U.S. Navy photo by Mass communication Specialist 2nd Class Malachi Lakey
(WASHINGTON) — The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group will leave the eastern Mediterranean Sea, where it was sent just after the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October, in the “coming days,” two U.S. officials tell ABC News.
The Ford is the U.S. Navy’s newest and largest aircraft carrier and was nearing the end of its first operational deployment when it was redirected to the eastern Mediterranean the day after Hamas terrorists launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent the carrier and the five other surface warships to deter Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran from broadening the conflict regionally, saying at the time: “As part of our effort to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamas’ attack on Israel.”
In December, Austin extended the carrier’s deployment for a third time to maintain that deterrence role as tensions in the region remained high.
A senior U.S. official and a U.S. official told ABC News that in the “coming days,” the carrier and other surface ships that make up the strike group will return to the carrier’s home port of Norfolk, Virginia, as originally scheduled so it could prepare for future deployments.
The senior U.S. official stressed that the carrier’s return will keep to that schedule and that even with the Ford’s departure, the United States will still have a lot of military capability in the region and flexibility, including the deployment of additional cruisers and destroyers in the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
“We have nothing to announce today,” said a Defense Department spokesman when contacted for comment.
Last week, the amphibious assault ships USS Bataan and USS Carter Hall arrived in the eastern Mediterranean from the Red Sea to reunite with the USS Mesa Verde.
The move reunited the three ships that had originally deployed together in July from North Carolina, as well as the 2,200 U.S. Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) aboard the ships.
In the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, other countries also sent warships to the eastern Mediterranean — creating the largest naval presence in that region in decades — as part of an effort to deter Hezbollah and Iran.
A second U.S. Navy carrier strike group, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, had originally been ordered to join the Ford in the eastern Mediterranean but was ordered to the Persian Gulf region to deter Iran from broadening the war between Israel and Hamas.
The Eisenhower remains deployed to the Middle East and is currently in the Gulf of Aden east of Yemen, where tensions have risen in recent weeks as Houthi militants have used drones and ballistic missiles to attack commercial shipping in the Red Sea region, purportedly as a show of support for Hamas.
Several U.S. Navy destroyers from both the Ford and Eisenhower strike groups have been deployed to the Red Sea, where they have brought down Houthi drones and missiles headed either in their direction or toward Israel.
Tensions escalated Sunday as U.S. Navy helicopters returned fire and sank three small boats carrying Houthi militants in the Red Sea, killing the crews, after U.S. warships responded to a distress call from a merchant vessel, military officials said.
Helicopters from the Eisenhower and the destroyer USS Gravely fired in self-defense after being shot at by Houthi militants aboard three fast small boats that were attacking a commercial vessel.
All the militants aboard three boats were killed, and a fourth boat fled, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command.
(NEW YORK) — The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended on Dec. 1, and Israel has resumed its bombardment of Gaza.
The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 31, 4:47 PM EST
IDF says it expects war to last all of 2024
The war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group is expected to last all of 2024, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces said Sunday.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a statement that the Israeli military is making adjustments to its deployment of troops in the Gaza Strip as it anticipates the war lasting for the entirety of 2024.
“We are adjusting the fighting methods to each area in Gaza, as well as the necessary forces to carry out the mission in the best way possible,” Hagari said. “Each area has different characteristics and different operational needs.”
Hagari added that as 2024 begins, “The goal of the war requires lengthy fighting, and we are prepared accordingly.”
The Israeli military, according to Hagari, will be carrying out “smart” management of its forces in Gaza, allowing reservists to return home to help boost the economy, and allowing standing army troops to train to become commanders.
“It will result in considerable relief for the economy, and will allow them to gain strength for operations next year, and the fighting will continue and we will need them,” Hagari said.
He said the adjustments are necessary for the IDF to endure the long road ahead.
“The IDF needs to plan ahead, out of the understanding that we will be needed for additional missions and continued fighting during the entire coming year,” Hagari said.
(NEW YORK) — U.S. Navy helicopters returned fire and and sank three small boats carrying Houthi militants in the Red Sea on Sunday, after U.S. warships responded to a distress call from a merchant vessel, military officials said.
A Maersk container ship, the Singapore-flagged Hangzhou, issued a distress call at about 6:30 a.m. local time, U.S. Central Command said in a statement on Sunday. The merchant vessel said four small boats were attacking it.
“The small boats, originating from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, fired crew-served and small-arms weapons at the Maersk Hangzhou, getting to within 20 meters of the vessel, and attempted to board the vessel,” Central Command said.
Helicopters from two U.S. ships — the USS Eisenhower and the USS Gravely — responded and issued verbal calls to the small boats, U.S. officials said.
While the helicopters were “in the process of issuing verbal calls to the small boats, the small boats fired upon the U.S. helicopters with crew served weapons and small arms,” Central Command said.
Service members aboard the Navy helicopters returned fire and sank three of the four small boats, killing the crews, U.S. officials said. The fourth boat fled the area.
In a statement Sunday, the Houthis said they lost 10 group members after U.S. forces fired on their vessels, referring to the engagement as “dangerous behavior” that will have “negative repercussions.”
The group also said it will continue operating in the Red Sea. “The American enemy bears the consequences of this crime and its repercussions,” the group said, in part.
The group also reiterated that it will “not hesitate to confront any aggression” against Yemen and renewed its “advice to all countries not to be drawn into the American plans aimed at igniting the conflict in the Red Sea.”
The U.S. does not seek to escalate the conflict, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on “Good Morning America” on Sunday.
“We don’t seek a conflict wider in the region and we’re not looking for a conflict with the Houthis,” Kirby told ABC News’ Whit Johnson. “The best outcome here would be for the Houthis to stop these attacks as we have made clear over and over again.”
Sunday’s incident was the second time in 24 hours that the Hangzhou had issued a distress call, U.S. Navy officials said.
The ship had been traveling on Saturday evening about 55 nautical miles southwest of Al Hudaydah, Yemen, when it was hit by an unknown object, a Maersk spokesperson told ABC News.
The 14,000-container vessel continued north afterward, heading toward its destination of Port Suez, Egypt.
“Maersk can also confirm that after the initial attack on the vessel, four boats approached the vessel and engaged fire in an expected attempt to board the vessel,” said Adhish Alawani, a Maersk spokesperson.
Maersk has delayed all transits through the area for the next 48 hours, as the incident is investigated, he said.
Kirby emphasized the importance of the Red Sea shipping corridor and the critical need to keep it safe and open for international commerce.
Asked if a pre-emptive strike is on the table, Kirby said “we’re not ruling anything in or out.”
“We have made it clear publicly to the Houthis and privately to our allies and partners, and we’re going to make the right decisions going forward,” he added.
(LONDON) — Dozens of Russian drones targeted civilian and military targets in Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian officials said, a day after Russia accused Ukraine of a deadly strike on a Russian border city.
Russia launched at least nine missiles and at least 49 drones before 6 a.m. Sunday, Ukrainian officials said. Ukraine’s military said it shot down 21 of the drones.
The assault targeted cities, including Kyiv, the capital, hitting administrative and residential buildings, Ukraine said. Four drones struck central Kharkiv, sparking fires that spread over about 1,000 square meters, the country’s State Emergency Service said on social media. No injuries or deaths had been reported, officials said.
