Middle East latest: Israel strikes Gaza and southern Beirut as attacks intensify

An Israeli airstrike hit a mosque in central Gaza and Palestinian officials said at least 19 people were killed early Sunday. Israeli planes also lit up the skyline across the southern suburbs of Beirut, striking what the military said were Hezbollah targets.

The strike in Gaza hit a mosque where displaced people were sheltering near the main hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah. Another four people were killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced people near the town.

The Israeli military said both strikes targeted militants, without providing evidence.

An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue. Hospital records showed that the dead from the strike on the mosque were all men, while another man was wounded.

In Beirut, the strikes reportedly targeted a building near a road leading to Lebanon’s only international airport and another formerly used by the Hezbollah-run broadcaster Al-Manar.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since the day after Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage. Israel declared war on the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip in response. As the Israel-Hamas war reaches the one-year mark, nearly 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials.

Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in the latest conflict, most of them since Sept. 23, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Here is the Latest:

Here is The Latest:

A new round of airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs late Sunday as Israel intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza and southern Lebanon. Palestinian officials said a strike on a mosque in Gaza killed at least 19 people.

Rocket sirens and blasts were heard in Haifa in northern Israel late Sunday, and Hezbollah claimed the attack. Israel’s military said at least five projectiles were identified coming from Lebanon and “fallen projectiles” were found in the area. The military showed what appeared to be rubble along a street. The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it was treating a teen with shrapnel injuries to the head and a man who fell from a window due to a blast.

A year after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Israel has opened a new front in Lebanon against Hezbollah, which has traded fire with Israel along the border since the war in Gaza began. Israel also has vowed to strike Iran after a ballistic missile attack on Israel last week.

BEIRUT — The Israeli military is setting up a forward operating base close to a U.N. peacekeeping mission on the border in southern Lebanon, a U.N. official told The Associated Press.

The base — just south of the U.N.-mandated Blue Line’s close proximity to a UNIFIL position — puts peacekeepers there at risk, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

Israel launched its ground incursion into Lebanon last week, where they have clashed along the border with militants from the powerful Hezbollah group.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, in a statement said it was concerned about “recent activities” by the Israeli military southeast of the Lebanese border town of Maroun al-Ras.

It did not give any details on what Israel was doing, but said it was close to point 6-52 — where Irish peacekeepers are positioned.

This, meanwhile, comes days after UNIFIL refused the Israeli military’s request to vacate some of its positions ahead of the ground incursion.

“The IDF has been repeatedly informed of this ongoing situation through regular channels,” UNIFIL said in its statement. “This is an extremely dangerous development. It is unacceptable to compromise the safety of UN peacekeepers carrying out their Security Council-mandated tasks.

UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion. The U.N. expanded its mission following the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, allowing peacekeepers to deploy along the Israeli border.

— By Kareem Chehayeb

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have renewed their government’s calls for "restraint and de-escalation” amid the growing conflict in the Middle East.

The leaders issued a statement Monday to mark the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack by the Hamas militant group on Israel.

“New Zealand was horrified by the monstrous actions of Hamas against Israel a year ago today,” Luxon said. “Then, as now, we remain appalled by Hamas’ brutality and the taking of hostages.”

Peters said the attack “set in motion an absolutely unacceptable cycle of violence and human suffering.” He added that a cease-fire endorsed by the U.N. Security Council would be “the best way to protect civilians on all sides.”

Hamas must immediately return all remaining hostages, Peters said.

KAH, Syria — Hundreds of thousands of people have crossed the border from Lebanon to Syria in the past two weeks amid an escalating Israeli air campaign in Lebanon.

Videos circulated on social media in recent days showed hundreds of people walking from government-controlled areas of Aleppo province to areas controlled by Turkish-backed opposition groups.

In the town of Kah in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border, Bashir Ankour said the journey from Lebanon had taken his family five days. He had fled to Lebanon in 2013 to escape the civil war in Syria.

He lived in the southern suburbs of Beirut and worked as a vegetable seller before Israeli forces began bombarding the area. When a strike hit near their house, Ankour said he took his wife and five children and fled, leaving most of their belongings behind.

“I fled from there for the sake of my children and family — I don’t want to lose them, too,” he said. While the situation in Syria is also “difficult,” Ankour said he had made up his mind. “I will never return to Lebanon.”

PARIS — President Emmanuel Macron’s office said the French leader has had a “frank” discussion about the Middle East situation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Both leaders accepted their divergence of views, as well as their desire to be well understood by each other, Macron's office said in a statement.

Macron expressed his country’s solidarity with the Israeli people, especially the victims, the hostages in Gaza and their families.

“France’s commitment to Israel’s security is unwavering," Macron was quoted as telling Netanyahu.

