Why Brazilian officials want to pave a highway in the Amazon rainforest
ABC News
(NEW YORK) — A government plan to pave a highway in the Amazon rainforest is prompting concerns from environmentalists who say the development will cause more wildfires in the region.
But for those who live in remote areas of northwest Brazil, the highway could serve as a lifeline to modern civilization, experts argue.
The current road is 560 miles long and mostly dirt. It connects the Amazon-adjacent states of Amazonas and Roraima to the rest of the country.
The road is difficult for most vehicles to navigate, Nauê Azevedo, a litigation specialist for the Climate Observatory in Brazil, a network of 119 environmental, civil society and academic groups, told ABC News. The unpaved road has led to a lack in modern development in many rural areas, he added.
Paving the road, however, would pose dire consequences for the already degrading rainforest, Azevedo said.
The construction of BR-319, the formal government nomenclature, would likely lead to a “fishbone pattern” of deforestation extending from the roadway, Rachael Garrett, a professor of conservation and development at the University of Cambridge, told ABC News.
Moreover, the exposure to outside communities could harm indigenous groups living in the Amazon, Garrett said.
Added Azevedo: “From an environmental standpoint, paving this road will be so detrimental for the Amazon rainforest, which we all know is crucial — both to Brazil and the world in general.”
Aside from the further deforestation, environmental crimes, such as illegal logging and mining, would likely increase without proper governance in the region, Azevedo pointed out. Criminals would have easier access to remote areas and authorities would not be able to stop illegal activities, he said.
Brazil is experiencing one of the worst drought emergencies in history, according to the Pan American Health Organization. Rapid deforestation in the Amazon is reducing the amount of rainfall, therefore exacerbating the drought and risk of extreme wildfires.
Paving the road, however, would have social benefits for the residents nearby, according to Garrett, who has heard concerns from residents about having access to hospitals, schools and goods.
“There are really good, moral reasons, from the perspective of people living in this region, to have roads being paved,” she said.
The controversy over the construction of BR-319 has been going on for years. In 2022, a permit to pave the highway was issued by former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, whose administration favored development in the Amazon.
But in July, a federal court suspended the permit following a lawsuit by the Climate Observatory, citing the need for protective measures to be put in place to control deforestation before paving begins.
“We asked the judiciary branch to stop this licensing process,” Azevedo said. “The pathway is still there, but they will not be … allowed to build anymore. So, it will stay as it is right now.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promised last week to pave the road while on a visit to an indigenous community in the state of Amazonas.
“We can’t leave two capitals,” Lula said, adding that the construction will be done “with the utmost responsibility.”
Lula’s administration has appealed to reinstate the permit suspended by a federal judge.
Ensuring governance surrounding the construction of the highway is of the utmost importance, Azevedo said, adding that the health of the rainforest depends on it.
“We can’t undo the damage that has already been done, but we could probably conserve and preserve what’s the left of it,” he said.
(WASHINGTON) — The suspects who plotted an attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna earlier this month planned to kill “a huge number” of people, according to a CIA official.
CIA Deputy Director David Cohen spoke about the foiled terror attack at the Intelligence and National Security Summit in Bethesda, Maryland, on Wednesday.
“They were plotting to kill a huge number — tens of thousands of people at this concert, including I am sure many Americans — and were quite advanced in this,” Cohen said at the summit. “The Austrians were able to make those arrests because the agency and our partners in the intelligence community provided them information about what this ISIS-connected group was planning to do.”
“As a result, hundreds of lives, undoubtedly, were saved,” he added.
Three suspects — ages 17, 18 and 19 — have been arrested in connection with the plot. Intelligence officials said they were inspired by the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda, and that bomb-making materials were found in the 19-year-old Austrian citizen’s home.
Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of Austria’s Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, previously said the 19-year-old confessed to the plot under interrogation.
The suspect was “clearly radicalized in the direction of the Islamic State” and allegedly intended to kill himself and “as many people as possible” outside the concert venue using knives and homemade explosives, Haijawi-Pirchner said at a news conference shortly after the arrest.
Following the arrests, Swift canceled three sold-out concerts in Vienna, which more than 150,000 fans were expected to attend.
In an Instagram post after the canceled Eras Tour shows, Swift said it was “devastating” having to call off the Vienna tour dates.
