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(LONDON) — At least 14 more people were killed and 450 injured in Lebanon on Wednesday after a series of new explosions of wireless devices rocked the South, the Bekaa and the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to the Ministry of Health and the Lebanese Red Cross.

More than 30 ambulances are providing treatment and evacuations to wounded people in Lebanon on Wednesday, the Lebanese Red Cross said.

The Lebanese Army command has asked citizens not to gather in places witnessing security incidents to allow medical teams to arrive.

Members of the Lebanese Civil Defense are working to extinguish fires that broke out inside homes, cars and shops in the Bekaa, the South, Mount Lebanon and the southern suburbs due to the explosions, officials said.

All walkie-talkie devices were taken from security services members at the Rafiq Harir International Airport in Beirut after news of the devices exploding.

Pagers explode across Lebanon on Tuesday

At least 12 civilians were killed and at least 2,800 people injured in the explosions that took place Tuesday, according to Lebanese authorities. Around 460 of the injuries were critical and required surgery, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said. Most victims are suffering from eye and facial injuries, while others suffered injuries to hands and fingers, he said.

Israel was behind the deadly explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday, sources told ABC News on Wednesday.

The Hezbollah militant group said it is conducting a “security and scientific investigation” into the explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday.

Hezbollah said 11 of its members were killed on Tuesday, though — as is typical in its statements — did not specify how they died.

“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression, which also targeted civilians and led to the deaths of a number of martyrs and the injury of a large number with various wounds,” Hezbollah said of the pager explosions in a Tuesday statement.

In a Wednesday morning statement, Hezbollah said it would continue operations to “support Gaza,” and vowed a “reckoning” for Israel for the “massacre on Tuesday.”

The dead and injured included people who are not members of Hezbollah. Lebanese officials said that an 8-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy are among the dead.

Israel has not commented on explosions

Israel has not commented on its alleged involvement in the apparent attack, which prompted chaos in the capital Beirut and elsewhere in Hezbollah’s south Lebanon heartland.

Around 100 hospitals received wounded people, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said, with hospitals in Beirut and its southern suburb quickly filling to capacity. Patients were then directed to other hospitals outside the region.

The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those who had one of the pagers and was injured in an explosion Tuesday, according to Iranian state TV. The diplomat said in a phone call that he was “feeling well and fully conscious,” according to Iranian state TV.

“I am proud and honored that my blood has become one with the blood of the honorable Lebanese people, as a result of the horrific terrorist crime that targeted our brotherly Lebanon yesterday. This noble country has stood with dignity and pride since the first day of al-Aqsa Storm,” Amani said Wednesday.

At least 14 people were also injured in targeted attacks on Hezbollah members in Syria, according to the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Fears grow of Israel-Hezbollah escalation

The alleged Israeli operation has again piqued fears of escalation in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict ongoing since Oct. 8, when members of the Iranian-backed group began cross-border attacks in support of Hamas’ war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.

Frontier skirmishes, Israeli strikes and Hezbollah rocket and artillery salvoes have been near-constant through 11 months of war in Gaza. Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to launch a new military operation against Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border. Tens of thousands of Israelis have left their homes in border regions due to the fighting.

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

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to make a public address on Thursday afternoon to address the situation. In February, Nasrallah urged members to stop using their cellphones, describing the technology as “a deadly agent.”

Schools across Lebanon will be closed on Wednesday, Lebanese state media reported, citing the country’s Minister of Education. Schools and offices closed include public and private schools, high schools, technical institutes, the Lebanese University and private higher education institutions, Lebanese state media reported.

The Lebanese Council of Ministers collectively condemned “this criminal Israeli aggression, which constitutes a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by all standards.”

It added that “the government immediately began making all necessary contacts with the countries concerned and the United Nations to place it before its responsibilities regarding this continuing crime.”

World reacts to pager attacks

The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon condemned the attack on Lebanon, calling it an “extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context,” in a statement released by the U.N. Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary General.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a press conference in Egypt on Wednesday that the U.S. “did not know about and was not involved” in Israel’s pager attacks in Lebanon and Syria — but said that officials were still gathering information and did not directly blame Israel.

“Broadly speaking, we’ve been very clear, and we remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict that we’re trying to resolve in Gaza,” Blinken said. Its spread to other fronts, he added, is “clearly not in the interest of anyone involved.”

A cease-fire deal in Gaza, Blinken added, would “materially improve the prospects of defusing the situation” on the Israeli-Lebanese border and allow thousands of people living near the area on both sides of the divide to return home.

The U.S. and the European Union have both designated the Hezbollah militant group a foreign terrorist organization.

ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Shannon K. Kingston, Ghazi Balkiz, Morgan Winsor, Anne Flaherty, Nasser Atta, Joe Simonetti, Jordana Miller and Helena Skinner contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — At least nine more people were dead and 300 injured in Lebanon on Wednesday after a series of new explosions rocked the South, the Bekaa and the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to the Ministry of Health and the Lebanese Red Cross.

More than 30 ambulances are providing treatment and evacuations to wounded people in Lebanon on Wednesday, the Lebanese Red Cross said.

The Lebanese Army command has asked citizens not to gather in places witnessing security incidents to allow medical teams to arrive.

