Israel-Gaza-Lebanon updates: Nasrallah killed for tying Hezbollah cause to Gaza war

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed opposition lawmaker Gideon Sa'ar to rejoin his cabinet, the politicians announced in a joint statement Sunday.

Sa'ar will serve in the Security Cabinet, according to Netanyahu.

"I appreciate the fact that Gideon Sa'ar responded to my request and agreed today to return to the government," Netanyahu said, noting how the leaders have put aside their disagreements.

"We will work together, and I intend to use him in the forums that influence the conduct of the war," Netanyahu added.

Sa'ar was once a member of Netanyahu's Likud Party but defected after an unsuccessful bid for party leadership. He formed his own party in 2020 called New Hope.

"I am joining the government at this stage without a coalition agreement - but with an orderly worldview and with a strong patriotic attitude for our people," Sa'ar said in the joint statement.

The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out a large-scale air operation against military targets belonging to the Houthis in Yemen on Sunday.

Yemen's state news agency said four people have been killed and 49 others injured.

The IDF blamed Iranian transfers of weapons, supplies and oil to the Houthis, and said the attack was "in response to the recent attacks by the Houthis" against Israel.

The IDF chief of general staff, Herzi Halevi, said of the strikes, "This is not a message -- it is an action. An action that carries a message with it."

This strike was coordinated with the U.S., but was only an Israeli operation, a senior Israeli source told ABC News.

Twenty-one people have been killed and 47 others have been injured in strikes in the eastern part of Lebanon on Sunday, and another 24 people were killed and 29 hurt in an Israeli strike in Ain al-Delb, about 20 miles south of Beirut, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

The Israel Defense Forces said it struck "120 Hezbollah terror targets" in Lebanon on Sunday.

The downbeat mood in Israel following Oct. 7 and throughout much of the conflict in Gaza is now gone, and instead there is "a sense of euphoria," an Israeli official told ABC News.

"National pride is back. We are happy we’ve shown people what we can do," the official said.

Two Israeli officials suggested Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon still has some time to run its course and both of them claimed Israel has now "significantly degraded" Hezbollah’s long- and medium-range missile capabilities.

"I think Hezbollah has got the point," said the second official, who said the recent attacks and the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior Hezbollah figures was a "wake-up call" for the Arab world in terms of what Israel can do.

But both officials conceded that Hezbollah does still pose a threat.

The second official said Hezbollah still has "way too much [missile] capability to cause damage to Israel and its civilians."

"We are going to finish the job. We’ve done a lot, but there’s a lot more we can do, and Iran should take note," the official said.

On Iran’s potential response, the second official said, "Our message to them, Iran: Don’t. Because if they do, they’ll be hit harder than they can imagine."

-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge