Police raid South Korean presidential office, arrest former defense minister following martial law declaration

(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:

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.

-ABC News’ 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.

(CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO) — The family of Shanquella Robinson, the North Carolina woman who died while vacationing in Mexico in October 2022, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Robinson’s travel companions, who are referred to in the suit as “the Cabo Six,” alleging battery, negligence, conspiracy and emotional distress.

Robinson’s mother, Sallamondra Robinson, spoke out during a press conference on Tuesday, along with family attorney Sue-Ann Robinson, who has no relation to the Robinson family.

“I would like each and every one of you, if you can, anything you can do, step in and help us with justice,” Sallamondra Robinson said. “We need justice for Shanquella Robinson. It has been two years and there’s no reason that they have not been arrested yet.”

ABC News’ attempts to reach out directly to the individuals identified as the “Cabo Six” were unsuccessful. It is unclear if they have retained attorneys.

The lawsuit, which was filed in the Superior Court of Mecklenburg County on Monday, two years after Robinson’s death, was filed on behalf of Sallamondra Robinson, and also names the U.S. State Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation after federal prosecutors announced last year that they won’t be filing charges in this case, citing a lack of evidence.

“We are here today, not only to honor Shanquella Robinson and her family, but to call for action,” Sue-Ann Robinson said. “We demand, still again and until the end, that authorities take the necessary steps to investigate this case thoroughly and bring those responsible to justice … We will not rest until justice is served for Shanquella Robinson and her family..”

The complaint, a copy of which was obtained by ABC News, claims that Sallamondra Robinson “suffered damages, in excess of $25,000 as a result of the wrongful death” and accuses the FBI of withholding records related to the investigation that the family sought to obtain through FOIA requests. The lawsuit also accuses the State Department and the FBI of negligence.

“The FBI’s standard practice is to decline to comment on pending litigation,” an FBI spokesperson told ABC News on Tuesday.

ABC News reached out to the State Department, but a request for comment was not immediately returned.

Robinson, a 25-year-old Black woman from Charlotte, North Carolina, was found dead in the resort city of San Jose Del Cabo on the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, on Oct. 29 2022 where she and six acquaintances traveled for vacation. According to the lawsuit, the six individuals “were believed to be friends” of Robinson’s.

Shortly after Robinson’s death, a viral video emerged on social media that appeared to show a woman – later identified as one of the “Cabo Six” – beating a naked Robinson in a room, while two spectators recorded the incident.

Sallamondra Robinson previously told ABC News that after her daughter’s death, she got a frantic telephone call from her acquaintances on the trip, claiming that she had died from alcohol poisoning. However, the Mexican Secretariat of Health’s autopsy report and death certificate for Shanquella Robinson, obtained by ABC News, lists her cause of death as “severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation,” with no mention of alcohol.

The report, which was dated Nov. 4, 2022, also states that the approximate time between injury and death was 15 minutes, while a box asking whether the death was “accidental or violent” was ticked “yes.”

Following Robinson’s death, the FBI opened a probe into the incident, but the bureau announced in April 2023 that federal prosecutors would not seek charges related to Robinson’s death due to a lack of evidence.

U.S. Attorneys Sandra J. Hairston and Dena J. King, who represent the Middle and Western Districts of North Carolina, wrote in a statement that in every case considered for federal prosecution, the government must prove “beyond a reasonable doubt, that a federal crime was committed.”

“Based on the results of the autopsy and after a careful deliberation and review of the investigative materials by both U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, federal prosecutors informed Ms. Robinson’s family today that the available evidence does not support a federal prosecution,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, Mexican authorities investigated the case as femicide, a form of gender-based violence and issued an arrest warrant on Nov. 22, 2023, in relation to Robinson’s death for an alleged perpetrator who was not named, a local prosecutor confirmed to ABC News.

Daniel de la Rosa Anaya, the local prosecutor for the state of Baja California Sur, told ABC News in November 2022, that the warrant was “issued for the crime of femicide,” adding that Mexico is “carrying out all the pertinent procedures such as the Interpol alert and the request for extradition to the United States of America.”

The Attorney General’s Office of Baja California Sur, whose office is investigating, confirmed to ABC News in a statement on Tuesday that the investigation is still open.

“We made the necessary procedures before the United States, it is the authority there that must proceed with the apprehension of the probable perpetrator or perpetrators and put them at the disposal of the Mexican authorities,” the statement said. “Until there is a final sentence, the investigation cannot be closed.”

