German Christmas market attack toll rises to 5 killed, 200 injured, minister says
Car drives into crowd at Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany. Via ABC News
(LONDON) — At least five people are now known to have been killed in the vehicle-ramming attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg on Friday, the Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt Reiner Haseloff told journalists on Saturday.
Haseloff said that at least 200 more people were injured when a car plowed into festive market-goers in the eastern German city, around 75 miles west of the capital Berlin.
A young child and an adult were among those killed in the attack, according to Haseloff. At least 15 of those injured were seriously hurt, according to a local official.
A suspect — a doctor from Saudi Arabia aged around 50 — was arrested, Haselhoff said. The man has lived in Germany since 2006. A rental car was used in the attack, the minister said.
The motive is unknown at this time, U.S. sources said. But U.S. law enforcement sources told ABC News that German authorities are treating the attack as a terrorist incident.
“We send our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed and injured and to all those affected by this terrible incident,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
“We stand in solidarity with the people of Germany in grieving the loss of life. The United States is ready to provide assistance as recovery efforts continue and authorities investigate this horrible incident,” Miller’s statement continued.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz offered his condolences to those affected. “My thoughts are with the victims and their families,” Scholz said in a statement. “We stand by their side and by the side of the people of Magdeburg. My thanks go to the dedicated rescue workers in these anxious hours.”
Friday’s ramming incident came almost exactly eight years after a similar terror attack at a Christmas market in the German capital. On Dec. 19, 2016, a man drove a truck into a crowd at a market in Berlin, killing 13 and injuring dozens.
U.S. law enforcement officials have warned of similar vehicle-ramming attacks on American soil, particularly over the festive season.
A joint threat assessment about New Year’s Eve in New York City’s Times Square, for example, noted the use of vehicle-ramming alone or in conjunction with other tactics “has become a recurring tactic employed by threat actors in the West.”
The NYPD, out of an abundance of caution, will surge resources to similar areas around the city, including Christmas markets, according to NYPD deputy commissioner for counterterrorism Rebecca Weiner.
“We know this is a very festive time, it is a busy time in the city, and we are going to make sure that all of our holiday markets, all of our holiday activities are protected by our counter weapons teams, by officers on patrol, all our counter-terrorism officers, our critical response command,” Weiner told ABC New York station WABC.
(LONDON) — A ceasefire went into effect at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday morning after Israel’s Cabinet approved the U.S.-backed proposal to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah after prolonged negotiations.
The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza, particularly in the north of the devastated Palestinian territory.
Tensions also remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides.
IDF fires at ‘suspects’ in southern Lebanon, alleging ceasefire violation
The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday morning it fired at “suspects, some with vehicles” arriving in several areas of southern Lebanon.
The IDF did not give information on the identity of the targets but said their presence in the area “constitutes a violation.”
There have been sporadic reports of firing in several areas of southern Lebanon since the IDF-Hezbollah ceasefire went into effect early Wednesday morning.
The IDF has warned evacuated citizens of southern Lebanese towns and villages not to return to their homes until told to do so. Around 1.2 million people in Lebanon — roughly a quarter of its population — have been displaced by Israeli attacks and evacuation orders.
IDF says residents returning to south Lebanon are ‘in danger’
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee again urged south Lebanon residents not to return to their homes in a post to X on Thursday morning.
Adraee listed 10 villages in the south as still off limits to evacuated residents, despite Wednesday’s ceasefire.
“The IDF does not intend to target you and therefore you are prohibited at this stage from returning to your homes,” he wrote.
Anyone who travels south regardless will be “in danger,” Adraee added.
Israeli forces are expected to withdraw from their positions in southern Lebanon in phases during the 60-day ceasefire that came into effect on Wednesday morning.
They will be replaced by Lebanese Armed Forces troops, who will be tasked — with United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon assistance — with preventing the return of Hezbollah forces in the area between the Litani River and the Israeli border.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Hezbollah claims victory, says they will remain ‘fully prepared’ to deal with Israel’s ‘ambitions’
Hezbollah said it continued its war against Israel for “more than 13 months,” and it was “able to achieve victory over the delusional enemy,” the militia said in its first statement since the ceasefire was announced.
