(LONDON) — Tala Imad Herzallah says she remembers every bombardment she has witnessed in her 21-year-old life in Gaza.
At 1 p.m. last Saturday, she heard the pounding sound of a strong one, close to her house in Tel Elhawa.
“It was terrifying, I did not want those memories to come back,” she told ABC News.
The Israeli government has cut off water, food, medical aid and electricity to the Gaza Strip in response to a surprise attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.
The Israel Air Force said it has dropped about 6,000 bombs throughout the region. At least 2,215 people in Gaza have been killed in the strikes.
Humanitarian conditions inside Gaza have been deteriorating by the hour for the past six days, with a collapsing health system and an increasing shortage of basic needs in one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
“No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home,” Israeli Energy Minister Katz said on Thursday.
Herzallah and her parents are surviving with the bread her father was able to get at the local bakery and two gallons of reserves of water they saved before Wednesday, when it stopped coming through the tap of their kitchen.
They are sleeping on mattresses in the corridor, “the most sheltered place in the house,” as Herzallah described it. “The three of us, we just sit and we keep staying there, covering our ears so that we wouldn’t hear the sound of bombing,” she said.
No one in her family has been able to sleep through the continuous bombardments, she added.
Electricity is only available for one hour a day, according to Herzallah, and her family is one of just a few that can still access the internet. And when it comes, it’s barely enough to charge phones to keep in touch with friends and family members.
After sunset, it is complete darkness in Tel Elhawa and in the rest of 140.9 square miles of the Gaza Strip. “Dark again. Night again. Terror again,” Herzallah said as she watched the sun set from her window.
“When the night comes, when we cannot see each other, that’s when we fear,” she said. “We just start praying that we will all see one another in the morning.”
Herzallah’s mother, a school teacher, instructed her daughter to prepare emergency bags at the beginning of the siege last weekend. They are lined directly next to the door.
“We have birth certificates and the very important documents, basic clothes and scarfs, our gold and money,” Herzallah explained.
She added, “I took my university books too. My university has been bombed, but I don’t know, I took them anyway with my laptop.”
Before the siege, she was a senior student at the Islamic University of Gaza. The university was bombed during the second day of Israeli strikes and is now reduced to a pile of rubble.
“They bombed everything,” Tala said, describing the destruction of schools and hospitals.
Herzallah said her dreams were destroyed like her university, where she was studying English literature and translation. But she still has hopes for her education and work.
However, her mental health is deteriorating as quickly as the living conditions in Gaza, she said.
“There was a bomb, 160 yards from my house,” she said. “My neighbor was right there, getting food from the market. There were no warnings and he died on the spot.” The neighbor was 25 years old, she said.
A few hours later, Herzallah’s father went to the small funeral that he and other neighbors organized in the street in front of Herzallah’s family house.
“I couldn’t go, I was too scared. But my father went. He said he saw the father of the victim staring at the body and saying nothing. He was completely shocked,” she said.
At least 423,000 people are now displaced in the Gaza Strip alone, according to United Nations Relief and Works Agency, a situation already unmanageable for humanitarian agencies.
Herzallah said leaving Gaza is not an option for her family right now.
“Even if we had a chance with the corridor, we wouldn’t leave our land,” she said. “I haven’t even talked about it with my parents because it’s not up for discussion.”
On Friday morning, she woke up to thousands of leaflets raining down from the Israeli military urging residents in the north of Gaza to evacuate within 24 hours. “They are forcing us to leave our area and pushing us to go to Egypt step by step. History is repeating itself. It’s like 1948 again,” she wrote in a text message to ABC News.
“It’s not about Hamas and it’s not about these days but about decades of struggle,” she said of Gaza, where every second citizen lives below the poverty line, according to a World Bank report.
“For Palestine, I still dream of freedom, employment, travel, electricity, water, fuel and every necessity for a decent life. We don’t ask to solve all the problems, but to give us basic rights,” she said.
Herzallah told ABC News on Saturday that she followed the evacuation instructions south but was nearly bombed en route so has now gone back home.
“Please, please try to let everyone know how much we are suffering, how we are dying. Please let everyone know. We are dying. We have to move. The world has to move. We are dying, guys,” Herzallah said in a voice note.
Herzallah described the chaos and confusion from Gazans trying to evacuate amid the bombings. Without a car, she says her family is at the mercy of others but cars won’t stop to take them.
She added in a video statement, “I don’t know if we’ll stay alive or not, there’s no cars. And if there’s a car, it’s for the people who are forced to migrating and moving, moving from one place to another, literally letting us leave all our places, all our areas. We are asking the car to stop and take us. But no one agrees because it’s really dangerous.”
(GAZA) — When the sun goes down, many Gazans say they lie awake in fear.
The only light they see comes from the airstrikes raining down around them, the booming sounds of explosions keeping them up throughout the night.
“Nights here in Gaza are scary as hell,” Omar Alnajjar, a 26-year-old living in Gaza, told ABC News. “You are blinded. You don’t see anything.”
He continued, “Whenever you’re going to bed or walking or sitting, there is always shaking. The building is shaking.”
With hours until sunrise, he said targets from Israeli forces were hit within tens of meters from his building without warning — windows were broken, doors ripped off. He said 11 neighbors were killed that morning.
“Right now, I only breathe rocket powder,” he added.
In Gaza, at least 2,215 people have been killed in retaliatory strikes from Israel with an estimated 8,714 more injured with those numbers expected to climb.
Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes in retaliation to the Hamas terrorist attacks that killed at least 1,300 people have died and 3,227 others have been injured in Israel.
Alnajjar is housing seven families in his home — 38 people, about 13 children and 15 women. Three of the families have lost their homes near the borders of the Gaza Strip to airstrikes, Alnajjar said.
Some have been to several other homes before coming to Alnajjar — but have had to continue to relocate amid the attacks. The fear is constant, they say.
Alnajjar and the rest of the household are on high alert. He says he spends his days searching for food and water or listening to the radio: “Just trying to know there is any news regarding the ceasefire.”
Otherwise, he spends it playing with the children in hopes they’ll forget the reality of the airstrikes hitting around them.
“I distract children by playing with them, by making some funny sounds,” Alnajjar said. “Sometimes we play some card games just to let them forget about the bombing sounds.”
He said he does not succeed a lot of the time: “There is no space between the bombs and the other day here, the bombing sounds [were] continuous … There’s no chance to let them forget.”
When he was asked how he himself manages the fear and other emotions upon evacuations and bombing, Omar said he tries to “detach from emotions” and stay on “survival” mode. “I know it is not healthy,” he said. “But if we hear the sound of a bomb it means that we are not going to be killed by this bomb.”
(LONDON) — Fleeing Palestinians are facing fear and uncertainty after the Israeli military told all residents north of Wadi Gaza — 1.1 million people — to evacuate their homes within 24 hours and move south.
The Israel Defense Forces made the announcement on Friday morning because it plans to “operate significantly in Gaza City in the coming days” to target Hamas and wanted “to avoid harming civilians.”
Afaf Al-Najjar, a 21-year-old university student, told ABC News she woke up to the announcement in a hotel where she had been staying with her parents. From there, she says they waited for two hours to get a cab home to pick up important documents such as their passports, ID cards, and birth certificates, along with some clothes.
Al-Najjar said they finally made it to her grandparents’ home in Khan Yunis, a city in southern Gaza. Along with her immediate family, the families of her cousin and two uncles are also sheltering at her grandparents’ home.
Still, she worries it’s also not safe in the new location.
“We realized that the airstrikes were happening in Khan Yunis as well. Very heavy ones. Just a couple of minutes ago, there was one that shook the entire house. Obviously, the night is going to be dreadful, as always. And we still don’t know what is going to happen,” Al-Najjar said.
Hamas told civilians to stay put, prompting Israel and the U.S. to accuse the militant group of wanting to use civilians as human shields.
The IDF said in social media posts that it believes Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City, including in buildings with “innocent civilians” inside.
“Those who want to save their life, please go south. We are going to destroy Hamas infrastructures, Hamas headquarters, Hamas military,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Friday.
Jason Shawa, an English-Arabic translator and father of two, says he fled northern Gaza to his small cottage in central Gaza, where he is hosting a total of 41 people.
“Everybody has been instructed by the Israeli army to leave or face death. So we chose to leave. Of course, we left,” Shawa said.
“We’re getting by and just hoping it blows over. And we hope we stay safe,” he added.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres briefly addressed the evacuation while speaking to reporters on Friday afternoon, saying it was “extremely dangerous, and in some cases, simply not possible.”
“Moving more than 1 million people across a densely populated war zone to a place with no food, water or accommodation, where the entire territory is under siege, is extremely dangerous, and in some cases, simply not possible,” Guterres said, speaking at the U.N. headquarters in New York.
He warned that “hospitals in the south of Gaza are already at capacity and will not be able to accept thousands of new patients from the north.”
After the announcement, the U.N. Agency for Palestine Refugees relocated its central operation center and international staff to southern Gaza, the UNRWA said in a post on X early Friday morning local time.
Doctors Without Borders issued a statement Friday calling the Israeli government’s 24-hour notice to leave northern Gaza “outrageous.”
The World Health Organization called on Israel to immediately reverse its evacuation order, saying “a mass evacuation would be disastrous for patients, health workers and other civilians left behind or caught in the mass movement.”
Seventy people were killed and 200 were injured in an Israeli strike on a convoy of civilians heading from northern Gaza to central Gaza, according to the Palestinian government press office.
The death toll has continued to mount on both sides since Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israel on Saturday, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 1,300 people have died, and 3,227 others have been injured, according to Israeli officials. An estimated 100 to 150 hostages are currently being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
In Gaza, at least 1,799 people have died, including 583 children and 351 women, officials said. Another 7,388 people were injured.
(NEW YORK) — Yoav Shimoni opened up to ABC News about the traumatic moment he saw a graphic video of his beloved grandmother lying on the floor of her home dying, surrounded by Hamas terrorists who posted her final moments on her Facebook for her family to see.
Just 10 minutes before militants broke into Bracha Levinson’s home on Saturday at Israel’s Nir Oz kibbutz, Levinson was texting her daughters, “concerned about them more than she was herself,” said Shimoni, 24, who lives in Canada.
But then Shimoni’s sister frantically messaged the family text group asking if they had seen their grandmother’s Facebook post.
“Immediately, I went to her Facebook page. And I saw a video with her lying on her living room floor with her arms clenched on her chest, covered in blood, and blood surrounding her. A few men with guns standing above her and shouting,” Shimoni said.
“We all saw the video. Even my little brother,” he said.
“I was freaking out, trying to make sense of what’s happening. Just, like, pacing around my condo,” he said. “I’m trying to call my parents, and hearing my mom screaming her lungs out to the phone when my dad is trying to, like, calm me down and try to explain to me what is happening.”
The 24-year-old was in shock, he said, and also scared for the rest of his family who live in Israel.
As the day went on, Shimoni said, the family learned that not only did the militants take Levinson’s and post “her dying body for us to see, but they also burned down her house and the entire community which my mom grew up in, I spent most of my summers in.”
Levinson, 74, lived in Israel since she was a child after the Holocaust. She raised her children as a single mother in the Nir Oz kibbutz, where she lived the rest of her life. She was known in the community for the bicycle she always rode around as her main transportation.
“She was truly the pillar of our family, and a pillar in her community,” her grandson said.
Shimoni last saw his grandmother at her home two weeks ago for the Jewish high holidays. Levinson always felt safest at her home, he said.
“There was no sense of any danger there,” he noted. “Coming from the outside to that region, always you feel a bit tense, but it’s always the thought of like ‘OK, if there’s a missile or something, then go to the shelter and we’ll be safe.’ Which, unfortunately on Saturday, that wasn’t the case.”
Shimoni said he wants his grandmother to be remembered for her love of her family and her kibbutz.
He said he’s comforted knowing his grandmother didn’t have to witness “her community being torn apart.”
And Shimoni said his heart breaks for everyone whose loved ones were taken hostage.
“At least I know that my grandmother is not suffering anymore,” he said. “I imagine the pain that the neighbors, my mom’s colleagues, and my family’s friends, and all my friends are experiencing right now, with the unknowing of what happens with their loved ones that are in Gaza.”
(NEW YORK) — Pro-Palestinian protests broke out across the Middle East and beyond on Friday after a former Hamas leader called on supporters to join in a “Day of Rage” amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Large protests have been seen in the capitals of Iraq, where a rally drew tens of thousands of people; Iran; and Yemen, with those gathered holding Palestinian flags. In Iran, some protesters could be seen burning the Israeli and American flags.
In Beirut, Lebanon, supporters of the political party and militant group Hezbollah held a rally supporting Palestinians and denouncing Israel. “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” chants reverberated across a crowd of at least a couple thousand, as Hezbollah leaders vowed to stand by Hamas.
In Jordan, riot police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters who were approaching a border zone with the West Bank, according to Reuters.
Elsewhere, protests in support of Palestinians have been held in countries including Japan, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
The protests come after former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal called for a day of “anger” across the Muslim world on Friday in support of the Palestinians and against the Israel strikes in Gaza. Meshaal also urged those in neighboring countries to join the fight against Israel.
“Deliver a message, through the squares and the streets, a message of anger, that we are with Palestine, that we are with Gaza,” Meshaal said, adding, “that we are a part of this battle.”
Ahead of the anticipated protests, the Israeli government has urged Israelis abroad to take extra caution amid concerns the call for action could turn violent.
In France, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin ordered a ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations because they were likely to disrupt public order, the Agence France-Presse reported. Hungary and Germany have also banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
Cities across the United States have also heightened security due to the protests.
“We are deeply disturbed by the message of hate. It is not acceptable,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday during a briefing on the city’s security plans, which include surging additional police resources to schools and houses of worship “to ensure that they are safe.”
The “Day of Rage” comes nearly a week after Hamas militants launched a brutal, expansive surprise attack on Israel, firing thousands of rockets toward southern Israel and ambushing kibbutzim near the Gaza border. In response, Israel declared war and vowed to destroy Hamas.
At least 1,300 people have died and 3,227 others have been injured in Israel following Hamas’ attack, Israeli authorities said. In Gaza, at least 1,799 people have been killed and an estimated 7,388 more injured in retaliatory strikes from Israel, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
With a possible ground incursion into Gaza looming, Israel’s military early Friday directed the evacuation of northern Gaza — home to 1.1 million people — within 24 hours.
(LONDON) — Tala Imad Herzallah remembers every bombardment she has witnessed in her 21-year-old life in Gaza.
At 1 p.m. last Saturday, she heard the pounding sound of a strong one, close to her house in Tel Elhawa.
“It was terrifying, I did not want those memories to come back,” she told ABC News.
The Israeli government has cut off water, food, medical aid and electricity to the Gaza Strip in response to a surprise attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.
The Israel Air Force said it has dropped about 6,000 bombs throughout the region. At least 1,537 Palestinians have died since the assault.