But Macron added that arms deliveries, the prolongation of the war in Gaza and its extension to Lebanon will not produce security for either Israelis or others living in the region.

The phone call on Sunday between the two leaders comes after Macron drew strong criticism from Netanyahu by saying, “the priority is … that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza.”

A ferry carrying hundreds of evacuees from Lebanon’s port town of Tripoli has arrived in southern Turkey.

The ferry, which arrived Sunday at Tasucu port, carried 358 evacuees. It was the fourth such vessel to arrive from Tripoli since Sept. 27. A total of 1,360 evacuees have arrived in Turkey on that route.

“America and the West pretend to call for human rights, but in reality there is nothing,” evacuee Yahya Nasser said. “There were many attacks on civilians, on children, on women, there was no respect for human rights or for anyone.”

The evacuees included several Turkish citizens.

The Lebanon-based Med Star company has increased the frequency of passages between Tripoli and Mersin since the escalation of the fighting between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah.

At least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million driven from their homes in less than two weeks. Israel says it aims to drive Hezbollah from its border so that tens of thousands of Israeli citizens can return home.

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli police say heavy damage was caused by rocket fire from Lebanon on the northern Israeli town of Ma’alot Tarshiha.

Israeli media showed images of a makeshift structure outside a home in the town engulfed by fire. There were no reports of injuries.

The Israeli military said dozens of rockets and numerous drones entered Israeli territory from Lebanon on Sunday, most were intercepted or fell in open areas.

JERUSALEM — Iran has halted some flights from 9 p.m. Sunday until 6 a.m. Monday, state media reported.

The state-run IRNA news agency made the announcement without giving a reason for the decision other than to say it was for “operational restrictions.” It also did not name the airports and routes affected.

The decision comes as Israel has threatened to strike Iran over its ballistic missile attack last week.

A search of Iranian flights showed disruptions to airports in Iran’s western and southern reaches over that time period, while others were still scheduled elsewhere across the Islamic Republic.

BEIRUT — U.N. refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi says Lebanon is seeing a “major displacement crisis” as a result of Israel’s escalating air campaign in the country and that some of the strikes have violated international law.

Grandi made his remarks during a visit to Beirut on Sunday.

Lebanese government officials estimate that 1.2 million people are now displaced. The U.N. has appealed for $425.7 million to respond to the humanitarian crisis. About 40% has been funded so far.

The UNHCR head also said there had been “many instances of violations of international humanitarian law in the way the airstrikes have been conducted that have destroyed or damaged civilian infrastructure.”

Two UNHCR workers have also been killed in the strikes.

Grandi said that a strike that cut access to a major border crossing between Lebanon and Syria had also created an obstacle for civilians attempting to flee to safety.

Israel has maintained that it is targeting Hezbollah figures and weapons in the airstrikes and ground incursion it has launched in Lebanon.

The escalating violence has pushed both Lebanese citizens and Syrian refugees in Lebanon to cross the border en masse.

RABAT, Morocco — Thousands of people have demonstrated in the streets of Morocco’s capital to call for justice for the Palestinians and for the Moroccan government to revoke its 2020 agreement formalizing its ties with Israel.

The North African nation has had — since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas — some of the Arab world’s largest protests.

A diverse group — including students, Islamists, leftists, attorneys and unions — have poured into the streets of the country’s cities and towns in an expression of support for Palestinians in Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

Morocco’s government has spoken out against the war but retained its ties with Israel.

The protest in Rabat was among the largest demonstrations in months. Moroccans from throughout the country gathered in Rabat to march past the country’s parliament.

SAO PAULO, Brazil — A plane carrying Brazilians fleeing Lebanon has landed in Brazil, according to a statement from the Brazilian Air Force.

The plane touched ground in Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos airport Sunday. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was at the scene to welcome them.

The flight, the first Brazil has organized to assist its nationals, was carrying 228 passengers including 10 infants, as well as three pets.

A second flight is scheduled for next week but will depend on security conditions on the ground, the foreign ministry said.

Around 21,000 Brazilians live in Lebanon, which is home to the largest community of Brazilians in the Middle East. Two Brazilian adolescents have been killed by Israeli bombardments in Lebanon.

BERLIN — On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks against Israel, hundreds of demonstrators marched behind a banner that read “Against all antisemitism,” accompanied by a police escort.

With scores of Israeli flags waving over head, some Jewish leaders led a song about “shalom” — peace — while marchers chanted “Free Gaza from Hamas!” and “Bring them home,” referring to hostages still held by Hamas militants in Gaza.

Another chant, “Rape is not resistance!” decried the sexual violence that occurred during the attack. Survivors have given The Associated Press numerous accounts of sexual atrocities committed during that day and a U.N. report released in March said there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas committed rape, “sexualized torture,” and other cruel and inhumane treatment of women during its surprise attack.

