US personnel injured in rocket attack on Iraqi base: DOD
(WASHINGTON) — Several U.S. personnel were injured following a suspected rocket attack Monday against U.S. and Coalition forces at Al-Assad Air Base in western Iraq, a Department of Defense spokesperson told ABC News.
“Initial indications are that several U.S. personnel were injured,” the spokesperson said. “Base personnel are conducting a post-attack damage assessment. We will provide updates as more information becomes available.”
A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that two rockets were launched at the base.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed on the attack, according to a White House readout of a Situation Room meeting on Monday amid the ongoing tension in the Middle East.
(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:
Hamas says talks with Israel ‘meaningless’ and a ‘deal was close’
Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said Tuesday that the talks with Israel are “meaningless” and that they were “close” to a deal but that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t want one.
“The negotiation is meaningless despite the bloodshed. We had a paper [agreement] and the deal was close. They do not want to stop being usurper. Netanyahu does not want a deal. Hence, we had dedicated all we could. Our path is not the path of surrendering,” al-Hayya said during a press conference Wednesday.
Egypt also warned that the Israeli assassinations undermine truce talks and warned against dangerous security consequences.
Egypt condemned the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah military leader Fouad Shukr in Beirut as a “dangerous escalation” by Israel that could fuel conflict in the region, according to a statement issued Wednesday.
The Egyptian foreign ministry said the assassinations “undermine the strenuous efforts made by Egypt and its partners to stop the war in the Gaza Strip” and “indicate the absence of Israeli political will to calm the situation.”
-ABC News’ Hami Hamedi and Ayat Al-Tawy
Hamas claims Haniyeh was assassinated by rocket that entered his room
Hamas claimed that its political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a rocket that entered the room where he was staying, Khalil al-Hayya, a high ranking Hamas official said in a press conference Wednesday. He warned that Israel will pay the price for Haniyeh’s death
Al-Hayya also slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for hampering cease-fire talks.
-ABC News’ Hami Hamedi
Blinken calls Jordanian counterpart, discusses hostage deal and preventing escalation
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called his Jordanian counterpart Wednesday to discuss “the urgency of efforts to reach a ceasefire to the conflict in Gaza” and “the importance of preventing further escalation of the conflict,” according to a statement from the State Department.
The statement doesn’t specifically mention the Israeli strike in Lebanon or the killing of Hamas’ political leader, but Jordan is viewed as a key strategic partner for maintaining stability in the Middle East by U.S. officials.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
‘Time for a deal,’ families of hostages say
A group representing the families of hostages held in the war-torn Gaza Strip, who were abducted from southern Israel during the Oct. 7 attacks, released a statement on Wednesday urging “the Israeli government and global leaders to decisively advance negotiations.”
“This is the time for a deal,” the statement said.
The statement comes amid rising tensions in the region after Hamas’ political leader was killed by a predawn airstrike in the Iranian capital Tehran — and only hours after Israel targeted a top commander for Iran’s ally Hezbollah in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
Iran has ‘duty to take revenge,’ supreme leader says
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said his country had a “duty to take revenge” after Hamas’ political leader was killed in Tehran.
“However, following this bitter, tragic event which has taken place within the borders of the Islamic Republic, we believe it is our duty to take revenge,” Khamenei said Wednesday.
No country or organization has yet taken credit for the assassination, but Khamenei appeared in his statement to blame Israel, saying the “criminal, terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our territory.”
Global reactions rolling in following Haniyeh killing
As news of the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, begins to spread on Wednesday morning, global leaders have started to react, condemning his death and calling it a “heinous assassination.”
In a statement, Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs “condemned in the strongest terms Israel’s assassination of the head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement in Palestine (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, may God have mercy on him, in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in violation of international law and international humanitarian law, and an escalatory crime that will push towards more tension and chaos in the region.”
Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned Haniyeh’s death, calling it a “heinous assassination” and reiterated the need to stop Israel from escalating regional tensions.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told state-owned RIA news agency that the killing of Haniyeh “is an absolutely unacceptable political murder, and it will lead to further escalation of tensions.”
The Israeli Government Press Office posted a photo of Ismail Haniyeh with the word “eliminated” over the Hamas political leader’s head. The post, which had been live for more than an hour, was then removed Wednesday morning.
“Eliminated: Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas highest- ranking leader, was killed in a precise strike in Tehran, Iran,” the office said in a post on its official Facebook page.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the assassination.
