Middle East latest: Israel faces mounting criticism over attacks on UN peacekeepers

Criticism mounted Monday over attacks on United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated the warning for them to temporarily leave the area where the military is operating against Hezbollah militants.

The U.N. Security Council expressed “strong concern." The European Union condemned the attacks and rejected Israeli allegations that the U.N. was keeping them there to obstruct military operations against Hezbollah.

Five peacekeepers were wounded in attacks since Israel began a ground campaign against Hezbollah, with most blamed on Israeli forces. Israel has escalated its campaign after a year of exchanges of fire, while it is also at war with Hamas in Gaza.

Israel's defense minister, meanwhile, vowed “a forceful response" to Sunday's drone attack by Hezbollah that killed four soldiers in Israel.

It’s been more than a year since Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. They are still holding about 100 people captive inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were fighters but say women and children make up more than half of the fatalities. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its population of 2.3 million people.

Here's the latest:

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The head of the expeditionary arm of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has appeared in television footage aired Tuesday by Iranian state television.

Rumors circulated for weeks over Gen. Esmail Qaani’s status in the time since an Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut in late September. But Qaani, the head of the Quds Force, was seen in a black bomber jacket, wiping away tears at an event early Tuesday morning at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport.

While Iranian state television did not acknowledge the rumors, it made a point to film Qaani for over a minute and later share the footage from the airport ceremony online.

Qaani was on hand for the repatriation to Iran of the body of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, 58, who was killed in the airstrike.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Australia’s government has imposed targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on five Iranians contributing to the country’s missile defense program, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Tuesday.

Iran’s launch of at least 180 ballistic missiles against Israel on Oct. 1 was “a dangerous escalation that increased the risk of a wider regional war,” Wong said in a statement.

The fresh sanctions target two directors and a senior official in Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organization, the director of the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group, and the commercial director of the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group.

The decision brings to 200 the number of Iran-linked individuals and entities now sanctioned by Australia.

“Australia will continue to hold Iran to account for its reckless and destabilizing actions,” Wong said.

BEIJING — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed concern over the escalation in tensions in the Middle East during talks Monday with his Israeli and Iranian counterparts.

China urged Israel and Iran to hold talks to try to resolve their conflict and avoid falling into a “vicious circle,” Wang told Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz during a phone talk, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Wang also called for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, and for all hostages to be released.

The “humanitarian disasters” in Gaza must stop, Wang told Katz, according to a readout of their talk.

Wang also spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who said Iran was deeply concerned about the risk of a “comprehensive escalation” of the conflict and did not want to see it further expand.

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council has expressed “strong concern” after several U.N. peacekeepers were wounded when they came under fire in southern Lebanon, and has reiterated its support for the peacekeeping mission’s role “in supporting regional security.”

The council’s statement Monday was its first reaction to the escalating attacks across the U.N.-drawn boundary between Israel and Lebanon, and the firing at frontline positions of the peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL.

The statement did not name Israel or the Hezbollah militants who have been firing into Israel in support of Hamas in Gaza since the Iranian-backed resistance group’s surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The statement urges all parties “to respect the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel and U.N. premises.”

Council members also expressed “deep concern” at civilian casualties, the destruction of infrastructure and the rising number of displaced people. They called on all parties to abide by international humanitarian law, which requires the protection of civilians.

Council members called for the full implementation of the council resolution that ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war “and recognized the need for further practical measures to achieve that outcome.”

That resolution calls for the Lebanese army to deploy throughout the south and for all armed groups, including Hezbollah, to be disarmed, neither of which has happened. UNIFIL’s mandate includes monitoring the border and supporting implementation of the resolution.

The Security Council “also emphasized the need for diplomatic endeavors that would bring a durable end to the conflict and allow civilians on both sides of the Blue Line to return safely to their homes.”

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has “repeatedly asked” the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon to temporarily leave the area where the Israeli military is operating.

