Palestinians allege abuse by IDF, settlers in West Bank
A queue of Palestinian vehicles waits at the Beit Furik checkpoint, east of the city of Nablus in the West Bank, July 7, 2024. (Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A Palestinian human rights activist has accused Israeli soldiers of being involved in a series of alleged offenses against him and his property in the occupied West Bank, amid a spike in violence since the Oct. 7 terror attack in southern Israel by Hamas.
These allegations follow a probe by the U.S. State Department into a string of other alleged human rights abuses by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers in the West Bank, prior to Oct. 7.
ABC News spoke to Issa Amro, a Palestinian human rights activist, at his home in Hebron, the West Bank’s second-largest city. Amro spoke on his back porch, from behind the wire fence that now blocks his spectacular view of the Old City.
Amro said he needs the fence for protection and alleges Israeli soldiers have repeatedly failed to protect him from run-ins with right-wing settlers — his neighbors — who he says have threatened him. He also highlighted one particularly frightening encounter.
“He came here with a gun, he was very happy to show his power,” Amro said of an encounter with a neighbor. “He went around, he pointed the gun and said, ‘I will shoot you if I want.’”
This incident happened a few feet away from an Israeli military outpost, according to the activist.
“In spite of the presence of the soldier, I was attacked many times,” he said. “They do nothing about it. I’m afraid to stand here in the middle of the night – I feel they may shoot me.”
Amro first connected with ABC News in 2023, after the IDF put parts of Hebron under lockdown in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks. Months before that, an Israeli soldier was caught on video attacking Amro in the street. The IDF jailed the soldier for 10 days, they said.
After those incidents, Amro reinforced his windows with concrete stones to act as protection.
“From the settlers and the soldiers,” he said. “I see them the same now.”
He highlighted security camera footage that appears to show a soldier walking onto his property in November. The man stole a GoPro and CCTV cameras, Amro alleged.
“Then he told me that he would come to kill me on the night,” he said.
Amro alleged that soldiers took him from his home and interrogated him for 10 hours on Oct. 7. He held up a strip of cloth he said was used to gag him, putting it in his mouth to demonstrate his alleged treatment.
“I’m keeping it as a souvenir,” he said.
The Israeli military told ABC News that Amro had not filed a formal complaint alleging violence by its soldiers, and accused him of being linked to “illegal disturbances” in the area.
He highlighted security camera footage that appears to show a soldier walking onto his property in November. The man stole a GoPro and CCTV cameras, Amro alleged.
“Then he told me that he would come to kill me on the night,” he said.
Amro alleged that soldiers took him from his home and interrogated him for 10 hours on Oct. 7. He held up a strip of cloth he said was used to gag him, putting it in his mouth to demonstrate his alleged treatment.
“I’m keeping it as a souvenir,” he said.
The Israeli military told ABC News that Amro had not filed a formal complaint alleging violence by its soldiers, and accused him of being linked to “illegal disturbances” in the area.
In the wake of the Oct. 7 attack, the IDF says it has conducted “over 200 operations” in the West Bank, “eliminating over 500 terrorists.” They claimed that more than 17,000 people they’ve arrested are linked with Hamas.
Palestinian officials say Israeli operations have killed 140 children in the West Bank and Jerusalem since the October violence. Israel argues that the raids are necessary to prevent terror attacks.
A U.S. State Department investigation into IDF conduct in the West Bank concluded that three Israeli Army battalions committed “gross human rights violations” against Palestinian civilians before Oct. 7.
One such unit was Netzah Yehuda, a unit made up primarily of ultra-Orthodox men. A 2019 video allegedly shows some of its soldiers abusing a pair of blindfolded Palestinian detainees.
An Israeli court convicted an officer and five soldiers for their roles in mistreating the two men.
Yossi Levi is the CEO of Netzah Yehuda Organization, which represents soldiers in the unit. They refer to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria, a reference to ancient Israelite kingdoms as some Israelis assert that the area is a historic Jewish homeland.
