Canadians are ‘perplexed’ by Trump’s tariffs, ambassador to the US says
Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — In an interview on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday, Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman said Canadians are “perplexed” and “disappointed” by President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
White House officials announced Saturday that Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada and 10% tariffs on goods from China. Trump had long threatened tariffs against Canada and Mexico to ensure their cooperation to stop illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.
The tariffs are expected to be implemented on Tuesday but Hillman said her government is continuing to discuss the situation with the Trump administration.
“We’re hopeful that they don’t come into effect on Tuesday,” she said. “We’re ready to continue to talk to the Trump administration about that, and in particular about all the work that we’re doing with them and on our own, with respect to the border.”
Hillman said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Trump discussed Canada’s plan to meet some of his demands, although not recently, and discussions between the two governments are continuing.
“Not in recent days, but they have discussed it, and we’ve discussed it with senior members of the White House as well, and we’ve laid out our plan, and my understanding is that the plan and some of the actual outcomes, results of what we have done, have been presented to the president,” she said.
Trudeau responded to the tariffs on Saturday evening, announcing his country will implement 25% tariffs on $155 billion Canadian dollars (about $107 billion U.S. dollars) of U.S. goods. The prime minister said he has not talked to Trump since his inauguration.
Hillman said the proposed tariff’s are “disrupting an incredibly successful trading relationship.”
“The Canadian people are going to expect that our government stands firm and stands up for itself,” she said. “I don’t think we’re not at all interested in escalating, but I think that there will be a very strong demand on our government to make sure that we stand up for the deal that we have struck with the with the United States.”
“They just don’t understand where this is coming from, and probably there’s a little bit of hurt,” she added.
The U.S. and Canada have always had a “sense of common purpose,” Hillman said, and Trump’s actions constitute a significant heel turn.
“This is not something that Canada wants to do,” she said. “This is not a path that we are interested in going down. We are actually interested in being and continuing to be your best customer.”
(SEOUL and TOKYO) — North Korea launched “several short-range ballistic missiles,” that landed in the Sea of Japan Tuesday morning local time, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The missiles “flew approximately 250 km,” the officials said.
“North Korea’s missile launch is a clear provocative act that seriously threatens the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, and we strongly condemn it,” the officials added.
Tuesday’s test launches marked the second missile test of the year, following the Jan. 6 launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile, a test that coincided with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to South Korea.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said at the time that the “performance of our latest hypersonic intermediate-range missile system is globally significant and cannot be ignored,” according to state media.
Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japanese cabinet secretary, said during a press conference on Tuesday that Japan, the United States and South Korea are “working closely together, including sharing missile alert data in real time, to ensure a thorough response.”
“I will refrain from making a definitive assessment at this point, but no missiles have been confirmed to have landed in our territory or exclusive economic zone, and no damage has been reported,” he said.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — The ceasefire in Lebanon is holding despite ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, which Israeli officials say are responses to ceasefire violations by the Iranian-backed militant group.
The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza, particularly in the north of the devastated Palestinian territory.
Tensions also remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides.
Amnesty accuses Israel of ‘genocide’ in Gaza
Amnesty International released a new report Thursday accusing Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip amid its ongoing war with Hamas.
Israel, Amnesty alleged, has sought to intentionally destroy Palestinians via direct attacks, the destruction of vital infrastructure and the prevention of food, medicine and other aid deliveries.
Israeli conduct, the report suggested, cannot be justified by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, or the presence of Palestinian militants among civilians in Gaza.
“Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now,” Agnes Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International, said.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry rejected the report as “fabricated,” “entirely false and based on lies.” In a statement to X, the ministry said Amnesty was a “deplorable and fanatical organization.”
“The genocidal massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, was carried out by the Hamas terrorist organization against Israeli citizens,” the ministry wrote. “Since then, Israeli citizens have been subjected to daily attacks from seven different fronts.”
“Israel is defending itself against these attacks acting fully in accordance with international law,” it added.
The ministry also shared an image of a bloodied room which it said was a photo of a child’s bedroom immediately after Oct. 7. The image, the ministry said, “tells you everything you need to know about Amnesty’s report.”
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Zoe Magee
Body of Israeli hostage recovered in Gaza
Israeli forces have recovered the body of Israeli hostage Itay Svirsky from Gaza, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
Svirsky was declared dead in January. His parents were also killed on Oct. 7.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
At least 20 killed in strike outside Khan Younis
At least 20 people were killed in a large strike in Al-Mawasi, west of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
A camp where displaced people were staying was hit in the attack, injuring many. A search and rescue operation is underway.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
IDF confirms another strike in southern Lebanon
After warning people this morning to stay away from southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces said they had carried out a strike in Majdal Zoun on a rocket launcher they said violated the ceasefire.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Israeli defense minister signals some optimism about hostage deal
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz visited the Tel Nof airbase Wednesday, where he signaled some optimism about the hostage deal.
“The pressure on the monstrous organization Hamas is increasing — there is a chance that this time we will really be able to advance a hostage deal,” Katz said.
“We will not stop the war until we return all the kidnapped men and women and until we achieve the goals,” he later added.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Massive evacuation ordered in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza
A massive evacuation is underway Wednesday in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, with a Palestinian Civil Defense official telling ABC News more than 10,000 people were forced to leave in the last 24 hours.
About 225,000 people lived in Beit Lahia before the war, and less than 40,000 remain there now, the official said.
