(LONDON) — In the wake of Iran’s unprecedented airstrikes on Israel, dozens of Iranians gathered in Tehran’s Palestine Square earlier this week to celebrate what the Iranian regime described as a retaliatory attack.
But interviews with women on the ground indicate that the scene, broadcast by Iranian state-run media in a country that lacks a free press, is not representative of how many other Iranians — particularly women — are feeling as Israel weighs its response.
ABC News spoke to several women in Iran who said the fear of an imminent war has been added to a long list of worries and hardships they have been grappling with for years. Their names have been changed due to concerns for their safety.
“The fear of the war is so crippling,” Ramesh, a 30-year-old designer and architect, told ABC News via telephone on Wednesday. “And imagine on top of that is the anxiety of getting arrested by the hijab police and the stress of not being able to afford the rent for our flat every single month.”
Iran sent a barrage of more than 300 different types of drones and missiles toward Israel late Saturday, days after a suspected Israeli airstrike hit the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria. The strike on the consulate killed seven people, including a top Iranian commander. Israel has not confirmed that it was behind the attack on the Iranian consulate but has not denied it.
All but a few of Iran’s missiles and drones were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the United States, officials said.
The incident over the weekend came six months into a brutal war between Israel and Hamas, an Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist group that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas led a surprise incursion into neighboring Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 200 others hostage, with 129 believed to still remain in captivity in Gaza, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. Since Oct. 7, Israeli forces have killed almost 34,000 people and injured more than 76,000 others in Gaza amid ongoing ground operations and aerial bombardment of the strip, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health.
A few hours after Saturday’s retaliatory attack on Israel, Iranian authorities launched a new operation to arrest women who refuse to abide by the country’s law mandating they wear a hijab, covering their entire body except for their face, hands and feet. The operation, introduced by the police and dubbed “The Light Plan,” aims to detain women who have ignored previous warnings about their dress from the country’s so-called morality police, who regularly patrol the streets of Tehran and other cities, the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reported.
Images and videos of the latest hijab crackdown have surfaced on social media, with several Iranian women posting photos of what they say are bruises from being beaten by the morality police. One video purportedly shows Iranian police officers surrounding a woman and forcing her into a white van during a patrol.
“Imagine you turn on your TV to get news about the war and the danger you are living, and what you see is the news about the new round of the morality police operation,” Ramesh said. “It seems what the regime cares about most is that if there is a war and my house collapses over my head, my corpse is dragged out of the rubble with a scarf covering my hair.”
“We are on the verge of an all-out war and what is it that the state media tells us? A new round of the hijab police activities,” she added. “Iran says its attack on Israel was a retaliation for the 12 people Israel killed in Syria. But we know at the end we, 80 million Iranians, will be paying the price.”
Azam, a 35-year-old housewife and mother, said she “couldn’t sleep” the night she saw the news about Iran’s strikes on Israel.
“I went to my daughter’s room and held her and grabbed her from sleep, and then I went to my son’s room and held him,” Azam told ABC News via telephone on Tuesday. “All I am worried about now is that if there is a war and they attack us, we may get hurt or separated.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel “will make our own decisions [about its response to Iran’s attack] and the State of Israel will do everything necessary to defend itself.” U.S. and U.K. officials have said they don’t wish to see the situation escalate.
Maral, a 28-year-old website developer, said she and her family are living in “a horrible atmosphere of distress and anxiety,” fearing they are “just tools in the hands of those in power.”
“I am in shock and very worried about Israel’s response,” Maral told ABC News via telephone on Tuesday, adding that she has urged relatives who live in a town near one of Iran’s nuclear facilities to pack their things and come stay with them in case Israel decides to target such sites.
“Another bitter thing here is the divide between people,” she said. “The minority that are still supporters of the regime keep saying we need to stick together if the war happens, but many others are tired of the regime. Everything is so expensive and I am afraid of things getting even more expensive.”
Iran’s economy and, subsequently, its people have suffered under years of widespread corruption and international sanctions. The value of the country’s currency, the rial, has plummeted 22 times in the past 10 years. In 2019, following the failure of nuclear talks between Iran and world powers, one U.S. dollar was equal to 130,000 Iranian rials. This week, after the Iranian strikes on Israel, the rial fell to 650,000 per dollar.
The high inflation rate and currency devaluation have left many Iranians struggling to afford basic necessities, including food. Zahra, a 65-year-old housewife and grandmother, said a kilogram (just over 2 pounds) of beef currently costs 7 million rials (about $11), which is expensive for a household that only earns 100 million rials (about $150) per month.
“We don’t buy red meat or even chicken as much,” Zahra told ABC News via telephone on Wednesday.
Zahra said she fears things will get worse if Israel’s war in Gaza, which the United Nations warns has triggered a humanitarian crisis and imminent famine, spreads to her own doorstep in Iran. The concern of a wider war in the Middle East has been echoed by many regional analysts and experts.
“I have seen how innocent children are being killed, I have seen the hospitals being targeted in Gaza,” Zahra added. “I told my granddaughter that everything was going to be alright and I kept telling myself the same, too.”
(NEW YORK) — A Polish citizen was arrested for allegedly spying for the Russian government as part of a potential assassination attempt against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the top prosecutors in Poland and Ukraine said Thursday.
The Polish citizen, identified as Pawel K., was charged with readiness to act for foreign intelligence against the Republic of Poland, the Polish National Prosecutor’s Office said in a press release.
The suspect allegedly “proactively established contact” with Russian military command representatives and “informed them of his readiness to cooperate” with the Russian Federation’s foreign military intelligence agency, according to Andriy Kostin, the Ukrainian prosecutor general.
The suspect’s alleged tasks for the Russian government included collecting and providing the agency with information on the security of the Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport, an international airport in Jasionka in southeastern Poland, Polish and Ukrainian officials said.
“This was to help Russian special services plan a possible assassination attempt on the Ukrainian President during his presence in Poland,” Kostin said in a statement on X.
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine forwarded information about the suspect to their Polish counterpart and “key evidence” was obtained by Ukraine during the investigation, the Polish National Prosecutor’s Office said in the release. The suspect was detained on Wednesday and the investigation is ongoing, the office said.
If convicted, the suspect could face up to eight years in prison, the office said.
“This case underscores the persistent threat Russia poses not only to Ukraine and Ukrainians but to the entire free world,” Kostin said. “The Kremlin’s criminal regime is constantly trying to undermine European and global security. It organizes and carries out sabotage operations on the territory of other sovereign states.”
