Israel-Gaza-Lebanon live updates: US denies giving Israel ‘a pass’ on Gaza

(NEW YORK) — Conservationists in Latin America, home to some of the most important ecosystems in the world, are persisting in their environmental work despite political challenges that can sometimes stand in the way and the dangers they face, multiple experts told ABC News.

Central and South American countries are facing some of the most significant environmental challenges in recent history. Drought is widespread throughout the region — especially in Uruguay, northern Argentina and southern Brazil, according to a 2023 report by the Global Drought Observatory.

In Mexico, water pollution adversely impacts indigenous groups, according to a 2021 paper published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. In Brazil, deforestation, in the form of illegal logging as well as land clearing for agriculture, is widespread, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

Fire activity in Brazil and Bolivia has reached levels not seen in over a decade as a prolonged drought parched landscapes in both countries, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory. The Amazon rainforest, the Cerrado tropical savanna and the Pantanal wetlands are currently experiencing record-breaking wildfires as a result of these conditions, according to officials in that country.

The lives of conservationists working in Latin America are often in danger as they work to alleviate these crises, Isaac Nahon-Serfaty, a communications professor at Ottawa University who has studied mining in southern Venezuela, told ABC News.

In 2023, nearly 200 land and environmental conservationists were killed worldwide, according to a report by Global Witness, an international NGO that fights against natural resource exploitation, conflict, poverty, corruption and human rights abuses. The vast majority of the deaths — about 85% — occurred in Latin American countries, mostly in Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, the report found.

Many conservationists will avoid working in high-conflict areas due to the danger, Mauricio Bianco, vice president of Conservation International Brazil, an environmental nonprofit, told ABC News.

In Venezuela, speaking out against Nicolás Maduro, who has served as president since 2013, can bring severe consequences, Nahon-Serfaty claimed.

Virgilio Trujillo Arana, a 38-year-old Indigenous Uwottuja man who had spoken out against illegal mining in the Venezuelan Amazon, was fatally shot in 2022. While unsolved, the murder was seen as an attempt to silence those who demonstrate against Maduro’s agenda, Nahon-Serfaty said.

Maduro’s administration did not comment on Arana’s death at the time, but the United Nations warned about the violent groups that control gold mines in the country.

The U.N. Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela recommended that the allegations made by Indigenous peoples of the State of Amazonas regarding violent attacks against their leaders “should be seriously investigated.”

Environmental threats, meanwhile, not only affect the natural ecosystem. They also impact the watersheds and food systems and, therefore, the economy as well — making it difficult for residents in the region to thrive, Rachael Garrett, a professor of conservation and development at the University of Cambridge, told ABC News.

“It’s a huge public health toll on people living in these areas. It’s devastating for biodiversity,” Garrett said. “So there is not really any part of life that it won’t impact.”

Researchers and conservationists are able to make the biggest difference before the loss occurs — before the drought sets in, the forests and the Indigenous peoples within are lost and the wildfires spark, Garrett said. The race against time motivates them, because the consequences can be irreversible in a short amount of time, she added.

“We can make a difference very quickly,” Garrett said. “We have to persist, because the consequences of not doing so are so catastrophic.”

Conservation groups have to focus on strengthening and protecting delicate ecosystems as well as Indigenous groups who are facing extinction — before the tipping point occurs, Bianco said.

These groups must also prioritize the restoration of forests and the management of agricultural land in a sustainable way, he said.

While government involvement is necessary for policy change, conservation groups in Latin America have learned to lean on Indigenous and local communities as well as grassroots organizations to accomplish their work at the project level, according to Bianco.

Even with government protections and policy in place, a sense of “lawlessness” makes it nearly impossible for them to be enforced, Garrett said. It has been difficult to track progress in these regions due to a lack of transparency, as governments in places like Brazil and Venezuela often do not release any or accurate information on the state of the environment, according to Garrett and Nahon-Serfaty.

Environmental crime is the third-largest area of criminal activity in the world, according to the FBI. Illegal activity associated with timber and wildlife trafficking, fishing, waste trade, pollution and animal cruelty generate up to $280 billion per year worldwide.

Earlier this week, Brazil’s Minister for the Environment and Climate Change Marina Silva said current punishments for environmental crimes such as arson are inadequate during an appearance on Bom Dia Ministro, a publish service program. Lula’s administration has advocated for harsher punishment for environmental crimes.

Some governments in Latin America have displayed a disdain for protecting the environment in recent years, multiple experts told ABC News.

Multiple times during the administration of Jair Bolsonaro, who served as president of Brazil from 2019 to 2022, key government officials were caught on tape talking about the ways in which they planned to deceive the public, Garrett said. In 2020, Brazilian Environment Minister Ricardo Salles was recorded during a cabinet meeting advising fellow lawmakers to use the COVID-19 pandemic as a distraction from regulations protecting the Amazon rainforest from deforestation, according to Reuters.

“We need to make an effort while we are in this calm moment in terms of press coverage, because they are only talking about COVID, and push through and change all the rules and simplify norms,” Salles was heard saying in the recording of the ministers’ meeting, released by the Brazilian Supreme Court.

In a statement issued by Brazil’s Environment Ministry, Salles said, “I have always defended de-bureaucratization and simplifying norms, in all areas, with good sense and all within the law.”

“It’s part of this whole general new set of rules that politicians play by these days where they feel like there are no consequences for doing the wrong thing,” Garrett said in regard to the Bosolnaro administration’s pro-deforestation agenda.