The peacekeepers belong to the 10,000-strong United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, who have been patrolling the border area between Lebanon and Israel for nearly 50 years.

At least five members of UNIFIL have been injured since Israel started its ground incursion into Lebanon two weeks ago, leading to criticism of Israeli operations.

“Hezbollah uses UNIFIL facilities and positions as cover while it attacks Israeli cities and communities,” Netanyahu said Monday.

He says Israel “regrets any harm done to UNIFIL personnel,” but insisted the peacekeeping force should temporarily evacuate the area.

The UNIFIL chief has said U.N. peacekeepers will stay on Lebanon’s southern border despite Israel’s request.

KARBALA, Iraq — Hundreds of members of Iranian-backed Iraqi militia groups have attended the funeral of a prominent general in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard who died in an Israeli airstrike that also killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last month.

The body of Gen. Abbas Nilforushan was flown by private plane from Beirut to Baghdad, then transported to the city of Karbala where the funeral took place Monday. Karbala is 70 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of Baghdad.

The mourners wore military uniforms and carried the flags of the Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba militias, and the Popular Mobilization Forces — a collection of mostly Shiite armed groups that have semi-official status in the Iraqi military — and pictures of Nasrallah.

They chanted, “Death to Israel and America.”

The representative of the religious authority in Karbala, Sheikh Abdul Mahdi Al-Karbala, attended the funeral prayers at the shrine of Imam Hussein. A second funeral will be held in the city of Najaf, then the body will be transferred to Iran for burial.

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations’ chief is in frequent contact with the commander of the U.N.’s peacekeeping troops in southern Lebanon and says the mission is doing its best to protect its forces.

The mission, known as UNIFIL, has come under attack several times since Israel began a ground campaign against the Hezbollah militant group. Five peacekeepers have been wounded. Israel has said the U.N. is keeping its forces along Lebanon’s border with Israel to obstruct its military operations.

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Monday that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “is extremely appreciative of the courage and dedication of the more than 10,000 uniformed peacekeepers and civilian staff serving in the mission.”

The Security Council established UNIFIL in 1978 and its mandate was strengthened after the Israeli-Hezbollah war in Lebanon in 2006.

“UNIFIL continuously assesses and reviews all factors to determine its own posture and its own presence,” Dujarric said. “The mission is taking all possible measures to ensure the protection of its peacekeepers.”

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rebuked the United Nations, describing its failure to protect peacekeepers in Lebanon as “shameful” and “worrying.”

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, has come under direct attack in the past week, with Israeli troops firing at the peacekeepers’ headquarters and positions.

“Israeli tanks enter UNIFIL territory, attack peacekeepers, even injure some of them. But the United Nations Security Council is just watching these bandits from the tribunes. This is weakness. This is surrendering to Israeli aggression,” Erdogan said in a televised address Monday.

“The image of a United Nations that cannot even protect its own personnel is shameful and worrying for the international system,” he said. “We ask ourselves what else the Security Council is waiting for to stop Israel.”

The Turkish president has consistently called for reform of the U.N., especially of the Security Council, saying it is unfair that global decisions are made by its five permanent members.

ROME — A patrol of the Italian contingent of the U.N. peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon found explosive devices positioned along the road leading to a U.N. base.

The Italian Defense Ministry says a team of bomb disposal experts secured the area close to Forward Operating Base UNP 1-32A, but they couldn't complete the clearance operation because one of the devices ignited, causing a fire. No one was injured.

The ministry says UNIFIL — the U.N. peacekeepers — and Lebanese authorities are “investigating the dynamics of the events and tracing the perpetrators of the potential threat.”

TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military says its forces operating in southern Lebanon uncovered an underground compound stretching 800 meters (half a mile) that served as a command center for Hezbollah’s special forces.

A video released by the army Monday shows weapons and ammunitions that it says are stored inside the tunnel, including helicopter-fired missiles and mortar shells. It also shows motorcycles and living quarters containing beds and a kitchen stocked with food and supplies.

