Israel-Gaza-Lebanon updates: Officials say 87 killed in Israeli strikes on Beit Lahia

Hezbollah in Lebanon launches rocket attacks on Israel, IDF says.

ByDavid Brennan, Julia Reinstein, Nadine El-Bawab, Ivan Pereira, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: October 20, 2024, 3:20 PM EDT

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind behind the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, was killed this week in a firefight with Israeli forces, officials said.

The development comes as Israel continues intense air and ground campaigns against Hezbollah in Lebanon and against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The uptick in offensive operations came as Israeli leaders planned their response to Iran's latest ballistic missile attack.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Oct 17, 2024, 7:25 AM EDT

German warship downs drone off Lebanon

The German Ludwigshafen am Rhein corvette -- which is operating as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon -- downed an unidentified drone off the Lebanese coast on Thursday, a spokesperson at the German Ministry of Defense told ABC News.

The spokesperson did not describe how the aircraft was shot down, but said the ship acted in self defense.

There are approximately 60 crew members on board the vessel.

UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said that "electronic countermeasures were used and the UAV fell and exploded on its own."

-ABC News' Dragana Jovanovic and Guy Davies

Oct 17, 2024, 6:15 AM EDT

Hezbollah fires projectiles towards Israel

Hezbollah said it launched a missile salvo towards Israel on Thursday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces said sirens sounded in northern Israel and "two projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory." One was intercepted and the other fell in an open area, the IDF said.

A photo taken from the southern Lebanese city of Tyre shows a series of rockets launched from Lebanon towards Israel on Oct. 17, 2024.
Kawnat Haju/AFP via Getty Images

Fighting continues in southern Lebanon. There, Hezbollah claimed to have attacked two Israeli tanks near the border village of Labbouneh.

The IDF, meanwhile, said it killed a commander of Hezbollah's Kana sector.

-ABC News' Guy Davies

Oct 17, 2024, 6:04 AM EDT

WHO warns of cholera risk in Lebanon

The World Health Organization has warned of a "very high" risk of cholera in Lebanon following the wave of mass displacement caused by Israel's nationwide airstrike campaign and southern ground offensive.

Displaced children paint on a beach next to a temporary shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, on Oct. 16, 2024.
Louisa Gouliamaki/Reuters

The WHO warning came after Lebanon's Health Ministry confirmed the first cholera case in the north of the country on Wednesday.

WHO "has activated a preparedness and response plan to strengthen surveillance and contact tracing," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

-ABC News' Dragana Jovanovic and Guy Davies

Oct 17, 2024, 4:43 AM EDT

IDF claims destruction of 150 Hezbollah targets in 24 hours

The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday that its troops and warplanes "eliminated more than 45 terrorists and destroyed more than 150 targets" in Lebanon in the previous 24 hours.

Smoke rises from Jabal al-Rihan in southern Lebanon amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on Oct. 17, 2024.
Karamallah Daher/Reuters

Among the Hezbollah targets were "weapons warehouses, launchers and military buildings of the organization," the IDF said in a post on X.

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