Some in the crowd held up photos of hostages still held by Hamas.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in the Oct. 7 attack and took another 250 hostage. They are still holding around 100 captives, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said one person was killed and 10 others were wounded in a stabbing and shooting attack in the southern city of Beersheba.

Sunday’s attack at the city’s central bus station came on the eve of the anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel, which ignited the war in Gaza. The country is on high alert as it prepares to hold memorial ceremonies.

Israel’s police did not identify the assailant but said they were treating it as a terror attack. Palestinians have carried out a number of stabbing, shooting and car-ramming attacks since the war began.

The attack comes a few days after seven people were killed in a shooting attack in Tel Aviv last Monday. In that attack, two Palestinian men opened fire on a crowd inside the city’s light rail and around the station before being killed by security forces in the area.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis issued a new appeal for peace “on every front” is his Sunday Angelus prayer and spoke of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas against Israel.

“Brothers and sisters, tomorrow it will be a year since the terrorist attack by Hamas against the people of Israel, to whom I renew my closeness,” the pontiff said. He called for the “immediate liberation" of the hostages still held in Gaza.

The pope called for a day of prayer and fasting on Monday, the first anniversary of the attack - which he said sparked a war that has taken a heavy toll on Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

“From that day the Middle East has fallen into worse suffering because of destructive military actions that continue to hit the Palestinian people,” the pontiff said. "It is most of all innocent civilians, they must receive the necessary humanitarian aid.”

The pope repeated his plea for “an immediate ceasefire on every front," including Lebanon.

"Let’s pray for Lebanese people, especially for the people in the south forced to leave their villages.”

TEL AVIV, Israel — Ahead of the anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, the Israeli military on Sunday displayed thousands of weapons seized from the militant group.

The military, which created the display at a sprawling army base south of Tel Aviv, said it has retrieved more than 5,000 AK-47 assault rifles from Gaza and destroyed double that number, as well as seized thousands of other items including drones, explosives, RPGs, scuba equipment, machine guns, sniper rifles, anti-tank missiles and weapons manufactured both inside Gaza and in Iran, Russia and North Korea.

The army also displayed homemade explosives it said Hamas used to burst through the border barrier on Oct. 7. It said they were crafted specifically after years of studying Israel’s border during years of Hamas-organized violent protests along the fence, including as early as 2018.

“What Hamas did on Oct. 7 was storm Israel with all their abilities at one time,” said military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani. He said that the Israeli military had seized the weapons from Hamas, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, to study the types of weapons used as well as track where they came from.

As Israel prepares for a day of somber memorials marking a year since the attacks, the military said it was increasing troop presence in Israel’s south to protect memorials taking place along the Gaza border.

A large memorial planned by bereaved families was expected to draw a crowd of more than 40,000 in Tel Aviv, but will be broadcast with only direct family members and media in attendance due to warnings from the military of possible rocket attacks from Lebanon.

BEIRUT — The southern suburbs of Beirut were hit by more than 30 strikes overnight, the heaviest bombardment since Sept. 23, when Israel began a significant escalation in its air campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported Sunday.

The targets included a gas station on the main highway leading to the Beirut airport and a warehouse for medical supplies, the agency said.

Some of the overnight strikes set off a long series of explosions, suggesting that ammunition stores may have been hit.

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron called for “a halt to arms exports for use in Gaza,” saying it's urgent to avoid escalating tensions in the region, his office said.

Macron drew strong criticism from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by saying "the priority is … that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza.” He made the comments in an interview with France Inter radio, which was recorded on Tuesday and aired Saturday.

France doesn’t deliver any weapons to Israel, Macron said.

Netanyahu released a video statement in which he called out the French president by name and referred to such calls as a “disgrace.”

In a statement, Macron’s office said “France is Israel’s unfailing friend. Mr. Netanyahu’s words are excessive and irrelevant to the friendship between France and Israel.”

“We must return to diplomatic solutions,” it added.

The statement also said that Macron had demonstrated his commitment to Israel's security when France mobilized its military resources in response to the Iranian attack. French authorities did not provided details about France’s role.

Macron has called for an immediate cease-fire in both Gaza and Lebanon.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An apparent Israeli airstrike early Sunday killed at least 18 people in central Gaza, Palestinian medical officials said.

The strike hit a mosque sheltering displaced people near the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah, the hospital said in a statement.

An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the hospital morgue. Hospital records showed that the dead were all men. Another two men were critically wounded, the hospital said.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment about the strike on the mosque.

The latest strikes add to the mounting Palestinian death toll in Gaza, which is now nearing 42,000 according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths, but many of the dead were women and children.

Israel’s military confirmed it was striking targets near Beirut and said about 30 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.

