Russia claims it shot down US-made ATACMS missiles and issues nuclear threat
Russian President Valdimir Putin; Photo credit: Sefa Karacan/Anadolu via Getty Images
(LONDON) — The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that it defeated a Ukrainian ATACMS attack in the western Bryansk region, shortly before the Kremlin updated its nuclear weapons doctrine to allow for nuclear strikes in response to foreign ballistic missile attacks.
Ukrainian forces fired six “ballistic missiles,” the ministry wrote on its official Telegram page, five of which were downed and the sixth damaged. “According to confirmed data, American-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles were used,” it wrote.
“ATACMS fragments fell on the technical territory of a military facility in the Bryansk region, a fire broke out, it was extinguished,” the ministry added.
The ministry alleged the attack shortly after Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists that the changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine — signed by President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday — meant “the use of Western non-nuclear rockets by the Armed Forces of Ukraine against Russia can prompt a nuclear response.”
Peskov’s remarks came after three U.S. officials confirmed to ABC News that President Joe Biden had approved Ukraine’s use of the long-range American-made MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System — colloquially known as the ATACMS — to hit targets in Russia’s western Kursk region.
Bryansk borders Kursk to its west. The target and location of Tuesday’s alleged Ukrainian strike is unclear. Kyiv is yet to comment on the Russian Defense Ministry’s report.
The Biden administration hasn’t publicly confirmed the policy change. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told journalists at a Monday briefing he would not confirm or deny approval for ATACMS use inside Russia, but said the U.S. response to Russian and North Korean military cooperation in the war “would be firm.”
There are now some 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk region intended for deployment to the battlefield, U.S. officials have said.
The changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine were unveiled several weeks ago but only signed by Putin on Tuesday, as officials in Moscow expressed anger at the U.S. decision to allow ATACMS use on Russian territory.
The doctrine now says Russia can launch a nuclear attack against a country assisting a non-nuclear country in aggression against Russia that critically threatens the country’s state integrity.=
Moscow has repeatedly threatened nuclear weapon use against Ukraine and its Western partners throughout its full-scale invasion of the country.
Western leaders including President Joe Biden have said that avoiding a direct clash between Russia and NATO is a top priority given the danger of nuclear war.
(LONDON) — A ceasefire went into effect at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday morning after Israel’s Cabinet approved the U.S.-backed proposal to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah after prolonged negotiations.
The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza, particularly in the north of the devastated Palestinian territory.
Tensions also remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides.
Biden says US to make ‘another push’ on Gaza ceasefire
President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the U.S. “will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza” over the coming days, following the success of ceasefire talks in Lebanon.
Negotiations, Biden said in a post to X, must end “with the hostages released and an end to the war without Hamas in power.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Lebanon PM confirms ceasefire acceptance
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati confirmed Lebanon’s acceptance of the ceasefire in an address on Wednesday.
“We affirm the government’s commitment to implementing Security Council Resolution 1701 in all its provisions,” he said, referring to the 2006 U.N. Security Council measure that sought to end the last bout of cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Resolution 1701 stipulated that Hezbollah must withdraw all forces north of the Litani River and that all Israeli forces must leave — and no longer violate the sovereignty of — Lebanon.
Mikati did not address the separate U.S.-Israeli agreement backing Israel’s right to continue to strike anywhere in Lebanon if deemed necessary for self-defense.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Somayeh Malekian
Hezbollah allies welcome Israel ceasefire
Hezbollah allies on Wednesday praised the group for securing its ceasefire deal with Israel.
In a press conference Wednesday morning, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran supports “ending Israel’s aggression against Lebanon as a part of the ceasefire.”
Iran — the founder and director of the so-called “Axis of Resistance” of which Hezbollah is a key element — maintains “unwavering support for the Lebanese government, people and resistance,” Baqaei said.
Hamas, meanwhile, said in an official statement that it welcomed the ceasefire and praised Hezbollah’s support of Palestinians, as well as the “great sacrifices” of the group’s members including late leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel’s acceptance of the deal, Hamas added, is a “milestone” in “destroying” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “illusions of changing the map of the Middle East by force and his illusions of defeating or disarming the resistance forces.”
Yemen’s Houthis — who have been attacking shipping and launching long-range strikes into Israel — also praised Hezbollah’s “steadfastness,” framing the ceasefire deal as an Israeli defeat.
“The conflict with the Zionist enemy is an inevitable conflict and the wars with it are rounds in a conflict that will inevitably end with its demise,” the Iran-backed group said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz, Samy Zyara and Somayeh Malekian
IDF attacked ‘dozens’ of targets in hours before ceasefire
The Israel Defense Forces said its warplanes bombed “dozens” of Hezbollah targets across Lebanon in the hours leading up to the Wednesday morning ceasefire.
The IDF said in a post to social media that the targets included “Hezbollah command centers, launchers, weapons storage facilities and terrorist infrastructure sites in Beirut, Tyre and Nabatieh.”
The IDF also struck “several smuggling routes between Syria and Lebanon, which were used by Hezbollah to smuggle weaponry,” the force said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Lebanese army preparing to deploy south after ceasefire
The Lebanese Armed Forces said in a Wednesday morning statement that it was “taking the necessary measures to complete the deployment in the south as mandated by the Lebanese government” after the ceasefire deal with Israel came into effect.
