Israel-Gaza-Lebanon updates: 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 15, 2024, 7:49 AM EDT

US troops arrive in Israel to support THAAD deployment

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement Tuesday that American troops are already in Israel to support the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to the country.

"An advance team of U.S. military personnel and initial components" required to operate the system arrived in Israel on Monday, Ryder said.

"Over the coming days, additional U.S. military personnel and THAAD battery components will continue to arrive in Israel," he added.

"The battery will be fully operational capable in the near future, but for operations security reasons we will not discuss timelines," Ryder said.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez

Oct 15, 2024, 7:50 AM EDT

10 members of 1 family killed in Khan Younis strike

Ten members of the same family were killed in an airstrike in southern Gaza early on Tuesday, a health ministry official told ABC News.

The strike hit a house in Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Younis, at 12:30 a.m. local time Tuesday morning, local health officials said.

Ten members of the Abu Tai'ma family were killed, including three children aged 7, 8 and 11, a spokesperson for the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry told ABC News.

The Israel Defense Forces is yet to comment on the strike.

-ABC News' Dia Ostaaz and Guy Davies

Oct 15, 2024, 7:30 AM EDT

Israeli police officer killed in shooting attack

The Israel Police said in a statement Tuesday that an officer was killed in a shooting attack near the southern city of Ashdod.

Members of Israeli security and emergency services deploy at the site of a shooting on the Yavne interchange, near the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, on Oct. 15, 2024.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images

The attacker shot the officer and then "continued on a shooting spree" and wounded three more civilians, police said. The attacker was then "neutralized by a civilian," police said.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller

Oct 15, 2024, 6:18 AM EDT

Netanyahu listening to US 'opinions' in Iran attack planning

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday "our national interests" will be the prime consideration in Israel's response to Iran's Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, on Sept. 27, 2024.
Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

Netanyahu was responding to a Washington Post report suggesting he had assured the U.S. that Israel would target Iranian military -- and not nuclear or oil infrastructure -- targets in its planned retaliation for Tehran's recent missile barrage.

"We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interests," the prime minister's office said in a post on X.

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