Israel-Gaza-Lebanon live updates: Israel notifies UN of UNRWA work termination

(LONDON) — Israel launched a series of strikes on Hezbollah targets Thursday as the war against the Lebanon-based group widened in the wake of two consecutive days of deadly explosions triggered in wireless devices.

Israel said it hit at least 30 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, including a weapons storage facility, adding it will continue to “operate against the threat of the Hezbollah.”

“The IDF is currently striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon to degrade Hezbollah’s terrorist capabilities and infrastructure,” the Israeli army said Thursday afternoon. “The Hezbollah terrorist organization has turned southern Lebanon into a combat zone. For decades, Hezbollah has weaponized civilian homes, dug tunnels beneath them, and used civilians as human shields.”

Two large sonic booms shook buildings in Beirut on Thursday as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivered a speech on this week’s device explosions. The IDF strikes come as Nasrallah said the use of the devices in civilian areas crossed all laws and red lines.

“This criminal act is a major terrorist operation, an act of genocide and massacre and amounts to a declaration of war,” Nasrallah said.

“The only way to return the displaced to the north is to stop the aggression on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. What you are doing will increase the displacement of the displaced from the north and will remove the opportunity for their return,” Nasrallah said.

The last two days of explosions in Lebanon, triggered remotely with explosives inside pagers or walkie-talkies, have killed at least 37 people and wounded 2,931, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Al-Abyad said in a press conference Thursday.

Prior to announcing the strikes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu restated his intention of returning tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to their homes in the north of the country, parts of which have been emptied by the threat of Hezbollah attacks.

Two IDF soldiers were killed by Hezbollah rockets in the north on Thursday, the army said.

“This is a new phase of the war, it includes opportunities but also significant risks. Hezbollah feels that it is being persecuted and the sequence of military and defense actions will continue,” Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Thursday following the airstrikes.

The Israeli rhetoric was punctuated by the two waves of explosions in Lebanon.

Pager devices exploded on Tuesday prompting chaos in the capital Beirut and across the Hezbollah militant group’s southern heartland. On Wednesday, walkie-talkies exploded, some during funeral processions being held for militants killed in Tuesday’s explosions.

An ABC News source confirmed that Israel was behind the Tuesday pager attacks. Israeli leaders have not publicly commented on either round of explosions.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said 12 people were killed and 2,323 wounded in Tuesday’s pager detonations, and another 25 people were killed and 608 wounded in Wednesday’s walkie-talkie blasts, according to Al-Abyad.

The Lebanese health minister told reporters that he does not want to comment on security and political matters, but he said “it is certain that what happened in terms of aggression is considered a war crime, as the majority of the injuries were recorded in civilian areas and not in the battlefield, and the government is doing its duty and has called for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, and human rights organizations are doing their duty on this issue.”

Hezbollah said 20 of its members were killed in Wednesday’s walkie-talkie explosions. Another 11 were killed in Tuesday’s pager explosions in Lebanon and Syria, bringing the overall death toll for the group to 31.

The Iranian-backed group blamed Israel for both waves of explosions and vowed a “reckoning.”

The militant group claimed several retaliatory strikes into Israel this week — including on Thursday morning — with Israel Defense Forces warplanes and artillery responding.

Cross-border fire has been near-constant since Oct. 8, when Hezbollah began attacks in protest of the Israel Defense Forces operation into the Gaza Strip — the response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 infiltration attack into southern Israel.

But as Gallant told reporters on Wednesday, “I believe that we are at the onset of a new phase in this war.”

A source confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday that Israel’s 98th Division is being deployed from Gaza battlefields to the north of the country.

“We are determined to change the security reality as soon as possible,” Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, head of the IDF’s Northern Command, said. “The commitment of the commanders and the troops here is complete, with peak readiness for any task that will be required.”

The war, U.S. officials have long warned, could spiral into a broader conflict involving Iran — a prime benefactor of both Hezbollah and Hamas.

Notable casualties demonstrated the multinational nature of the crisis. A detonating pager injured at least 14 people in Syria, where both Hezbollah and Iranian forces have been active for several years in support of its President Bashar al-Assad.

Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amini, was also among the thousands injured, Iranian officials said. Tehran “will duly follow up on the attack against its ambassador in Lebanon,” the country’s ambassador to the United Nations said in a letter to U.N. leaders on Wednesday.

Israel and Iran have already exchanged significant strikes since Oct. 7. Israel assassinated a top Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi in Syria in April and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July. Iran fired a huge barrage of drones and missiles toward Israel in response to Zahedi’s killing.

