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Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged near-daily fire since early October 2023.
AFP
It’s the 145th day of the ongoing war in Gaza, but eyes are on the Israel-Lebanon border, where tensions have intensified dramatically. Iranian-backed Hezbollah raised alarm by launching 40 missiles toward two sites of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in northern Israel.
Fire exchanges between the Israeli army and Hezbollah intensified in recent weeks, resulting in casualties on both sides, as the powerful militant organization vowed to continue attacking Israel until the Gaza war ends.
In the Red Sea, a rocket targeted the starboard side of a merchant ship off the Houthi-controlled Al Hudaydah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.
U.S. aircraft and a coalition “warship” shot down multiple Houthi assets in the Red Sea that originated from Houthi-held areas of Yemen, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
Back in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army continued to operate in Khan Yunis. It is southern Gaza’s main city and the known hometown of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ most senior leader in the enclave. Khan Yunis is located near Rafah, the overcrowded city that the IDF is preparing to enter in a ground operation – but not without international opposition.
Despite international pressure to reach a ceasefire deal with Hamas in light of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has been working since the war started to block pressure “designed to end the war prematurely.”
Netanyahu’s steadfastness regarding the fighting draws from decades of violence in the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict that has made Israeli and Palestinian civilians alike pay a deadly price.