The aerial assault followed two days of escalated shelling, including a strike on Saturday in Belgorod, Russia, that killed at least 21 people, according to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Dashcam video taken by a vehicle driving along a retail strip in Belgorod appeared to show a missile landing within the city, shattering nearby windows and sending pedestrians fleeing.
Ukraine has not claimed responsibility, but Russia blamed Ukraine for that deadly strike, which officials said injured another 111 people.
Russia a day earlier had launched one of its largest overnight aerial assaults on Ukraine since the war began. The attack began at about 11 p.m. on Thursday and lasted for several hours. It included at least 122 missiles and 36 drones, the Ukrainian Armed Forces said.
At least 41 people were killed and about 160 were injured, Ukrainian officials said.
The Ukrainian Air Force said it’s “never seen so many locations targeted simultaneously.”
ABC News’ Yulia Drozd and Edward Szekeres contributed to this story.
(NEW YORK) — The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended on Dec. 1, and Israel has resumed its bombardment of Gaza.
The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 30, 1:44 PM EST
Refugee camps hit in Gaza amid fierce fighting
Palestinians reported fierce Israeli tank fire and aerial bombing in Khan Younis in southern Gaza overnight, and strikes appear to be continuing this morning.
Israel said its forces in Gaza eliminated “dozens of terror operatives” in the past day. Planes also carried out a series of air strikes on the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, according to medics and Palestinian journalists.
Residents in the urban refugee camp of Bureij, a recent hot spot of combat along with Nuseirat, also reported Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Saturday. Israeli forces have been pounding Khan Younis in preparation for an anticipated further advance into the main southern city, swaths of which they captured in early December.
Israel said Saturday its troops have advanced further in southern Gaza, while raiding Hamas sites in Khan Younis, including the headquarters of the terror group’s intelligence division in the city.
According to Israel, the intelligence HQ was responsible for all of Hamas’s intelligence activity in the Khan Younis area.
Dec 30, 1:22 PM EST
Fighting continues on the border with Lebanon
Israel said that it struck three terror cells in southern Lebanon on Saturday. The IDF also said it carried out strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure and shelled areas in southern Lebanon.
The strikes came amid Hezbollah rocket, missile and drone attacks on northern Israel on Saturday, according to the IDF. According to Israel, 80% of the launches fired by Hezbollah toward Israel fell in Lebanon.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
Dec 29, 3:24 PM EST
Israel says it destroyed tunnels where Hamas general headquarters were located
The IDF said it has located and destroyed a hideout apartment of Yahya Sinwar — a Hamas leader — near Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip.
IDF soldiers examined the apartment using additional technological means and found that a strategic tunnel shaft was located on the basement floor. The soldiers inspected the tunnel shaft and reached a 715-foot, tunnel with a depth of over 65 feet that was apparently used by the senior officials of Hamas’ Military and Political Wing, according to the IDF.
The IDF said that the tunnel had an electrical network, ventilation and sewage infrastructure, hideout materials, prayer rooms and resting rooms. The IDF said the tunnel was built so that it would be possible to stay inside it and conduct combat for long periods of time.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
Dec 29, 2:47 PM EST
Gaza woman with cancer can’t receive treatment because of border closure
A 50-year-old woman who has been a cancer patient for three years says she has not been able to receive her continuing treatment in Jerusalem since the war began, she told ABC News.
Rida Kaskeen, who now lives in a makeshift tent in Rafah, had received chemical treatment for her cancer in Jerusalem before the war began. But since it started, border closures have kept her from being able to get her treatment.
“I am a cancer patient. I used to go every two weeks to take my dose in Al-Mutalaa Hospital. They were all there with respect and appreciation. They provided me with everything, from a hotel or in the hospital, to everything I wanted and needed. They were doing their duty and more,” Kaskeen told ABC News.
“My last dose was a week before the war. Every two weeks is the dose, and I have not taken the treatment for three months, and I know my end because I didn’t take the treatment and I lost weight and my situation is miserable,” Kaskeen said.
-ABC News’ Sami Zayara
Dec 29, 1:06 PM EST
Hamas leader will not travel to Cairo to discuss potential cease-fire deal
Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said he would not travel to Cairo on Friday to discuss its proposed cease-fire and hostage deal.
“There will be no visit by a Hamas delegation to Cairo today,” Hamdan said.
Another Hamas leader said the terror group would not negotiate while “under fire.”
“Any negotiations on the exchange of prisoners will take place after the cease-fire and the occupation’s withdrawal from Gaza,” Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzouk said. “We will not negotiate under fire.”
ABC News’ Nasser Atta
Dec 28, 3:44 PM EST
2 security personnel stabbed in Jerusalem
A man armed with a knife stabbed two officers working at the Mazmuria Crossing in southern Jerusalem on Thursday night, according to Israeli police.
The suspect stopped his car near the crossing’s inspection station and then got out and stabbed two security personnel who were on duty, police said.
One of the victims, as well as a border police officer, “confronted the terrorist, neutralizing him with gunfire,” police said.
The victims suffered “light to moderate injuries,” police said.
Dec 28, 3:13 PM EST
Refugee camp to be established in Khan Younis
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it’s working to establish the first organized camp for displaced people in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
The camp would initially have 300 tents and later expand to 1,000 tents, the PRCS said.
Dec 28, 3:03 PM EST
Egypt puts forward proposal for new hostage, cease-fire deal
Egypt has put forward a new proposal for a hostage and cease-fire deal, Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s state information service, said.
The proposal “aims to bring viewpoints closer between all sides involved, in an effort to stop the Palestinian bloodshed, end the aggression against the Gaza Strip and restore peace and stability in the region,” Rashwan said in a statement Thursday.
Egypt said it has not yet received any responses to the proposed framework.
-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy
Dec 28, 2:31 PM EST
American-Israeli-Canadian hostage confirmed dead
Judy Weinstein, a 70-year-old American-Israeli-Canadian hostage, was confirmed dead on Thursday, Kibbutz Nir Oz said in a statement.
Weinstein was fatally wounded during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and her body remains held in Gaza, the kibbutz said.
Her husband, American-Israeli Gad Haggai, was also killed on Oct. 7 and his body also remains in Gaza, the kibbutz said. His death was confirmed last week.
Weinstein, a mother of four and grandmother of seven, was an English teacher who specialized in helping children with special needs, Kibbutz Nir Oz said.
“For the past few years she has also taught Mindfulness to children and teenagers who suffered from anxiety caused by the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza,” the kibbutz said. “Judy was a poet, entrepreneur, and pursued many initiatives to advance peace in the region.”
President Joe Biden said in a statement that he’s “devastated” to learn of Weinstein’s death.
“We are holding Judith and Gad’s four children, seven grandchildren, and other loved ones close to our hearts,” Biden said. “I will never forget what their daughter, and the family members of other Americans held hostage in Gaza, have shared with me. They have been living through hell for weeks. No family should have to endure such an ordeal. And I reaffirm the pledge we have made to all the families of those still held hostage: we will not stop working to bring them home.”
Weinstein was the last American woman being held hostage by Hamas who had not been released, according to the Hostage Families Forum.
Dec 28, 1:58 PM EST
Netanyahu to hostage families: ‘We are not giving up’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with representatives of the families of hostages on Thursday and promised them, “We are not giving up.”
The families shared their concerns about the conditions of their loved ones and their questions about what will be done to promote their release.
“We are in contact, even at this moment,” Netanyahu said at the beginning of the meeting.
