The Brief

The most destructive fires in L.A. County history erupted six months ago today, killing at least 30 people and destroying more than 16,000 structures, mostly homes, and reshaping the region in ways large and small.

Instead of January's landscape of chimneys and staircases rising from rubble, today empty dirt lots extend block after block in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades.

A handful of people who survived the Eaton and Palisades fires have broken ground on rebuilds. Many remain displaced. Still others decided to move on, restart their lives elsewhere. For most, the emotional pain remains all too present.

How much can change in six months. And how little.

Here's where things stand.

Recovery by the numbers 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has cleared debris from more than 9,000 lots in the Eaton and Palisades fire burn zones.

Ninety-seven percent of properties in the Eaton Fire zone have been cleared, and 87% in the Palisades Fire burn zone, according to the Army Corps progress tracker. Nearly 1,000 properties that opted out of the government debris removal program still need to be cleared.

The Eaton cleanup has moved faster in part because the area affected by the Palisades Fire had more properties that were challenging to get to, said Army Corps Col. Eric Swenson.

" In some cases we have individuals on rappel lines, hand-collecting debris down the side of a mountain," Swenson said.

Swenson added that the homes that burned in the Palisades Fire were also larger on average and required more time to clear.

Crews remove wildfire debris on hillside property, June 27 in Pacific Palisades. Using a rope descent systems to safely maneuver on the rugged slopes, personnel are removing debris by hand in areas too dangerous for heavy equipment.

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He estimates that all Army Corps-led debris removal will be done by mid-summer.

That progress means that the staging areas for debris are in the process of winding down: The Altadena Golf Course, which had drawn concern from neighboring residents about pollution from the site, stopped accepting new waste on July 1, Swenson said. He estimated the golf course would be turned back over in December.

A sign at an Altadena property showing that it was cleared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

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Temescal Canyon Road, where debris was being processed for the Palisades Fire, stopped accepting new material in May and will be turned over to the community in mid-August.

More rebuild permits

With lots now cleared, more survivors are working to select architects and building contractors, while filling out the mounds of paperwork they need approved before they can start rebuilding their homes.

About a quarter of the nearly 400 rebuild permits applied for by property owners in the Pacific Palisades have been approved, according to L.A. city’s department of building and safety.

In Altadena, about 5% of more than 900 rebuild permits submitted have been approved, according to L.A. County.

One reason for the difference is that the city of L.A. has waived permitting fees and taken other actions to streamline the permitting process in the Palisades, including approving “like-for-like” rebuilds within 30 days. As an unincorporated community, Altadena residents have to work with the county’s planning, fire and public works departments that are already stretched thin.

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors has taken similar actions to expedite the permitting process but only recently approved a motion brought by Supervisor Kathryn Barger to defer and refund permit fees. The turnaround time for approval is on average about 50 business days, according to the county’s tracker, but the goal is to reduce that to 30 days.

“I want to see our planning department move with a sense of urgency, not be bureaucratic, something that I continue to struggle with," Barger told LAist.

Still, Kerjon Lee with the county's public works department said the turnaround time is significantly lower than average permit approval time of 158 days under normal circumstances.

Lee said a common issue they're seeing is that applications are often missing key signatures and details, especially for "like-for-like" rebuild projects that add an accessory dwelling unit.

Steve Gibson, who lost his home of 24 years in Altadena, is one of the hundreds of residents waiting for a decision from the county. He and his wife have already selected a prefab housing contractor and rebuild design for their new home.

Steve Gibson and his wife Charlotte stand on the cleared lot of their home of 24 years that burned down in the Eaton Fire. The Army Corps cleared their property in June.

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Gibson said the wait time and permitting fees were hurdles that have slowed the rebuild process in his neighborhood.

“The permit fees to rebuild a house are a huge amount of money and a huge process,” Gibson said. “And we feel the same problem in other areas, that we're not getting responsiveness to our urgent needs in Altadena.”

Insurance woes continue

Like many, Gibson is trying to rebuild while still completing the inventory of every single thing that he and his wife lost in the fire — from family heirlooms and photos to art, clothes and furniture — in order to receive their insurance payment. When they fled the fire, they were only able to grab their passports, insurance papers and small dog, Cantinflas.

