Israel-Hamas war latest: Fears of all-out war rise as Israel and Hezbollah step up attacks

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanon’s Hezbollah launched over 100 rockets into northern Israel early Sunday in response to ramped-up Israeli attacks that killed dozens of people in Beirut, including a veteran leader of the militant group.

During the funeral Sunday of that Hezbollah commander, Ibrahim Akil, Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Kassem declared that the group is now in an “open-ended battle of reckoning” with Israel, and he vowed to prolong the misery of those displaced from the country’s north.

The Hezbollah rocket barrage overnight sent thousands of people scrambling into shelters. The Israeli military said rockets had been fired “toward civilian areas,” pointing to a possible escalation. Hezbollah says its attacks have been aimed at military targets.

The barrage came after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday killed at least 45 people, including one of Hezbollah’s top leaders as well as women and children. The militant group was already reeling from a sophisticated attack that caused thousands of personal devices to explode just days earlier.

Here’s the latest:

U.S. says is pushing for a diplomatic solution to end Israel-Hezbollah attacks

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is pushing for a diplomatic solution to end the attacks between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which have killed dozens of people in Beirut and pushed hundreds of thousands into underground shelters in Israel’s north.

Speaking Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” national security spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. has been “involved in extensive and quite assertive diplomacy” in the region.

He says: “We still believe that there can be time and space for a diplomatic solution here”

According to a statement from the Pentagon, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant on Saturday about the Hezbollah rocket attacks and stressed the need for a diplomatic solution.

As concerns bringing an end to the conflict in Gaza, Kirby says they have not achieved “any progress here in the last week to two weeks. Not for lack of trying.”

He says the leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, doesn’t appear to be “negotiating in good faith,” citing the recent killing of six Israeli hostages in tunnels under Gaza. “But it doesn’t mean that we’re not trying.”

Palestinians worry about heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah

MUWASI, Gaza Strip — Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fear the war and worsening humanitarian crisis in the territory might be forgotten as tensions boil between Hezbollah and Israel.

The militant group launched more than 100 rockets into northern Israel early Sunday in response to an Israeli attack last week that killed dozens in Beirut, including a top Hezbollah commander.

“All focus of the news and media is on Lebanon. Gaza is forgotten,” Nezar Zaqout, who is living in a tent camp in Muwasi in southern Gaza, told The Associated Press. “Every day we heard that there was hope for negotiations, or new news that they were trying to solve the issue of the displaced … but we have become completely forgotten.”

In the sprawl of camps along Gaza’s coast that Israel has designated a humanitarian zone and where Zaqout and other displaced Palestinians are sheltering, children walk on dirt roads muddied by overnight rainstorms to wait in line for bread.

Saadi Abu Mustafa says he was hopeful for a ceasefire deal through Qatari, Egyptian, and American mediation, but he fears that the escalation in fighting and the focus on Lebanon will “affect us negatively.” Hezbollah has said it is confronting Israel in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza.

He says: “They leave Gaza without negotiations, without a prisoner, and without a ceasefire.”

Hezbollah is in an open-ended battle of reckoning with Israel, deputy leader says

BEIRUT — Hezbollah’s deputy leader says his group is now in an open-ended battle of reckoning with Israel, and he is threatening to displace more people in the country’s north.

Speaking Sunday during the funeral of top Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil, Naim Kassem warned: “We admit that we are pained. We are humans. But as we are pained, you will also be pained.”

His comments follow days of surprise Israeli attacks that have wounded thousands of people in Lebanon and killed members of Hezbollah, and hours after the militant group responded by launching rockets deep into northern Israel, including near the city of Haifa.

He vows the ongoing conflict will destroy Israel’s economy and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “will not achieve your goals.” Hezbollah has said it is confronting Israel in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza.

Kassem says Hezbollah, which has lost several senior military leaders in recent months, has “returned stronger, and the frontline will witness this.”

He has said Hezbollah will stop attacking northern Israel only if the country can reach a ceasefire in Gaza with Hamas, and that a military solution will not allow the tens of thousands of people displaced from northern Israel to return.

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Hundreds attend the funeral of Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil

BEIRUT — Hundreds of people gathered in southern Beirut Sunday for the funeral of top Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil, killed in an Israeli airstrike on Friday alongside other members of the powerful militant group.

Akil’s coffin was draped in a yellow Hezbollah flag with his portrait.

Senior Hezbollah members attended the funeral, including deputy leader Sheikh Naim Kassem and senior parliamentarian Mohammad Raad.

Killed Hezbollah militant Mahmoud Hamad was also honored at the funeral.