“I cannot detail the status,” he said, adding, “We are working to return everyone — that is our goal.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Dec 28, 1:50 PM EST
IDF publishes findings into investigation of accidental killing of 3 hostages
The Israel Defense Forces has published the findings of its investigation into the accidental killing of three hostages by IDF soldiers in the Shejaiya area of Gaza on Dec. 15.
The IDF Chief of the General Staff concluded that “the IDF failed in its mission to rescue” them and “the entire chain of command feels responsible.”
The three hostages — 28-year-old Yotam Haim, 26-year-old Alon Shamriz and 22-year-old Samer Talalka — were carrying a stick with a white cloth, and the IDF initially said its forces “mistakenly identified” the men as a threat. Soldiers opened fire, killing two of the men.
The third hostage, who was injured, ran back into the building where all three had emerged from, and someone cried “help” in Hebrew. The battalion commander ordered his troops to stop firing, but, despite the order, another burst was fired, killing the third hostage, according to the IDF.
The investigation “revealed that the command ranks had information about the presence of hostages in the Shejaiya area and even took actions to prevent strikes on locations suspected of having hostages inside,” the findings said.
But the probe also revealed that “IDF soldiers involved in the incident experienced complex combat situations in the days preceding the incident and were in a state of high alert for a threat,” the findings said. “During the battles, they encountered deceptions by the enemy and attempts to draw them into pits and buildings rigged with explosives.”
Days before Dec. 15, IDF soldiers heard cries for help in Hebrew.
“The forces interpreted this as a terrorist deception attempt,” the investigation said.
“Some of the forces heard the cries but suspected it was an attempt by the terrorists to draw the forces inside the building to harm them, as had happened in the past,” the investigation said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Dec 28, 11:01 AM EST
American-Israeli-Canadian hostage confirmed dead
Judy Weinstein, a 70-year-old American-Israeli-Canadian hostage, was confirmed dead on Thursday, Kibbutz Nir Oz said in a statement.
Weinstein was fatally wounded during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and her body remains held in Gaza, the kibbutz said.
Her husband, American-Israeli Gad Haggai, was also killed on Oct. 7 and his body also remains in Gaza, the kibbutz said. His death was confirmed last week.
Weinstein, a mother of four and grandmother of seven, was an English teacher who specialized in helping children with special needs, Kibbutz Nir Oz said.
“For the past few years she has also taught Mindfulness to children and teenagers who suffered from anxiety caused by the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza,” the kibbutz said. “Judy was a poet, entrepreneur, and pursued many initiatives to advance peace in the region.”
Dec 27, 3:33 PM EST
Israeli forces destroy tunnel near Gaza hospital: IDF
Israeli forces have destroyed an underground tunnel near the Rantisi Hospital in northern Gaza, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a briefing.
The tunnel infrastructure, several kilometers long, “connected different locations in the Strip,” Hagari said. “[Israeli] forces uncovered three tunnel shafts in the area of the hospital, with one of them coming out of a school.”
“The tunnel network included steel doors, command control rooms, emergency rooms, many weapons that were underground and other intelligence materials,” he said.
This comes as Israeli forces “are at a very high level of readiness for the expansion of the war” in northern Gaza, Hagari said.
“We are in the final stages of the attack in the Al Burj area in the northern Gaza Strip, where we killed many terrorists,” he said.
Hagari added that Israel is also “attacking all the infrastructure that Hezbollah has built near the [Lebanon-Israel] border.”
In southern Gaza, Israeli “forces are fighting in several areas,” Hagari said. “One in the area called Al Burj in the central [Gaza] camps, where we are attacking for a third day. The second is in Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip, a major terror center of Hamas. There we expanded the operation — today we added another division to this area and we continue to operate there with new combat methods above and below the ground.”
Dec 27, 1:54 PM EST
Egyptian president meets with King of Jordan, says ‘international community must push’ for cease-fire
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Egypt on Wednesday and said “the international community must push towards” a cease-fire.
“Both leaders affirmed their complete rejection of all attempts to liquidate the Palestinian issue or to displace the Palestinians from their lands or their internal displacement, stressing that the only solution that the international community must push towards implementing is an immediate cease-fire, and the entry of relief aid in the necessary quantities and at the speed that will make a real difference in alleviating the suffering of the people of the Gaza Strip,” according to a readout from the Egyptian spokesman for the Presidency Counselor Ahmed Fahmy.
“Talks also focused on regional developments, especially in the Gaza Strip and the humanitarian tragedy it faces, which resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries and the displacement of hundreds of thousands,” the readout added.
ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy
Dec 27, 1:43 PM EST
WHO delivers aid, supplies to Gaza hospitals
The World Health Organization said it delivered much-needed aid and supplies to Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza and the Palestine Red Crescent Society’s Al-Amal Hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday.
Palestinians mourn relatives, who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, during a mass funeral at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Dec. 25, 2023, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas.
Al-Shifa and Al-Amal hospitals are also operating as shelters for displaced residents, sheltering 50,000 people and 14,000 people respectively, according to the WHO.
Gaza has 13 partially functioning hospitals, two minimally functioning hospitals and 21 hospitals that are not functioning at all, causing the hospitals that are functioning to become overloaded with patients who need help, according to the WHO.
Displaced Palestinian children watch from inside a tent as a man mourns relatives, who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, during a mass funeral at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Dec. 25, 2023, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas.
“Today I repeat my call on the international community to take urgent steps to alleviate the grave peril facing the population of Gaza and jeopardizing the ability of humanitarian workers to help people with terrible injuries, acute hunger, and at severe risk of disease,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
Tedros said a cease-fire is needed “to spare civilians from further violence and begin the long road towards reconstruction and peace.”
Dec 27, 12:08 PM EST
20 killed in strike in Khan Younis
Twenty people have been killed in a strike on a building near the Red Cross Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. The death toll is likely to rise, the Gaza Ministry of Health said.
ABC News Nasser Atta
Dec 27, 11:07 AM EST
At least 241 killed in Gaza in 24 hours
At least 241 people have been killed in Gaza in a 24-hour period, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
This comes as Israeli forces expand their ground offensive to central Gaza, launching over 200 rockets in one day, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
Dec 26, 4:36 PM EST
Gaza faces another telecommunications blackout: PRCS
Gaza is facing another telecommunications blackout, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
“This presents a significant challenge for emergency medical teams in reaching the wounded and injured,” the organization warned.
Dec 26, 4:27 PM EST
Israel’s war cabinet meets about possible hostage deals: Source
Israel’s war cabinet is meeting to discuss operational issues of the war as well as the hostages, according to an Israeli political source.
There are several hostage deals being discussed, the Israeli source said, including a proposal from Egyptians that would involve a cease-fire in exchange for the release of more hostages and lead to a broader agreement involving a permanent cease-fire, along with an overhaul of leadership in Gaza, according to an Egyptian source.
Dec 26, 3:00 PM EST
Israeli forces expand into central Gaza
Israeli forces have “expanded operations into central Gaza,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.
In Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the Israelis “are fighting with new methods” and “constantly adjusting our tactics based on the needs of the military operations,” Hagari said.
And in northern Gaza, Israeli forces have “attacked an array of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon,” he said.
Dec 26, 12:41 PM EST
80,000 vials of vaccines delivered to Gaza
About 80,000 vials of the measles mumps and rubella vaccine, also called the MMR vaccine, have been delivered to Gaza, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
The MMR vaccine is routinely given to children starting at 12 months old to 15 months old and again at 4 years old to 6 years old.
