Palestinian medics say Israeli airstrikes kill 35 in Gaza's Rafah as displaced people are hit

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian health workers said Israeli airstrikes killed at least 35 people Sunday and hit tents for displaced people in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, and “numerous” others were trapped in flaming debris. Gaza's Health Ministry said women and children made up most of the dead and dozens of wounded.

The attacks came two days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to end its military offensive in Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million population had sought shelter before Israel's incursion earlier this month. Tens of thousands of people remain in the area while many others have fled.

Footage from the scene of the largest airstrike showed heavy destruction. Israel’s army confirmed the strike and said it hit a Hamas installation and killed two senior Hamas militants. It said it was investigating reports that civilians were harmed. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was in Rafah on Sunday and was briefed on the “deepening of operations” there, his office said.

A spokesperson with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the death toll was likely to rise as search and rescue efforts continued in Rafah’s Tal al-Sultan neighborhood about two kilometers (1.2 miles) northwest of the city center.

The society asserted that the location had been designated by Israel as a “humanitarian area.” The neighborhood is not included in areas that Israel’s military ordered evacuated earlier this month.

The airstrike was reported hours after Hamas fired a barrage of rockets from Gaza that set off air raid sirens as far away as Tel Aviv for the first time in months in a show of resilience more than seven months into Israel's massive air, sea and ground offensive.

There were no reports of casualties in what appeared to be the first long-range rocket attack from Gaza since January. Hamas’ military wing claimed responsibility. Israel's military said eight projectiles crossed into Israel after being launched from Rafah and “a number” were intercepted, and the launcher was destroyed.

Earlier Sunday, dozens of aid trucks entered Gaza from southern Israel under a new agreement to bypass the Rafah crossing with Egypt after Israeli forces seized the Palestinian side of it earlier this month. Israel’s military said 126 aid trucks entered via the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing.

But it was not immediately clear if humanitarian groups could access the aid — including medical supplies — because of fighting. The crossing has been largely inaccessible because of Israel’s offensive in Rafah. United Nations agencies say it is usually too dangerous to retrieve the aid. The World Health Organization last week said an expanded Israeli incursion in Rafah would have “disastrous” impact."

“With the humanitarian operation near collapse, the secretary-general emphasizes that the Israeli authorities must facilitate the safe pickup and delivery of humanitarian supplies from Egypt entering Kerem Shalom,” the spokesperson for U.N. chief Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

Egypt refuses to reopen its side of the Rafah crossing until control of the Gaza side is handed back to Palestinians. It agreed to temporarily divert traffic through Kerem Shalom, Gaza's main cargo terminal, after a call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.

The war between Israel and Hamas has killed nearly 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its count. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in dense, residential areas.

Around 80% of Gaza's 2.3 million people have fled their homes, severe hunger is widespread and U.N. officials say parts of the territory are experiencing famine.

Hamas triggered the war with its Oct. 7 attack into Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seized some 250 hostages. Hamas still holds some 100 hostages and the remains of around 30 others after most of the rest were released during a cease-fire last year.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel must take over Rafah to eliminate Hamas’ remaining battalions and achieve “total victory” over the militants, who recently regrouped in other parts of Gaza.

The war has also heightened tensions in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Palestinian authorities on Sunday said Israeli forces shot dead a 14-year-old boy near the southern West Bank town of Saeer. The Israeli army said the Palestinian male was shot dead after trying to stab Israeli forces at Beit Einun Junction.

Southern Gaza has been largely cut off from aid since Israel launched what it called a limited incursion into Rafah on May 6. Since then over 1 million Palestinians, many already displaced, have fled the city.

Northern Gaza receives aid through two land routes that Israel opened during global outrage after Israeli strikes killed seven aid workers in April.

A few dozen trucks enter Gaza daily through a U.S.-built floating pier, far below the 150 trucks a day that officials hoped for. Aid groups say 600 trucks a day are needed.

Israel’s military said it had detained a suspect over a widely circulated video in which a man dressed as a soldier threatens mutiny. The man says tens of thousands of soldiers were ready to disobey the defense minister over his suggestion that Palestinians should govern Gaza after the war, and pledged loyalty to Netanyahu alone.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the man has been removed from reserve duty. It was not clear when or where the video was made. The prime minister’s office released a brief statement condemning all forms of military insubordination.

Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel and Magdy from Cairo.

A previous version corrected to say the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood is not included in areas that Israel’s military ordered evacuated earlier this month.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - A Palestinian medic moves a child killed in an Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip to the morgue of Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, central Gaza Strip, on Sunday, May 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinian medics treat people wounded in an Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip at Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, central Gaza Strip, on Sunday, May 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian child wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip waits for the treatment at Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, central Gaza Strip, on Sunday, May 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinian medics move bodies killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip to the morgue of Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, central Gaza Strip, on Sunday, May 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian medic stands near a body while he waits for other bodies killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip at the morgue of Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, central Gaza Strip, on Sunday, May 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian wounded in an Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip is brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, central Gaza Strip, on Sunday, May 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

This frame grab taken from video shot in southern Israel shows smoke rising from what Palestinian medics say is an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, Sunday, May 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Josphat Kasire)

This frame grab taken from video shot in southern Israel shows flames and smoke rising from what Palestinian medics say is an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, Sunday, May 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Josphat Kasire)