The ceasefire agreement stipulates that Lebanese troops will take up positions in the south of the country and prevent the return of Hezbollah forces — who are expected to withdraw north of the Litani River — to the area.
LAF commander General Joseph Aoun met with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday to discuss the security situation in the south of the country, a statement posted to Mikati’s X channel said.
The LAF is expected to deploy around 5,000 troops to the area as part of the 60-day ceasefire. United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon soldiers will remain in southern Lebanon to assist.
Israeli troops are expected to withdraw from their positions in south Lebanon in phases during the same timeframe.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Israel ceasefire ‘a test for all Lebanese,’ parliament speaker says
Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri said in a Wednesday address that the nascent ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is “a test for all Lebanese, from all sects, to save their country and protect its constitutional institutions.”
Berri — the leader of the Hezbollah-allied Amal Movement who has been negotiating on Hezbollah’s behalf — said the Lebanese “people were able to neutralize the effects of the Israeli aggression” and saluted late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in September.
“We call on all our displaced people in all our regions and the sister countries that hosted them to return,” Berri added. “We are in dire need of national unity among all the Lebanese people.”
Berri called for the “speedy election” of a new Lebanese president and thanked all those “who contributed to the ceasefire.”
Hezbollah is yet to issue any official statement on the ceasefire, which went into effect at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Joe Simonetti
IDF fires on vehicle in south Lebanon after ceasefire begins
The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday its troops fired on a vehicle carrying several people “in a zone prohibited for movement in Lebanese territory” shortly after the ceasefire came into effect at 4 a.m. local time.
“IDF troops fired to prevent them from advancing and the suspects left the area,” the IDF wrote in a post to X.
The Israeli air force, it said “remains ready to act across Lebanese territory” while the Israeli air defense network “is also in a high state of defensive readiness.”
“The IDF will act against anyone who tries to violate the ceasefire agreement and will not allow damage to the security of the residents of Israel,” the force wrote.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
IDF warns southern Lebanese not to return home despite ceasefire
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Wednesday morning that Lebanese civilians who fled their homes in the south of the country should not return to their homes until told to do so, despite the start of the ceasefire.
Twenty minutes after the ceasefire came into effect, Adraee said in a post to X that the IDF remains “positioned in its posts in southern Lebanon.”
“Do not approach the villages that the IDF has evacuated or IDF soldiers in the area,” he wrote. “For your safety and the security of your families, avoid entering the area.”
“We will update you when it is safe to return to your homes,” Adraee added.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is now in effect
The ceasefire went into effect at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday morning.
Representatives of Hezbollah still have not said anything on the record about the agreement.
When submitting the deal for approval, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deal still relies on the actions of Hezbollah.
“The duration of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon,” Netanyahu said in the statement. “We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. We will continue together until victory.”
Strikes reported in central Beirut minutes after ceasefire deal announced
There were reports of strikes in central Beirut minutes after President Joe Biden finished speaking, announcing a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah.
The ceasefire is set to take effect at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz
Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire will begin at 4 am local time on Wednesday
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah will begin at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday under a U.S.-brokered deal, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday.
“Israel did not launch this war. The Lebanese people did not want this either,” Biden said in an address Tuesday.
“This has been the deadliest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in decades,” Biden said.
Biden warned that Israel “retains the right to self-defense” if Hezbollah or anyone else attacks Israel.
Biden also called for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza. The U.S. is working with Egypt, Turkey and other partners to attain a ceasefire in Gaza, Biden said.
“The people in Gaza have been through hell,” Biden said.
Israel’s cabinet has approved the U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had submitted the proposal to the cabinet for approval Tuesday.
Far-right Israeli Minister Ben Gvir was the only minister who voted against deal. The 10 other ministers in the cabinet voted in favor of the deal.
Netanyahu thanked President Joe Biden for “the US involvement in achieving the ceasefire agreement,” and for “the understanding that Israel will maintain freedom of action in its enforcement,” a statement said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Gaza’s Civil Defense stops operating in Gaza City due to lack of fuel
Gaza’s Civil Defense vehicles — which serve emergency functions like search and rescue operations — are no longer operating in Gaza City because the agency is out of fuel, it announced Tuesday.
Gaza’s Civil Defense stopped operating in northern Gaza on Oct. 23.
More than 44,000 people have been killed and over 104,000 injured in Gaza since Oct. 7, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said Tuesday.
Israeli strikes hit Beirut, southern Lebanon, as ceasefire talks continue
At least seven people were killed and 37 were injured in Israeli strikes on the Dahieh area of Beirut on Tuesday as Israel continued to strike multiple areas throughout Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
The strikes come amid reports of Israel and Hezbollah nearing a ceasefire agreement.
The Israel Defense Forces issued multiple evacuation orders for areas in the southern suburbs of Beirut and areas in southern Lebanon, including nine warnings about strikes in the Dahieh area of Beirut.
Hezbollah fired 45 projectiles toward Israel on Tuesday, the IDF said. One person was seriously injured after one of the rocket salvos landed in the Haifa and Krayot area of Israel, Israeli emergency services said.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Jordana Miller
Israel strikes 20 targets in Beirut
Israel said it conducted strikes on 20 targets in Beirut, including components of Hezbollah’s military and financial systems.
