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Israel-Gaza-Lebanon live updates: Drone strike targets Netanyahu's house

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.

Last Updated: October 19, 2024, 2:43 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 18, 2024, 5:06 PM EDT

Targeting of UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon is 'absolutely unacceptable,' Italian prime minister says

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Lebanon Friday, calling the targeting of United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon -- peacekeeping forces -- "absolutely unacceptable."

"We are committed to discussing the issue of the displaced in Lebanon at a European level,” Meloni sad.

Meloni called for a 21-day cease-fire after meeting with Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

Fighting continued in Lebanon on Friday with the Israel Defense Forces issuing more evacuation orders in southern Lebanon and calling up an "additional reserve brigade" for "operational missions" in northern Israel.

There were 87 airstrikes over the past 24 hours, according to the Lebanese prime minister's office said. Six people were killed and 69 others were wounded in the strikes. Over 2,400 people have been killed and over 11,300 were wounded since Israel began its increased attacks on Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry Public of Health.

-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman

Oct 18, 2024, 2:00 PM EDT

Sinwar killed using tank after exchange of fire with Israeli soldiers, IDF says

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by tank fire that targeted a building he was inside after Israeli soldiers and Hamas members exchanged fire on the streets of Rafah Wednesday, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Two of the Hamas members were killed by IDF soldiers in the exchange of fire before a third Hamas member ran into a building. Israeli forces then sent a drone into the building for surveillance, which they used to determine that the third Hamas fighter was still alive inside.

IDF Chief of the General Staff Herzl Halevi and other officers tour the scene of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s death in Rafah, Oct 17, 2024.
Israel Defense Forces

The IDF then used a tank to fire at the building, "eliminating" the person inside, the IDF said. The IDF did not get Sinwar's body and positively identify him until Thursday.

Sinwar was found with a handgun and documents that are also being analyzed, the IDF said.

-ABC News' Dorit Long

Oct 18, 2024, 1:13 PM EDT

Biden says cease-fire in Lebanon a 'possibility,' but 'harder in Gaza'

President Joe Biden is now on his way back to the U.S. after wrapping his day in Berlin meeting with Quad leaders, saying there is a “possibility” of working toward a cease-fire in both Lebanon and Gaza.

"We think there is a road to peace there,” Biden said before boarding Air Force One in Berlin, but cautioned that "it's going to be harder, it's going to be difficult."

"There's an opportunity, in my view, and my colleagues agree, that we can probably deal with Israel and Iran in a way that is -- ends the conflict for a while."

He said there’s also a "possibility of working towards a cease-fire in Lebanon," but it will be "harder in Gaza."

President Joe Biden speaks to journalists before boarding Air Force One at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport in Schoenefeld, southeast of the German capital, on Oct. 18, 2024, at the end of his state visit to Germany.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Biden also said he understands what Israel will do regarding a retaliatory strike against Iran and when they will respond, though he did not reveal any of the options or timing.

A reporter asked, "Do you have a good understanding right now what Israel is going to do in response to Iran's Oct. 1 attacks and when they will actually respond to Iran?"

"Yes and yes," Biden said.

-ABC News' Justin Ryan Gomez

Oct 18, 2024, 10:28 AM EDT

White House says Sinwar's death is 'inflection point' for cease-fire negotiations

National security communications adviser John Kirby called Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s death an "inflection point" in this war, providing a new opportunity to reach a cease-fire deal.

"So Hamas is in a much, much, much weakened position than it ever was before," Kirby told reporters in Berlin, where he is visiting alongside Joe Biden. "The president believes that certainly with Sinwar's killing yesterday, that there's a unique opportunity here for us all to kind of grab hold of to see what we can do to end the war and to get a cease-fire. And we still believe that a cease-fire, actually in the north too, but we still believe a cease-fire is important for Gaza to get those hostages home."

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Khiam, Oct. 18, 2024.
AFP via Getty Images

When pressed by reporters on what makes the White House so confident that Sinwar's death truly does open the door to achieve a deal that had not been possible for months, Kirby said that it's a "unique opportunity" to take the intensive diplomacy to the next level. Kirby also explained why it was difficult to negotiate with Sinwar.

"Every time his political advisers would -- we would negotiate with and through them to come up with a proposal, it would have to get to him," Kirby said. "Of course, that took time because of the communications challenges, and then he would just, he would just refute it and refuse to move forward."

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart

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