Zelenskyy last visited Poland in April 2023, receiving a massive welcome from its citizens and President Andrzej Duda. Poland lies on the western border of Ukraine and took in many refugees who fled from Ukraine in the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion.
(NEW YORK) — Iran on Saturday night unleashed a retaliatory strike against Israel, sending a volley of more than 300 uncrewed drones and missiles toward targets throughout the country, Israeli military officials said. All but a few were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the United States, officials said.
The attack on Israel came more than six months after Hamas terrorists invaded the country on Oct. 7, after which the Israeli military began its bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Apr 18, 10:25 AM US, Israeli officials to hold high-level meeting on Rafah plans
The official said that it will be a secure video meeting that will follow up on discussions from earlier this month. National security adviser Jake Sullivan will lead the meeting for the U.S. side, the official said.
The meeting was first reported by Axios.
Apr 18, 9:41 AM US sanctions 16 people, two groups after Iran attacks
The U.S. is sanctioning two groups and 16 people it says enabled Iran’s drone production following Iran’s attack on Israel last weekend.
“Today, in coordination with the United Kingdom and in consultation with partners and allies, we are taking swift and decisive action to respond to Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. “We’re using Treasury’s economic tools to degrade and disrupt key aspects of Iran’s malign activity, including its UAV program and the revenue the regime generates to support its terrorism.”
The Treasury Department said it’s sanctioning Khuzestan Steel Company, Iran’s largest steel producer. The Treasury Department said Iran’s metals sector generates “several billion dollars in revenue annually.”
The U.S. is also targeting the Iranian carmaker Bahman Group for its role in making vehicles used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for military operations.
The sanctions also target people who work for Iran-based drone manufacturers, including executives of the Mado Company, which the U.S. says produced drone engines used in Iran’s Shahed UAVs. The U.S. also sanctioned members of the IRGC who it says help supply proxy groups, like the Houthis in Yemen, with drones that have attacked U.S. service members in the Red Sea.
Yellen added that the U.S. would “continue to deploy” sanctions to counter any further action by Iran, with the goal of making it harder and more expensive for Iran to undertake destabilizing actions.
Apr 17, 6:16 PM Israel not likely to carry out strike until after Passover: US official
Israel is unlikely to carry out a strike on Iran until after Passover, a senior U.S. official told ABC News, although that could always change.
Passover begins on Monday and ends after nightfall on April 30.
The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other leadership are still on a high state of alert, with some in safe houses and underground facilities, the official said.
Apr 17, 5:50 PM Israel aborted strikes against Iran 2 nights this week: Sources
Israel prepared for and then aborted retaliatory strikes against Iran on at least two nights this past week, three Israeli sources told ABC News.
Iran attacked Israel with more than 300 drones and missiles on Saturday night into Sunday morning local time in Israel. Israel has been weighing how and when to respond to Iran’s attack since then, holding war cabinet meetings on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
The members of the Israeli war cabinet are Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister Benny Gantz and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
A range of responses have been presented to the Israeli war cabinet. The potential responses include options ranging from attacking Iranian proxies in the region but not on Iranian soil to a potential cyber attack, sources told ABC News.
There was no war cabinet meeting on Wednesday, but Netanyahu told his government cabinet that while he appreciates the advice from allies, Israel will “make our own decisions, and the State of Israel will do everything necessary to defend itself.”
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman and Jordana Miller
Apr 17, 3:02 PM Iranian president: Israel invasion would be met with ‘massive’ response
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said at an army parade Wednesday that “the tiniest invasion” from Israel will be met with a “very massive and harsh response.”
Apr 17, 2:26 PM House GOP package totals $14.1 billion for Israel
House Republicans have posted the legislative text for three national security bills, addressing Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific.
For Israel, lawmakers have crafted a package totaling $14.1 billion, including: $4 billion for missile defense; $1.2 billion for Iron Beam; $4 billion replenishment of stocks to the Department of Defense; and $3.5 billion for Israel to purchase U.S. weapons.
“The House must pass the package this week and the Senate should quickly follow,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “I will sign this into law immediately to send a message to the world: We stand with our friends, and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed.”
Apr 17, 1:12 PM Netanyahu: Israel ‘will make our own decisions’ on how to respond to Iran
After meeting with U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he appreciates their advice, but added, “We will make our own decisions and the State of Israel will do everything necessary to defend itself.”
Cameron told reporters after the meeting in Jerusalem, “It’s clear the Israelis are making a decision to act.”
“We hope they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible, and in a way that — as I said yesterday — is smart as well as tough,” Cameron added.
Cameron also reiterated that the “real need is to refocus back on Hamas, back on the hostages, back on getting the aid in, back on getting a pause in the conflict in Gaza.”
“That’s why I’m here today to talk to the Israeli government, to talk to the Palestinian Authority to try and push those things forward,” Cameron said.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Apr 16, 7:04 PM US says it will impose new sanctions on Iran in coming days
The United States announced Tuesday it will impose new sanctions targeting Iran in the coming days following its “unprecedented air attack against Israel.”
The sanctions include targeting Iran’s missile and drone program and new sanctions against entities supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran’s Defense Ministry, according to the White House’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
“We anticipate that our allies and partners will soon be following with their own sanctions,” Sullivan said in a statement. “We will not hesitate to continue to take action, in coordination with allies and partners around the world, and with Congress, to hold the Iranian government accountable for its malicious and destabilizing actions.”
The U.S. is telegraphing its sanction plan in advance to underscore the large international response that the U.S. is coordinating and to signal to Iran there will be diplomatic costs to what they’ve done, a senior administration official told ABC News. The official said they believe this will have an impact, in part, by bringing other countries on board.
Apr 16, 4:08 PM IDF’s conduct, ethics under scrutiny following soldiers’ social media posts
Six months into the Israel-Hamas conflict, the conduct and ethics of some Israel Defense Forces members have increasingly come under the microscope.
Incidents ranging from pranks to potentially criminal acts are being exposed to the world, often by videos soldiers themselves have posted online, according to critics and Israeli officials.
In many pictures and videos that have circulated since the conflict began, and which were reposted by pro-Palestinian activists to millions of followers, IDF soldiers are seen blowing up buildings in Gaza while in combat, waving women’s underwear like flags and rifling through the possessions of Gazans with gleeful expressions.
Younis Tirawi, a Palestinian activist, says he’s seen thousands of videos of IDF soldiers reportedly behaving improperly.
“You can see all the soldiers liking their posts,” Tirawi told ABC News.
