IDF ‘checking the possibility’ Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar killed in Gaza

(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.”

-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) —  At least five people have been hospitalized and 62 others detained after a night of violence targeting Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam Thursday evening, authorities said.

The violence occurred after a UEFA Europa League match between the Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club and the Dutch Ajax Football Club in Amsterdam on Thursday.

The Israeli National Security Headquarters told Israeli citizens staying in Amsterdam to “avoid movements in the street and shut oneself in hotel rooms.”

The Dutch Prime Minister, Dick Schoof, said the situation is now calm and that he is “horrified by the antisemitic attacks on Israeli citizens.” Israeli PM Netanyahu said he had been in touch with Schoof and called for increased security for Jewish communities in the Netherlands.

Tensions were rising in the lead up to the game last night, Amsterdam police on Wednesday night had reported a group of people pulled a Palestinian flag off the face of a building in the center of the city, and that police “prevented a confrontation” between a group of visitors and taxi drivers.

The Amsterdam Police have not yet commented on the incident but announced Wednesday evening that a “number of safety measures” had been taken before the match to ensure “that everything proceeds safely and orderly,” in a post on X.

Officials in Amsterdam said there will now be extra police on the move in the coming days and extra attention “for the extra security of Jewish institutions and objects.”

Amsterdam authorities will be holding a press conference at 12 p.m. on Friday where additional measures that will be taken today and in the coming days will be announced.

ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Victoria Beaule contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — The Israel Defense Forces continued its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza — particularly in the north of the strip — and in Lebanon, with Israeli attacks on targets nationwide including in the capital Beirut. The strikes form the backdrop for a fresh diplomatic push by the White House ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office in January.

Tensions also remain high between Israel and Iran after the former launched what it called “precise strikes on military targets” in several locations in Iran following Tehran’s Oct. 1 missile barrage.

Netanyahu’s office ‘rejects with disgust’ ICC arrest warrant

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions and charges against it,” after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the arrest of the prime minister and his former defense minister.

The arrest warrant issued Thursday morning alleges that Netanyahu and the minister, Yoav Gallant, were party to alleged war crimes in Gaza.

The statement issued by Netanyahu said the court, which is based in The Hague, was “a biased and discriminatory political body.”

“There is nothing more just than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza since the October 7, 2023, coup, after the terrorist organization Hamas launched a murderous attack against us, committing the greatest massacre committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” his office said.

The statement pointed a finger at Karim Khan, accusing the ICC’s chief prosecutor of bias and describing him as “corrupt.”

– ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Kevin Shalvey

ICC issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.

The Hague issued the warrants for alleged war crimes in Gaza, according to a statement. The ICC said that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant committed war crimes, and added that Israel’s acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction is not required

Dozens killed in massive strike in northern Gaza
Dozens of people have been killed and many more are feared dead after a large strike hit a residential neighborhood in northern Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

The strike occurred in a neighborhood near Kamal Adwan Hospital, officials said.

-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Kevin Shalvey

Israel wants freedom to strike Hezbollah under any cease-fire deal, foreign minister says

Israel wants to “keep the freedom to act if there will be violations” by Hezbollah in any cease-fire agreement reached between Lebanon and Israel, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in comments Wednesday.

U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein is in Beirut meeting with officials about the proposed cease-fire deal and is expected to travel to Israel Wednesday night to continue discussions.

Israeli forces kill Hezbollah commanders, strike over 100 targets in Lebanon, IDF says

The Israel Defense Forces said it killed Hezbollah’s anti-tank missile and operations commanders “in the coastal area” on Sunday.

Israeli forces “struck over 100 terror targets in Lebanon” in the last day, the Israeli Defense Forces said Wednesday. Israel said it is continuing “limited, localized, targeted raids in southern Lebanon.”

On Tuesday, 14 people were killed, and 87 people were wounded in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

US vetos Gaza UN Security Council cease-fire resolution

The U.S. vetoed another United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza because it did not include a hostage release.

This is the 12th time the Security Council voted on a draft resolution since the war in Gaza started 13 months ago.

At least 43,972 people have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

In June, the Security Council passed a U.S.-drafted cease-fire deal that President Joe Biden approved. At the time, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said “we voted for peace.”