ABC News’ Sabina Ghebremedhin, Anne Laurent and Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the parties named in the lawsuit.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — The Israel Defense Forces continued intense air and ground campaigns against Hezbollah in Lebanon and against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The uptick in offensive operations came days after Israel marked the anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault and as Israeli leaders planned their response to last week’s Iranian ballistic missile attack.

Body of IRGC general killed in Israeli airstrike found in Beirut

The body of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps general was discovered in the Dahieh area of Beirut, the IRGC announced on Iranian state TV Friday.

Brig. Gen. Abbas Nilforoushan, the deputy commander for operations of the IRGC, was killed on Sept. 27 in the same Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nassrallah.

Nilforoushan was sanctioned by the U.S. for his role in suppressing protests in Iran.

A public funeral and burial will be held when Nilforoushan’s body is returned to Iran, the IRGC said.

-ABC News’ Hami Hamedi

Hezbollah commander killed in strike in southern Lebanon: IDF

The Israel Defense Forces said Friday it eliminated a Hezbollah commander in a strike in southern Lebanon.

The commander was “responsible for numerous anti-tank missile attacks on the area of Ramot Naftali in northern Israel,” the IDF said in a statement.

The IDF said it was continuing to target Hezbollah positions while issuing an evacuation warning for people in parts of southern Lebanon on Friday.

-ABC News’ Dorit Long

Austin addresses safety of UNIFIL forces in call with Gallant

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “emphasized the importance of ensuring the safety” of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon during a call with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, the Pentagon said Friday.

He also “urged coordinating efforts to pivot from military operations to a diplomatic pathway as soon as feasible” during the call Thursday on Israel’s operations in Lebanon, according to a Pentagon readout.

The French Foreign Ministry and Italy’s defense minister on Thursday also expressed concern for the safety of UNIFIL troops after two peacekeepers were injured by Israeli fire on Thursday. Two more were wounded on Friday in explosions that occurred near its headquarters in Naqoura in southern Lebanon, according to UNIFIL.

The Israel Defense Forces said it is reviewing the incidents and “takes every precaution to minimize harm to civilians and peacekeepers alike.”

Lebanon condemns attacks on UNIFIL

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry condemned the “systematic and deliberate targeting of UNIFIL forces by the Israeli army,” in a statement on Friday.

“These attacks cannot be separated from the repeated and ongoing Israeli attempts to undermine the mission of UNIFIL,” the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said.

The Israel Defense Forces said two U.N. peacekeepers were “inadvertently hurt” during IDF combat with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon on Friday.

“The IDF expresses deep concern over incidents of this kind and is currently conducting a thorough review at the highest levels of command to determine the details,” IDF international spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said in a statement.

-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Clark Bentson

UNIFIL says 2 peacekeepers injured in southern Lebanon explosions

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said two peacekeepers were injured in two explosions that occurred near its headquarters in southern Lebanon Friday morning local time.

This marked the second time its headquarters were affected by explosions in the last 48 hours, UNIFIL said.

UNIFIL also said an Israeli military bulldozer knocked over several protective walls at one of the U.N. posts along the southern Lebanese border on Friday.

“These incidents put again UN peacekeepers, who are serving in south Lebanon at the request of the Security Council under resolution 1701 (2006), at very serious risks,” UNIFIL said in a statement. “This is a serious development, and UNFIL reiterates that the safety and security of UN personnel and property must be guaranteed and that the inviolability of UN premises must be respected at all times.”

The Israel Defense Forces has not commented on the incidents. Israel on Thursday recommended that UNIFIL relocate farther north to avoid danger as fighting intensifies, after the mission said two troops were injured by Israeli fire.

Israel recommends UNIFIL relocate to avoid danger ‘as fighting intensifies’

Israel recommended that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon relocate farther north, after the mission said two troops were injured in the south of the country by Israeli fire.

“Our dialogue and coordination with UNIFIL will continue in southern Lebanon,” Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, said in a statement Thursday. “Our recommendation is that UNIFIL relocate five kilometers north to avoid danger as fighting intensifies and while the situation along the Blue Line remains volatile as a result of Hezbollah’s aggression.

The Israel Defense Forces said earlier Thursday that Hezbollah operates near UNIFIL posts, and that they told U.N. forces in the area “to remain in protected spaces.” The IDF did not comment on the two UNIFIL peacekeepers being wounded.

22 killed in Beirut strikes: Health ministry

At least 22 people were killed and 117 injured after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut Thursday evening local time, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.

Israeli forces have since issued another evacuation warning to residents in Haret Hreik in the Dahieh area of Beirut.

Amnesty International on Thursday called Israel’s evacuation warnings “inadequate” and “in some cases also misleading.”

