Strikes in Gaza kill 85 overnight, bringing the total since Israel broke ceasefire to nearly 600

DEIR-AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Local health officials said Israeli strikes killed at least 85 Palestinians across he Gaza Strip overnight and into Thursday, bringing the total to nearly 600 killed since Israel shattered a truce that had facilitated the release of more than two dozen hostages and brought relative calm since late January.

Hours later, Hamas fired three rockets at Israel without causing casualties, in the first such attack since Israel broke the ceasefire on Tuesday.

Zaher al-Waheidi, the head of the records department at the Gaza Health Ministry, said Israeli bombardments have killed at least 592 people in the past three days.

The Israeli military said it was again enforcing a blockade on northern Gaza, including Gaza City. Palestinians were not being ordered to leave northern Gaza but can no longer enter, the military said, and are only allowed to move south on foot using the coastal road. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had returned to what remains of their homes in the north during the ceasefire.

Early Friday, Israel’s Cabinet unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to fire the head of the country’s Shin Bet internal security service. The late-night decision to sack Ronen Bar deepens a power struggle focused largely over who bears responsibility for the Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza.

It also could set the stage for a crisis over the country’s division of powers. Israel’s attorney general has ruled that the Cabinet has no legal basis to dismiss Bar.

Israeli ground forces, meanwhile, are pushing into Gaza near the northern town of Beit Lahiya and the southern border city of Rafah, the military said Thursday. The operations come a day after Israel moved to split Gaza in two by retaking part of the strategic Netzarim corridor that divides Gaza's north from south.

The military ordered Palestinians to evacuate an area in central Gaza near the city of Khan Younis, saying it would operate there in response to Thursday’s rocket fire from Hamas. The Palestinian militant group said it targeted Tel Aviv. One rocket was intercepted and two fell in open areas, according to the army.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels also launched two missiles at Israel, one early Thursday morning and another in the evening, the military said. Both were intercepted before reaching Israeli airspace, according to the army, and no injuries were reported. Air raid sirens rang out and exploding interceptor rockets were heard in Jerusalem. There have been three such attacks since the United States began a new campaign of airstrikes against the Houthis earlier this week.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said overnight Israeli strikes killed at least 85 people, mostly women and children. The ministry's records do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The Indonesian Hospital said it received 19 bodies after strikes in Beit Lahiya, near Gaza's northern border, which was heavily destroyed and largely depopulated earlier in the war.

“It was a bloody night for the people of Beit Lahiya,” said Fares Awad, head of the Health Ministry’s emergency service in northern Gaza, adding that rescuers were still searching the rubble. “The situation is catastrophic.”

Israel’s military said Thursday its airstrikes in Gaza had killed the head of Hamas’ internal security apparatus and two other militant commanders. Israel has said it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas. A United Nations-backed group of human rights experts accused Israel last week of “disproportionate violence against women and children” during the war in Gaza.

One of the strikes early Thursday hit the Abu Daqa family’s home in Abasan al-Kabira, a village outside Khan Younis near the border with Israel. It was in an area the Israeli military ordered evacuated earlier this week, encompassing most of eastern Gaza.

The strike killed at least 16 people, mostly women and children, according to the nearby European Hospital, which received the dead. Those killed included a father and his seven children, as well as the parents and brother of a month-old baby who survived along with her grandparents.

“Another tough night,” said Hani Awad, who was helping rescuers search for more survivors in the rubble. “The house collapsed over the people’s heads.”

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration reiterated its support for Israel, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying, “The president made it very clear to Hamas that if they did not release all of the hostages there would be all hell to pay.”

Israel, which cut off the supply of food, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza's roughly 2 million Palestinians, has vowed to intensify its operations until Hamas releases the 59 hostages it holds — 24 of whom are believed alive — and gives up control of the territory.

Hamas says it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as called for in the ceasefire agreement mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.

Hamas says it's willing to hand over power to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority or a committee of political independents but will not lay down its arms until Israel ends its decades-long occupation of lands the Palestinians want for a future state.

Netanyahu said Sunday he would seek Bar’s dismissal, saying he had lost faith in his security chief.