Dec 26, 11:47 AM EST
120 aid trucks enter Gaza on Monday
On Christmas Day, 60 trucks crossed into Gaza via Egypt’s Rafah border crossing, and an additional 60 trucks entered Gaza through Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing, said Wael Abu Omar, the Palestinian spokesman for the Rafah crossing.
On Christmas Eve, the Royal Jordanian Air Force conducted its seventh airdrop of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the U.S. Embassy of Jordan said.
Dec 26, 11:35 AM EST
Israeli defense minister: Israel ‘under attack from 7 different sectors’
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in a special discussion of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said Israel is “under attack from seven different sectors: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran.”
“We have already reacted and acted in six of them. And I say this in the most explicit way: Anyone who acts against us is a potential target,” Gallant warned. “There is no immunity for anyone.”
Dec 25, 4:36 PM EST
IDF says it found Hamas infrastructure in Indonesian Hospital in Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces said its soldiers have discovered “evidence connecting Hamas’ terrorist activities” to northern Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital.
The IDF said a white Toyota truck “of the same type used by Hamas” in the Oct. 7 attack was found “in the inner compound of the hospital,” “along with additional weapons.”
The IDF also said that in the hospital’s inner compound was a Toyota Corolla belonging to the family of Samer Talalka, who was one of the three Israeli hostages held in Gaza who was mistakenly killed by the IDF. Bloodstains belonging to another hostage were found in the car, the IDF said.
“The finding of the vehicle directly links the hospital to the brutal events of October 7th,” the IDF said.
ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Dec 25, 3:34 PM EST
Netanyahu heckled by families of hostages: Report
Families of hostages reportedly heckled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he gave a speech in Parliament on Monday, according to Reuters.
The families, sitting in the chamber, held posters of their loved ones and interrupted Netanyahu as he spoke, per Reuters.
Netanyahu said in his address that military pressure is needed to free the remaining people being held hostage by Hamas, Reuters reported.
Dec 25, 11:11 AM EST
Lebanon carries out launches toward Israel, IDF says
Lebanon has carried out a number of launches toward several locations in northern Israel over the last few hours, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
“A short while ago,” Israeli tanks hit Hezbollah infrastructure sites in Lebanon “used for directing terrorist activity,” according to the IDF.
ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Dec 25, 10:55 AM EST
Hamas, Islamic Jihad reject Egypt’s proposal for cease-fire, hostage release: Egyptian security source
Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have rejected an Egyptian proposal that they relinquish power in the Gaza Strip in return for a permanent cease-fire, an Egyptian security source confirmed to ABC News.
Egypt proposed a “vision,” also backed by Qatari mediators, that would involve a cease-fire in exchange for the release of more hostages and lead to a broader agreement involving a permanent cease-fire, along with an overhaul of leadership in Gaza, the Egyptian security source said. However, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad rejected the proposal, the source said.
The Israeli War Cabinet was planning on meeting to discuss this proposal Monday evening local time. It is unclear if they will still discuss the proposal.
(NEW YORK) — The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended on Dec. 1, and Israel has resumed its bombardment of Gaza.
The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 29, 3:24 PM EST
Israel says it destroyed tunnels where Hamas general headquarters were located
The IDF said it has located and destroyed a hideout apartment of Yahya Sinwar — a Hamas leader — near Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip.
IDF soldiers examined the apartment using additional technological means and found that a strategic tunnel shaft was located on the basement floor. The soldiers inspected the tunnel shaft and reached a 715-foot, tunnel with a depth of over 65 feet that was apparently used by the senior officials of Hamas’ Military and Political Wing, according to the IDF.
The IDF said that the tunnel had an electrical network, ventilation and sewage infrastructure, hideout materials, prayer rooms and resting rooms. The IDF said the tunnel was built so that it would be possible to stay inside it and conduct combat for long periods of time.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
Dec 29, 2:47 PM EST
Gaza woman with cancer can’t receive treatment because of border closure
A 50-year-old woman who has been a cancer patient for three years says she has not been able to receive her continuing treatment in Jerusalem since the war began, she told ABC News.
Rida Kaskeen, who now lives in a makeshift tent in Rafah, had received chemical treatment for her cancer in Jerusalem before the war began. But since it started, border closures have kept her from being able to get her treatment.
“I am a cancer patient. I used to go every two weeks to take my dose in Al-Mutalaa Hospital. They were all there with respect and appreciation. They provided me with everything, from a hotel or in the hospital, to everything I wanted and needed. They were doing their duty and more,” Kaskeen told ABC News.
“My last dose was a week before the war. Every two weeks is the dose, and I have not taken the treatment for three months, and I know my end because I didn’t take the treatment and I lost weight and my situation is miserable,” Kaskeen said.
-ABC News’ Sami Zayara
Dec 29, 1:06 PM EST
Hamas leader will not travel to Cairo to discuss potential cease-fire deal
Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said he would not travel to Cairo on Friday to discuss its proposed cease-fire and hostage deal.
“There will be no visit by a Hamas delegation to Cairo today,” Hamdan said.
Another Hamas leader said the terror group would not negotiate while “under fire.”
“Any negotiations on the exchange of prisoners will take place after the cease-fire and the occupation’s withdrawal from Gaza,” Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzouk said. “We will not negotiate under fire.”
ABC News’ Nasser Atta
Dec 28, 3:44 PM EST
2 security personnel stabbed in Jerusalem
A man armed with a knife stabbed two officers working at the Mazmuria Crossing in southern Jerusalem on Thursday night, according to Israeli police.
The suspect stopped his car near the crossing’s inspection station and then got out and stabbed two security personnel who were on duty, police said.
One of the victims, as well as a border police officer, “confronted the terrorist, neutralizing him with gunfire,” police said.
The victims suffered “light to moderate injuries,” police said.
Dec 28, 3:13 PM EST
Refugee camp to be established in Khan Younis
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it’s working to establish the first organized camp for displaced people in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
The camp would initially have 300 tents and later expand to 1,000 tents, the PRCS said.
Dec 28, 3:03 PM EST
Egypt puts forward proposal for new hostage, cease-fire deal
Egypt has put forward a new proposal for a hostage and cease-fire deal, Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s state information service, said.
The proposal “aims to bring viewpoints closer between all sides involved, in an effort to stop the Palestinian bloodshed, end the aggression against the Gaza Strip and restore peace and stability in the region,” Rashwan said in a statement Thursday.
Egypt said it has not yet received any responses to the proposed framework.
-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy
Dec 28, 2:31 PM EST
American-Israeli-Canadian hostage confirmed dead
Judy Weinstein, a 70-year-old American-Israeli-Canadian hostage, was confirmed dead on Thursday, Kibbutz Nir Oz said in a statement.
Weinstein was fatally wounded during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and her body remains held in Gaza, the kibbutz said.
Her husband, American-Israeli Gad Haggai, was also killed on Oct. 7 and his body also remains in Gaza, the kibbutz said. His death was confirmed last week.
Weinstein, a mother of four and grandmother of seven, was an English teacher who specialized in helping children with special needs, Kibbutz Nir Oz said.
“For the past few years she has also taught Mindfulness to children and teenagers who suffered from anxiety caused by the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza,” the kibbutz said. “Judy was a poet, entrepreneur, and pursued many initiatives to advance peace in the region.”
President Joe Biden said in a statement that he’s “devastated” to learn of Weinstein’s death.
