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US, Allies Prepare to Defend Israel as Netanyahu Says It’s Already in ‘Multi-Front War’ with Iran

Palestinian rescuers extinguish a fire in a damaged building following Israeli bombardment which hit a school complex, including the Hamama and al-Huda schools, in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in the north of Gaza City on August 3, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinian rescuers extinguish a fire in a damaged building following Israeli bombardment which hit a school complex, including the Hamama and al-Huda schools, in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in the north of Gaza City on August 3, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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US, Allies Prepare to Defend Israel as Netanyahu Says It’s Already in ‘Multi-Front War’ with Iran

Palestinian rescuers extinguish a fire in a damaged building following Israeli bombardment which hit a school complex, including the Hamama and al-Huda schools, in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in the north of Gaza City on August 3, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinian rescuers extinguish a fire in a damaged building following Israeli bombardment which hit a school complex, including the Hamama and al-Huda schools, in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in the north of Gaza City on August 3, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Israel is already in a “multi-front war” with Iran and its proxies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting Sunday, as the United States and allies prepared to defend Israel from an expected counterstrike and prevent an even more destructive regional conflict.

Tensions have soared following nearly 10 months of war in Gaza and the killing last week of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas’ top political leader in Iran. Iran and its allies have blamed Israel and threatened retaliation. Hamas says it has begun discussions on choosing a new leader.

Netanyahu said Israel was ready for any scenario. Jordan's foreign minister was making a rare trip to Iran as part of diplomatic efforts, while the Pentagon has moved significant assets to the region.

“We are doing everything possible to make sure that this situation does not boil over,” White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told ABC.

In Israel, some prepared bomb shelters and recalled Iran's unprecedented direct military assault in April following a suspected Israeli strike that killed two Iranian generals. Israel said almost all the drones and ballistic and cruise missiles were intercepted.

A stabbing attack on Sunday near Tel Aviv killed a woman in her 70s and an 80-year-old man, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service and a nearby hospital, and two other men were wounded. The police said the attack was carried out by a Palestinian militant, who was “neutralized.”

Inside Gaza, Israel’s military said it struck Hamas command centers at two schools in Gaza City. There was no immediate word on casualties.

Earlier, Israeli strikes killed at least 18 people. One hit a tent camp for thousands of displaced Palestinians in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, killing four people, including one woman, and injuring others, Gaza's Health Ministry said. An Associated Press journalist filmed men rushing to the scene to retrieve bodies while trying to extinguish the fire.

The Israeli military said it targeted a Palestinian fighter in the strike, which it said caused secondary explosions, "indicating the presence of weaponry in the area.”

The hospital in Deir al-Balah is the main medical facility operating in central Gaza as many others in the territory no longer function. A separate strike on a home near Deir al-Balah killed a girl and her parents, according to the hospital.

Another strike flattened a house in northern Gaza, killing at least eight people, including three children, their parents and their grandmother, according to the Health Ministry. A further three people were killed in a strike on a vehicle in Gaza City, according to the Civil Defense first responders who operate under the Hamas-run government.

Palestinian fighters in Gaza fired at least five projectiles at Israeli communities near the border without causing casualties or damage, the military said. The military later told people in some parts of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis to evacuate.

An Israeli strike on Saturday at a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City killed at least 16 people and wounded another 21, according to the Health Ministry, which announced the toll on Sunday. Israel’s military, which regularly accuses Palestinian fighters of sheltering in civilian areas, said it struck a Hamas command center.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel that killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 people hostage.

Israel's massive offensive in response has killed at least 39,580 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Heavy airstrikes and ground operations have caused widespread destruction and displaced the vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million people, often multiple times.

The armed group Hezbollah and Israel have continued to trade fire along the Lebanon border since the war began, with the severity growing in recent months. The Lebanese state-run National News Agency said an Israeli strike targeted a house in Beit Lef, and the Lebanese Health Ministry said two people were critically wounded.

Hezbollah says it's aimed at relieving pressure on fellow Iran-backed ally Hamas. A growing number of countries, including the US, are encouraging citizens to leave Lebanon after last week's killing of a senior commander.