“The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows,” Swift wrote
Swift thanked authorities for their work stopping the alleged attack.
“Thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives,” she wrote.
Swift wrapped up her European leg of the tour with several shows in London, amid increased security, earlier this month.
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, cease-fire discussions are occurring in the Middle East, with officials hoping to bring an end to the conflict.
The United States and its allies continue to plead for a cease-fire deal, with discussions set for this week.
Here’s how the news is developing:
10 killed in West Bank as IDF says operation ‘won’t end tomorrow’
Ten people have been killed since the start of the Israel Defense Forces’ operation in the West Bank overnight, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said Wednesday.
The operation is targeting Jenin, Tulkarm and Nablus in the West Bank, IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani said during a Zoom briefing with reporters Wednesday.
Shoshani implied the operation could go on for a few days, saying it “won’t end tomorrow,” during the IDF briefing.
The IDF did not say how many troops are involved in the operation, but Shoshani called it a “large” operation. Israeli security forces called it a “counterterrorism operation,” in a release Wednesday.
The IDF is surrounding the Ibn Sinai hospital in Jenin “to prevent terrorists from taking shelter there,” Shoshani said, but said the IDF has no plans to “enter, capture or seize” the hospital.
There are no plans to evacuate civilians from the areas where the IDF is operating, Shoshani said.
One of the targets of the operation is the cell that planned a failed suicide bombing attempt in Tel Aviv earlier this month, but the attack did not prompt the large operation, Shoshani added.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller, Nasser Atta and Guy Davies
US announces new sanctions targeting West Bank extremism
The U.S. State Department announced new sanctions targeting an Israeli nongovernmental organization and an individual, Yitzhak Levi Filant, as part of its ongoing efforts to “address the extreme levels of instability and violence against civilians in the West Bank.”
The organization, Hashomer Yosh, is providing support to an outpost in the West Bank and individuals — who are already designated by the U.S. government — and allegedly prevented Palestinian residents that were forced to leave their homes from returning, according to the State Department.
Filant, identified as the civilian security coordinator of a settlement in the West Bank, is accused of engaging “in malign activities outside the scope of his authority,” including an incident in February where he purportedly “led a group of armed settlers to set up roadblocks and conduct patrols to pursue and attack Palestinians in their lands and forcefully expel them from their lands,” the State Department said in a statement.
“Extremist settler violence in the West Bank causes intense human suffering, harms Israel’s security, and undermines the prospect for peace and stability in the region. It is critical that the Government of Israel hold accountable any individuals and entities responsible for violence against civilians in the West Bank,” the State Department said.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
Foreign minister urges Gaza-style approach to West Bank ‘terrorist front’
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has framed the unfolding West Bank operation as another front in the country’s showdown with Iran, suggesting Israel should “deal with the threat just as we deal with the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza.”
“Iran is working to establish an eastern terrorist front against Israel in the West Bank, according to the Gaza and Lebanon model, by financing and arming terrorists and smuggling advanced weapons from Jordan,” Katz wrote in a post on X.
Katz said Israel should take “whatever steps are required,” including “the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents.”
“This is a war for everything and we must win it,” he added.
Israel launches largest raids in West Bank in years
The IDF overnight widened a major military operation in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, attacking from the air and from the ground using tanks and bulldozers, ABC News has learned.
The targets of the raid are Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas. The IDF has described the ongoing operation as an “extensive operation to counter terrorism” and to “thwart Islamic-Iranian terrorist infrastructures.”
Reports indicate that nine Palestinians have so far been killed, though that number could rise. The IDF has reportedly ordered Palestinians to evacuate from the three targets locations, with troops also entering a hospital in the area.
The raid is believed to be the first operation by the IDF targeting several cities at once since the Second Intifada, which ran from 2000 to 2005.
IDF launches large raids in the West Bank
Israel Defense Forces said it launched an “operation to counter terrorism” in the northern West Bank overnight Tuesday.
“The security forces have now begun an operation to counter terrorism in Jenin and Tulkarm in the Menashe division,” the IDF said in a statement.
Hostage in good condition, will remain in hospital for more tests
Qaid Farhan Alkadi, the hostage rescued from a tunnel in Gaza, is in “good condition,” but will remain in the hospital for “another day or two of medical tests to make sure he is still OK,” Shlomi Codish, the CEO of Soroka Medical Center, said during a press conference Tuesday.
