North Korean defector allegedly stole bus to drive back across border, South Korean police say
Jung Yeon-je / AFP via Getty Images
(SEOUL) — A North Korean defector living in South Korea is under arrest for allegedly stealing a bus and attempting to drive it across the border into North Korea last week, police said.
The man, who is in his 30s, escaped North Korea and settled in 2011 in Seoul, according to South Korea’s Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police. Reportedly, he told police that he wanted to return to North Korea because life was difficult in the South and he missed his family back in the North.
He was not the first North Korean defector who has attempted to return home. South Korea’s Unification Ministry said 31 defectors re-entered the North from 2012 to 2022, an average of about three each year. The ministry’s report revealed that 71% of the defectors who reentered North Korea resided in the South for less than five years.
“The few North Korean defectors who wish to reenter North Korea seem to have failed to adapt to the very different environment in the South,” Dr. Shin Dae-jin, principal researcher at the Sungkyunkwan University Center for Good Democracy, told ABC News. “Also there are elderly defectors who wish to return because they miss their hometown so dearly.”
The man allegedly tried to cross the Tongil Bridge in Paju, which leads to the fortified inter-Korean border, ignoring the warnings of soldiers. He was eventually stopped by military forces guarding the bridge and handed over to police. The police issued an arrest warrant last Friday after an investigation on charges of violating the National Security Act and the Military Base Protection Act, vehicle theft and driving without a license.
Although its society is generally democratic and capitalistic, South Korea welcomes North Korean defectors by providing basic education at the adaptation center for months before letting them walk out freely into society. But the reality of adapting to a new way of life isn’t always easy for the defectors.
According to North Korean Refugees Foundation research last year, North Korean defectors earn approximately $460 less in monthly income than others in South Korea. Research center Seoul Institute’s report revealed last year that 37.7% of North Korean defectors living in Seoul are welfare recipients, which means their income does not meet the minimum cost of living.
“North Korean defectors often face economic and psychological difficulties, unable to find employment after receiving one-time subsidies provided by the government,” Lawmaker Han Jeoung-ae who takes part in the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, told ABC News. “The government must provide more practical support for employment and housing, and psychological and social support if needed.”
Experts pointed out that only a handful of defectors attempt to reenter North Korea.
“There are misfits in any society; the defectors who wish to return are like immigrants who wonder if their lives left behind could have been better off,” Kwang Baek Lee, who represents a news outlet that targets North Korean people, told ABC News.
But many defectors who risked their lives to cross the fortified border find their new lives a second chance.
“I am grateful for the life I have in South Korea, that I get paid for the work I have done, the choices I have at the market, that I can have three meals a day and when I return home from work I get to watch the television,” Hyukpil Lim, a defector in his 60s who makes a living by cleaning apartment garbage grounds, told ABC News.
According to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, 34,183 North Korean escapees took root in South Korea until June this year. More than 1,000 people escaped and settled down before 2020, but COVID-19 made the escape route even more difficult, resulting in a dramatic decrease to 63 people in 2021, 67 in 2022 and 196 in 2023.
Meanwhile the budget for supporting North Korean defectors this year decreased by $3.3 million compared to last year.
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike near the southern Lebanese village of Al-Mahmoudiye on September 24, 2024. (RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Israeli troops are now active in southern Lebanon in what the Israel Defense Forces called “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids” targeting Hezbollah positions.
Israel believes it has eliminated around 30 top Hezbollah leaders over the last several weeks, including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, U.S. and Israeli officials said.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Israel striking Hezbollah targets in Beirut: IDF
The Israel Defense Forces said it is currently striking Hezbollah targets in Beirut.
The update comes about an hour after the IDF issued an evacuation order for parts of southern Beirut suburbs.
Iran’s missile attack largest ever on Israel, Israeli official says
The Iranian barrage marked the largest missile attack ever on Israel, according to Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.
“Tonight, Iran carried out the largest and most violent missile attack against the State of Israel to date,” Danon said in a statement through his spokesperson earlier Tuesday. “We are ready and prepared defensively and offensively.”
Iran fired 220 total missiles over two waves in 30 minutes, according to a U.S. official.
US Embassy in Jerusalem lifts shelter-in-place order
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has lifted a shelter-in-place order for U.S. government employees and their family members, stating in an updated security alert, “The threat of missile barrages has diminished.”
Previous travel restrictions to areas outside the greater Tel Aviv region, Jerusalem and Be’er Sheva remain in place until further notice, it said.
2 US Navy destroyers fired missile interceptors: Pentagon
Two U.S. Navy destroyers fired “approximately a dozen” missile interceptors at the incoming ballistic missile barrage aimed at Israel, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a briefing earlier Tuesday.
Ryder said the two destroyers that launched missile interceptors were the USS Bulkeley and USS Cole.
A Navy official told ABC News they believe the two destroyers shot down multiple Iranian missiles.
No U.S. personnel were injured during the Iranian missile attack, Ryder said.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Iran fired 220 missiles in 2 waves: US official
Iran fired 220 missiles in two waves over 30 minutes, with a brief pause between the waves, according to a U.S. official.
