What to know about Yahya Sinwar, the former Hamas leader
Mohammed Talatene/picture alliance via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Yahya Sinwar, one of the key architects of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, emerged over the summer as the de facto leader of the terrorist organization.
Israeli officials confirmed Thursday that Sinwar’s reign, however, was short-lived. The 61-year-old leader of Hamas was one of three militants killed in an Israeli military strike in the Gaza Strip, Israel Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a personal message to dozens of foreign ministers around the world.
“The master murderer Yahya Sinwar, who is responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7, was killed today by IDF soldiers,” Katz said.
Sinwar had been among the top targets sought by Israel, which placed a $400,000 bounty on his head following the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel that left more than 1,200 people dead and 240 taken hostage.
Israeli officials announced on Aug. 1 that they killed Mohammed Deif, commander of Hamas’ military wing, in a “precise, targeted strike” on July 13 in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. Deif and Sinwar were allegedly the masterminds of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Sinwar was elevated to political leader of Hamas in Gaza in August after Iranian officials confirmed that the previous Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in a bombing at a guest house in Tehran, where he was staying while attending the inauguration of Iran’s president-elect, Masoud Pezeshkian.
Haniyeh’s death left Sinwar calling the shots for Hamas at a time when negotiations involving the White House have been underway for a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages.
Sinwar had not been publicly heard from since late 2023, when Hamas and affiliated groups launched the surprise attack in Israel. It was believed that he was hiding in the vast network of Hamas tunnels under the Gaza Strip.
Sinwar helped establish Hamas in the late 1980s. In 1989, an Israeli court sentenced him to four life sentences for his role in killing suspected Palestinian informers and plotting to murder two Israeli soldiers. He spent 22 years in prison and was one of more than 1,000 Palestinian detainees who were released in 2011 in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held hostage by Hamas for five years.
At the time of his imprisonment, Sinwar was head of Hamas’ infamous internal security arm, Al-Majd. Israeli and Palestinian sources told ABC News that his job was to investigate members of Hamas who were potentially working with the Israelis.
In an interview with ABC News in December, Michael Koubi, a former officer in Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security organization, said he interrogated Sinwar, while he was a prisoner, for more than 150 hours.
Koubi described Sinwar as “tough” and devoid of emotions but “not a psychopath.”
Koubi told ABC News that Sinwar — dubbed “the butcher of Khan Younis,” for the town in Gaza that he was from — boasted during his interrogations about killing suspected Palestinian informants with “a razor blade” and “a machete.”
In 2017, six years after his release from an Israeli prison, Sinwar was elected the overall chief of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Sinwar’s ideology and long-term hatred toward Israel were what motivated him to attack the country on Oct. 7, according to Koubi.
Following the attack on Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Dec. 6 that it was “only a matter of time” before Sinwar was located. Israeli military leaders had described him as “a dead man walking.”
Koubi told ABC News in December that he expected Sinwar would eventually go down fighting, saying Sinwar wanted to “die a hero of the slum, as a hero of Hamas, as a hero of the Gaza people.”
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike near the southern Lebanese village of Al-Mahmoudiye on September 24, 2024. (RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Israeli troops are now active in southern Lebanon in what the Israel Defense Forces called “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids” targeting Hezbollah positions.
Israel believes it has eliminated around 30 top Hezbollah leaders over the last several weeks, including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, U.S. and Israeli officials said.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Israel striking Hezbollah targets in Beirut: IDF
The Israel Defense Forces said it is currently striking Hezbollah targets in Beirut.
The update comes about an hour after the IDF issued an evacuation order for parts of southern Beirut suburbs.
Iran’s missile attack largest ever on Israel, Israeli official says
The Iranian barrage marked the largest missile attack ever on Israel, according to Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.
“Tonight, Iran carried out the largest and most violent missile attack against the State of Israel to date,” Danon said in a statement through his spokesperson earlier Tuesday. “We are ready and prepared defensively and offensively.”
Iran fired 220 total missiles over two waves in 30 minutes, according to a U.S. official.
US Embassy in Jerusalem lifts shelter-in-place order
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has lifted a shelter-in-place order for U.S. government employees and their family members, stating in an updated security alert, “The threat of missile barrages has diminished.”
Previous travel restrictions to areas outside the greater Tel Aviv region, Jerusalem and Be’er Sheva remain in place until further notice, it said.
2 US Navy destroyers fired missile interceptors: Pentagon
Two U.S. Navy destroyers fired “approximately a dozen” missile interceptors at the incoming ballistic missile barrage aimed at Israel, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a briefing earlier Tuesday.
Ryder said the two destroyers that launched missile interceptors were the USS Bulkeley and USS Cole.
A Navy official told ABC News they believe the two destroyers shot down multiple Iranian missiles.
