Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Egypt for fresh talks on an Israel-Hamas cease-fire, as tensions with Hezbollah persist at the Israel-Lebanon border in the wake of the shocking explosions of wireless devices.
Germany being selective with arms shipments to Israel
Germany is being selective with what arms it is sending to Israel in light of rising tensions with Hezbollah and Hamas.
“There is no ban on licenses for arms exports to Israel and there will be no ban. The Federal Government decides on the granting of licenses for arms exports on a case-by-case basis and in the light of the respective situation after careful examination, taking into account foreign and security policy considerations in accordance with legal and political requirements,” the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection said in a statement.
“In doing so, the Federal Government takes into account compliance with international humanitarian law. In this case-by-case assessment, the current situation is always taken into account, including the attacks on Israel by Hamas and Hezbollah as well as the course of the operation in Gaza,” the ministry said.
Lebanon death toll rises after device explosions
At least 37 people -- including two children -- were killed across the country by exploding communication devices on Tuesday and Wednesday, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Al-Abyad said in a press conference Thursday. About 3,000 people were injured, he said.
"It is certain that what happened in terms of aggression is considered a war crime, as the majority of the injuries were recorded in civilian areas and not in the battlefield, and the government is doing its duty and has called for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, and human rights organizations are doing their duty on this issue,” Al-Abyad said.
Hezbollah said 20 of its members were killed in Wednesday's walkie-talkie explosions. Another 11 were killed in Tuesday's pager explosions in Lebanon and Syria, bringing the overall death toll for the group to 31.
Israel was responsible for Tuesday's explosions, a source confirmed to ABC News, in which pagers detonated across Beirut and southern Lebanon. Walkie-talkies exploded on Wednesday.
-ABC News' Morgan Winsor, Nasser Atta and Ghazi Balkiz
IDF carrying out strikes in Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces said it is carrying out strikes in Lebanon to "degrade Hezbollah’s terrorist capabilities and infrastructure," according to a statement.
"The Hezbollah terrorist organization has turned southern Lebanon into a combat zone. For decades, Hezbollah has weaponized civilian homes, dug tunnels beneath them, and used civilians as human shields. The IDF is operating to bring security to northern Israel in order to enable the return of residents to their homes, as well as to achieve of all of the war goals," the IDF said in a statement.
The strikes come after two consecutive days of explosions of pagers and walkie-talkie devices in Lebanon, which left at least 37 people dead.
Israeli arrested over Iran-directed plot to kill Netanyahu, police say
Israeli police and the Shin Bet intelligence service foiled an alleged plot to kill Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhayu and other prominent individuals, according to details of an indictment released on Thursday.
Moti Maman, a 73-year-old Israeli businessman from the city of Ashkelon, is accused of twice smuggling himself into Iran via Turkey to meet with intelligence officials directing would-be plots from Tehran.
The discussions allegedly included potential plans to attack Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, among others.
Police and Shin Bet said the alleged plots were intended as retaliation for the killing of Ismail Hanieyh in Tehran in July, which Iran blamed on Israel.
A joint police and Shin Bet statement also accused Maman of discussing the possibility of acting as a money courier for others in Israel, locating Russian and American elements for the elimination of Tehran's opponents in Europe and the U.S. and recruiting Mossad personnel as double agents.
"The Israeli citizen demanded an advance payment of $1 million dollars before performing any action," police and Shin Bet said. "Iranian agents refused his request and informed him they would contact him in the future."
Maman allegedly received around $558,000 -- paid in euros -- for attending the meetings with Iranian intelligence personnel.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller and David Brennan
US 'did not know' about Israel's pager operation: Blinken
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."
Blinken also reaffirmed the Biden administration's commitment to reaching a cease-fire, which he said 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.
"That's clearly the best path forward for everyone involved. So again, it's imperative that everyone avoid taking steps that could further escalate or spread the conflict," he said.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty was also asked about the matter, and had much more to say. He declared, via a translator, that Egypt was "against any unilateral action that attacks the sovereignty of Lebanon."
"We have condemned and we will condemn any targeting of the Lebanese sovereignty," he said. "It does not encourage any civility."
He continued: "Such dangerous escalation can lead to what we have warned of before, which is leading to the edge of a regional war which can kill everyone."
The foreign minister also asserted that the "heart of the crisis" facing the Middle East was "Israeli aggression in Gaza."
-ABC News' Shannon Kingston