Apr 16, 3:48 PM Blinken to Israeli war cabinet: ‘We do not want to see further escalation’
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, during which Blinken “continue[d] to send the same messages in all his conversations — which is we do not want to see further escalation of the conflict,” according to spokesperson Matt Miller.
Miller declined to say whether the U.S. assessed the threat of escalation had fallen, but an administration official said the amount of time that has already elapsed since Iran’s weekend attack had boosted hopes that Israel would exercise constraint.
Miller batted down reports that Iran and the U.S. were communicating through intermediaries in the wake of Tehran’s attack on Israel.
“There have not been such messages delivered. It’s been days since we’ve communicated — since we’ve sent messages to the government of Iran,” Miller said. “And I say that as a reminder of something we’ve said before: Oftentimes, the Iranian government has misled the world about either messages they’ve passed to us or messages that we have passed to them.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Apr 16, 3:36 PM UK prime minister ‘gravely concerned’ about humanitarian situation in Gaza
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. While Netanyahu thanked Sunak for the U.K.’s support to counter Iran’s weekend attack on Israel, Sunak also had harsh words for Netanyahu about the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“On Gaza, the Prime Minister said he remained gravely concerned about the deepening humanitarian crisis,” a Downing Street spokesperson said. “The U.K. wanted to see a massive step change in aid access to flood Gaza with vital supplies, including Israel opening up new aid routes as quickly as possible. The Prime Minister said it was deeply disappointing that Hamas blocked a deal at the weekend that would have saved Palestinian lives and secured the safe release of hostages.”
Apr 16, 3:23 PM Israeli war cabinet meeting ends again with no final decision on response: Source
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet met for the third day in a row on Tuesday to consider an Israeli response to Iran’s weekend attack.
But Tuesday’s meeting ended with no final decision made about an Israeli response, according to an Israeli source with knowledge of the meeting. A variety of options are still being considered, the source said.
Apr 16, 2:13 PM Iran foreign minister says ‘no intention of further escalating the situation’
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on a call that “Iran is willing to exercise restraint and has no intention of further escalating the situation,” according to the Chinese foreign ministry’s readout of the conversation.
Apr 16, 1:56 PM More than 19,000 children orphaned in Gaza
Over 10,000 women have been killed in Gaza during the war, according to a report from UN Women, the United Nations’ entity for gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Out of those 10,000 women, 6,000 were mothers, who have left behind 19,000 orphaned children, according to the report.
-ABC News’ Kori Skillman
Apr 16, 11:18 AM Israel focused too intensely on Iran’s nuclear threat at expense of ballistic threat: IDF
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel focused too intensely on the Iranian nuclear threat at the expense of its ballistic threat.
A senior U.S. official told ABC News the U.S. also relied too heavily on the misguided conception that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was cautious and would never order a direct attack on Israel, and that this weekend’s attack and the general U.S. assessment of Iran now requires study and reassessment.
Sima Shine, a former head of the Iran desk at Israeli espionage agency Mossad, also said Israel’s assessment was wrong, and said “the rules of the game” have changed. A huge barrage of missiles was considered possible, but highly unlikely, Shine said.
Shine said any Israeli response under the new conception requires the assumption that Iran will follow up with its threat of another salvo of missiles. That said, Shine believes that Iran and the supreme leader do not want a full-scale war because it would be unpopular in Iran and the U.S. could get involved.
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman
Apr 16, 9:18 AM Yellen to Iran: US ‘will not hesitate’ to issue new sanctions
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is warning Iran that the U.S. “will not hesitate” to impose new sanctions in response to Iran’s “unprecedented attack” on Israel.
“Treasury will not hesitate to work with our allies to use our sanctions authority to continue disrupting the Iranian regime’s malign and destabilizing activity,” Yellen is expected to say at a Tuesday press conference. “The attack by Iran and its proxies underscores the importance of Treasury’s work to use our economic tools to counter Iran’s malign activity.”
Yellen’s message follows President Joe Biden’s Sunday meeting with the G7 nations, during which the leaders discussed a coordinated effort on sanction measures.
Apr 16, 6:31 AM Israeli war cabinet to consider response again Tuesday
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet is expected to meet again on Tuesday to consider an Israeli response to Iran’s weekend attack.
“We are closely assessing the situation. We remain at our highest level of readiness,” Herzi Halevi, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, said on Monday. “Iran will face the consequences for its actions.”
Halevi added Israel would “choose our response accordingly.”
Apr 16, 6:14 AM UN watchdog calls for de-escalation in Israel-Iran conflict
United Nations officials called on Tuesday for Israel and Iran to de-escalate their conflict, saying the retaliatory military attacks “violate the right to life and must cease immediately.”
“All countries are prohibited from arbitrarily depriving individuals of their right to life in military operations abroad, including when countering terrorism,” the U.N.’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a press release, quoting U.N. officials described as “experts.”
The retaliatory strikes by both countries may constitute the “international crime of aggression by civilian and military leaders responsible,” those officials said, according to the statement.
(NEW YORK) — Iran on Saturday night unleashed a retaliatory strike against Israel, sending a volley of more than 300 uncrewed drones and missiles toward targets throughout the country, Israeli military officials said. All but a few were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the United States, officials said.
The attack on Israel came more than six months after Hamas terrorists invaded the country on Oct. 7, after which the Israeli military began its bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Apr 18, 9:41 AM US sanctions 16 people, two groups after Iran attacks
The U.S. is sanctioning two groups and 16 people it says enabled Iran’s drone production following Iran’s attack on Israel last weekend.
“Today, in coordination with the United Kingdom and in consultation with partners and allies, we are taking swift and decisive action to respond to Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. “We’re using Treasury’s economic tools to degrade and disrupt key aspects of Iran’s malign activity, including its UAV program and the revenue the regime generates to support its terrorism.”
The Treasury Department said it’s sanctioning Khuzestan Steel Company, Iran’s largest steel producer. The Treasury Department said Iran’s metals sector generates “several billion dollars in revenue annually.”
The U.S. is also targeting the Iranian carmaker Bahman Group for its role in making vehicles used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for military operations.
The sanctions also target people who work for Iran-based drone manufacturers, including executives of the Mado Company, which the U.S. says produced drone engines used in Iran’s Shahed UAVs. The U.S. also sanctioned members of the IRGC who it says help supply proxy groups, like the Houthis in Yemen, with drones that have attacked U.S. service members in the Red Sea.
Yellen added that the U.S. would “continue to deploy” sanctions to counter any further action by Iran, with the goal of making it harder and more expensive for Iran to undertake destabilizing actions.