Moroccan women wave flags and chant slogans in support of Gaza and Lebanon during a protest in Rabat, Morocco, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024 (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Smoke rises from a destroyed building at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A man checks the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Emergency workers inspect a building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Israeli soldiers pray at a staging area in northern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

An Israeli soldier prays at a staging area in northern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

People check the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises from a destroyed building at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Mourners gather around the bodies of Palestinian men who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rocket fired from Yemen hit an area of Tel Aviv overnight, leaving 16 people slightly injured by shattered glass, the Israeli military said Saturday, days after Israeli airstrikes hit Houthi rebels who have been launching missiles in solidarity with Palestinians.

A further 14 people sustained minor injuries as they rushed to shelters when air raid sirens sounded before the projectile hit just before 4 a.m. Saturday, the military said.

The Houthi rebels issued a statement on the Telegram messaging app saying they had aimed a hypersonic ballistic missile at a military target, which they did not identify.

The attack comes less than two days after a series of Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebel-held capital, Sanaa, and port city of Hodeida killed at least nine people. The Israeli strikes were in response to a Houthi attack in which a long-range missile hit an Israeli school building. The Houthis also claimed a drone strike targeting an unspecified military target in central Israel on Thursday.

The Israeli military says the Iran-backed Houthis have launched more than 200 missiles and drones during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The Houthis have also been attacking shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and say they won’t stop until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Israeli strikes Thursday caused “considerable damage” to the Houthi-controlled Red Sea ports “that will lead to the immediate and significant reduction in port capacity,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The port at Hodeida has been key for food shipments into Yemen in its decade-long civil war.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said both sides’ attacks risk further escalation in the region and undermine U.N. mediation efforts.

In the Gaza Strip on Saturday, mourners held the funerals of 19 people — 12 of them children — killed in Israeli strikes on Friday and overnight.

One of the strikes hit a residential building in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least seven Palestinians, including five children and one woman, and injuring 16 others, health officials said.

In Gaza City, another strike on a house overnight killed 12 people, including seven children and two women, according to Al-Ahli Hospital where the bodies were taken.

Mourners gathered at the hospital in Gaza City Saturday morning. Women comforted each other as they wept over the bodies before they were carried away. One man, stony-faced, cradled a tiny shroud-wrapped body in his arms as he carried it along the funeral procession.

In Al-Aqsa Hospital of Deir al Balah, white body bags containing those killed in Nuseirat were taken from the morgue and loaded onto the back of an open truck to be taken for burial.

Overall, Gaza's Health Ministry said Saturday that 21 people had been killed and 61 were wounded over the past 24 hours.

Israel faces heavy international criticism over the unprecedented levels of civilian casualties in Gaza and questions about whether it has done enough to prevent them.

Israel says it only strikes militants, and blames the Hamas militant group for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in residential areas.

More than 45,200 people have been killed and more than 107,500 wounded in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, when a Hamas attack in Israel killed about 1,200 people and triggered the devastating 14-month war in Gaza. Local health officials do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but have said more than half of the fatalities are women and children.

The Israeli military organization dealing with humanitarian affairs for Gaza said Saturday it had led a “tactical coordinated operation” delivering thousands of food packages, flour and water to the Beit Hanoun area in the north of the Gaza Strip.

The organization, known by its acronym COGAT, said trucks from the U.N. World Food Program transported 2,000 food packages, 1,680 sacks of flour and thousands of liters of water to distribution centers in the area on Friday.

Aid groups have said previously that military operations and armed gangs have hindered their ability to distribute aid to civilians in need.

Gaza's Health Ministry issued an urgent appeal Saturday for medical and food supplies to be delivered to Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, near Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, while the hospital director described dire conditions.

The ministry said in a statement that there was continuous gunfire and Israeli shelling near the hospital. “Shells have struck the third floor and the hospital’s entrances, creating a state of panic,” the ministry said.

Hospital Director Dr. Husam Abu Safiyeh said the facility was “facing severe shortages."

“Despite promises, we have not received the necessary supplies to maintain electricity, water, and oxygen systems," Abu Safiyeh said. "Our requests for essential medical supplies and staff have largely gone unmet.”

He said the World Health Organization had delivered 70 units of blood, but that the hospital requires at least 200 units to meet urgent needs. He said 72 wounded people were being treated at the hospital.

The shortages extend beyond medical necessities. “Food is very scarce, and we cannot provide meals for the wounded. We are urgently calling on anyone who can provide supplies to help us,” he said. “The staff is working around the clock, yet we cannot even provide meals for them.”

Shurafa reported from Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros in Majdal Shams, Golan Heights, contributed to this report.

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

Bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat refugee camp are prepared for the funeral prayer outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Men pray over the bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat refugee camp during a funeral prayer outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat arrive at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital before their funeral in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

An Israeli soldier observes the site where the missile launched from Yemen landed Jaffa district, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Tomer Appelbaum)