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Families in Gaza began fasting for Ramadan on March 11. The Muslim holy month arrived as cease-fire talks stalled and hunger worsened across the enclave. (Video: Reuters)

Middle East conflict live updates Israeli strike targets Hamas commander; food shortage persists during Ramadan

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A dire shortage of food and ongoing Israeli strikes in Gaza have made for a somber start to Ramadan, normally a time of dawn-to-dusk fasting and celebration, after a hoped-for cease-fire failed to come together by the start of the Muslim holy month. Israel’s military is investigating whether a high-ranking Hamas commander may have been killed in a weekend strike by Israeli fighter jets that targeted an underground compound in central Gaza.

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Israel’s military has “not yet received final confirmation” on the results of its strike on a base used by Marwan Issa — the deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing — and another official responsible for the militant group’s weapons, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman told reporters. If Issa’s death is confirmed, he would be the highest-ranking militant commander to be killed in five months of fighting. Hamas has not publicly commented.
At least one person was killed and two are missing after Israel on Monday struck the Lebanese city of Baalbek, northeast of Beirut, according to Baalbek’s governor, Bachir Khodr. This is the second time Baalbek has been targeted since the war between Israel and Hamas began. Most Israeli strikes have occurred in the southern border region, where Israeli forces for months have traded fire with Hezbollah fighters allied with Hamas.
At least 31,112 people have been killed and 72,760 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 249 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
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Israel’s military has “not yet received final confirmation” on the results of its strike on a base used by Marwan Issa — the deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing — and another official responsible for the militant group’s weapons, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman told reporters. If Issa’s death is confirmed, he would be the highest-ranking militant commander to be killed in five months of fighting. Hamas has not publicly commented.
At least one person was killed and two are missing after Israel on Monday struck the Lebanese city of Baalbek, northeast of Beirut, according to Baalbek’s governor, Bachir Khodr. This is the second time Baalbek has been targeted since the war between Israel and Hamas began. Most Israeli strikes have occurred in the southern border region, where Israeli forces for months have traded fire with Hezbollah fighters allied with Hamas.
At least 31,112 people have been killed and 72,760 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 249 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
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Israel-Gaza war

Israel-Gaza war: Amid dimming hopes that an Israel-Hamas cease-fire and hostage-release deal will be reached before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, President Biden has ordered the U.S. military to construct a temporary port and pier on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast to open a new route for providing humanitarian aid.

Middle East conflict: Tensions in the region continue to rise. As Israeli troops aim to take control of the Gaza-Egypt border crossing, officials in Cairo warn that the move would undermine the 1979 peace treaty. Meanwhile, there’s a diplomatic scramble to avert full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon.

U.S. involvement: U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria killed dozens of Iranian-linked militants, according to Iraqi officials. The strikes were the first round of retaliatory action by the Biden administration for an attack in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members.