U.N. peacekeepers claim IDF tanks breached their base in southern Lebanon.
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.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health said Sunday that 51 people were killed and 174 others were injured in attacks in Lebanon by Israeli forces on Saturday.
Officials with the Ministry of Health said most of the deaths occurred in Mount Lebanon and south Lebanon.
-ABC News Victoria Beaulé
At least 67 people have been injured, four critically, near the town of Binyamina, south of Haifa, after a drone strike there Sunday night, according to Israeli emergency services.
Hezbollah claimed the attack, saying it had targeted "a training camp for the Golani Brigade in Binyamina" with a "squadron of attack drones." Israel has not confirmed whether the injured are military or civilian.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller, Clark Bentson and Ghazi Balkiz
During a visit to northern Israel on Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the Israel Defense Forces will destroy military targets in Lebanon and that "even once IDF troops withdraw, we will not allow Hezbollah terrorists to return."
Gallant described villages in Lebanon along the Israel border as "military targets," saying, "We can see the entire first line of villages with Hezbollah infrastructure."
"These are military targets containing underground tunnels and weapon storages," Gallant claimed.
The IDF released a separate statement about one of its divisions involved in the ground operations, saying its 146th Division’s targeted raids in southern Lebanon had killed "over 100 terrorists" and destroyed dozens of rocket launchers and "command posts."
Meanwhile, the IDF issued a new evacuation order on Sunday for 16 new villages and towns in southern Lebanon, warning people to move north of the Awali River. The order is for 21 areas overall but five of them are repeated from previous orders.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Victoria Beaulé
The Pentagon announced Sunday that it will deploy an additional anti-ballistic missile defense system to Israel, along with military crews, to bolster Israel's air defenses following recent attacks from Iran.
Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said the United States will send Israel a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery.
“At the direction of the President, Secretary [Lloyd] Austin authorized the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and associated crew of U.S. military personnel to Israel to help bolster Israel’s air defenses following Iran’s unprecedented attacks against Israel on April 13 and again on October 1," Ryder said in a statement.
The THAAD battery will augment Israel’s integrated air defense system, which includes its "Iron Dome."
"This action underscores the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in Israel, from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran," Ryder continued. "It is part of the broader adjustments the U.S. military has made in recent months, to support the defense of Israel and protect Americans from attacks by Iran and Iranian-aligned militias."
This is not the first time the United States has deployed a THAAD battery to the region. President Joe Biden directed the military to deploy a THAAD battery to the Middle East last year following the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas terrorists. The United States also deployed a THAAD battery to Israel in 2019 for training and an integrated air defense exercise.
-ABC News' Nate Luna
