Israel struck the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Tuesday and said it killed the militant commander allegedly behind a rocket strike that killed 12 youths. The attack on a Beirut apartment building left at least three others killed and dozens wounded. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed heavy retaliation against Hezbollah for Saturday's strike, though Hezbollah has denied any role in the attack.
Meanwhile, tensions remained high in Israel as soldiers appeared before a military court Tuesday over allegations of sexual abuse of a Palestinian at a facility where Israel has held prisoners from Gaza during the war.
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Hard-line nationalists in Netanyahu’s government and others have protested. An investigation by The Associated Press has exposed abysmal conditions at Sde Teiman, where most of the thousands detained in Gaza have been held. Israeli authorities have generally denied abuses in detention facilities for Palestinians.
More bodies and further destruction were found after Israeli forces withdrew from parts of Khan Younis in Gaza. The territory's Health Ministry says over 39,300 people have been killed since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel sparked the war. Some diseases run rampant in appalling conditions in overcrowded tent camps housing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. The sanitation system has collapsed, leaving pools of sewage.
Here’s the latest:
Israel says its airstrike killed a top Hezbollah military commander
JERUSALEM — Israel says its airstrike Tuesday on a Beirut apartment building killed the Hezbollah commander who was allegedly behind a weekend rocket attack that killed 12 young people in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. At least three other people were killed.
Hezbollah did not immediately confirm the commander’s death. The Israeli strike killed a woman and two children and wounded dozens of other people in escalating hostilities with the Lebanese militant group.
An Israeli official said the target was Fouad Shukur, a top Hezbollah military commander whom the U.S. blames for planning and launching the deadly 1983 Marine bombing in the Lebanese capital. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the details of the strike with the media. Shukur is also suspected in other strikes that killed Israeli civilians.
Lebanon’s public health ministry said Tuesday’s strike in a southern suburb of Beirut wounded 74 people, some of them seriously.
Harris says she ‘unequicovably' supports Israel’s right to defend itself
ATLANTA — Vice President Kamala Harris says she “unequivocally” supports Israel’s right to defend itself hours after Israel's air strike on a Beirut apartment building. Israel has said the strike was aimed at a Hezbollah commander allegedly behind the deaths of 12 youths in a weekend rocket attack on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, said “I unequivocally support Israel’s right to remain secure and to defend the security of Israel.”
“What we know, in particular, is it has the right to defend itself against the terrorist organization, which is exactly what Hezbollah is,” she added.
Speaking to reporters as she arrived in Atlanta ahead of a campaign rally, Harris added that “we still must work on a diplomatic solution to end these attacks, and we will continue to do that work.”
Iran-backed Iraqi militia group hit by strike
BAGHDAD — A strike near a base of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia southwest of Baghdad killed at least one militant and wounded two others, two militants familiar with the incident told The Associated Press.
The attack comes days after an umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militias dubbed “the Islamic Resistance” resumed rocket attacks on U.S. military bases in the country and in eastern Syria.
The militants spoke about the attack on Jurf al-Sakher on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
The attack came hours after Israel said it launched a strike in a southern Beirut suburb in Lebanon targeting a Hezbollah militant commander.
The United States has claimed responsibility for strikes targeting Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq, but has not immediately commented on the matter.
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Associated Press writer Kareem Chehayeb contributed to this report.
1 killed, 68 injured in Israeli strike on Beirut building, Lebanon officials say
Israel's rocket strike on a Beirut apartment building Tuesday killed one person and wounded 68 others, including five who are in critical condition, Lebanon’s public health ministry said.
The Israeli military said the strike was aimed at the Hezbollah commander allegedly behind the deaths of 12 youths in a weekend rocket attack on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, as well as the deaths of numerous Israeli civilians hit in other strikes. It was not immediately clear if the intended target of Tuesday’s strike was hit.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said 17 wounded were taken to the private Bahman Hospital, while 14 were taken to Hezbollah’s Rasoul Aazam hospital.
“The Israeli enemy has committed a great stupid act in size, timing and circumstances by targeting an entirely civilian area,” Hezbollah official Ali Ammar told Al-Manar TV. “The Israeli enemy will pay a price for this sooner or later.”
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the Israeli attack, saying it hit a few meters from one of the largest hospitals in the capital.
Israeli strike hit a Beirut apartment building next to a hospital
BEIRUT — Israel's rocket strike on Beirut hit an apartment building next to a hospital, collapsing half of the targeted building. The hospital sustained minor damage, while the surrounding streets were littered with debris and broken glass. Paramedics could be seen carrying several injured people out of the damaged buildings.
A forklift was in the middle of the street, reaching to the top floors of the destroyed building, while utility crews removed fallen power lines. Crowds gathered to inspect the damages and check on their families. Some of them chanted in support of Hezbollah.
