Middle East latest: Israel says it detained militants in Gaza hospital as airstrikes pound Tyre

Journalists film as smoke rises from buildings hit in Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.(AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Israel’s military said it detained 100 suspected Hamas militants in a raid on a hospital in northern Gaza over the weekend, while its warplanes on Monday sent plumes of smoke rising over the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre.
Israeli forces raided Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya on Friday, detaining 44 male staff, according to the World Health Organization. Palestinian medical officials said the hospital, which was treating some 200 patients, was heavily damaged in the raid.
Israel has raided several hospitals in Gaza over the course of the yearlong war, saying Hamas and other militants use them for military purposes. Palestinian medical officials deny those allegations and accuse the military of recklessly endangering civilians.
The Israeli military has called on Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza, where it has been waging a large offensive for more than three weeks. The U.N. said earlier this month at least 400,000 people are still in northern Gaza and hunger is rampant as the amount of humanitarian aid reaching the north has plummeted over the past month.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not differentiate between militants and civilians, but say more than a half were women and children. The Israel-Hamas war began after Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023, blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others.

A rescue worker checks a destroyed building hit in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.(AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
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Here’s the latest:
Lebanon says number killed in Israel-Hezbollah conflict surpasses 2,700 in a year
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported Monday that 38 people were killed and 124 wounded over the past 24 hours, bringing the total toll from a year of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel to 2,710 killed and 12,592 wounded. One quarter of those killed were women and children.
The highest number of casualties has been recorded in the South province, followed by Nabatiyeh, the Baalbeck region and Bekaa Valley.

Smoke rises next of a destroyed building hit in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.(AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)
The health ministry reported that over the past year, 2,041 men have been killed and 9,881 wounded. Women account for 532 fatalities and 2,351 injuries, while 157 children have been killed and 1,129 injured.
In the health care sector, the ministry said that 168 health workers have been killed, 232 wounded and 239 medical vehicles damaged since Oct. 8. Additionally, 79 medical and ambulatory centers have been affected, along with 38 hospitals.
On Monday, intense airstrikes have continued to pummel various villages across South Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. In one case, two Israeli strikes killed six members of a single family in the town of Bodai in the Baalbeck province, according to the state-run National News Agency.
An airstrike in central Gaza refugee camp kills 10 and injures 20
JERUSALEM — An airstrike on a street in central Gaza’s Nuseirat Refugee Camp killed 10 people and injured 20 others Monday, according to Palestinian health officials and Associated Press journalists.
The dead and injured were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in nearby Deir al-Balah, where they were counted by AP staff there.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
The latest deadly strike comes as Israeli forces intensify their operations across northern Gaza.
The war erupted on Oct. 7. last year when Hamas militants from Gaza stormed southern Israel and killed some 1, 200 people. Israel responded by bombarding and invading the enclave, killing over 43, 000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry’s tally does not distinguish between combatants and civilians but more than half of the dead are said to be women and children
Israel says it will continue talks with mediators on potential Hamas cease-fire
JERUSALEM — Israel’s government said it would continue its discussion with international mediators about a potential cease-fire deal in its war with Hamas, as the head of the Mossad spy agency returned from Qatar on Monday after taking part in the latest round of in-person talks.
David Barnea met with the head of the CIA, Bill Burns, and the Prime Minister of Qatar in Doha, Israel’s prime minister’s office said in a brief statement.
“In the coming days, the discussions between the mediators and with Hamas will continue to examine the feasibility of talks and the continuation of attempts to advance a deal,” the statement said.
Washington and Qatar have been key mediators in the stalled negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Many of the militant group’s leaders are based in the Qatari capital.
The new round of talks was announced by the U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week.
Neither Hamas nor Israel has shown any sign of softening their demands since the negotiations sputtered to a halt over the summer.
The Knesset will vote on bills that would severely restrict UN agency that is a lifeline for Gaza
JERUSALEM — Israel’s parliament is scheduled to vote Monday on a pair of bills that would effectively sever ties with the U.N. agency responsible for distributing aid in Gaza, strip it of legal immunities and restrict its ability to support Palestinians in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Israel accuses the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, of turning a blind eye to Hamas militants it says have infiltrated its staff, including a small number of its 13,000 employees in Gaza who participated in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel. The agency denies it knowingly aids armed groups and says it acts quickly to purge any suspected militants from its ranks.
The bills risk crippling humanitarian aid distribution in the Gaza Strip, at a time the United States is pressing Israel to allow in more food and other supplies. More than 1.9 million Palestinians are displaced from their homes and Gaza faces widespread shortages of food, water and medicine.
The bills, which do not include provisions for alternative organizations to oversee its work, have been strongly criticized by international aid groups and a handful of Israel’s Western allies.
Iran says it reserves the right to respond to Israeli attack ‘at the appropriate time’
UNITED NATIONS — Iran’s foreign minister said in a letter requesting an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that his country reserves the right to respond to Israel’s recent attacks “at the appropriate time.”
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Israel of violating Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and “a flagrant breach of international law and the United Nations Charter,” which prohibits the use of force against any U.N. member nation.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon called Iran’s request “another attempt by Iran to harm us, this time in the diplomatic arena.”
“We will stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself,” he said in a statement, stressing that the Israeli attack was in response to an Iranian attack on Oct. 1.
The Security Council scheduled a meeting Monday afternoon at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) at Iran’s request, which was supported by Russia, China and Algeria, the Arab representative on the U.N.’s most powerful body.
Araghchi urged the Security Council and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the letter obtained by The Associated Press “to take a firm stance and condemn the Israeli regime for committing these acts of aggression strongly and unequivocally.”
Israel’s airstrikes early Saturday followed Iran’s launch of at least 180 missiles into Israel on Oct. 1. The Iranian airstrikes were in retaliation for devastating blows Israel landed against Iran’s ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.
- Journalists film as smoke rises from buildings hit in Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.(AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
- A rescue worker checks a destroyed building hit in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.(AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
- Smoke rises next of a destroyed building hit in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.(AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)