James Mackenzie

Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel's third-largest city, Haifa, and Israel looked poised to expand its offensive into Lebanon on Monday, one year after the devastating Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

While much of the world has focused on Israel's military response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, and the devastation it has caused, Israelis' lives in the past year have been overshadowed by the trauma of that day.

It was the latest accusation of violations and attacks that have been denounced by Israel's own allies.

The statement came amid expectations that Israel will strike in retaliation for Iran's missile attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejected accusations that Israeli troops had deliberately targeted UNIFIL peacekeepers in Lebanon as "completely false" and repeated a call for them to be withdrawn from combat zones.

The death of Yahya Sinwar would represent a major boost to the Israeli military.

Yoav Gallant had appeared more ready to end the fighting than Netanyahu.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday aid organizations had completed a second polio vaccination round for children in Gaza, administering more than 1.1 million vaccinations in different areas of the enclave, achieving 90% coverage.

Israel said on Monday there was progress in talks about a Lebanon ceasefire and indicated Russia could play a part by stopping Hezbollah rearming via Syria, although the Iran-backed group said it had not received any new truce proposals.

The Israeli military said it had delivered hundreds of packets of food to cut-off areas of northern Gaza ahead of a U.S. deadline for Israel to get more aid into the Palestinian enclave or face cuts in military assistance.