“Our analysis shows that not only did the warnings issued by the Israeli military include misleading maps, but they were also issued at short notice — in one instance less than 30 minutes before strikes began — in the middle of the night, via social media, when many people would be asleep, offline or not following media reports,” Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general, said in a statement.

-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz

2nd round of Gaza polio vaccinations set to begin next week: UNICEF

A second round of polio vaccinations in Gaza is set to begin next week, according to UNICEF.

An agreement on humanitarian pauses has been reached to allow for the second dose on Oct. 14, targeting 590,000 children under the age of 10, UNICEF said Thursday.

The first round of vaccinations ended in mid-September, reaching 90% vaccination coverage, UNICEF said at the time.

Northern Gaza bombarded with airstrikes in past 2 days: UNRWA

Northern Gaza has been bombarded with airstrikes, with 118 attacks recorded in the past two days compared to 140 in September, according to a United Nations agency.

“Ongoing military operations and continuous airstrikes on northern Gaza are heavily affecting the population,” the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said on X on Thursday.

The World Food Programme warned the situation in the north is “worsening again,” saying they are no longer able to distribute food in the region.

“Virtually the entire area is under evacuation orders, and thousands of families have been forced to flee amid intense airstrikes and military operations on the ground,” the organization said in a press release on Wednesday. “There is nowhere for these people to go and hardly any way for WFP to reach them.”

Dozens killed in airstrikes in Lebanon in past 24 hours

Dozens of people were killed in the past 24 hours in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

Twenty-eight people were killed and another 113 injured, bringing the total casualties since the increased fighting began in mid-September to 2,169 fatalities and 10,212 injuries, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

There were 61 airstrikes recorded in the past 24 hours in various parts of Lebanon, largely in the south, according to the Lebanese prime minister’s situation report on Thursday.

The Israeli Defense Forces issued a warning to sites “in and near southern villages” in Lebanon on Thursday as it continues its campaign against Hezbollah.

Israeli forces struck more than 110 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon over the past day, the IDF said in a statement on Thursday.

-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Dorit Long

Netanyahu to meet security cabinet Thursday

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with his security cabinet on Thursday evening local time.

Israeli media reported that Israel’s planned retaliation against Iran for its Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack is among the topics to be discussed.

Netanyahu and other officials have vowed a significant response to the barrage, which Tehran justified as a “legal, rational and legitimate response” to Israeli strikes and targeted killings in Iran and Lebanon.

“Iran made a big mistake tonight — and it will pay for it,” Netanyahu said shortly after Iran’s Oct. 1 attack.

This week, Netanyahu said Israel is the “one force in the world that stands in Iran’s way to conquest.” He added, “It’s not only our fight, it’s the free world’s fight.”

Netanyahu spoke with President Joe Biden on Wednesday. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the conversation between the two leaders was “direct” and “productive.”

-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti

Israeli fire injures UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, mission says

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said Thursday that Israeli forces fired on three peacekeeper bases in the south of the country, injuring two troops.

“UNIFIL’s Naqoura headquarters and nearby positions have been repeatedly hit” amid fighting between Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah in the area, the mission said in a post to X.

Two peacekeepers were injured at the Naqoura position “after an IDF Merkava tank fired its weapon toward an observation tower,” the mission wrote, “directly hitting it and causing them to fall. The injuries are fortunately, this time, not serious, but they remain in hospital.”

Elsewhere, UNIFIL said IDF fire on its camp in Labbouneh hit the entrance to a bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, damaging vehicles and a communications system.

The IDF also fired at and disabled the perimeter-monitoring cameras at Labbouneh, UNIFIL said. An IDF drone was observed above the position, the mission added.

“Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and of Security Council resolution 1701,” UNIFIL said, referring to the 2006 U.N. Security Council agreement that sought to end the last major cross-border war between Israel and Hezbollah.

“We are following up with the IDF on these matters,” it added.

-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz

28 killed in Israeli strike on Gaza school

At least 28 Palestinians were killed in a single attack on a school in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

Children are believed to be among the casualties in the attack on the Rufaydah school. The Israel Defense Forces said it was targeting a Hamas “command and control center” in what it called a “precise strike.”

The strike occurred in the central region of the devastated strip, where Palestinians from the north have been ordered to evacuate by the IDF.

In the north, Israel is continuing an intense military operation in the Jabalia refugee camp, which is now sealed off and under IDF siege. This is the fourth major IDF operation in Jabalia since the start of the war.

The IDF, meanwhile, said it downed a drone launched into Israel from Gaza, with no injuries reported.

-ABC News’ Samy Zyara, Diaa Ostaz, Zoe Magee, Jordana Miller, Victoria Beaule and Joe Simonetti.