No U.S. personnel were injured during the Iranian missile attack, Ryder said.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Iran fired 220 missiles in 2 waves: US official
Iran fired 220 missiles in two waves over 30 minutes, with a brief pause between the waves, according to a U.S. official.
Some of the missiles did impact Israel, but not in major areas, the official said. There was no direct impact near Tel Aviv, although some shrapnel fell in the area, the official said.
Many missiles were intercepted over Jordan, the official said.
Among the casualties from the attack, a Palestinian was killed in Jericho, and there are reports of a Bedouin killed in the Negev, according to the official.
-ABC News’ Martha Raddatz
IDF issues evacuation warning for southern Beirut suburbs
The Israel Defense Forces have issued an evacuation warning for residents in southern Lebanon.
The “urgent warning” was issued to residents of southern Beirut suburbs Tuesday night local time.
A similar warning was also sent on Monday.
Netanyahu: ‘Iran made a big mistake’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran’s attack “failed” while vowing to respond.
“Iran made a big mistake tonight — and it will pay for it,” he said in a statement. “The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies.”
“We will stand by the rule we established: Whoever attacks us — we will attack him,” he added.
Biden: ‘Make no mistake, the US is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel’
In his first on-camera remarks since Iran’s missile attack, President Joe Biden reiterated the United States’ full support of Israel.
“Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel,” he said.
He said that at his direction, the U.S. military “actively supported the defense of Israel” and while they are still assessing the impact, the attack “appears to have been defeated and ineffective.”
Biden said there was “intensive planning” between the U.S. and Israel to “anticipate and defend against the brazen attack we expected.”
Asked how he would like Israel to respond, Biden said it was an “active discussion.”
“We’re gonna get all the data straight,” he said. “We’ve been in constant contact with the Israeli government and our counterparts, and that remains to be seen.”
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Discussions with Israel on response ongoing: State Department
Talks between the United States and Israel on what a response to Iran’s attack should look like are “already underway,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters Tuesday.
Those conversations were happening across the State Department, the White House and the Pentagon, he said.
Miller declined to say whether Israel had presented possible targets to the U.S. or if Iran’s nuclear facilities might be a legitimate target.
“This is not to say that I’m ruling anything out and that I’m ruling anything in,” he said.
On whether Iran’s attack on Israel was over, Miller repeated the U.S. assessment that the current wave has ended, but that he could not definitively say whether there would be additional waves.
“Certainly, it would be incredibly reckless and would continue to be escalatory for Iran to launch further attacks on Israel and we’ll be monitoring in the hours ahead,” he said.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston and Emily Chang
2 US Navy destroyers fired missile interceptors: Pentagon
Two U.S. Navy destroyers fired “approximately a dozen” missile interceptors at the incoming ballistic missile barrage aimed at Israel, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a briefing.
Ryder said the two destroyers that launched missile interceptors were the USS Bulkeley and USS Cole.
He didn’t confirm whether they hit their targets, saying the assessment is ongoing.
No U.S. personnel were injured during the Iranian missile attack, Ryder said.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Iran ‘stands firmly against any threat’: President Pezeshkian
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on X that the attack on Israel was “based on legitimate rights and with the aim of peace and security for Iran and the region.”
Pezeshkian also addressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly in his post: “Let Netanyahu know that Iran is not belligerent, but it stands firmly against any threat.”
“This is only a tiny part of our power. Do not step into a conflict with Iran,” Pezeshkian added.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
Israel appears to have ‘defeated’ Iran’s attack: US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel appears to have “effectively defeated” Iran’s attack.
“A few hours ago, Iran — for the second time in the space of five months — launched a direct attack on Israel, including some 200 ballistic missiles. This is totally unacceptable and the entire world should condemn it,” he said during a previously scheduled meeting with India’s external affairs minister.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan also told reporters during a White House briefing that Iran’s attack “appears to have been defeated and ineffective” based on the United States’ early assessment.
Sullivan said the U.S. military worked closely with the IDF to defend Israel and was proud to do so, including in shooting down incoming missiles from U.S. naval destroyers positioned in the area, and that President Joe Biden will be involved in constant conversations with the Israelis about what should come next. He declined to provide any details about what level of response Biden will encourage.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston and Cheyenne Haslett
Iran says it targeted 3 military bases around Tel Aviv
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted three Israeli military bases around Tel Aviv in its attack on Israel.
The Iranian Mission to the United Nations told ABC News that “no notice was given to the U.S. prior” to the attack, though a “serious warning was issued afterward.”
-ABC News’ Hami Hamedi
IDF says 180 missiles fired from Iran
The Israel Defense Forces said it identified approximately 180 missiles fired toward Israel from Iran.
The Iranian missile attack began at 7:31 p.m. local time on Tuesday, the IDF said.
