Category: World news

(NEW YORK) — If someone asked Sara Bsaiso what her dream was one year ago, it would have been to finish her senior year of high school, complete her final exams and attend college or university.

However, those dreams were dashed when Sara became one of the more than 12,000 children and teenagers in the Gaza Strip who have been injured since the Israel-Hamas war began.

Sara suffered severe third-degree burns to much of her body and went months with limited medical care before she was able to be medically evacuated to the United States, she told ABC News. Two of her brothers were killed in the same strike that injured her, she said.

Now, sitting in a house in New Jersey, having undergone more than a dozen surgeries and with several more on the horizon, her dream now is to recover and for “stability.”

“When I was 17 years old, I had one dream and, now that I am 18 years old, my dreams have changed,” she told ABC News in Arabic. “My life goals have changed and the way [I] look at dreams in general has changed. The one thing I want right now is stability.”

‘I realized I am on fire’

On the day of the Hamas terror attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, Sara, then 17, was in her final year of high school. Sara said she had school in the morning and, as she was waiting to be picked up, she heard a noise that she thought was thunder.

“My dad said, ‘No, that is rockets hitting Tel Aviv’ and we all just started looking at each other,” Sara said. “I went to WhatsApp to ask my friends if they heard the same sounds. Everyone was confused and one of my teachers … was already at school and we told her the sounds are getting louder. [She said], ‘You should go home.’ That was the last time I talked to her, this teacher.”

Sara said her father felt the situation was too dangerous to remain in their home in Rimal — a neighborhood in Gaza City, located in the north — and told the family they should leave. Sara packed a bag that included her school uniform and some clothes and traveled with her eight siblings to her grandmother’s house nearby, also in Rimal.

They stayed there about one week before the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sent flyers ordering civilians to evacuate, Sara said. They fled to Rafah, in southern Gaza, where they stayed for six days before heading back to their grandmother’s house.

On the day of her injury, Dec. 7, Sara said she had just gotten a haircut and her 15-year-old brother, Ahmed, was outside making bread.

“I was just swishing [my hair] left and right,” she said. “We were all in the living room and I was just asking everyone what they thought of my new haircut. ‘What do you think of my hair? Do you see a difference?'”

She said Ahmed came into the house and asked her if she could bring inside her younger brother, Mohammed, who was scared of “fighting noises” outside.

Sara went outside to where her 8-year-old brother was and began to comfort him.

“I am at the door hugging him, telling him, ‘You are strong, don’t be scared,'” she recalled. “All of a sudden, as I tried to turn around, there is something so hot behind me. I took a minute to look at my arms, my legs and asked myself, ‘Where am I?’ Until I realized I am actually on fire.”

The family said a missile strike had hit the courtyard of Sara’s grandmother’s house — and Sara had been caught in the blast.

“It took me a minute to understand. By then, the slippers on my feet were melting so I couldn’t really run,” she said. “I just kept trying to run. …. When I reached the door, I couldn’t move anymore. So, I was about to fall down because my legs were melting.”

Sara said she felt her father grab her as she collapsed to the ground. She could feel water being poured on her and she could hear her brother, Mohammed, screaming. At the time, Sara said she took the screaming as a sign that he was still alive. What she didn’t know was that he had been severely burned as well.

Ahmed was killed instantly, and Mohammed died about a week later, according to the family.

Meanwhile, Sara suffered third-degree burns to about 60% of her body.

As of July 23, at least one quarter — or 22,500 — of those injured in Gaza are estimated to have “life-changing injuries” that will require rehabilitation services for potentially years, the WHO said during a briefing on Thursday. Major extremity injury is the most common injury, followed by amputation, burn, spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury, the WHO said.

Third-degree burns affect the outer layer of skin, the middle layer of skin and fat below the skin. A third-degree burn can also damage sweat glands, hair follicles and nerve endings, and needs to be treated by a health care provider.

In Gaza, where the health care system has nearly collapsed, proper care is much more difficult to obtain.

“The first two days, there was no medicine in my system,” Sara said. “I couldn’t feel pain anywhere. I just wanted to sleep. I was shivering from the cold. Then I started feeling worse and worse and developed a [104 F] fever. I could not speak and I was shaking in place.”

Sara’s family was able to locate medicine, but she said it was expired. When Sara noticed that one of her legs was turning green — discoloration is a prominent sign of gangrene — doctors who visited told her family her wounds had become infected.

Sara said her family was able to get an ambulance amid the fighting to take her to one of Jordan’s field hospitals operating in Gaza, where she stayed for a few days before returning to her grandmother’s house. Doctors were able to give her medicine, but Sara said the hospital was overwhelmed with people injured because of the war as well as people sheltering at the hospital.

“I know the Jordanian hospital is better than being nowhere, but it was absolute torture,” Sara said. “There would be times where there is no time for them to perform surgery on me. There were many times the dressing would unravel or not be strong enough and puss would come through.”

Sara was unable to walk because her burn wounds kept opening up, so she would be carried on a stretcher or transferred by ambulance, her family said. Although Sara was bandaged, she said the dressings were painful because there was no medicine or ointment her family could use to properly wrap the wounds. Her family said she didn’t undergo surgery at a hospital in Gaza but, when her dressings were changed, medical staff would put her under anesthesia when they could.

Israel has said its goal is to eliminate Hamas, and claims Hamas uses schools, hospitals and civilian buildings “to conduct and promote terrorist activity.” Israeli officials also claim that the IDF tries to minimize civilian casualties. Hamas has denied that it is conducting its operations out of civilian buildings and has condemned any of Israel’s attacks that have killed civilians.

The IDF did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment on the alleged attack that led to Sara’s injuries or on the war itself.

The months-long journey to evacuate Sara

Pictures and videos of Sara’s story began to circulate on social media, and eventually made their way to Steve Sosebee, founder of HEAL Palestine. The non-profit organization was set up in January to address the humanitarian needs on the ground in Gaza.

“A friend of mine in Dubai saw her story on social media and forwarded to me and asked if we could help, considering that she was stuck in the north and that she was not able to go south and get treatment, get access to medical care at all,” he told ABC News.

Sosebee said the team in Gaza reached out to Sara’s family to coordinate her evacuation from Gaza City down to southern Gaza and then to cross into Egypt. The family decided that her sister, Seham Besaiso, would accompany her.

Sara and Seham left their grandmother’s house on Jan. 21 and made their way down to the Rafah border, Sara said.

When they arrived at the border that night, the guards did not see their names on the list of people eligible to cross over, according to Sara.

“We tried to find a hospital I could stay at until we could leave,” Sara said. “We stayed at a hospital, I don’t remember the name, but it was a circus. People losing their lives on the floor, people sleeping on the floor, people choking. It was not a place to be with an open wound.”

“Seham and I were crying unsure of what to do. The ambulance driver was very kind and was able to get us a spot in a medical tent in the south,” she added.

The next morning, after waiting at the border for several hours, Sara said the crossing guards found their names on a list and they were able to cross over into Egypt, where they remained for 17 days.

Sosebee said HEAL Palestine secured visas for the sisters and coordinated with Northwell Health Burn Care Center in Staten Island to take on Sara’s case. He helped Northwell send a medical team to Egypt to see if Sara could be moved out of a hospital and be put on a commercial flight to the U.S.

The team “determined that it was not possible for her to fly commercial, given the extent of her injuries in the current state that she was in,” Sosebee said.

The Northwell team concluded Sara needed to be put on a charter medical evacuation flight, Sosebee said. HEAL Palestine teamed up with a partner organization to help cover the cost of the charter, and launched a social media fundraising campaign.

The group was able to raise more than $180,000 to cover the cost of the charter flight as well as additional funds to cover the cost of her medical bills in Egypt and some of the medical bills she would incur in the U.S. Northwell also agreed to cover much of her costs, Sosebee said.

Sara is one of 21 children with medical needs HEAL Palestine has helped evacuate, according to Sosebee, and one of 5,000 people have been evacuated for treatment outside Gaza since October 2023, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

“When all of us came together and worked together on this, we were able to get a plane put together, to get the money raised for it, and to get [Sara] and her sister …. on that flight and on their way to the U.S.,” Sosebee said. “The finances and the money [are] secondary to the health and the obligation that we have to step up and do all we can to get her the medical care that she needs, and it’s minimal in comparison to what Northwell provided in the treatment that they gave her.”

Receiving care leads to dancing down a hallway

The journey took 24 hours, and Sara and Seham arrived in the U.S. on Feb. 6.

Seham said visitors are not typically allowed to stay overnight in the burn center due to infection control procedures, but they let her stay on Sara’s first night.

“On the first day Sara was in Egypt, she wasn’t sleeping … so it was on my mind when I first arrived here to America that Sara isn’t going to sleep,” Seham told ABC News. “[But] while I was talking to her, I looked at her and saw she had fallen asleep.”

At the burn center, Sara underwent several skin grafting procedures, which is when healthy skin from one part of the body is transplanted to another part of the body.

When severe open wounds go without skin grafts for long periods of time, the wounds can take longer to heal and are more susceptible to infection. Seham said this is what happened to Sara’s fingers, which required some of them to be partially or fully amputated.

Seham said she originally told Sara the amputations needed to occur because her fingers had melted, afraid to tell her the real reason.

“I didn’t tell her because it was really [upsetting] her so, when it happened, I was afraid to tell her that ‘This had happened to your fingers,’ so I told her it was because they had melted,” she said. “But they had …. necrosis. So, they couldn’t be left in her body, so they were amputated.”

At the burn center, Sara underwent rehabilitation, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, nutritional therapy, pain management care and palliative care, Sosebee said.

Sara was in the hospital until late May, a little over three months, when she was discharged. On the day she left, a video was recorded and shared to social media of her dancing down the hallway. She said that her physical therapist often encouraged her to dance while she was undergoing treatment.

“This was the last day, and she would tell me, ‘Don’t be shy. We are gonna dance no matter what,'” Sara said. ‘I looked at her like, ‘What do you mean? I am gonna dance in front of all these people?’ She’s like, ‘No, don’t be shy. We’ve danced on the street before.'”

“Basically, we left the burn unit with us all dancing,” she continued. “I was excited, scared and anxious. All the emotions were running through me that day. I had been waiting for this moment since I entered [the hospital].”

Waiting in ‘limbo’ and hoping for the war to end

HEAL Palestine set up Sara, Seham and their mother — who was able to join them in the U.S. after the organization helped secure a visa — with a home in New Jersey.

Sara, now 18, is currently undergoing occupational therapy, which she will need for at least another three months to help her recover. She practices exercises that help her regain her strength and improve the use of her fingers.

Although Sara has undergone at least 20 surgeries so far, she said she will still need several more, including skin grafting procedures. Last month, she was able to take bandages off her fingers for the first time.

Sometimes she looks at old photos or videos “and compare to see if my hair got longer or my skin is better and compare myself from then to now,” she said. “When I look at [them], I feel better.”

Sara said when she can, she talks to her family in Gaza, including her father and two brothers, who remain in northern Gaza and are unable to join the family in the U.S.

“The connection is not secure so it’s hard to reach them and it cuts off a lot, [but] when my dad opens the camera and sees me, he says, ‘Wow,'” Sara said. “He can see the changes and the differences. He would ask me to show my fingers. He wants to see how much progress I have made.”