Alkadi is being treated at the Soroka Medical Center after being rescued by Israeli forces.
Israeli delegation heads to Doha to continue cease-fire talks
A delegation from Israel — including Israeli Security Agency, Mossad and IDF officials — is heading to Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday to continue hostage release and cease-fire talks, an Israeli official told ABC News Tuesday.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Hostage was alone when found by Israeli forces
Qaid Farhan Alkadi was alone when he was located by Israeli forces in a tunnel in Gaza, Israel Defense Forces officials told ABC News.
In the last few days, IDF and Israeli security agency forces had been operating in the area where Alkadi was found and rescued, according to IDF officials. The forces operated underground, in a complex environment where there was suspicion of the presence of hostages, terrorists and explosives, the officials said.
Farhan was located by Israeli forces when he was alone, without his captors, and was rescued from the tunnel, the officials added.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
Hostage families renew calls for cease-fire after hostage rescue
Hostage families are calling for an immediate cease-fire, calling the rescue of Kaid Farhan Al-Qadi — a Bedouin father of 11 from south of Rahat — from a tunnel in Gaza, “nothing short of miraculous,” in a statement.
“However, we must remember: military operations alone cannot free the remaining 108 hostages, who have suffered 326 days of abuse and terror. A negotiated deal is the only way forward,” the hostage families said in a press release.
Al-Qadi was kidnapped from his security job at Kibbutz Magen’s packing factory on Oct. 7. He is the eighth hostage that Israeli forces have rescued alive since Oct. 7, according to an IDF official.
“Every single day in captivity is one too many. The remaining hostages cannot afford to wait for another such miracle,” hostage families said.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
Israel to use ‘all means’ to return remaining hostages
IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told a press conference on Tuesday of the “complex rescue mission” that freed Qaid Farhan Alkadi from a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip.
“He is back home in Israel,” Hagari said of Alkadi. He is only the eighth hostage rescued alive from Gaza by the IDF, and the first rescued alive from a tunnel under the strip. Alkadi was among scores of people seized in southern Israel during the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack.
“We cannot go into many details of this special operation but I can share that Israeli commandos rescued Qaid Farhan Alkadi from an underground tunnel, following accurate intelligence,” Hagari said.
“His medical condition is stable and he will undergo examinations in hospital. His family had been waiting 326 days to receive the news they did today.”
“But there are still 108 hostages, whose families are still waiting to hear news that their loved ones are home. And they should know that we will not rest until we fulfill our mission to bring all our hostages back home.”
“We will pursue the return of our hostages through all means possible. I repeat, through all means possible.”
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
Israeli forces rescue hostage from Gaza
The Israeli military announced Tuesday that it had rescued an Arab citizen of Israel who was among scores of people abducted in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terror attack.
Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, from the Bedouin town of Rahat in southern Israel, was rescued “in a complex operation in the southern Gaza Strip,” according to Israeli authorities.
An Israeli source told ABC News that the rescued hostage is currently at Soroka Medical Center in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Top US general ends Israel visit
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr. has completed a visit to Israel amid intensifying fighting across the Lebanese border and continued uncertainty about a potential Iranian attack on Israel.
Brown met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israeli Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi in Tel Aviv on Monday. The officials discussed Hezbollah’s weekend rocket and drone attack and the “need to de-escalate tensions to avoid a broader conflict,” per a Pentagon readout.
Hezbollah launched its attack in retaliation for Israel’s killing of Fouad Shukr in Beirut last month.
Cease-fire talks moving forward after strikes: Kirby
Cease-fire talks are now moving forward at a working group level in Cairo over the next few days to hammer out specifics, according to National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby.
This weekend’s strikes by Israel and Hezbollah have “not affected the actual work on the ground by the teams trying to get this cease-fire deal in place,” Kirby told reporters Monday.
Kirby also rejected any suggestion that talks broke down this weekend, instead saying they were “constructive” enough to work on “finer details” at lower levels.
“There was no breakdown,” he said. “They made enough progress that they were willing to, or needed to transition to a working group level so you didn’t need the mediators all there and the leadership there.”
Brett McGurk, a top senior adviser on the Middle East at the White House, stayed in Cairo an extra day to kick off the meetings and is still there, Kirby said, adding that all parties are being represented in these discussions.
