Israel’s army says it is continuing to advance in the fight against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The situation on the border with Lebanon is getting worse. The Hezbollah leader wants to give a speech. The overview.
Israel’s military says it has attacked further positions of the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip and surrounded the largest city in the sealed-off coastal area. The city of Gaza is the “focal point of the terrorist organization Hamas,” said military spokesman Daniel Hagari on Thursday evening.
At the same time, the fighting on Israel’s border with Lebanon continues to escalate – and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s first speech since the Gaza war broke out could further aggravate the situation. In response to shelling from Lebanon, Israel’s army said it attacked military positions belonging to Nasrallah’s pro-Iranian militia on Thursday evening.
Hezbollah leader wants to break his silence
Israel’s army will continue to focus on the fighting in the Gaza Strip, even as Iran pressures its proxies to distract Israel from it, military spokesman Hagari said. “We are focused on destroying Hamas.”
The Secretary General of Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is also supported by Shiite Iran, will address the public in the afternoon for the first time since the beginning of the Gaza war. A memorial ceremony for the killed Hezbollah fighters has been officially announced – but Nasrallah’s statements could also indicate whether the Hezbollah militia will increasingly join the war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas.
Israel continues to take action against Hamas
Israel’s military said more than 130 terrorists were “eliminated” in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. How many of them are still alive is unclear. Israeli military spokesman Hagari said soldiers killed terrorists in hand-to-hand combat wherever fighting was necessary, without naming specific locations.
The Israeli army had repeatedly called on people still in the northern Gaza Strip and in the city of Gaza to flee to the south of the coastal area. According to estimates by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the city of Gaza has almost 750,000 inhabitants, which corresponds to roughly a third of the population of the Gaza Strip.
Blinking again in Israel
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wants to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other representatives of the Israeli government in Israel today to find out about their future plans.
“He will reiterate our support for Israel’s right to defend itself in accordance with international humanitarian law and discuss the need to take all precautionary measures to minimize the number of civilian casualties,” it said in advance the State Department in Washington. There will also be further humanitarian aid for the population in the Gaza Strip.
More aid arrives in the Gaza Strip
102 trucks carrying urgently needed relief supplies arrived there on Thursday, more than on any other day, as the newspaper “The Times of Israel” reported, citing the Palestinian Red Crescent. The trucks brought water, food and medicine from Egypt to the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing. This means that a total of 374 trucks with relief supplies have arrived in the coastal area since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Meanwhile, extremist Palestinians fired rockets from there again into southern Israel. The army announced on Thursday that there had been an alarm in the desert town of Beersheva and in a kibbutz near the Gaza Strip. In addition, rocket alarms were triggered several times in the north. It is unclear where the shelling there came from. According to the emergency services, there are still no reports of injuries.
Another exchange of fire on Israel’s border with Lebanon
According to its own statements, Israel’s military has also posted large numbers of soldiers and reservists on the northern border with Lebanon. The armed forces are ready to “respond immediately and forcefully to any attack by Hezbollah.” According to its own statements on Thursday, the army attacked Hezbollah command and control centers and weapons depots in response to shelling from Lebanon.
Israeli forces also attacked a military site used by Hezbollah, the military said. The Shiite militia is “responsible for the current situation in Lebanon.” Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 19 attacks on Israeli posts near the border. The Shiite organization had also previously stated that it had hit an Israeli “spy system.”
Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, there have been repeated violent incidents on the border with deaths on both sides, the majority of which have so far been Hezbollah fighters. There are concerns that the war could spread to Lebanon and other countries in the region. Hezbollah has close ties to Hamas and is considered one of its main supporters.
Israel: Palestinian Authority should no longer receive money for Gaza
Meanwhile, Israel’s security cabinet wants to deduct all funds intended for the Gaza Strip from payments to the Palestinian Authority (PA). Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office announced this on Thursday evening. It was not clear from the statement whether Israel would now resume the remaining millions of dollars in payments to the West Bank Autonomous Authority. According to media reports, the security cabinet has decided this.
The Israeli government also wants workers from the Gaza Strip who have been stuck in Israel since the beginning of the Gaza War to be sent back to the sealed off area. According to Netanyahu’s office, the security cabinet decided that no Palestinians from there should be allowed to come to Israel to work.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
