Israeli attacks in northern Gaza have left 87 dead or missing, officials said

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least 87 people were killed or missing in Israeli attacks on several homes in the northern Gaza Strip last night and Sunday, the territory’s health ministry said.

Another 40 people were said to have been injured in the attacks on the town of Beit Lahiya, which was one of the first targets of Israel’s ground invasion nearly a year ago. The Israeli army said it had carried out a precise attack on a Hamas target.

Israel has been carrying out a large-scale operation in northern Gaza over the past two weeks, claiming that Hamas has regrouped there. Palestinian officials say hundreds of people have been killed and health care in the north is on the verge of collapse.

Meanwhile, the United States is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents assessing Israel’s plans to attack Iran, according to three U.S. officials. A fourth U.S. official said the documents appear legitimate.

The documents, attributed to the US Geospatial Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency and marked top secret, indicate that Israel moved military assets on site to carry out a military strike in response to Iran’s October 1 ballistic missile attack.

The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The US is urging Israel to push for a ceasefire in Gaza following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week. But neither Israel nor Hamas has shown any renewed interest in such a deal after months of negotiations stalled in August.

The Lebanese army says three soldiers have been killed in an Israeli attack

Iran supports Hamas and the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, where a year of escalating tensions culminated in all-out war last month. Israel sent ground troops to Lebanon in early October.

The Lebanese army said three of its soldiers were killed in an Israeli attack on their vehicle in southern Lebanon. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Sunday’s attack.

The Lebanese army has largely stayed on the sidelines in the war between Israel and Hezbollah. The army is a respected institution in Lebanon, but is not powerful enough to impose its will on Hezbollah or defend the country against an Israeli invasion.

On Saturday, a drone targeted the home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, causing no casualties. It was not clear whether the house was affected. The military said Hezbollah fired about 160 projectiles into Israel on Sunday. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israel, meanwhile, has stepped up attacks on Beirut’s southern neighborhoods known as the Dahiyeh, a busy residential area. Hezbollah has a strong presence there, but is also home to large numbers of civilians and people with no ties to the militant group.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has called the number of civilian casualties in Lebanon “far too high” in the war between Israel and Hezbollah and urged Israel to scale back some attacks, especially in and around Beirut.

Medics warn of a catastrophic situation in Gaza

Among those killed as a result of the strikes in Beit Lahiya were two parents and their four children, and a woman, her son and her daughter-in-law and their four children, according to Raheem Kheder, a doctor. He said the strike razed a multi-storey building and at least four neighboring houses.

The Israeli military said it used precision ammunition against a Hamas target and rejected casualty figures published by the Hamas-led government’s media office, which is separate from the Health Ministry. It said the area is an active war zone and it is trying to prevent harm to civilians.

Mounir al-Bursh, director general of the Ministry of Health, said in a message on

Médecins Sans Frontières, the international charity known by its French acronym Médecins Sans Frontières, called on Israeli forces to “immediately stop their attacks on hospitals in northern Gaza” after the Health Ministry said that Israeli forces attacked two hospitals this weekend had shot.

The military said it operated near one of the hospitals but did not fire directly at it, and that it was investigating the other incident.

“The worsening escalation of violence and non-stop Israeli military operations we have witnessed in northern Gaza over the past two weeks are having dire consequences,” said Anna Halford, emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders.

“When hospitals are attacked, their infrastructure is destroyed and electricity is cut off, the lives of patients and medical staff are threatened.”

Internet connectivity in northern Gaza went out late Saturday and had not been restored by Sunday afternoon, making it difficult to gather information about the attacks and complicating rescue efforts.

Major Israeli operation in northern Gaza enters third week

Israel has been carrying out a major operation in Jabaliya, also in northern Gaza, for the past two weeks. The military said it launched the operation against Hamas militants who had regrouped there.

Over the course of the war, Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to Jabaliya, a densely populated urban refugee camp dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s founding.

The north has already suffered the worst destruction of the war and has been surrounded by Israeli forces since late last year, following Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel.

Israel ordered the entire population of the northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, to evacuate south in the first weeks of the war and reiterated those instructions earlier this month. Most of the population fled last year, but around 400,000 people are believed to have remained in the north.

Palestinians who fled the north at the start of the war are not allowed to return.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping another 250. About 100 prisoners are still held in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be in custody. be dead.

The Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who make no distinction between fighters and civilians. The war has destroyed large parts of Gaza and displaced about 90% of the population of 2.3 million people.