“Among the targets struck were a Hezbollah aerial defense unit center, an intelligence center, command centers, weapons storage facilities, an operations room, an artillery storage facility, and terrorist infrastructure sites,” Israel said in a statement.
Israel also targeted Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association — a nonprofit that gives out loans — alleging it is used by Hezbollah to collect and store funds.
Israel had sent evacuation orders about 20 minutes before the strikes hit. The IDF said they are attacking Hezbollah in Beirut on “a large scale.” Black smoke was still visible and covering part of Beirut hours later.
The strikes began just minutes before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to meet with his cabinet to discuss a cease-fire deal with Hezbollah.
Earlier Tuesday, there were three other strikes in Beirut.
Israel bombs Beirut suburbs again
Fresh airstrikes shook Beirut’s southern Dahiya suburbs on Tuesday morning, with the Israel Defense Forces claiming to have targeted six Hezbollah targets including infrastructure sites used by the group’s coast-to-sea missile unit.
The IDF said it struck around 30 Hezbollah targets in Dahiya over the past week. The suburb — parts of which are close to the city’s international airport — is known as a Hezbollah stronghold and has borne the brunt of months of near-daily airstrikes on the Lebanese capital.
The strikes followed soon after an IDF warning for residents to evacuate parts of Dahiya.
Lebanese authorities said that 3,768 people in Lebanon had been killed by Israeli strikes as of Sunday.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Israel says troops reached Lebanon’s Litani River
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that its forces conducted operations near Lebanon’s Litani River — the waterway around 18 miles of the Israeli border which Israeli leaders have demanded serve as a buffer keeping Hezbollah units out of the country’s south.
Reaching the Litani would mark the deepest penetration of Israeli forces into Lebanon since the IDF withdrew from the country in 2000. Israeli troops did not push up to the Litani in the 2006 war with Hezbollah.
Soldiers “raided several terrorist targets, engaged in close-quarters combat with terrorists, located and destroyed dozens of launchers, thousands of rockets and missiles and weapons storage facilities” in operations in the Litani River region, the IDF said in a post to X.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Lebanon death toll rises ahead of possible cease-fire
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said Tuesday that the death toll from Israel’s military operations in the country had risen to 3,768 people as of Sunday.
Another 15,699 people have been wounded since renewed fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah began on Oct. 8, 2023, the ministry said.
Israel continued airstrikes on Monday night and Tuesday morning even amid reports of an imminent cease-fire deal. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported six people killed in multiple attacks in the southern Nabatieh Governorate.
IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee also issued fresh evacuation warnings for Beirut’s southern Dahiya area on Tuesday morning ahead of planned airstrikes there.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz
Details of Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire deal emerge
A cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah would begin soon after its announcement, with the aim of achieving a permanent cease-fire after 60 days, according to an Israeli source with knowledge of the potential deal.
The U.S. will head a committee, joined by French and Arab partners, to monitor and verify the implementation of the ceasefire, the source said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a security cabinet meeting Tuesday to discuss the deal and hold a cabinet vote, Israeli officials said.
There is almost unanimous support in the cabinet for the U.S.-brokered cease-fire deal, and it is expected to be approved. Far-right leader Ben Gvir is expected to vote against it.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
‘We don’t believe we have an agreement yet’: State Department
The U.S. is hopeful that Israel and Hezbollah are close to a cease-fire deal, but striking a pact “is up to the parties, not to us,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a briefing Monday.
“We don’t believe we have an agreement yet. We believe we’re close to an agreement. We believe that we have narrowed the gap significantly, but there are still steps that we need to see taken, but we hope — we hope that we can get there,” Miller said.
Echoing comments earlier Monday by White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby, Miller emphasized that “nothing’s final until everything’s final.”
“Oftentimes the very last stages of an agreement are the most difficult, because the hardest issues are left to the end,” Miller said.
-ABC News’ Chris Boccia
Israeli strikes kill 31, injure at least 62 people in Lebanon
Israeli forces conducted strikes Monday in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital Beirut and in southern Lebanon as talks of a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel continued on both sides.
At least 31 people were killed and 62 others injured in the strikes on southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said in a post on X.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
No indication Netanyahu will call in cabinet and vote to approve Lebanon cease-fire
There are no indications that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to call in his cabinet and vote to approve the Lebanon cease-fire Monday night, Israeli officials told ABC News.
Netanyahu is planning a series of meetings Tuesday to discuss the Lebanon cease-fire deal, including talks with his minister of strategic affairs, former American ambassador Ron Dermer, along with his most senior defense officials.
Later in the afternoon, Netanyahu will hold a larger cabinet meeting that includes the far-right. That meeting may lead to a final vote to approve a deal, though that remains unclear. A deal can pass even if one of the two far-right leaders opposes it.
The cease-fire would last for 60 days, but would not require the Israel Defense Forces to withdraw right away.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Jordana Miller
White House says deal is close but nothing is final
A cease-fire deal between Israel and Hezbollah was close, White House National Security Spokesperson John Kirby reiterated in a briefing Tuesday, but he would not give details about the deal or specific timing, saying he had to be careful not to get in the way of the tenuous diplomacy.
“We believe that the trajectory of this is going in a very positive direction. But again, nothing is done until everything is done. Nothing’s all negotiated till everything is negotiated. And you know, we need to keep at the work to see it through so that we can actually get the ceasefire for which we’ve been working for for so long and so hard,” Kirby said.