Throughout the “Israeli ground operation the attempts of the enemy forces to occupy and establish themselves in any of the towns of the first line of the front did not succeed nor did they succeed in establishing a military and security buffer zone as” Israel had hoped it would, Hezbollah said in a statement.
Hezbollah will remain “fully prepared to deal with the Israeli enemy’s ambitions” and “will continue to follow the movements and withdrawals of the enemy’s forces beyond the borders, and their hands will remain on the trigger, in defense of Lebanon’s sovereignty and for the sake of the dignity and honor of its people,” Hezbollah said.
‘We will see’ if Israel’s goals in war were realized ‘in the next 60 days,’ Israeli defense minister says
The goal of Israel’s ongoing war with Hezbollah was to “damage Hezbollah’s capabilities and create the conditions for the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said, in his first comments since the ceasefire went into effect.
“We will see in the next 60 days whether this goal is realized. When the details of the arrangement, including all its components, become clear to the public, and if effective enforcement is carried out, with Israel at the center, calm and deterrence will be created, it will be possible to say that the goal has been achieved,” Katz added.
Katz said the Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire is “creating additional pressure on Hamas.”
“From here we look towards the southern front, with the most important goal being to return all the kidnapped people home safely and quickly. Results of the campaign in the north are creating additional pressure on Hamas and we intend to make every effort to create the conditions for a new hostage deal and to bring everyone home — this is the most important moral goal we are facing now, this is the ultimate goal,” Katz said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Isolated incidents reported as ceasefire begins
The Israel Defense Forces and Lebanese media are reporting several isolated incidents in southern Lebanon after the ceasefire went into effect.
Israeli forces fired “artillery shells” in Kfar Kila, Al-Aadaissah and Khiyam in southern Lebanon, Lebanese state media reported.
“In light of Hezbollah members entering the village of Kila, Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to act firmly and without compromise against such phenomena,” the Israeli defense minister’s office said in a press release.
“The IDF will operate against anyone who attempts to breach the ceasefire agreement and will continue to protect the citizens of Israel,” the IDF said in a separate release.
Two journalists were injured after Israeli forces opened fire on a group of them in the town of Khiam while they were covering the return of Lebanese residents to the town, Lebanese state media reported.
The Israel Defense Forces said they received the report regarding several journalists injured in the Khiam area and added the IDF is “unaware of fire toward the journalists.”
“As of now, only warning shots have been fired in the area,” the IDF said. “The IDF remains in southern Lebanon and will actively enforce every violation of the ceasefire agreement.”
An Israeli security official said there have been “several incidents” of gunmen and others trying to provoke Israeli forces in southern Lebanon since the ceasefire went into effect. The Israeli security official called them “isolated incidents” that often happen in the first day of a ceasefire and have happened in previous wars.
The IDF’s position right now is that Lebanese residents should not come back to villages in southern Lebanon as they are not safe, the Israeli security official said.
The ceasefire calls for a handover from the IDF to the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon. The Israeli security official implied it would not be safe for Lebanese residents to return until that handover is complete.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the IDF not to allow the population to enter the area of villages near the border in southern Lebanon, in accordance with the first phase of implementing the ceasefire outline,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a release Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Jordana Miller
Lebanese army warns residents not to return to front-line villages, towns in the south
Initial reports suggest the ceasefire is holding, but the Lebanese army is being cautious in parts of southern Lebanon, asking people to wait for Israeli forces to withdraw before returning to front-line villages and towns, in a statement to the public Wednesday.
The Lebanese army also said it is already starting to strengthen its deployments in the South Litani sector in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon on Wednesday.
The Israel Defense Forces warned residents of south Lebanon not to travel south of the Litani River from 5 p.m. local time Wednesday until 7 a.m. local time Thursday morning, in a post on X, warning any movement toward these areas exposes people to “danger.”
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz
Biden says US to make ‘another push’ on Gaza ceasefire
President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the U.S. “will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza” over the coming days, following the success of ceasefire talks in Lebanon.
