, under full security control of the State of Israel,” he said. “I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of Jordan.”

Netanyahu added he will continue to “firmly” stand by his insistence to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state for as long as he is prime minister.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Jan 21, 5:39 AM
More than 25,000 killed in Gaza, health ministry says

More than 25,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, the Gaza Ministry of Health said Sunday.

At least 62,681 people have been injured since the war began, said the ministry, which operates under the Hamas Authority.

A ministry spokesperson said at least 178 bodies were brought to hospitals in the last day.

-ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Edward Szekeres

Jan 21, 1:27 PM
IDF confirms death of kidnapped soldier

The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday announced that Sgt. Shay Levinson, who until now had been identified as a hostage, was killed in battle on Oct. 7 and his body is being held in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials say 532 IDF soldiers have been killed, including 195 since the ground operations in Gaza began.

-ABC News’ Anna Burd

Jan 21, 12:41 PM
Netanyahu says war to continue ‘on all fronts,’ rejects Hamas’ ‘terms of surrender’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will “continue the war on all fronts and in all sectors.”

“We do not give immunity to any terrorist — not in Gaza, not in Lebanon, not in Syria and not anywhere,” Netanyahu said in the statement Sunday, written in Hebrew.

The prime minster added, “Whoever tries to hurt us — we hurt him.”

Netanyahu said he’s working to secure the return of all the hostages “around the clock,” and added: “But to be clear: I reject outright the terms of surrender of the monsters of Hamas.”

Netanyahu also said he had a conversation with President Joe Biden over the weekend, in which he emphasized “determination to complete all war objectives, and to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” according to the prime minister’s statement.

“That is why I insist that after we achieve complete victory, after we eliminate Hamas — there will be no factor in Gaza that finances terrorism, educator of terrorism or courier of terrorism,” Netanyahu said.

“Gaza must be demilitarized, under full security control of the State of Israel,” he said. “I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of Jordan.”

Netanyahu added he will continue to “firmly” stand by his insistence to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state for as long as he is prime minister.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Jan 21, 5:39 AM
More than 25,000 killed in Gaza, health ministry says

More than 25,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, the Gaza Ministry of Health said Sunday.

Citizens inspect a car that was destroyed by Israeli air strikes on Jan. 21, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza.
At least 62,681 people have been injured since the war began, said the ministry, which operates under the Hamas Authority.

A ministry spokesperson said at least 178 bodies were brought to hospitals in the last day.

-ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Edward Szekeres

Jan 20, 12:54 PM
Relatives of hostages protest outside Israeli PM’s home

Several relatives of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza protested outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home on Saturday, demanding the government take more steps to free the captives.

Some protesters camped out in front of his home, in the coastal town of Caesarea.

More than 130 hostages are still held in captivity, according to Israeli officials.

Jan 20, 12:01 PM
Fatal shooting of Palestinian-American teen in West Bank under investigation

The fatal shooting of a 17-year-old Palestinian-American in the West Bank on Friday remains under investigation, as mourners gathered Saturday for the teen’s funeral.

Tawfiq Ajaq was killed near the city of Ramallah, according to the Defense for Children International – Palestine advocacy group.

Israeli police said they received a report Friday regarding a “firearm discharge, ostensibly involving an off-duty law enforcement officer, a soldier and a civilian.” Police did not identify who fired the shot but described the shooting as taking place over people “purportedly engaged in rock-throwing activities” along a main highway.

Israeli police said its internal affairs department is investigating the incident.

An initial assessment by the Defense for Children International – Palestine also found that it was unclear who fired the shot that struck the teen.

A State Department spokesperson confirmed the death of a U.S. citizen civilian in the West Bank on Friday.

Asked about the incident at a briefing on Friday, U.S. National Security spokesman John Kirby said White House officials “don’t have perfect context about exactly what happened here” but are “seriously concerned about it.”

“We’re going to be in constant touch with counterparts in the region to get more information,” he said.

The teen’s funeral was held Saturday in the West Bank.

Jan 19, 3:18 PM
Biden speaks with Netanyahu in 1st known call in 27 days

President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Friday, according to the White House.

This was the first known call between the two leaders since Dec. 23, 2023.

Biden and Netanyahu spoke about a two-state solution, among other things, one day after Netanyahu expressed opposition to a Palestinian state.

“The president still believes in the promise and the possibility of a two-state solution,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Friday. “He recognizes that it’s going to take a lot of hard work. It’s going to take a lot of leadership, there in the region, particularly, on both sides of the issue. And the United States stands firmly committed to eventually seeing that outcome.”

“We’re not going to agree on everything,” Kirby said. He later added that Netanyahu’s comments will not change Biden’s “strong conviction” that “the best long-term solution for regional security, particularly the security of the Israeli people, is a free, independent Palestinian state that they can live in peace and security with — and this is an important caveat — with Israel’s security also guaranteed.”
Though Biden will continue to press for a two-state solution, “this isn’t about trying to twist somebody’s arm or force a change in their thinking,” Kirby said.

Kirby said Netanyahu’s comments did not trigger the two leaders’ Friday call.

“This was a call that we’ve been, actually, trying to land on the schedule for quite a bit of time,” he said.

ABC News’ Fritz Farrow

Jan 19, 11:43 AM
Teen boy shares story of being held hostage by Palestine Islamic Jihad

Yagil Yaacov, now 13, was 12 years old when he was kidnapped at knifepoint from his room at the Nahal Oz kibbutz on Oct. 7.

He told his captors — allegedly members of the Palestine Islamic Jihad — “Don’t take me, I’m too young,” according to his mother, Renana.

Yagil’s brother was also kidnapped and the two were separated. Yagil told ABC News in an exclusive interview that he was first taken to a safe house, and then to another home where he stayed for 30 days.

Yagil said during his time as a hostage he listened to some radio and learned a little Arabic to determine what was happening around him.

He was eventually reunited with his stepmother and brother.

Yagil’s father is still being held hostage.

ABC News’ Matt Gutman

Jan 18, 2:54 PM
Netanyahu voices opposition to Palestinian state in post-war Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced his opposition to a Palestinian state in a post-war Gaza.

“For 30 years I have been consistent — this conflict is not about the absence of a Palestinian state but about the existence of a Jewish state. Wherever we vacate territory, we receive terrorism,” he said at a news conference. “It happened in Judea and Samaria and it happened in Gaza. In any agreement, Israel must control all territory west of Jordan. This is what I say to our American friends: I stopped the possibility of a security breach in the State of Israel. This did not prevent me from expanding the circle of peace to four Arab countries, and I am determined to expand it to other countries in the region, together with our American friendship.”

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in response that Israel, for the first time, has a “historic opportunity” to “deal with challenges that it has faced since its founding.”

“You see the countries in the region who are ready to step up and further integrate with Israel and provide real security assurances to Israel. The United States is ready to play its part, too, but they all have to have a willing partner on the other side,” Miller said.

