Israeli Strikes on Gaza Kill at Least 27 Palestinians

Palestinian girls look at the rubble of the Abou Mahadi family destroyed in Israeli strikes in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on APril 28, 2025. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
Palestinian girls look at the rubble of the Abou Mahadi family destroyed in Israeli strikes in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on APril 28, 2025. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
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Israeli Strikes on Gaza Kill at Least 27 Palestinians

Palestinian girls look at the rubble of the Abou Mahadi family destroyed in Israeli strikes in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on APril 28, 2025. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
Palestinian girls look at the rubble of the Abou Mahadi family destroyed in Israeli strikes in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on APril 28, 2025. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)

Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight into Monday killed at least 27 Palestinians, according to local health officials. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Israel has carried out daily strikes on Gaza since ending its ceasefire with Hamas last month. It has cut off the territory's 2 million Palestinians from all imports, including food and medicine, since the beginning of March in what it says is an attempt to pressure the militant group to release hostages.

The daily bombardment and widespread hunger is taking a heavy toll on Gaza's most vulnerable residents, including pregnant women and children. The United Nations' highest court began holding hearings on Monday into Israel's obligation to facilitate humanitarian aid to the territories it occupies.

Israel says the International Court of Justice is biased against it. It says enough aid entered during the ceasefire to sustain the population and accuses Hamas of siphoning it off.

Humanitarian workers say supplies are running desperately low, with most people eating one meal or less a day. They say the UN closely monitors aid distribution and deny any significant diversion.

Strikes hit three homes

An airstrike hit a home in Beit Lahiya, killing 10 people, including a Palestinian prisoner, Abdel-Fattah Abu Mahadi, who had been released as part of the ceasefire. His wife, two of their children and a grandchild were also killed, according to the Indonesian Hospital, which received the bodies.

Another strike hit a home in Gaza City, killing seven people, including two women, according to the Gaza Health Ministry's emergency service. Two other people were wounded.

Late Sunday, a strike hit a home in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing at least 10 people, including five siblings as young as 4 years old, according to the Health Ministry. Two other children were killed along with their parents, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies.

Israel says it makes every effort to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because the militants operate in densely populated areas. Palestinians say nowhere in blockaded Gaza is safe.

No end in sight to the 18-month-old war

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 52,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were fighters or civilians. Israel's bombardment and ground operations have destroyed vast areas of Gaza and left most of its population homeless.

The Health Ministry says 2,151 people, including 732 children, have been killed since Israel shattered the truce on March 18.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is either destroyed or agrees to disarm and leave the territory. He says Israel will then implement US President Donald Trump's proposal to resettle much of Gaza's population in other countries through what the Israeli leader refers to as "voluntary emigration."

Palestinians say the plan would amount to forcible expulsion from their homeland after Israel's offensive left much of Gaza uninhabitable. Human rights experts say it would likely violate international law.

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as called for in the ceasefire that Israel ended.



Palestinian Ministry Says Israeli Troops Kill 2 Children, Parents in West Bank

A Palestinian flag is placed at the site where a Jewish settlers' attack killed 3 Palestinians and injured seven others on March 8, in the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on March 12, 2026. (AFP)
A Palestinian flag is placed at the site where a Jewish settlers' attack killed 3 Palestinians and injured seven others on March 8, in the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on March 12, 2026. (AFP)
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Palestinian Ministry Says Israeli Troops Kill 2 Children, Parents in West Bank

A Palestinian flag is placed at the site where a Jewish settlers' attack killed 3 Palestinians and injured seven others on March 8, in the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on March 12, 2026. (AFP)
A Palestinian flag is placed at the site where a Jewish settlers' attack killed 3 Palestinians and injured seven others on March 8, in the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on March 12, 2026. (AFP)

The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian husband and wife and their two young children in the north of the occupied West Bank on Sunday.

The Palestinian Red Crescent also said its teams had recovered the bodies of two adults and two children from a vehicle that had been fired on by Israeli forces in the town of Tammun.

The Israeli military said it was looking into reports of the incident in response to AFP's request for comment.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry said in a statement that "four martyrs from one family arrived at the Turkish Public Hospital in Tubas after the occupation army shot at them in Tammun".

It said the hospital had received the bodies of the man, aged 37, the woman, 35, and two boys aged five and seven, adding that all had gunshot wounds.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that the couple's two other children, aged eight and 11, were wounded by shrapnel after Israeli forces opened fire on their vehicle early on Sunday morning.

Palestinian authorities and the United Nations say there has been a spike in deadly attacks, mostly by Israeli settlers, in the West Bank in recent days, with at least five Palestinians killed since the start of March.

Israel's military launched an operation in November against Palestinian armed groups in the north of the West Bank, including areas around Tubas.

More broadly, violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has risen sharply since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war. It has continued despite a ceasefire since October 10.

According to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,045 Palestinians -- many of them fighters, but also scores of civilians -- in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war.

Official Israeli figures say that 45 Israelis, including both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations.

In addition to roughly three million Palestinians, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements and outposts in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law.


Lebanon, Israel Near First Round of Negotiations

An Israeli artillery unit deployed at an undisclosed location at the Israeli border with Lebanon shells targets in Lebanon, 14 March 2026. (EPA)
An Israeli artillery unit deployed at an undisclosed location at the Israeli border with Lebanon shells targets in Lebanon, 14 March 2026. (EPA)
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Lebanon, Israel Near First Round of Negotiations

An Israeli artillery unit deployed at an undisclosed location at the Israeli border with Lebanon shells targets in Lebanon, 14 March 2026. (EPA)
An Israeli artillery unit deployed at an undisclosed location at the Israeli border with Lebanon shells targets in Lebanon, 14 March 2026. (EPA)

Lebanon and Israel have taken a step forward towards holding a first meeting to negotiate an end to the war on Lebanon.