Humanitarian conditions inside Gaza have been deteriorating by the hour for the past six days, with a collapsing health system and an increasing shortage of basic needs in one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
“No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home,” Israeli Energy Minister Katz said on Thursday.
Herzallah and her parents are surviving with the bread her father was able to get at the local bakery and two gallons of reserves of water they saved before Wednesday, when it stopped coming through the tap of their kitchen.
They are sleeping on mattresses in the corridor, “the most sheltered place in the house,” as Herzallah described it. “The three of us, we just sit and we keep staying there, covering our ears so that we wouldn’t hear the sound of bombing,” she said.
No one in her family has been able to sleep through the continuous bombardments, she added.
Electricity is only available for one hour a day, according to Herzallah, and her family is one of just a few that can still access the internet. And when it comes, it’s barely enough to charge phones to keep in touch with friends and family members.
After sunset, it is complete darkness in Tel Elhawa and in the rest of 140.9 square miles of the Gaza Strip. “Dark again. Night again. Terror again,” Herzallah said as she watched the sun set from her window.
“When the night comes, when we cannot see each other, that’s when we fear,” she said. “We just start praying that we will all see one another in the morning.”
Herzallah’s mother, a school teacher, instructed her daughter to prepare emergency bags at the beginning of the siege last weekend. They are lined directly next to the door.
“We have birth certificates and the very important documents, basic clothes and scarfs, our gold and money,” Herzallah explained.
She went on, “I took my university books too. My university has been bombed, but I don’t know, I took them anyway with my laptop.”
Before the siege, she was a senior student at the Islamic University of Gaza. The university was bombed during the second day of Israeli strikes and is now reduced to a pile of rubble.
Herzallah said her dreams were destroyed like her university, where she was studying English literature and translation. But she still has hopes for her education and work.
However, her mental health is deteriorating as quickly as the living conditions in Gaza, she said.
“There was a bomb, 160 yards from my house,” she said. “My neighbor was right there, getting food from the market. There were no warnings and he died on the spot.” The neighbor was 25 years old, she said.
A few hours later, Herzallah’s father went to the small funeral that he and other neighbors organized in the street in front of Herzallah’s family house.
“I couldn’t go, I was too scared. But my father went. He said he saw the father of the victim staring at the body and saying nothing. He was completely shocked,” she said.
At least 423,000 people are now displaced in the Gaza Strip alone, according to United Nations Relief and Works Agency, a situation already unmanageable for humanitarian agencies.
Herzallah said leaving Gaza is not an option for her family right now.
“Even if we had a chance with the corridor, we wouldn’t leave our land,” she said. “I haven’t even talked about it with my parents because it’s not up for discussion.”
On Friday morning, she woke up to thousands of leaflets raining down from the Israeli military urging residents in the north of Gaza to evacuate within 24 hours. “They are forcing us to leave our area and pushing us to go to Egypt step by step. History is repeating itself. It’s like 1948 again,” she wrote in a text message to ABC News.
“It’s not about Hamas and it’s not about these days but about decades of struggle,” she said of Gaza, where every second citizen lives below the poverty line, according to a World Bank report.
“For Palestine, I still dream of freedom, employment, travel, electricity, water, fuel and every necessity for a decent life. We don’t ask to solve all the problems, but to give us basic rights,” she said.
(KYIV) — Ukrainian forces are trying to hold off a major new Russian offensive operation in the strategic city of Avdiivka.
Russia sent dozens of tanks and armored vehicles and thousands of troops into the assault, which started four days ago.
“They are hitting with everything they have. Yesterday a lot of armor was used, they came in columns. The assault isn’t stopping neither day or night,” Vitaliy Barabash, the head of Avdiivka’s military administration, said on Ukrainian television.
Russia has also launched smaller offensive operations at points all along the front line, intensifying an offensive near the city of Kupiansk, which Ukraine liberated last year, according to Ukrainian troops on the ground.
But the main attack is on Avdiivka, which holds major strategic significance for both sides. Avdiivka is located close to Donetsk, the capital of the Russian-occupied Donetsk region.
Ukraine heavily fortified the line at Avdiivka prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion last year, constructing deep trenches and a system of underground bunkers. As a result, Russian forces have barely advanced near the city.
Russia now appears to be seeking to cut off Avdiivka and surround the Ukrainian forces inside its defenses.
“For the entire time of the war, there has never been such an offensive around Avdiivka, even though they’ve attacked Avdiivka since 2014,” Oleksiy Dmitrashkivsky, chief spokesman for the Command of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces, told ABC News.
He said two Russian battalions, numbering around 2,000 men and backed by dozens of tanks and other armored vehicles, had begun the attacks, pushing from the northwest and southwest. A massive artillery and air barrage had preceded the assault and has continued since, with frequent strikes on the city itself.
So far the Russian assault has appeared to have gone badly, according to Ukrainian military officials and open source researchers tracking the losses.
Barabash, Avdiivka’s military administration chief, said at least 40 Russian armored vehicles had been lost in two days. Videos circulating online of the attacks appeared to largely support those claims, with some open source researchers saying 30 to 50 Russian tanks and other vehicles had been damaged or destroyed.
Ukraine’s general staff claimed over 1,000 Russian troops had been killed and injured since the new offensive operation began.
The Institute for the Study of War said Russia had managed to capture roughly 4.52 square kilometers of territory from different directions around Avdiivka in the last three days.
“Russian forces have not secured any major breakthroughs near Avdiivka as of Oct. 12 and are unlikely to immediately cut off Ukrainian forces in the city,” ISW wrote in its daily briefing Thursday.
Ukrainian military officials said their troops have successfully held the lines, inflicting heavy casualties on the Russian attackers, though Ukrainian casualties were also large.
The new Russian offensive — the scale of which seemed to catch some analysts off-guard — nonetheless was significant because it appears to show Russia’s attempt to regain the initiative in the war.
“The Russians have decided that they can already start their own counterattack in [the Avdiivka] direction,” Dmitrashkivsky said. “They are taking advantage of the fact that the attention of the whole world is on the events in Israel and they have started an active phase along the entire front line.”
He said the Russian attack near Avdiivka had involved a mixed force of paratroopers and poorly trained forces, as well as so-called Storm Z units — detachments of convicts sent to fight.
“They were very weakly prepared and that showed in their losses,” Dmitrashkivsky said.
The attack had been exceptionally large, he added, requiring huge efforts from Ukrainian troops to blunt it.
Most analysts believe Russia likely still lacks the manpower to make significant gains in an offensive, including around Avdiivka. But the push indicated Russia hopes to further blunt Ukraine’s counteroffensive with its own counterpunch, coming as the weather starts to worsen.
Ukraine is continuing to press its own attacks in the southern Zaporizhzhia region where its counteroffensive is focused and around the city of Bakhmut.
(NEW YORK) — As the horrendous carnage emerges from the Israel-Hamas conflict, people in the United States and around the globe are clamoring for ways to help those caught in the crossfire of the surprise attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists and the retaliatory airstrikes from Israel into Gaza.
More than 2,600 people — most of them civilians, including hundreds of children — have been killed in Israel and Gaza and nearly 9,000 have been injured since Hamas militants launched their attack on Saturday, invading Israel from the air, sea and sky.
Hamas’ attack began with more than 2,000 rockets fired into Israel at dawn, while simultaneously Hamas fighters breached the border in numerous areas and poured into Israeli towns and kibbutzim, gunning down civilians and soldiers and going door-to-door in their deadly campaign, Israeli officials said. In some cases, the terrorists killed entire families, including babies, officials said.
In response, the Israeli Defense Forces have bombed communities in Gaza, leaving many residential neighborhoods in ruins. According to the United Nations, more than 330,000 people in the 140 square miles that comprise the Gaza Strip have been displaced.
At least 1,417 people have died, and 6,000 others have been injured in Gaza since the retaliatory airstrikes by Israel began, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Thursday. At least 447 of the dead in Gaza are children and 248 are women, the health ministry said.
As of Thursday morning, the death toll in Israel stood at more than 1,200, officials said. At least 25 Americans are among the dead in Israel. Another 2,900 people were injured in the country.
As the conflict rages on, the need for humanitarian support has become more urgent on both sides of the border. For people wanting to help or donate to furthering that cause, the Walt Disney Company, ABC News’ Parent Company, has singled a number of leading international humanitarian organizations doing “important work across the border and are actively responding to the attacks,” the company said in a statement to employees.
Among the groups people can donate to, are:
IsraAid
— Founded in 2001, IsraAid is the largest humanitarian aid organization based in Israel. It has responded to major humanitarian crises worldwide and has worked in more than 50 countries with a staff of about 300 worldwide, according to the group’s website.
“Thankfully, our headquarters and our emergency response team is already in full speed,” Yotam Politzer, CEO of IsraAID, said this week as he accepted a grant from the American Jewish Comittee’sI srael Emergency Campaign supporting support Israeli relief organizations. “As Israel’s leading international humanitarian organization, we have never had a full-scale humanitarian response in Israel. This is the first time we’re actually doing it. And we’re doing it because the situation is indeed dire and extreme.”
United Hatzalah of Israel
— The largest independent, non-profit, fully volunteer emergency medical service organization based in Israel, that provides the fastest emergency medical service throughout Israel. Since the attacks, the group’s volunteer medics have been on the front lines in Israel “responding to lifesaving calls,” the group said on its website. The time is now. Your support is critical to ensure the safety of our volunteers and the people of Israel.
“In this state of emergency — unlike anything Israel has experienced since the Yom Kippur War– Israel needs your urgent support,” the group said, launching an emergency appeal to raise funds for what it described as desperately needed supplies, including protective vests, helmets, oxygen tanks, defibrillators, trauma bandages and tourniquets.
“These supplies can be ordered and delivered over the course of the next week to ensure that UH volunteers have everything they need to respond to the ongoing attacks,” the group said.
Doctors Without Border
— Also known as Médecins Sans Frontières, the group is made up of people from more than 169 nationalities working in more than 70 countries, including Gaza and the West Bank.
“Many of our staff here at MSF-USA have friends, family, and loved ones in Israel, Gaza, or both, for whom we are deeply worried. All of us have colleagues working right now in Gaza delivering lifesaving medical care to people caught in the crossfire,” Avril Benoît, executive director of the organization, said in a statement.
Benoît added, “As Executive Director of MSF-USA, my team and I have been receiving a number of questions about MSF’s response in the region and how we are helping to save lives.”
The organization doesn’t have any medical programs in Israel, but has offered its support to Israeli hospitals treating a high number of casualties, the group said on its website.
“MSF is focused on meeting the immediate emergency medical needs of people in Gaza, and our staff have been working 24/7 since October 7,” the organization said. “We are supporting hospitals and health facilities with donations of medical supplies as stocks are running dangerously low. On Monday, we treated 50 people at MSF-supported Al-Awda hospital after a strike on a nearby refugee camp.”
UNICEF
— a humanitarian group that works in some of the world’s toughest places, “to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children,” a statement on its website reads. The organization works across more than 190 countries and territories.
“Nothing justifies the killing, maiming or abducting of children — grave rights violations which UNICEF wholeheartedly condemns,” Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s executive director said in a statement about the Israel-Hamas conflict. “Yet less than 72 hours after the outbreak of horrific violence in Israel, reports indicate that grave rights violations against children are rampant. Many children have been killed or injured, while countless others have been exposed to the violence.”
Russell said she is “deeply concerned” about the lack of electricity and running water in Gaza since the territory’s only power plant ran out of fuel on Wednesday.
“It is imperative that all parties refrain from further violence and attacks on civilian infrastructure,” Russell said.
International Rescue Committee
— The group that works in more than 40 countries and 28 U.S. cities “to help people affected by the humanitarian crisis to survive, recover and rebuild their lives,” the organization’s mission statement reads.
“The International Rescue Committee is horrified by the mounting civilian toll and the destruction of residences and public infrastructure as violence continues across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory,” the agency said in a statement.
The agency said it works across the Middle East and North Africa regions “to support those in need across every aspect of their lives in order to restore safety, health, education, economic wellbeing, and meaningful measures of self-resilience.”
World Food Programme
— The world’s largest humanitarian organization, which is part of the United Nations, provides food assistance worldwide.
“As the conflict intensifies, civilians, including vulnerable children and families, face mounting challenges in accessing essential food supplies, with food distribution networks disrupted and food production severely hampered by hostilities,” the group said in a statement. “WFP urges safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to affected areas, calling on all parties to uphold the principles of humanitarian law, taking every necessary measure to safeguard the lives and well-being of civilians, including ensuring access to food.”
WFP said it is prepared to respond swiftly with pre-positioned food stocks for people who have been displaced or are in shelters, when the situation allows, as well as resuming its regular food and cash-based transfer assistance to vulnerable people in the region.
“WFP has been steadfast in providing crucial food assistance, serving approximately 350,000 Palestinians monthly, and extending aid to nearly one million Palestinians in collaboration with other humanitarian partners through its cash-based transfers platform,” the group said.
Direct Relief
— The charity’s mission “is to improve the lives of people in poverty or emergency situations by providing the appropriate medical resources,” the group said on its website.
“In response to the atrocious and reprehensible terror attacks on Israel by Hamas, Direct Relief offers its deepest sympathies to the victims and pledges its full support to help care for survivors,” the organization said in a statement. “As an apolitical, non-sectarian organization dedicated to humanitarian principles, Direct Relief is engaging its ongoing partners in Israel and has extended offers of humanitarian assistance to aid their response to this abhorrent attack.”
Direct Relief committed an initial $75,000 to relief efforts in Israel following deadly terrorist attacks and said the funds would go to the Ashkelon Foundation, a nonprofit focused on health and well-being in Ashkelon in southern Israel near the Gaza. Direct Relief said the Ashkelon Foundation is supporting the Barzilai Medical Center a 600-bed hospital in Ashkelon that was struck by Hamas rockets on Wednesday.
“Medical staff are continuing to care for the influx of patients, even as rocket attacks have shaken the hospital, shattering windows in the children’s ward,” Direct Relief said in a statement. “The hospital has expressed an urgent need for funds to purchase emergency supplies and equipment to support patient care.”
American Red Cross
— Founded in 1881, the nonprofit U.S. humanitarian group provides disaster relief and life-saving blood in emergency situation around the world. The group is affiliated with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, which is providing medical aid in Gaza.
The organization emphasized that it “serves as a neutral and impartial party” and its mission is to “reach and help people when and where it is needed most.”
“Over the past several days, Red Cross Red Crescent societies, Magen David Adom and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society have been responding as the conflict has escalated, providing emergency assistance including health services, ambulance services and other critical needs,” the Red Cross said in its statement. “To ensure this lifesaving work, Red Cross and Red Crescent officials continue to call for medical transportation, health workers and facilities to be protected.”
