Children among 25 people killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza - as 52 killed in attack on northern Lebanon

An 18-month-old boy and his 10-year-old sister are among 25 people who were killed in a series of Israeli strikes on central parts of Gaza, hospital officials have said.

The al Aqsa hospital said they had received 21 bodies from the two strikes on the central Nuseirat refugee camp on Thursday.

Israeli strikes also hit a motorcycle in Zuwaida and on a house in Deir al Balah on Friday, killing four more people.

Five children and seven women are among those who have been confirmed dead.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA earlier reported that 57 people had died in the strikes.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) did not comment on the specific strikes but said its troops had identified and eliminated "several armed terrorists" in central Gaza.

It also said its forces had eliminated "dozens of terrorists" in raids in northern Gaza's Jabalia area - home to one of the territory's refugee camps.

The IDF has resumed intense operations in the north of Gaza over the past few weeks, claiming they are seeking to stop Hamas, the militant group ruling Gaza, from regrouping.

It comes as the IDF yesterday said it killed senior Hamas official Izz al Din Kassab in an airstrike in Khan Younis, describing him as one of the last high-ranking members.

'Apocalyptic'

Top UN officials said in a statement yesterday that the situation in northern Gaza is "apocalyptic" and the entire Palestinian population in the area is at "imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence".

The overall number of people killed in Gaza in the 13-month war is more than 43,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Iran's supreme leader on Saturday threatened both Israel and the US with "a crushing response" over attacks on the country and its allies.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spoke as Iranian officials increasingly threatened to launch yet another strike against Israel after its October 26 strike on the Islamic Republic that targeted military bases and other locations, killing at least five people.

The supreme leader did not elaborate on the timing of the attack, nor the scope.

Dozens killed in Lebanon

On Friday, Israel launched dozens of intense airstrikes across Lebanon's northeastern farming villages, killing at least 52 people and wounding 72 others, Lebanese health authorities said.

The strikes pounded rural villages that had previously been spared the worst of Israel's intense air campaign against Hezbollah.

The governor of Baalbek, Bachir Khodr, reported airstrikes on nine villages across the northeast.

The state-run news agency NNA separately reported four more people killed in the small farming village of Ollak.

In recent days, Israel has intensified its airstrikes on Baalbek and nearby villages, as well as different parts of southern Lebanon, prompting about 60,000 people to flee their homes, according to Hussein Haj Hassan, a Lebanese official representing the region.

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Meanwhile, in central Israel, 11 people were wounded by rockets fired from Lebanon on Saturday, Israeli emergency services said.

Around the time the rockets hit, Hezbollah said it had targeted a military base on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

Seven people, including three Israelis and four Thai nationals, were killed by projectiles fired from Lebanon into northern Israel on Thursday, Israeli medics said.

Israel's military said in a statement that attacks "in the area of Beirut" had targeted Hezbollah weapons manufacturing sites, command centres and other infrastructure.

It followed that up by saying today it had killed two Hezbollah commanders in the area of Tyre yesterday. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.

More than 2,800 people have been killed and 13,000 wounded since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated after Hamas's 7 October attack last year, Lebanon's Health Ministry said.