Quarter of Lebanon under Israeli evacuation orders, UN says

Around 25% of Lebanese territory is now under Israel Defense Forces evacuation orders, the United Nations said.

New “displacement orders” are being “issued on a daily basis,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a situation update, noting that more than 100 villages and urban areas in southern Lebanon are affected.

A total of 1.2 million people across the country have been displaced by Israeli air and ground attacks, the report said, citing OHCHR figures.

-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti

IDF issues evacuation order in Dahieh area of Beirut
The Israel Defense Forces issued another evacuation order in an area of Dahieh in Beirut, Lebanon, right after midnight Thursday local time.

“You are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests, against which the IDF will operate in the near future,” the order read.

“For your safety and the safety of your family members, you must evacuate this building and the surrounding buildings immediately and stay away from them for a distance of no less than 500 meters,” the IDF added.

-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman

Trump, Netanyahu spoke last week, Netanyahu’s office confirms

Former President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone “about a week ago,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office confirmed to ABC News.

Trump called Netanyahu “on his own initiative,” Netanyahu’s office said.

Trump “congratulated” Netanyahu on “the determined and powerful actions that Israel carried out against Hezbollah,” the prime minister’s office said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also participated in the call, Netanyahu’s office said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Delegations from Hamas, Fatah meet in Cairo to discuss post-war Gaza plan

Delegations from Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah met in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss reconciliation and the administration of post-war Gaza, according to a source and Egyptian state media reports.

Egyptian state-affiliated Al-Qahera News quoted sources as saying the factions are working on a “mechanism to form a committee responsible for managing Gaza’s crossings and overseeing key issues related to health services, relief aid, shelter, social development, and education.”

Hamas’s delegation is led by Khalil Al-Hayya, while Fatah’s delegation is headed by deputy leader Mahmoud al-Aloul.

“The meeting will focus on establishing a technocratic government to administer post-war Gaza, the day-after plan, and supporting the unity of authority in Gaza and the West Bank,” a source told ABC News. It will also address the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, the source added.

The discussions are expected to last for two days, the source said.

-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy

Biden to speak with Netanyahu Wednesday, source says

President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to speak Wednesday, a source familiar with the plans told ABC News.

The conversation will be the first publicly announced talks between the leaders in months.

Biden has told reporters for weeks that he would speak to the Israeli leader as escalation in the region intensified. The planned call was first reported by Axios.

-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart

Stabbing attack wounds several in Israel

Six people were injured — two seriously — in a stabbing attack in the Israeli city of Hadera on Wednesday, Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said.

Police described the incident as a terrorist attack and said one attacker was “neutralized” while trying to flee the scene. The suspect is 36 years old and is an Israeli national, police said.

Hadera is a coastal city located between Haifa and Tel Aviv.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti

Israel continues Beirut airstrikes

The Israel Defense Forces continued its bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight into Wednesday, with a focus on the Hezbollah-controlled Dahiya area.

Lebanon’s health ministry also said 36 people were killed and 150 wounded in Israeli attacks on Monday.

The total number of people killed by Israel in Lebanon rose to 2,119 and the number of wounded to 1,019, health officials said.

-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Joe Simonetti

Gaza death toll passes 42,000, health officials say

The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza announced Wednesday that the Palestinian death toll in the strip since Oct. 7, 2023 has now passed 42,000.

Health authorities reported 42,010 Palestinians killed and 97,720 wounded since the start of the war. Thousands more bodies are believed to still be under rubble in the devastated territory.

-ABC News’ Lama Hasan and Joe Simonetti

IDF claims strikes on 230 targets in 24 hours in Lebanon and Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday morning that it struck 185 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and 45 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip over the previous 24 hours.

In southern Lebanon, the IDF said it “dismantled launch pads that posed a threat to communities in northern Israel, eliminated terrorists during close-quarter encounters and in aerial strikes, located and confiscated numerous weapons including anti-tank missiles.”

In Gaza, the IDF said its troops “eliminated dozens of terrorists in close-quarter encounters and in aerial strikes, located weapons, including grenades, AK-47 rifles, and more, and dismantled numerous terrorist infrastructure sites and rocket launchers that were ready to fire toward Israeli territory.”

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

‘Many’ refusing Israel’s north Gaza evacuation order, UNRWA head says

Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said Wednesday that Israel’s latest evacuation order in north Gaza is deepening the misery of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

“No end to hell,” Lazzarini wrote in a post to X. “At least 400,000 people are trapped in the area.”

The Israel Defense Forces ordered residents of the northern part of Gaza to evacuate amid a renewed military operation there, currently centered on the Jabalia refugee camp. The area is “still considered a dangerous combat zone,” the IDF said this week.

