Israel-Hamas war latest: Oct. 7 mastermind thanks Hezbollah leader for his help attacking Israel

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar thanked Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah for his support in the ongoing war with Israel in a letter released Friday by Hezbollah’s media office.

In the letter, dated Monday, Sinwar thanks Nasrallah for the “blessed acts” of Iran-backed groups in their support for Hamas since Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted another 250. Sinwar called the war “one of the most honorable battles for the Palestinian people.”

On Oct. 8, Hezbollah started attacking Israeli military posts along the border, triggering an ongoing exchange of fire that has left hundreds dead.

Gaza's Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since the Israel-Hamas war began. It does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count.

The war has caused vast destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, and the United Nations reported the Palestinian economy is in a free fall. The report from the U.N. Trade and Development also warned of “rapid and alarming economic decline” in the West Bank, citing expanded Israeli settlements, land confiscations, demolition of Palestinian buildings and violence by settlers as dampening economic prospects.

Here's the latest:

JERUSALEM — The U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees says that one of its staffers was shot and killed during an Israeli military raid in the West Bank, the first such shooting of an agency staffer in the occupied territory in more than a decade.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency said Friday that a sniper fatally shot one of the agency’s sanitation workers on the roof of his home in the Faraa urban refugee camp in the northern West Bank during an Israeli military operation early Thursday. The UNRWA identified the worker as Sufyan Jawwad.

Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani confirmed that Israeli forces had killed the UNRWA employee in Faraa, saying that he had been throwing explosive devices at Israeli troops when he was shot. Shoshani also alleged that Jawwad had a past record of militant activity, without providing evidence.

“This is yet another example of an UNRWA employee taking active part in terrorist activities against Israel,” Shoshani said.

UNRWA did not immediately respond to the Israeli army allegations.

UNRWA was thrown into crisis earlier this year when Israel accused a dozen UNRWA employees of participating in Hamas’ devastating Oct. 7 attacks.

The relationship between UNRWA and Israel has long been tense because of the agency’s mission to care for Palestinian refugees and their descendants — now estimated at 6 million spread across the Middle East — who fled or were pushed from their homes during the 1948 war over Israel’s creation.

CAIRO — Israeli airstrikes continued to hit Gaza overnight and early Friday, killing at least 12 people in their homes, the Palestinian territory's Civil Defense said.

The strikes hit homes in Deir al Balah’s Nuseirat Camp as well as in Rafah, it said. In Nuseirat, three people died, including a woman and a child, and eleven others were injured by the strikes. In Rafah, strikes killed five people, including two children, Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal said.

Israeli strikes resumed Friday afternoon, killing another person in Nuseirat and three people in Gaza City.

Bassal said a day earlier that 16 people were killed by airstrikes on Gaza City on Thursday.

The strikes come nearly a day after health workers wrapped up the first round of the polio vaccination campaign during which hundreds of thousands of children were vaccinated. The second dose of the vaccine is expected to be provided in the coming weeks, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Gaza’s health ministry said Thursday that 41,119 Palestinians were killed, and 95,125 others were injured since the Israel-Hamas war broke out last October.

BEIRUT — The leader of the Palestinian Hamas group thanked Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief for his support in the ongoing war with Israel in a letter released Friday by Hezbollah’s media office.

Yahya Sinwar’s letter came in response to a message sent earlier by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in which he paid his condolence for the July killing of top Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh during a visit to Iran.

In the letter, dated Monday, Sinwar thanks Nasrallah for the “blessed acts” of Iran-backed groups in their support for Hamas since the Israel-Hamas war started Oct. 7, calling the war “one of the most honorable battles for the Palestinian people.”

A day after the militants' bloody incursion into Israel that started the war, Hezbollah started attacking Israeli military posts along the border, triggering an ongoing exchange of fire. More than 500 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli strikes since Oct. 8, most of them fighters with Hezbollah and other armed groups, but also more than 100 civilians. In northern Israel, 23 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed by strikes from Lebanon.

ISTANBUL — Turkish officials held a brief ceremony Friday at Istanbul International Airport where the body of a Turkish American activist killed by Israeli gunfire arrived ahead of her funeral and burial in a town on the Aegean coast.

