Israel-Gaza-Lebanon live updates: 1 dead, 10 hurt in strike in Israel, officials say

(NEW YORK) — Israel and Hezbollah are exchanging hundreds of cross-border strikes in the wake of the shocking explosions of wireless devices across Lebanon last week.

Here’s how the news is developing:

‘We are winning,’ Netanyahu tells United Nations

Taking the podium at the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his nation is at war, vowing to return the hostages taken by Hamas.

He also issued warnings to Iran and the entire Middle East as Israeli officials said it is preparing to launch a ground invasion into Lebanon.

“There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach. And that is true of the entire Middle East,” Netanyahu said.

“If you strike us, we will strike you,” Netanyahu said, addressing Iran.

Netanyahu received some boos and some members of the General Assembly walked out as he took the podium.

Netanyahu said he hadn’t intended to attend the U.N. this year, but “came here to set the record straight.”

Missile from Yemen targeting Israel intercepted as sirens go off

A ballistic missile was fired by the Yemen-based Houthis at central Israel, setting off sirens in several areas. Explosions were heard following the interception of the missile and there was falling shrapnel, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The missile launch follows a number of attacks by other Iranian-backed proxies based in Iraq in recent days.

In the last 72 hours, Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have claimed responsibility for five attacks on Israel, including three explosive drones launched at Israel on Wednesday.

-ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Tom Soufi Burridge

19 injured in Israel after missile fired from Yemen

While the Israel Defense Forces said a missile fired from Yemen was successfully intercepted by the “Arrow” Aerial Defense System on Thursday night, 19 people were still injured.

One person was injured and is in moderate condition, and 18 people were injured while seeking shelter and are in mild condition, the Israeli emergency services said in a statement.

The individual in moderate condition — a 17-year-old female — was hit by a vehicle that swerved off the road after sirens went off.

-ABC News’ Anna Burd

At least 92 killed in Lebanon today: Ministry of Health

At least 92 people were killed and another 153 wounded Thursday in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

More than 700 people have been killed in Lebanon since Monday, the ministry said.

Hezbollah confirms top commander killed

Hezbollah has confirmed that Muhammad Hussein Srour, the Commander of Hezbollah’s Aerial Command, was killed in a Thursday strike in Beirut.

“With great pride and honor, the Islamic Resistance announces the martyrdom of the Mujahid leader Muhammad Hussein Surur ‘Hajj Abu Saleh,’ born in 1973 in the town of Aita al-Shaab in southern Lebanon, who was martyred on the road to Jerusalem,” Hezbollah said in a statement.

Humanitarian situation in Gaza is worse than a month ago: UNRWA

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is worse than it was a month ago, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told reporters at the UN Thursday.

“Women in Gaza are now shaving their heads because they don’t have shampoo to wash their hair,” Lazzarini said, giving one example of the situation on the ground.

Lazzarini and Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi spoke with reporters after a ministerial meeting in support of UNRWA co-hosted by Jordan and Sweden at the UN headquarters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Thursday.

Lazzarini said about 50 countries attended the high-level meeting to show support for UNRWA, an agency that has come under intense scrutiny during the ongoing war in Gaza. Israel accused several UNRWA employees of being directly involved in the Oct. 7 attacks, prompting an internal UN probe and the halting of funding to the agency from many countries, including the U.S.

Since U.S. funding to UNRWA remains paused until March 2025, Lazzarini said the European Union and European Commission combined make up about 60% of the agency’s funding now.

“It is incomprehensible that a country is allowed to label a UN agency as a terrorist state,” Lazzarini said. “The world must not allow that, and we will stand up to it along with all of our partners who showed up in support of UNRWA today.”

“These are not just attacks against UNRWA, these are attacks against the broader United Nations system,” Safadi said.

In terms of getting more humanitarian aid into Gaza, Safadi said Jordan has the ability to scale up to send in 500 trucks a day, but the “problem is we’re not allowed to do that.” The other problem is once you get to the Kerem Shalom crossing, the only crossing point open into Gaza since the Rafah crossing closed in May, “you need to make sure people are empowered to receive it,” Safadi added.

“It’s not just allowing the aid in but also allowing the humanitarians to operate in Gaza,” Lazzarini said.

The successful completion of the first phase of the polio vaccine campaign “could not have happened without UNRWA,” Lazzarini said.

“UNRWA and its staff made the ultimate sacrifice” in the ongoing conflict, Lazzarini said, noting that 222 UNRWA staff members have been killed in Gaza.

-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman

IDF strikes at least 220 Hezbollah targets

Israel struck 220 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Thursday, including launchers used to fire projectiles into Israel, weapons storage facilities and Hezbollah members, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Israel has now struck thousands of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon since Monday.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Israel waiting ‘years’ for opportunity to attack Hezbollah: IDF chief of staff

Israeli officials are insisting they will continue fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shot down a 21-day cease-fire proposal submitted by the U.S. and France.

“We need to continue attacking Hezbollah, we have been waiting for this opportunity for years,” Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the chief of the General Staff for the Israel Defense Forces, said Thursday.

The IDF is working to “eliminate” more Hezbollah senior officials, “thwart the transfer of weapons, to detract from Hezbollah’s firepower and to attack it throughout Lebanon,” Halevi added.

After landing in New York before he is set to speak at the United Nations on Friday, Netanyahu doubled down on continuing to fight Hezbollah.

“The policy is clear: we continue to hit Hezbollah with all our might — we will not stop until we achieve all our goals,” Netanyahu said.

-ABC News’ Dana Savir

‘No cease-fire’ in Lebanon, Israel’s foreign minister says

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz declared on social media on Thursday that there “will be no ceasefire in the north,” as U.S.-led efforts to prevent a full-scale Israeli invasion of Lebanon appeared to fall flat.