Killing will strengthen Iranian-Palestinian bond, minister says
The death of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political leader, in Iran “will strengthen the deep and unbreakable bond between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the beloved Palestine and the resistance,” an Iranian state spokesperson said.
“The pure blood of Martyr Haniyeh will never be wasted,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said, according to Iranian state media.
Iranian authorities were investigating the assassination, he said.
Kanaani praised Haniyeh for spending his life in the “honorable struggle against the usurping Zionist regime” and for seeking the “the liberation of the oppressed Palestinian nation.”
Hamas, allies react to Haniyeh killing, calling it a ‘cowardly act’
Reaction from Hamas and its allies was swift, with Musa Abu Marzouq, a member of the Hamas political office, saying in a statement, “The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas Political Bureau, is a cowardly act and will certainly not go unanswered.”
Islamic Jihad also issued a statement, saying the death of Haniyeh will not deter them.
Mahmoud Abbas, president of the state of Palestine, said he strongly condemned the assassination of Haniyeh, calling the attack “a cowardly act.”
Political leader of Hamas has been killed in Tehran, Iran says
Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, has been killed in Tehran along with his bodyguard, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said in a statement.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack at this stage.
Haniyeh was killed in his home in Tehran after participating in the inauguration of the new Iranian president, according to Hamas.
IDF says it targeted senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut
The Israel Defense Forces said it targeted a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut, Lebanon. The IDF said the commander is responsible for Saturday’s strike that killed children playing soccer in Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on social media that Hezbollah “crossed the red line.”
The Lebanese Red Cross said the strike hit a residential building, killing at least two and injuring 20.
The target of Israel’s strike was Fouad Shukr, also known as Al-Hajj Mohsen, according to three security sources familiar with the operation.
The United States was given advanced notice ahead of Israel’s strike, according to a U.S. official familiar with matter. The message was communicated via security channels and limited operational detail was shared, the official said. It’s not clear whether the strike successfully eliminated its target.
Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday that “Israel has the right to defend itself against a terrorist organization, which is exactly what Hezbollah is.”
“But all of that being said, we still must work on a diplomatic solution to end these attacks and we will continue to do that work,” she added.
State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters he didn’t have “any updates on any specific activity,” but added, “We have been in continuous discussions with Israeli and Lebanese counterparts since the incident over the weekend, and the United States is going to continue to support efforts to reach a diplomatic solution along the blue line.”
“Our support for Israel’s security is ironclad, and it’s unwavering, especially as it defends itself against Iran-backed threats, including threats from Hezbollah,” Patel said.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir and Shannon Kingston
85 sick and injured evacuated from Gaza in largest medical evacuation in 9 months
Eighty-five sick and severely injured people, including 35 children, have been evacuated from Gaza to get care in Abu Dhabi, said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization.
This was Gaza’s largest medical evacuation since October 2023, according to the WHO.
The evacuees’ illnesses include cancer, neurological conditions, cardiac disease and liver disease, Tedros said.
Sixty-three family members and caregivers accompanied the patients, the WHO said.
“We hope this paves the way for the establishment of evacuation corridors via all possible routes. Thousands of sick people are suffering needlessly,” Tedros said. “Above all, and as always, we call for a cease-fire.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
IDF says it targeted senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut
The Israel Defense Forces said it targeted a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut, Lebanon. The IDF said the commander is responsible for Saturday’s strike that killed children playing soccer in Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on social media that Hezbollah “crossed the red line.”
The target of Israel’s strike was Fouad Shukr, also known as Al-Hajj Mohsen, according to three security sources familiar with the operation.
The United States was given advanced notice ahead of Israel’s strike, according to a U.S. official familiar with matter. The message was communicated via security channels and limited operational detail was shared, the official said.
State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters he didn’t have “any updates on any specific activity,” but added, “We have been in continuous discussions with Israeli and Lebanese counterparts since the incident over the weekend, and the United States is going to continue to support efforts to reach a diplomatic solution along the blue line.”
“Our support for Israel’s security is ironclad, and it’s unwavering, especially as it defends itself against Iran-backed threats, including threats from Hezbollah,” Patel said.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir and Shannon Kingston
IDF withdraws from Khan Younis after weeklong raid killing 226
The Israel Defense Forces announced that it has “completed operational activity in the area of Khan Younis” in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning, more than a week after it began bombarding the eastern part of the city — a designated humanitarian zone.
