Rubio and Netanyahu meet in Israel to discuss Hamas war, Gaza City operation
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 16, 2025. Photo courtesy: Koby Gideon (GPO)/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
(LONDON) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived on Sunday morning in Israel, where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the war in Gaza.
“My focus will be on securing the return of hostages, finding ways to make sure humanitarian aid reaches civilians, and addressing the threat posed by Hamas,” Rubio said on social media ahead of his flight to Israel.
He added, “Hamas cannot continue to exist if peace in the region is the goal.”
The secretary and his wife, Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio, were greeted upon arrival at Ben Gurion airport by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and his wife, Janet Huckabee.
Rubio later met one-on-one with Netanyahu before the two visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem, also called the the “Wailing Wall,” one of the world’s most significant religious sites for the Jewish people. While there, Netanyahu said he and Rubio “buried a note among the stones.”
Rubio and Netanyahu toured the archaeological site along with Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, Rubio’s wife, and Huckabee and his wife.
“I think his visit here is a testament to the resilience and strength of the American-Israeli alliance, which is as durable and strong as the stones of the Western Wall that we just touched,” Netanyahu said of Rubio’s visit.
Netanyahu and Rubio, according to the prime minster’s statement, offered a joint prayer for the safety of the hostages, as well as a special prayer honoring President Donald Trump, whom Netanyahu described as “a true friend of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.”
“Under President Trump, Secretary Rubio and their entire team, this alliance has never been stronger, and we appreciate it very much,” Netanyahu’s statement said. “Not only on behalf of the people of Israel today, but also on behalf of the generations of Jews who came before us, in the hope that we will rebuild our country with friends like you. Thank you, Marco.”
During his meetings with Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, Rubio is expected to “convey America’s priorities in the Israel-Hamas conflict and broader issues concerning Middle Eastern security, reaffirming U.S. commitment to Israeli security,” according to the U.S. State Department.
Netanyahu and Rubio are also expected to discuss the planned Israeli operation to seize control of Gaza City, the largest city in the Gaza Strip, the State Department said.
Israel last week issued an order calling for residents of the city to evacuate, saying the Israeli military would operate “with great force” within the city.
(GAZA) — Doctors and aid workers inside Gaza are reporting grim and heartbreaking details of widespread malnutrition, particularly in children, as the hunger crisis reportedly continues to worsen amid the Israel-Hamas war.
The Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said on Thursday that 27 people have died of hunger over the last three days, bringing the total to 113 since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023. Of the total deaths due to hunger, 81 have been children, according to the Health Ministry.
MercyCorps, an aid organization that provides humanitarian services as well as a hotline for psychosocial support in Gaza, said it has received testimony from parents struggling to provide food for their children.
“This is one: ‘Last night, I was thinking about killing my children because I can’t take proper care of them or raise them in a good way,'” the group relayed to ABC News. “‘I can’t even provide food. I had to send them to neighboring tents to beg for bread to feed. I truly don’t know what to do anymore.'”
Abdulwhhab Abu Alamrain — a volunteer at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza and a worker with the medical data department at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders — said there are only four stabilization centers for malnutrition in Gaza and the admission capacity is severely limited due to the overcrowding of facilities.
He said the emergency departments of hospitals in Gaza have been overwhelmed with injuries since the war began. However, over the last two weeks, they have been overwhelmed with people reportedly injured while trying to get aid, along with people collapsing from hunger.
“A kid came to our house like two days ago begging for something to eat, a piece of bread,” Alamrain told ABC News. “We don’t have any. We gave him from our lunch, [a] cup of chickpeas. … Life feels dystopian recently.”
On Thursday, MSF said 25% of children and pregnant or breastfeeding women screened at clinics in Gaza are malnourished, and cases of severe malnutrition in children under the age of 5 have tripled in just two weeks.
Caroline Willemen, MSF project coordinator in Gaza City, said that on July 19 and 20 at Al-Helou Hospital in northern Gaza, MSF medical teams could not provide food to women and children in the pediatric and maternity wards and there wasn’t enough baby formula for the 23 babies in the neonatal intensive care unit.
On July 20 and July 21 at Nasser Hospital in central Gaza, 168 patients admitted to the pediatric and maternity wards could not access food, she said.
