Ukrainian forces claim ‘significant’ casualties among North Koreans in Kursk
Yao Dawei/Xinhua via Getty Images
(LONDON) — The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Directorate of Intelligence said on Monday that at least 30 North Korean soldiers were killed and wounded in weekend battles in Russia’s western Kursk region, prompting commanders to send reinforcements to frontline units.
“North Korean army units are being re-equipped after losses in assaults” around the villages of Plekhovo, Vorozhba and Martynovka in the Kursk region, the GUR wrote in a post to its official Telegram channel.
On Dec. 14 and 15, the GUR said, “units of the DPRK army suffered significant losses — at least 30 soldiers were killed and wounded,” using the acronym for the country’s official name of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
At least three North Korean troops went missing around the village of Kurilovka in Kursk, the post added.
“Due to losses, the assault groups are being replenished with fresh personnel, in particular from the 94th separate brigade of the DPRK army, to continue active combat operations in the area,” the GUR wrote.
Pyongyang is believed to have sent up to 12,000 troops to Russia in recent months, according to a November briefing by Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder. Their focus is believed to be the Kursk region of western Russia, where Ukrainian forces seized ground in a surprise August offensive.
Sources told ABC News in November that North Koreans may be among the approximately 50,000 troops being readied for a significant counteroffensive in Kursk.
Russian leaders have said they will not consider any peace talks while Kursk remains partially occupied, though officials in Kyiv frame their retention of Russian territory as important negotiating leverage.
North Korea’s provision of troops marked a new level of cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang. The two neighbors have drawn closer since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with North Korea already providing Moscow with artillery munitions and ballistic missiles.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Kyiv has “preliminary data that the Russians have begun to use North Korean soldiers in their assaults — a significant number of them.”
“The Russians include them in combined units and use them in operations in the Kursk region,” Zelenskyy said in a statement posted to his Telegram page. “So far, only there. But we have information suggesting their use could extend to other parts of the frontline. There are also already noticeable losses in this category.”
“We will defend ourselves, including against these North Koreans,” Zelenskyy added. “And we will continue to act in coordination with all our partners to stop this war — to stop it decisively, with guaranteed peace.”
(LONDON) — Israeli forces continued their intense operations inside Gaza after Hamas leader and Oct. 7, 2023 attack mastermind Yahya Sinwar was killed in a firefight with Israeli forces.
The development comes as Israel continues intense air and ground campaigns against Hezbollah in Lebanon and against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and mulls its response to Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday in a bid to kickstart stalled cease-fire talks and prevent further regional escalation.
Surgeon under Israeli siege in north Gaza reports death ‘in all forms’
Dr. Mohammed Obeid, a Médecins Sans Frontières surgeon working at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza said medical workers there are “hopeless” and under constant fire amidst Israel’s siege.
“There is death in all types and forms,” Obeid said. “The bombardment does not stop. The artillery does not stop. The planes do not stop. There is heavy shelling, and the hospital is [being] targeted too.”
“It just looks like a movie — it does not seem real,” he added.
“We have 30 people dead inside the hospital and around 130 injured patients who need urgent medical care. Medical staff are exhausted and many are injured as well. We feel hopeless. I just don’t have words.”
-ABC News’ Guy Davies
Blinken in Qatar for talks on ending Gaza war
Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha on Thursday as he neared the end of this week’s Middle East peace push.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement that Blinken discussed “renewed efforts to secure the release of the hostages and end the war in Gaza, as well as ongoing work to provide for security, governance and reconstruction in Gaza after the war.”
Blinken and Al Thani also discussed Israel’s war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and “exchanged views on achieving a diplomatic resolution along the Blue Line and making political progress in Lebanon in order to ensure its sovereignty and security.”
Blinken is set to travel to the U.K. after concluding his meetings in Qatar.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty
16 killed in Israeli airstrike on school-turned-shelter, officials say
Hospital officials at Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza said they received 16 dead bodies and 32 injured people after Israeli strikes on a school-turned-shelter in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.
The hospital said “most” of the victims were “children and elderly people.”
The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately comment on the attack.
-ABC News’ Dia Ostaaz and Guy Davies
Deadly airstrikes in Syria, military says
Syria’s Defense Ministry reported airstrikes in the capital Damascus and at a military site near the western city of Homs on Thursday.
The attacks killed one soldier and injured seven other people, according to the ministry.
Israel — which has conducted regular strikes inside Syria in recent years — did not claim the airstrikes. The country generally refuses to confirm or deny responsibility for operations on foreign soil.
-ABC News’ Bruno Nota and Guy Davies
IDF accuses Hezbollah of using ambulances to carry weapons
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee alleged on X on Thursday that Hezbollah is using ambulances to transport fighters and weapons.
Any vehicle used for “terrorist” purposes will be subject to “necessary measures,” Adraee wrote.
The IDF did not provide any evidence to support the assertion. Medical vehicles, workers and facilities have been repeatedly targeted by Israeli attacks in Lebanon.
-ABC News’ Guy Davies
IDF says 50 projectiles, 2 missiles fired from Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces wrote on X on Thursday morning that around 50 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory.
The launches set off air alert sirens in the Upper and Western Galilee areas, with some projectiles intercepted and other landing, the IDF said.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said paramedics evacuated three people suffering from shrapnel injuries to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. Two of the victims were in moderate condition and one in mild condition, the service said.
The IDF also reported two missiles fired from Lebanon into northern Israel which it said “fell in open areas.”
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
US urges Israel to address ‘dire humanitarian situation’ in Gaza U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant Wednesday to discuss Israel’s operations in Lebanon and the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the Pentagon said in a statement.
“Secretary Austin welcomed the movement of humanitarian assistance through the Erez crossing and urged the Government of Israel to take all necessary steps to address the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza,” Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said of the call.
Humanitarian services ‘completely stopped’ in north, Gaza Civil Defense says The Gaza Civil Defense said its work has “completely stopped” in northern Gaza as “the situation there has become catastrophic,” according to a statement released Wednesday.
“Citizens there are now without humanitarian services,” the Gaza Civil Defense said.
Medical supplies have also run out at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, the director of field hospitals in Gaza said Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz
Nearly 200,000 people displaced in Lebanon as number of Israeli strikes approaches 11,000
Nearly 200,000 people have been displaced across various regions of Lebanon as the number of Israeli strikes on the country approaches 11,000, according to a report from the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
The highest concentrations of displaced persons are in Mount Lebanon and Beirut, though the estimated total number of displaced individuals is likely much higher, the ministry said.
At least 2,574 people were killed and 12,001 others were injured since the increase in strikes began, the ministry said.
Since the increase in strikes began, 1,097 centers have been established to accommodate the displaced, with 922 of these centers reaching maximum capacity, the ministry said.
From Sept. 23 to Oct. 23, 344,819 Syrian nationals and 150,104 Lebanese nationals crossed the Lebanese border into Syria, the ministry said.
Over 150 patients in northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital in critical condition
More than 150 people in northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital are in critical condition and are facing increasingly dire conditions, according to the hospital director.
Health services cannot be provided to the sick and injured due to the depletion of medical supplies, according to the director.
“Kamal Adwan Hospital remains partially functional but is struggling to meet growing needs due to intensified hostilities in the north and a shortage of medical supplies and fuel. A strike near the hospital causing damages to the gate was reported earlier today, 22 October,” the World Health Organization said in a statement Wednesday.
“As hostilities intensify in North Gaza, WHO is deeply concerned about the last two functional hospitals – Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda – which must be protected. A complete lack of health care in North Gaza would make an already catastrophic situation worse, and lead to more lives being lost,” the WHO said.
Gaza polio vaccine campaign postponed due to ‘intense’ attacks, UN says
The World Health Organization announced Wednesday that it has been forced to postpone the third phase of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza.
The WHO blamed “escalating violence, intense bombardment, mass displacement orders and lack of assured humanitarian pauses across most of northern Gaza.”
The third and final round of the vaccination push was due to start on Wednesday, the WHO said, and aimed to vaccinate 119,279 children across northern Gaza.
“The current conditions, including ongoing attacks on civilian infrastructure continue to jeopardize people’s safety and movement in northern Gaza, making it impossible for families to safely bring their children for vaccination, and health workers to operate,” the organization wrote in a statement published on its website.