“One issue that will be for the working groups to flesh out is the exchange of hostages and prisoners that Israel’s holding — what that exchange looks like, how many, some of the details of exactly who will be released on either side and at what pace, those kinds of things,” Kirby said.
Al-Aqsa Hospital still operating despite evacuations
Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah is still operating, despite new temporary evacuation orders from Israeli forces to leave the surrounding area near the hospital.
Out of the 650 patients in Al-Aqsa Hospital, only 100 remain in the hospital that are being treated, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said.
The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged they have been “operating in recent days in the Deir al Balah area,” but they said the evacuation orders did not include “the hospitals and medical facilities in the area,” in response to an inquiry from ABC News.
Three out of 18 water wells are still functioning in Deir al Balah due to “ongoing military operations,” the U.N. Agency for Palestinian Refugees said in a post Monday.
World Food Programme operations ‘severely hampered’ in Gaza
The World Food Programme, the U.N.’s worldwide food assistance program, is being “severely hampered” by the “intensifying conflict” in Gaza.
The agency said border crossings have been limited and roads in Gaza have become so unusable that urgent repairs are needed in order to transport basic needs, like food and medicine.
“Transporting food, water, medicine and hygiene equipment is critical for the survival of communities in Gaza today and will be needed for months to come,” Antoine Renard, the country director for Gaza, said in a statement. “Roads are part of this lifeline.”
6:26 PM EDT Hospital in central Gaza under evacuation order after nearby explosion
Israeli forces issued an evacuation order in the vicinity of the Al Aqsa Hospital, Deir Al Balah, in central Gaza, urging people to flee, according to a statement from Doctors Without Borders Sunday.
“An explosion approximately 250 meters away triggered panic with many choosing to leave the hospital,” the organization said.
Of the approximately 650 patients in the hospital prior to the explosion, only 100 remain, with seven in the intensive care unit, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Doctors Without Borders is considering suspending wound care for the time being, while trying to maintain lifesaving treatment, according to the statement.
“This situation is unacceptable,” the organization said. “Al Aqsa has been operating well beyond capacity for weeks due to the lack of alternatives for patients. All warring parties must respect the hospital, as well as patients’ access to medical care.”
Aug 26, 2024, 4:56 PM EDT Sirens sound in Tel Aviv as Hamas fires rocket from Gaza
Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv Sunday night for the first time since January as Hamas launched a single rocket toward central Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces said the Hamas rocket fell into an “open area” in Rishon LeTsiyon, south of Tel Aviv.
Israeli emergency services officials said no one was injured by the rocket, but a 26-year-old woman was hurt going to a shelter.
Hamas confirmed it fired an “M90” rocket at Tel Aviv.
-ABC News Victoria Beaule
4:37 PM EDT Hezbollah leader says missile barrage on Israeli base ‘has ended’
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said missile and drone strikes targeting a “base for military intelligence” near Tel Aviv, Israel, “has ended” for now.
Nasrallah said the strikes carried out Sunday constituted the first and second phases of Hezbollah’s response to Israeli missile strikes in Lebanon. He said Hezbollah reserves the right to “respond” if it learns its strikes on Israel are not “sufficient.”
Nasrallah said Hezbollah’s missile and drone strikes targeted the Glilot military base near Tel Aviv, alleging it is a “base for military intelligence.”
“It contains a large number of officers and soldiers and it manages many of the assassination operations that take place in the region, as well as the sedition and deception operations,” Nasrallah alleged.
Hezbollah believes “a number of drones” reached their target. Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said most of the Hezbollah missiles and drones were intercepted and denied that the Glilot military base was hit.
Hagari also confirmed that the soldier who was killed in the Hezbollah missile strike was hit by a fragment of an Iron Dome interceptor.
Nasrallah said a total of 340 missiles were fired at the Glilot military base.
A “preemptive strike” by Israel failed to cause any significant damage, according to Nasrallah.
“What happened was aggression, not a preemptive action,” Nasrallah said.
-ABC News Victoria Beaule
3:33 PM EDT Hamas rejects latest cease-fire deal
Hamas leader Osama Hamdan has released a statement indicating Hamas does not accept the latest iteration of the cease-fire proposal as written.