A resident of the suburb whose home is about 200 meters (220 yards) away said that dust from the explosion “covered everything,” and that the glass in his son’s apartment was broken.
“Then people went down on the streets,” he said. “Everyone has family. They went to check on them. It was a lot of destruction.” He spoke on condition of anonymity out of concerns about his security at a tense moment.
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Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb contributed to this report from Beirut.
Eighty-five ‘sick and severely injured’ Palestinians evacuated from Gaza
JERUSALEM — The World Health Organization said it evacuated 85 “sick and severely injured” Palestinians from war-ravaged Gaza to the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
The U.N. health agency said the evacuation, which was coordinated with the UAE government, included 50 adults and 35 children, all of whom were transported across Kerem Shalom crossing and into Israel. They then departed the country from Ramon Airport in Israel’s deep south.
Of the 85 evacuees, 53 were cancer patients while an additional 63 family members and companions accompanied them.
Some 5,000 people have been evacuated outside of the war-stricken enclave for treatment since the breakout of the war, with over 80% receiving care in Egypt, Qatar and the UAE, the U.N. agency said.
Rafah crossing, which connects Gaza and Egypt, had been the main exit point for Palestinians leaving the war-stricken enclave and entry point for humanitarian aid, but has not been operational since Israel launched its ground offensive on areas of the southern city in early May.
“We hope this paves the way for the establishment of evacuation corridors via all possible routes, including the Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings to Egypt and Jordan, and from there to other countries,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
At least one person killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
BEIRUT — Israel's rocket strike on a Beirut suburb Tuesday killed at least one person, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.
The news outlet reported that the strike, carried out with a drone that launched three rockets, killed one woman and wounded several other people, some of them seriously. The wounded were taken to nearby hospitals. Bahman Hospital near the site of the blast called on people to donate blood.
The Israeli military said the strike targeted the Hezbollah commander allegedly behind the deaths of 12 children and teens in a weekend rocket attack on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, as well as the deaths of numerous Israeli civilians hit in other strikes.
The airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburb of Haret Hreik damaged several buildings, but it was not immediately clear if any Hezbollah official was hit.
Senior U.S. officials arrive in Saudi Arabia for talks
WASHINGTON — Brett McGurk, the White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday amid heightened anxiety in the U.S. about the escalating tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border.
McGurk is leading a senior-level group of administration officials that includes representatives from the State Department and Pentagon for the talks, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the travels that the administration hadn’t formally announced.
McGurk has shuttled regularly between Washington and Middle East capitals since Hamas launched the Oct. 7 attack on Israel spurring the war in Gaza.
The latest visit comes after Israel had launched retaliatory strikes earlier this month against Houthi rebels in Yemen carried out a drone attack on Tel Aviv.
Yemen has been engulfed in civil war since 2014, when the Houthis seized much of northern Yemen and forced the internationally recognized government to flee from Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year in support of government forces, and in time the conflict turned into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
McGurk is expected to travel on to Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials on the increasingly complicated situation and ongoing efforts to seal a U.S-backed cease-fire and hostage deal aimed at freeing remaining captives being held by Hamas in Gaza.
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Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this report from Washington.
Israel says it has struck Beirut, targeting commander allegedly behind the deaths of 12 youths
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Tuesday it carried out a strike on Beirut targeting the militant commander allegedly behind the deaths of 12 children and teens in a rocket attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights over the weekend.
Israel has blamed the rocket attack on the Hezbollah militant group, which has denied any role in the attack
A Hezbollah official and the group’s TV station said that an Israeli airstrike hit Hezbollah’s stronghold south of Beirut on Tuesday evening, causing damage.
The airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburb of Haret Hreik damaged several buildings but it was not immediately clear if any Hezbollah official was targeted, the Hezbollah official said on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
U.N. official calls for land crossings into the Gaza Strip to be reopened
UNITED NATIONS — A senior United Nations official on Tuesday appealed for the reopening of land crossings into the Gaza Strip and removing crippling restrictions on the delivery of aid to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
Corinne Fleischer, regional director of the World Food Program, said her agency has become unable to provide food rations in the strip since it doesn’t have enough food inside Gaza.
“Right now the biggest challenge is we don’t have enough crossing points to bring the food in,” she told The Associated Press in Cairo. “We need road access. We need the Rafah (crossing) to open again. We need Kerem Shalom to work better. We need law and order.”
The Rafah crossing, which had been the main entry point for humanitarian aid, was closed early in May after Israel’s military took over the crossing’s Palestinian side as part of its ground assault on Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah.
Fleisher’s comments came a month after the leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises warned that Gaza remains at “high risk” of famine after Israel’s offensive in Rafah caused displacement and the disruption of aid operations in the south.
She spoke after returning Monday from a seven-day trip to Gaza, where she witnessed mass destruction, including homes, health centers and food processing plants that had been leveled.
