Israel has said it is preparing a potential ground invasion into Lebanon.
Israel and Hezbollah are exchanging hundreds of cross-border strikes in the wake of the shocking explosions of wireless devices across Lebanon last week.
Hezbollah has confirmed that Muhammad Hussein Srour, the Commander of Hezbollah's Aerial Command, was killed in a Thursday strike in Beirut.
"With great pride and honor, the Islamic Resistance announces the martyrdom of the Mujahid leader Muhammad Hussein Surur 'Hajj Abu Saleh,' born in 1973 in the town of Aita al-Shaab in southern Lebanon, who was martyred on the road to Jerusalem," Hezbollah said in a statement.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is worse than it was a month ago, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told reporters at the UN Thursday.
"Women in Gaza are now shaving their heads because they don't have shampoo to wash their hair," Lazzarini said, giving one example of the situation on the ground.
Lazzarini and Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi spoke with reporters after a ministerial meeting in support of UNRWA co-hosted by Jordan and Sweden at the UN headquarters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Thursday.
Lazzarini said about 50 countries attended the high-level meeting to show support for UNRWA, an agency that has come under intense scrutiny during the ongoing war in Gaza. Israel accused several UNRWA employees of being directly involved in the Oct. 7 attacks, prompting an internal UN probe and the halting of funding to the agency from many countries, including the U.S.
Since U.S. funding to UNRWA remains paused until March 2025, Lazzarini said the European Union and European Commission combined make up about 60% of the agency's funding now.
"It is incomprehensible that a country is allowed to label a UN agency as a terrorist state," Lazzarini said. "The world must not allow that, and we will stand up to it along with all of our partners who showed up in support of UNRWA today."
"These are not just attacks against UNRWA, these are attacks against the broader United Nations system," Safadi said.
In terms of getting more humanitarian aid into Gaza, Safadi said Jordan has the ability to scale up to send in 500 trucks a day, but the "problem is we're not allowed to do that." The other problem is once you get to the Kerem Shalom crossing, the only crossing point open into Gaza since the Rafah crossing closed in May, "you need to make sure people are empowered to receive it," Safadi added.
"It's not just allowing the aid in but also allowing the humanitarians to operate in Gaza," Lazzarini said.
The successful completion of the first phase of the polio vaccine campaign "could not have happened without UNRWA," Lazzarini said.
"UNRWA and its staff made the ultimate sacrifice" in the ongoing conflict, Lazzarini said, noting that 222 UNRWA staff members have been killed in Gaza.
-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman
Israel struck 220 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Thursday, including launchers used to fire projectiles into Israel, weapons storage facilities and Hezbollah members, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Israel has now struck thousands of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon since Monday.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
Israeli officials are insisting they will continue fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shot down a 21-day cease-fire proposal submitted by the U.S. and France.
"We need to continue attacking Hezbollah, we have been waiting for this opportunity for years," Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the chief of the General Staff for the Israel Defense Forces, said Thursday.
The IDF is working to "eliminate" more Hezbollah senior officials, "thwart the transfer of weapons, to detract from Hezbollah's firepower and to attack it throughout Lebanon," Halevi added.
After landing in New York before he is set to speak at the United Nations on Friday, Netanyahu doubled down on continuing to fight Hezbollah.
"The policy is clear: we continue to hit Hezbollah with all our might -- we will not stop until we achieve all our goals," Netanyahu said.
-ABC News' Dana Savir