“We are holding Judith and Gad’s four children, seven grandchildren, and other loved ones close to our hearts,” Biden said. “I will never forget what their daughter, and the family members of other Americans held hostage in Gaza, have shared with me. They have been living through hell for weeks. No family should have to endure such an ordeal. And I reaffirm the pledge we have made to all the families of those still held hostage: we will not stop working to bring them home.”
Weinstein was the last American woman being held hostage by Hamas who had not been released, according to the Hostage Families Forum.
Dec 28, 1:58 PM EST
Netanyahu to hostage families: ‘We are not giving up’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with representatives of the families of hostages on Thursday and promised them, “We are not giving up.”
The families shared their concerns about the conditions of their loved ones and their questions about what will be done to promote their release.
“We are in contact, even at this moment,” Netanyahu said at the beginning of the meeting.
“I cannot detail the status,” he said, adding, “We are working to return everyone — that is our goal.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Dec 28, 1:50 PM EST
IDF publishes findings into investigation of accidental killing of 3 hostages
The Israel Defense Forces has published the findings of its investigation into the accidental killing of three hostages by IDF soldiers in the Shejaiya area of Gaza on Dec. 15.
The IDF Chief of the General Staff concluded that “the IDF failed in its mission to rescue” them and “the entire chain of command feels responsible.”
The three hostages — 28-year-old Yotam Haim, 26-year-old Alon Shamriz and 22-year-old Samer Talalka — were carrying a stick with a white cloth, and the IDF initially said its forces “mistakenly identified” the men as a threat. Soldiers opened fire, killing two of the men.
The third hostage, who was injured, ran back into the building where all three had emerged from, and someone cried “help” in Hebrew. The battalion commander ordered his troops to stop firing, but, despite the order, another burst was fired, killing the third hostage, according to the IDF.
The investigation “revealed that the command ranks had information about the presence of hostages in the Shejaiya area and even took actions to prevent strikes on locations suspected of having hostages inside,” the findings said.
But the probe also revealed that “IDF soldiers involved in the incident experienced complex combat situations in the days preceding the incident and were in a state of high alert for a threat,” the findings said. “During the battles, they encountered deceptions by the enemy and attempts to draw them into pits and buildings rigged with explosives.”
Days before Dec. 15, IDF soldiers heard cries for help in Hebrew.
“The forces interpreted this as a terrorist deception attempt,” the investigation said.
“Some of the forces heard the cries but suspected it was an attempt by the terrorists to draw the forces inside the building to harm them, as had happened in the past,” the investigation said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Dec 28, 11:01 AM EST
American-Israeli-Canadian hostage confirmed dead
Judy Weinstein, a 70-year-old American-Israeli-Canadian hostage, was confirmed dead on Thursday, Kibbutz Nir Oz said in a statement.
Weinstein was fatally wounded during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and her body remains held in Gaza, the kibbutz said.
Her husband, American-Israeli Gad Haggai, was also killed on Oct. 7 and his body also remains in Gaza, the kibbutz said. His death was confirmed last week.
Weinstein, a mother of four and grandmother of seven, was an English teacher who specialized in helping children with special needs, Kibbutz Nir Oz said.
“For the past few years she has also taught Mindfulness to children and teenagers who suffered from anxiety caused by the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza,” the kibbutz said. “Judy was a poet, entrepreneur, and pursued many initiatives to advance peace in the region.”
Dec 27, 3:33 PM EST
Israeli forces destroy tunnel near Gaza hospital: IDF
Israeli forces have destroyed an underground tunnel near the Rantisi Hospital in northern Gaza, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a briefing.
The tunnel infrastructure, several kilometers long, “connected different locations in the Strip,” Hagari said. “[Israeli] forces uncovered three tunnel shafts in the area of the hospital, with one of them coming out of a school.”
“The tunnel network included steel doors, command control rooms, emergency rooms, many weapons that were underground and other intelligence materials,” he said.
This comes as Israeli forces “are at a very high level of readiness for the expansion of the war” in northern Gaza, Hagari said.
“We are in the final stages of the attack in the Al Burj area in the northern Gaza Strip, where we killed many terrorists,” he said.
Hagari added that Israel is also “attacking all the infrastructure that Hezbollah has built near the [Lebanon-Israel] border.”
In southern Gaza, Israeli “forces are fighting in several areas,” Hagari said. “One in the area called Al Burj in the central [Gaza] camps, where we are attacking for a third day. The second is in Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip, a major terror center of Hamas. There we expanded the operation — today we added another division to this area and we continue to operate there with new combat methods above and below the ground.”
Dec 27, 1:54 PM EST
Egyptian president meets with King of Jordan, says ‘international community must push’ for cease-fire
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Egypt on Wednesday and said “the international community must push towards” a cease-fire.
“Both leaders affirmed their complete rejection of all attempts to liquidate the Palestinian issue or to displace the Palestinians from their lands or their internal displacement, stressing that the only solution that the international community must push towards implementing is an immediate cease-fire, and the entry of relief aid in the necessary quantities and at the speed that will make a real difference in alleviating the suffering of the people of the Gaza Strip,” according to a readout from the Egyptian spokesman for the Presidency Counselor Ahmed Fahmy.
“Talks also focused on regional developments, especially in the Gaza Strip and the humanitarian tragedy it faces, which resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries and the displacement of hundreds of thousands,” the readout added.
ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy
Dec 27, 1:43 PM EST
WHO delivers aid, supplies to Gaza hospitals
The World Health Organization said it delivered much-needed aid and supplies to Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza and the Palestine Red Crescent Society’s Al-Amal Hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday.
Palestinians mourn relatives, who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, during a mass funeral at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Dec. 25, 2023, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas.
Al-Shifa and Al-Amal hospitals are also operating as shelters for displaced residents, sheltering 50,000 people and 14,000 people respectively, according to the WHO.
Gaza has 13 partially functioning hospitals, two minimally functioning hospitals and 21 hospitals that are not functioning at all, causing the hospitals that are functioning to become overloaded with patients who need help, according to the WHO.
Displaced Palestinian children watch from inside a tent as a man mourns relatives, who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, during a mass funeral at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Dec. 25, 2023, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas.
“Today I repeat my call on the international community to take urgent steps to alleviate the grave peril facing the population of Gaza and jeopardizing the ability of humanitarian workers to help people with terrible injuries, acute hunger, and at severe risk of disease,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
Tedros said a cease-fire is needed “to spare civilians from further violence and begin the long road towards reconstruction and peace.”
Dec 27, 12:08 PM EST
20 killed in strike in Khan Younis
Twenty people have been killed in a strike on a building near the Red Cross Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. The death toll is likely to rise, the Gaza Ministry of Health said.
ABC News Nasser Atta
Dec 27, 11:07 AM EST
At least 241 killed in Gaza in 24 hours
At least 241 people have been killed in Gaza in a 24-hour period, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
This comes as Israeli forces expand their ground offensive to central Gaza, launching over 200 rockets in one day, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
Dec 26, 4:36 PM EST
Gaza faces another telecommunications blackout: PRCS
Gaza is facing another telecommunications blackout, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
“This presents a significant challenge for emergency medical teams in reaching the wounded and injured,” the organization warned.
Dec 26, 4:27 PM EST
Israel’s war cabinet meets about possible hostage deals: Source
Israel’s war cabinet is meeting to discuss operational issues of the war as well as the hostages, according to an Israeli political source.