“We will continue to fight against the terrorist organization Hezbollah with all our might until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes,” Katz wrote in a post to X.

The statement came shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed reports that the U.S. was gathering international support for a 21-day cease-fire. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday the plan had “significant” backing.

“This is an American-French proposal, to which the prime minister did not even respond,” a post to Netanyahu’s official X page said.

The Israel Defense Forces continued its bombardment of southern and eastern Lebanon overnight into Thursday while its troops prepared for an expected ground operation.

Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the chief of the IDF General Staff, told units at the northern border on Wednesday: “We are preparing the process of a maneuver, which means your military boots, your maneuvering boots, will enter enemy territory.”

IDF continues deadly strikes as ground offensive looms

At least 23 more people were killed as Israeli warplanes continued airstrikes in Lebanon through Thursday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces said its aircraft struck approximately 75 Hezbollah targets in the south of the country and the eastern Bekaa region overnight. The force said it is continuing operations “to dismantle and degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities.”

Since Monday, Israel’s intensified air campaign killed nearly 700 people and wounded more than 1,700 others, per data from the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

The IDF said Hezbollah fired approximately 45 projectiles into Israel from Lebanon on Thursday morning, some of which were intercepted with the rest falling in open areas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, dismissed hopes of a U.S.-brokered cease-fire that would forestall Israel’s planned ground invasion of southern Lebanon.

Netanyahu “instructed the IDF to continue the fighting with full force and according to the plans presented to him,” according to a statement published on his official X page on Thursday.

Netanyahu says cease-fire news ‘incorrect,’ vows to continue fight in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said news about a potential cease-fire deal between Hezbollah and Israel being discussed is “incorrect.”

“This is an American-French proposal, to which the prime minister did not even respond,” he said in a statement posted on social media on Thursday.

He added, “The news about the supposed directive to moderate the fighting in the north is also the opposite of the truth. The Prime Minister instructed the IDF to continue the fighting with full force, and according to the plans presented to him. Also, the fighting in Gaza will continue until all the goals of the war are achieved.”

Biden says ‘significant support’ for Israel-Lebanon cease-fire plan

President Joe Biden told reporters outside the White House on Wednesday night that the U.S. was “able to generate significant support from Europe, as well as the Arab nations” for a 21-day cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah to head off a full-scale war in Lebanon.

“It’s important this war not widen,” the president said. “I’ll have more to say about it tomorrow.”

In a call with reporters just before the president landed, senior administration officials described the proposal as a “breakthrough” they hoped would produce momentum in Lebanon and in stalled talks between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip

“This is an important breakthrough on the Lebanon side, given all that has gone on there, particularly over the last few weeks,” a senior administration official said. “But you know, we will try to use the space that provides wisely on all on all fronts.”

The officials indicated that a response is expected over the next several hours.

“I guess the parties are going to respond for themselves to the call, but I can share that we have had this conversation with the parties and felt this was the right moment, based on the call, based on our discussion, they are familiar with the text and again, we’ll let them speak to their actions of accepting the deal in the coming hours,” a senior administration official said.

Officials said they’d been negotiating with Lebanon nonstop for the past 48 hours, and that its leaders there were aware they speak for “everything that happens on that side of the border,” indicating that they will accept the deal on behalf of Hezbollah.

“So our expectation is when the government of Lebanon or when the government of Israel both accept this, this will carry and be implemented as a ceasefire on both sides, on both sides of the blue line, for the period of the 21 days,” an official said.

US troops in Cyprus preparing for Lebanon evacuations, official confirms

A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that the small number of additional American military personnel deployed to the Middle East are on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, where they are planning for “non-combatant evacuation operations” in Lebanon.

The planning remains a precautionary measure, the official said. ABC News understands that between 12 and 24 American troops are involved in the preparations, not all of whom are special operations personnel.

Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Wednesday she could not confirm the exact number of personnel deployed.

“What I can tell you is that we are sending a small number of additional U.S. military personnel forward to augment forces that are already in the region,” she told reporters.

“I’m just not going to be able to provide you more specifics,” she added. “I know it’s frustrating, but I’m just not going to be able to confirm more.”

Israel to use ‘all means’ in Lebanon if diplomacy fails, diplomat says

Danny Danon, Israel’s permanent representative to the United Nations, told reporters on Wednesday that his nation would “prefer a diplomatic solution” to its unfolding conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, but that “if it fails to return our residents to their homes, then we will use all means at our disposal.”

“We are entirely focused on achieving our objectives, which in the north is the return of our displaced citizens who have become refugees in their own country,” Dannon said.

“Do not mistake a peaceful nation for a defenseless one. We have the means, we have the capabilities to achieve this goal,” he said.

Danon again expressed that Israel was “open to ideas” to avoid a full-scale war.

“But you know, we are very honest about it. Our goal is to push Hezbollah from the fence, allow the residents to come back to the communities, and I hope we’ll be able to achieve it without using our military capabilities,” he said.

Israel is already conducting an extensive airstrike campaign across southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, as well as limited airstrikes in the capital Beirut and elsewhere.

Israeli actions have killed more than 650 people — including at least 50 children — and wounded more than 1,700 others since Monday, according to Lebanese authorities.

Danon declined to weigh in on whether progress had been made towards a pause, but said negotiators “know exactly what we expect.”

Iran will not be ‘indifferent’ if Israel invades Lebanon, minister says

Iran “will not remain indifferent in case of a full-scale war in Lebanon,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters Wednesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.

Araghchi also warned that Israel’s “crimes will not go unpunished,” and said the Middle East region “risks full-scale conflict” if the U.N. Security Council does not “act now to halt Israel’s war and enforce an immediate ceasefire.”