The area is facing relentless bombing and an unknown number of people are believed to be dead or injured.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Israeli West Bank settlers riot, attack Palestinians and security forces
The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday said security forces personnel faced “violent” scenes while evacuating an illegal Israeli settler outpost in the Palestinian West Bank town of Huwara, close to the city of Nablus.
Dozens of settlers rioted, setting fire to Palestinian buildings, vehicles and attacking Palestinian residents after Israeli security forces moved in to conduct the evacuation.
The IDF said several Israelis were arrested.
“The IDF views with great seriousness any violence against its servants and the security forces, who commit nights and days to the security of the citizens of the region,” its statement read. “These events must be condemned and the violators of the law brought to justice.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
UN chief says Gaza aid ‘outrageously’ blocked
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a post to X on Tuesday that much-needed humanitarian aid for Gaza is being “outrageously blocked.”
Guterres said aid agencies are facing “gigantic humanitarian needs” in Gaza, where the Israel Defense Forces continue military operations — particularly in the north of the devastated territory.
UN officials have repeatedly demanded that Israel do more to facilitate aid flows into Gaza.
“The nightmare is not a crisis of logistics,” Guterres said. “It’s a crisis of political will and of respect for fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Israeli forces conduct strike in Syria
The Israel Defense Forces said it conducted a strike in Damascus on Tuesday, to target Salman Nemer Jamaa, Hezbollah’s representative to the Syrian military.
“The Syrian regime has actively supported Hezbollah, enabling weapon smuggling to Lebanon and by that endangering Syrian and Lebanese civilians. Jamaa was a key Hezbollah figure supporting these operations,” the IDF said in a statement.
This Israeli strike is separate from active ongoing fighting between Syrian rebel forces and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Diseases spreading in Gaza as winter bites
Doctors Without Borders on Tuesday reported a significant spread of respiratory diseases, pneumonia, skin diseases and diseases resulting from immunodeficiency among citizens in Gaza.
The organization’s medical director, Fadi Al-Madhoun, warned of acute respiratory infection among children in the Gaza Strip due to the winter weather and their presence in tents that do not protect against the winter cold.
Last month, MSF described conditions in Gaza as “appalling” and said its teams treated more than 10,000 children under the age of 5 for upper respiratory tract infections like tonsillitis and the common cold.
-ABC News’ Samy Zyara and Joe Simonetti
Airstrike targets car near Damascus airport
Syria’s SANA news agency reported an Israeli airstrike targeting a car on a main road close to Damascus airport on Tuesday.
It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties from the strike, or who the target was.
The Israel Defense Forces has not yet commented on the report.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta, Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
IDF claims killing of Oct. 7 militants
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that it killed seven militants it accused of participating in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, infiltration attack into southern Israel.
The IDF said in a statement that troops of the 99th Division’s 990th Brigade killed the fighters during operations in central Gaza over the past two weeks.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Trump’s Israel ambassador pick demands ‘severe’ response to hostage death
Mike Huckabee, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the next American ambassador to Israel, said the U.S. must “exact severe consequences” after the Israel Defense Forces announced the death of missing American-Israeli soldier Omer Neutra.
Neutra, 21, was killed during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel and his body was taken back into Gaza, the IDF said Monday. He was previously thought to have been abducted alive.
Huckabee wrote on X, “There must be serious consequences for holding any hostage but America needs to exact severe consequences for kidnapping and murdering AMERICAN hostages.”
Trump said on Truth Social on Monday that there would be “ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East” if remaining hostages are not released from Gaza by the time he takes office on Jan. 20.
There are believed to be three surviving Americans still being held hostage in Gaza.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
9 killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, health ministry says
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said that Israeli airstrikes in the south of the country killed nine people on Monday, as last week’s fragile ceasefire continues despite renewed cross-border fire.
The ministry said in posts to X that an Israeli attack on the town of Haris killed five people and injured two. A strike on the town of Talousa killed four and injured one, the ministry said.
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday it was striking targets in southern Lebanon and accused Hezbollah of “severe violation of the ceasefire.”
IDF says it’s hitting targets in Lebanon
The IDF said it is striking targets in southern Lebanon on Monday after Hezbollah officials said earlier they fired on an Israeli target.
“We will respond decisively to Hezbollah’s severe violation of the ceasefire —and will continue to do so. We have plans and targets ready to be carried out and at any given moment,” the Chief of the General Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi, said Monday.
Hezbollah says it fired on Israeli target in southern Lebanon
Hezbollah officials said Monday they fired on an Israeli target in southern Lebanon, accusing Israel of “repeated violations” of the ceasefire agreement.
The Israel Defense Forces said Hezbollah launched two projectiles toward the area of Har Dov. There were no injuries, with the projectiles falling in open space, the IDF said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened a forceful response, calling it a “serious violation of the ceasefire.”
“We are determined to continue enforcing the ceasefire, and to respond to any violation by Hezbollah — minor or serious,” Netanyahu said.
Family of dead Israeli-American soldier release statement
The family of Omer Maxim Neutra, the Israeli-American soldier who had been believed to be in Hamas captivity, released a statement Monday after it was confirmed he was killed Oct. 7.
“Our hearts are shattered with this devastating news,” the family said. “The Neutra family is deeply grieving and are requesting the public, who has shown great support throughout this journey, to please respect their privacy until they are formally ready to announce the next steps.”
“May Omer’s memory be a blessing,” they added.