The Jewish Federation
— Formerly known as the United Jewish Communities, The Jewish Foundation is an umbrella organization representing over 350 independent Jewish communities across North America that raises and distribute over $2 billion annually.
“Once again the Jewish communities of North America stand in total and complete solidarity with our Israeli brethren,” the group said in a statement on its website.
“We pray for their safety and will do everything we can to ensure the complete and total success of their efforts,” the group said. “And once again the Jewish Federations across North America will act immediately and comprehensively to support our brothers and sisters as they defend Israel.”
(NEW YORK) — At least 1,300 people have died and 3,227 others have been injured in Israel after the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented incursion from air, land and sea on Saturday, Israeli authorities said.
In Gaza, at least 1,500 people have been killed in retaliatory strikes from Israel with an estimated 6,612 more injured with those numbers expected to climb.
Tensions are high with the prospect of ground war and evacuation orders for Gaza after the Israel Defense Forces called for “all residents of Gaza City to evacuate their homes” and “move south for their protection” early Friday morning, saying residents should move “and settle in the area south of the Gaza River.” The announcement was made, according to the IDF, because it plans to “operate significantly in Gaza City in the coming days” and wanted “to avoid harming civilians.”
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 13, 3:23 AM EDT
Secretary of Defense Travels to Tel Aviv to Show Support for the People of Israel
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Tel Aviv early Friday morning and will meet with Israeli leaders face-to-face to “underscore the unwavering support of the U.S. for the people of Israel and commitment to ensuring Israel has what it needs to defend itself,” according to a Department of Defense statement.
“While in Israel, Secretary Austin will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, and the Israeli War Cabinet. He will also see firsthand some of the U.S. security assistance delivered to Israel. This is Secretary Austin’s second visit to the country this year, and his third as Secretary of Defense,” the statement read.
Oct 13, 1:56 AM EDT
UN Agency for Palestine Refugees relocates central operation to southern Gaza
The U.N. Agency for Palestine Refugees relocated its central operation center and international staff to southern Gaza, the UNRWA said in a post on X early Friday morning local time.
“UNRWA relocated its central operations centre + international staff to the south to continue its humanitarian operations and support to its staff and Palestine Refugees in #Gaza. We urge the Israeli Authorities to protect all civilians in @UNRWA shelters including schools,” the statement read.
The announcement comes as Israel Defense Forces called for “all residents of Gaza City to evacuate their homes” and “move south for their protection” early Friday morning.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Oct 13, 12:39 AM EDT
IDF tells ‘all residents of Gaza City to evacuate’
Israel Defense Forces called for “all residents of Gaza City to evacuate their homes” and “move south for their protection” early Friday morning local time in a series of posts on X.
The IDF told residents to move “and settle in the area south of the Gaza River.”
The announcement was made, according to the IDF, because it plans to “operate significantly in Gaza City in the coming days” and wanted “to avoid harming civilians.”
The IDF said in its posts that it believes Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City, including in buildings with “innocent civilians” inside.
“[D]istance yourself from the Hamas terrorists who use you as a human shield,” the post read.
The message was released a short time after the UN made a similar announcement, also citing Israel’s military.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Oct 13, 12:10 AM EDT
‘Approximately 1.1 million’ people in Gaza told to evacuate within 24 hours
United Nations team leaders in Gaza were informed by their liaison officers in the Israeli military that “the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours,” a U.N. spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News.
“This amounts to approximately 1.1 million people,” the spokesperson added.
“The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences,” the spokesperson said.
-ABC News’ Samy Zyara and Ellie Kaufman
Oct 12, 5:23 PM EDT
Israel issues warning ahead of ‘Day of Rage’
The Israeli government has issued a warning for Israelis around the world to be vigilant ahead of Friday, when Hamas is calling on their supporters to hold worldwide “Day of Rage” protests that could turn violent.
In the U.S., every major city police department is on a heightened state of alert.
In New York City, the police department has canceled vacations and instructed all members to show up in uniform.
The FBI also said it is “aware” of open-source reporting about the global call for action by Hamas.
“We are working closely with our law enforcement partners across the country to share information and identify and disrupt any threats that may emerge,” the FBI said in a statement.
Oct 12, 4:25 PM EDT
US Embassy to help Americans evacuate Israel
The U.S. Embassy said it’ll offer transportation for Americans looking to leaving Israel beginning on Friday.
“It will take some period of time to schedule everyone seeking to depart,” the embassy said. “Transportation will be by air to Athens or Frankfurt, or sea from Haifa to Cyprus. You will not be able to choose your destination – we will assign you to the next available flight or ship.”
“You should be prepared to depart within 8-12 hours of receiving notice of your booking. Each traveler may bring one small carry on item no more than 22 pounds (10 kg) and one suitcase no more than 35 pounds (16 kg),” the embassy said.
Delta Air Lines said it’s partnering with the government to help set up flights through Athens.
United Airlines said it’s adding extra flights with capped fares between Athens and Newark, New Jersey, and will use a larger plane for its Athens to Washington flight. “We’re in close touch with the U.S. State Department as it seeks to add additional options for Americans traveling from the region,” United said.
The U.S. expects “these initial travel options to facilitate the safe departure of thousands of U.S. citizens per week,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.
A separate official said that the State Department remains in contact with “several thousand” American citizens in Israel, but it’s unclear how many will ultimately decide to leave. Some have already departed.
The State Department estimates that roughly 500,000 American citizens live in Israel.
-ABC News’ Amanda Maile, Will Gretsky and Shannon Crawford
Oct 12, 4:14 PM EDT
Death toll continues to mount on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 1,200 people have died, and 2,900 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 1,527 people have died and another 6,612 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials. On Thursday, at least 45 were killed in a strike on a residential building in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp.
In the West Bank, 31 people have been killed and more than 600 were wounded.
Oct 12, 4:06 PM EDT
Israel issues warning ahead of ‘Day of Rage’
The Israeli government has issued a warning for Israelis around the world to be vigilant ahead of Friday, when Hamas is calling on their supporters to hold worldwide “Day of Rage” protests that could turn violent.
In the U.S., every major city police department is on a heightened state of alert.
In New York City, the police department has canceled vacations and instructed all members to show up in uniform.
Oct 12, 3:45 PM EDT
Israel says no electricity will be turned on in Gaza until hostages are returned
As the humanitarian crisis worsens in Gaza, Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said no electrical switch will be turned on, no water tap will be opened and no fuel truck will enter Gaza until the Israeli hostages are returned home.
Gaza relies on Israel for most of its power, which was cut off following the attack. Its sole power plant ran out of fuel on Wednesday.
Oct 12, 3:26 PM EDT
US Embassy to help Americans evacuate Israel
The U.S. Embassy said it’ll offer transportation for Americans looking to leaving Israel beginning on Friday.
“It will take some period of time to schedule everyone seeking to depart,” the embassy said. “Transportation will be by air to Athens or Frankfurt, or sea from Haifa to Cyprus. You will not be able to choose your destination – we will assign you to the next available flight or ship.”
“You should be prepared to depart within 8-12 hours of receiving notice of your booking. Each traveler may bring one small carry on item no more than 22 pounds (10 kg) and one suitcase no more than 35 pounds (16 kg),” the embassy said.
Delta Air Lines said it’s partnering with the government to help set up flights through Athens.
The U.S. expects “these initial travel options to facilitate the safe departure of thousands of U.S. citizens per week,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.
A separate official said that the State Department remains in contact with “several thousand” American citizens in Israel, but it’s unclear how many will ultimately decide to leave. Some have already departed.
The State Department estimates that roughly 500,000 American citizens live in Israel.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Shannon Crawford
Oct 12, 2:55 PM EDT
No plans for US troops on the ground in Israel
The White House said there are no intentions to send U.S. troops to Israel.
“The Israelis have made it very clear that they don’t want foreign troops on their soil. That they want to prosecute these operations on their own and they have every right to want to do that,” said John Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council.
Kirby said the U.S. would “do everything we can to improve” the capabilities of the Israeli military.
And as humanitarian concerns grow in Gaza, Kirby told reporters that there are “ongoing conversations” with Israeli counterparts about the need for the “continued flow of humanitarian assistance” to the area.
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez and Molly Nagle
Oct 12, 11:33 AM EDT
El Al to fly on Shabbat for 1st time in more than 40 years
Israeli airline El Al said it’ll fly on Shabbat — which is from Friday night to Saturday night — this weekend for the first time since 1982.
The flights from New York and Bangkok will bring soldiers to Israel.
Oct 12, 11:18 AM EDT
Hamas suspect detained on festival grounds
A suspected Hamas terrorist appeared with a knife Thursday at the grounds of the music festival in southern Israel where hundreds of concertgoers were killed by Hamas this weekend.
Israeli soldiers immediately took down the suspect and took him into custody.
Oct 12, 11:04 AM EDT
American survivor shares her story with Blinken
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday visited an Israel donation center, where he was greeted by applause and cries of “God bless America.”
Blinken dropped off his own contribution to benefit survivors who have lost everything.
He then spoke to Lior Gelbaum, a 24-year-old American-Israeli dual citizen, who was attending the music festival that was attacked by Hamas.
Through tears, she told Blinken that many of her friends were killed or taken hostage.
“Thank you for being here. It’s really important,” she said. “And if there is any way to help — first priority, first priority is our friends and family that are still in Gaza.”
“We’re thinking of them and trying to do everything we can. We want to bring them home,” Blinken responded. “I admire your strength.”
Another volunteer told Blinken he had just come from the fourth funeral of a friend who lost a child. The volunteer said all of the mourners had expressed that after concluding their mourning period, they would rebuild the country.
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 12, 10:47 AM EDT
Empire State Building will light up for Israel
New York City’s Empire State Building will shine blue and white lights in honor of Israel from 10 p.m. local time Friday until sunrise on Saturday.
The Empire State Building’s lights usually extinguish at 2 a.m. local time, but they will be extended in this case so people in Israel can see in real-time.
Oct 12, 10:13 AM EDT
Death toll continues to mount on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 1,200 people have died, and 2,900 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 1,417 people have died and another 6,268 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials. At least 447 children and 248 women are among those killed in Gaza.
Oct 12, 9:27 AM EDT
Emirates suspends flights to and from Tel Aviv
Emirates announced it will suspend flights to and from Tel Aviv through Oct. 20.
The airline also said customers with onward connections to Tel Aviv will not be accepted for travel at their point of origin until further notice.
Oct 12, 8:44 AM EDT
Death toll continues to mount on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 1,200 people have died, and 2,900 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 1,353 people have died and more than 6,000 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials. Sixty percent of the injured in Gaza are children and women, the health ministry said.
Oct 12, 8:27 AM EDT
At least 25 Americans confirmed dead in Israel: Blinken
In remarks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at least 25 Americans had now been confirmed dead in Israel.
Netanyahu described some of the atrocities committed by Hamas.
“Hamas has shown itself to be an enemy of civilization: The massacring of young people in an outdoor music festival, the butchering of entire families, the murder of parents in front of their children and the murder of children in front of their parents. The burning of people alive, the beheadings,” he said.
“Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated,” he said. “They shouldn’t be spit out from the community of nations. No leader should meet them. No country should harbor them. And those that do should be sanctioned.”
Blinken said he was speaking not only as an American diplomat, but as a Jew, a husband and a father of young children, saying it was impossible for him to look at photos of families killed “and not think of my own children.”
“The same time that we’ve been shocked by the depravity of Hamas, we’ve also been inspired by the bravery of Israel citizens,” he said. “The grandfather who drove over an hour to a kibbutz under siege, armed only with a pistol and rescued his kids and grandkids. The mother who died shielding her teenage son with her body, giving her life to save his — giving him life for a second time.”
Blinken remarked that some U.S. aid had already been delivered, and that more military aid was on his way. He said the administration would work with Congress to meet Israel’s additional needs and that bipartisan support for Israel was “overwhelming.”
The secretary called on world leaders to condemn Hamas.
Blinken also reiterated that Israel “has the right — indeed, the obligation — to defend itself” but that it was “so important to take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians.”
Oct 12, 7:02 AM EDT
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Kirya in Tel Aviv,
At the start of the expanded meeting, Netanyahu thanked Blinken for his statement: “We are here; we are not going anywhere.”
Also participating in the meeting were Foreign Affairs Minister Eli Cohen, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, the prime minister’s chief of staff, the director of the National Security Council, the prime minister’s military secretary, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and the prime minister’s foreign policy adviser. Among those attending for the American side were the acting U.S. ambassador to Israel, the assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs and the diplomatic adviser.
Afterwards, Netanyahu and Blinken will meet privately and then issue statements to the media.
Following the statements, there will be an additional expanded meeting with the participation of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, National Unity Chairman MK Benny Gantz and MK Gadi Eisenkot.
Oct 12, 5:59 AM EDT
How many Americans live in Israel and Gaza?
The State Department does not meticulously track the number of U.S. citizens in any given location, and in Gaza, the circumstances don’t necessarily provide for perfect recordkeeping, but as part of its efforts to join the U.S. visa waiver program this summer, the Israeli government estimated the number of Americans living in Gaza at between 100 and 130, and the Biden administration accepted that range.
Meanwhile, the State Department estimates that roughly 500,000 American citizens reside in Israel, a larger number than many other available calculations likely because Israel’s parameters for who qualifies as a full-time resident of the country are more stringent.
Oct 12, 5:26 AM EDT
Hamas is no longer in control of certain parts of the Gaza Strip: IDF
According to Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Daniel Hagari, Hamas is no longer in control of certain parts of the Gaza Strip and the IDF is currently focused on killing Hamas leaders and their terrorist fighters.
Meanwhile, fighting is ongoing in the south of Israel and there were four different incidents with 15 militants killed overnight, Hagari said.
The IDF has now notified another 200 families of lost IDF soldiers while engineers are working as quickly as possible to fix the Gaza border fence, according to Hagari.
Oct 12, 3:03 AM EDT
Secretary Austin and NATO counterparts to be briefed by Israeli Defense Minister
United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warmly greeted each other before the second day of NATO sessions at its Brussels headquarters.
Austin invoked the conflict in Israel ahead of the meetings, saying “I know you share our outrage at the terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas and also our determination to support Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Austin and his counterparts are expected to discuss support for Ukraine, NATO’s missions and operations in Kosovo and Iraq and will also be briefed on the ongoing situation in Israel by Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, Stoltenberg said.
“On all of these issues, the Middle East, Ukraine, Iraq — the United States, and you personally, Secretary Austin, provides security and leadership for all the NATO allies, and that is something we really, really appreciate.” Stoltenberg said.
Sharing similar sentiments, Austin said that “NATO is as strong and as united as I’ve ever seen it.”
Oct 12, 12:03 AM EDT
20-year-old IDF commander recounts attack by Hamas militants: ‘All I saw was hate’
Yuval Patiev, a young Israel Defense Forces commander, recounted to ABC’s David Muir on Wednesday night’s special edition of 20/20 what happened early Saturday morning when he was among the first to respond to the Hamas attacks.