At least 226 people have been killed by Israeli forces in and around Khan Younis since the IDF raid began early on July 22, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz, Jordana Miller and Samy Zyara
One dead in Israel, one dead in Lebanon amid rising tensions
At least one person is dead in northern Israel following a rocket salvo from Lebanon this afternoon, according to Israel’s national emergency service. One person was also killed in southern Lebanon following a drone strike targeting a house in the town of Beit Lif early Tuesday, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.
The Israel Defense Forces said its fighter jets conducted strikes in southern Lebanon earlier Tuesday.
Approximately 10 projectiles crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory, with the majority of the projectiles being intercepted, according to the IDF. A direct hit was identified in the area of HaGoshrim in northern Israel.
12:34 PM EDT US meetings with Netanyahu were ‘very constructive,’ Kirby says
U.S. officials’ meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in Washington, D.C., last week were “very constructive and certainly nothing that discouraged us in terms of trying to close the remaining gaps” while trying to secure the hostage deal, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday.
“We still believe those gaps can be narrowed … and we can move forward. But obviously, as I said earlier, it’s going to take compromise, it’s going to take leadership,” he said.
“There’s no indication that we see, at this point in time, the weekend strike by Hezbollah into the Golan [Heights] area is going to negatively affect those discussions,” Kirby added.
Kirby also pushed back on the suggestion that Vice President Kamala Harris had a different message for Netanyahu from President Joe Biden, saying there was “no daylight” between their messages, and that reporting suggesting otherwise was “unfortunate and inaccurate.”
“There was no daylight between anything, the president, the vice president told the prime minister. Same points, same emphasis — the commitment and reaffirmation to help Israel continue to defend itself against these threats. Same reaffirmation by both the president and the vice president, that we want to see the cease-fire deal get enacted because of what it can do to improve the humanitarian situation. And of course, getting those hostages home with their families,” Kirby said.
Pressed on why Harris had her own meeting if their message was the same, Kirby defended Harris.
“The vice president couldn’t be in town for the meeting in the Oval [Office], and as she has been a full partner in all our foreign policy, but certainly in particular, the policy that this administration has pursued with respect to the Middle East, she felt it was important to also sit down with Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Kirby said.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
12:21 PM EDT White House condemns ‘horrific’ attack on Golan Heights
The United States “absolutely condemn this weekend’s horrific attack” that killed children playing soccer in Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday.
At least 12 people were killed, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Hezbollah has denied involvement in the rocket attack but Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that “every indication” points to Hezbollah as responsible for the strike.
Kirby also assigned blame to Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying “it was their rocket launched from an area that they control.”
“The United States will continue to support efforts to reach a diplomatic solution along that blue line that will, No. 1, end these terrible attacks once and for all, and No. 2, allow Israeli and Lebanese citizens on both sides of the border to safely return to their homes,” Kirby said.
Kirby stressed that U.S. support for Israeli security remains “ironclad” against all Iran-backed threats, adding, “We believe that there is still time and space for a diplomatic solution.”
Asked if the administration was urging Israel to show restraint in any response, Kirby said that Hezbollah made the first strike on Israel back in October and that “Israel has every right to respond,” but he said he was confident that a broader conflict could be avoided.
“Nobody wants a broader war and I’m confident that we’ll be able to avoid such an outcome. I’ll let the Israelis really speak to whatever their response is going to be,” Kirby said.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
4:43 PM EDT Netanyahu and Gallant to decide how to retaliate for Golan Heights attack
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were granted the authority Sunday to decide the manner and timing of a response to the alleged attack by Hezbollah on the town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, according to the prime minister’s office.
During a meeting in Tel Aviv, members of Israel’s political-security cabinet gave Netanyahu and Gallant the authority to devise a plan to retaliate for the strike that killed 12 people, including children playing soccer, according to the statement from the prime minister’s office.
“The members of the cabinet authorized the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense to decide on the manner of response against the terrorist organization Hezbollah, and when,” according to the statement.
Hezbollah has denied involvement in the rocket attack. The Israel Defense Forces and the White House both blamed Hezbollah for the attack.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
1:41 PM EDT White House blames Hezbollah for deadly rocket attack on Golan Heights
The White House on Sunday blamed Hezbollah for the rocket strike Saturday on Golan Heights that it said killed children playing soccer.
At least 12 people were killed in the weekend attack in Majdal Shams, a town in the Golan Heights, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
“We have been in continuous discussions with Israeli and Lebanese counterparts since the horrific attack yesterday in northern Israel that killed a number of children playing soccer,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. “This attack was conducted by Lebanese Hezbollah. It was their rocket, and launched from an area they control. It should be universally condemned.”
