The Israel Defense Forces continued intense air and ground campaigns against Hezbollah in Lebanon and against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The uptick in offensive operations came days after Israel marked the anniversary of Hamas' Oct. 7 assault and as Israeli leaders planned their response to last week's Iranian ballistic missile attack.
Another division joined Israel's cross-border assaults into Lebanon on Sunday, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee said.
The 91st Galilee Division "began a limited and targeted ground operation in southern Lebanon," Adraee said in a post on X.
Israeli soldiers operate at a location given as southern Lebanon in this image released by the Israel Defense Forces on Oct. 6, 2024.
Israel Defense Forces/via Reuters
"Since the beginning of the war, the Galilee Division has been fighting defensively in tandem with numerous offensive operations targeting the enemy and its infrastructure in southern Lebanon from the air and on the ground," he said.
"Over the past few weeks, the division's forces have carried out hundreds of attacks and eliminated dozens of terrorists."
Oct 07, 2024, 2:19 AM EDT
Israeli president begins Oct. 7 memorial visits
Israeli President Isaac Herzog began a series of planned visits to border communities impacted in Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks with a stop at the site of the Nova Festival in Re'im on Monday.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his wife attend a memorial ceremony at the site of the Nova Festival in Re'im, Israel, on Oct. 7, 2024 to mark the first anniversary of Hamas' 2023 attack.
Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images
Hamas fighters killed 364 people at the site close to the Gaza frontier on Oct. 7. More than 40 people were taken back into Gaza as hostages.
Herzog -- who was joined by bereaved families -- observed a moment of silence at the site in memory of the victims, after which he laid a wreath and lit memorial candles.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller
Oct 06, 2024, 7:28 PM EDT
Palestinian-American doctor says suffering in Gaza is 'immeasurable'
Palestinian-American physician and writer Dr. Fady Joudah spoke with Phil Lipof on ABC News Live about his experiences and perspective ahead of the first anniversary of Oct. 7.
Joudah described the losses in Gaza since then as "immeasurable," saying to ABC News that no political or historical explanation can justify it.
A woman walks near a damaged building following an Israeli military raid in the Jenin refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank, Sept. 6, 2024.
Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images
As the Israel-Hamas war reaches the one-year mark, nearly 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials.
"Even if the war stops tomorrow or the next minute, the suffering of the Palestinian people is immeasurable at this point," he said.
Oct 06, 2024, 7:09 PM EDT
Father of American hostage gets emotional ahead of Oct. 7 anniversary
Ahead of the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, Ruby Chen, the father of 19-year-old IDF soldier and American hostage Itay Chen, spoke with Rhiannon Ally on ABC News Live in an emotional interview.
"We have no idea who is alive or not, including my son. And we just need to get this to an end," Chen said.
An Israeli soldier visits an installation honoring those who were killed and kidnapped in the Supernova music festival during the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militants, at the site of the festival near Kibbutz Reim in southern Israel, Oct. 6, 2024.
Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images
Chen, who is originally from New York City, describes his son as "a fun-loving kid" who joined the IDF at the age of 18. Itay and his team were ambushed while protecting a kibbutz on Oct. 7, and he has not heard from him since, Chen said.
He also shared that he recently spoke with the White House to advocate for imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions on Iran, which recently launched a missile attack against Israel.
After watching negotiations between Israel and Hamas fail for months, Chen said he and other loved ones of the hostages should have a voice in the discussions.
"The sad part about it is that there is no accountability for the failed negotiations. Once that failed negotiation happens, we don't see any accountability on any side, not from the mediators of Egypt, not on Israel, not on Hamas," Chen said.
"We should also be allowed to that equation as well," he said.