The army’s chief spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, says the tunnel is a few kilometers from Israel’s border, and that the weapons stocked there were to be used in a raid on northern Israel.

Israeli leaders and its military have for years accused Hezbollah of hiding weapons and fighters inside homes and other civilian structures in border villages.

The army has mobilized thousands of troops for what it says is an ongoing ground operation to dismantle Hezbollah’s military infrastructure along the border.

At least 1,700 Lebanese, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million displaced in the past month. Around 60 Israelis have been killed in Hezbollah strikes in the past year. Israel says it wants to drive the militant group away from shared borders so some 60,000 displaced Israelis can return to their homes.

JERUSALEM — Israel says it has allowed 30 trucks of aid to reach northern Gaza, breaking a 2-week stretch during which the U.N. says aid levels fell precipitously in the area.

The Israeli body managing aid crossings into the territory, COGAT, said Monday that 30 trucks carrying flour and food from the U.N.’s main food agency traveled through the northern crossing after inspection. The U.N. has not confirmed the statement.

For the last two weeks, nearly no food, water, fuel or supplies have reached the north, the U.N. says, with both major crossings closed since Oct. 1.

The cutoff, combined with a renewed Israeli offensive in the area, has raised fears that Israel is pursuing an extreme plan proposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would besiege the northern third of the strip in an effort to prompt a Hamas surrender.

COGAT says 30 trucks were transferred into Gaza on Sunday through a crossing known as “Gate 96,” north of the strip, though it was unclear where the aid went because, the UN says, trucks traveling through that crossing do not go directly to the north.

TEL AVIV, Israel — Rocket fire from Lebanon set off sirens in Tel Aviv and over 180 communities across central Israel on Monday.

The Israeli military says three projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon and all were intercepted. Israel’s police say debris from an interception fell in a city south of Tel Aviv but there were no reports of injuries or significant damage.

Rocket attacks on northern Israel meanwhile continued unabated, with the army saying that approximately 90 projectiles were identified by the afternoon. Most were intercepted or fell in open areas.

A 50-year-old woman was lightly injured and heavy damage was caused in a volley of 15 rockets on the northern town of Karmiel, the military and the Israeli rescue service said.

Hezbollah has fired more than 12,000 rockets, missiles and drones at Israel since the start of the hostilities one year ago, according to the army. Most of the fire has been directed at the north of the country, but attacks have reached deeper into Israel and become more frequent since the conflict escalated in mid September.

On Sunday, a Hezbollah drone attack on a military base in the city of Binyamina killed four soldiers and wounded 61.

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it has sent out 1.7 million text messages, 3.4 million voice messages and made 3,700 voice calls notifying civilians in Lebanon to evacuate as it continues with its ground invasion there.

Some 2,300 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since last October, more than three-quarters of them in the past month, according to the Lebanese government. At least 1.2 million people have been displaced — the vast majority since Israel ramped up airstrikes across the country last month.

Israel says it is making an effort to communicate with civilians ahead of airstrikes, but people interviewed by the the Associated Press say that they don’t receive the warnings -- or that they come in the middle of the night or don’t adequately cover the area that is struck.

An Israeli intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with military regulations, said Monday that there are 60 Arabic speakers working to call village leaders -- from doctors and governors to teachers -- to urge their communities to evacuate.

The official said that the military makes the calls to village leaders hours before airstrikes occur, and that the military notifies residents in Beirut before their buildings are struck.

Lebanese say the orders often come at very short notice, and it’s not clear where people can go or when they will be able to return home. Most of the villages along the border with Lebanon have suffered extreme damage and emptied out since the start of Israel’s ground invasion. Beirut’s southern suburbs, too, have seen an exodus.

One quarter of Lebanese territory is now under Israeli military displacement orders, according to the U.N.’s human rights division.

