After firing a missile from Lebanon, Israel attacked Gaza.
Samaa News
Israel said it was attacking Hamas in retaliation for a number of dozen rockets fired into Israel from both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon early on Friday morning.
According to a statement from the Israeli army, the attacks were started around 4:30 am Israeli time (0130 GMT), and they targeted both southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
AFP reported hearing explosions in the Tyre region of Lebanon as well as the Gaza Strip, where Israeli airstrikes had started before midnight.
In the midst of both the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover, tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have risen, drawing condemnations and pleas for moderation from outside.
The third-holiest place in Islam, Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque, was the scene of an altercation between Israeli police and Palestinians on Wednesday.
The greatest escalation along the border since Israel and Hezbollah engaged in a 34-day war in 2006, according to the Israeli army, occurred on Thursday. More than 30 rockets were shot into Israel from Lebanese territory, it was reported.
Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, a spokesperson for the army, claimed that they were “absolutely certain” that the attack was carried out by Palestinian militias.
Just before the army announced the attacks in Lebanon on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, “Israel’s response, tonight and in the future, will exact a heavy price.”
He made these comments during a meeting of his security cabinet, which, according to the presidential office, “made a series of decisions, all of which were based on the recommendations of the (Israel Defence Forces) in response to the firing at the citizens of Israel in both the north and the south.”
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated that “Israel’s defence establishment is ready to face any threat, on any front.”
Following Friday’s attacks, AFP journalists in Lebanon’s Tyre region reported hearing at least three explosions, while a resident of a Palestinian refugee camp nearby claimed to have “heard” many explosions.
According to Abu Ahmad, “at least two shells fell close to the camp.”
‘A response’ to Hamas
Journalists from AFP reported hearing explosions in the Gaza Strip as rockets fired from Lebanon impacted Israeli territory on Thursday.
In a statement, the Israeli army said that in retaliation for Hamas’ recent security violations, it had destroyed two tunnels and “two weapon manufacturing sites” that belonged to the terrorist organisation.
Then, Gaza launched a number of rockets at Israel. The Israeli army said that 25 of the missiles fired were intercepted by its air defence systems, with five of them landing on Israeli soil.
Hamas urged all Palestinian organisations to get together to fight “the occupation” and said that Israel was “responsible for this aggression and its consequences.”
The Israeli military declared that it “won’t permit the terrorist group Hamas to operate from within Lebanon and holds the state of Lebanon accountable for every directed fire emanating from its territory.”
After the latest Israeli attack on Tyre in Lebanon, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which monitors the border region between the two technically still at war nations, advised caution.
According to a UNIFIL statement, “Both sides (Lebanon and Israel) have stated they do not want a war,” and force commander Major General Aroldo Lazaro is in contact with officials on both sides of the border.
According to UNIFIL, “the recent actions are dangerous and run the risk of a serious escalation.”
Najib Mikati, the interim prime minister of Lebanon, wore
The Israeli military declared that it “won’t permit the terrorist group Hamas to operate from within Lebanon and holds the state of Lebanon accountable for every directed fire emanating from its territory.”
After the latest Israeli attack on Tyre in Lebanon, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which monitors the border region between the two technically still at war nations, advised caution.
According to a UNIFIL statement, “Both sides (Lebanon and Israel) have stated they do not want a war,” and force commander Major General Aroldo Lazaro is in contact with officials on both sides of the border.
According to UNIFIL, “the recent actions are dangerous and run the risk of a serious escalation.”
Najib Mikati, the interim prime minister of Lebanon, wore
Mosque raid
Israeli riot police stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque’s prayer hall on Wednesday before dawn in an attempt to free “law-breaking youths and masked agitators,” who they said had locked themselves inside.
The fighting provoked an exchange of rocket fire and airstrikes with terrorists in the Gaza Strip during both the Jewish holiday of Passover and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
According to State Department spokeswoman Vedant Patel, the US acknowledged “Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself against all forms of aggression.”
Antonio Guterres, the head of the UN, criticised the rocket fire coming from Lebanon and urged “all actors to exercise maximum restraint.”
France denounced the “indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza and southern Lebanon targeting Israeli territory.”
Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed military organisation in Lebanon, had already warned that it would support “all measures” that Palestinian organisations may take against Israel in the aftermath of the fighting.
The Lebanese group has tight relations with both the terrorist Islamic Jihad organization, which is also located in the coastal enclave, and the Islamist movement Hamas, which governs Gaza.
The rocket attacks happened the day after Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, visited Lebanon.
The Palestinians will not “sit with their arms crossed” in response to Israeli “aggression” on Al-Aqsa, Haniyeh declared late on Thursday.
In April 2022, a rocket was last launched into Israel from Lebanon.
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