5 injured in thwarted potential ‘major attack’ at Israeli checkpoint in West Bank: Israeli officials
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Five people were injured in a shooting at an Israeli military checkpoint in the West Bank, sparking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to close off the entire area in what he described as a thwarted potential “major attack.”
Two Palestinian gunmen were killed by Israeli security forces after the shooting in Hebron, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The shooting left five people injured, including two who were in critical condition, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service.
Speaking at the scene, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said the attackers’ vehicle contained large quantities of ammunition and weapons, leading him to believe they may have been planning a larger attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the closure of the entire West Bank in response, according to a statement. The IDF also launched what it described as a counterterrorism operation in Hebron and surrounding villages.
Hamas stopped short of claiming responsibility for the shooting but praised the attack and called on its supporters to carry out further attacks against Israeli soldiers and settlers.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
A plane carrying passengers from an earlier Flydubai flight that was diverted to Saudi Arabia arrives at Ben Gurion Airport on Sept. 30, 2026, in Tzafria, Israel. (Erik Marmor/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The alleged attacker on the FlyDubai flight to Israel was intending to crash the plane into Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, according to two senior U.S. officials and an Israeli source familiar with the investigation.
As ABC News has previously reported, Hamam Al-Hammani, an Omani national, had been flagged by Oman Air as a security risk and was suspended as a trainee copilot for that airline in 2024 for possessing extremist materials, according to senior intelligence and law enforcement officials, raising questions about how he was hired at FlyDubai.
Officials investigating the incident are still trying to determine how the suspected attacker was subsequently permitted to fly for FlyDubai and how he ended up as the first officer in the cockpit of a plane headed for Israel, the sources said.
“We recognize that there are many questions at this stage; however, the circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation,” FlyDubai said in a statement to ABC News on Saturday.
“We are therefore not in a position to comment further beyond our published statements. We remain fully committed to supporting the ongoing investigation and are in close coordination with the relevant government authorities and regulators.”
FlyDubai issued a statement earlier Friday, attributed to its chief executive officer, saying that, at the request of the authorities, FlyDubai had “temporarily suspended operations to Tel Aviv until further notice,” and saying “a full official investigation, led by the relevant authorities and fully supported by FlyDubai, is underway.”
A disaster was averted when the flight’s captain, Smit Machchhar, fought back and a number of passengers subdued and restrained the attacker, who plunged the plane thousands of feet in an apparent attempt to crash it, in what Israeli officials are saying was an act of terror.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the intention was to “crash the plane, killing everyone on board” Flight 1073 from Dubai.
A passenger, Yaniv Hayun, was able to drag the suspect from the cockpit, take control of the plane and level it before a third pilot took over and flew the jet to Saudi Arabia, according to other passengers.
The plane was diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where it made an emergency landing.
Al-Hammami was transferred Thursday from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates and remains in custody.
“He came to crash the plane with all passengers on board,” Netanyahu said in a video released by his office. “We are investigating whether he was sent, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — France has confirmed its first Ebola case linked to the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as the United Nations warned that the outbreak is the fastest-growing in Africa’s history.
The patient in France is a humanitarian doctor who recently returned from the DRC and has been transferred to a specialist hospital, authorities confirmed.
French health officials said the case was detected quickly, the necessary precautions are in place and that there is no indication of local spread.
“France has specialized capabilities for managing highly transmissible infectious diseases,” France’s Ministry of Health said in a statement announcing the case. “Patients are treated in a designated healthcare facility, following strict biosafety protocols (negative pressure room, dedicated equipment and protocols). Health authorities are fully mobilized and the situation is being continuously monitored.”
“All precautionary measures, including the patient’s isolation, were taken upon his arrival in the country, with transfer to the hospital under secure conditions to prevent any risk of contamination,” the statement continued.
Officials said a thorough epidemiological investigation is underway to identify individuals who may have been in contact with the patient and that they will be contacted “without delay” by the regional health agency before undergoing 21 days of home isolation while being closely monitored the entire time.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said on Wednesday that the risk of infection is “low” for European residents and travelers to areas of active transmission, and “very low” for the general European population.
