6 dead in suspected terror shooting, stabbing in Tel Aviv amid Iran missile attack
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(TEL AVIV, Israel) — At least six people were killed and nine others injured in a stabbing and shooting attack Tuesday night in Tel Aviv, Israel, according to the Israeli Police Spokesperson’s Unit.
The agency suspects terror as a motive in the incident. Both of the two alleged attackers have been killed, the unit said.
The two suspected terrorists started the killing on the city’s light rail system and continued on foot before they were killed by the Municipal Security Patrol and citizens present using personal firearms, according to police.
Large police forces are present and conducting extensive searches for any additional threats.
The incident took place on Yerushalayim Street in Tel Aviv.
The attack took place just prior to a large missile launch from Iran into Israel. About 180 missiles were launched at multiple targets in Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Most of the missiles were intercepted, but “several hits were identified, and the damage is being assessed,” an Israeli security official said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — The Israel Defense Forces continued its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza — particularly in the north of the strip — and in Lebanon, with Israeli attacks on targets nationwide including in the capital Beirut.
Tensions remain high between Israel and Iran after the former launched what it called “precise strikes on military targets” in several locations in Iran following Tehran’s Oct. 1 missile barrage.
Netanyahu fires Defense Minister Gallant
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and is replacing him with current Minister of Foreign Affairs Yisrael Katz.
The prime minister and defense minister must have “complete trust” during war, and “over the past few months this trust has been cracked between me and the Minister of Defense,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
Netanyahu said he tried to bridge the gaps, but “they kept widening.”
“They also came to the attention of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse, they came to the attention of the enemy – our enemies were pleased with this and benefited greatly from it,” he said.
Netanyahu said Katz “has already proven his abilities and his contribution to national security as Minister of Foreign Affairs, as Minister of Finance, as Minister of Intelligence for five years, and no less important than that, as a member of the political-security cabinet for many years.”
“He is known as a bulldozer in a combination of responsibility and firmness, quiet firmness,” Netanyahu said.
Families of hostages are critical of Netanyahu’s decision, saying it’s “unfortunate proof of the Israeli government’s poor prioritization.”
“The dismissal of Defense Minister Gallant is a direct continuation of the ‘efforts’ to torpedo the hostage deal,” the families said in a statement. “We demand that the incoming Defense Minister express an explicit commitment to ending the war and implementing a comprehensive deal to return all the hostages immediately.”
Gallant said in a brief statement, “The security of the State of Israel was and will always remain the mission of my life.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Famine risk looming in north Gaza, health officials warn
Acute food insecurity is a concern across Gaza, but the issue is especially pressing in the northern part of the strip where the Israeli military’s ongoing assault has intensified in recent weeks.
Dr. Abu Safiyeh — who works at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya — said the besieged facility is running out of all food, collecting video footage of the deteriorating situation there.
Safiyeh’s warning followed a statement last week from the United Nations’ food assistance arm warning that “the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza could soon escalate into a famine unless immediate action is taken.”
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Joe Simonetti
Gaza situation ‘has not significantly turned around,’ US says
The State Department said Monday that Israel has not done enough to improve humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, as a 30-day deadline looms for Israeli officials to meet certain requirements or risk potential restrictions on military assistance.
The U.S. set out its conditions in a letter sent to Israeli officials last month and signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The letter gave Israel until Nov. 12 to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to the devastated Palestinian territory.
“As of today, the situation has not significantly turned around,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
“We have seen an increase in some measurements,” Miller continued. “We’ve seen an increase in the number of crossings that are open. But just if you look at the stipulated recommendations in the letter, those have not been met.”
Miller did not say what steps the U.S. would take if the situation did not improve before the deadline. “I don’t want to forecast in any way what it is that we’ll do at the end of those 30 days,” he said.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston and Joe Simonetti
Deadly Israeli strikes continue in Gaza
Around 30 people were killed by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to Palestinian health officials.
At least 20 people — including eight women and six children — were killed by an airstrike on a home sheltering several displaced families in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, officials said.