They received half of what their insurance plan says it can cover for the loss of personal property, and need to complete their inventory to argue for the rest.

That inventory, he said, is a constant pain point for him and many fellow survivors.

“ We all feel like it's the hardest thing in our lives,” Gibson said. “It's an emotional rollercoaster. It's hard to remember, it's painful to remember and it feels like a tragedy. I said to one of my neighbors — we need emotional counseling after having to go through putting together an inventory.”

Gibson’s insurance provider, Allstate, did provide a full payout to cover rebuilding their home. But Gibson said that the amount is still more than $100,000 short of what they need. A $50,000 Small Business Administration loan will help, Gibson said, but many of his neighbors are facing the same gap between rebuild costs and insurance payouts — a common barrier to rebuilding.

“We decided to go for it kind of on a leap of faith that we will be able to cover the differences,” Gibson said.

Palisades Fire survivor Darragh Danton calls the divide between insurance payouts and rebuild costs “the gap.”

She said she and her neighbors are talking about solutions such as group rates on materials, and working together as a community to rebuild to keep costs down. They’ve already paid a land surveyor as a neighborhood for a reduced rate, she said.

Palisades resident Jill Lawrence’s home survived, but she said fighting her insurance company to clean it up has been a disaster in and of itself.

She said her house is still full of lead and other toxic soot — she and her husband did their own testing initially and months later their insurance company came out to test, too, finding even worse levels of lead.

Still, the house hasn’t been cleaned up. Lawrence said she's spending 15 or 20 hours a week negotiating her insurance. Meanwhile, she and her husband are living in a rental in Playa del Rey.

“ It's just weird to me six months later that my house is still standing in soot and ash, and it's really because of the insurance companies," she said. “It's crazy to me."

The fact so many people are dealing with the same insurance issues has sparked new waves of policy efforts by state leaders, but it may come too late for the latest round of fire survivors.

For example, one bill currently moving through the California legislature would eliminate the inventory requirement in the case of a total loss and require a full insurance payout. The state insurance commissioner has also launched efforts to reform the insurance industry and an investigation into State Farm smoke damage claims.

Renters are struggling

Renters have also faced daunting challenges since January — often with even less support than homeowners.

Maribel Marin, the executive director of the emergency helpline 211 LA, said the nonprofit is working with more than 3,000 households affected by the fires, and that the majority of them are renters.

" They're experiencing rental rates that are two or three times that for the same level of housing that they had before," Marin said. "It's really, really tough to find housing, especially affordable housing."

The site of a former mobile home park in Pacific Palisades in mid June. Many Palisades and Eaton Fire survivors are facing the loss of affordable housing and unable to make ends meet in a brutal housing market.

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Finding housing continues to be the biggest need for displaced renters, Marin said.

Hundreds are still in temporary and insecure housing, with more than 100 families living in their vehicles, according to data from 211 L.A.

Marin said close to 250 households are living in temporary AirBnBs — a service paid for by the vacation rental company.

Looking ahead

Lawsuits from fire survivors are moving forward as the causes of the fires continue to be investigated.

Evidence shows the Eaton Fire was likely caused by Southern California Edison equipment. Trials related to that fire should only take a few weeks, but because there are so many, it will likely be years before many plaintiffs see their cases closed, said Amanda Riddle, managing partner of Corey, Luzaich, de Ghetaldi & Riddle LLP, and the court-appointed co-liaison counsel for all individual plaintiffs in the Eaton Fire case.

An aerial view of Altadena showing several cleared properties amongst many more awaiting to be cleared of debris and rubble from the Eaton Fire.

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An aerial view of the Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Home Park in Los Angeles on Jan. 18, 2025. The park was completely burned down by the Palisades fire.

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“Not all 10,000 households are going to have a trial at the same time,” Riddle said.

Residents have until Jan. 7, 2028, to join a lawsuit for damages caused by the fires.

Another big milestone that everyone from government agencies to lawyers are waiting for: an independent review of the evacuation policies and emergency alert notification systems used by the county during the Eaton and Palisades fires.

The “after action report” is being compiled by the McChrystal Group. The first progress report is expected to be released this summer, but the full review will likely take longer.

Emotional toll remains fresh

With so much left unresolved, the emotional toll remains as fresh as ever for many survivors six months after the fires.

“It is ever present, so it does feel like it just happened yesterday,” said Robin Hughes, who lost her home in Altadena. “The passage of time is so muddled, and there's just so much to do with my own personal rebuild, supporting the rebuild of Altadena. It does feel like it's been this long, extended day.”

A message of hope is hung from the gates of a home in an Altadena neighborhood on Jan. 30, 2025.

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For Gibson, the experience of losing his home lurks behind every conversation.

“ I have a hard time talking to people about it,” Gibson said. “What should I say? Should I express how angry I am about things or should I just say everything's fine? I'm realizing now that's a real struggle.”

For most, their biggest allies have been fellow survivors.

“Many of us who went through the fire believe that people can't understand it if you haven't,” Gibson said. “It's really hard to understand the feelings that come with that, how it changes your life.”

Join us on July 9 at a special live event with LAist climate and environment reporter Erin Stone. She'll talk with survivors of previous fires as well as other experts to learn what to expect as the recovery process continues.

The L.A. City Council voted Wednesday to study how large property buyers may be preventing Angelenos from becoming homeowners.

The vote follows a housing department study released in October that found large landlords, like property management companies and investment firms, owned a growing share of L.A. properties.

Rapid property buys by these organizations may lead to residents being displaced and limit opportunities for prospective homebuyers, the report states.

The new study approved this week will attempt to weigh how much added risk large property owners’ businesses are placing on tenants, homeowners and small landlords.

President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom have proposed regulating housing purchases by institutional investors — a group of the very largest corporate landlords.

“It’s shameful that we allow private equity firms in Manhattan to become some of the biggest landlords in many of our cities,” Newsom said at his State of the State address in January.

Trump issued an executive order in January to limit institutional investors’ ability to buy single-family homes.

L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez pushed for both housing department studies, saying she hopes the City Council will use the research to make policy that helps first-time homebuyers and mom-and-pop landlords to build generational wealth.

“Mass consolidation and monopolization” of L.A. housing stock puts the first attempt at home ownership out of reach for many young adults and families, she said at Wednesday’s meeting.

More on the October report

The Los Angeles Housing Department found that corporations and other large organizations owned a growing share of L.A.’s housing stock from 2018 to 2023.

The biggest change in ownership was the large organizations’ share of two- to four-unit buildings in the city, which increased by 29% over the six years studied. The report raised concerns that these organizations are targeting relatively small buildings that are often associated with small landlords.

When it comes to single family-homes, more than 1-in- properties was found to be sold to an organization and not an individual buyer over the six years studied.

The department also noted that there is some evidence behind concerns that “large corporate landlords may be associated with more evictions, more habitability violations, and overall higher levels of housing insecurity for renters.”

The report listed three companies that each agreed to pay out millions of dollars in recent years after facing allegations of unlawful practices as landlords: K3 Holdings, Wedgewood Homes and Invitation Homes.

According to the housing department report, K3 Holdings ranks as having the fastest-growing inventory of properties over the six-year period. The company agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle a lawsuit in 2023 that alleged they illegally targeted long-term Latino residents for displacement from properties in Koreatown and Highland Park.

Wedgewood Homes takes the top spot in flipped L.A. properties, the study found. That company agreed to pay $3.5 million in 2021 after allegations that the company unlawfully evicted and harassed tenants in order to quickly resell homes.

The housing department found Wedgewood Homes sold nearly 400 homes in the six-year period of its study. The company resold 81% of those homes in less than a year at an average price increase of 33%, the study found.

Invitation Homes is one of the largest owners of single-family rentals in the U.S., the report said, and the company agreed to pay $3.7 million to settle a lawsuit over allegations of illegal rent increases for around 1,900 California homes.

K3 Holdings and Wedgewood Homes have previously denied any allegations of wrongdoing, and court documents show Invitation Homes Inc. did not admit or deny liability in the lawsuit against the company.

LAist reached out to all three companies about the report’s findings. They did not immediately provide additional comments.

Other council members weigh in

At the Wednesday meeting, council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said he appreciated the effort going toward solving this issue.

“When I first took office [in 2015], eight out of every 10 residential units that went up for sale were bought by a corporation,” he said about the area in South L.A. where District 8, 9 and 15 meet.