The WFP has scaled up its operations, providing 420,000 meals every day and helping 13 bakeries across the strip.
But there is an urgent need to bring food in, Fleischer said.
“We are not where we should be to sustain that and to scale that,” she said.
Wary Palestinians return to Khan Younis in Gaza and find destruction
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Hundreds of Palestinians have returned to eastern districts of Khan Younis in southern Gaza after Israeli troops withdrew from the area following a weeks-long offensive. They are searching wrecked homes and looking for a place to stay.
Families with few possessions straggled down the dirt roads. One school was gutted. Another building was recognizable as a mosque only from its surviving dome. Emergency workers recovered the bodies of 22 people.
Residents fled in early July after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders ahead of an assault it said was targeting Hamas militants launching attacks. The military said it killed dozens of Hamas militants and destroyed tunnels.
Rizq Abu Rouk returned to find his family's tent destroyed along with the few possessions they took from their original home. “We’ve collapsed, physically and mentally. It’s enough,” he said. “If the decision of war or peace were in our hands, we would choose peace forever.”
Israel says 1 dead after a rocket from Lebanon hits a kibbutz
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli authorities say a man is dead after a rocket from Lebanon hit a kibbutz in the country’s north. The death comes days after 12 Druze children and teens were killed when a rocket from Lebanon hit a soccer field in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. Israel blamed Hezbollah for the strike, but the militant group denied a role.
Israeli emergency medical service Magen David Adom says the man died after sustaining shrapnel wounds.
The Israeli military says about 10 projectiles crossed into Israel from Lebanon, most of them intercepted. Hezbollah said it attacked an army barracks in retaliation for Israeli airstrikes near the southern Lebanese village of Jibsheet that injured several people.
The attacks threaten to push Israel and Hezbollah toward all-out war after months of low-level cross-border fighting that began soon after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. The fighting has killed more than 500 people, including 90 civilians, in Lebanon. On the Israeli side, 22 soldiers and 25 civilians have been killed.
Hospital says bodies found after Israeli forces withdraw from Khan Younis area
Hospital officials say emergency workers in Gaza have recovered the bodies of 22 Palestinians found in eastern parts of Khan Younis city after Israeli troops withdrew from the area following a weeks-long offensive.
It is not clear when they were killed. Workers have often found bodies in rubble or on the streets after Israeli offensives. Another seven people were killed by Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis late Monday and early Tuesday, according to officials at Nasser Hospital, where the bodies were brought.
In central Gaza, Israeli bombardment of the Bureij refugee camp killed at least nine people, according to hospital authorities. Seven of the dead were killed in an airstrike on a residential building, Awda hospital said. As residents were transferring the bodies, Israeli forces opened fire on the vehicle close to the Salahuddin road, killing two, it said.
The Israeli military says it completed operational activity in the area of Khan Younis and was conducting targeted raids in central Gaza.
9 Israeli soldiers go to court over allegations of sexual abuse of a Palestinian
JERUSALEM — Nine Israeli soldiers are due to appear before a military court for an initial hearing Tuesday on what a defense lawyer says are allegations of sexual abuse of a Palestinian at a shadowy facility where Israel has held prisoners from Gaza during the war.
The investigation into the soldiers stoked tensions between the military command and hard-line nationalists in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government who advocate even harsher treatment in Israel’s conduct of the 10-month-old war in Gaza.
The soldiers’ detention Monday triggered protests by supporters demanding their release, including members of parliament and at least two government ministers. Several hundred broke into the facility in southern Israel, known as Sde Teiman, and then into the military base where the soldiers were held.
Defense lawyer Nati Rom, who represents three of the soldiers, did not elaborate on the nature of the alleged sexual abuse and said they were innocent. The military has said only it was looking into allegations of “substantial abuse.”
Gaza waste collection systems collapse, UN report says
JERUSALEM — A report from the United Nations Development Program says there has been a collapse in the solid waste collection system in Gaza during the war.
The report found that Gaza’s two major landfills are inaccessible due to fighting, while the number of waste collection vehicles has dropped from 251 before the war to 51.
Chitose Noguchi, the deputy special representative for UNDP, said most of the destruction to Gaza’s garbage system is due to Israeli bombardment, but Israeli evacuation orders and safety restrictions have also hampered municipal workers’ ability to access landfills. The UNDP is collecting around 680 tons of garbage in Gaza each day, Noguchi said, but it has nowhere to go. Garbage trucks cannot leave the strip.
Noguchi said the pileup of garbage has fueled outbreaks of communicable diseases across the Strip.
The report also found there’s only one remaining vehicle operational to transfer medical waste in Gaza. The medical disinfection machines distributed inside hospitals by the U.N. are nearly all non-functional.
Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Its body in charge of humanitarian efforts in Gaza has said it’s working to improve waste collection processes and considering plans to allow more garbage trucks into Gaza.