West Bank strike kills 18; Israel says Hamas commander among dead

At least 18 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on the Tulkarm refugee camp in the occupiedWestBank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Thursday, with the Israeli military saying it killed a Hamas commander.

The Israeli military said in a statement that its air force had killed the head of Hamas's network in Tulkarm in a strike. It identified him as Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi.

The Palestinian government "calls for urgent international action to stop the escalating massacres" against its people, it said in a statement.

The official spokespersonfor the Palestinian presidency also condemned the attack, the Palestinian news agency WAFA said, adding that those attacks "will not bring security and stability to anyone, but will drag the region into more violence."

Violence has surged in theWestBanksince the start of the war in Gaza, with almost daily sweeps by Israeli forces that have involved thousands of arrests and regular gun battles between security forces and Palestinian fighters.

Renewed strikes in Beirut suburb

Meanwhile, in Lebanon,Beirut's southern suburb of Dahiye, a stronghold of the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, came under renewed strikes near midnight on Thursday after Israel ordered people to leave their homes in parts of the district, residents and security sources said.

WATCH l Israel would have a difficult time striking Iranwithout help, expert says:

Iran a challenging target for Israel alone, analyst says

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Ian Bremmer, a Middle East analyst and founder of the Eurasia Group, says vast distances and hardened targets make Iran a country that Israel would have a difficult time striking effectively on its own.

The air raids targeted Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, rumoured successor to assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in an underground bunker, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X, citing three Israeli officials. Safieddine's fate was not clear, he said.

Israel's military declined comment.

Earlier Thursday, Israel's military told residents of more than 20 towns in south Lebanon to evacuate their homes as it pressed on with its cross-border incursion.

The latest warnings took the number of southern towns subject to evacuation calls to 70 and included the provincial capital Nabatieh, suggesting anotherIsraeli military operation was imminent against Hezbollah.

Dahiye has been pummeled by Israeli bombs, including missiles that killed Nasrallah a week ago and flattened an entire block. Some of Thursday night's strikes hit close to Beirut's international airport, which borders Dahiye, a Reuters witness said.

Hezbollah also carried out new strikes, targeting what it calledIsrael's "Sakhnin base" for military industries in Haifa Bay on the Mediterranean coast of northernIsraelwith a salvo of rockets.

Warning sirens sounded there again late on Thursday, as well as in the northern Israeli area of Galilee, and 10 projectiles crossed into Israel from Lebanon, Israel's military said. They were either intercepted or allowed to fall in open areas.

Late on Thursday, Hezbollah said it also targeted Israel's "Nesher base" in Haifa with a salvo of Fadi 2 rockets.

Israel, which has been fighting Hamas in the Palestinian territory of Gaza for almost a year, sent troops into southern Lebanon on Tuesday after two weeks of intense airstrikes in a worsening conflict that has drawn in Iran and risks involving the United States.

The Group of Seven nations, which includes the U.S., Britain, Canada and other allies, on Thursday condemned Iran's missile attack and reaffirmed their commitment to Israel's security.

But the group also called for restraint, a ceasefire in Gaza and halt to hostilities in Lebanon.

Israel weighs response to Iranian attack

Israelis also weighing itsoptions for retaliationagainst its arch-foe Iran, which launched itslargest ever assaultonIsraelon Tuesday.

Asked on Thursday if he would supportIsraelstriking Iran's oil facilities, U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters: "We're discussing that." The comments added to asurge in global oil prices, and rising Middle East tensions have raised traders' worries about potential supply disruptions.

Israel's UNAmbassador Danny Danon told CNN on Thursday his country has "a lot of options" for retaliation and would show Tehran its strength "soon."

A U.S. official said Washington does not believe Israel has decided yet how to respond to Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed Iran will pay for Tuesday's missile attack, and Washington said it would work with its longtime ally to ensure Iran faced "severe consequences."

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking in Doha, said on Thursday that Tehran would be ready to respond.

"Any type of military attack, terrorist act or crossing our red lines will be met with a decisive response by our armed forces," he said.

Aims in Lebanon

Israelsays its operations in Lebanon seek to allow tens of thousands of its citizens to return home after evacuating from northernIsraelby Hezbollah bombardments during the Gaza war.

WATCH l Israel suffers deadliest day of troop loss in months:

Israel buries soldiers killed in Lebanon, cleans up after Iran missile attack

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Israelis are mourning eight soldiers killed in the Israel Defence Forces ground operation against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Israeli officials and civilians are also assessing and cleaning up the damage from Irans missile barrage.

More than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced byIsraeli attacks, and nearly 2,000 people have been killed since the start of theIsraeli attacks on Lebanon over the last year, most of them in the past two weeks, Lebanese authorities said.

Lebanon's health ministry said in the early hours of Friday that 27 people were killed and 151 wounded over the prior day.

Hezbollah says it has repelled several land operations byIsraeli troops, including with ambushes and in direct clashes.

Hezbollah said it killed 17Israeli military personnel in combat in southern Lebanon on Thursday, citing its field and security sources.Israeli forces did not comment on the claim.

Israel's military on Thursday reported the death of one soldier. On Wednesday, it announced its deadliest day in a year of clashes with Hezbollah with the deaths of eight soldiers.

The Lebanese border front opened after Hezbollah fired missiles atIsraela year ago in support of Hamas in its war withIsraelin Gaza. Iran's other regional allies Yemen's Houthis and armed groups in Iraq have also launched attacks in the region in support of Hamas.

WATCH l Hezbollah bloodied but unbowed, ex-Lebanese official says:

Hezbollah weakened by Israeli assaults but still a potent threat

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Israels aggressive assaults against Hezbollah after killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah have weakened and disoriented the militant group, but it still holds much of its previous territory and remains capable of posing a serious military threat.

Western nations have drafted contingency plans to evacuate citizens from Lebanon, but none have launched a large-scale military evacuation yet, though some are chartering aircraft as Beirut's airport stays open.

Global Affairs Canada is not offering what it terms "assisted departures," but it is helping Canadian citizens and their families by arranging seats on commercial flights out of Lebanon.

The flights out of Lebanon land in Istanbul, and Canadians who avail themselves are responsible for their own airfare and subsequent arrangements for accommodation and travel.