Salles resigned in 2021 amid a probe into illegal logging in the country. It is unclear whether Salles has or will face legal consequences in the probe.

In Venezuela, initiatives to mine for gold, diamonds and other minerals in the southern part of the country, made first by former President Hugo Chávez and reinforced by Maduro, wreaked havoc on the Venezuelan side of the Amazonian jungle, said Nahon-Serfaty. To the north, oil spills into the Caribbean Sea are common due to the lack of regulations, he added, with a spill from the refinery in El Palito reported last month.

When corruption is embedded into a political system, it plays an invisible role in almost every decision those in power make, Garrett and Nahon-Serfaty said, especially when institutionalized through campaign financing systems and the individual agendas of the policymakers.

It can be near-impossible to pinpoint the root of the issue in these types of regimes, Garrett said.

“Corruption is one of this very insidious problems that is extremely difficult to deal with because you can’t study it,” Garrett said. “It’s hidden, and it can be institutionalized.”

It will be important for governments and authorities in Latin America to enforce environmental policies going forward, Bianco said.

The global spotlight will be on Brazil going into next year as it gears up to host COP30, the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Brazil was one of the countries with the weakest decarbonization pledges, going into COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021. The country has since ramped up its pledges under Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s presidency in the years since, with new climate targets aiming to cut emissions by 48% by 2025 and 53% by 2030.

In Mexico, the use of environmental technologies to improve water and waste infrastructure is expected to grow in the coming years to ease the strain of drought. The country is also implementing federal regulations to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector.

Those doing the work to achieve even more ambitious climate and environment goals must continue, despite the difficulties, Garrett said.

The Amazon creates an entire ecosystem of rainfall that much of southern Brazil and surrounding countries rely on, Garrett said. As deforestation creates a feedback loop of decreased rainfall and increased drought, the water system is threatened and the risk of severe wildfires heightens, driving indigenous communities out and placing food and water security at risk for all who rely on it.

“I can’t think of any better way to spend my own life than trying to help prevent these irreversible harms that will take away from the world of opportunities that future generations have to experience a healthy climate and biodiversity,” Garrett said.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — On the streets of Alfafar on Wednesday, cars and caravans were strewn like toys in the muddy aftermath of the floodwater that had rushed through the Spanish town.

Emergency crews descended on Wednesday on that town and others surrounding Valencia, wading through washed-out neighborhoods, searching homes and looking for missing people following devastating flooding, according to emergency officials.

More than 1,000 troops had been deployed to the province to help with the emergency response, the Military Emergencies Unit, a branch of the Spanish military, said on social media on Wednesday.

The flash floods were caused by heavy rain, which by Wednesday morning had begun “easing off,” according to the country’s meteorological agency

“[B]ut there is still an orange warning in inland Castellón until 2:00 p.m.,” the agency said. “Caution in the northeast of the peninsula and western Andalusia: very heavy showers are possible. Stay informed!”

For some, the flood water arrived quickly and almost without warning.

Kewin Jacek Ryfa Stelmach told ABC News he was out to dinner with his wife on Tuesday in Alfafar when they noticed the water beginning to rise. He said he got up to move his car to a spot near the entrance of the restaurant.

“I saw the water was already entering the restaurant, so my wife and I ran to the car,” he said. “We started to drive not knowing which direction to take.”

As they drove, they became boxed in by other vehicles that had been stopped by the flooding, he said.

“For a moment I thought I was going to get trapped, since there were many cars and no one was moving,” he said. “We managed to cross a tunnel that was still dry. I managed to save myself and save the car. I saw a lot of people who couldn’t move forwards in their cars, others were broken down, and others abandoned them.”

In that town’s shopping district, some people had been trapped in an IKEA store as the surrounding area flooded, according to videos verified by ABC News.

And Ryfa Stelmach’s bother, Oskar, told ABC News his car became trapped in rising waters in the town, forcing him to flee with his partner on foot.

“The water reached our waists,” Oskar said. “We took a lady having an anxiety attack out of her car and headed to Sedavi Bridge.”

They waited until the floodwaters receded at 5 a.m. before walking towards Valencia, he said.

The regional emergency services of Valencia estimated that 62 people were dead in the wake of the flooding that took over the southeast of Spain after Tuesday’s storms. 

ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — Israeli forces continued their intense operations inside Gaza after Hamas leader and Oct. 7, 2023 attack mastermind Yahya Sinwar was killed in a firefight with Israeli forces.

The development comes as Israel continues intense air and ground campaigns against Hezbollah in Lebanon and against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and mulls its response to Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday in a bid to kickstart stalled cease-fire talks and prevent further regional escalation.

UN peacekeepers say they continue to come under fire in Lebanon

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said that its peacekeeping personnel and positions have continued to come under fire in southern Lebanon since Israel launched its ground invasion.

In separate statements, UNIFIL detailed recent incidents that it said occurred earlier this week in several southern Lebanese villages. On Wednesday, two medical evacuation teams came under fire of unknown origin in Yarin, while a medical facility at a UNIFIL position in Beit Leif was hit by a shell or rocket of unknown origin, and shells or rockets — also of unknown origin — landed near a UNIFIL position in Kafer Chouba, according to UNIFIL.

On Tuesday, Israeli soldiers fired at a permanent UNIFIL observation post near Dhayra, forcing the on-duty guards to withdraw to avoid being shot, UNIFIL said. No peacekeepers were injured in any of these incidents, according to UNIFIL.

