Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 18 and a stabbing in Tel Aviv kills 2

An Associated Press journalist filmed men rushing to the scene to retrieve bodies while trying to extinguish the fire.

Israeli strikes killed 18 people in Gaza early Sunday, including four Palestinians in a tent camp inside a hospital complex, while a stabbing attack by a Palestinian killed two people in a Tel Aviv suburb.

Tensions have soared following nearly 10 months of war in Gaza and the killing last week of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas’ top political leader in Iran.

Iran and its allies have blamed Israel and threatened retaliation, raising fears of an even more destructive regional war.

“The state of Israel is in a multi-front war,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting, and said the country was ready for any scenario in defense or attack.

The stabbing attack in Tel Aviv killed a woman in her 70s and an 80-year-old man, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service and a nearby hospital, and two other men were wounded. The police said the attack was carried out by a Palestinian militant, who was “neutralized.”

In Gaza, an Israeli strike hit a tent camp for thousands of displaced Palestinians in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, killing four people, including one woman, and injuring others, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. An Associated Press journalist filmed men rushing to the scene to retrieve bodies while trying to extinguish the fire.

The Israeli military said it targeted a Palestinian militant in the strike, which it said caused secondary explosions, “indicating the presence of weaponry in the area.”

The hospital in Deir al-Balah is the main medical facility operating in central Gaza as many others in the territory no longer function. A separate strike on a home near Deir al-Balah killed a girl and her parents, according to the hospital.