An Israeli strike on a mosque in the Gaza Strip early Sunday killed at least 19 people, Palestinian officials said, as Israel intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza and southern Beirut in its widening war on Iran-allied militant groups across the region.
Israel is still battling Hamas in Gaza nearly a year after its October 7 attack, and has opened a new front against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has been trading fire with Israel along the border since the war in Gaza began. Israel has also vowed to strike Iran itself after it launched a ballistic missile attack on the country last week.
The widening conflict risks drawing in the United States, which has provided crucial military and diplomatic support to Israel, as well as US-allied Arab countries that host American forces. Iran-allied militant groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen have also joined in with long-distance strikes on Israel.
The strike in Gaza hit a mosque where displaced people were sheltering near the main hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah. Israel said it targeted a Hamas command and control centre embedded among civilians, without providing evidence.
An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue. Hospital records showed that the dead were all men, while another man was wounded.
The military meanwhile announced a new air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, in northern Gaza, home to a densely populated refugee camp dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation. It circulated photos and video footage showing a column of tanks heading towards the area.
The military said its forces had encircled Jabaliya as warplanes struck militant sides ahead of their advance. Over the course of the war, Israel has carried out several large operations there, only to see militants regroup.
Israel also ordered new evacuations in northern Gaza, which largely emptied out in the early weeks of the war when Israel ordered its entire population to flee south. Up to 300,000 people are estimated to have remained there despite harsh conditions and heavy destruction.
"We are in a new phase of the war," the military said in leaflets dropped over the area. "These areas are considered dangerous combat zones."
Avichay Adraee, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said it has expanded the so-called humanitarian zone in southern Gaza, urging people to head there. The zone includes sprawling tent camps where hundreds of thousands of people have already sought refuge, and Israel has carried out strikes inside it against what it says are fighters sheltering among civilians.
Palestinian residents reported heavy Israeli strikes across northern Gaza. The Civil Defence, first responders who operate under the Hamas-run government, said several homes and buildings had been hit and they were not able to reach them because of the bombardment.
Many posted about the airstrikes and mourned their relatives on social media. Imad Alarabid said in a Facebook post that an airstrike on his home in Jabaliya killed a dozen of his family members, including his parents.
Local journalists said one of their colleagues, Hassan Hamd, was killed in artillery shelling on his home in Jabaliya. He had worked as a freelance TV reporter and his footage had aired on Al Jazeera and other networks. Anas al-Sharif, an Al Jazeera reporter in northern Gaza, confirmed his death.
The latest strikes add to the mounting Palestinian death toll in Gaza, which is nearing 42,000, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths, but many of the dead were women and children.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in the 7 Oct attack and took another 250 hostage. They are still holding around 100 captives, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
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