Israel was behind the deadly explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday, sources told ABC News on Wednesday.

At least 12 civilians were killed and at least 2,800 people injured in the explosions that took place Tuesday, according to Lebanese authorities. Around 460 of the injuries were critical and required surgery, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said. Most victims are suffering from eye and facial injuries, while others suffered injuries to hands and fingers, he said.

The Hezbollah militant group said it is conducting a “security and scientific investigation” into the explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday.

Hezbollah said 11 of its members were killed on Tuesday, though — as is typical in its statements — did not specify how they died.

“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression, which also targeted civilians and led to the deaths of a number of martyrs and the injury of a large number with various wounds,” Hezbollah said of the pager explosions in a Tuesday statement.

In a Wednesday morning statement, Hezbollah said it would continue operations to “support Gaza,” and vowed a “reckoning” for Israel for the “massacre on Tuesday.”

The dead and injured included people who are not members of Hezbollah. Lebanese officials said that an 8-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy are among the dead.

Israel has not commented on its alleged involvement in the apparent attack, which prompted chaos in the capital Beirut and elsewhere in Hezbollah’s south Lebanon heartland.

Around 100 hospitals received wounded people, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said, with hospitals in Beirut and its southern suburb quickly filling to capacity. Patients were then directed to other hospitals outside the region.

The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those who had one of the pagers and was injured in an explosion Tuesday, according to Iranian state TV. The diplomat said in a phone call that he was “feeling well and fully conscious,” according to Iranian state TV.

“I am proud and honored that my blood has become one with the blood of the honorable Lebanese people, as a result of the horrific terrorist crime that targeted our brotherly Lebanon yesterday. This noble country has stood with dignity and pride since the first day of al-Aqsa Storm,” Amani said Wednesday.

At least 14 people were also injured in targeted attacks on Hezbollah members in Syria, according to the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The alleged Israeli operation has again piqued fears of escalation in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict ongoing since Oct. 8, when members of the Iranian-backed group began cross-border attacks in support of Hamas’ war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.

Frontier skirmishes, Israeli strikes and Hezbollah rocket and artillery salvoes have been near-constant through 11 months of war in Gaza. Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to launch a new military operation against Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border. Tens of thousands of Israelis have left their homes in border regions due to the fighting.

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

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to make a public address on Thursday afternoon to address the situation. In February, Nasrallah urged members to stop using their cell phones, describing the technology as “a deadly agent.”

Schools across Lebanon will be closed on Wednesday, Lebanese state media reported, citing the country’s Minister of Education. Schools and offices closed include public and private schools, high schools, technical institutes, the Lebanese University and private higher education institutions, Lebanese state media reported.

The Lebanese Council of Ministers collectively condemned “this criminal Israeli aggression, which constitutes a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by all standards.”

It added that “the government immediately began making all necessary contacts with the countries concerned and the United Nations to place it before its responsibilities regarding this continuing crime.”

The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon condemned the attack on Lebanon, calling it an “extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context,” in a statement released by the U.N. Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary General.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a press conference in Egypt on Wednesday that the U.S. “did not know about and was not involved” in Israel’s pager attacks in Lebanon and Syria — but said that officials were still gathering information and did not directly blame Israel.

“Broadly speaking, we’ve been very clear, and we remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict that we’re trying to resolve in Gaza,” Blinken said. Its spread to other fronts, he added, is “clearly not in the interest of anyone involved.”

A cease-fire deal in Gaza, Blinken added, would “materially improve the prospects of defusing the situation” on the Israeli-Lebanese border and allow thousands of people living near the area on both sides of the divide to return home.

The U.S. and the European Union have both designated the Hezbollah militant group a foreign terrorist organization.

ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Shannon K. Kingston, Ghazi Balkiz, Nadine El-Bawab, Morgan Winsor, Anne Flaherty, Nasser Atta, Joe Simonetti, Jordana Miller and Helena Skinner contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — Thousands of people were injured across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday by an Israeli covert operation that remotely detonated pagers, ABC News sources confirmed.

A source described the attack as a “huge operation” that took between six and 12 months to plan, involving the use of informants and collaborators. Explosives were implanted inside the beepers, the source added.

The attack killed at least 12 civilians — among them an 8-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy — according to Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad.

At least 2,800 people were injured, Abiad said. More than 460 people underwent surgery for serious injuries, the minister added. Most victims are suffering from eye and facial injuries, while others suffered injuries to hands and fingers, he said.

The Hezbollah militant group confirmed that 11 of its members were killed on Tuesday, though did not specify the manner of their deaths.

At least 14 people were also injured in targeted attacks on Hezbollah members in Syria, according to the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Hezbollah vowed a “reckoning” for Israel. Leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to speak on the situation on Thursday afternoon.

The pagers began exploding around 3:30 p.m. local time, according to Hezbollah officials. An intelligence source familiar with the situation told ABC News that Israel has long been working to perfect this type of “supply chain interdiction attack.”

Responding to media reports that the explosives were concealed inside its AR-924 pager model, Taiwan-based beeper maker Gold Apollo told ABC News it was not responsible for the design or manufacture of the item.

“According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,” they said.

ABC News has contacted BAC for comment. The company is based in Budapest, Hungary.

