An Israeli strike on a mosque in the Gaza Strip early Sunday killed at least 19 people, Palestinian officials said, as Israel intensified its bombing of northern Gaza and southern Beirut in a war which extends with militant groups allied with Iran throughout the region.
The displaced people were sheltering in the mosque that was struck near the main hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah. Four other people were killed in a strike on a school housing displaced people near the town.
The Israeli military said both strikes targeted militants, without providing evidence.
An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies at the morgue at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Hospital records showed that the victims of the mosque attack were all men.
Israel continues to fight Hamas in Gaza a year after the group’s attack on Israel, and has opened a new front in Lebanon against Hezbollah, which has exchanged fire with Israel along the border since the start of the war in Gaza. Israel also vowed to strike Iran itself after Tehran launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel last week.
The scale of the conflict risks drawing in the United States, which has provided crucial military and diplomatic support to Israel, as well as U.S.-allied Arab countries that host U.S. forces. Militant groups allied with Iran in Syria, Iraq and Yemen have already joined long-range strikes against Israel.
Israeli forces return to Jabaliya, issue new evacuation orders
The Israeli army, for its part, announced a new air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, northern Gaza, which is home to a densely populated refugee camp dating from the 1948 war that surrounded the creation of Israel. He released photos and video footage showing a column of tanks heading towards the area.
Israeli forces surrounded Jabaliya as military aircraft struck militant sites inside, the army said. During the war, Israel carried out several large-scale operations there, but the militants regrouped.
Israel reiterated its call, from the first weeks of the war, for the complete evacuation of northern Gaza. Up to 300,000 people are estimated to remain in the heavily destroyed north after earlier Israeli warnings sent around a million people fleeing south.
“We are in a new phase of the war,” the military declared in leaflets dropped on the region. “These areas are considered dangerous combat zones.”
Palestinian residents have reported heavy Israeli strikes in northern Gaza. Civil Defense – the first responders that operate under the Hamas-led government – said several houses and buildings were hit and they were unable to reach them due to the bombardment.
Residents posted about the airstrikes and mourned their loved ones on social media. Imad Alarabid said in a Facebook post that an airstrike on his home in Jabaliya killed a dozen members of his family, including his parents. Saeed Abu Elaish, a health ministry doctor, said he was injured and bleeding.
“Pray for us,” he wrote on Facebook.
Hassan Hamd, an independent journalist whose images were broadcast on Al Jazeera and other networks, was killed in an artillery bombardment on his house in Jabaliya. Anas al-Sharif, a journalist with Al Jazeera in northern Gaza, confirmed his death.
The army claims to have expanded the so-called humanitarian zone in southern Gaza, urging the population to go there. Hundreds of thousands of people have already found refuge there in vast tent camps, with little food, water or toilets. Israel has carried out strikes in the humanitarian zone against what it considers to be militants hiding among civilians.
Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to Gaza’s health ministry. It is not specified how many of them were combatants, but it indicates that a little more than half were women and children.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in the October 7 attack and took another 250 hostage. They still hold around a hundred prisoners, a third of whom are believed to have died.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health says 1,974 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in the country since October 8, 2023.
Intense bombardment of southern Beirut
In Beirut, airstrikes lit up the skyline and loud explosions echoed through the night in the southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, as Israel struck what it said were Hezbollah militant sites.
Lebanon’s National News Agency said the area was hit by more than 30 strikes overnight, the heaviest bombardment since September 23, when Israel intensified its air campaign.
The targets included a gas station on the main highway leading to Beirut airport and a medical supplies warehouse, the agency said. Some nighttime strikes triggered a long series of explosions, suggesting munitions depots may have been hit.
The Israeli military confirmed it was hitting targets near Beirut and said around 30 projectiles passed from Lebanon into Israeli territory, some of which were intercepted.
Hezbollah said it managed to target a group of Israeli soldiers in northern Israel “with a large salvo of rockets, hitting them precisely.” It was not possible to confirm this statement.
At least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, doctors and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million driven from their homes in less than two weeks. Israel says it wants to keep the militant group away from its border so that tens of thousands of Israeli citizens can return home.
Iran-backed Hezbollah, Lebanon’s most powerful armed force, began firing rockets into Israel almost immediately after the Hamas attack on October 7, calling it a show of support for the Palestinians. Hezbollah and the Israeli army exchanged fire almost daily.
Last week, Israel launched what it called a limited ground operation in southern Lebanon after a series of attacks killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his top commanders. . The fighting is the worst since Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006. Nine Israeli soldiers were killed in ground clashes that Israel said killed 440 Hezbollah fighters.
It is not possible to verify battlefield reports from both sides.
Macron responds to Netanyahu’s accusations
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday reiterated his call for a partial arms embargo against Israel – a demand that sparked an angry response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a written statement, Macron’s office said it favored stopping arms exports for use in Gaza because a ceasefire is necessary “to stop the rise in violence, free the hostages , protect civilians and pave the way for the political solutions necessary for the security of Israel and the entire Middle East.
Macron’s similar remarks led Netanyahu to issue a video statement in which he called out the French president by name and called such calls a “disgrace.”
Macron’s office insisted that “France is Israel’s unwavering friend” and called Netanyahu’s comments “excessive.”
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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed.
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