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

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

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.

Oct 16, 2024, 1:20 PM EDT

Netanyahu says Israel won't accept 'unilateral cease-fire' in Lebanon

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is opposed to a "unilateral cease-fire" in Lebanon during a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to a statement from Netanyahu's office.

"The Prime Minister said in the conversation that he is opposed to a unilateral cease-fire, which does not change the security situation in Lebanon, and which will only return it to the way it was," the statement said.

Netanyahu "made it clear" that Israel won't accept a cease-fire deal in Lebanon "that would not prevent Hezbollah from reorganizing and rearming," the statement said.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller

Oct 16, 2024, 1:20 PM EDT

Israel says it killed Hezbollah commander in strike on southern Lebanon

Israel said it killed Hezbollah commander Jalal Mustafa Hariri in a strike on southern Lebanon Wednesday. Hezbollah has not confirmed the death of the commander.

Three people were killed and 54 others were injured in a strike in the Qana and Nabatieh areas, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

-ABC News' Dorit Long and Josiane Hajj Moussa

Oct 16, 2024, 12:58 PM EDT

US announces more sanctions against Hezbollah, Syrian regime

The U.S. has announced another round of sanctions targeting several individuals and companies it accuses of generating funds for Hezbollah's operations by helping the terror group evade existing financial restrictions.

The Biden administration also announced sanctions against three individuals allegedly involved in the production and trafficking of captagon, a synthetic amphetamine-type stimulant that it says "harms communities and countries across the region and beyond and is a source of funding for the Syrian regime and its backers," which include Hezbollah.

"The United States is steadfast in our commitment to disrupt Hizballah’s access to the international financial system and its various methods of generating revenue, which the Iran-backed group uses to fund its violence. We will also continue to target the illicit captagon trade in the region, which has become an illicit billion-dollar enterprise operated in part by senior members of the Syrian regime," the administration said in a statement.

-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston

Oct 16, 2024, 10:16 AM EDT

At least 6 killed in strike on Lebanese town headquarters

At least six people were killed and 43 injured in an Israeli strike on Nabatieh, Lebanon, which hit the town's municipal headquarters during a meeting, according to Lebanese Minister of the Interior Bassam Mawlawi. The city's mayor was among those killed.

"⁠The targeting of the municipality building in Nabatieh occurred during the coordination of relief work and the preparation of aid for distribution to the residents in the cities and villages of the region who are steadfast in the face of the war they are being subjected to and against Lebanon," Mawlawi said in a statement.

Smoke billows during Israeli airstrikes in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh on Oct. 16, 2024
Abbas Fakih/AFP via Getty Images

The town's mayor reportedly told Reuters that he would not leave the town after an evacuation notice was issued by Israel for Nabatieh on Oct. 3.

Smoke billows during Israeli airstrikes in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh on Oct. 16, 2024.
Abbas Fakih/AFP via Getty Images

Israel said it struck dozens of Hezbollah targets in Nabatieh and dismantled underground infrastructure in southern Lebanon, including a tunnel network under the town. Israel has not commented on strike whether the took place during the coordination of relief efforts.

-ABC News' Guy Davies

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