tonight, the leaflets with safe zones on them. the harrowing images coming now. tom soufi burridge in israel. tonight, the u.s. with a deadly stroen strike on militants in iraq. the pentagon says they were about to target american forces. martha raddatz standing by with late reporting. here in the u.s., the holiday shopping that turned deadly at a macy's in philadelphia. the deadly stabbing attack, when the suspect returns to the store. the tanker truck explosion forcing evacuations. a propane truck crashing into a wrij and bursting into flames. a former u.s. ambassador tonight charged with secretly working for cuba for more than four decades. to the weather, and the whiplash in the east. the cold blast coming. and in the west, the flooding concerns now. then several feet of snow from the systems hitting the northwest. ginger zee standing by. tonight, authorities say a boston woman in her 40s killed by a shark while in vacation in the bahamas. a suspected serial killer in los angeles. the suspect allegedly killing multiple people days. including a father of two, who he allegedly followed home and killed in his garage. why authorities say his crime spree likely did not begin just recently. the deadly volcano eruption. the images tonight. authorities say 11 hikers found dead. and this evening here, the harrowing images, the survivors cover everyoned in ash. and back home, it was a christmas song written in 1958. tonight, it is suddenly number one for the first time. can you name the song, and the woman who sang it? tonight, her christmas victory, lo long overdue. good evening and it's great to start another week with all of you as home. we do begin tonight with israel moving south in gaza with its ground offensive. many palestinian civilians who have been told go to south for their safety on the move again. also tonight, the pentagon reporting the u.s. has taken defensive action in the region, launching a deadly strike on militants who the pentagon says were preparing to attack u.s. forces. tonight, meanwhile, in gha sa, israel with a fierce aerial assault in southern gaza, just as it did in the north. new satellite images obtained by "the new york times" tonight showing israeli military vehicles staging in the south there. signaling the ground invasion has begun. israel's troops engaged in close contact once again, and israel warning palestinians to move. israel dropping leaflets showing where to go. the images coming in, this family seen running and dodging bullets. and tonight, with this ground offensive now moving south in gaza, and that temporary cease-fire long over, what about the hostages that remain? abc's tom soufi burridge in israel leading us off. >> reporter: tonight, civilians caught in the crossfire. with israel expanding its ground war, pushing deeper into southern gaza. palestinians ducking for cover. a family, including that young boy, running for their lives. as bullets pierce the air around them. this was supposed to be an evacuation route. as new satellite images obtained by "the new york times" show israeli military vehicles staging in the south, a sign that their ground invasion into southern gaza has officially begun. we watched as the idf pounded gaza today. we're witnessing a really heavy and constant bombardment into the gaza strip. you can see smoke in the distance, air strikes, artillery. hospitals overwhelmed. children treated on the ground outside. ibrahim rushing his injured two month old son adnan into the e.r., saying his family fled south just like they were asked, only to dodge more bombs. "what can we do," he asks. "every day we die a million deaths." tonight, an israeli military official saying its forces are now moving to encircle the key southern city of khan yunis. and after weeks of telling people to move south, where they were told they would be safe, israel now insisting they are warning people already there, dropping these leaflets with links to maps, urging people to move to designated safe zones. our producer sami zyara forced to move his family for the 17th time since the war began. >> we don't know what to do. there is no safe place at all in gaza. >> reporter: we pressed the idf today on the level of suffering. unicef says that even in some of those designated safe zones, children are getting hit and badly injured and killed. >> we want civilians not to be in the area where we're fighting. we want to focus our firepower on hamas and hamas only. >> reporter: at the united nations today, israel presenting evidence they say proves hamas militants committed crimes of sexual violence as a weapon of war on october 7th. yoni saadon survived the festival massacre, telling a british newspaper he saw, "a beautiful woman with the face of an angel and eight or ten of the fighters beating and raping her." >> their goal is to annihilate israel. we have no other choice but to eliminate hamas thoroughly. >> david: let's bring in tom soufi burridge. and tonight, we know that temporary cease-fire now, of course, long over. so, what more have we learned about the more than 100 hostages, including the americans, of course, who remain in captivity with this new assault under way? >> reporter: david, given the scale of fighting and intense bombardment of gaza today, the fate of those remaining hostages is really uncertain. negotiations for their release have halted. the hostages families due to meet israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu tomorrow. david? >> david: tom suoufi burridge, thank you. as i mentioned off the top tonight. the pentagon now says that the u.s. has taken new defensive action in the middle east. a deadly u.s. drone strike tonight. this time, in iraq, target, militants who the pentagon says were about to target american forces. here's martha raddatz. >> reporter: tonight, the pentagon revealing it conducted a deadly drone strike on militants in iraq who the u.s. says