The Lebanese Council of Ministers collectively condemned “this criminal Israeli aggression, which constitutes a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by all standards.”

It added that “the government immediately began making all necessary contacts with the countries concerned and the United Nations to place it before its responsibilities regarding this continuing crime.”

The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon called the operation an “extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context,” in a statement released by the U.N. Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary General.

U.S. officials said Washington, D.C., had no role in — or pre-knowledge of — the attack. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told journalists on Tuesday that the administration was “gathering information” on the incident.

The U.S. and the European Union have both designated the Hezbollah militant group a foreign terrorist organization.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt on Wednesday for fresh talks on an Israel-Hamas cease-fire, and as tension with Hezbollah persists at the Israel-Lebanon border.

Here’s how the news is developing:

Israel moves troops toward Lebanon border

The Israel Defense Forces’ 98th Division will be deployed to the northern part of the country close to the border with Lebanon, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.

The division was previously active in the Gaza Strip and is being deployed to the north amid rising tensions and ongoing skirmishes between the IDF and the Hezbollah militant group operating from southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has vowed retaliation for Israel’s exploding pager attack that killed at least 12 people and injured at least 2,800 in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday.

Israel behind Lebanon pagers attack, sources confirm

Sources confirmed to ABC News that Israel was responsible for the explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday.

The pagers began exploding around 3:30 p.m. local time, according to Hezbollah officials. An intelligence source familiar with the situation told ABC News that Israel has long been working to perfect this type of “supply chain interdiction attack.”

At least nine civilians were killed and more than 2,750 injured by the explosions, Lebanese health authorities said.

Hezbollah said 11 of its members were killed on Tuesday, though did not disclose the circumstances of their deaths. The militant group vowed retaliation against Israel.

Four Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza, IDF says

The Israel Defense Forces said four of its soldiers were killed fighting in southern Gaza on Tuesday.

Capt. Daniel Mimon Toaff, Staff Sgt. Agam Naim, Staff Sgt. Amit Bakri and Staff Sgt. Dotan Shimon were killed in combat, the IDF said in a statement.

One officer and two soldiers from the Shaked Battalion, Givati Brigade, were “severely injured” during the same incident, the statement said. Another two soldiers were “moderately injured.”

An officer from the Givati Reconnaissance Unit was also “severely injured” in southern Gaza, the IDF said.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

11,000 students killed in Gaza, education ministry says

The Palestinian Ministry of Education said Tuesday that some 11,000 students have been killed and more than 17,000 others have been injured in the Gaza Strip since Israel’s campaign there started on Oct. 7.

The ministry also said 500 schools and universities have been bombed across the territory in almost one year of war.

Islamic Jihad rocket commander ‘eliminated’ in Gaza, IDF says

The Israel Defense Forces said it “eliminated” the head of the Islamic Jihad militia group’s southern rocket and missile unit in a Monday airstrike on a humanitarian zone in southern Gaza.

Ahmed Aish Salame al-Hashash was the commander of the Islamic Jihad’s rocket forces in the southern Rafah area, the IDF said in a statement. He was “an important source of knowledge of rocket fire within the Islamic Jihad terror organization in Gaza,” the IDF added.

Al-Hashash was killed while “operating inside the Humanitarian Area in Khan Younis,” the IDF said, referring to one of the areas designated by the Israeli military as safer locations for civilians amid the devastating campaign in Gaza.

“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the IDF said.

The IDF often launches strikes inside Gaza humanitarian zones in pursuit of militant leaders.

Gaza Health Ministry identifies more than 34,300 people killed

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry published a 649-page document identifying 34,344 people killed in the strip between Oct.7, 2023 and Aug. 31, 2024.

The document includes the name, age, gender and identification number of each person killed.

The first 13 pages of the document include names of people all under 1 year old.

The document only includes the names of those the Health Ministry said it has been able to identify. Thousands more who are a part of the overall death toll are considered missing, the ministry said.

The current death toll in Gaza is 41,226 as of Sept. 16, according to the Hamas-run ministry.

Blinken to travel to Egypt

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt this week to discuss efforts to reach a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal, the State Department said.

Blinken will travel to Egypt Wednesday through Friday to co-chair the opening of the U.S.-Egypt Strategic Dialogue with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, the department said.

He will also meet with Egyptian officials “to discuss ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza that secures the release of all hostages, alleviates the suffering of the Palestinian people, and helps establish broader regional security,” the State Department said in a statement.

State Department doesn’t have timeline on new cease-fire proposal

State Department spokesperson Matt Miller declined to predict when a new Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal proposal might be ready.

“We continue to engage with our partners in the region, most specifically with Egypt and Qatar, about what that proposal will contain, and making sure — or trying to see that it’s a proposal that can get the parties to an ultimate agreement,” Miller told reporters Monday.

“I don’t have a timetable for you other than to say that we are working expeditiously to try to develop that proposal, try to find something that would bring both the parties to say yes and to formally submit it,” Miller added.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken had previously said more than a week ago that a proposal would be presented to both Israel and Hamas “in the coming days.”

Miller said Monday that — just like in the negotiations overall — the main hurdles for creating the new proposal were the security situation in the Philadelphi corridor and the number of hostages and Palestinian prisoners that would be released.

