Biden hosts Israel’s president at the White House amid peace push
Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(LONDON) — President Joe Biden hosted Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the White House on Tuesday as the outgoing administration seeks cease-fire progress in Gaza and Lebanon before President-elect Donald Trump takes power in January.
“I know that you’re working very hard to make sure that this war will end,” Herzog told Biden as they met in the Oval Office. “And that there will be first and foremost security for the people of Israel, as well for the people of Lebanon.”
“Clearly, you’re thinking and working about the day after as well, which perhaps should be a trajectory of hope to the people of the region and the ability to have our neighbors, as well as us, live in security and peace,” Herzog added. “But first and foremost, we have to get the hostages back.”
“I agree,” Biden said.
While in Washington, Herzog’s office said, the president will also meet with Rep. Elise Stefanik — whom Trump has chosen to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations — and Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime foreign policy adviser to Trump.
Biden hosted Herzog amid international concerns that Israel is still failing to facilitate adequate humanitarian aid flows into Gaza.
The Biden administration gave Israel a 30-day window to “surge” food and emergency aid into the devastated territory last month, warning that failure to address the issue may trigger U.S. laws requiring restrictions on military aid to Israel. The deadline for progress is Tuesday.
A letter signed by several international aid agencies and published Tuesday said Israel has failed to address the concerns. The “situation is in an even more dire state today than a month ago,” the groups wrote, per a report by The Associated Press.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar appeared to downplay the situation on Monday, telling reporters that “the issue would be solved.”
Herzog’s visit comes as the Trump transition operation picks up steam, and shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu touted his recent close contact with the president-elect.
Netanyahu said this week he had spoken with Trump three times since the Nov. 5 election, describing the conversations as “very good and important talks designed to further enhance the steadfast bond between Israel and the U.S.”
Axios reported that Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer — long a close confidante of Netanyahu — also met with Trump on Sunday at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump is expected to loom large over Biden’s last months of diplomacy in the Middle East, as his administration seeks an end to the fighting in Gaza and Lebanon, plus the release of dozens of hostages — among them four Americans — taken by Palestinian militants during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack into southern Israel.
Trump’s first term saw close U.S.-Israel alignment. The incoming president is expected to cement American backing for Netanyahu’s government and revive his “maximum pressure” approach to Iran.
Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have framed Tehran as the “head of the octopus” funding and directing attacks against their nation.
Netanyahu said this week of his conversations with Trump, “We see eye to eye on the Iranian threat in all its aspects, and on the dangers they reflect.”
ABC News’ Bruno Nota and Dana Savir contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — Russia and Ukraine each launched more than 100 attack drones, most of which were intercepted, overnight into Thursday, military officials said.
Ukraine’s air defenses shot down at least 78 of the 105 Russian Shahed drones launched overnight at several regions, including Kyiv, the country’s air force said in an update. Fifteen regions were targeted, Ukraine said.
“The air attack was repulsed by aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare units and mobile fire groups of the Air Force and the Defense Forces of Ukraine,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement early Thursday.
It was unclear if there were injuries in Kyiv, Serhiy Popko, head of the city’s administration, said on the messaging app Telegram.
Russia’s air-defense systems shot down some 113 Ukrainian drones in four regions, including the Kursk region, the Russian Ministry of Defense said. The Ukrainian attack had been “thwarted” the military said.
At least 73 Ukrainian drones were destroyed over the Belgorod region, which borders Kharkiv, Ukraine, Moscow said.
Ukrainian officials also said missiles had been fired late Wednesday toward residential areas in Kharkiv, where they struck at least one apartment building.
At least eight people were wounded in that strike, officials said. A 3-year-old child was among the injured, Ihor Terekhov, Kharkiv’s mayor, said on Telegram.
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:
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.
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of the southern village of Habbouch on September 23, 2024. (Photo by RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — The Israeli military expanded its Lebanon campaign with hundreds of airstrikes on Monday, as the long-simmering border conflict with Hezbollah threatened to explode into a larger war.
Dozens of Israeli warplanes struck more than 1,300 targets in southern Lebanon on Monday morning, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
At least 492 people were killed and more than 1,600 wounded in the ongoing strikes, among them women, children and medical personnel, the Lebanon Ministry of Public Health said. Of those killed, 35 were children and 58 were women, the ministry said.
Israel also said it launched a targeted strike in Beirut. At least six people were injured in that airstrike on a residential building in Bir al-Abd, a southern suburb of Beirut, according to Lebanese state media.
Hezbollah officials said senior commander Ali Karaki — who Israeli sources confirmed was the target of the Beirut strike — survived the attack.
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Israel was changing “the security balance, the balance of power in the North.”
“For those who have not yet understood, I want to clarify Israel’s policy — we do not wait for a threat, we anticipate it,” Netanyahu said. “Everywhere, in every arena, at any time. We eliminate senior officials, eliminate terrorists, eliminate missiles — and our hands are bent.”
