A boy holds one of the leaflets dropped by the Israeli military in Gaza City, on September 9, 2025, urging evacuation south to al-Mawasi. (Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(GAZA, JERUSALEM and LONDON) — Israel on Tuesday issued an order calling for residents of Gaza City to evacuate, saying the Israeli military will operate “with great force” within the city.
“Staying in the city is extremely dangerous,” Avichay Adraee, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, said on social media.
The order and warnings followed an approval by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of a plan to seize Gaza City, the largest city in the under-siege enclave. Israel began ground operations within the city about a week ago.
Israeli officials said the planned seizure is part of its military objective to eliminate Hamas, the terrorist organization that it’s been fighting in Gaza since October 2023.
Despite the severe situation and evacuation warnings, there are still a significant number of residents who remain in the city who have cited different reasons for staying, including not being able to afford the costs of evacuation and transportation.
Others told ABC News they’ve stayed because they’ve heard there’s a severe shortage of space for tents in the humanitarian zone — or that they don’t know if they would be safe after an evacuation.
Adraee said residents of Gaza City and “all its neighorhoods” should evacuate immediately. They should travel south toward Al-Mawasi, a coastal area that’s been designated as a humanitarian zone, he said.
The evacuation order followed a warning issued on Monday by Netanyahu. In a video message posted on Telegram, he spoke directly to the residents of the city.
“Listen carefully: You have been warned,” Netanyahu said. “Leave now.”
(LONDON) — Ukrainian drones attacked the Russian Black Sea coast overnight into Tuesday morning, according to the Russian Defense Ministry and local officials, just hours after President Vladimir Putin took virtual meetings from his residence there in the coastal resort city of Sochi.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down at least 31 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 15 over the Black Sea, two over Crimea and two over Krasnodar Krai, the Black Sea region in which Sochi is located.
Putin took part in a video meeting of BRICS nations from his Sochi residence on Monday afternoon, the Kremlin said in an official readout. It is not clear whether the president was still at his residence during the nighttime Ukrainian drone attack.
At least one person was killed in Sochi during the attack, local Gov. Veniamin Kondratiev said in a post to Telegram. The man was killed when fragments of a falling drone hit the car he was driving, Kondratiev said. Six houses were also damaged in the attack, Kondratiev said.
Sochi Mayor Andrey Proshunin posted photos of the damage to Telegram, saying a military monument was also struck by debris. Proshunin posted photos of damage in the Adlersky district of the city, just south of Sochi International Airport.
Russia’s federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsiya, also introduced temporary flight restrictions at the airport in the early hours of Tuesday.
Bocharov Ruchey, the Russian president’s summer residence, is located in the Tsentralny district in the northwest of Sochi, around 17 miles from the international airport.
The residence was in regular use by Putin before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Putin hosted former U.S. President George Bush there in 2008, and reportedly used the residence during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Russian media reports suggested that Putin stopped using the residence from 2024 amid intensifying Ukrainian drone attacks. Reports also suggested that parts of the residence may have been demolished in recent years.
Russia continued its own long-range strike campaign on Ukraine, with the air force in Kyiv reporting 84 drones launched into the country overnight into Tuesday. Sixty craft were shot down or suppressed, the air force said, with the impacts of 23 drones recorded across 10 locations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that at least 21 people were killed in a “savage” Russian airstrike on the village of Yarova in eastern Donetsk Oblast on Tuesday. The strike hit as people there gathered to collect their pensions, Zelenskyy said.
One person was also killed and one person injured by Russian fire in the southern frontline Zaporizhzhia region, Gov. Ivan Federov said.
(LONDON) — Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned on Tuesday after a social media ban sparked violent protests in which at least 19 people died on Monday.
Even after the government’s social media restrictions were rolled back, the protests continued on Tuesday in Nepal’s Kathmandu, were protestors were reportedly setting homes of political leaders on fire.
Oli had earlier blamed “external infiltrators” for violence.