Some of the missiles did impact Israel, but not in major areas, the official said. There was no direct impact near Tel Aviv, although some shrapnel fell in the area, the official said.
Many missiles were intercepted over Jordan, the official said.
Among the casualties from the attack, a Palestinian was killed in Jericho, and there are reports of a Bedouin killed in the Negev, according to the official.
-ABC News’ Martha Raddatz
IDF issues evacuation warning for southern Beirut suburbs
The Israel Defense Forces have issued an evacuation warning for residents in southern Lebanon.
The “urgent warning” was issued to residents of southern Beirut suburbs Tuesday night local time.
A similar warning was also sent on Monday.
Netanyahu: ‘Iran made a big mistake’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran’s attack “failed” while vowing to respond.
“Iran made a big mistake tonight — and it will pay for it,” he said in a statement. “The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies.”
“We will stand by the rule we established: Whoever attacks us — we will attack him,” he added.
Biden: ‘Make no mistake, the US is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel’
In his first on-camera remarks since Iran’s missile attack, President Joe Biden reiterated the United States’ full support of Israel.
“Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel,” he said.
He said that at his direction, the U.S. military “actively supported the defense of Israel” and while they are still assessing the impact, the attack “appears to have been defeated and ineffective.”
Biden said there was “intensive planning” between the U.S. and Israel to “anticipate and defend against the brazen attack we expected.”
Asked how he would like Israel to respond, Biden said it was an “active discussion.”
“We’re gonna get all the data straight,” he said. “We’ve been in constant contact with the Israeli government and our counterparts, and that remains to be seen.”
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Discussions with Israel on response ongoing: State Department
Talks between the United States and Israel on what a response to Iran’s attack should look like are “already underway,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters Tuesday.
Those conversations were happening across the State Department, the White House and the Pentagon, he said.
Miller declined to say whether Israel had presented possible targets to the U.S. or if Iran’s nuclear facilities might be a legitimate target.
“This is not to say that I’m ruling anything out and that I’m ruling anything in,” he said.
On whether Iran’s attack on Israel was over, Miller repeated the U.S. assessment that the current wave has ended, but that he could not definitively say whether there would be additional waves.
“Certainly, it would be incredibly reckless and would continue to be escalatory for Iran to launch further attacks on Israel and we’ll be monitoring in the hours ahead,” he said.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston and Emily Chang
2 US Navy destroyers fired missile interceptors: Pentagon
Two U.S. Navy destroyers fired “approximately a dozen” missile interceptors at the incoming ballistic missile barrage aimed at Israel, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a briefing.
Ryder said the two destroyers that launched missile interceptors were the USS Bulkeley and USS Cole.
He didn’t confirm whether they hit their targets, saying the assessment is ongoing.
No U.S. personnel were injured during the Iranian missile attack, Ryder said.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Iran ‘stands firmly against any threat’: President Pezeshkian
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on X that the attack on Israel was “based on legitimate rights and with the aim of peace and security for Iran and the region.”
Pezeshkian also addressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly in his post: “Let Netanyahu know that Iran is not belligerent, but it stands firmly against any threat.”
“This is only a tiny part of our power. Do not step into a conflict with Iran,” Pezeshkian added.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
Israel appears to have ‘defeated’ Iran’s attack: US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel appears to have “effectively defeated” Iran’s attack.
“A few hours ago, Iran — for the second time in the space of five months — launched a direct attack on Israel, including some 200 ballistic missiles. This is totally unacceptable and the entire world should condemn it,” he said during a previously scheduled meeting with India’s external affairs minister.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan also told reporters during a White House briefing that Iran’s attack “appears to have been defeated and ineffective” based on the United States’ early assessment.
Sullivan said the U.S. military worked closely with the IDF to defend Israel and was proud to do so, including in shooting down incoming missiles from U.S. naval destroyers positioned in the area, and that President Joe Biden will be involved in constant conversations with the Israelis about what should come next. He declined to provide any details about what level of response Biden will encourage.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston and Cheyenne Haslett
Iran says it targeted 3 military bases around Tel Aviv
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted three Israeli military bases around Tel Aviv in its attack on Israel.
The Iranian Mission to the United Nations told ABC News that “no notice was given to the U.S. prior” to the attack, though a “serious warning was issued afterward.”
-ABC News’ Hami Hamedi
IDF says 180 missiles fired from Iran
The Israel Defense Forces said it identified approximately 180 missiles fired toward Israel from Iran.
The Iranian missile attack began at 7:31 p.m. local time on Tuesday, the IDF said.
Most of the missiles were intercepted, but “several hits were identified, and the damage is being assessed,” an Israeli security official said.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
UN Security Council expected to convene Wednesday
The United Nations Security Council is expected to convene on Wednesday to discuss Iran’s attack on Israel, according to Israel’s ambassador to the U.N.
-ABC News’ Josh Margolin
DHS warns of potential cyberattack threat against US following killing of Nasrallah
The Iranian regime is unlikely to take direct military action against the U.S. homeland following Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, though his death could prompt Iran or its proxies to take alternative actions like cyberattacks, according to a new Department of Homeland Security alert.