Associated Press writer Julia Frankel contributed.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Commenting on the incident, the Israeli army official said its troops exchanged fire with armed militants during a “counterterrorism” operation Wednesday in the Jenin area, killing one of the gunmen.

According to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, one of the slain men was 17 years old. Four others were injured by Israeli fire during the raid, it said.

Violence has flared in the West Bank since the Israel-Hamas war erupted 12 months ago.

According to Palestinian Health Ministry data, over 750 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the territory since the war began. The northern West Bank, including Jenin and Tulkarem, has seen some of the worst violence.

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant briefed his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin on the deadly Hezbollah drone attack on a military base in Israel late Sunday and vowed “a forceful response.”

The attack near the city of Binyamina killed four soldiers and wounded 61. It was the deadliest strike by the militant group since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon two weeks ago.

In his talk with Austin, Gallant “highlighted the severity of the attack and the forceful response that would be taken against Hezbollah,” his office said.

He also “reiterated the measures" taken by the military to coordinate with UNIFIL peacekeepers in southern Lebanon and to avoid harming them, after mounting criticism of Israel for repeatedly firing on U.N. soldiers.

Gallant’s office said he expressed his appreciation to Austin and the U.S. administration for deciding to send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery to Israel “in the coming days.”

BEIRUT — The Lebanese Red Cross says an Israeli airstrike in northern Lebanon has killed at least 18 people.

The strike hit a small apartment building in the village of Aito on Monday, and was one of the northernmost strikes since Israel invaded Lebanon earlier this month.

The Hezbollah militant group is mainly present in the south of the country and the southern suburbs of Beirut.

BEIRUT — Lebanese officials say an Israeli airstrike hit near an aid convoy in Lebanon, wounding a driver and lightly damaging the trucks.

The humanitarian aid, which reached Beirut on Monday, was marked with the flags of Turkey and the United Arab Emirates as well as the Red Cross insignia.

Baalbek-Hermel Gov. Bachir Khodr, who accompanied the convoy, said the airstrike hit as it was passing through northeastern Lebanon. He shared a picture on the social platform X taken from inside a vehicle showing a large cloud of smoke on the road ahead.

It was not clear how badly the driver was wounded.

The Red Cross did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

BERLIN — The German government has sharply criticizes the shelling of U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon and is calling on Israel to clarify what exactly happened.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office told reporters in Berlin on Monday that “all parties to the conflict, including the Israeli army, are obliged to direct their combat operations exclusively against military targets of the other party to the conflict.” Spokesperson Sebastian Fischer said that a comprehensive investigation is expected and that talks on the matter were being held with the Israeli side.

The situation in southern Lebanon is causing growing concern, Fischer added, saying that “the shelling of U.N. peacekeepers and the intrusion into their bases is in no way acceptable,” and that the protection and security of U.N. troops had top priority.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran has stopped indirect talks with the United States in Oman as tensions remain high over a possible Israeli retaliatory strike on Tehran over an earlier missile attack, the Islamic Republic’s foreign minister said Monday.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the comment to Iranian state media while still in Muscat, Oman. The sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula long has been an interlocutor between Iran and the U.S., particularly in the secret talks that birthed Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

“For the time being, the Muscat process is stopped because of special situation in the region,” Araghchi said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. “We do not see any ground for the talks until we can pass the current crisis.”

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Iran under new President Masoud Pezeshkian has been signaling it wants to negotiate with the U.S. for sanctions relief. Since then-President Donald Trump pulled America out of the nuclear accord, Tehran has begun enriching uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels and increasing the size of its stockpile. However, U.S. intelligence agencies and officials insist Iran has not begun an effort to build a nuclear weapon.

Meanwhile, Israel has threatened a major retaliatory strike over Iran’s ballistic missile attack earlier this month, the second-such direct assault on Israel by Iran since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

BRUSSELS — Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin is accusing Israel of trying to prevent the world from seeing what its troops are doing in Lebanon and Gaza, and of working to undermine the United Nations.

