No active wildfires after hundreds of firefighters battled outbreak near Athens
(LONDON) — Hundreds of firefighters battled dozens of wildfires into submission in Greece over two days, a “superhuman effort” that had been paired with a “rapid operational response” to slow fast-moving blazes that threatened Athens, officials said.
There are no active fires at the moment, the Hellenic Fire Service spokesperson said Tuesday evening local time in Greece.
“Firemen are watering the fire-affected areas today and will keep watering them [over the] next days to keep the ground moist and control possible rekindling,” the spokesperson said.
Fire crews will remain vigilant for possible flare-ups, the spokesperson added.
The European Union’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service estimates that 10,409.7 hectares, or more than 25,000 acres, were burned in the affected area in the Attica region of Greece.
Fire crews battled 41 wildfires over the past 24 hours, the Hellenic Fire Service said in an update earlier Tuesday.
The fire danger is expected to continue into Wednesday, with a “very high risk of fire” predicted in several areas in the regions of Central Macedonia, Eastern Macedonia and the North Aegean, according to the Hellenic Fire Service, which said there will be aerial surveillance patrols due to the risk.
The wildfires, which arrived amid extreme heat, had been cropping up throughout the country since at least Saturday, European officials said.
Greek officials, who said an “outbreak” began Sunday, asked the European Commission for help battling the fires on Monday, according to a notice published by the Commission’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre.
Greek authorities said Tuesday that two minors were arrested for allegedly setting an intentional fire in a forest area in the country’s Attica region, where some wildfires have been raging.
ABC News on Tuesday visited the scene of a shop that was engulfed in flames in the north Athens suburb of Vrilissia, where local authorities said the burned body of a woman was found late Monday. The circumstances of the death were still unclear, but authorities said it appeared the woman had stayed behind or may have been trapped as others evacuated the building, which was located some 18 miles from where a wildfire erupted in the wider Attica region.
Hundreds of firefighters had been working to stop the fast-moving wildfires Monday near Athens, with tens of thousands of people under evacuation orders in the region, emergency officials said. Those fires burned some 6,600 hectares, or about 25 square miles, in the East Attica region, European officials said.
Government officials warned of heightened risk for fire in several areas, including the Athens peninsula and the region north of it. The fire risk category in those areas had been raised to “extreme,” weather officials said in a statement released Sunday.
Those fires burned in a “rugged” location, where firefighters had to navigate mountains, forests and villages, Vassilis Kikilias, the Greek climate minister, said Tuesday.
“This is the reality: despite the rapid operational response — the new doctrine combined with technological support from drones, which has been applied to hundreds of wildfires throughout the summer — when extreme conditions prevail, the problem becomes insurmountable,” he said.
But calmer winds had helped firefighters near Athens get the upper hand on several fires burning in the suburbs.
European countries were sending assistance, including firefighters and vehicles. Italy was sending two planes, and France was sending a helicopter, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said on Monday. Teams of firefighters were on their way from Czechia and Romania, she said.
Temperatures near Athens were expected to climb on Tuesday to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with daily highs expected to be over 95 degrees for the remainder of the week, according to the Hellenic National Meteorological Center.
Dozens of blazes were burning Monday along the edges of a fire that broke out in Varnavas on Sunday afternoon, Col. Vassilios Vathrakogiannis, of the country’s fire service, said in a statement on Monday.
More than 700 firefighters and nearly 200 vehicles were working with the Civil Protection agencies, he said. Eighteen helicopters and 17 other firefighting aircraft had been in use since the Varnavas blaze began spreading.
Kikilias, the climate minister, said the people in towns north of Athens knew that “the firefighters, the Police, the Local Government, the volunteers, and the Army were there, fighting with superhuman efforts to prevent worse consequences.”
“These same firefighters have been working throughout the summer, extinguishing one fire after another,” he said.
ABC News’ Emma Ogao, Ellie Kaufman, Guy Davies, Britt Clennett and Daphne Tolls contributed to this report.
(SOLOTVYNSKA, Ukraine) — The barbed wire fence stretches along the bank of the river that marks Ukraine’s western border. Across the water, lie Romania and the European Union.
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, there was no fence here at this stretch of the Tisza River. But in the two and a half years since then, Ukraine has tightened security — not to keep Russians out, but Ukrainian men in.
