Parts of the Sahara Desert are turning green amid an influx of heavy rainfall
NASA
(NEW YORK) — One of the driest regions on earth is shifting green, as an influx of heavy rainfall causes vegetation to grow in the typically barren landscape.
Satellite images released by NASA show pockets of plant life popping up all over the Sahara Desert after an extratropical cyclone drenched a large swath of northwestern Africa on Sept. 7 and Sept. 8.
Treeless landscapes in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya — areas that rarely receive rain — are now seeing traces of green sprouting up, according to the NASA Earth Observatory.
The plants include shrubs and trees in low-lying areas, like riverbeds, Sylwia Trzaska, a climate variability researcher at the Columbia Climate School, told ABC News.
It is not wholly unusual for the plant life to sprout in the Sahara when a deluge of rain pours in, past research has shown. When parched regions in this part of Africa get heavy rainfall, the flora responds almost readily, Peter de Menocal, president and director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, told ABC News.
“When you get these really exceptional rainfall events, the dunes become these just incredibly verdant and flowered fields where the plants will just instantly grow for a short period of time to take advantage of,” he said.
The region was once permanently home to lush greenery. Between 11,000 and 5,000 years ago, the Sahara was covered with vegetation and lakes, according to a 2012 paper authored by De Menocal.
“It looks like a desert, and then when the rain comes, then everything starts greening very quickly,” Trzaska said.
In addition, lakes that are typically empty are filling up due to the most recent event, Moshe Armon, a senior lecturer at the Institute of Earth Sciences and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said in a statement released by NASA.
Between 2000 and 2001, Sebkha el Melah, a salt flat in central Algeria, has only filled six times in the past, according to research conducted by Armon and his colleagues.
Preliminary satellite analysis shows rainfall accumulations topping half a foot in the areas affected, according to NASA. Some areas of the Sahara receive just a few inches of rain per year.
While some degree of rainfall every summer is normal due to the West African Monsoon season, it is unusual for the Intertropical Convergence Zone — or the tropical rain belt — to reach as far north as the Sahara, De Menocal said.
The northward displacement of the storm track helped a developing system dump a year’s worth of rainfall in some areas in just a matter of days, according to NASA. The system formed over the Atlantic Ocean and extended far southward, pulling moisture from equatorial Africa into the northern Sahara, according to NASA.
Since mid-July, the Intertropical Convergence Zone has been sending storms into the southern Sahara, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center.
About four million people across 14 African countries have been impacted by flooding, according to the World Food Programme.
Record-high ocean temperatures in the northern Atlantic ocean is contributing to the shift in the rain belt, bringing heavy rainfall typical of regions in the equator farther north, De Menocal said.
The transition from El Niño to La Niña likely affected how far north the Intertropical Convergence Zone moved, Trzaska said.
Climate change could cause the rain belt to shift farther northward in the future, according to a study published in Nature earlier this year. But as the ocean temperatures elsewhere in the world catch up to the Atlantic, the rain belt will likely shift back down, even south of the equator, De Menocal said.
“Decades from now, when the larger oceans have warmed more uniformly, we expect the rain belt to actually go back to its original position, and it can even shift into the other hemisphere,” he said.
The northward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone across West Africa has also likely contributed to a lull in tropical activity in the Atlantic Basin, according to experts.
Disturbances moving across this region are then entering the Atlantic over relatively cooler waters, Dan Harnos, a meteorologist at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, told ABC News last month. With greater exposure to dry air from the mid-latitudes, the chances of a storm developing are hindered.
Ukrainian tank crew take a break while operating a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Ukrainian forces are still seeking to advance deeper into Russia’s Kursk region, but appear to be coming up against increased Russian resistance more than a week since Ukraine launched its unprecedented incursion across the border.
Russia’s Defense Ministry and pro-Kremlin military bloggers reported Tuesday that Ukrainian forces again launched multiple attempts overnight to break through Russian defensive lines roughly 20 km, or about 12 miles, inside the Kursk region, seeking to further expand a bridgehead captured there in the first days of the Ukrainian offensive operation.