Negotiations, Biden said in a post to X, must end “with the hostages released and an end to the war without Hamas in power.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Lebanon PM confirms ceasefire acceptance
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati confirmed Lebanon’s acceptance of the ceasefire in an address on Wednesday.
“We affirm the government’s commitment to implementing Security Council Resolution 1701 in all its provisions,” he said, referring to the 2006 U.N. Security Council measure that sought to end the last bout of cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Resolution 1701 stipulated that Hezbollah must withdraw all forces north of the Litani River and that all Israeli forces must leave — and no longer violate the sovereignty of — Lebanon.
Mikati did not address the separate U.S.-Israeli agreement backing Israel’s right to continue to strike anywhere in Lebanon if deemed necessary for self-defense.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Somayeh Malekian
Hezbollah allies welcome Israel ceasefire
Hezbollah allies on Wednesday praised the group for securing its ceasefire deal with Israel.
In a press conference Wednesday morning, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran supports “ending Israel’s aggression against Lebanon as a part of the ceasefire.”
Iran — the founder and director of the so-called “Axis of Resistance” of which Hezbollah is a key element — maintains “unwavering support for the Lebanese government, people and resistance,” Baqaei said.
Hamas, meanwhile, said in an official statement that it welcomed the ceasefire and praised Hezbollah’s support of Palestinians, as well as the “great sacrifices” of the group’s members including late leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel’s acceptance of the deal, Hamas added, is a “milestone” in “destroying” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “illusions of changing the map of the Middle East by force and his illusions of defeating or disarming the resistance forces.”
Yemen’s Houthis — who have been attacking shipping and launching long-range strikes into Israel — also praised Hezbollah’s “steadfastness,” framing the ceasefire deal as an Israeli defeat.
“The conflict with the Zionist enemy is an inevitable conflict and the wars with it are rounds in a conflict that will inevitably end with its demise,” the Iran-backed group said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz, Samy Zyara and Somayeh Malekian
IDF attacked ‘dozens’ of targets in hours before ceasefire
The Israel Defense Forces said its warplanes bombed “dozens” of Hezbollah targets across Lebanon in the hours leading up to the Wednesday morning ceasefire.
The IDF said in a post to social media that the targets included “Hezbollah command centers, launchers, weapons storage facilities and terrorist infrastructure sites in Beirut, Tyre and Nabatieh.”
The IDF also struck “several smuggling routes between Syria and Lebanon, which were used by Hezbollah to smuggle weaponry,” the force said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Lebanese army preparing to deploy south after ceasefire
The Lebanese Armed Forces said in a Wednesday morning statement that it was “taking the necessary measures to complete the deployment in the south as mandated by the Lebanese government” after the ceasefire deal with Israel came into effect.
The ceasefire agreement stipulates that Lebanese troops will take up positions in the south of the country and prevent the return of Hezbollah forces — who are expected to withdraw north of the Litani River — to the area.
LAF commander General Joseph Aoun met with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday to discuss the security situation in the south of the country, a statement posted to Mikati’s X channel said.
The LAF is expected to deploy around 5,000 troops to the area as part of the 60-day ceasefire. United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon soldiers will remain in southern Lebanon to assist.
Israeli troops are expected to withdraw from their positions in south Lebanon in phases during the same timeframe.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Israel ceasefire ‘a test for all Lebanese,’ parliament speaker says
Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri said in a Wednesday address that the nascent ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is “a test for all Lebanese, from all sects, to save their country and protect its constitutional institutions.”
Berri — the leader of the Hezbollah-allied Amal Movement who has been negotiating on Hezbollah’s behalf — said the Lebanese “people were able to neutralize the effects of the Israeli aggression” and saluted late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in September.
“We call on all our displaced people in all our regions and the sister countries that hosted them to return,” Berri added. “We are in dire need of national unity among all the Lebanese people.”
Berri called for the “speedy election” of a new Lebanese president and thanked all those “who contributed to the ceasefire.”
Hezbollah is yet to issue any official statement on the ceasefire, which went into effect at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Joe Simonetti
IDF fires on vehicle in south Lebanon after ceasefire begins
The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday its troops fired on a vehicle carrying several people “in a zone prohibited for movement in Lebanese territory” shortly after the ceasefire came into effect at 4 a.m. local time.