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
Blinken to travel to Qatar, UK after Saudi visit
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Qatar and the U.K. after his Wednesday stop in Saudi Arabia, the State Department announced.
Blinken left Israel early Wednesday following meetings with officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.
The visit was the first on a Middle East tour intended to kickstart stalled cease-fire negotiations in Gaza and encourage a diplomatic resolution to the ongoing fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.
Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday morning ahead of a planned meeting with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman.
-ABC News’ Cindy Smith
US has ‘not seen evidence’ of bunker under Beirut hospital: Austin
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters Wednesday that U.S. officials have “not seen evidence” to support Israel’s claim of a Hezbollah bunker located under Al-Sahel hospital in southern Beirut.
“We’ll continue to collaborate with our Israeli counterparts to gain better fidelity on exactly what they’re looking at,” Austin added.
Israel claims Hezbollah is using the purported bunker to store hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold under the city’s southern Dahiya suburb. Hospital officials have denied the allegation.
The area — known as a Hezbollah stronghold — has been the focus of its intense airstrikes on the Lebanese capital over the past month.
-ABC News’ Chris Boccia
Austin says no staffers probed in FBI’s Israel leak investigation
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday denied reports that one of his senior staffers is under investigation by the FBI in connection with leaked Pentagon documents purportedly relating to Israel’s planned retaliatory strike on Iran.
“There’s no OSD [Office of the Secretary of Defense] official being named as a part of this investigation,” Austin told reporters while in Rome, Italy. “So that is not true at this point.”
“I’ve seen no evidence of that, or any indication that any OSD official will be implicated as part of this.”
-ABC News’ Chris Boccia
More overnight Israeli strikes rock Beirut
The Israel Defense Forces said warplanes conducted another night of airstrikes in the Lebanese capital targeting what it said were Hezbollah weapons storage, arms manufacturing and command center targets in the southern suburbs.
The airstrikes centered on Dahiya — an area of south Beirut known as a Hezbollah stronghold.
More than 2,500 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since Oct. 7, 2023, with nearly 12,000 injured, according to tallies from the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Will Gretsky
Blinken departs Israel for Saudi Arabia
Secretary of State Antony Blinken departed Israel early Wednesday for Saudi Arabia — the next stop on his latest Middle East tour.
Before boarding his plane in Tel Aviv, Blinken told reporters that Israel has now achieved most of its military objectives in Gaza — including the elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar — but at great cost to Palestinian civilians.
Blinken said it was time to end the conflict, having spent Tuesday meeting with Israeli leaders — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — and the families of hostages in a bid to revive cease-fire and hostage release talks.
There is now a need to establish whether a post-Sinwar Hamas will be more open to a diplomatic resolution, Blinken said, plus to facilitate more aid into Gaza and to establish a concrete plan for the post-war governance of the territory.
Blinken said such questions would be part of his meetings with other Middle East leaders through this week.
-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston
US officials press Israel on ‘General’s Plan’
During their meeting Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about reports that some Israeli officials wanted to seize control of north Gaza using controversial methods, according to a senior U.S. administration official.
Coined the “General’s Plan” by media outlets, the idea would be to force evacuations of the area and assume anyone who stays behind is an enemy combatant and can be fired upon and starved.
The senior U.S. administration official said Blinken noted in the meeting that there’s a “perception” that this method is official Israeli policy.
The official said Netanyahu and his top aide, Ron Dermer, denied that it was and said the perception was “deeply damaging” to their efforts.
“We did hear a very clear commitment that that is not their state of policy,” the official told a reporter.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
Blinken, Netanyahu meet as US pushes for cease-fire
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for over 2 1/2 hours on Tuesday, as the U.S. makes a push for a cease-fire agreement to end Israel’s conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah.
Blinken and Netanyahu discussed the need to capitalize on the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to reach an agreement that would secure the release of the remaining hostages being held in Gaza and putting in place a plan that provides lasting peace for Palestinians and Israelis.
Blinken also discussed the importance of increasing the flow of aid being allowed into Gaza. The U.S. warned Israel last week that assistance could be withheld if humanitarian aid doesn’t reach civilians in Gaza.
Lebanese hospital sustained ‘severe material damage’ in Israeli strike
Lebanon’s Rafik Hariri University Hospital will continue providing care despite the building sustaining “severe material damage” in an Israeli strike on Monday, according to Dr. Jihad Saadeh, the head of the hospital.
“Because of the targeting that has happened, we have sustained severe material damage to the hospital, including the destruction of solar panels, extensive destruction of all glass facades and damage to the hospital walls. Severe damage because it seems the shrapnel was very large,” Saadeh said.
“We will not stop. Several entities even called me yesterday asking if I would like to evacuate the hospital. I told them, not at all. We will not evacuate. There is no hospital left but us. After the sinful targeting of the suburb’s hospitals, there is no one left except for us. So we will continue our work, God willing,” Saadeh said.
Drone attack on Netanyahu’s house caused damage
The drone that targeted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home on Saturday caused some damage to the structure, according to a person familiar.
Netanyahu called the attack an “attempt to assassinate me and my wife,” in a statement Saturday. They were not in the home at the time of the attack, according to the prime minister’s office.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
63 killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon Monday
At least 63 people were killed and 234 were injured in Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Monday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
Since the start of Israel’s increased strikes on Lebanon, at least 2,546 people were killed and 11,862 others were injured, the ministry said.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Gaza’s development set back 69 years by war, UN says
The United Nations Development Programme published a new report Tuesday suggesting that Israel’s war against Hamas has set the Gaza Strip’s development back by as much as 69 years.
Poverty levels in Gaza are projected to rise to 74.3% in 2024, affecting over 4 million people, the report said — including 2.61 million “newly impoverished” people.
The territory’s GDP is expected to contract by some 35.1% in 2024 compared to a no-war scenario, it added, with unemployment potentially rising to almost 50%.
“The assessment indicates that, even if humanitarian aid is provided each year, the economy may not regain its pre-crisis level for a decade or more,” UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said.
Evacuation leaflets accompany Israeli attacks in north Gaza
At least 12 people were killed or injured in Israel Defense Forces attacks in northern Gaza over the past 24 hours, officials from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Tuesday.
At least 87 people were killed over the weekend in an IDF attack in the Beit Lahia neighborhood, officials said, just north of the Jabalia refugee camp which has been the focus of recent Israeli operations in the area. The IDF disputed the death toll.
Meanwhile, the IDF dropped leaflets over Beit Lahia on Tuesday urging residents to evacuate southwards.
Footage from the area showed long lines of people — mostly women and children — fleeing with their belongings under the watch of Israeli forces.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Guy Davies
Beirut hospital won’t evacuate despite Israeli strike, director says
The general manager of Beirut’s Rafik Hariri University Hospital said on Tuesday that staff would continue treating patients there despite a nearby Israeli airstrike.
“We are committed to continuing our work and will not evacuate the hospital,” Dr. Jihad Saadeh said. “Although the hospital has suffered damage from shrapnel, we are prepared to treat patients in the hospital corridors if necessary.”
The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said 13 people including a child were killed and at least 57 others injured in the Israeli airstrike late Monday, with significant damage done to the nearby hospital — the largest public medical facility in Lebanon.
There was no warning issued before the strike on the hospital, sources told ABC News. The Israel Defense Forces denied the hospital was hit and said its strike was on a nearby Hezbollah target.
Saadeh told Tuesday’s press conference that some 50 healthcare centers, 150 ambulances, 150 paramedics and 15 hospitals have been targeted in Israeli attacks.
-ABC News’ Josiane Hajj Moussa and Guy Davies
IDF strike near hospital in Lebanon kills 13 and injures at least 57
An Israel Defense Forces strike near Rafik Hariri Hospital in southern Beirut on Monday killed 13 people including a child and injured at least 57 others, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
Seventeen of those injured required hospitalization, with seven in a critical condition, the ministry said in a Tuesday statement.
The hospital, which is the largest public medical facility in Lebanon, sustained significant damage, officials said.
There was no warning issued before the strike on the hospital, sources told ABC News.