Miller also said, regarding the challenges facing Israel after the war eventually ends, “There is no way to solve their long-term challenges, to provide lasting security and there is no way to solve the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza, establishing governance and providing security for Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

Jan 18, 12:41 PM
Unclear whether medical aid has reached Israeli hostages in Gaza

It was unclear Thursday whether medical aid had reached Israeli hostages in the war-torn Gaza Strip as part of a Qatari-brokered deal between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas.

During an interview Thursday on CNN, a spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the medicine was received by Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health but that there was not yet confirmation of it being distributed to the Israeli hostages as agreed upon. The spokesperson noted that an ongoing telecommunications blackout in Gaza has made it difficult to get information in real time.

The medical aid, provided by Qatar and France, entered Gaza on Wednesday, according to the Qatari foreign ministry.

As part of the agreement, Hamas was expected to pick up the medicine for the Israeli hostages at designated hospitals and then distribute it among the abductees. Qatar will verify and provide proof to Israel that the medicine was in fact delivered to the hostages, according to Hamas and Qatari officials.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has helped with getting aid into Gaza and transferring some hostages out of the enclave as part of previous deals, said it has no role in the implementation of this agreement, including the delivery of the medicine.

“The ICRC initiated the conversation in its role as a neutral intermediary. The parties negotiated the agreement, including how much medicines would be delivered and by whom, with Qatar brokering the deal,” the ICRC told ABC News in a statement on Thursday. “The mechanism that was agreed to does not involve the ICRC playing any part in its implementation, including the delivery of medication.”

“The ICRC welcomes the agreement to deliver medications to the hostages and to medical facilities for the residents of Gaza as a positive humanitarian step,” the organization added.

The Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson told CNN on Thursday that the ICRC could not be involved because the security situation in Gaza makes it almost impossible for them to deliver the medicine.

ABC News’ Will Gretsky, Jordana Miller, Cindy Smith and Morgan Winsor

Jan 17, 1:29 PM
Qatar says it’s brokered deal to allow medicine, aid into Gaza

Qatar said Tuesday it has mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas to deliver medicine to Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip.

Medicine and other humanitarian aid will also be delivered to civilians “in the most affected and vulnerable areas” of the Gaza Strip as part of the deal, Qatar said.

The aid landed in Egypt Wednesday and “includes medicines provided by the State of Qatar and the French Republic, along with food items provided by Qatar Charity to be further transferred to Gaza,” the Qataris said.

Jan 17, 11:38 AM
Gaza’s telecommunications blackout surpasses 100 hours

NetBlocks, a London-based nonprofit that covers internet connectivity around the world, said Wednesday that the Gaza Strip has been “in the midst of a near-total telecoms blackout for 120 hours.”

“The disruption, now entering its sixth day, is the longest sustained telecoms outage on record since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war,” NetBlocks wrote in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Morgan Winsor

Jan 17, 11:28 AM
IDF can’t confirm cause of death of 3 hostages found in Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday informed the families of Ron Sherman, Nick Beiser and Elia Toledano that it is not possible to determine what caused their deaths, ABC News has learned.

Sherman, Beiser and Toledano were among the more than 200 people taken hostage by militants during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. The IDF recovered the bodies of the three abductees from a Hamas tunnel in the city of Jabalia in the Gaza Strip on Dec. 14, near where Ahmed Randour, who commanded Hamas’ forces in the northern part of the enclave, had been killed a month earlier.

ABC News has learned that an investigation subsequently concluded the IDF did not know there were hostages in the area at the time it attacked the tunnel where Randor was staying and that the IDF discovered the bodies while conducting scans of the tunnel afterward.

ABC News has learned that a pathological report showed no signs of trauma or gunshots on the three bodies, and it could not be ruled out or confirmed whether they were killed as a result of suffocation, poisoning or due to an attack by the IDF or Hamas. Samples were taken to conduct a further examination.

ABC News’ Dana Savir and Morgan Winsor

Jan 17, 9:59 AM
Blinken says Palestinians need own state but must ‘work with Israel’

Speaking at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the scenes in the war-torn Gaza Strip as “gut-wrenching” and said Palestinians need a state of their own but must “work with Israel to be effective.”

Blinken said the Palestinian Authority, which exercises partial civil control over areas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, could lead such a state but only “with the help of Israel, not with its active opposition.”

“The question now is, is Israeli society prepared to engage on these? Is it prepared to have that mindset?” Blinken asked. “You’re not going to get the genuine security you need absent that [Palestinian state].”

ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Morgan Winsor

Jan 17, 9:08 AM
IDF says it killed top militant in West Bank strike

The Israel Defense Forces said early Wednesday that it has killed a top Palestinian militant in an airstrike in the occupied West Bank, averting “an imminent, large-scale terrorist attack” he was allegedly planning.

Ahmed Abdullah Abu Shalal and members of his terrorist cell were “eliminated in a precision airstrike” at the Balata refugee camp in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, according to the IDF. It was unclear exactly how many individuals were killed in the strike.

“Abdullah was responsible for carrying out a number of terrorist attacks over the last year, including the shooting attack in the Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood in Jerusalem last April during which two Jerusalem residents were injured,” the IDF said in a statement. “Additionally, he was responsible for the bombing attack against IDF soldiers last October during which a soldier was injured.”

“Under Abdullah’s leadership, the terrorist infrastructure in the Balata camp in Nablus has received funding and guidance from Iranian sources who are in cooperation with terrorist headquarters in both the Gaza Strip and abroad,” the IDF added.

Jan 16, 3:35 PM
Qatar says it’s brokered deal to allow medicine, aid into Gaza

Qatar said Tuesday it has mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas to deliver medicine to Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip.

Medicine and other humanitarian aid will also be delivered to civilians “in the most affected and vulnerable areas” of the Gaza Strip as part of the deal, Qatar said.

The medication and aid is expected to depart Doha on board two Qatari Armed Forces aircraft on Wednesday, bound for Arish, Egypt, before being transported to the Gaza Strip, Qatar said.

Jan 16, 3:22 PM
2 Israeli hostages who appeared in Hamas video confirmed dead: Kibbutz

Itay Svirsky, 35, and Yossi Sharabi, 53 — two hostages who appeared in a video released by Hamas earlier this week — have been confirmed dead, according to Kibbutz Be’eri.

“Their bodies are in the hands of Hamas, we will demand their return with the rest of our abductees,” Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the communities attacked by the terrorist group on Oct. 7, said in a statement on Tuesday. “Our hearts are with the families in their immense pain. May they rest in peace.”

Svirsky was at his parents’ home in the kibbutz when he was abducted, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Hamas released a video on Sunday showing the two men, as well as 26-year-old Noa Argamani, while calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war on Gaza.

Following the release of the hostage video, the IDF said they told the men’s families that “there is grave concern for their lives” and denied Hamas’ claims that Israeli forces shot Svirsky.

