Israel-Gaza-Lebanon live updates: ‘No cease-fire’ in Lebanon, defense minister says

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

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

Airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs

Several large airstrikes rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday morning, shortly after the Israel Defense Forces issued new evacuation orders for people living in the southern suburbs of Dahiya.

Dahiya — known as a Hezbollah stronghold — has borne the brunt of Israeli airstrikes on the capital. It was here that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed by a massive Israeli attack in September.

The IDF has said it is targeting Hezbollah operatives, weapons manufacturing facilities and arms storage sites in the area.

Lebanese authorities say 3,200 people have been killed by Israeli strikes since cross-border fighting with Hezbollah flared again on Oct. 8, 2023.

-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti

New Gaza aid crossing opens, Israel says

The Israel Defense Forces and the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories agency announced Tuesday the opening of a new humanitarian aid crossing into the Gaza Strip, on the same day a U.S. deadline to improve the flow of aid expired.

“In accordance with directives from the political echelon, and as part of the effort and commitment to increase the volume and routes of aid to the Gaza Strip, the ‘Kisufim’ crossing was opened” for “the transfer of humanitarian aid trucks,” the statement said.

The deliveries will include “food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment to central and southern Gaza,” the statement said. The supplies underwent “strict security checks at the Kerem Shalom crossing” before being sent into the strip, the IDF and COGAT said.

An Oct. 13 letter signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned that continued failure to allow adequate aid into Gaza may trigger U.S. laws restricting military support for Israel.

Among the letter’s demands were that Israel allow a minimum of 350 truckloads of goods to enter Gaza each day, that it open a fifth crossing into the besieged territory, that it allow people in Israeli-imposed coastal tent camps to move inland before the winter and that it ensure access for aid groups to hard-hit northern Gaza.

The letter also called on Israel to halt legislation — since passed — that would hinder the operations of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti

Israel fails to meet US aid demands in Gaza, NGOs say

A group of eight aid agencies published a joint statement Tuesday alleging that Israel has failed to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza in the 30-day window set by the U.S.

The U.S. deadline for Israel to “surge” food and other humanitarian aid into the devastated territory expires Tuesday.

Officials including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned last month that Israel’s failure to deliver may trigger laws requiring the U.S. to restrict military aid to Israel.

The eight NGOs — among them Oxfam America, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Save the Children — awarded Israel a “failing grade” in meeting U.S. demands.

“The facts are clear: the humanitarian situation in Gaza is now at its worst point since the war began in October 2023,” the statement said.

“This new analysis clearly demonstrates that the Israeli government is violating its obligations under U.S. and international law to facilitate humanitarian relief for suffering Palestinians in Gaza,” Refugees International President — and former senior USAID official — Jeremy Konyndyk said.

“With experts again projecting imminent famine in north Gaza, there is no time to lose. The United States must impose immediate restrictions on security cooperation with Israel,” he added.

-ABC News’ Guy Davies

US strikes Iran-backed groups in Syria

U.S. Central Command announced late Monday that American forces struck nine targets in two locations “associated with Iranian groups in Syria” in response to attacks on U.S. personnel in the country.

“These strikes will degrade the Iranian backed groups’ ability to plan and launch future attacks on U.S. and coalition forces” deployed to the region for operations against Islamic State militants, CENTCOM said.

“Attacks against U.S. and coalition partners in the region will not be tolerated,” CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement.

“We will continue to take every step necessary to protect our personnel and coalition partners and respond to reckless attacks,” he added.

‘No cease-fire’ in Lebanon, Israeli defense minister says

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday there would be “no cease-fire” and “no respite” in Lebanon despite an ongoing diplomatic push to end Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in the country.

Katz said the offensive against Hezbollah — and the killing of its former leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut in September — “are a picture of victory and the offensive activity should be continued” to further erode Hezbollah capabilities “and realize the fruits of victory.”

“We will continue to hit Hezbollah with full force until the goals of the war are achieved,” Katz said in a post to X.

“Israel will not agree to any arrangement that does not guarantee Israel’s right” to “prevent terrorism on its own,” Katz continued, demanding the disarming of Hezbollah, the group’s withdrawal north of the Litani River and the return of Israeli communities to their homes in the north of the country.

Katz was appointed to head the Defense Ministry earlier this month. He replaced Yoav Gallant, who had emerged as a top critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s prosecution of the wars in Gaza and Lebanon. Katz was previously Israel’s foreign minister.

7 killed in strike in southern Lebanon: Health ministry

Seven people were killed and another seven injured after an Israeli strike on Al-Saksakieh in southern Lebanon Monday evening local time, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.

Search and rescue teams are working to find missing people under the rubble, Lebanese national media reported.

The Israeli Defense Forces issued a warning to residents of 21 villages in southern Lebanon telling them to evacuate their homes immediately Monday evening local time.