Netanyahu vows to recover body of US-Israeli soldier from Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara Netanyahu, said in a joint statement Monday they “will not rest or be silent” until the body of killed U.S.-Israeli soldier Omer Neutra is recovered from the Gaza Strip.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed Monday that Neutra, 21, was killed during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel and his body taken back into Gaza. Neutra — who was originally from New York — was previously thought to have been taken hostage. He was serving as a tank platoon commander at the time of the attack.
Neutra “fought fiercely at the head of his soldiers to defend the settlements surrounding Gaza, until he fell.” Netanyahu’s statement said. “We share in the family’s heavy grief,” it added.
“We will continue to act resolutely and tirelessly until we return all of our captives — the living and the dead,” the statement said.
There are still three American citizens thought to be alive as hostages inside Gaza.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
Israeli drone strike injures Lebanon soldier, army says
The Lebanese Armed Forces said on Monday that an Israeli drone “targeted an army bulldozer while it was carrying out fortification work” at a military center in the northeastern Hermel region close to the border with Syria.
The attack “resulted in one soldier being moderately injured,” the army wrote in a post to X.
The Israel Defense Forces has not yet commented on the alleged strike.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
IDF confirms death of US-Israeli hostage
The Israel Defense Forces on Monday confirmed that missing U.S.-Israeli soldier Omer Maxim Neutra, 21, was among those killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel.
Neutra was believed taken into Gaza as a hostage by militants during the attack. But the IDF said Monday he was killed during the Oct. 7 assault and his body was taken by militants.
Neutra — originally from New York — was serving as a tank platoon commander in the 77th Battalion of the 7th Brigade at the time of the Hamas attack. He was among hundreds of security forces personnel killed during the assault.
Neutra’s parents have been campaigning for a hostage release deal in the U.S., their activity including public appearances at the White House and the Capitol.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
IDF reports ‘several operations’ against Hezbollah in Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday it launched “several operations” targeting Hezbollah fighters that it claimed posed a direct threat to Israel “in violation of the ceasefire agreement.”
Among the operations was an attack on armed militants operating close to a church in southern Lebanon, the IDF said.
Those killed “were active in the ground defense, anti-tank and artillery formations in the sector, and took part in the fighting while using the church,” it wrote in a post to X.
The 60-day ceasefire that went into effect last week is holding despite continued sporadic fighting and Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon.
The deal stipulates that IDF troops will withdraw from their positions in Lebanon during the 60-day window and that Hezbollah forces will withdraw from the region south of the Litani River.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Hostage Edan Alexander’s father makes an appeal to Biden, Trump and Netanyahu
The father of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander issued an emotional request on Sunday to President Biden, President-elect Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling the leaders to act now to bring the hostages home “before it’s too late.”
A day after seeing his son for the first time in a year in a propaganda video released by Hamas’ military wing, Adi Alexander of New Jersey spoke at a rally in New York City’s Central Park, saying, “No father should hear his child plead for his life like that.”
“President Biden, President Trump, Prime Minster Netanyahu, I call on all of you to act,” Alexander said. “This is not a moment for politics or hesitation. This is a moment of courage, collaboration and decisive action.”
He appealed to Biden to use the United States’ influence “to negotiate a deal before it’s too late.”
Directing his words to Trump, he said, “You do not have to wait until January to make an impact. The world is watching. Act now.”
To Netanyahu, Alexander said, “The fate of the hostages, including my son, rests in your hands. You have the power to bring them home. Don’t let this opportunity slip away.”
Edan Alexander, 20, was serving in the Israeli military and stationed near Gaza when he was taken captive by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023.
The White House issued a statement, saying, it has been in touch with the Alexander family and called the hostage video a “cruel reminder of Hamas’s terror against citizens of multiple countries, including our own.”
“The war in Gaza would stop tomorrow and the suffering of Gazans would end immediately– and would have ended months ago– if Hamas agreed to release the hostages,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said in a statement. “It has refused to do so, but as the President said last week, we have a critical opportunity to conclude the deal to release the hostages, stop the war, and surge humanitarian assistance into Gaza. This deal is on the table now.”
Netanyahu to hold meeting to discuss hostages, Lebanon, Syria tonight: Official
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a security meeting Sunday night to discuss the issue of the hostages, as well as Lebanon and Syria, an Israeli official told ABC News.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
UN pauses aid deliveries to Gaza amid safety concerns
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini on Sunday announced a pause to Gaza aid deliveries via the strip’s main crossing point, citing serious threats to the safety of staff.
The road out of the Kerem Shalom crossing “has not been safe for months,” Lazzarini said in a post to X.
“This difficult decision comes at a time hunger is rapidly deepening,” Lazzarini said. “The delivery of humanitarian aid must never be dangerous or turn into an ordeal.”
The UNRWA chief said a “large convoy of aid trucks was stolen by armed gangs” on Nov. 16, with several more aid trucks taken on Saturday.
Lazzarini also said that Israel’s “ongoing siege” of Gaza, “hurdles” put in place by Israeli authorities and “political decisions to restrict the amounts of aid” were among the other problems facing U.N. staff.
“The humanitarian operation has become unnecessarily impossible,” he wrote. “The responsibility of protection of aid workers [and] supplies is with the state of Israel as the occupying power.”
(LONDON) — A ceasefire went into effect at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday morning after Israel’s Cabinet approved the U.S.-backed proposal to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah after prolonged negotiations.