Asked what Israel’s aim might be in demanding that UNIFIL peacekeepers leave their bases after a series of attacks, Martin said: “essentially to drive the eyes and ears out of south Lebanon and to give itself free rein.”

“We cannot have an undermining and a chipping away of the status or the credibility or structures of the United Nations and particularly its peacekeeping forces,” Martin said in Luxembourg, where EU foreign ministers are meeting.

“We see what’s happening in northern Gaza, for example, in terms of the necessity of eyes and ears on the ground. The world has really no full picture of what’s happening in Gaza,” he told reporters.

Martin added that “Israel is essentially now undermining (not only) the United Nations and the United Nations peacekeeping force, but the very rules based international order, and it needs to step back.”

He called on his EU counterparts “to stand up now on the side of what’s right and proper and moral in terms of humanity.”

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency said Monday police had charged two Israelis on accusations that they planned to carry out an assassination at the behest of Iran.

The agency said Vladislav Victorson, 30, was approached online by a person called Mari Hossi and was instructed to carry out missions that ranged from petty vandalism to torching cars, and paid more than $5,000.

The Shin Bet said Victorson was asked to damage communications infrastructure and ATMs, although a statement did not say whether he carried out these acts. It also did not name the Israeli figure he allegedly agreed to assassinate. The Shin Bet said he also sought to acquire weapons, including a sniper’s rifle, guns and grenades. According to the Shin Bet, Victorson enlisted two other people, including his girlfriend, Anna Bernstein, 18, to assist in his missions.

The Shin Bet said Iranian agents are known to use social media and promises of cash in efforts to recruit Israelis to carry out such attacks.

Israel and Iran have a longstanding shadow war, which over the past year has erupted into direct conflict.

BRUSSELS — The European Union condemned attacks on U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon and rejected allegations that U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres is responsible for obstructing the Israeli army.

Sixteen EU countries are contributing to the UNIFIL peacekeeping force. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that “their work is very important. It’s completely unacceptable attacking United Nations troops.” Five peacekeepers have been wounded in attacks that struck their positions, with most blamed on Israeli forces.

Speaking in Luxembourg before chairing talks between EU foreign ministers, Borrell underlined that the U.N. Security Council decides whether UNIFIL should be moved, “so stop blaming Secretary Guterres.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called for UNIFIL to heed Israel’s warnings to evacuate, accusing them of “providing a human shield” to Hezbollah. In a video addressed to Guterres, who has been banned from entering Israel, Netanyahu told the U.N. chief “to get (UNIFIL) out of the danger zone.”

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, whose country is one of Europe’s strongest backers of Israel, said the attacks are “simply unacceptable” and that UNFIL will not be leaving.

“No, they will not withdraw. Yes, they will continue to fulfill the mandate. And yes, we demand on each and every party to respect this mandate and respect the security and safety of our blue helmets,” he told reporters.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip said it has launched the second round of a polio vaccination campaign in the war-ravaged territory.

It said Monday that a second does of the vaccine will be administered to children under 10 in the central part of the territory over the next three days before the campaign is expanded to the north and south.

The campaign began last month after the territory registered its first polio case in Gaza in 25 years — a 10-month-old boy, now paralyzed in one leg.

Health workers succeeded in administering the first dose of the vaccine to around 560,000 children despite myriad challenges, including ongoing fighting, the breakdown of law and order and widespread damage to roads and infrastructure.

The World Health Organization said humanitarian pauses to facilitate the campaign last month were largely observed.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — “It is totally, utterly unacceptable for Israel to be targeting U.N. Peacekeepers,” New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told reporters in the capital on Monday.

“I think the whole world is outraged that Israel is targeting U.N. facilities. They are there on a peacekeeping mission to try and keep the peace on that border,” he said.