The homes of several politicians — including Sher Bahadur Deuba, leader of the largest party Nepali Congress; President Ram Chandra Poudel; Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak and leader of the Communist Party of Nepal Maoist Pushpa Kamal Dahal — were set on fire, The Associated Press reported.
The Monday clashes left 19 dead and 421 injured, according to the government. An indefinite curfew was put in place in the capital and Tribhuvan Airport has been shut down, with all flights cancelled.
“I’m protesting. I didn’t like it. I hate it. I’m opposing it!” Rajendra Bajgain, a member of parliament, told ABC News after Monday’s protests.
The protests began after the government decision to ban social media platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube. That ban was seen by many as an attack on freedom of speech — and an extension of what some described as the government’s corrupt nature.
“Ministers are corrupt. They are doomed with the PM,” Bajgain said prior to the prime minister’s resignation. “Listen to me very clearly, very loudly: if [the prime minister] continues the ban, he’s going to finish in a couple of days.”
In a statement released on Sept. 4, Committee to Protect Journalists Regional Director Beh Lih Yi said that the ban would essentially be “blocking online news platforms vital to journalists [and] will undermine reporting and the public’s right to information.”
Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Russian drones attacked a thermal power generation facility in the Kyiv region overnight into Monday, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said, as Moscow continued its long-range cross-border barrages despite U.S. President Donald Trump again expressing his frustration at such strikes.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 142 drones into the country overnight into Monday morning, of which around 100 were Shahed strike drones and the rest decoy craft. Defenders shot down or suppressed 112 drones, the air force said.
Twenty-six drones impacted across seven locations, the air force said, with debris falling in one other location.
“One of the thermal generation facilities in the Kyiv region has come under massive shelling,” Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said in a statement.
“The goal is obvious — to cause even more difficulties for the civilian population of Ukraine, to leave Ukrainian homes, hospitals, kindergartens and schools without electricity and heat,” it added.
The attack prompted reports of blackouts in some parts of Kyiv. “Generation facilities, electricity transmission and distribution systems, gas infrastructure are not military targets,” the ministry said.
“Rescuers and energy workers are currently working to eliminate the consequences of the shelling,” it added. “We are doing everything possible to stabilize the situation as soon as possible.”
Russia has regularly targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure throughout the full-scale invasion of its neighbor, which began in February 2022. In previous years, attacks on energy targets have intensified in the run up to and during winter.
Sunday night’s attack followed Russia’s largest bombardment of the war overnight on Saturday. Moscow launched 810 drones and 13 missiles into the country, Ukraine’s air force said, of which 747 drones and four missiles were shot down. Nine missiles and 54 drones impacted across 33 locations, the air force said.
The attacks killed at least nine people across Ukraine and prompted condemnation from Ukraine’s European allies.
In the U.S., Trump — who returned to the White House in January vowing to end Russia’s invasion in 24 hours — told reporters he was “not happy about the whole situation.”
“It doesn’t affect us because it’s not our soldiers,” Trump said. “But they’re losing — I used to tell you 5,000 — they’re losing 7,000, between Ukraine and Russia, 7,000 soldiers every single week. It’s such a horrible waste of humanity.”
“So, no, I am not thrilled with what’s happening there, I will tell you,” he continued. “I think it’s gonna get settled. So, I settled seven wars. This I would’ve said would’ve been maybe the easiest one to settle of all. But with war, you never know what you’re getting.”
Trump did not answer when asked what the greatest obstacle to a peace deal in Ukraine was, but said European leaders would visit the White House this week for further talks.
“We have some very interesting discussions,” Trump said. “Europe — certain European leaders are coming over to our country on Monday or Tuesday, individually, and I think we’re gonna get that settled. I think we’re gonna get it settled.”
Trump has repeatedly threatened additional sanctions — including secondary sanctions on key foreign customers for Russian energy exports — on Moscow in response to its continued frontline offensives and long-range strikes.
Last month, Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff on all Indian goods related to New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil and military equipment.
