Middle East war latest: Hezbollah says it launched a drone attack on northern Israel

Jerusalem: The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it launched a drone attack early Monday on northern Israel that the Israeli military said wounded two Israeli troops and set off a fire.

The violence came as fears of an all-out regional war mount following the killings last week of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas’ top political leader in Iran.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah said in a statement it targeted a military base in northern Israel in response to “attacks and assassinations” carried out by Israel in several villages in south Lebanon.

The attack did not appear to be part of a more intense retaliation expected in response to the killing of Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut last week.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily strikes for the past 10 months against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, but they have previously kept the conflict at a low level that had not escalated into full-on war.

Last week’s assassinations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran’s capital, Tehran, and Hezbollah commander Shukur in Beirut raised tensions in the region. Israel has been bracing for a retaliation from Iran and its allied militias.

Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, threatened Israel on Monday over the assassination of Haniyeh, warning that Israel was “digging its own grave” with its actions in its war against Hamas.

“They will see the result of their mistake. They will see when, how and where they will get their response,” Salami said in a speech.

Israel returns more than 80 bodies to the Gaza Strip, Palestinian official says

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — A Palestinian official says Israel has returned more than 80 bodies to the Gaza Strip.

The identities of the deceased and the cause of death were not immediately known.

Over the course of its nearly 10-month offensive in Gaza, the military has exhumed remains as it searches for the bodies of hostages taken in Hamas’ October 7 attack, which ignited the war.

Weam Fares, a spokesperson for the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, says 84 bodies were handed over at the Kerem Shalom crossing on Monday and were taken directly for burial. The hospital did not provide further details.

The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment.

Associated Press reporters saw the bodies being brought to a cemetery in a container truck belonging to a private company. They were buried in a mass grave.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was not involved in the transfer.

Israeli military says Palestinian militants fired at least 15 projectiles into Israel from Gaza

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says Palestinian militants fired at least 15 projectiles into Israel from Gaza, and first responders say one person was lightly wounded.

Rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza have dwindled as Israel has waged its massive offensive there in response to Hamas’ October 7 attack. But militants are still able to regularly fire short-range projectiles on Israeli communities and army bases near the border.

Most rockets fired from Gaza are intercepted or fall in open areas, and they rarely cause casualties or damage. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service says one person was lightly wounded in Monday’s barrage.

Israel has vowed to continue the war until it has eliminated Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.

Iran vows to respond with power and decisiveness’ to killing of Hamas’ top political leade

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has vowed to respond with “power and decisiveness” to the targeted killing of Hamas’ top political leader, which it blamed on Israel.

The killing of Ismail Haniyeh in a Tehran explosion last week has raised fears of a major retaliatory attack and the outbreak of a wider war pitting Israel and the United States against Iran and allied armed groups across the Middle East.

Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said Monday that Iran has “the intrinsic right to provide for its own security and punish the aggressor,” and “will definitely take serious deterrent action with power and decisiveness.” He said it would be acting in accordance with international law and the right of self-defence.

He added, however, that Iran “is not after intensifying tension in the region.” He urged the international community to support Iran in punishing Israel.

On Saturday, Iran said a short-range projectile was behind the killing of Haniyeh, who was in Iran to attend the inauguration ceremony of President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iran says Israel carried out the attack with US support and has vowed to avenge it. Israel has not said whether it was involved.

Israeli airstrike kills official in Hamas-run government in Gaza

JERUSALEM — An Israeli airstrike killed an official in the Hamas-run government in Gaza who Israel said was also involved in militant activities.

Hamas confirmed that Abdel-Fattah al-Zariai was killed alongside his mother in an airstrike on Sunday. In a statement of mourning, it identified him as the undersecretary of its Economy Ministry and said he had held other “honourable positions” without referring to any militant role.

The Israeli military identified him as the economy minister and said he also worked in the manufacturing department of Hamas’ armed wing. It said he was involved in seizing humanitarian aid that entered Gaza and distributing it for militant purposes, without providing evidence.

Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007 in a week of deadly clashes with forces loyal to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority and dominated by the secular Fatah party.

Hamas established its own government with ministries and tens of thousands of civil servants who provided public services. It also operated a police force.

The government has largely melted away in the war triggered by Hamas’ October 7 attack into Israel, but the militant group still exerts control on the ground.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard chief says Israel is ‘digging its own grave’

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened Israel on Monday after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Gen. Hossein Salami, speaking to journalists at an event, warned that Israel was “digging its own grave” with its actions in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and that it is suspected of carrying out Haniyeh’s killing.

“When they receive a blow, they will notice they are making mistakes. They are making mistakes all the time,” Salami said in his speech at the Day of the Journalists event. “They will see the result of their mistake. They will see when, how and where they will get their response.”

Salami also touched on a long-held suspicions about an Israeli assassination programme targeting Iran’s nuclear scientists amid concerns over the country’s atomic program. Iran now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels, but maintains its program is peaceful. US intelligence services don’t believe Iran is actively pursuing the bomb, but a nuclear-armed Tehran remains a top fear for Israel.

“Israel is the cradle of terrorism and it has been created out of killing and murder,” he said. “They think they can kill the nuclear scientists of another country and impede that country’s path toward peaceful nuclear technology. They think that by killing the leader of a resistance group … In another country will give them more time to live.