WHO loses touch with personnel in Kamal Adwan Hospital

The World Health Organization said it has lost touch with personnel in the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza after reports of an early morning raid there.

“This development is deeply disturbing given the number of patients being served and people sheltering there,” the WHO said in a statement.

“Kamal Adwan Hospital has been overflowing with close to 200 patients — a constant stream of horrific trauma cases. It is also full of hundreds of people seeking shelter. Accessing hospitals across Gaza is getting unbelievably harder and exposes our staff to unnecessary danger,” the WHO said.

9 hospitalized after Hezbollah fires 30 projectiles into Galilee

Nine people have been hospitalized in northern Israel as Hezbollah continues to fire rockets into Israel on a daily basis.

The IDF said around 30 projectiles were identified, some of which were intercepted.

-ABC News’ Dana Savir

IDF announce deaths of 10 soldiers in Lebanon fighting

The Israel Defense Forces have announced the deaths of 10 soldiers fighting in Lebanon in the past 24 hours.

The IDF says the soldiers have not been killed in the past 24 hours but their deaths have been confirmed after a process of notifying their families.

The casualties speak to the intensity of the fighting in southern Lebanon, amid reports that Hezbollah appears to have regrouped after the assassination of leader Hassan Nasrallah and the pager attack in September.

Israeli strike kills 3 journalists in Lebanon

Three journalists have been killed in a strike on the accommodation they were staying in in Hasbaya, southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese officials.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health said three people were killed and three others injured in the strike.

Lebanese Minister of Information said in a post on X that this attack is “a war crime” and described the killings as a “premeditated and planned assassination.” He said that there were 18 journalists at the location representing 7 media outlets.

Local media are saying there was no prior warning to the strike. The IDF has not yet responded to an ABC News request for comment.

IDF says it killed Hamas commander who led massacre at shelter near Kibbutz Re’im

The Israel Defense Forces said it killed the Hamas commander who “led the massacre” at the bomb shelter near Kibbutz Re’im on Oct. 7, the IDF said in a statement Thursday.

The Hamas commander Mohammad Abu Itiwi was killed in a joint operation with the Israeli Security Agency on Wednesday, the IDF and ISA said in a joint statement.

This Hamas commander also worked for UNRWA, the IDF said. UNRWA is the main U.N. agency operating in Gaza.

In a statement Thursday, the UNRWA confirmed the person killed by the IDF Wednesday was a UNRWA staff member.

This staff member was not one of the initial 12 people that the Israeli Defense Forces claimed had allegedly participated in Oct. 7 back in January, UNRWA said.

This person was included in a separate list of “another 100 UNRWA staff members” who the IDF claimed were part of Palestinian armed groups including Hamas. This second list was sent to UNRWA in July 2024 by the Government of Israel.

“The UNRWA Commissioner General responded to that letter immediately stating that any allegation is taken seriously. He urged GOI to cooperate with the Agency by providing more information so he could take action. To date, UNRWA has not received any response to that letter,” UNRWA said in the statement.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Guy Davies

IDF operation on northern Gaza homes leaves dozens killed and wounded

Initial reports of a large-scale ongoing Israeli military operation in Jabalia, a city in northern Gaza, has left dozens killed and wounded, the Hamas-run Gaza Civil Defense said Thursday.

The operation consisted of explosions blowing up 11 houses in one block in Jabalia, the Gaza Civil Defense said.

Additionally, Israeli operations are ongoing in Khan Yunis, a city in southern Gaza Thursday evening, the Gaza Civil Defense said.

Israel issues evacuation order for southern suburbs of Beirut as strikes continue

The Israel Defense Forces has issued another evacuation order for the southern suburbs of Beirut on Thursday evening.

At least 24 people were injured after an Israeli airstrike on Nahle Road, Baalbek, and 16 people were injured after an Israeli strike on Tyre and surrounding areas, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said Thursday.

Overall, 2,574 people have been killed and 12,001 injured since the start of Israel’s increased attacks on Lebanon in mid-September, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Josiane Hajj Moussa

Israel to meet with US, Qatari officials over cease-fire deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that the head of Israel’s intelligence agency will travel to Doha, Qatar, on Sunday for a meeting with the CIA director and the Qatari prime minister as part of efforts to resume talks for a cease-fire and hostage exchange deal.

This comes after a high-level Egyptian security delegation met with a delegation of Hamas leaders in Cairo on Thursday as part of efforts to restart negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza, Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera News reported.

-ABC News’ Jordanna Miller and Ayat Al-Tawy

Israel could reach ‘sharp conclusion’ with Hezbollah, IDF chief says

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said “there’s a possibility of reaching a sharp conclusion” with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in the north.

“We thoroughly dismantled Hezbollah’s senior chain of command,” he said Wednesday while touring the hard-hit northern Gaza Strip.

The IDF said Halevi “conducted a situational assessment” of the Jabaliya area amid an ongoing offensive there against Hamas.

“Another achievement — Jabaliya is falling, this is another psychological collapse. Both physically and psychologically,” Halevi said. “And if we take out the northern Gaza Brigade commander, it’s another collapse. These moves, again, I don’t know what we’ll encounter tomorrow, but this pressure brings us closer to more achievements.”

-ABC News’ Jordanna Miller

IDF attempting to make us ‘killable targets,’ Al Jazeera journalist in north Gaza says

Israel has accused six Al Jazeera journalists of being “Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists,” publishing their names and photographs.