“Many are refusing because they know too well that no place anywhere in Gaza is safe,” Lazzarini said of residents, many of whom have been displaced multiple times during a year of war.

UNRWA shelters and services are being forced to close, “some for the first time since the war began,” Lazzarini added. “With almost no basic supplies available, hunger is spreading & deepening again.”

The renewed fighting in the north also threatens the second phase of the U.N.-led polio vaccination campaign in Gaza. “Children are as ever, the first & most to suffer,” Lazzarini said.

Al Jazeera says cameraman critically wounded in Gaza hospital bombing

An Al Jazeera cameraman was critically wounded in the bombing of a central Gaza hospital, the publication said Tuesday.

Ali al-Attar, 27, suffered a skull fracture and internal bleeding in the brain after being struck by two pieces of shrapnel during the bombing of a police checkpoint inside Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, according to Al Jazeera. Al-Attar was in the journalists’ tents located next to the checkpoint at the time, it said.

The strike occurred early Monday local time, according to Al-Jazeera Arabic.

At least 128 journalists have been killed and 35 reported injured in the Israel-Hamas war since Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Northern Gaza ‘unlivable’: Doctors Without Borders

Doctors Without Borders said northern Gaza has become “unlivable” due to bombings and evacuations.

“These forced mass evacuations of homes and bombing of neighborhoods by the Israeli forces are turning the north of Gaza into an unlivable wasteland, effectively emptying out the whole north of the Strip of Palestinian life,” the organization said in a statement on Tuesday. “To make matters worse, no humanitarian supplies have been allowed to enter the area since 1 October.”

The Israel Defense Forces issued an evacuation order for northern Gaza earlier this week, saying the area is “still considered a dangerous combat zone.”

Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan Medical Complex, which is within the evacuation zone, said they have 24 hours to completely evacuate patients and staff.

“This is a dangerous measure that threatens the collapse of the healthcare system in the northern Gaza Strip,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

36 people killed in Lebanon Monday: Lebanese Ministry of Health

The Lebanese Ministry of Health provided an update on the death toll from the attacks by Israeli forces.

Thirty-six people were killed and 150 were wounded Monday, according to the agency.

Earlier in the day, the Israel Defense Forces claimed that it killed at least 50 Hezbollah members, including six senior commanders, in “significant airstrikes” on Monday.

Since the start of the conflict with Israel, 2,119 people have been killed and 1,019 have been wounded, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

Israeli defense minister postpones Washington trip

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has postponed Wednesday’s planned Pentagon meeting, the Pentagon confirmed.

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said at a briefing on Tuesday that the Israeli Ministry of Defense had “just informed” them that Gallant will be postponing his trip to Washington, D.C.

When asked why Gallant was postponing the trip, she said, “You’d have to speak to the Israelis on that one. I was just told that he postponed his trip.”

Gallant was to discuss “ongoing Middle East security developments” during the meeting, the Pentagon had said.

-ABC News’ Luis Martinez

6 Hezbollah senior commanders among dozens killed in strikes, IDF says

The Israel Defense Forces claims to have killed at least 50 Hezbollah members, including six senior commanders, in “significant airstrikes” on Monday.

The IDF said it conducted a series of strikes on underground Hezbollah command centers in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has not commented on the IDF’s strikes.

Israel claims it has killed Nasrallah’s replacement

Israeli officials claimed Tuesday that their forces have killed the replacement for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

“We damaged Hezbollah’s capabilities. We have eliminated thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself, Nasrallah’s successor, and the successor of Nasrallah’s successor,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video address on Tuesday. “Today, Hezbollah is weaker than it has been in many years.”

Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant also said during a situation assessment on Tuesday that Nasrallah’s replacement was “probably also eliminated.”

“Hezbollah is an organization without a head,” Gallant said. “There is no one to make decisions, no one to act.”

Hashem Safieddine, a top Hezbollah official, was widely believed to succeed Nasrallah after the leader was killed in an Israeli airstrike last month.

Hezbollah has not commented yet on Israel’s claims. Deputy Secretary-General Naim Kassem said earlier Tuesday that Hezbollah’s “resources and capabilities remain in good shape.”

“Our resistance on the front is cohesive and the administration is cohesive,” he said in a video address delivered from an unknown location.

WHO reports 77 health workers killed by Israel in Lebanon

Hanan Balkhi, the regional director of the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, said Tuesday that 77 health workers have been killed and 74 others wounded by Israeli attacks since the beginning of October.

Health infrastructure has been “severely damaged,” the WHO wrote on X, with the organization verifying 36 attacks on health facilities so far in October.