“As for my brothers, I would tell them I bought something new that we can play with and we will play with them together,” she added. “I just hope this all ends so they can come and be here with me.”

As Sara continues her recovery, Seham and their mother attend all her doctors’ appointments together and help encourage Sara as she practices her occupational therapy exercises.

Prior to the war, Seham, 20, was in her third year of college, studying dentistry. The university has resumed with online classes, but she said it is difficult to start classes again because the third year is “pre-clinic,” which requires practicing dental training, including on dummy heads and plastic teeth.

She said she has paused her studies for now, focusing on helping Sara recover.

“My life from before [the war] will not return. That’s for sure. Because everything is gone. Nothing remains,” Seham said. “We have memories, but even that they took. Thank God, we are still alive. And still, as long as we are here, there is hope inside us that we can return, someday, under better circumstances. Under circumstances that are not like what they are now.”

Both Sara and Seham said they hope the war — which is closing in on the one-year mark — will end and are hoping for “stability” in Gaza so they can return home one day.

“As long as we are in this limbo, I can’t think about what I will study and when I will finish school,” Sara said. “The one thing that we need is for the war to stop. … The most important thing is that this war ends and that voices are heard.”

“Don’t get tired of watching and listening … There are people’s lives destroyed, dreams being buried,” she continued. “People who had hopes and trying to live just like you do, but all of a sudden they found themselves under the ground. God willing, the war ends and people can go back to their lives. That is the most important thing.”

Since Oct. 7, at least 41,000 people in Gaza have been killed and at least 95,000 have been injured, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. In Israel, at least 1,500 people have been killed including more than 800 civilians and 700 IDF soldiers.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, the latest round of cease-fire discussions appears to have reached an impasse.

Meanwhile, after six hostages were found dead in Gaza, protests erupted in Israel. Protesters have lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and demanded the government bring the hostages home.

Here’s how the news is developing:

UNRWA says employee killed by the IDF in the West Bank

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said an employee was killed by the Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank, marking the first time a member of its staff has been killed there in 10 years.

“Sufyan Jaber Abed Jawwad was shot and killed on the roof of his home by a sniper during an overnight Israeli military operation in the early morning of 12 September. Sufyan worked as a sanitation labourer in El Far’a Camp and is survived by his wife and five children,” UNRWA said in a statement Friday.

“Civilian infrastructure, including water and electricity networks, have been destroyed, with precarious access for communities to basic supplies. UNRWA has been forced to suspend services to refugees because of the unacceptable risk to staff and beneficiaries during these operations,” the UNRWA said.

First round of polio vaccination campaign completed in Gaza

The first round of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza was completed Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of children received dosages, successfully reaching 90% vaccination coverage, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

“Our next challenge will be providing the second dose, needed in the coming weeks,” the UNRWA said.

IDF has not found any operational smuggling tunnels in Rafah

In the nearly four months the Israel Defense Forces have been in Rafah, it has not found any operational smuggling tunnels beneath the Gaza-Egypt border, multiple Israeli sources told ABC News..

The IDF found nine tunnels that ran under the Philadelphi corridor, all of which were blocked at some point on the Egyptian side, sources said. The IDF has located a total of 200 tunnels in the Rafah area.

For months, the military has been pushing back against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that Israel needs to maintain a military presence on the Philadelphi corridor because that’s where Hamas smuggles weapons into Israel via the tunnels.

This pushback has become increasingly vocal, and is echoed by the very top of the military and defense chain of command. They are quietly demanding a cease-fire deal and are calling Netanyahu’s bluff.

IDF sources said they now believe most of the smuggling was happening above ground through the Egypt-Gaza border crossing.

-ABC News’ Matt Gutman

WHO leads largest medical evacuation from Gaza since October 2023

The World Health Organization said it had evacuated at least 97 patients and 155 companions from Gaza on Wednesday, taking them to the United Arab Emirates for medical treatment.

This was the largest medical evacuation from Gaza since October 2023, according to Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the occupied Palestinian territory.

Patients were transported in ambulances via the Kerem Shalom crossing from Gaza to Ramon Airport in Israel for travel to Abu Dhabi.

Patients included 45 children and 52 adults with a wide range of diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, congenital anomalies, blood and liver diseases, trauma and injuries.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Experts believe 2,000-pound bombs were used in deadly Israeli strike in Al Mawasi, Gaza

It is possible 2,000-pound bombs were used in deadly Israeli strike in the humanitarian area of Al Mawasi in Gaza on Sept. 10, two experts told ABC News.

At least 19 people were killed and 60 others were injured in the attack, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Videos and photo captured from the site of the deadly strike show two large craters with fabric and debris buried in the sand. A photo captured by Quds News Network shows what appears to be a conical-shaped missile fragment.

The remnant of a missile recovered from the site and large craters suggest the most likely munition used to conduct the attack was “a 2,000-pound-class air-delivered bomb fitted with an Israeli-made SPICE 2000 guidance kit,” N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of the consultancy Armament Research Services, told ABC News.

Satellite imagery captured the day before the attack show a cluster of a dozen tents at the location of the strike in the densely populated Al Mawasi area. Imagery captured after the attack shows the temporary structures are nowhere to be seen, replaced instead by two large craters, one measuring almost 46 feet in length.

The craters are consistent with “multiple MK-84s which are 2,000 pounds” and “the fragment recovered appears to be from a Spice-2,000 bomb guidance kit tail section,” Trevor Ball, a former US Army EOD specialist, told ABC News after reviewing the photos and satellite imagery.

The United Nations’ Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said the kill radius of a 2,000-pound bomb is almost 110 feet.

-ABC News’ Chris Looft

Netanyahu says Hamas is hiding its opposition to cease-fire

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday accused Hamas of blocking a cease-fire and hostage-release deal.

“Hamas is trying to hide the fact that it continues to oppose the hostage release deal and prevents it from materializing,” Netanyahu said in a statement posted to X.

Netanyahu said Israel accepted the offer put forward by the U.S. on Aug. 16, but that “Hamas rejected it and murdered six hostages in cold blood.”

“The world must demand that Hamas release the hostages immediately,” the prime minister said, referring to the 101 hostages still held in Gaza, around half of whom are believed to be alive.

Hamas has repeatedly blamed Netanyahu for the gridlock, alleging the prime minister is intentionally sabotaging talks to retain political power in Israel.

Egyptian and Qatari officials met with a top Hamas official in Doha on Wednesday in a bid to restart cease-fire negotiations, which fell apart after the last round of talks in August.

Hamas released a statement on Wednesday evening reiterating they want to revert to the deal proposed on July 2.

Israel’s Gaza school strikes ‘totally unacceptable’: UN chief

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres accused Israel of “dramatic violations of international humanitarian law” over its continued airstrikes on schools-turned-shelters in the Gaza Strip.

Six United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) were among at least 17 people killed in a Wednesday strike on the Al-Jaouni School in Nuseirat in central Gaza, the agency confirmed. It is the fifth time that the school has been targeted since Oct. 7.

Guterres wrote on X: “What’s happening in Gaza is totally unacceptable. A school turned shelter for around 12,000 people was hit by Israeli airstrikes again today.” 

The attacks “need to stop now,” he added.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X: “Endless & senseless killing, day after day.”

“Humanitarian staff, premises & operations have been blatantly & unabatedly disregarded since the beginning of the war,” he added, noting that at least 220 UNRWA staff have been killed in Gaza.

“The longer impunity prevails, the more international humanitarian law & the Geneva conventions will become irrelevant,” he wrote, adding it was time for both a cease-fire and “accountability.”

The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that the strike targeted “a Hamas command and control center in the area.”

Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories body hit back at Lazzarini’s social media complaint, alleging in its own post that Gaza schools “have been Hamas weapons storage facilities, tunnel access points, and bases of operation for over a decade.”

“Maybe if you hadn’t turned a blind eye to Hamas’s use of UNRWA schools, the current situation would be entirely different,” the organization wrote.

Slain American-Turkish activist’s family responds to Biden

Aysenur Eygi’s family responded to President Joe Biden’s statement released earlier Wednesday where he called her death “totally unacceptable.”

The family said that Biden has not called them.

“Let us be clear, an American citizen was killed by a foreign military in a targeted attack. The appropriate action is for President Biden and Vice President [Kamala] Harris to speak with the family directly, and order an independent, transparent investigation into the killing of Ayşenur, a volunteer for peace,” the family said in a statement.

17 dead in IDF strike on school in Gaza

Search and rescue operations are ongoing after an Israel Defense Forces strike on a school in Gaza killed at least 17 people and wounded over 18 others, according to Gaza Civil Defense.

This is the fifth time the IDF has bombed this school. It was previously struck by the IDF on July 6.

Six of the people killed in the strike worked for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, according to the agency. Among those killed was the manager of the UNRWA shelter and other team members providing assistance to displaced people.

About 12,000 displaced people live in the school, mainly women an children, according to the UNRWA.

The IDF, confirming the strike, claimed that the school had been used by Hamas terrorists to plan and execute attacks against Israel.

Israeli helicopter crashes in Gaza killing 2

An Israeli air force helicopter crashed in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip, killing two soldiers overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The helicopter was “on a mission to evacuate an injured solider to a hospital for medical treatment,” the IDF said. An initial inquiry “indicates the crash was not caused by enemy fire,” but the cause of the crash is still “under investigation,” the IDF said.

Seven additional soldiers were injured “to varying degrees” and were evacuated to a hospital for treatment, the IDF said.

The families of the killed and injured soldiers have been notified, the IDF said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Egyptian, Qatari officials meet with top Hamas official in Doha

Egyptian and Qatari officials met with a top Hamas official in Doha on Wednesday, hoping to potentially restart cease-fire negotiations after they fell apart again.

Hamas is repeating its demand that the deal proposed in early July be put back on the table, according to a statement confirming the meeting. Hamas also reiterated its demand for a total withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.

17 dead in IDF strike on school in Gaza

Search and rescue operations are ongoing after an Israel Defense Forces strike on a school in Gaza killed at least 17 people and wounded over 18 others, according to Gaza Civil Defense.

This is the fifth time the IDF has bombed this school. It was previously struck by the IDF on July 6.

The IDF, confirming the strike, claimed that the school had been used by Hamas terrorists to plan and execute attacks against Israel.

Over 80% of targeted Gazan children receive polio vaccines

As of Tuesday evening, 82.5% of children in the Gaza Strip under the age of 10 have received their first dose of the polio vaccine as part of the ongoing emergency polio vaccination campaign.

The third round of vaccinations continues “despite the ongoing occupation aggression on the Strip, despite the great danger to their movement and travel between vaccination centers, and this is the case of our people in the Strip who are keen to vaccinate children against the disease,” the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement Wednesday.

13 dead in IDF strike on school in Gaza

Search and rescue operations are ongoing after an Israel Defense Forces strike on a school in Gaza killed at least 13 people and wounded over 18 others, according to Gaza Civil Defense.

This is the fifth time the IDF has bombed this school. It was previously struck by the IDF on July 6.

The IDF, confirming the strike, claimed that the school had been used by Hamas terrorists to plan and execute attacks against Israel.

Biden ‘outraged’ by Israel’s killing of American activist

President Joe Biden said he is “outraged and deeply saddened” by the killing of American citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the West Bank by Israeli forces.