There are several hostage deals being discussed, the Israeli source said, including a proposal from Egyptians that would involve a cease-fire in exchange for the release of more hostages and lead to a broader agreement involving a permanent cease-fire, along with an overhaul of leadership in Gaza, according to an Egyptian source.
Dec 26, 3:00 PM EST
Israeli forces expand into central Gaza
Israeli forces have “expanded operations into central Gaza,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.
In Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the Israelis “are fighting with new methods” and “constantly adjusting our tactics based on the needs of the military operations,” Hagari said.
And in northern Gaza, Israeli forces have “attacked an array of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon,” he said.
Dec 26, 12:41 PM EST
80,000 vials of vaccines delivered to Gaza
About 80,000 vials of the measles mumps and rubella vaccine, also called the MMR vaccine, have been delivered to Gaza, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
The MMR vaccine is routinely given to children starting at 12 months old to 15 months old and again at 4 years old to 6 years old.
Dec 26, 11:47 AM EST
120 aid trucks enter Gaza on Monday
On Christmas Day, 60 trucks crossed into Gaza via Egypt’s Rafah border crossing, and an additional 60 trucks entered Gaza through Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing, said Wael Abu Omar, the Palestinian spokesman for the Rafah crossing.
On Christmas Eve, the Royal Jordanian Air Force conducted its seventh airdrop of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the U.S. Embassy of Jordan said.
Dec 26, 11:35 AM EST
Israeli defense minister: Israel ‘under attack from 7 different sectors’
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in a special discussion of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said Israel is “under attack from seven different sectors: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran.”
“We have already reacted and acted in six of them. And I say this in the most explicit way: Anyone who acts against us is a potential target,” Gallant warned. “There is no immunity for anyone.”
Dec 25, 4:36 PM EST
IDF says it found Hamas infrastructure in Indonesian Hospital in Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces said its soldiers have discovered “evidence connecting Hamas’ terrorist activities” to northern Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital.
The IDF said a white Toyota truck “of the same type used by Hamas” in the Oct. 7 attack was found “in the inner compound of the hospital,” “along with additional weapons.”
The IDF also said that in the hospital’s inner compound was a Toyota Corolla belonging to the family of Samer Talalka, who was one of the three Israeli hostages held in Gaza who was mistakenly killed by the IDF. Bloodstains belonging to another hostage were found in the car, the IDF said.
“The finding of the vehicle directly links the hospital to the brutal events of October 7th,” the IDF said.
ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Dec 25, 3:34 PM EST
Netanyahu heckled by families of hostages: Report
Families of hostages reportedly heckled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he gave a speech in Parliament on Monday, according to Reuters.
The families, sitting in the chamber, held posters of their loved ones and interrupted Netanyahu as he spoke, per Reuters.
Netanyahu said in his address that military pressure is needed to free the remaining people being held hostage by Hamas, Reuters reported.
Dec 25, 11:11 AM EST
Lebanon carries out launches toward Israel, IDF says
Lebanon has carried out a number of launches toward several locations in northern Israel over the last few hours, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
“A short while ago,” Israeli tanks hit Hezbollah infrastructure sites in Lebanon “used for directing terrorist activity,” according to the IDF.
ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Dec 25, 10:55 AM EST
Hamas, Islamic Jihad reject Egypt’s proposal for cease-fire, hostage release: Egyptian security source
Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have rejected an Egyptian proposal that they relinquish power in the Gaza Strip in return for a permanent cease-fire, an Egyptian security source confirmed to ABC News.
Egypt proposed a “vision,” also backed by Qatari mediators, that would involve a cease-fire in exchange for the release of more hostages and lead to a broader agreement involving a permanent cease-fire, along with an overhaul of leadership in Gaza, the Egyptian security source said. However, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad rejected the proposal, the source said.
The Israeli War Cabinet was planning on meeting to discuss this proposal Monday evening local time. It is unclear if they will still discuss the proposal.
(NEW YORK) — A United States Navy ship in the Red Sea shot down a ballistic missile and a drone on Thursday night, officials confirmed to ABC News.
The USS Mason shot down one drone and an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Houthis — an armed group backed by Iran — into the Southern Red Sea, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
Eighteen ships, mostly cargo ships, were in the area at the time; however, CENTCOM said there was no damage to any of the vessels and no reported injuries.
Thursday night’s attack was the 22nd attempted attack by the Houthi rebels on international shipping since mid-October.
Due to the escalating crisis in the Red Sea, the U.S. recently announced it had launched an international task force for maritime security.
State Department officials said the Biden administration’s initial goal was to bring together a broad array of international powers to rein in the Houthis, who control a significant amount of territory in Yemen.
Earlier this month, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder addressed the escalation of the attacks.
“We’re continuing to take the situation in the Red Sea extremely seriously, there should be no doubt about that,” Ryder said at the time. “The actions that we’ve seen from these Houthi forces are destabilizing, they’re dangerous, and clearly a flagrant violation of international law. And so this is an international problem that requires an international solution.”
A State Department official previously said that the U.S. has sent multiple messages to the Houthis via various diplomatic channels warning them against continuing their indiscriminate attacks, however, those threats appear to have had little impact, as the Houthis continue to insist they will stop only when Israel’s war in Gaza ends.
(NEW YORK) — The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended on Dec. 1, and Israel has resumed its bombardment of Gaza.
The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 29, 1:06 PM EST
Hamas leader will not travel to Cairo to discuss potential cease-fire deal
Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said he would not travel to Cairo on Friday to discuss its proposed cease-fire and hostage deal.
“There will be no visit by a Hamas delegation to Cairo today,” Hamdan said.
Another Hamas leader said the terror group would not negotiate while “under fire.”
“Any negotiations on the exchange of prisoners will take place after the cease-fire and the occupation’s withdrawal from Gaza,” Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzouk said. “We will not negotiate under fire.”
ABC News’ Nasser Atta
Dec 28, 3:44 PM EST
2 security personnel stabbed in Jerusalem
A man armed with a knife stabbed two officers working at the Mazmuria Crossing in southern Jerusalem on Thursday night, according to Israeli police.
The suspect stopped his car near the crossing’s inspection station and then got out and stabbed two security personnel who were on duty, police said.
One of the victims, as well as a border police officer, “confronted the terrorist, neutralizing him with gunfire,” police said.
The victims suffered “light to moderate injuries,” police said.
Dec 28, 3:13 PM EST
Refugee camp to be established in Khan Younis
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it’s working to establish the first organized camp for displaced people in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
The camp would initially have 300 tents and later expand to 1,000 tents, the PRCS said.
Dec 28, 3:03 PM EST
Egypt puts forward proposal for new hostage, cease-fire deal
Egypt has put forward a new proposal for a hostage and cease-fire deal, Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s state information service, said.
The proposal “aims to bring viewpoints closer between all sides involved, in an effort to stop the Palestinian bloodshed, end the aggression against the Gaza Strip and restore peace and stability in the region,” Rashwan said in a statement Thursday.
Egypt said it has not yet received any responses to the proposed framework.
-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy
Dec 28, 2:31 PM EST
American-Israeli-Canadian hostage confirmed dead
Judy Weinstein, a 70-year-old American-Israeli-Canadian hostage, was confirmed dead on Thursday, Kibbutz Nir Oz said in a statement.
Weinstein was fatally wounded during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and her body remains held in Gaza, the kibbutz said.
Her husband, American-Israeli Gad Haggai, was also killed on Oct. 7 and his body also remains in Gaza, the kibbutz said. His death was confirmed last week.
