Russia conducts another massive aerial attack on Ukraine overnight
Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images
(KYIV, Ukraine) — Russia has carried out a massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine overnight, targeting energy and gas infrastructure in various regions, Ukrainian officials said Friday morning.
A total of 261 missiles and drones were launched by Russia, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, which said it used Mirage-2000 fighter jets for the first time alongside F-16s to repel the attack.
The latest attack is one of the largest air attacks of the war to date as Russia, in recent months, has dramatically increased the number of drones it can launch every night against Ukrainian cities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there can be “no pause” in pressure on Russia earlier this week just the day after the U.S. confirmed it had stopped sharing intelligence with Kyiv.
President Donald Trump’s decision to pause all U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing has raised concerns that Ukraine’s air defenses will become less effective in the days, weeks and months to come.
The pause followed last week’s explosive Oval Office meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump. White House officials have suggested the freeze may be lifted if Ukraine takes concrete steps towards a peace deal with Russia to end Moscow’s 3-year-old invasion.
It now appears likely that Russia will try to increase these attacks at a critical time as the end of U.S. intelligence sharing and supplies of anti-aircraft missiles could weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend against them.
Russian missiles and drone attacks are a nightly occurrence in Ukraine. The country has become largely reliant on Western anti-air weapons to defeat incoming projectiles.
U.S. intelligence sharing with Ukraine had allowed Kyiv to give warnings to targeted areas ahead of Russian drone and missile strikes, tracking Russian aircraft taking off, drones being launched and missiles being fired.
A Ukrainian intelligence official told ABC News on Wednesday that the intelligence sharing pause included a halt in sharing U.S. satellite imagery through the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Trump has repeatedly — and falsely — blamed Ukraine for starting the war with Russia while seeking to undermine Zelenskyy’s legitimacy as president. The White House is pushing Kyiv to accept a deal to end the fighting and to sign an agreement giving the U.S. access to Ukrainian mineral resources.
(LONDON) — The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza, particularly in the north of the strip. A latest round of peace talks to end the 15-month-old war has resumed in Qatar, with high-level delegations traveling to Doha.
Meanwhile, the November ceasefire in Lebanon is holding despite ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, which Israeli officials say are responses to ceasefire violations by the Iranian-backed militant group. Israeli forces also remain active inside the Syrian border region as victorious rebels there build a transitional government.
Tensions 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. The IDF and the Yemeni Houthis also continue to exchange attacks.
Qatar expecting ceasefire deal ‘soon’
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said at a Tuesday briefing that participants in the ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks in Doha are close to a ceasefire deal.
“We expect the agreement to be announced soon,” the spokesperson said during the press conference.
Qatar is a key mediator between Israel and Hamas and has hosted several rounds of ceasefire talks in the capital Doha.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta
61 Palestinians killed in Gaza as ceasefire talks continue
The Gaza Ministry of Health said Tuesday that Israel Defense Forces strikes killed at least 61 Palestinians in the previous 24 hours and injured 281 more in the Hamas-run territory.
The total number of Palestinians killed since the war broke out on Oct. 7, 2023, is now 46,645 with 110,012 people injured, according to the ministry.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
Hamas says Gaza talks are in ‘final stages’
Hamas said in a statement Tuesday that ceasefire, prisoner and hostage release talks with Israel are in their “final stages,” adding it hopes “that this round of negotiations will end with a clear and comprehensive agreement.”
In a statement posted to the group’s website, Hamas said it held meetings and consultations with leaders of other Palestinian factions regarding the progress made in ongoing negotiations in Doha, Qatar.
“During these contacts, the leaders of the forces and factions expressed their satisfaction with the course of the negotiations, stressing the need for general national preparation for the next stage and its requirements,” Hamas said.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta
Israel hoping for ceasefire announcement ‘soon,’ official says
An Israeli government official told ABC News on Tuesday morning they “hope we can announce something soon” regarding a potential ceasefire in Gaza.
The official said there had been “real progress” on every part of the negotiation in the last few days.
The official added that Hamas has changed and they are no longer “dictating” the terms, but are negotiating. “We are close, but not there yet,” they said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Sirens sound in central Israel after projectile launched from Yemen: IDF
A projectile was fired from Yemen towards Israel, the IDF said in a release early Tuesday morning local time.