Most of the missiles were intercepted, but “several hits were identified, and the damage is being assessed,” an Israeli security official said.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
UN Security Council expected to convene Wednesday
The United Nations Security Council is expected to convene on Wednesday to discuss Iran’s attack on Israel, according to Israel’s ambassador to the U.N.
-ABC News’ Josh Margolin
DHS warns of potential cyberattack threat against US following killing of Nasrallah
The Iranian regime is unlikely to take direct military action against the U.S. homeland following Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, though his death could prompt Iran or its proxies to take alternative actions like cyberattacks, according to a new Department of Homeland Security alert.
Nasrallah’s death is also unlikely to galvanize people within the U.S to take action, though the “expansion of the regional conflict and potential for increased circulation of graphic images highlighting civilian deaths could contribute to [extremist] radicalization to violence,” according to the Sept. 30 document obtained by ABC News and distributed to law enforcement agencies around the country.
“We also assess that it is unlikely that Iran or its proxies will target the homeland during any potential physical response to the airstrike,” the alert stated. “We are concerned that the incident may prompt Iranian government or other malicious cyber actors supportive of Tehran’s interests to conduct cyber attacks against poorly secured US critical infrastructure entities, among other targets.”
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Josh Margolin
Israel will have a ‘significant response,’ Israeli official says
Israel will have a “significant response” to Iran’s attack, an Israeli official told ABC News.
“What Iran has suffered so far is only a promo,” the official said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
No additional threats from Iran at this time, no casualties reported: IDF
The Israeli military does not see any additional threats at this time from Iran, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.
Hagari said they have carried out a “large number of interceptions.” There were a “few hits” in the south and officials are assessing the damage, though there are no reported casualties, he added.
“We are on high alert both defensively and offensively,” he said. “We will defend the citizens of the State of Israel. This attack will have consequences.”
US says it has intercepted Iranian missiles
The U.S. has intercepted some of the Iranian missiles launched against Israel, but how many is unclear, an official told ABC News.
“In accordance with our ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, U.S. forces in the region are currently defending against Iranian-launched missiles targeting Israel,” the official said. “Our forces remain postured to provide additional defensive support and to protect U.S. forces operating in the region.”
-ABC News’ Matthew Seyler
Biden says US prepared to help Israel defend against Iranian attack
President Joe Biden said Tuesday the U.S. is prepared to help Israel defend against the Iranian missile attack.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are monitoring the Iranian attack from the White House Situation Room and receiving regular updates from their national security team. Biden directed the U.S. military to aid Israel’s defense against Iranian attacks and shoot down missiles.
Before the attack began, he posted on X that he and Vice President Kamala Harris had convened their national security team.
This morning, @VP and I convened our national security team to discuss Iranian plans to launch an imminent missile attack against Israel.
We discussed how the United States is prepared to help Israel defend against these attacks, and protect American personnel in the region.
Lindsey Graham calls Iran’s missile attack ‘breaking point’
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina condemned Iran’s missile attack on Israel, calling it a “breaking point” on Tuesday and urging President Joe Biden’s administration to respond.
“This missile attack against Israel should be the breaking point and I would urge the Biden Administration to coordinate an overwhelming response with Israel, starting with Iran’s ability to refine oil,” Graham said in a statement.
Graham called for oil refineries to be “hit and hit hard” and said his prayers are “with the people of Israel.”
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
Iran confirms responsibility, says launches retaliation for assassinations
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said moments ago the missile attack was a retaliation for different assassinations carried out by Israel, Mehr News Agency reported.
The IRGC said the operation will continue if Israel does not stop, Mehr News Agency reported.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, a key ally of Iran, was killed in a strike in Beirut last week, while a top member of the IRGC was also killed.
IDF warns some citizens to enter ‘protected space’
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari issued remarks Tuesday evening, announcing that missiles had been launched from Iran toward Israel.
He said messages have been sent to cellphones, warning Israeli citizens in certain areas to enter “protected space” and to seek shelter if they hear sirens.
Hagari added that if citizens hear explosions, they may be the result of interceptions or impacts.
“We are strong and can handle this event as well,” Hagari said. “The IDF is doing and will continue to do everything necessary to protect the civilians of Israel. The IDF is fully prepared for both defense and offense at peak readiness.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Flights diverting near Iran
Several flights near Iran are diverting ahead of expected missile launches at targets in Israel.
Several Lufthansa flights and one Swiss Air flight were diverted back to Frankfurt, Germany, and Turkey as they approached Iranian air space.
-ABC News’ Sam Sweeney
IDF says missiles launched from Iran toward Israel
Israel said missiles have been launched from Iran toward Israel.
Sirens are sounding across the country.
Israel expecting 240-250 missiles from Iran: Sources
Iran is expected to launch 240 to 250 missiles in two waves at four targets in Israel, including Mossad headquarters and three air bases, according to an Israeli source and a senior U.S. administration official.