“The shooting that led to her death is totally unacceptable,” the president said in a statement published Wednesday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces published its initial report into the killing on Tuesday, finding it “highly likely” that the dual American-Turkish activist “was hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF fire which was not aimed at her.”

Biden said the U.S. government has “full access” to the preliminary investigation “and expects continued access as the investigation continues, so that we can have confidence in the result.”

“There must be full accountability,” the president said. “And Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again.”

Eygi, 26, was with the International Solidarity Movement in the West Bank, working to protect local Palestinian farmers from attacks by Israeli settlers.

Biden said Wednesday that the violence in the West Bank “has been going on for too long.”

“Violent extremist Israeli settlers are uprooting Palestinians from their homes,” he continued. “Palestinian terrorists are sending car bombs to kill civilians.”

“I will continue to support policies that hold all extremists — Israelis and Palestinians alike — accountable for stoking violence and serving as obstacles to peace,” he said.

Two Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza helicopter crash

Two Israeli soldiers were killed and seven injured were injured in a helicopter crash in southern Gaza on Tuesday night, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The helicopter “was on a mission to evacuate an injured soldier to a hospital for medical treatment,” but “crashed while landing in the Rafah area” in the south of the territory, the IDF wrote on X.

“An initial inquiry conducted indicates that the crash was not caused by enemy fire,” the force said. “The cause of the crash is still under investigation.”

Seven other troops were “injured to varying degrees, the IDF said. They have been hospitalized for treatment.

Israeli Air Force commander, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, appointed an investigative committee to probe the incident, the IDF added.

Israel hits dozens of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon

Israeli warplanes “struck approximately 30 Hezbollah launchers and terror infrastructure sites which posed a threat to Israeli civilians” in southern Lebanon overnight, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Wednesday.

The strikes occurred in the areas of Jibbain, Naqoura, Deir Seryan and Zibqin, the IDF said. Israeli artillery also hit the area of Al-Dahira.

Suspect killed after West Bank ‘ramming attack,’ IDF says

One person was critically injured in an alleged ramming attack near an Israeli settlement in the West Bank on Wednesday.

The Israel Defense Forces said that the “terrorist” attacker “was neutralized at the scene.” The incident occurred at the Givat Asaf junction, close to the Israeli settlement of Beit El.

Magen David Adom — Israel’s emergency service — said its responders were “treating a male about 20 years old in critical condition.”

The MDA said on social media that the victim was hit by a “fuel tanker.”

Death toll in Gaza surpasses 41,000: Gaza Ministry of Health

The death toll in Gaza has passed 41,000 as of Tuesday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

The ministry reported that 41,020 people have died and 94,925 have been injured since Israel launched its war against Hamas in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023, following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.

That figure does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

IDF releases video of tunnel where 6 hostages were held

The Israel Defense Forces has released footage of the blood-stained tunnel where six hostages, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, were held captive and murdered last month.

The “passageway” tunnel spanned 120 meters and was 20 meters deep, the IDF said.

The IDF estimates the hostages were in the tunnel for “weeks.”

The Israeli military believes the six hostages were shot and killed on Aug. 29. The IDF said its soldiers found one of the tunnel’s shafts on Aug. 30, and the hostages’ bodies were discovered on Aug. 31.

The IDF said the hostages were killed with bullets from two guns.

The Hostages Families Forum Headquarters said in a statement that the “shocking” video “proves the unimaginable, inhuman conditions in which the 6 hostages Alex, Hersh, Eden, Ori, Carmel and Almog were held for months.”

“Carmel, Hersh, Alex, Almog, Ori, and Eden suffered until their last breath. They begged to be released, pleaded for their lives,” the group said. “Time is running out! That light, that hope, cannot die. A deal must be signed NOW!”

Blinken condemns ‘unprovoked’ Israeli killing of American activist

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the IDF’s initial report into the killing of U.S. citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi suggests “her killing was both unprovoked and unjustified.”

“No one should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have to put their life at risk just for freely expressing their views,” Blinken said, using some of the strongest terms to condemn the killing by any American official yet.

“In our judgment, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement,” Blinken continued, adding that the U.S. was well aware of longstanding allegations concerning Israeli authorities’ use of excessive force against Palestinians in the West Bank.

“Now we have the second American citizen killed at the hands of Israeli security forces. It’s not acceptable. It has to change, and we’ll be making that clear to the senior-most members of the Israeli government,” Blinken said.

“Now we’re looking carefully at the results of this investigation, but even on an initial read and even accepting it at face value, it’s clear that there are serious issues that need to be dealt with, and we will insist that they be dealt with,” he added.

‘Highly likely’ Israeli troops killed American activist: IDF

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) published the results of its initial inquiry into last week’s killing of American Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the West Bank.

“The inquiry found that it is highly likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF fire which was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of the riot,” the IDF press release stated, referring to a period of reported unrest at the Beita Junction.

“Israel has sent a request to carry out an autopsy,” it added. “The IDF expresses its deepest regret over the death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.”

Eygi, 26, was a dual Turkish-American citizen and activist working for the International Solidarity Movement in the West Bank, working to protect local Palestinian farmers from attacks by Israeli settlers.

South Gaza polio vaccine drive reaches 446,000 children: WHO

The polio vaccination campaign in southern Gaza concluded on Monday with more than 446,000 children vaccinated since the drive began on Sept. 1, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

“Five health facilities will continue offering polio vaccination to make sure no child is missed,” Ghebreyesus wrote on X. “We are grateful to the families for their cooperation, and to all vaccinators and health workers for their dedication.”

The polio vaccination campaign is continuing elsewhere in Gaza, and Ghebreyesus said continued humanitarian pauses are “key” in facilitating the program. Preparations to expand the drive into the north of the devastated territory “are ongoing,” he added.

“The children in Gaza deserve lasting peace, not just polio vaccines,” Ghebreyesus said.

US expects ‘transparent’ probe into killing of American in West Bank

The State Department is “urgently working to get more information” on the killing of American citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the West Bank last week, Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told journalists at a Monday briefing.

Eygi, 26, was an activist working for the International Solidarity Movement and was shot dead in the West Bank village of Beita on Friday. The dual American-Turkish citizen was allegedly killed by Israeli troops.

Patel told reporters that “our partners in Israel are looking into the circumstances of what happened, and we expect them to make their findings public, and expect that whatever those findings are, expect them to be thorough and transparent.”

IDF defends strike on Gaza’s Khan Younis humanitarian area

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a Monday night strike on tents in a designated humanitarian zone in the southern Gaza Strip targeted Hamas figures “directly involved” in the Oct. 7 attack.

The Hamas-run Gaza Civil Defense reported at least 40 people killed and at least 60 injured in the bombing. Search and recovery efforts were underway at the scene on Tuesday.

The IDF said Tuesday that its strike targeted “senior Hamas terrorists” in a “command and control center embedded inside the humanitarian area in Khan Younis.”

Among those killed were Samer Ismail Khadr Abu Daqqa, the head of Hamas’ aerial unit in Gaza, the IDF said.

Osama Tabesh, the head of the observation and targets department in Hamas’ military intelligence headquarters, and Ayman Mabhouh, another “senior Hamas terrorist” were also hit, the force said.

“According to an initial review, the numbers published by the Hamas-run Government Information Office in Gaza, which has consistently broadcast lies and false information throughout the war, do not align with the information held by the IDF, the precise munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike,” the IDF statement added.

At least 40 killed in strike on humanitarian area: Gaza Civil Defense

At least 40 people were killed and at least 60 people have been wounded after an Israeli strike in a designated humanitarian area of Khan Yunis, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Civil Defense.

The strike hit “a gathering of displaced persons’ tents consisting of at least 20 inhabited tents,” a Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson said early Tuesday morning local time.

The Israeli Air Force “struck significant Hamas terrorists who were operating with a command and control center embedded inside the Humanitarian Area in Khan Yunis,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

Hamas changed ‘some of the terms’ of the hostage exchange: White House

The White House is remaining hopeful that talks for a cease-fire in Gaza and release of the remaining hostages can be salvaged after Hamas proposed new amendments to the deal following the killing of six hostages.

“Hamas did change some of the terms of the exchange. And that has made it more difficult for us to get there,” National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said at Monday’s press briefing.

“We still believe that, even for the new amendments that Hamas has made, that it’s still worth an effort to try to see if we can’t get back into a cease-fire negotiation,” he added. “But we’re not there right now.”

Kirby would not say if President Joe Biden will be increasing pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a deal and potentially hold the transfer of weapons to Israel in order to secure a deal, similar to the recent decision by the United Kingdom.

“I can’t think of anything we haven’t put more pressure on ourselves than to try to get this deal,” Kirby said. “We know how urgent this is. And we’re working night and day to try to see if we can get a deal in place. Hamas is the main obstacle to this right now.”

-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez

Aerial attack targets northern Israel, officials say

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported “a hostile aircraft infiltration” in the north of the country on Monday morning.

“Two suspicious aerial targets were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory,” The IDF said in a statement. “An aerial target fell in the area of Nahariya. No injuries were reported.”

The Magen David Adom (MDA) — Israel’s emergency services — said in a social media post that its personnel “located the site of the impact, as of now no casualties have been found.”

Israeli media reported that a drone detonated after crashing into an apartment block.

-ABC News’ Dana Savir and David Brennan

Hundreds gather in Central Park for hostage vigil

The Hostages Families Forum Headquarters organized twin protests in Tel Aviv and New York on Sunday, as pro-cease-fire activists look to build pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and American politicians.

Hundreds of people rallied in Central Park “to mourn six Israeli and American hostages murdered after 11 months in captivity,” the Forum said in a press release.

Among the speakers were Gilad and Nitza Korngold — the parents of hostage Tal Shoham who was abducted into Gaza on Oct. 7.

“The Red Cross has refused to help our loved ones while shamelessly requesting better conditions for the terrorists in Israel’s imprisonment,” they said, per the Forum’s press release. “We ask everyone here to call your representatives and demand the release of our loved ones from captivity.”

Moran Stela Yanai — released in November 2023 after 54 days as a hostage in Gaza — also spoke, telling attendees: “My brothers and sisters in captivity are hungry and in pain and in constant danger.”

“We must find the strength to keep fighting for them and bring them home,” she added, as quoted in the Forum’s press release.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and David Brennan

Jordanian border crossings partly reopened after shooting

Israeli and Jordanian authorities confirmed the partial reopening of border crossings on Monday following their closure due to the killing of three police officers at the Allenby Bridge.

An Israel Airport Authority spokesperson said the crossings at Yitzhak Rabin near Eilat, at the Jordan River near Beit Shean and at the Allenby Bridge would open for passenger traffic.

The media spokesman for the Jordanian Public Security Directorate said that King Hussein Bridge leading to the Allenby entry point would remain closed to freight traffic.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s Interior Ministry said that its preliminary investigations into Sunday’s shooting at the Allenby Bridge crossing confirmed that the alleged gunman was a Jordanian citizen named Maher Dhiyab Hussein Al-Jazi.

The alleged shooter — whom Israeli security forces said they shot and killed — was a resident of the Al-Husseiniyah area in Ma’an Governorate, and was crossing the bridge as a driver of a freight vehicle carrying commercial goods.

