Israel shells northern Gaza, southern Beirut, attacks on mosques kill 19: NPR

DEIR ALBALA, Gaza Strip — At least 19 people were killed in an Israeli attack on a mosque in the Gaza Strip early Sunday, as Israel steps up shelling of northern Gaza and southern Beirut in an escalating war with Iranian-allied militants. announced a Palestinian official. Groups across the region.

Israel continues to fight Hamas in Gaza, one year after the October 7 attack, and Hezbollah, which has been exchanging gunfire with Israel along the border since the start of the war in Gaza. and opened a new front in Lebanon. After Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel last week, Israel has vowed to attack Iran itself.

Escalation of the conflict risks drawing the United States further in, which has provided important military and diplomatic support to Israel. Iranian-allied militant groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen have already taken part in long-range attacks on Israel.

One person was killed and 10 injured in a knife attack at a central bus stop in the southern Israeli city of Beersheva, first responders said. Police did not identify the perpetrators but said they were treating it as a terrorist attack.

The attack comes as Israel is on high alert ahead of commemorative events commemorating the October 7 attack. The attack began a year of escalating violence across the region.

Israeli forces return to Jabaliya and issue new evacuation order

An Israeli military offensive in Gaza targeted a mosque where displaced people were sheltering near the main hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah. Four more people were killed in a strike that turned a school into an evacuation center near the town. The Israeli military said both attacks targeted militants, without providing evidence.

An Associated Press reporter counted the number of bodies at the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue. According to hospital records, all those killed in the attack on the mosque were men.

The Israeli military has announced a new air and ground offensive into Jabaliya, northern Gaza, a densely populated refugee camp dating back to the 1948 war over Israel’s creation. Photos and video footage were circulated showing columns of tanks heading into the area.

According to the military, Israeli forces surrounded Jabaliya as fighter jets attacked militant strongholds in the city. During the war, Israel conducted several large-scale operations there, only to have the militants regroup.

Israel repeatedly called for the complete evacuation of northern Gaza from the first weeks of the war. Up to 300,000 people are estimated to remain in the heavily destroyed north, after earlier warnings by Israel caused around 1 million people to evacuate south.

“We are entering a new phase of the war,” the military said in leaflets distributed in the area. “These areas are considered dangerous combat zones.”

Palestinian residents reported large-scale Israeli attacks across northern Gaza. The Civil Defense, a first-response force operating under the Hamas-run government, said several homes and buildings were hit and that it was unable to make contact due to shelling.

Residents posted about the airstrike on social media and mourned their relatives. Imad Alarabid said in a Facebook post that more than a dozen members of his family, including his parents, were killed in an airstrike on his home in Jabariya. Health Ministry medic Saeed Abu Elaish said he was injured and bleeding.

“Please pray for us,” he wrote on Facebook.

Freelance television journalist Hassan Hammoud, whose footage was aired on Al Jazeera and other networks, was killed in the shelling of his home in Jabaliya. Anas al-Sharif, a reporter for Al Jazeera in northern Gaza, confirmed the death.

The military has announced it is expanding the so-called humanitarian zone in southern Gaza and calling on people to move there. Hundreds of thousands of people have already taken refuge in vast tent camps with little food, water or sanitation. Israel carried out attacks in humanitarian zones, claiming that militants were hiding among civilians.

According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, around 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war. It did not say how many fighters there were, but said just over half were women and children.

Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people and took another 250 hostages in the October 7 attack. Approximately 100 prisoners are still being held, and one-third of them are thought to have died.

Israel shells southern Beirut

In Beirut, airstrikes lit up the skyline and loud explosions echoed throughout the night in the southern suburb known as Dahiyeh as Israel attacked alleged Hezbollah militant strongholds.

Lebanon’s state news agency said the area was hit by more than 30 airstrikes overnight, the heaviest bombing since September 23, when Israel escalated its air campaign.

The agency said targets included gas stations and medical supplies warehouses on the main highway leading to Beirut airport. Part of the night strike involved a series of prolonged explosions, suggesting that ammunition depots may have been damaged.

The Israeli military confirmed it was attacking targets near Beirut and said about 30 projectiles entered Israeli territory from Lebanon, some of which were intercepted.

Hezbollah said it had succeeded in “accurately attacking a group of Israeli soldiers in northern Israel with a large volley of rockets, with precise hits.” The claim could not be verified.

In less than two weeks, at least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, medical workers, and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million people have been forced to flee their homes. Israel says the aim is to drive extremist groups from its borders so that tens of thousands of Israelis can return home.

Hezbollah, Lebanon’s strongest military, began firing rockets at Israel shortly after the October 7 Hamas attack, in what it called a show of support for the Palestinians. Hezbollah and the Israeli military engage in almost daily gun battles.

Israel launched a limited ground operation into southern Lebanon last week after a series of attacks killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his senior leaders. The fighting is the worst since a month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. Nine Israeli soldiers were killed in the ground battle, and Israel said 440 Hezbollah fighters were killed.

Battlefield reports from either side cannot be verified.