Sirens were sounded in a number of areas in central Israel, the IDF said.
Latest on hostages in ceasefire deal
Thirty-three hostages, living and dead, are expected to be freed in the first phase of the ceasefire deal, according to a person with direct knowledge of the ongoing negotiations.
There are 94 abductees remaining in Gaza, including 34 who have been confirmed dead, according to Israeli officials.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
‘Real chance’ of ceasefire success, source says
A source close to the ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar told ABC News that Israel is waiting for Hamas to approve moving into a final “closing round of negotiations,” adding there is a “real chance” for a “breakthrough” after a diplomatic blitz in Doha this weekend.
“We still have ahead of us a closing round of negotiations,” the source added
Reuters reported Monday that mediators in Qatar handed both Israel and Hamas a final draft of the ceasefire proposal, citing an official briefed on the negotiations.
Reuters reported that the official said a breakthrough was reached after talks between Steve Witkoff — President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy — the Qatari prime minister and Israeli spy chiefs.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, meanwhile, said Monday “there is progress,” and that the situation “looks much better than previously.”
“I don’t want to say more than that because I realize there are families and they are sensitive to every word, and every sentence,” Saar added. “I hope that within a short time we will see things happening, but it is still to be proved.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Guy Davies
Far-right minister says potential Gaza ceasefire deal represents ‘catastrophe’
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he will not support the potential Gaza ceasefire deal currently being negotiated in Qatar, describing it as “a catastrophe for the national security of Israel.”
“We will not be part of a surrender deal that would include releasing arch terrorists, stopping the war and destroying its achievements that were bought with much blood and abandoning many hostages,” Smotrich wrote in a post to X on Monday.
“Now is the time to continue with all our might, to occupy and cleanse the entire strip, to finally take control of humanitarian aid from Hamas and to open the gates of hell on Gaza until Hamas surrenders completely and all the hostages are returned.”
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
Netanyahu spoke with Biden on ceasefire and hostage deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he spoke with President Joe Biden on Sunday about progress in negotiating a ceasefire and hostage deal.
A senior White House administration official confirmed the call to ABC News.
“The Prime Minister discussed with the US President the progress in negotiations for the release of our hostages, and updated him on the mandate he gave to the negotiating delegation to Doha, in order to promote the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu’s office wrote in a release about the call.
According to the White House, Biden and Netanyahu “discussed the fundamentally changed regional circumstances following the ceasefire deal in Lebanon, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, and the weakening of Iran’s power in the region.”
The call comes as Brett McGurk, the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, is in the Middle East for negotiations. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that McGurk is there to hammer out the “final details” of an agreement.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Michelle Stoddart
100 days of Israel’s north Gaza assault
Sunday marked 100 days since the Israel Defense Forces launched its military operation in northern Gaza, with the toll of dead and missing Palestinians now at 5,000 people, according to a report published by the Gaza media office in the Hamas-run territory.
Some 9,500 more people have been injured and 2,600 have been detained including women and children, the report said.
Israel continues striking targets across the strip. Over the last 24 hours, IDF attacks killed 24 Palestinians, according to data published by the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The report added that 46,565 Palestinians have been killed by Israel throughout Gaza since the war began in October 2023, with another 109,660 people injured.
Israeli attacks in the north of Gaza have targeted civilian infrastructures and hospitals, which combined with a siege of the area have worsened a humanitarian crisis there.
Calling for an end to the war, the Gaza media office report urged the international community — including the UN — to take immediate action to stop the assault and address the humanitarian crisis in the strip.
Israeli strikes on Gaza continued as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dispatched senior negotiators to Qatar for ceasefire, prisoner and hostage release talks attended by President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East adviser, Steven Witkoff, and President Joe Biden’s outgoing adviser, Brett McGurk.
-ABC News’ Samy Zyara and Jordana Miller
High-level delegations gather in Doha for Gaza talks
For the first time in months, Israeli sources are expressing cautious optimism that a Gaza ceasefire may be within reach before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
Officials close to the matter told ABC News on Sunday that a high-level Israeli delegation led by the head of the Mossad — David Barnea — arrived in Doha, Qatar, for a critical round of talks.
