Israeli strikes kill dozens in Gaza amid efforts to prevent wider war; stabbing in Tel Aviv kills 2
TEL AVIV — Israeli strikes on Sunday killed at least 25 people at two schools in Gaza City, and earlier strikes killed 18 people elsewhere in Gaza, including at a tent camp inside a hospital complex, according to officials there. Two elderly people were also reported killed in a stabbing attack in a Tel Aviv suburb.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting that the country is already in a “multi-front war” with Iran and its proxies — as Israel prepares for an expected counterstrike and the United States and allies try to prevent an even more destructive regional conflict.
Tensions have soared following nearly 10 months of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and the killing last week of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas’ top political leader in Iran. Iran and its allies have blamed Israel and threatened retaliation. Hamas says it has begun discussions on choosing a new leader.
Netanyahu said Israel was ready for any scenario. Jordan’s foreign minister was making a rare trip to Iran as part of diplomatic efforts — “We want the escalation to end,” Ayman Safadi said — while the Pentagon has moved significant assets to the region.
“We are doing everything possible to make sure that this situation does not boil over,” White House deputy national security advisor Jon Finer told ABC.
In Israel, some prepared bomb shelters and recalled Iran’s unprecedented direct military assault in April following a suspected Israeli strike that killed two Iranian generals. Israel said almost all the drones and ballistic and cruise missiles were intercepted.
The stabbing attack in Tel Aviv killed a woman in her 70s and an 80-year-old man, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service and a nearby hospital, and two other men were wounded. Police said the attack was carried out by a Palestinian militant, who they said was “neutralized.”
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In the attack on the Gaza City schools, the Health Ministry said, in addition to the 25 people killed, 19 were injured. AP video showed at least one child among the dead. Israel’s military, which regularly accuses Palestinian militants of sheltering in civilian areas, said it hit Hamas command centers.
“As you can see, there is no equipment to recover the injured,” said one man, Yusuf Al-Mashharawi. “Rescuers are digging with their hands.”
In Deir al Balah, Gaza, an Israeli strike hit a tent camp for thousands of displaced Palestinians in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, killing four people and injuring others, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. An Associated Press journalist filmed men rushing to the scene to retrieve bodies and trying to extinguish the fire.
The Israeli military said it targeted a Palestinian militant in the strike, which it said caused secondary explosions, “indicating the presence of weaponry in the area.”
The hospital is the main medical facility operating in central Gaza as many others in the territory no longer function. A separate strike on a home near Deir al Balah killed a girl and her parents, according to the hospital.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran after attending the inauguration of the country’s new president, Iran and the militant group said early Wednesday. Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike.
Another strike flattened a house in northern Gaza, killing at least eight people, including three children, their parents and their grandmother, according to the Health Ministry. Another three people were killed in a strike on a vehicle in Gaza City, according to the Civil Defense first responders who operate under the Hamas-run government.
Palestinian militants in Gaza fired at least five projectiles at Israeli communities near the border without causing casualties or damage, Israel’s military said. The military later told people in some parts of the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis to evacuate.
The Health Ministry on Sunday also announced the death toll from an Israeli strike the day before on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City; it said at least 16 people were killed and another 21 wounded. Israel’s military, which regularly accuses Palestinian militants of sheltering in civilian areas, said it struck a Hamas command center.
The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel that killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians; about 250 were taken hostage.
Israel’s massive offensive in response has killed at least 39,580 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Heavy airstrikes and ground attacks have caused widespread destruction and displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, often multiple times.
Israel has assassinated two dozen Hezbollah commanders in Lebanon since last fall amid an intelligence war employing cellphones, drones and fake rocks.
The militant group Hezbollah and Israel have continued to trade fire along the Lebanon border since the war began, with the severity growing in recent months. The Lebanese state-run National News Agency said an Israeli strike targeted a house in Beit Lef, and the Lebanese Health Ministry said two people were critically wounded.
Hezbollah says the attacks are aimed at relieving pressure on fellow Iran-backed ally Hamas. A growing number of countries, including the U.S., are encouraging citizens to leave Lebanon.
Associated Press writer Melzer reported from Tel Aviv, Magdy from Cairo. AP journalist Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al Balah contributed.
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