This week’s bombings in Lebanon raised the possibility of further action, whether overt or covert. Police announced on Thursday that an Israeli citizen was arrested on suspicion of working with Iranian intelligence to assassinate leaders including Netanyahu and Gallant.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated U.S. appeals for calm during a press conference in Egypt on Wednesday, where he traveled for fresh Gaza cease-fire talks.

“Broadly speaking, we’ve been very clear, and we remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict that we’re trying to resolve in Gaza,” Blinken said.

A conflict spreading to other fronts, he added, is “clearly not in the interest of anyone involved.”

The U.S., Blinken and other American officials said, were not involved in or pre-briefed on the remote explosions that rocked Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Gallant spoke with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin three times in two days, the latest conversation on Wednesday reaffirming the “unwavering U.S. support for Israel in the face of threats from Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, and Iran’s other regional partners” and the need for de-escalation, a Pentagon readout said.

U.S. officials were notified by Israeli counterparts on Tuesday that they were planning an operation against Hezbollah, but did not provide any details about what they were going to do, U.S. officials said.

ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz, Will Gretsky, Morgan Winsor, Luis Martinez, Shannon K. Kingston, Ellie Kaufman, Nasser Atta, Jordana Miller and Marcus Moore contributed to this report.

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(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.

Tensions 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 fires Defense Minister Gallant

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and is replacing him with current Minister of Foreign Affairs Yisrael Katz.

The prime minister and defense minister must have “complete trust” during war, and “over the past few months this trust has been cracked between me and the Minister of Defense,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

Netanyahu said he tried to bridge the gaps, but “they kept widening.”

“They also came to the attention of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse, they came to the attention of the enemy – our enemies were pleased with this and benefited greatly from it,” he said.

Netanyahu said Katz “has already proven his abilities and his contribution to national security as Minister of Foreign Affairs, as Minister of Finance, as Minister of Intelligence for five years, and no less important than that, as a member of the political-security cabinet for many years.”

“He is known as a bulldozer in a combination of responsibility and firmness, quiet firmness,” Netanyahu said.

Families of hostages are critical of Netanyahu’s decision, saying it’s “unfortunate proof of the Israeli government’s poor prioritization.”

“The dismissal of Defense Minister Gallant is a direct continuation of the ‘efforts’ to torpedo the hostage deal,” the families said in a statement. “We demand that the incoming Defense Minister express an explicit commitment to ending the war and implementing a comprehensive deal to return all the hostages immediately.”

Gallant said in a brief statement, “The security of the State of Israel was and will always remain the mission of my life.”

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Famine risk looming in north Gaza, health officials warn

Acute food insecurity is a concern across Gaza, but the issue is especially pressing in the northern part of the strip where the Israeli military’s ongoing assault has intensified in recent weeks.

Dr. Abu Safiyeh — who works at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya — said the besieged facility is running out of all food, collecting video footage of the deteriorating situation there.

Safiyeh’s warning followed a statement last week from the United Nations’ food assistance arm warning that “the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza could soon escalate into a famine unless immediate action is taken.”

-ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Joe Simonetti

Gaza situation ‘has not significantly turned around,’ US says

The State Department said Monday that Israel has not done enough to improve humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, as a 30-day deadline looms for Israeli officials to meet certain requirements or risk potential restrictions on military assistance.

The U.S. set out its conditions in a letter sent to Israeli officials last month and signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The letter gave Israel until Nov. 12 to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to the devastated Palestinian territory.

“As of today, the situation has not significantly turned around,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

“We have seen an increase in some measurements,” Miller continued. “We’ve seen an increase in the number of crossings that are open. But just if you look at the stipulated recommendations in the letter, those have not been met.”

Miller did not say what steps the U.S. would take if the situation did not improve before the deadline. “I don’t want to forecast in any way what it is that we’ll do at the end of those 30 days,” he said.

-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston and Joe Simonetti

Deadly Israeli strikes continue in Gaza

Around 30 people were killed by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to Palestinian health officials.

At least 20 people — including eight women and six children — were killed by an airstrike on a home sheltering several displaced families in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, officials said.

The town is at the heart of Israel’s most recent offensive in the northern part of the strip, which officials at the Hamas-run Health Ministry say has killed around 1,800 people and injured another 4,000.

Separate strikes elsewhere in Gaza killed at least 10 people, health officials said.

-ABC News’ Bruno Nota and Joe Simonetti

Death toll in Lebanon crosses 3,000: Health ministry

More than 3,000 have been killed since the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began over a year ago, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

Sixteen people were killed in Lebanon on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 3,002, it said.

60 rockets fired into Israel, IDF says

The Israel Defense Forces said that at least 60 rockets were fired into Israel by Hezbollah on Monday.