Nasrallah’s death is also unlikely to galvanize people within the U.S to take action, though the “expansion of the regional conflict and potential for increased circulation of graphic images highlighting civilian deaths could contribute to [extremist] radicalization to violence,” according to the Sept. 30 document obtained by ABC News and distributed to law enforcement agencies around the country.
“We also assess that it is unlikely that Iran or its proxies will target the homeland during any potential physical response to the airstrike,” the alert stated. “We are concerned that the incident may prompt Iranian government or other malicious cyber actors supportive of Tehran’s interests to conduct cyber attacks against poorly secured US critical infrastructure entities, among other targets.”
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Josh Margolin
Israel will have a ‘significant response,’ Israeli official says
Israel will have a “significant response” to Iran’s attack, an Israeli official told ABC News.
“What Iran has suffered so far is only a promo,” the official said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
No additional threats from Iran at this time, no casualties reported: IDF
The Israeli military does not see any additional threats at this time from Iran, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.
Hagari said they have carried out a “large number of interceptions.” There were a “few hits” in the south and officials are assessing the damage, though there are no reported casualties, he added.
“We are on high alert both defensively and offensively,” he said. “We will defend the citizens of the State of Israel. This attack will have consequences.”
US says it has intercepted Iranian missiles
The U.S. has intercepted some of the Iranian missiles launched against Israel, but how many is unclear, an official told ABC News.
“In accordance with our ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, U.S. forces in the region are currently defending against Iranian-launched missiles targeting Israel,” the official said. “Our forces remain postured to provide additional defensive support and to protect U.S. forces operating in the region.”
-ABC News’ Matthew Seyler
Biden says US prepared to help Israel defend against Iranian attack
President Joe Biden said Tuesday the U.S. is prepared to help Israel defend against the Iranian missile attack.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are monitoring the Iranian attack from the White House Situation Room and receiving regular updates from their national security team. Biden directed the U.S. military to aid Israel’s defense against Iranian attacks and shoot down missiles.
Before the attack began, he posted on X that he and Vice President Kamala Harris had convened their national security team.
This morning, @VP and I convened our national security team to discuss Iranian plans to launch an imminent missile attack against Israel.
We discussed how the United States is prepared to help Israel defend against these attacks, and protect American personnel in the region.
Lindsey Graham calls Iran’s missile attack ‘breaking point’
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina condemned Iran’s missile attack on Israel, calling it a “breaking point” on Tuesday and urging President Joe Biden’s administration to respond.
“This missile attack against Israel should be the breaking point and I would urge the Biden Administration to coordinate an overwhelming response with Israel, starting with Iran’s ability to refine oil,” Graham said in a statement.
Graham called for oil refineries to be “hit and hit hard” and said his prayers are “with the people of Israel.”
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
Iran confirms responsibility, says launches retaliation for assassinations
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said moments ago the missile attack was a retaliation for different assassinations carried out by Israel, Mehr News Agency reported.
The IRGC said the operation will continue if Israel does not stop, Mehr News Agency reported.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, a key ally of Iran, was killed in a strike in Beirut last week, while a top member of the IRGC was also killed.
IDF warns some citizens to enter ‘protected space’
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari issued remarks Tuesday evening, announcing that missiles had been launched from Iran toward Israel.
He said messages have been sent to cellphones, warning Israeli citizens in certain areas to enter “protected space” and to seek shelter if they hear sirens.
Hagari added that if citizens hear explosions, they may be the result of interceptions or impacts.
“We are strong and can handle this event as well,” Hagari said. “The IDF is doing and will continue to do everything necessary to protect the civilians of Israel. The IDF is fully prepared for both defense and offense at peak readiness.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Flights diverting near Iran
Several flights near Iran are diverting ahead of expected missile launches at targets in Israel.
Several Lufthansa flights and one Swiss Air flight were diverted back to Frankfurt, Germany, and Turkey as they approached Iranian air space.
-ABC News’ Sam Sweeney
IDF says missiles launched from Iran toward Israel
Israel said missiles have been launched from Iran toward Israel.
Sirens are sounding across the country.
Israel expecting 240-250 missiles from Iran: Sources
Iran is expected to launch 240 to 250 missiles in two waves at four targets in Israel, including Mossad headquarters and three air bases, according to an Israeli source and a senior U.S. administration official.
Israel is not expected to launch a preemptive strike, according to the U.S. administration official. It should take the missiles less than 15 minutes to reach targets once launched.
The U.S. and Israel have all defenses activated, and Israel will “absolutely “ retaliate after it happens,” the official said.
The total number of ballistic missiles is about double the number launched by Iran in April — 99% of which were intercepted.
-ABC News’ Martha Raddatz
Israeli forces issue warning for residents to stay near shelter in greater Tel Aviv
The Israel Defense Forces issued a warning for residents of the “Dan area,” referring to the greater Tel Aviv area, to stay “near a shelter until further notice.”
