Orphan describes pain of returning to Gaza with no family
Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images
(GAZA CITY) — Alma Ja’arour is not like most children her age. Instead of talking about school and friends, her days are filled with memories of the family she lost and the uncertainty of her future after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement on Jan. 15.
Alma, who is 12 years old, is the sole survivor of her family after her home was bombed in December 2023 in Gaza City.
Soon, she will return — not to the home she once knew, but to a graveyard where her parents and siblings rest.
“My mother, father, and brothers are all buried in one grave in our home in Gaza City,” she told ABC News. “I want to see them, say goodbye. But what will I do after that? There is no home to return to, no one waiting for me.”
After 15 months of living in displacement camps because of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, Alma and others like her will be allowed to return to northern Gaza on Saturday.
But for Alma, returning without her family is difficult, she told ABC News.
Alma’s story is one of countless others unfolding across Gaza, where children like her face unimaginable challenges. The ongoing conflict has left over 17,000 children separated from their parents, according to UNICEF.
Amid the challenges Alma has faced, she has one wish.
“I want to make my parents proud of me in heaven,” Alma told ABC News.
Her hope is to become a doctor, fulfilling a desire that her late father always encouraged, she said.
“Through education, I can achieve my goals. I will work hard to make my father proud,” Alma added.
Alma has been living in a tent at the Al-Barakah Orphanage Camp in Khan Younis.
Mahmoud Kalakh, the camp’s director, said the children in the orphanage display resilience, despite the tragedy around them.
“These children carry the weight of tragedy, yet they still dream of a better future,” he said. “Our role is to provide them with the support they need to heal and rebuild their lives.”
UNICEF and other humanitarian organizations have called for urgent support for children like Alma. The loss of family, education and basic necessities has created a crisis that requires immediate global attention, global aid organizations say.
“Children are the most vulnerable in conflicts,” a UNICEF spokesperson said. “We must ensure they have the resources and care they need to survive and thrive.”
(NEW YORK) — The climate crisis is not a distant threat; it’s happening right now and affecting what matters most to us. Hurricanes intensified by a warming planet and drought-fueled wildfires are destroying our communities. Rising seas and flooding are swallowing our homes. And record-breaking heat waves are reshaping our way of life.
The good news is we know how to turn the tide and avoid the worst possible outcomes. However, understanding what needs to be done can be confusing due to a constant stream of climate updates, scientific findings, and critical decisions that are shaping our future.
That’s why the ABC News Climate and Weather Unit is cutting through the noise by curating what you need to know to keep the people and places you care about safe. We are dedicated to providing clarity amid the chaos, giving you the facts and insights necessary to navigate the climate realities of today — and tomorrow.
Millions of students are missing school because of extreme weather
A new analysis from UNICEF finds that nearly a quarter of a billion children worldwide had their education disrupted by extreme weather events in 2024 — exacerbating what the organization calls an “existing learning crisis.”
The report found that at least 242 million students across 85 countries experienced schooling disruptions last year because of extreme weather like heat waves, storms, floods, droughts and tropical cyclones.
“Children are more vulnerable to the impacts of weather-related crises, including stronger and more frequent heatwaves, storms, droughts and flooding,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said. “Last year, severe weather kept one in seven students out of class, threatening their health and safety, and impacting their long-term education.”
Heat waves were the most common weather disruptor for education. UNICEF found that over 118 million students were impacted by extreme heat in April alone, with South Asia seeing some of the most widespread impacts.
The report also found that September had the most frequent weather-related disruptions, with at least 16 countries suspending classes for a time due to extreme weather events like Typhoon Yagi in East Asia.
While the analysis found that almost three-quarters of the students impacted were in low and lower-middle income countries, UNICEF says no region was free from these effects.
“Education is one of the services most frequently disrupted due to climate hazards. Yet it is often overlooked in policy discussions, despite its role in preparing children for climate adaptation,” Russell said. “Children’s futures must be at the forefront of all climate related plans and actions.”
-ABC News climate unit’s Kelly Livingston
Climate funders say they will cover US climate obligations after Paris Agreement withdrawal
On Monday, President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, the U.N.-backed international climate treaty. Bloomberg Philanthropies announced Thursday that they, along with a coalition of climate charities, would step up and ensure that the U.S. meets its obligations under the Paris Agreement, including any financial and reporting requirements.
“While government funding remains essential to our mission, contributions like this are vital in enabling the UN Climate Change secretariat to support countries in fulfilling their commitments under the Paris Agreement and a low-emission, resilient, and safer future for everyone,” said Simon Stiell, United Nations climate change executive secretary, in a press statement.