Some of the rockets were intercepted and others fell “in open areas,” the IDF wrote on X.

The IDF also said it attacked one Hezbollah launcher suspected of firing up to 30 rockets, posting what it said was a video of the strike to its X page.

-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti

Israeli strikes kill 31 in Gaza, health officials say

Palestinian medics said Israeli airstrikes killed at least 31 people in Gaza on Sunday.

Almost half of the deaths occurred in northern areas, health officials said, where Israel Defense Forces troops are pressing an intense campaign intended to root out surviving Hamas fighters and stop its units from regrouping.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Monday that around 1,800 people have been killed and 4,000 injured by Israel’s north Gaza campaign, with “widespread destruction of hospitals and infrastructure.”

-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Guy Davies

IDF says 4 drones intercepted in north and east

The Israel Defense Forces said in a post to X on Monday that military aircraft intercepted four drones.

Some of the unmanned aircraft were intercepted after crossing into Israel from Lebanon, while the others were shot down before entering the east of the country from the direction of Syria and Iraq, the IDF said.

IDF claims killing of Hezbollah commander in south Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that it killed Hezbollah’s commander of the Baraachit area of southern Lebanon in an airstrike.

The IDF said Abu Ali Rida was responsible for rocket and anti-tank missile attacks on Israeli forces and commanded Hezbollah units in the Nabatieh area.

Israel notifies UN of plans to terminate cooperation with UNRWA

The Israeli government notified the United Nations of its plans to terminate cooperation with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in a letter to the president of the U.N. General Assembly on Sunday.

UNRWA is the main U.N. agency operating in Gaza and is responsible for coordinating and supplying humanitarian aid. It also operates in the West Bank. The Israeli government has accused UNRWA of having ties to Hamas. After the initial accusations, the U.N. conducted an internal investigation, and some UNRWA staff members were fired.

Israel maintains that UNRWA still has ties to Hamas. But aid organizations warn if the agency stops operating in Gaza, the humanitarian crisis there will only worsen.

Israel’s termination of UNRWA in the country follows legislation passed by Israel’s parliament at the end of October severing the country’s ties with the organization.

Israel’s governmental body passed two bills — one banning UNRWA from operating in Israel, including in east Jerusalem, and another prohibiting any Israeli state or government agency from working with UNRWA or anyone on its behalf.

The legislation has a three-month waiting period before it goes into effect. It is set to go into effect at the end of January.

Israeli Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jacob Blitshtein wrote in the letter released Sunday that Israel will “continue to work with international partners, including other United Nations agencies, to ensure the facilitation of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not undermine Israel’s security.”

-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman

Northern Gaza hospital says Israeli artillery fire injured children

The Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza said Israeli artillery fire hit a floor of the hospital, injuring children who were being treated there.

The hospital also said there was heavy bombing overnight on the block where it is located, threatening the nearby Al Yemen al Saeed Hospital.

The hospital director said in a statement on Sunday the glass of the doors and windows of the facility were shattered by the force of the blasts.

The IDF has not commented on the attacks.

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(LONDON) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed Wednesday the U.S. has evidence that North Korean troops are in Russia.

“What exactly they’re doing” remains to be seen, Austin told journalists while in Rome, Italy. “These are things that we need to sort out.”

Ukraine and South Korea have warned that North Korean soldiers have traveled to Russia for training ahead of planned deployment to fight on battlefields in eastern Ukraine and western Russia.

Austin said Wednesday that the U.S. would “continue to pull this thread” to establish whether Pyongyang can be considered a co-belligerent in the conflict.

“That is a very, very serious issue and it will have impacts not only in Europe, it will also impact things in the Indo-Pacific as well,” Austin warned.

Austin said there is “certainly” a “strengthened relationship, for lack of a better term, between Russia and DPRK,” using the acronym of the country’s official name — the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Pyongyang, he added, provides “arms and munitions to Russia and this is a next step.”

The development may indicate resource strain on President Vladimir Putin, Austin added.

“You’ve heard me talk about the significant casualties that he has experienced over the last two and a half years,” he said. “This is an indication that he may be even in more trouble than most people realize.”

North Korea has denied the reports of its forces being active in Russia or Ukraine.

“My delegation does not feel any need for comment on such groundless stereotyped rumors,” a North Korean representative to the United Nations said during a U.N. General Assembly session this week, as quoted by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, meanwhile, said earlier this week of the reports, “There is a lot of contradictory information, and that is probably how it should be treated,” describing North Korea as a close neighbor and partner.

“This should not cause anyone any concern, because this cooperation is not directed against third countries,” Peskov added.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

ABC News’ Chad Murray contributed to this report.

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