“It’s too complicated to deal with civilian people in Judea and Samaria, to deal with thousands of operations, success operations, by the way,” he said of the incidents. “So sometimes you have bad events.”
However, such events have sometimes turned deadly. In 2022, Omar Assad, a 78-year-old Palestinian-American, died while in Netzah Yehuda’s custody. He and Mamdouh Abu Aboud were arrested at random as they drove through the village, according to Aboud.
“That night there were no security incidents, there were no confrontations between us and them,” Aboud said, speaking in Arabic.
He lay on the ground to demonstrate the position soldiers allegedly held Assad in, before he suffered from a heart attack and died, according to Aboud.
“The soldier came and hit me. I looked left and right and see Omar on the ground. I got close to him and put my hand here,” Aboud said, indicating his neck. “I knew him and called him. He didn’t respond. I checked his pulse, he had no pulse.”
In response, the IDF said the soldiers “violated” a core value of protecting human life and two of the commanders involved were suspended from their positions for two years. After the unit’s misconduct came to light in 2022, Netzah Yehuda was redeployed out of the West Bank.
That hasn’t stopped the alleged abuses. In June, video showed Mujahed Abbadi — an injured Palestinian — tied to the front of an IDF unit’s jeep. The IDF said soldiers had violated orders and standard operating procedures during a counterterrorism operation.
Former tank commander Ori Givati, who is now part of an Israeli nonprofit called “Breaking the Silence,” is among the Israelis trying to highlight the IDF’s alleged abuses in the West Bank, and says the problem is the occupation itself.
“When you occupy millions of people with the military, you go through a process of dehumanization,” Givati said.
He acknowledges that the soldiers stationed in the West Bank are working under extremely difficult circumstances — soldiers and settlers in the area are constantly threatened with attack. However, he highlights Israel’s role in creating that tension.
“Occupying the Palestinians for almost 57 years now is not helping our security,” he said. “Militarily occupy them, invade their homes, disperse their protests, build settlements on their lands. Maybe that is something that is creating a lot of hostility and we should change course.”
Amro, the Palestinian human rights activist, doesn’t understand why the Israelis see him as an enemy, saying he isn’t a security threat.
“I am here to resist peacefully the inequality, the injustice, and try to give hope,” he said.
Italian Coast Guard Command teams and firefighters are carrying out search and rescue operations with helicopters and ships to find missing people after after a yacht sank on Monday due to a storm 20 kilometers east of Palermo in southern Italy on August 19, 2024. (Alberto Lo Bianco/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Two Americans are among those still missing after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday, ABC News has confirmed.
Christopher and Neda Morvillo are among six people still unaccounted for who were aboard the U.K.-flagged Bayesian vessel which sank during a violent storm.
Christopher Morvillo is a partner at law firm Clifford Chance and represented the yacht’s owner — British tech tycoon Mike Lynch — in his recent fraud case brought by Hewlett Packard. He is a former assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of New York.
The search resumed Tuesday morning for the six people missing from the Bayesian. Among the bodies that may be trapped inside the vessel are those of Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah.
Some of the 15 people who were rescued are either still recovering or have now left the hospital.
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, the U.S. military announced it is moving more forces to the Middle East.
The United States and its allies continue to plead for a cease-fire deal while Israel anticipates possible retaliatory action from Iran or Hezbollah following multiple assassinations of top Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in recent weeks.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Cease-fire talks resume in Qatar
A U.S. delegation is in the Qatari capital of Doha for the resumption of cease-fire talks related to Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
CIA chief Bill Burns is part of the U.S. group, while the head of Mossad — David Barnea — is with the Israeli delegation. High level Egyptian officials are also in attendance.
The talks are being hosted by Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Discussions will take place over two days.
Hamas is not taking part in the negotiations. The group announced on Wednesday it would not send a representative in protest of what it said was Israel’s failure to commit to negotiating on the basis of a July 2 cease-fire proposal.