This is the second time Trump has withdrawn the country from the Paris Agreement. During his first term, Trump justified backing out of the treaty by claiming that participating in the agreement would result in the loss of jobs and cost the U.S. trillions of dollars. In reality, in 2023, clean energy jobs grew at more than twice the rate of the overall U.S. labor market and accounted for more than 8.35 million positions, according to a Department of Energy report. In terms of spending, the U.S. has committed several billion dollars to the effort, not trillions.
Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire businessman, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and a U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions, said he also plans to continue supporting a coalition of states, cities and businesses that are working to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 61-66% below 2005 levels by 2035.
“More and more Americans have had their lives torn apart by climate-fueled disasters, like the destructive fires raging in California. At the same time, the United States is experiencing the economic benefits of clean energy, as costs have fallen and jobs have grown in both red and blue states. The American people remain determined to continue the fight against the devastating effects of climate change,” Bloomberg said.
Tanya Dzafarowa/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC “UA:PBC”/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Russia launched a major missile and drone attack on Ukraine overnight into Sunday targeting power plants and energy infrastructure across the country.
The barrage was the largest attack on Ukraine since late August and the third largest so far this year. Missiles and drones targeted cities including the capital Kyiv, forcing people into basements, subway stations and other underground shelters.
Ukrainian authorities reported that at least five people were killed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram early Sunday that the “massive strike” targeted areas in “all regions of Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy said around 120 missiles and 90 drones were fired into the country, with Ukrainian air defenses downing more than 140 targets.
Ukraine’s air force said that at least eight Kinzhal hypersonic missiles — among Moscow’s most advanced weapons — were among the projectiles used in the attack. So too were one Zircon hypersonic cruise missile and more than 100 Kalibr cruise missiles.
The air force said Ukrainian defenders downed 144 targets — 102 missiles and 42 drones. The Russian aircraft involved in the assault included Tu-160 and Tu-95 strategic bombers, the air force said, as well as Su-34, Su-27 and MiG-31 jets.
“We are grateful to all our air defense,” the president said, noting that American-made F-16 fighter jets were involved in the defense.
Strikes and explosions were reported in Kyiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro and in western Ukraine. The Black Sea port city of Odesa was reportedly left without power following the strikes.
Zelenskyy said a drone impact in the southern city of Mykolaiv killed two people and injured six others, including two children.
Poland’s military, meanwhile, said the Russian missile barrage prompted it to scramble fighter jets to protect its skies.
Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko confirmed in a post to social media that the strikes were targeting Ukraine’s grid. The attack prompted authorities to impose emergency energy shutdowns in Kyiv and at least one other region.
Russia has targeted Ukraine’s grid as winter looms. The country’s centralized heating systems having been turned on in the past couple of weeks as temperatures drop below freezing. The strikes threaten to leave millions without power.
Moscow has launched missile and drone barrages against Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war in February 2022. Russia has generally expanded long-range strikes as winters approach hoping to collapse the Ukrainian energy grid.
This year appears no different, with recent months bringing an intensification of drone and missile attacks across the country as the change in U.S. administration prompts talk of renewed peace negotiations.
Zelenskyy told Radio Ukraine on Saturday that Kyiv expects Russia to “continue combined strikes” through the winter period. “We need to prepare for everything,” he added.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the attack was Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “true response” to recent conversations with world leaders — an apparent jab at German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who spoke with Putin Friday for the first time in two years, against Ukraine’s objections.
“Russia launched one of the largest air attacks: drones and missiles against peaceful cities, sleeping civilians, critical infrastructure,” Sybiha said. “This is war criminal Putin’s true response to all those who called and visited him recently. We need peace through strength, not appeasement.”
(LONDON) — Ukraine stopped the flow of Russian natural gas through its territory to Europe at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, as a long-held deal expired, Kyiv officials said.
“We stopped the transit of Russian gas, this is a historic event,” Herman Galushchenko, Ukraine’s energy minister, said in a statement. “Russia is losing markets, it will suffer financial losses.”
The move had been expected, as Galushchenko and other officials signaled they were preparing to stop the transnational pipelines and discussing the move with neighboring nations.
“We have undergone a series of stress tests of our gas system in order to be sure that after the transit is closed, we will be able to function stably, ensuring gas supply to consumers,” Galushchenko said on Ukrainian TV last week, according to his office.
Natural gas exported by Russia through Ukraine has long been used by European countries, including Slovakia, which had pushed for Ukraine and Russia to reach a deal to continue the transit.
Russia’s gas giant Gazprom confirmed the stoppage, telling state-affiliated TASS news agency that Kyiv had refused to extend the transit deal.
“The supply of Russian gas for its transportation through Ukraine stopped at 8:00 a.m. Moscow time,” Gazprom said in a statement, according to TASS.
The deal had provided for about 40 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to transit through Ukrainian territory each year, according to TASS.
