UPDATEIsrael carried out airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and neighboring Lebanon on Thursday and Friday after promising to retaliate against rocket attacks from Lebanon earlier in the day. According to Israel, Palestinian groups are behind this.
The Israeli army is “currently striking in Lebanon,” an Israeli army statement read at 4:07 a.m. (local time). The targets of the bombings are installations belonging to the Palestinian movement Hamas, according to Israel. The AFP news agency heard strong explosions in southern Lebanon.
Israel carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Thursday evening. According to a Palestinian security source, several training sites of the Palestinian movement Hamas have been hit there.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced retaliation after 34 rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory earlier in the day. Israel says it holds the Lebanese state responsible for this. “We will hit our enemies and they will pay the price for any aggression,” he said. Two people were injured in the rocket attack. Israeli media speak of the largest rocket attack from the northern neighbor since 2006.
Most missiles were intercepted. At least five rockets landed on Israeli territory, the army reports, which emphasizes that these are preliminary figures. According to a spokesman for the army, the Palestinian movement Hamas is responsible. Iranian involvement is also being investigated.
At least one man was injured, according to emergency services. Israel responded by attacking southern Lebanon with artillery fire, Lebanese state media reported.
‘Very serious situation’
Lebanon rejects “the use of its territory to conduct operations that destabilize the situation,” Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a statement. Unifil, the UN mission that monitors the border area in Lebanon, speaks of a very serious situation and called for calm.
Earlier in the day, several rockets were fired from the Palestinian Gaza Strip towards Israel and on Wednesday, shots were fired back and forth. That happened after the Israeli police raided the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Dozens of people were injured and hundreds were arrested. Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said from Beirut that Palestinians will not be walked over.
The United States condemned the rocket fire and stressed ally Israel’s right to defend itself. United Nations chief Antonío Guterres condemned the missiles from Lebanon. He called on all parties to “maximum restraint”. A number of countries have sounded the alarm in the UN Security Council, and the issue is still being discussed.
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