Hezbollah in ‘good shape’ despite Israel strikes, leader says

Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Kassem said Tuesday that the Iran-backed group will not be cowed by Israel’s ongoing air and ground campaign in Lebanon.

“The longer the war goes on, the deeper Israel will find itself in trouble,” Kassem said in a video address delivered from an unknown location. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “can say that he wants war, but he cannot achieve his goals from it,” he added.

More Israelis in the north of the country will be displaced as Hezbollah expands its operations, he said.

Hezbollah will continue cross-border attacks and “expanding the range of the missiles,” the leader said.

“This war has not affected our will and will not affect our determination to confront,” Kassem said. “Our resistance on the front is cohesive and the administration is cohesive.”

“Our resources and capabilities remain in good shape,” Kassem said, despite weeks of intense Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon. “Our command and control is solid. Look at how our operations have increased in the last few days.” Still, Kassem also said Hezbollah supports Lebanese government efforts to secure a cease-fire.

Kassem said the U.S. bears responsibility for the ongoing war. “Israel and America and the West are trying to put more pressure on us to make us afraid,” he continued.

“Without American support, the Israeli aggression would have stopped within a month,” Kassem said.

-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Somayeh Malekian

Hezbollah fires rocket salvo at Israel as leader speaks

Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into northern Israel on Tuesday as the group’s Deputy Secretary-General Naim Kassem issued a defiant address vowing to defeat Israel’s operations in Lebanon.

The Israel Defense Forces said 135 projectiles were fired into Israeli territory, some of which were intercepted and some of which landed.

The launches prompted sirens in the city of Haifa and elsewhere in the north of the country.

In his video address, Kassem — Hezbollah’s acting leader — said more Israelis will displaced in the north of the country as the militant group expands its rocket fire deeper into Israel.

Kassem said Hezbollah’s capabilities are still intact despite weeks of heavy Israeli airstrikes. He added that the group has replaced all commanders killed by Israeli attacks.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti

Israel should attack Iran’s nuclear program, ex-PM says

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called for a major attack on Iran, saying in a video posted to social media on Tuesday: “The opportunity must not be missed.”

Israeli leaders say they are preparing a response to Iran’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile barrage.

“Attack the Iranian nuclear program and the regime centers now,” urged Bennett, who was prime minister from 2021 to 2022 and remains an influential voice in national politics.

An August poll by Israel’s Channel 12 news found 38% of respondents would support Bennett’s return as prime minister, versus 33% who wanted Netanyahu to remain in the post. Both men polled better than opposition leaders Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

4th Israeli division joins Lebanon incursion

The Israel Defense Forces announced that a fourth division joined its ground operation in southern Lebanon on Monday.

The 146th Division “began limited, localized, targeted operational activities against Hezbollah terror targets and infrastructure in southwestern Lebanon,” the IDF said. The 146th was previously deployed along Israel’s northwestern border with Lebanon in a defensive role, it said.

The IDF said the 146th Division is the first reserve division to be deployed into southern Lebanon. Its troops will be supported by the 213th Artillery Brigade and other units, the IDF said.

The 146th joins the 91st Galilee Division, 98th Paratroopers Division and 36th Division which are already in action in southern Lebanon.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

IDF says they hit at least 120 targets in southern Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces said they struck more than 120 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon on Monday within an hour.

The airstrikes followed evacuation orders earlier Monday.

Over the past 48 hours, 190 airstrikes were recorded throughout Lebanon, primally in the south, according to the Lebanese Security Council. Forty-seven people were killed and another 207 injured, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

Approximately 190 projectiles were fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israeli territory on Monday, according to the IDF.

Harris, Emhoff mark Oct. 7 by planting pomegranate tree at VP residence

Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff marked the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack by planting a pomegranate tree — a symbol of hope and righteousness in Judaism — at the vice president’s residence.

Harris said the tree will “remind future vice presidents of the United States, their families and all who pass through these grounds, not only of the horror of Oct. 7, but the strength and the endurance of the Jewish people.”

The vice president underscored her pledge to make sure Israel has what it needs to defend itself.

Harris also said the world must “work to relieve the immense suffering of innocent Palestinians in Gaza who have experienced so much pain and loss over the year.”

Emhoff, the first Jewish spouse of a president or a vice president, also spoke about the “incredibly challenging day for Jews.”

“We are still hurting, and today feels just as raw as it did one year ago,” he said. “What happened on Oct. 7 is seared into our souls.”

-ABC News’ Molly Nagle

Israel’s incursions into Lebanon are limited: US State Department

Israeli incursions into Lebanon continue to be limited, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Monday, noting that this assessment does not “offer any kind of forecast about what’s going to happen.”

