Israel at war: What happened on day 384?

Eran Etzion, former deputy head of the National Security Council, told the BBC on Wednesday that if IDF soldiers were being ordered to commit war crimes, they should refuse.

During the interview, the BBC pushed him on whether he believed Israel was committing war crimes; he said, "I fear that they might be, yes."

IDF sodiers have raided several underground bases belonging to Hezbollah's special unit, the Radwan Forces, the military announced on Thursday.

The IAF struck over 160 Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon over the past day, the military reported on Thursday morning in a list of strategic successes including the apprehension of 200 terrorists from the Gaza Strip. 

Additionally, targeted ground raids in Lebanon saw IDF troops eliminate dozens of Hezbollah terrorists, the military said adding that 20 of which had been eliminated over the past day. 

Magen David Adom (MDA) announced that two people were moderately injured from an earlier rocket barrage across Nahariya and surrounding areas on Thursday morning.

MDA later confirmed a third person was lightly injured from the same barrage.

This is a developing story.

A fire broke out at the Karaj nuclear power plant, according to reports by regime opposition activists cited in Israeli media on Thursday.

ראשוני: ארגון אופוזיציה איראני מדווח על שרפה בתחנת הכוח הגרעינית בעיר כראג'. לפי שעה אין דיווחים בכלי תקשורת רשמיים באיראן@asafroz15 pic.twitter.com/2Fe5YQMdzZ

— החדשות - N12 (@N12News) October 24, 2024

Iranian media has not commented on the event.

This is a developing story.

The IDF struck several weapons storage and manufacturing facilities belonging to Hezbollah in the area of Beirut suburb of Dahieh, the military announced on Thursday.

תיעוד: תקיפה של חיל האוויר בדאחייה בביירות @HaimOmri pic.twitter.com/v3jAMrITzZ

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) October 23, 2024

The IDF said that the sites were built under and inside civilian buildings, which they say is part of Hezbollah's systematic abuse of civilian infrastructure, endangering the civilian population in the area.

The IDF emphasized that it had taken several steps to mitigate the harm to civilians.

An explosion was heard over Syria's Damascus early on Thursday, the state news agency said without providing further details.

This is a developing story.

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and believed that an agreement to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia could be reached before the end of the year.

Graham, who is in Michigan campaigning for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, told Reuters that Netanyahu supported work on a deal with Saudi Arabia, adding that the next US administration was unlikely to be able to secure enough votes in Congress after President Joe Biden leaves office on Jan. 20.

"I think the time to do this is on Biden's watch," said Graham, who had also met with Netanyahu earlier this month. He said Vice President Kamala Harris was "far more beholden to the left" and had not shown interest in working for such an agreement, but Biden was keen to see a deal get done and would be able to mobilize the needed Democratic votes.

Morgan Finkelstein, National Security Spokeswoman for the Harris campaign said: “Vice President Harris has consistently supported efforts to ensure Israel is more deeply integrated in the Middle East region, including a potential historic normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia. She believes such integration is critical to counter the threats posed by Iran.”

Soldiers, many of which who have spent over 200 days in reserves and recently operated in Lebanon shared their stories with the IDF on Sunday.

Soldiers of the Etzioni Brigade recently completed their first entry into Lebanon and are preparing for their next mission. To prepare for their next entry into Lebanon, reservists trained and completed exercises at the Elyakim Training Base. 

"We practiced fighting in dense forests and nature reserves, with an emphasis on locating explosives and moving from place to place," Staff Sergeant (res.) Andrew said and was quoted by the IDF.

The Biden administration wouldn't be engaged in diplomatic efforts if it didn't think there were still opportunities to reach ceasefire agreements in Gaza and Lebanon, National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday afternoon from the White House following another day of intense negotiations across the region. 

Kirby declined to go into detail about Secretary of State Antony Blinken's meetings with Israeli officials but said "they had good, constructive conversations, specifically with respect to Gaza while he was in Israel."

"But there's still a lot of work before us," he added.