Jan 16, 12:07 PM
Jordan accuses Israel of hindering aid delivery to Gaza

Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi said Tuesday that Israel is creating hurdles to the entry of aid into the war-torn Gaza Strip.

Jordan is working in coordination with the United Nations to deliver aid to Gaza, but only 10% of the total needs of the more than 2 million Palestinians who live there are currently being met, according to Safadi.

“The reality now is that Israeli measures are preventing sufficient aid from arriving and only a fraction is being delivered,” Safadi said during a press conference in Amman.

ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Morgan Winsor

Jan 15, 1:27 PM
At least 1 dead, 17 injured in car-ramming attacks in Israel, police say

At least one person was killed and 17 others were injured on Monday afternoon in car-ramming attacks that took place in various locations across Ra’anana, Israel, authorities said.

Two suspects — identified as a pair of Palestinian men from the Hebron area in the Israeli-occupied West Bank — allegedly stole multiple vehicles before ramming them into crowds of pedestrians in Ra’anana, about 13 miles north of Tel Aviv, according to the Israel Police.

Both suspects have since been arrested. The incidents and the motive remains under investigation, police said.

The victim killed was an elderly woman, according to police.

Fourteen of the 17 injured remained hospitalized Monday evening, officials said. At least seven children were among the injured.

ABC News’ Jordana Miller, Bruno Nota, Dana Savir and Morgan Winsor

Jan 15, 11:59 AM
What life is like for displaced Palestinians in Rafah’s tent city

Ahmad Ismael said his “whole world turned upside down” after Oct. 7.

The Palestinian father of four now lives with his family in a tent in Rafah, the southernmost region of the Gaza Strip. They are among the almost 1.9 million people — 85% of Gaza’s population — who are displaced from their homes, nearly half of whom are crammed inside Rafah.

“We want the tragic situation we are living in to end,” Ismael told ABC News in an interview Sunday. “We hope from God that the war will stop.”

Ismael said Israel’s intense bombardment forced him and his family to flee their home in northern Gaza. They have been living in Rafah’s tent city for the past 70 days, he said.

“We fled with only our souls,” he told ABC News. “We didn’t bring anything with us.”

Ismael showed ABC News around his family’s makeshift shelter and explained what life is like there amid the latest outbreak of war between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas.

“People wake up at 5 or 6 in the morning,” he told ABC News. “You wake up to think about the situation of the tent. Is there water flowing or not? Because of the rain, how will we provide wood for the fire? How will we provide today’s food for the children?”

Ismael said they receive some canned food from a U.N. agency’s warehouse every two or three days. But it’s not enough to feed his family, so they must try to buy other food and cook it over an open fire.

“Everything is expensive and scarce,” he told ABC News. “We used to buy this oil for 7 or 6 shekels. Today, I buy this for 20 shekels. One day you find it and the next day you don’t.”

“Firewood is also very expensive, not cheap, and even I can no longer afford it,” he continued.

“What I’m telling you is not just about my life,” he added, “but the lives of all of us here.”

ABC News’ Rashid Haddou-Riffi, Morgan Winsor and Sami Zayara

Jan 15, 10:52 AM
Another communications blackout in Gaza

NetBlocks, a London-based nonprofit that covers internet connectivity around the world, said Monday that the Gaza Strip has been “largely offline” for the past 72 hours.

“The disruption is the longest sustained telecoms blackout on record since the onset of the Hamas-Israel war, and is likely to significantly limit visibility into events on the ground,” NetBlocks wrote in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Morgan Winsor

Jan 15, 9:22 AM
At least 1 dead, 16 injured in car-ramming attacks in Israel, police say

At least one person was killed and 16 others were injured on Monday afternoon in car-ramming attacks that took place in various locations across Ra’anana, Israel, authorities said.

Two suspects — identified as a pair of Palestinian men from the Hebron area in the Israeli-occupied West Bank — allegedly stole multiple vehicles before ramming them into crowds of pedestrians in Ra’anana, about 13 miles north of Tel Aviv, according to the Israel Police.

Both suspects have since been arrested. The incidents and the motive remains under investigation, police said.

At least four of the wounded victims were hospitalized in critical condition, according to Israel’s rescue service MDA.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller, Bruno Nota, Dana Savir and Morgan Winsor

Jan 15, 5:07 AM
What we know about the conflict

The Israel-Hamas war has reached the three-month mark.

In the Gaza Strip, at least 24,100 people have been killed and 60,834 others have been wounded by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.

In Israel, at least 1,200 people have been killed and 6,900 others have been injured by Hamas and other Palestinian militants since Oct. 7, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

There has also been a surge in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli forces have killed at least 297 people in the territory since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Jan 15, 4:59 AM
Shots fired as crowd seeks humanitarian aid in Gaza

Gunshots rang out as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sought food from humanitarian aid trucks in the war-torn Gaza Strip on Sunday.

Video of the incident in Sheikh Iljlin, a neighborhood in southern Gaza City, shows a large crowd gathering to receive flour from aid trucks parked near an Israeli military checkpoint. Then the sound of gunfire erupts and people are seen frantically running.

ABC News was not able to independently verify who fired the shots and whether anyone was killed or injured.

The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on Monday.

-ABC News’ Felicia Alvarez, Nasser Atta, Helena Skinner and Morgan Winsor

Jan 14, 7:29 PM
Hamas releases video showing 3 Israeli hostages in captivity

Hamas released a video on Sunday showing three Israeli hostages who are still being held in captivity in Gaza.

The three hostages that appear in the video are 26-year-old Noa Argamani, 35-year-old Itai Svirsky and 53-year-old Yossi Sharabi.

The video released by Hamas called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war on Gaza.

-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman

Jan 14, 6:47 PM
100 days into war, IDF says its ‘goals are complex to achieve and will take a long time’

As the Israel-Hamas war reached its 100th day Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces says it’s goals “will take a long time” to achieve.

“To achieve real results, we must continue to operate in enemy territory, not to allow extortion attempts for a cease-fire,” IDF Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said in a televised address Saturday.

“We must continue applying pressure and that is exactly what we are doing,” he said. “[Our] goals are complex to achieve and will take a long time. To dismantle Hamas, patience is both necessary and essential.”

The IDF also said it’s now moving to intensify its operations in southern Gaza, where it believes Hamas’ leadership is hiding.

-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell

Jan 13, 4:56 PM
Netanyahu says Israel will pursue war with Hamas until victory

Israel will pursue its war against Hamas until victory and will not be stopped by anyone, including the world court, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a defiant speech Saturday evening.

Netanyahu spoke after the International Court of Justice at The Hague held two days of hearings on South Africa’s allegations that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians, a charge Israel has rejected as libelous and hypocritical.

South Africa asked the court to order Israel to halt its blistering air and ground offensive in an interim step.

“No one will stop us, not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anyone else,” Netanyahu said in televised remarks, referring to Iran and its allied militias.

