In our news wrap Sunday, the family of an Israeli-American hostage met with Israel’s president after Hamas released a video showing him, a former Israel defense minister accused Netanyahu’s government of war crimes, Syrian military forces set up a defensive line against insurgents in the country’s northwest, and global talks to curb plastic pollution broke down without reaching an agreement.
News Wrap: Hamas releases video of Israeli-American hostage held captive since Oct. 7
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Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.
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John Yang:
In other announcements, Mr. Trump said he'll nominate real estate executive Charles Kushner to be ambassador to France. Kushner's son, Jared is married to Ivanka Trump, and he was pardoned by Mr. Trump in 2020 for tax evasion and retaliating against a witness.
The president-elect also said he'll nominate veteran Hillsborough County, Florida Sheriff Chad Chronister to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration. Both of those posts require Senate confirmation, and Mr. Trump said his senior advisor on Middle East and Arab Affairs will be Mossad Boulos, a wealthy Lebanese American businessman and the father of Tiffany Trump's husband.
The family of an Israeli American hostage met with the president of Israel today after Hamas released a video that shows him. In the video, Edan Alexander said he'd been held for 420 days and referred to President-Elect Trump.
Today, Alexander's family said the 20-year-old spoke under duress when he accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of neglecting the hostages. Meanwhile, in Gaza, where dozens of hostages are still believed to be held, an Israeli airstrike killed at least six people in a tent camp. The strike hit near Muwasi along the coast once thought to be a relatively safe area for civilians.
Abu Jihad Abu Mahadi, Relative Killed in Strike: May God have mercy on them. They were all martyred, man. I was just sitting laughing, joking and chatting with them online. Suddenly I see a drone and then out of nowhere I find my sister torn apart. Nothing left of her. I bid her farewell. What's happening man?
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John Yang:
And a former Israeli defense minister who served under Netanyahu accused the government of war crimes. Moshe Alon said the far right government is trying to annex and ethnically cleanse parts of Gaza.
Meanwhile, the U.N. Agency for Palestinian Refugees says it has paused aid deliveries to Gaza. The head of UNRWA said the main crossing into Gaza is too dangerous and recent aid truck convoys have been looted by armed gangs.
The Syrian military is sending reinforcements to the northwestern part of the country today in hopes of blunting the insurgents momentum. A British war monitoring group said the militants are making moves in parts of western and northwestern Syria after seizing most of Aleppo last week. Government forces set up a defensive line and launched airstrikes into Idlib and Aleppo, killing at least 15 people.
Global talks broke down today without reaching a landmark agreement to curb plastic pollution as negotiators ran out of time. The delegates were deadlocked on key issues, including the scope of the deal and limits on plastic production.
Each year, 400 million tons of new plastic is produced around the world. That rate could climb about 70 percent by 2040 if nothing's done. Negotiators plan to resume talks next year.
And as much as 2 feet of snow can't tackle Sunday Night Football for a loss in Buffalo. The Buffalo bills offered fans $20 an hour and a hot drink to shovel out the stadium ahead of tonight's game against the San Francisco 49ers. An early December storm continues to pound the area and cover the region with lake effect snow.
Still to come on PBS News, a food bank in Texas offers relief to those in need and how to navigate political divisions at holiday gatherings.
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