After Saturday night’s strikes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged a more severe U.S. response.
“It has been repeatedly stated in Washington that there will be sanctions for refusal to talk. We must implement everything agreed upon in Paris,” Zelenskyy said, referring to last week’s meeting with European leaders and virtual talks with Trump in the French capital.
(LONDON) — At least six people were shot dead at Jerusalem’s Ramot Junction on Monday, Israeli police and emergency services said.
Two suspects were also shot and killed at the scene, police said in a statement.
The attackers opened fire at people waiting at a bus depot, police said, before boarding a bus to continue the attack.
At least 17 people were also injured in the shooting, Israeli emergency services said.
Visiting the scene, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “We are at war, a fierce war against terrorism on several fronts,” according to a readout published by his office.
“We are fighting terrorism — the terrorist regime of the Houthi, Iran that backs everyone, in Gaza, Lebanon, Hezbollah, in all sectors,” the prime minister said. “We are not letting up and we will not let up. We are nailing our actions, and we will achieve all our goals.”
“We are now pursuing and surrounding the villages from which the murderers came,” Netanyahu said. “We will catch everyone who helped them, everyone who sent them.”
Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Ukraine’s cabinet building in Kyiv was among the targets of Russia’s largest drone and missile attack of the war overnight into Sunday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine’s air force said in a post to Telegram that Russia launched 810 drones and 13 missiles into the country in the latest barrage, of which 747 drones and four missiles were shot down. Nine missiles and 54 drones impacted across 33 locations, the air force said.
The total of 823 munitions made the attack Russia’s largest to date, surpassing the 741 munitions reported by the air force on July 9.
At least two people were killed in the attack on Kyiv, local officials said. Elsewhere, impacts were reported in Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Chernihiv, Dnipro, Kremenchuk and Odesa regions.
At least eight civilians were killed and 59 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine, local officials said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Telegram that the attack damaged the “roof and upper floors” of the cabinet building located in the historic Pecherskyi district in the center of the city, which is home to many government buildings.
“Rescuers are extinguishing the fire,” Svyrydenko wrote. “I thank them for their work. We will restore the buildings. But lost lives cannot be returned. The enemy terrorizes and kills our people across the country every day.”
Both the prime minister and president urged an immediate response from the international community and more military assistance for Kyiv.
“Such killings now, when real diplomacy could have started long ago, are a deliberate crime and a prolongation of the war,” Zelenskyy wrote.
“It has been repeatedly stated in Washington that there will be sanctions for refusal to talk. We must implement everything agreed upon in Paris,” the president added, referring to last week’s meeting with European leaders and virtual talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in the French capital.
Zelenskyy said he spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, who in a post to X said Moscow was “locking itself ever deeper into the logic of war and terror.”
The Ukrainian president said in a post to Telegram, “Together with France, we are preparing new measures to strengthen our defense.”
The overnight barrage prompted the scrambling of NATO fighter jets in Poland, the country’s Armed Forces Operational Command wrote on X.
“Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace and ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems have reached a state of maximum readiness,” the command said. The alert last for around three hours.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement posted to Telegram that its “massive strike with high-precision weapons and strike unmanned aerial vehicles” targeted “facilities for the production, assembly, repair, storage and launch of unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as military air bases.”
The Defense Ministry said its forces shot down 69 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Debris from one Russian drone fell on the territory of the Ilsky Oil Refinery in the Krasnodar region, local officials said, causing a fire at one of the technological installations which was quickly extinguished with no casualties.
Voronezh regional Gov. Governor Alexander Gusev said one farm worker was seriously injured when a downed drone crashed. Private homes, farm buildings and power lines were damaged, Gusev said.
In the border region of Belgorod, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said that one person was injured by a drone attack that also damaged an administrative building.
(LONDON) — About 100 firefighters and 15 fire engines are battling a blaze at a high-rise building in West London’s White City area, authorities said Saturday morning.