“Whoever tries to hurt us, we hurt him even more,” he added.
The attacks coincided with a warning by from IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari of more planned Israeli strikes against Hezbollah “terrorist infrastructure” in the border region and elsewhere.
Hagari said civilians in Lebanese villages used by Hezbollah for military purposes should “immediately move out of harm’s way for their own safety.”
Video and photos showed bumper-to-bumper traffic as people tried to flee southern cities.
Following the intense strikes in the south of the country on Monday morning, Hagari said the IDF would soon start hitting targets in the eastern Bekaa Valley — another Hezbollah stronghold. Hagari claimed that every house by Israeli munitions contained “rockets, missiles, UAVs that are intended to kill Israeli civilians.”
Hezbollah returned fire across the border with dozens of projectiles, the IDF said, with alarms sounding across the region. Some munitions were intercepted and some fell in open areas, the force wrote on social media.
There were about 250 launches from Lebanon into Israel on Monday, according to Israeli Emergency Officials. Hagari said there had been about 700 launches in the last week.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service reported at least one man injured by shrapnel in the Lower Galilee area and another lightly hurt while making his way to a shelter.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a social media post that Israel “will act with full force” to change the current situation in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Katz said, “has taken the people of Lebanon hostage, placing missiles and weapons in their homes and villages to threaten Israel’s civilians.”
“This is a clear war crime,” Katz said. “We will not accept this reality.”
“The people of Lebanon must evacuate any home turned into a Hezbollah outpost to avoid harm,” Katz continued. “We will not stop until the threat is removed from Israel’s citizens and the residents of the north return safely to their homes.”
Thousands of Lebanese cell phone users received a text message from the IDF on Monday, warning: “If you are in a building where Hezbollah weapons are located, stay away from the village until further notice.” Similar messages were issued over Lebanese radio.
The fresh Israeli warnings come after a weekend of intense cross-border fire, with rockets, missiles and drones launched into Israel by Hezbollah met by Israeli airstrikes across southern Lebanon.
Fighting between the IDF and Hezbollah has been constant since Oct. 8, when the Iranian-backed militant group began attacks into Israel in protest of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip targeting Hamas. Hezbollah has said it will continue its attacks until Israeli forces withdraw from the Palestinian territory.
Tens of thousands of Israelis fled border regions under Hezbollah fire since the fighting began. Their return is a priority for Netanyahu and his government.
“We will take whatever action is necessary to restore security and to bring our people safe back to their homes,” Netanyahu said on Sunday.
Israeli leaders are also demanding that Hezbollah withdraw beyond the Litani River — some 18 miles north of the Israeli border — as stipulated in a 2006 United Nations Security Council resolution that sought to end the last major cross-border war.
“If the world does not withdraw Hezbollah north of Litani in accordance with Resolution 1701 — Israel will do so,” Katz said on Sunday.
The conflict intensified last week with Israel’s detonation of Hezbollah communication devices in Lebanon and Syria, which Nasrallah described as an “unprecedented blow” for the group.
Two consecutive days of explosions — which killed at least 37 people and wounded 2,931, according to Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad — were followed by the killing of Hezbollah operations chief Ibrahim Aqil and 14 other members in a Beirut airstrike.
The bombing in the Hezbollah-aligned Dahiya suburb killed at least 45 people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. The dead included at least three children — aged 4, 6 and 10 — and seven women, the ministry said. Dozens more people were wounded.
Hezbollah leaders said they would continue their operations despite last week’s setbacks.
Deputy Secretary General Naim Qasem spoke at Aqil’s funeral in Beirut on Sunday, telling hundreds of mourners that the conflict has now entered “a new phase” which he called an “open-ended battle of reckoning”.
“Threats won’t stop us, and we don’t fear the most dangerous possibilities,” he continued. “We are ready to face all military scenarios.”
Israeli communities in the north of the country are braced for further escalation. The IDF issued new security guidance on Sunday closing schools and beaches in the region, while the Rambam Hospital in Haifa transferred patients to an underground facility.
This weekend, the State Department reissued its level 4 “do not travel” warning for Lebanon, noting “recent explosions throughout Lebanon, including Beirut.”
The Department’s July warning for American citizens to “depart Lebanon while commercial options still remain available” is unchanged. “At this time, commercial flights are available, but at reduced capacity,” the advisory said.
“If the security situation worsens, commercial options to depart may become unavailable.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to Israel’s right to defend itself and stressed the importance of achieving a diplomatic solution to return citizens to their homes in the north” in a Sunday phone call with Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant, per a Pentagon readout.
Austin also “emphasized his concern for the safety and security of U.S. citizens in the region,” the Pentagon said.
ABC News’ Dana Savir, Ghazi Balkiz, Joe Simonetti and Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
