An Israeli strike killed at least 73 in northern Gaza, health officials said

Israeli strikes have killed at least 73 people, including women and children, in the town of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, Hamas authorities said.

Dozens of others were injured and many were still trapped under the rubble after the bomb exploded on Saturday night, officials said.

Israel said it was looking into reports of casualties but said the figures published by Hamas authorities were “exaggerated” and did not match the information kept by its forces.

Fighting continued to be reported in southern Lebanon as well as south of Beirut on Sunday morning, where smoke was seen rising above the city.

Israel said its air force had struck “about 175 terrorist targets” in Gaza and Lebanon in the previous day.

The Hamas-affiliated state media office said a bomb blast in Beit Lahia on Saturday night hit a “crowded” residential area, killing 73 people – a figure reported by Gaza’s civil defense. The BBC cannot independently verify the figures.

According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, every residential area was destroyed in these strikes.

Rescue efforts in Beit Lahia are currently hampered by the interruption of internet services in the region, Gaza health officials said.

The latest strikes come hours after heavy gunfire was reported by Israeli forces at an Indonesian hospital in the city.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told the BBC that it had struck a “Hamas Terror target” and was “doing everything possible to avoid harming civilians”.

It said the casualties provided by the Hamas office were “exaggerated” and said such sources “have proven to be very unreliable in past incidents.”

Israel launched a renewed military offensive in northern Gaza in early October, saying it was trying to prevent Hamas from regrouping in the area.

In particular, Israeli forces surrounded and bombed the populated area of ​​Jabalia, including the urban refugee camp – at least 33 people were reported dead in Friday’s strike.

Aid agencies have warned that almost no aid has entered the area in the past few weeks. Israeli figures show that aid deliveries to Gaza overall have decreased compared to the same period in September.

The UN chief, Joyce Msuya, said on Saturday that the Palestinian people in northern Gaza were enduring “horrible things” and called for an end to these “atrocities”.

Israel has repeatedly denied that it is blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, but the US has told it to increase access or risk having aid cut off by the US military.

Currently, Israel has carried out at least a dozen airstrikes in Beirut on Saturday, in the heaviest attack the Lebanese capital has seen in more than a week.

Damage and casualties were still being assessed, but at least one multi-storey building in the southern part of the city had been destroyed.

The Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah weapons depots and an intelligence center in Dahieh.

Smoke could be seen billowing south of Beirut early Sunday morning after the Israeli army ordered the immediate evacuation of two neighborhoods in the area.

The IDF told the citizens that they were “placed near facilities and interests linked to Hezbollah, the IDF will cooperate with them in the near future”.

Hezbollah continued to fire rockets into northern Israel on Saturday, with the Israeli military saying around 200 projectiles – meaning rockets – were fired.

One person was killed by explosives while he was in his car, said Israeli health official Magen David Adom.

And on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an attempt was made on his life following reports of a drone attack in his private room.

“The attempt by the Iranian proxy Hezbollah to kill me and my wife today was a big mistake,” he wrote in the X post.

Mr Netanyahu and his wife were not home at the time, and no one was injured.

Iran says Hezbollah was responsible for the reported attack, Iranian state news agency IRNA said. Hezbollah – which is funded and supported by Iran – has not commented on the reports.

At least 42,519 people have been killed and tens of thousands injured in Gaza since the war began last October, Hamas-run authorities said.

The war began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, leaving around 1,200 people dead and 251 taken to Gaza as hostages. Israel vowed to destroy Hamas in response.

Earlier this week, the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza raised hopes in some quarters for an end to the conflict.

But the group’s deputy leader said Hamas will only be strengthened, and Israeli hostages will not be returned until Israel withdraws from Gaza.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also said on Saturday that Sinwar’s death would not stop the “Axis of Resistance” – a regional network of Iranian-backed, heavily armed militias opposed to Israel.

“Hamas is alive and will continue to live,” Khamenei’s statement said.