“IDF troops fired to prevent them from advancing and the suspects left the area,” the IDF wrote in a post to X.
The Israeli air force, it said “remains ready to act across Lebanese territory” while the Israeli air defense network “is also in a high state of defensive readiness.”
“The IDF will act against anyone who tries to violate the ceasefire agreement and will not allow damage to the security of the residents of Israel,” the force wrote.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
IDF warns southern Lebanese not to return home despite ceasefire
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Wednesday morning that Lebanese civilians who fled their homes in the south of the country should not return to their homes until told to do so, despite the start of the ceasefire.
Twenty minutes after the ceasefire came into effect, Adraee said in a post to X that the IDF remains “positioned in its posts in southern Lebanon.”
“Do not approach the villages that the IDF has evacuated or IDF soldiers in the area,” he wrote. “For your safety and the security of your families, avoid entering the area.”
“We will update you when it is safe to return to your homes,” Adraee added.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is now in effect
The ceasefire went into effect at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday morning.
Representatives of Hezbollah still have not said anything on the record about the agreement.
When submitting the deal for approval, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deal still relies on the actions of Hezbollah.
“The duration of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon,” Netanyahu said in the statement. “We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. We will continue together until victory.”
Strikes reported in central Beirut minutes after ceasefire deal announced
There were reports of strikes in central Beirut minutes after President Joe Biden finished speaking, announcing a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah.
The ceasefire is set to take effect at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz
Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire will begin at 4 am local time on Wednesday
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah will begin at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday under a U.S.-brokered deal, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday.
“Israel did not launch this war. The Lebanese people did not want this either,” Biden said in an address Tuesday.
“This has been the deadliest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in decades,” Biden said.
Biden warned that Israel “retains the right to self-defense” if Hezbollah or anyone else attacks Israel.
Biden also called for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza. The U.S. is working with Egypt, Turkey and other partners to attain a ceasefire in Gaza, Biden said.
“The people in Gaza have been through hell,” Biden said.
Israel’s cabinet has approved the U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had submitted the proposal to the cabinet for approval Tuesday.
Far-right Israeli Minister Ben Gvir was the only minister who voted against deal. The 10 other ministers in the cabinet voted in favor of the deal.
Netanyahu thanked President Joe Biden for “the US involvement in achieving the ceasefire agreement,” and for “the understanding that Israel will maintain freedom of action in its enforcement,” a statement said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Gaza’s Civil Defense stops operating in Gaza City due to lack of fuel
Gaza’s Civil Defense vehicles — which serve emergency functions like search and rescue operations — are no longer operating in Gaza City because the agency is out of fuel, it announced Tuesday.
Gaza’s Civil Defense stopped operating in northern Gaza on Oct. 23.
More than 44,000 people have been killed and over 104,000 injured in Gaza since Oct. 7, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said Tuesday.
Israeli strikes hit Beirut, southern Lebanon, as ceasefire talks continue
At least seven people were killed and 37 were injured in Israeli strikes on the Dahieh area of Beirut on Tuesday as Israel continued to strike multiple areas throughout Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
The strikes come amid reports of Israel and Hezbollah nearing a ceasefire agreement.
The Israel Defense Forces issued multiple evacuation orders for areas in the southern suburbs of Beirut and areas in southern Lebanon, including nine warnings about strikes in the Dahieh area of Beirut.
Hezbollah fired 45 projectiles toward Israel on Tuesday, the IDF said. One person was seriously injured after one of the rocket salvos landed in the Haifa and Krayot area of Israel, Israeli emergency services said.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Jordana Miller
Israel strikes 20 targets in Beirut
Israel said it conducted strikes on 20 targets in Beirut, including components of Hezbollah’s military and financial systems.
“Among the targets struck were a Hezbollah aerial defense unit center, an intelligence center, command centers, weapons storage facilities, an operations room, an artillery storage facility, and terrorist infrastructure sites,” Israel said in a statement.
Israel also targeted Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association — a nonprofit that gives out loans — alleging it is used by Hezbollah to collect and store funds.
