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Israel-Gaza-Lebanon live updates: Israel says it's now striking Iran

The IDF said it has the "right and the duty to respond."

ByDavid Brennan, Meredith Deliso, and Nadine El-Bawab
Last Updated: October 25, 2024, 7:52 PM EDT

Israeli forces continued their intense operations inside Gaza after Hamas leader and Oct. 7, 2023, attack mastermind Yahya Sinwar was killed last week in a firefight with Israeli forces.

The development came as Israel continues intense air and ground campaigns against Hezbollah in Lebanon and against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and mulls its response to Iran's latest ballistic missile attack.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Oct 23, 2024, 7:31 AM EDT

Blinken to travel to Qatar, UK after Saudi visit

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Qatar and the U.K. after his Wednesday stop in Saudi Arabia, the State Department announced.

Blinken left Israel early Wednesday following meetings with officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on ahead of a meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 23, 2024.
Nathan Howard/Reuters

The visit was the first on a Middle East tour intended to kickstart stalled cease-fire negotiations in Gaza and encourage a diplomatic resolution to the ongoing fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.

Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday morning ahead of a planned meeting with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman.

-ABC News' Cindy Smith

Oct 23, 2024, 7:20 AM EDT

US has 'not seen evidence' of bunker under Beirut hospital: Austin

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters Wednesday that U.S. officials have "not seen evidence" to support Israel's claim of a Hezbollah bunker located under Al-Sahel hospital in southern Beirut.

This photo shows the entrance of Al-Sahel Hospital in southern Beirut, Lebanon, on Oct. 22, 2024.
Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images

"We'll continue to collaborate with our Israeli counterparts to gain better fidelity on exactly what they're looking at," Austin added.

Israel claims Hezbollah is using the purported bunker to store hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold under the city's southern Dahiya suburb. Hospital officials have denied the allegation.

The area -- known as a Hezbollah stronghold -- has been the focus of its intense airstrikes on the Lebanese capital over the past month.

-ABC News' Chris Boccia

Oct 23, 2024, 7:10 AM EDT

Austin says no staffers probed in FBI's Israel leak investigation

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday denied reports that one of his senior staffers is under investigation by the FBI in connection with leaked Pentagon documents purportedly relating to Israel's planned retaliatory strike on Iran.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is pictured during a speech at Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Oct. 21, 2024.
Efrem Lukatsky/AP

"There's no OSD [Office of the Secretary of Defense] official being named as a part of this investigation," Austin told reporters while in Rome, Italy. "So that is not true at this point."

"I've seen no evidence of that, or any indication that any OSD official will be implicated as part of this."

-ABC News' Chris Boccia

Oct 23, 2024, 4:24 AM EDT

More overnight Israeli strikes rock Beirut

The Israel Defense Forces said warplanes conducted another night of airstrikes in the Lebanese capital targeting what it said were Hezbollah weapons storage, arms manufacturing and command center targets in the southern suburbs.

An is pictured over Beirut, Lebanon, as smoke rises from a nearby Israeli airstrike on Oct. 23, 2024.
Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters

The airstrikes centered on Dahiya -- an area of south Beirut known as a Hezbollah stronghold.

More than 2,500 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since Oct. 7, 2023, with nearly 12,000 injured, according to tallies from the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Will Gretsky

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