A U.S. Army landing craft is seen beached in Ashdod on Sunday, May 26, 2024, after being swept by wind and current from the temporary humanitarian pier in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

A U.S. Army landing craft is seen beached in Ashdod on Sunday, May 26, 2024, after being swept by wind and current from the temporary humanitarian pier in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

Israelis attend the funeral of Hanan Yablonka, who was killed during Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack and whose body was taken into Gaza, during his funeral in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday, May 26, 2024. The Israeli military recovered Yablonka's remains, along with two other Israelis killed during the attack, in an operation in Gaza last week. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A U.S. Army landing craft is seen beached in Ashdod on Sunday, May 26, 2024, after being swept by wind and current from the temporary humanitarian pier in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

Israelis attend the funeral of Hanan Yablonka, who was killed during Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack and whose body was taken into Gaza, during his funeral in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday, May 26, 2024. The Israeli military recovered Yablonka's remains, along with two other Israelis killed during the attack, in an operation in Gaza last week. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Mourners attend the funeral of Michel Nisenbaum, who was killed during Hamas' Oct. 7 attack and whose body was taken into Gaza, in Ashkelon, Israel, on Sunday, May 26, 2024. The Israeli military recovered Nisenbaum's remains, along with those of two other Israelis killed during the attack, in an operation in Gaza last week. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

Mourners attend the funeral of Michel Nisenbaum, who was killed during Hamas' Oct. 7 attack and whose body was taken into Gaza, in Ashkelon, Israel, on Sunday, May 26, 2024. The Israeli military recovered Nisenbaum's remains, along with those of two other Israelis killed during the attack, in an operation in Gaza last week. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

A washed up US Army vessel and a strip of docking area stranded off the coast near Ashdod, Israel, Saturday, May 25, 2024. A small US military boat and what appeared to be a strip of docking area washed up on a beach near the southern Israeli city of Ashdod. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

Police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Police use horses to disperse demonstrators during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, May 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages burn fire during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, May 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages burn fire during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, May 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages burn fire during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, May 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Demonstrators burn fire during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, May 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in North Korea on Tuesday for a two-day visit, his first in 24 years, both countries announced.

Putin is expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for talks focused on expanding military cooperation as they deepen their alignment in the face of separate, intensifying confrontations with Washington.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Putin will pay a state visit on Tuesday and Wednesday at Kim's invitation. North Korean state media didn’t immediately provide details. Russia confirmed the visit in a simultaneous announcement.

The visit comes amid growing international concerns about an arms arrangement in which Pyongyang provides Moscow with badly needed munitions to fuel Putin’s war in Ukraine in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that would enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program.

Military, economic and other cooperation between North Korea and Russia have sharply increased since Kim visited the Russian Far East in September for a meeting with Putin, their first since 2019.

U.S. and South Korean officials have accused the North of providing Russia with artillery, missiles and other military equipment to help prolong its fighting in Ukraine, possibly in return for key military technologies and aid. Both Pyongyang and Moscow have denied accusations about North Korean weapons transfers, which would be in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Any weapons trade with North Korea would be a violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions that Russia, a permanent U.N. Security Council member, previously endorsed.

Andrei Lankov, an expert on North Korea at Kookmin University in Seoul, noted that in exchange for providing artillery munitions and short-range ballistic missiles, Pyongyang hopes to get higher-end weapons from Moscow.

Lankov noted that while Russia could be reluctant to share its state-of-the-art military technologies with North Korea, it’s eager to receive munitions from Pyongyang. “There is never enough ammunition in a war, there is a great demand for them,” Lankov told The Associated Press.

Putin first visited Pyongyang in July 2000, months after his first election when he met with Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, who ruled the country then.

Moscow has said it “highly appreciates” Pyongyang’s support for Russia’s military action in Ukraine and mentioned its “close and fruitful cooperation” at the United Nations and other international organizations.

Russia, together with China, have repeatedly blocked the U.S. and its partners’ attempts to impose fresh U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its barrage of banned ballistic missile tests.

In March, a Russian veto at the United Nations ended monitoring of U.N. sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear program, prompting Western accusations that Moscow is seeking to avoid scrutiny as it allegedly violates the sanctions to buy weapons from Pyongyang for use in Ukraine.

Earlier this year, Putin sent Kim a high-end Aurus Senat limousine, which he had shown to the North Korean leader when they met for a summit in September. Observers said the shipment violated a U.N. resolution aimed at pressuring the North to give up its nuclear weapons program by banning the supply of luxury items to North Korea.

Putin has continuously sought to rebuild ties with Pyongyang as part of his efforts to restore his country’s global clout and its Soviet-era alliances. Moscow’s ties with North Korea weakened after the 1991 Soviet collapse. Kim Jong Un first met with Putin in 2019 in Russia’s eastern port of Vladivostok.

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia on Sept. 13, 2023. North Korean leader Kim hailed the country's relationship with Russia on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, as reports suggest that Russian President Putin will soon visit the isolated country for his third meeting with Kim.(Vladimir Smirnov/Sputnik Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un examine a launch pad of Soyuz rockets during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. North Korean leader Kim hailed the country's relationship with Russia on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, as reports suggest that Russian President Putin will soon visit the isolated country for his third meeting with Kim.(Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)