A boat with dozens of migrants rips apart in the English Channel off France, killing 12

BOULOGNE-SUR-MER, France (AP) — A boat carrying migrants ripped apart in the English Channel as they attempted to reach Britain from northern France on Tuesday, plunging dozens into the treacherous waterway and leaving 12 dead, authorities said.

Most of the victims were believed to be women, some under 18, and many of the passengers didn't have life preservers, officials said, with one calling it the deadliest migrant accident in the channel this year.

“Unfortunately, the bottom of the boat ripped open,” said Olivier Barbarin, mayor of Le Portel near Boulogne-sur-Mer, where a first aid post was set up to treat victims. “If people don’t know how to swim in the agitated waters ... it can go very quickly."

Europe’s increasingly strict asylum rules, growing xenophobia and hostile treatment of migrants have been pushing them north. Before Tuesday’s accident, at least 30 migrants had died or gone missing while trying to cross to the U.K. this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Rescuers pulled a total of 65 people from the English Channel on Tuesday in a search that lasted more than four hours, according to Lt. Etienne Baggio, a spokesman for the French agency that oversees the stretch of sea where the boat ripped apart. Doctors confirmed 12 died, he said.

Another 12 people were hospitalized, and two were in very serious conditions, authorities said.

Adam Beernaert, director of the Civil Protection authority, whose personnel looks after rescued migrants once they reach land, said the people his team attended Tuesday were traumatized. “What needs to be said is that they shouldn’t cross,” Beernaert told the AP. “The sea is not easy. Weather conditions change all the time.”

Baggio called it the deadliest migrant boat tragedy in the English Channel this year. In July, four migrants died while attempting the crossing on an inflatable boat that capsized and punctured. Five others, including a child, died in another attempt in April. And five dead were recovered from the seas or found washed up along a beach after a migrant boat ran into difficulties in the dark and winter cold of January.

Many of those aboard the vessel that broke up in the English Channel on Tuesday didn't have life vests, Baggio said. It was not immediately clear what kind of boat it was. Three helicopters, a plane, two fishing boats and more than six other vessels were involved in the rescue operation.

In another sea tragedy Tuesday involving migrants seeking a better life in Europe, a boat carrying migrants capsized in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast, leaving one person dead and 22 missing, Libyan authorities said.

The agency overseeing the rescue operation in the English Channel said the boat got into difficulty off Gris-Nez point between Boulogne-sur-Mer and the port of Calais further north. Sea temperatures off northern France were around 20 degrees C, or about 68 F.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin went to Boulogne-sur-Mer to meet those involved in handling what he described as the “terrible shipwreck.” He said the boat was frail and small — less than 7 meters (23 feet) long — and that smugglers are packing more and more people aboard such vessels. Most of the people on the boat were believed to be from Eritrea, and most of the victims were women, he said.

Last week, the leaders of France and the U.K. agreed to deepen cooperation on illegal migration in the channel.

“We absolutely must — and this is a very important point — re-establish special relations with our British friends,” Darmanin said on Tuesday. He later told the AP that to successfully tackle smuggling networks, immigration legislation between the U.K. and France should be harmonized.

“It has now been 30 years that these problems remain, and it is absolutely necessary that we find solutions,” said Barbarin, the mayor of Le Portel.

U.K. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called it “a horrifying and deeply tragic incident” and paid tribute to French rescuers “who undoubtedly saved many lives, but sadly could not save everyone.”

“The gangs behind this appalling and callous trade in human lives have been cramming more and more people onto increasingly unseaworthy dinghies, and sending them out into the Channel even in very poor weather," she said.

“They do not care about anything but the profits they make, and that is why — as well as mourning the awful loss of life — the work to dismantle these dangerous and criminal smuggler gangs and to strengthen border security is so vital and must proceed apace.”

At least 2,109 migrants have tried to cross the English Channel on small boats in the past seven days, according to U.K. Home Office data updated Tuesday. The data includes people found in the channel or on arrival.

Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed.

Follow AP coverage of migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

A view of one of the vessels from the French Gendarmerie Nationale in the port of Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, after participating in the rescue operation after a boat carrying migrants ripped apart attempting to cross the English Channel. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)

A view of one of the vessels from the French Gendarmerie Nationale in the port of Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, after participating in the rescue operation after a boat carrying migrants ripped apart attempting to cross the English Channel. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)

A view of one of the vessels from the French Gendarmerie Nationale in the port of Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, after participating in the rescue operation after a boat carrying migrants ripped apart attempting to cross the English Channel. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)

A view of one of the vessels from the French Gendarmerie Nationale in the port of Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, after participating in the rescue operation after a boat carrying migrants ripped apart attempting to cross the English Channel. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)

In this grab taken from video provided by BFM Littoral, emergency services at the port of Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, after a boat thought to be carrying migrants ripped apart attempting to cross the English Channel. (BFM Littoral via AP)

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says there is a “high probability” that three hostages found dead months ago were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

The army on Sunday announced the conclusions of its investigation into the deaths of Cpl. Nik Beizer, Sgt. Ron Sherman and Elia Toledano.

It said investigations had determined that the three were likely killed in a November airstrike that also killed a senior Hamas militant, Ahmed Ghandour.

All three of the hostages were kidnapped in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Their bodies were recovered in December, but the cause of death was only recently determined.

