Israel-Hamas war latest: Palestinians killed in West Bank as world leaders try to avoid regional war

JERUSALEM: Israeli fire during military raids in the occupied West Bank killed eight Palestinians, including four teenagers, and wounded another seven, Palestinian officials said Tuesday, as world leaders try to stop tensions in the Middle East from boiling over into a regional war.

An Israeli airstrike on a village in southern Lebanon killed four people, the country's Health Ministry said. Later Tuesday, Lebanon's Hezbollah launched a drone attack on northern Israel, wounding five people, in response to the killing of one of its fighters.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily strikes for the past 10 months during the war in Gaza.

Leaders in Egypt and Turkiye say they are exhausting all avenues possible to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from becoming a wider regional conflict after the killings of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas' top political leader in Iran. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet over the weekend that Israel is already in a “multi-front war” with Iran and its proxies.

The only corridor for humanitarian aid to enter southern Gaza has been shut down, apparently because of fighting in the area. The Palestinian territory has been plunged into a severe humanitarian crisis in the war ignited by Hamas' October 7 attack into Israel.

Hezbollah launches drone attack in northern Israel, wounding at least 7

Lebanon's Hezbollah launched a drone attack Tuesday on northern Israel, wounding at least seven people, in response to the killing of one of its fighters in an Israeli airstrike.

The attack did not appear to be linked to Hezbollah's vow to avenge the killing of one of its top commanders in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut the previous week, which has raised fears of an all-out war.

Hezbollah has launched near-daily drone and rocket attacks since the start of the Gaza war in what it says is an act of solidarity with the Palestinians. Israel has responded with airstrikes, one of which killed four people in southern Lebanon earlier Tuesday, according to Lebanese authorities.

Hezbollah said it launched a drone attack targeting army bases in northern Israel in retaliation for the killing of a lower-level commander in a strike late Monday.

Gal Zaid, spokesperson for Galilee Medical Center, said it was treating one severely wounded person and four others with mild injuries. Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating seven wounded in three locations in Western Galilee.

The Israeli military said “a number” of drones entered from Lebanon, one of which was intercepted. It said several civilians were wounded near the coastal town of Nahariya, some 6 kilometres south of the border, without giving a precise

The only humanitarian air corridor into southern Gaza is shut down

The only corridor for humanitarian aid to enter southern Gaza has been shut down, apparently because of fighting in the area.

The Israeli military said that the Kerem Shalom crossing was open, but the humanitarian route leading from the crossing into the city of Rafah was closed Tuesday until further notice.

Hamas' armed wing said it attacked an Israeli tank in the area. It is not possible to confirm battlefield reports in Gaza.

The Palestinian territory has been plunged into a severe humanitarian crisis in the war ignited by Hamas' October 7 attack into Israel. The vast majority of Gaza's population of 2.3 million have been displaced by the fighting, often multiple times, and hundreds of thousands are sheltering in crowded, squalid tent camps. International experts said in June that Gaza was at “high risk” of famine.

Aid groups say efforts to bring in desperately needed food and supplies have been hindered by Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and the breakdown of law and order.