DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli strike on a mosque in the Gaza Strip early Sunday killed at least 19 people, Palestinian officials said, as Israel intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza and southern Beirut in its widening war on Iran-allied militant groups across the region.

Streets are empty, and shops shuttered. The seashore is deserted. Windows rattle with Israeli air strikes. The local civil defence headquarters lies abandoned – rescue teams were forced to evacuate – to save themselves after they got a telephone warning from Israel.

When Israel struck the center of Beirut in the early hours of Thursday, it seemed to wipe out what little sense of safety remained in the Lebanese capital.