But critics say the move is a power grab by Netanyahu against an independent-minded civil servant.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have demonstrated across the country in recent days in support of Bar, including a mass gathering outside Netanyahu’s office late Thursday in the pouring rain.

A Shin Bet report into the Oct. 7 attack acknowledged failures by the security agency. But it also said that policies by Netanyahu’s government created the conditions for the attack.

Netanyahu is also upset that the Shin Bet has launched an investigation into connections between some of his close aides and the Gulf state of Qatar. His office said Bar's dismissal would take effect on April 10 or before then if a replacement is found.

Bar did not attend the meeting but sent a letter to the Cabinet ahead of time protesting the firing.

He said the dismissal was meant to hinder the agency from further investigating the failures of Oct. 7 and undermining the investigation into whether Qatar influenced the prime minister’s office.

“This is a direct danger to the security of the state of Israel,” Bar wrote.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. Most of the hostages have been freed in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight living hostages and recovered the bodies of dozens more.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 49,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It does not say how many were militants, but says more than half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The war at its height displaced around 90% of Gaza's population and has caused vast destruction across the territory.

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed.

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

Demonstrators block a road during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, in Jerusalem on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israelis attend a rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, and calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, outside the Knesset, Israel's parliament in Jerusalem on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israelis attend a rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, and calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, outside the Knesset, Israel's parliament in Jerusalem on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israelis attend a rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, and calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, outside the Knesset, Israel's parliament in Jerusalem on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Buildings destroyed during the Israeli attack are seen in the Gaza Strip during the sunset as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Buildings destroyed during the Israeli attack are seen in the Gaza Strip from southern Israel, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings, move away from the areas where the Israeli army is operating after Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, on the outskirts of Beit Lahia, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings, move away from the areas where the Israeli army is operating after Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, on the outskirts of Beit Lahia, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Ella Osama Abu Dagga, 25 days old, is held by her great-aunt Suad Abu Dagga, after she was pulled from the rubble earlier following an Israeli army airstrike that killed her parents and brother, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana )

The bodies of victims of an Israeli army airstrike are prepared for burial at Indonesia Hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings, move away from the areas where the Israeli army is operating after Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, on the outskirts of Beit Lahia, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

People walking surrounded by buildings destroyed during the Israeli air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip are seen from southern Israel, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Buildings destroyed during the Israeli air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Neighbours watch as volunteers and rescue workers search for survivors among the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga)

People walking surrounded by buildings destroyed during the Israeli air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip are seen from southern Israel, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Volunteers and rescue workers use a bulldozer as to remove the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga)

Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings traveling from Beit Hanoun to Jabaliya, a day after Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings traveling from Beit Hanoun to Jabaliya, a day after Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings traveling from Beit Hanoun to Jabaliya, a day after Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

An Israeli tank maneuvers on the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

An Israeli tank takes position on the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings traveling from Beit Hanoun to Jabaliya, a day after Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

LONDON (AP) — A large fire near London's Heathrow Airport knocked out power Friday to Europe’s busiest flight hub, forcing it to shut and disrupting global travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers.

Heathrow said it didn't know when power would be restored — raising the possibility that the shutdown would last longer than just the day, as previously expected.

At least 1,350 flights to and from Heathrow were affected, flight tracking service FlightRadar 24 said, and the impact was likely to last several days as passengers try to reschedule their travel and airlines work to get planes and crew to the right places.

Authorities do not know what caused the fire but so far found have no evidence it was suspicious.

Residents in west London described hearing a large explosion, followed by a fireball and clouds of smoke, when the blaze ripped through the electrical substation near the airport.

Some 120 flights were in the air when the closure was announced, with some turned around and others diverted to Gatwick Airport outside London, Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris or Ireland’s Shannon Airport, tracking services showed.

Lawrence Hayes was three-quarters of the way to London from New York when Virgin Atlantic announced they were being diverted to Glasgow.

“It was a red-eye flight and I’d already had a full day, so I don’t even know how long I’ve been up for,” Hayes told the BBC as he was getting off the plane in Scotland. "Luckily I managed to get hold of my wife and she’s kindly booked me a train ticket to get back to Euston, but it’s going to be an incredibly long day.”

Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports for international travel. It had its busiest January on record earlier this year, with more than 6.3 million passengers, up more than 5% from the same period last year.

Still, the disruption Friday fell short of the one caused by the 2010 eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed clouds of ash into the atmosphere and created trans-Atlantic air travel chaos for months.

It was too early to determine what sparked the huge blaze about 2 miles (3 kilometers) from the airport, but there’s “no suggestion” of foul play, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said.

The Metropolitan Police force said counterterrorism detectives were leading the investigation because of their ability to find the cause quickly and because of the location of the electrical substation fire and its impact on critical national infrastructure.

Miliband said the fire, which took seven hours to control, also knocked out a backup power supply to the airport. Heathrow said in a statement that it had no choice but to close the airport for the day.

“We expect significant disruption over the coming days, and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens," the airport said.

The fire’s widespread impact on travel led to criticism that Britain was ill prepared for disaster or some type of attack if a single blaze could shut down Europe’s busiest airport.

“The U.K.’s critical national infrastructure is not sufficiently hardened for anywhere near the level it would need to be at to give us confidence this won’t happen again,” said Alan Mendoza, the executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, a security think tank. “If one fire can shut down Heathrow’s primary systems and then apparently the backup systems, as well, it tells you something’s badly wrong with our system of management of such disasters.”

Tom Wells, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, acknowledged that authorities had questions to answer and said a rigorous investigation was needed to make sure “this scale of disruption does not happen again.”

Heathrow — where the U.K. government plans to build a third runway — was at the heart of a shorter disruption in 2023 when Britain’s air traffic control system was hit by a breakdown that slowed takeoffs and landings across the U.K. on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

Though the fire has been brought under control, the airport said in a statement it does not have “clarity on when power may be reliably restored.”

It said it expects “significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.”

Heathrow earlier said the airport was not expected to reopen until Saturday.

The London Fire Brigade sent 10 engines and around 70 firefighters to control the blaze and about 150 people were evacuated from their homes near the power station.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said in a post on X the power outage affected more than 16,300 homes.

At Heathrow, a family of five traveling to Dallas showed up in the hopes their flight home — still listed as delayed — would take off.

But when Andrea Sri brought her brother, sister-in-law and their three children to the airport, they were told by police that there would be no flight.

“It was a waste of time. Very confusing,” said Sri, who lives in London. “We tried to get in touch with British Airways, but they don’t open their telephone line until 8 a.m.”

Travelers who were diverted to other cities found themselves trying to book travel onward to London. Qantas airlines sent flights from Singapore and Perth, Australia, to Paris, where it said it would bus people to London, a process likely to also include a train shuttle beneath the English Channel.

Budget airline Ryanair, which doesn't operate out of Heathrow, said it added eight “rescue flights” between Dublin and Stansted, another London airport, to transport stranded passengers Friday and Saturday.

National Rail canceled all trains to and from the airport.

Matthew Muirhead was working Thursday night near Heathrow when he stepped outside with a colleague and noticed smoke rising from an electrical substation and heard sirens crying out.

“We saw a bright flash of white, and all the lights in town went out,” he said.

Flights normally begin landing and taking off at Heathrow at 6 a.m. due to nighttime flying restrictions. But the skies were silent Friday morning.

“Living near Heathrow is noisy, there are planes every 90 seconds or so, plus the constant hum of traffic, but you get used to it, to the point of no longer noticing,” said James Henderson, who has lived next to the airport for more than 20 years. “Today is different, you can hear the birds singing.”

Associated Press writers Stefanie Dazio in Berlin, Yirmiyan Arthur in Kohima, India, Hallie Golden in Seattle, and Christie Hampton, Brian Hannon and David Cohen in Bangkok, contributed.