‘Trajectory is clear’ at Israel-Lebanon border: Gallant

Time is running out for a diplomatic solution to the ongoing conflict at the Israel-Lebanon border, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in an overnight phone call.

“Hezbollah continues to ‘tie itself’ to Hamas — the trajectory is clear,” Gallant told Austin per a readout from the Israeli Defense Ministry.

Gallant “reiterated Israel’s commitment to the removal of Hezbollah presence in southern Lebanon, and to enabling the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes,” the defense ministry said.

Cross-border fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah — which is aligned with Iran and Hamas through the so-called “Axis of Resistance” — has been near-constant since Oct. 8.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have left their homes in the north of the country amid the fighting, with Israeli leaders repeatedly threatening a significant military operation to pacify Hezbollah forces operating in southern Lebanon.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Sunday statement that the “current situation will not continue. This requires a change in the balance of forces on our northern border. We will do whatever is necessary to return our residents securely to their homes.”

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Israel now says Houthi missile was hit by interceptor

A missile described by the Houthis as a “new hypersonic ballistic missile” was hit by an Israeli interceptor, Israeli military officials said Sunday, after initially saying it got through its defenses and fell in an open area.

An Israeli interceptor hit the missile fired into central Israel from Yemen, causing it to fragment, according to Israeli officials. The missile was not destroyed, but caused no damage, the Israeli officials said.

“The conclusion into the review of the surface-to-surface missile that was fired this morning is that there was a hit on the target from an interceptor, as a result of which the target fragmented but was not destroyed,” an Israeli military official said in a statement.

The Houthi movement claimed responsibility for the missile attack, claiming in a statement that it was aimed at an “important military target” in the Tel Aviv region. The Houthis claimed the missile flew some 1,267 miles in less than 12 minutes and that Israeli anti-missile defenses “failed to intercept” the weapon.

The Israel Defense Forces initially confirmed to ABC News that its defenses failed to intercept the missile but changed its conclusions upon further investigation.

-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule

IDF: ‘High probability’ 3 hostages were killed by Israeli airstrike in November

On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces released the results of its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of three hostages, whose bodies were recovered from Gaza by IDF forces in December.

The three hostages — two soldiers, Ron Sherman and Nik Beizer, and civilian Elia Toledano — were killed “as a byproduct” of an Israeli airstrike on the compound where they were being held, according to the investigation. The IDF said the strike was targeting a Hamas commander, and that they believed the hostages were being held elsewhere.

“The findings of the investigation suggest a high probability that the three were killed as a result of a byproduct of an IDF airstrike, during the elimination of the Hamas Northern Brigade commander, Ahmed Ghandour, on November 10th, 2023,” the IDF said Sunday in a statement.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Netanyahu vows to inflict ‘high price’ for Houthi missile attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate against the Houthi movement after a missile fired from Yemen fell in central Israel on Sunday morning.

“This morning, the Houthis launched a surface-to-surface missile from Yemen at our territory,” Netanyahu said before a cabinet meeting. “They should know that we exact a high price for any attempt to attack us.”

“Whoever needs a reminder of this, is invited to visit the port of Hodeidah,” the prime minister added, referring to Israel’s bombing of the strategic Yemeni port in July after a Houthi drone strike killed one person in Tel Aviv.

“Whoever attacks us will not evade our strike,” Netanyahu said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — Israel was behind the deadly explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday, sources told ABC News on Wednesday.

At least nine civilians were killed and more than 2,750 people injured in the explosions, according to Lebanese authorities. Around 200 of the injuries were critical and required surgery, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.

The Hezbollah militant group said it is conducting a “security and scientific investigation” into the explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday.

Hezbollah said 11 of its members were killed on Tuesday, though — as is typical in its statements — did not specify how they died.

“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression, which also targeted civilians and led to the deaths of a number of martyrs and the injury of a large number with various wounds,” Hezbollah said of the pager explosions in a Tuesday statement.

In a Wednesday morning statement, Hezbollah said it would continue operations to “support Gaza,” and vowed a “reckoning” for Israel for the “massacre on Tuesday.”

The dead and injured included people who are not members of Hezbollah, such as a 10-year-old girl killed in the eastern village of Saraain, according to Hezbollah-owned Al-Ahed News.

Israel has not commented on its alleged involvement in the apparent attack, which prompted chaos in the capital Beirut and elsewhere in Hezbollah’s south Lebanon heartland.

Around 100 hospitals received wounded people, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said, with hospitals in Beirut and its southern suburb quickly filling to capacity. Patients were then directed to other hospitals outside the region.

Most of the injuries were to the face, hand or abdomen, officials said.

The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those who had one of the pagers and was injured in an explosion Tuesday, according to Iranian state TV. The diplomat said in a phone call that he was “feeling well and fully conscious,” according to Iranian state TV.

At least 14 people were also injured in targeted attacks on Hezbollah members in Syria, according to the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The alleged Israeli operation has again piqued fears of escalation in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict ongoing since Oct. 8, when members of the Iranian-backed group began cross-border attacks in support of Hamas’ war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.