“One terrorist climbed under the tank,” Patiev told Muir of the militants who charged at his unit. “He put an explosive bomb right under my seat.”
The bomb went off and injured the 20-year-old, who is now in a hospital.
“When it exploded, I flew in the air. At that moment, I knew that I broke my leg,” he said.
Fearing he could lose his leg, Patiev took immediate action.
“I told my commander that he should take my tourniquet and should put it on that,” he said, adding, “I just did what they trained us [to do].”
The young soldier’s unit was trapped in their tank for hours, and from his hospital bed, he recalled seeing the faces of the militants who attacked.
“You look at them, and how could you do this to someone? All I saw was hate,” Patiev said. “So we just fought for our lives … and [we were] trying to pray that they won’t get to open the tank, won’t explode it. And God was with us; that’s all I can say.”
Oct 11, 10:39 PM EDT
IDF launches ‘extensive attack’ on Hamas in Gaza
The IDF announced Thursday morning that it has launched an “extensive attack” on “many centers” of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The post was shared on X.
Oct 11, 10:01 PM EDT
About 220,000 Palestinians sheltering in UN facilities across Gaza
An estimated 220,000 Palestinians are sheltering throughout 92 United Nations relief and refugee facilities across the Gaza Strip, according to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Guterres called for “rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access now,” early Thursday morning, local time.
Oct 11, 9:33 PM EDT
Health services in Gaza have reached ‘critical stage’
Hospitals in Gaza are working at full capacity and have run out of space for those “wounded from Israeli airstrikes” to be treated, the Palestinian-Gaza Strip Ministry of Health said in a press release Wednesday.
The Ministry called for urgent action to be taken to provide safe passage for medical supplies and to transfer the wounded. Health services have reached a critical stage, according to the release, with “medicines, medical consumables and fuel” expected to run out imminently.
Oct 11, 7:45 PM EDT
IDF talks to David Muir about possible ground incursion
An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson addressed a possible ground incursion in an interview with ABC’s David Muir, as the World News Tonight anchor reports from Israel.
IDF Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told Muir Wednesday that the “carnage” in the kibbutz of Be’eri, where more than 100 bodies were found, “definitely put things into perspective.”
Following Hamas’ attack, 360,000 Israeli reservists have been called up and tanks and soldiers are amassing on the Gaza border.
“One could deduce that from the troops that we have called up that it is what they will be tasked to do,” Conricus told Muir, adding that at the end of the war, Hamas “won’t have the military ability to kill or hurt Israeli civilians ever again.”
Asked whether there was any scenario where a ground incursion would not happen, Conricus responded that it’s “difficult to say.”
“I personally don’t think so. But that matters less,” he said. “Our job is to be prepared and have all the troops ready for whatever assignment and however it is decided to implement them.”
Oct 11, 7:07 PM EDT
Where diplomatic efforts to free hostages stand
Two U.S. officials familiar with the diplomatic efforts to free hostages told ABC News it appears that allies and partners in the Middle East in communication with Hamas are being helpful in advocating for their release.
The officials say Hamas has shown no real willingness to partake in diplomacy up to this point.
Hamas’ designation as a foreign terrorist organization also complicates any negotiations involving the U.S., because the official label makes it illegal for any American to knowingly provide “material support or resources,” which includes personnel.
Deputy Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Steve Gillen is among the U.S. delegation en route to Israel with the Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In remarks earlier Wednesday, President Joe Biden said “there’s a lot we’re doing” to bring the hostages home.
“In the days ahead we’re gonna continue to work closely with our partners in Israel and around the world,” he said.
Oct 11, 6:36 PM EDT
Hamas official claims they planned attack for two years: Report
A Hamas official in Lebanon claimed in an interview with Russian state media that the terrorist group planned Saturday’s attack on Israel for two years.
The official, Ali Baraka, told the Russian state-controlled network RT in an interview posted earlier this week that Hamas prepared for the attack while Israel believed it was busy governing Gaza.
Oct 11, 6:17 PM EDT
State Department raises travel advisory level for Israel, West Bank
The State Department has raised its travel advisory level for Israel and the West Bank to “level 3 — reconsider travel” due to terrorism and civil unrest.
“Terrorist groups, lone-actor terrorists and other violent extremists continue plotting possible attacks in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza,” an alert from the department states. “Terrorists and violent extremists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, and local government facilities.”
Both regions were previously at “level 2 — exercise increased caution.”
The advisory also adds increased restrictions for U.S. government employees, declaring they can only travel to Israel for “mission-critical travel.”
Gaza remains at “level 4 — do not travel.”
Oct 11, 6:05 PM EDT
Biden speaks with UAE President bin Zayed
President Joe Biden spoke with United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Wednesday to discuss the attacks in Israel, stressing his condemnation of Hamas’ brutality, according a White House readout of the call.
The two leaders also discussed ensuring humanitarian assistance for those in need and Biden’s warnings against countries and organizations who may exploit the situation, according to the readout.
Oct 11, 4:55 PM EDT
Biden on hostages: ‘Have not given up hope’
President Joe Biden said at a roundtable with Jewish leaders on Wednesday that the U.S. is “doing a lot” to rescue the Americans held hostage by Hamas.
“We’re working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel, including deploying experts to advise and assist with recovery efforts,” he said. “I have not given up hope of bringing these folks home.”
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff also delivered remarks at the roundtable. Emhoff, the first Jewish spouse of a president or vice president, said, “Like all Jews, I feel a deep visceral connection to Israel and its people.”
“We witnessed a mass murder of innocent civilians,” he said. “The images that we saw will be seared in our brains forever. Rockets falling on cities, people dragged from their homes and shot dead, children sheltering from bullets, bodies lining the streets. And all the while, we see videos of these terrorists cheering on these atrocities. “
“I know you’re all hurting. The entire Jewish community is hurting, I’m hurting,” he said.
Oct 11, 4:31 PM EDT
US ‘exploring contract options’ for citizens who want to leave Israel
The State Department said it’s “exploring contract options” to help Americans looking to leave Israel travel to nearby countries.
Though there are still commercial flights available from Israel, they are limited, the State Department noted.
An official familiar with the discussions said the State Department may bring in charter flights to get Americans from Israel to nearby countries where they can then take commercial flights to the U.S.
A separate State Department spokesperson said the administration was “acutely aware of the currently limited capacity on commercial flights and the high demand from U.S. citizens wanting to depart,” and said that for now, Americans should “take advantage of commercial flights that involve transiting a third country if they are unable to book a direct flight to the United States.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 11, 3:52 PM EDT
Women, kids account for most of the injured in Gaza
Women and children account for most of the thousands injured in Gaza from the airstrikes, according to Doctors Without Borders.
Doctors Without Borders said all of the patients they received at one of their clinics in Gaza City were children between the ages of 10 to 14.
Oct 11, 3:42 PM EDT
Acting US ambassador choked up while visiting kibbutz
Stephanie Hallett, the chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, posted a video on X showing her standing in front of the wreckage at Israel’s Be’eri kibbutz, where many residents were killed by Hamas terrorists.
“It’s really unbelievable,” she said, choking up. “As a mother, and just as a human being, to see and to know what happened here, it’s really important to say that we’ve been here, we’ve seen it, and it is evil. And we stand with Israel.”
Today I came to bear witness to the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists. The United States stands with Israel. pic.twitter.com/rBVSD5XxU2
— Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Stephanie Hallett (@USAmbIsrael) October 11, 2023
Oct 11, 3:14 PM EDT
US working with Egyptian, Israeli counterparts to secure safe passage out of Gaza
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. is working with its Israeli and Egyptian counterparts to secure safe passage out of Gaza for civilians.
“Civilians are not to blame for what Hamas has done,” Kirby said. “I don’t have an announcement to make today — I can’t tell you a specific route or corridor. I just want to make it clear that we are actively working on this with our Egyptian and our Israeli counterparts. Civilians are protected under the laws of armed conflict, and they should be given every opportunity to avoid the fighting.”
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Oct 11, 3:04 PM EDT
17 Americans missing
Seventeen Americans are missing, including an unknown number of Americans being held hostage by Hamas, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
“I think we all need to steel ourselves for the very distinct possibility that these numbers will keep increasing and that we may, in fact, find out that more Americans are part of the hostage pool,” Kirby said.
He said the conditions and whereabouts of the hostages are not known.
“We don’t know where they are, we don’t know if they’re all in one group, or broken up into several groups. We don’t know if they’re being moved, and with what frequency and to what locations. All of those questions we’re working hard to answer,” he said.
Pressed by ABC News if U.S. officials have seen any proof of life, Kirby said, “I am not aware of any specific proof of live on any individual hostage.”
Asked if the U.S. has had any communication with Hamas, directly or through allies, Kirby said, “We’re in discussions not only with the Israelis about what hostage recovery can look like, but with other allies and partners in the region. And there are some countries like Qatar that have open lines of communication with Hamas. So, of course, we’re casting the net wide.”
“We haven’t made any policy options or operational decisions with respect to hostage recovery at this time,” he said.
Kirby said there is no “specific evidence that Iran was directly involved with these specific sets of attacks” on Israel, but he added, “We are going to keep looking at it — the book is not closed.”
In recent days, the White House has consistently said there was no evidence pointing to Iran’s participation but said Iran was broadly complicit with their past funding and support for Hamas.
-ABC News’ Mary Bruce
Oct 11, 2:01 PM EDT
House lawmaker traveled to Israel to help evacuate Americans
Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., a freshman lawmaker and veteran who served in Iraq, has traveled to Israel and is working to help evacuate Americans through Jordan, a spokesperson confirmed to ABC News. News of his trip was first reported by The Floridian.
-ABC News’ Ben Siegel and Lauren Peller
Oct 11, 1:44 PM EDT
9 workers from United Nations Relief and Works Agency killed
Nine workers from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency have been killed from strikes on Gaza, the agency said.
“UNRWA staff are working around the clock to respond to the needs of the displaced in the shelters,” the agency said. “However, some are overcrowded and have limited availability of food, other basic items and potable water.”
Oct 11, 1:21 PM EDT
‘Hostile aircraft’ entering Israeli air space was false alarm
Reports of an infiltration into Israeli air space from Lebanon have been determined to be a false alarm, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Multiple alerts were heard along the northern border.
Israel and Hezbollah were openly exchanging fire at the northern border earlier in the day.
Oct 11, 12:56 PM EDT
Gaza without power
Gaza is now without power. The main hospital remains at full capacity.
Gaza relies on Israel for most of its power, which was cut off following the attack. Its sole power plant ran out of fuel on Wednesday.
Oct 11, 12:42 PM EDT
Death toll continues to mount on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 1,200 people have died, and 2,900 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 1,100 people have died and another 5,339 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials. Sixty percent of the injured in Gaza are children and women, the health ministry said.
Oct 11, 12:37 PM EDT
‘Key munitions’ have arrived in Israel: Defense secretary
“Key munitions” have arrived in Israel, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday, adding that the U.S. will be providing more Iron Dome interceptors.
He confirmed that the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group has arrived in the eastern Mediterranean and that the deployment of U.S. Air Force fighter aircraft in the Middle East have been extended.
“The more you learn about the sickening atrocities, the worse it gets,” Austin said. “Hamas deliberately targeted civilians and massacred them just because they are Jews. … The United States continues to stand firm with Israel and the Israeli people.”
Austin also emphasized that the supply of weapons to Israel won’t impact the flow of military aid to Ukraine.
Oct 11, 11:21 AM EDT
Israel agrees to form emergency unity government
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chairman of the State Camp Benny Gantz on Wednesday agreed on the establishment of an emergency government and a war management cabinet.
The war management cabinet includes the prime minister, the defense minister and the chairman of the state camp. A place in the cabinet will be reserved for the chairman of the opposition if he joins.
During the war period, no bills or government decisions will be promoted that do not concern the conduct of the war.
Israel’s Emergency Unity Government will be sworn in Thursday at 6 p.m. local time.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Jordana Miller
Oct 11, 11:12 AM EDT
Fighting ongoing in south as Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire in north
Fighting is ongoing between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in southern Israel. Meanwhile, Israel and Hezbollah are openly exchanging fire at the northern border.
The Israel Defense Forces said the area of the Gaza Division has been declared a closed military zone and reiterated that entry is strictly prohibited.
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip remained closed for the second day in a row on Wednesday. The crossing was shut indefinitely on Tuesday after it was hit by Israeli warplanes on the Palestinian side three times on Monday and Tuesday.
Oct 11, 10:44 AM EDT
Death toll continues to mount on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 1,200 people have died, and 2,900 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 1,055 people have died and another 5,184 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials. Sixty percent of the injured in Gaza are children and women, the health ministry said.
Oct 11, 8:30 AM EDT
State Dept. expects number of confirmed dead Americans will rise
The State Department expects that the number of confirmed dead Americans will rise on Wednesday, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said on CNN.
“We continue to work through the list of unaccounted and find that, obviously, some of those we will locate or will report in, some of them we do find, unfortunately, they’re deceased, and then others we are able to confirm are taken hostage,” Miller said. “It’s a moving target all the time.”
Oct 11, 7:37 AM EDT
Massive rocket barrage on Ashkelon
A barrage of rockets has landed on the Israeli city of Ashkelon on Wednesday morning.
Ashkelon, with a population of over 100,000 people, has essentially been a ghost town since the start of the incursion from Hamas over the weekend.
There have been no immediate reports of injuries or deaths in the aftermath of the attack.
Oct 11, 5:57 AM EDT
Death toll continues to mount on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 1,200 people have died, and 2,900 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 1,055 people have died and another 5,184 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials.
Oct 11, 5:32 AM EDT
Over 263,000 people internally displaced in Gaza, UN says
The United Nations said Wednesday that there are now more than 263,000 people internally displaced in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli airstrikes destroy buildings and homes in response to Saturday’s attack by Hamas.
That figure includes at least 137,500 people who are currently sheltering in hospitals and schools in Hamas-ruled Gaza, according to the U.N.
Oct 11, 1:47 AM EDT
IDF releases names of 14 soldiers killed Tuesday
The Israel Defense Forces released the names early Wednesday morning of 14 soldiers who were killed on Tuesday. Their ages ranged from 19 to 32 years old.
The IDF called all 14 soldiers “martyrs” and said their families had all been notified.
The names released by IDF:
Dolev Amoyel, 21
Noam Abramowitz, 19
Eli Adani, 21
Ido Binenstock, 19
Eli Zissar, 27
Dvir Zakai, 20
Itamar Cohen, 19
Tomer Yaakov Mizrahi, 21
Sahar Midani, 20
Emil Smoilov, 22
Bachor Sweid, 32
Amichai Shimon Rubin, 23
Yedidia Moshe Raziel, 31
Ben Bronstein, 24
Oct 10, 10:35 PM EDT
IDF warplanes attack ‘over 450 targets’ in Gaza neighborhood
Israeli warplanes have struck more than “450 targets” in the Al-Furqan area in Gaza, marking the third attack in the last day, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement early Wednesday local time.