Istanbul Gov. Davut Gul and other officials held prayers in front of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi’s coffin, which was draped in the Turkish flag, before helping carry it to another plane for the city of Izmir. Her funeral is expected to be held Saturday in the town of Didim, near Izmir.

The 26-year-od activist from Seattle was killed Sept. 6 following a demonstration against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to an Israeli protester who witnessed the shooting.

The Israeli military said Tuesday that Eygi was likely shot “indirectly and unintentionally” by Israeli forces. Turkey announced it will conduct its own investigation into her death.

A view of destroyed buildings is shown following Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israeli soldiers take up position next to destroyed buildings following Israeli strikes during a ground operation in the Gaza Strip on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israeli soldiers take up position next to destroyed buildings following Israeli strikes during a ground operation in the Gaza Strip on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israeli soldiers stand at the entrance of a tunnel where the military says six Israeli hostages were recently killed by Hamas militants, in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

An Israeli soldier lights candles at the entrance of a tunnel where the military says six Israeli hostages were recently killed by Hamas militants in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israeli soldiers move next to destroyed buildings following Israeli strikes during a ground operation in the Gaza Strip on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Palestinian refugees inspect a burnt vehicle in a West Bank refugee camp in Tulkarem, during an Israeli army operation in Tulkarem, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Palestinian refugees flee the West Bank refugee camp of Tulkarem, during an Israeli army operation in Tulkarem, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Youssef, 3, cries for his uncle Odei, who was killed by Israeli forces in Jenin, West Bank, Thursday, June 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen)

Family follow as Israeli soldiers carry the casket of first sergeant Geri Gideon Hanghal during his funeral at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Attendees gather for a vigil on Alki Beach for the death of the 26-year old Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, killed recently in the occupied West Bank, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in Seattle. Eygi grew up in Seattle, attended Seattle Public Schools and graduated from the University of Washington. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

Palestinian refugees walk past rubble of partly destroyed houses in the West Bank refugee camp of Tulkarem, during an Israeli army operation in Tulkarem, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Jake Sanderson scored 15 seconds into overtime and the Ottawa Senators stretched their win streak to six games with a 5-4 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.

It’s the first time since March 2017 that Ottawa has won six in a row.

Shane Pinto scored twice for the Senators, Claude Giroux added a goal and Josh Norris scored short-handed. Sanderson also contributed a pair of assists.

Leevi Merilainen stopped 21 shots to earn his first NHL victory.

Brock Boeser scored twice for the Canucks, and Quinn Hughes had a goal and two assists. Jake DeBrusk rounded out the scoring for a Vancouver side that lost its third straight outing (0-1-2). Kevin Lankinen made 17 saves.

Canucks: The team has lost four of its last five outings and some of its top stars have gone cold offensively. J.T. Miller has not scored in the six games he’s played since returning from a 10-game absence, Elias Pettersson does not have a point in his last six outings and Conor Garland last recorded a goal on Nov. 29.

Senators: Merilainen stepped in for Linus Ullmark, who has been a superstar for Ottawa in recent weeks. Heading into Saturday, Ullmark had powered the team to five straight victories after backup Anton Forsberg went down with an injury during a pre-game skate on Dec. 14.

Boeser knotted the score at 4 with 4:50 left in the game when he blasted a rebound past Merilainen.

Hughes now has 40 points on the season (eight goals, 32 assists). He is the seventh defenseman in NHL history to hit the mark in 33 or fewer games in multiple seasons.

The Senators visit the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday, and the Canucks host the San Jose Sharks on Monday.

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Ottawa Senators' Jake Sanderson (85) scores on Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko (35) during overtime of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators goaltender Leevi Merilainen (1) stops the puck against the Vancouver Canucks during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' Brock Boeser, right, celebrates his goal against the Ottawa Senators with Quinn Hughes (43) during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators' Jake Sanderson (85) celebrates his game-winning goal with Brady Tkachuk (7) after overtime of an NHL hockey game against the Vancouver Canucks in Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)