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.

Last Updated: September 21, 2024, 9:01 AM EDT

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

Sep 21, 2024, 8:59 AM EDT

22 dead in Israeli strike on Gaza school, Gaza Health Ministry says

Twenty-two people were killed and 30 more were injured in an Israeli strike on a school in Gaza City, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health.

Civil Defense, the local first responders, said they recovered the bodies of 13 children.

A Palestinian man carries a body during a funeral after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Gaza City's Zaytoun neighbourhood on Sept. 21, 2024.
Omar Al-qattaa/AFP via Getty Images

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement a military strike targeted terrorists who were operational in a "Hamas command and control center."

Video shows rubble strewn in hallways and classrooms turned shelters. A witness told Reuters that women and children were gathered in the yard when two missiles hit the school.

Additional verified video shows first responders gathering body parts from under rubble, along with toddlers with severed limbs being tended to.

-ABC News' Victoria Beaule

Sep 21, 2024, 7:07 AM EDT

Israel strikes Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, IDF says

The Israeli military on Saturday began strikes within Lebanon that were aimed at targets belonging to the Hezbollah militant group, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the Jabal Al-Rehan area in the southern Lebanese Jezzine district on September 21, 2024.
Rabih Daher/AFP via Getty Images

Sep 21, 2024, 5:08 AM EDT

31 dead in Beirut strike, Lebanon ministry says

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.

Emergency personnel work at the site of Friday's Israeli strike, as search and rescue operations continue, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sept. 21, 2024.
Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters

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.

A medical personnel works at the site of Friday's Israeli strike, as search and rescue operations continue, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sept. 21, 2024.
Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters

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

Sep 20, 2024, 12:53 PM EDT

Israeli device attacks emphasize depth of security breach: Sources

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

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