“The path to de-escalation is clear,” Araghchi said. “Israel must immediately stop its attacks on Gaza and Lebanon. Without a ceasefire in Gaza, there will be no guarantee of peace in the region.”

“The Security Council must act now to halt Israel’s war and enforce an immediate ceasefire, and by that, to save innocent lives. If not, the region risks full-scale conflict and history will hold Israel’s enablers, especially the United States, responsible,” Araghchi continued.

“Iran will not remain indifferent in case of a full-scale war in Lebanon,” the diplomat added. “We stand with the people of Lebanon with all means.”

81 dead and 403 wounded in Lebanon today: Ministry of Public Health

On Wednesday, at least 81 people were killed and 403 were wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

In total, more than 650 people — including at least 50 children — have been killed and over 1,700 others injured since Monday, according to the ministry.

US in ‘active discussions’ to secure cease-fire between Israel, Hezbollah

The U.S. is currently “in active discussions” with Israel and other countries to try to secure a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, according to a U.S. official.

The Biden administration has floated at least one draft proposal aimed at temporarily halting the conflict, but Israel has signaled it intends to move forward with battle plans aimed at ending months of tit-for-tat exchanges with Hezbollah across its northern border by decimating the militant group, two officials told ABC News.

Negotiations are still ongoing, but at this hour officials said they are growing increasingly resigned to full-blown warfare on a second front in the Middle East.

The U.S. also has little leverage over Hezbollah, so it’s unclear whether the group would abide by any such agreement to pause the fighting, officials said.

The administration could potentially rely on partners with direct ties to Hezbollah to contain the group, but all of its efforts to halt its attacks on Israel over the last year have been unsuccessful, officials said.

The U.S. is still pursuing “concrete options” for de-escalation, and Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations said on Tuesday that Israeli leadership remained “open-minded,” officials said.

The Biden administration is also still fervently focused on keeping Iran — a chief military and financial supporter of Hezbollah — on the sidelines through indirect diplomacy. Multiple conversations between countries that communicate directly with Iran are taking place on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly, officials said.

-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston and Michelle Stoddart

Netanyahu says operation in Lebanon will continue

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation in Lebanon will continue, despite international calls for a diplomatic resolution to Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah.

“I cannot detail everything we are doing, but I can tell you one thing, we are determined to return our residents in the north safely to their homes. We are inflicting blows on Hezbollah that [the group] did not imagine. We do it with power, we do it with guile. I promise you one thing — we will not rest until they come home,” Netanyahu said.

Biden says ‘all-out war’ is possible in the Middle East

When asked about how real the threat of a wider war in the Middle East really is, President Joe Biden said “an all-out war is possible,” but added that there’s still the opportunity for a resolution contingent on Israel changing “some policies.”

“We’re still in play to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region,” Biden said, in an interview on “The View,” which covered a range of topics.

“The Arab world very much wants to have a settlement, because they know what it does for them. They’re willing to make arrangements with Israel and alliances with Israel, if Israel changes some policies.”

Biden said he has a strong relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but he said that there “needs” to be a two-state solution.

“I don’t agree with his position. There needs to be a two-state solution. Ultimately, it needs to happen. There’s a way to do it, and they have a possibility,” Biden said.

Biden added that if a cease-fire agreement is reached in Lebanon, then they’ll have to deal with Gaza, but he insisted that he and his team are “using every bit of energy” to

Israel preparing a ground operation into Lebanon

Israel is preparing a ground invasion into Lebanon, according to Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the chief of the General Staff for the Israel Defense Forces.

“We will continue, we are not stopping; we keep striking and hitting them everywhere. The goal is very clear — to safely return the residents of the north,” Halevi said Wednesday, while visiting Israeli troops at the northern border.

“To achieve that, we are preparing the process of a maneuver, which means your military boots, your maneuvering boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts, with underground infrastructure, staging points, and launchpads into our territory and carry out attacks on Israeli civilians,” Halevi said.

Full-scale Israel-Hezbollah war ‘wouldn’t solve the problem,’ Blinken says

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC News’ Good Morning America on Wednesday that the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon “needs to be contained.”

“We’re working to make sure this doesn’t get into a full-scale war,” Blinken said. 

Asked if he believes such escalation can be prevented, Blinken responded: “I do.”

“Israel has a legitimate problem it has to solve,” Blinken said, noting Hezbollah’s near-constant cross-border strikes since Oct. 8 and the subsequent evacuation of parts of northern Israel.

Blinken also acknowledged those fleeing their homes amid Israeli retaliation in southern Lebanon.

The “best way” to address Israel’s problems in the north, Blinken continued, “is through diplomacy.”

There were “a number of times” where full-scale war at the shared Israel-Lebanon border seemed imminent since Oct. 7, Blinken said. 

“Diplomacy by the United States prevented that from happening,” he said.

“But if there were to be a full-scale war, that wouldn’t solve the problem,” Blinken said. 

President Joe Biden and his top administration officials say they are working hard to de-escalate the situation in Lebanon.

In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Biden condemned Hezbollah’s “unprovoked” attacks into Israel since Oct. 8.

“Almost a year later, too many on each side of the Israeli-Lebanon border remain displaced,” the president said.

“Full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest,” he added. “Even as the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible. In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes on the border safely.”

“That’s what we’re working tirelessly to achieve,” Biden said.

Israeli strikes won’t destroy Hezbollah, Iranian leader says

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a series of posts to X on Wednesday that Hezbollah would survive Israel’s ongoing airstrike campaign in Lebanon.

Khamenei touted the “organizational and human strength and the authority and ability” of Hezbollah, which is supported by Tehran and coordinates closely with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Israeli attacks “martyred some of the effective and valuable elements of Hezbollah,” Khamenei wrote.

