MASNAA BORDER CROSSING, Lebanon – Powerful recent explosions rocked Beirut's southern suburbs late Saturday as Israel expanded its bombardment in Lebanon, also hitting a Palestinian refugee camp deep within the north for the primary time because it targets each Hezbollah and Hamas militants took.

Thousands of individuals in Lebanon, including Palestinian refugees, continued to flee the region's worsening conflict, while rallies took place world wide to mark the upcoming anniversary of the beginning of the war in Gaza.

The powerful explosions began around midnight and continued until Sunday after the Israeli military urged residents to evacuate areas in Dahiyeh, the predominantly Shiite cluster of suburbs on Beirut's southern edge. AP video showed the explosions lighting up the densely populated southern suburbs where Hezbollah has a robust presence. They followed a day of sporadic attacks and the just about constant buzz of reconnaissance drones.

The Israeli military confirmed it was striking targets near Beirut and said about 30 projectiles crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon and a few were intercepted.

The attacks reportedly targeted a constructing near a road resulting in Lebanon's only international airport, in addition to one other constructing formerly utilized by the Hezbollah-run Al-Manar broadcaster. It was claimed on social media that one in all the attacks hit an oxygen tank warehouse, but this was later denied by the corporate's owner, Khaled Kaddouha.

Shortly afterwards, Hezbollah claimed in a press release that it had successfully attacked a bunch of Israeli soldiers near the Manara settlement in northern Israel “with a large volley of rockets, hitting them precisely.”

An Israeli attack on the northern Beddawi camp on Saturday killed an official from Hamas' military wing along together with his wife and two young daughters, the Palestinian militant group said. Hamas later said one other member of its military wing was killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley. The aftermath showed destroyed buildings, scattered bricks, and stairs resulting in nowhere.

Israel has killed several Hamas officials in Lebanon for the reason that start of the Israel-Hamas war, along with most members of the senior leadership of Lebanon-based Hezbollah, as fighting sharply escalated.

At least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million displaced from their homes in lower than two weeks. Israel says it desires to expel the militant group from shared borders in order that displaced Israelis can return to their homes.

Iran-backed Hezbollah, Lebanon's strongest force, began firing rockets at Israel almost immediately after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, calling it a show of support for the Palestinians. Hezbollah and the Israeli military engage in firefights almost day-after-day.

Last week, Israel launched a so-called limited ground operation in southern Lebanon after a series of strikes killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others. The fighting is the worst since a transient war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. Nine Israeli soldiers were killed in the bottom fighting, which Israel said killed 440 Hezbollah fighters.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Damascus that “we are trying to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.” The minister said the unnamed countries proposing initiatives include regional states and a few outside the Middle East .

Araghchi spoke a day after Iran's Supreme Leader praised his recent rocket attacks on Israel and said he was able to do it again if vital.

On Saturday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Israel has the duty and the right to defend itself and respond to these attacks, and it will do so.” Regarding Lebanon, he said: “We are not done yet.”

Escaping Lebanon on foot

The Israeli military said earlier Saturday that about 90 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory. Most were intercepted, but several fell within the northern Arabian city of Deir al-Asad, where police said three people were barely injured.

At least six people were killed in greater than a dozen Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon overnight and into Saturday, based on the Lebanese state news agency National News Agency.

According to a Lebanese government committee, almost 375,000 people have fled Lebanon to Syria in lower than two weeks.

Associated Press journalists saw tons of continuing to cross the Masnaa border crossing on foot, crunching over the rubble after Israeli airstrikes left huge craters on the road leading there on Thursday. Much of Hezbollah's weapons are believed to come back from Iran via Syria.

“We were traveling for two days,” said Issa Hilal, one in all many Syrian refugees in Lebanon now returning. “The streets were very crowded… it was very difficult. We almost died when we came here.” Some children whimpered or cried.

Other displaced families are actually searching for refuge along Beirut's famous Corniche, their windswept tents just steps from luxury homes. “We don’t care if we die, but we don’t want to die at Netanyahu’s hands,” Om Ali Mcheik said.

The Israeli military said special forces carried out ground attacks against Hezbollah's infrastructure in southern Lebanon. It said troops had dismantled tunnel shafts that Hezbollah used to approach the Israeli border.

