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

The plan does not say if Palestinians could eventually return to northern Gaza.

ByBill Hutchinson, Nadine El-Bawab, David Brennan, Meredith Deliso, Kevin Shalvey, and Julia Reinstein
Last Updated: September 22, 2024, 8:37 AM EDT

Israel and Hezbollah are exchanging hundreds of cross-border strikes in the wake of the shocking explosions of wireless devices across Lebanon.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Sep 18, 2024, 4:44 AM EDT

Hezbollah vows 'reckoning' for pager explosions

In a Wednesday morning statement, the Hezbollah militant group said it would continue operations to "support Gaza" and vowed a "reckoning" for Israel after Tuesday's "massacre" when more than 2,750 people were injured by exploding pagers in Lebanon.

PHOTO: People gather outside American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sept. 17, 2024.
People gather outside American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) as more than 1,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, according to a security source, in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sept. 17, 2024.
Mohamed Azakir/Reuters

Hezbollah blamed Israel for the operation, which killed at least nine civilians. Eleven Hezbollah members died on Tuesday, the group said, though -- as is typical in its statements -- did not specify how they died.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is set to speak on Thursday afternoon to address the situation.

Israel has not commented on its alleged involvement in Tuesday's explosions in Lebanon.

-ABC News' Nasser Atta and Ghazi Balkiz

Sep 18, 2024, 4:21 AM EDT

IDF strikes Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces said warplanes hit Hezbollah targets in six locations in southern Lebanon into Wednesday. Artillery strikes were also conducted, it added.

Israeli aircraft bombed "Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure" in the areas of Majdal Selm, Odaisseh, Markaba, Blida, Maroun El Ras and Chihine in southern Lebanon, the IDF said in a statement.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller

Sep 17, 2024, 3:23 PM EDT

Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways cancel all flights to Israel

Three major European airlines have canceled all flights to Israel hours after a deadly attack on Hezbollah left at least nine people dead and over 2,700 people injured.

Air France has canceled flights to Tel Aviv for Sept. 18 and 19, according to the flight status board on their website. Lufthansa has canceled flights to Israel through Sept. 19 and British Airways has canceled flights to Israel through Sept. 27.

-ABC News' Sam Sweeney

Sep 17, 2024, 8:14 AM EDT

Netanyahu undermining security with 'petty politics,' political rival alleges

Benny Gantz -- the leader of the centrist National Unity coalition -- on Tuesday accused rival Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of endangering Israeli security "in the most tangible way that I can remember being done by a prime minister during a war, and in general."

In a public statement -- later also published on his X page -- Gantz accused the prime minister of "security recklessness" over reports that Netanyahu is preparing to replace Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who is a major critic of the prime minister's approach to cease-fire negotiations in Gaza.

Gantz said the alleged political maneuvering is particularly dangerous ahead of a potential expansion of the conflict in the north of the country, where the Israel Defense Forces has been engaged in cross-border fighting with the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia since Oct. 8.

"Human lives and the future of the nation are at stake," Gantz said, describing the situation as the "dictionary definition of petty politics, at the expense of national security."

-ABC News' Jordana Miller

Related Topics