were planning to launch a drone attack on american forces. five of the iranian-backed militants were killed. it came as a u.s. destroyer in the red sea spent more than seven hours sunday responding to multiple attacks. it began at 9:15 a.m. local time. the pentagon said the "uss carney" tracked a ballistic missile fired from iranian-backed houthis in yemen landing in the waters near the cargo ship "unity explorer." at 12:00 p.m., the "carney" detects a drone from yemen heading in its direction. the navy crew shooting it down. 35 minutes later, the "unity explorer" under fire again. this time the missile hits the ship. the "carney" responds as another inbound drone is detected and shot down. at 3:30 p.m., a third ballistic missile hits another cargo ship and there is damage reported, but no casualties. one hour later, a fourth ballistic missile hits a third cargo vessel. again, the "carney" racing to this ship to render aid, as yet another drone is launched in the "carney's" direction and shot down. the pentagon blaming iran for enabling these attacks, using some of the strongest language we've heard about iran. but it is unlikely the u.s. will retaliate against iran directly for these attacks, given that the pentagon says they do not believe the "uss carney" was an intended target, though jake sullivan, the national security adviser, made clear that any response by the u.s. will be at a time and place of its choosing. david? >> david: martha raddatz live in washington. martha, thank you. we're going to turn now to the other major news this monday night, and to the deadly attack at a macy's department store in downtown philadelphia, right in the middle of the holiday shopping season. here's stephanie ramos tonight. >> reporter: tonight, with the busy holiday shopping season under way, one security guard is now dead and another one injured after a violent stabbing at a philadelphia department store. >> stabbing at macy's. >> reporter: according to police, around 10:45 this morning, a security guard confronted a man attempting to steal multiple halts inside the center city macy's. the man leaving the area, but returning 15 minutes later, armed with a knife. >> he immediately goes straight towards one of the security guards, and then redirects his attention to a second security guard, runs directly to that security guard with a knife already exposed and begins to stab him. >> reporter: the suspect fleeing the scene, apprehended moments later at a train station. authorities say the two security guards were not armed. one of them 30 years old, stabbed in the neck. the other, 23 years old, stabbed in the face and arm. both were rushed to the hospital. the 30-year-old later dying from his injuries. david, this store remains temporarily closed. macy's saying in a statement, "the safety and security of their customers and colleagues is their top priority." the interim police commissioner says this location has been hit hard by retail theft. david? >> david: stephanie ramos, thank you. next tonight here, the crash of a tanker truck hauling probeen, slamming into a bridge in vermont. everyone tonight within a mile told to evacuate. here's abc's trevor ault now. >> reporter: tonight, terrifying video shows the flaming roaring after that tanker truck hauling 10,000 gallons of propane crashed into a vermont bridge as a snowstorm moved through. >> report offal tractor trailer unit carrying propane. it's gone off the road and exploded. >> reporter: it happened just before 7:00 this morning in the town of irasburg, a few miles from the canadian border. >> i heard this huge loud, like, explosion bang and it actually shook our house. >> reporter: meghan chilafaux lives just feet away. >> i opened up my shades and saw that the opposite side of our bridge, which is right by our driveway, was totally engulfed. >> reporter: multiple agencies rushing to the scene, fearing an even larger explosion, evacuating a one-mile radius. two schools dismissing early. authorities using a drone to monitor the still-engulfed tanker on its side. >> the road conditions, as everyone knows, were terrible this morning. >> reporter: the crash happening as the region received more than a half a foot of snow in spots. and david, so far, no one's been reported injured. not even the driver. but officials say this tanker is likely to burn through the night, meaning many people can't come home amid those fears of another explosion. david? >> david: all right, trevor, thank you. we're going to turn now to the weather and the big chill on the way for the eastern half of the country. in the west, a dangerous atmospheric river targeting much of the west with up to ten inches of rain, real flooding concerns and several feet of snow in some places. let's get to chief meteorologist ginger zee. >> reporter: hey there, david. more than four feet of snow fell over the weekend in some parts of the northern rockies. now, we're going to add even more snow to that, and at the coast, yes, that detrimental rain. i say that because so many people had the snow, then you're going to take the snow elevations and lower them. so, we're going to end up seeing rain on top of the snow that fell. the flooding in the rivers could reach dangerous levels. and this threat goes for coastal oregon into washington state through wednesday. into the rockies, it's going to be about that added one to two feet. some avalanche danger in colorado yet tonight. and east coast, you know over the weekend, florida was breaking high temperature records, but we're going to cool right down. teens and 20s up in the northeast by thursday. >> david: a little whiplash in the east. all right, ginger, thank you. tonight, there is news coming in, a boston woman in her 40s was killed during a shark attack in the bahamas. here's abc's victor oquendo. >> reporter: tonight, the shocking scene in the bahamas. an american tourist killed