Middle East latest: Israeli strikes across Gaza kill at least 50, including several kids

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 50 people across central and southern Gaza, including an attack on a sprawling tent camp that Israel has repeatedly bombed despite designating it a humanitarian safe zone. Israel said the strike targeted a high-ranking police officer, and blames Hamas for civilian deaths.

The airstrikes took place Thursday and continued into Friday. On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he authorized a delegation from the country's intelligence services and military to continue negotiations in Qatar toward a ceasefire deal in Gaza.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have spent nearly a year trying to broker a ceasefire and hostage release, but their efforts have repeatedly stalled.

The Israeli military also claimed responsibility Thursday for a commando raid in western Syria last September that destroyed what it said was an Iranian-led missile factory.

Israel's war in Gaza has killed over 45,500 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who say women and children make up more than half the fatalities. The officials do not distinguish between civilians and combatants in their tally.

The war was sparked by Hamas-led militants' Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel. They killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 that day. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.

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Here's the latest:

Israel says missile fired from Yemen sets off air raid sirens in Jerusalem and central Israel

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says a missile fired from Yemen has set off air raid sirens in Jerusalem and central Israel.

The attack, at 4:30 a.m. Friday, woke millions of people and sent people scrambling to air raid shelters.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, though a faint explosion, likely either from the missile or from interceptors, could be heard in Jerusalem.

The Israeli Defense Forces later reported that a missile launched from Yemen into Israeli territory was intercepted. A report was received regarding shrapnel from the interception that fell in the area of Modi'in in central Israel. The details are under review.

Israel has carried out a number of long-range airstrikes in Yemen, some 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) away. But the strikes have failed to stop the attacks.

The Houthis have pledged to continue striking Israel until the war in Gaza ends.

A wave of Israeli strikes kills at least 24 people in Gaza, raising the day's death toll to 50

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes in the Maghazi and Nuseirat refugee camps in central Gaza killed at least 24 people late Thursday and early Friday.

They were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, bringing the death toll to at least 50 people.

The Israeli army did not immediately comment on the strikes, but says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths.

Earlier Israeli strikes killed dozens more people throughout central and southern Gaza, including inside a sprawling tent camp that Israel designated a humanitarian safe zone but has repeatedly targeted. Israel's military said that strike killed a high-ranking police officer who was involved in gathering intelligence used by Hamas' armed wing in attacks on Israeli forces.

WHO says Israel must let more sick and wounded people leave Gaza

GENEVA — The head of the U.N. World Health Organization says Israel is still allowing only a trickle of sick and wounded people in the Gaza Strip to travel abroad for life-saving medical treatment.

At least 5,383 patients have been evacuated with the WHO's help since the war broke out in October 2023, leaving more than 12,000 Palestinians still waiting to leave Gaza, said WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a statement Thursday.

The rate of evacuations plunged when the Rafah border crossing shut down in May after Israeli troops took it over — since then, only 436 patients have left Gaza, Tedros said.

''At this rate, it would take 5-10 years to evacuate all these critically ill patients, including thousands of children,'' Tedros said. ''In the meantime, their conditions get worse and some die.''

He urged Israel to increase the approval rate for medical evacuations, including no denials of child patients, and to allow all possible corridors and border crossings to be used. Israel controls all the entry and exit points for Gaza.

COGAT, the Israeli military agency in charge of humanitarian affairs for Palestinians, has said it does everything it can to approve medical evacuations, which are contingent upon a security check. It did not respond when asked for comment on the latest WHO figures.

Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon hit alleged Hezbollah rocket launchers

BEIRUT — Israel's military said Thursday it struck rocket launchers used by Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon, a rare attack outside the border areas where Israeli forces conduct near-daily operations since a ceasefire went into effect last November, according to Lebanese state media.

Under the ceasefire agreement, Israel has until Jan. 25 to withdraw its forces from Lebanon, while Hezbollah militants must relocate north of the Litani River.

Israel says it has the right to attack Hezbollah anywhere for alleged ceasefire violations, and that Thursday's strikes were in Nabatiyeh province, which straddles both sides of the Litani.

Video circulated on social media of a strike in Jbaa, in the Iqlim al-Tuffah region, showing large flames and secondary explosions.

No casualties were reported by Lebanon's National News Agency. Hezbollah did not immediately comment on the attack.

Israeli operations in Lebanon since the ceasefire have included gunfire, house demolitions, excavations, tank shelling and airstrikes. These actions have killed at least 27 people, wounded more than 30 and destroyed residential buildings.

Israeli negotiators will head to Qatar for Gaza ceasefire talks, Netanyahu's office says

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office says he has authorized a delegation from the Mossad intelligence agency, the Shin Bet internal security agency and the military to continue negotiations in Qatar toward a ceasefire deal in Gaza.

The statement had no further details, but Israeli media said the delegation would depart Friday.

There was no immediate comment from the Hamas militant group.

The U.S.-led talks have repeatedly stalled, and at one point last year Qatar suspended its mediation efforts, expressing frustration. Egypt also is a mediator.

Israeli airstrikes kill 5 policemen in Gaza, raising daily death toll to at least 26

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes killed at least 26 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Thursday as the 15-month war with Hamas dragged on.

A strike killed five policemen in the southern city of Khan Younis and their bodies were taken to Nasser Hospital, medical officials there said.