Al-Jazi acted alone, the ministry said, noting its investigation is ongoing. Authorities are attempting to organize the return of his body so he can be buried in Jordan.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller, Ghazi Balkiz and David Brennan

Airstrikes hit Syrian scientific research center, state media says

Strikes targeted a Syrian scientific research area in the city of Masyaf in the Hama countryside on Sunday night, Syrian state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

“Ambulance vehicles rushed towards the center of the area” amid reports of casualties, the SOHR — a U.K.-based war monitor — said on its website.

Both Syrian state media and the SOHR attributed the strikes to Israel. The SOHR said Syrian anti-aircraft weapons intercepted some Israeli missiles.

There was no immediate confirmation on the number of casualties. At least 14 people were killed and 43 others were wounded, Syrian state news agency SANA reported. ABC News was not able to immediately confirm the reported casualties or whether they were military personnel.

ABC News asked the Israel Defense Forces for comment. Israel typically does not confirm or deny responsibility for strikes in Syria, where it has been engaged in a “shadow war” with Iran and its allies — including the Lebanese Hezbollah militia — for several years.

-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and David Brennan

Nearly 70% of children in Gaza vaccinated against polio, health ministry reports

The polio vaccination campaign continued today in south Gaza, Khan Younis and Rafah, after early issues in the region when vaccines could not be properly distributed to the eastern side of Gaza.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced Sunday that 441,647 children in Gaza have received the first dose of the polio vaccine, so far.

This accounts for about 69% of the targeted population, according to the ministry.

According to the World Health Organization, 95% of children need to be vaccinated to prevent the spread of the disease effectively.

On Monday, vaccinations will be offered in northern Gaza where daily, eight-hour pauses in fighting and airstrikes will be instituted so children can be taken to one of the roughly 33 locations across Gaza City and north Gaza where the vaccine will be administered, according to the ministry.

-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé

Israel closes Jordan border crossings after deadly shooting

Israel closed on Sunday the two land crossings between Jordan and Israel, as well as the Allenby Bridge crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank, the Israel Airports Authority — which oversees the crossings — told ABC News.

The closures followed a shooting on Sunday morning at Allenby that killed three police officers.

The gunman — who was shot dead by security forces — came from the Jordanian side, but it was not immediately clear if he was affiliated with any militant group. Both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad issued congratulatory statements about the shooting.

Netanyahu condemned the attack, saying it was attributable to the “murderous ideology led by Iran’s ‘Axis of Evil’.”

Israel did not say how long the closures would last. The Allenby crossing is one of the key entries through which goods destined for Gaza pass.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller, Nasser Atta, Victoria Beaule and David Brennan

Hamas rocket commander ‘eliminated’ in Gaza: IDF

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported the killing of a Hamas rocket commander in an airstrike last week.

The IDF wrote on social media on Sunday that its Southern Command “eliminated” Raef Omar Salman Abu Shab — the commander of the rocket unit of the eastern Khan Younis Brigade — in an airstrike on Tuesday

The commander was “responsible for launching rocket barrages from the area of Khan Younis toward southern and central Israel since the start of the war,” the IDF said.

-ABC News’ David Brennan

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — As a 4-year-old Palestinian child waited on Sunday to cross into Jordan for a chance at a life-saving medical procedure, a gunman was crossing from the other side to attack Israeli border guards.

Accompanied by his mother and fiercest advocate, Huda, Ahmed Hammad had left Gaza a few hours earlier for an emergency surgery to change his pacemaker, a necessary device he had since he was just a baby that has a battery that is now days away from completely depleting.

As doctors first warned about the situation in March, the family soon organized to request an emergency evacuation, according to the humanitarian agents helping them. But Hammad’s case was repeatedly rejected by Israeli officials who cited security concerns, they said.

Until Sunday, when he made it out of Gaza for the first time, traveling to the crossing in the West Bank, just to be returned to the war-torn Gaza Strip a few hours later. All crossings from Jordan were shut down after the gunman coming from Jordan killed three Israeli civilians at Allenby Bridge crossing, Israeli officials said.

It has been over 11 months since Hamas militants carried out a surprise attack that prompted a retaliatory war from Israel, which has left over 41,000 killed and 94,000 injured in Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry. The health care system in the Strip collapsed as a direct result, leaving cases like Hammad’s in a limbo of bureaucracy that quickly took most of the time he had left to save his life.

Humanitarian agencies, such as Save The Children and Doctors Without Borders, say there are thousands of other children like him waiting to evacuate for medical reasons.

Hammad, who is nonverbal, has people who raised their voice on his behalf, pleading his case to the relevant authorities more urgently as every day went by.

His mother, Huda, who said she already lost a daughter early in the war due to malnutrition and lack of health care, has been documenting Ahmed’s journey on Instagram.

In posts shared with a growing number of supporters from all around the world, Huda uploaded photos of her son resting in a tent, as well as videos of the frequent, painful seizure-like activity that came with his pacemaker’s battery dwindling.

Also fighting on behalf of Ahmed is Tareq Hailat, head of the Treatment Abroad Program at the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), which provides free medical care to Palestinian children who lack access to it.

“He needs to get out, or that battery runs out and he’s going to die,” Hailat told ABC News.

He added that surgeries like the one Hammad needs were ordinary in Gaza before Oct. 7 but are now impossible in what humanitarian agencies, such as Doctors Without Borders, call a destroyed health care system.

Hailat said that the situation with medical evacuations for children of Gaza deteriorated after the Israeli military took over the Philadelphi Corridor, a strategic ribbon of land running 9 miles at the border with Egypt that includes the Rafah crossing, a main evacuation point.

“Since the Rafah border has been closed, there’s only been about maybe a hundred children that have been pulled out. Before, we would pull out almost 50 every single day,” Hailat said.

When asked about the system in place and why emergency cases like Hammad’s can wait for months without updates, Hailat said there is no system in place and the permission appears to be given arbitrarily.

“We ask the same question every single day: why is this particular child not being able to be pulled out? And it really has to do with the fact that it’s all in the hands of COGAT and no one else,” Hailat told ABC News, referring to the Israeli military’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. “So we have to wait and plead until they approve, and we have to exert as much pressure as possible.”

Hammad’s peacemaker will soon lose power, which would leave him to face likely cardiac arrest, according to his doctor and advocates.

ABC News has reached out to COGAT for comment.

Dr. Oday Sallout, a cardiac and pediatric surgeon at the European Hospital in Gaza who has been following Hammad’s case, said he has a “complete heart block” condition, with his heart’s upper and lower chambers disassociated and not working in combination.

“This creates a mess, with complications including sudden loss of consciousness and ultimately the risk of cardiac arrest,” Sallout said in an interview. “With a pacemaker he can sustain a good life, but it must be changed. I’ve learned he was first approved to evacuate without his mother, which is like a death sentence for someone like Ahmed.”

He’s dependent on his mother, so separating them could be catastrophic, Sallout said.

After the Palestinian Ministry of Health flagged the case, Hammad was approved through the World Health Organization to be welcomed for treatment in multiple countries, including Spain and the United Arab Emirates.

But he needs to leave Gaza first.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, the latest round of cease-fire discussions appears to have reached an impasse.

Meanwhile, after six hostages were found dead in Gaza, protests erupted in Israel. Protesters have lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and demanded the government bring the hostages home.

Here’s how the news is developing:

Israel’s Gaza school strikes ‘totally unacceptable’: UN chief

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres accused Israel of “dramatic violations of international humanitarian law” over its continued airstrikes on schools-turned-shelters in the Gaza Strip.

Six United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) were among at least 17 people killed in a Wednesday strike on the Al-Jaouni School in Nuseirat in central Gaza, the agency confirmed. It is the fifth time that the school has been targeted since Oct. 7.

Guterres wrote on X: “What’s happening in Gaza is totally unacceptable. A school turned shelter for around 12,000 people was hit by Israeli airstrikes again today.” 

The attacks “need to stop now,” he added.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X: “Endless & senseless killing, day after day.”

“Humanitarian staff, premises & operations have been blatantly & unabatedly disregarded since the beginning of the war,” he added, noting that at least 220 UNRWA staff have been killed in Gaza.

“The longer impunity prevails, the more international humanitarian law & the Geneva conventions will become irrelevant,” he wrote, adding it was time for both a cease-fire and “accountability.”

The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that the strike targeted “a Hamas command and control center in the area.”

Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories body hit back at Lazzarini’s social media complaint, alleging in its own post that Gaza schools “have been Hamas weapons storage facilities, tunnel access points, and bases of operation for over a decade.”

“Maybe if you hadn’t turned a blind eye to Hamas’s use of UNRWA schools, the current situation would be entirely different,” the organization wrote.

Slain American-Turkish activist’s family responds to Biden

Aysenur Eygi’s family responded to President Joe Biden’s statement released earlier Wednesday where he called her death “totally unacceptable.”

The family said that Biden has not called them.

“Let us be clear, an American citizen was killed by a foreign military in a targeted attack. The appropriate action is for President Biden and Vice President [Kamala] Harris to speak with the family directly, and order an independent, transparent investigation into the killing of Ayşenur, a volunteer for peace,” the family said in a statement.

17 dead in IDF strike on school in Gaza

Search and rescue operations are ongoing after an Israel Defense Forces strike on a school in Gaza killed at least 17 people and wounded over 18 others, according to Gaza Civil Defense.

This is the fifth time the IDF has bombed this school. It was previously struck by the IDF on July 6.

Six of the people killed in the strike worked for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, according to the agency. Among those killed was the manager of the UNRWA shelter and other team members providing assistance to displaced people.

About 12,000 displaced people live in the school, mainly women an children, according to the UNRWA.

The IDF, confirming the strike, claimed that the school had been used by Hamas terrorists to plan and execute attacks against Israel.

Israeli helicopter crashes in Gaza killing 2

An Israeli air force helicopter crashed in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip, killing two soldiers overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The helicopter was “on a mission to evacuate an injured solider to a hospital for medical treatment,” the IDF said. An initial inquiry “indicates the crash was not caused by enemy fire,” but the cause of the crash is still “under investigation,” the IDF said.

Seven additional soldiers were injured “to varying degrees” and were evacuated to a hospital for treatment, the IDF said.

The families of the killed and injured soldiers have been notified, the IDF said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Egyptian, Qatari officials meet with top Hamas official in Doha

Egyptian and Qatari officials met with a top Hamas official in Doha on Wednesday, hoping to potentially restart cease-fire negotiations after they fell apart again.

Hamas is repeating its demand that the deal proposed in early July be put back on the table, according to a statement confirming the meeting. Hamas also reiterated its demand for a total withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.

17 dead in IDF strike on school in Gaza

Search and rescue operations are ongoing after an Israel Defense Forces strike on a school in Gaza killed at least 17 people and wounded over 18 others, according to Gaza Civil Defense.

This is the fifth time the IDF has bombed this school. It was previously struck by the IDF on July 6.

The IDF, confirming the strike, claimed that the school had been used by Hamas terrorists to plan and execute attacks against Israel.

Over 80% of targeted Gazan children receive polio vaccines

As of Tuesday evening, 82.5% of children in the Gaza Strip under the age of 10 have received their first dose of the polio vaccine as part of the ongoing emergency polio vaccination campaign.