Israel is not expected to launch a preemptive strike, according to the U.S. administration official. It should take the missiles less than 15 minutes to reach targets once launched.
The U.S. and Israel have all defenses activated, and Israel will “absolutely “ retaliate after it happens,” the official said.
The total number of ballistic missiles is about double the number launched by Iran in April — 99% of which were intercepted.
-ABC News’ Martha Raddatz
Israeli forces issue warning for residents to stay near shelter in greater Tel Aviv
The Israel Defense Forces issued a warning for residents of the “Dan area,” referring to the greater Tel Aviv area, to stay “near a shelter until further notice.”
Sirens sounded in central Israel, the IDF said in a second statement, after issuing the warning to stay in shelters. The sirens sounding in central Israel were due to launches from Lebanon, the IDF told ABC News.
“From this moment, Israelis living in central Israel are advised to stay by their safe rooms. Enter them during sirens and stay there until further notice,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in Hebrew.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir, Anna Burd and Jordana Miller
US Embassy in Jerusalem issues ‘shelter in place’ order
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem issued a statement directing all government employees and their family members “to shelter in place until further notice,” following reports of an imminent Iranian missile attack on Israel.
The embassy noted the “continued need for caution and increased personal security awareness as security incidents, including mortar and rocket fire and unmanned aircraft system,” which it said “often take place without warning.”
“The security environment remains complex and can change quickly depending on the political situation and recent events,” it added.
Netanyahu warns Israelis of ‘testing days ahead’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged unity among Israelis in a video statement published Tuesday, as Israel Defense Forces operations in Lebanon expanded and amid fears of an imminent Iranian missile attack.
“We are in the midst of a campaign against Iran’s ‘Axis of Evil,'” the prime minister said. “These are days of great achievements and great challenges.”
The “great achievements,” Netanyahu said, included the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a Beirut airstrike last week, plus the defeat of an alleged Hezbollah plan to launch an infiltration attack into northern Israel.
The country still faces “big challenges,” he continued.
“What I ask of you is two things: One — to strictly obey the directives of the front-line command, it saves lives. And second — to stand together. We will stand firm together in the testing days ahead.”
“Together we will stand, together we will fight and together we will win.”
–ABC News Joe Simonetti and Jordana Miller
Iran to launch ballistic missiles at Israel ‘imminently,’ US official says
A senior White House official told ABC News on Tuesday that the U.S. “has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel.”
“We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack,” the official added.
“A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran,” the official said.
Israeli special ops teams active in Lebanon for almost a year, IDF says
Israel special operations teams have been operating in southern Lebanon since November, an Israeli security source said Tuesday, conducting around 70 missions in groups of 20 to 40 operators.
The troops spent around 200 nights inside Lebanon, making it the most intense series of special operations missions in Israel’s history, the official said.
The units operated between 1 and 2 miles inside Lebanese territory, the official said, blowing up and dismantling hundreds of Hezbollah facilities including tunnels.
Some tunnels doubled as weapons caches and others stretched to the Israeli border. Officials said on Tuesday they believed Hezbollah was planning an imminent “Oct.7-style invasion” of northern Israel.
The security source claimed that Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force was at times as little as six hours from launching such an attack. ABC News was not immediately able to independently verify the official’s claims.
The Israeli special operations units operating in southern Lebanon encountered almost no resistance, the official said, and did not suffer any casualties.
Though some 2,000 Radwan troops are believed to be present within 3 miles of Israel’s border — and between 6,000 and 8,000 in southern Lebanon in total — they have not been fighting.
“During these operations, the troops also collected valuable intelligence and methodically dismantled the weapons and compounds, including underground infrastructure and advanced weaponry of Iranian origin,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
“Some of the weapons were recovered and taken by the soldiers back into Israeli territory.”
Airstrike hits southern Beirut suburb
The southern Beirut suburb of Dahiya was hit by a fresh airstrike early on Tuesday, as Israeli warplanes continued to bomb targets across Lebanon in pursuit of Hezbollah members and resources.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that the previous 24 hours saw at least 95 people killed and 172 wounded by Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s southern regions, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Beirut.
Hezbollah disputes Israel’s incursion claims
Israeli claims that its soldiers began ground operations inside southern Lebanon “are false,” Hezbollah said in a Tuesday statement.
“No direct ground clashes have yet taken place between the resistance fighters and the occupation forces,” the group said, referring to Israeli troops.
“The resistance fighters are ready for a direct confrontation with the enemy forces that dare or attempt to enter Lebanese territory and inflict the greatest losses on them,” the group added.
Beirut not a target of Israeli ground incursion, official says
The Israel Defense Forces’ operation in southern Lebanon is occurring “right by the border” with no intention of pushing towards the capital Beirut, an Israeli security official said during a Tuesday briefing.
The IDF has three goals, the official said.