Frontier skirmishes, Israeli strikes and Hezbollah rocket and artillery salvoes have been near-constant through 11 months of war in Gaza. Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to launch a new military operation against Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border. Tens of thousands of Israelis have left their homes in border regions due to the fighting.

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

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to make a public address on Thursday afternoon to address the situation. In February, Nasrallah urged members to stop using their cellphones, describing the technology as “a deadly agent.”

Schools across Lebanon will be closed on Wednesday, Lebanese state media reported, citing the country’s Minister of Education. Schools and offices closed include public and private schools, high schools, technical institutes, the Lebanese University and private higher education institutions, Lebanese state media reported.

The Lebanese Council of Ministers collectively condemned “this criminal Israeli aggression, which constitutes a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by all standards.”

It added that “the government immediately began making all necessary contacts with the countries concerned and the United Nations to place it before its responsibilities regarding this continuing crime.”

The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon condemned the attack on Lebanon, calling it an “extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context,” in a statement released by the U.N. Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary General.

U.S. officials said Washington, D.C. had no role in — or pre-knowledge of — the apparent attack. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the administration was “gathering information” on the incident.

Both Miller and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to speculate on whether Israel was responsible.

The U.S. and the European Union have both designated the Hezbollah militant group a foreign terrorist organization.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — The U.S. said it is “gravely concerned” following a “large-scale escalation” of fighting in El Fasher, capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state, amid a civil war that has been raging in the North African country for more than a year.

Initial reports of escalating fighting began to surface on Sept, 12 following what eyewitnesses recount as a multidirectional attack on the city by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.

The shelling has been consistent, with explosions being heard in the city “several times this week,” Salah, a resident of the city, told ABC News on Tuesday. He asked to be identified by only his first name.

“There are casualties and many civilians have been killed and injured,” Salah said. “People are dying of famine and diseases. It’s a literally catastrophic situation. As I am speaking, the RSF shelling is going on.”

An analysis from the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab confirmed the escalation of fighting, finding “unprecedented,” “high-tempo and intense combat activity” ongoing in the North Darfur capital. The report detected “high tempo aerial bombardment” by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and “structural damage” from RSF bombardment and other combat activity.

“The current levels of high-tempo combat activity are likely to effectively reduce what is left of El-Fasher to rubble,” reads the report.

The U.N. said it has yet to establish the number of civilian casualties in the city.

In a statement, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said she was “gravely concerned about reports of a serious escalation in RSF’s months-long siege on El Fasher.”

That concern was echoed by America’s Special Envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello who said he is “extremely concerned” by the RSF’s repeated attacks on the North Darfur capital.

Two displacement camps — Abu Shouk and Al Salaam — have been shelled in the RSF’s renewed attacks according to US’ Special Envoy to Sudan.

El Fasher is the largest city in Sudan’s Darfur region and the Sudanese Army’s (SAF) last stronghold in the region. The city has been at the center of a fierce battle as warring parties vie for its control, the Rapid Support Forces besieging the city since May of 2024.

The unprecedented escalation brings renewed threat to “hundreds of thousands” of civilians, according to the U.N. That estimate included internally displaced persons who found refuge in the city, many of whom had been displaced from elsewhere through the course of Sudan’s now 17-month civil war.

“The humanitarian situation is so sad,” Yasin told ABC news over the phone from Tawila, a small town in North Darfur where many fleeing the conflict have sought refuge. 

He asked to only be identified by his first name for his safety. 

“Prices are spiking for food, medicine end fuel is so rare and expensive,” Yasin said.

“Life in El Fasher was scary because every day there are bombs, shelling and crossfire as well as intense clashes,” he said. “Yesterday evening RSF shelled areas like Mawashy Market, Thoura and Mudarag. These areas are filled with civilians, and the number of human losses till no are unknown because people are hiding.”

The U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan Clementine Nkweta-Salami has expressed “profound sadness and frustration” over the situation, saying the attacks on the city “violate every humanitarian principle.”

“This is heartbreaking and must stop,” Nkweta-Salami said. “There is no excuse for direct attacks on civilians, their assets and essential facilities such as hospitals.”

In a statement sent to ABC News, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, says nutritional screenings carried out in conjunction with Sudanese health authorities in Zamzam camp, just 15 km south of El Fasher, indicate malnutrition rates that are “likely some of the worst in the world.”

“Not only do the results confirm the disaster that we and other stakeholders have been observing and alerting on for months, they also indicate that every day, things are getting worse and we’re running out of time,” said Michel Olivier Lacharité, head of emergency operations for MSF. “We are talking about thousands of children who will die over the next few weeks without access to adequate treatment and urgent solutions to allow humanitarian aid and essential goods to reach Zamzam.”

The war in Sudan has precipitated one of the world’s worst hunger crises with over 750,000 people experiencing “catastrophic levels of food insecurity.” according to the U.N.

The conflict has killed over 20,000 people according to a senior U.N. official, but local groups warned the true toll is likely much higher. At least 13 million people have been forced to flee their homes since fighting began in April 2023, according to the International Office of Migration (IOM).

“The level of destruction, death, displacement and disease in Sudan is tragic,” said World Health Organisation Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus on Tuesday. 

The WHO chief was in Chad on Tuesday to join the delivery of a medical supplies convoy across the Chadian border of Adré into Sudan.