Kirby declined to say if any announcement from President Joe Biden and French President Emanuel Macron should be expected over the next few days.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Far-right Israeli minister says Lebanon cease-fire would be a ‘big mistake’
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Monday that a potential cease-fire agreement to end the fighting in Lebanon would be “a big mistake.”
Ending the war would be a “missed opportunity” to “eradicate Hezbollah,” Ben-Gvir wrote on X.
Ben-Gvir has previously pressured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reject any cease-fire deal in Gaza, where fighting continues with Hamas and other militant groups.
“We must continue until the absolute victory,” Ben-Gvir said of both the Gaza and Lebanon fronts.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Khamenei calls for ‘death sentence’ for Netanyahu, Israeli leaders
In an address to thousands of Basij militia members on Monday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued last week for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were insufficient.
“What [they have] done in Gaza and Lebanon is not a victory, it is a war crime,” Khamenei said.
“Now they have issued arrest warrants for them; this is not enough,” he added of the ICC decision. “A death sentence must be issued for Netanyahu and the criminal leaders of this regime.”
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, who the Israel Defense Forces claimed to have killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July.
Netanyahu’s office expressed its “disgust” at the decision and dismissed the ICC warrant as “absurd.”
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian and Joe Simonetti
Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs
The Israel Defense Forces said its warplanes “conducted intelligence-based strikes on several Hezbollah command centers” in southern Beirut on Monday.
The strikes again focused on the Dahiya area in the south of the Lebanese capital, which is known as a Hezbollah stronghold.
Monday’s bombings followed an intense day of strikes on Sunday, as diplomats continued to push for a cease-fire agreement to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
1 hour ago
UAE arrests 3 people accused of rabbi’s killing
The United Arab Emirates’ Interior Ministry said Monday it arrested three Uzbek nationals suspected of the kidnapping and killing of Moldovan-Israeli rabbi Zvi Kogan.
Kogan, 28, was an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who went missing on Nov. 21. He managed a kosher grocery store in Dubai.
The ministry identified the three detained men as Olimpi Tohirovic, 28, Mahmoud John Abdul Rahim, 28, and Azizi Kamilovic, 33. It did not say whether charges had been filed and did not suggest a motive.
Israeli leaders have framed the killing as an antisemitic terror operation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday his nation would “act by all means” to “bring justice to the murderers and their senders.”
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
IDF issues new Beirut airstrike warnings
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on Monday morning that Israeli warplanes would soon begin new airstrikes in Beirut, following 24 hours of intense bombing of the city’s southern suburbs.
Adraee ordered residents of the Haret Hreik area of the southern Dahiya suburbs — known as a Hezbollah stronghold — to flee their homes and stay at least 500 meters from target buildings identified on an IDF map.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
More strikes on southern Beirut suburbs
There were more strikes Sunday night in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which have been pounded by dozens of Israeli strikes in the last few days.
The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday night’s strikes in Dahieh were on “12 Hezbollah command centers.”
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé
29 dead in central Beirut after Saturday’s airstrike
The death toll from an Israeli strike Saturday in central Beirut has risen to 29, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The update on casualties came as emergency workers continued to search collapsed buildings for survivors of the strike, an official said.
At least 67 people were also injured in the Israeli strike, according to the Ministry of Health.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
Israeli official confirms Netanyahu holding meeting on Lebanon cease-fire
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was holding a meeting with security officials on Sunday night regarding ongoing Lebanon cease-fire talks, an Israeli official told ABC News.
The development comes after Netanyahu met last week in Israel with U.S. Special Envoy Amos Hochstein and discussed a possible cease-fire in Lebanon. Hochstein also traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, to discuss a cease-deal between Hezbollah and Israel.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov is pictured on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on Oct. 24, 2024. (Maxim Shemetov via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists that new changes to Russia’s nuclear weapons doctrine signed by President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday mean “the use of Western non-nuclear rockets by the Armed Forces of Ukraine against Russia can prompt a nuclear response.”
Peskov’s remarks came shortly after three U.S. officials confirmed to ABC News that President Joe Biden had approved Ukraine’s use of the long-range American-made MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System — colloquially known as the ATACMS — to hit targets in Russia’s western Kursk region.
The administration hasn’t publicly confirmed the policy change. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told journalists at a Monday briefing he would not confirm or deny approval for ATACMS use inside Russia, but said the U.S. response to Russian and North Korean military cooperation in the war “would be firm.”
There are now some 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk region intended for deployment to the battlefield, U.S. officials have said.
The changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine were unveiled several weeks ago but only signed by Putin on Tuesday, as officials in Moscow expressed anger at the U.S. decision to allow ATACMS use on Russian territory.
The doctrine now says Russia can launch a nuclear attack against a country assisting a non-nuclear country in aggression against Russia that critically threatens the country’s state integrity.
Moscow has repeatedly threatened nuclear weapon use against Ukraine and its Western partners throughout its full-scale invasion of the country.
Western leaders including President Joe Biden have said that avoiding a direct clash between Russia and NATO is a top priority given the danger of nuclear war.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — The Israel Defense Forces conducted what it called “precise strikes on military targets” in Iran on Friday in response to the Iranian missile strikes earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes and ground fighting continued in Gaza — particularly in the north of the strip — and in Lebanon, with renewed Israeli attacks on Beirut.