Additionally, Edouard Beigbede, the UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said on Thursday that over two weeks in July, 5,000 children were admitted to their clinics with acute malnutrition and, in Gaza City alone, the number of children screened and detected with acute malnutrition is four times higher than what it was in February.
Dr. Zaher Sahloul, president of MedGlobal, told ABC News that 19 children have recently been admitted to the non-profit’s clinics in Gaza suffering from severe acute malnutrition, which is a number the organization has never seen.
Five of those children, between three months and 4.5 years old, died over the last 72 hours, as of Wednesday, Sahloul said.
“This is an emergency because up to 50% of children with severe acute malnutrition can die,” Sahloul told ABC News. “Without a dramatic increase in the amount of aid entering, more children will die.”
Kate Phillips-Barasso, vice president of global policy and advocacy at MercyCorps, said her team on the ground in Gaza is reporting many people going days at a time without eating at all.
“Everyone is spending their day in pursuit of how they’re going to feed themselves,” she told ABC News. “They’re losing hope. They’re wondering if they or their families will come on the other side alive.”
MercyCorps was one of more than 100 aid groups that put out a joint statement this week warning of “mass starvation” in Gaza.
“We feel like we’re tipping over that precipice where more people are going to die,” Phillips-Barasso continued. “We’re already starting to hear reports of more children dying. That is coming, and when it tips over, it is really hard to put that in reverse. It’s getting to a point where they need therapeutic feeding and treatment, not just more food supplies. This is going to start to snowball and be very hard to walk that back.”
Aid organizations said their workers and medical staff are also struggling to get food.
MSF said its staff is treating patients for hunger while struggling to feed themselves and their families as they enroll 25 new malnutrition cases every day in Gaza City alone.
Alamrain told ABC News he has lost 27 kilograms (59.5 pounds) since the war began in October 2023, and eight kilograms (17.6 pounds) in the last two months.
Recently, his family baked its last 0.5 kilograms (1 pound) of flour to make seven pieces of bread, he said. Although his family does have money to spend, the markets have run out of food.
Over the last week, Alamrain said he has consumed between 700 and 1,400 calories per day, even though his recommended number of calories per day sits at 2,500.
Alamrain told ABC News he has lost 27 kilograms (59.5 pounds) since the war began in October 2023, and eight kilograms (17.6 pounds) in the last two months.
Recently, his family baked its last 0.5 kilograms (1 pound) of flour to make seven pieces of bread, he said. Although his family does have money to spend, the markets have run out of food.
Over the last week, Alamrain said he has consumed between 700 and 1,400 calories per day, even though his recommended number of calories per day sits at 2,500.
(LONDON) — Over 350 people have died in a 72 hour period in Pakistan due to monsoon flooding, Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority reported, bringing the total number of people killed to over 650 since June 26.
Over 180 others were reported injured, and rescue efforts are ongoing after heavy rains halted operations for several hours on Monday, according to Reuters.
A deluge of rain triggered floods and landslides, sweeping people away and flooding and destroying homes, officials said.
Updates from the National Disaster Management Authority indicated that the majority of deaths were caused by the flash floods, while smaller percentages were caused by houses collapsing and lightning. Deaths were concentrated in the mountainous northern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“My heartfelt condolences go out to the bereaved families. We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in this hour of grief,” wrote Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, on X. “The Government is mobilising all resources for rescue and relief operations.”
But some residents reportedly said they feel the government is not providing enough support in the aftermath of the floods.
“We’re poor people here, and nine feet of water flooded our homes. People have suffered huge losses – everything, even basic utensils,” Mohammad Shabbir, a garment factory owner in Rawalpindi, told Reuters last month. “No one from the government has checked on us or offered help. They didn’t even show sympathy. It’s like we’re invisible.”
Other residents echoed his sentiment. “The authorities haven’t lifted a finger. They visit briefly in big vehicles, take note, and leave, while we, the most vulnerable, are left to fend for ourselves,” Rawalpindi resident Shehbaz Ali told Reuters.
The Pakistani government stated in a news conference that it had sufficient resources for recovery efforts and does not require foreign assistance at this time, reported the Associated Press.
In 2022, devastating floods in Pakistan left a third of the country submerged, about 15,000 dead or injured, and 8 million displaced, according to the United Nations Development Programme.