The third round of vaccinations continues “despite the ongoing occupation aggression on the Strip, despite the great danger to their movement and travel between vaccination centers, and this is the case of our people in the Strip who are keen to vaccinate children against the disease,” the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement Wednesday.

13 dead in IDF strike on school in Gaza

Search and rescue operations are ongoing after an Israel Defense Forces strike on a school in Gaza killed at least 13 people and wounded over 18 others, according to Gaza Civil Defense.

This is the fifth time the IDF has bombed this school. It was previously struck by the IDF on July 6.

The IDF, confirming the strike, claimed that the school had been used by Hamas terrorists to plan and execute attacks against Israel.

Biden ‘outraged’ by Israel’s killing of American activist

President Joe Biden said he is “outraged and deeply saddened” by the killing of American citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the West Bank by Israeli forces.

“The shooting that led to her death is totally unacceptable,” the president said in a statement published Wednesday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces published its initial report into the killing on Tuesday, finding it “highly likely” that the dual American-Turkish activist “was hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF fire which was not aimed at her.”

Biden said the U.S. government has “full access” to the preliminary investigation “and expects continued access as the investigation continues, so that we can have confidence in the result.”

“There must be full accountability,” the president said. “And Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again.”

Eygi, 26, was with the International Solidarity Movement in the West Bank, working to protect local Palestinian farmers from attacks by Israeli settlers.

Biden said Wednesday that the violence in the West Bank “has been going on for too long.”

“Violent extremist Israeli settlers are uprooting Palestinians from their homes,” he continued. “Palestinian terrorists are sending car bombs to kill civilians.”

“I will continue to support policies that hold all extremists — Israelis and Palestinians alike — accountable for stoking violence and serving as obstacles to peace,” he said.

Two Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza helicopter crash

Two Israeli soldiers were killed and seven injured were injured in a helicopter crash in southern Gaza on Tuesday night, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The helicopter “was on a mission to evacuate an injured soldier to a hospital for medical treatment,” but “crashed while landing in the Rafah area” in the south of the territory, the IDF wrote on X.

“An initial inquiry conducted indicates that the crash was not caused by enemy fire,” the force said. “The cause of the crash is still under investigation.”

Seven other troops were “injured to varying degrees, the IDF said. They have been hospitalized for treatment.

Israeli Air Force commander, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, appointed an investigative committee to probe the incident, the IDF added.

Israel hits dozens of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon

Israeli warplanes “struck approximately 30 Hezbollah launchers and terror infrastructure sites which posed a threat to Israeli civilians” in southern Lebanon overnight, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Wednesday.

The strikes occurred in the areas of Jibbain, Naqoura, Deir Seryan and Zibqin, the IDF said. Israeli artillery also hit the area of Al-Dahira.

Suspect killed after West Bank ‘ramming attack,’ IDF says

One person was critically injured in an alleged ramming attack near an Israeli settlement in the West Bank on Wednesday.

The Israel Defense Forces said that the “terrorist” attacker “was neutralized at the scene.” The incident occurred at the Givat Asaf junction, close to the Israeli settlement of Beit El.

Magen David Adom — Israel’s emergency service — said its responders were “treating a male about 20 years old in critical condition.”

The MDA said on social media that the victim was hit by a “fuel tanker.”

Death toll in Gaza surpasses 41,000: Gaza Ministry of Health

The death toll in Gaza has passed 41,000 as of Tuesday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

The ministry reported that 41,020 people have died and 94,925 have been injured since Israel launched its war against Hamas in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023, following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.

That figure does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

IDF releases video of tunnel where 6 hostages were held

The Israel Defense Forces has released footage of the blood-stained tunnel where six hostages, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, were held captive and murdered last month.

The “passageway” tunnel spanned 120 meters and was 20 meters deep, the IDF said.

The IDF estimates the hostages were in the tunnel for “weeks.”

The Israeli military believes the six hostages were shot and killed on Aug. 29. The IDF said its soldiers found one of the tunnel’s shafts on Aug. 30, and the hostages’ bodies were discovered on Aug. 31.

The IDF said the hostages were killed with bullets from two guns.

The Hostages Families Forum Headquarters said in a statement that the “shocking” video “proves the unimaginable, inhuman conditions in which the 6 hostages Alex, Hersh, Eden, Ori, Carmel and Almog were held for months.”

“Carmel, Hersh, Alex, Almog, Ori, and Eden suffered until their last breath. They begged to be released, pleaded for their lives,” the group said. “Time is running out! That light, that hope, cannot die. A deal must be signed NOW!”

Blinken condemns ‘unprovoked’ Israeli killing of American activist

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the IDF’s initial report into the killing of U.S. citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi suggests “her killing was both unprovoked and unjustified.”

“No one should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have to put their life at risk just for freely expressing their views,” Blinken said, using some of the strongest terms to condemn the killing by any American official yet.

“In our judgment, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement,” Blinken continued, adding that the U.S. was well aware of longstanding allegations concerning Israeli authorities’ use of excessive force against Palestinians in the West Bank.

“Now we have the second American citizen killed at the hands of Israeli security forces. It’s not acceptable. It has to change, and we’ll be making that clear to the senior-most members of the Israeli government,” Blinken said.

“Now we’re looking carefully at the results of this investigation, but even on an initial read and even accepting it at face value, it’s clear that there are serious issues that need to be dealt with, and we will insist that they be dealt with,” he added.

‘Highly likely’ Israeli troops killed American activist: IDF

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) published the results of its initial inquiry into last week’s killing of American Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the West Bank.

“The inquiry found that it is highly likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF fire which was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of the riot,” the IDF press release stated, referring to a period of reported unrest at the Beita Junction.

“Israel has sent a request to carry out an autopsy,” it added. “The IDF expresses its deepest regret over the death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.”

Eygi, 26, was a dual Turkish-American citizen and activist working for the International Solidarity Movement in the West Bank, working to protect local Palestinian farmers from attacks by Israeli settlers.

South Gaza polio vaccine drive reaches 446,000 children: WHO

The polio vaccination campaign in southern Gaza concluded on Monday with more than 446,000 children vaccinated since the drive began on Sept. 1, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

“Five health facilities will continue offering polio vaccination to make sure no child is missed,” Ghebreyesus wrote on X. “We are grateful to the families for their cooperation, and to all vaccinators and health workers for their dedication.”

The polio vaccination campaign is continuing elsewhere in Gaza, and Ghebreyesus said continued humanitarian pauses are “key” in facilitating the program. Preparations to expand the drive into the north of the devastated territory “are ongoing,” he added.

“The children in Gaza deserve lasting peace, not just polio vaccines,” Ghebreyesus said.

US expects ‘transparent’ probe into killing of American in West Bank

The State Department is “urgently working to get more information” on the killing of American citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the West Bank last week, Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told journalists at a Monday briefing.

Eygi, 26, was an activist working for the International Solidarity Movement and was shot dead in the West Bank village of Beita on Friday. The dual American-Turkish citizen was allegedly killed by Israeli troops.

Patel told reporters that “our partners in Israel are looking into the circumstances of what happened, and we expect them to make their findings public, and expect that whatever those findings are, expect them to be thorough and transparent.”

IDF defends strike on Gaza’s Khan Younis humanitarian area

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a Monday night strike on tents in a designated humanitarian zone in the southern Gaza Strip targeted Hamas figures “directly involved” in the Oct. 7 attack.

The Hamas-run Gaza Civil Defense reported at least 40 people killed and at least 60 injured in the bombing. Search and recovery efforts were underway at the scene on Tuesday.

The IDF said Tuesday that its strike targeted “senior Hamas terrorists” in a “command and control center embedded inside the humanitarian area in Khan Younis.”

Among those killed were Samer Ismail Khadr Abu Daqqa, the head of Hamas’ aerial unit in Gaza, the IDF said.

Osama Tabesh, the head of the observation and targets department in Hamas’ military intelligence headquarters, and Ayman Mabhouh, another “senior Hamas terrorist” were also hit, the force said.

“According to an initial review, the numbers published by the Hamas-run Government Information Office in Gaza, which has consistently broadcast lies and false information throughout the war, do not align with the information held by the IDF, the precise munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike,” the IDF statement added.

At least 40 killed in strike on humanitarian area: Gaza Civil Defense

At least 40 people were killed and at least 60 people have been wounded after an Israeli strike in a designated humanitarian area of Khan Yunis, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Civil Defense.

The strike hit “a gathering of displaced persons’ tents consisting of at least 20 inhabited tents,” a Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson said early Tuesday morning local time.

The Israeli Air Force “struck significant Hamas terrorists who were operating with a command and control center embedded inside the Humanitarian Area in Khan Yunis,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

Hamas changed ‘some of the terms’ of the hostage exchange: White House

The White House is remaining hopeful that talks for a cease-fire in Gaza and release of the remaining hostages can be salvaged after Hamas proposed new amendments to the deal following the killing of six hostages.

“Hamas did change some of the terms of the exchange. And that has made it more difficult for us to get there,” National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said at Monday’s press briefing.

“We still believe that, even for the new amendments that Hamas has made, that it’s still worth an effort to try to see if we can’t get back into a cease-fire negotiation,” he added. “But we’re not there right now.”

Kirby would not say if President Joe Biden will be increasing pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a deal and potentially hold the transfer of weapons to Israel in order to secure a deal, similar to the recent decision by the United Kingdom.

“I can’t think of anything we haven’t put more pressure on ourselves than to try to get this deal,” Kirby said. “We know how urgent this is. And we’re working night and day to try to see if we can get a deal in place. Hamas is the main obstacle to this right now.”

-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez

Aerial attack targets northern Israel, officials say

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported “a hostile aircraft infiltration” in the north of the country on Monday morning.

“Two suspicious aerial targets were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory,” The IDF said in a statement. “An aerial target fell in the area of Nahariya. No injuries were reported.”

The Magen David Adom (MDA) — Israel’s emergency services — said in a social media post that its personnel “located the site of the impact, as of now no casualties have been found.”

Israeli media reported that a drone detonated after crashing into an apartment block.

-ABC News’ Dana Savir and David Brennan

Hundreds gather in Central Park for hostage vigil

The Hostages Families Forum Headquarters organized twin protests in Tel Aviv and New York on Sunday, as pro-cease-fire activists look to build pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and American politicians.

Hundreds of people rallied in Central Park “to mourn six Israeli and American hostages murdered after 11 months in captivity,” the Forum said in a press release.

Among the speakers were Gilad and Nitza Korngold — the parents of hostage Tal Shoham who was abducted into Gaza on Oct. 7.

“The Red Cross has refused to help our loved ones while shamelessly requesting better conditions for the terrorists in Israel’s imprisonment,” they said, per the Forum’s press release. “We ask everyone here to call your representatives and demand the release of our loved ones from captivity.”

Moran Stela Yanai — released in November 2023 after 54 days as a hostage in Gaza — also spoke, telling attendees: “My brothers and sisters in captivity are hungry and in pain and in constant danger.”

“We must find the strength to keep fighting for them and bring them home,” she added, as quoted in the Forum’s press release.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and David Brennan

Jordanian border crossings partly reopened after shooting

Israeli and Jordanian authorities confirmed the partial reopening of border crossings on Monday following their closure due to the killing of three police officers at the Allenby Bridge.