Those reports claimed the Ukrainian attacks were largely rebuffed, but that Russian positions remained under pressure. More Russian forces continue to also arrive to counterattack Ukraine’s surprise attack, which is the first foreign incursion into Russia since World War II.
On the border of Ukraine’s Sumy region, foreign journalists, including The New York Times, reported seeing columns of Ukrainian troops and armored vehicles continuing to cross over into Russia, passing unhindered through the border crossing.
Ukrainian troops are trying to expand their area of control from the border town of Sudzha in multiple directions. They have been attempting for several days to capture the village of Korenevo, which is about 40 km northwesterly, which would allow them to move toward a key highway, but so far have been unable to dislodge Russian units, according to Russian military bloggers.
Ukraine’s top commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskiy, told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday that Ukraine controlled roughly 1,000 square km, or about 386 square miles, of Russian territory in Kursk.
Ukrainian forces have not moved significantly forward in the past several days, suggesting that advancing has become more difficult as Russia recovers from the initial surprise and rushes more reinforcements to the region. Russia has been using aircraft and drones to target Ukrainian units.
An increased number of videos appearing to show destroyed Ukrainian vehicles have been appearing on pro-Russian social media accounts, including some associated with Russia’s military.
Russian analysts have also warned Ukraine could attempt to launch new incursions at other points along the border.
Ambulances rush wounded people to a hospital in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon on September 17, 2024. (MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — At least nine more people were dead and 300 injured in Lebanon on Wednesday after a series of new explosions rocked the South, the Bekaa and the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to the Ministry of Health and the Lebanese Red Cross.
More than 30 ambulances are providing treatment and evacuations to wounded people in Lebanon on Wednesday, the Lebanese Red Cross said.
The Lebanese Army command has asked citizens not to gather in places witnessing security incidents to allow medical teams to arrive.
Israel was behind the deadly explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday, sources told ABC News on Wednesday.
At least 12 civilians were killed and at least 2,800 people injured in the explosions that took place Tuesday, according to Lebanese authorities. Around 460 of the injuries were critical and required surgery, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said. Most victims are suffering from eye and facial injuries, while others suffered injuries to hands and fingers, he said.
The Hezbollah militant group said it is conducting a “security and scientific investigation” into the explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday.
Hezbollah said 11 of its members were killed on Tuesday, though — as is typical in its statements — did not specify how they died.
“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression, which also targeted civilians and led to the deaths of a number of martyrs and the injury of a large number with various wounds,” Hezbollah said of the pager explosions in a Tuesday statement.
In a Wednesday morning statement, Hezbollah said it would continue operations to “support Gaza,” and vowed a “reckoning” for Israel for the “massacre on Tuesday.”
The dead and injured included people who are not members of Hezbollah. Lebanese officials said that an 8-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy are among the dead.
Israel has not commented on its alleged involvement in the apparent attack, which prompted chaos in the capital Beirut and elsewhere in Hezbollah’s south Lebanon heartland.
Around 100 hospitals received wounded people, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said, with hospitals in Beirut and its southern suburb quickly filling to capacity. Patients were then directed to other hospitals outside the region.
The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those who had one of the pagers and was injured in an explosion Tuesday, according to Iranian state TV. The diplomat said in a phone call that he was “feeling well and fully conscious,” according to Iranian state TV.
“I am proud and honored that my blood has become one with the blood of the honorable Lebanese people, as a result of the horrific terrorist crime that targeted our brotherly Lebanon yesterday. This noble country has stood with dignity and pride since the first day of al-Aqsa Storm,” Amani said Wednesday.
At least 14 people were also injured in targeted attacks on Hezbollah members in Syria, according to the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The alleged Israeli operation has again piqued fears of escalation in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict ongoing since Oct. 8, when members of the Iranian-backed group began cross-border attacks in support of Hamas’ war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
Frontier skirmishes, Israeli strikes and Hezbollah rocket and artillery salvoes have been near-constant through 11 months of war in Gaza. Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to launch a new military operation against Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border. Tens of thousands of Israelis have left their homes in border regions due to the fighting.
