Israel’s war on Gaza, one of the deadliest and most destructive in recent history, has killed nearly 42,000 people, a little over half of them women and children, and wounded more than 96,000, according to Palestinian health officials.

The death toll is likely to be much higher as thousands of people remain buried under rubble or in areas inaccessible to medical teams in a military operation many governments and rights groups have termed a genocide against the Palestinians.

The October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas – in which, according to Israeli officials, 1,139 people were killed and about 250 were taken captive – was followed by Israel’s devastating offensive on Gaza.

In the year since, about 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has been displaced, most of them multiple times, according to estimates by the United Nations.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families are crowding in sprawling tent camps near the Mediterranean coast – with no electricity, running water or toilets. Hunger and diseases are widespread.

The Shelter Cluster, an international coalition of aid providers led by the Norwegian Refugee Council, says it has struggled to bring in basic supplies because of Israeli restrictions, the ongoing fighting and the breakdown of law and order in Gaza. It estimates that some 900,000 people need tents and bedding.

The UN says the war has damaged or destroyed over 92 percent of Gaza’s main roads and more than 84 percent of its health facilities. It estimates that nearly 70 percent of Gaza’s water and sanitation plants have been destroyed or damaged. That includes all five of the territory’s wastewater treatment facilities, plus desalination plants, sewage pumping stations, wells and reservoirs.

The UN also estimates that the war has left some 40 million tonnes of debris and rubble in Gaza, enough to fill New York’s Central Park to a depth of 8 metres (about 25 feet). It could take up to 15 years and nearly $650m to clear it all away, it said.

The World Bank estimated damage equivalent to $18.5bn in Gaza from the first three months of the war, before Israel launched most of its fierce operations. That figure is nearly equivalent to the combined economic output of the West Bank and Gaza in 2022.

Israel allowed the entry of construction materials inside Gaza before the war, but there were heavy restrictions and delays. The Shelter Cluster now estimates it would take 40 years to rebuild all of Gaza’s destroyed homes under that system.

PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) — LeBron James and his son, Bronny, made NBA history Sunday night when they played together for the first time during the Los Angeles Lakers’ preseason game against Phoenix.

LeBron and Bronny are the first father and son to play in any NBA game at the same time, let alone on the same team. The James family’s remarkable moment coincidentally happened on Bronny’s 20th birthday.

Bronny James entered the game as a substitute to begin the second quarter, joining his father on the court out of the timeout. The crowd at Acrisure Arena in the Coachella Valley cheered at the mention of Bronny’s name.

LeBron James is beginning his record-tying 22nd season in the NBA, while LeBron James Jr. — known to all as Bronny — was the Lakers’ second-round draft pick this summer. After recovering from cardiac arrest over a year ago, Bronny played just one season at Southern California before entering the draft and joining the Lakers.

Things weren’t immediately smooth for the James family: Bronny committed two turnovers and LeBron made another in their first two minutes together. Shortly after LeBron hit a 3-pointer moments later, LeBron got the ball to Bronny and set a screen for his son’s 3-point attempt, but Bronny missed.

Bronny came off for a substitute 4:09 into the second quarter, and LeBron came off 25 seconds later at the next dead ball.

Although LeBron will turn 40 in late December, the top scorer in NBA history has shown no sign of slowing down with age. He has spoken for years about his longtime dream of playing in the NBA with one of his sons, and the Lakers made it a reality when they grabbed Bronny with the 55th pick in the draft.

The 6-foot-2 Bronny is expected to spend much of the upcoming season working on his game with the South Bay Lakers of the G League, but he will almost certainly get to play alongside his 6-foot-9 father in a real game early in the regular season.

Head coach JJ Redick said the Lakers already have discussed the logistics of the next historic moment, but he hasn’t predicted when it will happen.

LeBron sat out of the Lakers’ preseason opener against Minnesota last Friday night, resting up after a full week of training camp following a busy summer. Bronny had two points on 1-for-6 shooting and three blocked shots while playing 16 minutes against the Timberwolves.

The Lakers have four more preseason games — all outside Los Angeles while their home arena is being renovated — before they begin the regular season at home against Minnesota on Oct. 22.

LeBron was early in his second NBA season with the Cleveland Cavaliers when he and his high school sweetheart, Savannah Brinson, became parents for the first time in 2004. They had two more children — son Bryce and daughter Zhuri.

LeBron and Bronny have been preparing for the chance to play together ever since LeBron returned from a summer vacation after winning a gold medal with the U.S. team at the Paris Olympics. Anthony Davis also made his preseason debut against the Suns after a similarly busy summer.

The father and son have scrimmaged together repeatedly during workouts at the Lakers’ training complex, both as teammates and opponents. Redick said they’ve even run pick-and-rolls together in preparation.

In the regular season, they’ll join a short list of fathers and sons who have shared a playing field in North American professional sports. Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. played together with the Seattle Mariners during parts of the 1990 and 1991 MLB seasons, while hockey great Gordie Howe played with his sons Marty and Mark for the WHA’s Houston Aeros and the NHL’s Hartford Whalers.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) overseas military-intelligence service, who traveled to Lebanon last month after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike, has not been heard from since last week’s strikes on Beirut, Iranian officials say.

Reuters reported that two senior Iranian security officials confirmed that Iran’s Quds Force commander, Esmail Qaani, had not been heard from since late last week.

One official told the wire Qaani was in the southern suburbs of Beirut during a missile strike that reportedly targeted senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, though he was not meeting with the Hezbollah leader.

An official from Hezbollah said Israel was not permitting them to search for Safieddine after the bombing in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday. The group also said it would not announce Safieddine’s fate until the search for him was over.

ISRAELI OFFICIAL WARNS ‘EVERYTHING IS ON THE TABLE’ AS IDF PREPARES RESPONSE TO IRANIAN MISSILE ATTACK

Safieddine was reportedly a likely successor to Nasrallah, who died when Israel launched a strike on Dahiyeh on Sept. 27.

The Iranian official told the Associated Press that Iran and Hezbollah were unable to contact Qaani after the U.S. assassinated his predecessor, Qassem Soleimani, in a drone strike in 2020.

The second Iranian official told the AP that Qaani traveled to Lebanon after Nasrallah was killed, adding that authorities had not been able to contact him since the strike on Safieddine.

ISRAEL LAUNCHES LIMITED GROUND OPERATIONS IN LEBANON AS WAR AGAINST HEZBOLLAH, TERRORIST GROUPS CONTINUE

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike that hit the southern suburb of Beirut on Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

An Iranian official told Fox News Digital that the higher up an official is, the harder it is to conceal.

“Whatever the verdict is on Qaani’s whereabouts, the fact that the regime has not been able to produce him to quell rumors means he is either injured or in hiding,” the official said. “Israel is pressing its advantage in Lebanon against commanders of Iran’s threat network, leading to command-and-control issues and chaos that generates rumors like these.”

BIDEN SAYS HE WILL TALK TO NETANYAHU AS ISRAEL PUMMELS SUNNI TERROR TARGETS IN BEIRUT

An IDF profile picture shows Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah, who the IDF confirmed was killed in a strike. (IDF Spokesman’s Unit)

Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani was asked about reports that Qaani may have been killed in the Israeli airstrike, and he said the results of the strikes were still being assessed.

Shoshani said the attack late last week was against Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut.

Qaani’s Quds Force is responsible for overseeing the dealings with Tehran and allied militias like Hezbollah across the Middle East.

IRGC commander Brig. Gen. Abbas Nilforoushan, was killed with Nasrallah on Sept. 27 when Israel’s bombs struck his bunker.

Reuters contributed to this report.