Grim milestone of 40,000 killed in Gaza, says Hamas-run Health Ministry
Israel’s war in Gaza has hit another grim milestone after the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the strip declared that the death toll had passed 40,000 since the start of the war on Oct. 8.
On Thursday, officials in Gaza said a total of 40,005 people had been killed in the conflict.
That figure does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. However, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said there were more than 11,000 women and more than 16,000 children among the dead.
The true death toll in Gaza, after more than 10 months of war, could be significantly higher than the Health Ministry’s figure because officials in Gaza estimate that an additional 10,000 people in Gaza are unaccounted for because of the war.
Latest on the state of play for high-stakes Gaza cease-fire talks
On the eve of what is supposed to be a critical, final push to seal the Gaza cease-fire/hostage release deal, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is working the phones with key mediators as the U.S. works to make sure negotiations will indeed press on.
In his conversations with his Qatari and Egyptian counterparts, Blinken discussed efforts to reach an agreement and stressed that “no party in the region should take actions that would undermine efforts to reach a deal,” according to readouts of the calls.
This comes as Hamas continues to assert that it will not participate in the talks in Doha, Qatar — accusing Israel of moving the goal posts and insisting it will only move forward with the version of the deal it agreed to in early July.
Qatar has assured the Biden administration that it will drum up some sort of Hamas representative to fill the group’s seat at the negotiating table, U.S. officials said. However, Qatar has made no promise about the quality of said representation. Getting messages to Hamas’ ultimate power and deciding vote, Yahya Sinwar, can take days or even weeks, so to be effective in the talks, the intermediary needs to have a good idea of what Sinwar might ultimately sign off on and what’s a nonstarter.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is insisting on maintaining operational control over the Philadelphi Corridor — a narrow strip of land separating Gaza from Egypt — through the duration of any cease-fire, as well as implementing additional procedures for Gazans that would be returning to their homes in the North, according to officials familiar with the matter.
As for Hamas, the group has called for more than two dozen changes to the framework that was rolled out in May, which U.S. officials have repeatedly insisted is “nearly identical” to a deal Hamas previously agreed to.
Regarding Iran, U.S. officials don’t have a crystal-clear view of Tehran’s position, but the administration does put stock into the idea that Iran doesn’t want to do anything to jeopardize a peace deal and sees the looming talks as a potential reason there hasn’t yet been retaliation against Israel for the killing of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Two Hezbollah fighters killed, IDF and Hezbollah say
Israeli forces said they killed two Hezbollah members in Lebanon on Wednesday.
Hezbollah also confirmed the death of two of their fighters in statements released on Wednesday.
The IDF said an Israeli Air Force aircraft “eliminated two Hezbollah terrorists” in the area of Marjayoun in southern Lebanon.
Netanyahu gives negotiating team more flexibility: Israeli official
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expanded the mandate and positions of the Israeli negotiators, an Israeli official told ABC News, giving the team more flexibility ahead of the cease-fire talks in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday.
The development comes as he faces growing criticism to reach a cease-fire deal.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
White House expects cease-fire talks to ‘move forward as planned’
The White House expects Thursday’s cease-fire negotiations in Doha, Qatar, to “move forward as planned” and said the announcement of Hamas not sending a delegation is just “public posturing” in advance of those discussions.
“We expect these talks to move forward as planned. [CIA] Director [Bill] Burns and Brett McGurk, [White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa], will both travel to Qatar for these discussions. There’s always a lot of public posturing in advance. We’ve seen that before. It’s not new of these talks, and I’m not going to certainly weigh in on any of that, just like I’m not going to discuss the details of the negotiation,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday.
Israel closes humanitarian route through Rafah
Israeli forces “temporarily” closed the humanitarian route in the area of Rafah, in southern Gaza, on Tuesday, saying Hamas operatives “opened fire” toward the route.