Three Palestinians were killed in a separate Israeli strike in central Gaza that hit a group of people walking in the street in the built-up Maghazi refugee camp, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

An earlier strike in nearby Deir al-Balah killed eight people who were helping secure humanitarian aid convoys, the hospital said.

At least 10 people were also killed Thursday morning by an airstrike in southern Gaza's Muwasi area, inside an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone. The dead included three children and two senior police officers. Israel said that strike targeted a senior member of Hamas' internal security apparatus.

Israel has repeatedly targeted Gaza's police force, which was part of the Hamas-run government, contributing to a breakdown of law and order that has made it difficult for humanitarian groups to deliver aid. Israel accuses Hamas of hijacking aid for its own purposes.

Israel claims raid on alleged missile factory in Syria last year

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military has claimed responsibility for a nighttime raid in Syria last September in which it says dozens of commandos destroyed a top-secret Iranian-led missile factory.

Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said Thursday that Iran, working with its Syrian and the Hezbollah allies, planned to build hundreds of precision guided missiles per year at the factory that could be transferred to Lebanon. He said the facility was located in western Syria around the town of Masyaf near the Lebanese border.

He said Israel had been monitoring the underground facility for several years, but decided to strike at a time when Israel was at war with Hezbollah and the factory was becoming operational.

''This facility posed a clear threat to the state of Israel and this is why we had to take action,'' he said.

Shoshani said over 100 special force soldiers took part in the Sept. 8 raid, backed by dozens of aircraft. Calling it one of Israel's most complex operations in years, he said soldiers arrived by helicopter and entered the facility, which he said was dug deep into the side of a mountain.

In bodycam footage released by the Israeli military, special forces are seen moving through wide underground hallways and seizing documents, before a large explosion destroys the site. The video, which could not be independently verified, also showed images of what the army said was missile-manufacturing equipment.

At the time, Syrian state media reported 18 deaths from a series of Israeli airstrikes in the area. Shoshani said there were no Israeli casualties, and that Israel also damaged another missile-production facility in Lebanon during the war.

Israel and Hezbollah reached a cease-fire in late November, halting nearly 14 months of fighting.

Israel's Netanyahu leaves hospital after prostate surgery

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was released from the hospital Thursday after recovering from prostate surgery Sunday.

Doctors at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital said Netanyahu was recuperating satisfactorily, although he still has a period of recovery ahead. Medical follow-ups will continue as usual, according to a hospital statement.

Despite doctor's orders to remain hospitalized, the 75-year-old leader had briefly left the facility to participate in a vote in Israel's parliament on Tuesday.

Ukraine says it could soon restart ties with Syria

KYIV, Ukraine – Ukraine's president says his country is poised to reestablish diplomatic ties with Syria after the fall of President Bashar Assad and sharply increase agricultural exports to Lebanon despite being engaged in an almost three-year war with Russia.

The developments came after a recent visit to those countries by Ukraine's top diplomat and its government minister for farming, according to a statement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday. Ukraine is aiming to build up its security and trade relations in the Middle East, he said.

Ukraine and Syria are assessing cooperation within international organizations, and Syria could this year become a ''reliable partner'' for Ukraine, Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian officials met with Syria's new de facto authorities led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The insurgents had ousted Assad, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in early December.

Ukrainian agricultural exports to Lebanon are around $400 million a year but Zelenskyy said he hopes to at least double that.

Ukraine is a leading world producer of wheat, corn, barley, sunflower oil and other food products.

Israel says it targeted Hamas official in a strike that killed 9 others

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it targeted a senior member of Hamas' internal security apparatus in a strike in the Gaza Strip that Palestinian officials say killed nine other people, including three children.

The strike early Thursday hit a tent in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone known as Muwasi, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in tents during the cold and rainy winter.

The military said Hossam Shahwan, a senior officer in the Hamas-run police force in Gaza, was involved in gathering intelligence used by Hamas' armed wing in attacks on Israeli forces.

Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Salah, another senior police official, was also killed in the strike.

The military says Hamas militants hide among civilians and blames the group for their deaths in the nearly 15-month war, which was ignited by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel.

The Hamas-run government had a police force numbering in the tens of thousands that maintained a high degree of public security before the war while also violently suppressing dissent.

The police have largely vanished from the streets in many areas after being targeted by Israel, contributing to the breakdown of law and order that has hindered the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid.

Syrian security forces search for militants who refuse to turn in their weapons

DAMASCUS, Syria — The forces together with armed vehicles were deployed in the city of Homs Thursday to look for the militants affiliated with ousted President Bashar Assad, state media reported.

SANA, citing a military official, said that the new de facto authorities led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham had set up centers in Syria's third-largest city for former soldiers and militants to hand over their weapons, similar to other parts of Syria.

In early December, a lightning insurgency took out the decades-long rule of Assad in less than two weeks. HTS has since run much of war-torn Syria under the authority of its leader Ahmad al-Sharaa.

Officials who were part of Assad's notorious web of intelligence and security apparatus have been arrested over the past few weeks.

Israeli strike kills 8 Palestinian men in central Gaza Strip

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike has killed at least eight Palestinian men in the central Gaza Strip.

The dead were members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital confirmed the toll.

Earlier on Thursday, an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza killed at least 10 people, including three children and two senior officers in the Hamas-run police.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strikes.

Israel has repeatedly targeted the police, contributing to a breakdown of law and order in the territory that has made it difficult for humanitarian groups to deliver aid. Israel accuses Hamas of hijacking aid for its own purposes.