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Gaza Death Toll in Conflict with Israel Exceeds 300, Says Palestinian Health Ministry

Israeli soldiers in Sderot in southern Israel - AP
Israeli soldiers in Sderot in southern Israel - AP
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Gaza Death Toll in Conflict with Israel Exceeds 300, Says Palestinian Health Ministry

Israeli soldiers in Sderot in southern Israel - AP
Israeli soldiers in Sderot in southern Israel - AP

The death toll in the Gaza Strip rose to 313 on Sunday, after a dawn assault on Israel by Hamas militants drew heavy reprisals, the territory's health ministry said, AFP reported.

Up to 313 palestinians were killed and nearly 2,000 wounded in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since Saturday, the Health Ministy said on Sunday.

For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to "take mighty vengeance for this wicked day."

"Hamas launched a cruel and wicked war. We will win this war but the price is too heavy to bear," Reuters quoted Netanyahu as saying.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the assault that had begun in Gaza would spread to the West Bank and Jerusalem. Gazans have lived under an Israeli blockade for 16 years.

In a speech, Haniyeh highlighted threats to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, the continuation of the blockade on Gaza and Israeli normalization with countries in the region. "How many times have we warned you that the Palestinian people have been living in refugee camps for 75 years, and you refuse to recognise the rights of our people?"

Israeli troops clashed with Hamas fighters throughout the night in some parts of southern Israel. In a briefing on social media, an Israeli army spokesperson said the situation was not fully under control.

The Israeli prime minister's office said the security cabinet had approved steps to destroy the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas and Islamic Jihad "for many years", including cutting electricity and fuel supplies and the entry of goods into Gaza.

In Gaza, black smoke, orange flashes and sparks lit the sky from explosions. Israeli drones could be heard overhead. Earlier, crowds of mourners had carried the bodies of militants through the streets, wrapped in green Hamas flags.

Gaza's dead and wounded were carried into crumbling and overcrowded hospitals with severe shortages of medical supplies and equipment.

Streets were deserted apart from ambulances racing to the scenes of air strikes. Israel cut the power, plunging the city into darkness.

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Arab World

Explosion Heard near Iraq's Erbil Airport

People inspect damage at a building whose windows were shattered following air defenses' interception of a projectile or drone over a residential neighborhood in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region, on March 4, 2026. (Photo by Safin HAMID / AFP)
People inspect damage at a building whose windows were shattered following air defenses' interception of a projectile or drone over a residential neighborhood in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region, on March 4, 2026. (Photo by Safin HAMID / AFP)
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Explosion Heard near Iraq's Erbil Airport

People inspect damage at a building whose windows were shattered following air defenses' interception of a projectile or drone over a residential neighborhood in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region, on March 4, 2026. (Photo by Safin HAMID / AFP)
People inspect damage at a building whose windows were shattered following air defenses' interception of a projectile or drone over a residential neighborhood in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region, on March 4, 2026. (Photo by Safin HAMID / AFP)

An explosion was heard Tuesday morning near the international airport of Erbil, a city in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, an AFP journalist said.

Erbil is home to a major US consulate complex, while its airport houses military advisers attached to a US-led international anti-ISIS coalition.

Regular drone attacks by pro-Iran armed groups have usually been intercepted by air defenses.

Arab World

Palestinian Factions Uncover Israeli Espionage Devices in Gaza

Israeli forces raid the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza in November 2023. (AFP)
Israeli forces raid the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza in November 2023. (AFP)
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Palestinian Factions Uncover Israeli Espionage Devices in Gaza

Israeli forces raid the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza in November 2023. (AFP)
Israeli forces raid the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza in November 2023. (AFP)

Palestinian armed factions in Gaza are intensifying their operations in search of Israeli espionage devices that were planted in the enclave during the latest war.

Sources from the factions told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israel managed to plant them through field agents or when its military was active in some parts of Gaza.

The devices include advanced cameras and listening devices that can record sound at distances as far as 500 meters that allow Israel to analyze the voiceprint of wanted suspects.

