At least 15 Palestinians were killed overnight Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Stripthe Hamas-led enclave’s health ministry said, as the Israeli army continued its fight against the Iran-backed group, and against Hezbollah in Lebanonwith no end in sight on both fronts.

The White House criticized one of Israel’s strikes Monday in Gaza after videos posted online appeared to show at least one person on the ground shaking as they were engulfed in flames.

The strike hit the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where many displaced Palestinians took refuge in a makeshift tent camp. The Hamas-run health ministry said four people were killed.

“The images and videos of what appear to be displaced civilians being burned alive following an Israeli airstrike are deeply disturbing and we have made our concerns clear to the Israeli government,” a spokesperson for the Israeli government said on Monday. US National Security Council at CBS News. night. “Israel has a responsibility to do more to prevent civilian casualties – and what happened here is horrific, even though Hamas was operating near the hospital with the aim of using civilians as human shields.”

Israel says Al-Aqsa hospital tents hit in ‘precise attack on terrorists’

In a statement by the IDF’s international spokesperson, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, it was a “precise, intelligence-driven strike against terrorists who were operating inside a command center and control in the area of ​​a parking lot adjacent to the hospital.

“Shortly after the strike, a fire broke out in the hospital parking lot, probably due to secondary explosions,” Shoshani said. Israel regularly attributes secondary fires and explosions after its airstrikes to weapons allegedly hidden by Hamas militants. The military has long accused militants of keeping weapons and fighters in or under civilian infrastructure, using non-combatants as human shields.

Shoshani added that the incident was being investigated and said “the hospital and its functionality have not been affected” by the strike.

He also reiterated the IDF’s insistence that it take “numerous measures to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence.”

Two Democratic lawmakers condemn Israel, Biden after Gaza attack

At least two Democratic members of the US Congress have issued statements much sharper than the White House, condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza.

“There are no words powerful enough to describe the agony of human beings being massacred and burned alive,” Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush said in a statement posted on social media, calling for a complete end to US arms sales to Israel. “The United States is financing and arming the extermination of the Palestinian people by the Israeli army. This is unacceptable. Put an end to this genocide.”

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in her own social media post that “the horrors unfolding in northern Gaza are the result of a totally unbridled Netanyahu government, fully weaponized by the administration Biden as food aid blocked and patients bombarded in hospitals.” “This is a genocide of the Palestinians. The United States must stop allowing this arms embargo. »

Israel says it listens to US, but ‘national interests’ will dictate strike on Iran

In addition to pressuring Israel to limit civilian casualties in Gaza, the White House has also pushed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to limit the scale of its expected counterattack against Iran, following the decision of the Islamic Republic. massive missile attack on October 1 against Israel.

The vast majority of the approximately 180 missiles launched by Iran, in response to Israel’s assassination of several senior Iranian and allied military commanders, were intercepted and no one was killed in the strike, but Netanyahu vowed just hours after the attack, Tehran would “pay for it”.

Since this threat, Israel could retaliate by striking Iran’s oil infrastructure or nuclear facilities – something President Biden has clearly stated he will not support. The fear is that such an attack could quickly escalate the multi-front war between Israel and Iran’s so-called proxy groups, Hamas and Hezbollahas well as the The Houthis in Yemenin a large-scale regional war that attracts the United States as Israel’s main ally.

An official in Netanyahu’s office, responding Tuesday to a Washington Post report that his country’s imminent counterattack would not include targeting Iranian nuclear or oil facilities but rather military sites, told CBS News that the Israeli government “listens to the opinions of the United States.” , but we will make our final decisions based on our national interests. »

Netanyahu’s security cabinet has agreed on which targets to strike in Iran, when to strike them and with what force, according to Israeli media, which reported that a final cabinet approval vote was still pending. wait Tuesday. It is unclear when this final vote might take place, and there is no confirmed information on the suggested timeline or details of any ongoing retaliation measures.

On Monday, Netanyahu visited soldiers injured over the weekend, in a rare situation. Deadly Hezbollah drone strike at the Golani military base in central Israel. The Israeli military, during a preliminary investigation into the attack, admitted that a lack of intelligence led the military to believe the drone had been shot down. Instead, he flew half an hour from Lebanon to reach his target, killing four Israeli soldiers and injuring dozens of others.

He stressed that Israel would continue to strike Hezbollah in Lebanon “without mercy”, including by launching new strikes on the capital Beirut.

Netanyahu and the IDF said the goal of the operations in Lebanon was to enable the return of some 70,000 displaced Israelis from their homes in northern Israel, near the Lebanese border. They were forced to flee when Hezbollah began launching drones and missiles into Israel on October 8, 2023 in support of Hamas – the day after the small group. launched its terrorist attack against Israel from Gaza, sparking the ongoing war there.

Cross-border shooting between Israel and Hezbollah has also forced an exodus from southern Lebanon. The United Nations said Tuesday that more than 400,000 children were among those who have fled their homes in southern Lebanon in recent weeks alone since the IDF intensified its attack on Hezbollah.