Hezbollah legislator says the group is ready ‘for any scenario’

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Hezbollah legislator Hassan Fadlallah says the war with Israel has entered a “new phase”, saying the group “is ready for any scenario, war, or confrontation.”

Attending the funeral of a member of the Lebanese militant group who was killed among dozens of others in an Israeli strike on a Beirut neighborhood Friday, Fadlallah said “the southern front” has played a crucial role in pressuring Israel “to stop its war on Gaza.”

He also said that Israel won’t be able to achieve its “main goal … to return settlers in the north,” as he praised the abilities of Hezbollah.

“We have a strong and capable resistance that possesses the capabilities, competencies, and numerous fighters and equipment that enable it to absorb any loss or blow, and to adapt to any new situation,” he said.

An Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter kills 7, Gaza officials say

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in the Gaza Strip killed at least seven people, Palestinian officials said.

The Israeli military said it carried out a precise strike Sunday on Hamas militants who had sheltered at the school and accused them of endangering civilians.

The Civil Defense, first responders who operate under the Hamas-run government, confirmed the toll. It did not say whether those killed were fighters or civilians.

The school is in Shati, a built-up refugee camp in Gaza City dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. Israeli forces have launched repeated incursions there during the nearly yearlong war with Hamas.

Gaza’s schools closed after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel ignited the war, and most have been transformed into shelters. Around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have been displaced, often multiple times.

Israel says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians, but it rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.

Netanyahu says Hezbollah has been dealt unimaginable blows

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has dealt Hezbollah “blows that it did not imagine” after days of intense strikes on Lebanon.

In a video statement released by his office, Netanyahu said that if the militant group “did not get the message, I promise you, it will get the message.”

Netanyahu reiterated that Israel was determined to return its displaced citizens in the north, adding: “No country can tolerate fire on its residents, fire on its cities. And the state of Israel will not tolerate it either. We will do everything necessary to restore security.”

Israeli defense minister says measures against Hezbollah to continue

JERUSALEM — The Israeli defense minister says the steps taken against Hezbollah will continue until residents of Israel’s north can return to their homes, saying “we will do everything necessary to achieve it.”

Yoav Gallant was on a visit to the command and control center of the Israeli Air Force when he said the Lebanese militant group “has started to sense some of the capabilities” of the Israeli army and that “they sense they are being pursued, and we are seeing the results.”

He also called the operations conducted by the Israeli air force “very impressive, both defensively and offensively.”

Israeli troops raid Al Jazeera offices in the West Bank

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israeli troops have raided the offices of the satellite news network Al Jazeera in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The troops ordered the bureau to shut down early Sunday amid a widening campaign by Israel targeting the Qatar-funded broadcaster as it covers the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Al Jazeera aired footage of Israeli troops live on its Arabic-language channel ordering the office to be shut for 45 days. It follows an extraordinary order issued in May that saw Israeli police raid Al Jazeera’s broadcast position in East Jerusalem, seizing equipment there, preventing its broadcasts in Israel and blocking its websites. The broadcaster has continued operating in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military didn’t respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

UN envoy warns of imminent catastrophe in Mideast

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon has urged calm in the Middle East as Israel and Hezbollah continued to trade fire on Sunday, raising fears of a regional war.

“With the region on the brink of an imminent catastrophe, it cannot be overstated enough: there is NO military solution that will make either side safer,” Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert wrote in a post on X.

Hennis-Plasschaert has earlier criticized the attack that saw thousands of devices explode in Lebanon and warned that it marks “an extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context.”

Iraqi militias claim drones launched on Israeli military base

BEIRUT, Lebanon — An umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militias, the Islamic Resistance, says it has launched drones targeting a military base in Israel.

The attack comes amid escalating fire exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, heightening fears of a broadening conflict.

The Israeli military says it intercepted multiple aerial devices approaching Israel from the direction of Iraq. It added that the targets did not cross into Israeli territory and no injuries were reported.

Pro-Iranian militias in Iraq have claimed responsibility for drone attacks on Israel multiple times since the outbreak of the war in Gaza almost a year ago.

Deaths from Israeli strike on southern Beirut rise to 45

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The death toll following an Israeli strike on a southern Beirut suburb has risen to 45, Lebanon’s health ministry says, as search operations continue for the third day.

The statement also says some remains have been collected and are yet to be identified

Ali Harake, a local official and engineer at the scene says they are still looking for “around 15 bodies.” Meanwhile, the local municipality has brought in a crane in an attempt to retrieve people’s belongings from the damaged buildings.

Friday’s strike killed a top Hezbollah official Ibrahim Akil among a dozen other members of the militant group. Civilians, including at least two children, were among those killed in the busy neighborhood.