This is the second time the IDF has closed this route in the past week.
The route is an 8-mile road going from the Kerem Shalom crossing, near Rafah, north near Khan Younis and the humanitarian zone.
Hamas not attending cease-fire negotiations in Qatar
Hamas said it will not be attending cease-fire negotiations in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday.
“The movement demands a clear commitment from the occupation to what was agreed upon on July 2, according to the clarifications conveyed by the mediators, and if that happens, the movement is ready to enter into the mechanisms for implementing the agreement,” Hamas Political Bureau Member Dr. Suhail al-Hindi told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed TV.
Israel to send delegation to Qatar to negotiate cease-fire
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the sending of an Israeli delegation to Doha, Qatar, on Thursday to continue negotiations for a cease-fire agreement.
This comes as Netanyahu is receiving pushback internally and externally amid reports he changed the parameters of what he would agree to.
Biden expects Iran to hold off on retaliatory attack if a cease-fire deal is reached
President Joe Biden addressed the rising tensions in the Middle East Tuesday after U.S. officials warned Iran could launch a retaliatory attack on Israel as early as “this week.”
Biden told reporters he expects Iran to hold off on carrying out a retaliatory attack against Israel if a cease-fire deal with Hamas is reached.
“That’s my expectation, but we’ll see,” Biden said after arriving in New Orleans, LA.
Last week, Biden along with the leaders of Egypt and Qatar jointly called for Israel and Hamas to return to the negotiating table and reach an agreement that would free hostages and end the war in Gaza.
Hamas leaders declined the new set of cease-fire conditions on Sunday, asking for negotiations to resume around what was presented in July.
US approves $20 billion more in arms sales to Israel
The U.S. State Department has signed off on several large arms transfers to Israel, notifying Congress on Tuesday that it has approved the sale of more than $20 billion worth of weaponry and military equipment.
All of the sales surpass the value threshold that requires the State Department to formally notify Congress 15 days before initiating the transfer process. Congress can move to reject the transaction by adopting a joint resolution of disapproval within that timeframe.
Some of the items aren’t scheduled to arrive in Israel for years.
Israeli forces kill two Hezbollah fighters, IDF says
Israeli forces killed two Hezbollah fighters from its Southern Front on Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement. Hezbollah has confirmed the death of two of their fighters on Tuesday.
These attacks come as Israel awaits a response from Hezbollah and Iran for killings in recent weeks.
CIA director, Biden aide to head to Middle East to salvage hostage talks
Several U.S. officials are headed to the Middle East this week in a bid to de-escalate regional tensions and try to salvage hostage negotiations, as the window for a deal appears to be closing.
CIA Director Bill Burns is expected to arrive in Doha, Qatar, this week, where he will lead a crucial meeting on the hostages, according to a U.S. official. It’s not clear, however, whether a representative of Hamas will attend.
Meanwhile, Brett McGurk, Biden’s top adviser on the Middle East at the White House, was expected to travel separately to Cairo, according to the U.S. official.
Axios first reported the travel plans for Burns and McGurk, noting that McGurk’s plan was to nail down a security plan for the Egypt-Gaza border.
The diplomatic trip also comes as the U.S. has been scrambling to revive a coalition of countries that helped to defend Israel last April during an attack by Iran.
Israel has been bracing for Iran to launch a retaliatory attack following the assassination of a senior Hamas official in Tehran.
The U.S. official acknowledged “there have been complications” with getting some of the Arab countries on board but added they’ve been “able to put in place preparations” to defend Israel successfully.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty
Western leaders call on Iran to ‘stand down’
The leaders of the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Italy called on Iran to “stand down” and expressed their support for Israel’s defense “against Iranian aggression” during a call on Monday, according to a joint statement released by the White House.
“We called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place,” the statement said.
The leaders also expressed their support for ongoing efforts to reach a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza, according to the statement.