Weinstein, a mother of four and grandmother of seven, was an English teacher who specialized in helping children with special needs, Kibbutz Nir Oz said.
“For the past few years she has also taught Mindfulness to children and teenagers who suffered from anxiety caused by the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza,” the kibbutz said. “Judy was a poet, entrepreneur, and pursued many initiatives to advance peace in the region.”
President Joe Biden said in a statement that he’s “devastated” to learn of Weinstein’s death.
“We are holding Judith and Gad’s four children, seven grandchildren, and other loved ones close to our hearts,” Biden said. “I will never forget what their daughter, and the family members of other Americans held hostage in Gaza, have shared with me. They have been living through hell for weeks. No family should have to endure such an ordeal. And I reaffirm the pledge we have made to all the families of those still held hostage: we will not stop working to bring them home.”
Weinstein was the last American woman being held hostage by Hamas who had not been released, according to the Hostage Families Forum.
Dec 28, 1:58 PM EST
Netanyahu to hostage families: ‘We are not giving up’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with representatives of the families of hostages on Thursday and promised them, “We are not giving up.”
The families shared their concerns about the conditions of their loved ones and their questions about what will be done to promote their release.
“We are in contact, even at this moment,” Netanyahu said at the beginning of the meeting.
“I cannot detail the status,” he said, adding, “We are working to return everyone — that is our goal.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Dec 28, 1:50 PM EST
IDF publishes findings into investigation of accidental killing of 3 hostages
The Israel Defense Forces has published the findings of its investigation into the accidental killing of three hostages by IDF soldiers in the Shejaiya area of Gaza on Dec. 15.
The IDF Chief of the General Staff concluded that “the IDF failed in its mission to rescue” them and “the entire chain of command feels responsible.”
The three hostages — 28-year-old Yotam Haim, 26-year-old Alon Shamriz and 22-year-old Samer Talalka — were carrying a stick with a white cloth, and the IDF initially said its forces “mistakenly identified” the men as a threat. Soldiers opened fire, killing two of the men.
The third hostage, who was injured, ran back into the building where all three had emerged from, and someone cried “help” in Hebrew. The battalion commander ordered his troops to stop firing, but, despite the order, another burst was fired, killing the third hostage, according to the IDF.
The investigation “revealed that the command ranks had information about the presence of hostages in the Shejaiya area and even took actions to prevent strikes on locations suspected of having hostages inside,” the findings said.
But the probe also revealed that “IDF soldiers involved in the incident experienced complex combat situations in the days preceding the incident and were in a state of high alert for a threat,” the findings said. “During the battles, they encountered deceptions by the enemy and attempts to draw them into pits and buildings rigged with explosives.”
Days before Dec. 15, IDF soldiers heard cries for help in Hebrew.
“The forces interpreted this as a terrorist deception attempt,” the investigation said.
“Some of the forces heard the cries but suspected it was an attempt by the terrorists to draw the forces inside the building to harm them, as had happened in the past,” the investigation said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Dec 28, 11:01 AM EST
American-Israeli-Canadian hostage confirmed dead
Judy Weinstein, a 70-year-old American-Israeli-Canadian hostage, was confirmed dead on Thursday, Kibbutz Nir Oz said in a statement.
Weinstein was fatally wounded during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and her body remains held in Gaza, the kibbutz said.
Her husband, American-Israeli Gad Haggai, was also killed on Oct. 7 and his body also remains in Gaza, the kibbutz said. His death was confirmed last week.
Weinstein, a mother of four and grandmother of seven, was an English teacher who specialized in helping children with special needs, Kibbutz Nir Oz said.
“For the past few years she has also taught Mindfulness to children and teenagers who suffered from anxiety caused by the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza,” the kibbutz said. “Judy was a poet, entrepreneur, and pursued many initiatives to advance peace in the region.”
Dec 27, 3:33 PM EST
Israeli forces destroy tunnel near Gaza hospital: IDF
Israeli forces have destroyed an underground tunnel near the Rantisi Hospital in northern Gaza, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a briefing.
The tunnel infrastructure, several kilometers long, “connected different locations in the Strip,” Hagari said. “[Israeli] forces uncovered three tunnel shafts in the area of the hospital, with one of them coming out of a school.”
“The tunnel network included steel doors, command control rooms, emergency rooms, many weapons that were underground and other intelligence materials,” he said.
This comes as Israeli forces “are at a very high level of readiness for the expansion of the war” in northern Gaza, Hagari said.
“We are in the final stages of the attack in the Al Burj area in the northern Gaza Strip, where we killed many terrorists,” he said.
Hagari added that Israel is also “attacking all the infrastructure that Hezbollah has built near the [Lebanon-Israel] border.”
In southern Gaza, Israeli “forces are fighting in several areas,” Hagari said. “One in the area called Al Burj in the central [Gaza] camps, where we are attacking for a third day. The second is in Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip, a major terror center of Hamas. There we expanded the operation — today we added another division to this area and we continue to operate there with new combat methods above and below the ground.”
Dec 27, 1:54 PM EST
Egyptian president meets with King of Jordan, says ‘international community must push’ for cease-fire
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Egypt on Wednesday and said “the international community must push towards” a cease-fire.
“Both leaders affirmed their complete rejection of all attempts to liquidate the Palestinian issue or to displace the Palestinians from their lands or their internal displacement, stressing that the only solution that the international community must push towards implementing is an immediate cease-fire, and the entry of relief aid in the necessary quantities and at the speed that will make a real difference in alleviating the suffering of the people of the Gaza Strip,” according to a readout from the Egyptian spokesman for the Presidency Counselor Ahmed Fahmy.
“Talks also focused on regional developments, especially in the Gaza Strip and the humanitarian tragedy it faces, which resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries and the displacement of hundreds of thousands,” the readout added.
ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy
Dec 27, 1:43 PM EST
WHO delivers aid, supplies to Gaza hospitals
The World Health Organization said it delivered much-needed aid and supplies to Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza and the Palestine Red Crescent Society’s Al-Amal Hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday.
Palestinians mourn relatives, who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, during a mass funeral at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Dec. 25, 2023, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas.
Al-Shifa and Al-Amal hospitals are also operating as shelters for displaced residents, sheltering 50,000 people and 14,000 people respectively, according to the WHO.
Gaza has 13 partially functioning hospitals, two minimally functioning hospitals and 21 hospitals that are not functioning at all, causing the hospitals that are functioning to become overloaded with patients who need help, according to the WHO.
Displaced Palestinian children watch from inside a tent as a man mourns relatives, who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, during a mass funeral at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Dec. 25, 2023, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas.
“Today I repeat my call on the international community to take urgent steps to alleviate the grave peril facing the population of Gaza and jeopardizing the ability of humanitarian workers to help people with terrible injuries, acute hunger, and at severe risk of disease,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
Tedros said a cease-fire is needed “to spare civilians from further violence and begin the long road towards reconstruction and peace.”
Dec 27, 12:08 PM EST
20 killed in strike in Khan Younis
Twenty people have been killed in a strike on a building near the Red Cross Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. The death toll is likely to rise, the Gaza Ministry of Health said.
ABC News Nasser Atta
Dec 27, 11:07 AM EST
At least 241 killed in Gaza in 24 hours
At least 241 people have been killed in Gaza in a 24-hour period, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
This comes as Israeli forces expand their ground offensive to central Gaza, launching over 200 rockets in one day, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
Dec 26, 4:36 PM EST
Gaza faces another telecommunications blackout: PRCS
Gaza is facing another telecommunications blackout, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
“This presents a significant challenge for emergency medical teams in reaching the wounded and injured,” the organization warned.