Hamas allegedly had operations in the Al-Furqan neighborhood, and it served as a terror nest where many activities against Israel were carried out, according to the IDF.
The IDF said it will “continue to act powerfully against the infrastructures of the terrorist organization Hamas,” including “extensive waves of attacks in the Gaza Strip.”
Oct 10, 10:33 PM EDT
Four UN workers killed in Gaza
Four employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) were killed as a result of air strikes on Gaza and at least 14 of its facilities were damaged “directly and indirectly,” the UN said in a release Tuesday.
According to the release, the agency was forced to close its 14 food distribution centers and reduce its operations due to the UN not being able to bring any humanitarian supplies to the Strip since Oct. 7.
There are still shops open with some supplies but Juliette Touma, director of Media and Communications for the URNWA expressed concern that basic supplies, including fuel, would run out in the next few weeks, according to the UN News.
Oct 10, 7:40 PM EDT
IDF fighter jets attack neighborhood in Gaza Strip
Dozens of fighter jets attacked more than 70 targets in a neighborhood in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Hamas allegedly had operations in the neighborhood and carried out activities against Israel, according to the IDF.
The IDF said it also attacked a military building that was allegedly used by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.
Oct 10, 6:11 PM EDT
WHO calls for access to health and humanitarian assistance
The World Health Organization repeated its call to end hostilities in the Israel-Gaza region and offered assistance to health officials in both countries.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi agreed to a WHO request to facilitate the delivery of health and other humanitarian supplies from WHO to Gaza via the Rafah crossing, the organization said.
“In the Gaza Strip, hospitals are running on back-up generators with fuel likely to run out in the coming days. They have exhausted the supplies WHO pre-positioned before the escalation,” the organization said in a statement. “The life-saving health response is now dependent on getting new supplies and fuel to health care facilities as fast as possible.”
Oct 10, 5:51 PM EDT
‘Hamas was always an obstacle to peace’: Former Israeli FM
Former Israeli Foreign Minister and former Knesset member Tzipi Livni spoke with ABC News Live about the recent Hamas attacks on Israel and argued the group is “not just an Israeli problem.”
Livni said, “Hamas was always an obstacle to peace,” and called on the entire international community to stand against them.
“They don’t represent the Palestinian people,” Livni said about Hamas. “They represent this extreme religious ideology that does not accept not only Israel, [but also] the U.S., or our liberal values, [and] democratic ideas.”
She thanked President Joe Biden for his support of Israel shortly after he delivered remarks, and said that for Israelis listening it was “the first light in dark days.”
Oct 10, 5:03 PM EDT
First plane with US ammunition lands in Israel
The IDF said the first plane bringing U.S. ammunition landed in Israel Tuesday.
“We are grateful for the American backing and assistance to the IDF in particular, and to the State of Israel in general, during this challenging period,” the IDF said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 10, 4:35 PM EDT
US intelligence ‘did not see anything’ suggesting this scale of attack
U.S. intelligence “did not see anything that suggested an attack of this type was going to unfold” in Israel, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday.
Sullivan wouldn’t tell reporters if President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed on their Tuesday call the possibility of an Israeli ground incursion into Gaza, and how that might affect American hostages.
Sullivan did defend Israel’s targeting of Hamas sites in Gaza after being asked how long the U.S. would support the airstrikes, saying this is “not retaliation,” but instead it’s “Israel standing up to defend itself.”
People walk through the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City…Read More
Sullivan also said that “at this point” there is no plan for the U.S. to put American troops on the ground to help Israel.
He added, “The president was very clear today that we will be making a request to the Congress, and it will include a request for funding for support to Israel. And he has also been equally clear that we are going to renew our request to the Congress for aid to Ukraine.”
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Oct 10, 4:01 PM EDT
Netanyahu: ‘Barbarism that has not been seen since the Holocaust’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, in his conversation with President Joe Biden on Tuesday, he called Hamas’ attack on Israel “barbarism that has not been seen since the Holocaust.”
“Hundreds of people were slaughtered,” including soldiers whose heads were cut off, Netanyahu said.
“Entire families were murdered in their beds and homes, women were brutally raped and murdered, [and] more than a hundred were kidnapped, including children,” he said.
Netanyahu said he told Biden that “Hamas is worse than ISIS — and that they should be treated that way.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 10, 3:43 PM EDT
About 20 Americans missing in Israel: State Department
The United States is tracking about 20 Americans who are still missing in Israel, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Tuesday.
Miller said that doesn’t necessarily mean they are being held by Hamas.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel this week to work with Israeli partners directly to determine “how we can continue to best support them,” Miller said.
Blinken will most likely leave on Wednesday to arrive in Israel on Thursday, he said.
Biden has not spoken with the families of the 14 Americans killed in Israel, but the State Department has been in constant contact with their families, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday.
“The president has been making this his highest priority as he receives briefings each day about what we are doing to try to determine both what’s happening with the missing and also to ensure that we can secure the bodies of those that have perished and ensure that they get returned to their loved ones,” he said.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford and Mary Bruce
Oct 10, 3:36 PM EDT
Death toll mounts on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 900 people have died and 2,600 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 900 have died — among them 260 children and 230 women — and another 4,500 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials.
Oct 10, 3:23 PM EDT
American Airlines suspends flights through Dec. 4
American Airlines said it will suspend flights to and from Tel Aviv through Dec. 4.
Delta suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until the end of October, while United said its flights to and from Tel Aviv are suspended “until conditions allow them to resume.”
Oct 10, 2:47 PM EDT
‘We stand with Israel,’ Biden says
President Joe Biden said Tuesday in an address to the American people, “We stand with Israel. And we will make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens — defend itself and respond to this attack.”
Biden stressed, “Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination. Their state of purpose is the annihilation of the state of Israel on the murder of Jewish people. They use Palestinian civilians as human shields. Hamas offers nothing but terror and bloodshed, with no regard to who pays the price.”
Biden said among the horrors were “parents butchered, using their bodies to try to protect their children. Stomach churning reports of being babies being killed. Entire families slain. … Women raped, assaulted, paraded as trophies.”
“There’s still so many families desperately waiting to hear the fate of their loved ones, not knowing if they’re alive or dead or hostages,” Biden said. “Infants in their mother’s arms, grandparents in wheelchairs, Holocaust survivors abducted and held hostage. Hostages whom Hamas has now threatened to execute in violation of every code of human morality.”
“It’s abhorrent,” Biden said, adding that Hamas’ “brutality … brings to mind the worst rampages of ISIS. This is terrorism. But sadly, for the Jewish people, it’s not new.”
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the day.
Biden said, “We’re surging additional military assistance, including ammunition and interceptors, to replenish Iron Dome. We’re going to make sure that Israel does not run out of these critical assets to defend its cities and its citizens. My administration has consulted closely with Congress throughout this crisis, and when Congress returns, we’re going to ask them to take urgent action to fund the national security requirements of our critical partners.”
“This is a moment for the United States to come together, to grieve with those who are mourning,” Biden said, adding, “There is no place for hate in America — not against Jews, not against Muslims, not against anybody.”
Oct 10, 2:40 PM EDT
Biden: 14 Americans killed in ‘act of sheer evil’
At least 14 Americans have been killed in the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, President Joe Biden said Tuesday in an address to the American people.
He condemned Hamas’ incursion as an “act of sheer evil.”
Biden confirmed that American citizens are among those being held by Hamas.
He said he’s directed his “team to share intelligence and deploy additional experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts.”
Oct 10, 2:22 PM EDT
At least 155 Israeli soldiers killed
The families of 155 Israeli soldiers have received death notices so far, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Oct 10, 1:33 PM EDT
US reaching out to families of missing Americans
The U.S. has started reaching out to the families of Americans missing in Israel as part of its efforts to identify the U.S. citizens who may be among the hostages taken to Gaza by Hamas, according to an official.
But due to the dynamic situation and lack of visibility inside Gaza, the U.S. still can’t say how many may be detained.
There’s also a level of reluctance from U.S. officials to shine a spotlight on any Americans among the hostages for fear that they might be singled out by their Hamas captors.
Other sources said American officials are working the phones with allies in the Middle East who have leverage over Hamas, encouraging them to pressure the militants to free the hostages.
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 10, 1:25 PM EDT
US discussing whether to send 2nd carrier to eastern Mediterranean
United States officials are discussing whether a second U.S. aircraft carrier should be deployed to the eastern Mediterranean in the wake of the Israel-Hamas crisis, two U.S. officials confirmed.
The USS Dwight Eisenhower was previously scheduled to depart Norfolk, Virginia, later this week for the Middle East, via the Mediterranean Sea.
Officials must decide whether it will now remain in the Mediterranean and head to the east to join the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier — which was deployed on Sunday — or whether it will relieve the Ford.
Either way, the Eisenhower will soon be in the Mediterranean for the previously scheduled transit and a training rotation.
ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Oct 10, 12:42 PM EDT
Biden to deliver remarks
President Joe Biden on Tuesday will give an update to the American people on the attacks in Israel as the violent conflict enters its fourth day.
Biden will speak at 1 p.m. ET at the White House, which was lit up in blue and white on Monday evening in a show of support for Israel.
Oct 10, 12:00 PM EDT
IDF engages with Hezbollah
The Israel Defense Forces said its tanks have now attacked observation posts of the Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah in response to 15 launches carried out from Lebanese territory.
Oct 10, 10:54 AM EDT
IDF says it killed 2 senior Hamas leaders
The Israel Defense Forces said one of its aircraft overnight struck and killed Zachariah Abu Ma’amar, a senior member of Hamas and head of its office for internal relations.
The IDF also said one of its aircraft struck and killed Joad Abu Shmalah, the Hamas minister of economy in the Gaza Strip. He held security positions in Hamas and led a number of operations targeting Israeli civilians.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 10, 10:44 AM EDT
Death toll mounts on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 900 people have died and 2,600 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 830 have died and another 4,250 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials.
Oct 10, 9:52 AM EDT
Biden, Harris to speak with Netanyahu
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kama Harris will speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to discuss our support for Israel and our efforts coordinated with partners and allies to defend Israel,” the White House said in a statement Tuesday.
Before their call with Netanyahu, the president and vice president “will meet with their national security teams to receive a situation update and give direction on next steps,” the White House said.
Oct 10, 9:40 AM EDT
Over 187,000 people internally displaced in Gaza, UN says
The United Nations said Tuesday that there are now more than 187,000 people internally displaced in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli airstrikes destroy buildings and homes in response to Saturday’s attack by Hamas.
That figure includes 137,500 people who are currently sheltering in 83 U.N. schools in Hamas-ruled Gaza, according to the U.N.
Oct 10, 9:28 AM EDT
Death toll mounts on both sides
The death toll has been mounting on both sides since Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented incursion into Israel over the weekend, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate.
In Israel, more than 900 people have died and 2,600 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Israeli authorities.
In Gaza, at least 765 people have died and 4,000 others have been injured since Saturday, according to the latest numbers from Palestinian officials.
Oct 10, 8:16 AM EDT
Seven Palestinian journalists killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, Palestinian authorities say
At least seven Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since Saturday, according to Palestinian authorities.
Palestinian authorities identified the slain journalists as: Ibrahim Lafi, Muhammad Jargon, Muhammad Al-Salhi, Asaad Shamlikh, Said Al-Taweel, Muhammad Subh Abu Rizq and Hisham Al-Nawajaha.
Funerals for some of them were expected to take place in Gaza on Tuesday.
Oct 10, 8:01 AM EDT
1,500 Palestinian militants found dead along Israeli-Gaza border, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that the bodies of 1,500 Palestinian militants have been found along the Israeli-Gaza border.
All of the militants were killed while fighting with Israeli soldiers in recent days, according to the IDF.
Oct 10, 7:53 AM EDT
Americans ‘could be among those being held hostage by Hamas,’ Kirby says
The United States is still working to determine how many Americans remain unaccounted for after Saturday’s attack on Israel by Hamas and whether any are among those being held hostage in the neighboring Gaza Strip, according to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
In an interview Tuesday with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America, Kirby said the number of unaccounted Americans in Israel “keeps changing” as families contact the U.S. Department of State.
“We’re trying to get a handle on where they are and how they are,” he added. “Sadly, we have to accept the possibility — the grim possibility — that some of those unaccounted for Americans could be among those being held hostage by Hamas.”
So far, U.S. officials have confirmed that at least 11 Americans were among those killed in Israel over the weekend when Hamas fighters stormed into the country from Gaza. U.S. officials are “preparing for the very distinct possibility that there’ll be more American deaths,” Kirby said.
Meanwhile, there’s currently no specific information on whether any Americans were among those taken hostage, according to Kirby. Israeli authorities have estimated that Hamas is currently holding “between 100 to 150” hostages in Gaza, including Americans.
“We’re working at this really, really hard, talking to the Israelis every single day — almost every hour — to try to get more information about the Americans that are unaccounted for,” Kirby said, “but we just don’t know where they are.”
U.S. officials have reached out to their Israeli counterparts to offer assistance in the form of intelligence and hostage recovery expertise, according to Kirby.
“It remains to be seen if there’s Americans in that group, what more can be done,” he said. “If there’s Americans being held hostage, we’ll do everything possible to get them home to their families where they belong.”
When asked whether the U.S. would be prepared to pay ransom, Kirby said: “I don’t want to get too far ahead of where we are.”
“We don’t even know if there are Americans in this population of hostages,” he added.
Oct 10, 7:07 AM EDT
Israeli airstrikes target Gaza-Egypt border crossing
An Israeli airstrike hit near the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on Tuesday for the second time in two days, Palestinian authorities said.
“The occupation aircrafts re-bombed the gate of the Rafah crossing between the Palestinian and Egyptian sides after it was repaired yesterday, preventing the departure and arrival of passengers,” Iyad Al-Bozom, spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Interior, said in a statement.
Operations at the frontier were disrupted on Monday after an Israeli airstrike hit near the border on the Gaza side. Officials on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday asked crews on the Palestinian side to immediately evacuate the crossing following threats to hit it, according to Al-Bozom.
Oct 10, 6:47 AM EDT
Iran denies involvement in Hamas attack on Israel
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that Tehran was not involved in Hamas’ recent incursion on Israel but hailed the attack.
“We kiss the hands of those who planned the attack on the Zionist regime,” said Khamenei, who was seen wearing a Palestinian scarf in his first televised speech since Saturday’s attack.
“The Zionist regime’s own actions are to blame for this disaster,” he added.
Iran, which does not recognize Israel, has acknowledged giving financial and moral support to Hamas, the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip.