The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza, particularly in the north of the devastated Palestinian territory.
Tensions also remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides.
IDF launches 4 more strikes in Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces has announced carrying out four more airstrikes Saturday in Lebanon, where a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is tentatively in place.
In all four attacks, the IDF says they hit Hezbollah-affiliated targets where they believed operatives were near to, or handling, weapons. It does not appear that Hezbollah has fired any weapons since the start of the ceasefire, nor has the IDF accused them of doing so.
This makes five total IDF strikes in Lebanon on Saturday alone. The IDF announced conducting one on Friday, and one on Thursday.
The Lebanon Ministry of Health said in a statement that a 7-year-old child was among three injured in an Israeli strike on a car earlier Saturday, and an additional person was injured in a separate strike.
The IDF said it is “deployed in the southern Lebanon area, operating against any threat to the State of Israel and enforcing any violation of the ceasefire agreement understandings.”
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
75 killed in 2 Beit Lahia strikes: Gaza Civil Defence
At least 75 people were killed in two air strikes in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, according to Gaza’s Civil Defence.
Video circulating online shows bodies under rubble, which the group said they are unable to reach as they remain trapped.
-ABC News’ Samy Zyara
MSF: Crisis in Gaza worsens as entry of medicine, supplies blocked
Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French name Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), is warning that people in Gaza with medical conditions are facing mounting catastrophes this winter.
Shortages of food, medicine, water, shelter and other crucial supplies are at critical levels, the humanitarian group said, and could worsen aid workers’ means to provide care.
“Shortages of critical supplies have reached such levels that we are now forced to turn away patients in some facilities,” Caroline Seguin, MSF’s emergency coordinator in Gaza, said in a statement. “Restrictions and obstacles to the entry of aid by the Israeli authorities continue to severely hamper our ability to provide care. Meanwhile, the looting of aid trucks within the enclave is making it difficult for that small amount of aid allowed by Israeli authorities to reach those in need. Ultimately, it’s the patients who suffer the consequences.”
Another IDF airstrike in southern Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces launched another airstrike in southern Lebanon on Friday after it said they identified “terrorist activity and movement of a Hezbollah portable rocket launcher.”
The IDF said the “threat was thwarted in an IAF strike.”
“The IDF is deployed in southern Lebanon and will actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement,” it said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
Netanyahu threatens ‘intensive’ war if Hezbollah violates ceasefire
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened an “intensive” war if Hezbollah violates the ceasefire agreement, according to an interview he did with a local reporter.
“I gave the IDF instructions,” Netanyahu said, speaking to the right-wing Channel 14. “If there is a massive violation of the agreement … we [will] operate surgically like we are doing now, and with force … I instructed the IDF to prepare for an intensive war.”
Israel conducts airstrike during ceasefire
The Israel Defense Forces said it fired at suspected terrorists Thursday. Hezbollah has not yet commented on the strike and there have been no indications rockets have been fired into Israel from the north.
“The IDF remains in southern Lebanon and acting to enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement,” the IDF said in a statement.
The Lebanese Army confirmed the strikes hit within its territory, saying Israel “violated the agreement several times” on Wednesday and Thursday.
“After the ceasefire agreement was announced, the Israeli enemy violated the agreement several times, through air violations and targeting Lebanese territory with various weapons. The Army Command is following up on these violations in coordination with the relevant authorities,” the Lebanese army said in a statement.
2,500 children in Gaza need to be evacuated: UNICEF
Over 2,500 children in the Gaza Strip need “urgent medical evacuation,” according to the United Nations Children’s Fund. “The situation in the northern Gaza Strip is extremely difficult and tragic and is getting worse,” UNICEF spokesperson Kazem Abu Khalaf said in a statement.
“Thirty percent of children in the Gaza Strip suffer from severe malnutrition,” Abu Khalaf said. “Ninety-five percent of the schools that house displaced people in the Gaza Strip have been completely destroyed,” he said.
Nearly all attempts to deliver aid to northern Gaza have been thwarted, UNRWA says
Nearly all of the 100 attempts to deliver aid to northern Gaza over the last two months have failed, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
“Out of the 91 attempts the UN has made to deliver aid to besieged north #Gaza between 6 October and 25 November, 82 have been denied and 9 impeded,” the UNRWA said in a statement
“The conditions for survival are diminishing for the 65,000-75,000 people estimated to remain there,” the UNRWA said.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
IDF fires at ‘suspects’ in southern Lebanon, alleging ceasefire violation
The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday morning it fired at “suspects, some with vehicles” arriving in several areas of southern Lebanon.
The IDF did not give information on the identity of the targets but said their presence in the area “constitutes a violation.”
There have been sporadic reports of firing in several areas of southern Lebanon since the IDF-Hezbollah ceasefire went into effect early Wednesday morning.
The IDF has warned evacuated citizens of southern Lebanese towns and villages not to return to their homes until told to do so. Around 1.2 million people in Lebanon — roughly a quarter of its population — have been displaced by Israeli attacks and evacuation orders.
IDF says residents returning to south Lebanon are ‘in danger’
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee again urged south Lebanon residents not to return to their homes in a post to X on Thursday morning.
Adraee listed 10 villages in the south as still off limits to evacuated residents, despite Wednesday’s ceasefire.
“The IDF does not intend to target you and therefore you are prohibited at this stage from returning to your homes,” he wrote.
Anyone who travels south regardless will be “in danger,” Adraee added.