The first is to remove the threat of cross-border fire at Israeli citizens, they said. The second is to target senior militant leaders planning such attacks, the official added.
The third goal is to create a situation in which tens of thousands of displaced Israelis can return to their homes in the north of the country.
“We’re talking about limited, localized, targeted rates based on precise intelligence in areas near the border,” the official said when asked about the scope of the operation.
Beirut, they added, is not on the table, though airstrikes are expected to continue across the country and in the capital.
“We’re talking about Hezbollah embedding itself in the Lebanese villages, right by the border,” they said.
“We’re operating at the moment according to the mission we received from the political echelon. We’re acting in a limited area that is focusing on the villages right by the border,” they explained.
IDF claims Hezbollah was planning ‘invasion’ of Israel
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israeli troops were engaged in “limited and targeted raids” in southern Lebanon as of Tuesday morning, alleging that Hezbollah was planning “an Oct. 7-style invasion” into Israeli homes.
“Hezbollah turned Lebanese villages next to Israeli villages into military bases,” Hagari said. “Hezbollah planned to invade Israel, attack Israeli communities and massacre innocent men, women and children.”
“I want to make it clear: our war is with Hezbollah, not with the people of Lebanon,” Hagari continued. “We do not want to harm Lebanese civilians, and we’re taking measures to prevent that.”
More than 700 people were killed by an intensified Israeli airstrike campaign across Lebanon last week. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported 95 people killed and 172 people by strikes on Monday. Israeli bombing continued overnight into Tuesday morning, including in the capital Beirut.
UK charters flight for citizens in Lebanon, urges Britons to ‘leave now’
The British government announced Monday that it chartered a commercial flight out of Lebanon for citizens wishing to leave the country.
British nationals, their spouse or partner and children under the age of 18 are eligible, a Foreign Office press release said. “Vulnerable” citizens will be prioritized, it added.
The flight is scheduled to depart Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport on Wednesday.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the situation in the country “is volatile and has potential to deteriorate quickly.”
“The safety of British nationals in Lebanon continues to be our utmost priority,” he added.
“That’s why the U.K. government is chartering a flight to help those wanting to leave. It is vital that you leave now as further evacuation may not be guaranteed,” he said.
IDF reports ‘heavy fighting’ in Lebanon border areas
Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee — the Israel Defense Forces’ spokesperson for Arab media — warned residents of southern Lebanon on Tuesday morning that “heavy fighting” is now underway in the region.
“Hezbollah elements,” he said, are “using the civilian environment and the population as human shields to launch attacks.”
Adraee told residents not to move vehicles from the north to the south of the Litani River, which is around 18 miles north of the Israeli border. Israel previously demanded that all Hezbollah forces withdraw north of the waterway in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolution that sought to end the 2006 border war.
“This warning is in effect until further notice,” Adraee said.
The IDF said Monday that its ground offensive into Lebanon was underway, following a week of punishing airstrikes and targeted killings across the country.
The IDF described the operations as “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon.”
A senior U.S. official told ABC News that the incursion is expected to be significant but not “major.” Lebanese leaders, meanwhile, are calling for an immediate ceasefire and the implementation of the 2006 U.N. resolution that would see Hezbollah forces leave southern Lebanon.
10 projectiles fired back at Israel from Lebanon amid ground incursion: IDF
After Israeli forces began the ground incursion into southern Lebanon, at least 10 projectiles crossed over into northern Israel, according to the IDF.
“Following the sirens that sounded in the area of Meron in northern Israel, approximately 10 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon,” the IDF said in a statement Monday.
“Some of the projectiles were intercepted and a number of projectiles fell in open areas,” the IDF said.
IDF begins ground incursion into Lebanon
Israeli forces have begun a ground incursion into southern Lebanon, a spokesperson for the IDF said in a statement.
The IDF described the operations as “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon.”
“The IDF is continuing to operate to achieve the goals of the war and is doing everything necessary to defend the citizens of Israel and return the citizens of northern Israel to their homes,” the statement said.
95 killed, 172 injured in Lebanon from attacks Monday
The death toll in Lebanon from Israeli attacks rose to 95 on Monday with 172 people injured, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said in a post on X.
Ground operations in Lebanon will be significant but not ‘major’: US official
The Israel Defense Forces’ ground movement into Lebanon will be significant but not “major,” a senior U.S. official told ABC News.
The operations will be limited to small unit commando teams, the official said, adding that the teams will have air power backup against Hezbollah fighters.
IDF issues ‘urgent warning’ to residents of southern suburbs of Beirut
The Israeli Defense Forces issued an “urgent warning” Monday to residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut.
In a post on X, the IDF urged people in three neighborhoods — Lilac, Haret Hreik and Burj Al-Barajneh — to evacuate.