An Israel Airport Authority spokesperson said the crossings at Yitzhak Rabin near Eilat, at the Jordan River near Beit Shean and at the Allenby Bridge would open for passenger traffic.

The media spokesman for the Jordanian Public Security Directorate said that King Hussein Bridge leading to the Allenby entry point would remain closed to freight traffic.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s Interior Ministry said that its preliminary investigations into Sunday’s shooting at the Allenby Bridge crossing confirmed that the alleged gunman was a Jordanian citizen named Maher Dhiyab Hussein Al-Jazi.

The alleged shooter — whom Israeli security forces said they shot and killed — was a resident of the Al-Husseiniyah area in Ma’an Governorate, and was crossing the bridge as a driver of a freight vehicle carrying commercial goods.

Al-Jazi acted alone, the ministry said, noting its investigation is ongoing. Authorities are attempting to organize the return of his body so he can be buried in Jordan.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller, Ghazi Balkiz and David Brennan

Airstrikes hit Syrian scientific research center, state media says

Strikes targeted a Syrian scientific research area in the city of Masyaf in the Hama countryside on Sunday night, Syrian state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

“Ambulance vehicles rushed towards the center of the area” amid reports of casualties, the SOHR — a U.K.-based war monitor — said on its website.

Both Syrian state media and the SOHR attributed the strikes to Israel. The SOHR said Syrian anti-aircraft weapons intercepted some Israeli missiles.

There was no immediate confirmation on the number of casualties. At least 14 people were killed and 43 others were wounded, Syrian state news agency SANA reported. ABC News was not able to immediately confirm the reported casualties or whether they were military personnel.

ABC News asked the Israel Defense Forces for comment. Israel typically does not confirm or deny responsibility for strikes in Syria, where it has been engaged in a “shadow war” with Iran and its allies — including the Lebanese Hezbollah militia — for several years.

-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and David Brennan

Nearly 70% of children in Gaza vaccinated against polio, health ministry reports

The polio vaccination campaign continued today in south Gaza, Khan Younis and Rafah, after early issues in the region when vaccines could not be properly distributed to the eastern side of Gaza.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced Sunday that 441,647 children in Gaza have received the first dose of the polio vaccine, so far.

This accounts for about 69% of the targeted population, according to the ministry.

According to the World Health Organization, 95% of children need to be vaccinated to prevent the spread of the disease effectively.

On Monday, vaccinations will be offered in northern Gaza where daily, eight-hour pauses in fighting and airstrikes will be instituted so children can be taken to one of the roughly 33 locations across Gaza City and north Gaza where the vaccine will be administered, according to the ministry.

-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé

Israel closes Jordan border crossings after deadly shooting

Israel closed on Sunday the two land crossings between Jordan and Israel, as well as the Allenby Bridge crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank, the Israel Airports Authority — which oversees the crossings — told ABC News.

The closures followed a shooting on Sunday morning at Allenby that killed three police officers.

The gunman — who was shot dead by security forces — came from the Jordanian side, but it was not immediately clear if he was affiliated with any militant group. Both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad issued congratulatory statements about the shooting.

Netanyahu condemned the attack, saying it was attributable to the “murderous ideology led by Iran’s ‘Axis of Evil’.”

Israel did not say how long the closures would last. The Allenby crossing is one of the key entries through which goods destined for Gaza pass.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller, Nasser Atta, Victoria Beaule and David Brennan

Hamas rocket commander ‘eliminated’ in Gaza: IDF

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported the killing of a Hamas rocket commander in an airstrike last week.

The IDF wrote on social media on Sunday that its Southern Command “eliminated” Raef Omar Salman Abu Shab — the commander of the rocket unit of the eastern Khan Younis Brigade — in an airstrike on Tuesday

The commander was “responsible for launching rocket barrages from the area of Khan Younis toward southern and central Israel since the start of the war,” the IDF said.

-ABC News’ David Brennan

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — No decisions were made on Ukraine’s use of American long-range weapons against Russia during a meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ukrainian leadership on Wednesday, according to an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskky.

The discussion comes as Blinken announced more than $700 million in new funds to support Ukraine during remarks in Kyiv.

Restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American long-range weapons against targets inside Russia have been one of the most pressing issues for Blinken during the visit. America’s top diplomat was accompanied by British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

During a lengthy meeting, Zelenskky and Blinken discussed lifting the ban on strikes deeper in Russian territory and weapon supplies, according to an adviser to Zelenskyy with knowledge of the meeting. Zelenskyy gave Blinken a detailed plan of how Ukraine could use long-range missiles for strikes into Russia and gave him a list of possible targets, the adviser said.

Blinken confirmed with reporters during remarks following the meeting that he discussed long-range fires with Ukrainian officials, “but a number of other things as well.”

Blinken said he will share what he learned from his talks with Ukrainian leadership on this trip with President Joe Biden, who is set to meet with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday to “discuss how to further help Ukraine.”

‘We have adjusted and adapted as needs have changed, as the battlefield has changed, and I have no doubt that we’ll continue to do that as this evolves,” Blinken said.

He said escalation from Russia — including the acquisition of Iranian ballistic missiles — is “one of the factors that we always consider, but it’s certainly not the only factor.”

“We’re determined to ensure that they have what they need to succeed,” he added.

Blinken said the more than $700 million in new funds announced on Wednesday will help repair Ukraine’s energy and electric grid and provide humanitarian support as Ukraine heads into the fall fighting season against Russia.

“We remain fully committed to Ukraine’s victory, to not only ensuring that Ukraine can defend itself today, but can stand on its own feet strongly, militarily, economically, democratically for many, many days ahead,” Blinken said.

The new funds include $325 million to help repair Ukraine’s energy and electric grid, $290 million in new humanitarian support to those displaced by the war and $102 million in additional funding to help remove landmines and unexploded ordnances left behind by Russia across Ukraine, according to Blinken.

“The bottom line is this, we want Ukraine to win, and we’re fully committed to keep marshaling the support that it needs for its brave defenders and citizens to do just that now,” Blinken said.

Lammy also announced more than 600 million pounds in new support for Ukraine, including 242 million pounds this financial year for immediate humanitarian energy and stabilization needs.

Lammy additionally announced that the U.K. will send hundreds of additional air defense missiles and tens of thousands of additional artillery ammunition rounds to Ukraine by the end of the year.

“Together, Britain and our allies are united in our commitment to Ukraine, to freedom, to victory, because we both recognize what is at stake here — not just the liberty of Ukraine, but the security of Europe and the security of the West,” he said.

Kyiv has long been advocating for U.S. permission to strike military targets within Russian borders, including airfields that are key to Moscow’s long-range missile campaign against Ukrainian cities.

“We continue to persuade our partners at all levels about long-range capabilities,” Zelenskyy wrote on his Telegram channel on Sunday.

“Russia can avoid seeking peace only as much as the world avoids making strong decisions aimed at Russia’s defeat. Long-range capabilities are one of those key, strategic decisions.”

Yehor Cherniev — a member of the Ukrainian parliament and the chairman of his country’s delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly — told ABC News that Ukrainians are hoping for U.S. permission to use the MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System, colloquially known as the ATACMS, for strikes within Russia. The longest-range variant of the weapon can hit targets out to 190 miles.

“It will inspire Ukrainians and our army,” Cherniev said. Russian airfields and military depots will be top of Kyiv’s target list if American restrictions on ATACMS use are indeed lifted, he added.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists at a Wednesday briefing prior to Blinken’s remarks that he expected the U.S. to give its permission.

“Most likely, of course, all these decisions have already been made,” he said, as quoted by the state-run Tass agency.

ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(KURSK, Russia) — Russia appears to have launched its first major counterattack to drive Ukrainian forces out of Russia’s Kursk region more than a month after Ukraine began its surprise offensive, according to Russian and Ukrainian sources as well as independent military analysts.

Russian forces appeared already to have some success on Tuesday — retaking some territory and driving a wedge into Ukrainian lines in Kursk, analysts said.

Videos posted by pro-Russian military bloggers and geolocated by ABC News showed a large Russian armored column attacking toward the village of Snagost. Another video appears to show Ukrainian troops taken prisoner.

The Russian counterattack is focused on the western flank of Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk that seized hundreds of square kilometers since it began on Aug. 6.

John Helin — a researcher at the Blackbird Group, which conducts open-source military analysis — wrote on X that Russian troops had launched a push from the west and north, driving a wedge behind Ukrainian troops toward Snagost. Russian military bloggers claim Russian forces are now attacking the village of Obukhov, which would mean Russian troops could have advanced more than 6 miles on Tuesday, Helin wrote in an article for the Finnish newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat.

A prominent pro-Ukrainian military blogger, Serhiy Sternenko, confirmed Russia has launched a major counterattack and that the situation is dangerous for Ukraine.

“The situation can develop into a poorly controlled crisis,” Sternenko wrote on Telegram, saying Ukrainian forces lack adequate coordination in the area and are disorganized.

Military analysts and Ukrainian commentators said Russia’s attack was predictable.

“I won’t dramatize about the Kursk region, war is war, a fully expected response from the enemy,” Stanislav Osman, a volunteer soldier with the 24th “Aidar” Assault Battalion, wrote on his Telegram account. But he said Ukrainian commanders had ignored some warnings from Ukrainian front-line troops in the area.

Ukraine succeeded in seizing hundreds of square miles and dozens of villages inside the Kursk region in the early days of its surprise offensive. Russia has struggled to respond. Ukraine has barely advanced since the first two weeks, although it has kept Russian forces on the defensive. Tuesday’s counterattack suggested Russia is now finally seeking to turn the tables and begin trying to push Ukraine back.

Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk has been viewed as a high-risk gamble by most independent military experts. Although it has succeeded in shifting the narrative in the war, analysts have warned Ukraine still risks suffering dangerous losses as it tries to hold onto territory in Kursk.

At the same time, Russian forces have made more rapid advances in eastern Ukraine since the Kursk incursion, appearing to take advantage of Ukraine diverting troops and ammunition. Russian forces have advanced toward the city of Pokrovsk, a key logistical hub, and stretched Ukrainian lines more broadly in southeast Donbas. Though Russia’s rate of advance has reportedly slowed in the past week.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, the latest round of cease-fire discussions appears to have reached an impasse.

Meanwhile, after six hostages were found dead in Gaza, protests erupted in Israel. Protesters have lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and demanded the government bring the hostages home.

Here’s how the news is developing:

Biden ‘outraged’ by Israel’s killing of American activist

President Joe Biden said he is “outraged and deeply saddened” by the killing of American citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the West Bank by Israeli forces.

“The shooting that led to her death is totally unacceptable,” the president said in a statement published Wednesday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces published its initial report into the killing on Tuesday, finding it “highly likely” that the dual American-Turkish activist “was hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF fire which was not aimed at her.”

Biden said the U.S. government has “full access” to the preliminary investigation “and expects continued access as the investigation continues, so that we can have confidence in the result.”

“There must be full accountability,” the president said. “And Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again.”

Eygi, 26, was with the International Solidarity Movement in the West Bank, working to protect local Palestinian farmers from attacks by Israeli settlers.

