JERUSALEM — Israel's defense minister warned Wednesday that his country's retaliation for a recent Iranian missile attack will be "lethal" and "surprising," while the Israeli military pushed ahead with a large-scale operation in northern Gaza and a ground offensive in Lebanon against Hezbollah militants.
On the diplomatic front, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden held their first call in seven weeks, with a White House press secretary saying the call included discussions on Israel's deliberations over how it will respond to Iran's attack.
Vice President Kamala Harris also joined the 30-minute call, according to the White House.
Netanyahu's office, meanwhile, confirmed that the prime minister recently spoke with former President Donald Trump. The Republican, who is in the midst of a close White House race against Harris, called Netanyahu last week and “congratulated him on the intense and determined operations that Israel carried out against Hezbollah,†according to Netanyahu's office.
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The continuing cycle of destruction and death in Gaza comes as Israel expands a weeklong ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon and considers a major retaliatory strike on Iran after Iran's Oct. 1 missile barrage.
"Our strike will be lethal, precise and above all, surprising. They won't understand what happened and how. They will see the results," Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said during a speech to troops. "Whoever strikes us will be harmed and pay a price."
Iran fired dozens of missiles at Israel on Oct. 1, which the United States helped fend off. Biden says he would not support a retaliatory strike on sites related to Tehran's nuclear program.
Hezbollah claimed a rocket attack Wednesday that killed two people in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona.
Dozens killed in Gaza
In northern Gaza, there was heavy fighting in Jabaliya, an urban refugee camp dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation, where Israeli forces carried out several major operations over the course of the war and then returned as militants regroup.
The entire north, including Gaza City, has suffered heavy destruction and has been largely isolated by Israeli forces since late last year.
Jabaliya residents said thousands of people have been trapped in their homes since the operation began Sunday, as Israeli jets and drones buzz overhead and troops battle militants in the streets.
"It's like hell. We can't get out," said Mohamed Awda, who lives with his parents and six siblings. He said there were three bodies in the street outside his home that could not be retrieved because of the fighting.
"The quadcopters are everywhere, and they fire at anyone. You can't even open the window," he said by phone, speaking over the sound of explosions.
Gaza's Health Ministry said it recovered 40 bodies from Jabaliya from Sunday until Tuesday, and another 14 from communities farther north. There are likely more bodies under rubble and in areas that can't be accessed, it said.
Jabaliya residents fear Israel aims to depopulate the north and turn it into a closed military zone or a Jewish settlement. Israel blocked all roads except for the main highway leading south from Jabaliya, according to residents.
Hospitals under threat
Fadel Naeem, the director of Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City, said it received dozens of wounded people and bodies from the north.
"We declared a state of emergency, suspended scheduled surgeries, and discharged patients whose conditions are stable," he told AP in a text message.
Israel's offensive gutted Gaza's health sector, forcing most hospitals to shut down and leaving the rest only partially functioning. Meanwhile, no humanitarian aid entered the north since Oct. 1, according to U.N. data.
Israel's authority coordinating humanitarian affairs in Palestinian territories said Israel "has not halted the entry or coordination of humanitarian aid entering from its territory into the northern Gaza Strip."
Israel claims it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it fights in residential areas.
The war began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. The fighting killed about 1,200 people and militants took about 250 hostages. They still hold about 100 hostages, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel's offensive has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters. It says women and children make up more than half the dead. The offensive also caused staggering destruction across the territory and displaced about 90% of the 2.3 million residents, often multiple times.
Israeli strike kills medics
An Israeli airstrike Wednesday hit a Lebanese Civil Defense center in the town of Dardghaya in southern Lebanon, killing five members stationed there, civil defense spokesperson Elie Khairallah told The Associated Press.
There was no immediate statement from the Israeli military. As of last Thursday, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported that more than 100 paramedics were killed by Israeli airstrikes.
Another strike Wednesday killed four people and wounded 10 at a hotel sheltering displaced people in the southern Lebanese town of Wardaniyeh, Lebanon's Health Ministry said.
An AP reporter in a nearby town heard two sonic booms from Israeli jets before the strike. Plumes of smoke rose from the building after the explosion.