Al Jazeera said the claims were “unfounded” and “fabricated accusations as a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in the region, thereby obscuring the harsh realities of the war from audiences worldwide,” in a statement.

Hossam Shabat, one of the journalists named said dossiers released by the IDF claiming to link the journalists to militant groups were “fabricated.”

“This blatant and belligerent attempt to transform us, the last witnesses in the north, into killable targets is an assassination threat and obvious attempt to preemptively justify our murder,” he said in a post on X.

Israel and Al Jazeera have history, but this latest claim has sparked major concern amongst media organizations and prominent journalists around the world.

“Israel has repeatedly made similar unproven claims without producing credible evidence. After killing Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail Al Ghoul in July, the IDF previously produced a similar document, which contained contradictory information, showing that Al Ghoul, born in 1997, received a Hamas military ranking in 2007 – when he would have been 10 years old,” The Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded to a question about the accusations saying he can’t speak to the accuracy of them, but said “it clearly needs to be examined.”

“We very much support the work of journalists in Gaza and everywhere else around the world and including in areas of conflict and we’re equally determined that journalists be protected. Far too many have lost their lives in Gaza. We’re determined to do what we can to ensure that, again, they can do their work safely and securely as possible,” Blinken told reporters during a joint press conference in Doha on Thursday.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, also commented on the the accusations.

“At Al-Jazeera, they are running at the highest international standards, and if there are any premises to these accusations, they are going to take care of the measures that’s needed for their journalists. But also, we need to know that we learned throughout this war that we cannot take those accusations of Israel for face value,” he said.

-ABC News’ Guy Davies

Blinken says negotiations to resume on hostage release, cease-fire in Gaza

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference in Doha on Thursday that negotiators will resume talks with Hamas “in coming days” to discuss a path forward in Gaza to release the hostages and end the war.

But, he added, it’s not clear whether Hamas was “prepared to engage” following the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar.

“We haven’t yet really determined whether Hamas is prepared to engage, but the next step is getting the negotiators together, and I anticipate we’ll know and we’ll certainly learn more in the coming days,” he said.

Blinken announced the development at a press conference with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who said his government had been in touch with Hamas officials in recent days.

“I believe that until now, there is no clarity what will be the way forward or the clear position,” bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said.

Blinken also announced another $135 million in aid to Gaza civilians, bringing the total contribution to $1.2 billion, he said.

-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty

Surgeon under Israeli siege in north Gaza reports death ‘in all forms’

Dr. Mohammed Obeid, a Médecins Sans Frontières surgeon working at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza said medical workers there are “hopeless” and under constant fire amidst Israel’s siege.

“There is death in all types and forms,” Obeid said. “The bombardment does not stop. The artillery does not stop. The planes do not stop. There is heavy shelling, and the hospital is [being] targeted too.”

“It just looks like a movie — it does not seem real,” he added.

“We have 30 people dead inside the hospital and around 130 injured patients who need urgent medical care. Medical staff are exhausted and many are injured as well. We feel hopeless. I just don’t have words.”

-ABC News’ Guy Davies

Blinken in Qatar for talks on ending Gaza war

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha on Thursday as he neared the end of this week’s Middle East peace push.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement that Blinken discussed “renewed efforts to secure the release of the hostages and end the war in Gaza, as well as ongoing work to provide for security, governance and reconstruction in Gaza after the war.”

Blinken and Al Thani also discussed Israel’s war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and “exchanged views on achieving a diplomatic resolution along the Blue Line and making political progress in Lebanon in order to ensure its sovereignty and security.”

Blinken is set to travel to the U.K. after concluding his meetings in Qatar.

-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty

16 killed in Israeli airstrike on school-turned-shelter, officials say

Hospital officials at Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza said they received 16 dead bodies and 32 injured people after Israeli strikes on a school-turned-shelter in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.

The hospital said “most” of the victims were “children and elderly people.”

The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately comment on the attack.

-ABC News’ Dia Ostaaz and Guy Davies

Deadly airstrikes in Syria, military says

Syria’s Defense Ministry reported airstrikes in the capital Damascus and at a military site near the western city of Homs on Thursday.

The attacks killed one soldier and injured seven other people, according to the ministry.

Israel — which has conducted regular strikes inside Syria in recent years — did not claim the airstrikes. The country generally refuses to confirm or deny responsibility for operations on foreign soil.

-ABC News’ Bruno Nota and Guy Davies

IDF accuses Hezbollah of using ambulances to carry weapons

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee alleged on X on Thursday that Hezbollah is using ambulances to transport fighters and weapons.

Any vehicle used for “terrorist” purposes will be subject to “necessary measures,” Adraee wrote.

The IDF did not provide any evidence to support the assertion. Medical vehicles, workers and facilities have been repeatedly targeted by Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

-ABC News’ Guy Davies

IDF says 50 projectiles, 2 missiles fired from Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces wrote on X on Thursday morning that around 50 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory.

The launches set off air alert sirens in the Upper and Western Galilee areas, with some projectiles intercepted and other landing, the IDF said.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said paramedics evacuated three people suffering from shrapnel injuries to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. Two of the victims were in moderate condition and one in mild condition, the service said.

The IDF also reported two missiles fired from Lebanon into northern Israel which it said “fell in open areas.”

-ABC News’ Dana Savir

US urges Israel to address ‘dire humanitarian situation’ in Gaza
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant Wednesday to discuss Israel’s operations in Lebanon and the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the Pentagon said in a statement.