Hamas insists that changes added by Israel since July 2 are non-starters for them, specifically, Israel Defense Forces positions in the Philadelphi corridor, an eight-and-a-half-mile long demilitarized buffer zone running along the border between Egypt and Gaza. Hamas also objected to a proposal for non-Palestinian control of the Rafah border crossing.
Hamdan said Hamas will not return to the cease-fire talks as long as the new conditions stay in the proposal.
“The occupation set new conditions for accepting the agreement and backed away from what it had previously agreed to,” Hamdan said in a statement. “The delegation informed the mediators today of our opinion.”
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
1:16 PM EDT Soldier killed, 2 others injured in ‘combat’ in Northern Israel, says IDF
An Israeli soldier was killed and two others were injured Sunday “in combat in northern Israel,” the Israel Defense Forces announced.
The circumstances of what led to the death and injuries of the soldiers were not immediately disclosed by the IDF.
The soldier who was killed was identified by the IDF as Petty Officer 1st Class David Moshe Ben Shitrit, 21, of Geva Binyamin, Israel. The soldier was a member of the Israeli Navy’s 914th Fleet, according to the IDF.
The two soldiers who suffered light to moderate injuries are also members of the 914th Fleet, according to the IDF. Their names were not immediately released.
-ABC News’ Anna Burd and Jordana Miller
US not involved in Israel’s pre-emptive strike on Lebanon, official says
A U.S. official reaffirmed Sunday that the United States was not involved in Israel’s pre-emptive strike Saturday night on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon but had provided Israel some intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information believed to have been used in the mission.
The U.S. had provided some “ISR support in terms of tracking incoming Lebanese Hezbollah attacks but did not conduct any kinetic operations as they were not required,” the official said.
“We continue to closely monitor the situation and remain well-postured and ready to support the defense of Israel from attacks by Iran and any of its proxies, to include Lebanese Hezbollah,” the official said.
At least three people were killed overnight in the Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said Sunday. The casualties included two people who were killed in the village of At Tiri and one in the town of Khiam, the ministry said, adding that two additional people were injured and required hospitalization.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
IDF issues new evacuation order in central Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces announced a new evacuation order Sunday for a small strip of land in a humanitarian area of central Gaza.
The new evacuation order for an area of Deir al-Balah came just days after the IDF ordered the evacuation of two refugee camps in the same area as the Israeli military prepared for a new ground offensive in the humanitarian zone.
The IDF suspects that Hamas terrorists are hiding in the area and using Palestinian refugees as human shields.
Sunday’s evacuation order affected those living in a relatively small area of Deir al-Balah that includes five schools sheltering displaced people and tent camps around them. The area is near the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, one of the largest remaining functional hospitals in Gaza, servicing all of central Gaza.
-ABC News’ Bictoria Beaule
Hezbollah planned to strike Israeli intelligence, sources tell ABC News
Israel believes the Hezbollah targets in central Israel were meant to be a complex of intelligence bases and the headquarters of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, just north of Tel Aviv, two Israeli security sources told ABC News.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir and Bruno Nota
3 killed, 2 injured in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, officials say
At least three people were killed overnight in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said Sunday.
Two were killed in the village of At Tiri and one in the town of Khiam, the ministry said, adding that two additional people were injured and required hospitalization.
The United Nations agency in charge of peacekeeping in southern Lebanon called on Sunday for a cease-fire and for all sides to “refrain from further escalatory action.”
“In light of worrying developments across the Blue Line since the early morning, UNSCOL and UNIFIL call on all to cease fire and refrain from further escalatory action,” the agency said in a statement, referring to a demarcation line separating Israel from Lebanon.
There have been no reports of injuries on the Israeli side, according to emergency services in Israel.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz, Jordana Miller and Victoria Beaule
Israel continues strikes in southern Lebanon, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday said the military was targeting Hezbollah with additional strikes in southern Lebanon.
“In the last hour, the IDF struck Hezbollah launchers in several areas in southern Lebanon to remove threats,” the IDF said in a statement. “In addition, the IDF identified a terrorist cell operating in the area of Khiam in southern Lebanon. The IAF swiftly struck the terrorists.”
-ABC News’ Anna Burd and Victoria Beaule
‘Whoever harms us — we will harm them,’ Netanyahu says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday described his country’s preemptive strikes within Lebanon as a “strong action to foil the threats” raised by a potential attack by Hezbollah.
