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Israel-Gaza-Lebanon live updates: Some UN members walk out as Netanyahu speaks

Netanyahu also issued warnings to Iran and the entire Middle East.

Last Updated: September 23, 2024, 9:56 PM EDT

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

Sep 23, 2024, 9:56 PM EDT

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.

-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman

Sep 23, 2024, 7:44 PM EDT

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.

-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman

Sep 23, 2024, 7:14 PM EDT

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.

-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman

Sep 23, 2024, 4:53 PM EDT

At least 492 killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon

At least 492 people were killed and over 1,600 injured in Lebanon early Monday as the Israeli military expanded its campaign against Hezbollah, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

Among the deceased were 35 children and 58 women, the ministry said.

The Israel Defense Forces said they struck at least 800 targets in southern Lebanon on Monday morning.

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Aramti, near the Lebanon-Israel border, Sept. 23, 2024.
Ammar Ammar/AFP via Getty Images

In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed they were changing “the security balance, the balance of power in the North.”

"For those who have not yet understood, I want to clarify Israel's policy -- we do not wait for a threat, we anticipate it. Everywhere, in every arena, at any time," Netanyahu said. "We eliminate senior officials, eliminate terrorists, eliminate missiles -- and our hands are bent."

"Whoever tries to hurt us, we hurt him even more," he added.