Harris-Dawson said because the corporations were buying up properties, working people were squeezed out of the housing market in the once-affordable area.

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez also criticized corporations and large investors.

“Homes that should be places where people put down roots, raise their kids and build generational wealth are increasingly treated like commodities in an investment portfolio,” Hernandez said.

Councilmember John Lee welcomed the study, but said he blames the consolidation on the council’s own policies that make it harder to be a property owner.

“I don’t even know if we need a study,” he said. “I think we understand why there’s more corporatization of ownership in our city. It’s the over restrictive policies of this council.”

The story first appeared on The LA Local.
Editor’s note: This is part of our “My LA” series — a look at how changing demographics are shifting culture in LA’s historic neighborhoods and communities — told by the people from those communities.

It’s Jan. 11, 2025, and I’m sitting in a restaurant in downtown Los Angeles fighting the overwhelming urge to cry.

I just learned my house survived the Eaton Fire, but I can’t shake the tremor in my friends’ voices who lost theirs. The fire is 15% contained — four days into what would become the second-most destructive fire in California history.

Across from me sits Francisco Sánchez, associate administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration under President Joe Biden, who oversees the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience. Sánchez flew in from Washington, D.C. to see the devastation caused by the Eaton and Palisades fires.

In disaster-response circles, he’s something of a legend. He helped coordinate the rapid conversion of the Houston Astrodome to house families displaced by Hurricane Katrina. But he’s also about to lose his job. The Trump administration is set to take over the federal government in nine days.

I run through the facts about Altadena. One in five residents is Black. One in four is Latino. The median age is 45.

We talk about resiliency and rebuilding. We talk about neighbors banding together to collectively bargain with contractors. We talk about the Army Corps of Engineers choosing not to conduct soil testing in Altadena — the first time it has declined to do so after a major fire in two decades.

But it’s the last thing Sánchez tells me that stays with me a year later.

“You have to fight like hell to make sure what happened in Hawaii doesn’t happen to you,” he said. “They will turn Altadena into condos, if you let them.”

Firefighters battling a blaze in Altadena

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Breathing was difficult

In the spring, the calls began.

Neighbors scattered across Los Angeles County started receiving offers from real estate agents and private equity firms that had quietly moved into the region.

Before the fire, private acquisitions accounted for about 5% of home sales in Altadena. Four months later, they accounted for nearly 50%.

What Sánchez warned about was already happening. Breathing was still difficult on my block.

The Eaton Fire began as a wildfire but quickly became an urban fire. The Los Angeles Times compared the toxicity levels in our area to New York City after the Sept. 11 attacks.

I worried about neighbors — mostly people of color — whose homes survived but who had little choice but to return quickly because they lacked sufficient insurance coverage.

I worried about the air we were breathing. But no one seemed able to tell me who was responsible for monitoring it.

At the disaster center on Woodbury Road, sympathetic county officials told me the state of California oversaw air quality. I called my state senator, Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez.

Pérez, a newly elected Democrat and former mayor, took my calls — and those of my neighbors — seriously. She contacted the governor’s office and spoke with the team responsible for air quality in Altadena.

The response she received was: “It’s complicated.” That might have been the understatement of the year.

The My LA series looks at how changing demographics are shifting culture in LA’s historic neighborhoods and communities — told by the people from those communities.

Moments of grace

Months passed.

It became heartbreaking to watch Altadena residents leave LA altogether because they couldn’t afford to live anywhere else in the city. It was even harder to watch my neighbor across the street sell his home after placing an “Altadena Is Not for Sale” sign on his lawn.

Still, amid the devastation, there were moments of grace.

Volunteers from across Los Angeles flooded the greater Pasadena area to help after the fire. Residents leaned on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), mutual aid networks, family members, local churches and the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation. 

I volunteered at — and relied on — community donation centers myself. One of the most meaningful was the Pasadena Community Job Center, which served the region’s undocumented population.

Even though my home didn’t burn, I had to evacuate after high levels of lead were detected inside.

From wherever I was staying, I drove an hour to attend town halls, join community meetings, ask questions at disaster centers and speak with elected officials.

Nearly half of Altadena — an unincorporated foothill community long known for its diversity and working-class stability — had burned.

Firefighters battle to save a home

Only one firetruck

Months later, Sánchez called again.