by a shark this morning while paddleboarding near the popular sandals royal bahamian resort in new providence. police saying the woman was visiting from boston. she was about three-quarters of a mile offshore when she was bitten. a lifeguard racing out to the victim in a rescue boat, bringing her and a male relative back to the beach. >> cpr was administered to the victim. however, she suffered serious injuries to the right side of her body, including the right hip region and also her right upper limb. >> reporter: the woman, who police say was in her 40s, did not survive. although rare, most shark attacks in the caribbean occur in the bahamas. just last month, a 47-year-old tourist from germany was killed during a diving expedition. and in june, heidi ernst, a tourist from iowa, lost her leg while scuba diving when a shark attacked. sandals saying they are deeply saddened by their guest's tragic passing and are providing all support possible. david? >> david: victor, thank you. we turn now to the former american ambassador to bolivia who all these years later is now accused of being a secret agent of the cuban government. the fbi claims he was a secret agent for more than 40 years. here's pierre thomas. >> reporter: tonight, the stunning claim by the fbi that cuba's communist regime had a mole inside the u.s. government for decades. >> falsely pledging loyalty to the united states while serving a foreign power is a crime that will be met with a full force of the justice department. >> reporter: victor manuel rocha rose through the ranks of the state department, including a stint as a top diplomat in havana before becoming the u.s. ambassador to bolivia. but the attorney general says, at least since 1981, rocha was really working for fidel castro's cuba, in one of the highest reaching and longest lasting infiltrations of the u.s. government by a foreign agent. when the fbi became suspicious, they sent an undercover agent posing as a cuban intelligence officer to make contact. rocha allegedly quickly confiding in the agent that his entire diplomatic career was at the direction of cuba. quote, i went little by little. it was a very meticulous process, very disciplined. the fbi saying rocha, now 73, called the u.s. "the enemy," bragging to the agent, "what we have done, it's enormous, more than a grand slam. it was decades." u.s. officials are trying to determine what classified information rocha may have given the cubans. thus far, they make noal decisions he betrayed his country for money, but a true believer, doing it to help the cuban communist revolution. david? >> david: pierre thomas tonight in washington, thank you. in los angeles tonight, a suspected serial killer is now accused of killing four people over four days, including a father who authorities say he followed home and killed in his garage. here's abc's kayna whitworth. >> reporter: tonight, police in los angeles are victims and police are investigating whether there are more victims. >> based on his criminal history, he didn't just start doing this a week ago. >> reporter: prosecutors say 33-year-old jerrid powell killed four men over four days. three victims while they were sleeping on the streets. >> it was chilling. the cold-blooded manner in which he walks up and shoots this individual without any hesitation. >> reporter: police say powell followed his fourth victim home, robbing and killing the father of two in his own garage. investigators using a controversial technology to track their suspect after his car was captured on an automated license plate reader. >> we know there is controversy out there about the usage of this system. if we did not enter that plate into the system, this individual that we believe is responsible may have been out there and reoffended. >> reporter: authorities here in beverly hills say essentially they have a perimeter around the city, and almost every license plate is checked with more than 2,400 cameras and 70 license plate readers. the police chief calls it precision policing. do you hear from people about privacy concerns? >> so, in this community, i don't hear any concerns. this community's very happy to have the real-time watch center and this technology. >> reporter: well, here in los angeles, authorities are also concerned that there might be more victims. so, they're reaching out to all of their partners in the region, asking them to review their past homicide cases and see if any fit this profile. david? >> david: kayna, thank you. when we come back here, the young man sentenced to federal prison tonight for intentionally crashing his own plane in the u.s., all to record it. what the judge has now decided. the images tonight, authorities say 11 hikers found dead and the harrowing pictures, the survivors of this covered in ash. and later here tonight, the christmas song, 65 years old. you'll know it. finally number one tonight. ♪ remember the things you loved doing... before your asthma got in the way? get back to the things you love... with fasenra. fasenra is an add-on treatment for eosinophilic asthma. having too many eosinophils, a type of white blood cell, can cause inflammation and asthma symptoms. fasenra is designed to target and remove eosinophils and helps prevent asthma attacks. fasenra is 1 dose every 8 weeks. fasenra can help patients to breathe better. most patients did not have an asthma attack in the first year. and fasenra helps lower the use of oral steroids. fasenra is not for sudden breathing problems or other eosinophilic conditions. allergic reactions may occur. don't stop your asthma treatments without talking with your doctor. tell your doctor if your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. get back to better breathing. and get back to your life. ask your doctor about fasenra. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. 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