The IDF denied attacking the hospital in a statement, claiming it was targeting a Hezbollah target close to the facility. “The strike did not hit the hospital and the IDF emphasizes that the hospital was not targeted, and the hospital itself and its operation were not affected, the IDF said.
-ABC News’ Josiane Hajj Moussa, Jordana Miller and Guy Davies
Israel designates Al-Qard al-Hassan as a terrorist organization
Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced Tuesday that he designated the Al-Qard al-Hassan finance institution — which Israel alleges is a key financial vehicle for Hezbollah — a terrorist organization.
“Hezbollah’s bank is used to purchase weapons, pay the salaries of terrorists and keep Hezbollah’s terror machine going,” Gallant wrote in a post on X.
“Degrading Hezbollah’s capabilities requires both a military and economic campaign,” he added. “We are destroying the terrorist organization’s ability to both launch and buy missiles.”
Israel has been targeting Al-Qard al-Hassan infrastructure throughout Lebanon in recent days. The strikes have been especially fierce in Beirut, and particularly in its southern Dahiya suburb which is known as a Hezbollah stronghold.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Blinken lands in Israel
Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Tuesday to begin a tour of Middle East nations in bid to reinvigorate cease-fire talks in both Gaza and Lebanon.
Blinken is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.
The revival of stalled cease-fire talks and the prevention of further regional escalation are at the top of the agenda for America’s top diplomat.
Blinken’s latest regional tour comes just two weeks to go until the U.S. presidential election and with Israel still mulling its retaliation against Iran for the latter’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack.
-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston and Guy Davies
IDF claims 230 more strikes in Lebanon and Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces said in a social media post Tuesday that it struck around 230 Hezbollah and Hamas targets in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip over the previous 24 hours.
The strikes killed “dozens” of fighters, the IDF claimed, and hit targets including three purported command centers of a Hezbollah drone unit in southern Lebanon.
In Gaza, fighting continues in the Jabalia area in the north of the strip, which is under intense Israeli bombardment and sweeping evacuation orders.
The IDF said “thousands of civilians have been evacuated” from the area, while “dozens of terrorists were arrested from among the civilians.”
Another 10 fighters were killed in a strike in the area, the IDF added. Troops also dismantled several tunnel shafts and a rocket launcher in Beit Lahia, to the north of Jabalia.
Elsewhere, the IDF reported an airstrike on a rocket launcher and ammunition in the southern Rafah area.
IDF claims Nasrallah’s bunker located underneath Beirut hospital
The Israel Defense Forces claimed late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s gold-filled bunker is located underneath a Beirut hospital, which hospital officials said was being evacuated Monday out of an abundance of caution.
“There are millions of dollars in gold and cash in Hassan Nasrallah’s bunker. Where is the bunker located? Directly under Al-Sahel Hospital — in the heart of Beirut,” IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a video address Monday.
The IDF released 3D renderings of the hospital building and the bunker it said belonged to Nasrallah, who was killed in Israeli airstrikes in Beirut last month, but has not provided tangible proof. Hagari said the Israeli air force is monitoring the site but added, “We will not strike the hospital itself.”
“We are not at war with the people of Lebanon. We are at war with Hezbollah,” he said.
Following Hagari’s remarks, Lebanese hospital officials said the hospital is being evacuated out of an abundance of caution for the safety of the patients. Lebanese Parliament member Fadi Alameh, the owner of the hospital, said he has requested that the Lebanese army and United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon investigate the Israeli allegations.
Lebanese official Wiam Wahhab said the “talk of weapons depots” at the hospital “is illogical and false.”
“This points to the beginning of targeting hospitals, and the army must deploy around the hospital and protect it,” he said.
Dr. Youssef Bakhash, the president of the Lebanese Order of Physicians, told the Lebanese media group Al Jadeed that the “pretext of the existence of tunnels and funds beneath Sahel Hospital is aimed at targeting and disrupting the healthcare sector.”
Israel’s conflict with Iran to last ‘many months’: Former IDF general
Israel’s planned attack on Iran will mark the “beginning of a war” that will last “many months,” retired Israel Defense Forces Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi told ABC News.
Israel’s war with Hezbollah had gone incredibly well and the IDF had surpassed its own expectations in degrading the Iranian proxy, Avivi said, adding that the same mentality would be applied to dealing with the Iranian regime itself.
“We have a historical opportunity to deal with Iran so they don’t pose another threat to Israel,” said Avivi, the founder of the right-wing think tank Israel’s Defense and Security Forum.
Israel’s retaliatory strike on Iran will be “fierce and strong and very surprising” when it happens, he said.
-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge and Jordana Miller
300 Hezbollah targets hit in Lebanon in past 24 hours: IDF
The Israel Defense Forces said it hit 300 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in the past 24 hours, which saw an intense night of airstrikes on Beirut.
Seven brigade commanders, 21 battalion commanders and 24 company commanders for Hezbollah were killed in its ongoing operations, the IDF said.
More strikes against Hezbollah targets are expected all over southern Lebanon Monday night, IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.
Still unclear whether intelligence docs were leaked or hacked: White House
There’s no indication yet whether classified documents on Israel’s retaliation plans were leaked or hacked, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Monday.
“I’m just not able to answer your question whether it was a leak or a hack at this point. We’ll let the investigation pursue its logical course there,” Kirby said.
Kirby said that President Joe Biden was “deeply concerned” about the incident, and that while they don’t expect more documents to be revealed, they are on high alert amid the investigation.
“We’re certainly going to keep our antenna up and our eyes open for any potential future disclosures,” he said.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
7 Israeli citizens arrested after allegedly spying for Iran
Seven Israeli citizens were arrested after allegedly spying for Iran, Israeli authorities said Monday.
The Israel Security Agency and Israel Police said they “successfully dismantled a spy network” that allegedly gathered sensitive information on Israel Defense Forces bases and energy infrastructure.
The citizens were allegedly recruited by Iranian agents to conduct “security-related tasks” over at least two years, authorities said, including “extensive reconnaissance missions” on air force and navy installations, ports, Iron Dome system locations and energy infrastructure.
Photographs and videos of “numerous” IDF bases, ports and energy infrastructure were seized as part of the investigation, authorities said.
“It is assessed that these activities have inflicted security damage on the state,” the ISA and Israel Police said.
The seven Israelis were allegedly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, often through cryptocurrencies, for their work, authorities said.
Prosecutors are expected to file an indictment against them in the coming days.
Austin: ‘Hard to say’ what Israeli retaliatory strike on Iran will look like
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters while traveling to Ukraine on Monday that it’s “hard to say” what an Israeli retaliatory strike on Iran will look like, when asked whether the response should be proportional.
“That’s an Israeli decision,” he said. “Whether or not the Israelis believe [it] is proportional and [how] the Iranians perceive it, I mean, those are maybe two different things.”
Austin told reporters that the U.S. is “going to continue to do everything we can” to get both parties to “begin to de-escalate.”
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Blinken to visit Israel in Middle East tour
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will begin a tour of Israel and other Middle Eastern nations on Monday in a bid to inject new life into stalled cease-fire and hostage release negotiations in Gaza, the State Department said.
Blinken “will discuss the importance of bringing the war in Gaza to an end, securing the release of all hostages and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people,” the State Department notice said.
“He will continue discussions on post-conflict period planning and emphasize the need to chart a new path forward that enables Palestinians to rebuild their lives and realize their aspirations free from Hamas’ tyranny,” the statement said.
Blinken will also “underscore that additional food, medicine and other humanitarian aid must be delivered to civilians in Gaza,” it continued.
The situation in Lebanon — where Israel is continuing an intense air and ground campaign and Hezbollah is still firing across the shared border — will also be a topic of discussion, the State Department said.
Blinken will continue pursuit of a “diplomatic resolution” that “allows civilians on both sides” of the border to return to their homes, the statement said.
-ABC News’ Cindy Smith
‘Beirut in flames’ after night of airstrikes, foreign minister says
“Beirut in flames,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on X on Monday following an intense night of airstrikes on the Lebanese capital.
“A wide-scale Israeli attack targeted Hezbollah’s financial infrastructure in Beirut and across Lebanon last night,” Katz said.
“Massive fires were seen above Beirut as over 15 buildings were struck following evacuation warnings to residents,” the foreign minister wrote.