An agreement has yet to be reached on the necessary arrangements, even as United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said from Beirut on Saturday that the “diplomatic avenues” were available to end the war.

Ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that an agreement has been reached to hold a meeting between Lebanon and Israel, but the location and date have not been set.

France and Cyprus have both offered to host the talks.

The sources revealed that parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has not yet decided whether to send a Shiite representative to the meeting or not.

The negotiations team does not yet have a Shiite representative.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Berri tied his agreement to negotiations and President Joseph Aoun’s initiative to end the war with two conditions: the ceasefire and the return of the displaced.

He refused to go into further details “ahead of time”.

Berri refuses to take part in direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel and has demanded a ceasefire be implemented before taking any other step to resolve the conflict.

Sources have quoted him as saying that he is still committed to the Mechanism committee and UN Security Council resolution 1701 to end the war.

‘Only diplomacy’

Guterres urged on Saturday the international community to support Lebanon.

Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes, and the Tehran-backed group's leader has said the fighters were ready for a long confrontation with Israel.

On Saturday, Israel kept up strikes on Lebanon as Hezbollah claimed attacks against northern Israel and Beirut said the death toll in the country since March 2 had climbed to 826, including 106 children.

US news site Axios reported on Saturday that Israel was planning a major ground invasion of Lebanon "aiming to seize the entire area south of the Litani River", citing US and Israeli officials.

The area, covering hundreds of square miles, is already subject to Israeli evacuation warnings.

Israel has already sent some ground forces into Lebanon and late on Saturday Hezbollah said it was engaged in ongoing "direct clashes" with Israeli forces in Khiam.

Guterres, however, insisted "there is no military solution, only diplomacy" and dialogue.

The UN chief arrived in Beirut on Friday for what he called a solidarity visit and launched a $325 million humanitarian appeal to support Lebanon as it responds to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people amid sweeping Israeli army evacuation orders.

Guterres urged the international community to "step up your engagement, empower the Lebanese state" and support the army, which has committed to disarming Hezbollah.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday that Ankara feared Israel could commit "genocide" in Lebanon and called for the international community to intervene.

Turkey has been fiercely critical of Israel since the start of the Gaza war.

Paramedics

The health ministry said 31 paramedics had been killed this month, after the bodies of additional health workers were found following an overnight strike that authorities said hit a healthcare center in Burj Qalawiya in the country's south, killing doctors, paramedics and nurses.

The Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee said the center was one of its facilities, pledging such attacks would not deter it from "performing our humanitarian duty".

The Israeli military accused Hezbollah of using ambulances militarily, and its spokesman Avichay Adraee warned that Israel would act "in accordance with international law against any military activity" by any Hezbollah use of medical facilities or ambulances.

Lebanon's health ministry accused Israel of repeatedly "targeting ambulance crews while they were performing rescue duties".

The Israeli army said that it had struck Hezbollah operatives on Friday "who were bringing rockets into a weapons depot" in Majedel, near Burj Qalawiya.

It also said it had struck "approximately 110 Hezbollah command centers" since the regional conflict broke out.

On Saturday, a strike hit an apartment building in a northern Beirut suburb that had been targeted a day earlier.

An AFP correspondent in the Nabaa-Burj Hammoud area saw rescue workers at the scene and damage including a hole in a building, outside Hezbollah's strongholds in the capital's southern suburbs.

The health ministry said the strike killed one person in Burj Hammoud, a densely populated, mixed area known for its large Armenian-Lebanese community.

'No safety'

Levon Ghazalian, 42, who lives in the building next door, said "it's the first time this happens" in the area, which was spared in the previous conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2024.

"All the neighbors are afraid," he told AFP.

Hanadi Hachem, 50, who was in her pyjamas, said "there's no safety anymore... you never know where a strike will come from".

She said she and some family members were sleeping in their car out of fear.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the Lebanese government was ready to engage in "direct talks" with Israel and offered to host negotiations in Paris, warning that "everything must be done to prevent Lebanon from descending into chaos".

The French foreign ministry later denied there was a French plan to end the war, saying it had only offered to facilitate talks, after Axios reported that Paris had drawn up a proposal involving Lebanon formally recognizing Israel.


US Embassy Urges Americans to Leave Iraq

A photograph shows the damage following a reported drone strike on the US embassy in Baghdad's fortified "Green Zone" on March 14, 2026. (Photo by Murtadha RIDHA / AFP)
A photograph shows the damage following a reported drone strike on the US embassy in Baghdad's fortified "Green Zone" on March 14, 2026. (Photo by Murtadha RIDHA / AFP)
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US Embassy Urges Americans to Leave Iraq

A photograph shows the damage following a reported drone strike on the US embassy in Baghdad's fortified "Green Zone" on March 14, 2026. (Photo by Murtadha RIDHA / AFP)
A photograph shows the damage following a reported drone strike on the US embassy in Baghdad's fortified "Green Zone" on March 14, 2026. (Photo by Murtadha RIDHA / AFP)

US citizens should leave Iraq immediately, the US embassy in Baghdad said in an updated security alert ⁠on Saturday, following ⁠an overnight missile attack on the ⁠embassy's building.

"US citizens choosing to remain in Iraq are strongly encouraged to reconsider in light of the ⁠significant ⁠threat posed by Iran-aligned terrorist militia groups," the embassy said.