Apr 17, 6:16 PM Israel not likely to carry out strike until after Passover: US official
Israel is unlikely to carry out a strike on Iran until after Passover, a senior U.S. official told ABC News, although that could always change.
Passover begins on Monday and ends after nightfall on April 30.
The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other leadership are still on a high state of alert, with some in safe houses and underground facilities, the official said.
Apr 17, 5:50 PM Israel aborted strikes against Iran 2 nights this week: Sources
Israel prepared for and then aborted retaliatory strikes against Iran on at least two nights this past week, three Israeli sources told ABC News.
Iran attacked Israel with more than 300 drones and missiles on Saturday night into Sunday morning local time in Israel. Israel has been weighing how and when to respond to Iran’s attack since then, holding war cabinet meetings on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
The members of the Israeli war cabinet are Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister Benny Gantz and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
A range of responses have been presented to the Israeli war cabinet. The potential responses include options ranging from attacking Iranian proxies in the region but not on Iranian soil to a potential cyber attack, sources told ABC News.
There was no war cabinet meeting on Wednesday, but Netanyahu told his government cabinet that while he appreciates the advice from allies, Israel will “make our own decisions, and the State of Israel will do everything necessary to defend itself.”
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman and Jordana Miller
Apr 17, 3:02 PM Iranian president: Israel invasion would be met with ‘massive’ response
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said at an army parade Wednesday that “the tiniest invasion” from Israel will be met with a “very massive and harsh response.”
Apr 17, 2:26 PM House GOP package totals $14.1 billion for Israel
House Republicans have posted the legislative text for three national security bills, addressing Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific.
For Israel, lawmakers have crafted a package totaling $14.1 billion, including: $4 billion for missile defense; $1.2 billion for Iron Beam; $4 billion replenishment of stocks to the Department of Defense; and $3.5 billion for Israel to purchase U.S. weapons.
“The House must pass the package this week and the Senate should quickly follow,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “I will sign this into law immediately to send a message to the world: We stand with our friends, and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed.”
Apr 17, 1:12 PM Netanyahu: Israel ‘will make our own decisions’ on how to respond to Iran
After meeting with U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he appreciates their advice, but added, “We will make our own decisions and the State of Israel will do everything necessary to defend itself.”
Cameron told reporters after the meeting in Jerusalem, “It’s clear the Israelis are making a decision to act.”
“We hope they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible, and in a way that — as I said yesterday — is smart as well as tough,” Cameron added.
Cameron also reiterated that the “real need is to refocus back on Hamas, back on the hostages, back on getting the aid in, back on getting a pause in the conflict in Gaza.”
“That’s why I’m here today to talk to the Israeli government, to talk to the Palestinian Authority to try and push those things forward,” Cameron said.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Apr 16, 7:04 PM US says it will impose new sanctions on Iran in coming days
The United States announced Tuesday it will impose new sanctions targeting Iran in the coming days following its “unprecedented air attack against Israel.”
The sanctions include targeting Iran’s missile and drone program and new sanctions against entities supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran’s Defense Ministry, according to the White House’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
“We anticipate that our allies and partners will soon be following with their own sanctions,” Sullivan said in a statement. “We will not hesitate to continue to take action, in coordination with allies and partners around the world, and with Congress, to hold the Iranian government accountable for its malicious and destabilizing actions.”
The U.S. is telegraphing its sanction plan in advance to underscore the large international response that the U.S. is coordinating and to signal to Iran there will be diplomatic costs to what they’ve done, a senior administration official told ABC News. The official said they believe this will have an impact, in part, by bringing other countries on board.
Apr 16, 4:08 PM IDF’s conduct, ethics under scrutiny following soldiers’ social media posts
Six months into the Israel-Hamas conflict, the conduct and ethics of some Israel Defense Forces members have increasingly come under the microscope.
Incidents ranging from pranks to potentially criminal acts are being exposed to the world, often by videos soldiers themselves have posted online, according to critics and Israeli officials.
In many pictures and videos that have circulated since the conflict began, and which were reposted by pro-Palestinian activists to millions of followers, IDF soldiers are seen blowing up buildings in Gaza while in combat, waving women’s underwear like flags and rifling through the possessions of Gazans with gleeful expressions.
Younis Tirawi, a Palestinian activist, says he’s seen thousands of videos of IDF soldiers reportedly behaving improperly.
“You can see all the soldiers liking their posts,” Tirawi told ABC News.
Apr 16, 3:48 PM Blinken to Israeli war cabinet: ‘We do not want to see further escalation’
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, during which Blinken “continue[d] to send the same messages in all his conversations — which is we do not want to see further escalation of the conflict,” according to spokesperson Matt Miller.
Miller declined to say whether the U.S. assessed the threat of escalation had fallen, but an administration official said the amount of time that has already elapsed since Iran’s weekend attack had boosted hopes that Israel would exercise constraint.
Miller batted down reports that Iran and the U.S. were communicating through intermediaries in the wake of Tehran’s attack on Israel.
“There have not been such messages delivered. It’s been days since we’ve communicated — since we’ve sent messages to the government of Iran,” Miller said. “And I say that as a reminder of something we’ve said before: Oftentimes, the Iranian government has misled the world about either messages they’ve passed to us or messages that we have passed to them.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Apr 16, 3:36 PM UK prime minister ‘gravely concerned’ about humanitarian situation in Gaza
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. While Netanyahu thanked Sunak for the U.K.’s support to counter Iran’s weekend attack on Israel, Sunak also had harsh words for Netanyahu about the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“On Gaza, the Prime Minister said he remained gravely concerned about the deepening humanitarian crisis,” a Downing Street spokesperson said. “The U.K. wanted to see a massive step change in aid access to flood Gaza with vital supplies, including Israel opening up new aid routes as quickly as possible. The Prime Minister said it was deeply disappointing that Hamas blocked a deal at the weekend that would have saved Palestinian lives and secured the safe release of hostages.”
Apr 16, 3:23 PM Israeli war cabinet meeting ends again with no final decision on response: Source
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet met for the third day in a row on Tuesday to consider an Israeli response to Iran’s weekend attack.
But Tuesday’s meeting ended with no final decision made about an Israeli response, according to an Israeli source with knowledge of the meeting. A variety of options are still being considered, the source said.
Apr 16, 2:13 PM Iran foreign minister says ‘no intention of further escalating the situation’
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on a call that “Iran is willing to exercise restraint and has no intention of further escalating the situation,” according to the Chinese foreign ministry’s readout of the conversation.
