Israel-Gaza updates: Nasser Hospital no longer 'functional,' WHO chief says

The Israel army claims it killed a senior Hezbollah commander, Ali Muhammad Aldbas; his deputy commander, Ibrahim Issa; and an operative in airstrikes on Nabatieh, Lebanon, that targeted Hezbollah military structures.

The Israel Defense Forces claimed Aldbas was among those who directed the terrorist attack at the Megiddo Junction in Israel in March 2023 and claimed he led, planned and carried out terrorist activity against Israel during this war.

Lebanese state media reported that 10 civilians died in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, in what was the deadliest day in over four months of border exchanges.

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah vowed to retaliate for Wednesday's strikes, which hit in the city of Nabatiyeh and a village in southern Lebanon, just hours after projectiles from Lebanon killed an Israeli soldier. Hezbollah did not officially claim responsibility for the strike that killed the soldier.

The IDF also claimed it struck a Hezbollah military structure in the area of Blida and a Hezbollah military structure in the area of Maroun al-Ras on Thursday.

"We have no interest in war but we must prepare," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Thursday. "The planes that are currently flying over the skies of Lebanon have targets -- and they know how to change the attack from place to place. In the event of a war, the prices for the State of Israel are heavy, but they are catastrophic for Lebanon and Hezbollah."

-ABC News' Will Gretsky and Nasser Atta

Israeli soldiers stormed the main hospital of the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, hours after Israeli forces killed a patient while wounding six others inside the complex, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

The Israel Defense Forces announced in a statement on Thursday morning that it is conducting a "precise and limited operation" inside Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, "because Hamas terrorists are likely hiding behind injured civilians inside the hospital right now" and appear to have used the hospital to hide hostages.

Earlier Thursday, before the IDF's announcement of a full-scale raid, videos were posted to social media by doctors and journalists inside the hospital showing extensive damage to the orthopaedic department overnight.

One compilation of videos shows dust hanging in the air and parts of the ceiling hanging down as medical staff guide patients down the halls. Doctors are seen trying to maneuver hospital beds through rubble and carrying injured away.

In other videos, extremely loud sounds of fighting outside the hospital can be heard as people are seen returning to the entrance, afraid to leave.

Doctors Without Borders said Nasser Hospital was shelled, "despite Israeli forces having told medical staff and patients they could remain in the facility." It said an undetermined number of people were killed or injured, and one Doctors Without Borders staffer was unaccounted for. The staff has fled the hospital.

Currently, Nasser Hospital is the only fully functioning medical center in war-torn Gaza.

-ABC News' Victoria Beaulé, Jordana Miller, Edward Szekeres, Morgan Winsor and Samy Zayara

President Joe Biden issued a memo Wednesday deferring the removal of most Palestinians in the United States for an 18-month period, citing the “deteriorated” humanitarian conditions in Gaza since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack, and Israel’s retaliatory military operations.

“While I remain focused on improving the humanitarian situation, many civilians remain in danger,” Biden wrote in the memo.

The president added that this move is "in the foreign policy interest of the United States."

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement this will give Palestinians in the U.S. "a temporary safe haven."

The so-called deferred enforced departure status Biden granted would not apply to convicted felons, Palestinians who are subject to extradition or those who voluntarily leave the country, according to the memo.

-ABC News' Fritz Farrow

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the White House wants to see a "credible plan" from the Israelis for how they would avoid civilian casualties during a potential military operation in Rafah in southern Gaza, where so many residents have fled for safety.

Sullivan said the Israelis are facing "three realities": They must evacuate more than 1 million people to a safe place; they need to avoid disrupting the flow of humanitarian aid; and they need a "clear answer" to what a potential military operation in Rafah would mean for Egypt, which borders Rafah.

Sullivan also made a point to highlight that Hamas "has to account for itself, as well."

"Hamas is hiding amongst civilians, embedding itself among civilians in ways that also put those civilians at risk. And so, some of the international community's questions and pressure, should be on Hamas," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday, "We will fight until complete victory, and this includes a powerful action also in Rafah -- after we allow the civilian population to leave the battle zones."

-ABC News’ Justin Gomez