Mourners carry the coffins of their relatives, killed on Saturday in an Israeli airstrike, during their funeral procession in Maisara near the northern coastal town of Byblos, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Mourners carry a picture of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during the funeral procession of their relatives, in Maisara near the northern coastal town of Byblos, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Children play next to their family's tent after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Families fleeing Israeli airstrikes in the south, sit in Martyrs' square, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People mourn over the coffins of their relatives, killed on Saturday in an Israeli airstrike, during their funeral procession in Maisara near the northern coastal town of Byblos, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A plane take off from Rafik Hariri international airport as smoke of a past Israeli airstrike still rise from Dahiyeh, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People mourn Israeli soldier Sgt. Amitai Alon, killed by a Hezbollah drone attack, during his funeral near Ramot Naftali, Israel, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

People mourn over the flagged-covered coffin of Israeli soldier Sgt. Amitai Alon, killed by a Hezbollah drone attack, during his funeral near Ramot Naftali, Israel, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli strike hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli strike hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli strike hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli strike hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli strike hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli soldiers display what they say is an entrance to a Hezbollah tunnel found during their ground operation in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)

Israeli soldiers are seen during a ground operation in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)

Israeli soldiers display what they say is an entrance to a Hezbollah tunnel found during their ground operation in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)

Middle East latest: EU condemns attacks on peacekeepers in Lebanon

FILE - UN peacekeepers hold their flag, as they observe Israeli excavators attempt to destroy tunnels built by Hezbollah, near the southern Lebanese-Israeli border village of Mays al-Jabal, Lebanon, Dec. 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

Middle East latest: EU condemns attacks on peacekeepers in Lebanon

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris zeroed in on former President Donald Trump 's comments suggesting the U.S. military could be used to deal with “the enemy from within” as the two presidential nominees took the fight for battleground Pennsylvania to opposite ends of the state on Monday.

Harris, at her rally in northwestern Pennsylvania, called Trump a serious threat to American democracy who is “out for unchecked power.”

“He considers anyone who doesn’t support him or who will not bend to his will an enemy of our country,” Harris said after playing a clip of the comment on the jumbo screen at her rally at an Erie arena. “This is among the reasons I believe so strongly that a second Trump term would be a huge risk for America, and dangerous.”

Democrat Harris and Republican Trump have been become fixtures in the country's largest 2024 battleground state. It was Harris' 10th visit to Pennsylvania this campaign season, and Trump's Monday town hall in suburban Philadelphia came after visits last week to Scranton and Reading.

Harris is highlighting what she says are examples of Trump's increasingly “unstable and unhinged” behavior. It's part of her effort to win over a small universe of undecided voters and tear away even a small slice of traditionally Republican voters in the fight for Pennsylvania and six other closely contested states that are expected to determine who wins next month's election.

She argued that Trump's comments in a Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures” interview are the latest example of threatening rhetoric from the former president that should concern Americans about what a potential second Trump term could look like.

Trump made the comment in response to a question about “outside agitators” potentially disrupting Election Day, pivoting to what he said is a foe closer to home.

“I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within,” Trump said. He added: “We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the big — and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”

Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance, defended Trump’s comments during a campaign stop in Minneapolis earlier Monday.

“Is it a justifiable use of those assets if they’re rioting and looting and burning cities down to the ground? Of course it is. Right?” Vance told reporters. “I think the question is, is it a justifiable use of assets, depends on what’s actually happening.”

Harris and Trump have thrown themselves fully into the race for Pennsylvania.

Trump beat Hillary Clinton by more than 40,000 votes in Pennsylvania on his way to winning the presidency in 2016. But Joe Biden, a Scranton native, beat Trump by about 80,000 votes in the state four years ago.

Both sides believe the race for Pennsylvania could be even closer this time.

Trump spoke at a town hall Monday in suburban Oaks. Responding to a man who said his dream of homeownership feels out of reach, Trump said regulations make it too expensive to build in some places. He repeated his pledge to increase U.S. oil drilling, which he said would drive down costs, though domestic production is already at record highs.