Since 2022, Ukraine has barred most military-age men from leaving the country. As a result, the number seeking to cross the border illegally has soared, according to Ukraine’s border service. Aided by smugglers, some buy counterfeit paperwork to try to pass by official crossings. But others try a more desperate route, trying to sneak out on foot, taking their chances swimming across the river. Fast-flowing and cold, it is dangerous — at least two dozen men have died trying to make the crossing since 2022, according to the border service.
The flow of men and the reinforced security at the border reflect two hard truths Ukraine faces: its military is short on soldiers and it is struggling to find volunteers willing to fight.
Two and a half years of devastating fighting has severely depleted Ukraine’s forces, leaving them in some places heavily outnumbered by Russian troops. The shortage of troops means units are often unable to rotate off the frontline, leaving them exhausted. The issue is one of the key reasons why in recent weeks Russia has been creeping forward in the Donbas region.
In the early months of the war, a vast wave of Ukrainians volunteered to fight. But that wave is now largely exhausted and most of those eager to volunteer have already done so. As the war has become bogged down, with tens of thousands killed and wounded while the lines barely move, enthusiasm to join up has faded.
In recent months, Ukraine’s government has finally taken steps to address the manpower shortage. In late spring a law was passed to lower the conscription age and tightening draft rules. Conscription officers now patrol the streets looking for military-age men, checking their papers and sometimes taking away those who are subject to the draft. That has sent many young men into hiding, rarely venturing outside. Others have gone abroad.
One man, who ABC News is calling Ihor, left Ukraine late last year to avoid being drafted. ABC News is disguising his identity over fears he could face repercussions for speaking.
“When the war had only just started, then there was more patriotism. And then I also wanted to go to the army,” said Ihor.
But Ihor’s brother returned from the war with a spine injury, telling him not to join up. Ihor said his family began to beg him to leave before he could be drafted. He started to worry if he were disabled in fighting it would fall on his family to care for him, with little support from the state.
“I know people who are already dead, who were there two days and that was it, they died,’ said Ihor. “And it’s just, I understand that even if I go to war and become an invalid, then no one will care for me except for my relatives.”
Ihor said the decision to leave Ukraine was wrenching, wracking him with guilt.
“I have this feeling that my family are there, under missile strikes, under constant air raid alerts, and I am here in safety. I am torturing myself. Why I am here and not there? I already thought about going back,” he said.
For months, Ukraine’s government avoided passing a new mobilization law, fearful it would be unpopular, and also concerned to preserve its younger men crucial for the country’s economic future. Many of those illegally crossing the border are looking to go abroad to find work or see their families, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s Border Service told ABC News.
The issue of who should fight has opened a painful divide in Ukraine. Videos showing draft officers sometimes grabbing men off the street that circulate online have sparked outrage. In some incidents, scuffles have broken out as people try to prevent officers from taking men. Police insist such incidents are rare.
Public anger has also flared over videos showing young men drinking on the street in Kyiv and other cities, fueling complaints that the draft disproportionately targets poorer, rural areas, where people cannot afford to pay bribes to evade it.
As the war has dragged out, Ukrainian men have been confronted with anguishing dilemmas, asking themselves if their duty is to their family or to their country.
Others say they worry about being sent to the frontline with inadequate training, fearful of finding themselves in units still following Soviet-style tactics.
“You have to have been trained for many years to be an efficient soldier, not just cannon fodder,” another man, who ABC is calling Denys, told ABC News. “I think I will be killed the next 5 minutes.”
Denys left Ukraine in early 2023 with his family. He said he would be more willing to join the military if he could choose to be in a non-frontline role, such as a supply officer.
He said he worried for Ukraine and continued to pay taxes there and make monthly donations to the war effort.
“Of course I worry,” he said. “But I’m not sure that I will be a good soldier. And I’m not sure if I die, as I said, in the first 5 minutes, it can help my country, for my country to win. Maybe. Maybe. But I’m not sure about that.”
Ukraine has begun trying to reform its recruitment practices to give people more scope to choose their roles. Recruitment campaigns highlight technical specialists who can use their skills in the military, rather than being thrown into the frontline as infantry.