Israel had sent evacuation orders about 20 minutes before the strikes hit. The IDF said they are attacking Hezbollah in Beirut on “a large scale.” Black smoke was still visible and covering part of Beirut hours later.
The strikes began just minutes before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to meet with his cabinet to discuss a cease-fire deal with Hezbollah.
Earlier Tuesday, there were three other strikes in Beirut.
Israel bombs Beirut suburbs again
Fresh airstrikes shook Beirut’s southern Dahiya suburbs on Tuesday morning, with the Israel Defense Forces claiming to have targeted six Hezbollah targets including infrastructure sites used by the group’s coast-to-sea missile unit.
The IDF said it struck around 30 Hezbollah targets in Dahiya over the past week. The suburb — parts of which are close to the city’s international airport — is known as a Hezbollah stronghold and has borne the brunt of months of near-daily airstrikes on the Lebanese capital.
The strikes followed soon after an IDF warning for residents to evacuate parts of Dahiya.
Lebanese authorities said that 3,768 people in Lebanon had been killed by Israeli strikes as of Sunday.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Israel says troops reached Lebanon’s Litani River
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that its forces conducted operations near Lebanon’s Litani River — the waterway around 18 miles of the Israeli border which Israeli leaders have demanded serve as a buffer keeping Hezbollah units out of the country’s south.
Reaching the Litani would mark the deepest penetration of Israeli forces into Lebanon since the IDF withdrew from the country in 2000. Israeli troops did not push up to the Litani in the 2006 war with Hezbollah.
Soldiers “raided several terrorist targets, engaged in close-quarters combat with terrorists, located and destroyed dozens of launchers, thousands of rockets and missiles and weapons storage facilities” in operations in the Litani River region, the IDF said in a post to X.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Lebanon death toll rises ahead of possible cease-fire
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said Tuesday that the death toll from Israel’s military operations in the country had risen to 3,768 people as of Sunday.
Another 15,699 people have been wounded since renewed fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah began on Oct. 8, 2023, the ministry said.
Israel continued airstrikes on Monday night and Tuesday morning even amid reports of an imminent cease-fire deal. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported six people killed in multiple attacks in the southern Nabatieh Governorate.
IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee also issued fresh evacuation warnings for Beirut’s southern Dahiya area on Tuesday morning ahead of planned airstrikes there.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz
Details of Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire deal emerge
A cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah would begin soon after its announcement, with the aim of achieving a permanent cease-fire after 60 days, according to an Israeli source with knowledge of the potential deal.
The U.S. will head a committee, joined by French and Arab partners, to monitor and verify the implementation of the ceasefire, the source said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a security cabinet meeting Tuesday to discuss the deal and hold a cabinet vote, Israeli officials said.
There is almost unanimous support in the cabinet for the U.S.-brokered cease-fire deal, and it is expected to be approved. Far-right leader Ben Gvir is expected to vote against it.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
‘We don’t believe we have an agreement yet’: State Department
The U.S. is hopeful that Israel and Hezbollah are close to a cease-fire deal, but striking a pact “is up to the parties, not to us,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a briefing Monday.
“We don’t believe we have an agreement yet. We believe we’re close to an agreement. We believe that we have narrowed the gap significantly, but there are still steps that we need to see taken, but we hope — we hope that we can get there,” Miller said.
Echoing comments earlier Monday by White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby, Miller emphasized that “nothing’s final until everything’s final.”
“Oftentimes the very last stages of an agreement are the most difficult, because the hardest issues are left to the end,” Miller said.
-ABC News’ Chris Boccia
Israeli strikes kill 31, injure at least 62 people in Lebanon
Israeli forces conducted strikes Monday in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital Beirut and in southern Lebanon as talks of a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel continued on both sides.
At least 31 people were killed and 62 others injured in the strikes on southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said in a post on X.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
No indication Netanyahu will call in cabinet and vote to approve Lebanon cease-fire
There are no indications that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to call in his cabinet and vote to approve the Lebanon cease-fire Monday night, Israeli officials told ABC News.
Netanyahu is planning a series of meetings Tuesday to discuss the Lebanon cease-fire deal, including talks with his minister of strategic affairs, former American ambassador Ron Dermer, along with his most senior defense officials.