Others participating are Egyptian and U.S. officials including President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East adviser, Steven Witkoff, and President Joe Biden’s outgoing adviser, Brett McGurk.
Witkoff made a surprise visit to Israel Saturday and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to Israel’s Channel 12, progress on some issues has been made — including the ratio of Palestinian prisoners to be released and the details of the Israel Defense Forces’ redeployment.
But some outstanding issues remain, including whether Hamas can provide Israel with a list of hostages who are alive. A Hamas official told Saudi media on Saturday that the group is ready to show flexibility.
The first phase of the deal is expected to last six to eight weeks, as the report suggests. A leaked hostage list by Hamas shows the names of two Americans to be released in the first phase. Seven Americans are among the 94 hostages, three of whom are presumed to still be alive.
(LONDON) — Munich police said “around 20” people were injured after a “vehicle drove into a group of people” in the center of the city on Thursday morning.
“The driver was able to be secured on site and currently poses no further danger,” police said in a post in German on social media.
Police said in an update that they didn’t yet have info on the severity of the injuries.
Police said the incident occurred in the area of Dachauer Street and Seidle Street in the heart of Munich, close to the city’s central train station.
Police said a “major operation” was underway, urging residents to avoid the area in order to assist emergency responders.
Thursday’s vehicle crash came less than two months after a car plowed through a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, killing two people and injuring nearly 70 others, local officials said at the time.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Helena Skinner contributed to this report.
Venezuelan community leaders speak to the media as they protest against the suspension of Temporary Protected Status in Doral, Fla., Feb. 3, 2025. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Nearly 350,000 Venezuelans who gained relief from deportation and obtained work permits in 2023 under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will lose those protections in April, according to an unpublished notice filed in the Federal Register.
Last week, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced she was canceling a recent extension of the program by former Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas which would have allowed nearly 600,000 current Venezuelan TPS holders to maintain their legal status until October 2026. She had until Feb. 1 to decide whether she’d extend protections for those who joined the program in 2023.
Now, nearly 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants may lose their legal status if they don’t have any other type of relief.
The program began in 1990 as a way to protect immigrants who are already in the United States when their home countries are deemed to dangerous to return to. TPS is under the DHS Secretary’s discretion.
In the notice, DHS acknowledges that some of the conditions in Venezuela that the Biden administration used to justify TPS designation in 2023, “may continue.” However, they claim things have gotten better in the country.
“There are notable improvements in several areas such as the economy, public health, and crime that allow for these nationals to be safely returned to their home country,” the notice file says.
The agency adds that Sec. Noem “has determined it is contrary to the national interest to permit the covered Venezuelan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States.”
The notice is set to publish Feb. 5 and says the termination of the 2023 TPS Venezuela designation will be effective 60 days from date of publication, however, protections were already set to expire April 2 without an extension.
In a letter to Noem last week, a group of Democratic lawmakers said returning Venezuelan immigrants “to a dictatorship” would be a “death sentence.”
“Given Venezuela’s increased instability, repression, and lack of safety, and within all applicable rules and regulations, we demand more information on why the Department has made this decision,” the lawmakers said. “The only justification that has been offered by the Administration is the false claim that all Venezuelans are ‘dirt bags,’ ‘violent criminals’ or the ‘worst of the worst.'”
Immigrant advocates are also sounding the alarm about the move some consider “cruel” and “reckless.”
“Donald Trump’s attempt to revoke protections for 300,000 Venezuelans is as cruel as it is reckless — but we know he won’t stop here. His shock-and-awe approach to dismantling the immigration system is already devastating families and communities across the country, and we’re likely to see immigrants from Ukraine and Afghanistan targeted next,” Keri Talbot, co-executive director of the Immigration Hub, told ABC News.
“Families who have built their lives here — who work, contribute, and play by the rules — are under attack, being thrown into crisis overnight and forced from their homes. This isn’t about policy; it’s about inflicting harm at any cost.” Talbot added.
The termination does not apply to Venezuelans who registered under the 2021 TPS designation, those protections will remain in effect until Sept. 10, 2025.