The town is at the heart of Israel’s most recent offensive in the northern part of the strip, which officials at the Hamas-run Health Ministry say has killed around 1,800 people and injured another 4,000.
Separate strikes elsewhere in Gaza killed at least 10 people, health officials said.
-ABC News’ Bruno Nota and Joe Simonetti
Death toll in Lebanon crosses 3,000: Health ministry
More than 3,000 have been killed since the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began over a year ago, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
Sixteen people were killed in Lebanon on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 3,002, it said.
60 rockets fired into Israel, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said that at least 60 rockets were fired into Israel by Hezbollah on Monday.
Some of the rockets were intercepted and others fell “in open areas,” the IDF wrote on X.
The IDF also said it attacked one Hezbollah launcher suspected of firing up to 30 rockets, posting what it said was a video of the strike to its X page.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Israeli strikes kill 31 in Gaza, health officials say
Palestinian medics said Israeli airstrikes killed at least 31 people in Gaza on Sunday.
Almost half of the deaths occurred in northern areas, health officials said, where Israel Defense Forces troops are pressing an intense campaign intended to root out surviving Hamas fighters and stop its units from regrouping.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Monday that around 1,800 people have been killed and 4,000 injured by Israel’s north Gaza campaign, with “widespread destruction of hospitals and infrastructure.”
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Guy Davies
IDF says 4 drones intercepted in north and east
The Israel Defense Forces said in a post to X on Monday that military aircraft intercepted four drones.
Some of the unmanned aircraft were intercepted after crossing into Israel from Lebanon, while the others were shot down before entering the east of the country from the direction of Syria and Iraq, the IDF said.
IDF claims killing of Hezbollah commander in south Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that it killed Hezbollah’s commander of the Baraachit area of southern Lebanon in an airstrike.
The IDF said Abu Ali Rida was responsible for rocket and anti-tank missile attacks on Israeli forces and commanded Hezbollah units in the Nabatieh area.
Israel notifies UN of plans to terminate cooperation with UNRWA
The Israeli government notified the United Nations of its plans to terminate cooperation with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in a letter to the president of the U.N. General Assembly on Sunday.
UNRWA is the main U.N. agency operating in Gaza and is responsible for coordinating and supplying humanitarian aid. It also operates in the West Bank. The Israeli government has accused UNRWA of having ties to Hamas. After the initial accusations, the U.N. conducted an internal investigation, and some UNRWA staff members were fired.
Israel maintains that UNRWA still has ties to Hamas. But aid organizations warn if the agency stops operating in Gaza, the humanitarian crisis there will only worsen.
Israel’s termination of UNRWA in the country follows legislation passed by Israel’s parliament at the end of October severing the country’s ties with the organization.
Israel’s governmental body passed two bills — one banning UNRWA from operating in Israel, including in east Jerusalem, and another prohibiting any Israeli state or government agency from working with UNRWA or anyone on its behalf.
The legislation has a three-month waiting period before it goes into effect. It is set to go into effect at the end of January.
Israeli Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jacob Blitshtein wrote in the letter released Sunday that Israel will “continue to work with international partners, including other United Nations agencies, to ensure the facilitation of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not undermine Israel’s security.”
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Northern Gaza hospital says Israeli artillery fire injured children
The Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza said Israeli artillery fire hit a floor of the hospital, injuring children who were being treated there.
The hospital also said there was heavy bombing overnight on the block where it is located, threatening the nearby Al Yemen al Saeed Hospital.
The hospital director said in a statement on Sunday the glass of the doors and windows of the facility were shattered by the force of the blasts.
(TEL-AVIV, Israel) — Israel said it killed another top Hezbollah commander — Muhammad Hussein Srour, the commander of Hezbollah’s Aerial Command — in a “precise” strike on Beirut Thursday.
At least two people were killed, and 15 others were injured in a strike on Dahieh in Beirut, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Hezbollah has not yet commented on the death of its commander.
This comes hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will “continue the fighting with full force.”