The expanded draft is also starting to have effects, according to independent military analysts. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians are answering the draft notices and are now undergoing basic training and should begin refilling the ranks this summer.
Some Ukrainians are also choosing to sign up for volunteer battalions to the side of the regular army and that have a better reputation for training and command.
Denys, a 26-year-old video game designer and graphic artist, in February joined the Da Vinci Wolves Battalion, one of the best-known volunteer formations.
“We each have to muster the courage,” Denys told ABC News as he waited to board a train in Kyiv with a group of other men bound for three months of basic training. “It took me about 2 years from the beginning to master my own. But I guess more to follow.”
Nearby Lyudmyla stood saying goodbye to her husband Pavlo, who was also embarking. She wiped away tears as the train began to move off.
Pavlo had decided he needed to join now in part so that their 20-year-old son would not have to fight in the future, she said.
“He told our son, ‘I’m going now so you don’t go there later. But get ready.’ Unfortunately, life is such that everyone has to be ready,” she said.
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, efforts to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization are ongoing, and Israeli forces have launched an assault in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Here’s how the news is developing:
129 killed, over 400 injured in Khan Younis as Israeli operation continues
At least 129 Palestinians have been killed and 416 others have been injured in and around Khan Younis since the beginning of the Israeli operation there earlier this week, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said Wednesday.
The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged the operation in Khan Younis was ongoing in another release Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz and Jordana Miller
5 people removed, arrested from House gallery during Netanyahu address
Five people have been removed and arrested from the House of Representatives gallery for disrupting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, according to U.S. Capitol Police
Capitol Police also said they deployed pepper spray toward part of a crowd of protesters that they alleged became “violent.”
“The crowd failed to obey our order to move back from our police line. We are deploying pepper spray towards anyone trying to break the law and cross that line,” Capitol Police said in tweet on X.
Schumer did not shake Netanyahu’s hand, some Senate Democrats not clapping for certain lines
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered the chamber, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer did not shake his hand.
Notably, a group of Senate Democrats sitting in the front row middle section of the chamber, including Schumer and Sen. Mark Kelly, stood but did not clap as Netanyahu entered the chamber — and many of them are not clapping at the applause lines that the majority of the chamber is clapping for.
In the earliest stages of his remarks, the group is seeming to be very strategic about which sentiments they do clap for.
Though they didn’t clap at Netanyahu’s entrance, they did all rise and stand to clap when Schumer said, “America and Israel must stand together.”
The group that appears to be being selective with their clapping includes Sens. Gary Peters, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kelly, Maggie Hassan, Cory Booker, Alex Padilla, Schumer, Debbie Stabenow, Richard Blumenthal and Amy Klobuchar.
21 Senate Democrats skip Netanyahu’s address to congress
Twenty-one Senate Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris were not in attendance for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress.
Thirty senate democrats were in the chamber on Wednesday. Sen. Ben Cardin, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is presiding over the chamber.
Notably, Rep. Rashida Tlaib — the only Palestinian-American in Congress — is sitting in the House chamber. She has said in the past Netanyahu should be arrested and is a war criminal. As Netanyahu entered the chamber, she remained seated.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is in attendance and sitting front and center on the aisle.
Sen. Mark Kelly, a potential vice president pick for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, is seated in the second row.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller and Allie Pecorin
No confirmed polio cases in Gaza yet, vaccination rate drops from 99% to 89%
No cases of poliovirus infection have been reported in Gaza yet, days after evidence of poliovirus was detected in wastewater across Gaza, Gaza Ministry of Health’s first care manager, Dr. Musa Abed, told ABC News.
Before the start of the conflict in October 2023, Polio vaccination coverage — conducted through routine immunization — was estimated at 99% in 2022, Abed said, confirming a United Nations report.
However, this number decreased with the outbreak of the war. The latest World Health Organization-UNICEF routine immunization statistics said that the number fell to approximately 89% in 2023 as newborns did not get vaccinated.
“Premature infants, children, and those with weak immunity are the groups most in need of these vaccinations,” Abed added.
He explained that people who were vaccinated before the war do not need to repeat the vaccination “because vaccination consists of several doses once in a lifetime.”