“You are located near interests and facilities belonging to the terrorist Hezbollah, and therefore the IDF will act against them forcefully,” the IDF wrote. “For your safety and the safety of your family, you must evacuate the buildings immediately, starting at a distance of no less than 500 meters.”
UNRWA chief denies knowing suspended staffer was Hamas leader in Lebanon
On Monday, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini denied having being aware that staffer Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin had been the head of Hamas’ Lebanon branch.
Abu el-Amin and his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, a spokesperson for Hamas said Monday.
In his press briefing in Geneva on Monday, Lazzarini said Abu el-Amin had been suspended from his UNRWA position in March after allegations arose that he was involved in Hamas.
-ABC News’ William Gretsky
5 killed, 57 injured in Israeli air strikes on Yemen: Houthi spokesperson
Five people were killed and 57 were injured after Sunday’s Israeli air strikes in Al-Hodeidah, Yemen, the Houthi spokesperson said in a statement Monday.
“This crime will be responded to with escalating military operations against the criminal enemy during the coming period,” the Houthi spokesperson added in his statement.
-ABC News’ Ahmed Baider
12 killed, 20 wounded in Lebanon from attacks Monday
Twelve people have been killed and at least 20 were injured in attacks in Lebanon on Monday, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.
The number of casualties from strikes in Lebanon on Sunday rose to 118 killed and 376 injured, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Hezbollah and Israel continued to trade attacks on Monday.
Hezbollah issued 10 statements taking responsibility for various attacks on Monday.
The Israeli Defense Forces said they destroyed a “surface-to-air missile launcher storage facility approximately 1.5 kilometers” from Beirut’s international airport in a release Monday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Jordana Miller
Israeli forces conducting ‘training’ near northern border, IDF says
Israeli forces have been “conducting training near the northern border,” the IDF said in a release Monday.
“As part of increasing readiness for combat, IDF soldiers from the 188th Brigade have been conducting training near the northern border and at the command’s headquarters,” the IDF said in the release.
Sinwar goes radio silent in Gaza cease-fire negotiations
Senior Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, one of the key architects of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, has gone radio silent, according to an official familiar with negotiations to reach a cease-fire and hostage release deal.
Sinwar’s absence has created another hurdle for U.S. officials who are still trying to complete an overdue “final” proposal for a deal.
It has also sparked speculation that Sinwar is dead, but the official said there is no indication that’s the case.
State Department spokesperson Matt Miller spoke about Hamas’ role in delaying a cease-fire proposal during a briefing Monday, but did not weigh in on Sinwar’s status specifically.
“When it comes to Sinwar, I don’t have any update on his condition at all, one way or the other,” he said, before asserting that Hamas has been unwilling to “engage at all” with Egyptian or Qatari mediators “over the past several weeks.”
“So the reason you have not seen us put forward this proposal is we can’t get a clear answer from Hamas of what they’re willing to entertain and what they’re not willing to entertain,” he said. “We’re going to continue to try to work it.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston
More officials say invasion possibly imminent, US fighter jets heading to region for air defense
Israel’s limited ground incursion into Lebanon could be imminent, two more U.S. officials have told ABC News.
One of the officials said Israel notified the U.S. of its intentions.
Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh would not confirm as much when repeatedly asked Monday, but did give new details on the additional forces being sent to the region to potentially defend Israel and its own forces.
“These augmented forces include F-16, F-15E, A-10, F 22 fighter aircraft and associated personnel,” Singh said.
The fighter aircraft are to be used for air defense, such as intercepting missiles if needed, according to Singh. There are “an additional few thousand” troops in the region as part of the augmented force, according to Singh.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez and Matt Seyler
Israel imminently planning limited ground operation in Lebanon: Senior US official
The U.S. expects Israel to imminently begin a limited ground operation into Lebanon that would be targeted, in order to clear out Hezbollah infrastructure near Israeli border communities and then pull their forces back, according to a senior U.S. official.
This could start “immediately,” according to the senior official.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Biden tells Israel to stop when asked about possible Lebanon invasion
Speaking to reporters Monday at the White House, President Joe Biden addressed Israel’s continued attacks on Lebanon and reports that they are preparing for a limited ground operation.
The comment, which followed Biden’s remarks on Hurricane Helene, came after a reporter asked if he was aware of and “comfortable” with the possibility of Israel invading Lebanon.
“I’m more aware than you might know, and I’m comfortable with them stopping. We should have a cease-fire now,” Biden replied.
Middle East ‘safer’ without ‘brutal’ Nasrallah, Blinken says
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was “a brutal terrorist, whose many victims included Americans, Israelis, civilians in Lebanon, civilians in Syria and many others as well.”
During a ministerial meeting on defeating ISIS in Washington, D.C., Blinken said Hezbollah under Nasrallah’s leadership “terrorized people across the region and prevented Lebanon from fully moving forward as a country.”