Later in the afternoon, Netanyahu will hold a larger cabinet meeting that includes the far-right. That meeting may lead to a final vote to approve a deal, though that remains unclear. A deal can pass even if one of the two far-right leaders opposes it.
The cease-fire would last for 60 days, but would not require the Israel Defense Forces to withdraw right away.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Jordana Miller
White House says deal is close but nothing is final
A cease-fire deal between Israel and Hezbollah was close, White House National Security Spokesperson John Kirby reiterated in a briefing Tuesday, but he would not give details about the deal or specific timing, saying he had to be careful not to get in the way of the tenuous diplomacy.
“We believe that the trajectory of this is going in a very positive direction. But again, nothing is done until everything is done. Nothing’s all negotiated till everything is negotiated. And you know, we need to keep at the work to see it through so that we can actually get the ceasefire for which we’ve been working for for so long and so hard,” Kirby said.
Kirby declined to say if any announcement from President Joe Biden and French President Emanuel Macron should be expected over the next few days.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Far-right Israeli minister says Lebanon cease-fire would be a ‘big mistake’
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Monday that a potential cease-fire agreement to end the fighting in Lebanon would be “a big mistake.”
Ending the war would be a “missed opportunity” to “eradicate Hezbollah,” Ben-Gvir wrote on X.
Ben-Gvir has previously pressured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reject any cease-fire deal in Gaza, where fighting continues with Hamas and other militant groups.
“We must continue until the absolute victory,” Ben-Gvir said of both the Gaza and Lebanon fronts.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Khamenei calls for ‘death sentence’ for Netanyahu, Israeli leaders
In an address to thousands of Basij militia members on Monday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued last week for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were insufficient.
“What [they have] done in Gaza and Lebanon is not a victory, it is a war crime,” Khamenei said.
“Now they have issued arrest warrants for them; this is not enough,” he added of the ICC decision. “A death sentence must be issued for Netanyahu and the criminal leaders of this regime.”
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, who the Israel Defense Forces claimed to have killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July.
Netanyahu’s office expressed its “disgust” at the decision and dismissed the ICC warrant as “absurd.”
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian and Joe Simonetti
Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs
The Israel Defense Forces said its warplanes “conducted intelligence-based strikes on several Hezbollah command centers” in southern Beirut on Monday.
The strikes again focused on the Dahiya area in the south of the Lebanese capital, which is known as a Hezbollah stronghold.
Monday’s bombings followed an intense day of strikes on Sunday, as diplomats continued to push for a cease-fire agreement to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
1 hour ago
UAE arrests 3 people accused of rabbi’s killing
The United Arab Emirates’ Interior Ministry said Monday it arrested three Uzbek nationals suspected of the kidnapping and killing of Moldovan-Israeli rabbi Zvi Kogan.
Kogan, 28, was an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who went missing on Nov. 21. He managed a kosher grocery store in Dubai.
The ministry identified the three detained men as Olimpi Tohirovic, 28, Mahmoud John Abdul Rahim, 28, and Azizi Kamilovic, 33. It did not say whether charges had been filed and did not suggest a motive.
Israeli leaders have framed the killing as an antisemitic terror operation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday his nation would “act by all means” to “bring justice to the murderers and their senders.”
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
IDF issues new Beirut airstrike warnings
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on Monday morning that Israeli warplanes would soon begin new airstrikes in Beirut, following 24 hours of intense bombing of the city’s southern suburbs.
Adraee ordered residents of the Haret Hreik area of the southern Dahiya suburbs — known as a Hezbollah stronghold — to flee their homes and stay at least 500 meters from target buildings identified on an IDF map.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
More strikes on southern Beirut suburbs
There were more strikes Sunday night in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which have been pounded by dozens of Israeli strikes in the last few days.
The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday night’s strikes in Dahieh were on “12 Hezbollah command centers.”
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé
29 dead in central Beirut after Saturday’s airstrike
The death toll from an Israeli strike Saturday in central Beirut has risen to 29, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The update on casualties came as emergency workers continued to search collapsed buildings for survivors of the strike, an official said.