Israeli forces are expected to withdraw from their positions in southern Lebanon in phases during the 60-day ceasefire that came into effect on Wednesday morning.
They will be replaced by Lebanese Armed Forces troops, who will be tasked — with United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon assistance — with preventing the return of Hezbollah forces in the area between the Litani River and the Israeli border.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Hezbollah claims victory, says they will remain ‘fully prepared’ to deal with Israel’s ‘ambitions’
Hezbollah said it continued its war against Israel for “more than 13 months,” and it was “able to achieve victory over the delusional enemy,” the militia said in its first statement since the ceasefire was announced.
Throughout the “Israeli ground operation the attempts of the enemy forces to occupy and establish themselves in any of the towns of the first line of the front did not succeed nor did they succeed in establishing a military and security buffer zone as” Israel had hoped it would, Hezbollah said in a statement.
Hezbollah will remain “fully prepared to deal with the Israeli enemy’s ambitions” and “will continue to follow the movements and withdrawals of the enemy’s forces beyond the borders, and their hands will remain on the trigger, in defense of Lebanon’s sovereignty and for the sake of the dignity and honor of its people,” Hezbollah said.
‘We will see’ if Israel’s goals in war were realized ‘in the next 60 days,’ Israeli defense minister says
The goal of Israel’s ongoing war with Hezbollah was to “damage Hezbollah’s capabilities and create the conditions for the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said, in his first comments since the ceasefire went into effect.
“We will see in the next 60 days whether this goal is realized. When the details of the arrangement, including all its components, become clear to the public, and if effective enforcement is carried out, with Israel at the center, calm and deterrence will be created, it will be possible to say that the goal has been achieved,” Katz added.
Katz said the Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire is “creating additional pressure on Hamas.”
“From here we look towards the southern front, with the most important goal being to return all the kidnapped people home safely and quickly. Results of the campaign in the north are creating additional pressure on Hamas and we intend to make every effort to create the conditions for a new hostage deal and to bring everyone home — this is the most important moral goal we are facing now, this is the ultimate goal,” Katz said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Isolated incidents reported as ceasefire begins
The Israel Defense Forces and Lebanese media are reporting several isolated incidents in southern Lebanon after the ceasefire went into effect.
Israeli forces fired “artillery shells” in Kfar Kila, Al-Aadaissah and Khiyam in southern Lebanon, Lebanese state media reported.
“In light of Hezbollah members entering the village of Kila, Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to act firmly and without compromise against such phenomena,” the Israeli defense minister’s office said in a press release.
“The IDF will operate against anyone who attempts to breach the ceasefire agreement and will continue to protect the citizens of Israel,” the IDF said in a separate release.
Two journalists were injured after Israeli forces opened fire on a group of them in the town of Khiam while they were covering the return of Lebanese residents to the town, Lebanese state media reported.
The Israel Defense Forces said they received the report regarding several journalists injured in the Khiam area and added the IDF is “unaware of fire toward the journalists.”
“As of now, only warning shots have been fired in the area,” the IDF said. “The IDF remains in southern Lebanon and will actively enforce every violation of the ceasefire agreement.”
An Israeli security official said there have been “several incidents” of gunmen and others trying to provoke Israeli forces in southern Lebanon since the ceasefire went into effect. The Israeli security official called them “isolated incidents” that often happen in the first day of a ceasefire and have happened in previous wars.
The IDF’s position right now is that Lebanese residents should not come back to villages in southern Lebanon as they are not safe, the Israeli security official said.
The ceasefire calls for a handover from the IDF to the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon. The Israeli security official implied it would not be safe for Lebanese residents to return until that handover is complete.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the IDF not to allow the population to enter the area of villages near the border in southern Lebanon, in accordance with the first phase of implementing the ceasefire outline,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a release Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Jordana Miller
Lebanese army warns residents not to return to front-line villages, towns in the south
Initial reports suggest the ceasefire is holding, but the Lebanese army is being cautious in parts of southern Lebanon, asking people to wait for Israeli forces to withdraw before returning to front-line villages and towns, in a statement to the public Wednesday.
The Lebanese army also said it is already starting to strengthen its deployments in the South Litani sector in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon on Wednesday.
The Israel Defense Forces warned residents of south Lebanon not to travel south of the Litani River from 5 p.m. local time Wednesday until 7 a.m. local time Thursday morning, in a post on X, warning any movement toward these areas exposes people to “danger.”
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz
Biden says US to make ‘another push’ on Gaza ceasefire
President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the U.S. “will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza” over the coming days, following the success of ceasefire talks in Lebanon.
Negotiations, Biden said in a post to X, must end “with the hostages released and an end to the war without Hamas in power.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Lebanon PM confirms ceasefire acceptance
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati confirmed Lebanon’s acceptance of the ceasefire in an address on Wednesday.
“We affirm the government’s commitment to implementing Security Council Resolution 1701 in all its provisions,” he said, referring to the 2006 U.N. Security Council measure that sought to end the last bout of cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Resolution 1701 stipulated that Hezbollah must withdraw all forces north of the Litani River and that all Israeli forces must leave — and no longer violate the sovereignty of — Lebanon.
Mikati did not address the separate U.S.-Israeli agreement backing Israel’s right to continue to strike anywhere in Lebanon if deemed necessary for self-defense.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Somayeh Malekian
Hezbollah allies welcome Israel ceasefire
Hezbollah allies on Wednesday praised the group for securing its ceasefire deal with Israel.
