TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Rocket fire from Lebanon killed five people in northern Israel on Thursday, including four foreign workers, in the deadliest such attack since Israel’s invasion earlier this month .

The militant group Hezbollah has been firing rockets, drones and missiles at Israel, and provoking retaliatory strikes, since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack from the Gaza Strip sparked the war there. Hezbollah and Hamas are allies backed by Iran.

The conflict along the border escalated into a full-blown war last month, when Israel launched a wave of intense airstrikes across Lebanon, killing Hezbollah’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and most of his followers. attached. Israeli ground forces advanced into Lebanon in early October.

The Metula regional council reported Thursday’s attack, without detailing the number or type of projectiles used. The nationalities of the workers were also not immediately known.

Metula, Israel’s northernmost city, surrounded by Lebanon on three sides, has suffered severe damage from rockets. The city’s residents were evacuated in October 2023 and only security officials and agricultural workers remain.

The attack occurred while senior US diplomats were in the region. push for a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gazahoping to end wars in the Middle East in the final months of the Biden administration. Mediators circulate new proposals to reduce tension the regional conflict.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military warned people to evacuate more areas of southern Lebanon as airstrikes across the country killed at least eight people.

Also on Thursday, Palestinian officials said an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank killed three people. The Palestinian Health Ministry said two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack and a third by Israeli gunfire.

The Israeli army said its forces were attacking militants in the area of Nur Shams refugee campwhich has witnessed repeated battles in recent months. The army said it eliminated a Hamas militant who was involved in planning attacks against Israelis.

Also on Thursday, Israeli police said they arrested a couple accused of spying on Israeli intelligence sites and collecting information on an Israeli academic on behalf of Iran.

of Hezbollah newly appointed leader, Naim Kassemsaid the militant group keep fighting your war with Israel until it is offered ceasefire conditions that it finds acceptable.

Some 1.2 million people have been displaced by the conflict in lebanonaccording to government estimates. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said more than 2,800 people have been killed and 12,900 injured since October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel, provoking retaliation. Israeli ground forces invaded southern Lebanon in early October.

The number of deaths from more than a year of the War between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has exceeded 43,000, Palestinian officials reported Monday, without distinguishing between civilians and combatants. The war began after Hamas-led militants stormed Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnap another 250 people.

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Frankel reported from Jerusalem.

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