Pakistan faces some of the highest disaster risk levels in the world in part due to high exposure to flooding and tropical cyclones, according to the World Bank.
A 2022 study from World Weather Attribution concluded that climate change likely increased extreme monsoon rainfall.
As rescue and recovery efforts continue, Pakistanis affected by the flooding are attempting to rebuild their lives and homes. “Those with means might be able to bear the loss, but we can’t,” said Shabbir. “We’re just struggling to survive.”
Debris from a Russian drone lies inside damaged residential building after a Russian drones and missiles attack on July 10, 2025 in Kyiv/Yevhenii Zavhorodnii/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
(LONDON) — At least two people were killed and 22 others were injured in Kyiv in an overnight Russian drone and missile bombardment, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and local officials in the Ukrainian capital said on Thursday.
The “massive combined strike” lasted for nearly 10 hours, Zelenskyy said. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 397 drones of various types — among them nearly 200 Iranian-designed Shahed attack craft — and 18 missiles.
Fourteen missiles and 164 attack drones were shot down, the air force said, with another 204 drones and missiles neutralized by electronic warfare measures.
The main target of the attack was Kyiv and the surrounding region, with Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava, Kirovohrad and Kharkiv regions also attacked, the president said.
The air force said drone strikes were recorded in eight locations, with 33 strike drones impacting. Falling drone debris was reported in 23 locations.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a Telegram post that it “carried out a group strike using high-precision long-range weapons and strike drones against military-industrial complex facilities in Kyiv and the infrastructure of a military airfield. The strike achieved its objectives. All designated targets were hit.”
“This is an obvious escalation of terror by Russia: hundreds of ‘Shaheds’ every night, constant strikes, massive attacks against Ukrainian cities,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post to social media.
“This means that acceleration is needed. We need to be faster with sanctions and put pressure on Russia so that it feels the consequences of its terror. Partners need to be faster with investments in weapons production and technology development,” he continued.
On Thursday, Zelenskyy said he will speak with foreign partners “about additional funding for the production of interceptor drones and the supply of air defense for Ukraine. The tasks are absolutely clear. Such Russian strikes must be responded to harshly. That is exactly how we will respond.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down 14 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and the Black Sea overnight.
In Russia’s western Belgorod region, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram that two people were injured by debris from a downed drone.
Russia’s attacks on Wednesday night followed the largest single barrage of the full-scale war to date, with 728 drones — a mix of attack drones and decoys — and 13 missiles launched into the country on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
Moscow is expanding its aerial attacks on Ukraine despite ongoing U.S.-led peace efforts. June saw a new monthly record for the number of long-range drones and missiles launched into Ukraine — 5,438 drones and 239 missiles — according to figures published by the Ukrainian air force.
The first 10 days of July have already seen Russia launch 2,464 drones and 58 missiles into Ukraine, according to Ukrainian air force data.
Russia’s expanded attacks appear to have frustrated President Donald Trump, who despite repeated threats is yet to impose additional sanctions on the Kremlin for its failure to commit to American ceasefire and peace proposals.
Trump said of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, “We get a lot of b——- thrown at us by Putin,” adding, “He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham told ABC News Wednesday that Trump is “ready” to act on a sweeping Senate bill that would impose tariffs of up to 500% on countries that buy oil and gas from Russia.
Trump, Graham said, is “trying to get Putin to the table, but Putin’s not responding.” The legislation will include a waiver allowing Trump to lift sanctions on countries purchasing Russian oil or uranium for 180 days, Graham said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Moscow is “calm” about the president’s rhetoric. “We hope to continue our dialogue with Washington and our efforts to repair the badly damaged bilateral relations,” he told journalists during a briefing.
Kyiv is also pressing the White House to resume the supply of U.S.-made key weapons systems, a shipment of which were frozen last week.
Among the munitions held up were Patriot surface-to-air missile interceptors, which have proven vital for Ukraine’s defense against Russian missile and drone strikes.
A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday that the flow of some weapons had resumed as of Monday night, including 155mm artillery rounds and GMLR rockets used by HIMARS launchers.
ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Anne Flaherty, Selina Wang, Patrick Reevell, Will Gretsky and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
