Israeli strikes in Lebanon kill 16, militant rockets kill 1 Israeli as cross-border violence soars

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An Israeli airstrike on a paramedics center linked to a Lebanese Sunni Muslim group killed seven people early Wednesday and triggered a rocket attack from Lebanon that killed one person in northern Israel. (AP video shot by Mohamad Zanaty)

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A barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon at northern Israel killed at least one on Wednesday morning, according to Israel’s rescue services. A 25-year-old man had “no signs of life” after rescuers pulled him out of a building that was directly hit, said Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency services. Since the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct.7, the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah has engaged in near-daily clashes with Israel along the border. Israel and Hezbollah fought a monthlong war in 2006 that ended in a stalemate.

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Paramedic workers search for victims in the rubble of a paramedic center that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike early Wednesday in Hebbariye village, south Lebanon, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. The Israeli airstrike on a paramedic center linked to a Lebanese Sunni Muslim group killed several people of its members. The strike was one of the deadliest single attacks since violence erupted along the Lebanon-Israel border more than five months ago. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

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People carry the coffins of paramedics who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, during a funeral procession in Hebbariye village, south Lebanon, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. The Israeli airstrike on a paramedic center linked to a Lebanese Sunni Muslim group killed several people. The strike was one of the deadliest single attacks since violence erupted along the Lebanon-Israel border more than five months ago. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

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Israeli security forces examine the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. Israel Rescue Services said that one person was killed and two others lightly injured in a Hezbollah rocket attack on northern Israel. The man, aged 25, was killed from a fire that broke out at a factory in an industrial park in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona as a result of a direct hit. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

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Women mourn during the funeral procession of paramedics who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, in Hebbariye village, south Lebanon, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. The Israeli airstrike on a paramedic center linked to a Lebanese Sunni Muslim group killed several people of its members. The strike was one of the deadliest single attacks since violence erupted along the Lebanon-Israel border more than five months ago. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

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A man carries belongings of a paramedic killed at a paramedic center the was hit by an Israeli airstrike early Wednesday in Hebbariye village, south Lebanon, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. The Israeli airstrike on a paramedic center linked to a Lebanese Sunni Muslim group killed several people of its members. The strike was one of the deadliest single attacks since violence erupted along the Lebanon-Israel border more than five months ago. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

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Paramedics collect equipment of their comrades killed at a paramedic center after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike early Wednesday in Hebbariye village, south Lebanon, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. The Israeli airstrike on a paramedic center linked to a Lebanese Sunni Muslim group killed several people of its members. The strike was one of the deadliest single attacks since violence erupted along the Lebanon-Israel border more than five months ago. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

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Paramedic workers check a damaged ambulance that parked outside of a paramedic center that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike early Wednesday in Hebbariye village, south Lebanon, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. The Israeli airstrike on a paramedic center linked to a Lebanese Sunni Muslim group killed several people of its members. The strike was one of the deadliest single attacks since violence erupted along the Lebanon-Israel border more than five months ago. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

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People search for victims in the rubble of a paramedic center that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike early Wednesday in Hebbariye village, south Lebanon, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. The Israeli airstrike on a paramedic center linked to a Lebanese Sunni Muslim group killed several people of its members. The strike was one of the deadliest single attacks since violence erupted along the Lebanon-Israel border more than five months ago. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

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People gather on the rubble of a paramedic center that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike early Wednesday in Hebbariye village, south Lebanon, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. The Israeli airstrike on a paramedic center linked to a Lebanese Sunni Muslim group killed several people of its members. The strike was one of the deadliest single attacks since violence erupted along the Lebanon-Israel border more than five months ago. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

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People carry the coffins of paramedics who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, during a funeral procession in Hebbariye village, south Lebanon, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. The Israeli airstrike on a paramedic center linked to a Lebanese Sunni Muslim group killed several of its members. The strike was one of the deadliest single attacks since violence erupted along the Lebanon-Israel border more than five months ago. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

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People mourn over the coffins of paramedics who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, during a funeral procession in Hebbariye village, south Lebanon, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. The Israeli airstrike on a paramedic center linked to a Lebanese Sunni Muslim group killed several of its members. The strike was one of the deadliest single attacks since violence erupted along the Lebanon-Israel border more than five months ago. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

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People carry the coffins of paramedics who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, during a funeral procession in Hebbariye village, south Lebanon, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. The Israeli airstrike on a paramedic center linked to a Lebanese Sunni Muslim group killed several people of its members. The strike was one of the deadliest single attacks since violence erupted along the Lebanon-Israel border more than five months ago. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

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By MOHAMMAD ZAATARI and MELANIE LIDMAN

HEBBARIYE, Lebanon (AP) — A series of Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed 16 people and a barrage of rockets fired by the militant group Hezbollah killed one Israeli man, making Wednesday the deadliest day in more than five months of fighting along the border.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, concerns have grown about further escalation along the Israel-Lebanon frontier. Tens of thousands of people on both sides have been displaced by the violence.