“This was definitely a loss for Hezbollah, but it is not to the extent that it destroys Hezbollah,” he added.

27,000 people in Lebanon displaced by Israeli bombing, UN says

More than 27,000 people in Lebanon have been displaced by Israeli military action over the past 48 hours, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Wednesday — citing Lebanese authorities.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said on Tuesday that the country already had around 110,000 people displaced before the intensification of Israeli strikes beginning on Monday.

“Now probably they’re approaching half a million” Habib said.

Filippo Grandi, UN high commissioner for refugees, said the “bloodshed is extracting a terrible toll, driving tens of thousands from their homes.”

“It is yet another ordeal for families who previously fled war in Syria only now to be bombed in the country where they sought shelter. We must avoid replaying these scenes of despair and devastation. The Middle East cannot afford a new displacement crisis. Let us not create one by forcing more people to abandon their homes. Protecting civilian lives must be the priority,” Grandi said.

Lebanon hosts an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees and over 11,000 refugees from other countries, per UNHCR’s count.

IDF in third day of ‘extensive strikes’ in Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday it was again “conducting extensive strikes in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa area” to the east of Beirut.

Almost 600 people — including at least 50 children — have been killed by Israeli strikes across Lebanon since Monday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

Hezbollah targets Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv

Hezbollah claimed the launch of a Qadir-1 ballistic missile targeting the Mossad intelligence agency’s headquarters on the outskirts of Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning.

“It is the headquarters responsible for the assassination of leaders and the bombing of pagers and hand-held radios,” the militant group said in a statement, referring to last week’s communication device explosions in Lebanon and Syria.

Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv amid the attack. 

“One surface-to-surface missile was identified crossing from Lebanon and was intercepted,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

The IDF later said in a social media post that it destroyed the launcher from which the missile was fired in southern Lebanon.

The launch at Tel Aviv is the first time Hezbollah has attacked the city in central Israel since the war in the Gaza Strip began on Oct. 7.

Hezbollah confirms death of division commander

Hezbollah has confirmed the death of rocket and missile division commander Ibrahim Qubaisi in a post on their Telegram channel.

Hezbollah said he was killed in southern Lebanon.

Earlier Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said an Israeli air attack in Da’ahia in Beirut killed Qubaisi.

52 killed in Gaza in past 24 hours, officials say

Israeli forces targeted eight residential homes in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, killing at least 52 people, spokesperson Major Mahmoud Basal of the Hamas-run Gaza Civil Defense said Tuesday.

At least five of those people were killed after a house in the town of Al-Nasr, northeast of Rafah, was targeted, the civil defense spokesperson added.

The IDF said they were conducting “precise, intelligence-based operations in the Rafah area” in a statement Tuesday.

Nearly 500,000 displaced in Lebanon, foreign minister says

The number of people displaced in southern Lebanon as a result of Israeli airstrikes may be approaching half a million, according to Lebanese Foreign Minister Bou Habib, who stressed that “the war in Lebanon will not help the Israelis return to their homes, and negotiations are the only way to do so.”

Habib spoke at an event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Tuesday while attending the United Nations General Assembly.

He expressed his “disappointment” over U.S. President Joe Biden’s speech at the U.N., saying it was “neither strong nor promising and will not solve this problem,” but said he “hopes that Washington can intervene to help.”

“Lebanon cannot end the fighting alone and needs America’s help, despite past disappointments,” Habib said, adding that the U.S. is “the only country that can truly make a difference in the Middle East and with regard to Lebanon.”

Mediators as far from a cease-fire deal as ever, US officials say

Mediators between Israel and Hamas are as far away from a cease-fire deal as they have ever been, with both sides impeding negotiations, multiple senior U.S. officials told ABC News.

Many officials have long been skeptical that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar would ever sign off on an agreement that involves ceding rule of Gaza, and in recent weeks Hamas has deeply frustrated the Israeli government by adding demands related to Palestinian prisoners that would be released in an exchange.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also become increasingly intractable, according to U.S. officials. While high-level engagements between the U.S. and Israel often moved the needle at the beginning of the conflict, those meetings are now unproductive, officials said — a major reason Secretary of State Antony Blinken didn’t stop in Israel during his last visit to Middle East.

When it comes to these negotiations, the ball is actually in the Biden administration’s court. Blinken promised during the first week of September that the U.S. would present a new, final proposal to both Israel and Hamas “in the coming days,” but almost three weeks later, there’s no indication that has happened yet.

The reason for the delay is the struggle to devise an arrangement both sides might agree to — but that’s just one more factor contributing to the gridlock, according to U.S. officials.

-ABC News’ Cindy Smith, Shannon K. Kingston and Martha Raddatz

Israel has ‘additional strikes prepared,’ Gallant says

Israel has “additional strikes prepared” against Hezbollah, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, in a discussion with troops on Tuesday.

“Hezbollah, today, is different from the organization we knew a week ago – and we have additional strikes prepared. Any Hezbollah force that you may encounter, will be destroyed. They are worried about the combat experience you have gained,” Gallant said.

G7 warns escalation could lead to ‘unimaginable consequences’ in the Middle East

The foreign ministers of the Group of 7 said they have “deep concern” over “the trend of escalatory violence” in the Middle East, in a joint statement Tuesday.

The statement doesn’t call out Israel by name, it does call for “a stop to the current destructive cycle,” warning “no country stands to gain from a further escalation in the Middle East.”

“Actions and counter-reactions risk magnifying this dangerous spiral of violence and dragging the entire Middle East into a broader regional conflict with unimaginable consequences,” it reads, while calling for the full implementation of the U.N. Security Council resolution that implemented a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

Additionally, the statement reaffirms the G7’s “strong support” for the ongoing efforts to broker a hostage release and cease-fire deal in Gaza.