“We’re going to drill baby drill, we’re going to have so much energy and we’re going to bring prices down,” Trump said.

He also claimed that government data from crime statistics to jobless numbers is “fake,” alleging the numbers are manipulated to help the incumbent Democrats.

Trump cut short his remarks after twice being interrupted by medical emergencies, turning the town hall into a concert instead. After the second incident, Trump spoke for a few more minutes and then called for music. He then stood onstage — at times swaying along — as music played.

Harris' campaign called Erie a “pivot” area, a Democratic-majority city of about 94,000 people bordered by suburbs and rural areas with significant numbers of Republicans. Erie County is often cited as one of the state's reliable bellwether regions, where the electorate has a decidedly moderate voting record. Trump visited Erie on Sept. 29.

Harris also talked up early voting during her rally. Mail-in voting is well underway in the state where some 7 million people are likely to cast votes in the presidential race.

“If you have already received your ballot in the mail, please do not wait,” Harris urged her supporters. “Fill it out and return it today or tomorrow. But please get it out.”

Beforehand, she stopped by a newly opened coffee shop and record store in Erie as she continues to press her case for Black men’s support.

The visit to LegendErie Records and Coffee House, a Black-owned small business, came after her campaign unveiled a plan earlier Monday to give Black men more economic opportunities and other chances. The campaign is trying to step up outreach to Black men, a key voting bloc that has some Democrats concerned about a possible lack of enthusiasm.

Pennsylvania and its 19 electoral votes, the most of any swing state, have generated the most attention by far from the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns. Including Monday’s scheduled events, they will have made 46 stops in the state, according to Associated Press tracking of the campaigns’ public events.

Michigan, with 33 visits, and Wisconsin, with 29, are the next most-visited states, illustrating how both campaigns are focusing on winning states that had been part of the Democrats’ so-called “blue wall” until Trump emerged as the Republican standard-bearer.

Democrats have won three straight elections for Pennsylvania governor, and both current U.S. senators are Democrats, but the state's Legislature is closely divided.

Trump rallygoer Tom Bonanno said he believed there was greater enthusiasm for Trump this year than in the former president’s two previous campaigns.

”I’m feeling a shift because the economy affects everyone,” Bonanno said. “It’s not just going to be on, you’re feeling joy or happiness or whatever they’re running on. It’s about the economy once again.”

Luther Manus, 97, a World War II and Vietnam veteran, walked from Harris' Monday night rally impressed with the candidate but was circumspect about how much she'll be able to accomplish in a polarized Washington if she wins.

“I think she’s superb,” Manus said as the arena was emptying out. But he added: "If they give her a Democratic Senate and a Democratic House, she’ll be able to do much of what she said. Without that, she’s going to have a problem, just like Obama and Biden.”

Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Weissert from Erie, Pennsylvania. Associated Press journalists Tassanee Vejpongsa in Oaks, Pennsylvania; Carolyn Thompson in Erie, Pennsylvania; Aamer Madhani in Washington and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as an image of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump appears on screen during a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, in Erie, Pa., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, in Erie, Pa., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump watches as South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem dances to the song "Y.M.C.A." at a campaign town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center & Fairgrounds, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Oaks, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, in Erie, Pa., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, in Erie, Pa., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024.(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, left, participates in a roundtable discussion with Black men during a visit to Legenderie Records and Coffee House, a Black-owned small business in Erie, Pa., during a campaign stop, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center & Fairgrounds, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Oaks, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump listens at a campaign town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center & Fairgrounds, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Oaks, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, greets Ishmael Trainor, owner of Legenderie Records and Coffee House, a Black-owned small business in Erie, Pa., during a campaign stop, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris waves as she arrives to board Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, en route to Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Harris and Trump will both campaign in battleground Pennsylvania on Monday

Harris and Trump will both campaign in battleground Pennsylvania on Monday

FILE - This combination of photos shows Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris during an ABC News presidential debate at the National Constitution Center, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)