More than 100 killed in Nigerian tanker explosion, police say
ABC News
(MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA and LONDON) — About 105 people were killed and another 50 others were injured when a tanker exploded in Nigeria, a local police spokesperson said.
The petrol tanker exploded after the driver lost control in the town of Majiya, in northwestern Nigeria, late on Tuesday, Shi’isu Adam, a spokesperson for the Jigawa regional police, told reporters on Wednesday.
Distressing videos taken by eyewitnesses at the scene appeared to show large columns of smoke and flames spreading from the overturned vehicle. Eyewitnesses described the scene as that of chaos and despair, with many struggling to rescue the injured amidst the flames.
Jigawa state Gov. Umar Namadi was briefed on the latest death toll as he visited the scene of the accident in Majiya on Wednesday morning.
A local resident, Sani Umar, who narrowly escaped the inferno, recounted, “It was terrifying. People were running in all directions, screaming for help. The fire spread so quickly that many couldn’t escape.”
The patrol tanker had been heading to Nigeria’s Yobe state before it crashed at around 11:30 p.m. local time after the driver lost control of the vehicle, police said. Soon large crowds began to gather around the tanker at the scene of the accident, with some gathering leaking fuel from the truck when it exploded.
“We are worried that in spite of police warning people to stay clear from scenes of accidents involving fuel tankers, they still engage in such acts,” Adam told reporters on Wednesday. “People gathered around the accident scene; that is the reason for the mass casualties.”
At least 50 of those injured are continuing to receive medical treatment at the Ringim General Hospital for varying degrees of injuries, authorities said.
The area remained cordoned off on Wednesday as police continue investigations.
AT Abdullahi, the commissioner of police in Jigawa state, expressed on Wednesday his condolences to the families of the deceased and the entire people of Jigawa.
“This is a heartbreaking moment for us all,” Abdullahi said. “We share in the pain and sorrow of the families affected. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the bereaved
A mass burial for the victims is due to take place on Wednesday.
(LONDON) — The Israel Defense Forces conducted what it called “precise strikes on military targets” in Iran on Friday in response to the Iranian missile strikes earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes and ground fighting continued in Gaza — particularly in the north of the strip — and in Lebanon, with renewed Israeli attacks on Beirut.
Israeli lawmakers look to stop UNRWA operations
Israeli lawmakers are set to discuss two bills intended to end all Israeli cooperation with UNRWA — the United Nations agency that provides assistance to Palestinian refugees.
If the bills pass, UNRWA could be evicted from premises it has held for over 70 years and have its immunities revoked, majorly restricting its ability to deliver health care, education and other resources to Palestinians.
An Oct. 13 letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Israeli ministers warned that the proposed UNRWA legislation could exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and restrict aid to Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Israel alleges that UNRWA is compromised by militants, with Israeli intelligence claiming that around 10% of UNRWA’s Gaza workforce — some 1,200 employees — are Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
Israeli operation in Kamal Adwan Hospital concludes, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday it completed its raid on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip where IDF troops have been waging a major campaign.
The IDF claimed that “a number of terrorists — including Hamas terrorists who took part in the Oct. 7 massacre — had barricaded themselves inside the hospital.”
The IDF said its troops arrested around 100 fighters from within the hospital compound, “including terrorists who attempted to escape during the evacuation of civilians.”
The IDF said it found “weapons, terror funds and intelligence documents” in the hospital and in the surrounding area.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Iran will not back off in the face of Israeli aggression, Iranian president says
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday his country would stand firm following Israel’s attack on Iran.
“Definitely the free people will not back off in the face of this criminal, blood-thirsty regime. We have always defended the rights of our people and will continue to do so,” Pezeshkian told cabinet members, according to The Associated Press.
Earlier, Iranian state TV reported that Pezeshkian said Iran would respond to Israel “appropriately.”
Israel attacked military targets in Iran on Saturday in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles Iran fired on Israel earlier this month, marking the first time the IDF has openly attacked Iran.
Pezeshkian also warned tensions will escalate if Israel’s aggressions and crimes continue.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Iran calls for UN Security Council meeting after Israel’s retaliatory attack
The U.N. Security Council will meet Monday at Iran’s request after Israel’s retaliatory attack against the country, a spokesperson for the Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. confirmed to ABC News.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called Israel’s retaliatory attack a “serious violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a flagrant breach of international law,” in a letter requesting the U.N. Security Council meeting.