Sirens sounded in central Israel, the IDF said in a second statement, after issuing the warning to stay in shelters. The sirens sounding in central Israel were due to launches from Lebanon, the IDF told ABC News.
“From this moment, Israelis living in central Israel are advised to stay by their safe rooms. Enter them during sirens and stay there until further notice,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in Hebrew.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir, Anna Burd and Jordana Miller
US Embassy in Jerusalem issues ‘shelter in place’ order
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem issued a statement directing all government employees and their family members “to shelter in place until further notice,” following reports of an imminent Iranian missile attack on Israel.
The embassy noted the “continued need for caution and increased personal security awareness as security incidents, including mortar and rocket fire and unmanned aircraft system,” which it said “often take place without warning.”
“The security environment remains complex and can change quickly depending on the political situation and recent events,” it added.
Netanyahu warns Israelis of ‘testing days ahead’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged unity among Israelis in a video statement published Tuesday, as Israel Defense Forces operations in Lebanon expanded and amid fears of an imminent Iranian missile attack.
“We are in the midst of a campaign against Iran’s ‘Axis of Evil,'” the prime minister said. “These are days of great achievements and great challenges.”
The “great achievements,” Netanyahu said, included the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a Beirut airstrike last week, plus the defeat of an alleged Hezbollah plan to launch an infiltration attack into northern Israel.
The country still faces “big challenges,” he continued.
“What I ask of you is two things: One — to strictly obey the directives of the front-line command, it saves lives. And second — to stand together. We will stand firm together in the testing days ahead.”
“Together we will stand, together we will fight and together we will win.”
–ABC News Joe Simonetti and Jordana Miller
Iran to launch ballistic missiles at Israel ‘imminently,’ US official says
A senior White House official told ABC News on Tuesday that the U.S. “has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel.”
“We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack,” the official added.
“A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran,” the official said.
Israeli special ops teams active in Lebanon for almost a year, IDF says
Israel special operations teams have been operating in southern Lebanon since November, an Israeli security source said Tuesday, conducting around 70 missions in groups of 20 to 40 operators.
The troops spent around 200 nights inside Lebanon, making it the most intense series of special operations missions in Israel’s history, the official said.
The units operated between 1 and 2 miles inside Lebanese territory, the official said, blowing up and dismantling hundreds of Hezbollah facilities including tunnels.
Some tunnels doubled as weapons caches and others stretched to the Israeli border. Officials said on Tuesday they believed Hezbollah was planning an imminent “Oct.7-style invasion” of northern Israel.
The security source claimed that Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force was at times as little as six hours from launching such an attack. ABC News was not immediately able to independently verify the official’s claims.
The Israeli special operations units operating in southern Lebanon encountered almost no resistance, the official said, and did not suffer any casualties.
Though some 2,000 Radwan troops are believed to be present within 3 miles of Israel’s border — and between 6,000 and 8,000 in southern Lebanon in total — they have not been fighting.
“During these operations, the troops also collected valuable intelligence and methodically dismantled the weapons and compounds, including underground infrastructure and advanced weaponry of Iranian origin,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
“Some of the weapons were recovered and taken by the soldiers back into Israeli territory.”
Airstrike hits southern Beirut suburb
The southern Beirut suburb of Dahiya was hit by a fresh airstrike early on Tuesday, as Israeli warplanes continued to bomb targets across Lebanon in pursuit of Hezbollah members and resources.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that the previous 24 hours saw at least 95 people killed and 172 wounded by Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s southern regions, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Beirut.
Hezbollah disputes Israel’s incursion claims
Israeli claims that its soldiers began ground operations inside southern Lebanon “are false,” Hezbollah said in a Tuesday statement.
“No direct ground clashes have yet taken place between the resistance fighters and the occupation forces,” the group said, referring to Israeli troops.
“The resistance fighters are ready for a direct confrontation with the enemy forces that dare or attempt to enter Lebanese territory and inflict the greatest losses on them,” the group added.
Beirut not a target of Israeli ground incursion, official says
The Israel Defense Forces’ operation in southern Lebanon is occurring “right by the border” with no intention of pushing towards the capital Beirut, an Israeli security official said during a Tuesday briefing.
The IDF has three goals, the official said.
The first is to remove the threat of cross-border fire at Israeli citizens, they said. The second is to target senior militant leaders planning such attacks, the official added.
The third goal is to create a situation in which tens of thousands of displaced Israelis can return to their homes in the north of the country.
“We’re talking about limited, localized, targeted rates based on precise intelligence in areas near the border,” the official said when asked about the scope of the operation.
Beirut, they added, is not on the table, though airstrikes are expected to continue across the country and in the capital.
“We’re talking about Hezbollah embedding itself in the Lebanese villages, right by the border,” they said.
“We’re operating at the moment according to the mission we received from the political echelon. We’re acting in a limited area that is focusing on the villages right by the border,” they explained.
IDF claims Hezbollah was planning ‘invasion’ of Israel
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israeli troops were engaged in “limited and targeted raids” in southern Lebanon as of Tuesday morning, alleging that Hezbollah was planning “an Oct. 7-style invasion” into Israeli homes.