Oct 10, 5:52 AM EDT
Hamas holding ‘between 100 and 150’ hostages, Israeli’s UN ambassador says
Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan said “between 100 and 150” hostages are currently being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“We estimate a number that is between 100 and 150. I think it’s an unprecedented number,” Erdan told CNN during an interview late Monday. “It includes Americans. We don’t know the exact number.”
Oct 10, 5:18 AM EDT
IDF says Hamas fighters ‘are still hiding’ in Israeli communities
Hamas fighters are believed to be “still hiding” in some communities in southern Israel even after the Israeli military took back control, according to Israel Defense Forces spokesman Maj. Doron Spielman.
“We are in control of the communities, but we actually assume that there are Hamas terrorists that are still hiding in these areas, including in the road where we are now,” Spielman told ABC News during an interview Monday in Sderot, Israel. “In all these communities, we’ve seen terrorist come out of hiding. Just yesterday, they took over an ambulance.”
“We’re still being very, very careful,” he added. “This is a war zone with active terrorists that are operating here.”
Sderot is a southwestern Israeli city located near the county’s border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. A police station there was stormed by Hamas fighters on Saturday as part of the militant group’s wider incursion, leaving at least six Israeli police officers dead. The IDF then bombed the police station with the Hamas fighters inside, demolishing it.
Hamas fighters and other Palestinian militants are “striking strategic locations” along the border fence, allowing them to drive through in pickup trucks, Spielman said. Civilians in some of the local communities have been ordered to evacuate, while others have left voluntarily, according to Spielman.
“We do have a lot of ground troops in this area. We have a lot of tanks. We have, in addition, artillery. And we’re prepared forever for anything,” he said. “And if it happens, the next stage, it’s going to happen here because this is the area that was the flashpoint and this is the area we’re going to be presenting ourselves and finishing this battle. We, of course, have no choice but to finish.”
When asked about the mounting casualties of Palestinian civilians in Gaza as a result of the IDF’s retaliatory airstrikes, Spielman said: “We always try to avoid civilian casualties. However, I would say that this is war and our first priority here is to destroy Hamas.”
Oct 10, 3:19 AM EDT
IDF fighter jets strike over 200 ‘terror targets’ in Gaza overnight
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday morning that its fighter jets had struck more than 200 “terror targets” in the Gaza Strip overnight.
All targets were located in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City and the southern city of Khan Yunis, which the IDF said are both used as “terror hubs” for Gaza’s militant rulers Hamas and that “a large number of terror attacks against Israel are directed there.”
Among the targets struck were a Hamas weapons storage site and a Hamas operational command center, both located inside a mosque, according to the IDF.
Oct 09, 9:38 PM EDT
FBI ‘aggressively’ investigating any reports of impacted Americans in Israel
The FBI said it is working “aggressively” to investigate reports of Americans who have been impacted by the Hamas attacks on Israel.
“We are closely coordinating with our counterparts in the region as well as other international partners,” the FBI said in a statement posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Monday.
The statement continued: “Through our Legal Attache’ office in Israel, FBI personnel are working with our partners on the ground to locate and identify any impacted Americans. Reports of deceased, injured or missing Americans are being treated with the utmost urgency and aggressively investigated. The FBI’s Victim Services Division is coordinating with the Department of State to assist, as necessary, with family engagement.”
Oct 09, 8:57 PM EDT
IDF says it will fight war ‘as long as it takes’
The Israel Defense Forces will fight this war “as long as it takes,” spokesperson Lt. Col. Res. Jonathan Conricus told ABC News in an interview on Monday.
“The goal that we have been given so far by the Israeli government is to make sure that Hamas doesn’t have any military capabilities that they can use to threaten or murder Israeli citizens. That means to eradicate their ability to terrorize Israelis,” Conricus said.
“That’s what we’ve been tasked to do so far — that may change, expand, and include political things as well as in their ability to govern, but as of now, what we’re focusing on with the aerial strikes that are ongoing and the preparations of the other troops around the Gaza Strip is to strip Hamas of all of their military capabilities,” he added.
The IDF is looking at “difficult and hard passes ahead,” but Saturday’s attack by Hamas fighters was a “watershed moment” that has fundamentally changed how the IDF responds, according to Conricus.
“Bottom line, what was true and perhaps worked for years before, won’t cut the situation now and we are moving forward,” he said.
In addition, 300,000 IDF reservists who were called up are “now in southern Israel,” according to Conricus.
“We have mobilized our troops before — the second Lebanon war comes to mind,” he added. “But this is definitely very, very significant.”
Oct 09, 6:42 PM EDT
US, France, Germany, Italy, UK release joint statement condemning Hamas
The White House released a statement shortly after President Biden spoke with key allies about the latest developments in Israel.
The leaders expressed their “steadfast and united support to the State of Israel, and our unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and its appalling acts of terrorism.”
“We make clear that the terrorist actions of Hamas have no justification, no legitimacy, and must be universally condemned,” the statement read.
The leaders said they will support Israel’s right to defend itself.
“We further emphasize that this is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage,” they said.
At the same time, the leaders said they “recognize the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people, and support equal measures of justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
“But make no mistake: Hamas does not represent those aspirations, and it offers nothing for the Palestinian people other than more terror and bloodshed,” the statement read.
Oct 09, 6:27 PM EDT
Biden to give remarks on terrorist attacks in Israel Tuesday: White House
President Joe Biden will deliver remarks on the terrorist attacks in Israel from the White House at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday, according to a White House official.
Oct 09, 6:16 PM EDT
Son ‘sad,’ ‘anxious’ as 74-year-old mother remains missing
A 74-year-old mother who is missing in Israel fought for peace her whole life, her son told ABC News Live on Monday.
Yonatan Zeigen said he last heard from his mother, Vivian Silver, at 11:07 a.m. on Saturday morning while she was hiding in a closet as Hamas fighters entered her house.
Zeigen added that he didn’t know if Israeli soldiers had been to her house yet and hadn’t heard “anything concrete” about the search yet.
Zeigen talked about his mother’s commitment to peace, since Silver moved to a kibbutz in Israel in the 1990s.
“She fought for equality,” he said. “She’s been involved with a lot of different organizations promoting peace and promoting solution for the conflict.”
“Up until recently, she would drive sick Palestinians from the Gaza border to Israeli hospitals through an organization called Road to Recovery,” Zeigen said.
“No, I’m primarily sad, and anxious,” Zeigen said when asked if he was angry about the situation. “War is blind. You can do what you do in your life…it doesn’t make you any less of a target in times of war.”
Oct 09, 5:48 PM EDT
Obama reacts to attack on Israel
Former President Barack Obama released a statement Monday evening condemning Hamas’ attack on Israel over the weekend.
“All Americans should be horrified and outraged by the brazen terrorist attacks on Israel and the slaughter of innocent civilians,” Obama said in his statement. “We grieve for those who died, pray for the safe return of those who’ve been held hostage, and stand squarely alongside our ally, Israel, as it dismantles Hamas.”
Oct 09, 5:39 PM EDT
IDF says it struck Hamas command center inside Gaza mosque
The Israeli Defense Forces said it “struck terror targets” belonging to Hamas in Gaza.
“IDF aircraft struck a Hamas operational command center in a mosque and an offensive tunnel entry point that was used by terrorists to invade Israel,” the IDF said in a statement.
The IDF also claimed it struck an “Islamic Jihad operational meeting point inside a house that was occupied by a large number of terrorists.”
“Two terrorists were killed when they attempted to flee the scene,” the IDF said.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 09, 5:29 PM EDT
State Department confirms Americans are missing, unknown if any are hostages
The State Department confirmed Monday evening that there are still missing Americans in Israel but couldn’t immediately provide an exact number or estimate.
The department couldn’t say yet if any of the missing Americans were hostages.
White House spokesperson John Kirby echoed this sentiment to ABC News’ Linsey Davis.
“We don’t really know whether they’re just missing somewhere, or are lost, or whether they’re being held hostage. I think we have to accept the possibility that at least some of them are being held hostage by Hamas,” he said.
Of the Americans previously confirmed dead, a State Department official said they were all thought to be dual U.S.-Israeli citizens primarily residing in Israel.
Staffers at the U.S. Embassy in Israel are fully accounted for and are communicating with impacted Americans around the clock over the telephone and via the online form the department launched for U.S. nationals who believe their family members are among those missing, according to the agency.
The State Department is also urging Americans in the affected areas who are safe to contact their loved ones directly and/or update their status on social media.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 09, 4:29 PM EDT
At least 11 Americans killed, more may be among those held by Hamas
At least 11 Americans are among those killed in Israel, President Joe Biden said in a statement.
He added, “While we are still working to confirm, we believe it is likely that American citizens may be among those being held by Hamas.”
“American citizens still remain unaccounted for, and we are working with Israeli officials to obtain more information as to their whereabouts,” Biden said. “My heart goes out to every family impacted by the horrible events of the past few days. The pain these families have endured, the enormity of their loss, and the agony of those still awaiting information is unfathomable.”
“I have directed my team to work with their Israeli counterparts on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts,” Biden said.
Oct 09, 4:21 PM EDT
Latest on travel to and from Israel
All major U.S. airlines and a number of foreign carriers have suspended service to and from Israel.
Delta said it has suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until the end of October. American Airlines has canceled flights to and from Tel Aviv through Oct. 13. United Airlines said its flights to and from Tel Aviv “will remain suspended until conditions allow them to resume.”
Many other airlines, including Israeli flag carrier El Al, continue to operate flights.
The Federal Aviation Administration urged U.S. airlines and pilots to use caution when flying in Israeli airspace.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued a Conflict Zone Information Bulletin for the airspace of Israel on Sunday, recommending air operators “ensure that a robust risk assessment is in place together with a high level of contingency planning for their operations and to be ready for short notice instructions from the Israeli authorities.”
-ABC News’ Amanda Maile
Oct 09, 3:48 PM EDT
Death toll in Gaza Strip rises to 687
At least 687 people have died, including at least 140 children and 105 women, from Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since Saturday, according to Palestinian officials.
The death toll has continued to grow on both sides as Israeli forces strike back at Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 3:36 PM EDT
Netanyahu: Israel will set up emergency government
In the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said, “I call on the opposition leaders to immediately establish a national emergency government without preconditions.”
“The people are united, and now the leadership needs to unite,” he said, translated from Hebrew.
Netanyahu said Israeli’s strikes on Hamas “have only begun.”
“We have eliminated many hundreds of terrorists and we will not stop there,” he said.
The prime minister said he’s in constant contact with President Joe Biden and thanked the U.S. leader for his words and action.
He said “an American aircraft carrier, one of the largest in the world, is on its way to our region.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 09, 1:17 PM EDT
Israel death toll climbs over 900
The Israel death toll has climbed over 900 since Saturday, with more than 2,500 others injured, according to the Israeli Health Ministry.
Oct 09, 1:12 PM EDT
Israeli Defense Forces mobilizes record 300,000 reserves
The Israel Defense Forces has mobilized 300,000 reserves — the largest and quickest call-up in Israel’s history, according to an IDF spokesman.
Oct 09, 12:47 PM EDT
Gaza hospital, communication center out of service
Gaza’s main hospital, Beit Hanoun Hospital, has been damaged and is now out of service after Israeli forces repeatedly targeted the area, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
A main communication center in Gaza was also destroyed from airstrikes, making it difficult to get internet access or make phone calls.
Oct 09, 12:16 PM EDT
Survivors recount ‘living hell’ at Israel music festival
A 30-year-old Israeli told reporters it was “living hell” when Hamas gunmen opened fire and rockets were unleashed on a music festival in southern Israel, killing hundreds.
“I’ve been in wars, in two wars in my life, and never seen anything like this. Bodies at all places,” the 30-year-old said. “They didn’t care if you are a man or a woman, if you are young or an old man.”
At least 260 bodies were removed from the music festival venue, according to an Israeli rescue service.
Another survivor, Elad Hakim, told Reuters in Hebrew that the festival was “the best party I’ve been to in my life” until it went “from paradise to hell in one second.”
“Girls started screaming,” Hakim said. “People didn’t understand where to go, what to do.”
“There were two men on motorcycles on the road … who started spraying us [with bullets] as we drove by,” Hakim said. “The vehicles that were behind [us] were left behind.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Oct 09, 11:53 AM EDT
Death toll in Gaza Strip rises to 560
At least 560 people have died, including at least 91 children, from Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since Saturday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Another 2,900 have been injured.
The death toll has continued to grow on both sides as Israeli forces strike back at Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers, after the Palestinian Islamist group launched an unprecedented incursion.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 11:53 AM EDT
Death toll in Gaza Strip rises to 560
At least 560 people have died, including at least 91 children, from Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since Saturday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Another 2,900 have been injured.
The death toll has continued to grow on both sides as Israeli forces strike back at Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers, after the Palestinian Islamist group launched an unprecedented incursion.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 11:39 AM EDT
Israel wants artillery, missiles, Iron Dome interceptors from US: Biden administration
Israel is seeking a resupply of specific weapons from the United States, including artillery rounds, interceptors for its Iron Dome missile defense system and precision-guided munitions, a Biden administration official told congressional leaders on a Sunday night conference call, according to two sources familiar with the call.
More U.S. aid approved by Congress will be critical for Israel’s defense in the coming weeks as the conflict continues, the sources said, describing the Biden administration’s message to lawmakers.
ABC News’ Ben Siegel
Oct 09, 10:30 AM EDT
Israel Defense Forces: ‘Unprecedented attack … will be followed by an unprecedented Israeli response’
Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, called Hamas’ attack “unprecedented,” and said the assault will be “followed by an unprecedented Israeli response.”
“I could not imagine at that time [when the incursion began Saturday] that Hamas would have the audacity … to do what they have done,” he told ABC News Monday. “To launch such an unprecedented, brutal, merciless attack on Israeli citizens. … And cause the amount of casualties that Israel has never experienced ever in its history.”
In Israel, at least 700 people have died and more than 2,300 others have been injured since Saturday.
The Israel Defense Forces has since launched retaliatory airstrikes on Gaza. At least 560 people have died and another 2,900 have been injured in Gaza since Saturday, Palestinian authorities said.
Oct 09, 9:12 AM EDT
Death toll in Gaza Strip rises to 560
At least 560 people have died and another 2,900 have been injured by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since Saturday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The death toll has continued to grow on both sides as Israeli forces strike back at Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers, after the Palestinian Islamist group launched an unprecedented incursion.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 8:52 AM EDT
Death toll of Americans in Israel rises to 9
At least nine Americans have been killed in Israel since Saturday as a result of attacks launched by the Hamas militant group, according to an official with the United States National Security Council.
“At this time, we can confirm the death of nine U.S. citizens,” the official told ABC News in a statement on Monday. “We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected, and wish those injured a speedy recovery. We continue to monitor the situation closely and remain in touch with our Israeli partners, particularly the local authorities.”