He was no longer a federal employee, but he still checked in on me and my neighbors. He suggested I attend a Crisis Management Academy at Hayes Boone in downtown LA, where he sat on the board.

I pulled my suit from a vacuum-sealed remediation bag and went.

By chance, I sat next to Rick Crawford, the emergency and crisis management coordinator for the U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court and a former battalion chief with the Los Angeles Fire Department.

I told him I lived west of Lake Avenue — historically the predominantly Black, Latino and working-class side of Altadena.

Nineteen of the 20 deaths from the Eaton Fire occurred there and only one firetruck was initially sent to that side of town.

Evacuation notices arrived hours later than they did in wealthier neighborhoods east of Lake Avenue — if they arrived at all. My family never received one.

I asked Crawford if he believed racism explained the disparity. He told me something worse might have happened.

The night before the fires, he said, officials knew a severe wind event was coming. Yet staffing levels were not increased.

“Business as usual,” he called it.

When the Palisades Fire ignited, city resources were quickly stretched. The city turned to the county for help. When the Eaton Fire exploded, the county deployed the firefighters it had left to protect Altadena.

By the time flames reached west of Lake Avenue, resources were gone.

A failure of preparation turned into a failure of response — one that hit my side of Altadena hardest.

The Fair Oaks Burger restaurant became a community rallying point

The sounds of construction

One year later, Altadena is still waiting.

Friends who lost their homes are waiting for settlements from Southern California Edison Co., which investigators believe caused the Eaton Fire, to determine whether they can rebuild at all.

Trial is scheduled for January 2027. A judge recently ordered Edison to produce witnesses when called, criticizing attempts to prolong the discovery process for attorneys representing fire victims. A grand jury is also considering whether to indict the utility company in connection with the 19 deaths in Altadena.

Those of us who have returned do what we can to support one another — and the small businesses trying to survive.

In those days, my business meetings happened at Miya, Unincorporated Coffee or Fair Oaks Burger.

Community advocates — including Altadena for Accountability and Altadena Rising, along with Pérez — pushed the California Department of Justice to open a civil rights investigation into the evacuation response in West Altadena.

Walking along Altadena Drive, I thought about the homes and gardens that had once lined the street.

Reconstruction has begun, slowly. The sound of construction — loud, constant — is an inconvenience. But it’s better than the eerie silence that followed the fire.

On Mariposa Street, I passed the empty space where Amara Kitchen and Altadena Hardware had once stood.

Next door, something new appeared. Betsy, the restaurant from chef Tyler Wells — who also lost his home in the fire — was drawing diners from across LA for its live-fire cooking.

It lifted my spirits to see people coming to Altadena again. But as a local resident, I still struggled to get a reservation.

Maybe that was the first glimpse of what rebuilding might look like: those with money and privilege dining easily, while the rest of us remain on the waiting list.

The rebuild is slow. The pain is enormous. But the resilience of Altadena is fierce.

We fight for accountability, truth and justice. We fight for the right to rebuild our town as it once was. Most of all, we fight for one another.

Because, as labor leader Mary Harris “Mother” Jones once said: “Pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living.”

Is your neighborhood changing? We want to hear your story. Whether you’ve lived on your block for forty years or four, we want to know: What does “home” mean to you right now?Share a brief memory or a thought on how your neighborhood is changing with us at pitches@thelalocal.org. We’ll feature some of our favorite responses in our newsletter, and if your story sparks something deeper, we may reach out to commission a full-length piece (yes, we pay our writers!)

The post ‘Pray for the dead, fight for the living’ — How Altadena is battling to rebuild without being displaced appeared first on LA Local.

The U.S. military said on Friday that all six crew members were killed when a KC-135 refueling aircraft went down in Iraq, raising the death toll after two weeks of war with Iran.

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees the Middle East, reported an unspecified incident involving two aircraft Thursday. It said the U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft was lost in western Iraq, while the other landed safely. It is investigating the circumstances but confirmed the "loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire."

The news came as President Trump and his defense secretary touted success in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran but complained about negative media coverage of Operation Epic Fury.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes have hit more than 15,000 targets and injured the new Iranian supreme leader.

President Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said the U.S. is "totally destroying" Iran's regime, militarily and economically.

