Rocket fire from Lebanon kills seven people in Israel as US officials try to push for ceasefire

TEL AVIV, Israel – Rocket fire from Lebanon into northern Israel killed four foreign workers and three Israelis on Thursday, Israeli medics said, the deadliest cross-border attacks in Israel since it invaded Lebanon. Israel continued to carry out airstrikes against Hezbollah militants across Lebanon, where health authorities reported the deaths of 24 people on Thursday.

US diplomats in the region pushed for a ceasefire in both Lebanon and Gaza, hoping to end wars in the Middle East as the Biden administration enters its final months. The pressure is increasing in the run-up to the American elections next week.

In northern Gaza, Israeli forces attacked one of the last functioning hospitals, destroying desperately needed supplies delivered to the facility by the World Health Organization, the UN agency said. The strikes caused a fire that hit the dialysis unit, destroyed water tanks, damaged the operating building and injured four doctors who tried to extinguish the fire, said hospital director Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya.

The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment about an attack on the hospital, which it stormed last week after claiming it housed Hamas militants. Gaza’s Health Ministry on Thursday condemned the Israeli attacks on the hospital and called on the international community to protect Gaza’s medical facilities.

Back-to-back deadly rocket attacks hit Israel

Projectiles from Lebanon crashed into an agricultural area in Metula, Israel’s northernmost city, killing four Thai workers and an Israeli farmer, officials said.

Hours later, the Israeli military reported another volley of about 25 rockets from Lebanon, hitting an olive grove on the outskirts of the northern Israeli port city of Haifa. That attack killed a 30-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman and wounded two others, said Magen David Adom, Israel’s top emergency medical agency.

Both Hezbollah and Hamas are supported by Iran, Israel’s regional opponent. Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility for Thursday’s rocket fire. The Israeli military said 90 projectiles were fired from Lebanon on Thursday.