In a press conference Wednesday morning, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran supports “ending Israel’s aggression against Lebanon as a part of the ceasefire.”
Iran — the founder and director of the so-called “Axis of Resistance” of which Hezbollah is a key element — maintains “unwavering support for the Lebanese government, people and resistance,” Baqaei said.
Hamas, meanwhile, said in an official statement that it welcomed the ceasefire and praised Hezbollah’s support of Palestinians, as well as the “great sacrifices” of the group’s members including late leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel’s acceptance of the deal, Hamas added, is a “milestone” in “destroying” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “illusions of changing the map of the Middle East by force and his illusions of defeating or disarming the resistance forces.”
Yemen’s Houthis — who have been attacking shipping and launching long-range strikes into Israel — also praised Hezbollah’s “steadfastness,” framing the ceasefire deal as an Israeli defeat.
“The conflict with the Zionist enemy is an inevitable conflict and the wars with it are rounds in a conflict that will inevitably end with its demise,” the Iran-backed group said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz, Samy Zyara and Somayeh Malekian
IDF attacked ‘dozens’ of targets in hours before ceasefire
The Israel Defense Forces said its warplanes bombed “dozens” of Hezbollah targets across Lebanon in the hours leading up to the Wednesday morning ceasefire.
The IDF said in a post to social media that the targets included “Hezbollah command centers, launchers, weapons storage facilities and terrorist infrastructure sites in Beirut, Tyre and Nabatieh.”
The IDF also struck “several smuggling routes between Syria and Lebanon, which were used by Hezbollah to smuggle weaponry,” the force said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Lebanese army preparing to deploy south after ceasefire
The Lebanese Armed Forces said in a Wednesday morning statement that it was “taking the necessary measures to complete the deployment in the south as mandated by the Lebanese government” after the ceasefire deal with Israel came into effect.
The ceasefire agreement stipulates that Lebanese troops will take up positions in the south of the country and prevent the return of Hezbollah forces — who are expected to withdraw north of the Litani River — to the area.
LAF commander General Joseph Aoun met with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday to discuss the security situation in the south of the country, a statement posted to Mikati’s X channel said.
The LAF is expected to deploy around 5,000 troops to the area as part of the 60-day ceasefire. United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon soldiers will remain in southern Lebanon to assist.
Israeli troops are expected to withdraw from their positions in south Lebanon in phases during the same timeframe.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Israel ceasefire ‘a test for all Lebanese,’ parliament speaker says
Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri said in a Wednesday address that the nascent ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is “a test for all Lebanese, from all sects, to save their country and protect its constitutional institutions.”
Berri — the leader of the Hezbollah-allied Amal Movement who has been negotiating on Hezbollah’s behalf — said the Lebanese “people were able to neutralize the effects of the Israeli aggression” and saluted late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in September.
“We call on all our displaced people in all our regions and the sister countries that hosted them to return,” Berri added. “We are in dire need of national unity among all the Lebanese people.”
Berri called for the “speedy election” of a new Lebanese president and thanked all those “who contributed to the ceasefire.”
Hezbollah is yet to issue any official statement on the ceasefire, which went into effect at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Joe Simonetti
IDF fires on vehicle in south Lebanon after ceasefire begins
The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday its troops fired on a vehicle carrying several people “in a zone prohibited for movement in Lebanese territory” shortly after the ceasefire came into effect at 4 a.m. local time.
“IDF troops fired to prevent them from advancing and the suspects left the area,” the IDF wrote in a post to X.
The Israeli air force, it said “remains ready to act across Lebanese territory” while the Israeli air defense network “is also in a high state of defensive readiness.”
“The IDF will act against anyone who tries to violate the ceasefire agreement and will not allow damage to the security of the residents of Israel,” the force wrote.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
IDF warns southern Lebanese not to return home despite ceasefire
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Wednesday morning that Lebanese civilians who fled their homes in the south of the country should not return to their homes until told to do so, despite the start of the ceasefire.
Twenty minutes after the ceasefire came into effect, Adraee said in a post to X that the IDF remains “positioned in its posts in southern Lebanon.”
“Do not approach the villages that the IDF has evacuated or IDF soldiers in the area,” he wrote. “For your safety and the security of your families, avoid entering the area.”
“We will update you when it is safe to return to your homes,” Adraee added.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is now in effect
The ceasefire went into effect at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday morning.
Representatives of Hezbollah still have not said anything on the record about the agreement.
When submitting the deal for approval, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deal still relies on the actions of Hezbollah.
“The duration of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon,” Netanyahu said in the statement. “We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. We will continue together until victory.”
Strikes reported in central Beirut minutes after ceasefire deal announced
There were reports of strikes in central Beirut minutes after President Joe Biden finished speaking, announcing a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah.
The ceasefire is set to take effect at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz
Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire will begin at 4 am local time on Wednesday
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah will begin at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday under a U.S.-brokered deal, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday.
“Israel did not launch this war. The Lebanese people did not want this either,” Biden said in an address Tuesday.
“This has been the deadliest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in decades,” Biden said.
Biden warned that Israel “retains the right to self-defense” if Hezbollah or anyone else attacks Israel.
Biden also called for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza. The U.S. is working with Egypt, Turkey and other partners to attain a ceasefire in Gaza, Biden said.
“The people in Gaza have been through hell,” Biden said.
