Israeli attack on Gaza mosque kills 19 as conflict spreads in Lebanon: NPR

Israel has stepped up its attacks in Gaza and Lebanon as the widening conflict in the Middle East marks a full year since Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7.

Israeli airstrikes killed scores of people this weekend, according to health authorities in Gaza and Lebanon, as the Israeli government continues to consider a response to nearly 200 Iranian missiles that targeted Israel last week.

In northern Gaza, the Israeli military dropped leaflets warning of a “new phase of war” while commanders issued new evacuation orders for the several hundred thousand residents who remained in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

In the Jabaliya area of ​​the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli ground troops have encircled a significant portion of the territory and said they have launched a large-scale attack against Hamas militants for the first time in months, forcing civilians to flee again.

Meanwhile, just days after deploying soldiers to southern Lebanon, the Israeli military attacked buildings and other targets across Lebanon overnight that it links to Hezbollah.

Israel says its recent operations in Lebanon are part of an attempt to prevent Hezbollah rockets from landing in northern Israel last year, forcing tens of thousands of Israeli civilians to evacuate towns in the region.

Attack on mosque in Gaza kills 19 people

At least 56 people were killed in Gaza this weekend, according to local health authorities, prompting a seemingly endless series of funerals after a strike at a mosque on Sunday. The building was so close to a nearby hospital morgue that ambulances were not required and the bodies of at least 19 dead were simply carried by hand from one compound to the next.

Israel said it was a “precision attack” on the mosque that targeted Hamas militants inside, but mourners said the approaching one-year mark of fighting in Gaza was a terrible reminder of the cost The families were marooned there, with more than 41,000 deaths recorded in the last 12 months.

“Enough, world, enough, tomorrow will be a whole year,” said Hakima Al Jamal as she watched her dying father being carried out of the mosque. “We are tired. By God, we’re so tired.”

More Israeli troops are being deployed to the Gaza border to protect year-long commemoration ceremonies in communities affected by Hamas attacks on October 7 last year that killed about 1,200 people and brought more than 200 hostages into Gaza.

On the eve of these ceremonies, one person died and ten others were injured in a knife and gun attack in the southern city of Beersheba, according to Israeli emergency services.

Police have not yet identified the attacker who started the rampage at the city's central bus station. However, officials said they would consider it a terror incident as the country is currently on high alert following several stabbing, shooting and ramming attacks over the past year, including one last week in Tel Aviv, where inside and seven shots were fired around a traffic junction.

Israel launches targeted attacks in Lebanon overnight

In southern Lebanon, the Israeli military said it lost at least nine of its troops and killed more than 400 Hezbollah fighters as it stepped up destructive attacks on the capital Beirut. The attacks were focused on the city's southern suburbs, which in the past has served as a hub for the Hebzollah, an Iran-backed militant group designated a terrorist organization by the United States and other nations.

Israel says its recent attacks targeted “weapons storage facilities and infrastructure sites,” but similar attacks in the past two weeks have also killed civilians, including children. Lebanon's total death toll now exceeds 1,000, and the Israeli attack has displaced more than a million people – about a fifth of the country's population.

In the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, new arrivals from the south of the country – some of them refugees from Syria forced to flee again due to another round of conflict – have quickly been devastated.

As residents sit on blue plastic benches – young men sharing videos on their phones, older couples passing the time – Israeli airstrikes are pushing further north into the country, leaving few safe places for civilians.

One man, Riqad, who gave only his first name out of concern for his safety, had arrived with his family from Beirut's southern suburbs four days ago, having previously fled Israeli attacks near their home in the southern city of Tyre.

“There is no safe place,” Riqad said on Saturday. “The Israelis are bombing everywhere.” As he spoke, two young children in his family asked an adult relative if the bombs would reach them at the hotel where a Hezbollah-linked politician had given them and other displaced families shelter.

A few hours earlier, Israeli fighter jets had fired on a nearby refugee camp for Palestinians near Tripoli. The attack targeted a commander linked to the militant group Hamas and members of his family and marked Israel's northernmost attack since the conflict began in Gaza, 200 miles south.

The devastating impact on Lebanese society was shockingly rapid. A medical student who gave only her first name, Yasmin, had started college just a month earlier.

“I thought it was going to be one of the best years of my life. “I worked so hard to get to the university I’m at,” she said. “Now I just miss my study days… the coffee there, my friends, studying in the library. That's all I want now.”

NPR producer Anas Baba contributed to this story from Gaza.