Further evacuation orders in Gaza

Nearly 42,000 Palestinians were killed in Gaza in the course of the war, based on the health ministry there, which doesn’t distinguish between civilian and militant deaths. Nearly 90% of Gaza's residents are displaced as a result of widespread destruction.

Palestinian medical officials said not less than nine people were killed in Israeli strikes within the northern and central Gaza Strip on Saturday. An attack within the northern city of Beit Hanoun killed not less than five people, including two children, based on Gaza's health ministry. Another attack hit a house in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing not less than 4 people, Awda Hospital said.

An Israeli airstrike killed two children within the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City, based on the Civil Defense First Responder Group, which operates under the Hamas-led government.

The Israeli military warned Palestinians to evacuate along the strategic Netzarim corridor in central Gaza, which was on the core of obstacles to a ceasefire agreement. The military urged people in parts of the Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps to evacuate to Muwasi, a coastal area it has declared a humanitarian zone.

It is unclear what number of Palestinians are in these areas. Israeli forces have often returned to areas within the Gaza Strip to attack Hamas militants who’re regrouping.

Mroue reported from Beirut and Lidman from Tel Aviv, Israel.

RICHMOND – A lawsuit filed this month accuses Richmond City Councilwoman Doria Robinson and her partner, Najari Smith, of wrongfully evicting Smith's former business partner from his home and ignoring conditions that made the apartment uninhabitable.

The lawsuit, filed August 19 in Contra Costa Superior Court, is just the most recent development in a months-long dispute over the closed Rich City Rides bike shop.

Roshni McGee is searching for greater than $1 million in damages, alleging he was illegally evicted from his home at 801 Marina Way South #2 before his lease expired, court records show.

The lawsuit is against McGee's landlords – Smith, who runs the nonprofit Rich City Rides, property owner Charles Patterson, Robinson and the nonprofit she runs, Urban Tilth. McGee co-founded the Rich City Rides Bike Cooperative with Smith and likewise served as co-owner, CEO and program director.

The group of defendants is accused of causing McGee “emotional distress, discomfort, annoyance, physical injury, pain and suffering” by failing to properly maintain the house where McGee lived from 2019 to May 2023, the lawsuit says. Starting in early 2023, McGee was harassed and intimidated with the intent to evict him from the house, the lawsuit says.

McGee claims they neglected insect and rodent infestations, mold and mildew, broken plumbing and locks, holes within the partitions and gaps within the flooring.

“These deficiencies were serious and had existed for a long time,” the lawsuit states.

According to the five-year lease attached to the grievance, McGee agreed to pay $1,700 a month plus utilities. The lease expired in August 2024, but McGee says he moved out in May 2023. According to 2 checks attached to the court documents, McGee received $16,000 from Urban Tilth to vacate the premises.

Robinson, who represents the Third District on the City Council and has served as executive director of Urban Tilth since 2007, declined to comment on the lawsuit “due to the legal nature of these matters.” But she said the lawsuit was “a continuation of political attacks” by former Richmond Mayor Tom Butt and his sons Andrew and Daniel. Daniel Butt is currently representing McGee within the case.

Earlier this month, the previous mayor filed a grievance with the state's election regulator accusing Robinson of a conflict of interest due to “commingling of funds and concerns about a connection” between Robinson and the nonprofit Rich City Rides during her tenure on the City Council. The Fair Political Practices Commission responded that Butt provided no evidence to support his claims and that Robinson had previously told her she followed legal advice and abstained from voting on Urban Tilth, Rich City Rides' financial sponsor.

“I am confident that these new allegations will be proven to be baseless when the truth comes to light,” Robinson said of McGee's lawsuit.

Robinson also accused McGee of stealing inventory and embezzling funds from Rich City Bike Shop, which closed earlier this yr. McGee didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment through his attorney. However, his attorney, Daniel Butt, posted on social media that Smith “defamed” McGee and retaliated against him.

Smith initially reported a burglary to police, but after an initial investigation, officers believed no burglary had occurred. However, other possible crimes are still being investigated, Lt. Donald Patchin, a spokesman for Richmond police, confirmed in an email Tuesday.

“It appears to be a business dispute between the owners/operators of the business,” Patchin said. “After the initial report, investigators determined that while there does not appear to have been a break-in, there were some possible crimes related to the handling of business funds and property.”