The Israel Defense Forces said warplanes hit Hezbollah targets in six locations in southern Lebanon overnight into Wednesday. Artillery strikes were also conducted, it added.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to make a public address on Thursday afternoon to address the situation. In February, Nasrallah urged members to stop using their cell phones, describing the technology as “a deadly agent.”
Schools across Lebanon will be closed on Wednesday, Lebanese state media reported, citing the country’s Minister of Education. Schools and offices closed include public and private schools, high schools, technical institutes, the Lebanese University and private higher education institutions, Lebanese state media reported.
The Lebanese Council of Ministers collectively condemned “this criminal Israeli aggression, which constitutes a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by all standards.”
It added that “the government immediately began making all necessary contacts with the countries concerned and the United Nations to place it before its responsibilities regarding this continuing crime.”
The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon condemned the attack on Lebanon, calling it an “extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context,” in a statement released by the U.N. Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary General.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a press conference in Egypt on Wednesday that the U.S. “did not know about and was not involved” in Israel’s pager attacks in Lebanon and Syria — but said that officials were still gathering information and did not directly blame Israel.
“Broadly speaking, we’ve been very clear, and we remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict that we’re trying to resolve in Gaza,” Blinken said. Its spread to other fronts, he added, is “clearly not in the interest of anyone involved.”
A cease-fire deal in Gaza, Blinken added, would “materially improve the prospects of defusing the situation” on the Israeli-Lebanese border and allow thousands of people living near the area on both sides of the divide to return home.
The U.S. and the European Union have both designated the Hezbollah militant group a foreign terrorist organization.
ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Shannon K. Kingston, Ghazi Balkiz, Nadine El-Bawab, Morgan Winsor, Anne Flaherty, Nasser Atta, Joe Simonetti, Jordana Miller and Helena Skinner contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, the latest round of cease-fire discussions appears to have reached an impasse.
Meanwhile, after six hostages were found dead in Gaza, protests erupted in Israel. Protesters have demanded its government bring the hostages home.
Here’s how the news is developing:
187,000 Gaza children receive polio vaccine, WHO says
More than 187,000 children in central Gaza have received polio vaccines since Sunday, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X on Wednesday that the “first phase of polio vaccination in central Gaza is complete,” with more than 187,000 children under the age of 10 vaccinated.
That is higher than the target number of 156,500, Ghebreyesus said.
“Four fixed sites will continue to offer polio vaccination for the next three days in central Gaza to ensure no child is missed,” the WHO chief added.
Preparations are underway to expand the vaccine roll out campaign into southern Gaza, Ghebreyesus said. Vaccinations there are expected to begin on Thursday.
Palestinian health authorities and United Nations agencies hope to vaccinate 640,000 children.
Israel agreed to partial pauses in the fighting in Gaza to facilitate the polio vaccination campaign, saying the drive will continue through Sept. 9 and last eight hours a day.
“We ask for the humanitarian pauses to continue to be respected,” Ghebreyesus wrote. “We continue to call for a cease-fire.”
Protesters plan gathering at Netanyahu ally’s home
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum will again lead cease-fire and hostage release demonstrations across Israel on Wednesday, according to a schedule posted to social media.
“The public is called to join and come together with the families of the abductees to the houses of the ministers and coalition members and hold demonstrations and protest vigils demanding that they exercise their authority to bring about a deal now,” the Forum wrote on X.
Among the gatherings will be one outside the Jerusalem home of Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer — a former member of the dissolved war cabinet and long considered a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Activists plan to protest at the homes of eight other government ministers and three members of parliament, the Forum said.
Far-right minister ‘working to stop’ cease-fire talks
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he is “working to stop the negotiations with Hamas,” as talks over a cease-fire and hostage release deal continue under massive public and international pressure.
Ben-Gvir — one of the most vocally hawkish members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government — wrote on X that Israel should end negotiations and cut fuel and electricity to Gaza in response to Hamas’ recent killing of six hostages in the southern strip.