Israel’s cabinet has approved the U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had submitted the proposal to the cabinet for approval Tuesday.
Far-right Israeli Minister Ben Gvir was the only minister who voted against deal. The 10 other ministers in the cabinet voted in favor of the deal.
Netanyahu thanked President Joe Biden for “the US involvement in achieving the ceasefire agreement,” and for “the understanding that Israel will maintain freedom of action in its enforcement,” a statement said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Gaza’s Civil Defense stops operating in Gaza City due to lack of fuel
Gaza’s Civil Defense vehicles — which serve emergency functions like search and rescue operations — are no longer operating in Gaza City because the agency is out of fuel, it announced Tuesday.
Gaza’s Civil Defense stopped operating in northern Gaza on Oct. 23.
More than 44,000 people have been killed and over 104,000 injured in Gaza since Oct. 7, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said Tuesday.
Israeli strikes hit Beirut, southern Lebanon, as ceasefire talks continue
At least seven people were killed and 37 were injured in Israeli strikes on the Dahieh area of Beirut on Tuesday as Israel continued to strike multiple areas throughout Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
The strikes come amid reports of Israel and Hezbollah nearing a ceasefire agreement.
The Israel Defense Forces issued multiple evacuation orders for areas in the southern suburbs of Beirut and areas in southern Lebanon, including nine warnings about strikes in the Dahieh area of Beirut.
Hezbollah fired 45 projectiles toward Israel on Tuesday, the IDF said. One person was seriously injured after one of the rocket salvos landed in the Haifa and Krayot area of Israel, Israeli emergency services said.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Jordana Miller
Israel strikes 20 targets in Beirut
Israel said it conducted strikes on 20 targets in Beirut, including components of Hezbollah’s military and financial systems.
“Among the targets struck were a Hezbollah aerial defense unit center, an intelligence center, command centers, weapons storage facilities, an operations room, an artillery storage facility, and terrorist infrastructure sites,” Israel said in a statement.
Israel also targeted Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association — a nonprofit that gives out loans — alleging it is used by Hezbollah to collect and store funds.
Israel had sent evacuation orders about 20 minutes before the strikes hit. The IDF said they are attacking Hezbollah in Beirut on “a large scale.” Black smoke was still visible and covering part of Beirut hours later.
The strikes began just minutes before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to meet with his cabinet to discuss a cease-fire deal with Hezbollah.
Earlier Tuesday, there were three other strikes in Beirut.
Israel bombs Beirut suburbs again
Fresh airstrikes shook Beirut’s southern Dahiya suburbs on Tuesday morning, with the Israel Defense Forces claiming to have targeted six Hezbollah targets including infrastructure sites used by the group’s coast-to-sea missile unit.
The IDF said it struck around 30 Hezbollah targets in Dahiya over the past week. The suburb — parts of which are close to the city’s international airport — is known as a Hezbollah stronghold and has borne the brunt of months of near-daily airstrikes on the Lebanese capital.
The strikes followed soon after an IDF warning for residents to evacuate parts of Dahiya.
Lebanese authorities said that 3,768 people in Lebanon had been killed by Israeli strikes as of Sunday.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Israel says troops reached Lebanon’s Litani River
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that its forces conducted operations near Lebanon’s Litani River — the waterway around 18 miles of the Israeli border which Israeli leaders have demanded serve as a buffer keeping Hezbollah units out of the country’s south.
Reaching the Litani would mark the deepest penetration of Israeli forces into Lebanon since the IDF withdrew from the country in 2000. Israeli troops did not push up to the Litani in the 2006 war with Hezbollah.
Soldiers “raided several terrorist targets, engaged in close-quarters combat with terrorists, located and destroyed dozens of launchers, thousands of rockets and missiles and weapons storage facilities” in operations in the Litani River region, the IDF said in a post to X.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Lebanon death toll rises ahead of possible cease-fire
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said Tuesday that the death toll from Israel’s military operations in the country had risen to 3,768 people as of Sunday.
Another 15,699 people have been wounded since renewed fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah began on Oct. 8, 2023, the ministry said.
Israel continued airstrikes on Monday night and Tuesday morning even amid reports of an imminent cease-fire deal. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported six people killed in multiple attacks in the southern Nabatieh Governorate.
IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee also issued fresh evacuation warnings for Beirut’s southern Dahiya area on Tuesday morning ahead of planned airstrikes there.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz
Details of Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire deal emerge
A cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah would begin soon after its announcement, with the aim of achieving a permanent cease-fire after 60 days, according to an Israeli source with knowledge of the potential deal.
The U.S. will head a committee, joined by French and Arab partners, to monitor and verify the implementation of the ceasefire, the source said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a security cabinet meeting Tuesday to discuss the deal and hold a cabinet vote, Israeli officials said.
There is almost unanimous support in the cabinet for the U.S.-brokered cease-fire deal, and it is expected to be approved. Far-right leader Ben Gvir is expected to vote against it.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
‘We don’t believe we have an agreement yet’: State Department
The U.S. is hopeful that Israel and Hezbollah are close to a cease-fire deal, but striking a pact “is up to the parties, not to us,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a briefing Monday.
“We don’t believe we have an agreement yet. We believe we’re close to an agreement. We believe that we have narrowed the gap significantly, but there are still steps that we need to see taken, but we hope — we hope that we can get there,” Miller said.
Echoing comments earlier Monday by White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby, Miller emphasized that “nothing’s final until everything’s final.”