Israel claims it killed top Hezbollah commander

Israel claimed it killed a top Hezbollah commander in Tuesday’s strike on Beirut, which killed at least six people and injured 15 others, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

The IDF said it targeted and killed Ibrahim Muhammad Kabisi, a commander of Hezbollah’s missile and rocket array.

“Kabisi commanded the various missile units of Hezbollah, including the precision missile units. Over the years and during the war, he was responsible for the launches towards the Israeli home front. Kabisi was a central center of knowledge in the field of missiles and was close to the senior military leadership of Hezbollah,” the IDF said in a statement.

The IDF also claimed he was responsible for the planning and execution of many terrorist plots against IDF forces and Israeli citizens.

At least six dead in Israeli strike on Ghobeiry neighborhood in Beirut

At least six people were killed and 15 others were wounded after Israel carried out a strike on the Ghobeiry neighborhood of Beirut on Tuesday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

It appears the top floor of a concrete apartment building took the brunt of the strike.

US continues to urge Israel to avoid ‘all-out war’ with Lebanon as tensions remain high

The U.S. is continuing to urge Israel to avoid an “all-out war” with Lebanon as tensions between the two countries remain high, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said in an interview on “Good Morning America” Tuesday.

“I think we don’t believe it’s in Israel’s interest for this to escalate, for there to be an all-out war there on the north on that blue line between Israel and Lebanon. If the goal is to get families back to their homes, we think there’s a better way to do that than an all-out conflict,” Kirby said.

“The Israelis will tell you, yesterday, that they had to take some of these strikes because they were about to be imminently attacked by Hezbollah. They do have a right to defend themselves, but what we’re going to keep doing is talking to them about trying to find a diplomatic solution here, a way to de-escalate the tensions so that the families can go back in a sustainable way,” Kirby added.

Given the State Department’s warning to Americans to get out of Lebanon while commercial travel is still available on if he believes Israel may target airports in Lebanon as they have in the past.

“We want to make sure that there are still commercial options available for Americans to leave, and they should be leaving now while those options are available. But I won’t get ahead of operations,” Kirby said.

Kirby also dodged questions on what we might see from Hezbollah’s response to Israel, telling GMA he “won’t get into the intelligence assessment.”

“It’s obviously going to be something we’ll monitor very, very closely. I will just tell you that while we won’t get involved in the conflict itself there, around that blue line, because we don’t want to see a conflict at all. We’ll do what we have to continue to do to make sure Israel can defend itself.”

Lebanon death toll rises to 558 people, ministry says

At least 558 people have been killed — including 50 children and 95 women — and another 1,853 people wounded by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since Monday, according to the latest data from the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

Officials released the updated figures during a press conference on Tuesday.

The Israel Defense Forces said it struck at least 1,600 targets in Lebanon over the past 24 hours.

Israeli bombing prompts exodus from southern Lebanon

Thousands of people fled their homes in southern Lebanon after Israel killed hundreds in intensified airstrikes through Monday and Tuesday.

The mass movement of people — encouraged by the Israel Defense Forces before and during its expanding bombing campaign — prompted gridlock on highways running north toward the capital Beirut.

A journey that usually takes 90 minutes took up to 13 hours.

Authorities are working to turn schools and other educational institutions into makeshift shelters to house displaced people.

IDF, Hezbollah begin new day of cross-border fire

The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday its warplanes struck “dozens of Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon,” with artillery and tanks also conducting fire missions in the area.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, fired at least 125 rockets overnight into Tuesday morning. Sirens were sounding through the early morning in northern Israel.

At least nine people suffered minor injuries as a result of rockets fired into the Western Galilee region of northern Israel on Tuesday morning, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service.

At least 492 people were killed in Lebanon by Israeli strikes on Monday, according to Lebanese authorities. At least 1,645 people were reported injured.

The IDF said it struck at least 1,600 targets in Lebanon over the past 24 hours.

Blinken seeks ‘off ramp’ as Israel pounds Lebanon, official says

A senior official in President Joe Biden’s administration told ABC News the U.S. cannot rule out the possibility of an Israeli invasion into Lebanon following the escalation of its airstrike campaign on Monday.

“I think it is important for everyone to take Israeli preparations seriously,” the senior administration official said.

The U.S. is putting its hope in engagements on the sideline of the United Nations General Assembly this week, said the senior administration official, who expressed hope that the informal meetings could lead to “illusive solutions” or “at least make some progress” toward resolving the crisis in the Middle East.

The official said Secretary of State Antony Blinken would discuss “the increasing challenges” across the so-called “Blue Line” dividing Israel and Lebanon at a meeting with his G7 counterparts.

At that engagement and through the week, the a key U.S. focus will be “finding an off ramp,” they said.

“We’ve got some concrete ideas with allies and partners we are going to be discussing,” the official added.

New details emerge over US troops being sent to Middle East

A U.S. official tells ABC News that the “small number of additional U.S. military personnel being sent to the Middle East,” announced this morning by the Pentagon is a small special operations team that will work in planning for a non-combatant evacuation operation should it be needed.

Lebanon warns UN its citizens face ‘serious danger’ amid Israel-Hezbollah conflict

A Lebanese parliament member addressed the United Nations General Assembly Monday sharing a warning that the country’s citizens are in danger as tensions between Israeli forces and Hezbollah intensify.

Member Bahia El Hariri attended the U.N. meeting in place of Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

“The people of Lebanon are in serious danger after the destruction of large areas of agricultural land and the targeting of residential buildings in the majority of the regions of Lebanon,” Hariri said.

“This has damaged the economy of our country and threatened our social order, especially since several countries have asked their nationals to leave our country,” she added.