The nine-story building complex is the former headquarters of the BBC and now houses apartments, restaurants and a television studio, according to BBC News.
The blaze, which broke out early Saturday around 3 a.m. local time, “is currently affecting floors toward the top of the building.”
As of 8 a.m. local time, “a restaurant, external decking and ducting remains alight,” according to the London Fire Brigade.”
“The cause of the fire is unknown at this time,” the London Fire Brigade said.
Authorities evacuated buildings in the area as a precaution and set up a rest center for evacuated residents, according to the London Fire Brigade.
(LONDON) — A high-rise building in Gaza City was leveled by an Israeli strike on Friday, videos verified by ABC News show. Mushtaha Tower was located in the west of the city, near several large tent encampments where Palestinian civilians are sheltering.
Video reviewed and verified by ABC News shows the moment the tower collapses, rippling the canvas of an encampment’s tents. The verified footage shows at least three Israeli projectiles hitting the tower — people can be seen running as smoke engulfs the tent encampment.
Israeli officials claimed the building belonged to Hamas, shortly after issuing evacuation orders.
“Now the bolt is being removed from the gates of hell in Gaza,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote in Hebrew in a Friday post on X. “When the door opens, it will not close and IDF activity will increase — until the Hamas murderers and rapists accept Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and disarmament — or they will be destroyed.”
Earlier Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement warning that “over the coming days,” it “will attack several buildings that have been converted into terrorist infrastructure in preparation for expanding the operation into Gaza City: cameras, surveillance rooms, sniper and anti-tank missile launching positions, and command and control centers.”
Mashtaha Tower management denied the Israeli accusations, issuing a statement after the high-rise was destroyed.
“We confirm that the tower, since its targeting last year, has been under strict supervision by the management, and only displaced civilians are allowed entry,” they wrote.
“We categorically confirm that the tower is free of any cameras or security equipment, and that all its floors are open and uncovered, containing no cameras, light or heavy weapons,” the building’s management added.
Ezzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’ Political Bureau, said in a statement that Israel’s “attempts to justify targeting residential towers and destroying the city of Gaza with false claims of their use by Hamas are nothing but flimsy excuses and blatant lies, aimed at covering up its heinous crimes against unarmed civilians and continuing the policy of extermination and total destruction of the Gaza Strip.”
Mashtaha Tower was believed to be empty due to the forced evacuation. However, one of the largest displacement camps is located near the site, where hundreds of families are currently living in tents.
At least 69 Palestinians were killed and 422 injured over the past 24 hours as a result of Israeli forces, Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health said on Friday. Among those were six people killed and 190 injured while trying to collect humanitarian aid, according to the health ministry.
Three people starved to death in the war-torn Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health also said Friday. At least 376 people have died of starvation, including 134 children, since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 surprise terrorist attack in Israel, according to the health ministry.
(LONDON) — Russia’s Foreign Ministry again warned that Moscow will not accept the presence of any Western troops in Ukraine as part of a future peace deal, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met a group of top European leaders in Paris on Thursday.
“Russia does not intend to discuss unacceptable foreign intervention in Ukraine in any form whatsoever,” spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in comments published by the Foreign Ministry on Thursday. “Western war instigators view Ukraine as a testing ground for their military developments,” she said.
Moscow has repeatedly rebuffed proposals for Western forces to be deployed to Ukraine in any capacity as part of a deal to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor, which began in February 2022.
Nonetheless, the prospect is still under discussion by NATO leaders and the Ukrainian government as an element of the security guarantees Kyiv says are needed to facilitate any U.S.-brokered peace deal.
Zakharova said Thursday that the protections under discussion “are not security guarantees for Ukraine, they are guarantees of threat to the European continent.”
The remarks came before Zelenskyy gathered with European leaders — the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” — for further talks in Paris on Thursday. The group also spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump, who called into the meeting, the White House said.