“Oftentimes the very last stages of an agreement are the most difficult, because the hardest issues are left to the end,” Miller said.
-ABC News’ Chris Boccia
Israeli strikes kill 31, injure at least 62 people in Lebanon
Israeli forces conducted strikes Monday in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital Beirut and in southern Lebanon as talks of a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel continued on both sides.
At least 31 people were killed and 62 others injured in the strikes on southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said in a post on X.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
No indication Netanyahu will call in cabinet and vote to approve Lebanon cease-fire
There are no indications that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to call in his cabinet and vote to approve the Lebanon cease-fire Monday night, Israeli officials told ABC News.
Netanyahu is planning a series of meetings Tuesday to discuss the Lebanon cease-fire deal, including talks with his minister of strategic affairs, former American ambassador Ron Dermer, along with his most senior defense officials.
Later in the afternoon, Netanyahu will hold a larger cabinet meeting that includes the far-right. That meeting may lead to a final vote to approve a deal, though that remains unclear. A deal can pass even if one of the two far-right leaders opposes it.
The cease-fire would last for 60 days, but would not require the Israel Defense Forces to withdraw right away.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Jordana Miller
White House says deal is close but nothing is final
A cease-fire deal between Israel and Hezbollah was close, White House National Security Spokesperson John Kirby reiterated in a briefing Tuesday, but he would not give details about the deal or specific timing, saying he had to be careful not to get in the way of the tenuous diplomacy.
“We believe that the trajectory of this is going in a very positive direction. But again, nothing is done until everything is done. Nothing’s all negotiated till everything is negotiated. And you know, we need to keep at the work to see it through so that we can actually get the ceasefire for which we’ve been working for for so long and so hard,” Kirby said.
Kirby declined to say if any announcement from President Joe Biden and French President Emanuel Macron should be expected over the next few days.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Far-right Israeli minister says Lebanon cease-fire would be a ‘big mistake’
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Monday that a potential cease-fire agreement to end the fighting in Lebanon would be “a big mistake.”
Ending the war would be a “missed opportunity” to “eradicate Hezbollah,” Ben-Gvir wrote on X.
Ben-Gvir has previously pressured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reject any cease-fire deal in Gaza, where fighting continues with Hamas and other militant groups.
“We must continue until the absolute victory,” Ben-Gvir said of both the Gaza and Lebanon fronts.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Khamenei calls for ‘death sentence’ for Netanyahu, Israeli leaders
In an address to thousands of Basij militia members on Monday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued last week for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were insufficient.
“What [they have] done in Gaza and Lebanon is not a victory, it is a war crime,” Khamenei said.
“Now they have issued arrest warrants for them; this is not enough,” he added of the ICC decision. “A death sentence must be issued for Netanyahu and the criminal leaders of this regime.”
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, who the Israel Defense Forces claimed to have killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July.
Netanyahu’s office expressed its “disgust” at the decision and dismissed the ICC warrant as “absurd.”
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian and Joe Simonetti
Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs
The Israel Defense Forces said its warplanes “conducted intelligence-based strikes on several Hezbollah command centers” in southern Beirut on Monday.
The strikes again focused on the Dahiya area in the south of the Lebanese capital, which is known as a Hezbollah stronghold.
Monday’s bombings followed an intense day of strikes on Sunday, as diplomats continued to push for a cease-fire agreement to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
1 hour ago
UAE arrests 3 people accused of rabbi’s killing
The United Arab Emirates’ Interior Ministry said Monday it arrested three Uzbek nationals suspected of the kidnapping and killing of Moldovan-Israeli rabbi Zvi Kogan.
Kogan, 28, was an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who went missing on Nov. 21. He managed a kosher grocery store in Dubai.
The ministry identified the three detained men as Olimpi Tohirovic, 28, Mahmoud John Abdul Rahim, 28, and Azizi Kamilovic, 33. It did not say whether charges had been filed and did not suggest a motive.
Israeli leaders have framed the killing as an antisemitic terror operation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday his nation would “act by all means” to “bring justice to the murderers and their senders.”
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
IDF issues new Beirut airstrike warnings
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on Monday morning that Israeli warplanes would soon begin new airstrikes in Beirut, following 24 hours of intense bombing of the city’s southern suburbs.
Adraee ordered residents of the Haret Hreik area of the southern Dahiya suburbs — known as a Hezbollah stronghold — to flee their homes and stay at least 500 meters from target buildings identified on an IDF map.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
More strikes on southern Beirut suburbs
There were more strikes Sunday night in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which have been pounded by dozens of Israeli strikes in the last few days.
The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday night’s strikes in Dahieh were on “12 Hezbollah command centers.”
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé
29 dead in central Beirut after Saturday’s airstrike
The death toll from an Israeli strike Saturday in central Beirut has risen to 29, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The update on casualties came as emergency workers continued to search collapsed buildings for survivors of the strike, an official said.
At least 67 people were also injured in the Israeli strike, according to the Ministry of Health.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
Israeli official confirms Netanyahu holding meeting on Lebanon cease-fire
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was holding a meeting with security officials on Sunday night regarding ongoing Lebanon cease-fire talks, an Israeli official told ABC News.
The development comes after Netanyahu met last week in Israel with U.S. Special Envoy Amos Hochstein and discussed a possible cease-fire in Lebanon. Hochstein also traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, to discuss a cease-deal between Hezbollah and Israel.