-ABC News Ghazi Balkiz

Israeli finance minister wants Israel to extend sovereignty to West Bank in 2025

Israel’s far-right finance minister said he wants Israel to extend sovereignty to the West Bank in 2025 and believes U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will “support the State of Israel in this move.”

“In the first term, President Trump led dramatic moves, including the transfer of the American embassy to Jerusalem and the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel, recognition of the Golan Heights, and the decision on the legality and legitimacy of the settlements in Judea and Samaria, along with the Abraham agreements of peace for peace,” Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in remarks on Monday.

Smotrich, who has called for Israeli sovereignty in the Israeli-occupied West Bank for years, also said he has directed staff to begin “work to prepare the necessary infrastructure for the application of sovereignty” to the West Bank.

-ABC News’ Dana Savir

Hezbollah fires 75 projectiles into Israel, IDF says

The Israel Defense Forces said Hezbollah fired at least 75 projectiles into Israel on Monday.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said it treated three people with shrapnel injuries in the area of Karmiel in northern Israel. Two other people were treated for shrapnel injuries in the Krayot area, the MDA said.

Hezbollah claimed several rocket and drone attacks on Monday.

Among the strikes was a “large rocket salvo” targeting a paratrooper training base in Karmiel settlement, Hezbollah said in a statement.

-ABC News’ Dana Savir and Ghazi Balkiz

IDF orders residents of 21 south Lebanon villages to evacuate

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued a warning to residents of 21 south Lebanon villages to evacuate their homes until further notice, warning of imminent Israeli strikes there.

Adraee said in a post on X that the villages were the site of Hezbollah military activity and warned that the IDF would “act forcefully” against targets there.

“For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move to the north of the Awali River,” Adraee wrote. “For your safety, you must evacuate without delay.”

“You are prohibited from heading south,” he added. “Any movement south could be dangerous to your life.”

Around a quarter of Lebanese territory and a quarter of all residents — some 1.2 million people — are under IDF evacuation orders, per United Nations analysis.

Israel has killed more than 3,000 people in southern Lebanon since Oct. 8, 2023, Lebanese authorities have said.

IDF says deadly north Lebanon strike targeted Hezbollah weapons

The Israel Defense Forces said the strike in northern Lebanon that killed dozens of people on Sunday targeted “a Hezbollah terrorist site” which was storing weapons.

Lebanese health officials said the airstrike on the village of Aalmat — in a mainly Christian area in the north of the country — killed 23 and injured at least six others. Seven children were among the dead, officials said. Search and rescue work was ongoing as of Sunday.

The IDF said that Hezbollah fighters “responsible for firing rockets and missiles toward Israeli territory” were “operating from the site,” adding that the details of the incident “are under review.”

Lebanese authorities say that Israeli strikes have killed more than 3,000 people since Oct. 8, 2023. Some 1.2 million people — around a quarter of Lebanon’s population — have also been displaced by Israel’s military campaign.

-ABC News’ Dana Savir

IDF intercepts launch from Yemen

The Israel Defense Forces said Monday it intercepted one projectile “that approached Israel from the direction of Yemen.”

“The projectile did not cross into Israeli territory,” the IDF said in a statement posted to X, noting that the projectile caused sirens to sound in several areas of central Israel.

Overnight, the IDF also said it intercepted four uncrewed aerial vehicles that approached Israel from the east.

-ABC News’ Bruno Nota

New Defense Minister says Israel has defeated Hezbollah

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared on Sunday that his country has defeated Hezbollah after killing the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

“We defeated Hezbollah, and the elimination of Nasrallah was the crowning achievement,” Katz said during a handover ceremony at Israel’s foreign ministry on Sunday.

The ceremony comes after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired the previous defense minister, Yoav Gallant.

There is no word on how this will affect Israel’s operations in Lebanon, which shows no sign of slowing.

“Now it is our job to continue the pressure,” Katz said. “We will work together to materialize the fruits of this victory by ensuring that the security situation in Lebanon has changed.”

Israeli president to meet Biden

Israeli President Isaac Herzog will meet President Joe Biden on Tuesday during his visit to the U.S., according to Herzog’s office.

-ABC News’ Bruno Nota

Netanyahu says he’s spoken to Trump 3 times, ‘we see eye to eye’ on Iran

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement Sunday to mark the anniversary of Kristallnacht, highlighting the violence Thursday on the streets of Amsterdam that authorities said targeted Israeli soccer fans there, saying in a statement translated from Hebrew: “We will do what is necessary to defend ourselves and our citizens. We will never allow the atrocities of history to recur.”

Netanyahu also said he has spoken to President-elect Donald Trump three times since the election.

“These were very good and important talks designed to further enhance the steadfast bond between Israel and the U.S.,” Netanyahu said. “We see eye to eye on the Iranian threat in all its aspects, and on the dangers they reflect. We also see the great opportunities facing Israel, in the area of peace and its expansion, and in other areas.”

-ABC News’ Dana Savir

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.