IDF issues further Baalbek airstrike warning in east Lebanon
For the second consecutive day, the Israel Defense Forces ordered residents of the city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon to flee their homes ahead of imminent airstrikes.
“You are in a combat zone where the IDF intends to attack and target Hezbollah infrastructure, interests, installations and combat means and does not intend to harm you,” IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X.
“Staying in the red zone puts you and your family at risk,” he added, alongside a map on which most of the city was marked red.
The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said at least eight people were killed by Israeli strikes in Baalbek on Thursday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Joe Simonetti
Israeli bombs besiege Gaza hospital again
Israeli aircraft bombed the third floor of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza Thursday morning, destroying the hospital’s remaining medicines as well as medical supplies brought by the World Health Organization a few days ago, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital said that continuous bombing had targeted the hospital’s surroundings throughout the night.
The hospital, which was the last functioning medical center capable of performing surgeries in northern Gaza, has 120 patients and has been targeted several times by Israeli forces in the past 13 months.
Palestinian media, citing medical sources, reported that surgical operations have completely stopped at Kamal Adwan Hospital due to the ongoing Israeli aggression.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz, Samy Zyara and Joe Simonetti
CIA chief in Egypt for cease-fire push
CIA Director William Burns and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi discussed efforts to push for progress on a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal during a meeting in Cairo, the Egyptian presidency said Thursday.
The talks focused on “joint efforts to calm the situation in the Gaza Strip, ways to advance negotiations to reach a cease-fire and the exchange of detainees, as well as immediate and full access to humanitarian aid” in the territory, El-Sisi’s office said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy and Joe Simonetti
Israeli troops launch new West Bank operation
The Israel Defense Forces said it launched a “counter-terrorism” operation in the West Bank alongside Israel Border Police and the Israel Security Agency.
The operation focused on the area of Nur Shams, east of the city of Tulkarm, which has been a focus of intense and deadly Israeli security forces raids in recent months.
During the operation, the Israeli air force “struck an armed terrorist cell that fired at the forces,” the IDF said.
The IDF said the operation was launched hours after counter-terror and intelligence personnel killed Hussam Mallah, who the force described as a “significant” member of Hamas’ network in the area, “who was involved in the planning of terrorist attacks within an immediate time frame.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Israel to deploy forces along eastern border with Jordan, IDF says
Israel will deploy forces along its eastern border with Jordan to “protect the eastern border” — a border that was quiet for decades — the Israel Defense Forces announced Wednesday.
Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi approved the establishment of a regional division after they “examined the operational needs and defense capabilities in the region,” the IDF said in a statement.
“The division’s mission is to strengthen defense in the border area, Highway 90 and the settlements, and to respond to dealing with terrorist incidents and the smuggling of weapons, while maintaining a peaceful border and strengthening cooperation with the Jordanian army,” the IDF said in a statement.
UN reports over 30 ‘incidents’ from IDF against peacekeepers in Lebanon, some ‘deliberate’
The United Nations has documented over 30 incidents of attacks on U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon, some of which were deliberate.
“Since the 1st of October, UNIFIL has recorded over 30 incidents resulting in damage to U.N. property or premises or injury to peacekeepers. About 20 of those we could attribute to IDF fire or actions, with seven being clearly deliberate,” a spokesperson for UNIFIL said.
“In an incident yesterday, a rocket, likely fired by Hezbollah or affiliated group hit UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura and setting a vehicle workshop on fire with some peacekeepers suffering a minor injuries,” a spokesperson for UNIFIL said.
UNIFIL also said there are thousands of people stuck in villages without having access to the most basic needs.
Israel gave residents 4 hours to get out of Baalbek before beginning strikes
Baalbek’s 80,000 residents were given just under four hours to leave the city before Israeli strikes on the region began.
Residents received a message in Arabic telling them to evacuate their homes and move outside the city and villages “immediately.”
The Israel Defense Forces said it struck a fuel depot in Baalbek “located inside military compounds” belonging to Hezbollah.
“These fuel depots supplied fuel for Hezbollah’s military vehicles and were critical to the operation of Hezbollah’s military infrastructure. The fuel at these sites was supplied by Iran as part of its military support for Hezbollah,” the IDF said in a statement.
WHO evacuates more patients from Kamal Adwan
The World Health Organization has continued to evacuate patients from the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, as the hospital continues to receive “a constant stream of trauma patients due to ongoing hostilities in the area,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, Wednesday.
There are now only two surgeons left at the hospital. The WHO has transferred 23 critical patients to Al-Shifa Hospital and 16 patients from Al-Shifa to Nasser Medical Complex in a multiday mission to north Gaza in the past two days.
The Kamal Adwan Hospital building and equipment sustained damage during the most recent siege and its four ambulances were destroyed.
“We have provided medical supplies, food and water for patients at Kamal Adwan Hospital — but much more is needed. Additionally, this week we have also provided 40,000 liters of fuel and medical supplies for six hospitals in Gaza City,” the director-general said.
Israel issues evacuation warning for entire city of Baalbek, in eastern Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces issued an evacuation warning for residents in the entire eastern Lebanese city of Baalbeck and the surrounding areas and key routes into the Bekaa Valley. This includes the ancient Roman temple complex, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The deliberate targeting of a World Heritage Site is a war crime under international law.