The development comes as U.N. officials warned on Tuesday that the Ebola outbreak in the DRC is spreading at an unprecedented pace.
As of Monday, there were 1,048 confirmed cases and 267 deaths, making it the largest number of confirmed Ebola cases recorded during the first month of an outbreak in Africa, according to Dr. Abdirahman Mahamud, director of heath and emergency alert and response operations at the World Health Organization.
Mahamud said it took just 37 days for the current outbreak to reach 250 deaths, compared to 78 days during the 2014 and 2016 West Africa outbreaks and 130 days during the 2018-2019 DRC outbreak.
Mahamud added that there are some signs the response has been scaled up to match the pace of the outbreak’s spread.
The number of beds available for treatment has risen in the last two weeks, “going from a handful to over 500 beds across 19 health zones,” he said.
Additionally, the U.N. said laboratory capacity has also increased from 30 tests a day in Kinshasa, the DRC’s capital, at the start of the outbreak to more than 2,000 tests per day through eight labs in the three provinces at the center of the outbreak.
Paolo Cravero, senior office of communications and media relations at the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said there is “a lack of trust in the response” among affected communities and that the organization is “working hard with communities to bridge that gap.”
“Rumor and misinformation are creating some difficulties,” he said.
US Marine Corps participate in the annual Key Resolve and Foal Eagle Exercise at Rodriguez Range on March 10, 2009, in Paju, South Korea. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he had directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises, citing his “very good” relationship with North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.
“Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
“Therefore, and based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises!” he said.
Trump said the exercises send “inappropriate and hostile” signals to North Korea, a country he says has been “unthreatening and respectful” towards America during his presidency.
The annual U.S.-South Korea Ulchi Freedom Shield began on Monday. An official from the South Korean Ministry of Defense told ABC News that the military exercise now underway “will be carried on as planned.”
South Korea is a longtime U.S. ally and hosts roughly 28,500 American troops. The U.S. presence on the peninsula has traditionally been intended to prevent a resumption of cross-border hostilities, with the Korean War of 1950-1953 having never officially ended.
In 2006, North Korea tested its first nuclear weapon and has since been expanding its atomic weapons stockpile — despite international condemnation and sanctions led by successive U.S. administrations — alongside a ballistic missile research program which has produced munitions capable of reaching the continental U.S.
In recent decades, the U.S. presence in South Korea has also become an important point of leverage in the strategic contest between Washington and Beijing, the latter having long served as Pyongyang’s prime patron.
Trump’s announcement came after North Korea on Friday threatened a strong response against the U.S. and South Korea in response to the planned drills.
In his post to social media, Trump also cited South Korea’s refusal to join the U.S. military effort against — and “denuclearization” of — Iran, though said the issue was “somewhat unrelated (?)” to his decision to scale back the U.S.-South Korean drills.
In response to Trump’s statement, South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told ABC News it hoped the “friendly relationship between the leaders of the United States and North Korea will lead to meaningful dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang and pave the way for discussions aimed at advancing peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.”
“The South Korean government has actively participated from the outset in international discussions aimed at securing a ceasefire in Iran and restoring freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz,” the ministry added.
Trump has long lauded his relationship with Kim, though the president’s first term began with an extended period of tensions that saw Trump repeatedly refer to Kim as “little rocket man” and threaten Pyongyang with “fire and fury.”
But the discord gave way to a detente that saw Trump and Kim meet in person three times in 2018 and 2019 — first in Singapore, then in Vietnam and later in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.
But despite seemingly improved ties and the in-person meetings, Trump failed to achieve his stated goal of North Korean denuclearization.
Since talks with Trump broke down in 2019, Pyongyang has maintained a steady rhythm of ballistic missile tests. Earlier this month and with the U.S.-South Korea military drills approaching, North Korea conducted two ballistic missile launches in quick succession.
Recent years have also seen North Korea pull closer to both Russia and Iran, putting Pyongyang in opposition to the U.S. and its allies in the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow-Pyongyang ties have reached an “unprecedented level of comprehensive strategic partnership.”
ABC News’ Joohee Cho and Hakyung Kate Lee contributed to this report.