“Lebanon, the region, the world, are safer without him,” Blinken added.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut on Friday, marking the most significant blow yet to Hezbollah over almost a year of cross-border conflict with Israel.
Israeli airstrikes are continuing across Lebanon and in the capital. A U.S. official told ABC News on Sunday that small-scale cross-border Israeli ground operations may have already begun, as a prelude to a wider offensive into southern Lebanon in pursuit of Hezbollah targets.
Blinken said the U.S. and its partners would continue to work toward a diplomatic solution “that provides real security to Israel, to Lebanon, and allows citizens on both sides of the border to return to their homes.”
“Diplomacy remains the best and only path to achieving greater stability in the Middle East,” he said. “The United States remains committed to urgently driving these efforts forward.”
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
‘Nowhere’ Israel cannot reach, Netanyahu warns Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed to anti-government sentiment in Iran on Monday, telling the Iranian people: “With every passing moment, the regime is bringing you — the noble Persian people — closer to the abyss.”
“Every day, you see a regime that subjugates you make fiery speeches about defending Lebanon, defending Gaza,” the prime minister said in a video statement posted to social media.
“Yet every day, that regime plunges our region deeper into darkness and deeper into war. Every day, their puppets are eliminated.”
“Ask Mohammed Deif. Ask [Hassan] Nasrallah,” Netanyahu said, referring to the Hamas military commander — whose death the group has not confirmed — and the former Hezbollah leader. Israel claims Deif was killed in Gaza in July, while Nasrallah was killed in Beirut on Friday.
“There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach,” Netanyahu said.
“Iran’s tyrants don’t care about your future,” Netanyahu continued. “When Iran is finally free — and that moment will come a lot sooner than people think — everything will be different.”
“Our two ancient peoples, the Jewish people and the Persian people, will finally be at peace,” Netanyahu said. “The people of Iran should know — Israel stands with you.”
Tehran has not yet responded to Netanyahu’s statement. But on Monday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said his country would not deploy volunteer troops to Lebanon in response to Israel’s expanding campaign there against Hezbollah.
“We believe that the governments and nations of the region have the necessary ability and authority to defend themselves,” he said. “We have not had any request from anyone, and we know that they do not need deployment of human forces from our side.”
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Somayeh Malekian
Hamas leader in Lebanon killed in airstrike, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday it killed Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amine, the head of Hamas’ Lebanon branch, in an overnight airstrike.
“Sharif was responsible for coordinating Hamas’ terror activities in Lebanon with Hezbollah operatives,” the IDF said in a statement.
“He was also responsible for Hamas’ efforts in Lebanon to recruit operatives and acquire weapons.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
Deadly strike hits central Beirut for first time in 18 years
An overnight precision strike on an apartment building in the Cola neighborhood was the first such strike in central Beirut for 18 years.
Four people were killed, including three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine militant group.
Israel did not immediately claim the strike but is widely assumed to have carried it out.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Hezbollah deputy gives first statement since Nasrallah assassination
Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, addressed followers Monday in the first leadership statement since Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday.
“The mujahadeen will continue,” Qassem said of the militant group’s fighters, their work informed by “what [Nasrallah] designed.”
Qassem did not announce a replacement for Nasrallah, but said Hezbollah’s next leader will be chosen “sooner rather than later.”
Details of Nasrallah’s funeral are still unconfirmed. A three-day mourning period in Lebanon began on Monday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Joe Simonetti
IDF confirms new attacks on Hezbollah targets
The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out an operation against more Hezbollah targets early Monday morning local time.
The Israeli Air Force attacked targets in the Bekaa region of Lebanon, the IDF said in a statement.
Targets included launchers and buildings where the IDF said weapons were held.
The Israeli Air Force also attacked what it said were military buildings in southern Lebanon.
-ABC News Will Gretsky
At least 105 people killed Sunday in Lebanon: Ministry of Health
The death toll in Lebanon as a result of Israeli airstrikes Sunday rose to 105, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Nearly 360 individuals were wounded in the strikes, the ministry reported.
The strikes occurred in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel and the southern suburbs of Beirut (Dahieh), according to the ministry.
Netanyahu announces former rival Gideon Sa’ar joined Israeli cabinet
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed opposition lawmaker Gideon Sa’ar to rejoin his cabinet, the politicians announced in a joint statement Sunday.
Sa’ar will serve in the Security Cabinet, according to Netanyahu.
“I appreciate the fact that Gideon Sa’ar responded to my request and agreed today to return to the government,” Netanyahu said, noting how the leaders have put aside their disagreements.
“We will work together, and I intend to use him in the forums that influence the conduct of the war,” Netanyahu added.
Sa’ar was once a member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party but defected after an unsuccessful bid for party leadership. He formed his own party in 2020 called New Hope.
“I am joining the government at this stage without a coalition agreement – but with an orderly worldview and with a strong patriotic attitude for our people,” Sa’ar said in the joint statement.