At least 67 people were also injured in the Israeli strike, according to the Ministry of Health.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
Israeli official confirms Netanyahu holding meeting on Lebanon cease-fire
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was holding a meeting with security officials on Sunday night regarding ongoing Lebanon cease-fire talks, an Israeli official told ABC News.
The development comes after Netanyahu met last week in Israel with U.S. Special Envoy Amos Hochstein and discussed a possible cease-fire in Lebanon. Hochstein also traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, to discuss a cease-deal between Hezbollah and Israel.
(TEL AVIV) — President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Wednesday, according to the White House.
Vice President Kamala Harris also joined the call, the White House said.
It marked the first phone call between the two leaders in months, and since fighting has intensified in the Middle East as Israel continues its war against Hamas in Gaza while also seeking to root out Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon.
Biden and Netanyahu were expected to discuss Israel’s plans to strike Iran during their conversation, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The call was first reported by Axios.
Israel is currently weighing its response to a missile attack by Iran last week. The barrage of strikes was largely shot down by Israel, with the help of the U.S. military, and did not result in any major loss of life.
The Biden administration hoped to rein in the Israeli answer to the strikes. But so far, his diplomatic efforts in the region have been largely thwarted.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was set to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Washington this week, but Gallant postponed his trip to the U.S.
When asked why Gallant was postponing the trip, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh referred questions to the Israeli government.
“You’d have to speak to the Israelis on that one. I was just told that he postponed his trip,” she said during Tuesday’s press briefing.
An hour before the Pentagon’s announcement, Israeli newspaper Haaretz cited sources as saying Netanyahu had “demanded” Gallant not leave for the U.S. until he spoke with Biden.
Benny Gantz, Israel’s former defense minister, posted on X that the cancellation of the trip harmed Israel’s national security “for personal and political considerations.”
ABC News’ Luis Martinez and Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.
(LONDON )– As Jahanzeb Wesa fled toward the Pakistani border in the middle of the night, he wondered if his career defending human rights would help protect him now that he was a refugee himself.
A 28-year-old Afghan journalist and women’s rights advocate, Wesa said he was attacked by a Taliban fighter while covering a women’s rights protest just after the fall of Kabul in August 2021. If he didn’t make it across the border, he said, he knew he would likely be killed.
“We worked for 20 years for a better future for Afghanistan,” he recalled thinking. “Why did we lose everything?”
But arriving in a new country brought no sense of safety.
Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, some Afghan journalists said they have been in limbo waiting for humanitarian visas while living in exile in Pakistan, where they fled across the shared border when Kabul fell.
The Taliban’s violent suppression of criticism, along with draconian crackdowns on women’s rights, meant journalists who stayed in Afghanistan were at constant risk of being detained, tortured, disappeared or killed.
In Pakistan, unable to legally work and threatened with deportation through government ultimatums and face-to-face interactions, some Afghan journalists applied for visas from countries that promised to help Afghan refugees.
Almost three years later, many said they still have not received a decision.
In the meantime, their prospects in Pakistan are dire, several told ABC News.
Life in Pakistan
Several Afghan journalists living in Pakistan told ABC News that their fear of deportation is omnipresent.
Khatera, a journalist from northern Afghanistan who asked ABC News not to publish her last name for her safety, fled to Pakistan in April 2022 after the Taliban raided her newsroom, destroying radios and TVs.
“After that,” she said, “everything was a nightmare.”
Like many Afghan journalists in Pakistan, Khatera arrived on a tourist visa she had to renew every six months through a private travel agent. Visa renewals were sometimes denied without reason, and officials often asked for bribes, she said.
The Pakistani government did not reply to a request for comment.
Housing, health care and transportation in Pakistan can be prohibitively expensive for Afghans, whose tourist visas don’t allow them to work. Many rely on depleting savings, support from family members, or under-the-table jobs, according to those who spoke to ABC News. Given the economic strain, the biannual visa fee and the corresponding bribes present significant burdens, they said.
But not having proper documentation can bring serious consequences. “Anywhere you’re going, the police are asking about your valid documents,” said Khatera. They sometimes conduct nighttime home check-ins and try to deport those who can’t provide valid papers, she said.