“Secretary Austin welcomed the movement of humanitarian assistance through the Erez crossing and urged the Government of Israel to take all necessary steps to address the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza,” Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said of the call.

Humanitarian services ‘completely stopped’ in north, Gaza Civil Defense says
The Gaza Civil Defense said its work has “completely stopped” in northern Gaza as “the situation there has become catastrophic,” according to a statement released Wednesday.

“Citizens there are now without humanitarian services,” the Gaza Civil Defense said.

Medical supplies have also run out at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, the director of field hospitals in Gaza said Wednesday.

-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz

Nearly 200,000 people displaced in Lebanon as number of Israeli strikes approaches 11,000

Nearly 200,000 people have been displaced across various regions of Lebanon as the number of Israeli strikes on the country approaches 11,000, according to a report from the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

The highest concentrations of displaced persons are in Mount Lebanon and Beirut, though the estimated total number of displaced individuals is likely much higher, the ministry said.

At least 2,574 people were killed and 12,001 others were injured since the increase in strikes began, the ministry said.

Since the increase in strikes began, 1,097 centers have been established to accommodate the displaced, with 922 of these centers reaching maximum capacity, the ministry said.

From Sept. 23 to Oct. 23, 344,819 Syrian nationals and 150,104 Lebanese nationals crossed the Lebanese border into Syria, the ministry said.

Over 150 patients in northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital in critical condition

More than 150 people in northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital are in critical condition and are facing increasingly dire conditions, according to the hospital director.

Health services cannot be provided to the sick and injured due to the depletion of medical supplies, according to the director.

“Kamal Adwan Hospital remains partially functional but is struggling to meet growing needs due to intensified hostilities in the north and a shortage of medical supplies and fuel. A strike near the hospital causing damages to the gate was reported earlier today, 22 October,” the World Health Organization said in a statement Wednesday.

“As hostilities intensify in North Gaza, WHO is deeply concerned about the last two functional hospitals – Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda – which must be protected. A complete lack of health care in North Gaza would make an already catastrophic situation worse, and lead to more lives being lost,” the WHO said.

Gaza polio vaccine campaign postponed due to ‘intense’ attacks, UN says

The World Health Organization announced Wednesday that it has been forced to postpone the third phase of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza.

The WHO blamed “escalating violence, intense bombardment, mass displacement orders and lack of assured humanitarian pauses across most of northern Gaza.”

The third and final round of the vaccination push was due to start on Wednesday, the WHO said, and aimed to vaccinate 119,279 children across northern Gaza.

“The current conditions, including ongoing attacks on civilian infrastructure continue to jeopardize people’s safety and movement in northern Gaza, making it impossible for families to safely bring their children for vaccination, and health workers to operate,” the organization wrote in a statement published on its website.

-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor

Blinken to travel to Qatar, UK after Saudi visit

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Qatar and the U.K. after his Wednesday stop in Saudi Arabia, the State Department announced.

Blinken left Israel early Wednesday following meetings with officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

The visit was the first on a Middle East tour intended to kickstart stalled cease-fire negotiations in Gaza and encourage a diplomatic resolution to the ongoing fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.

Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday morning ahead of a planned meeting with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman.

-ABC News’ Cindy Smith

US has ‘not seen evidence’ of bunker under Beirut hospital: Austin

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters Wednesday that U.S. officials have “not seen evidence” to support Israel’s claim of a Hezbollah bunker located under Al-Sahel hospital in southern Beirut.

“We’ll continue to collaborate with our Israeli counterparts to gain better fidelity on exactly what they’re looking at,” Austin added.

Israel claims Hezbollah is using the purported bunker to store hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold under the city’s southern Dahiya suburb. Hospital officials have denied the allegation.

The area — known as a Hezbollah stronghold — has been the focus of its intense airstrikes on the Lebanese capital over the past month.

-ABC News’ Chris Boccia

Austin says no staffers probed in FBI’s Israel leak investigation

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday denied reports that one of his senior staffers is under investigation by the FBI in connection with leaked Pentagon documents purportedly relating to Israel’s planned retaliatory strike on Iran.

“There’s no OSD [Office of the Secretary of Defense] official being named as a part of this investigation,” Austin told reporters while in Rome, Italy. “So that is not true at this point.”

“I’ve seen no evidence of that, or any indication that any OSD official will be implicated as part of this.”

-ABC News’ Chris Boccia

More overnight Israeli strikes rock Beirut

The Israel Defense Forces said warplanes conducted another night of airstrikes in the Lebanese capital targeting what it said were Hezbollah weapons storage, arms manufacturing and command center targets in the southern suburbs.

The airstrikes centered on Dahiya — an area of south Beirut known as a Hezbollah stronghold.

More than 2,500 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since Oct. 7, 2023, with nearly 12,000 injured, according to tallies from the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Will Gretsky

Blinken departs Israel for Saudi Arabia

Secretary of State Antony Blinken departed Israel early Wednesday for Saudi Arabia — the next stop on his latest Middle East tour.

Before boarding his plane in Tel Aviv, Blinken told reporters that Israel has now achieved most of its military objectives in Gaza — including the elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar — but at great cost to Palestinian civilians.

Blinken said it was time to end the conflict, having spent Tuesday meeting with Israeli leaders — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — and the families of hostages in a bid to revive cease-fire and hostage release talks.

There is now a need to establish whether a post-Sinwar Hamas will be more open to a diplomatic resolution, Blinken said, plus to facilitate more aid into Gaza and to establish a concrete plan for the post-war governance of the territory.