Dec 26, 4:27 PM EST
Israel’s war cabinet meets about possible hostage deals: Source
Israel’s war cabinet is meeting to discuss operational issues of the war as well as the hostages, according to an Israeli political source.
There are several hostage deals being discussed, the Israeli source said, including a proposal from Egyptians that would involve a cease-fire in exchange for the release of more hostages and lead to a broader agreement involving a permanent cease-fire, along with an overhaul of leadership in Gaza, according to an Egyptian source.
Dec 26, 3:00 PM EST
Israeli forces expand into central Gaza
Israeli forces have “expanded operations into central Gaza,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.
In Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the Israelis “are fighting with new methods” and “constantly adjusting our tactics based on the needs of the military operations,” Hagari said.
And in northern Gaza, Israeli forces have “attacked an array of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon,” he said.
Dec 26, 12:41 PM EST
80,000 vials of vaccines delivered to Gaza
About 80,000 vials of the measles mumps and rubella vaccine, also called the MMR vaccine, have been delivered to Gaza, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
The MMR vaccine is routinely given to children starting at 12 months old to 15 months old and again at 4 years old to 6 years old.
Dec 26, 11:47 AM EST
120 aid trucks enter Gaza on Monday
On Christmas Day, 60 trucks crossed into Gaza via Egypt’s Rafah border crossing, and an additional 60 trucks entered Gaza through Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing, said Wael Abu Omar, the Palestinian spokesman for the Rafah crossing.
On Christmas Eve, the Royal Jordanian Air Force conducted its seventh airdrop of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the U.S. Embassy of Jordan said.
Dec 26, 11:35 AM EST
Israeli defense minister: Israel ‘under attack from 7 different sectors’
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in a special discussion of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said Israel is “under attack from seven different sectors: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran.”
“We have already reacted and acted in six of them. And I say this in the most explicit way: Anyone who acts against us is a potential target,” Gallant warned. “There is no immunity for anyone.”
Dec 25, 4:36 PM EST
IDF says it found Hamas infrastructure in Indonesian Hospital in Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces said its soldiers have discovered “evidence connecting Hamas’ terrorist activities” to northern Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital.
The IDF said a white Toyota truck “of the same type used by Hamas” in the Oct. 7 attack was found “in the inner compound of the hospital,” “along with additional weapons.”
The IDF also said that in the hospital’s inner compound was a Toyota Corolla belonging to the family of Samer Talalka, who was one of the three Israeli hostages held in Gaza who was mistakenly killed by the IDF. Bloodstains belonging to another hostage were found in the car, the IDF said.
“The finding of the vehicle directly links the hospital to the brutal events of October 7th,” the IDF said.
ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Dec 25, 3:34 PM EST
Netanyahu heckled by families of hostages: Report
Families of hostages reportedly heckled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he gave a speech in Parliament on Monday, according to Reuters.
The families, sitting in the chamber, held posters of their loved ones and interrupted Netanyahu as he spoke, per Reuters.
Netanyahu said in his address that military pressure is needed to free the remaining people being held hostage by Hamas, Reuters reported.
Dec 25, 11:11 AM EST
Lebanon carries out launches toward Israel, IDF says
Lebanon has carried out a number of launches toward several locations in northern Israel over the last few hours, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
“A short while ago,” Israeli tanks hit Hezbollah infrastructure sites in Lebanon “used for directing terrorist activity,” according to the IDF.
ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Dec 25, 10:55 AM EST
Hamas, Islamic Jihad reject Egypt’s proposal for cease-fire, hostage release: Egyptian security source
Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have rejected an Egyptian proposal that they relinquish power in the Gaza Strip in return for a permanent cease-fire, an Egyptian security source confirmed to ABC News.
Egypt proposed a “vision,” also backed by Qatari mediators, that would involve a cease-fire in exchange for the release of more hostages and lead to a broader agreement involving a permanent cease-fire, along with an overhaul of leadership in Gaza, the Egyptian security source said. However, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad rejected the proposal, the source said.
The Israeli War Cabinet was planning on meeting to discuss this proposal Monday evening local time. It is unclear if they will still discuss the proposal.
(KYIV and LONDON) — Russia’s military struck cities across Ukraine overnight, sending waves of missiles and drones in an hourslong attack that Ukrainian officials said may be among the biggest since the war began nearly two years ago.
The Ukrainian Air Force said it’s “never seen so many locations targeted simultaneously.”
The aerial attack began at about 11 p.m. on Thursday and lasted for several hours. It included at least 122 missiles and 36 drones, the Ukrainian Armed Forces said.
Civilian hubs, including Kyiv, were among the targets, military officials said. Deaths were reported in at least three cities, with many others injured, local officials said.
“We will surely respond to terrorist strikes,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media. “And we will continue to fight for the security of our entire country, every city, and every citizen. Russian terror must and will lose.”
The attack hit targets including a “maternity ward, educational facilities, a shopping mall, multi-story residential buildings and private homes, a commercial storage, and a parking lot,” Zelenskyy said.
Along with Kyiv, the cities Russia struck included Lviv, Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, he said.
“Unfortunately, there have been fatalities and injuries as a result of the strikes,” he said. “All services are working around the clock and providing the necessary aid. My condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. I wish a speedy recovery to those injured.”
Last year, on Dec. 29, 2022, the Russian military had launched 70 missiles over Ukraine, marking one of the biggest missile attacks on Ukraine at the time. Ukrainian officials downed 58 of those missiles, they said at the time.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this story.
(NEW YORK) — Rawan, a 10-year-old Palestinian girl, said she is fearful living in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war. But she can find moments to be a kid again and cheer on others at her shelter school.
“We play to forget the pain we experienced,” Rawan, who lost a cousin in the war, told ABC News on Wednesday during a visit to a shelter school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Volunteers at the school organize things like soccer games, and children can play with toys like hula hoops and balls. Volunteer Filastin Zoroub said the children are thrilled to just hold a toy.
“They forgot the joy, they forgot the smile, they forgot that they could play with each other,” Zoroub told ABC News. “Their great reaction when they saw the toys is evidence that they miss them a lot, because they were only seeing missiles, seeing violence, always killing, death.”
In the Gaza Strip, at least 20,915 people have been killed and more than 54,900 others have been injured since the Israel-Hamas war began, according to figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry and Government Media Office. In Israel, more than 1,200 people have been killed and 6,900 others injured by the Hamas terrorist organization and other Palestinian militants since Oct. 7, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
About 70% of those killed amid Israel’s bombardment and ground operations in Gaza since Oct. 7 are reported to be women and children, according to the UNRWA.
Humanitarian agencies have repeatedly warned of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.
The IDF has said it is only targeting Hamas and other militants in Gaza and alleges that Hamas deliberately shelters behind civilians, which the group denies.
MORE: Israel-Gaza live updates
Zoroub said the children at the shelter school are “exposed to great pressures: occupation, psychological pressure, fear and terror.”
“We do what we can to put a smile on their faces, take them out of the pressures and fear they are in, for a little while, so that they feel that they are living a little of their childhood that is already missing,” she said.
One young boy at the UNRWA shelter school told ABC News the staff focuses on trying to improve the lives of the children.
“There is a team that works to make the children happy here at school,” the boy, Karam, said.