The Israel Defense Forces said it is planning to vaccinate troops that have been deployed to Gaza to prevent polio infection “to maintain the health of both the soldiers and Israeli citizens.”
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz, Jordana Miller, Emma Ogao and Morgan Winsor
Harris will separately meet with Netanyahu after Biden’s meeting
Vice President Kamala Harris will meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he meets with President Joe Biden, according to a White House official, who said that this was the plan prior to Biden announcing he’s exiting the race.
A cease-fire-hostage deal is believed to be close to being secured, with the United States saying to the Israelis, that it’s “too good a deal to pass up,” the official said.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Khan Younis bombardment death toll rises to 73
Gaza health officials said Tuesday that at least 73 people have been killed — including 24 children and 15 women — amid the Israeli military’s raids on eastern Khan Younis, which it had designated as a humanitarian zone.
The bombardment began early Monday as the Israel Defense Forces ordered people to evacuate.
About 200,000 Palestinians have evacuated the area since then, according to the IDF, and still many remain behind not knowing where to go.
Hamas, Fatah sign unity declaration in Beijing
Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed a unity declaration in Beijing working to end a yearslong rift, Chinese state media said Tuesday.
This is the 16th signed agreement between the rivals over the past decade. However, this agreement highlights China’s attempt to deepen its influence in the Middle East.
In a statement, Hamas described the so-called Beijing Declaration as an “additional positive step on the path to achieving Palestinian national unity,” adding “its importance comes in terms of the location and the host country.”
Hamas leader Hossam Badran described the declaration as “an important step on the path to national unity” and highlighted the host country’s role and “international weight.”
Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz condemned Fatah “embracing” Hamas “instead of rejecting terrorism.”
“In reality, this won’t happen because Hamas’s rule will be crushed, and Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar. Israel’s security will remain solely in Israel’s hands,” Katz said.
Families of hostages visit White House, urge Netanyahu to accept deal
Following their 10th meeting at the White House Monday, the families of Americans being held by Hamas demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accept a deal with Hamas to free the hostages.
“There are no more major security issues to be solved on Israel’s part, it is time to bring this to an end, to end the suffering of millions on the Palestinian side,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, told reporters following the meeting. “It is time to make that decision. No more delays.”
Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, told reporters their assumption is that Netanyahu will thank America for its steadfast support over the last 10 months and announce that he is “ready to be doing this deal.”
“If this deal doesn’t start, if the process doesn’t start, it will be seen as a failure,” she said. “We know that there are just a couple people deciding at this point. And we have optimism and hope and faith that these deciders will make the right decisions and we can start this process now.”
The families declined to share any details from their meeting with the White House National Security Council, which comes ahead of Netanyahu’s address to Congress this week.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Netanyahu arrives in DC
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in Washington, D.C., according to the Embassy of Israel to the USA.
He is scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden and give an address to Congress this week.
Sen. Ben Cardin to preside over Netanyahu address to Congress: Source
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., will preside over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress on Wednesday, a source confirmed to ABC News.
Cardin, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will be behind Netanyahu in the House chamber for the address.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the first in line to preside over the session, will be traveling on Wednesday and therefore not be in attendance.
A separate source confirmed to ABC News that Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. — who, as the Senate president pro tempore, is second in line for presiding — declined to preside.
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
At least 70 killed in Khan Younis area after new evacuation order: Gaza Health Ministry
At least 70 people were killed Monday in areas in eastern Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
It’s not clear how many of those 70 people were in a designated humanitarian safe zone or in areas where people were forced to evacuate.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed its forces hit more than 30 terror infrastructure sites in Khan Younis on Monday.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
2 hostages ‘no longer alive,’ IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces on Monday said two hostages, Alex Dancyg and Yagev Buchshtab, who were taken by Hamas militants, were “no longer alive.”
Their bodies “were being held by the Hamas terror organization,” IDF said in a statement. They were determined to be dead based on intelligence gathered by Israel’s Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Ministry of Religious Services and the Israel Police, the IDF said.
“The circumstances of their death in Hamas captivity are being examined by all the professional authorities,” IDF said.
There are 120 abductees still in Gaza. Of those, 46 abductees are no longer alive, according to the prime minister’s office.