Biden said Wednesday that the violence in the West Bank “has been going on for too long.”

“Violent extremist Israeli settlers are uprooting Palestinians from their homes,” he continued. “Palestinian terrorists are sending car bombs to kill civilians.”

“I will continue to support policies that hold all extremists — Israelis and Palestinians alike — accountable for stoking violence and serving as obstacles to peace,” he said.

Two Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza helicopter crash

Two Israeli soldiers were killed and seven injured were injured in a helicopter crash in southern Gaza on Tuesday night, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The helicopter “was on a mission to evacuate an injured soldier to a hospital for medical treatment,” but “crashed while landing in the Rafah area” in the south of the territory, the IDF wrote on X.

“An initial inquiry conducted indicates that the crash was not caused by enemy fire,” the force said. “The cause of the crash is still under investigation.”

Seven other troops were “injured to varying degrees, the IDF said. They have been hospitalized for treatment.

Israeli Air Force commander, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, appointed an investigative committee to probe the incident, the IDF added.

Israel hits dozens of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon

Israeli warplanes “struck approximately 30 Hezbollah launchers and terror infrastructure sites which posed a threat to Israeli civilians” in southern Lebanon overnight, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Wednesday.

The strikes occurred in the areas of Jibbain, Naqoura, Deir Seryan and Zibqin, the IDF said. Israeli artillery also hit the area of Al-Dahira.

Suspect killed after West Bank ‘ramming attack,’ IDF says

One person was critically injured in an alleged ramming attack near an Israeli settlement in the West Bank on Wednesday.

The Israel Defense Forces said that the “terrorist” attacker “was neutralized at the scene.” The incident occurred at the Givat Asaf junction, close to the Israeli settlement of Beit El.

Magen David Adom — Israel’s emergency service — said its responders were “treating a male about 20 years old in critical condition.”

The MDA said on social media that the victim was hit by a “fuel tanker.”

Death toll in Gaza surpasses 41,000: Gaza Ministry of Health

The death toll in Gaza has passed 41,000 as of Tuesday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

The ministry reported that 41,020 people have died and 94,925 have been injured since Israel launched its war against Hamas in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023, following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.

That figure does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

IDF releases video of tunnel where 6 hostages were held

The Israel Defense Forces has released footage of the blood-stained tunnel where six hostages, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, were held captive and murdered last month.

The “passageway” tunnel spanned 120 meters and was 20 meters deep, the IDF said.

The IDF estimates the hostages were in the tunnel for “weeks.”

The Israeli military believes the six hostages were shot and killed on Aug. 29. The IDF said its soldiers found one of the tunnel’s shafts on Aug. 30, and the hostages’ bodies were discovered on Aug. 31.

The IDF said the hostages were killed with bullets from two guns.

The Hostages Families Forum Headquarters said in a statement that the “shocking” video “proves the unimaginable, inhuman conditions in which the 6 hostages Alex, Hersh, Eden, Ori, Carmel and Almog were held for months.”

“Carmel, Hersh, Alex, Almog, Ori, and Eden suffered until their last breath. They begged to be released, pleaded for their lives,” the group said. “Time is running out! That light, that hope, cannot die. A deal must be signed NOW!”

Blinken condemns ‘unprovoked’ Israeli killing of American activist

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the IDF’s initial report into the killing of U.S. citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi suggests “her killing was both unprovoked and unjustified.”

“No one should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have to put their life at risk just for freely expressing their views,” Blinken said, using some of the strongest terms to condemn the killing by any American official yet.

“In our judgment, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement,” Blinken continued, adding that the U.S. was well aware of longstanding allegations concerning Israeli authorities’ use of excessive force against Palestinians in the West Bank.

“Now we have the second American citizen killed at the hands of Israeli security forces. It’s not acceptable. It has to change, and we’ll be making that clear to the senior-most members of the Israeli government,” Blinken said.

“Now we’re looking carefully at the results of this investigation, but even on an initial read and even accepting it at face value, it’s clear that there are serious issues that need to be dealt with, and we will insist that they be dealt with,” he added.

‘Highly likely’ Israeli troops killed American activist: IDF

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) published the results of its initial inquiry into last week’s killing of American Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the West Bank.

“The inquiry found that it is highly likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF fire which was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of the riot,” the IDF press release stated, referring to a period of reported unrest at the Beita Junction.

“Israel has sent a request to carry out an autopsy,” it added. “The IDF expresses its deepest regret over the death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.”

Eygi, 26, was a dual Turkish-American citizen and activist working for the International Solidarity Movement in the West Bank, working to protect local Palestinian farmers from attacks by Israeli settlers.

South Gaza polio vaccine drive reaches 446,000 children: WHO

The polio vaccination campaign in southern Gaza concluded on Monday with more than 446,000 children vaccinated since the drive began on Sept. 1, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

“Five health facilities will continue offering polio vaccination to make sure no child is missed,” Ghebreyesus wrote on X. “We are grateful to the families for their cooperation, and to all vaccinators and health workers for their dedication.”

The polio vaccination campaign is continuing elsewhere in Gaza, and Ghebreyesus said continued humanitarian pauses are “key” in facilitating the program. Preparations to expand the drive into the north of the devastated territory “are ongoing,” he added.

“The children in Gaza deserve lasting peace, not just polio vaccines,” Ghebreyesus said.

US expects ‘transparent’ probe into killing of American in West Bank

The State Department is “urgently working to get more information” on the killing of American citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the West Bank last week, Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told journalists at a Monday briefing.

Eygi, 26, was an activist working for the International Solidarity Movement and was shot dead in the West Bank village of Beita on Friday. The dual American-Turkish citizen was allegedly killed by Israeli troops.

Patel told reporters that “our partners in Israel are looking into the circumstances of what happened, and we expect them to make their findings public, and expect that whatever those findings are, expect them to be thorough and transparent.”

IDF defends strike on Gaza’s Khan Younis humanitarian area

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a Monday night strike on tents in a designated humanitarian zone in the southern Gaza Strip targeted Hamas figures “directly involved” in the Oct. 7 attack.

The Hamas-run Gaza Civil Defense reported at least 40 people killed and at least 60 injured in the bombing. Search and recovery efforts were underway at the scene on Tuesday.

The IDF said Tuesday that its strike targeted “senior Hamas terrorists” in a “command and control center embedded inside the humanitarian area in Khan Younis.”

Among those killed were Samer Ismail Khadr Abu Daqqa, the head of Hamas’ aerial unit in Gaza, the IDF said.

Osama Tabesh, the head of the observation and targets department in Hamas’ military intelligence headquarters, and Ayman Mabhouh, another “senior Hamas terrorist” were also hit, the force said.

“According to an initial review, the numbers published by the Hamas-run Government Information Office in Gaza, which has consistently broadcast lies and false information throughout the war, do not align with the information held by the IDF, the precise munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike,” the IDF statement added.

At least 40 killed in strike on humanitarian area: Gaza Civil Defense

At least 40 people were killed and at least 60 people have been wounded after an Israeli strike in a designated humanitarian area of Khan Yunis, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Civil Defense.

The strike hit “a gathering of displaced persons’ tents consisting of at least 20 inhabited tents,” a Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson said early Tuesday morning local time.

The Israeli Air Force “struck significant Hamas terrorists who were operating with a command and control center embedded inside the Humanitarian Area in Khan Yunis,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

Hamas changed ‘some of the terms’ of the hostage exchange: White House

The White House is remaining hopeful that talks for a cease-fire in Gaza and release of the remaining hostages can be salvaged after Hamas proposed new amendments to the deal following the killing of six hostages.

“Hamas did change some of the terms of the exchange. And that has made it more difficult for us to get there,” National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said at Monday’s press briefing.

“We still believe that, even for the new amendments that Hamas has made, that it’s still worth an effort to try to see if we can’t get back into a cease-fire negotiation,” he added. “But we’re not there right now.”

Kirby would not say if President Joe Biden will be increasing pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a deal and potentially hold the transfer of weapons to Israel in order to secure a deal, similar to the recent decision by the United Kingdom.

“I can’t think of anything we haven’t put more pressure on ourselves than to try to get this deal,” Kirby said. “We know how urgent this is. And we’re working night and day to try to see if we can get a deal in place. Hamas is the main obstacle to this right now.”

-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez

Aerial attack targets northern Israel, officials say

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported “a hostile aircraft infiltration” in the north of the country on Monday morning.

“Two suspicious aerial targets were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory,” The IDF said in a statement. “An aerial target fell in the area of Nahariya. No injuries were reported.”

The Magen David Adom (MDA) — Israel’s emergency services — said in a social media post that its personnel “located the site of the impact, as of now no casualties have been found.”

Israeli media reported that a drone detonated after crashing into an apartment block.

-ABC News’ Dana Savir and David Brennan

Hundreds gather in Central Park for hostage vigil

The Hostages Families Forum Headquarters organized twin protests in Tel Aviv and New York on Sunday, as pro-cease-fire activists look to build pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and American politicians.

Hundreds of people rallied in Central Park “to mourn six Israeli and American hostages murdered after 11 months in captivity,” the Forum said in a press release.

Among the speakers were Gilad and Nitza Korngold — the parents of hostage Tal Shoham who was abducted into Gaza on Oct. 7.

“The Red Cross has refused to help our loved ones while shamelessly requesting better conditions for the terrorists in Israel’s imprisonment,” they said, per the Forum’s press release. “We ask everyone here to call your representatives and demand the release of our loved ones from captivity.”

Moran Stela Yanai — released in November 2023 after 54 days as a hostage in Gaza — also spoke, telling attendees: “My brothers and sisters in captivity are hungry and in pain and in constant danger.”

“We must find the strength to keep fighting for them and bring them home,” she added, as quoted in the Forum’s press release.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and David Brennan

Jordanian border crossings partly reopened after shooting

Israeli and Jordanian authorities confirmed the partial reopening of border crossings on Monday following their closure due to the killing of three police officers at the Allenby Bridge.

An Israel Airport Authority spokesperson said the crossings at Yitzhak Rabin near Eilat, at the Jordan River near Beit Shean and at the Allenby Bridge would open for passenger traffic.

The media spokesman for the Jordanian Public Security Directorate said that King Hussein Bridge leading to the Allenby entry point would remain closed to freight traffic.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s Interior Ministry said that its preliminary investigations into Sunday’s shooting at the Allenby Bridge crossing confirmed that the alleged gunman was a Jordanian citizen named Maher Dhiyab Hussein Al-Jazi.

The alleged shooter — whom Israeli security forces said they shot and killed — was a resident of the Al-Husseiniyah area in Ma’an Governorate, and was crossing the bridge as a driver of a freight vehicle carrying commercial goods.

Al-Jazi acted alone, the ministry said, noting its investigation is ongoing. Authorities are attempting to organize the return of his body so he can be buried in Jordan.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller, Ghazi Balkiz and David Brennan

Airstrikes hit Syrian scientific research center, state media says

Strikes targeted a Syrian scientific research area in the city of Masyaf in the Hama countryside on Sunday night, Syrian state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

“Ambulance vehicles rushed towards the center of the area” amid reports of casualties, the SOHR — a U.K.-based war monitor — said on its website.

Both Syrian state media and the SOHR attributed the strikes to Israel. The SOHR said Syrian anti-aircraft weapons intercepted some Israeli missiles.

