- Writing
- BBC News World
image source, Getty Images
Plumes of smoke rise over Gaza City following Israeli attacks.
Israel’s military said it struck targets linked to the Palestinian militant group Hamas inside Lebanon and across the Gaza Strip.
The onslaught came following a massive rocket barrage into Israel launched from southern Lebanon, which the Israelis blamed on Hamas.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it identified targets including “terrorist infrastructures belonging to Hamas in southern Lebanon”.
Tensions rose following Israeli police raided Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque on several consecutive nights earlier this week.
The mosque is the third holiest site in Islam, and the Israeli raids sparked violent clashes with Palestinians and sparked outrage in the region.
Hamas said it had no information on who fired the missiles from Lebanon.. The attack was the largest single bombardment of Israel’s northern neighbor in 17 years.
Israel reported that most of the 34 rockets were intercepted. Six of them caused damage to buildings.
image source, Archyde.com
In the Israeli border town of Shlomi, rockets left craters in the road and damaged vehicles and a bank.
Hamas’s response
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was in Lebanon when the rockets were fired, said the Palestinians will not “sit idly by” in the face of Israeli aggression.
The IDF has stated that it will not allow Hamas to operate from Lebanon and held the government of that country responsible for every attack directed from its territory.
Israeli warplanes also intensified airstrikes in Gaza. Around 20 missiles hit four places in 10 minutes.
Palestinian militants also fired a fresh round of rockets into southern Israel.
The Israeli planes struck an underground weapons production site and three above ground, an IDF spokesman said, according to the daily. Jerusalem Post.
These are the most intense airstrikes since August 2022, when the fight once morest Islamic Jihad took place.
An “extremely serious” situation
The Israeli response came following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held an urgent meeting with the security cabinet.
“We will strike our enemies and they will pay a price for all acts of aggression,” he said in a televised address.
Although he called for calming tensions, he assured that his government “will act decisively once morest extremists who use violence.”
The Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, condemned any military operation from his territory that “destabilizes the situation.”
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Unifil, said the situation was “extremely serious” and called for “restraint and avoid further escalation”.
Remember that you can receive notifications from BBC Mundo. Download the new version of our app and activate them so you don’t miss out on our best content.