“Hezbollah has paid and will continue to pay a heavy price for its attacks on northern Israel and its rocket fire. We will keep striking the Iranian proxy until it collapses.”
-ABC News’ Guy Davies
IDF claims ‘dozens’ of strikes on Hezbollah financial targets
Israel Defense Forces warplanes launched “a series of targeted, intelligence-based strikes against dozens of facilities and sites used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization to finance its terrorist activities,” the IDF said in a Monday post to X.
The Sunday night strikes hit targets in Beirut, southern Lebanon and elsewhere “deep within” the country, the IDF added.
The IDF said the targets were linked to the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association, which Israel has accused of acting as a key financier of Hezbollah activities.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
US investigating intelligence leak on Israel’s alleged plan to attack Iran
Documents purporting to show classified U.S. intelligence-gathering on Israel’s preparations for a possible retaliatory strike against Iran appeared on social media platforms late last week.
The impact of the circulation of these documents on current and future planning by the Israeli military is unclear at this time.
U.S. officials declined to comment on the situation when reached by ABC News. However, a law enforcement source on Sunday confirmed with ABC News that there is an investigation underway.
Markings on the documents indicate that they would have originated from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which collects, analyzes and distributes intelligence gleaned from satellite and aerial imagery.
If the documents are authentic, it would indicate a major intelligence breach.
According to Mick Mulroy, an ABC News national security and defense contributor, who served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East: “The future coordination between the U.S. and Israel could be challenged, as well.”
The Department of Defense, Federal Bureau of Investigation and a spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence all declined to comment when contacted by ABC News.
House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared on CNN Sunday and acknowledged that there is an investigation underway into the possible intelligence leak, adding, “We’re following it closely.”
-ABC News’ T. Michelle Murphy
IDF says it’s targeting infrastructure in Lebanon of group allegedly financing Hezbollah
The Israel Defense Forces announced it was targeting infrastructure Sunday night in Lebanon that has been linked to the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association, an organization it alleges is involved in financing Hezbollah.
The United States placed sanctions on the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association in May 2021 related to financing Hezbollah activities.
The Al-Qard Al-Hassan group has 31 branches in Lebanon — including in Beirut and Bekaa, officials said. At least one strike was reported Sunday evening in the Chyah neighborhood of Beirut.
“The ‘Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association’ is involved in financing the terrorist activities of the Hezbollah organization against Israel, and therefore the IDF has decided to attack this terrorist infrastructure,” the IDF said in a statement Sunday. “The IDF continues to work forcefully to destroy Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure. Therefore, we call on people inside buildings used by Hezbollah to stay at least 500 meters away from them for the next few hours.”
(DAMASCUS, SYRIA) — Rebel forces in Syria captured the capital Damascus and toppled the regime of President Bashar Assad in a lightning-quick advance across the country.
Meanwhile, the 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. The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza.
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.
Mossad chief travels to Qatar for ceasefire negotiations
Israel’s Mossad chief David Barnea traveled to Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday to advance a ceasefire and hostage release deal, a senior official told ABC News.
Israeli troops to stay in Syria beyond buffer zone, Netanyahu says
Israeli troops will remain in Syria slightly beyond a buffer zone — created by the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement — for “strategic reasons,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Thursday.
“The collapse of the Syrian regime created a vacuum on Israel’s border and in the buffer zone established by the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement. Israel will not permit jihadi groups to fill that vacuum and threaten Israeli communities on the Golan Heights with October 7th style attacks,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
“That is why Israeli forces entered the buffer zone and took control of strategic sites near Israel’s border. This deployment is temporary until a force that is committed to the 1974 agreement can be established and security on our border can be guaranteed,” the statement said.
Missing American may have been found in Syria, US officials say
The U.S. believes an individual seen in a video circulating online could be Travis Pete Timmerman, an American who went missing from Hungary earlier in the year, two officials familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Officials said they were seeking to provide support to the person, who was featured in a video published to social media on Thursday. The man does not speak in the short video and is seen lying on a mattress on the floor.
Timmerman, 29, has been missing since June 2, 2024, the date of his last contact, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol.
It wasn’t immediately clear when and where the circulating video was taken, but the person speaking in Arabic to the camera identifies the man as an American, according to a translation. The speaker was identified as a Syrian local.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
Syrian transition authorities thank nations for re-opening Damascus missions
The Political Affairs Department in Liberated Areas — which is part of the rebel-run transitional authorities — posted a statement on X on Thursday thanking nations for re-opening diplomatic missions in Damascus.
The statement expressed “thanks and gratitude” to Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman and Italy for re-opening their missions in the Syrian capital.
Turkey and Qatar, the department said, had given assurances that their missions will also re-open in the near future.
“The Syrian people will not forget” the steps taken, the department said. “We are hopeful of building good relations with all countries that respect the will of the people, the sovereignty of the Syrian state and the unity of its territories.”
UN ‘engaging all key actors in Syria,’ secretary-general says
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a Wednesday post to X that the body supports “a smooth transition of power in Syria, with an inclusive political process in which the rights of all minorities will be fully respected.”
Ongoing talks should pave “the way towards a united country with its territorial integrity fully reestablished,” Guterres added.
“I fully trust the Syrian people to be able to choose their own destiny,” he added, noting that special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen “is engaging all key actors to contribute to these objectives.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
UN General Assembly demands immediate Gaza ceasefire
The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Unlike U.N. Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, though they do reflect world opinion.
The 193-nation body voted 158-9, with 13 abstentions to demand an immediate ceasefire.
A second vote broke 159-9 with 11 abstentions in support of the agency known as UNRWA — officially the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East — which Israel has banned from operating on its territory and sought to undermine elsewhere.
The language of the ceasefire resolution adopted by the assembly on a ceasefire mirrors the text of a security council resolution vetoed by the U.S. on Nov. 20, which also demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The U.S. objected to the resolution because it was not tied to an immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas militants during their Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
Israel to build fence around Jordan border ‘quickly’ to prevent weapon smugglers
Israel will expedite the construction of a fence along the Jordan-Israel border, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in comments Wednesday.
“We have destroyed and severely damaged Khamenei’s octopus arms in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria – I came here to make sure that Iran will not succeed in establishing an Iranian octopus arm on Israel’s eastern front; we will quickly build the eastern fence and prevent Iranian plans to smuggle weapons into Israel through Jordan,” Katz said while visiting the Jordan-Israel border.
“We will build the fence quickly. And we will ensure protection and prevent the growth of an octopus here in this place – even before it is established and in order to strengthen security and our control over this region of the country,” he added.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
IDF in Syria, less than a mile from buffer zone
The Israel Defense Forces operated in Kwdana, Syria, Wednesday slightly beyond the buffer zone.
The IDF says they are there for “strategic reasons” but wouldn’t elaborate.
Videos posted online see IDF soldiers setting up their vehicles and buildings in the area.
-ABC News’ Karem Inal and Will Gretksy
49 people killed in Gaza
Forty-nine people were killed in Gaza Wednesday, with 34 killed in the northern Gaza, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said.
The Israel Defense Forces instructed people to evacuate several blocks in the Al-Maghazi area in central Gaza in a new leaflet distributed Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz and Sami Zyara
Aid reaches southern Gaza
A joint UN convoy consisting of 105 trucks of aid successfully crossed into Gaza and made it to southern Gaza through the Philadelphi Corridor, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the near east (UNRWA) said in a release Wednesday.
The convoy consisted of enough food for about 200,000 people, UNRWA said.
“The solidarity of the local community was crucial to the success of this mission, as community members provided a safer passage to allow assistance to reach families facing severe food shortages,” the UNRWA said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz and Sami Zyara
Israel withdraws from parts of southern Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces have withdrawn from parts of southern Lebanon. This is the first group of troops pulled back since the ceasefire went into effect.
There are still warnings in place for people to avoid a number of villages near the Israeli-Lebanese border.
“The IDF remains deployed in southern Lebanon and will operate against any threat posed to the State of Israel and its citizens,” the IDF said in a statement.
Flights to resume at Damascus airport soon
Flights will soon resume at Damascus International Airport and Syria’s air traffic will reopen in the coming days, according to Anis Fallouh, the head of the airport.