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Oct 09, 8:06 AM EDT
‘No one else should get involved in this,’ top US official warns
The United States is warning against other countries from becoming involved in the Israel-Gaza conflict amid fears that it could spread into a wider war in the Middle East.
“This is not the moment for other parties who are hostile to Israel to seek advantage or to seek to exploit the attacks that have taken place,” Jon Finer, deputy national security adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, Monday on Good Morning America.
“That is part of why the United States has moved the Carrier Strike Group to the eastern Mediterranean to send a strong and unmistakeable signal that no one else should get involved in this,” he added. “We’ll see how things unfold in the course of the coming days.”
Finer also emphasized that the U.S. believes “Israel has every right to defend itself full-stop.”
“Israel will ultimately make the decisions about how it chooses to go about and conduct that defense,” he said. “We are offering support in a number of ways.”
Finer noted that “more U.S. steps to show support and solidarity for Israel” can be expected.
“The U.S. is going to offer support at every level for Israel’s defense and we are working through details those details with our intelligence professionals, our military and our diplomats,” he added. “We are in daily — in fact, many times a day — contact with Israeli counterparts to see what they need and offer it.”
The U.S. “strongly suspect[s] that there will be American citizens among those killed” in the ongoing conflict, according to Finer.
“We are looking obviously very intensively into whether there were any Americans were among those who have been abducted and brought to Gaza. This is still ongoing,” he said. “There is still fighting inside Israel as we speak and there is a bit of fog of war in terms of the ability to gather specific information. And so, we will have much more to say about this at the right time.”
When asked for comment on a recent report by The Wall Street Journal that Iran was behind Hamas’ latest attack on Israel, Finer responded: “We have no direct information to confirm that report. We’ve obviously seen it, we’re looking into it, but we do not have the ability to corroborate it at this time.”
“What we can be quite clear about is that Iran is broadly complicit in these attacks for having supported Hamas going back decades — for having provided financial support, for having provided training, for having provided weapons to Hamas,” he added. “What we don’t have is direct information that shows Iranian involvement in ordering or planning the attacks that took place over the last couple days. It’s something that we’re going to keep looking at closely.”
Oct 09, 7:42 AM EDT
Death toll in Gaza Strip rises to 511
At least 511 people have died and another 2,750 have been injured by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since Saturday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The death toll has continued to grow on both sides as Israeli forces strike back at Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers, after the Palestinian Islamist group launched an unprecedented incursion.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 7:04 AM EDT
Dozens of Palestinian children among those killed in Gaza, advocacy group says
At least 33 Palestinian children have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Saturday morning as Israel continues its retaliatory airstrikes, according to the advocacy group Defense for Children Palestine.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 6:49 AM EDT
Hamas claims 4 Israeli hostages were killed in airstrikes
Four Israeli hostages were killed alongside their militant captors in the Gaza Strip by Israeli airstrikes on Sunday night and Monday morning, according to Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
There was no official confirmation on the hostage deaths from the Israeli side.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 6:40 AM EDT
Fresh rockets fired toward Jerusalem, Tel Aviv
The sound of rocket alert sirens rang out in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities on Monday morning.
One of the fresh rockets launched on Monday by Hamas militants from the neighboring Gaza Strip landed near Ben Gurion International Airport in southern Israel.
Several people were reportedly injured by rockets in the southern Israeli cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon on Monday.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 5:59 AM EDT
Israel cuts off Gaza in ‘total siege’
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced Monday that he has ordered a “total siege” of the neighboring Gaza Strip, allowing no food, fuel or electricity to enter the Hamas-ruled territory.
“We are fighting barbaric terrorists and we will act accordingly,” Gallant said.
Since Saturday’s surprise attack on Israel launched by Hamas militants, Israeli forces have struck back. Hundreds of buildings and homes have been destroyed in Gaza, leaving more than 123,000 people displaced, according to the United Nations.
Unlike Israel, the Gaza Strip has no air raid sirens or bomb shelters. Over 73,000 people are currently sheltering in schools, according to the U.N.
Meanwhile, hospitals in Gaza are struggling to cope with the number of casualties, the U.N. said. At least 493 people have died and another 2,751 have been injured there, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 4:39 AM EDT
Fighting has stopped in southern Israel, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that fighting with militants in southern Israel has stopped and it has retaken control of all communities around the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Israeli soldiers have successfully blocked the holes in the border fence separating Gaza from Israel, which are now secured by tanks on the ground and fighter jets above, according to the IDF.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Oct 09, 4:22 AM EDT
70 militants infiltrated Be’eri kibbutz overnight, IDF says
A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said Monday morning that 70 militants had infiltrated Be’eri kibbutz in southern Israel overnight.
Speaking to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the IDF spokesperson said they suspect there is a tunnel in the area of Be’eri, which the military has been unable to wrest from the Hamas militant group. The kibbutz is located near Israel’s southeastern border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
The IDF is still gathering information on the Israeli civilians and soldiers being held hostage in Gaza, and not all families have been updated yet, according to the spokesperson.
-ABC News’ Clark Bentson
Oct 09, 1:17 AM EDT
IDF claims to have hit 500 militant targets in Gaza Strip
For an operation now dubbed “Swords of Iron,” the Israel Defense Forces said Monday that it had struck 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip.
The attacks were carried out through the use of jets, helicopters and other aircraft, according to the IDF.
The IDF said seven of Hamas’ command centers were struck in the mission.
-ABC News’ Bruno Nota
Oct 09, 12:40 AM EDT
Iranian Mission to UN says Iran had no involvement in Hamas attack on Israel
An Iranian official at the UN denied that Iran had any involvement in Hamas’ attack on Israel.
Israeli officials, including President Isaac Herzog, had claimed on Saturday that Iran helped coordinate the attacks on Israel.
On Sunday, however, Iran’s Mission to the UN, denied the claims.
“We emphatically stand in unflinching support of Palestine; however, we are not involved in Palestine’s response, as it is taken solely by Palestine itself.,” the Iranian Mission to the UN said in a statement late Sunday. “The resolute measures taken by Palestine constitute a wholly legitimate defense against seven decades of oppressive occupation and heinous crimes committed by the illegitimate Zionist regime.”
A U.S. official said Saturday it was “too early” to tell if Iran had involvement in the attacks.
“We are going to be looking at that very closely,” a senior administration official said.
-ABC News’ Kirit Radia
Oct 08, 10:41 PM EDT
Israel attacks targeted locations on Gaza Strip: IDF
Israeli Defense Forces attacked the Gaza Strip early Monday morning local time, the IDF said in a series of posts on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
The IDF attacked a building where it said Hamas operatives were and several operational headquarters of the organization, the IDF said in the posts.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Oct 08, 10:30 PM EDT
UN Security Council emergency meeting fails to condemn attack on Israel
An emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council failed to condemn the Hamas attacks on Israel Sunday evening.
Deputy U.S. Ambassador the U.N. Robert Wood said the situation was “still fluid” and “very dangerous.”
“What is important now is that the international community needs to show its solidarity with Israel. We have Israel’s back fully as the United States, and the condemnation of Hamas needs to continue until they end this violent terrorist activity against the Israeli people,” Wood said after the meeting.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Oct 09, 12:24 AM EDT
At least 4 Americans among 700 dead in Israel
At least four American citizens were killed in the attacks in Israel over the weekend, senior administration officials told top House lawmakers on a call Sunday evening, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
That figure could rise in the coming days, the Biden administration officials told Congress. The administration is also still investigating unconfirmed reports of American citizens being taken hostage by Hamas.
Participants on the call included senior members of the relevant House committees and party leaders — including Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-North Carolina, the temporary House speaker, two sources told ABC News.
As previously reported, Senate leaders will receive a similar briefing tonight.
–ABC News’ Ben Siegel
Oct 08, 8:59 PM EDT
Senate briefing on current situation in Israel tonight
Senate leadership, chairs and ranking members of relevant committees will receive an unclassified briefing on the situation in Israel Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET, a Senate source told ABC News.
The chairs and ranking members from the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Committee on Armed Services are among those who will be briefed.
Oct 08, 10:46 PM EDT
‘Several’ Americans killed in Hamas attacks on Israel
American citizens were killed in the attacks on Israel, U.S. officials confirmed Sunday.
“We can confirm the deaths of several U.S. citizens. We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected,” a U.S. official told ABC News in a statement.
–ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks, Shannon Crawford
Oct 09, 12:25 AM EDT
The world’s largest pilot’s union says its airlines have suspended flight operations to Israel and evacuated personnel
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) — which represents more than 74,000 pilots between 42 US and Canadian airlines, including majors like JetBlue, Delta, and United — told members today its “working diligently” with carriers that fly to Israel to “ensure the safety of each of [its] members.”
-ABC News’ Amanda Maile
Oct 08, 4:38 PM EDT
US has for decades had vast weapons stockpile in Israel
The White House has pledged assistance to Israel in responding to Hamas’ attack — and America has for decades maintained a vast pre-positioned military stockpile inside Israel.
First established in the wake of the Yom Kippur War of 1973, when it took time for the U.S. to send supplies to Israel, the munitions are available in case of emergencies.
It’s possible that Israel will ask the U.S. to tap into this stockpile, which contains weapons systems including tanks and ammunition stored in warehouses.
While not especially well known to the public, the supplies got some exposure earlier this year when the U.S. planned to use them in order to send artillery to Ukraine in responding to Russia’s invasion.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Oct 08, 3:54 PM EDT
Hundreds killed at music festival in Israel that came under attack
Israeli rescue service Zaka said at least 260 bodies were removed from the venue of the music festival in southern Israel that came under a Hamas attack.
Oct 08, 3:54 PM EDT
United says Tel Aviv flights will remain suspended
United Airlines said Sunday its Tel Aviv flights will remain suspended until conditions allow for them to resume.
The airline operated two scheduled flights out of TLV late Saturday and early Sunday.
“The safety of our customers and employees is our top priority,” United said.
-ABC News’ Amanda Maile
Oct 07, 5:54 PM EDT
High-ranking IDF commander killed in action, military says
A high-ranking Israel Defense Forces commander was killed in action Saturday, the military said.
Col. Jonathan Steinberg, 42, the commander of the Nahal Brigade, was killed during a confrontation with Hamas, IDF said.
Oct 07, 5:49 PM EDT
United Hatzalah says it has treated nearly 1,000 injured people in Israel
United Hatzalah, a community-based volunteer EMS organization, said so far it has treated nearly 1,000 people for “various injuries” in southern and central Israel.
The organization said it has also transported an unspecified number of patients to hospitals in the regions via ambulance and helicopter.
Oct 07, 5:12 PM EDT
At least 50 Israelis being held hostage: Israeli Command
At least 50 Israelis are currently being held hostage by Hamas, according to Israeli Command. That number may change as Israeli forces get a handle on the situation on the ground.
Oct 07, 5:11 PM EDT
Blinken calls on Palestinian leadership to ‘condemn’ attacks
During a call with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on the region’s leadership to “condemn” the Hamas attacks, according to a readout from the State Department.
“The Secretary reiterated the United States’ unequivocal condemnation of the terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel, and called on all leadership in the region to condemn them,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement. “The Secretary urged the Palestinian Authority to continue and enhance steps to restore calm and stability in the West Bank.”
Earlier Saturday, Abbas said his people have the right to defend themselves against the “terror of settlers and occupation troops,” according to Reuters.
Oct 07, 5:01 PM EDT
Israeli ambassador to US calls attacks ‘war crimes’
In a strongly worded statement, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. labeled the Hamas attacks as “war crimes” and vowed that Israel will fight back.
“Those of our enemies who believe that Israel is weak because of its internal debate have totally miscalculated. When under attack, Israelis close ranks and join together in fighting for Israel’s self-defense,” Michael Herzog declared. “This is war. We will fight to win and deter the terrorists from any future attacks.”
The ambassador also directly blamed Iran for the surprise attack, saying, “Hamas is a U.S. and E.U. designated terror organization and a close ally of Iran. Iran’s hands are evidently behind the scenes, leading the so-called Axis of Resistance to Israel’s existence.”
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Crawford
Oct 07, 4:43 PM EDT
Israel will take ‘vengeance for this black day’: Netanyahu
Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel will “reach every place Hamas is hiding” during an address late Saturday and urged “Gaza’s people to leave those places now.”
Israel will take “vengeance for this black day,” he added.
At least 300 people have been killed and thousands injured since Hamas launched its surprise attack. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 232 are dead and another 1,790 injured in Gaza. According to the Israeli Health Ministry, over 100 people are dead and over 900 others are injured — though multiple Israeli news outlets are reporting at least 250 Israelis have been killed and another 1,500 injured.
Israeli army spokesman Richard Hech also reported “severe” hostage situations were ongoing in Kibbutz Be’eri and Ofakim, with an unknown number of Israelis being held hostage.
Israel said the assault started at sunrise, when Hamas attacked 22 sites bordering Gaza by breaching some border fences.
Oct 07, 3:11 PM EDT
Biden administration to remain in ‘constant contact’ with leaders in the region
President Joe Biden said he spoke with Jordanian King Abdullah II, members of the U.S. Congress and directed his national security team to remain in contact with their Israeli counterparts.
“I’ve also directed my team to remain in constant contact with leaders throughout the region including Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, UAE, as well as our European partners and the Palestinian Authority,” Biden said.
Oct 07, 2:59 PM EDT
Biden says support for Israel’s security is ‘rock solid and unwavering’
President Joe Biden delivered remarks from the White House on Saturday expressing U.S. support for Israel in light of Hamas’ attack.
“We will not ever fail to have their back,” Biden said.
“Israel has the right to defend itself and his people full stop. There is never a justification for terrorist attacks and my administration’s support for Israel security is rock solid and unwavering. Let me say this as clearly as I can. This is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage. The world is watching,” Biden said.
Oct 07, 2:57 PM EDT
Blinken speaks with Israeli president, foreign minister
Secretary of State Antony Blinken “reaffirmed” the U.S.’ solidarity with Israel during a call with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, a State Department spokesperson said.
“Secretary Blinken reiterated his condolences for the victims of the terrorist attacks against Israel and condemned those attacks in the strongest terms,” the spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said in a statement. “Secretary Blinken also discussed measures to bolster Israel’s security. The Secretary underscored the United States’ unwavering support for Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Oct 07, 2:27 PM EDT
Biden to speak at 2:30 p.m.
President Joe Biden is set to deliver remarks at 2:30 p.m. on the attacks in Israel from the State Dining Room, according to the White House.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
Oct 07, 2:13 PM EDT
US embassy in Israel issues security alert, tells Americans in Gaza to check pathway to Egypt
The U.S. Embassy in Israel issued a security alert on Saturday warning Americans in Gaza seeking to flee to check the status of the Rafah Crossing into Egypt and to remain vigilant.