There was no immediate confirmation on the number of casualties. At least 14 people were killed and 43 others were wounded, Syrian state news agency SANA reported. ABC News was not able to immediately confirm the reported casualties or whether they were military personnel.

ABC News asked the Israel Defense Forces for comment. Israel typically does not confirm or deny responsibility for strikes in Syria, where it has been engaged in a “shadow war” with Iran and its allies — including the Lebanese Hezbollah militia — for several years.

-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and David Brennan

Nearly 70% of children in Gaza vaccinated against polio, health ministry reports

The polio vaccination campaign continued today in south Gaza, Khan Younis and Rafah, after early issues in the region when vaccines could not be properly distributed to the eastern side of Gaza.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced Sunday that 441,647 children in Gaza have received the first dose of the polio vaccine, so far.

This accounts for about 69% of the targeted population, according to the ministry.

According to the World Health Organization, 95% of children need to be vaccinated to prevent the spread of the disease effectively.

On Monday, vaccinations will be offered in northern Gaza where daily, eight-hour pauses in fighting and airstrikes will be instituted so children can be taken to one of the roughly 33 locations across Gaza City and north Gaza where the vaccine will be administered, according to the ministry.

-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé

Israel closes Jordan border crossings after deadly shooting

Israel closed on Sunday the two land crossings between Jordan and Israel, as well as the Allenby Bridge crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank, the Israel Airports Authority — which oversees the crossings — told ABC News.

The closures followed a shooting on Sunday morning at Allenby that killed three police officers.

The gunman — who was shot dead by security forces — came from the Jordanian side, but it was not immediately clear if he was affiliated with any militant group. Both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad issued congratulatory statements about the shooting.

Netanyahu condemned the attack, saying it was attributable to the “murderous ideology led by Iran’s ‘Axis of Evil’.”

Israel did not say how long the closures would last. The Allenby crossing is one of the key entries through which goods destined for Gaza pass.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller, Nasser Atta, Victoria Beaule and David Brennan

Hamas rocket commander ‘eliminated’ in Gaza: IDF

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported the killing of a Hamas rocket commander in an airstrike last week.

The IDF wrote on social media on Sunday that its Southern Command “eliminated” Raef Omar Salman Abu Shab — the commander of the rocket unit of the eastern Khan Younis Brigade — in an airstrike on Tuesday

The commander was “responsible for launching rocket barrages from the area of Khan Younis toward southern and central Israel since the start of the war,” the IDF said.

-ABC News’ David Brennan

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(LONDON) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday morning as Ukrainian leaders pressed for U.S. permission to use American-made long-range weapons against targets inside Russia.

America’s top diplomat was accompanied by British Foreign Secretary David Lammy. The pair are scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and “senior Ukrainian government officials,” according to a State Department statement.

Blinken will “discuss continued support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s aggression and how to ensure Ukraine can thrive militarily, economically, and democratically in the long term,” it added.

Restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American long-range weapons is one of the most pressing issues for Blinken during the visit.

Kyiv has long been advocating for U.S. permission to strike military targets within Russian borders, including airfields that are key to Moscow’s long-range missile campaign against Ukrainian cities.

“We continue to persuade our partners at all levels about long-range capabilities,” Zelenskyy wrote on his Telegram channel on Sunday.

“Russia can avoid seeking peace only as much as the world avoids making strong decisions aimed at Russia’s defeat. Long-range capabilities are one of those key, strategic decisions,” he wrote.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists at a Wednesday briefing that he expects the U.S. to give its permission.

“Most likely, of course, all these decisions have already been made,” he said, as quoted by the state-run Tass agency.

Blinken is scheduled to hold a press conference at 12 p.m. ET.

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(LONDON) — A local guard force member who worked at the U.S. Embassy in Sudan died while in the custody of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, the U.S. Bureau of African Affairs said.

Tarig Hassan Ahmed, the guard, who worked at the embassy in Khartoum, was described as a “dedicated” and “respected” colleague and friend to many in embassy community. The U.S. said it was “deeply saddened and disturbed” by Ahmed’s killing.

“We have asked the RSF to provide full details of the circumstances surrounding Mr. Hassan Ahmed’s detention and death and to ensure those responsible are held accountable,” the bureau said in a statement.

ABC News has asked the RSF for comment on the incident.

The death came just a few weeks after the RSF agreed to a code of conduct at U.S.-mediated talks in Geneva, with the paramilitary group committing to enforcing new conduct for its fighters that includes a command directive for its fighters to comply with Jeddah Declaration commitments and international humanitarian law as well as refrain from violence against women.

“These new commitments must be reflected in the actions of RSF troops on the ground, who have committed ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity since the outbreak of war against Sudanese civilians,” said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

A new report released by the United Nation’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan found that warring parties have “committed an appalling range of harrowing human rights violations and international crimes,” including many that may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity.

It is the first report by the independent fact-finding mission, Mohamed Chande Othman, the mission’s chair, said the “gravity” of its findings “underscores the urgent and immediate” action needed to protect civilians.

New visual evidence obtained by Lighthouse Reports has also found RSF and allied militias implicated in extrajudicial killings of unarmed civilians, including ethnic massacres that took place in the Western region of Sudan’s Darfur.

Meanwhile the war in Sudan continues, with fighting now ongoing in over 70% of the Northeast African nation’s states. At least 38 people were killed and 116 injured following what local groups say were “indiscriminate artillery and air strikes” by the RSF in Sudan’s Sennar state, Emergency Lawyers, a monitor for civilian casualties and humanitarian violations said in a statement.

The conflict has killed at least 20,000 people as it enters its seventh month, U.N. officials say. Local groups however warn the true toll is likely much higher.

“Much more needs to be done, of course; we’re mindful of that,” said White House national security adviser John Kirby at a White House press briefing last week. “The RSF and the SAF need to uphold their commitments.”

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(LONDON) — — Qadira Zourob, a 17-year-old in Gaza, was in her last year of high school when war broke out in the Strip after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel in 2023.

“I was preparing for my exams with great excitement. I had been studying hard, staying up late every night, determined to succeed and achieve a high score. But the next day, we woke up to the sounds of bombings and rocket fire,” she told ABC News in an interview in a tent where her family has been displaced.

Zourob is one of the more than 600,000 students in Gaza who have had their education interrupted by the war. She said she dreamed of becoming a nurse, helping people and traveling abroad, but now she says she feels lost, adding, “I feel as if my life has come to a standstill.”

As millions of children go back to school around the world, formal education continues to be on hold for the children of Gaza. An ABC News visual analysis reveals that at least 70% of all schools in Gaza — 399 school buildings — have been damaged or destroyed since Oct. 7.

In a statement to ABC News about these figures, the Israel Defense Forces said “There is no IDF policy to target schools or educators. Rather, Hamas’ widespread and well documented strategy of exploiting schools and educational facilities for terror activities, has required IDF activity in those areas.”

Using Palestinian Authority government and U.N. records, ABC News geolocated nearly every school in Gaza, about 547 of the 567 school buildings. Analysis of dozens of satellite images identified which of each of the 547 buildings were damaged or destroyed.

To further supplement the data, 149 videos where schools were visible, showing about a quarter of all schools, were added to the analysis. The videos were filmed by the IDF and Hamas, as well as dozens of local journalists, civilians, the United Nations, and other organizations in Gaza. Some schools that did not look damaged on satellite imagery had holes in the sides or the structures were still standing but lower floors had been completely blown out.

The results show 212 schools are either partially or completely destroyed, and a further 187 show signs of damage.

This analysis relies solely on data available online, as international journalists are not allowed into Gaza and movement for ABC News’ local journalists in Gaza is severely restricted.

The U.N. estimates as many as 84% of schools — 477 buildings — will need to be repaired or rebuilt. This higher number is a result of the U.N.’s use of a model to estimate blast damage to areas in the vicinity of bomb sites, while ABC News’ analysis relies solely on visually verifiable damage.

It has been a particularly bloody summer at school buildings across Gaza. At least 354 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on school buildings that housed displaced people between June 1 and Sept. 1, according to individual tallies released by the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health and collated by ABC News.

The death toll comes from Israeli airstrikes on 25 schools for which Israel has publicly claimed responsibility in that timeframe. In statements announcing the strikes, the IDF said each time that it was targeting Hamas militants or Hamas command centers embedded inside the school buildings. In statements on 23 of the 25 schools hit, the IDF said it took “numerous steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians.”

Verified videos from 14 of the 25 scenes show injured and bloodied children either running or being carried from the wreckage.

A video taken by journalist Talal Mahmoud at the Abu Oreiban school in Nuseirat on July 14 shows six children being rushed out of the courtyard, as screams come from the school. A screaming toddler covered in dust sits against a back wall in another video. Twenty-two people were killed in the strike, according to the Ministry of Health.

The Khadija school, in the Israeli designated safe zone in Deir al-Balah, was struck on July 27. Video moments after the strike by a bystander, and verified by ABC News, shows dozens of people running from the school courtyard, carrying people, including multiple children, from the scene. As a child looks at the smoking ruins, another missile crashes to the ground, exploding on impact.

The entire eastern side of the school crumpled. Thirty people, seven of whom were children, were killed, according to the Ministry of Health. Video filmed by journalist Hani Abu Rezeq from the scene shows a young man with a biohazard bag picking up charred fragments of human remains from the rubble.

Future obstacles for educators, students

Rachael Cummins, a humanitarian director in Gaza for Save the Children, told ABC News the organization is bringing learning back to some of Gaza’s children. They started earlier this year with child-friendly spaces for play, and are now introducing more learning, with the goal of reintroducing a level of normalcy and structure to children’s lives, she said.

Cummins said the obstacles are immense, from staff safety, to finding child friendly spaces, to sourcing materials, and all made more difficult by the constant displacement of people.

For the children themselves, Cummins said, returning to learning is no easy task and the lost year will have lasting ramifications.

“Children haven’t been able to access formal education, so they’ve missed a whole year of learning. But, you know, outside of that, what they’re seeing and what they’re living through and the consequences of that in terms of their mental health, really, really cannot be underestimated. A whole generation, a whole population, actually, of children and their parents and their caregivers, in terms of the impact of the war on their mental health is absolutely extraordinary,” she said.

She said their programs have to take into account how the war has changed children’s behaviors, from finding it impossible to focus, to aggressive reactions, and anxiety attacks.

She also highlights the poor physical health, malnutrition and illnesses affecting many children in Gaza, which compound the difficulty of their focusing on anything but immediate needs.

“It’s a dire situation for children. It manifests in many different ways and is deeply distressing for them and obviously deeply distressing for their families who obviously want to support their children as best they can and to keep them safe, but it’s impossible,” Cummins told ABC News.

Qadira Zourob, the high school student, said her former school, in Khan Younis, is being used as a shelter for thousands of displaced people. It is damaged, but it has not been bombed. Even so, she said she does not have hopes she will be able to return to education, even if a cease-fire is agreed to.

“The displaced people will likely remain in the school. How can they be removed when they have no shelter, home, or anything else?” she asked.

“Our lives are on hold. What will become of my life?” she said. “An entire year of my life, where I built my hopes and dreams, has been destroyed.”

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