The airport will likely start with domestic flights or test flights to ensure that everything is operational before international travel can resume from the airport, according to Fallouh.
There was a lot damage in the airport’s equipment and facilities in 90% of the sections but officials are hoping to restore the airport and restart services as soon as possible, Fallouh said.
IDF lifts some Golan Heights restrictions
The Israel Defense Forces lifted some restrictions in the occupied Golan Heights on Wednesday.
This comes as its attacks on Syria slowed. Israeli airstrikes on Syria since Monday have targeted naval bases, military warehouses, ammunition depots, aircraft and military airports.
The IDF said it destroyed 80% of the former Assad regime’s military.
World Central Kitchen fires dozens of workers in Gaza to maintain its work
Aid organization World Central Kitchen has fired dozens of its workers in Gaza, saying it was necessary to maintain its operations in Gaza. The group did not comment on Israeli accusations that the workers were affiliated with terror groups.
“This should not be taken as a conclusion by WCK that the individuals are affiliated with any terror organization. Prior to receiving the results of the COGAT security check, we had no reason for concern regarding any of these individuals and, because Israel does not share intelligence with aid organizations, we do not know the basis for Israel’s decision to flag these individuals. However, we felt this step was necessary to protect our team and operations,” WCK said in a statement.
The group said its two options were to either end its work in Gaza or agree to Israel’s request to cease ties with the workers.
“This decision protects Palestinian children and families that come to eat at our sites. Balancing safety with our mission to serve is a responsibility we take very seriously. Despite these challenges, we remain focused on our mission. We praise our team in Gaza for feeding everyday, making the impossible possible,” WCK said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Israel launches 480 strikes in Syria in 48 hours
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday evening that it conducted about 480 strikes across Syria within the previous 48 hours, hitting most of the country’s strategic weapon stockpiles.
Earlier Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that the navy destroyed the Syrian fleet at anchor overnight. Dozens of sea-to-sea missiles were also destroyed in strikes on naval facilities in the Mediterranean port city of Latakia, Katz said.
Israel has also deployed ground troops both into and beyond a demilitarized buffer zone that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syria for the first time in 50 years.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Syria rebels will not succeed, Khamenei says
In his first public comments since the fall of Bashar Assad’s government, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran and its regional allies will continue fighting against the U.S. and its allies in the Middle East despite setbacks for Iran in the region.
In a Wednesday morning speech in Tehran, Khamenei said the collapse of Bashar Assad’s government — of which Iran was a major patron — was the product of a “joint” American and Israeli plan. “We have evidence — this evidence leaves no room for doubt,” he added.
Without naming Turkey, Khamenei said that one “neighboring state of Syria” also played an obvious role in the developments, but “the main conspirator, the main planner and the main command room are in America and the Zionist regime.”
Iranian leaders have previously described the Syrian opposition forces that toppled Assad as “terrorists” or “rebels,” but Khamenei on Wednesday did not use such words.
“Each of these fighters has a purpose,” he said of the armed groups. “Their goals are different, some are seeking to seize territory from northern Syria or southern Syria.”
The U.S., he added, “is seeking to strengthen its foothold in the region.”
“Time will show that, God willing, none of them will achieve these goals,” the ayatollah continued. “The occupied areas of Syria will be liberated by the zealous Syrian youth; do not doubt that this will happen.”
Khamenei said that the Iranian-led “Resistance Front,” meanwhile, will grow stronger despite its recent setbacks in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.
“The more pressure you put on it, the stronger it becomes,” he said of the grouping. “The more you fight them, the wider it becomes, and I tell you, with the power of god, the scope of resistance will encompass the entire region more than ever before,” he said.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
UN warns of skyrocketing food prices in Syria
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs published a new report Wednesday warning that food prices in some parts of Syria have increased by 900% amid the collapse of former President Bashar Assad’s regime.
“Food shortages were reported in Deir el-Zour, Damascus and Hama; bread prices Idlib and Aleppo rose by 900% from Nov. 27 to Dec. 9,” the UNOCHA wrote, referring to the period between the start of the surprise rebel offensive in the northwest and the fall of Damascus.
“Around 100,000 individuals have been displaced to northeast Syria,” the report continued. “Hospitals are overwhelmed with trauma and injury cases and there is significant psychological distress, especially among children,” it added.
The “fluid displacements” of large numbers of people are particularly concerning given the many areas of continued fighting and minefields across the country, the UNOCHA said. Those include 52 minefields identified in the past 10 days, it said.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
Syrian rebels claim Deir el-Zour from Kurdish forces
Syrian rebel forces said late Tuesday they had taken control of the eastern city of Deir el-Zour on the banks of the Euphrates River and close to U.S. military positions in the region.
The city was occupied by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces on Dec. 6 as former president Bashar Assad’s forces withdrew. The SDF subsequenty faced protests from residents and local officials.
The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Military Operations Department said in a post to Telegram that the city and its military airport were “completely liberated” as of the early hours of Wednesday.
Geolocated videos showed rebel fighters in the city center, joined by residents waving the Syrian revolutionary flag.
Rebel forces continued to advance into the countryside to the west and east of the city, Lt. Col. Hassan Abdul Ghani said in a statement posted to Telegram.
Deir el-Zour is the largest city in eastern Syria and the closest to U.S. troop concentrations along the Euphrates River running to the Iraqi border.
-ABC News’ Helena Skinner
Iran’s Khamenei says Syrian collapse ‘planned’ by US, Israel
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei alleged on Wednesday that the U.S. and Israel orchestrated the rapid collapse of the Syrian government led by former President Bashar Assad.
Damascus’ defeat, Khamenei wrote on X, “was planned in the U.S.-Israeli control room.”
“We have evidence for this” which leaves “no room for doubt,” Khamenei said.
Iran and Russia were the key backers of Assad’s government through more than a decade of civil war.
Tehran’s support for the regime in Damascus enabled Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to establish a major presence inside Syria alongside a range of Iran-backed militias, including Lebanese Hezbollah.
Famous Syrian activist found dead in Saydnaya
After dedicating his life to fighting the Assad regime, Mazen Al-Hamada did not live to see it fall.
A symbol of resilience and courage, the famous Syrian activist was found dead in the “slaughterhouse” prison of Saydnaya in Damascus, where he had been held since he returned to Syria in February 2020.
An unverified photo circulating online shows his disfigured face and suggests he was killed just before the rebels reached the prison, according to independent observers.
Al-Hamada was first arrested in 2011, when he protested against the regime, and remained in prison for two years. He left Syria in 2013 and was granted asylum in the Netherlands a year later.
That’s when the world got to know the horrors he endured, which he bravely described as he spoke to huge crowds, policymakers and the press, voicing the struggle of thousands who like him were detained by Assad’s regime — at least 157,000 between 2011 and August 2024, according to a report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights.
“I will not rest until I take them to court and get justice,” Al-Hamada said in an interview for a 2017 documentary, ‘Syria’s Disappeared,’ his sunken eyes in tears unable to hide the pain behind his words. “Justice for me and my friends who they killed. Even if it costs my life. Bring them to justice, no matter what.”
-ABC News’ Camilla Alcini
White Helmets search 2nd prison
The White Helmets said they have searched a second prison in Damascus within a training center for the Assad regime’s State Security Branch.
“Our teams conducted searches and inspections inside the prison and the basement, which contains collective and solitary confinement cells, where innocent people were detained and brutally tortured. The teams found papers with numbers of soldiers who worked in the branch. The teams contacted them and they confirmed that the cells were only within the basement and that there were no hidden detention centers in the place,” the White Helmets said in a statement.
White Helmets demand Assad hand over maps of secret prisons
After searching Monday for secret prisons and cells, the White Helmets are now demanding Bashar Assad hand over the locations of the regime’s secret prisons along with a list of detainees being held.
Many believe there are still prisons that have yet to be discovered.
“The defunct Assad regime has practiced indescribable brutality and criminality in killing, arresting, and torturing Syrians, prolonging the period of oppression and pain in the hearts of mothers. Justice for all victims and holding accountable the perpetrators of crimes against Syrians is the first step in healing wounds and supporting peace-building efforts,” the White Helmets said in a statement Tuesday.