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Hostage deal talks expected to move forward: State Department
As the Middle East continues its uneasy wait for Iran’s response to the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, the State Department is pressing on with its high-stakes diplomatic campaign to constrain military action from Tehran amid fresh waves of uncertainty.
“We continue to work diplomatically to prevent any major escalation in this conflict,” deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters Monday. “We obviously don’t want to see any kind of attack or response happen in the first place.”
Multiple officials within the State Department said they are still cautiously optimistic that Iran will limit the scope of its retaliation, but that they increasingly expect the country will strike at Israel before Thursday — the date the Biden administration, along with Egypt and Qatar, set to relaunch hostage/cease-fire deal talks in hopes of bringing Israel and Hamas back to the table for a final push.
A joint statement issued by the mediators last week was designed not only to pressure the parties involved, but as a message to Iran that an agreement was in the offing meant to persuade the country against military action that could scuttle a deal, according to an official.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby also publicly warned Monday that Iranian military action could impede progress at a critical point in the negotiations.
However, Hamas’ earlier announcement that it would not participate in the round of negotiations and public infighting among top Israeli officials have cast significant doubt over whether the Thursday meeting will even happen — undercutting the administration’s intended message to Tehran.
At the podium Monday, Patel said mediators “fully expect talks to move forward as they should” in order to “bring this deal to conclusion.”
He declined to say whether Hamas or Israel was the bigger impediment.
“I’m not going to color it one way or the other,” Patel said while noting that “the prime minister of Israel immediately welcomed this initiative and confirmed that the Israeli team will be there, and they’ll be prepared to finalize the details of implementing the deal.”
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
Retaliatory attack on Israel could come ‘this week’: Kirby
A United States assessment shows a retaliatory attack by Iran and its proxies against Israel could be launched “this week,” the White House said Monday.
“We share the same concerns and expectations that our Israeli counterparts have with respect to potential timing here. Could be this week,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. “We’re continuing to watch it very, very closely.”
Kirby said it’s difficult to ascertain what a potential attack could look like at this time but that “we have to be prepared for what could be a significant set of attacks.”
Meanwhile, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari told reporters on Monday that Israel remains “on high alert.”
“We take seriously the threats of our enemies and that is why we are on high alert offensively and defensively,” he said.
Hagari said the IDF will “work hard to give the public time to get organized.”
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Netanyahu accuses defense minister of ‘adopting anti-Israel narrative’
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant appeared to take a swing at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a Knesset committee meeting about Israel’s response to ongoing cross-border tensions with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
“I hear all the heroes with the war drums, the ‘absolute victory’ and this gibberish,” Gallant reportedly said, alluding to Netanyahu’s slogan through the war, according to Israeli media.
Netanyahu’s office released a statement shortly after, saying Gallant too is bound by the policy of “absolute victory.”
“When Gallant adopts the anti-Israel narrative, he hurts the chances of reaching a deal for the release of the abductees,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said. “He should have attacked [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, who refuses to send a delegation to the negotiations, and who was and remains the only obstacle to the kidnapping deal.”
National Unity Party Chairman Benny Gantz warned about internal divisions in Israel during an address on Monday.
“If we don’t come to our senses, there will be a civil war here,” Gantz said.
He said there have been “heroes,” from soldiers to volunteers, in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack, but also “leadership that dissolves, networks that poison the well from which we live.”
“The patriotic Israeli majority should stop the hatred and make amends,” Gantz said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Hezbollah says it is still determined to attack Israel
While the weekend passed with no direct retaliation from Hezbollah for the killings of several top leaders by Israeli strikes, the group said it still plans to strike.
“The response is coming and inevitable and there is no turning back from it,” Ali Damoush, the deputy chairman of the Executive Council of Hezbollah, said Monday.
The Hezbollah official saif America, Great Britain, Germany and everyone who supplies Israel with weapons is a partner in the Gaza massacres.
“Israel does not find any practical and serious response to its massacres, and this is what encourages it to continue committing crimes and massacres, and without effective pressure Netanyahu will not stop his crimes,” Damoush claimed.
