PARIS (AP) — Striker Arnaud Kalimuendo scored a hat trick and Rennes got back to winning ways in Ligue 1 by thrashing 10-man Saint-Etienne 5-0 on Saturday.
Meanwhile, leader Paris Saint-Germian dropped points at home when it drew with Nantes 1-1.
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PSG's Achraf Hakimi, left, and Nantes' Pedro Chirivella challenge for the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
PSG's Warren Zaire-Emery, centre, challenges for the ball with Nantes' Pedro Chirivella, right, and Nicolas Pallois during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Nantes' Herba Guirassy, front, and PSG's Willian Pacho challenge for the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
PSG's Vitinha, left, and Nantes' Douglas Augusto challenge for the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
PSG's Achraf Hakimi reacts during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
PSG's Marquinhos heads the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
PSG's Marquinhos heads the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Nantes' Nicolas Pallois, left, and PSG's Ousmane Dembele challenge for the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Nantes' Jean-Philippe Gbamin, left, heads the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Rennes coach Jorge Sampaoli's first win with his new team came in his second match in charge after he took over this month.
Rennes had failed to score in more than a month and lost its three previous matches. The result lifted the host one point above Saint-Etienne.
Visiting Saint-Etienne made things difficult for itself when Mathieu Cafaro, who hit the post earlier, was sent off for a handball in the box in the 37th minute.
Kalimuendo put Rennes in the driving seat from the penalty spot two minutes later, and they returned to the locker room with a two-goal lead after Ludovic Blas, who was excellent throughout, found the net in added time.
Kalimuendo added another goal with a nice finish and converted a second penalty to seal his first Ligue 1 hat trick. Amine Gouiri also scored.
“We’re not going to say that everything clicked; we’re not going to get carried away. But it’s true that it feels good to win, to score a lot of goals, and to keep a clean sheet," Gouiri said. “However, we were helped by that red card. We need to enjoy this but not get ahead of ourselves. We have to build on the positives to keep going. It’s good for confidence."
The fiery Sampaoli returned to French soccer following a previous stint with Marseille. Sampaoli was in charge of Argentina at the 2018 World Cup. He has also coached clubs in Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Spain and Brazil. Sampaoli abruptly left Marseille in July 2022 after leading the team back to the Champions League, over a disagreement related to the club’s transfers of players.
PSG could not hold onto an early lead against Nantes at Parc des Princes.
Achraf Hakimi put PSG in front early but the hosts were wasteful against a very defensive Nantes that leveled against the run of the play before the interval. Matthis Abline beat Gianluigi Donnarumma with a left-footed shot after dribbling past Willian Pacho.
Donnarumma, who was dropped midweek during a 1-0 Champions League loss at Bayern Munich, made a reflex save near the hour mark to salvage the draw.
Uninspired, Luis Enrique’s team remained unbeaten in the league, extending its lead over second-placed Monaco to seven points. The Principality side travels to third-placed Marseille on Sunday.
Nantes remained 16th, the relegation playoff position.
The Brittany side recovered from a 3-0 loss at Barcelona in the Champions League midweek by beating Strasbourg 3-1. The result snapped a three-match losing run in Ligue 1, and moved Brest to 10th place.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
PSG's Achraf Hakimi, left, and Nantes' Pedro Chirivella challenge for the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
PSG's Warren Zaire-Emery, centre, challenges for the ball with Nantes' Pedro Chirivella, right, and Nicolas Pallois during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Nantes' Herba Guirassy, front, and PSG's Willian Pacho challenge for the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
PSG's Vitinha, left, and Nantes' Douglas Augusto challenge for the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
PSG's Achraf Hakimi reacts during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
PSG's Marquinhos heads the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
PSG's Marquinhos heads the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Nantes' Nicolas Pallois, left, and PSG's Ousmane Dembele challenge for the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Nantes' Jean-Philippe Gbamin, left, heads the ball during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli airstrike on a car in the Gaza Strip on Saturday killed five people, including employees of World Central Kitchen. The charity said it was “urgently seeking more details” after Israel's military said it targeted a WCK worker who was part of the Hamas attack that sparked the war.
WCK said it was “heartbroken” and it had no knowledge anyone in the car had alleged ties to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, adding it was “working with incomplete information.” It said it was pausing operations in Gaza. It had suspended work earlier this year after an Israeli strike killed seven of its workers.
The Israeli military in a statement said the alleged Oct. 7 attacker took part in the assault on the kibbutz of Nir Oz, and it asked “senior officials from the international community" and the WCK to clarify how he had come to work for the charity.
The family of the man named by Israel, Ahed Azmi Qdeih, rejected the allegations as “false accusations,” and confirmed in a statement he had worked with the charity. Israel named him as Hazmi Kadih.
The strike highlighted the dangerous work of delivering aid in Gaza, where the war has displaced much of the 2.3 million population and caused widespread hunger.
At Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, a woman held up an employee badge bearing the WCK logo and the word “contractor.” Belongings — burned phones, a watch and stickers with the WCK logo — lay on the floor.
Nazmi Ahmed said his nephew worked for WCK for the past year. He said he was driving to the charity's kitchens and warehouses.
“Today, he went out as usual to work ... and was targeted without prior warning and without any reason,” Ahmed said.