The White Helmets said they sent a request to the United Nations through an international mediator to demand that Russia pressure Assad to release the information so the prisoners can be reached.
Israel will act ‘to ensure security,’ but won’t interfere in Syria, Netanyahu says
Israel will act decisively against positions in Syria if Hezbollah reemerges, but it has “no intention of interfering in the internal affairs of Syria,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in remarks Tuesday.
“I authorized the Air Force to bomb strategic military capabilities left behind by the Syrian army, so that they would not fall into the hands of the jihadists,” Netanyahu said.
“We want relations with the new regime in Syria. But if this regime allows Iran to re-establish itself in Syria, or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah, or attacks us — we will respond forcefully and we will exact a heavy price from him,” Netanyahu said.
IDF says they’ve destroyed almost all Assad regime capability
The Israel Defense Forces said it has hit about 320 targets, destroying almost all of the Assad regime army’s capability throughout Syria, from Damascus to Tartus.
“The operation destroyed dozens of fighter jets, combat helicopters, radars, surface-to-air missile batteries, ships, surface-to-surface missiles, rockets, weapons production sites, weapons depots, Scud missiles, cruise missiles, coastal missiles, sea-to-sea missiles, UAVs, and more,” the IDF said in a statement Tuesday.
“The operation is still ongoing on the ground, with the IDF ground forces operating in the buffer zone. There, too, the IDF is working to establish a grip on the area, destroy weapons, and ensure that they do not fall into unwanted hands,” the IDF said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Fighting escalates between Kurds, Turkey-supported group in northeast Syria
With focus still on the collapse of Bashar Assad’s government, there are signs fighting is dramatically escalating in northeast Syria. The area is held by U.S.-backed Kurds, while Turkey-supported rebel groups have gone on the offensive there, aided by Turkish airpower.
The Turkish rebels have attacked the territory controlled by the Kurds, who helped the U.S. defeat the Islamic State in eastern Syria. There are fears that Turkey — which has waged a long war against the Kurds and considers the U.S.-backed group to be a terrorist group — will use the chaos in Syria to now force them back.
There are reports the Turkish-backed rebels are now advancing on Kobani, an important Kurdish-majority town on Turkey’s border. It comes a day after the rebels successfully drove the Kurds from the key town of Manbij in northern Syria.
There are concerns that if Turkey and its rebel proxies press on against the Kurds it could endanger the containment efforts against the Islamic State. The Kurds currently guard 50,000 Islamic State prisoners in camps and are also essential to prevent the group regaining a foothold.
There are calls from some for the U.S. to warn Turkey to pull the rebels back.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
US will recognize, fully support a future Syria government
Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the U.S.’s “full support for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition.”
“This transition process should lead to credible, inclusive, and non-sectarian governance that meets international standards of transparency and accountability,” Blinken said in a statement Tuesday.
“The Syrian people will decide the future of Syria. All nations should pledge to support an inclusive and transparent process and refrain from external interference. The United States will recognize and fully support a future Syria government that results from this process. We stand prepared to lend all appropriate support to all of Syria’s diverse communities and constituencies,” Blinken said in a statement.
Blinken added that it must also “fully respect the rights of minorities, facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance to all in need, prevent Syria from being used as a base for terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbors, and ensure that any chemical or biological weapons stockpiles are secured and safely destroyed.”
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
New Syrian government begins to form
The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels have begun to form a new government as they seize power in Damascus, Syria. The group has appointed Mohammed al-Bashir as the new prime minister, according to state media outlet SANA.
Al-Bashir has previously held leadership roles and he will run the new government until March.
Israel destroys Syrian navy fleet
Israel destroyed the Syrian navy’s fleet overnight in a “large-scale operation,” according to the Israel Ministry of Defense.
“The IDF has been operating in Syria in recent days To harm and destroy strategic capabilities that threaten the State of Israel. The Navy operated last night to destroy the Syrian fleet with great success,” Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement Tuesday.
“I hereby warn the rebel leaders in Syria: Whoever follows Assad’s path will end up like Assad – we will not allow an extremist Islamic terrorist entity to act against Israel across its border and at the risk of its citizens, we will do everything necessary to remove the threat,” Katz said.
Israel focused on ‘Iran’s movements and interests’ in Syria, IDF says
Israel is focused on Iranian forces and interests in Syria as it continues strikes across the country, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said during a Tuesday briefing.
Israeli warplanes have launched hundreds of strikes all over Syria since Bashar Assad’s regime was toppled on Sunday, according to local reports. Israeli troops have also crossed into the demilitarized buffer zone between the two countries established in 1974.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani refused to go into details on “the nature of what we are doing and long-term plan of these operations,” which the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said included strikes on naval assets and port facilities in the Mediterranean city of Latakia.
“This is something we’ve been committed to for years,” Shoshani said during the briefing. Israel is committed to preventing “lethal strategic weapons from reaching the wrong hands,” he added.
“The primary focus is observing Iran’s movements and interests and our secondary focus is on local factions who are taking control of the area, assessing their actions, behavior and deterrence level and ensuring they do not mistakenly direct their actions toward us,” Shoshani continued.
Shoshani repeated the IDF’s earlier denial of local reports that Israeli tanks were operating on the outskirts of Damascus. Israeli forces, he said, have been operating in the “Area of Separation” buffer zone between Israel and Syria and “in a few additional points.”
-ABC News’ Bruno Nota and Joe Simonetti
Assad made ‘personal decision’ to resign, Kremlin says
Syrian President Bashar Assad made a personal decision to resign and leave the country as rebel forces closed in on the capital Damascus, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.
“It was a personal decision of Assad to withdraw from the process of service as the head of state,” Peskov said when asked if Russia played any role in Assad’s decision.
Peskov said Monday that President Vladimir Putin will grant Assad political asylum in Russia.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Israeli operation against Syria ‘needs to stop,’ UN says
The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen told reporters on Tuesday Israeli attacks and operations inside Syria are unacceptable.
“We are continuing to see Israeli movements and bombardments into Syrian territory,” Pederson said in Geneva, Switzerland. “This needs to stop. This is extremely important.”
Israeli leaders say the operations are intended to deny “extremist” groups access to weapons or territory that could be used for cross-border attacks into Israel.
Pedersen also said that the conflict in Syria is not yet over, pointing to continued clashes in the northeast of the country between the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and the mainly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, which are partnered with the U.S. in operations against ISIS remnants.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Netanyahu in court for corruption trial
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in court in Tel Aviv on Tuesday to give evidence in his corruption trial, making him the first sitting Israeli prime minister to take the stand as a defendant.
Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He denies all charges, calling the trial a “witch hunt.”
“This is the opportunity to dispel the allegations against me,” Netanyahu told the court on Tuesday morning. “There is a great absurdity in the charges and great injustice.”
Netanyahu had long sought to delay or avoid appearing in front of the court. If found guilty, he could face 10 years in prison.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Morgan Winsor
IDF denies reports of Israeli tanks near Damascus
The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday denied reports that Israeli tanks had been spotted on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus, amid the nascent Israeli operation inside a border buffer zone separating the two nations.
Lebanese news network Al Mayadeen reported that Israeli armor advanced into the Damascus countryside, while other unverified reports suggested that Israeli forces occupied several villages south of the capital.
The IDF rejected the reports. “The reports circulating in the media about the alleged advancement of Israeli tanks towards Damascus are false,” an IDF official told ABC News.
“IDF troops are stationed within the buffer zone, as stated in the past,” the official added.
Israeli forces entered the border buffer zone over the weekend amid the collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime in Damascus. The area was demilitarized per a 1974 agreement between the two neighbors.
Israeli leaders say the deployment — and the ongoing nationwide airstrike campaign — is intended to prevent “extremist” groups using the country as a springboard for cross-border attacks.
Israel still occupies the Golan Heights plateau, which overlooks Damascus from the southwest. Israeli forces seized the strategic region during the 1967 war. Israel unilaterally annexed the area in 1981, a move recognized by the U.S. in 2019.
The vast majority of the international community still recognizes the Golan Heights as Syrian territory.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
US can engage with Syrian rebels despite terror designation, official says
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told journalists at a Monday briefing it is “obvious” that the U.S. wants to engage with Syrian rebel leaders including the head of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which is designated as a terrorist organization in the U.S.