The case before the world court is expected to go on for years, but a ruling on interim steps could come within weeks. Court rulings are binding but difficult to enforce.

Netanyahu made clear that Israel would ignore orders to halt the fighting, potentially deepening its isolation. Netanyahu also said a decision had yet to be made about a potential military takeover of the “Philadelphi Corridor” along the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt.

-ABC News’ Bruno Nota

Jan 13, 2:44 PM
Israel-Hamas war reaches 100th day

Saturday marked 100 days since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, the deadliest conflict between the two sides in recent history.

The fighting began on Oct. 7 when Hamas launched a surprise attack in southern Israel. Since then, Israel has launched numerous airstrikes and a ground offensive. The Israeli government has previously claimed it is defending itself.

More than 23,300 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Meanwhile, 1,200 people have been killed in Israel along with 520 Israel Defense Forces officers since Oct. 7.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the U.N’s Palestinian Relief Agency, issued a statement marking 100 days of the war, saying there are now 1.4 million people in U.N. shelters in Gaza and facing a “looming famine.”

Meanwhile, families of the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza are holding a series of events Saturday to mark 100 days since their captivity began.

-ABC News’ Mary Kekatos and Patrick Reevell

Jan 13, 8:22 AM
More than half a million people are starving in Gaza, UN says

About 577,000 people in Gaza, equal to a quarter of the population, are now starving, Arif Husain, chief economist for the U.N.’s World Food program, told ABC News.

Hussain has worked as an expert assessing hunger crises for 20 years and said, in terms of scale of severity and speed, he has never seen what is unfolding in Gaza right now, calling it “unprecedented.”

Even before the war with Israel, Gaza relied on humanitarian assistance to meet around 75% to 80% of its needs. With Israel now allowing very few supplies into Gaza, it has quickly run into massive shortages.

“If things continue as they are, or if things worsen, we are looking at a full fledged famine within the next six months,” he said.

-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell

Jan 12, 12:59 PM
Deal reached to get medicine to hostages, Israel says

A deal has been reached to get medicine to the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza over the next few days, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s office.

The families of the hostages are insisting that the Israeli war cabinet “demand visual proof that the medications did indeed reach the abductees, as a condition for any return from Israel.”

“After 98 days in the Hamas tunnels, all the abductees are in immediate danger and need life-saving medication,” the families said in a statement.

Jan 12, 9:30 AM
Israel rejects genocide charges at UN’s top court

Israel on Friday called on the United Nations’ top court to dismiss South Africa’s request to halt its offensive in the Gaza Strip amid “grossly distorted” accusations of genocide.

During opening statements to a panel of judges at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Israeli legal adviser Tal Becker said the country is fighting a “war it did not start and did not want.”

“In these circumstances, there can hardly be a charge more false and more malevolent than the allegation against Israel of genocide,” Becker added.

He noted that “Israel is in a war of defense against Hamas, not against the Palestinian people,” and that the suffering of civilians during wartime does not amount to genocide.

“The key component of genocide, the intent to destroy a people in whole or in part, is totally lacking,” he said.

-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres and Morgan Winsor

Jan 11, 12:18 PM
Blinken says he found new willingness to discuss Gaza’s future, denies conflict is escalating

As Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up his trip to the Middle East, he said he encountered a new appetite among Middle Eastern leaders to discuss contributing to what he often refers to as “the day after” in Gaza.

“I have to say what was different about this trip is that on our previous trips here, I think there was a reluctance to talk about some of the day after issues and long-term stability and security on a regional basis, but now we’re finding that our partners are very focused on that and wanting to engage on those questions,” Blinken said.

On his major goal of preventing the Israeli-Hamas war from spreading across the region, Blinken was optimistic.

“I don’t think the conflict is escalating. There are lots of danger points; we’re trying to deal with each of them,” he said.

ABC News’ Shannon Crawford

Jan 11, 12:11 PM
Hostage families beg for Israel to ‘take the deal’: ‘This is hell’

The families of hostages held by Hamas came together for a news conference Thursday demanding that the Israeli war cabinet prioritize their loved ones’ return and approve any deal that would lead to their release.

“I demand the cabinet take any deal on the table,” said Shay Wenkert, whose son, Omer Wenkert, was kidnapped from the music festival on Oct. 7.

“My son has colitis,” Wenkert said. “This is hell. I’m begging you — you had opportunities for other deals and didn’t take them. Take action. You have to take the deal. Bring them home now.”

“No one is doing us any favors in Israel. They must do everything to release the hostages, at any price,” said Gilad and Nitza Corngold, parents of Tal Shoham, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri. “I suggest anyone who says ‘It’s not worth it’ to bring a family member of theirs and make a personal exchange with me — to give me their son and take mine out. Their time is running out.”

Jan 11, 11:48 AM
Genocide case against Israel begins at UN’s top court

Israel is defending itself in the United Nations’ top court starting Thursday against allegations that its ongoing military campaign in the neighboring Gaza Strip amounts to genocide of the Palestinian people — a claim that Israel vehemently denies.

South Africa, which brought forward the allegations, is initially asking the Netherlands-based International Court of Justice to order an immediate suspension of the Israeli military offensive against Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas, as part of a landmark case that is likely to take years to resolve.

“Genocides are never declared in advance, but this court has the benefit of the past 13 weeks of evidence that shows incontrovertibly a pattern of conduct and related intention that justifies as a plausible claim of genocidal acts,” South African attorney Adila Hassim told the panel of judges inside a packed courtroom in The Hague during Thursday’s opening statements. “Nothing will stop the suffering except an order from this court.”

South Africa insists Israel is committing genocide by design and that the country’s latest war in Gaza is part of its decadeslong oppression of Palestinians. South Africa’s ruling political party, the African National Congress, has a long history of solidarity with the Palestinian cause and sees parallels with its own struggle against the apartheid regime of white minority rule that ended in 1994.

“The violence and the destruction in Palestine and Israel did not begin on Oct. 7, 2023,” South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola said. “The Palestinians have experienced systematic oppression and violence for the last 76 years.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has called South Africa’s allegations “atrocious and preposterous,” while Secretary of State Antony Blinken has dismissed the case as “meritless.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in response Thursday called South Africa’s allegations “upside-down.”

“Israel is fighting against murderous terrorists who have committed terrible crimes against humanity: they slaughtered, they raped, they burned, they dismembered, they killed children, women, the elderly, young men, young women. A terrorist organization that committed the most terrible crime against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, and now there are those who come to defend it in the name of the Holocaust,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue to fight the terrorists, we will continue to repel the lies, we will continue to maintain our right to defend ourselves and secure our future.”

Lawyers for Israel will address the court on Friday.

ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Edward Szekeres and Morgan Winsor

Jan 11, 11:08 AM
Man who lost entire family sifts through rubble in Gaza

The main highway connecting south and north Gaza, Salah al-Din Road, which Israeli forces used for a civilian corridor, has become impassable in Deir al Balah in central Gaza.