“It has eliminated thousands of rockets that were aimed at northern Israel,” Netanyahu said as he convened his Security Cabinet for a meeting at 7 a.m. local time. “It is thwarting many other threats and is taking very strong action — both defensively and offensively.”
Netanyahu had earlier in the morning been managing the situation with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant from the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, his office said. The prime minister’s office released photos of the pair meeting with military officials.
“We are determined to do everything to defend our country, to return the residents of the north securely to their homes and to continue upholding a simple rule: Whoever harms us — we will harm them,” Netanyahu said.
-ABC News’ Kevin Shalvey
‘Thousands’ of Hezbollah rocket launchers destroyed, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday said it had destroyed “thousands” of Hezbollah rocket launchers.
“Approximately 100 IAF fighter jets, directed by IDF intelligence, struck and destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels that were located and embedded in southern Lebanon,” the military said in a statement.
The statement added, “Most of these launchers were aimed toward northern Israel and some were aimed toward central Israel. More than 40 launches areas in Lebanon were struck during the strikes.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Kevin Shalvey
Israel warns Lebanese citizens of danger as it strikes Hezbollah
The Israeli Air Force launched “dozens” of planes to attack locations throughout southern Lebanon, saying it was continuing “to remove threats, to vigorously attack the terrorist organization Hezbollah.”
“Israel’s air defense systems, navy ships and Air Force planes are on a defense mission above the country’s skies, identifying, intercepting threats and attacking wherever in Lebanon it is required in order to remove threats and harm Hezbollah,” Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said.
The aerial strikes within Lebanon were coming as Israeli defenses were dealing with “different types of threats,” including scores of rockets and drones launched into Israeli airspace, he said.
“We have already intercepted a number of rockets and unmanned aerial vehicles that approached the territory of the State of Israel,” Hagari said.He added, “We warn the Lebanese citizens in South Lebanon. We recognize that Hezbollah is firing in a large area near your homes. You are in danger. We attack and remove Hezbollah threats.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Kevin Shalvey
Hezbollah claims hundreds of rockets launched at Israel
Hezbollah claimed early on Sunday to have launched more than 320 rockets toward 11 military locations within Israel and Golan Heights.
The “enemy sites” that had been targeted were detailed in a statement. They included military bases in Meron, Ein Zeytim and Al-Sahl.
Barracks in Naveh Ziv, Ramot Naftali and Zaoura were also among the sites targeted, Hezbollah said.
The group described those launches as a “first stage,” saying they were “targeting Israeli barracks and sites to facilitate the passage of offensive drones towards their desired target deep inside” Israel.
(MIAMI) — The U.S. has seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s plane, the Justice Department announced on Monday.
A Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) led investigation discovered the plane in the Dominican Republic, a source said.
After the U.S. government seized the plane, it was flown to Florida on Monday, according to the source. Maduro was no on board, the source said.
The plane is the Venezuelan equivalent to Air Force One, and flight records show it is a Dassault 900.
“This morning, the Justice Department seized an aircraft we allege was illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States for use by Nicolás Maduro and his cronies,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “The Department will continue to pursue those who violate our sanctions and export controls to prevent them from using American resources to undermine the national security of the United States.”
The head HSI agent in Miami also lauded the seizure.
“The seizure of this aircraft is another significant action by Homeland Security Investigations working with our domestic and international partners against the illegal activities of the Maduro regime,” said Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami.
Earlier, a U.S. National Security Council spokesperson confirmed the seizure of “an aircraft used by Maduro and his representatives.”
“Over the past month, as demonstrated by a wide variety of independent sources, Maduro and his representatives’ have tampered with the results of the July 28 presidential election, falsely claimed victory, and carried out wide-spread repression to maintain power by force,” the spokesperson said.
“Last week, one of Venezuela’s own National Electoral Council rectors further validated that Maduro has provided no evidence that he won this election. The United States, in coordination with our partners, is working to ensure that the will of the Venezuelan people, as expressed through the July 28 election, is respected,” the spokesperson said.
“Today, the U.S. Department of Justice took action to enforce U.S. sanctions — seizing an aircraft used by Maduro and his representatives. This is an important step to ensure that Maduro continues to feel the consequences from his misgovernance of Venezuela,” the spokesperson said.
