Israel-Gaza updates: Netanyahu weighs plan to force civilians out of north Gaza

Thirty-one people were killed and 68 were injured in Israel's strike on Friday in Beirut, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Saturday.

Among the dead are three children -- ages 4, 6 and 10 -- and seven women, the ministry said during a press conference. Three Syrian nationals were also killed, it said.

Among the wounded, 53 have been discharged from hospital. Two remain in critical condition, the ministry said.

Rescue teams were on Saturday morning still searching the rubble searching for additional bodies. The health multiple buildings and cars were damaged and destroyed in the strike.

The Israel Defense Force described the strike on Friday as a "targeted" assault, saying it killed a key Hezbollah commander, Ibrahim Aqil, along with his chain of command.

-ABC News' Ghazi Balkiz, Nasser Atta, Emma Ogao and Victoria Beaule

The Israeli strike on Beirut on the heels of pager and walkie-talkie explosions this week are designed to emphasize to Hezbollah and Iran the depth of the security breach Israel has achieved, two intelligence sources told ABC News.

The sentiment is if the Israelis can plant exploding pagers and radios, they could have already placed sources and devices that reveal key info and personnel in places thought to be protected, sources said.

The Israelis could well be trying to soften the ground for an assault, but the sources believe the consequence of this week’s events could actually be a realization by Iran and Hezbollah that a return to the uneasy status quo on the northern border might be the right move right now.

Prior to the pager explosions, Israeli intelligence had been running out of actionable information about locations and patterns of life among top Hezbollah officials. Learning where the pagers and radios were and who had them created an invaluable trove of intel.

-ABC News' Josh Margolin

A key Hezbollah commander and members of his chain of command were killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut on Friday, according to the Israel Defense Forces, as tensions continue to rise along the Israel-Lebanon border.

At least nine people, including a key Hezbollah member, were killed in an Israeli strike on southern Beirut Friday.

Ibrahim Aqil, a senior member of Hezbollah and the target of the strike in southern Beirut, was killed, according to the Israeli army. Top operatives and the chain of command of the Raduan unit were also killed in the strike, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Aqil and the commanders who were killed were allegedly planning to occupy Galilee, in what Israel claimed would have been similar to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a statement.

Read more on the strike.

Delta Air Lines has paused all flights between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Tel Aviv, Israel, through Dec. 31 due to the "ongoing conflict in the region," the airline said in a release Thursday.

"Customers impacted by the schedule change will receive notifications via the Fly Delta app and contact information listed in their reservation as these cancellations are processed in Delta’s system," Delta said in a statement.

Travelers can still book seats on Delta partner airlines Air France and EL AL Israel Airlines through Delta's website.