Separately, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “gravely alarmed” by the escalating situation between northern Israel and southern Lebanon and the “large number of civilian casualties, including children and women, being reported by Lebanese authorities, as well as thousands of displaced persons, amidst the most intense Israeli bombing campaign since last October,” in a statement issued by his spokesperson Monday.

“The Secretary-General is also gravely alarmed” by the continued Hezbollah strikes on Israel, the statement added.

Israeli forces attacked 1,600 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, IDF says

Israeli Air Force fighter jets attacked “1,600 terrorist targets of Hezbollah” in parts of southern Lebanon in “several attack waves,” on Monday, the IDF said in a post on X.

US Embassy in Jerusalem issues travel restriction for government employees

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem issued a security alert “temporarily” restricting travel for U.S. government employees and their family members to parts of northern and northeastern Israel.

“U.S. government employees and their family members have been temporarily restricted from any personal travel north of highway 65 toward Afula and north/northeast of highway 71 from Afula to the Jordanian border. Any official travel in this area will require approval. Approved travel will take place only in armored vehicles. This is provided for your information as you make your own security plans,” the U.S. Embassy alert said.

Afula is a city in northern Israel.

“US citizens should take this into consideration when planning their own activities,” the alert read.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The climate crisis is not a distant threat; it’s happening right now and affecting what matters most to us. Hurricanes intensified by a warming planet and drought-fueled wildfires are destroying our communities. Rising seas and flooding are swallowing our homes. And record-breaking heatwaves are reshaping our way of life.

The good news is we know how to turn the tide and avoid the worst possible outcomes. However, understanding what needs to be done can be confusing due to a constant stream of climate updates, scientific findings, and critical decisions that are shaping our future.

That’s why the ABC News Climate and Weather Unit is cutting through the noise by curating what you need to know to keep the people and places you care about safe. We are dedicated to providing clarity amid the chaos, giving you the facts and insights necessary to navigate the climate realities of today — and tomorrow.

US climate envoy tells global climate conference the fight must continue despite election results

With the future of U.S. climate and environmental policies uncertain following the presidential election, the world is gathering in Baku, Azerbaijan, to talk climate change. COP29, formally known as the 29th Annual Conference of Parties, opened Monday with questions about the United States’ commitment to global climate goals in light of the 2024 election results.

At a press conference on Monday, U.S. Climate Change Envoy John Podesta told reporters, “For those of us dedicated to climate action, last week’s outcome in the United States is obviously bitterly disappointing.”

“It is clear that the next administration will try to take a U-turn and reverse much of this progress,” Podesta said. “And I know that this disappointment is more difficult to tolerate as the dangers we face grow ever more catastrophic,” he added.

In sharp contrast to President-elect Donald Trump calling climate change a hoax, promising to “drill, baby, drill,” and roll back unused Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds, Podesta highlighted the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to combat climate change, including the move to rejoin the Paris Agreement and the climate and clean energy investments made through the IRA and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Podesta said that while the Biden Administration will work with the incoming Trump Administration to ensure a peaceful transfer of power, “This is not the end of our fight for a cleaner, safer planet.”

“Facts are still facts. Science is still science,” he added. “The fight is bigger than one election, one political cycle in one country, this fight is bigger still, because we are all living through a year defined by the climate crisis in every country of the world.”

Podesta pointed to extreme heat records, recent hurricanes in the Southeast United States, flooding in Spain, severe drought in southern Africa, and wildfires in the Amazon as some examples of the acute impacts of climate change felt around the world just this year.

Following then-President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement in 2017, a coalition of local and state government leaders, organizations and private industry members announced the joint declaration, “We Are Still In.”

Podesta reminded attendees of that effort, saying that while a Trump White House may pose challenges for federal level climate action, the U.S. is not giving up on its goals and that support for clean energy, an issue that “has become bipartisan in the United States.”

“You might not know that by reading the newspapers, but it has,” he said. “57% of new clean energy jobs created since the Inflation Reduction Act passed are located in congressional districts represented by Republicans.”

He added, “We can and will make real progress on the backs of our climate committed states and cities, our innovators, our companies and our citizens, especially young people, who understand more than most that climate change poses an existential threat that we cannot afford to ignore. Failure or apathy is simply not an option.”

-ABC News Climate Unit’s Kelly Livingston and Matthew Glasser

How a university is using AI to reduce cafeteria food waste

Food waste is a massive problem. According to the UN, the world wastes more than a billion tons annually. Here at home, Americans waste around 80 million tons each year. And worldwide, nearly 40% of all the food we produce is lost or wasted, according to the WWF.

At the same time, Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks and pantries, says 47 million people in the U.S. face hunger, including 1 in 5 children. Then, there are the significant environmental impacts of sending so much wasted food to landfills. Left to decompose, this organic waste releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that’s far more potent than carbon dioxide.

Erin Murphy, a student at Georgia State University (GSU) in Atlanta and a sustainability initiatives intern, saw all the food her peers were wasting and wanted to do something about it. She applied for a grant to bring new technology to campus that uses artificial intelligence to examine food waste and provide real-time data on what’s left behind.

The technology, aptly named “Raccoon Eyes,” analyzes the food left on each plate, categorizing and weighing the leftovers to provide detailed data on the waste and recommendations for reducing the leftovers.

When students finish their meals, they place their plates on a conveyor belt, where “Raccoon Eyes” captures an image of the plate. AI then uses that picture to evaluate the contents. This data is displayed on an online dashboard, offering real-time insights to the dining staff.

Ivan Zou, the co-founder of “Raccoon Eyes,” said the information helps identify trends, such as how many plates of a specific meal were uneaten. For example, the system showed that students ate most of the salmon they put on their plates during a particular meal, but they left behind a lot of french fries during another meal.