Travellers are waiting as Britain's Heathrow Airport has closed for the full day Friday after an electrical substation fire knocked out its power, disrupting flights for hundreds of thousands of passengers at one of Europe's biggest travel hubs in London, Friday, March 21, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Planes are parked at Terminal 5 as Britain's Heathrow Airport has closed for the full day Friday after an electrical substation fire knocked out its power, disrupting flights for hundreds of thousands of passengers at one of Europe's biggest travel hubs in London, Friday, March 21, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A fireman works at the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire last night, leading to the closure of the Heathrow Airport, in London, Friday March 21, 2025..(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Smoke rises from the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire last night, leading to the closure of the Heathrow Airport, in London, Friday March 21, 2025. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

Smoke rises from the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire last night, leading to the closure of the Heathrow Airport, in London, Friday March 21, 2025. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

This image taken from video shows a deserted runaway with parked planes on the background at Heathrow airport, as a fire at the North Hyde electrical substation on Thursday night has led to a closure of Heathrow Airport in London, Friday, March 21, 2025. (Sky News via AP)

Traveller Lauren Clark, left, and Shahin Jade Ali wait at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport after a fire at Heathrow Airport in London forced its closure, leading to numerous flight cancellations, in Mumbai, India, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

Firefighters extinguish the fire at the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire Thursday night and led to a closure of Heathrow Airport in London, Friday, March 21, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Planes are parked at the Terminal as Britain's Heathrow Airport has closed for the full day Friday after an electrical substation fire knocked out its power, disrupting flights for hundreds of thousands of passengers at one of Europe's biggest travel hubs in London, Friday, March 21, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

British Airways planes are sitting in a hangar as Britain's Heathrow Airport has closed for the full day Friday after an electrical substation fire knocked out its power, disrupting flights for hundreds of thousands of passengers at one of Europe's biggest travel hubs in London, Friday, March 21, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A traveller arrives with his lugage at Terminal 4 as Britain's Heathrow Airport has closed for the full day Friday after an electrical substation fire knocked out its power, disrupting flights for hundreds of thousands of passengers at one of Europe's biggest travel hubs in London, Friday, March 21, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Firefighters extinguish the fire at the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire Thursday night and lead to a closure of Heathrow Airport in London, Friday, March 21, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Stranded passengers makes their way down unlit stairs due to lifts not working to the car park at Heathrow Terminal 4 in London, Friday March 21, 2025, as consequence of the closure of the airport following a fire at the North Hyde electrical substation last night. (James Manning/PA via AP)

Trollies in the unlit car park at Heathrow Terminal 4 in London, Friday March 21, 2025, as consequence of the closure of the airport following a fire at the North Hyde electrical substation last night. (James Manning/PA via AP)

A flight information screen shows cancelled flights destined for the Heathrow Airport in London, at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, in New Delhi, India, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Shonal Ganguly)

Firefighters extinguish the fire at the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire Thursday night and led to a closure of Heathrow Airport in London, Friday, March 21, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Passengers with suitcases waitb on a nearby road after Britain's Heathrow Airport has closed for the full day Friday after an electrical substation fire knocked out its power, disrupting flights for hundreds of thousands of passengers at one of Europe's biggest travel hubs in London, Friday, March 21, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Firefighters wait at the area around the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire Thursday night and lead to a closure of Heathrow Airport in London, Friday, March 21, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Firefighters extinguish the fire at the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire Thursday night and lead to a closure of Heathrow Airport in London, Friday, March 21, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Firefighters extinguish the fire at the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire Thursday night and lead to a closure of Heathrow Airport in London, Friday, March 21, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Police forces cordon off the area around the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire Thursday night and lead to a closure of Heathrow Airport in London, Friday, March 21, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A police officer guards the cordoned off area around the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire Thursday night and lead to a closure of Heathrow Airport in London, Friday, March 21, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A police officer guards the cordoned off area around the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire Thursday night and lead to a closure of Heathrow Airport in London, Friday, March 21, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Emergency services are seen at the scene in Roseville Road, west London, Friday, March 21, 2025, near the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire Thursday night. (James Weech/PA via AP)

Emergency services are seen at the scene in Roseville Road, west London, Friday, March 21, 2025, near the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire Thursday night. (James Weech/PA via AP)

FILE - Airplanes are seen at the Heathrow Airport in London, May 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

FILE - A plane takes off over a road sign near Heathrow Airport in London, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)