“Continuing the negotiations only spurs them to produce more and more terror,” including in the West Bank, Ben-Gvir said.
Ben-Gvir is a longstanding proponent of expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank. He has called on the government to “encourage” Israelis to settle in Gaza while suggesting “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from the territory.
Ben-Gvir was convicted of incitement to racism and supporting a terror organization in 2008, related to an anti-Arab placard he displayed at a protest following a Palestinian terrorist attack in Jerusalem. Signs referring to the far-right Kach movement — a Jewish group banned as a terror organization — were also found in his car.
Emhoff says parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin told him, Harris they don’t want son’s death to ‘be in vain’
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff said Tuesday night that the parents of Oct. 7 hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who the Israeli military found had been killed last week, do not want their son’s “death to be in vain.”
Emhoff opened up about the recent conversation he and his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, had with the couple after learning of the death of their son.
Speaking at a vigil hosted at the Adas Israel Congregation synagogue in Washington, D.C., which was organized to honor the memory of the six Israeli hostages found killed by Hamas in Gaza, Emhoff said Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin remained committed to seeing the remaining hostages released.
“And yet, with this unspeakable tragedy that they were going through … they were comforting us, but also asking about the latest in the negotiations,” Emhoff told those gathered at the vigil about the call with the grieving couple, which occurred last week. “They were asking how we can use this terrible moment to make progress on the deal. And they told the vice president, in no uncertain terms, they do not want Hersh’s death to be in vain. And they spoke with such grace, such compassion, such strength. And even though part of Rachel and Jon’s world had just ended, they were somehow still looking forward and looking out for others.”
DOJ charges senior Hamas leaders over involvement in Americans’ deaths in Oct. 7 attack
The Justice Department unsealed charges Tuesday targeting multiple senior members of Hamas’ leadership for their alleged involvement in the kidnapping and murdering of Americans during the Oct. 7 attack.
The criminal complaint, unsealed in the Southern District of New York, names six members of Hamas’ leadership structure and details extensively their terrorist activities on behalf of the group.
White House says Israel originally agreed to remove IDF from areas of Philadelphi corridor
The White House is pushing back on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stance of keeping Israeli troops along the Philadelphi corridor — a narrow strip of land on the Gaza side of the Gaza-Egypt border — saying the prime minister originally agreed to removing troops in the Israel-approved framework that was announced in May.
“I’m not going to get into a debate with the prime minister and what he said over the weekend about the Philadelphi corridor,” White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said. “The deal itself, the proposal, including the bridging proposal that we started working with … included the removal of Israeli Defense Forces from all densely populated areas, and that includes those areas along that corridor. That’s the proposal that Israel had agreed to.”
Kirby acknowledged Israel’s belief that they need “some security” along the corridor, but Kirby did not give the U.S. position on whether the administration supports the IDF remaining in less dense areas along the border.
“The proposal says that they have to remove themselves to the east from densely populated areas — and that core essential element of the proposal has not changed,” Kirby said. “But the Israelis have said publicly that they believe that … they would need some security along that corridor.”
-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez
Gantz: Netanyahu is holding up a deal
National Unity party leader Benny Gantz slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, claiming he is holding up a cease-fire and hostage deal.
Gantz said that on Monday, Netanyahu in his speech “did not look directly at the public and told the truth: That he will not bring the kidnapped alive, that he will not truly protect the southern bracket, that he will not return the residents of the north to their homes, that he will not deny Iran nuclear weapons.”
“This did not surprise me, because during the period that we sat in the War Cabinet, Netanyahu delayed the ability to move forward with the abducted deals serially, including in the first outline,” Gantz said. “This does not surprise me because already at the beginning of the war, when we asked to extend the military pressure to Khan Yunis and then to Rafah, Netanyahu hesitated and stopped.”
“The time has come to say yes and move forward: we need to bring a deal – either in stages or in one stage,” Gantz said.
Netanyahu in response laid out the Israeli military’s recent successes.