“When we came here, we were surprised — Salah al-Din is a main road connecting the north and the south in four directions, 70 meters wide,” Gaza resident Yahya Deeb Al-Laham told ABC News. Now there’s “no infrastructure, no electricity, no roads, buildings and areas are non-existent … there is nothing here, there are no signs of life. Homes for families have completely disappeared and not a single one of them remains.”

The Israelis have recently left the area.

One of the families who followed Israeli military instructions, evacuating from northern Gaza to Deir al Balah, has been completely wiped out.

The surviving family member, Muhammad Fouad Abu Safi, returned to the site to sift through the rubble and try to find what might be left of his family.

“They left me no family member, no sister, no brother, no cousin, no child,” he told ABC News. “There were about 50 people here. Only three children, girls, came out alive … the rest here were taken out as body parts or decomposing bodies.”

“Humanity has ended, mercy has ended,” he said. “Neither from America nor from any country, there is no humanity or mercy.”

ABC News’ Samy Zayara

Jan 11, 8:32 AM
UN court opens hearings on South Africa’s accusation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

Israel is defending itself in the United Nations’ top court starting Thursday against allegations that its ongoing military campaign in the neighboring Gaza Strip amounts to genocide of the Palestinian people — a claim that Israel vehemently denies.

South Africa, which brought forward the allegations, is initially asking the International Criminal Court of Justice to order an immediate suspension of the Israeli military offensive in Gaza as part of a landmark case that is likely to take years to resolve.

“Genocides are never declared in advance, but this court has the benefit of the past 13 weeks of evidence that shows incontrovertibly a pattern of conduct and related intention that justifies as a plausible claim of genocidal acts,” South African attorney Adila Hassim told the panel of judges in a packed courtroom at The Hague during Thursday’s opening statements. “Nothing will stop the suffering except an order from this court.”

South Africa insists Israel is committing genocide by design and that the country’s latest war in Gaza is part of its decadeslong oppression of Palestinians. South Africa’s ruling political party, the African National Congress, has a long history of solidarity with the Palestinian cause and sees parallels with its own struggle against the apartheid regime of white minority rule that ended in 1994.

“The violence and the destruction in Palestine and Israel did not begin on Oct. 7, 2023,” South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola said. “The Palestinians have experienced systematic oppression and violence for the last 76 years.”

Lawyers for Israel will address the court on Friday.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has called South Africa’s allegations “atrocious and preposterous,” while U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has dismissed the case as “meritless.”

Jan 10, 1:31 PM
Hamas official says hostages won’t return alive if Netanyahu doesn’t accept cease-fire

Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said in a statement that the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza “will not return alive to their families” unless Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli leaders respond to Hamas’ conditions, “the first of which is a comprehensive and complete cessation of their aggression against the Gaza Strip.”

Jan 10, 11:50 AM
Israelis in Egypt for hostage talks: Egyptian security source

A delegation from Israel is in Egypt on Wednesday for new discussions on swapping Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for Palestinians in prison in Israel, an Egyptian security source confirmed to ABC News.

Jan 10, 11:18 AM
Israeli minister warns ‘Hamas will regain control’ if combat in Gaza stops

Israeli War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz warned Wednesday that “Hamas will regain control” of the Gaza Strip if the Israeli military ceases combat operations there.

“We must go on. If we stop now, Hamas will regain control,” Gantz, a retired army general who previously served as Israel’s defense minister and alternate prime minister, said during a press conference in Tel Aviv. “In most areas, we have completed the phase of operational takeover and now, we are deep in the phase of dismantling the terrorist infrastructure, which will lead to the demilitarization of the strip.”

However, Gantz noted that “the most urgent thing is the return of the abductees.” More than 100 Israeli citizens are believed to still be held hostage by militants in Gaza after being taken captive during the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.

“This has precedence over every move in combat,” he said.

Gantz also warned that the Israeli military “will act in southern Lebanon as we act in northern Gaza” if the neighboring country “continues to serve as an Iranian terrorist outpost.” His remarks came as Israeli forces continue to exchange fire with Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, amid fears that regional tensions could escalate into a wider war in the Middle East.

“This is not a threat to Lebanon,” Gantz added. “It is a promise to the residents of [northern Israel].”

Israel’s war cabinet is expected to meet on Wednesday evening, followed by a meeting of the wider security cabinet.

ABC News’ Dana Savir and Morgan Winsor

Jan 10, 10:06 AM
IDF claims to have found ‘further evidence of Hamas’ exploitation’

The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday claimed to have found “further evidence of Hamas’ exploitation of the civilian population for terrorist activity across the Gaza Strip.”

The 55th Brigade combat team made the alleged discovery in recent days while “operating to destroy terror infrastructure” in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to the IDF.

“During the operations on the military targets, the soldiers located a UAV launch post, a loaded rifle underneath a child’s bed, along with grenades, cartridges, Hamas uniforms, and many intelligence materials inside the residences of terrorist operatives,” the IDF said in a statement. “During the operation, the soldiers found a tunnel shaft near a school, a rocket launcher near a kindergarten, and a training compound near a mosque.”

Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs Gaza, has denied Israel’s claims that it deliberately shelters behind civilians by hiding its fighters, infrastructure and weapons in hospitals, schools and other areas populated by civilians.

ABC News’ Morgan Winsor

Jan 10, 9:49 AM
At least 40 killed in Israeli strike near Gaza hospital, Hamas says

More than 40 people, including a journalist, were killed Wednesday when Israeli forces bombed an inhabited house across the street from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas Government Media Office.

Hamas claimed the Israeli military had declared the city of Deir al-Balah safe before striking the area.

There was no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces.

Earlier Wednesday, the IDF said its aircraft and ground troops were continuing to operate against Hamas in central Gaza within the area of the Maghazi refugee camp, a couple miles north of Deir al-Balah.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — Dozens of Iranian women political prisoners went on a hunger strike Thursday in protest of the execution of Iranian protester Mohammad Ghobadlou.

The announcement of the hunger strike was made on the Instagram account of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, who is among the 61 women on strike at the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran.

Since the announcement, many prominent Iranian artists and activists have stated they’re joining the symbolic collective hunger strike from around the world.

Ghobadlou, who was hanged Tuesday by the Islamic Republic, was arrested in September 2022 during the bloody “Woman Life Freedom” protests that swept the nation. The 23-year-old was executed despite an international outcry. His lawyer, Amir Raisian, described this execution as a “murder” and an act without “any legal bases” as his client’s court sentence had been initially overruled by the Iranian Supreme Court. Raisian announced on his X account he received the notice of the execution the night before Ghobaldou was hanged.

Ghobadlou was accused of “waging war against God” and “corruption on Earth,” both crimes punishable by death in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Islamic Republic has executed at least seven other protesters for alleged crimes linked to mass protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September 2022, allegedly at the hands of Iran’s “morality police.”

