DEIR AL BARAH, Gaza Strip (AP) – At least 19 people were killed in an Israeli military attack on a mosque in the Gaza Strip early Sunday, as Israel steps up shelling of northern Gaza and southern Beirut in an escalating war with Iran. announced a Palestinian official. -Allied with armed groups across the region.
Displaced people were taking shelter at a mosque that was attacked near the main hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah. A further four people were killed in a strike against a school sheltering displaced people near the town.
The Israeli military said both attacks targeted militants, without providing evidence.
An Associated Press reporter counted the number of bodies at the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue. According to hospital records, all those killed in the attack on the mosque were men.
Israel is still fighting Hamas in Gaza, a year after Hamas attacked Israel. opened a new front. After Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel last week, Israel has vowed to attack Iran itself.
An escalation of the conflict risks involving not only the United States, which has provided important military and diplomatic support to Israel, but also U.S.-allied Arab states that station American troops. Iranian-allied militant groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen have already taken part in long-range attacks on Israel.
Israeli forces return to Jabaliya and issue new evacuation orders
Meanwhile, the Israeli military announced a new air and ground offensive into Jabaliya, northern Gaza, a densely populated refugee camp dating back to the 1948 war over Israel’s creation. Photos and video footage were circulated showing columns of tanks heading into the area.
According to the military, Israeli forces surrounded Jabaliya as fighter jets attacked militant strongholds in the city. During the war, Israel conducted several large-scale operations there, only to see the militants regroup.
Israel repeatedly called for the complete evacuation of northern Gaza from the first weeks of the war. Up to 300,000 people are estimated to remain in the heavily destroyed north, after earlier warnings by Israel caused around 1 million people to evacuate south.
“We are entering a new phase of the war,” the military said in leaflets distributed in the area. “These areas are considered dangerous combat zones.”
Palestinian residents reported large-scale Israeli attacks across northern Gaza. The Civil Defense, a first-response force operating under the Hamas-run government, said several homes and buildings were hit and that it was unable to make contact due to shelling.
Residents posted about the airstrike on social media and mourned their relatives. Imad Alarabid said in a Facebook post that more than a dozen members of his family, including his parents, were killed in an airstrike on his home in Jabariya. Health Ministry medic Saeed Abu Elaish said he was injured and bleeding.
“Please pray for us,” he wrote on Facebook.
Freelance television journalist Hassan Hammoud, whose footage was shown on Al Jazeera and other networks, was killed in shelling of his home in Jabaliya. Anas al-Sharif, a reporter for Al Jazeera in northern Gaza, confirmed the death.
The military has announced it is expanding the so-called humanitarian zone in southern Gaza and calling on people to move there. Hundreds of thousands of people have already taken refuge in vast tent camps with little food, water or sanitation. Israel carried out attacks in humanitarian zones, claiming that militants were hiding among civilians.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, around 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war. It did not say how many fighters there were, but said just over half were women and children.
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people and took another 250 hostages in the October 7 attack. Approximately 100 prisoners are still being held, and one-third of them are thought to have died.
Heavy shelling in southern Beirut
In Beirut, airstrikes lit up the skyline and loud explosions echoed throughout the night in the southern suburb known as Dahiyeh as Israel attacked alleged Hezbollah militant strongholds.
A man rides a scooter over the remains of a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Dahieh, Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Marra)
Lebanon’s state news agency said the area was hit by more than 30 airstrikes overnight, the heaviest bombing since September 23, when Israel escalated its air campaign.
The agency said targets included gas stations and medical supplies warehouses on the main highway leading to Beirut airport. Part of the night strike involved a series of prolonged explosions, suggesting that ammunition depots may have been damaged.
The Israeli military confirmed it was attacking targets near Beirut and said about 30 projectiles entered Israeli territory from Lebanon, some of which were intercepted.
Hezbollah said it had successfully targeted a group of Israeli soldiers in northern Israel “with a precise volley of large rockets.” The claim could not be verified.
In less than two weeks, at least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, medical workers, and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million people have been forced to flee their homes. Israel said the aim was to drive extremist groups from its borders and allow tens of thousands of Israelis to return home.
Iran-backed Hezbollah, Lebanon’s strongest military, began firing rockets at Israel shortly after the October 7 Hamas attack, in what it called a show of support for the Palestinians. Hezbollah and the Israeli military engage in almost daily gun battles.
Israel launched a limited ground operation into southern Lebanon last week after a series of attacks killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his senior leaders. The fighting is the worst since a month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. Nine Israeli soldiers were killed in the ground battle, and Israel said 440 Hezbollah fighters were killed.
Battlefield reports from either side cannot be verified.
Macron refutes Prime Minister Netanyahu’s accusations
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday reiterated his call for a partial arms embargo on Israel, a call that drew an angry response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“A ceasefire is necessary to stop the escalating violence, free hostages, protect civilians and pave the way for a necessary political solution to the Gaza conflict,” Macron’s office said in a written statement. Therefore, I am in favor of halting the export of arms for use in Gaza.” The security of Israel and the entire Middle East. ”
Following Macron’s earlier similar remarks, Netanyahu released a video statement calling out the French president by name, calling such calls “shameful.”
Macron’s office insisted that “France is a steadfast friend of Israel” and called Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comments “excessive.”
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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed.
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