“Since Gantz and his party resigned from the government, Israel has eliminated the Hamas Chief of Staff and the Hezbollah Chief of Staff, attacked the Houthis, captured the Philadelphia axis – Hamas’s armament pipeline – and carried out a pre-emptive strike against Hezbollah that thwarted its malicious plan and destroyed thousands of rockets aimed at the Galilee,” Netanyahu said. “Whoever does not contribute to the victory and the return of our hostages, it is better not to interfere.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Thousands gather for new protest in Tel Aviv
Thousands gathered in Tel Aviv Tuesday for a new protest organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
The event was led by the younger members of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum who are calling for a deal to bring all of the hostages home, the organization said.
43 killed in Israeli operation in Gaza
Forty-three people have been killed from ongoing operations in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
Israeli forces said its soldiers “struck a compound where Hamas terrorists were operating” and killed eight Hamas members. The strike was near the Al-Ahli hospital compound but wasn’t within the hospital premises, the IDF said.
“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the IDF said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Sami Zayara and Jordana Miller
Kirby hedges on ‘final proposal’ reports, says Biden is personally still working on deal
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby hedged on reports that the U.S. is putting forward a “final proposal” when it comes to hostage negotiations, saying the administration — including President Joe Biden – is still working to get a deal.
Kirby refused to give any details about the current proposal, or how it might differ from previous offers put forward, but he stressed that the deal is “actively” being worked on with Qatar and Egypt.
“The president himself is personally involved in working with our team and working with leaders around the world to secure this deal,” Kirby said, adding that this weekend’s recovery of six slain hostages “underscores the sense of urgency that we have.”
Asked about the United Kingdom’s new restrictions on some arms exports to Israel, Kirby said he would not “comment one way or another on the decisions that our British counterparts made.”
U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Parliament on Monday about 30 of its 350 export licenses were suspended because “there does exist a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”
“I can just tell you that, No. 1: We’re going to continue to do we have to do to support Israel’s defensive capabilities,” Kirby said. “No. 2: We have, as I’ve said many times, reviewed individual reports as best we can, and talking to the Israelis about individual reports about compliance with international humanitarian law. And as we speak, there’s been no determination by the United States that they have violated international humanitarian [law].”
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Al-Shifa Hospital reopens 2 departments
Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest and most comprehensive hospital in the Gaza Strip, reopened two of its departments on Sunday after facing shelling, raids and two sieges in the ongoing war, Al-Shifa Medical Complex Director Dr. Marwan Abu Saada told ABC News.
The reopened departments are the Emergency and Accidents Department — which has 70 beds, two operating rooms, one intensive care unit room and one X-ray room — and the Kidney Dialysis Department, which has about 22 kidney dialysis machines and serves 36 patients with kidney failure, Abu Saada said.
The hospital had capacity for 800 beds before the war, Abu Saada said.
“As for the medical staff, there is a large deficit in medical personnel, but at least we want to work and serve the community,” he said.
The maternity building will undergo a six-month restoration to become a general surgery building, he added.
-ABC News’ Camilla Alcini
Cease-fire protesters plan action near Tel Aviv Defense Ministry
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum announced a fresh protest scheduled for 7 p.m. local time Tuesday in Tel Aviv, close to the entrance of the Defense Ministry building.
The action will be “led by the younger members of the families,” the Forum wrote in a post on X, who will “call for a deal to bring all 101 hostages home.”
Attendees will protest what the Forum called “the abandonment of the hostages in Hamas captivity.”
Additional demonstrations elsewhere will include a gathering outside the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, a protest outside Foreign Minister Israel Katz’s residence in Kfar Ahim, one in front of Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter’s home in Ashkelon and another outside Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin’s home in Modi’in.
Gaza polio vaccination drive reaches 160,000 children
Some 160,000 Gaza children received their first vaccination for polio on Sunday and Monday, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The emergency rollout began on Sunday, facilitated by a partial pause in fighting in the strip. Medical teams in the central part of the territory said they were able to vaccinate 72,611 children on the first day of the campaign.
Palestinian health authorities and United Nations agencies said they were hoping to vaccinate 640,000 children during the push. Israel agreed to some pauses in fighting to support the campaign, though airstrikes have continued in its first two days.