“The news of the execution of Iranian youth has sparked a wave of anger and protest in society,” the political prisoners in Evin said in the statement Thursday. “In protest against the recent executions and for the ‘halt of executions,’ will engage in a united hunger strike on the 25th of Jan 2024.”

They said this is a move “to keep the names of the executed alive” and to save hundreds of individuals awaiting execution in the prisons of the Islamic Republic.

“Be our voice against executions in Iran,” they asked the public.

The regime has continued its brutal suppression of protesters after months of demonstrations ignited by Amini’s death.

Amini, 22, was on a trip to Tehran in September 2022 when the hijab police, called the “morality police,” arrested her allegedly for not fully complying with the Sharia-based compulsory hijab laws of the country. She was taken into custody only to be announced dead at a hospital three days later, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. Iran Human Rights reported in April 2023 that at least 537 people had been killed since the start of the protests and, according to the state-run IRNA, at least 22,000 people were arrested.

Many activists, families of the former dissident victims of the Islamic Republic regime and Iranian prominent artists said they would also go on hunger strike Thursday.

“Together with ’61 female prisoners of conscience of Evin’ to protest the execution of Mohammad Ghobadlou and to stop the execution, with a symbolic approach, I will go on a hunger strike tomorrow, Thursday 25th of January,” Mehdi Yarahi, a celebrated pop singer posted on his X account.

Yarahi himself was arrested by the regime in August after releasing a song celebrating the anniversary of the Mahsa Amini protests.

Iranian-American activist Masih Alinejad also announced she would go on hunger strike Thursday. “Solidarity is beautiful, but if we don’t take action, believe me, more people who are on the death row will be executed soon,” she wrote on her X account.

Another well-known opposition figure, Hamed Esmailiyoun, said he wanted to speak on behalf of the 61 prisoners and others who have joined the collective movement.

In a video published on Instagram, Esmailion addressed Neda Al-Nashif, deputy high commissioner for human rights at the United Nations, and asked her to go to the Evin Prison when she visits Tehran. “Mrs. Al-Nashif should visit the prisoners who are on the death row.”

“We must be their voice before it is too late for the prisoners on death row,” he added.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

As war rages in Gaza, civilians have repeatedly been told by Israel to go to the city of Deir al-Balah, in the center of the enclave, for safety.

The city lies below the Wadi Gaza, the line south of which Israel warned people to move starting in mid-October. And after a cease-fire in late November, Israel’s military issued multiple calls for civilians to travel to shelters in the city for their own safety.

Deir al-Balah has since swelled with internally displaced people, according to the United Nations.

But the city has not been spared from the Israeli bombing campaign, according to the United Nations and international human rights organizations like Amnesty International.

ABC News, using satellite imagery from Planet Labs and videos filmed on the ground, has identified at least 91 individual instances of destruction in Deir al-Balah since Oct. 7. Numerous videos and photos reviewed by ABC News appear to support U.N. and human rights organizations’ statements and indicate that while Israel’s military directed civilians to Deir al-Balah, they continued to strike there.

ABC News cannot independently verify every individual instance of destruction as being from Israel.

However, Airwars, a U.K.-based nonprofit that tracks civilian casualties due to airstrikes, told ABC News they think “it is logical to conclude” a majority of damage to Deir al-Balah since Oct. 7 has been caused by the Israel Defense Forces rather than by Gaza-based militants, given the scale of bombardments. Airwars also said exact estimates are hard to come by because the ongoing bombing makes it difficult to access these areas.

Evacuation to Deir al-Balah

In the first two months following the terror attack by Gaza-based militants on Israel and the start of the ensuing IDF campaign in Gaza, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza fled south from the northern part of the enclave, according to the U.N. and the IDF.

After a week-long cease-fire between Hamas and Israel in November, Israel signaled its intention to expand ground operations to areas in the south previously declared safe.

As Israel started this expansion on Dec. 2, it issued new evacuation orders for much of the city of Khan Younis that extended to areas immediately to the south of Deir al-Balah.

Israeli troops positioned themselves south of the city on the main road that spans Gaza from north to south, sandwiching Deir al-Balah between the two areas of ground combat to the north and south.

On Dec. 4, the IDF announced a corridor along a coastal street would allow people to safely go from southern Gaza toward Deir al-Balah. The city is the largest in Central Gaza, with a prewar population of about 75,000 living in roughly 5.7 square miles.

By Dec. 11, the IDF was also urging citizens of northern Gaza to evacuate to “known shelters in Deir Al Balah.” These warnings were posted online almost every day in December, accompanied by leaflets and phone calls.

When the IDF expanded its ground combat operation to central Gaza on Dec. 22, it warned citizens of the city of Bureij, “For your safety, you must move immediately to the shelters in Deir Al-Balah.”

The same message was conveyed to the residents of the other central camps within Deir al-Balah — Nuseirat by Jan. 3, and Maghazi the next week.

IDF officials told ABC News they issued these warnings to protect civilians in areas of intense fighting, but “Hamas systematically attempts to prevent the evacuation of civilians by calling on the civilians to ignore the IDF’s requests.”

The IDF warnings drove hundreds of thousands of people to Deir al-Balah seeking safety, U.N. records and visual evidence, including satellite images and on-the-ground videos, showed.

Many Gaza residents have heeded these warnings quickly, Juliette Touma, communications director for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, told ABC News.

“The minute people hear about these evacuation orders, it creates a sensational amount of panic and anxiety and people just leave,” Touma said.

Striking Deir al-Balah

Despite these indications that Deir al-Balah would offer relative safety to civilians, the area was not spared from aerial bombardment.

ABC News’ analysis identified dozens of destroyed buildings ranging from entire city blocks to family homes.

Between Dec. 7 and 8, Israel destroyed the Yaffa Mosque in central Deir al-Balah, leveling the building and severely damaging the neighboring Yaffa Hospital.

Images taken by local journalists show the rubble of the mosque and destroyed walls of the hospital.

Israel’s military has the weaponry to cause the damage seen at the scene, but Hamas and other militant groups based in Gaza do not, said Marc Garlasco, a military advisor with the Netherlands-based PAX Protection of Civilians. ABC News asked Garlasco to review a collection of visual evidence, including satellite imagery, videos and photos.

Garlasco, who reviewed the material remotely, said it appeared to indicate the mosque was likely destroyed using a bomb on a delayed fuse, causing the structure to “pancake” and reducing the potential for blast and fragmentation damage.

“Regardless,” Garlasco said, “dropping such a structure with an aerial bomb may have wide area effects that endangered people in the hospital.”

On Jan. 13, an Israeli missile hit a house in Deir al-Balah but did not explode, according to The Associated Press. Shortly after, according to a neighbor who witnessed the attack speaking with The Associated Press, two more missiles hit the street, destroying his home.