Recent flooding has hampered the delivery of aid through the Adré border.

“Chad’s valleys are filled with carcasses of trucks. But we are making progress,” said Toby Harward, the U.N.’s deputy humanitarian coordinator for Sudan.

“I urge RSF to halt its attack, including bombardments destroying infrastructure and threatening civilian life, and fulfil its commitments to the international community to protect civilians,” said Thomas-Greenfield.

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(LONDON) — Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday it defeated a fresh wave of Ukrainian drone attacks over the west of the country.

The ministry wrote on its official Telegram channel that 29 “Ukrainian drones were destroyed by air defense on duty overnight.”

The ministry said that 15 UAVs were downed over Bryansk region, five over the Kursk region, four over the Smolensk region, two over the Orel region and one each over Belgorod, Kaluga and Rostov regions.

On Sunday morning, the ministry said it shot down an additional Ukrainian drone over the Ryazan region.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired two ballistic missiles, one cruise missile and 14 Shahed UAVs into the country on Saturday night. The cruise missile and 10 Shaheds were shot down by air defenses, it wrote on Telegram.

Ukraine did not comment on its alleged overnight drone attack into Russia. Ukrainian leaders and commanders generally do not confirm or deny attacks within Russian borders.

The latest drone and missile exchange followed a large Russian drone assault against Ukrainian cities on Friday night and Saturday morning. Ukraine’s air force said it downed 72 of 76 Shahed drones fired at targets including the capital Kyiv.

Moscow said it also destroyed Ukrainian drones over two western regions on Friday night.

ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova contributed to this report.

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(LONDON) — Animal rights activists are calling for the release of an orca who has been living in Argentina’s largest aquarium for over 30 years.

The orca named Kshamenk, pronounced Shamenk, is the last captive orca in all of Latin America, living in Buenos Aires’ Mundo Marino aquarium since his rescue in 1992.

Recently, viral drone footage showing Kshamenk lying almost motionless in his small concrete pool has brought renewed attention to the fate of the lone orca, with thousands around the world calling for him to be released from captivity.

“Time is not on Kshamenk’s side,” Canadian whistleblowing organization Urgent Seas, which has been leading the campaign for Kshamenk’s release, told ABC News. “The recent deaths of solitary orcas highlight the despair social animals such as Orcas feel when not living in their proper families or with members of their own species.”

“To witness their mental healths decline is gut-wrenching – as we are seeing with Kshamenk,” Urgent Seas said in its statement.

In November 1992, three fishermen sailed from San Clemente del Tuyú, a town on Argentina’s Atlantic coast, to embark on a normal day of sea fishing, according to Mundo Marino’s biography of Kshamenk. A few hours into their trip, the fishermen spotted four black figures lying near the coast in a marshy area of Samborombón Bay, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.

The figures turned out to be four stranded orcas that had become trapped on a muddy bank.

One of the orcas was Kshamenk – then approximately 3 years old – found by rescue teams in “critical condition” and “showing various signs of weakness” including being “severely decompensated, dehydrated’ and with “very altered blood parameters,” according to the biography.

The group of orcas was presumed by rescuers to have been stranded for approximately two days, becoming stuck in the sand on a mud bank after chasing a school of fish during a higher tide.

After consultation with local authorities, it was considered the “best thing” for the young orca to remain in the care of the Mundo Marino team following rehabilitation, according to the aquarium. The aquarium said specialists who evaluated Kshamenk’s physical and mental health “reject the possibility of transfer” because it would “seriously put her well-being and life at risk.”

According to testimonies of fishermen, it is believed the other three orcas were able to swim back into the sea the next day as the water level rose.

Kshamenk is estimated to be around 35 years old, Mundo Marino told ABC News. He is one of at least 54 orcas currently being kept in captivity in marine parks around the world, according to the International Marine Mammal Project.

Online petitions to free Kshamenk have garnered tens of thousands of signatures, videos posted on TikTok and Instagram shining light on the plight of the orca – which has lived for years without orca companionship – amassing hundreds of thousands of views.

Munro Marino described Kshamenk as a “healthy, curious, active [and] affectionate Orca who enjoys playing and doing activities with her keepers.” On the orca’s health, Mundo Marino said Kshamenk is in “excellent health.”

“His survival would depend on both being accepted by a new pod of orcas and being able to hunt independently, both of which are highly unlikely,” Mundo Marino said in a statement sent to ABC News.

“We are aware of what some activist groups believe about a hypothetical reintroduction; we respect their position, but the reality is that this is a proposal without a consistent scientific basis. It is impossible for Kshamenk to return to the sea without putting his life at serious risk.”

Scientific studies on orcas have found captivity can have “harmful effects’ on the marine mammals. “The scientific data on how both wild-caught and captive-born orcas fare in captivity are increasingly robust in demonstrating that they cannot thrive under artificial circumstances in concrete tanks,” a study by the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of New Mexico found.

“In captivity, orcas exhibit a wide range of abnormal behaviors and often die at an early age from infections and other health conditions that are uncommon in a wild setting.”

