Hezbollah fires rockets into northern Israel, reaching further than ever since the attacks began almost a year ago. Israel responds in the morning with new air strikes in Lebanon.
The mutual bombardment between Israel’s army and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon continues at full force. The pro-Iranian militia fired dozens of rockets into northern Israel during the night, reaching further than ever since Hezbollah began attacking Israel almost a year ago. Most of them were intercepted, the Israeli army said. There were no reports of deaths. Paramedics reported six injuries. After the Israeli Air Force said it had attacked around 400 targets in Lebanon since Saturday afternoon, it flew further attacks on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon this morning, the army said.
In the past few hours, Hezbollah has carried out around 115 air attacks on civilian areas in northern Israel, it said. The armed forces are deployed to defend the area and are on high alert to thwart the threats. Israel’s army will continue its attacks against the militia “and intensify” it said. There were concerns about a possible Israeli ground offensive in the south of the neighboring country. Israel wants to drive Hezbollah out of the border area again in order to ensure the safety of its citizens in the north.
Impacts in northern Israel
The death toll from the Israeli attack in a Beirut suburb on Friday, in which Hezbollah military commander Ibrahim Akil was killed, has risen to 45. According to Israeli media reports, the heavy rocket fire from Lebanon overnight hit northern Israel. Two houses were hit in Kiriat Bialik near the port city of Haifa, the news site “ynet” reported. There was also a rocket alert in Haifa itself. Lebanese security sources said that Israel’s army had attacked more than 120 times in southern Lebanon during the night and morning.
Hezbollah said it had fired dozens of rockets at Israel, including at the Ramat David military base near Haifa and the airport there, as well as at a site belonging to the Israeli arms company Rafael. Pro-Iranian militias in Iraq also began new attacks. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq group – an alliance of militias in the country – said its fighters had attacked an “important target” in Israel with drones, without giving details. They would continue their attacks, it said.
Israel’s army announced this morning that it had intercepted a missile coming from the east before it reached Israeli territory. During the night, according to military sources, several drones approaching Israel from Iraq were intercepted. There were no injuries. Since the start of the Gaza war almost a year ago, there have been repeated attacks on Israel by the so-called “resistance axis” of allies of Iran.
In view of the escalation, the army tightened restrictions for residents in northern Israel early in the morning. Classes are not allowed to take place in the Golan Heights and in the coastal city of Haifa, among other places. Workplaces may only be visited if there is a shelter nearby, the Times of Israel reported. Outdoor gatherings are limited to a maximum of 10 people, and indoors to 100 participants.
USA calls on citizens to leave Lebanon
In view of the escalation, the USA is calling on its citizens to leave Lebanon. Due to the unpredictable developments “and the recent explosions throughout Lebanon” including the capital Beirut, the US Embassy is “strongly advising its compatriots to leave Lebanon while commercial options are still available,” the US State Department said. Flights are still available, but with reduced capacity.
According to officials, the US government is “extremely concerned” about the risk of a full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon, the news portal Axios reported. But Washington hopes to use Israel’s increasing military pressure on Hezbollah to reach a diplomatic agreement so that civilians on both sides of the Israeli-Lebanese border can return to their homes.
Israel wants to use diplomatic and increasing military pressure to get Hezbollah to withdraw from the border area, as required by a UN resolution. As soon as the region near the border is safe again, 60,000 Israeli refugees are to return to their homes. However, Hezbollah will not stop its attacks on Israel until there is a ceasefire between Israel and its Islamist ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israel and the USA are looking for ways to decouple the Hezbollah militia from Hamas, Axios reported.
Report: Israel closes Al Jazeera office in West Bank
Meanwhile, according to the Arabic TV station Al-Jazeera, Israeli soldiers entered the company’s offices in the occupied West Bank early in the morning and ordered a temporary closure. Heavily armed and masked Israeli soldiers entered the building and ordered a 45-day closure, they said. They did not give a reason for this decision. The Israeli government had already used an emergency law in May to stop the station’s operations in Israel.
The so-called Al-Jazeera law allows the Israeli government to close foreign TV stations if they are deemed to pose a risk to the security of the state. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had described the Arab station as a “mouthpiece” of Hamas that had damaged Israel’s security. Al-Jazeera had rejected the accusations and called it a “criminal act”.
The already tense situation in the West Bank has worsened significantly since the massacre by Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel on October 7 last year and the Gaza war that it triggered. Since then, according to authorities in Ramallah, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations, armed clashes and attacks by extremists.
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.