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
Netanyahu shares what he will discuss with Biden on US trip
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will land in the U.S. on Monday, released a statement detailing what he plans to discuss with President Joe Biden.
He said they’ll talk about “how to advance in the critical months ahead the goals that are important for both our countries — achieving the release of all our hostages, defeating Hamas, confronting the terror axis of Iran, and ensuring that all of Israel’s citizens can return safely to their homes in the north and the south.”
Netanyahu added, “This will be an opportunity to thank him for the things he did for Israel in the war and during his long and distinguished career in public service, as senator, vice president, and president.”
Gaza death toll passes 39,000
The death toll in Gaza has risen to 39,006, with another 89,818 people hurt since the war broke out on Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
About one-third of the war victims were children, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health
Dozens killed, including children, in Israeli strike in Khan Yunis, hospital official says
At least 44 people, including six children, were killed in an Israeli strike on Khan Yunis, in the Gaza Strip, an official at Nasser Hospital told ABC News.
At least 90 people were injured, the hospital’s head of nursing said.
The Israeli military on Monday ordered the evacuation of part of a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza. The military said it will begin an operation against Hamas militants who are in the area and use it to launch rockets toward Israel.
The deadly strike in Khan Yunis began Sunday night before the evacuation order was announced.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
2 hostages ‘no longer alive,’ IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces on Monday said two hostages, Alex Dancyg and Yagev Buchshtab, who were taken by Hamas militants, were “no longer alive.”
Their bodies “were being held by the Hamas terror organization,” IDF said in a statement. They were determined to be dead based on intelligence gathered by Israel’s Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Ministry of Religious Services and the Israel Police, the IDF said.
“The circumstances of their death in Hamas captivity are being examined by all the professional authorities,” IDF said.
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
Poliovirus detected in wastewater across Gaza: WHO
Poliovirus has been detected in wastewater in multiple locations of the Gaza Strip, including two major cities in the region, the World Health Organization (WHO), Gaza health and Israeli officials confirmed on Sunday.
Among the locations where the poliovirus has been found in wastewater are Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Younis in southern Gaza, two major cities where the majority of people in the war-torn region currently reside, the officials said.
WHO officials said that while they have received no reports of people contracting polio symptoms in Gaza, an investigation is underway to identify how the virus has spread. WHO said it is working with UNICEF and the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to investigate and establish “prompt vaccination campaigns.”
Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that largely affects children under 5 years of age, according to WHO’s website. Since 1988, poliovirus cases worldwide have decreased by 99%, according to WHO.
The Israel Defense Forces announced Sunday that it will vaccinate all soldiers operating in Gaza to prevent the spread of poliovirus.
The IDF also said is is working with international organizations to provide polio vaccines for people in Gaza.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of WHO, sounded the alarm in a statement on Friday, saying, “The decimation of the health system, lack of security, access obstruction, constant population displacement, shortages of medical supplies, poor quality of water and weakened sanitation are increasing the risk of vaccine-preventable diseases, including polio.”
Ghebreyesus added, “This poses a risk for children and creates the perfect environment for diseases like polio to spread.”
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé
Netanyahu to meet with Biden on Tuesday in Washington
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with President Joe Biden in Washington on Tuesday, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Sunday.
The meeting between the two leaders is scheduled to occur at noon on Tuesday, Netanyahu’s office said.
Netanyahu’s flight to Washington is scheduled to leave Israel on Monday morning, the prime minister’s office said.
The meeting between Biden and Netanyahu will come ahead of the Israeli prime minister’s July 24 address to a joint session of Congress.
The two governments had tentatively scheduled a meeting between Biden, who is recovering from COVID, and Netanyahu on Monday.
However, a Biden administration official on Sunday disputed that a date and time have been set for the meeting with Netanyahu, and that an exact date and time are still dependent on when the president tests negative for COVID and returns to Washington, D.C. Biden has been self-isolating in Rehoboth, Delaware.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé and Justin Ryan Gomez
Jul 20, 2024, 2:05 PM EDT Houthis say ‘multiple’ dead, injured in Israeli airstrike on Yemen
Multiple people were killed and others have been injured in an Israeli strike on oil storage facilities in the port of Hodeidah in Yemen, according to the Houthis who said the attack will “only increase the resolve […] of the Yemeni people.”