Miller asserted that U.S. officials were still engaged in talks about “what the path forward ought to look like” with a variety of partners in the Middle East.

“Just because we don’t make the details of those conversations public, which we are not at this point, doesn’t mean that we are not actively engaged in them,” he said.

Similarly, he said Israel’s campaign in Lebanon hadn’t impacted the administration’s drive to secure a cease-fire in Gaza and characterized Hamas as the main hurdle that has been “unwilling to engage in a meaningful way with the mediators.”

-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston

State Department organizes another flight out of Lebanon

The State Department said Monday it organized a flight to carry Americans out of Lebanon on Monday.

The flight carried approximately 150 American citizens, legal permanent residents and their family members from Beirut to Istanbul, the State Department said.

The department said earlier Monday that it had also organized two flights over the weekend carrying a combined 235 passengers from Beirut to Istanbul.

Monday’s flight brings the total number of U.S. charter flights from Lebanon over the past week to eight, with 900 combined passengers, according to the State Department.

The State Department said it has additionally blocked off 868 seats for Americans on commercial flights, with a significant share of them filled.

Officials from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut are now in contact with approximately 8,500 people inside Lebanon who have asked for more information about departing the country.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Monday that does not mean that all intend to leave, though the department has assessed that there is still significant demand for additional government charter flights among Americans in Lebanon.

-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston

IDF warns they will soon operate in maritime area off southern Lebanon

In a warning to vacationers, beachgoers and boaters, the Israel Defense Forces said they will soon operate against “Hezbollah maritime targets” south of the Awali River line.

“For your safety, refrain from being in the sea or on the beach from now until further notice. Being on the beach and boat movements in the area of ​​the Awali River line southward pose a danger to your life,” the IDF said.

State Department organized 2 more flights out of Lebanon

The State Department said Monday it organized two flights over the weekend to carry Americans out of Lebanon.

The flights departed Beirut to Istanbul on Saturday and Sunday carrying a combined 235 passengers, the State Department said.

A spokesperson said the State Department has now made over 2,900 seats available to U.S. citizens seeking to depart Lebanon on commercial flights and supplemental U.S.-organized flights.

-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston

Bidens mark Oct. 7 with memorial candle lighting

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden joined a memorial candle lighting held Monday in the Blue Room of the White House in remembrance of the victims of the Oct. 7 attack.

Rabbi Aaron Alexander recited in Hebrew “El Malei Rachamim” (“God Full of Mercy”), a traditional Jewish prayer for those who have died, then recited it in English.

Biden then lit the yahrzeit candle before observing a moment of silence. Biden made the sign of the cross after a few moments.

Alexander is a family friend of the Goldberg-Polin family. American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, was taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7 at the Nova Music Festival. His body was recovered by Israeli forces in late August.

Biden also spoke with Israeli President Isaac Herzog earlier Monday to express his “deepest condolences” to Israelis and families of the Oct. 7 attack, the White House said.

-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez

Israel intercepts missile fired from Yemen, IDF says

Air alert sirens sounded across central Israel on Monday due to a missile launch from Yemen, the Israel Defense Forces said.

“The air force successfully intercepted a surface-to-surface missile launched from Yemen,” the force wrote on X.

Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen have repeatedly targeted Israel using missiles and drones. Israel has launched airstrikes on Houthi military and infrastructure sites in response.

Airstrike hits close to Beirut airport

Two more powerful strikes hit Beirut on Monday morning as Israel’s air campaign continued, including one that impacted close to the city’s international airport.

The strikes sent towering pillars of smoke and dust rising above the capital and Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport.

The airport is located south of the city center close to the Dahiya suburb, which is known as a Hezbollah stronghold and has borne the brunt of Israel’s attacks on the city.

Beirut’s airport is still functioning despite nearby airstrikes, though major international carriers have frozen operations there due to the deteriorating security situation.

Lebanon-based Middle East Airlines now accounts for most flights landing at and departing the airport, which was bombed by Israeli warplanes in 2006 during the last major cross-border conflict.

-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell and Morgan Winsor

World must condemn Iran on Oct. 7 anniversary, Blinken says

Secretary of State Antony Blinken marked the first anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack by calling on the international community to “condemn Iran’s support for Hamas and other terrorist groups in the region that are responsible for so much death, destruction and instability.”

“Today, we mark a devastating and tragic anniversary,” Blinken said in a statement published by the State Department. “The depravity of Hamas’ crimes is almost unspeakable.”

The Oct. 7 attack “unleashed a year of conflict, with tragic consequences for the Palestinian people,” Blinken said.