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Palestinian Factions Begin Handing Over Weapons at Beirut Refugee Camp 

Palestinian fighters stand with their arms in the Burj al-Barajneh camp for Palestinian refugees in Beirut's southern suburbs on August 21, 2025 as the armed Palestinian groups in the camps start handing over their weapons to the Lebanese authorities following a deal reached in May. (AFP) 
Palestinian fighters stand with their arms in the Burj al-Barajneh camp for Palestinian refugees in Beirut's southern suburbs on August 21, 2025 as the armed Palestinian groups in the camps start handing over their weapons to the Lebanese authorities following a deal reached in May. (AFP) 
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Palestinian Factions Begin Handing Over Weapons at Beirut Refugee Camp 

Palestinian fighters stand with their arms in the Burj al-Barajneh camp for Palestinian refugees in Beirut's southern suburbs on August 21, 2025 as the armed Palestinian groups in the camps start handing over their weapons to the Lebanese authorities following a deal reached in May. (AFP) 
Palestinian fighters stand with their arms in the Burj al-Barajneh camp for Palestinian refugees in Beirut's southern suburbs on August 21, 2025 as the armed Palestinian groups in the camps start handing over their weapons to the Lebanese authorities following a deal reached in May. (AFP) 

Palestinian factions started handing over some of the weapons held in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Beirut to the Lebanese army on Thursday, an initial step in implementing a plan officials announced three months earlier for removing arms from the camps.

It was a modest first step. One pickup left the camp loaded with weapons packed in bags. The butts of machine guns could be seen protruding from some of the sacks, while others contained rocket-propelled grenades.

The removal of weapons from the camps was announced in May during a visit by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Lebanon, during which he and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun announced that arms would be consolidated under the authority of the Lebanese government.

But not all Palestinian factions have agreed to abide by the decision.

Representatives of Hamas and the allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad did not respond to requests for comment.

A spokesperson for Hamas sent a statement signed by “the Palestinian Factions in Lebanon” that called Thursday’s handover of weapons “an internal organizational matter within the Fatah movement” that “has no connection, near or far, to the issue of Palestinian weapons in the camps.”

It added, “Our weapons have always been and will always be linked to the right of return and the just Palestinian cause and will remain so as long as the occupation remains on Palestinian soil.”

The 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon aren’t under the control of Lebanese authorities, and rival groups have clashed inside the camps in recent years, inflicting casualties and affecting nearby areas. Palestinian groups have also periodically launched rockets across the border into Israel.

The step of removing weapons from the camps was seen as a precursor to the much more difficult step of disarming the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which last year fought a bruising war with Israel. The group has been under domestic and international pressure since then to give up its remaining arsenal, which it has so far refused to do.

Implementation of the plan for the Palestinian camps was delayed amid disagreements among and within the various Palestinian factions operating in Lebanon, which include Abbas’ Fatah movement, the rival Hamas group and a range of other groups, over the mechanism for handing over the weapons.

Ramez Dimashkieh, head of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, a government body that serves as an interlocutor between Palestinian refugees and officials, said in a statement that the handover of weapons Thursday at the Burj al-Barajneh camp south of Beirut “will be the first step, with further batches to be delivered in the coming weeks from Burj al-Barajneh camp and the rest of the camps,” the statement said.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesperson for Abbas, said in a statement that weapons were also handed over Thursday at al-Bass camp in southern Lebanon and would continue in other camps in implementation of the agreement between Abbas and the Lebanese government.

US envoy Tom Barrack congratulated the Lebanese government and Fatah “for their agreement on voluntary disarmament in Beirut camps.” In a post on X, he called it “a historic step toward unity and stability, showing true commitment to peace and cooperation.”

However, the extent to which the decision would actually be implemented remained unclear. Some officials with the Palestinian factions said only “illegal” weapons would be handed over, not those belonging to organized factions. They also said personal light weapons would not be included.

Badih al-Habet, a spokesperson for Fatah in Beirut, told reporters that Aoun had acknowledged that “personal weapons are part of Arab and national culture.”

There are nearly 500,000 Palestinians registered with UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, in Lebanon. However, the actual number in the country is believed to be around 200,000, as many have emigrated but remain on the organization's roster.

They are prohibited from working in many professions, have few legal protections and can’t own property.