Campaigners are calling for the passing of a Kshamenk Law – known as Ley Kshamek in Spanish – a bill that calls for the “prohibition and sanctioning of shows with while marine animals’ and their exhibition or captivity without rehabilitation and reinsertion or reintegration purposes.”

“The time is now,” Urgent Seas told ABC News.

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(TEL AVIV, Israel) — Officials in Israel’s defense establishment are now strenuously contradicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence that Israel maintain control of the narrow strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border known as the Philadelphi Corridor, and warning that Netanyahu’s reluctance to sign a cease-fire deal with Hamas is pushing Israel into a potentially disastrous war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to Israeli military and senior defense officials who spoke with ABC News.

A war with Hezbollah in Lebanon “is easy to start, but very hard to end,” one such official said, on condition of anonymity. “We are losing the war, we are losing deterrence, we are losing the hostages.”

ABC News, along with other journalists and accompanied by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) personnel, was given access to the Philadelphi Corridor Friday — a narrow strip of territory roughly a half-mile wide that runs along the entirety of the southern Gaza border with Egypt. What were once blocks of apartments there are now piles of rubble amid a wasteland of dunes. Military officials told ABC News their work in the corridor was mostly done.

IDF and other Israeli military officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, have called a cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas the key to reaching a solution to Israel’s current regional strife. Israel and Hezbollah, which has been launching frequent rocket attacks against northern Israel from Lebanon, have each agreed to the broad parameters of a deal to decrease hostilities, but Hezbollah has said its participation is contingent on Israel reaching a cease-fire deal with Hamas in Gaza — which Hamas says must include all Israeli forces leaving Gaza.

However, many Israeli officials, including several who spoke with ABC News in recent days, believe that Netanyahu is purposely trying to torpedo negotiations to free the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas by insisting that the Philadelphi Corridor remain under Israel’s control, though they did not speak to possible reasons for Netanyahu’s insistence.

“If Philadelphi was so important, why did we wait eight months [into the war] to take it?” one senior Israeli official told ABC News.

Those officials now say that Israel is “stuck” in Gaza, able to kill Hamas militants and yet unable to advance one of the Israel-Hamas war’s primary aims, which Israeli Defense Minister Gallant recently told a small group of reporters was the “moral and ethical commitment” to bring Israel’s remaining hostages home. One official said that given the current circumstances, the best Israel can hope for is the repatriation of perhaps 20-30 hostages out of the 100 or so believed to remain in Gaza.

U.S. Envoy Amos Hochstein has been shuttling between Beirut and Jerusalem attempting to broker a cease-fire deal with Hezbollah that would see the latter retreat about 10 kilometers north of their current position in Lebanon, replaced by Lebanese Army forces and personnel from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), in exchange for small Israeli concessions along the Israeli-Lebanese border. This is the same deal Israeli officials have said has been on the table since January.

Adding urgency to the current situation are general concerns about whether Israel possesses sufficient munitions and missile and rocket/missile interceptors to defend itself in any confrontation with Hezbollah. One senior Israeli official told ABC News that Israel’s hawks, clamoring for war with Hezbollah, are unaware of how difficult it is for Israel to procure Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) kits, necessary to convert so-called “dumb” bombs into precision guided weapons that use GPS coordinates to strike a target.

Israeli officials are also concerned that Hezbollah’s estimated arsenal of over 100,000 rockets and missiles could cause widespread damage across Israel. Those officials also warn of the potential for destruction on the Lebanese side. For example, during the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war, Israel’s air force crippled Lebanon’s electrical grid and flattened large swaths of south Beirut.

Israel is also contending with how to respond to a recent attack from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, after Israel says it intercepted and destroyed a Houthi surface-to-surface missile fired at Israel on Sunday.

The Houthi movement claimed responsibility for the missile attack, claiming in a statement that it was aimed at an “important military target” in the Tel Aviv region. The Houthis claimed the missile flew some 1,267 miles in less than 12 minutes and that Israeli anti-missile defenses “failed to intercept” the weapon. The IDF initially confirmed to ABC News that its defenses failed to intercept the missile but changed its conclusions upon further investigation.

The Israeli officials who spoke with ABC News said that Israel is vowing retaliation, and is investigating how the Houthis managed to twice penetrate Israel’s air defenses in two months.

“The Houthis are here to stay,” said one official, adding that the assessment is that they will likely keep attacking, regardless of a Hamas ceasefire.

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(NEW YORK) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt on Wednesday for fresh talks on an Israel-Hamas cease-fire, and as tension with Hezbollah persists at the Israel-Lebanon border.

Here’s how the news is developing:

Islamic Jihad rocket commander ‘eliminated’ in Gaza, IDF says

The Israel Defense Forces said it “eliminated” the head of the Islamic Jihad militia group’s southern rocket and missile unit in a Monday airstrike on a humanitarian zone in southern Gaza.

Ahmed Aish Salame al-Hashash was the commander of the Islamic Jihad’s rocket forces in the southern Rafah area, the IDF said in a statement. He was “an important source of knowledge of rocket fire within the Islamic Jihad terror organization in Gaza,” the IDF added.

Al-Hashash was killed while “operating inside the Humanitarian Area in Khan Younis,” the IDF said, referring to one of the areas designated by the Israeli military as safer locations for civilians amid the devastating campaign in Gaza.