Blinken said such questions would be part of his meetings with other Middle East leaders through this week.

-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston

US officials press Israel on ‘General’s Plan’

During their meeting Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about reports that some Israeli officials wanted to seize control of north Gaza using controversial methods, according to a senior U.S. administration official.

Coined the “General’s Plan” by media outlets, the idea would be to force evacuations of the area and assume anyone who stays behind is an enemy combatant and can be fired upon and starved.

The senior U.S. administration official said Blinken noted in the meeting that there’s a “perception” that this method is official Israeli policy.

The official said Netanyahu and his top aide, Ron Dermer, denied that it was and said the perception was “deeply damaging” to their efforts.

“We did hear a very clear commitment that that is not their state of policy,” the official told a reporter.

-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston

Blinken, Netanyahu meet as US pushes for cease-fire

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for over 2 1/2 hours on Tuesday, as the U.S. makes a push for a cease-fire agreement to end Israel’s conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah.

Blinken and Netanyahu discussed the need to capitalize on the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to reach an agreement that would secure the release of the remaining hostages being held in Gaza and putting in place a plan that provides lasting peace for Palestinians and Israelis.

Blinken also discussed the importance of increasing the flow of aid being allowed into Gaza. The U.S. warned Israel last week that assistance could be withheld if humanitarian aid doesn’t reach civilians in Gaza.

Lebanese hospital sustained ‘severe material damage’ in Israeli strike

Lebanon’s Rafik Hariri University Hospital will continue providing care despite the building sustaining “severe material damage” in an Israeli strike on Monday, according to Dr. Jihad Saadeh, the head of the hospital.

“Because of the targeting that has happened, we have sustained severe material damage to the hospital, including the destruction of solar panels, extensive destruction of all glass facades and damage to the hospital walls. Severe damage because it seems the shrapnel was very large,” Saadeh said.

“We will not stop. Several entities even called me yesterday asking if I would like to evacuate the hospital. I told them, not at all. We will not evacuate. There is no hospital left but us. After the sinful targeting of the suburb’s hospitals, there is no one left except for us. So we will continue our work, God willing,” Saadeh said.

Drone attack on Netanyahu’s house caused damage

The drone that targeted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home on Saturday caused some damage to the structure, according to a person familiar.

Netanyahu called the attack an “attempt to assassinate me and my wife,” in a statement Saturday. They were not in the home at the time of the attack, according to the prime minister’s office.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

63 killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon Monday

At least 63 people were killed and 234 were injured in Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Monday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

Since the start of Israel’s increased strikes on Lebanon, at least 2,546 people were killed and 11,862 others were injured, the ministry said.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Gaza’s development set back 69 years by war, UN says

The United Nations Development Programme published a new report Tuesday suggesting that Israel’s war against Hamas has set the Gaza Strip’s development back by as much as 69 years.

Poverty levels in Gaza are projected to rise to 74.3% in 2024, affecting over 4 million people, the report said — including 2.61 million “newly impoverished” people.

The territory’s GDP is expected to contract by some 35.1% in 2024 compared to a no-war scenario, it added, with unemployment potentially rising to almost 50%.

“The assessment indicates that, even if humanitarian aid is provided each year, the economy may not regain its pre-crisis level for a decade or more,” UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said.

Evacuation leaflets accompany Israeli attacks in north Gaza

At least 12 people were killed or injured in Israel Defense Forces attacks in northern Gaza over the past 24 hours, officials from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Tuesday.

At least 87 people were killed over the weekend in an IDF attack in the Beit Lahia neighborhood, officials said, just north of the Jabalia refugee camp which has been the focus of recent Israeli operations in the area. The IDF disputed the death toll.

Meanwhile, the IDF dropped leaflets over Beit Lahia on Tuesday urging residents to evacuate southwards.

Footage from the area showed long lines of people — mostly women and children — fleeing with their belongings under the watch of Israeli forces.

-ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Guy Davies

Beirut hospital won’t evacuate despite Israeli strike, director says

The general manager of Beirut’s Rafik Hariri University Hospital said on Tuesday that staff would continue treating patients there despite a nearby Israeli airstrike.

“We are committed to continuing our work and will not evacuate the hospital,” Dr. Jihad Saadeh said. “Although the hospital has suffered damage from shrapnel, we are prepared to treat patients in the hospital corridors if necessary.”

The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said 13 people including a child were killed and at least 57 others injured in the Israeli airstrike late Monday, with significant damage done to the nearby hospital — the largest public medical facility in Lebanon.

There was no warning issued before the strike on the hospital, sources told ABC News. The Israel Defense Forces denied the hospital was hit and said its strike was on a nearby Hezbollah target.

Saadeh told Tuesday’s press conference that some 50 healthcare centers, 150 ambulances, 150 paramedics and 15 hospitals have been targeted in Israeli attacks.

-ABC News’ Josiane Hajj Moussa and Guy Davies

IDF strike near hospital in Lebanon kills 13 and injures at least 57

An Israel Defense Forces strike near Rafik Hariri Hospital in southern Beirut on Monday killed 13 people including a child and injured at least 57 others, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

Seventeen of those injured required hospitalization, with seven in a critical condition, the ministry said in a Tuesday statement.

The hospital, which is the largest public medical facility in Lebanon, sustained significant damage, officials said.

There was no warning issued before the strike on the hospital, sources told ABC News.