“Hezbollah turned Lebanese villages next to Israeli villages into military bases,” Hagari said. “Hezbollah planned to invade Israel, attack Israeli communities and massacre innocent men, women and children.”
“I want to make it clear: our war is with Hezbollah, not with the people of Lebanon,” Hagari continued. “We do not want to harm Lebanese civilians, and we’re taking measures to prevent that.”
More than 700 people were killed by an intensified Israeli airstrike campaign across Lebanon last week. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported 95 people killed and 172 people by strikes on Monday. Israeli bombing continued overnight into Tuesday morning, including in the capital Beirut.
UK charters flight for citizens in Lebanon, urges Britons to ‘leave now’
The British government announced Monday that it chartered a commercial flight out of Lebanon for citizens wishing to leave the country.
British nationals, their spouse or partner and children under the age of 18 are eligible, a Foreign Office press release said. “Vulnerable” citizens will be prioritized, it added.
The flight is scheduled to depart Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport on Wednesday.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the situation in the country “is volatile and has potential to deteriorate quickly.”
“The safety of British nationals in Lebanon continues to be our utmost priority,” he added.
“That’s why the U.K. government is chartering a flight to help those wanting to leave. It is vital that you leave now as further evacuation may not be guaranteed,” he said.
IDF reports ‘heavy fighting’ in Lebanon border areas
Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee — the Israel Defense Forces’ spokesperson for Arab media — warned residents of southern Lebanon on Tuesday morning that “heavy fighting” is now underway in the region.
“Hezbollah elements,” he said, are “using the civilian environment and the population as human shields to launch attacks.”
Adraee told residents not to move vehicles from the north to the south of the Litani River, which is around 18 miles north of the Israeli border. Israel previously demanded that all Hezbollah forces withdraw north of the waterway in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolution that sought to end the 2006 border war.
“This warning is in effect until further notice,” Adraee said.
The IDF said Monday that its ground offensive into Lebanon was underway, following a week of punishing airstrikes and targeted killings across the country.
The IDF described the operations as “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon.”
A senior U.S. official told ABC News that the incursion is expected to be significant but not “major.” Lebanese leaders, meanwhile, are calling for an immediate ceasefire and the implementation of the 2006 U.N. resolution that would see Hezbollah forces leave southern Lebanon.
10 projectiles fired back at Israel from Lebanon amid ground incursion: IDF
After Israeli forces began the ground incursion into southern Lebanon, at least 10 projectiles crossed over into northern Israel, according to the IDF.
“Following the sirens that sounded in the area of Meron in northern Israel, approximately 10 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon,” the IDF said in a statement Monday.
“Some of the projectiles were intercepted and a number of projectiles fell in open areas,” the IDF said.
IDF begins ground incursion into Lebanon
Israeli forces have begun a ground incursion into southern Lebanon, a spokesperson for the IDF said in a statement.
The IDF described the operations as “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon.”
“The IDF is continuing to operate to achieve the goals of the war and is doing everything necessary to defend the citizens of Israel and return the citizens of northern Israel to their homes,” the statement said.
95 killed, 172 injured in Lebanon from attacks Monday
The death toll in Lebanon from Israeli attacks rose to 95 on Monday with 172 people injured, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said in a post on X.
Ground operations in Lebanon will be significant but not ‘major’: US official
The Israel Defense Forces’ ground movement into Lebanon will be significant but not “major,” a senior U.S. official told ABC News.
The operations will be limited to small unit commando teams, the official said, adding that the teams will have air power backup against Hezbollah fighters.
IDF issues ‘urgent warning’ to residents of southern suburbs of Beirut
The Israeli Defense Forces issued an “urgent warning” Monday to residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut.
In a post on X, the IDF urged people in three neighborhoods — Lilac, Haret Hreik and Burj Al-Barajneh — to evacuate.
“You are located near interests and facilities belonging to the terrorist Hezbollah, and therefore the IDF will act against them forcefully,” the IDF wrote. “For your safety and the safety of your family, you must evacuate the buildings immediately, starting at a distance of no less than 500 meters.”
UNRWA chief denies knowing suspended staffer was Hamas leader in Lebanon
On Monday, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini denied having being aware that staffer Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin had been the head of Hamas’ Lebanon branch.
Abu el-Amin and his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, a spokesperson for Hamas said Monday.
In his press briefing in Geneva on Monday, Lazzarini said Abu el-Amin had been suspended from his UNRWA position in March after allegations arose that he was involved in Hamas.
-ABC News’ William Gretsky
5 killed, 57 injured in Israeli air strikes on Yemen: Houthi spokesperson
Five people were killed and 57 were injured after Sunday’s Israeli air strikes in Al-Hodeidah, Yemen, the Houthi spokesperson said in a statement Monday.
“This crime will be responded to with escalating military operations against the criminal enemy during the coming period,” the Houthi spokesperson added in his statement.
-ABC News’ Ahmed Baider
12 killed, 20 wounded in Lebanon from attacks Monday
Twelve people have been killed and at least 20 were injured in attacks in Lebanon on Monday, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.