Video of the aftermath shows a crater about 40 feet wide with debris scattered around it. Images show the unexploded missile lying precariously on the ground. Garlasco said he identified the missile as a 2,000-pound American-made Mark 84 bomb.

Between Dec. 2 and 3, satellite images reviewed by ABC News show another crater and destroyed building about 500 feet from a school-turned-shelter. Garlasco told ABC News the crater’s size indicated a 1,000- or 2,000-pound bomb consistent with those used by the IDF, and not with rockets or mortars fired by Gaza-based militant groups like Hamas.

UNRWA said it recorded at least three instances of schools being used as shelters sustaining damage due to strikes on or near the buildings in Deir al-Balah.

Provided by ABC News with specific coordinates and dates from each of three strikes, as well as others in Deir al-Balah, the IDF did not deny carrying them out. ABC News sent requests over a series of days seeking detailed comment from the IDF.

While the IDF did not respond to any specific claims, it did reply on Sunday with several paragraphs, telling ABC News, in part, “[A]s part of Hamas’s systematic use of the civilian population as a human shield, Hamas exploits the humanitarian areas, shelters and hospitals, by attacking IDF forces from within these places, and concealing terrorists and military assets in them.”

They did not specify whether their intelligence suggested that Hamas operatives or assets were present at the strike locations provided, which included four specific places and a general question about the entire city.

Asked whether steps were taken to protect civilians at Yaffa Hospital, and schools and shelters near strikes in Deir al-Balah, the IDF said they take “all feasible precautions under the relevant operational circumstances to mitigate harm to civilians when operating. Some of these precautions include specific warning before strikes when possible.”

The IDF added, “In addition, as part of Hamas’s systematic use of the civilian population as a human shield, Hamas exploits the humanitarian areas, shelters and hospitals, by attacking IDF forces from within these places, and concealing terrorists and military assets in them. For example, in recent weeks Hamas has launched dozens of rockets towards Israel from the humanitarian area in Al-Muassi.”

The IDF did not specify whether precautions to protect civilians were taken at any of the Deir al-Balah sites.

Nowhere to go

An ABC News analysis of IDF evacuation warnings earlier this month found that over 60% of Gaza was then under evacuation orders. More areas have been warned to evacuate since.

Martin Griffiths, under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs at the U.N. told the Security Council on Jan. 12, “[M]ore and more people are being crammed into an ever-smaller sliver of land, only to find yet more violence and deprivation, inadequate shelter and a near absence of the most basic services,” he said, “There is no safe place in Gaza.”

IDF evacuation orders, and the ground combat they portend, are now in effect for areas surrounding Deir al-Balah, coming to just across the street from one of the area’s last functioning hospitals, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

International aid organizations, including Doctors Without Borders and the International Rescue Committee (IRC), announced on Jan. 6 and 7 that they would be forced to leave Deir al-Balah.

IRC said it would leave as “a result of increasing Israeli military activity around the Al Aqsa Hospital.”

American doctor Seema Jilani, who fled the hospital along with her colleagues from the International Rescue Committee, told ABC News she saw civilians with extensive injuries who she didn’t think would receive timely treatment due to the incursion of IDF troops.

“I saw children, infants with their limbs blown off. I saw children with third-degree burns from explosive injuries, and to leave them without any care is something that I know I will struggle with for the rest of my life,” Jilani said.

The IDF told ABC News it seeks to notify the population about evacuations “in a variety of ways, including radio broadcasts, a dedicated website in Arabic, millions of pre-recorded phone calls and tens of thousands of live phone calls, and millions of leaflets.”

An IDF leaflet distributed the week of Jan. 8 warned citizens of another central city to evacuate to Deir al-Balah. The image on the leaflet circled only a section of the city as being the “safe” area, cutting out about half of the city’s known shelters as well as the hospital.

Most IDF evacuation warnings instruct people to go to known shelters in Deir al-Balah.

Touma, UNRWA’s communications director, left Gaza on Jan. 16 after visiting some of the organization’s shelters and camps, including several in Deir al-Balah and Rafah. She told ABC News the shelters are overcrowded.

“It was almost claustrophobic walking into the school. The schoolyard and the playground, all covered with these little makeshift structures that people have set up, because everything indoors is just overcrowded and overflowing,” she said.

Satellite images appear to show tent camps swelling with new arrivals between Dec. 24 — after Israel announced their ground operation in Central Gaza — and Jan. 5.

But, by Jan. 10, gunfire between combatants could be heard from a tent camp outside Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital courtyard, as captured on video by local journalists. The shooting didn’t appear to have been in the hospital. People fled again.

The hospital camp and shelters at schools on the same street shrank. Satellite images showed the tent camps and shelters further inside the city growing in a matter of days.

According to UNRWA, Deir al-Balah’s population has now swelled to at least 4 times the city’s prewar population. As Israel has asked civilians to move to smaller areas, there are fewer places to go, the U.N. said.

The only other major city in Gaza where IDF ground troops are not operating on the ground, Rafah, is also overflowing, according to UNRWA. It is now home to over a million people, more than 10 times its prewar population, the organization said.

Some people have fled Deir al-Balah to go south to Rafah, despite that city’s overcrowding, Touma said.

Others arriving in Deir al-Balah at the behest of the Israeli army move to shelters or anywhere else they can, she said.

“There is no space. People are just setting up these little structures wherever they can everywhere,” Touma said. There’s no pavements, because people just set up these little structures right. It’s like seas of people.”

But the destruction continues. The IDF retreated from their positions in the south of the city on Jan. 10. Satellite images show several buildings that were in their control for weeks were destroyed in the days leading up to the troops’ rebase.

Dr. Jilani, speaking with ABC News after leaving Gaza, said she still could not believe what she had seen in Deir al-Balah.

“This is entirely a preventable man-made catastrophe on nightmarish levels,” she said. “This is not a natural disaster. This is something that humans are doing to other humans, and there is no humanity left when we do this.”

ABC News’ Chris Looft, Samy Zyara, Kris Anderson, and Jordana Miller contributed to this report.

 

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(NEW YORK) — North Korea launched a test flight for a new type of missile, state media outlets said Thursday.

The test on Wednesday was the first for an under-development strategic cruise missile, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. Reports named the weapon as a Pulhwasal-3-31 missile.

“The test fire had no negative effect on the security of the neighboring country and is not connected with the situation of the region,” the Voice of Korea, a national broadcaster, said in an English-language post.

The launch comes amid growing cooperation between the United States, South Korea and Japan, with the three countries saying they’re sharing real-time updates and analysis on military activity in the region.

The U.S. State Department on Wednesday had called for North Korea to “refrain from further provocative, destabilizing actions and return to diplomacy.”

“We are eager to engage in substantive discussions on identifying ways to not just manage military risk but create lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Vedant Patel, a spokesperson, said during a press brefing, “as well as our continued stated goal of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

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(NEW YORK) — The United States Coast Guard rescued 33 people from a sinking vessel in deep water when their boat began taking on water and sinking.