The IDF denied attacking the hospital in a statement, claiming it was targeting a Hezbollah target close to the facility. “The strike did not hit the hospital and the IDF emphasizes that the hospital was not targeted, and the hospital itself and its operation were not affected, the IDF said.

-ABC News’ Josiane Hajj Moussa, Jordana Miller and Guy Davies

Israel designates Al-Qard al-Hassan as a terrorist organization

Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced Tuesday that he designated the Al-Qard al-Hassan finance institution — which Israel alleges is a key financial vehicle for Hezbollah — a terrorist organization.

“Hezbollah’s bank is used to purchase weapons, pay the salaries of terrorists and keep Hezbollah’s terror machine going,” Gallant wrote in a post on X.

“Degrading Hezbollah’s capabilities requires both a military and economic campaign,” he added. “We are destroying the terrorist organization’s ability to both launch and buy missiles.”

Israel has been targeting Al-Qard al-Hassan infrastructure throughout Lebanon in recent days. The strikes have been especially fierce in Beirut, and particularly in its southern Dahiya suburb which is known as a Hezbollah stronghold.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Blinken lands in Israel

Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Tuesday to begin a tour of Middle East nations in bid to reinvigorate cease-fire talks in both Gaza and Lebanon.

Blinken is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

The revival of stalled cease-fire talks and the prevention of further regional escalation are at the top of the agenda for America’s top diplomat.

Blinken’s latest regional tour comes just two weeks to go until the U.S. presidential election and with Israel still mulling its retaliation against Iran for the latter’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack.

-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston and Guy Davies

IDF claims 230 more strikes in Lebanon and Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces said in a social media post Tuesday that it struck around 230 Hezbollah and Hamas targets in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip over the previous 24 hours.

The strikes killed “dozens” of fighters, the IDF claimed, and hit targets including three purported command centers of a Hezbollah drone unit in southern Lebanon.

In Gaza, fighting continues in the Jabalia area in the north of the strip, which is under intense Israeli bombardment and sweeping evacuation orders.

The IDF said “thousands of civilians have been evacuated” from the area, while “dozens of terrorists were arrested from among the civilians.”

Another 10 fighters were killed in a strike in the area, the IDF added. Troops also dismantled several tunnel shafts and a rocket launcher in Beit Lahia, to the north of Jabalia.

Elsewhere, the IDF reported an airstrike on a rocket launcher and ammunition in the southern Rafah area.

IDF claims Nasrallah’s bunker located underneath Beirut hospital

The Israel Defense Forces claimed late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s gold-filled bunker is located underneath a Beirut hospital, which hospital officials said was being evacuated Monday out of an abundance of caution.

“There are millions of dollars in gold and cash in Hassan Nasrallah’s bunker. Where is the bunker located? Directly under Al-Sahel Hospital — in the heart of Beirut,” IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a video address Monday.

The IDF released 3D renderings of the hospital building and the bunker it said belonged to Nasrallah, who was killed in Israeli airstrikes in Beirut last month, but has not provided tangible proof. Hagari said the Israeli air force is monitoring the site but added, “We will not strike the hospital itself.”

“We are not at war with the people of Lebanon. We are at war with Hezbollah,” he said.

Following Hagari’s remarks, Lebanese hospital officials said the hospital is being evacuated out of an abundance of caution for the safety of the patients. Lebanese Parliament member Fadi Alameh, the owner of the hospital, said he has requested that the Lebanese army and United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon investigate the Israeli allegations.

Lebanese official Wiam Wahhab said the “talk of weapons depots” at the hospital “is illogical and false.”

“This points to the beginning of targeting hospitals, and the army must deploy around the hospital and protect it,” he said.

Dr. Youssef Bakhash, the president of the Lebanese Order of Physicians, told the Lebanese media group Al Jadeed that the “pretext of the existence of tunnels and funds beneath Sahel Hospital is aimed at targeting and disrupting the healthcare sector.”

Israel’s conflict with Iran to last ‘many months’: Former IDF general

Israel’s planned attack on Iran will mark the “beginning of a war” that will last “many months,” retired Israel Defense Forces Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi told ABC News.

Israel’s war with Hezbollah had gone incredibly well and the IDF had surpassed its own expectations in degrading the Iranian proxy, Avivi said, adding that the same mentality would be applied to dealing with the Iranian regime itself.

“We have a historical opportunity to deal with Iran so they don’t pose another threat to Israel,” said Avivi, the founder of the right-wing think tank Israel’s Defense and Security Forum.

Israel’s retaliatory strike on Iran will be “fierce and strong and very surprising” when it happens, he said.

-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge and Jordana Miller

300 Hezbollah targets hit in Lebanon in past 24 hours: IDF

The Israel Defense Forces said it hit 300 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in the past 24 hours, which saw an intense night of airstrikes on Beirut.

Seven brigade commanders, 21 battalion commanders and 24 company commanders for Hezbollah were killed in its ongoing operations, the IDF said.

More strikes against Hezbollah targets are expected all over southern Lebanon Monday night, IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.

Still unclear whether intelligence docs were leaked or hacked: White House

There’s no indication yet whether classified documents on Israel’s retaliation plans were leaked or hacked, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Monday.

“I’m just not able to answer your question whether it was a leak or a hack at this point. We’ll let the investigation pursue its logical course there,” Kirby said.

Kirby said that President Joe Biden was “deeply concerned” about the incident, and that while they don’t expect more documents to be revealed, they are on high alert amid the investigation.

“We’re certainly going to keep our antenna up and our eyes open for any potential future disclosures,” he said.