Apr 16, 1:56 PM More than 19,000 children orphaned in Gaza
Over 10,000 women have been killed in Gaza during the war, according to a report from UN Women, the United Nations’ entity for gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Out of those 10,000 women, 6,000 were mothers, who have left behind 19,000 orphaned children, according to the report.
-ABC News’ Kori Skillman
Apr 16, 11:18 AM Israel focused too intensely on Iran’s nuclear threat at expense of ballistic threat: IDF
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel focused too intensely on the Iranian nuclear threat at the expense of its ballistic threat.
A senior U.S. official told ABC News the U.S. also relied too heavily on the misguided conception that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was cautious and would never order a direct attack on Israel, and that this weekend’s attack and the general U.S. assessment of Iran now requires study and reassessment.
Sima Shine, a former head of the Iran desk at Israeli espionage agency Mossad, also said Israel’s assessment was wrong, and said “the rules of the game” have changed. A huge barrage of missiles was considered possible, but highly unlikely, Shine said.
Shine said any Israeli response under the new conception requires the assumption that Iran will follow up with its threat of another salvo of missiles. That said, Shine believes that Iran and the supreme leader do not want a full-scale war because it would be unpopular in Iran and the U.S. could get involved.
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman
Apr 16, 9:18 AM Yellen to Iran: US ‘will not hesitate’ to issue new sanctions
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is warning Iran that the U.S. “will not hesitate” to impose new sanctions in response to Iran’s “unprecedented attack” on Israel.
“Treasury will not hesitate to work with our allies to use our sanctions authority to continue disrupting the Iranian regime’s malign and destabilizing activity,” Yellen is expected to say at a Tuesday press conference. “The attack by Iran and its proxies underscores the importance of Treasury’s work to use our economic tools to counter Iran’s malign activity.”
Yellen’s message follows President Joe Biden’s Sunday meeting with the G7 nations, during which the leaders discussed a coordinated effort on sanction measures.
Apr 16, 6:31 AM Israeli war cabinet to consider response again Tuesday
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet is expected to meet again on Tuesday to consider an Israeli response to Iran’s weekend attack.
“We are closely assessing the situation. We remain at our highest level of readiness,” Herzi Halevi, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, said on Monday. “Iran will face the consequences for its actions.”
Halevi added Israel would “choose our response accordingly.”
Apr 16, 6:14 AM UN watchdog calls for de-escalation in Israel-Iran conflict
United Nations officials called on Tuesday for Israel and Iran to de-escalate their conflict, saying the retaliatory military attacks “violate the right to life and must cease immediately.”
“All countries are prohibited from arbitrarily depriving individuals of their right to life in military operations abroad, including when countering terrorism,” the U.N.’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a press release, quoting U.N. officials described as “experts.”
The retaliatory strikes by both countries may constitute the “international crime of aggression by civilian and military leaders responsible,” those officials said, according to the statement.
An Israeli army F-15 fighter jet flies over central Israel on April 15, 2024. (Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images)
(TEL AVIV, Israel) — Two former senior Israeli military officials said a direct military strike against Iranian territory would not be in Israel’s best interests.
Retired Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, who was head of Israel’s National Security Council from 2004 to 2006, said the alliance that helped Israel successfully defend itself from Iran’s first-ever direct attack against Israeli territory on Sunday has proven “that Israel cannot do everything alone.”
Eiland said Iran’s attack and the defensive military support and intelligence Israeli received from a coalition — led by the U.S. and including European and Arab states — has reversed Israel’s growing isolation in relation to the war in Gaza. That sentiment is shared by retired Israeli Col. Miri Eisin.
Both former Israeli officers told ABC News that Israel should now capitalize on that sense of renewed support, both from allies and other regional players, like Jordan and Saudi Arabia, who also view Iran as a regional threat.
Iran on Saturday night unleashed a retaliatory strike against Israel, sending a volley of more than 300 uncrewed drones and missiles toward targets throughout the country, Israeli military officials said. All but a few were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the United States, officials said.
Eisin said Israel now needs to deter Iran and other adversaries from conducting future attacks. However, she said, effective deterrence would also mean working with the consent of key partners, such as the U.S., adding that allies should not be kept “out of the room.”
The Biden administration has said it would not take part in any Israeli response. U.S. officials, however, are urging Israel to show restraint.
Eiland, who led the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) planning branch from 2001 to 2003, said the Israeli military is, theoretically, capable of causing “terrible destruction to the Iranian energy sector” — either to its oil fields or by orchestrating an attack that could “shut down the electricity” to Tehran.
The Israeli government has not ruled out a direct military strike against Iranian military territory, and Eiland conceded there was a “temptation” for Israel “to try something dramatic.”
Israel is unlikely to carry out a strike on Iran until after Passover, which ends after nighfall on April 30, a senior U.S. official told ABC News, although that could always change.
However, Eiland said a direct military strike against Iran would risk sparking “a real cycle of violence” between Israel and Iran that would endanger the entire region.
He also warned that Israel might not be ready or have the ammunition to conduct a drawn-out war with Iran. As a former officer he would not have access to information on Israel’s current ammunition stocks, however Israel is hoping that the U.S. Congress will soon sign-off on additional military aid for the IDF.
Congress is set to vote on the matter on Saturday, although Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing opposition from some fellow Republicans on a separate vote for aid for Ukraine.
Eiland said Israel does have the capability to carry out more covert forms of attacks against Iranian territory, which would not involve a kinetic military strike.
He said cyberattacks could be one possible category of covert attack that Israel could consider but said there could be “some other creative solutions,” which, because of their sensitive nature, he could not disclose.
Instead of a direct military strike against Iranian territory, Israel should increase attacks against Iran’s proxies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon, both former Israeli military officers said.
Eisin, who is now managing director of the International Institute for Counterterrorism, an Israeli think-tank, said Israel should ensure that through its response it retakes the “initiative” and “defines the rules,” by significantly increasing attacks on pro-Iranian Shiite militias in Syria, as well as Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The IDF announced on Tuesday that it had killed two Hezbollah commanders in two separate attacks in Lebanon. However, there has been no official confirmation that those attacks were part of Israel’s response to the Iranian attack on Saturday night.
That attack, widely attributed to, but not officially claimed, by Israel, killed seven members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, including two generals, and precipitated Saturday’s first-ever direct missile and drone attack by Iran against Israeli territory.
Eiland denied Israel miscalculated by not anticipating that Iran would launch a direct military strike involving more than a hundred ballistic missiles, and argued that by degrading the capabilities of Iran’s proxies in the region, Israel was conducting self defense.