Jennifer Wilson, GSU’s Director of Sustainability, said that since the program’s launch in January, the AI has analyzed over 400,000 plates and found that approximately 21% contained food waste.

And it turns out that some of the most popular items, like chicken, pizza, and french fries, also generate the most waste. However, the dashboard’s detailed feedback also reveals that popular meals often have leftover portions because students take too much, not because the food is unpopular. This nuanced insight helps dining services adjust not only the menu but also portion sizes and serving methods.

The initiative is already making a difference. In the first four months, GSU reduced food waste by 23%, thanks to AI insights and increased student awareness.

The program even encourages feedback through a kiosk where students can leave comments like “sorry for my waste.” Such feedback has proven invaluable, guiding the dining team in refining their offerings, for instance, by making more of the crowd-favorite Hot Cheetos sushi and less of other less popular items.

-ABC News Climate Unit’s Matthew Glasser, ABC News’ Matt German, and ABC News meteorologist Dan Manzo

Drought in US improves slightly but still a problem for half the country

Heading into November, widespread drought conditions are still a significant concern across the country, with the Northeast currently experiencing some of the worst impacts, according to a U.S. Drought Monitor update released Thursday.

Overall, more than half of the contiguous United States is still grappling with drought. But there are some areas where things are improving slightly. A large swath of the central U.S. saw its drought situation improve, according to the data.

As a result, countrywide drought coverage decreased from 54.08% to 51.89% week over week. Moderate to severe drought conditions expanded in the Northeast, with portions of southern New Jersey now experiencing extreme drought conditions. Recent heavy rain in the Southern Plains brought drought improvements to parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

October was one of the driest months on record for the U.S., triggering a significant increase in the area and severity of drought conditions. While the overall drought coverage has decreased slightly, over 87% of the lower 48 states continue to experience abnormally dry conditions, the most extensive coverage area ever recorded by the U.S. Drought Monitor, which began tracking the data in 2000.

Drought is a complex phenomenon influenced by various factors. Among these, extreme heat is strongly linked to human-amplified climate change. More frequent and intense extreme heat events can worsen the effects of drought. Drought risk has increased in the Southwest over the past century, according to the federal government’s Fifth National Climate Assessment.

Over the next week, measurable rain is forecast across most of the country, with widespread significant rainfall likely across portions of the Midwest, Plains and Pacific Northwest.

Looking ahead, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center said most of the country will likely experience above-average precipitation in mid-November, particularly in the Midwest, Plains and West. Most of the East Coast and Gulf Coast can expect near-average rainfall during this period. No part of the nation should experience below-average precipitation during this time.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck and ABC News Climate Unit’s Matthew Glasser

2024 a near certainty to be the warmest year on record

It’s now virtually certain that 2024 will surpass 2023 as Earth’s warmest year on record, according to a new report by Copernicus, the European Union’s Climate Change Service. As of October 2024, the average global year-to-date temperature was 0.16 degrees Celsius (or 0.29 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than it was in 2023, which is the warmest year ever recorded.

While .16 degrees may not seem significant, even small global temperature increases can trigger substantial changes in weather patterns, leading to more extreme events like heatwaves, droughts, floods, and wildfires, according to climate scientists at NASA.

Last month was also the second warmest October globally, with an average temperature of 15.25 degrees Celsius, or 59.45 degrees Fahrenheit.

Copernicus noted that 2024 will likely be the first year to be 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) than the pre-industrial average of 1850-1900.

The global average temperature over the past twelve months (November 2023 through October 2024) was 1.62 degrees Celsius or 2.92 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels.

The Paris Agreement goals aim to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius to prevent the worst outcomes of climate change.

Global daily sea surface temperatures across most of the world’s oceans remain well above average, including much of the Atlantic Basin. Unusually warm sea surface temperatures can make hurricanes more intense and may play a role during the remainder of the Atlantic Hurricane Season, which ends on November 30th.

Persistent marine heatwaves are also a major concern for the world’s coral reefs as the largest global coral bleaching event on record continues to impact these delicate ecosystems. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says that nearly 77% of the world’s coral reef areas have experienced bleaching-level heat stress during this latest event, the second global coral reef bleaching event in the last 10 years.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck and ABC News Climate Unit’s Matthew Glasser

Study finds use of renewable energy sources reduces risk of blackouts

The Texas freeze of 2021 knocked out power for more than 10 million people, leaving some without heat for days. In the aftermath of the storm, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told a national news network that “Wind and solar got shut down.” He added, “They were collectively more than 10% of our power grid, and that thrust Texas into a situation where it was lacking power on a statewide basis.”

However, in the aftermath, a research study found that renewable energy sources (RES) weren’t to blame. Instead, the researchers found that Texas “failed to sufficiently winterize its electricity and gas systems after 2011.”

Other blackouts have also been blamed on RES, including the 2016 blackout in South Australia and a 2019 outage in the U.K., both of which involved disruptions to wind farms.

Now, according to a new study from The University of Tennessee, grids with higher renewable energy penetration are actually less vulnerable to blackouts than those more reliant on traditional, non-renewable sources.

The analysis found that as the proportion of renewable energy in the grid increases, the intensity of blackouts — measured by the number of affected customers and the length of outages — decreases. This finding challenges the notion that renewable energy inherently makes power grids more fragile.

The researchers analyzed over 2,000 blackouts across the U.S., looking specifically at how renewable energy levels and various weather patterns influenced outage severity. They discovered that high levels of renewables didn’t contribute to an increase in weather-related blackouts.

In grids where renewables made up more than 30% of the energy supply, blackout events were generally less intense and shorter in duration. This trend held even during extreme weather, like high winds and storms, which can place heavy demands on power systems.