Miller said the U.S. has “the ability to engage” with proscribed terror groups like HTS and is also speaking with the foreign backers of such groups and intermediaries within Syria.
HTS has roots in al-Qaeda and its leader — Abu Mohammed al-Jolani — fought with al-Qaeda against American occupation forces in Iraq. Jolani is still subject to a U.S. $10 million bounty.
Miller declined to say whether the U.S. will engage directly with Jolani, but said: “We want to have conversations with the key groups inside Syria, either directly or indirectly. It’s obvious that HTS is one of them.”
“I’m not ruling anything in or out either way,” Miller added.
Jolani has sought to distance himself from his jihadist background in recent media and public appearances. The rebel leader said he is committed to a pluralist transition to a new government of national unity.
Israel conducts 310 airstrikes in Syria since Assad’s fall, watchdog says
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog said Tuesday that Israel has conducted around 310 airstrikes across Syria since the fall of former President Bashar Assad’s regime on Sunday.
The group — which documents war crimes and human rights abuses related to the Syrian Civil War and has generally been described as pro-opposition and anti-Assad — said the targets included Syrian airports, aircraft, radars, air defense systems, scientific institutions and weapons and ammunition depots.
SOHR said Israeli strikes have been reported all across the country, from Deir Ez Zor in the east to the coastal province of Latakia in the west. Israeli strikes have reportedly hit targets in major cities including the capital Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Daraa, SOHR said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar confirmed Monday that Israeli forces “attacked strategic weapons arrays, residual chemical weapons capabilities, missiles and long-range rockets” inside Syria to prevent them from falling into the hands of “extremist elements.”
Syrian Civil Defence did not find detainees, hidden facilities in Sednaya Prison
The Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, said it had concluded its search for detainees within Sednaya Prison on Monday after failing to uncover any “unopened or hidden areas” within the facility.
The prison previously held thousands of people detained by the former regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. Families of the missing and survivors believed that some detainees might have been unable to leave over the past two days, potentially due to being held in tightly sealed and secured areas, those close to the situation told the White Helmets, prompting the search.
“Specialized teams conducted a thorough search of all sections, facilities, basements, courtyards, and surrounding areas of the prison,” the White Helmets said in a statement. “These operations were carried out with the assistance of individuals familiar with the prison and its layout. However, no evidence of undiscovered secret cells or basements was found.”
The statement also called on international organizations and local authorities to support the efforts of the Syrian Civil Defence in uncovering the fate of the detainees and returning them to their loved ones.
“We share the profound disappointment of the families of the thousands who remain missing and whose fates remain unknown,” the statement continued. “We stand in solidarity with the victims’ families, fully understanding their anguish and their longing for answers about their loved ones.”
-ABC News’ William Gretsky
Blinken addresses US response to fall of Assad regime
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said senior officials from his department are “fanning out through the region as we speak” to work with their counterparts on how the U.S. can “help support the Syrian people as they decide their own path for the future.”
“We have a strong interest in preventing the reemergence of ISIS, given the death and destruction that it has wrought for so long,” he said during remarks at an unrelated event on Monday.
Blinken noted that ISIS would seek to exploit the moment, and that U.S. strikes on ISIS sites over the weekend demonstrate that the U.S. is “determined not to let that happen.”
“We have a clear interest in doing what we can to avoid the fragmentation of Syria, mass migrations from Syria and, of course, the export of terrorism and extremism,” he said. “The region and the world have a responsibility to support the Syrian people as they begin to rebuild their country and charge a new direction.”
Blinken also said that with every party they engage with, he and other U.S. officials will continue to seek information on American freelance journalist and Marine Corps veteran Austin Tice, who went missing while covering the civil war in August 2012, “so that we can find him and bring him home to his family and loved ones.”
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
Top US hostage negotiator in Lebanon, official says
The special presidential envoy for hostage affairs is in Lebanon as the Biden administration tries to capitalize on the fall of the Assad regime to uncover information on the whereabouts of missing American freelance journalist and Marine Corps veteran Austin Tice, according to a U.S. official.
The envoy, Roger Carstens, was in Doha last week but traveled to Beirut when the Assad regime fell, the official said. The Biden administration is working through multiple partners in the Middle East — most notably Lebanon and Turkey — to track people coming out of Syrian jails.
However, U.S. officials say they still have very little intelligence on Tice’s whereabouts and can’t say with certainty that he is even in Syria.
Tice went missing while covering the civil war in August 2012.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
White Helmets offering reward for info on ‘secret’ Syrian prisons
The Syria Civil Defence, aka the White Helmets, announced Monday it is offering a $3,000 reward for any direct information that will lead them to Assad’s “secret” Syrian prisons.
The organization addressed former security officers and those working in the security branches for help in accessing the prisons, adding they will maintain the confidentiality of sources.
Turkey opening border gate with Syria for return of migrants
Turkish President Erdogan said Monday that Turkey is opening the border gate with Syria for the return of migrants.
Erdogan said they are opening the Yayladağı border gate to crossings “in order to prevent congestion and ease traffic.”
There were long lines at the border earlier awaiting this decision.
Germany and Austria pause Syrian asylum
Germany and Austria have paused asylum for Syrian refugees after Assad’s regime was toppled.
The German interior minister called the situation in Syria “very confusing” and that due to the unclear situation, they have “imposed a freeze on decisions for asylum procedures that are still ongoing until the situation is clearer.”
Nearly 1 million Syrian refugees live in Germany.
Austria’s interior minister has also instructed the ministry to “prepare an orderly repatriation and deportation program to Syria.”
Nearly 100,000 Syrian refugees live in Austria.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Parents of journalist missing in Syria hoping for positive news
Debra and Marc Tice — the parents of Austin Tice, a U.S. journalist and prisoner in Syria since 2012 — released a statement urging “anyone who can do so to please assist Austin so he can safely return home to our family” following the collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime.
“We are watching the events unfold in Syria and seeing families reunited with their loved ones after years of separation,” said a statement released via the Press Freedom Center at the National Press Club.
“We know this is possible for our family, too,” they added. “Austin Tice is alive, in Syria, and it’s time for him to come home. We are eagerly anticipating seeing Austin walk free.”
Tice went missing while reporting in Syria in 2012. President Joe Biden said Sunday his return remains possible, though acknowledged that “we have no direct evidence” of his status. “Assad should be held accountable,” Biden added.
-ABC News’ Dee Carden
Assad’s fall ‘good for the United States,’ Sullivan says
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told “Good Morning America” on Monday that “it is good for the United States and the world that a murderous dictator whose family has ruled Syria with an iron fist for half a century is gone.”
Sullivan did, however, echo President Joe Biden’s warning that there is real risk that “terrorists, jihadists and other people who do not have the United States best interests at heart…could take advantage of this.”
“We are vigilant about that,” Sullivan said in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. “We are taking action to deal with that, and we’re prepared to work with anyone in Syria who wants a stable, inclusive, democratic future for that country.
Sullivan said that the U.S.’ top priority is “to protect the United States of America from the resurgence of a terror threat” emanating from Syria.
“That means holding ISIS down,” he added. “Don’t let them take advantage of this. Then there is the priority of making sure that our friends in the region are secure and stable — Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon — that these countries do not suffer from any kind of violent spillover effects from what’s happening in Syria.”
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Putin to grant Assad asylum in Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin will grant political asylum to toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.
“Of course, such decisions cannot be made without the head of state,” Peskov said, as quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax. “This is his decision,”
“We have nothing to tell you about Mr. Assad’s whereabouts right now,” Peskov said, adding there was no official meeting between Putin and Assad planned.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Israel bombed Syrian chemical weapons sites, foreign minister says
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters on Monday that Israeli forces “attacked strategic weapons arrays, residual chemical weapons capabilities, missiles and long-range rockets” inside Syria to prevent them from falling into the hands of “extremist elements.”
Israeli forces have been striking inside Syria and occupying positions on Syrian territory in recent days, as rebel forces — some with roots in jihadist organizations — surged into major Syrian cities and precipitated the collapse of President Bashar Assad’s regime in Damascus.