Israel has said the vaccination program will continue through Sept. 9 and last eight hours a day.
Polio is among the illnesses feared to be thriving in Gaza after 10 months of war. The strip’s long-standing humanitarian difficulties have been exacerbated by the destruction of health care facilities, critical infrastructure, and the displacement — sometimes repeated displacement — of most of the territory’s residents.
Gaza recently reported its first polio case in 25 years — a 10-month-old boy, now paralyzed in a leg. The World Health Organization said the case suggests there could be hundreds more infected who are not symptomatic.
Netanyahu asks hostage families for forgiveness, says pressure should be directed at Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is asking for forgiveness from the families of the six slain hostages whose bodies were recovered this weekend.
“I ask you for forgiveness that we did not succeed to bring your loved ones back alive. We were close, but we did not succeed,” Netanyahu said at a Monday news conference.
Netanyahu again said the Israel Defense Forces must maintain a presence on the Egyptian border, but he said the IDF does not need a “large” presence of forces there. It needs groups of forces in key areas all along the border, he said. Netanyahu also reiterated that the IDF must maintain a presence in the Philadelphi corridor to reach the goals of the war.
When asked how he would define “total victory” in the war, Netanyahu responded, “When Hamas no longer rules Gaza — we throw them out. I would define the end of the war of World War II when the Nazis no longer ruled Germany. To do that you need to have a military victory and you have to have also a political victory to destroy their governance.”
Netanyahu also said that international “pressure” must be directed at Hamas, not Israel.
“These murderers executed six of our hostages, they shot them in the back of the head. And now after this we’re asked to show seriousness, we’re asked to make concessions? What message does this send Hamas?” he said.
Netanyahu added, “I don’t believe President [Joe] Biden or anyone serious about achieving peace and achieving the release [of hostages] can seriously ask Israel to make these concessions. We’ve already made them. Hamas has to make concessions.”
A Hamas military spokesman said in a new statement the Israeli hostages won’t be freed by force.
“Netanyahu’s insistence on freeing the prisoners through military pressure instead of concluding a deal will mean their return to their families in coffins, and their families will have to choose between dead or alive,” the spokesperson said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Biden: ‘We’re in the middle of negotiations’ on hostage, cease-fire deal
President Joe Biden told reporters “we’re still negotiating” when asked if there will be a final hostage and cease-fire deal proposed this week.
Asked what he wants Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do, Biden replied, “We’re in the middle of negotiations.”
“We’re still in negotiations. Not with him [Netanyahu], with my colleagues from Qatar and from Egypt,” Biden said.
Earlier on Monday, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with the U.S. hostage deal negotiating team in the Situation Room.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke on the phone Monday morning with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a U.S. official said. They discussed efforts to conclude a deal for the release of the hostages and for a cease-fire in Gaza, the official said.
-ABC News’ Karen Travers, Elizabeth Schulze and Lauren Peller
Protesters break through barriers near Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s residence
Protesters broke through barriers near Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem on Monday as they demanded progress on a deal to return the hostages in Gaza.
Monday marks the second day of large protests across Israel after six murdered hostages were recovered in Gaza this weekend.
Israeli defense minister ‘deeply disheartened’ by UK decision to suspend some arms exports to Israel
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement he was “deeply disheartened” to learn of the United Kingdom’s new restrictions on some arms exports to Israel.
“This comes at a time when we fight a war on 7 different fronts — a war that was launched by a savage terrorist organization, unprovoked,” Gallant said. “At a time when we mourn 6 hostages who were executed in cold blood by Hamas inside tunnels in Gaza. At a time when we fight to bring 101 hostages home.”
U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Parliament on Monday about 30 of 350 export licenses are suspended because “there does exist a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
29 Palestinians killed in West Bank since IDF operation began
Twenty-nine Palestinians have been killed and 121 have been injured in the West Bank since the Israeli military’s operation began last Wednesday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement Monday.