Wednesday’s Israeli strikes targeted a Lebanese Sunni political and militant organization, the Islamic Group, which has joined the Shiite militant group Hezbollah in its fight against Israel. Two Hezbollah fighters were also killed, as was a local commander with the Amal Movement, another Shiite group.

The first Israeli airstrike hit a paramedic center affiliated with the Islamic Group, killing seven of its members in the village of Hebbariye after midnight.

Muheddine Qarhani, head of the Emergency and Relief Corps, told reporters at the scene that the paramedic center had been set up late last year. He said he was surprised a medical group had been targeted.

By Meg Kinnard

Today's date

In his 2020 campaign, Joe Biden vowed to undo Donald Trump’s immigration policies. But this year, Democrats are reframing the immigration debate, a rhetorical shift that risks straining Biden’s support from immigrants and their advocates who campaigned for him four years ago.

Northampton County is a traditional bellwether for Pennsylvania, one of the most important presidential swing states. Biden's message that Trump threatens American democracy has been heard here, but it's not resonating fully.

On the witness stand last year, Trump proclaimed: “I have a lot of cash.” After Friday’s eye-popping penalty in his New York civil fraud trial, he may very well need it.

Welcome to this week’s edition of AP Ground Game.

THE HEADLINES

President Joe Biden holds a pair of sunglasses outside of a church in Delaware.

President Joe Biden speaks with reporters as he leaves St. Edmund Roman Catholic Church in Rehoboth Beach, Del., Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, after attending a Mass. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Biden’s immigration frustration

Biden has backed a Senate proposal that would have set daily limits on border crossings — and Democrats are planning to campaign to reelect him by emphasizing that Republicans caused the deal to collapse.

Part of the strategy appear to be working for Democrats after they won a special election in New York. Democrat Tom Suozzi, who last week won the House seat once held by ousted Republican Rep. George Santos, ran ads calling for more border security and featuring an interview he did on Fox News in which he supported U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

But to many immigrant advocates, the deal Biden negotiated with Senate leaders showed how a president who had long deemed Trump's border policies inhumane was willing to curtail asylum in exchange for wartime aid for Ukraine. Read more.

Of note:

More than 130 organizations from around the country sent a letter to Biden opposing the deal and the tougher asylum standards. Some immigration activists expressed frustration with Biden and a lack of enthusiasm to go knock on doors for him at a recent gathering of more than a dozen advocacy groups in Arizona.

Related reads ➤

Swing state voters in the 2024 lurch

One of the messages Biden has delivered in previous visits to Pennsylvania is that Trump is a danger to American democracy. It’s a message Biden hopes will energize the same voters who turned out four years ago, when Northampton County narrowly flipped to him after supporting Trump by a thin margin in 2016.

The Associated Press interviewed voters over several days in Northampton County to ask whether Biden’s messaging around the fate of democracy was resonating. These voters represented parts of the very coalition Biden will need to win Pennsylvania again — Black voters, Latinos, independents and moderates from both parties.

Their overarching response: The president’s warning that a second Trump presidency will shred constitutional norms and destroy democratic institutions is not one that, alone, will motivate them and get them out to vote. Read more.

Of note:

As Northampton County has gone in the presidential election, so has the state, said Christopher Borick, director of the Institute of Public Opinion at Muhlenberg University in Allentown. The last time they split was 1948, when the county voted for Democrat Harry Truman but the state went for Republican Thomas Dewey.

Related reads ➤

Trump’s court cash crunch

Friday’s ruling, after a 2 ½-month trial in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit, cuts to the core of Trump’s image as a wealthy, shrewd real estate mogul turned political force.

Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump engaged in a yearslong conspiracy with top Trump Organization executives to deceive banks and insurers about the size of his wealth and the true value of such properties as Trump Tower in Manhattan.

The financial penalty adds to Trump’s mounting legal debts and could put the Republican presidential front-runner in a serious cash crunch as he campaigns to retake the White House. Also dealing with four criminal cases, Trump has vowed to appeal. Read more.

Of note:

Trump could ultimately end up owing a half-billion dollars or more due to the verdict. In addition to the $355 million penalty, he's required to pay interest, prescribed by New York law as an annual rate of 9%.