US sanctions Hamas leaders as officials say group’s political wing has rebased in Turkey

The U.S. is rolling out sanctions against six senior Hamas leaders accused of facilitating the transfer of weapons and funds into Gaza to support the group’s terror activities as well as smuggling in construction materials to build the underground tunnels critical to its operations, according to the Biden administration.

“There is no distinction between Hamas’ so-called military wing and its political leadership,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement announcing the tranche of sanctions.

Three of the targeted individuals are based in Turkey, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

Despite the denials coming from Hamas and the Turkish government, two U.S. officials say that the bulk of Hamas’ political wing has now relocated to Turkey following the group’s ouster from Qatar.

The U.S. has turned a blind eye to Hamas’ relationship with NATO ally Turkey for years, which allows the U.S. designated terror group to openly recruit, fundraise and interface with its government officials.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he hopes to strengthen ties with the U.S. when President-elect Donald Trump takes office. However, Trump’s cabinet is expected to feature many staunchly pro-Israel voices who will object to Turkey’s tolerance of Hamas — potentially complicating Erdogan’s plans.

-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston

Hospitals in northern Gaza running out of medical supplies, requesting patient transfers as attacks continue

Kamal Adwan Hospital is running out of medical supplies, and more people with cases of malnutrition are arriving at the hospital because of the lack of food and water allowed into northern Gaza, the hospital director said in comments Tuesday.

“⁠There are a number of cases of malnutrition that have begun to arrive, including children and the elderly,” Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan hospital said.

“The health system is working under extremely harsh conditions to the point that we have started losing numbers of infected people due to the lack of medical supplies,” Abu Safia added.

At least 50 people were killed, and 110 people were injured in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Palestine Red Crescent Society transferred 15 patients from Al Awda Hospital in north Gaza to Al Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City Sunday, the ICRC said in a statement Tuesday. The patient transfers were requested by the hospitals, the ICRC said.

The organizations also delivered medical supplies to three hospitals in Gaza City Monday, the ICRC said in a post on X.

“The delivery and medical transfer came in the wake of another large-scale attack in the Beit Lahia area of ​​the Northern Governorate, in which dozens of people were killed and many more injured,” the ICRC said.

-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz and Sami Zyara

UN peacekeepers, buildings targeted in 3 incidents in south Lebanon

United Nations peacekeeping forces in Lebanon and facilities were targeted in “three separate incidents in south Lebanon,” Tuesday, UNIFIL said in a post on X.

Four Ghanian peacekeepers on duty “sustained injures as a rocket … hit their base,” UNIFIL said in a post on X. Three of the injured peacekeepers were transferred to a hospital in Tyre, Lebanon for treatment, UNIFIL said.

In a different attack, a UNIFIL building was “impacted by five rockets,” UNIFIL said.

“In another incident, UNIFIL Sector West Headquarters in Shama was impacted by five rockets, which struck the maintenance workshop,” UNIFIL said. “Although it caused heavy damage to the workshop, no peacekeeper was injured. This was the second time this UNIFIL base was impacted by the ongoing clashes in the area in less than a week.”

In a third incident, a UNIFIL patrol was “passing through” a village, and “an armed person directly fired at the patrol,” UNIFIL said. No injuries were reported from this incident.

UNIFIL is investigating the incidents and has informed the Lebanese armed forces about them, UNIFIL said.

“UNIFIL once again reminds all actors involved in the ongoing hostilities to respect the inviolability of United Nations peacekeepers and premises,” UNIFIL said in a post on X.

5 killed, 31 injured after Israeli strike on central Beirut

At least five people were killed, 31 were injured and at least two people remain missing after an Israeli airstrike in the Zuqaq al-Blat neighborhood of central Beirut, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.

The Israeli Defense Forces did not issue a warning before conducting this airstrike on central Beirut Monday.

At least 28 people were killed and 107 were wounded across Lebanon from Israeli attacks Monday, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.

Overall, 3,544 people have been killed, and 15,036 have been injured since Israel’s increased attacks on the country began in mid-September, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said in a post on X.

U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein met with Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut Tuesday, according to Lebanese state media.

After meeting with Hochstein for two hours, Berri said the cease-fire negotiations were “good in principle,” but warned Israel could change its minds about the proposal as it has done before.