The Houthis accused Israel of an attack that “targeted civilian facilities, oil tanks and the electricity station in Hodeidah, with the aim of doubling people’s suffering and pressuring Yemen to stop supporting Gaza.”
Israel said its attack came in response to over 200 projectiles that the Houthis have launched toward Israel, saying they targeted the port as as the main supply route for weapons transfers with Iran.
(NEW YORK) — With the senior leadership of Hamas shattered by a recent series of assassinations allegedly carried out by Israel, Yahya Sinwar, one of the key architects of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, now appears to be the de facto boss of the terrorist organization, experts said.
The 61-year-old leader of Hamas in Gaza is also among the top targets sought by Israel, which placed a $400,000 bounty on his head following the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel that left more than 1,200 people dead and 240 taken hostage.
“The real guy that the Israelis want to get and will likely eventually get is Sinwar and he’s in a tunnel likely somewhere in Gaza, still running the show within Gaza,” said ABC News contributor Stephen Ganyard, a retired Marine colonel and a former deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. State Department.
Israeli officials announced Thursday that they killed Mohammed Deif, commander of Hamas’ military wing, in a “precise, targeted strike” on July 13 in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. Deif and Sinwar were allegedly the masterminds of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
“In a world where you can be anything, Mohammed Deif chose to be a mastermind of terrorism,” Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X Thursday, confirming that he had been “eliminated.”
News of Deif’s demise came a day after Iranian officials confirmed that Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a bombing at a guest house in Tehran, where he was staying while attending the inauguration of Iran’s president-elect, Masoud Pezeshkian. While Israel has not claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s death, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for “revenge” against Israel.
IDF officials also announced that they had killed top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in a precision missile strike Tuesday in Beirut, claiming he had been orchestrating drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel, including one on Saturday in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 children and teenagers playing soccer.
The assassinations of the Hamas senior leaders have apparently left Sinwar calling the shots for Hamas, Ganyard said, at a time when negotiations involving the White House have been underway for a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages.
“So Sinwar is the guy,” said Ganyard. “Whether one of the political operatives gets taken out, they can still do the negotiations because eventually, Sinwar is going to have to agree to whatever negotiations go on.”
Ganyard said he expects the assassination of Haniyeh will put the Israel-Hamas cease-fire negotiations on hold as Iran decides how to retaliate for the death of Haniyeh on its soil.
“Who’s going to eventually call the shots is Sinwar. He’s the guy that’s going to have to agree to any kind of peace negotiation with the Israelis,” Ganyard said.
Who is Yahya Sinwar?
Yahya Sinwar has not been publicly heard from since Oct. 7, when Hamas and affiliated groups launched the surprise attack in Israel.
Sinwar helped establish Hamas in the late 1980s. In 1989, an Israeli court sentenced him to four life sentences for his role in killing suspected Palestinian informers and plotting to murder two Israeli soldiers. He spent 22 years in prison and was one of more than 1,000 Palestinian detainees who were released in 2011 in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held hostage by Hamas for five years.
At the time of his imprisonment, Sinwar was head of Hamas’ infamous internal security arm, Al-Majd. Israeli and Palestinian sources told ABC News that his job was to investigate members of Hamas who were potentially working with the Israelis.
In an interview with ABC News in December, Michael Koubi, a former officer in Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security organization, said he interrogated Sinwar, while he was a prisoner, for more than 150 hours.
Koubi described Sinwar as “tough,” devoid of emotions but “not a psychopath.”
Koubi told ABC News that Sinwar – dubbed “the butcher of Khan Younis,” for the town in Gaza that he is from – boasted during his interrogations about killing suspected Palestinian informants with “a razor blade” and “a machete.”
In 2017, six years after his release from an Israeli prison, Sinwar was elected the overall chief of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Sinwar’s ideology and long-term hatred toward Israel were what motivated him to attack the country on Oct. 7, according to Koubi.
Following the attack on Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Dec. 6 that it was “only a matter of time” before Sinwar is located. Israeli military leaders have described him as “a dead man walking.”
Koubi told ABC News that he expects Sinwar will eventually go down fighting.
“He wants to die a hero of the slum, as a hero of Hamas, as a hero of the Gaza people,” Koubi said.