James’ office calculates that, to date, Trump owes an additional $98.6 million in interest, bringing his total penalty to $453.5 million. The interest will keep accruing until Trump pays.

Related reads ➤

TRAIL PHOTO

Former President Donald Trump holds a Playboy magazine on stage at a sneaker convention in Philadelphia.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump holds a Playboy magazine at Sneaker Con Philadelphia, an event popular among sneaker collectors, in Philadelphia, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

ON THE CALENDAR

South Carolina’s long-awaited Republican presidential primary is on Saturday. Polls are open across the state from 7 a.m. ET to 7 p.m. ET. Both Trump and Nikki Haley are expected to hold results watch parties in the state.
Haley’s South Carolina bus tour takes her across the state in this final stretch of the 2024 campaign, from the Upstate through the Midlands down to the Lowcountry.
Trump has a fundraiser and a rally in South Carolina, as well as an appearance at a Black Conservative Federation event. He’ll also address attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

CANDIDATE CHECK

A group of top congressional leaders has recommended that Haley receive protection from the U.S. Secret Service after she reported a growing number of threats during her presidential campaign, with the final say up to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Read more.

A major anti-abortion group is praising a published report that Trump has privately told people he supports a national ban on abortion after 16 weeks of pregnancy, though his campaign denied the report and said Trump plans to “negotiate a deal” on abortion if elected to the White House again. Read more.

Trump has plans to radically reshape the federal government if he returns to the White House, from abolishing government agencies to firing tens of thousands of workers and replacing them with lobbyists. Liberal organizations in Washington are backing Biden and say they expect Trump to lose – but they’re quietly trying to install roadblocks, just in case. Read more.

Sen. Tim Scott, a potential running mate if Trump becomes the GOP nominee, is treading carefully on questions about whether he would have certified the 2020 election had he been vice president at that time. Read more.

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin has announced he is not running for president, saying he didn’t want to be a “spoiler” in 2024. Read more.

2024 COUNTDOWN

OUTSIDE OF WASHINGTON

A year after Jimmy Carter entered hospice care, advocates hope his endurance drives awareness

New book on ‘whistle-stop’ campaign trains describes politics and adventure throughout history

Tech companies sign accord to combat AI-generated election trickery

George Santos sues late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for tricking him into making videos to ridicule him

Not PARSE.LY: Israel-Hamas war

Israeli officials demand the right to strike Hezbollah under any cease-fire deal for Lebanon

US envoy says Israel-Hezbollah truce is ‘within our grasp’ as Gaza food crisis worsens after looting

Israeli airstrike hits central Beirut near key government buildings and embassies

Israel said it killed an Islamic Group member involved in attacks against Israel, as well as several other militants.

Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, the head of the Israeli army’s Northern Command, said Israel was operating against the Islamic Group and had struck a “large number of operatives” and was also conducting “very significant strikes” against Hezbollah.

“We are at war. We have been at war for almost half a year now, and it doesn’t end with Hezbollah,” he told a gathering of commanders.

Hours after the airstrike, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for firing rockets into the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona and a military base. Hezbollah said it was retaliating for the deadly attack on the paramedic center.

Rescue services in Israel said a 25-year-old man was killed when a direct hit sparked a fire in an industrial park in Kiryat Shmona. Footage from the scene showed thick black smoke pouring out of a building.

Another person was lightly injured. Around 30 rockets were launched from Lebanon toward northern Israel, according to the Israeli military.

Nada Khleif was in her small bakery in Hebbariyeh when the strike heavily damaged her business and a nearby apartment, where two of her relatives were unharmed.

“The bakery was my only means of living. It is gone now,” she said.

The Lebanese news agency said Israel bombed the village of Teir Harfa after sunset, killing five, and a second strike killed four people as paramedics gathered near a cafe in the coastal town of Naqoura.

Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Society said two of its paramedics were killed in Teir Harfa.

The Islamic Risala Scout Association, also a paramedic group, said one of its members was killed in the strike on Naqoura.

The Amal movement of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said the strike on Naquora killed one of its local commanders, identified as Ali Mahdi. Hezbollah said two of its fighters were killed without saying where they were struck.

The near-daily violence has mostly been confined to the area along the border, and international mediators are scrambling to prevent an all-out war. The fighting has killed nine civilians and 11 soldiers in Israel. Nearly 240 Hezbollah fighters and about 40 civilians have died in Lebanon.

Hezbollah began launching rockets toward Israel on Oct. 8, the day after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel in a surprise attack that sparked the crushing war in Gaza.

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Lidman contributed from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

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