The former Israeli major general also said Israel should issue an ultimatum to Hezbollah for it to halt its attacks, which have been occurring on a daily basis across Israel’s northern border since Israel launched its war in Gaza following the Oct. 7 terror attack in southern Israel.
For more than six months, around 70,000 Israeli citizens have been displaced from their homes in communities near the Israeli border with Lebanon.
Eiland said Israel should threaten another major ground war against Lebanon if Hezbollah refused to halt its attacks.
At the same time, he argued that Israel should halt its war against Hamas in Gaza in return for the release of all of the remaining hostages.
Hezbollah and the Yemen-based, Iranian-backed Houthis have said their attacks against Israel are a response to Israel’s war in Gaza.
However, the Israeli government has repeatedly said the war in Gaza cannot end before Israel launches a military ground operation into the southern city of Rafah, where it believes thousands of Hamas fighters are still stationed.
The former major general said an offensive in Rafah would make little difference to the security threat posed by Hamas, because “80%” of its military capabilities had already been destroyed.
An Israeli army F-15 fighter jet flies over central Israel on April 15, 2024. (Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images)
(TEL AVIV, Israel) — Two former senior Israeli military officials said a direct military strike against Iranian territory would not be in Israel’s best interests.
Retired Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, who was head of Israel’s National Security Council from 2004 to 2006, said the alliance that helped Israel successfully defend itself from Iran’s first-ever direct attack against Israeli territory on Sunday has proven “that Israel cannot do everything alone.”
Eiland said Iran’s attack and the defensive military support and intelligence Israeli received from a coalition — led by the U.S. and including European and Arab states — has reversed Israel’s growing isolation in relation to the war in Gaza. That sentiment is shared by retired Israeli Col. Miri Eisin.
Both former Israeli officers told ABC News that Israel should now capitalize on that sense of renewed support, both from allies and other regional players, like Jordan and Saudi Arabia, who also view Iran as a regional threat.
Iran on Saturday night unleashed a retaliatory strike against Israel, sending a volley of more than 300 uncrewed drones and missiles toward targets throughout the country, Israeli military officials said. All but a few were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the United States, officials said.
Eisin said Israel now needs to deter Iran and other adversaries from conducting future attacks. However, she said, effective deterrence would also mean working with the consent of key partners, such as the U.S., adding that allies should not be kept “out of the room.”
The Biden administration has said it would not take part in any Israeli response. U.S. officials, however, are urging Israel to show restraint.
Eiland, who led the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) planning branch from 2001 to 2003, said the Israeli military is, theoretically, capable of causing “terrible destruction to the Iranian energy sector” — either to its oil fields or by orchestrating an attack that could “shut down the electricity” to Tehran.
The Israeli government has not ruled out a direct military strike against Iranian military territory, and Eiland conceded there was a “temptation” for Israel “to try something dramatic.”
Israel is unlikely to carry out a strike on Iran until after Passover, which ends after nighfall on April 30, a senior U.S. official told ABC News, although that could always change.
However, Eiland said a direct military strike against Iran would risk sparking “a real cycle of violence” between Israel and Iran that would endanger the entire region.
He also warned that Israel might not be ready or have the ammunition to conduct a drawn-out war with Iran. As a former officer he would not have access to information on Israel’s current ammunition stocks, however Israel is hoping that the U.S. Congress will soon sign-off on additional military aid for the IDF.
Congress is set to vote on the matter on Saturday, although Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing opposition from some fellow Republicans on a separate vote for aid for Ukraine.
Eiland said Israel does have the capability to carry out more covert forms of attacks against Iranian territory, which would not involve a kinetic military strike.
He said cyberattacks could be one possible category of covert attack that Israel could consider but said there could be “some other creative solutions,” which, because of their sensitive nature, he could not disclose.
Instead of a direct military strike against Iranian territory, Israel should increase attacks against Iran’s proxies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon, both former Israeli military officers said.
Eisin, who is now managing director of the International Institute for Counterterrorism, an Israeli think-tank, said Israel should ensure that through its response it retakes the “initiative” and “defines the rules,” by significantly increasing attacks on pro-Iranian Shiite militias in Syria, as well as Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The IDF announced on Tuesday that it had killed two Hezbollah commanders in two separate attacks in Lebanon. However, there has been no official confirmation that those attacks were part of Israel’s response to the Iranian attack on Saturday night.
That attack, widely attributed to, but not officially claimed, by Israel, killed seven members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, including two generals, and precipitated Saturday’s first-ever direct missile and drone attack by Iran against Israeli territory.
Eiland denied Israel miscalculated by not anticipating that Iran would launch a direct military strike involving more than a hundred ballistic missiles, and argued that by degrading the capabilities of Iran’s proxies in the region, Israel was conducting self defense.
The former Israeli major general also said Israel should issue an ultimatum to Hezbollah for it to halt its attacks, which have been occurring on a daily basis across Israel’s northern border since Israel launched its war in Gaza following the Oct. 7 terror attack in southern Israel.
For more than six months, around 70,000 Israeli citizens have been displaced from their homes in communities near the Israeli border with Lebanon.
Eiland said Israel should threaten another major ground war against Lebanon if Hezbollah refused to halt its attacks.
At the same time, he argued that Israel should halt its war against Hamas in Gaza in return for the release of all of the remaining hostages.
Hezbollah and the Yemen-based, Iranian-backed Houthis have said their attacks against Israel are a response to Israel’s war in Gaza.
However, the Israeli government has repeatedly said the war in Gaza cannot end before Israel launches a military ground operation into the southern city of Rafah, where it believes thousands of Hamas fighters are still stationed.
The former major general said an offensive in Rafah would make little difference to the security threat posed by Hamas, because “80%” of its military capabilities had already been destroyed.
Prince William, Prince of Wales visits a housing workshop to discuss solutions to support local families at risk of homelessness, in Sheffield, northern England on March 19, 2024. (Temilade Adelaja/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Prince William returned to work this week in his first official public appearance since his wife Kate, the princess of Wales, revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer.
William is traveling to Surrey on Thursday to visit Surplus to Supper, a nonprofit organization that distributes surplus food to people in need.
The royal engagement is the first for William since March, when Kate shared publicly for the first time that she was diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing preventative chemotherapy.
Kate shared her diagnosis in a video message released March 22, the same day that William and Kate’s three kids, Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte, began an Easter holiday break from school.
Kensington Palace said at the time that William would return to public duties once George, Charlotte and Louis returned to school.
In her video message, Kate asked for privacy for her family.
Kensington Palace has said only that Kate will return to public duties once she is medically cleared to do so.
The family has stayed out of the spotlight since Kate’s announcement, including not attending Easter service at St. George’s Chapel with other members of the royal family.