Israeli Air Force bans travel abroad
Amid fears that an attack from Iran may be imminent, the commander of Israel’s Air Force, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, has issued an order barring servicemembers from traveling abroad. The directive applies to career officers and non-commissioned officers, not conscripts, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
US is ‘strengthening’ military force in Middle East over ‘escalating’ tensions
The U.S. is “strengthening” its capabilities in the Middle East by sending an additional guided missile submarine to the region “in light of escalating regional tensions,” according to a statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder issued on Sunday.
The update comes the same day Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.
“Secretary Austin reiterated the United States’ commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel,” according to the statement.
Secretary Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, equipped with F-35C fighters, to accelerate its transit to the Middle East, which was previously expected to get there by the end of the month.
The Lincoln was already en route to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt, but will now add to the capabilities of the Roosevelt
Additionally, Austin has ordered the USS Georgia guided missile submarine to the Middle East.
The statement doesn’t say how soon the Lincoln or the USS Georgia will arrive in the region.
Israeli forces intercept ‘projectiles’ crossing from Lebanon, no injuries: IDF
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intercepted approximately 30 “projectiles” that were identified as crossing from Lebanon into northern Israel early Monday morning local time, the IDF said in a statement.
No injuries were reported from the attacks, the IDF said.
“The IDF is striking the sources of fire,” the IDF added.
(BEIRUT, Lebanon) — Two people are dead and 20 others were injured after Israel launched a strike on Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon, on Tuesday that targeted a senior Hezbollah commander as tensions along Israel’s northern border continue to escalate.
The strike hit a residential building in Haret Hreik, according to the Lebanese Red Cross.
Fouad Shukr, also known as Al-Hajj Mohsen, was targeted in the strike, according to three security sources familiar with the operation. Shukr is a senior adviser on military affairs to Hasan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hezbollah. He also had a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture, via the U.S. government.
The IDF claimed that Shukr was killed in the strike.
“The IDF targeted in Beirut the commander responsible for the murder of the children in Majdal Shams and killed many Israeli civilians,” the Israel Defense Forces told ABC News in a statement.
“Hezbollah crossed the red line,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on social media.
Israel struck Dahiya, a district in Beirut’s southern suburbs that is a stronghold of militant group Hezbollah.
Twelve people, including children playing soccer, were killed in a strike on the Golan Heights over the weekend. Hezbollah denied responsibility, but both the U.S. and Israel have said the missile used in the attack came from a Hezbollah-controlled location.
“This attack was conducted by Lebanese Hezbollah,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement Sunday. “It was their rocket, and launched from an area they control. It should be universally condemned.”
In recent days, Hezbollah has said that any strike in Beirut would be met with a strong response of their own.
Lebanese Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the area struck was meters away from one of the largest hospitals in Lebanon and said they reserve the right to respond to Israel’s attack.
“This criminal act that occurred tonight is a link in a series of aggressive operations that are claiming civilians in a clear and frank violation of International law and international humanitarian law, which is something we put in place for the international community, which must bear its responsibilities and press with all force to oblige Israel to stop its aggression and threats and implement international resolutions,” Mikati said Tuesday.
The U.S. was given advanced notice ahead of Israel’s strike in Beirut, according to a U.S. official familiar with matter. The message was communicated via security channels and limited operational detail was shared, the official said.
It’s still unclear whether the strike successfully eliminated its target, and assessments are ongoing, according to the U.S. official.
U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Pate said earlier that the U.S. has been in “continuous discussions with Israeli and Lebanese counterparts” since the weekend.
“The United States is going to continue to support efforts to reach a diplomatic solution along the blue line,” Pate said.
“Our support for Israel’s security is ironclad, and it’s unwavering, especially as it defends itself against Iran backed threats, including threats from Hezbollah,” Pate told reporters.
ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston contributed to this report.
