Fears of wider war spike after strikes on Gaza kill 18 and stabbing in Israel kills 2

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 18, while a Palestinian stabbing attack in Tel Aviv suburb kills 2.

Israeli strikes early on August 4 killed 18 people in Gaza, including four who were sheltering in a tent camp for displaced Palestinians inside a hospital complex, while a stabbing attack carried out by a Palestinian killed two people in a Tel Aviv suburb.

Tensions have soared following nearly 10 months of war in Gaza and the killing of two senior militants in separate strikes in Lebanon and Iran last week. Those killings brought threats of revenge from Iran and its allies and raised fears of an even more destructive regional war.

A woman in her 70s and an 80-year-old man were killed in the stabbing attack, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service and a nearby hospital, and two other men were wounded. The police said the attack was carried out by a Palestinian militant, who was “neutralised.” The rescuers said the wounded were found in three different locations, each about 500 metres (yards) apart. Police initially said they were searching for other suspects but later ruled out the possibility of there having been more than one assailant.

Israel has been bracing for retaliation after the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander in a strike in Lebanon and Hamas' top political leader in an attack in Iran's capital last week. Both targeted killings were linked to the ongoing war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas' October 7 attack into Israel.

“In Gaza, an Israeli strike earlier on Sunday hit a tent camp housing displaced Palestinians in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, killing four people, including one woman, and injuring others,” Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

An Associated Press journalist filmed men rushing to the scene to help the wounded and retrieve bodies, while trying to extinguish the fire.

The Israeli military said it targeted a Palestinian militant in the strike, which it said caused secondary explosions, "indicating the presence of weaponry in the area.” The hospital in Deir al-Balah is the main medical facility operating in central Gaza, and thousands of people have taken shelter there after fleeing their homes in the war-ravaged territory. A separate strike on a home near Deir al-Balah killed a girl and her parents, according to the hospital.