In its report, the army said there was a “high probability” they were killed in the strike, based on where the bodies were recovered, pathological reports and other intelligence. But it said, "it is not possible to definitely determine the circumstances of their deaths."

The conclusions could add pressure on the government to strike a deal to bring home the remaining hostages held by Hamas. Critics say it is too difficult and dangerous to try to rescue them.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

JERUSALEM (AP) —

A missile fired by Yemen's Iran-backed rebels landed in an open area in central Israel early Sunday and triggered air raid sirens at its international airport, in the latest reverberation from the nearly yearlong war in Gaza. Israel hinted that it would respond militarily.

There were no reports of casualties or major damage, but Israeli media aired footage showing people racing to shelters in Ben Gurion International Airport. The airport authority said it resumed normal operations shortly thereafter.

A fire could be seen in a rural area of central Israel, and local media showed images of what appeared to be a fragment from an interceptor that landed on an escalator in a train station in the central town of Modiin.

The Israeli military said it made several attempts to intercept the missile using its multitiered air defenses but had not yet determined whether any had been successful. It said the missile appeared to have fragmented midair, and that the incident is still under review. The military said the sound of explosions in the area came from interceptors.

The Yemeni rebels, known as Houthis, have repeatedly fired drones and missiles toward Israel since the start of the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, but nearly all of them have been intercepted over the Red Sea.

In July, an Iranian-made drone launched by the Houthis struck Tel Aviv, killing one person and wounding 10 others. Israel responded with a wave of airstrikes on Houthi-held areas of Yemen, including the port city of Hodeidah, a Houthi stronghold.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at a similar response in remarks at a Cabinet meeting after Sunday's attack.

“The Houthis should have known by now that we exact a heavy price for any attempt to harm us," he said. “Anyone who needs a reminder is invited to visit the port of Hodeidah.”

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the rebels, said they fired a ballistic missile targeting “a military target” in the area of Tel Aviv.

The Houthis have also repeatedly attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea, in what the rebels portray as a blockade on Israel in support of the Palestinians. Most of the targeted ships have no connection to Israel.

On Sunday, a European Union naval mission operating in the Red Sea said salvagers had begun towing a tanker that had been on fire for weeks after a Houthi attack. Operations Aspides said the Greek-flagged Sounion was being taken to a “safe location.”

The war in Gaza, which began with Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel, has rippled across the region, with Iran and allied militant groups attacking Israeli and U.S. targets and drawing retaliatory strikes from Israel and its Western allies. On several occasions, the strikes and counterstrikes have threatened to trigger a wider conflict.

International carriers have canceled flights into and out of Israel on a number of occasions since the start of the war, adding to the war's economic toll on the country.

Iran supports militant groups across the region, including Hamas, the Houthis and Lebanon's Hezbollah, its most powerful ally, which has traded fire with Israel on a near-daily basis since the war in Gaza began. Iran and its allies say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.

The military said around 40 projectiles were fired from Lebanon early Sunday, with most intercepted or falling in open areas.

In a separate incident, Israeli forces dropped leaflets over the Lebanese border town of al-Wazzani calling on residents to evacuate. The military later said there were no such evacuation orders, and that a local commander had acted without the approval of his superiors. It said the incident was under investigation.

It was not clear if anyone had evacuated the town, or if any message had been conveyed to residents that the leaflets were dropped in error.

The strikes along the Israel-Lebanon border have displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides. Israel has repeatedly threatened to launch a wider military operation against Hezbollah to ensure its citizens can return to their homes.

“The status quo will not continue,” Netanyahu said at the Cabinet meeting. “This requires a change in the balance of power on our northern border. We will do everything necessary to return our residents safely to their homes.”

Hezbollah has said it would halt its attacks if there is a cease-fire in Gaza. The United States and Arab mediators Egypt and Qatar have spent much of this year trying to broker a truce and the release of scores of hostages held by Hamas, but the talks have repeatedly bogged down.

In recent weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted on lasting Israeli control over the Gaza side of the border with Egypt, which Israeli forces captured in May. He has said Hamas used a network of tunnels beneath the border to import arms, allegations denied by Egypt, which along with Hamas is opposed to any lasting Israeli presence there.

An Israeli military official said late Saturday that of the dozens of tunnels discovered along the border, only nine entered Egypt, and all were found to have been sealed off. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence, said it was not clear when the tunnels were sealed.

The discovery appeared to weaken Netanyahu’s argument that Israel needs to keep open-ended control of the corridor to prevent cross-border smuggling.

Egypt has said it sealed off the tunnels on its side of the border years ago, in part by creating its own military buffer zone along the frontier.

Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel. Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo, Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

A crater is seen after the military fired interceptors at what the Israeli army says is a missile launched from Yemen that landed in central Israel on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A police officer inspects the area around a fire after the military said it fired interceptors at a missile launched from Yemen that landed in central Israel on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A police officer inspects the area around a fire after the military said it fired interceptors at a missile launched from Yemen that landed in central Israel on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A firefighter works in the area around a fire after the military said it fired interceptors at a missile launched from Yemen that landed in central Israel on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A police officer inspects the area around a fire after the military said it fired interceptors at a missile launched from Yemen that landed in central Israel on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Smoke rises from a fire in central Israel after the Israeli army said a missile fired from Yemen landed in an open area on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)