Since Kate’s announcement, the only sighting of members of the Wales family came on April 11, when William and George attended an Aston Villa soccer game in Birmingham, England.
William’s return to royal duties is a needed boost for Britain’s royal family.
In addition to Kate taking a pause from royal duties, her father-in-law King Charles III is on a reduced workload due to his own battle with cancer.
The palace has not specified the type of cancer Charles was diagnosed with, the stage of cancer or the type of treatment he is undergoing.
In Charles and Kate’s absence, the pressure has fallen on William, as well as Charles’ wife Queen Camilla, to be the most public faces of the royal family.
Buckingham Palace has not said when Charles will fully resume public duties.
(DUBAI, United Arab Emirates) — Flood conditions continued to impact Dubai on Wednesday, after two years’ worth of rain fell in just 24 hours, records show.
Over a half foot — 6.26 inches — of rain was recorded in the United Arab Emirates city between 10 p.m. local time Monday and 10 p.m. local time Tuesday, according to the Dubai Meteorological Office.
Dubai receives 3.12 inches of rain per year on average, according to the World Meteorological Organization, meaning two years’ worth of rain fell in 24 hours.
The Dubai International Airport, the world’s second-busiest airport, said Wednesday it was facing “operational challenges” and advised passengers not to arrive as runways continued to be inundated with water. It said the “recovery process will take some time.”
Egyptian and Iraqi national carriers temporarily suspended flights to and from Dubai due to bad weather, EgyptAir and Iraqi Airways said on Wednesday.
Flydubai, UAE’s low-cost carrier, resumed partial operations Wednesday afternoon local time after temporarily suspending all of its flights departing from Dubai. There were further flight cancellations, it said.
The Dubai International Airport had temporarily diverted inbound flights that arrived Tuesday evening local time due to “exceptional weather,” the airport said in an alert.
All Dubai government entities and private schools were instructed to work remotely on Tuesday due to the weather conditions.
Dubai receives nearly all of its annual rain (over 92%) between the months of November and March. On average, Dubai typically receives just 0.13 inches of rain during the month of April.
United Arab Emirates saw the heaviest rain ever recorded in the country on Tuesday, killing at least one person and damaging homes and businesses, according to the UAE government.
The extreme weather hit other locations in the Gulf Peninsula. In neighboring Oman, at least 19 people died in severe flooding over three consecutive days, according to state media.
Human-amplified climate change is causing extreme rainfall events to become more frequent and more intense, according to the U.S. government’s Fifth National Climate Assessment.
More intense extreme rainfall events also increase the frequency and scale of flash flooding as the influx of water is more than the infrastructure was built to handle.
Climate change can increase the intensity, frequency and variability of extreme weather events.
(NEW YORK) — Iran on Saturday night unleashed a retaliatory strike against Israel, sending a volley of more than 300 uncrewed drones and missiles toward targets throughout the country, Israeli military officials said. All but a few were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the United States, officials said.
The attack on Israel came more than six months after Hamas terrorists invaded the country on Oct. 7, after which the Israeli military began its bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Apr 17, 1:17 PM House GOP package totals $14.1 billion for Israel
House Republicans have posted the legislative text for three national security bills, addressing Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific.
For Israel, lawmakers have crafted a package totaling $14.1 billion, including: $4 billion for missile defense; $1.2 billion for Iron Beam; $4 billion replenishment of stocks to the Department of Defense; and $3.5 billion for Israel to purchase U.S. weapons.
Apr 17, 1:12 PM Netanyahu: Israel ‘will make our own decisions’ on how to respond to Iran
After meeting with U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he appreciates their advice, but added, “We will make our own decisions and the State of Israel will do everything necessary to defend itself.”
Cameron told reporters after the meeting in Jerusalem, “It’s clear the Israelis are making a decision to act.”
“We hope they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible, and in a way that — as I said yesterday — is smart as well as tough,” Cameron added.
Cameron also reiterated that the “real need is to refocus back on Hamas, back on the hostages, back on getting the aid in, back on getting a pause in the conflict in Gaza.”
“That’s why I’m here today to talk to the Israeli government, to talk to the Palestinian Authority to try and push those things forward,” Cameron said.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Apr 16, 7:04 PM US says it will impose new sanctions on Iran in coming days
The United States announced Tuesday it will impose new sanctions targeting Iran in the coming days following its “unprecedented air attack against Israel.”
The sanctions include targeting Iran’s missile and drone program and new sanctions against entities supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran’s Defense Ministry, according to the White House’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
“We anticipate that our allies and partners will soon be following with their own sanctions,” Sullivan said in a statement. “We will not hesitate to continue to take action, in coordination with allies and partners around the world, and with Congress, to hold the Iranian government accountable for its malicious and destabilizing actions.”
The U.S. is telegraphing its sanction plan in advance to underscore the large international response that the U.S. is coordinating and to signal to Iran there will be diplomatic costs to what they’ve done, a senior administration official told ABC News. The official said they believe this will have an impact, in part, by bringing other countries on board.
Apr 16, 4:08 PM IDF’s conduct, ethics under scrutiny following soldiers’ social media posts
Six months into the Israel-Hamas conflict, the conduct and ethics of some Israel Defense Forces members have increasingly come under the microscope.
Incidents ranging from pranks to potentially criminal acts are being exposed to the world, often by videos soldiers themselves have posted online, according to critics and Israeli officials.
In many pictures and videos that have circulated since the conflict began, and which were reposted by pro-Palestinian activists to millions of followers, IDF soldiers are seen blowing up buildings in Gaza while in combat, waving women’s underwear like flags and rifling through the possessions of Gazans with gleeful expressions.
Younis Tirawi, a Palestinian activist, says he’s seen thousands of videos of IDF soldiers reportedly behaving improperly.
“You can see all the soldiers liking their posts,” Tirawi told ABC News.
Apr 16, 3:48 PM Blinken to Israeli war cabinet: ‘We do not want to see further escalation’
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, during which Blinken “continue[d] to send the same messages in all his conversations — which is we do not want to see further escalation of the conflict,” according to spokesperson Matt Miller.
Miller declined to say whether the U.S. assessed the threat of escalation had fallen, but an administration official said the amount of time that has already elapsed since Iran’s weekend attack had boosted hopes that Israel would exercise constraint.
Miller batted down reports that Iran and the U.S. were communicating through intermediaries in the wake of Tehran’s attack on Israel.