Residents have been told to evacuate their homes “immediately” and move outside the city and villages, according to the evacuation warning.
There are nearly 80,000 residents in the city, adding to the hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon who are already displaced.
Israeli official explains deadly strike in north Gaza
An airstrike on a residential building that killed at least 110 people in Beit Lahia in north Gaza on Tuesday — per figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health — was targeting a person acting suspiciously on its roof, an Israeli military official told ABC News.
The official said they did not know there were so many people in the building, as everyone in the area had already been told to leave.
The official added they were skeptical of the death toll provided by the Gaza Ministry of Health, a sentiment expressed by the Israel Defense Forces in a public statement regarding the incident.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Tuesday described the strike as a “horrifying incident with a horrifying result.”
Emergency responders said the airstrike hit a five-story building housing displaced people, with at least 25 children among the dead. Many more people are still missing, officials said.
-ABC News’ Britt Clennett
UNRWA not ‘darlings of Hamas,’ official says after Israel ban
Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s chief spokesperson, told ABC News the agency is “impossible to replace, especially in a place like Gaza,” following the Israeli parliament’s decision to ban the organization from operating in Israel.
UNRWA has warned that the move could severely curtail the aid agency’s ability to get desperately needed aid into Gaza. Israeli allies abroad — including in the U.S. — have also warned that the Israeli parliament’s move could exacerbate humanitarian concerns across Palestinian areas in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
“We have the logisticians, the humanitarian experts who know how to deliver humanitarian assistance and how to drive around and reach people in need. These are humanitarian experts who have been doing this for aid for many, many years,” Touma said.
Israel has alleged that UNRWA — which since 1950 has been responsible for supporting Palestinian refugees displaced during Israel’s independence war — is compromised by Palestinian militant groups.
A source from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office told ABC News, “UNRWA is tainted with terror and perpetuates the Palestinian problem. That is why the ban is due.”
Touma disputed the assertion. “It is not as if we are the darlings of Hamas,” she said. “We have continued to have a very, very bad relationship with Hamas. On a number of occasions throughout the war we have called out publicly against Hamas.”
Touma said Israel is under legal obligation “to provide for the services and welfare for the community it’s occupying.”
Israeli authorities say they will do so without UNRWA help. But Touma said she was skeptical.
“I’m not entirely sure that they know what they’re doing, practically speaking, in terms of the ability to cater and to provide humanitarian assistance to 2 million people in Gaza,” she said.
The ban on UNRWA, Touma added, will not address the need for an agency serving its role.
“UNRWA exists because of the failure of the international community to reach a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” she said.
-ABC News’ Britt Clennett and Guy Davies
UN condemns deadly Israeli strike in Gaza’s Beit Lahia
The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland called the Israeli airstrike in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza “another appalling incident” in a “deadly series of recent mass casualty incidents,” in a statement released by the U.N. Secretary-General spokesperson’s office Tuesday.
“I unequivocally condemn the widespread killing and injury of civilians in Gaza, and the endless displacement of the population in Gaza,” Wennesland said in the statement. “I call on all parties to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law.”
US says Israel’s implementation of UNRWA ban could have ‘consequences’
The Biden administration is “deeply troubled” by the Israeli parliament’s vote to sharply restrict the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Tuesday.
“It could shutter UNRWA operations in the West Bank, in Gaza, in East Jerusalem. It poses risks for millions of Palestinians who rely on UNRWA for essential services, including health care and primary and secondary education,” Miller said.
“Particularly in Gaza, they play a role right now that, at least today, cannot be filled by anyone else. They are a key partner in delivering food, water and other humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza that wouldn’t have anyone else to get it from if UNRWA were to go away,” Miller said.
Miller said that the U.S. had “made clear our opposition to this bill” to Israeli authorities and said there could be “consequences under U.S. law and U.S. policy for the implementation of this legislation.”
“We are going to engage with the government of Israel in the days ahead about how they plan to implement it. We’re going to watch and see if there are legal challenges to the law, and if there’s any impact by those legal challenges, and then we’ll make our decisions after looking to all those facts,” Miller said.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
5 killed, 33 injured in Israeli strike on Lebanon
At least five people were killed and 33 others were wounded after an Israeli strike in the Saida neighborhood of Sidon, Lebanon, on Tuesday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
At least 82 people were killed and 180 were wounded in Israeli attacks across Lebanon Monday, bringing the total number of people killed since Israel’s increased attacks on Lebanon to 2,792, and 12,772 people wounded, the ministry said.
At least 138 airstrikes were recorded in various areas of Lebanon on Tuesday, “mostly concentrated in the south, Nabatiyeh and Baalbek-Hermel,” a situation report from the Lebanese Prime Minister’s Office said Tuesday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz
Second phase of polio vaccine campaign still unable to continue in North Gaza
The second phase of the polio vaccination campaign has been unable to take place in northern Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip, Director General of Field Hospitals in Gaza Marwan Al-Hams said Tuesday.
“About 110,000 children in northern Gaza need the second dose of the polio vaccine,” Al-Hams said.
-ABC News’ Sami Zyara
Israel will hit Iran harder if it launches more missiles, IDF chief says
Israel will hit Iran harder if it launches more missiles, Israel Defense Forces chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi warned Tuesday.
