Israeli airstrikes kill more Palestinians in Gaza

Israeli airstrikes killed at least five Palestinians in Gaza City early on Monday, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, which also reported multiple injuries in the attack.

The strike targeted a house near the Patient's Friends Hospital in the western part of Gaza City, Wafa said, citing medical sources.

Israeli military officials did not immediately comment on the strikes.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Sunday that at least 40,405 people have been killed in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants, now in its 11th month.

The toll includes 71 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to ministry figures, which also list 93,468 people as wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7.

Meanwhile, Israel’s military spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said about 100 Israeli planes struck 270 targets, 90% of them rocket launchers aimed at northern Israel. He said they were investigating the percentage of incoming rockets and drones intercepted but said the "vast majority” were thwarted.

Hezbollah said its attack involved more than 320 Katyusha rockets aimed at multiple sites in Israel and a "large number” of drones.

A Palestinian boy wounded in an Israeli strike in Gaza. Reuters

Some Israelis were shaken. In the northern city of Acre, retired teacher Saadia Even Tsur, 76, said he was at the synagogue and arrived home five minutes after his bedroom was damaged. "I went up and saw the size of the miracle that happened to me,” he said. A window was broken and debris was on the bed.

Lebanon’s caretaker Economy Minister Amin Salam, after an emergency government meeting, said officials were "feeling a bit more optimistic” about a de-escalation after both sides confirmed that the operations had ended.

President Joe Biden was "closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon," according to Sean Savett, a spokesman for the National Security Council. The Pentagon said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, and ordered both U.S. carrier strike groups in the region to stay. The US military has been building up its forces across the region in recent weeks.

Agencies