“There have not been such messages delivered. It’s been days since we’ve communicated — since we’ve sent messages to the government of Iran,” Miller said. “And I say that as a reminder of something we’ve said before: Oftentimes, the Iranian government has misled the world about either messages they’ve passed to us or messages that we have passed to them.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Apr 16, 3:36 PM UK prime minister ‘gravely concerned’ about humanitarian situation in Gaza
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. While Netanyahu thanked Sunak for the U.K.’s support to counter Iran’s weekend attack on Israel, Sunak also had harsh words for Netanyahu about the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“On Gaza, the Prime Minister said he remained gravely concerned about the deepening humanitarian crisis,” a Downing Street spokesperson said. “The U.K. wanted to see a massive step change in aid access to flood Gaza with vital supplies, including Israel opening up new aid routes as quickly as possible. The Prime Minister said it was deeply disappointing that Hamas blocked a deal at the weekend that would have saved Palestinian lives and secured the safe release of hostages.”
Apr 16, 3:23 PM Israeli war cabinet meeting ends again with no final decision on response: Source
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet met for the third day in a row on Tuesday to consider an Israeli response to Iran’s weekend attack.
But Tuesday’s meeting ended with no final decision made about an Israeli response, according to an Israeli source with knowledge of the meeting. A variety of options are still being considered, the source said.
Apr 16, 2:13 PM Iran foreign minister says ‘no intention of further escalating the situation’
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on a call that “Iran is willing to exercise restraint and has no intention of further escalating the situation,” according to the Chinese foreign ministry’s readout of the conversation.
Apr 16, 1:56 PM More than 19,000 children orphaned in Gaza
Over 10,000 women have been killed in Gaza during the war, according to a report from UN Women, the United Nations’ entity for gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Out of those 10,000 women, 6,000 were mothers, who have left behind 19,000 orphaned children, according to the report.
-ABC News’ Kori Skillman
Apr 16, 11:18 AM Israel focused too intensely on Iran’s nuclear threat at expense of ballistic threat: IDF
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel focused too intensely on the Iranian nuclear threat at the expense of its ballistic threat.
A senior U.S. official told ABC News the U.S. also relied too heavily on the misguided conception that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was cautious and would never order a direct attack on Israel, and that this weekend’s attack and the general U.S. assessment of Iran now requires study and reassessment.
Sima Shine, a former head of the Iran desk at Israeli espionage agency Mossad, also said Israel’s assessment was wrong, and said “the rules of the game” have changed. A huge barrage of missiles was considered possible, but highly unlikely, Shine said.
Shine said any Israeli response under the new conception requires the assumption that Iran will follow up with its threat of another salvo of missiles. That said, Shine believes that Iran and the supreme leader do not want a full-scale war because it would be unpopular in Iran and the U.S. could get involved.
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman
Apr 16, 9:18 AM Yellen to Iran: US ‘will not hesitate’ to issue new sanctions
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is warning Iran that the U.S. “will not hesitate” to impose new sanctions in response to Iran’s “unprecedented attack” on Israel.
“Treasury will not hesitate to work with our allies to use our sanctions authority to continue disrupting the Iranian regime’s malign and destabilizing activity,” Yellen is expected to say at a Tuesday press conference. “The attack by Iran and its proxies underscores the importance of Treasury’s work to use our economic tools to counter Iran’s malign activity.”
Yellen’s message follows President Joe Biden’s Sunday meeting with the G7 nations, during which the leaders discussed a coordinated effort on sanction measures.
Apr 16, 6:31 AM Israeli war cabinet to consider response again Tuesday
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet is expected to meet again on Tuesday to consider an Israeli response to Iran’s weekend attack.
“We are closely assessing the situation. We remain at our highest level of readiness,” Herzi Halevi, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, said on Monday. “Iran will face the consequences for its actions.”
Halevi added Israel would “choose our response accordingly.”
Apr 16, 6:14 AM UN watchdog calls for de-escalation in Israel-Iran conflict
United Nations officials called on Tuesday for Israel and Iran to de-escalate their conflict, saying the retaliatory military attacks “violate the right to life and must cease immediately.”
“All countries are prohibited from arbitrarily depriving individuals of their right to life in military operations abroad, including when countering terrorism,” the U.N.’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a press release, quoting U.N. officials described as “experts.”
The retaliatory strikes by both countries may constitute the “international crime of aggression by civilian and military leaders responsible,” those officials said, according to the statement.
(TORONTO) — Nine people have been arrested and search warrants are out for three others in last year’s $14.77 million (20 million Canadian dollars) gold heist from the Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canadian officials announced Wednesday.
Police have only recovered six pure gold bracelets worth over $65,000 — a fraction of the gold that was stolen from a holding cargo facility last April. Authorities announced the arrests on the one-year anniversary of the heist.
Police say 6,600 bars of pure gold weighing over 400 kilograms and foreign cash amounting to around $1.8 million were stolen in the heist. They believe that the thieves melted down the gold, sold it and then used the profits to purchase illegal firearms as part of a trafficking operation, Peel Regional Police Detective Sgt. Mike Mavity said at a press conference Wednesday.
Police have seized $312,000 worth of cash, which they believe are some of the profits suspects made after selling the gold. Police also seized smelting pots, casts and molds, which they believe were used to change the composition of the gold bars, according to Mavity.
They also found two lists accounting for $7.21 million and $10.23 million at two separate locations.
“A common term in drug trafficking investigations, we believe these lists actually show where the money was distributed when the gold was sold by the suspects,” Mavity said.
In the yearlong investigation, authorities say they have have executed 37 search warrants and interviewed over 50 people. They have brought 19 charges against individuals in this case.
Canadian police worked in cooperation with the Philadelphia Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which arrested one individual in the U.S. who had 65 illegal firearms in his possession.
He was stopped during a routine traffic stop, which resulted in his arrest. He was later identified as the driver of the truck during the heist, police said.
Police are still searching for a former Air Canada employee, who they say helped the thieves, and two others involved.
The gold and foreign currency stolen in the heist were ordered from a refinery in Zurich. They had been transported on an Air Canada flight to Toronto.
Shortly after the plane landed on April 17, 2023, the gold and cargo were transported from the plane to a cargo facility, Mavity said.
A suspect driving a five-ton truck arrived at the facility later that evening, providing a fraudulent airway bill to a cargo warehouse attendant and receiving the shipment. The airway bill was a duplicate of one used the previous day to pick up a shipment of seafood, Mavity said.
The container containing the gold and foreign currency was then loaded onto the truck and the suspect drove away. The container was discovered missing later that night after Brink’s Canada employees arrived to pick up the container, Mavity said.