Up until recently, the factions used to secretly operate to uncover the devices. Last week, one of the devices went off without warning after being discovered by one of the factions inside a displacement camp in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. Hours later, an Israeli jet fired two rockets at the location.

Sources from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other factions told Asharq Al-Awsat that their members have discovered several such devices in recent months.

Some were uncovered during the war, after the assassination of some field operatives, and others after the ceasefire took effect.

The sources explained that the devices are built to self-destruct after they are discovered, or they send their users a warning or signal that they have been discovered so that they can be destroyed.

The majority of the devices that have been discovered so far were sending information, images or recordings to Israeli drones.

Some of the devices were uncovered in hospitals that the army had raided during the war, such as Al-Shifa Hospital and others.

One source said searches uncovered devices placed in hospital furniture. They carried cameras that can shoot distances of at least 800 meters. Other devices were used for recording sounds, which likely allowed users to recognize the voice of wanted suspects.

Some devices were discovered after rainfall. One source explained to Asharq Al-Awsat that flooding in Khan Younis unearthed devices that were likely planted by collaborators with Israel. Some devices were placed inside wooden boxes that were concealed in rocks.

Factions also concluded that Israeli drones would drop espionage devices in “dead security zones” where they can be picked up by collaborators who would plant them in specified locations in Gaza.

Devices have been discovered in the streets and inside destroyed houses. They were likely used to detect the movement of members of factions.

Israel has long planted espionage devices in Gaza, preceding the October 2023 war.

One of the sources said devices were discovered inside offices of the factions and even the houses of their members.

The devices would have entered Gaza concealed in trade goods allowed into the enclave and received by collaborators in various ways.

In May 2018, six members of Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, were killed when an espionage device they were inspecting blew up.

Investigations soon after discovered major security breaches inside the Qassam that allowed Israel to spy on them. The discovery thwarted the spy operation, the Brigades said at the time.

Arab World

Israel Military Says Four Soldiers Killed in South Lebanon

Israeli army soldiers stand next to a self-propelled Howitzer artillery gun positioned in the upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border with southern Lebanon on March 29, 2026. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) /
Israeli army soldiers stand next to a self-propelled Howitzer artillery gun positioned in the upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border with southern Lebanon on March 29, 2026. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) /
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Israel Military Says Four Soldiers Killed in South Lebanon

Israeli army soldiers stand next to a self-propelled Howitzer artillery gun positioned in the upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border with southern Lebanon on March 29, 2026. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) /
Israeli army soldiers stand next to a self-propelled Howitzer artillery gun positioned in the upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border with southern Lebanon on March 29, 2026. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) /

The Israeli military said on Tuesday four soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Lebanon where its forces are clashing with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

A military statement named three soldiers from the same battalion who "fell during combat" and a separate statement said another soldier, who had not yet been publicly named, had died in the same incident.

Another soldier was severely wounded and a reservist moderately wounded, according to the second statement.

Israel is trying to push Hezbollah militants, who have fired rockets and drones across the border, out of southern Lebanon in a campaign that Israeli officials suggest could become a prolonged occupation.

Three United Nations peacekeepers from Indonesia were killed in two separate incidents in southern Lebanon after a bloody weekend in which Lebanese journalists and medics were killed in Israeli strikes.

Two peacekeepers were killed on Monday after an explosion from an unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan in south Lebanon, the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL said in a statement. Two other soldiers were wounded in the blast.

Another Indonesian soldier was killed overnight Sunday into Monday when a projectile exploded near one of the group's positions close to the southern Lebanese village of Adchit al-Qusayr. Another peacekeeper was critically injured at the time.

The death on Sunday was the first among the UN's peacekeeping force in the new war between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah which erupted on March 2.

Lebanon was pulled into the war in the Middle East when Hezbollah fired rockets ‌at Israel in solidarity with Tehran, two days after Iran was attacked by Israel and the United States.

Hezbollah's attack prompted ‌a new Israeli ground and air offensive. More than 1,240 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities.

They include more than 120 children, nearly 80 women and dozens of paramedics.