-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett

7 Israeli citizens arrested after allegedly spying for Iran

Seven Israeli citizens were arrested after allegedly spying for Iran, Israeli authorities said Monday.

The Israel Security Agency and Israel Police said they “successfully dismantled a spy network” that allegedly gathered sensitive information on Israel Defense Forces bases and energy infrastructure.

The citizens were allegedly recruited by Iranian agents to conduct “security-related tasks” over at least two years, authorities said, including “extensive reconnaissance missions” on air force and navy installations, ports, Iron Dome system locations and energy infrastructure.

Photographs and videos of “numerous” IDF bases, ports and energy infrastructure were seized as part of the investigation, authorities said.

“It is assessed that these activities have inflicted security damage on the state,” the ISA and Israel Police said.

The seven Israelis were allegedly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, often through cryptocurrencies, for their work, authorities said.

Prosecutors are expected to file an indictment against them in the coming days.

Austin: ‘Hard to say’ what Israeli retaliatory strike on Iran will look like

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters while traveling to Ukraine on Monday that it’s “hard to say” what an Israeli retaliatory strike on Iran will look like, when asked whether the response should be proportional.

“That’s an Israeli decision,” he said. “Whether or not the Israelis believe [it] is proportional and [how] the Iranians perceive it, I mean, those are maybe two different things.”

Austin told reporters that the U.S. is “going to continue to do everything we can” to get both parties to “begin to de-escalate.”

-ABC News’ Luis Martinez

Blinken to visit Israel in Middle East tour

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will begin a tour of Israel and other Middle Eastern nations on Monday in a bid to inject new life into stalled cease-fire and hostage release negotiations in Gaza, the State Department said.

Blinken “will discuss the importance of bringing the war in Gaza to an end, securing the release of all hostages and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people,” the State Department notice said.

“He will continue discussions on post-conflict period planning and emphasize the need to chart a new path forward that enables Palestinians to rebuild their lives and realize their aspirations free from Hamas’ tyranny,” the statement said.

Blinken will also “underscore that additional food, medicine and other humanitarian aid must be delivered to civilians in Gaza,” it continued.

The situation in Lebanon — where Israel is continuing an intense air and ground campaign and Hezbollah is still firing across the shared border — will also be a topic of discussion, the State Department said.

Blinken will continue pursuit of a “diplomatic resolution” that “allows civilians on both sides” of the border to return to their homes, the statement said.

-ABC News’ Cindy Smith

‘Beirut in flames’ after night of airstrikes, foreign minister says

“Beirut in flames,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on X on Monday following an intense night of airstrikes on the Lebanese capital.

“A wide-scale Israeli attack targeted Hezbollah’s financial infrastructure in Beirut and across Lebanon last night,” Katz said.

“Massive fires were seen above Beirut as over 15 buildings were struck following evacuation warnings to residents,” the foreign minister wrote.

“Hezbollah has paid and will continue to pay a heavy price for its attacks on northern Israel and its rocket fire. We will keep striking the Iranian proxy until it collapses.”

-ABC News’ Guy Davies

IDF claims ‘dozens’ of strikes on Hezbollah financial targets

Israel Defense Forces warplanes launched “a series of targeted, intelligence-based strikes against dozens of facilities and sites used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization to finance its terrorist activities,” the IDF said in a Monday post to X.

The Sunday night strikes hit targets in Beirut, southern Lebanon and elsewhere “deep within” the country, the IDF added.

The IDF said the targets were linked to the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association, which Israel has accused of acting as a key financier of Hezbollah activities.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

US investigating intelligence leak on Israel’s alleged plan to attack Iran

Documents purporting to show classified U.S. intelligence-gathering on Israel’s preparations for a possible retaliatory strike against Iran appeared on social media platforms late last week.

The impact of the circulation of these documents on current and future planning by the Israeli military is unclear at this time.

U.S. officials declined to comment on the situation when reached by ABC News. However, a law enforcement source on Sunday confirmed with ABC News that there is an investigation underway.

Markings on the documents indicate that they would have originated from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which collects, analyzes and distributes intelligence gleaned from satellite and aerial imagery.

If the documents are authentic, it would indicate a major intelligence breach.

According to Mick Mulroy, an ABC News national security and defense contributor, who served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East: “The future coordination between the U.S. and Israel could be challenged, as well.”

The Department of Defense, Federal Bureau of Investigation and a spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence all declined to comment when contacted by ABC News.

House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared on CNN Sunday and acknowledged that there is an investigation underway into the possible intelligence leak, adding, “We’re following it closely.”

-ABC News’ T. Michelle Murphy

IDF says it’s targeting infrastructure in Lebanon of group allegedly financing Hezbollah

The Israel Defense Forces announced it was targeting infrastructure Sunday night in Lebanon that has been linked to the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association, an organization it alleges is involved in financing Hezbollah.

The United States placed sanctions on the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association in May 2021 related to financing Hezbollah activities.

The Al-Qard Al-Hassan group has 31 branches in Lebanon — including in Beirut and Bekaa, officials said. At least one strike was reported Sunday evening in the Chyah neighborhood of Beirut.

“The ‘Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association’ is involved in financing the terrorist activities of the Hezbollah organization against Israel, and therefore the IDF has decided to attack this terrorist infrastructure,” the IDF said in a statement Sunday. “The IDF continues to work forcefully to destroy Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure. Therefore, we call on people inside buildings used by Hezbollah to stay at least 500 meters away from them for the next few hours.”

-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.