Israel-Iran War Escalates: Gaza, West Bank, and Lebanon Death Tolls Rise

Nearly two weeks into the expanded Israeli military offensive, violence continues to surge across multiple fronts — Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Iran — with casualties mounting and millions displaced from their homes.

Palestinian medics reported that Israeli strikes in Gaza claimed four lives on Friday, among them two 17-year-old males killed in separate attacks. One additional Palestinian died and several others sustained injuries following Israeli tank shelling near a police checkpoint in western Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military stated it had no knowledge of one of the reported airstrikes and had not yet commented on the tank shelling incident.

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces fatally shot two individuals in Nablus on Thursday. The military claimed the two had attempted a car-ramming attack on soldiers, though it did not immediately provide supporting evidence. Since the U.S. and Israel jointly launched strikes on Iran on February 28, at least eight Palestinians have been killed across the West Bank, with Reuters reporting a significant rise in settler violence amid a widespread Israeli-imposed lockdown.

Lebanon's Health Ministry confirmed Friday that the country's death toll has climbed to 773 since the conflict widened. The heaviest casualties, however, have been recorded in Iran, where over 2,000 people have lost their lives, and several million more have been forced to flee their homes.

Although Israeli military activity in Gaza had briefly slowed at the onset of the Iran conflict, operations have since intensified, with 23 Palestinians killed there since late February. A ceasefire that took hold in Gaza in October has repeatedly broken down. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed peace plan for Gaza remains stalled, with Reuters reporting it has been shelved since the outbreak of the broader regional war.