-ABC News Climate Unit’s Matthew Glasser

Researchers say they’ve devised the perfect placement for EV chargers

When you buy a gas-powered car, you rarely worry about where to fill it up. That’s because gas stations are everywhere. A 2022 McKinsey survey found that more than 40% of prospective electric vehicle (EV) buyers want that same degree of convenience when it comes to public charger availability for EVs.

Engineers at Cornell University say they have devised a solution for where to place EV charging stations so they are convenient for drivers and profitable for companies.

Using Bayesian optimization, a mathematical method that efficiently analyzes complex data to achieve these results, the research team discovered that for urban areas that it’s best to install an equal percentage of medium-speed and fast chargers. And because motorists use different speed chargers for different reasons, the researchers said it is essential to consider how they are being used when placing them around town.

For example, the engineers found that fast charging is more important at grocery stores when consumers are only inside for 20 minutes. Work and home charging stations should be medium speed because drivers usually park for hours at a time at those locations.

The researchers say their approach can boost investor returns by 50% to 100% compared to random placement strategies.

The team simulated the behavior of 30,000 vehicles over 113,000 trips in the Atlanta region, considering various traffic patterns and driver decisions. This method allowed them to determine optimal charging station placements.

Yeuchen Sophia Liu, the study’s lead author, told the Cornell Chronicle that, “Placing publicly available charging stations around cities sounds like a simple thing, but mathematically, it’s actually very hard.”

She added, “Economically strategic placement of charging stations could play a pivotal role in accelerating the transition to zero-emission vehicles.”

-ABC News Climate Unit’s Matthew Glasser

Nearly 40% of the world’s trees face extinction, according to new assessment

Climate change, deforestation, invasive pests and disease all threaten to permanently wipe out nearly 40% of the earth’s trees, according to a new assessment by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The organization, comprised of 1,400 member organizations worldwide and 16,000 experts, said more than one in three tree species across 192 countries is now facing extinction, especially trees found on islands.

development and agriculture, as well as the other threats faced by tree species across the globe.

Since 1964, the IUCN has hosted its “Red List,” a database of threatened species from around the world. The research group found that 16,425 of the 47,282 tree species on their list are at risk of extinction — more than 2,000 of which are used for medicines, food, and fuels.

“Trees are essential to support life on Earth through their vital role in ecosystems, and millions of people depend upon them for their lives and livelihoods,” said Grethel Aguilar, IUCN director general, in a statement.

According to their analysis, “the number of threatened trees is more than double the number of all threatened birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians combined.”

The group is calling for more habitat protection and restoration to protect these species and the creation of seed banks and botanical gardens to ensure they don’t disappear forever.

“The significance of the Global Tree Assessment cannot be overstated, given the importance of trees to ecosystems and people. We hope this frightening statistic of one in three trees facing extinction will incentivize urgent action and be used to inform conservation plans,” said Eimear Nic Lughadha from the Royal Botanic Gardens, in a statement.

-ABC News Climate Unit’s Matthew Glasser

Report finds climate change increased heat deaths among older adults by 167%; worsened food security

The health and economic costs of climate change are rising worldwide, according to the newly released 2024 Lancet Countdown, a yearly report hosted by University College London and involving more than 300 researchers.

According to the report, “Of the 15 indicators monitoring climate change-related health hazards, exposures, and impacts, ten reached concerning new records in their most recent year of data.”

With global communities facing an additional 50 days of “dangerous heat,” heat-related deaths among older adults increased by a record-breaking 167% in 2023 compared to the 1990s, according to the report’s findings.

In addition to the heat impact, the Lancet report found that climate change is significantly worsening food insecurity, with 151 million more people facing shortages compared to previous decades. And more than 3 million people died in 2021 because of air pollution and fine particulate matter.

The researchers also found that global extreme weather costs have increased by 23% from 2010-14 to 2019-23, amounting to $227 billion annually.

-ABC News Climate Unit’s Kelly Livingston and ABC News Medical Unit’s Sony Salzman

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(TOKYO) — The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Sazanami passed through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, marking the first time a modern Japanese warship has navigated this strategically sensitive waterway.

The Japanese destroyer was en-route to multinational naval drills. Australian and New Zealand vessels are also reported to have transited the strait.

China has consistently opposed foreign naval vessels transiting the strait, which it considers part of its territorial waters.

Japan’s move aligns with the stance of the U.S. and other allies, asserting that the strip constitutes international waters where freedom of navigation must be upheld. Recent transits by warships from Britain, Canada, France, Australia and Germany have also reinforced this principle.

The Japanese ship’s movements come as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is on his way out of office this month.

China often tests Japan’s response to their air and naval movements but they’ve been upping ante as of late. A People’s Liberation Army Navy aircraft carrier recently maneuvered between two of Japan’s southern islands. And the Chinese military tested on Wednesday its first ICBM in decades, a launch about which Japan hadn’t received prior notification.

The decision to send the Sazanami through the strait is significant given Japan’s decades of post-war pacifism. The government has tread lightly on all things military, to avoid stirring unrest at home. This bold move by Japan would’ve been hard to imagine a decade ago, but as the China’s assertiveness grows, so has Japan’s effort to beef up its national defense. It also appears to signal that Japan will stand with allies, as well as support Taiwan.

Japan’s government and Ministry of Defense have not yet made public statements about the move.

The ship’s movements come as the U.N. General Assembly meets in New York, where U.S. President Joe Biden spoke on Tuesday of his efforts to build a strong trilateral relationship with Japan and South Korea. Those relationships have been part of Biden’s strategy to counter China’s influence in the region.

“These partnerships are not against any nation,” Biden said on Tuesday. “They’re building blocks for a free, open, secure, peaceful Indo-Pacific.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.