“The United States mourns the death of every innocent who died on Oct. 7 and in the year since. It is time to reach a ceasefire agreement that brings the hostages home, alleviates the suffering of the Israeli and Palestinian people and ultimately brings an end to this war.”

Blinken called on other nations to “stand steadfast in the face of terrorism and violent extremism, including the sources of support for groups like Hamas,” specifically Iran.

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to lasting peace and stability across the region and for a common future for Israelis and Palestinians with equal measures of security, dignity, opportunity and freedom,” Blinken added.

Netanyahu attends Oct. 7 Jerusalem memorial

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a ceremony at the “Iron Swords” monument in Jerusalem to commemorate Israelis killed since Oct. 7, 2023.

The monument was unveiled in September to remember those from Jerusalem killed during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel and in the subsequent fighting.

“On this day, in this place, and in many places in our country, we remember our fallen, our abductees — whom we are obliged to return — and our heroes who fell for the defense of the homeland and the country,” Netanyahu said.

“We went through a terrible massacre a year ago and we stood up as a people, as lions.”

“A nation of wolves will rise and a lion will soar,” Netanyahu said.

-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti

US will help deter Iran, Austin tells Gallant

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday to reiterate U.S. support ahead of Monday’s Oct. 7 one-year anniversary.

Austin “reaffirmed U.S. support for Israel’s right to defend itself and noted that the United States maintains significant capability in the region to defend U.S. personnel and facilities, provide further support for Israel’s self-defense and deter further escalation,” a readout provided by Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said.

The two “reiterated their commitment to deterring Iran and Iranian-backed partners and proxies from taking advantage of the situation or expanding the conflict,” the readout added.

Austin also “expressed his condolences” for two Israeli soldiers killed in a drone attack launched by Iran-aligned Iraqi militants on Oct. 3.

U.S. and Israeli officials are in close contact as the latter consider how to respond to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel last week.

-ABC News’ Luis Martinez

Biden says US ‘fully committed’ to Israel one year after Oct. 7

The White House released a statement Monday to mark the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, with President Joe Biden condemning “the unspeakable brutality” of the 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel.

“One year later, Vice President [Kamala] Harris and I remain fully committed to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel and its right to exist,” Biden said.

“We support Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks from Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and Iran,” the president added, noting the U.S. role in responding to Iran’s most recent ballistic missile attack on Israel last week.

“We will never give up until we bring all of the remaining hostages home safely,” the president said of the 101 captives still in Gaza.

Biden condemned the “vicious surge in anti-semitism in America and around the world,” which he called “unacceptable.”

For Palestinians, too, Biden said Oct. 7 should be remembered “as a dark day.”

“Far too many civilians have suffered far too much during this year of conflict — and tens of thousands have been killed, a human toll made far worse by terrorists hiding and operating among innocent people,” he said.

“Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve to live in security, dignity, and peace. We also continue to believe that a diplomatic solution across the Israel-Lebanon border region is the only path to restore lasting calm and allow residents on both sides to return safely to their homes.”

-ABC News’ Lauren Minore

Hamas marks Oct. 7 anniversary with rocket attack

Hamas released a statement Sunday to mark the first anniversary of its Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.

The statement attributed to leader Yahya Sinwar and deputy leader Khalil Al-Hayya described the attack as a “glorious” operation that “shattered the illusions the enemy had created for itself.”

The Hamas attack killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel and saw some 250 people taken to Gaza as hostages.

Monday’s statement said Hamas was ready “for an agreement that achieves the cessation of aggression, ends the siege and leads to a serious exchange deal,” accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “procrastinating and obstructing” negotiations.

Hamas claimed responsibility for rocket fire that set off alarms in Tel Aviv and other parts of central Israel on Monday. One projectile landed south of Tel Aviv and wounded at least two people, emergency responders said.

The rockets were fired from the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said 41,802 Palestinians have been killed in the strip since Oct. 7, 2023.

-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Matt Gutman and Sohel Uddin

Hezbollah vows to repel Israel despite ‘heavy’ losses

Hezbollah acknowledged “heavy” losses within its “leadership structure” and “military and material structure” during its ongoing conflict with Israel, in a statement issued Monday to mark the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack.

The group said it is “confident” in the “ability of our resistance to repel the aggression” in Lebanon in a message posted to one of its official Telegram channels.

One year of war, the group claimed, has shown Israel to be “a fragile entity that is unable to survive and continue without American support.”

The U.S. and its allies “bear full responsibility for the killing, criminality, injustice and shocking human tragedies” experienced by the Palestinian and Lebanese people, the statement added.

-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell and Morgan Winsor

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