“U.S. citizens are reminded to remain vigilant and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness as security incidents, including mortar and rocket fire, often take place without warning. U.S. citizens in Gaza who wish to leave and can do so safely are advised to check the status of the Rafah Crossing into Egypt,” the embassy alerted.
“U.S. Embassy personnel are still currently sheltering in place. U.S. government personnel continue to be prohibited from travel to Gaza and areas within seven miles of Gaza,” the embassy said.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow and MaryAlice Parks
Oct 07, 1:23 PM EDT
UN to hold private meeting on the unfolding Israeli-Palestinian crisis
The United Nations will hold a private meeting on Sunday to discuss the unfolding Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
Oct 07, 1:17 PM EDT
Over 300 dead, thousands injured in Gaza, Israel, authorities say
The death toll continues to climb with over 300 people reported dead in Gaza and Israel.
The Palestinian Health Authority said 198 are dead and 1,610 others are injured in Gaza. According to the Israeli Health Ministry over 100 people are dead and over 900 others are injured.
Just before sundown in a western Gaza City, a massive explosion and fireball were reported after Israel warplanes hit a high-rise apartment complex. The Gaza Interior Ministry said the building housed approximately 100 families.
Oct 07, 1:00 PM EDT
Defense Secretary Austin spoke with Israeli counterpart
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant on Saturday to convey his condolences.
“Secretary Austin made clear to Minister Gallant his ironclad support for the Israeli Defense Forces and the Israeli people. He reaffirmed that the Department’s commitment to Israel’s security and its absolute right to defend itself from acts of terrorism is unwavering. Secretary Austin has directed his team to ensure that DoD is closely consulting with all of our Allies and partners who share a commitment to peace and oppose terrorism. Secretary Austin will continue to consult with Minister Gallant in the coming days and weeks to ensure that Israel has the support it needs,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
Oct 07, 12:38 PM EDT
Police in New York, Beverly Hills increase patrols in sensitive areas
Police in New York, where there are locations sensitive to both Israeli and Palestinian interests, are adjusting patrols in response to the situation in Israel.
“The NYPD’s Counterterrorism and Intelligence Division consistently work at a level of high alert. When events from around the world could possibly affect NYC or we get Intel on a threat to NYC, we always increase our presence around houses of worship and certain areas when these conflicts arise,” the NYPD said in a statement.
The Beverly Hills Police Department also said it increased security and patrols around Jewish institutions in the City and continues to work closely with law enforcement partners in the region to ensure public safety.
Law enforcement and Homeland Security officials will be assessing the potential for residual violence in the U.S.
Increased security around Jewish facilities and on university campuses — particularly where there is a history of confrontational interactions — is to be expected. Increased attention is expected to be paid to potential cyber threats and online activities intended to inspire violence by Iran, Hezbollah and other extremists threat actors.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Alex Stone
Oct 07, 12:21 PM EDT
United, American, Delta airlines to suspend Israel operations
United Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Airlines announced they will suspend operations to Israel Saturday night following unrest in the region. After two departures scheduled for Saturday, United’s future operations will be suspended until conditions allow them to resume, the airline said.
“The safety of our customers and crew is our top priority. We are closely monitoring the situation and we are adjusting flight schedules as required,” the carrier told ABC News.
American Airlines said it will temporarily suspended operations to and from Tel Aviv and will continue to monitor the situation, adjusting its operations as needed.
“American Airlines has temporarily suspended operations to and from Tel Aviv, Israel (TLV) [Saturday] and [Sunday], and has issued a travel alert providing additional flexibility to customers whose travel plans are affected. We will continue to monitor the situation with safety and security top of mind and will adjust our operation as needed,” American Airlines said in a statement.
Delta Air Lines has canceled scheduled flights in and out of Tel Aviv this weekend. The airline said its working to “safely transport Delta people back to the U.S. and will work with the U.S. government as needed to assist with the repatriation of U.S. citizens who want to return home.”
-ABC News’ Amanda Maile and Sam Sweeney
Oct 07, 11:19 AM EDT
Biden speaks with Netanyahu, offers ‘all appropriate means of support’
President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling him that the U.S. “condemns” Hamas’ assault on Israel.
“I made clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the Government and people of Israel. Terrorism is never justified. Israel has a right to defend itself and its people. The United States warns against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation. My Administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden also extended his condolences for lives lost and wished those wounded a “swift recovery.”
“My team and I are tracking this situation closely, and I will remain in close touch with Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Biden said.
Oct 07, 10:25 AM EDT
Blinken says US condemns Hamas’ attack on Israel
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement condemning Hamas’ attack on Israel, saying the U.S. will “remain in close contact with our Israel partners.”
“The United States unequivocally condemns the appalling attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israel, including civilians and civilian communities. There is never any justification for terrorism. We stand in solidarity with the government and people of Israel, and extend our condolences for the Israeli lives lost in these attacks,” Blinken said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 07, 10:23 AM EDT
Death toll, number of injured rise after Hamas fires rockets, Israel declares war
The death toll has risen after Hamas fired rockets into Israel from Gaza in a surprise attack and Israel declared war.
According to Israeli officials, at least 40 people have died in Israel and more than 700 people have been injured. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 160 people were killed in Gaza and over a 1,000 others were injured.
According to Al Jazeera, Israeli forces have surrounded a house in the Israeli settlement of Ofakim and negotiations are underway with Palestinian fighters who are allegedly holding hostages. According to the Jerusalem Post, dozens of hostages are being by Hamas in the Kibbutz Be’eru in southern Israel.
Oct 07, 9:50 AM EDT
Biden briefed on attacks in Israel
President Joe Biden was briefed Saturday “on the appalling Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel,” according to the White House.
“Senior national security officials briefed the President this morning on the appalling Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel. The President will continue to receive updates and White House officials remain in close contact with Israeli partners,” the White House said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
Oct 07, 8:58 AM EDT
Defense secretary says US will ‘work to ensure that Israel has what it needs’
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin released a statement saying he is “closely monitoring” the situation in Israel and extended his condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives.
“Over the coming days the Department of Defense will work to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself and protect civilians from indiscriminate violence and terrorism,” Austin said.
Separately, a U.S. defense official said that Austin had a call with his team Saturday morning, including U.S. Centcom Commander Gen. Eric Kurilla. Israel falls under Centcom’s area of responsibility.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Oct 07, 8:01 AM EDT
Netanyahu says Israel is at ‘war’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a video statement on social media, saying simply, “We are at war. We will win,” in his first comments, made in Hebrew, after the attack.
“Citizens of Israel, we are at war, not in an operation or in rounds, but at war. This morning, Hamas launched a murderous surprise attack against the State of Israel and its citizens. We have been in this since the early morning hours. I convened the heads of the security establishment and ordered – first of all – to clear out the communities that have been infiltrated by terrorists,” Netanyahu said. “This currently is being carried out. At the same time, I have ordered an extensive mobilization of reserves and that we return fire of a magnitude that the enemy has not known. The enemy will pay an unprecedented price. In the meantime, I call on the citizens of Israel to strictly adhere to the directives of the IDF and Home Front Command. We are at war and we will win it.”
(LONDON) — At a small shelter in Uganda, members of the LGBTQ community seek refuge from persecution after their government enacted one of the world’s harshest anti-homosexuality laws earlier this year.
Henry, whose full name is being withheld for safety reasons, runs the shelter along with a local clinic he says also serves the general community.
“Somebody has just called me that they need shelter. He has been evicted, and he’s on his way,” Henry told ABC News foreign correspondent James Longman.
A man named Emmanuel arrives — he says he hasn’t slept in days and is seeking a place to stay to keep him off the streets. Later, he tells ABC News that he’s estranged from his family and recently got kicked out of his home after the landlord spotted his boyfriend visiting.
“Every day that goes by, you feel like it’s becoming more like you’re in a box,” said Emmanuel, whose full name is being withheld for safety reasons.
“My biggest fear is the police can find me anywhere,” Emmanuel said.
Despite that fear and the risk of showing his face, Emmanuel said he’s tired of hiding.
“I wouldn’t want to live in the fear. I’ll stand in, to be that person who is not scared of being who I really am,” Emmanuel said.
Uganda has effectively made being gay illegal of what the law calls “aggravated homosexuality” — up to life in prison or even execution. Someone simply advocating for gay rights could serve up to 20 years behind bars. Renting up a room to a gay couple could result in a 7-year prison sentence.
Critically, failing to report same-sex acts to the police is also a crime, creating a culture of suspicion that people like Henry and Emmanuel have seen firsthand.
“Right now, I’m one of the victims of the bill,” said Henry, who has been targeted and arrested before for helping gay people. Since ABC News’ visit to the clinic, police raided and shut Henry’s clinic down. Henry was arrested and released.
Hiding in plain sight
Just before the new law came into effect, Mona Lisa, a 29-year-old trans woman, had her home raided by Ugandan authorities. She was jailed for three months on charges of “homosexuality propaganda.”
Her apartment is the only place where she feels safe to be her true self. She pulls out a small suitcase from on top of a shelf. Inside, her prized outfits are stashed away in secret.
Donning a bright blue and yellow-patterned wrap and matching pants, a dark brown bob, and red lipstick, Mona Lisa says, “I feel perfect. I feel like this is the Mona I want to be like on a daily basis.”
While there was a time when it was safer to be her true self in public, she says, “It’s not happening now.”
Meanwhile, 27-year-old Eric was also arrested earlier this year. Inside his home, the young activist wears a striped rainbow shirt and his home is filled with color. His full name and location are being withheld for safety reasons.
But it’s not safe to go out like this, Eric says.
For Eric and his friends, just existing is a form of defiance. On this night, going out to a club is their act of resistance.
“You can’t go alone out — in case something happens. You can’t just go alone,” Eric said.
Gay clubs in Uganda have been shut down, so the group of friends head to a local dance party instead. It’s not illegal to have a good time, but those who are gay understand the risks.
Despite the positive energy at the party, there’s potential danger lurking beneath the surface. One complaint, one annoyed neighbor, one over-curious passerby, and it could all end with police sirens and violence.
Yet, for Eric and his friends, they say this release is crucial for their survival.
“I surround myself with people that accept me. It’s important,” Eric said.
Denying the law’s impact: ‘We look at gay as a deviation’
Asuman Basalirwa is one of the Ugandan lawmakers who sponsored the new law and says other countries should respect Uganda’s sovereignty.
“For us, we look at gay as a deviation,” Basalirwa told ABC News.
During a two-hour interview with Longman, Basalirwa repeatedly denied the negative impact of the new law on LGBT Ugandans.
“Let me tell you, I am a lawyer here, if anybody is being persecuted for existence, give me their contacts, I’ll represent them free of charge. Where are they?” Basalirwa said.
But Ugandan Human rights attorney Nicholas Opiyo says, “the stories I hear every day is different from what [Basalirwa] would want to tell you.”
“I have people who have been raped who are afraid to go to hospitals, because of fear of being reported. I have people who are hiding in their houses and are calling me for medical help, for food,” Opiyo told ABC News.
Exporting hate through evangelism
The Anglican church has spearheaded the anti-LGBTQ movement in Uganda, where more than 80% of people are Christian and nearly 14.4% of people are Muslim — with a heavy emphasis on “traditional family.”
Pastor Simeon Kawiya leads a Christian church in Kampala and is a supporter of the new anti-homosexuality law. Kawiya believes that being gay is taught and not how people are born.
“It’s not a human right to be gay. It’s not,” Kawaiya told ABC News.
“The Parliament of Uganda voted 100% in favor of anti-LGBT law. I mean, the whole country voted that way,” Kawaiya continued.
More than 30 African countries ban same-sex relations, according to Human Rights Watch.
But some people, including preacher Kapya Kaoma, claim anti-LGBTQ sentiment on the continent has been influenced from the outside.
“The whole idea of the persecution of African LGBTQ people did not come from Africa. American Christian rightists are behind it,” Kaoma told ABC News.
While working as a preacher in Uganda, Kaoma took videos of American preachers speaking against homosexuality in the country that became part of the award-winning documentary, “God Loves Uganda.”
Several media outlets, including Open Democracy, have reported that U.S.-based Christian groups — known for fighting everything from access to abortion to limiting LGBTQ right — spent tens of millions of dollars across Africa over the last decade or more.
The origins of the new anti-LGBTQ law in Uganda can be traced back to 2009, when a bill nicknamed “Kill the Gays” was drafted in parliament. It finally passed in 2014, but was struck down before it went into effect.
“The American Evangelicals also learned something. What they started doing is having conferences — Africans with American Christian rightists coming together,” Kaoma said.
Just before the new anti-LGBTQ law went into effect earlier this year, the government of Uganda hosted a conference titled, “Protecting African Culture and Family Values,” which included members of parliament and Uganda President Yoweri Museveni, who posted parts of it on his social media channels.
“There will be no promotion of homosexuality in Uganda,” Museveni said.
Ugandan state TV also showed Sharon Slater, head of Arizona-based evangelical group, Family Watch International, speaking at the conference.
“I cannot tell you the power that I think will reverberate across Africa that will affect the whole world from this conference…We must stop this cultural imperialism that is coming and destroying our children and our families,” Slater said.
Shortly after the conference, Museveni signed the anti-homosexuality bill into law.
“Sharon Slater cannot deny those connections, she has people working with her on the ground in Uganda,” Kaoma said.
Family Watch International denies it helped author Uganda’s anti-LGBTQ law. According to their website, the group says it opposed the bill and the penalties, including the death penalty and the part that would punish people for not turning in others.
“Family Watch pleaded with Uganda’s president that if he planned to sign the bill, to ensure that it be softened to include a safe-haven clause whereby people with unwanted same-sex attraction can voluntarily come forward to ask for help without fear of being arrested or penalized,” a statement on their website said.
Opiyo, the human rights lawyer, told ABC News, “Who I have sex with, who I love, is less important to a common person in the village.”
“Evangelical and cultural groups have jumped on this campaign as an issue for them, and have created a sense that there’s widespread hatred in this country,” Opiyo said.
Looking ahead
The United States government invests nearly $1 billion annually in Uganda, according to the U.S. Embassy in Uganda.
When asked what material response the Biden administration is planning, U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken told reporters at a press conference, “[Uganda’s anti-homosexuality act] infringes very clearly on the human rights of Ugandan citizens…President Biden directed the government to evaluate all aspects of our engagement with Uganda…That process is ongoing and when I have any news for you on that front, I will share it.”
It’s unclear if U.S. sanctions would have any effect.
The World Bank has already stopped lending to Uganda and the European Union denounced the bill as well.
Meanwhile, many of the young people in the country who spoke to ABC News wonder how they will survive in a country determined to punish them for merely living their lives.
“For me, it’s all about freedom. Let us live in the moment, and be loved,” Mona Lisa said.
ABC News’ Allie Weintraub, Jaclyn Skurie, Meagan Redman, and Stephanie Lorenzo contributed to this report.
