Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 22, officials say, truck ramming near Tel Aviv injures dozens

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes in northern Gaza killed at least 22 people, mostly women and children, Palestinian officials said Sunday, in an Israeli offensive against the hard-hit and isolated north entered the third week and aid groups described a humanitarian disaster.

According to the Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom, a truck drove into a bus stop near the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, injuring dozens of people. The circumstances were not immediately clear, but Palestinians have carried out dozens of car attacks over the years. The attack took place on a road near the headquarters of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.

Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader said Israel’s strikes on the country over the weekend “should not be exaggerated or downplayed,” while stopping short of calling for retaliation, suggesting Iran was carefully weighing its response to the attack.

on saturday Israeli warplanes attacked military targets in Iran in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack earlier this month.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that “the authorities must determine how to transfer the power and will of the Iranian people to the Israeli regime and take measures that serve the interests of this nation and country.”

The 85-year-old Khamenei’s comments on Sunday were careful to convey the idea that Iran is a major power in the Middle East, without directly calling for another attack on Israel to be decided by him alone.

The exchange of fire raised fears of an all-out regional war pitting Israel and the United States against Iran and its militant allies, including Hamas and the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, where Israel launched a ground invasion earlier this month after nearly a year of low-level conflict.

The emergency services of the Gaza Health Ministry said 11 women and two children were among the 22 killed in Saturday night’s strikes on several houses and buildings in the northern Gaza city of Beit Lahiya. Another 15 people were reportedly injured and the death toll could rise. It listed the names of those killed, who came mainly from three families.

The Israeli military said it struck the militants in a compound in Beit Lahia and took measures to avoid harming civilians. She contested what she called “figures published by the media,” without elaborating or providing evidence in her favor.

Israel still strikes Gaza daily despite this it is waging an air and ground war with Hezbollah. Two people were injured after an explosive drone launched from Lebanon crashed into a building in an industrial area in northern Israel, authorities said. An Israeli airstrike on the southern district of Beirut caused flames and smoke.

The Red Cross describes “appalling conditions” in northern Gaza

Israel has been waging a massive air and ground offensive in northern Gaza since October 6, saying Hamas militants have regrouped there. Hundreds of people were killed and tens of thousands of Palestinians fled to Gaza City the last wave of displacement in the year’s war.

Israel says its strikes in Gaza only target militants, and it blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militants fight in densely populated areas. The military rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.

Aid groups have warned of a catastrophic situation in northern Gaza, which was the first target of an Israeli ground offensive and has already suffered the worst destruction of war. Israel significantly limited the flow of basic humanitarian aid in recent weeks, and the three remaining hospitals in the north – one of which was ransacked over the weekend – say they have been overwhelmed by waves of wounded.

On Saturday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said ongoing Israeli evacuation orders and restrictions on the import of essential goods into the north had left civilians in “horrendous circumstances”.

“Many civilians are currently unable to move, trapped by fighting, destruction or physical limitations, and now do not have access to even basic medical care,” it said.

The hospital detained dozens of doctors after the Israeli raid

Israeli forces raided Kamal Advan Hospital in the north of the country on Friday, detaining dozens of medical staff and causing serious damage, according to the Ministry of Health. Footage was shared on the network showing the inner yard destroyed by bulldozers, and the wards. Israeli forces retreated on Saturday.

The head of the World Health Organization announced that 44 male employees were detained at the hospital. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said only the women, the hospital director and one male doctor were left to care for nearly 200 patients.

According to Al-Awda Hospital, among those detained and taken away was Dr. Mohamed Obeid, head of the orthopedics department at nearby Al-Awda Hospital. His location is unknown.

During the year-long war between Israel and Hamas, Israeli forces stormed and bombed a number of hospitals including the largest medical facility on the strip, Shifa Hospital. Israel accuses Hamas of using medical facilities across Gaza for military purposes, a charge denied by hospital staff who say the raids recklessly put sick and wounded civilians at risk.

The war began when Hamas-led militants punched holes in Israel’s border wall and unexpectedly invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023. They killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250. About 100 hostages are still in Gazaabout a third of whom are believed to be dead.

According to the local Ministry of Health, more than 42,000 Palestinians died in response to Israel. In its count, the ministry did not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but said more than half of the dead were women and children. Israel claims to have killed more than 17,000 militants without providing evidence.

The offensive devastated much of the impoverished coastal area and displaced about 90% of its population of 2.3 million, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people are crammed into squalid tent camps along the coast, and aid groups say the famine is unstoppable.

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Magdy reported from Cairo and Kraus from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, and John Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed.

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