Eighteen people were killed in the Jenin governate of the West Bank, four in the Tubas governate, four in the Tulkarm governate and three in the Hebron governate, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta
Biden, Harris meet with US hostage deal negotiating team
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with the U.S. hostage deal negotiating team in the Situation Room on Monday, according to the White House.
Biden and Harris received an update from the negotiation team on the “status of the bridging proposal outlined by the United States, Qatar and Egypt” and “they discussed next steps” in the release of the hostages, the White House said.
Biden also “expressed his devastation and outrage at the murder” of Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages and he “reaffirmed the importance of holding Hamas’s leaders accountable,” the White House said.
Officials participating in the briefing included Secretary of State Antony Blinken, CIA Director Bill Burns and national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Netanyahu doubles down on Israeli troops remaining in Philadelphi corridor
In an Israeli cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on his stance that he will not agree to a cease-fire and hostage deal that includes the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Philadelphi corridor in Gaza, according to an Israeli official.
Israeli troops remaining in the Philadelphi corridor has been a key sticking point in the ongoing negotiations. Hamas wants a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
“Everyone who says that it is possible to leave Philadelphi for 42 days, knows very well that it will be for 42 years. The world will not allow us to return,” Netanyahu said during Sunday night’s cabinet meeting, according to an Israeli official. “Everyone understands the importance of Philadelphi, and [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar understands it best. That is why he insists. All smuggling the weapons to Gaza were through Philadelphi. If we change the cabinet’s decision, it will be a terrorist award, you will not return the hostages.”
The Hostages Families Forum said in a statement that Netanyahu’s comments are “dangerous.” The families said Netanyahu’s statement means “there will be no deal, and the families will not get to see their loved ones return home.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Dana Savir
Israeli president apologizes to Hersh Goldberg-Polin and his parents for not keeping him safe
As Israeli President Isaac Herzog gave a eulogy at the funeral of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, he apologized to the slain 23-year-old.
“I apologize that the country you immigrated to at the age of 7, wrapped in the Israeli flag, could not keep you safe,” Herzog said Monday, two days after the Israeli-American’s body was recovered in Gaza, along with five others.
The president also asked for forgiveness from Goldberg-Polin’s parents, Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin, for not bringing their son home alive.
He said he learned of “a mother’s and father’s limitless love” from Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin.
“Jon and Rachel, against the senseless hatred, and unthinkable brutality of Hamas terror, pure barbaric evil, you have taught the world about human dignity,” Herzog said. “As a human being, as a father, and as the President of the State of Israel, I want to say how sorry I am. How sorry I am that we didn’t protect Hersh on that dark day. How sorry I am that we failed to bring him home.”
Though he said Israel will “continue fighting relentlessly against” Hamas, Herzog stressed that the remaining 101 hostages must be released.
“The time to act is now: Bring them home,” Herzog said.
“Decision-makers must do everything possible, with determination and courage, to save those who can still be saved,” he said. “This is not a political goal, and it must not become a political dispute. It is a supreme moral, Jewish, and human duty of the State of Israel to its citizens.”
-ABC News’ Becky Perlow
Biden says Netanyahu is not doing enough, says ‘we are very close’ to presenting final deal
When asked by reporters if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doing enough on the hostage deal, President Joe Biden on Monday replied, “No.”
Asked about presenting a final hostage deal this week, Biden said, “We are very close to that.”
“Hope springs eternal,” Biden said, when asked what makes this final deal different, but he declined to provide details.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are meeting with the U.S. hostage negotiation team Monday morning.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller
‘We failed you,’ dad of slain hostage says
Hersh Goldberg-Polin was curious, self-assured and a deep, independent thinker, his dad, Jon Polin, said at his funeral on Monday.
The 23-year-old, who was found dead in Gaza this weekend, was “always seeking to understand the other, and always with dignity and respect,” Polin said.
“Hersh, we failed you. We all failed you,” Polin said with a “332” on his shirt, marking how many days his son was held hostage. “You would not have failed you. You would’ve pushed harder for justice … to bridge differences. … What you would be pushing for now is to ensure your death … [and the others’ deaths are] not in vain.”