“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the IDF said.

The IDF often launches strikes inside Gaza humanitarian zones in pursuit of militant leaders.

Gaza Health Ministry identifies more than 34,300 people killed

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry published a 649-page document identifying 34,344 people killed in the strip between Oct.7, 2023 and Aug. 31, 2024.

The document includes the name, age, gender and identification number of each person killed.

The first 13 pages of the document include names of people all under 1 year old.

The document only includes the names of those the Health Ministry said it has been able to identify. Thousands more who are a part of the overall death toll are considered missing, the ministry said.

The current death toll in Gaza is 41,226 as of Sept. 16, according to the Hamas-run ministry.

Blinken to travel to Egypt

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt this week to discuss efforts to reach a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal, the State Department said.

Blinken will travel to Egypt Wednesday through Friday to co-chair the opening of the U.S.-Egypt Strategic Dialogue with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, the department said.

He will also meet with Egyptian officials “to discuss ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza that secures the release of all hostages, alleviates the suffering of the Palestinian people, and helps establish broader regional security,” the State Department said in a statement.

State Department doesn’t have timeline on new cease-fire proposal

State Department spokesperson Matt Miller declined to predict when a new Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal proposal might be ready.

“We continue to engage with our partners in the region, most specifically with Egypt and Qatar, about what that proposal will contain, and making sure — or trying to see that it’s a proposal that can get the parties to an ultimate agreement,” Miller told reporters Monday.

“I don’t have a timetable for you other than to say that we are working expeditiously to try to develop that proposal, try to find something that would bring both the parties to say yes and to formally submit it,” Miller added.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken had previously said more than a week ago that a proposal would be presented to both Israel and Hamas “in the coming days.”

Miller said Monday that — just like in the negotiations overall — the main hurdles for creating the new proposal were the security situation in the Philadelphi corridor and the number of hostages and Palestinian prisoners that would be released.

‘Trajectory is clear’ at Israel-Lebanon border: Gallant

Time is running out for a diplomatic solution to the ongoing conflict at the Israel-Lebanon border, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in an overnight phone call.

“Hezbollah continues to ‘tie itself’ to Hamas — the trajectory is clear,” Gallant told Austin per a readout from the Israeli Defense Ministry.

Gallant “reiterated Israel’s commitment to the removal of Hezbollah presence in southern Lebanon, and to enabling the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes,” the defense ministry said.

Cross-border fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah — which is aligned with Iran and Hamas through the so-called “Axis of Resistance” — has been near-constant since Oct. 8.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have left their homes in the north of the country amid the fighting, with Israeli leaders repeatedly threatening a significant military operation to pacify Hezbollah forces operating in southern Lebanon.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Sunday statement that the “current situation will not continue. This requires a change in the balance of forces on our northern border. We will do whatever is necessary to return our residents securely to their homes.”

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Israel now says Houthi missile was hit by interceptor

A missile described by the Houthis as a “new hypersonic ballistic missile” was hit by an Israeli interceptor, Israeli military officials said Sunday, after initially saying it got through its defenses and fell in an open area.

An Israeli interceptor hit the missile fired into central Israel from Yemen, causing it to fragment, according to Israeli officials. The missile was not destroyed, but caused no damage, the Israeli officials said.

“The conclusion into the review of the surface-to-surface missile that was fired this morning is that there was a hit on the target from an interceptor, as a result of which the target fragmented but was not destroyed,” an Israeli military official said in a statement.

The Houthi movement claimed responsibility for the missile attack, claiming in a statement that it was aimed at an “important military target” in the Tel Aviv region. The Houthis claimed the missile flew some 1,267 miles in less than 12 minutes and that Israeli anti-missile defenses “failed to intercept” the weapon.

The Israel Defense Forces initially confirmed to ABC News that its defenses failed to intercept the missile but changed its conclusions upon further investigation.

-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule

IDF: ‘High probability’ 3 hostages were killed by Israeli airstrike in November

On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces released the results of its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of three hostages, whose bodies were recovered from Gaza by IDF forces in December.

The three hostages — two soldiers, Ron Sherman and Nik Beizer, and civilian Elia Toledano — were killed “as a byproduct” of an Israeli airstrike on the compound where they were being held, according to the investigation. The IDF said the strike was targeting a Hamas commander, and that they believed the hostages were being held elsewhere.

“The findings of the investigation suggest a high probability that the three were killed as a result of a byproduct of an IDF airstrike, during the elimination of the Hamas Northern Brigade commander, Ahmed Ghandour, on November 10th, 2023,” the IDF said Sunday in a statement.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Netanyahu vows to inflict ‘high price’ for Houthi missile attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate against the Houthi movement after a missile fired from Yemen fell in central Israel on Sunday morning.

“This morning, the Houthis launched a surface-to-surface missile from Yemen at our territory,” Netanyahu said before a cabinet meeting. “They should know that we exact a high price for any attempt to attack us.”

“Whoever needs a reminder of this, is invited to visit the port of Hodeidah,” the prime minister added, referring to Israel’s bombing of the strategic Yemeni port in July after a Houthi drone strike killed one person in Tel Aviv.

“Whoever attacks us will not evade our strike,” Netanyahu said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

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