Live Updates
Israeli soldiers walk near the border with Gaza in southern Israel on March 12, 2024.
AFP
The Israel-Hamas war has entered its 160th day, with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announcing the assassination of Muhammad Abu Hasna, whom it said was a commander in Hamas’ Operations Unit, in a targeted airstrike in Rafah.
The U.S. has reportedly informed Israel privately of the kind of operation in overcrowded Rafah that it was likely to support – one more akin to a targeted counterterrorism approach rather than an all-out ground invasion.
Rafah has been at center of contention between U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The latter defied White House warnings against invading Rafah, saying the Israeli army will enter the southern Gaza city which has been the refuge of more than half of the Gazan population since the war started.
Global efforts to provide more humanitarian aid for Gaza civilians continue as the first aid ship that left through the newly established Cyprus maritime corridor earlier this week has been moving slower than expected.
In Israel’s tension-packed northern border with Lebanon, Iranian-backed Hezbollah continues to attack Israeli army bases. The Israeli army has also been responding to the attacks, striking Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
Over in the greater Red Sea, U.S. forces with the Central Command (CENTCOM) attacked assets belonging to the Yemeni rebel Houthis, which the U.S. military said threatened commercial shipping lanes in the area.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Thursday it received a report of an explosion near a merchant ship off of Aden in Yemen.
Tensions in the wider Middle East stem from the violent, decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine. The fighting reached its deadliest point on Oct. 7, when Hamas operatives launched a surprise raid in Israel, murdering more than a thousand people and abducting over 250 hostages, of which some 130 are still being held in Gaza.
