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Israel-Gaza-Lebanon live updates: Netanyahu OKs targets for Iran strike: source

There was no word still on when the strikes will happen.

ByDavid Brennan, Julia Reinstein, Nadine El-Bawab, and Ivan Pereira
Last Updated: October 17, 2024, 7:25 AM EDT

The Israel Defense Forces continue intense air and ground campaigns against Hezbollah in Lebanon and against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The uptick in offensive operations came after Israel marked the anniversary of Hamas' Oct. 7 assault, and as Israeli leaders planned their response to Iran's latest ballistic missile attack.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
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

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

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.

3:57 AM EDT

US bombs Houthi weapons storage sites

U.S. Central Command said it conducted "precision airstrikes on numerous Iran-backed Houthi weapons storage facilities" on Wednesday.

The sites "contained various advanced conventional weapons used to target U.S. and international military and civilian vessels navigating international waters throughout the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden," CENTCOM said in a statement.

CENTCOM said the strike was intended to degrade the Houthis' ability to launch "reckless and unlawful attacks on international commercial shipping and on U.S., coalition, and merchant personnel and vessels" in the region.

B-2 stealth bomber aircraft were among the assets involved in the mission, CENTCOM said. "The employment of the B-2 bomber demonstrates U.S. global strike capabilities to reach these targets, when necessary, anytime, anywhere," it added.

CENTCOM said its analyses of the strikes "are underway and do not indicate civilian casualties."

-ABC News' Matthew Seyler

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