Deadly Israeli strikes hit southern Gaza

Israeli forces carried out attacks across the Gaza Strip overnight, raiding one of the last working hospitals in the north of the territory and launching airstrikes in the south that left dozens dead, Gaza health officials said Friday.

The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 38 people had been killed and dozens more injured in the strikes in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

Few details about the circumstances of the attack were available, and the Israeli military did not immediately respond to questions about it. In the past, Israeli forces have said they are targeting Hamas fighters in Khan Younis.

The Health Ministry also said Israeli forces had raided Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the few medical facilities still functioning in northern Gaza. Calls to the hospital director were not immediately answered. As Israel has engaged in a weekslong military offensive in northern Gaza against Hamas militants, the United Nations says hundreds of thousands of people there have been trapped with little food or supplies.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was meeting Friday with Arab officials in London, concluding a weeklong diplomatic tour aimed at jump-starting negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza. A day earlier, in Qatar, Blinken had said cease-fire talks would resume within days, but gave no indication that Hamas was any more willing to make a deal since Israel's killing last week of its leader, Yahya Sinwar.

Here's what else to know:

Israeli fatalities: The Israeli military said five soldiers had been killed overnight in southern Lebanon. Kan, Israel's public broadcaster, said a rocket had struck the building the soldiers were in and that several others had been injured. It was among the most casualties in a single attack for the Israeli military since it sent troops into southern Lebanon earlier this month to battle Hezbollah militants.

-Media workers killed: An Israeli airstrike hit a residence where journalists were staying in southern Lebanon early Friday, killing three people, according to their employers and Lebanon's Health Ministry. The Al-Manar network, operated by Hezbollah, and Al Mayadeen, an outlet widely seen as aligned with the militant group, said its personnel were among the dead. Israel's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strike.

Israel and Iran: With Israel planning a retaliatory attack after Iran's ballistic missile barrage this month, the possibility of a direct war between the two adversaries has alarmed world leaders. Such a conflict would have global repercussions, pitting two formidable militaries against one another, possibly drawing in the United States and Persian Gulf nations, and generating global economic fallout.

Israeli allegation: Israeli authorities said they had killed a Hamas commander in Gaza who was involved in the terrorist attacks in Israel in October 2023, and who also worked for the main U.N. agency aiding Palestinians. A spokesperson for the agency, UNRWA, said she was investigating the Israeli claim.