Middle East conflict live updates: Israeli strike targets Hamas commander; food shortage persists during Ramadan

Israel’s military has “not yet received final confirmation” on the results of its strike on a base used by Marwan Issa — the deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing — and another official responsible for the militant group’s weapons, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman told reporters. If Issa’s death is confirmed, he would be the highest-ranking militant commander to be killed in five months of fighting. Hamas has not publicly commented.

At least one person was killed and two are missing after Israel on Monday struck the Lebanese city of Baalbek, northeast of Beirut, according to Baalbek’s governor, Bachir Khodr. This is the second time Baalbek has been targeted since the war between Israel and Hamas began. Most Israeli strikes have occurred in the southern border region, where Israeli forces for months have traded fire with Hezbollah fighters allied with Hamas.

At least 31,112 people have been killed and 72,760 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 249 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.