Those disruptions to daily life don’t appear to be unique to journalists. A 2023 Human Rights Watch report declared a “humanitarian crisis” of Pakistani authorities committing widespread abuses, including mass detentions and property seizures, against Afghans in Pakistan. Over a month and a half, the report said, Pakistani authorities deported 20,000 Afghans and coerced over 350,000 more to leave on their own.
Afghan journalists regularly receive death threats from the regime at home over social media, Wesa said. “If I’m deported to Afghanistan,” he said, “the Taliban is waiting for me.”
“No journalist has been condemned to torture, disappearance, or death by the government of Afghanistan,” said a spokesperson for the Taliban-run Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adding that “all citizens of the country are equal in the eyes of the law regardless of their position and profession.”
Some journalists said they also face a widespread mental health crisis. Rahman, an Afghan journalist who asked ABC News to use his middle name due to what he described as ongoing threats from the Taliban, struggles with worsening depression and anxiety. He said he fears for himself and his family, still in Kabul.
“It’s daily mental torture,” he said.
An endless wait
The conditions in Pakistan have spurred many Afghan journalists to apply for humanitarian visas from the U.S., Australia, the U.K. and other European countries. Yet, some have not heard back for about three years.
Wesa applied for an Australian humanitarian visa on Jan. 4, 2022, six months after he arrived in Pakistan. He supplemented his application with support letters from Reporters Without Borders, Amnesty International and other nongovernmental organizations stating his life was at risk, he told ABC News.
More than two years after filing his initial application, he has received a confirmation of receipt but no further updates, he said.
A departmental spokesperson from the Australian Department of Home Affairs said they “expect it will take at least 6 years from the date of receipt for processing to commence on [the applications] lodged in 2022, 2023, or 2024.”
“We will wait – there is no other way,” Wesa said in response. “I hope they help us as soon as possible.”
“Day by day, I’m faced with depression and health issues,” he said. “My only hope is that Australia will save my life.”
Rahman, who reported on women’s rights in Afghanistan, is saving up to apply for a family visa from Australia, where his fiancée lives. The process costs over $9,000. He said he believes a humanitarian visa application will not receive a response.
Requests for help from the French embassy and the U.N. have also yielded no results, he said.
“I believe these countries have always been for freedom and for democracy. They can help out,” he said. “I just wonder why it takes such a long time.”
Khatera applied for a visa from the Swiss embassy. It took a year and a half to receive the file number, she said. She was told she needed close relatives in the country, but otherwise, they would likely not be able to help.
“I’m getting depression,” she said. “I’m just trying to fight.”
Every Afghan journalist in exile interviewed by ABC News said they continue to receive threats from the Taliban over social media and fear for their lives every day.
The Taliban denied sending the threats, saying “the government and officials of Afghanistan have not threatened any journalists.”
Broken promises
Afghan journalists waiting in worsening conditions for responses to their visa applications said they feel that Western countries have broken their promises to help Afghan refugees.
The United States expanded a resettlement program for Afghan refugees in 2021 to include journalists and humanitarian workers who had helped the United States. However, as of 2023, The Associated Press reported that only a small portion of applicants had been resettled.
The U.S. State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
The Afghan Pro Bono Initiative, a partnership providing free legal representation to Afghan refugees, published a 2023 report entitled “Two Years of Empty Promises.” The report found that the U.K. resettlement programs for Afghan refugees were fraught with delays, understaffing, administrative hurdles, narrow eligibility and technical issues.
Earlier this year, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and other NGOs called on Western countries to adopt prima facie refugee status for Afghan women and girls, which would grant refugee status without the need for individual assessments, potentially streamlining the application process and decreasing lengthy wait times.
Despite the dragging wait times and the pervasive hopelessness, many of the 170 Afghan journalists in exile in Pakistan continue to speak out against the Taliban.
Wesa’s X account includes frequent posts about Afghanistan — legal updates, protest videos and women singing to resist what they describe as draconian Taliban policies.
“In any country, I will stand for Afghan women,” he said. “I will risk my life for them.”