Hezbollah has denied involvement in the rocket attack in Majdal Shams. But the IDF said a Hezbollah rocket was used in the attack, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier Sunday that “every indication” points to Hezbollah as responsible for the strike.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
July 28, 2024, 12:35 PM EDT Middle East Airlines delays flights following Israeli strike on Lebanon
Lebanon’s flagship air carrier, Middle East Airlines, delayed departures of several inbound flights to Beirut on Sunday, the airline announced.
The decision by Middle East Airlines came after the Israel Defense Forces announced on Sunday that the military struck targets “deep inside” Lebonnon overnight. The IDF attack in Lebanon unfolded a day after a rocket strike killed 12 people in Majdal Shams, a town in Golan Heights.
Hezbollah denied involvement in the rocket attack in Majdal Shams, but IDF officials claim it was a Hezbollah rocket that hit a sports field, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “every indication” points to Hezbollah as being responsible for the strike.
Middle East Airlines said it delayed the departures of six inbound flights to Beruit that would normally land at night. The flights are now scheduled to land during the day on Monday, the airline said.
Meanwhile, Royal Jordanian Airlines also told ABC News it is considering rescheduling a flight from Amman to Beirut to early Monday morning.
(KYIV, Ukraine) — Solomiya Fomeniuk, 16, recalled the Russian missile strike on the Okhmatdyt pediatric hospital in Ukraine earlier this month with horror, but also as a case of miraculous survival.
The girl was one of five children in the dialysis department at the moment of the attack on July 8. Two people — a doctor and a teacher — died as a result of the strike. A 7-year-old boy died later after he was transported away from the site, officials said.
Solomiya is disabled due to spinal hernia. The girl was admitted to the Kyiv hospital in late May 2022 after kidney failure.
“It’s the best clinic in Ukraine with a dialysis department and the only one where we can actually live to receive treatment regularly,” Solomiya’s mother, Oksana Fomeniuk, told ABC.
July 8 started as usual, she said, adding that even when the sirens went off, it didn’t initially scare the parents nor hospital staff.
“We’ve been here for a while, there were at least two impacts nearby during the past two years, but we always thought that a hospital is a safe place,” she said. “We are always anxious of course, but the kids learned to be courageous and patient since dialysis lasts for 4 to 5 hours and they can’t move during the procedure”.
However, when the first missiles hit the ground a couple kilometers from the hospital Oksana and others quickly went down to the shelter while doctors and nurses decided to go into the room to switch the kids off from the dialysis equipment and take them downstairs too. At that moment the missile hit.
“The first thing I saw was a piece of ceiling above me,” Solomiya recalled. “The equipment around prevented it from falling on me. I even raised my hands to try to hold it. I couldn’t breathe, there was dust and hot air around. And this smell…”
The girl saw two injured female doctors and a nurse lying on the floor bleeding, she said.
“One doctor, Anastasia, shook up from our cries, stood up and came up to pull me from the rubbles,” Solomiya said. “She is so tiny herself, but somehow managed to carry me to the window where men who ran from the street were already helping.”
Most of all the girl was worried about her mom, she confessed. Oksana herself barely got out of the rubble as the missile hit right at the foundation of the building.
“I smelled death,” she said. “I was in the rubble by the knees and couldn’t breathe because of the dust and the smell of the fuel.”
Oksana managed to run out through the back door.
“The second thing that shocked me was the scale of the damage,” she said. “Everything was in a black smoke, the building was destroyed, others half damaged. And all I could think about was where my Solomiya were.”
Oksana saw pieces of furniture and mattresses around, a body inside the premise, children coming out of the building through the broken windows, nurses carrying them out — and said she couldn’t believe that her daughter was alive.
“The nurse was running and shouting that Solomiya was OK and she was taken to another building, but I only believed that when I saw her there. I’m telling you, God saved us. Because if my girl were in another bed, as before, she could have died.”
Svitlana Lukyanchuk, a 30-year-old nephrologist, was later identified as the woman who had died in the room. The head of the dialysis department, Olha Babicheva, was also severely injured, officials said.
Young surgeon Oleh Golubchenko also said he believed he was lucky to be alive. Photos and videos of him in a white bloody uniform as he helped to search the debris went viral.
“My grandma carefully washed and whitened the robe right on the day before. I think I haven’t even thrown it away yet,” Golubchenko said, laughing both bitterly and with relief.
He had been performing a halo rhinoplasty on a 5-month-old patient on the morning of July 8.