The incident occurred on Monday when Coast Guard District Seven watchstanders received notification from the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Dependable after they encountered a sailing vessel taking on water with 33 people on board approximately six miles north of Cap-Hatien near the Haiti coast, according to a statement from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Pictures of the scene show inclement weather at the time of the rescue with the Dependable’s crew members pulling people aboard while their boat was taking on water.

“Dependable’s crew did a great job of rapidly responding to the dangerous situation,” said Lt. j.g. Chelsea Chamberlain, a Coast Guard District Seven enforcement officer. “The people were actively bailing out water in heavy seas and if our crew hadn’t arrived when they did, the vessel would have likely succumbed to the sea.”

All 33 people who were rescued were brought aboard the Dependable and transferred to Haitian authorities in good health.

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(LONDON) — A Russian military aircraft carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war crashed Wednesday in western Russia’s Belgorod region, Russian officials said.

The “captured” Ukrainian soldiers were being transported to the Belgorod region, located along Russia’s border with Ukraine, as part of an “exchange,” according to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense.

There were also six crew members and three “accompanying persons” aboard the Il-76 military transport aircraft, the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

There was no immediate comment on the crash or confirmation of a planned prisoner exchange from Ukrainian officials.

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(IRAN) — The chances that flashpoints in the Middle East will ignite a conflict that engulfs the entire region have increased, Iran’s top diplomat told ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz in an exclusive interview Tuesday.

“The scope of the war has become wider. This means that the danger of having a wider war in the region has gone up,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, blaming the U.S and Israel for the escalating tensions.

“If the U.S. today stops its backing — logistical and weapons, political and media support — of the genocidal war launched by Israel, then I can assure you that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu will not survive for 10 minutes,” he asserted. “So the key to solve the problem is in Washington before it is in Tel Aviv.”

Raddatz pressed the foreign minister on Iran’s role in stoking the conflict, including its longstanding financial and military support of Hamas, the U.S.-designated terrorist group that killed hundreds of civilians in Israel in its Oct. 7 attack.

“We consider Hamas a Palestinian liberation group that is standing against occupation,” Amir-Abdollahian said. “Of course, we never approved the killing of women and children, civilians anywhere in the world. We never support it.”

Raddatz also questioned the foreign minister on Iran’s backing of the Houthis — the Yemeni rebel group responsible for dozens of recent attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, including U.S. ships.

The Pentagon has shared evidence of what it says is Iran’s weapons smuggling network that supplies the Houthis, including details of a commando mission in the Arabian Sea that successfully intercepted Iranian-made missile components destined for Yemen but resulted in the death of two Navy SEALS.

But Amir-Abdollahian dismissed the allegations, baselessly accusing the U.S. military of fabricating the information.

“Mostly, this is a TV show,” he asserted, even though the United Nations and other foreign governments have documented similar arms transfers from Iran.

While the Oct. 7 attacks and its tumultuous aftermath have renewed fears of direct combat between the U.S. and Iran, the two have teetered on the brink of war before in recent years.

Hostilities between the countries hit a zenith in 2020, when then-President Donald Trump ordered an air strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, the leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force and a man the U.S. says responsible for the deaths of hundreds American and coalition service members and was actively plotting to kill more.

In the aftermath of Soleimani’s killing, Iranian officials vowed they would eventually exact revenge.

“That was a big, big mistake made by Trump. That is not something that we will be able to forget,” Amir-Abdollahian said, adding that Tehran still wanted to see “all the people involved” in the strike “brought to justice.”

“What does that mean?” Raddatz asked. “Does that mean killed?”

“Justice will rule on it,” he responded.

However, Amir-Abdollahian argued that whether Trump won or lost his bid for another term in the Oval Office would ultimately have little impact on the relationship between the U.S. and Iran.

“Individuals are not important, what matters is the behavior of the government that takes the office.,” he said.

In the Middle East, Tehran wields much of its power through its vast web of proxies–an informal coalition terrorist organization like Hamas, the Houthis, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, as well as paramilitary groups scattered through Iraq and Syria that are united by anti-Western and anti-Israeli sentiments.

U.S. officials say Iran has significant influence over the network of militants that benefit from the country’s financial and military support, but Tehran has consistently downplayed or denied the connections–insisting the country only wants to see peace across the Middle East.

“Nobody is going to benefit from any war. We believe that the solution is never war,” Amir-Abdollahian said.

ABC News’ Cindy Smith, Nate Luna and Christopher Boccia contributed to this report.
 

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(IRAQ) — The U.S. on Tuesday staged airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq in retaliation for ballistic missiles fired Saturday against Al-Assad airbase that left four U.S. personnel with traumatic brain injuries.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(IRAQ) — The U.S. on Tuesday staged airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq in retaliation for ballistic missiles fired Sunday against Al-Assad airbase that left four U.S. personnel with traumatic brain injuries, two U.S. officials said.

“Today, at President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities used by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq. These precision strikes are in direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against U.S. and Coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.

“The President and I will not hesitate to take necessary action to defend them and our interests,”” he said. “We do not seek to escalate conflict in the region. We are fully prepared to take further measures to protect our people and our facilities. We call on these groups and their Iranian sponsors to immediately cease these attacks.”

Sunday’s attack on U.S. troops at the sprawling Iraqi airbase in western Iraq involved 17 ballistic missiles and rockets and was launched from inside Iraq, according to three U.S. officials.

While the majority of the projectiles were blocked, two ballistic missiles were able to get through U.S. air defenses, the officials said.

The Pentagon said that the attack resulted in structural damage to “noncritical facilities” and that four U.S. service members had returned to their duties after having been evaluated for traumatic brain injuries (TBI), an Iraqi official was also injured in the blasts.

U.S. officials anticipate the possibility that additional service members could step forward with TBI symptoms.

There have been more than 150 rocket and drone attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria since mid-October carried out by Iranian-backed militias claiming they are in support of Palestinians in the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza.

But their use of ballistic missiles, as happened this weekend was seen as an escalation.

There are still about 2,500 American troops serving in Iraq and 900 in Syria to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State.

However, the continued presence of American troops in Iraq was cast into question by Iraq’s parliament shortly after a U.S. drone strike on January 4 that killed a top leader of one of the Iranian-backed militia groups responsible for the attacks on U.S. forces.

That drone strike and other retaliatory strikes carried out inside Iraq and Syria have so far not deterred the groups from continuing to launch the attacks.

The attacks are a sign of rising tensions in the region for the United States which has also carried out retaliatory strikes in Yemen targeting Houthi militants responsible for more than 30 attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Most recently on Monday, the United States and United Kingdom carried out another major strike against Houthi locations associated with the shipping attacks.

It marked the eighth retaliatory airstrike carried out against Houthi targets since Jan. 11 which U.S. officials say have degraded the Houthis ability to carry out the attacks even as they have continued to do so.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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