Israel-Gaza-Lebanon live updates: Iranian president responds to Israel’s retaliation

(NEW YORK) — One of the driest regions on earth is shifting green, as an influx of heavy rainfall causes vegetation to grow in the typically barren landscape.

Satellite images released by NASA show pockets of plant life popping up all over the Sahara Desert after an extratropical cyclone drenched a large swath of northwestern Africa on Sept. 7 and Sept. 8.

Treeless landscapes in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya — areas that rarely receive rain — are now seeing traces of green sprouting up, according to the NASA Earth Observatory.

The plants include shrubs and trees in low-lying areas, like riverbeds, Sylwia Trzaska, a climate variability researcher at the Columbia Climate School, told ABC News.

It is not wholly unusual for the plant life to sprout in the Sahara when a deluge of rain pours in, past research has shown. When parched regions in this part of Africa get heavy rainfall, the flora responds almost readily, Peter de Menocal, president and director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, told ABC News.

“When you get these really exceptional rainfall events, the dunes become these just incredibly verdant and flowered fields where the plants will just instantly grow for a short period of time to take advantage of,” he said.

The region was once permanently home to lush greenery. Between 11,000 and 5,000 years ago, the Sahara was covered with vegetation and lakes, according to a 2012 paper authored by De Menocal.

“It looks like a desert, and then when the rain comes, then everything starts greening very quickly,” Trzaska said.

In addition, lakes that are typically empty are filling up due to the most recent event, Moshe Armon, a senior lecturer at the Institute of Earth Sciences and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said in a statement released by NASA.

Between 2000 and 2001, Sebkha el Melah, a salt flat in central Algeria, has only filled six times in the past, according to research conducted by Armon and his colleagues.

Preliminary satellite analysis shows rainfall accumulations topping half a foot in the areas affected, according to NASA. Some areas of the Sahara receive just a few inches of rain per year.

While some degree of rainfall every summer is normal due to the West African Monsoon season, it is unusual for the Intertropical Convergence Zone — or the tropical rain belt — to reach as far north as the Sahara, De Menocal said.

The northward displacement of the storm track helped a developing system dump a year’s worth of rainfall in some areas in just a matter of days, according to NASA. The system formed over the Atlantic Ocean and extended far southward, pulling moisture from equatorial Africa into the northern Sahara, according to NASA.

Since mid-July, the Intertropical Convergence Zone has been sending storms into the southern Sahara, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center.

About four million people across 14 African countries have been impacted by flooding, according to the World Food Programme.

Record-high ocean temperatures in the northern Atlantic ocean is contributing to the shift in the rain belt, bringing heavy rainfall typical of regions in the equator farther north, De Menocal said.

The transition from El Niño to La Niña likely affected how far north the Intertropical Convergence Zone moved, Trzaska said.

Climate change could cause the rain belt to shift farther northward in the future, according to a study published in Nature earlier this year. But as the ocean temperatures elsewhere in the world catch up to the Atlantic, the rain belt will likely shift back down, even south of the equator, De Menocal said.

“Decades from now, when the larger oceans have warmed more uniformly, we expect the rain belt to actually go back to its original position, and it can even shift into the other hemisphere,” he said.

The northward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone across West Africa has also likely contributed to a lull in tropical activity in the Atlantic Basin, according to experts.

Disturbances moving across this region are then entering the Atlantic over relatively cooler waters, Dan Harnos, a meteorologist at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, told ABC News last month. With greater exposure to dry air from the mid-latitudes, the chances of a storm developing are hindered.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — At least nine more people were dead and 300 injured in Lebanon on Wednesday after a series of new explosions rocked the South, the Bekaa and the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to the Ministry of Health and the Lebanese Red Cross.

More than 30 ambulances are providing treatment and evacuations to wounded people in Lebanon on Wednesday, the Lebanese Red Cross said.

The Lebanese Army command has asked citizens not to gather in places witnessing security incidents to allow medical teams to arrive.

Israel was behind the deadly explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday, sources told ABC News on Wednesday.