The number of casualties from strikes in Lebanon on Sunday rose to 118 killed and 376 injured, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Hezbollah and Israel continued to trade attacks on Monday.
Hezbollah issued 10 statements taking responsibility for various attacks on Monday.
The Israeli Defense Forces said they destroyed a “surface-to-air missile launcher storage facility approximately 1.5 kilometers” from Beirut’s international airport in a release Monday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Jordana Miller
Israeli forces conducting ‘training’ near northern border, IDF says
Israeli forces have been “conducting training near the northern border,” the IDF said in a release Monday.
“As part of increasing readiness for combat, IDF soldiers from the 188th Brigade have been conducting training near the northern border and at the command’s headquarters,” the IDF said in the release.
Sinwar goes radio silent in Gaza cease-fire negotiations
Senior Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, one of the key architects of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, has gone radio silent, according to an official familiar with negotiations to reach a cease-fire and hostage release deal.
Sinwar’s absence has created another hurdle for U.S. officials who are still trying to complete an overdue “final” proposal for a deal.
It has also sparked speculation that Sinwar is dead, but the official said there is no indication that’s the case.
State Department spokesperson Matt Miller spoke about Hamas’ role in delaying a cease-fire proposal during a briefing Monday, but did not weigh in on Sinwar’s status specifically.
“When it comes to Sinwar, I don’t have any update on his condition at all, one way or the other,” he said, before asserting that Hamas has been unwilling to “engage at all” with Egyptian or Qatari mediators “over the past several weeks.”
“So the reason you have not seen us put forward this proposal is we can’t get a clear answer from Hamas of what they’re willing to entertain and what they’re not willing to entertain,” he said. “We’re going to continue to try to work it.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston
More officials say invasion possibly imminent, US fighter jets heading to region for air defense
Israel’s limited ground incursion into Lebanon could be imminent, two more U.S. officials have told ABC News.
One of the officials said Israel notified the U.S. of its intentions.
Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh would not confirm as much when repeatedly asked Monday, but did give new details on the additional forces being sent to the region to potentially defend Israel and its own forces.
“These augmented forces include F-16, F-15E, A-10, F 22 fighter aircraft and associated personnel,” Singh said.
The fighter aircraft are to be used for air defense, such as intercepting missiles if needed, according to Singh. There are “an additional few thousand” troops in the region as part of the augmented force, according to Singh.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez and Matt Seyler
Israel imminently planning limited ground operation in Lebanon: Senior US official
The U.S. expects Israel to imminently begin a limited ground operation into Lebanon that would be targeted, in order to clear out Hezbollah infrastructure near Israeli border communities and then pull their forces back, according to a senior U.S. official.
This could start “immediately,” according to the senior official.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Biden tells Israel to stop when asked about possible Lebanon invasion
Speaking to reporters Monday at the White House, President Joe Biden addressed Israel’s continued attacks on Lebanon and reports that they are preparing for a limited ground operation.
The comment, which followed Biden’s remarks on Hurricane Helene, came after a reporter asked if he was aware of and “comfortable” with the possibility of Israel invading Lebanon.
“I’m more aware than you might know, and I’m comfortable with them stopping. We should have a cease-fire now,” Biden replied.
Middle East ‘safer’ without ‘brutal’ Nasrallah, Blinken says
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was “a brutal terrorist, whose many victims included Americans, Israelis, civilians in Lebanon, civilians in Syria and many others as well.”
During a ministerial meeting on defeating ISIS in Washington, D.C., Blinken said Hezbollah under Nasrallah’s leadership “terrorized people across the region and prevented Lebanon from fully moving forward as a country.”
“Lebanon, the region, the world, are safer without him,” Blinken added.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut on Friday, marking the most significant blow yet to Hezbollah over almost a year of cross-border conflict with Israel.
Israeli airstrikes are continuing across Lebanon and in the capital. A U.S. official told ABC News on Sunday that small-scale cross-border Israeli ground operations may have already begun, as a prelude to a wider offensive into southern Lebanon in pursuit of Hezbollah targets.
Blinken said the U.S. and its partners would continue to work toward a diplomatic solution “that provides real security to Israel, to Lebanon, and allows citizens on both sides of the border to return to their homes.”
“Diplomacy remains the best and only path to achieving greater stability in the Middle East,” he said. “The United States remains committed to urgently driving these efforts forward.”
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
‘Nowhere’ Israel cannot reach, Netanyahu warns Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed to anti-government sentiment in Iran on Monday, telling the Iranian people: “With every passing moment, the regime is bringing you — the noble Persian people — closer to the abyss.”
“Every day, you see a regime that subjugates you make fiery speeches about defending Lebanon, defending Gaza,” the prime minister said in a video statement posted to social media.
“Yet every day, that regime plunges our region deeper into darkness and deeper into war. Every day, their puppets are eliminated.”
“Ask Mohammed Deif. Ask [Hassan] Nasrallah,” Netanyahu said, referring to the Hamas military commander — whose death the group has not confirmed — and the former Hezbollah leader. Israel claims Deif was killed in Gaza in July, while Nasrallah was killed in Beirut on Friday.