Berri said the U.S. is managing guarantees about Israel’s position on the proposal, according to Lebanese state media.

-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor

Israel kills 5 in central Beirut strike, officials say

At least five people were killed and 31 wounded by an Israeli strike in the Zuqaq al-Blat neighborhood of central Beirut on Monday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. Two other people are missing.

The Israel Defense Forces did not appear to issue any public evacuation order prior to the strike. ABC News has reached out to the IDF for comment on the target of the strike.

The attack made Monday the second consecutive day of Israeli strikes within central Beirut. To date, the vast majority of airstrikes on the capital have hit the southern Dahiya suburb, known as a Hezbollah stronghold.

Israel has intensified its bombardment in and around Beirut over the past week, while Hezbollah has continued missile fire into Israel. Fresh discussions are ongoing as to a potential cease-fire to end the fighting.

-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor, Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti

Israel demands ‘immediate’ action against pro-Iran militias in Iraq

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Tuesday published a letter sent to the president of the United Nations Security Council in which he called for “immediate action regarding the activity of the pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, whose territory is being used to attack Israel.”

“The Iraqi government is responsible for everything that happens on its territory,” Saar wrote, noting Israel’s right to self-defense.

“I called on the Security Council to act urgently to make sure that the Iraqi government meets its obligations under international law and to make these attacks on Israel stop,” Saar said.

Iran-backed Iraqi militias have been launching drone attacks into Israel from the east in support of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon, with whom Israeli forces have been engaged since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Nearly 100 aid trucks looted: UNRWA

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said Monday their aid convoy was “violently” looted over the weekend, one of the largest such cases of looting since the war began.

The 109-truck U.N. convoy was carrying food supplies to people in Gaza when it was looted on Saturday, UNRWA said.

“The vast majority of the trucks, 97 in total, were lost and drivers were forced at gunpoint to unload aid,” UNRWA said in a statement.

UNRWA said the Israel Defense Forces made the convoy leave a day earlier than planned.

The IDF has not yet commented on this incident.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Israel’s October attack damaged some of Iran’s nuclear program: Netanyahu

Israel damaged some of Iran’s nuclear program in its October attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday.

Iran’s air defense, ballistic missile production and ability to produce “solid fuel” were impacted, Netanyahu said during remarks to Israel’s parliament.

“There is a certain element of their nuclear program that was damaged in this attack,” he said, though added that its ability to operate “has not yet been thwarted.”

Netanyahu said Iran’s nuclear threat must be dealt with.

“If we don’t deal with the nuclear program, then all the other problems will come back and resurface, both in the axis, and in armaments, and in other things,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu also said Israel is “currently talking about possible negotiations for a settlement” to be reached between Israel and Lebanon, but added, “Even if there is a cease-fire, no one says it will last.”

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

US envoy en route to Lebanon for cease-fire talks, official says

U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein is on his way to Lebanon for talks on a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel, an official familiar with the plans confirmed to ABC News.

Hochstein left from the U.S. for Lebanon on Monday, the official said.

Israel is getting close to being ready to agree to the U.S.-backed cease-fire proposal, which is very similar to the proposal that was floated by the U.S. at the end of September. The U.S. needs to see how Hezbollah feels about this proposal, which is what Hochstein aims to do during his trip, according to the official.

-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston

4 killed in Israeli attack in Beirut: Health ministry

Four people were killed and at least 18 injured in an Israeli attack in Beirut, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said Monday.

-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman

1 killed, 10 injured in strike on residential building in Israel: Officials

A woman was killed and 10 people injured after a Hezbollah rocket directly hit a residential building in northern Israel, Israeli emergency services said Monday.

Dozens of projectiles were fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel Monday afternoon, the Israel Defense Forces said. Not all of the projectiles were intercepted, the IDF said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

US sanctions entity, 3 individuals tied to West Bank violence

The State Department said Monday it is sanctioning three individuals and one entity for allegedly undermining “peace, security, and stability in the West Bank.”

The department accuses the entity, Eyal Hari Yehuda Company LTD, of having supported Yinon Levi, an Israeli settler who was sanctioned by the Biden administration over accusations of attacks and harassment against Palestinians earlier this year.