“If Iran makes the mistake of launching another missile barrage at Israel, we will once again know how to reach Iran, with capabilities that we did not even use this time,” Halevi said, speaking at the Ramon Airbase.
110 killed, dozens missing in Israeli strike in north Gaza, officials say
At least 110 people were killed with more still missing following Israeli strikes on a five-story building housing displaced families in north Gaza on Tuesday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
At least 25 children were among the dead and missing, health officials said.
Local journalists reported that the strike hit a residential building in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza on Tuesday morning.
The only hospital still functioning in the area is Kamal Adwan Hospital, which in recent days has been the focus of Israeli strikes and raids.
Health officials said there are now no doctors capable of performing surgery left at the facility, dozens of medical staff having been detained by the Israel Defense Forces.
The IDF is yet to comment on Tuesday morning’s strike.
-ABC News’ Guy Davies and Joe Simonetti
90% of Gaza residents face food insecurity, WFP warns
The United Nations World Food Program issued a warning that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza could soon become a famine unless action is taken.
“Restrictions on humanitarian aid coming into Gaza are severe. During the month of October, only 5,000 metric tons of food have been delivered into Gaza, amounting to just 20 percent of basic food assistance for the 1.1 million people who depend on WFP’s lifesaving support,” the WFP said in a statement.
“Meanwhile, Gaza’s food systems have largely collapsed due to the destruction of factories, croplands and shops. Markets are nearly empty as most commercial channels are no longer functioning,” WFP said.
The WFP warned that a large group of Gazans could soon be in an “emergency phase” of need, while others would face “catastrophic” levels of food insecurity.
1 killed in Israel as 200 rockets fired from Lebanon
One person was killed by a rocket in the northern Israeli town of Maalot on Tuesday, Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services said.
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that at least 200 projectiles were fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel since Monday night.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
60 people killed in Israeli strikes in eastern Lebanon
Israeli warplanes killed at least 60 people and wounded 58 others in successive airstrikes on the Baalbek-Hermel governorate and the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon on Monday night, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Joe Simonetti
110 killed, dozens missing in Israeli strike in north Gaza, officials say
At least 110 people were killed with more still missing following Israeli strikes on a five-story building housing displaced families in north Gaza on Tuesday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
At least 25 children were among the dead and missing, health officials said.
Local journalists reported that the strike hit a residential building in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza on Tuesday morning.
The only hospital still functioning in the area is Kamal Adwan Hospital, which in recent days has been the focus of Israeli strikes and raids.
Health officials said there are now no doctors capable of performing surgery left at the facility, dozens of medical staff having been detained by the Israel Defense Forces.
The IDF is yet to comment on Tuesday morning’s strike.
-ABC News’ Guy Davies and Joe Simonetti
Hezbollah confirms new leader
Hezbollah said in a Tuesday morning statement posted to social media that Naim Qassem was elected as the group’s new secretary general in a vote by its decision-making Shura Council.
Qassem, 71, was born in the Lebanese capital Beirut. He was previously Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, serving in the role since 1991. Qassem has long been a prominent spokesperson for the Iran-backed militant organization.
His election followed Israel’s assassination of former Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah in September and his presumed successor Hashem Safieddine in October.
Following Nasrallah’s killing in Beirut, Qassem gave a video address in which he vowed that Hezbollah would continue its fight against Israel despite its significant military setbacks.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz
IDF claims strikes on 150 targets in Lebanon, Gaza in 24 hours
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday it attacked more than 110 targets in Lebanon and 40 targets in the Gaza Strip in the previous 24 hours.
Hezbollah targets in Lebanon included “launchers aimed at the rear of the state of Israel and weapons depots,” the force wrote in a post to X.
In Gaza, the IDF said it attacked “terrorist cells, military buildings and other terrorist infrastructures.”
UN Secretary-General ‘deeply concerned’ by Israel’s laws banning UN organization
UN Secretary-General António Guterres is “deeply concerned” by the two laws passed by the Israeli parliament Monday concerning the U.N. organization, UNRWA, he said in a statement Monday.
“UNRWA is the principal means by which essential assistance is supplied to Palestine refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. There is no alternative to UNRWA,” the UN Secretary-General said in the statement.
“The implementation of the laws could have devastating consequences for Palestine refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which is unacceptable,” he added.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Netanyahu addresses humanitarian aid in Gaza after UNRWA ban
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement on X Monday after legislation banning the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), a main provider of aid to Gaza, passed the Israeli parliament.
Israel is “ready to work with our international partners to ensure Israel continues to facilitate humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not threaten Israel’s security,” Netanyahu said.
“UNRWA workers involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable. Since avoiding a humanitarian crisis is also essential, sustained humanitarian aid must remain available in Gaza now and in the future,” the Prime Minister added.
The Israeli government has accused multiple UNRWA members of participating in Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks and having ties to Hamas. The UN conducted an investigation into the matter after the Israeli government’s initial allegations, and fired multiple UNRWA staffers after the probe, according to the Associated Press.
UNRWA initially fired 12 staffers and put seven on administrative leave without pay over the claims. The UN then fired an additional nine staffers, according to AP.
The laws passed by the Israeli parliament Monday will take effect in 90 days and will likely be challenged by Israel’s High Court.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Netanyahu says Israel would accept 48-hour cease-fire, hostage exchange proposal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he would accept a 48-hour cease-fire agreement proposed by the president of Egypt for the release of four hostages, but said he has not received the offer yet.