“There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach,” Netanyahu said.
“Iran’s tyrants don’t care about your future,” Netanyahu continued. “When Iran is finally free — and that moment will come a lot sooner than people think — everything will be different.”
“Our two ancient peoples, the Jewish people and the Persian people, will finally be at peace,” Netanyahu said. “The people of Iran should know — Israel stands with you.”
Tehran has not yet responded to Netanyahu’s statement. But on Monday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said his country would not deploy volunteer troops to Lebanon in response to Israel’s expanding campaign there against Hezbollah.
“We believe that the governments and nations of the region have the necessary ability and authority to defend themselves,” he said. “We have not had any request from anyone, and we know that they do not need deployment of human forces from our side.”
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Somayeh Malekian
Hamas leader in Lebanon killed in airstrike, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday it killed Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amine, the head of Hamas’ Lebanon branch, in an overnight airstrike.
“Sharif was responsible for coordinating Hamas’ terror activities in Lebanon with Hezbollah operatives,” the IDF said in a statement.
“He was also responsible for Hamas’ efforts in Lebanon to recruit operatives and acquire weapons.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
Deadly strike hits central Beirut for first time in 18 years
An overnight precision strike on an apartment building in the Cola neighborhood was the first such strike in central Beirut for 18 years.
Four people were killed, including three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine militant group.
Israel did not immediately claim the strike but is widely assumed to have carried it out.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Hezbollah deputy gives first statement since Nasrallah assassination
Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, addressed followers Monday in the first leadership statement since Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday.
“The mujahadeen will continue,” Qassem said of the militant group’s fighters, their work informed by “what [Nasrallah] designed.”
Qassem did not announce a replacement for Nasrallah, but said Hezbollah’s next leader will be chosen “sooner rather than later.”
Details of Nasrallah’s funeral are still unconfirmed. A three-day mourning period in Lebanon began on Monday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Joe Simonetti
IDF confirms new attacks on Hezbollah targets
The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out an operation against more Hezbollah targets early Monday morning local time.
The Israeli Air Force attacked targets in the Bekaa region of Lebanon, the IDF said in a statement.
Targets included launchers and buildings where the IDF said weapons were held.
The Israeli Air Force also attacked what it said were military buildings in southern Lebanon.
-ABC News Will Gretsky
At least 105 people killed Sunday in Lebanon: Ministry of Health
The death toll in Lebanon as a result of Israeli airstrikes Sunday rose to 105, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Nearly 360 individuals were wounded in the strikes, the ministry reported.
The strikes occurred in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel and the southern suburbs of Beirut (Dahieh), according to the ministry.
Netanyahu announces former rival Gideon Sa’ar joined Israeli cabinet
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed opposition lawmaker Gideon Sa’ar to rejoin his cabinet, the politicians announced in a joint statement Sunday.
Sa’ar will serve in the Security Cabinet, according to Netanyahu.
“I appreciate the fact that Gideon Sa’ar responded to my request and agreed today to return to the government,” Netanyahu said, noting how the leaders have put aside their disagreements.
“We will work together, and I intend to use him in the forums that influence the conduct of the war,” Netanyahu added.
Sa’ar was once a member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party but defected after an unsuccessful bid for party leadership. He formed his own party in 2020 called New Hope.
“I am joining the government at this stage without a coalition agreement – but with an orderly worldview and with a strong patriotic attitude for our people,” Sa’ar said in the joint statement.
People call for the resignation of South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol as they take part in a protest on the steps leading to the National Assembly in Seoul on December 4, 2024, as a South Korea flag flutters in the wind. South Korea’s opposition moved to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol on December 4 after his extraordinary but short-lived imposition of martial law that brought thousands of protesters to the streets. (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images)
(SEOUL) — As the opposition’s effort to impeach South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made its way through the National Assembly, the leader accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, dismissing a key ally in his brief failed imposition of martial law.
Opposition lawmakers had moved on Wednesday to impeach the president, submitting a motion a day after Yoon’s late-night declaration roiled the nation and set off hours of political turmoil. The motion to impeach was submitted by 191 lawmakers.
It is expected to make its way through the National Assembly in the coming days, with a vote likely either Friday or Saturday. The measure would require a two-thirds majority to pass. It would then be sent to South Korea’s Constitutional Court, which would have to approve the impeachment.
Yoon’s party, the conservative People Power Party, controls 108 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, meaning some would have to break with their party for the impeachment vote to succeed.
As he declared martial law in a televised speech late Tuesday, the president said the measure would be necessary due to the actions of the Democratic Party, a liberal coalition that Yoon accused of controlling parliament, sympathizing with North Korea and paralyzing the government.
The declaration included banning political activities, including rallies and protests. Yoon also called for a stop to the “dissemination of fake news” and the manipulation of public opinion. All press would have been controlled by the state under the declaration.