“It’s a complicated procedure, but very interesting for me as a specialist. I pre-planned everything on the weekend, designed a model of the expected result,” Golubchenko told ABC.
The surgeon, anesthesiologist Yaroslav Ivanov, second surgeon Ihor Kolodko and nurse Olha Baranovych were halfway through the surgery when the siren went off in Kyiv.
“We don’t start operations during the air raid alert, but if we have already started we have to continue because you can’t move the patient quickly, especially a kid. So we carried on, stayed calm and even joked,” Golubchenko recalled.
When the missile hit the nearby building the wave threw him a couple of meters away from the operating table. “I was shocked for a few seconds and then saw everyone on the floor, bleeding. I shouted, ‘Is everyone alive?’ Olha, the nurse, was apparently severely injured, I saw her face really damaged. Yaroslav was bleeding too but got up.”
The doctors rushed to their little patient covered by surgical gowns. The boy was intubated, so Golubchenko couldn’t check if he was actually OK.
“I ran in the corridor to find an Ambu bag. The boy’s mom was there, shouting hysterically … I found the bag, the anesthesiologist disconnected the boy and quickly carried him away, I followed him … on my way I stopped to help another nurse as she was bleeding, so I bandaged her … There was such a chaos, total mess,” he said.
When Oleh went outside, the first person to call him was his friend, Rostyslav, who is also a surgeon, as he heard of the strike.
“I asked him to pick my patient and finish the surgery,” Golubchenko said. “He literally was here in 15 minutes and took the boy.” Taras, the boy who had been in surgery, and his parents are well now, Golubchenko said.
Only later did Golubchenko notice that he himself was covered in blood.
“I just felt something warm on my back and legs. Those were all small wounds from the glass. The doctors took everything away and said I had a concussion. I think I escaped with a fright. Big fright,” the surgeon said, sighing. “You know, before the surgery, the patient’s father asked me whether I believed in God. What a question! But now my outlook has transformed. I’m telling you, I went to the church the following day and prayed as I could.”
It’s painful for Golubchenko to see his department damaged as it had been just renovated. It was even more painful for many Ukrainians. Okhmatdyt, which in Ukrainian means protection of motherhood and childhood, is the best pediatric hospital in Ukraine. The doctors say they received incredible support from the management, while parents admit everything was done from the heart here, with great love to kids so that they experience as much fun and comfort here as possible.
In just one day, people and businesses raised more than $7 million for Okhmatdyt through the joint project of the UNITED24 presidential fundraising platform and Monobank. Germany accepted kids from the Kyiv hospital and pledged about 10 million euros for the reconstruction of the hospital.
Oleh Holubchenko said he himself received calls from his American colleagues who have helped a lot, in particular Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft-focused organization, and American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association
Fomeniuk and her daughter, Solomiya, said their hopes for Solomiya’s kidney transplantation, which they have been waiting for since last fall, have now now faded a bit due to the strike. But they still showed their support for the hospital and optimism for the doctors, who they hope keep going.
The attack on Okhmatdyt on July 8 was one of more than 1,800 such strikes in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022, according to the World Health Organizaition.
Oksana confessed she sometimes thinks that horrible strike didn’t actually happen and it was just a horror movie because it doesn’t seem real.
“The missiles flying in Kyiv are not something normal by default,” she said. “When kids who are fighting for their lives have to suffer even more during the attacks is something totally, totally over the line.”
(LONDON) — Munich police shot a “suspicious person” in the Karolinenplatz area of the southern German city on Thursday morning, authorities said, adding they had launched a “major operation.”
“Police officers spotted a person who appeared to be carrying a firearm,” Munich’s police force said in a statement on social media. “The emergency services used their service weapons and the person was hit and injured.”
The area was cordoned off, with a helicopter in the air above the scene, the force said.
“There are currently no indications of any other suspects,” police said, adding that there were no other reported injuries.
The shooting occurred next to the city’s Nazi Documentation Center, police said.
“Many emergency services are on their way to the site of operations,” the force noted. “We ask that you avoid this area as much as possible.”
The Nazi Documentation Center is one of the city’s most popular museums, located midway between the famous Karolinenplatz and Königsplatz squares just northwest of the medieval old town. It is less than 500 feet from the Israeli Consulate.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that there had been a “shooting incident” close to the consulate, noting that the facility was closed on Thursday coinciding with the anniversary of the deadly terror attack at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
“No one from the consulate staff was injured in the incident,” the ministry’s spokesperson said. “The shooter was neutralized by the German security forces and the incident is under their care.”