“If such a proposal were made, the Prime Minister would accept it on the spot,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said in a statement Monday.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Israeli parliament passes bills banning UN relief agency in Gaza
Israel’s legislative body, the Knesset, passed two bills ending the Israeli government’s ties to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East on Monday, effectively banning the organization from working inside of Israel or with any Israeli authorities.
The first bill bans UNRWA from operating in Israel, including in east Jerusalem. The bill passed with 92 members of the Knesset voting in favor and 10 voting against. This will also force UNRWA to close its bureau in Jerusalem.
The second bill prohibits any Israeli state or government agency from working with or “liaising” with UNRWA or anyone on its behalf. This applies to any Israeli agency working with UNRWA in Gaza and the West Bank. The bill passed with 87 members of the Knesset voting in favor, and nine voting against.
UNRWA is the main U.N. relief agency operating inside of Gaza. This second bill would ban COGAT, the Israeli agency that manages coordination with Gaza and the West Bank, from working with UNRWA to coordinate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gaza. Israel has accused many of the members of UNRWA on the ground as having ties to Hamas.
Both bills have a three-month waiting period before they take effect. It is expected that the bills will be challenged Israel’s high court.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called the two bills “unprecedented” and said they set a “dangerous precedent” in a post on X after they were both passed.
“These bills will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians, especially in Gaza where people have been going through more than a year of sheer hell,” Lazzarini said. “These bills increase the suffering of the Palestinians & are nothing less than collective punishment.”
-ABC News’ Dana Savir and Jordana Miller
Iran promises ‘bitter and unimaginable consequences’ for Israel retaliation
Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Israel’s strike on Iran will lead to “bitter and unimaginable consequences,” in comments Monday, according to Tasnim News Agency, an Iranian news agency close to the IRGC.
The IRGC chief also said the “illegitimate and unlawful” attack by Israel revealed Israel’s “miscalculation and its frustration in the battlefield in the war against the combatants of the great front of Islamic resistance, especially in Gaza and Lebanon.”
He also offered his condolences to the four Iranian service members killed in the attack.
Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Minister’s Office, said Iran “reserves the right to respond to Israeli aggression in accordance with international law,” IRNA, Iranian state media, reported.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
7 killed, 17 wounded in strikes on Tyre
At least seven people were killed and 17 wounded after Israeli strikes in Tyre, Lebanon, on Monday, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.
The Israeli air force struck “Hezbollah weapons and anti-tank missile storage facilities, terrorist infrastructure and observation posts in the area of Tyre in southern Lebanon,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a release.
The IDF’s spokesman to Arab media issued a warning on X for residents in the Tyre area, “specifically to those in the buildings between the streets: Dr. Ali Al-Khalil, Hiram, Muhammad Al-Zayat, Nabih Berri,” to evacuate.
There have been 179 airstrikes and shellings recorded in various areas of Lebanon over the past 48 hours, mostly in “the South and Nabatiyeh,” the Lebanese Prime Minister’s Office said Monday.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Ghazi Balkiz
Israeli lawmakers look to stop UNRWA operations
Israeli lawmakers are set to discuss two bills intended to end all Israeli cooperation with UNRWA — the United Nations agency that provides assistance to Palestinian refugees.
If the bills pass, UNRWA could be evicted from premises it has held for over 70 years and have its immunities revoked, majorly restricting its ability to deliver health care, education and other resources to Palestinians.
An Oct. 13 letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Israeli ministers warned that the proposed UNRWA legislation could exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and restrict aid to Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Israel alleges that UNRWA is compromised by militants, with Israeli intelligence claiming that around 10% of UNRWA’s Gaza workforce — some 1,200 employees — are Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
Israeli operation in Kamal Adwan Hospital concludes, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday it completed its raid on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip where IDF troops have been waging a major campaign.
The IDF claimed that “a number of terrorists — including Hamas terrorists who took part in the Oct. 7 massacre — had barricaded themselves inside the hospital.”
The IDF said its troops arrested around 100 fighters from within the hospital compound, “including terrorists who attempted to escape during the evacuation of civilians.”
The IDF said it found “weapons, terror funds and intelligence documents” in the hospital and in the surrounding area.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Iran will not back off in the face of Israeli aggression, Iranian president says
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday his country would stand firm following Israel’s attack on Iran.
“Definitely the free people will not back off in the face of this criminal, blood-thirsty regime. We have always defended the rights of our people and will continue to do so,” Pezeshkian told cabinet members, according to The Associated Press.
Earlier, Iranian state TV reported that Pezeshkian said Iran would respond to Israel “appropriately.”
Israel attacked military targets in Iran on Saturday in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles Iran fired on Israel earlier this month, marking the first time the IDF has openly attacked Iran.
Pezeshkian also warned tensions will escalate if Israel’s aggressions and crimes continue.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Iran calls for UN Security Council meeting after Israel’s retaliatory attack
The U.N. Security Council will meet Monday at Iran’s request after Israel’s retaliatory attack against the country, a spokesperson for the Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. confirmed to ABC News.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called Israel’s retaliatory attack a “serious violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a flagrant breach of international law,” in a letter requesting the U.N. Security Council meeting.
The letter from Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was sent to the UNSC’s current president and U.N. Secretary General António Guterres.