The three impacted individuals are Itamar Levi, Shabtai Koshlevsky and Zohar Sabah, the State Department said. Itamar Levi, the brother of Yinon Levi, is being designated for his role as the owner of the aforementioned company, while Koshlevsky is accused of holding a leadership position at Hashomer Yosh, an Israeli nongovernmental organization that provides material support to U.S.-designated outposts in the West Bank and was sanctioned in August of this year.

Sabah is accused of engaging “in threats and acts of violence against Palestinians, including in their homes” as well as “a pattern of destructiveness targeting the livestock, grazing lands and homes of local Palestinians to disrupt their means of support,” the State Department said in a press release.

-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston

Hamas denies that leaders relocated from Qatar to Turkey

Hamas denied reports in Israeli media that its leadership has relocated from Qatar to Turkey amid a breakdown in Doha-supported cease-fire talks earlier this month.

Hamas dismissed the news reports as “rumors” spread by Israeli authorities in a statement posted to its official website.

Qatar told Israel and Hamas earlier this month it could not continue to mediate cease-fire and hostage release talks “as long as there is a refusal to negotiate a deal in good faith.”

Doha is under U.S. pressure to expel Hamas leaders. A senior administration official told ABC News earlier this month that the group’s “continued presence in Doha is no longer viable or acceptable.”

-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz, Shannon K. Kingston and Somayeh Malekian

Gaza death toll nears 44,000, health officials say

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Monday that 43,922 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct. 7, 2023, with nearly 104,000 more injured.

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 96 people and wounded at least 60 in Gaza through the weekend, officials said. The dead included 72 people in north Gaza and more than 20 from other areas of the strip.

Most of those killed were displaced women and children sheltering in residential buildings in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, officials said.

Beit Lahiya is at the heart of the Israel Defense Forces’ recent northern offensive, which has been accompanied with sweeping evacuation orders and spiking civilian casualties.

-ABC News’ Samy Zyara and Joe Simonetti

Hezbollah positive on US cease-fire proposal, reports say

Hezbollah responded positively to the U.S.-proposed cease-fire deal between Israel and Lebanon, Israeli and Lebanese media reported Monday.

U.S. special envoy for Lebanon Amos Hochstein is expected to arrive in Beirut on Tuesday to discuss the proposal before heading to Israel to speak with leaders there.

The proposal is reportedly based on the United Nations Security Council’s resolution 1701 that sought to end the last major cross-border conflict in 2006.

That deal ordered Hezbollah to withdraw all military units and weapons north of the Litani River, which is around 18 miles north of the Israeli border. The resolution also prohibited Israeli ground and air forces from crossing into Lebanese territory.

Israeli leaders have demanded open-ended freedom to act against threats in Lebanon, a stipulation reportedly opposed by Hezbollah and Lebanese leaders.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti

Khamenei meets with ambassador injured in pager attacks

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with the country’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, as the latter continues his recovery from injuries sustained during Israel’s detonation of Hezbollah communication devices in September.

Khamenei’s official X account posted a short video of their interaction on Monday, in which Amani told the Iranian leader he lost around half of the vision in his right eye in the attack.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Hezbollah media relations chief killed in Israeli strike

Mohammed Afif, Hezbollah’s media relations chief, was killed in an Israeli strike Sunday, Hezbollah confirmed.

The strike on central Beirut partially collapsed a building and injured three others, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

The Israel Defense Forces also confirmed Afif’s death. In a statement, the IDF said he joined Hezbollah in the 1980s and went on to become a “central and veteran figure in the organization who greatly influenced Hezbollah’s military activity.”

Citing one particular incident, the statement claimed that he had played a key role in the drone attack on Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea in October.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Pope calls for investigation to determine whether Israeli attacks on Gaza are ‘genocide’

Pope Francis, in an upcoming book to be released ahead of his 2025 jubilee, called for an investigation to determine whether Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide, according to the Vatican.

“In the Middle East, where the open doors of nations like Jordan or Lebanon continue to be a salvation for millions of people fleeing conflicts in the region: I am thinking above all of those who leave Gaza in the midst of the famine that has struck their Palestinian brothers and sisters given the difficulty of getting food and aid into their territory,” he wrote in a passage released by the Vatican.

“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” the pope wrote. “It should be carefully investigated to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies.”

-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé

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