Middle East: Rockets From Gaza Set Off Sirens In Tel Aviv; Iran Airspace Reopens After Closure Amid Israeli Strikes

The Israeli military has intensified bombardment of Gaza and southern Lebanon ahead of the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack, in which members of the Palestinian militant group infiltrated from the Gaza Strip into bordering areas in Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking with them some 250 as hostages.

After a year of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring "war" on Gaza, thousands have been killed there and Israel's bombardment has expanded to Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah - a Shia Islamist militant group which began attacking Israel on October 8 last year. Conflict with Iran - which backs both Hamas and Hezbollah - has also escalated, sparking fear of the region plunging into a far more dangerous conflagration.

Latest In Middle East Tensions

Projectiles Fired From Gaza: Israel said on Monday that projectiles launched from Gaza set off sirens in central Tel Aviv as Israelis marked a year of October 7 attack, reported news agency Associated Press. There were no immediate reports of damage or injury. As per the statement on Telegram of Palestinian militant group Hamas's armed wing - Al-Qassem Brigades - it bombarded the central Israeli city with a barrage of Maqadmeh M90 rockets.

Iran Suspends Air Traffic, Reopens Later: Iranian authorities on Monday reportedly reopened air traffic after flights were cancelled at some airports over "operational restrictions" amid Israel marking one year of the October 7 Hamas attack and pledging to retaliate for an Iranian missile strike. Flight operations resumed since 11:00 pm (1930 GMT) and were being "carried out per the flight schedule", IRNA state news agency quoted as saying Jafar Yazarloo, spokesman for Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation.

Tensions between Iran and Israel grew stronger after the Iranian missile salvo of October 1 at Israeli territories. Iran said the missiles were in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Revolutionary Guard General Abbas Nilforushan, both killed in an Israeli airstrike in September in Lebanon's Beirut. Iran also mentioned Ismail Haniyeh, a top leader of the Hamas who was assassinated in Tehran in a suspected Israeli attack in July. Iran warned this attack represented only a "first wave", without elaborating.

Israel's Fresh Strikes Hit Lebanon: A new round of airstrikes hit suburbs of Lebanon's Beirut late on Sunday as Israel intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza and southern Lebanese territories in a widening war with Iran-allied militant groups across the region. A day after Israel's heaviest bombardment of the southern suburbs known as the Dahiyeh since it escalated its air campaign on September 23, Beirut's skyline lit up again late on Sunday with new airstrikes.

Israel confirmed the strikes and said it targeted Hezbollah. Israel's conflict with the militant group, the strongest armed force in Lebanon, escalated after thousands of handheld pagers and walkie-talkies carried by Hezbollah members exploded on September 17 and 18, an alleged remote attack blamed on Israel.

ALSO READ: Hezbollah Chief's 'Bury Phones' Plea Was Israel's Opportunity | Pager Plan Decoded

Gaza Strikes: An Israeli strike on a mosque in the Gaza Strip early Sunday killed at least 19 people, Palestinian officials said. Displaced people were sheltering at the mosque that was struck near the main hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah. A further four people were killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced people near the town. The Israeli military said both strikes targeted militants, without providing evidence.

A journalist of news agency Associated Press counted the bodies at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue. Hospital records showed that the dead from the strike on the mosque were all men.

Nearly 42,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters, but says a little more than half were women and children.

ALSO READ | Middle East Conflict: Links To Jerusalem, Iran's Support For Gaza, Its Allies Hezbollah, Houthis - Explained

US Aid To Israel: The United States has spent a record of at least $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since the war in Gaza, according to a report for Brown University's Costs of War project, released on the anniversary of Hamas' attacks on Israel.

An additional $4.86 billion has gone into stepped-up US military operations in the region since the October 7 attacks, researchers said in findings cited by the Associated Press.