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2 Israeli civilians and 3 Lebanese attackers killed in escalating fighting on Israel’s northern border
(JTA) — A man and his elderly mother were killed on Sunday when an anti-tank missile fired by Hezbollah struck their home, as tensions on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon continue to rise.
Hours earlier, Israeli forces killed three Lebanese militants who attempted to infiltrate Israel. Five Israeli soldiers were lightly injured during the fighting with the militants, who were affiliated with a terror group separate from Hezbollah, and the military temporarily closed roads and village entrances in the area in response.
The clashes have come as fears have grown of war between Israel and Hezbollah. The terror group began firing rockets at Israel following Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion across the country’s southern border, and exchanges of fire have continued, creating the potential for a broader war in Israel’s north even as it has focused its firepower on its invasion of Gaza.
Several more anti-tank missiles struck various border communities in northern Israel on Sunday, but resulted in no injuries. Israel bombed two Hezbollah targets in response.
The deaths of Mira Ayalon, 76, and her son Barak, 45, in Sunday’s Hezbollah strike bring the total number of Israelis killed in the northern cross-border clashes to 15, nine of them soldiers, since October 7. Barak Ayalon was a member of his town’s civilian defense patrol. Mira Ayalon, in an interview with Israeli Channel 12, said she was “living in tension” and noted that her house was visible from Lebanon.
Some 200 people have been killed in Lebanon, most of them fighters from Hezbollah. Tens of thousands of people have evacuated their homes due to the violence.
In addition to the tensions between Israel and Lebanon, the United States recently bombed the Houthis, a Yemeni terror group that has shot missiles at commercial ships and at Israel in the wake of Oct. 7. American diplomats have worked to prevent the Israel-Hezbollah hostiles from ramping up.
Before returning to the United States from a recent trip to the Middle East, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told members of the press, “We want to make sure that through diplomacy we can create enough security and a strong sense of security. No one wants to see escalation there — Israel doesn’t, Lebanon doesn’t, and I actually don’t think Hezbollah does.”
Leaders of both Israel and Hezbollah appear to be anticipating the possibility of a wider war. Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollah was “making a mistake with us” by firing missiles at Israel.
“We will do everything to return security to the residents of the north,” he said to a group of soldiers, according to video posted to social media. “We also prefer, of course, that this will not be a broader campaign, but that’s their decision.”
In a speech on Sunday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his group “is causing losses to Israel.”
“The one who needs to fear from a war is Israel and the Israelis, and not Lebanon,” he said. “We have been preparing already 99 days for war and are not afraid of it. We will fight without any conditions.”
A recent poll by the Israel Democracy Institute found that Israelis are split regarding whether Israel should open a second front with Lebanon, with 51% in support and 34% against.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.