At least 12 civilians were killed and at least 2,800 people injured in the explosions that took place Tuesday, according to Lebanese authorities. Around 460 of the injuries were critical and required surgery, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said. Most victims are suffering from eye and facial injuries, while others suffered injuries to hands and fingers, he said.

The Hezbollah militant group said it is conducting a “security and scientific investigation” into the explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday.

Hezbollah said 11 of its members were killed on Tuesday, though — as is typical in its statements — did not specify how they died.

“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression, which also targeted civilians and led to the deaths of a number of martyrs and the injury of a large number with various wounds,” Hezbollah said of the pager explosions in a Tuesday statement.

In a Wednesday morning statement, Hezbollah said it would continue operations to “support Gaza,” and vowed a “reckoning” for Israel for the “massacre on Tuesday.”

The dead and injured included people who are not members of Hezbollah. Lebanese officials said that an 8-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy are among the dead.

Israel has not commented on its alleged involvement in the apparent attack, which prompted chaos in the capital Beirut and elsewhere in Hezbollah’s south Lebanon heartland.

Around 100 hospitals received wounded people, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said, with hospitals in Beirut and its southern suburb quickly filling to capacity. Patients were then directed to other hospitals outside the region.

The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those who had one of the pagers and was injured in an explosion Tuesday, according to Iranian state TV. The diplomat said in a phone call that he was “feeling well and fully conscious,” according to Iranian state TV.

“I am proud and honored that my blood has become one with the blood of the honorable Lebanese people, as a result of the horrific terrorist crime that targeted our brotherly Lebanon yesterday. This noble country has stood with dignity and pride since the first day of al-Aqsa Storm,” Amani said Wednesday.

At least 14 people were also injured in targeted attacks on Hezbollah members in Syria, according to the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The alleged Israeli operation has again piqued fears of escalation in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict ongoing since Oct. 8, when members of the Iranian-backed group began cross-border attacks in support of Hamas’ war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.

Frontier skirmishes, Israeli strikes and Hezbollah rocket and artillery salvoes have been near-constant through 11 months of war in Gaza. Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to launch a new military operation against Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border. Tens of thousands of Israelis have left their homes in border regions due to the fighting.

The Israel Defense Forces said warplanes hit Hezbollah targets in six locations in southern Lebanon overnight into Wednesday. Artillery strikes were also conducted, it added.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to make a public address on Thursday afternoon to address the situation. In February, Nasrallah urged members to stop using their cell phones, describing the technology as “a deadly agent.”

Schools across Lebanon will be closed on Wednesday, Lebanese state media reported, citing the country’s Minister of Education. Schools and offices closed include public and private schools, high schools, technical institutes, the Lebanese University and private higher education institutions, Lebanese state media reported.

The Lebanese Council of Ministers collectively condemned “this criminal Israeli aggression, which constitutes a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by all standards.”

It added that “the government immediately began making all necessary contacts with the countries concerned and the United Nations to place it before its responsibilities regarding this continuing crime.”

The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon condemned the attack on Lebanon, calling it an “extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context,” in a statement released by the U.N. Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary General.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a press conference in Egypt on Wednesday that the U.S. “did not know about and was not involved” in Israel’s pager attacks in Lebanon and Syria — but said that officials were still gathering information and did not directly blame Israel.

“Broadly speaking, we’ve been very clear, and we remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict that we’re trying to resolve in Gaza,” Blinken said. Its spread to other fronts, he added, is “clearly not in the interest of anyone involved.”

A cease-fire deal in Gaza, Blinken added, would “materially improve the prospects of defusing the situation” on the Israeli-Lebanese border and allow thousands of people living near the area on both sides of the divide to return home.

The U.S. and the European Union have both designated the Hezbollah militant group a foreign terrorist organization.

ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Shannon K. Kingston, Ghazi Balkiz, Nadine El-Bawab, Morgan Winsor, Anne Flaherty, Nasser Atta, Joe Simonetti, Jordana Miller and Helena Skinner contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(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:

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.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.