Israel attacks Beirut, targets Hezbollah chief of staff

Israeli forces fired at United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon -- UNIFIL -- troops in southern Lebanon on Sunday, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson confirmed.

IDF international spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said on X that the incident occurred in the El Hamames area in southern Lebanon, when IDF troops fired "warning shots" at "two suspects."

"After a review, it was determined that the suspects were U.N. soldiers who were conducting a patrol in the area and were classified as suspects due to poor weather conditions," Shoshani said. "The incident is under examination."

UNIFIL said earlier on Sunday that its personnel came under Israeli fire "from a Merkava tank from near a position Israel has established in Lebanese territory."

"Heavy machine gun rounds hit approximately five meters from the peacekeepers, who were on foot and had to take shelter in the terrain," UNIFIL said.

"Peacekeepers asked for the IDF to stop firing through UNIFIL's liaison channels," the force added. "They were able to leave safely thirty minutes later, when the Merkava tank withdrew inside the IDF position." There were no casualties, UNIFIL said.

"Yet again, we call on the IDF to cease any aggressive behavior and attacks on or near peacekeepers, who are working to support the return to the stability that both Israel and Lebanon say they seek," UNIFIL said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a Sunday cabinet meeting that his government's opposition to Palestinian statehood "has not changed one bit," as Israeli officials mobilize against a U.S.-backed United Nations Security Council resolution that is expected to go to a vote on Monday.

The U.S. is hoping to secure consensus on its plan for post-war Gaza, but Israeli leaders have pushed back on any hint of future Palestinian statehood. Regional U.S. partners like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and Turkey are all advocating for a credible path to Palestinian statehood as part of any settlement.

The U.S. draft resolution says that after reforms to the Palestinian Authority are "faithfully carried out and Gaza redevelopment has advanced, the conditions may be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood."

According to a readout published by his office on Sunday, Netanyahu said, "Our opposition to a Palestinian state in any territory west of the Jordan [River], this opposition is existing, valid and has not changed one bit."

"I have been rebuffing these attempts for decades and I am doing it both against pressures from outside and against pressures from within," the prime minister said. "So, I do not need affirmations, tweets or lectures from anyone."

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz wrote in The Washington Post on Friday that a "refusal to back this resolution is a vote either for the continued reign of Hamas terrorists or for the return to war with Israel, condemning the region and its people to perpetual conflict."

"Every departure from this path, be it by those who wish to play political games or to re-litigate the past, will come with a real human cost," Waltz wrote.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Somayeh Malekian

Defense Minister Israel Katz reiterated the Israeli government's intention to block any independent Palestinian state in a post to X on Sunday, ahead of Monday's planned United Nations Security Council vote on key elements of the Gaza ceasefire.

Katz's latest remarks come as discussions over the next phase of the U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire continue. Phase one of the agreement came into force in October, facilitating the return of living and dead hostages from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

Phase two will focus on demilitarization and security measures, which include the proposed formation of an international security force to oversee Hamas' disarmament.

"Israel's policy is clear: no Palestinian state will be established," Katz wrote. "Gaza will be de-fortified down to the last tunnel and Hamas will be disarmed in the yellow side by the IDF and in the old Gaza by the international force -- or by the IDF," he added.

The "yellow side" was a reference to the so-called "yellow line," a demarcation line inside Gaza to which the IDF withdrew per last month's ceasefire deal.

The Israel Defense Forces will also "remain at the peak of Mount Hermon and in the security zone," Katz said, referring to the strategic mountaintop area just inside Syria's border occupied by IDF troops earlier this year.

Reports this week suggested Israeli concern over possible U.S. pressure to withdraw from the mountain following Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's recent White House visit.