“President Trump emphasized that Europe must stop purchasing Russian oil that is funding the war — as Russia received €1.1 billion in fuel sales from the EU in one year,” a White House official said following the call. “The president also emphasized that European leaders must place economic pressure on China for funding Russia’s war efforts.”
European and Canadian leaders finalized a plan outlining potential security guarantees for Ukraine, with 26 countries expressing readiness to take direct action, French President Emmanuel Macron announced following the meeting. Macron said several countries are prepared to contribute “on land, in the sea or in the air” to “reassure the people of Ukraine and maintain the ceasefire once it’s implemented, and maintain and guarantee peace.” “The plan will now be taken to the U.S. with the intention of formalizing it in the coming days,” Macron said.
Other European leaders who attended Thursday’s talks in Paris included European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Several other European leaders joined the meeting virtually.
Trump also spoke with Zelenskyy on Thursday following the coalition meeting, with the Ukrainian president calling it a “long and very detailed conversation.”
Zelenskyy said they discussed various ways to “push the situation toward real peace,” with the “most important thing” being strong economic measures.
“The key to peace is depriving the Russian war machine of money and resources,” Zelenskyy said. “We also talked about maximum protection of Ukrainian skies. Until there is peace, Ukrainians must not be dependent on constant Russian attacks; Russian missiles and drones must not take lives. Ukraine proposed that the U.S. consider a special format for protecting Ukrainian skies.”
Speaking with journalists on Wednesday, Trump pushed back on one reporter’s suggestion of his “lack of action” on Russia in response to its continued offensive operations and long-range attacks in Ukraine, despite his repeated threats of further sanctions and tariffs on Moscow.
“How do you know there’s no action? Would you say that, putting secondary sanctions on India, the largest purchaser outside of China, they’re almost equal, would you say there was no action that costs hundreds of billions of dollars to Russia You call that no action?” Trump said.
The president was referring to the recent imposition of 25% tariffs on all imported Indian goods in response to New Delhi’s purchases of Russian energy goods and military equipment.
“And I haven’t done phase two yet,” Trump continued. “Or phase three. But when you say there’s no action, I think you ought to get yourself a new job. Because if you remember, two weeks ago, I did — I said, if India buys, India’s got big problems. And that’s what happened. So don’t tell me about that.”
Trump and Putin met in Alaska nearly three weeks ago. After that event, Trump suggested that a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy should be the next step in the negotiations process.
The Kremlin has given no indication of its willingness to support such a meeting, though Putin suggested this week that a meeting could take place in Moscow.
Kyiv quickly dismissed that proposal. Foreign Minister Andri Sybiha said in a post to X, “Putin continues to mess around with everyone by making knowingly unacceptable proposals.”
Trump told reporters on Wednesday he had “no message” for Putin. “He knows where I stand, and he’ll make a decision one way or the other whatever his decision is will either be happy about it or unhappy and if we’re unhappy about it, you’ll see things happen.”
“We’ve taken very strong action, as you know, and in other ways we’ve taken very strong action,” Trump continued. “But I’ll be speaking to him over the next few days and we’re going to see with him. I’m going to know exactly what’s happened.”
ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge, Hannah Demissie, Will Gretsky, Yulia Drozd, Somayeh Malekian and Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — Another earthquake has hit eastern Afghanistan as the death toll from Sunday’s powerful earthquake climbed to 2,205, with another 3,640 people injured, a Taliban government spokesman said Thursday.
The Thursday earthquake was a moderate 5.6 magnitude, according to the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center. It was still unclear whether the new quake caused further damage.
Search and rescue efforts from the initial quake are ongoing in the affected areas, according to Taliban spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat, who provided the updated casualty numbers via social media.
“Tents have been installed for displaced families in multiple locations,” he said, “and the organized distribution of primary and urgent humanitarian assistance is currently underway.”
The 6.0 magnitude quake struck just before midnight on Sunday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A series of aftershocks struck amid rescue efforts, including a 5.2 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday about 20 miles northeast of Jalalabad, according to the USGS.