The letter from Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was sent to the UNSC’s current president and U.N. Secretary General António Guterres.
(TEL AVIV, Israel and GAZA STRIP) — Patients are “trapped” inside the last three operational hospitals in northern Gaza as Israeli forces continue to besiege the area, medical staff and international aid organizations warn.
As of Saturday, more than 350 patients are reported to be “trapped” inside Al-Awda Hospital, Indonesian Hospital and Kamal Adwan Hospital, including pregnant women and people who have just undergone surgical operations, according to Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
The Israel Defense Forces issued evacuation orders for northern Gaza on Oct. 6, its spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X, writing at the time: “I remind you that the northern Gaza Strip area is still considered a dangerous combat zone.”
The IDF again ordered evacuations last week of several neighborhoods in the northern Gaza Strip, including Beit Hanoun, Jabalia and Beit Lahia, as it tracks down Hamas fighters it believes to be in the area.
It’s estimated there are between 200,000 and 400,000 people who live in the north in an area that’s now a military zone.
The hospitals are within areas that have been ordered to evacuate, although the IDF will not confirm if the hospitals were ordered to evacuate. Israel has said Hamas terrorists are using civilians as shields and hospitals as cover-ups for their operations.
“While the northern part of the Strip has been under siege for over two weeks, it is absolutely crucial to ensure the protection of the few remaining functional health care facilities,” Anna Halford, emergency coordinator in Gaza for MSF, said Sunday in a statement. “People must be able to continue to access medical care and lifesaving treatments. We call on the Israeli forces to immediately stop their attacks on hospitals in north Gaza.”
In a statement posted Monday morning on X, the IDF spokesperson for the Arab media said Israeli officials continue “to communicate with the international community and the health establishment to maintain the operation of emergency systems in hospitals by transferring medical equipment and a fuel stockpile based on the operational situation.”
The spokesperson also said officials are working to evacuate patients and their companions, as well as medical staff, from hospitals. The IDF did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment about patients being trapped.
Staff members at Indonesian Hospital say they’re without power and have been unable to properly care for patients.
“The water supply has been cut off for patients and staff at the Indonesian Hospital,” Hadeel Obeid, chief nurse at the hospital, said in a message to ABC News on Monday. “They need permission from the [IDF] to operate the electric generator, and there is no food due to the ongoing siege for the fourth consecutive day.”
“We urge all international organizations to take the necessary action to save these wounded individuals and the staff working inside the hospital to support their resilience and steadfastness,” Obeid added.
Medical staff at Kamal Adwan Hospital similarly said there is no food to properly feed families, nor are there safe places to stay.
“There is no milk for children, and mothers [instead] have to mix starch and flour with water and sugar,” Dr. Eid Al Sabah, director of nursing at the hospital, said in a message to ABC News on Monday. “We stay in houses that have previously been bombed. We use tent cloth and wood from furniture [for fires] due to wood and fuel cuts.”
The IDF said Monday in a post on X that it has allowed hundreds of people to safely evacuate the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip via an organized route while arresting dozens of suspects in the area.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) also issued a dire warning about attacks on hospitals and overcrowded conditions in northern Gaza.
In a post Monday on X, the organization said patients in ICUs have died after electricity cuts, and that Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda hospitals are operating at minimum capacity due to a shortage of medical supplies and staff.
“The Israeli authorities continue to deny humanitarian missions to reach the north with critical supplies, including medicine and food for people under siege,” Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA commissioner-general, said Monday in a post on X. “Hospitals have been hit and are left without power while injured people are left without care.”
“Denying & weaponizing humanitarian assistance to achieve military purposes is a sign of how low the moral compass is,” he continued. “Assistance must reach everyone in need in Gaza: civilians, including children and the hostages. No one should beg to assist or to be assisted. A cease-fire is the beginning to putting an end to this endless nightmare.”
Additionally, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a report over the weekend that no aid was allowed into northern Gaza between Oct. 1 and Oct. 14. Since then, only a “token amount” of aid has been allowed in, the group said.
In its report, OHCHR also expressed concern over dwindling amounts of food supplies. Israeli officials have denied that aid is struggling to enter Gaza and have posted photos and videos on social media of trucks with aid waiting to be picked up and distributed at border crossings by nongovernmental and aid organizations.
ABC News’ Guy Davies and Jordana Miller contributed to this report.
(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.
‘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.”