The Israel Defense Forces announced on Sunday it had taken up positions in the demilitarized buffer zone between Israel and Syria established by a bilateral 1974 agreement.
Saar said the presence of “armed men” in the zone and their alleged attacks on United Nations positions there prompted the Israeli decision to cross the border.
Saar said Israeli deployments into the buffer zone are “targeted and temporary” and intended to prevent an “Oct. 7 scenario from Syria,” referring to last year’s devastating Hamas infiltration attack into southern Israel.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Dana Savir
Israeli forces cross into buffer zone separating occupied Golan Heights from Syria
Israel Defense Forces tanks and armored vehicles have entered the buffer zone that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria on Sunday night.
The move puts IDF troops in operations on four fronts in the Middle East, Israeli military chief of staff Herzi Halevi said on Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
The advancement into Syria comes after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime to Islamist rebels.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the decision was made to “protect Israeli residents after Syrian troops abandoned positions,” according to AP.
The IDF has reportedly warned Syrian residents in five southern communities to stay home for their safety.
Israeli forces on Sunday also took over the Syrian side of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights, according to AP.
Iranian foreign minister says he fears ‘renewed civil war’ in Syria
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi commented on the fall of Syria’s government during an interview on Iranian state TV on Sunday.
He said Syria’s ousted president, Bashar al-Assad, was “surprised” and “complained about the way his own army was performing.”
Araghchi also said Iran was fully aware of the situation in Syria through “the intelligence and security system of our country.”
Iran is monitoring the developments in Syria and is concerned about the “possibility of a renewed civil war or a sectarian war between different sects or the division of Syria and the collapse of Syria and its transformation into a haven for terrorists,” Araghchi said.
-ABC News’ Hami Hamedi and Ellie Kaufman
US strikes 75 ISIS targets in Syria
The United States launched dozens of against ISIS targets in central Syria on Sunday in an attempt to “disrupt, degrade and defeat” the terrorist group, according to the head of the U.S. Central Command.
CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement that 75 ISIS targets were hit in precision airstrikes Sunday in Syria. He said the mission was carried out by U.S. Air Force assets, including B-52s, F-15s and A-10s.
“There should be no doubt — we will not allow ISIS to reconstitute and take advantage of the current situation in Syria. All organizations in Syria should know that we will hold them accountable if they partner with or support ISIS in any way,” Kurilla said.
Kurilla said the strikes hit known ISIS camps and operatives in central Syria.
During a speech at the White House on Sunday, President Joe Biden mentioned the U.S. strikes on ISIS targets in Syria. He said U.S. forces are also bolstering security at detention facilities in Syria where ISIS fighters are being held.
“We’re clear-eyed about the fact that ISIS will try to take advantage of any vacuum to reestablish its capability and to create a safe haven,” Biden said. “We will not let that happen.”
(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.
IDF fires at ‘suspects’ in southern Lebanon, alleging ceasefire violation
The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday morning it fired at “suspects, some with vehicles” arriving in several areas of southern Lebanon.
The IDF did not give information on the identity of the targets but said their presence in the area “constitutes a violation.”
There have been sporadic reports of firing in several areas of southern Lebanon since the IDF-Hezbollah ceasefire went into effect early Wednesday morning.
The IDF has warned evacuated citizens of southern Lebanese towns and villages not to return to their homes until told to do so. Around 1.2 million people in Lebanon — roughly a quarter of its population — have been displaced by Israeli attacks and evacuation orders.
IDF says residents returning to south Lebanon are ‘in danger’
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee again urged south Lebanon residents not to return to their homes in a post to X on Thursday morning.
Adraee listed 10 villages in the south as still off limits to evacuated residents, despite Wednesday’s ceasefire.
“The IDF does not intend to target you and therefore you are prohibited at this stage from returning to your homes,” he wrote.
Anyone who travels south regardless will be “in danger,” Adraee added.
Israeli forces are expected to withdraw from their positions in southern Lebanon in phases during the 60-day ceasefire that came into effect on Wednesday morning.
They will be replaced by Lebanese Armed Forces troops, who will be tasked — with United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon assistance — with preventing the return of Hezbollah forces in the area between the Litani River and the Israeli border.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Hezbollah claims victory, says they will remain ‘fully prepared’ to deal with Israel’s ‘ambitions’
Hezbollah said it continued its war against Israel for “more than 13 months,” and it was “able to achieve victory over the delusional enemy,” the militia said in its first statement since the ceasefire was announced.
Throughout the “Israeli ground operation the attempts of the enemy forces to occupy and establish themselves in any of the towns of the first line of the front did not succeed nor did they succeed in establishing a military and security buffer zone as” Israel had hoped it would, Hezbollah said in a statement.
Hezbollah will remain “fully prepared to deal with the Israeli enemy’s ambitions” and “will continue to follow the movements and withdrawals of the enemy’s forces beyond the borders, and their hands will remain on the trigger, in defense of Lebanon’s sovereignty and for the sake of the dignity and honor of its people,” Hezbollah said.
‘We will see’ if Israel’s goals in war were realized ‘in the next 60 days,’ Israeli defense minister says
The goal of Israel’s ongoing war with Hezbollah was to “damage Hezbollah’s capabilities and create the conditions for the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said, in his first comments since the ceasefire went into effect.
“We will see in the next 60 days whether this goal is realized. When the details of the arrangement, including all its components, become clear to the public, and if effective enforcement is carried out, with Israel at the center, calm and deterrence will be created, it will be possible to say that the goal has been achieved,” Katz added.
Katz said the Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire is “creating additional pressure on Hamas.”
“From here we look towards the southern front, with the most important goal being to return all the kidnapped people home safely and quickly. Results of the campaign in the north are creating additional pressure on Hamas and we intend to make every effort to create the conditions for a new hostage deal and to bring everyone home — this is the most important moral goal we are facing now, this is the ultimate goal,” Katz said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Isolated incidents reported as ceasefire begins
The Israel Defense Forces and Lebanese media are reporting several isolated incidents in southern Lebanon after the ceasefire went into effect.
Israeli forces fired “artillery shells” in Kfar Kila, Al-Aadaissah and Khiyam in southern Lebanon, Lebanese state media reported.
“In light of Hezbollah members entering the village of Kila, Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to act firmly and without compromise against such phenomena,” the Israeli defense minister’s office said in a press release.
“The IDF will operate against anyone who attempts to breach the ceasefire agreement and will continue to protect the citizens of Israel,” the IDF said in a separate release.
Two journalists were injured after Israeli forces opened fire on a group of them in the town of Khiam while they were covering the return of Lebanese residents to the town, Lebanese state media reported.
The Israel Defense Forces said they received the report regarding several journalists injured in the Khiam area and added the IDF is “unaware of fire toward the journalists.”
“As of now, only warning shots have been fired in the area,” the IDF said. “The IDF remains in southern Lebanon and will actively enforce every violation of the ceasefire agreement.”
An Israeli security official said there have been “several incidents” of gunmen and others trying to provoke Israeli forces in southern Lebanon since the ceasefire went into effect. The Israeli security official called them “isolated incidents” that often happen in the first day of a ceasefire and have happened in previous wars.
The IDF’s position right now is that Lebanese residents should not come back to villages in southern Lebanon as they are not safe, the Israeli security official said.
The ceasefire calls for a handover from the IDF to the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon. The Israeli security official implied it would not be safe for Lebanese residents to return until that handover is complete.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the IDF not to allow the population to enter the area of villages near the border in southern Lebanon, in accordance with the first phase of implementing the ceasefire outline,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a release Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Jordana Miller
Lebanese army warns residents not to return to front-line villages, towns in the south
Initial reports suggest the ceasefire is holding, but the Lebanese army is being cautious in parts of southern Lebanon, asking people to wait for Israeli forces to withdraw before returning to front-line villages and towns, in a statement to the public Wednesday.
The Lebanese army also said it is already starting to strengthen its deployments in the South Litani sector in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon on Wednesday.
The Israel Defense Forces warned residents of south Lebanon not to travel south of the Litani River from 5 p.m. local time Wednesday until 7 a.m. local time Thursday morning, in a post on X, warning any movement toward these areas exposes people to “danger.”
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz
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.