Gali Mir-Tibon speaks with ABC News’ chief national correspondent Matt Gutman. ABC News
(TEL AVIV, Israel) — For Israeli husband-and-wife Noam Tibon and Gali Mir-Tibon, Oct. 7, 2023, began like any other day.
They went for an early-morning swim off the Tel Aviv coast on that Saturday morning. They heard sirens but continued to swim — it was safer in the water. When they got back to their car, they checked their phones and saw a text from their son, Amir, that there was a terrorist inside their kibbutz, Nahal Oz, in southern Israel.
“I served 35 years in the military,” Tibon, a retired Israel Defense Forces major general, told ABC News. When he pinged IDF generals about the situation, he said they responded: “We are aware and are on the way.” That phrase “on the way” surprised Noam, because Israel’s vaunted military should already have been there. “Something in my heart told me, ‘Noam, you have to go there.'”
They raced southward, speeding through red lights, Mir-Tibon recounted. She was driving, he was riding in the passenger seat, holding his pistol and frantically making calls.
“We are almost the only vehicle on the road,” the novelist told ABC News. “We get another text message [that] says, there are terrorists in our neighborhood, the new neighborhood of Kibbutz Nahal Oz. So it’s getting worse.”
Along the way, they said they saw a police car blocking the road shooting at a white pickup that Mir-Tibon said they would later learn was a Toyota with Hamas terrorists.
They stopped the car while bullets flew ahead of them debating what to do, Tibon said.
“Suddenly, a young couple jump from the bushes wearing party clothes, which is unusual in this situation,” Tibon said.
They were barefoot and asked for help, Mir-Tibon said.
“They get inside and they are very, very afraid,” she said.
When they asked what happened, Tibon said the couple responded, shaking, “We were in the party. Many terrorists came. They slaughtered everybody.”
The couple had fled the Nova music festival, the site of one of the worst civilian casualty incidents in Israel’s history.
At least 260 people were killed by Hamas militants at the music festival, held in the Negev desert in southern Israel, during the terrorist group’s surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Overall, militants killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages — about 100 of whom remain in captivity, according to Israeli officials. It was the deadliest single day for the Jews since the Holocaust.
In the year since, Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
As the full scope of the attack that day was still unknown to them, Tibon said they turned around and drove away with the couple.
“You don’t leave anyone behind you, it’s not a hard decision,” Tibon said.
They were able to drop the couple off with police before continuing on toward the kibbutz, Tibon recalled. Along the way, they continued to hear shots being fired and see dead bodies.
“It’s all the way burning cars, bodies, bodies, bodies,” Tibon said.
When they came upon a group of Israeli soldiers, Tibon begged them to take him to his son’s kibbutz.
“The commander hesitates,” he said. “And then one brave guy by the name of Avi … he said, ‘I’m going to help you.'”
Mir-Tibon stayed behind in a shelter while Tibon left with the soldier to find his son and his family. They joined Israeli paratroopers as they got to the gate of Kibbut Nahal Oz, he said.
“We are under very, very heavy fire by the terrorists,” he recalled. “I was fighting for my life.” He said he killed a squad of terrorists, and then tended to three Israeli paratroopers who’d been wounded, two of them severely. He was just yards from the gate of his son’s kibbutz. He turned around and drove the wounded men back to his wife, who then drove back out of the hellscape with the men bleeding out in her car. Eventually, she found a pair of ambulances. The men all survived, the couple recounted.
Tibon returned through the gunfire again towards his son’s kibbutz. Meeting another group of soldiers at the gate. He said he then spent several hours searching homes in the kibbutz — ensuring everyone else was safe — before arriving at his son’s house, about 10 hours after the initial attack. He said he found the door locked, which gave him “hope.”
“From all the houses that I search, if the door was locked, inside there is live people. If the door is open, blood and no people, or blood and bodies,” he said.
Tibon said he banged on the window and yelled for his son, calling out, “It’s Dad!”
He first heard his 3-year-old granddaughter say, “Grandpa here,” he recalled.
Noam’s son Amir, his wife and their children were all rescued.
“This was a very emotional moment,” Tibon said. “I felt I fulfilled my mission. But I have to rescue them and I have to rescue the whole kibbutz, they are not alone.”
Tibon said he helped to evacuate more than 400 people out of the kibbutz.
Mir-Tibon had feared the worst at points while waiting to find out if her family survived.
“There were moments I think, if they’re not alive, I don’t think there is any point to my life,” Mir-Tibon said. “We are the lucky ones.”
(LONDON) — The Israel Defense Forces continued its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza and in Lebanon, with Israeli attacks on targets nationwide including in the capital Beirut.
The strikes continue despite a cease-fire push fronted by President Joe Biden’s White House as it prepares to hand power to President-elect Donald Trump.
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.
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.
