Satellite photos taken Monday suggest an apparent Israeli retaliatory strike targeting Iran's central city of Isfahan hit a radar system for a Russian-made air defense battery, contradicting repeated denials by officials in Tehran of any damage in the assault.

The strike on an S-300 radar in what appears to have been a very limited strike by the Israelis would represent far more damage done than in the massive drone-and-missile attack Iran unleashed against Israel on April 13. That may be why Iranian officials up to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have been trying to dismiss discussing what the attack actually did on Iranian soil.

An independent review of the neutrality of the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees found that Israel never expressed concern about anyone on the staff lists it has received annually since 2011. The review was carried out after Israel alleged that a dozen employees of the agency known as UNRWA had participated in Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks.

In a wide-ranging 48-page report released Monday, the independent panel said UNRWA has "robust" procedures to uphold the U.N. principle of neutrality, but it cited serious gaps in implementation, including staff publicly expressing political views, textbooks used in schools the agency runs with "problematic content" and staff unions disrupting operations. It makes 50 recommendations to improve UNRWA's neutrality.

On October 7, Palestinian militants launched an attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government responded to the worst attack in the country's history with a devastating military campaign in the Gaza Strip, ruled by armed group Hamas, that has killed 34,151 people, mostly women and children, according to the Palestinian territory's health ministry.

Jewish people mark on Monday the start of Passover, a celebration of freedom, and around many holiday tables in Israel chairs will stand empty for hostages still held captive in Gaza.

The week-long Jewish festival, also known in Hebrew as the "holiday of freedom", celebrates the Israelites' liberation from Egyptian slavery, as told in the Bible.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Iraq on Monday for his first official visit in more than a decade as his country seeks greater cooperation from Baghdad in its fight against a Kurdish militant group that has a foothold in northern Iraq.

Other issues also loom large between the two countries, including water supply issues and exports of oil and gas from northern Iraq to Turkey, which have been halted for more than a year.

Iranian Muslims travelled Monday to Saudi Arabia for umrah, a year-round pilgrimage they had been barred from for almost a decade over a rift between Tehran and Riyadh, Iranian state media said.

"The first group of umrah pilgrims departed Iran for Saudi Arabia through the Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran", official news agency IRNA reported.

Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight killed 22 people, including 18 children, health officials said Sunday, as the United States was on track to approve billions of dollars of additional military aid to Israel, its close ally.

Israel has carried out near-daily air raids on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million has sought refuge from fighting elsewhere. It has also vowed to expand its ground offensive against the Hamas militant group to the city on the border with Egypt despite calls for restraint, including from the U.S.

Rockets were fired late Sunday from northern Iraq at a military base in Syria housing a U.S.-led coalition, according to Iraqi security forces.

The anti-jihadist coalition said one of its fighter jets in Iraq had "destroyed a launcher in self-defense after reports of a failed rocket attack" near a base in northeast Syria.

The Israeli military said on Monday the chief of its intelligence directorate has resigned after taking responsibility for failures leading to the unprecedented October 7 attack by Hamas.

"Major General Aharon Haliva, in coordination with the chief of the general staff, has requested to end his position, following his leadership responsibility as the head of the intelligence directorate for the events of October 7," the military said in a statement.

Gaza's civil defense said dozens of bodies had been found buried at a hospital complex previously raided by Israel, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to ramp up military pressure on Hamas.

Netanyahu, who threatened action "in the coming days" without elaborating, has repeatedly said Israel will launch a ground assault on Rafah despite international concern for civilians who have taken refuge in the southern Gazan city.