At least 23 people were killed — including 19 Syrian refugees — and four others were injured after Israel struck a building on the Syrian-Lebanese border in another strike Thursday, officials said.
Nearly 700 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since Monday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Strikes this week follow the explosion of pagers and walkie-talkies throughout the country last week.
Netanyahu shot down the possibility of a cease-fire that could end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon after the U.S. and France said they have put a proposal on the table for a 21-day stop in fighting. He also said fighting in Gaza will continue until the goals of the war are achieved.
Despite the proposal on the table, all signs point to Israel preparing for a possible ground invasion into Lebanon.
President Joe Biden told reporters on Wednesday that there is global support for a 21-day cease-fire proposal that he and other leaders have called for.
“We were able to generate significant support from Europe, as well as the Arab nations. It’s important this war not widen,” Biden told reporters as he returned to the White House Thursday.
The president was returning from the U.N. General Assembly, where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday to discuss details of a joint statement announcing the proposal, according to senior administration officials.
The Israel Ministry of Defense secured a $8.7 billion U.S. aid package from Washington to support its ongoing military efforts. The package includes $3.5 billion for essential wartime procurement, which has already been transferred, and $5.2 billion designated for air defense systems, according to the Ministry of Defense.
Israel has said it is attacking Hezbollah in order to allow residents to return to the north.
As tensions continue to rise in the region, Iran “will not remain indifferent in case of a full-scale war in Lebanon,” the Iranian Foreign Minister said in comments to reporters Wednesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
He also warned Israel’s “crimes will not go unpunished,” and said the Middle East region “risks full-scale conflict” if the U.N. Security Council does not “act now to halt Israel’s war and enforce an immediate cease-fire.”
“The Israeli leaders must understand that their crimes will not go unpunished. The path to de-escalation is clear. Israel must immediately stop its attacks on Gaza and Lebanon. Without a cease-fire in Gaza, there will be no guarantee of peace in the region,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Wednesday.
“Iran will not remain indifferent in case of a full-scale war in Lebanon. We stand with the people of Lebanon with all means,” he added.
(MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA and LONDON) — About 105 people were killed and another 50 others were injured when a tanker exploded in Nigeria, a local police spokesperson said.
The petrol tanker exploded after the driver lost control in the town of Majiya, in northwestern Nigeria, late on Tuesday, Shi’isu Adam, a spokesperson for the Jigawa regional police, told reporters on Wednesday.
Distressing videos taken by eyewitnesses at the scene appeared to show large columns of smoke and flames spreading from the overturned vehicle. Eyewitnesses described the scene as that of chaos and despair, with many struggling to rescue the injured amidst the flames.
Jigawa state Gov. Umar Namadi was briefed on the latest death toll as he visited the scene of the accident in Majiya on Wednesday morning.
A local resident, Sani Umar, who narrowly escaped the inferno, recounted, “It was terrifying. People were running in all directions, screaming for help. The fire spread so quickly that many couldn’t escape.”
The patrol tanker had been heading to Nigeria’s Yobe state before it crashed at around 11:30 p.m. local time after the driver lost control of the vehicle, police said. Soon large crowds began to gather around the tanker at the scene of the accident, with some gathering leaking fuel from the truck when it exploded.
“We are worried that in spite of police warning people to stay clear from scenes of accidents involving fuel tankers, they still engage in such acts,” Adam told reporters on Wednesday. “People gathered around the accident scene; that is the reason for the mass casualties.”
At least 50 of those injured are continuing to receive medical treatment at the Ringim General Hospital for varying degrees of injuries, authorities said.
The area remained cordoned off on Wednesday as police continue investigations.
AT Abdullahi, the commissioner of police in Jigawa state, expressed on Wednesday his condolences to the families of the deceased and the entire people of Jigawa.
“This is a heartbreaking moment for us all,” Abdullahi said. “We share in the pain and sorrow of the families affected. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the bereaved
A mass burial for the victims is due to take place on Wednesday.