“Maybe, just maybe, your death … is the fuel that will bring home the remaining 101 hostages,” Polin said.
“You have become a global symbol of bringing improvement to our world,” he said.
“The 23 years of life that we had with you were a blessing. We now will work to make your legacy a similar blessing,” he said.
Funeral underway for slain American hostage
A funeral procession is underway in Jerusalem for slain Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The 23-year-old was one of six murdered hostages recovered this weekend.
The Israeli Ministry of Health said the six hostages were killed “in a number of short-range shots” between Thursday and Friday morning.
The funeral comes one day after thousands of people took to the streets of Tel Aviv to protest the deaths of the six hostages.
2 hours and 31 minutes ago Tel Aviv braces for fresh protests
More than 1,000 people have gathered in the northern Israeli city of Tel Aviv for continued anti-government protests, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conclude a cease-fire and hostage-release deal with Hamas.
Other marches are taking place elsewhere in Israel. A general strike — called by Histadrut, Israel’s largest trade union — also began on Monday morning in protest of the government’s failure to free those still held hostage inside Gaza.
Police reported violent clashes with anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv on Sunday night, saying officers had arrested 29 people.
The current wave of demonstrations was sparked by the recovery of the bodies of six of Hamas’ hostages from a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and David Brennan
3 hours and 57 minutes ago Israel Police accuses Tel Aviv marchers of ‘brutal’ vandalism, violence
The Israel Police has condemned what it called “brutal vandalism” during a night of anti-government demonstrations in Tel Aviv, sparked by the deaths in captivity of six of Hamas’ Gaza hostages.
In a statement, the Police Spokesperson’s Unit said officers arrested 29 suspects for a range of offenses including disorderly conduct, assaulting officers and vandalism.
The violence followed a planned protest at the Kaplan Junction in Tel Aviv, the statement said, after which “hundreds of protesters” left the approved demonstration area and moved to the Ayalon Highway, “with the intent to disrupt traffic and public order.”
Some marchers “violently pushed against barricades and officers, leading to a confrontation during which a policewoman was injured and lost consciousness,” the statement said. The officer was evacuated for medical treatment.
As officers attempted to clear the area, some protesters “breached security perimeters, blocked the Ayalon Highway, and set fires, while firing fireworks that nearly hit officers,” police said.
“The Israel Police strongly condemns the acts of vandalism and violence directed at officers,” the statement read. “We will pursue legal action against those responsible to the fullest extent of the law.”
The protesters were demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government agree to a cease-fire and hostage-release deal with Hamas.
A general strike called by Israel’s largest trade union — Histadrut — began on Monday morning in a bid to pressure the government into reaching an accord with the militant group.
Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff spoke with the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American-Israeli hostage who was found dead in Gaza on Saturday along with five other Oct. 7 hostages, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The vice president and her husband called parents Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin on Sunday to “express our condolences following the brutal murder of their son by Hamas terrorists,” Harris said in a statement on X.
“My heart breaks for their pain and anguish,” Harris continued.
“I told them: As they mourn this terrible loss, they are not alone. Our nation mourns with them,” Harris said.
4:59 PM EDT Protest erupts in Tel Aviv as demonstrators demand cease-fire deal
Protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv Sunday night, demanding a cease-fire agreement and the release of the remaining hostages being held by Hamas terrorists.
The demonstration came a day after Israel Defense Forces recovered the bodies of six hostages in tunnels under the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
Protesters were seen waving Israeli flags as they demanded a cease-fire agreement, chanting “Deal. Now.”
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
3:25 PM EDT 6 killed in IDF strike on Gaza school, says Gaza Civil Defense
At least six people were killed on Sunday when Israel Defense Forces conducted an airstrike on a school in Gaza City, according to Gaza Civil Defense.
The IDF said in a statement that the strike was aimed at Hamas terrorists they allege were operating a command-and-control center inside the Safad school to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against the IDF and Israel.
“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the IDF said in a statement.
The Gaza Civil Defense confirmed the Safad school was hit in the IDF strike, but said the school houses displaced people from the Al-Zeitoun area east of Gaza City.
