KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Afnan al-Ghanam of Gaza had her first child during war, 13 months ago, while the family was still living at home.
She was about to give birth again in the spring — this time, while living in a squalid tent camp. But at least a tenuous ceasefire had brought a relative calm.
Then, before dawn on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike smashed into the family’s tent. Al-Ghanam, who was seven months pregnant, and Mohammed, her young son, were both killed.
They were among more than 400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, killed when Israel launched a surprise bombardment across the Gaza Strip, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. Israel said it struck Hamas targets to force the militant group to free hostages and relinquish control of Gaza.
“This is their bank of targets,” said al-Ghanam’s husband, Alaa Abu Helal, as he held Mohammed’s little body, wrapped in cloth, at the morgue of Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. “He was born during the war in difficult conditions and also martyred in the war.”
“Their targets are innocents, pure. They have barely seen life,” he said, fighting his tears.
Israel's aerial assault shattered the ceasefire that began in mid-January and stunned Palestinians who had finally had a breather to start trying to rebuild their lives after 15 months of bombardment, ground offensives, dispersal and hunger.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in retaliation for Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in southern Israel. It says it does not target civilians, and blames Hamas for their deaths, saying it operates among the population.
Abu Helal said he was visiting the family's home in Gaza’s southernmost city Rafah when the strike hit the family's tent in Muwasi, a sprawling camp for displaced families outside Khan Younis. Their home in Rafah had been damaged during the war, and he had wanted to check in on it to ensure it had not been looted.
The 20-year-old al-Ghanam and Mohammed had stayed behind in Muwasi. "They have gone and left me alone,” he said. “The unborn child is dead, too.”
Mohammed was born in Rafah. Soon after, the family was forced to flee the city in May, when Israeli troops ordered a mass evacuation and stormed the city. The offensive flattened much of the city as troops battled Hamas fighters.
“You flee during the war to keep your family and children safe. But then, here, he’s dead,” Abu Helal said. “All of them are dead.”
AP correspondents Lee Keath and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.
Alaa Abu Helal shows the clothes of his 13-month-old son, Mohammed, before Mohammed and his pregnant mother, Afana, are buried in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. They were killed before dawn on Tuesday by an Israeli airstrike. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)
In this image made from an Associated Press video, the bodies of Afnan al-Ghanam, who was 7 months pregnant, and her young son, Mohammed, are prepared for burial in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. They were killed before dawn on Tuesday by an Israeli airstrike. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)
In this image made from an Associated Press video, Alaa Abu Helal holds the body of his 13-month-old son, Mohammed, before Mohammed and his pregnant mother, Afana, were buried in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. They were killed before dawn Tuesday by an Israeli airstrike. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)
In this image made from an Associated Press video, Palestinians pray over the bodies of Afnan al-Ghanam and her 13-month old son, Mohammed, at their funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. They were killed before dawn on Tuesday by an Israeli airstrike. (AP Photo/ Mohammad Jahjouh)
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Kyle Larson is tired of his weekends at Homestead-Miami Speedway ending in disappointment.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver has won a NACAR Cup Series race and Xfinity Series race in his career at the South Florida track, but he mostly just remembers the heartbreaks there, which recently came in a disappointing 13th-place finish in last year’s playoff race.
This year, Larson has already secured a victory at the 1.5-mile track, where he's competing in the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck races. Larson rallied from a late-race spinout to pull off a comeback win in the Truck Series on Friday, and he’s eyeing more.
Kyle Busch is the only driver to sweep a triple-header weekend, accomplishing the feat at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2010 and 2017.
“To join him in something like that would be pretty special,” Larson said. “More than anything I just love the opportunity to race. I love Homestead. ... I felt like it was a prefect weekend to run all three. And to win all three would be great.”
Larson has five top-five finishes in 11 Cup starts in his career at Homestead — two driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. He’s led the most laps (626) of any active driver, and his 12 stage wins in the Next Gen car is a series best. No other driver has more than five stage wins.
Busch said Larson has a good shot at a sweep given how well he drives in Homestead, which was in the playoff rotation the past three years but has now been moved to a regular-season race.
“I did it first,” Busch quipped, before adding, “This is his place. He’s known to be super good here. Super comfortable running the wall, so you get a lot of benefit from that.”
Larson finished fourth in 2021 and won the race in 2022 but left frustrated the past two years.
He was out of the race at Lap 214 in 2023 after slamming into the pit road barriers trying to overtake Ryan Blaney for the lead. Last year, Larson’s winning chance ended when he spun while racing Blaney for the lead with under 20 laps to go.
“I feel like every time I go there (to Homestead) you leave disappointed because you feel like you have the best car or truck, and things don’t work out,” Larson said. “Whether it’s mistakes on my end or ill-timed cautions combined with a hiccup on pit road, or whatever late in the race, and you end up losing.
“Literally all but maybe two or three races at Homestead I felt like we had the best car, best chance of winning, and we don’t have the wins to show for it.”
NASCAR sent out a clarification to race teams in all three national series on pitting in another team’s pit stall after Christopher Bell stopped in the pit stall of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe to have a loose left wheel tightened during the Pennzoil 400 in Las Vegas last weekend.
If a vehicle gets service in another team’s pit stall to fix a safety issue, it will receive a flag status penalty, NASCAR said, and they’ll either have to restart at the tail of the field or receive a pass-through for pitting outside the assigned pit box.
The left-front wheel was loose on Bell’s No. 20 Toyota when he was exiting pit road last week. If the wheel came off after he exited pit road, Bell would have been penalized two laps and had two pit crew members suspended for the next two races. He stopped in Briscoe’s stall for service instead, was dinged for pitting outside the box and only had to restart at the back of the field. He finished 12th.
NASCAR listed tightening loose wheels, removing a fuel can or a wedge wrench as examples of safety issues.
Joe Gibbs Racing announced Tuesday that the organization signed an agreement with Progressive Insurance to sponsor Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota Camry in 18 NASCAR Cup Series races this season, starting with Sunday’s race in Homestead.
Progressive’s name and blue branding will be displayed on Hamlin’s car and race suit, and his crew will wear Progressive branded gear.
“It’s good for them (Joe Gibbs Racing) to have an anchor partner,” Hamlin said, “and certainly for my fans’ sake, they’re going to be able to identify me week-to-week. And I think that’s something that certainly is very important. So feeling out those 18 races is going to be a big deal for myself and Gibbs throughout the year.”
Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman won the pole for Sunday’s race while driving a No. 48 Toyota that promotes the 3-on-3 women’s basketball league Unrivaled, which just wrapped up its inaugural season in Miami.
It’s the sixth career pole for Bowman, who was followed by Josh Berry — the winner at Las Vegas last weekend — Noah Gragson, Briscoe and William Byron.
Larson (+375) is the BetMGM Sportsbook favorite, followed by Tyler Reddick (+600). Larson’s 1,286 total miles led on the 1.5-mile tracks is almost double that of any other driver. Bell is second with 614. ... Reddick won the race last year, while Hamlin leads active drivers with three wins (2009, ’13, ’20).
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Kyle Larson drives during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
