Israel-Gaza-Lebanon updates: Nasrallah killed for tying Hezbollah cause to Gaza war

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Friday.

Last Updated: September 29, 2024, 2:21 PM EDT

Israel is firing strikes into Lebanon as the conflict in the Middle East intensifies.

Israel believes it has eliminated around 30 top Hezbollah leaders over the last several weeks, including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday, U.S. and Israeli officials said.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Sep 26, 2024, 6:23 AM EDT

IDF continues deadly strikes as ground offensive looms

At least 23 more people were killed as Israeli warplanes continued airstrikes in Lebanon through Thursday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces said its aircraft struck approximately 75 Hezbollah targets in the south of the country and the eastern Bekaa region overnight. The force said it is continuing operations "to dismantle and degrade Hezbollah's capabilities."

An Israeli F-16 fighter jet flies over the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Sept. 26, 2024.
Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

Since Monday, Israel's intensified air campaign killed nearly 700 people and wounded more than 1,700 others, per data from the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

The IDF said Hezbollah fired approximately 45 projectiles into Israel from Lebanon on Thursday morning, some of which were intercepted with the rest falling in open areas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, dismissed hopes of a U.S.-brokered cease-fire that would forestall Israel's planned ground invasion of southern Lebanon.

Netanyahu "instructed the IDF to continue the fighting with full force and according to the plans presented to him," according to a statement published on his official X page on Thursday.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti

Sep 26, 2024, 5:24 AM EDT

Netanyahu says cease-fire news 'incorrect,' vows to continue fight in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said news about a potential cease-fire deal between Hezbollah and Israel being discussed is "incorrect."

"This is an American-French proposal, to which the prime minister did not even respond," he said in a statement posted on social media on Thursday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference for the international media at the Government Press office in Jerusalem, Sept. 4 2024.
Abir Sultan/pool via Reuters

He added, "The news about the supposed directive to moderate the fighting in the north is also the opposite of the truth. The Prime Minister instructed the IDF to continue the fighting with full force, and according to the plans presented to him. Also, the fighting in Gaza will continue until all the goals of the war are achieved."

-ABC News' Joe Simonetti and Kevin Shalvey

Sep 26, 2024, 4:48 AM EDT

Biden says 'significant support' for Israel-Lebanon cease-fire plan

President Joe Biden told reporters outside the White House on Wednesday night that the U.S. was "able to generate significant support from Europe, as well as the Arab nations" for a 21-day cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah to head off a full-scale war in Lebanon.

President Joe Biden walks from Marine One upon arrival on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 25, 2024.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

"It's important this war not widen," the president said. "I'll have more to say about it tomorrow."

In a call with reporters just before the president landed, senior administration officials described the proposal as a "breakthrough" they hoped would produce momentum in Lebanon and in stalled talks between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip

"This is an important breakthrough on the Lebanon side, given all that has gone on there, particularly over the last few weeks," a senior administration official said. "But you know, we will try to use the space that provides wisely on all on all fronts."

The officials indicated that a response is expected over the next several hours.

"I guess the parties are going to respond for themselves to the call, but I can share that we have had this conversation with the parties and felt this was the right moment, based on the call, based on our discussion, they are familiar with the text and again, we'll let them speak to their actions of accepting the deal in the coming hours," a senior administration official said.

Officials said they'd been negotiating with Lebanon nonstop for the past 48 hours, and that its leaders there were aware they speak for "everything that happens on that side of the border," indicating that they will accept the deal on behalf of Hezbollah.

"So our expectation is when the government of Lebanon or when the government of Israel both accept this, this will carry and be implemented as a ceasefire on both sides, on both sides of the blue line, for the period of the 21 days," an official said.

-ABC News Cheyenne Haslett

Sep 26, 2024, 4:14 AM EDT

US troops in Cyprus preparing for Lebanon evacuations, official confirms

A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that the small number of additional American military personnel deployed to the Middle East are on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, where they are planning for "non-combatant evacuation operations" in Lebanon.

An Israeli Black Hawk helicopter flies over Israel's northern city of Haifa on Sept. 26, 2024.
Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

The planning remains a precautionary measure, the official said. ABC News understands that between 12 and 24 American troops are involved in the preparations, not all of whom are special operations personnel.

Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Wednesday she could not confirm the exact number of personnel deployed.

"What I can tell you is that we are sending a small number of additional U.S. military personnel forward to augment forces that are already in the region," she told reporters.

"I'm just not going to be able to provide you more specifics," she added. "I know it's frustrating, but I'm just not going to be able to confirm more."

-ABC News' Luis Martinez