Late Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had weakened Iran's rulers, but it may not be enough to topple them — the Iranian people would have to do that.

Iranian and Lebanese health officials and Israeli authorities reported more than 1,300 people killed in Iran, 773 people in Lebanon and 12 civilians in Israel, as well as two Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon. Wednesday's aircraft crash over Iraq brings the U.S. military death toll to 13, seven of whom were killed in combat. Eight U.S. service members are severely injured, according to the Pentagon.

The humanitarian toll also deepened as the total number of people displaced by the fighting in Iran and Lebanon reached into the millions.

Here are further updates about the conflict.

Officials brace for an end without a deal — and the risk of a "war routine"

A senior official in the region, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations, told NPR they expected the war to last at least another week, and that Israeli leaders increasingly believe the U.S. and Israel will end the war unilaterally, without a negotiated agreement. In such a scenario, the official said, Iran and allied groups, including the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Houthi rebels in Yemen, could establish a new normal of intermittent fire at Israel, prompting repeated Israeli retaliation.

The official said that kind of tit-for-tat exchange would leave Israelis living with an intolerable "war routine" even if the intensity of the conflict fades.

The official also said Israel is not ruling out an expanded ground operation in southern Lebanon, but described Israel as holding back so far from striking broad civilian infrastructure, largely because the U.S. sees Lebanon as a partner.

— Daniel Estrin, Carrie Kahn

Israel expands strikes in Iran and hits Hezbollah targets in Lebanon

Israel's air force said Friday it struck more than 200 targets over the past day in western and central Iran, including ballistic missile launchers, air defense systems and weapons manufacturing sites.

The military said the strikes included simultaneous strikes in Tehran, Shiraz and Ahvaz. They targeted regime infrastructure, including an underground site used to produce and store ballistic missiles, as well as a central air-defense base.

In Lebanon, Israel said it hit Hezbollah command centers in the country's south and in central Beirut.

A senior official in the region, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the strike on Beirut's bustling Bachura neighborhood, located near the prime minister's office, was symbolic, and meant to send a message that Israel will not tolerate Hezbollah's fire much longer.

Lebanon's president, Joseph Aoun, has called for direct talks with Israel to end the bombing. Israel has not responded publicly on the matter.

The Israeli military also said it struck the Al-Zrariya Bridge over the Litani River, describing it as a key crossing used by Hezbollah fighters and an area from which launchers had been positioned.

— Hadeel Al-Shalchi and Rebecca Rosman

Iran and Hezbollah attacks hit Israel overnight; dozens treated for minor injuries

An Iranian ballistic missile in the northern Israeli town of Zarzir left dozens lightly wounded, according to Israel's emergency services organization, Magen David Adom.

One person was reported to be in moderate condition and was being treated after being hit with shrapnel. Another 57 people were being treated for minor injuries, mostly from glass shards.

Hezbollah also continued firing into northern Israel overnight, and Israel's military said its air defense and strike operations were responding across both fronts.

— Rebecca Rosman

U.S. temporarily eases Russian oil sanctions for cargoes already at sea

The Trump administration issued a temporary authorization allowing countries to purchase Russian oil already stranded at sea. It argued the move is a narrowly tailored step to stabilize energy markets.

In a post on X, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the measure applies only to oil "already in transit" and will not provide significant financial benefit to Russia.

In a statement published last week, a number of top Senate Democrats warned such a move would weaken sanctions and benefit Russia as energy prices rise.

— Rebecca Rosman

French soldier killed in attack in Iraq

French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday a French soldier was killed in an attack in the Irbil region of Iraq that left several other French soldiers wounded.

Macron called the attack "unacceptable" and said the war in Iran cannot justify strikes on forces deployed in Iraq as part of the fight against ISIS.

Since the start of the war with Iran, the French president has underlined his concerns about international law not being respected, but also deployed several naval vessels to the Eastern Mediterranean, near Cyprus, to protect French military bases and citizens in the region. French officials have insisted it is a defensive, rather than an offensive mission.

— Eleanor Beardsley

Daniel Estrin and Carrie Kahn contributed to this report from Tel Aviv, Hadeel Al-Shalchi contributed from Beirut, Jane Arraf from Irbil, Rebecca Rosman and Eleanor Beardsley from Paris.
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