The declaration was met with protests and a swift vote in the National Assembly, with the 190 members on hand unanimously voting to lift Yoon’s martial law order. Within hours, Yoon had backtracked, and the State Council convened to vote to officially lift the order.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the U.S. was not aware of Yoon’s plan before his declaration. “For us, this is one of the most critical alliances that we have anywhere in the world,” Blinken said during a visit to NATO headquarters in Belgium. “South Korean democracy, it’s one of the most powerful stories anywhere in the world.”
“It’s very important that any disputes, differences, political differences be resolved peacefully and pursuant to the rule of law,” Blinken added. “That’s what we’re seeing now. That’s what’s so important to sustain.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed Thursday that the U.S. bears responsibility for the unrest. “The South Korean system was created with the help of the United States,” she said during an appearance on Russia’s Channel One, clips of which she posted on her official Telegram account.
“In 70 years, there has not been a single president who left his post peacefully, there is not a single story of a normally completed term,” Zakharova added. “What is happening now in South Korea is completely inscribed in the political system created here by the Americans.”
North Korea, she added, “is so diligently increasing its security” because “its neighbor is unpredictable.”
Yoon began his five-year term in May 2022 after wining office by a razor-thin margin.
Kim, the defense minister, had only recently taken up his post.
He had served as the head of Presidential Security Services in Yoon’s administration, before becoming a cabinet member in September, according to Yonhap News Agency. He’s a retired three-star Army general.
As opposition lawmakers worked to impeach Yoon, public calls for the president’s resignation continued. Crowds again gathered in Seoul on Thursday, holding another candlelit vigil in support of Yoon’s ouster in front of the National Assembly building.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky, Ellie Kaufman, Joe Simonetti and Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
A forensics doctor described seeing expressions of fear on the faces of many of the recovered political prisoners, but most of the bodies are decomposed; ABC News
(DAMASCUS, Syria) — Family members and friends of thousands of missing Syrians are continuing their search for those disappeared by former President Bashar Assad’s regime across 14 years of civil war, as victorious rebel forces begin building a transitional government.
Crowds gathered outside a hospital in the capital of Damascus to pore over images of mutilated bodies recovered from the infamous Saydnaya prison — once described by Amnesty International as a “human slaughterhouse.”
Among them was Abdullah, who was told that his brother was arrested in 2013 and died in 2016. Abdullah told ABC News he had been given no other information then or since and that he came to the hospital in the hope of identifying his brother among the dead.
Abdullah did not find his brother’s body. He told ABC News he would continue his search at another hospital where released prisoners were being treated.
In a morgue inside the hospital, one man found his son among the bodies. Mohammad, 20, was a political prisoner taken into custody in October, his father said. Security Forces also took the father into custody and held him for 60 days, before releasing him.
Mohammad was killed just two months before the spectacular collapse of Assad’s regime, the man said. Holding his 15-year-old younger son close, the bereaved father told ABC News he feels there are brighter days ahead despite his loss.
Some 157,000 people disappeared into regime prisons and other facilities between 2011 and 2024, per an estimate by the Syrian Network for Human Rights.
A forensics doctor in the hospital morgue told ABC News he identified the bodies of about 37 people, most of whom were being held in the Saydnaya prison.
Many of the bodies had signs of torture and many of them suffered malnutrition; some of the bodies have almost no muscle tissue between the ribs due to extreme malnutrition, Dr. Sarah Melhem, a forensics doctor at the hospital, told ABC News. Many have signs of being shot, including entry and exit wounds, while others have signs of torture, including bruises, wounds and scars.
Some of the recovered bodies have expressions of fear on the faces while others are decomposed, Melhem said.
“These are political prisoners, so these prisoners have maybe spent a long time in the prisons so the torture signs [have] dissolved,” Melhem said.
Many of the bodies showed signs of being shot, bearing entry and exit wounds. Others had signs of torture including bruises, wounds and scars. Some of the recovered bodies have expressions of fear frozen on their faces, while others are decomposed, Melhem said.
“I have a cousin who was a political prisoner, but we don’t know anything about him,” Melhem said. “We don’t see him. He was arrested from about 2013 and we don’t know anything about him,” Melhem said.
Under Assad, people were taken into custody for things as simple as a Facebook post, Melhem said.
“I believe that this is a criminal system and all of the Syrian people refuse the system but nobody [could] talk. We [didn’t] have the right to speak,” Melhem said.
“After this system fell down, all of the Syrian people are speaking a lot about their experience. All of them have an experience of somebody who died, somebody who have a criminal action on them,” Melhem said.
The collapse of Assad’s government last weekend ended 14 years of conflict between Damascus — backed by Russia and Iran — and a patchwork of anti-government forces, some supported by foreign nations including Turkey and the Gulf states.
Who will lead the next government remains unclear. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — an Islamist group which has its roots in al-Qaeda — led the surprise offensive that eventually toppled Assad.
HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, whose real name is Ahmed al-Sharaa, has vowed to punish those accused of involvement in the torture, killings and disappearances that long characterized Assad family rule in Syria.
“We will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and army officers involved in torturing the Syrian people,” Jolani said in a statement posted to the rebels’ Military Operations Command Telegram channel.
“We will pursue war criminals and demand them from the countries to which they fled so that they may receive their just punishment,” he added.