In April, a strike on a WCK aid convoy killed seven workers — three British citizens, Polish and Australian nationals, a Canadian-American dual national and a Palestinian. The Israeli military called it a mistake. That strike prompted an international outcry. Another Palestinian WCK worker was killed in August by shrapnel from an Israeli airstrike, the group said.
Another Israeli airstrike Saturday hit a car near a food distribution point in Khan Younis, killing 13 people, including children. Nasser hospital in Khan Younis received the bodies.
“They were distributing aid, vegetables, and we saw the missile landing,” witness Rami Al-Sori said. A woman sat on the ground and wept.
Save the Children said a local employee was killed in one of the Khan Younis airstrikes while returning from a mosque.
And the director of Kamal Adwan hospital reported a strike in Tal al Zaatar in Beit Lahiya in the north where Israeli forces are operating, and estimated based on witness accounts that well over 100 dead were under the rubble. He said the area remained inaccessible.
On Saturday, Hamas released a video of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander. Speaking under duress, Alexander referred to being held for 420 days and mentioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent $5 million offer for the hostages’ return.
“The prime minister is supposed to protect his soldiers and citizens, and you abandoned us,” Alexander said.
Netanyahu’s office said that he spoke with Alexander’s family after the release of the “brutal psychological warfare video” that held “an important and exciting sign of life.”
“(Netanyahu) reassured me and promised that now, after reaching an arrangement in Lebanon, conditions are right to free you all and bring you home,” Alexander’s mother, Yael, told demonstrators in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening.
A statement from U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett called the hostage video “a cruel reminder of Hamas’s terror against citizens of multiple countries, including our own.”
“The war in Gaza would stop tomorrow and the suffering of Gazans would end immediately — and would have ended months ago — if Hamas agreed to release the hostages,” it said.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who don’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in their count but say over half the dead were women and children.
Efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have faltered. But the U.S.- and France-brokered deal for Lebanon appears to be holding since Wednesday.
On Saturday, Israel's military said that it struck sites used to smuggle weapons from Syria to Lebanon after the ceasefire took effect. There was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities or Hezbollah. Israeli aircraft have struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon several times, citing truce violations.
Israel's strike in Syria came as insurgents breached its largest city, Aleppo, bringing fresh uncertainty to the region.
The truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah calls for an initial two-month ceasefire in which the militants should withdraw north of Lebanon's Litani River and Israeli forces should return to their side of the border.
Many Lebanese, some of the 1.2 million displaced, streamed home despite warnings by the Israeli and Lebanese militaries to avoid certain areas.
“Day by day, we will return to our normal lives,” said Mustafa Badawi, a cafe owner in Tyre.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said an Israeli drone strike on Rub Thalatheen village killed two people and wounded two others, and another hit a car in Majdal Zoun village. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said three were wounded, including a 7-year-old child.
Israel's military said it had been operating to distance “suspects” in the region, without elaborating. Israel says it reserves the right to strike against any perceived violations.
Israel seeks to ensure that tens of thousands of displaced Israelis return home. But they have been apprehensive.
“No, it will not be like before,” said one Israeli evacuee, Lavie Eini.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Israel and Hezbollah kept up cross-border fire until Israel escalated with an attack that detonated hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah. It then launched an intense aerial bombardment that killed Hezbollah leaders including Hassan Nasrallah, and a ground invasion in October.
More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel, over half of them civilians, as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Hamas’ October 2023 attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 hostage.
Tia Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Bassem Mroue reported from Beirut. Mohammad Jahjouh contributed to this report from Khan Younis, Gaza Strip.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
People stand near bodies on the ground inside the emergency department at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis after an Israeli airstrike on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo)
Injured are taken to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis after an Israeli airstrike on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo)
Two woman look over a body at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis after an Israeli airstrike on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo)
Shireen Daifallah, who was displaced from northern Gaza, checks one of her children in their tent at a camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah. Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
People gather at the site where former Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed by Israeli airstrikes late September during a memorial ceremony in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Shireen Daifallah's children, who were displaced from northern Gaza, sleep in their tent at a camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah. Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Injured are brought into Nasser hospital in Khan Younis after an Israeli airstrike on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo)
People gather at the site where former Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed by Israeli airstrikes late September during a memorial ceremony in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
An injured child unloaded from vehicle at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis after an Israeli airstrike on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo)
Shireen Daifallah, who was displaced with her children from northern Gaza, checks the fire next to their tent at a camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah. Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Damaged buildings stand on an area in southern Lebanon, during the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, as seen from the northern Israel, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
An Israeli couple observe the damaged buildings on a village in southern Lebanon as they stand near the Israeli-Lebanese border, during the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, in the northern Israel, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Backdropped by a Lebanese village an Israeli army position sits near the Israeli-Lebanese border, during the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, as seen from the northern Israel, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israelis observe the damaged buildings in a village in southern Lebanon as they stand near the Israeli-Lebanese border, during the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, in northern Israel, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Teacher Ahmed Awada inspects his school that was damaged by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Displaced residents drive past destroyed buildings as they return to Nabatiyeh, Lebanon, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Displaced residents drive past destroyed buildings as they return to Nabatiyeh, Lebanon, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Displaced residents drive past destroyed buildings as they return to Nabatiyeh, Lebanon, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Hezbollah supporters cheer as they return to Dahiyeh, in Beirut, Lebanon, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Displaced residents return to Dahiyeh, in Beirut, Lebanon, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Displaced residents celebrate as they return to their villages following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Ablah, eastern Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
