ANDThe head of Lebanese Hezbollah, Hasan Nasrallah, warned this Wednesday that “no place” in Israel would be safe from its missiles if the Israeli government, at war with the Islamist movement Hamas in Gazaopens a new front of conflict on its northern border.
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Nasrallah also threatened Cyprus, stating that this eastern Mediterranean country, a member of the European Union, would be considered “part of the war” if it authorizes Israel to use its airports and bases to attack Lebanon.
I have read the comments (of the Hezbollah chief) and I want to say that the Republic of Cyprus is not involved in this war in any way.
“I have read (the Hezbollah chief’s) comments and I want to say that the Republic of Cyprus is in no way involved in this war,” Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said in a statement.
Cyprus is “part of the solution, not the problem,” he insisted, recalling that his country has had a role “recognized by the Arab world and the entire international community” in the maritime corridor created to bring humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. .
But the Hezbollah leader maintained that “the enemy knows very well that we have prepared for the worst (…) and that there will be no place (…) safe from our rockets.”
Rocket fire at Israel could be fired from “land, air and sea,” he added.
The Israeli military announced Tuesday that it was ready for an “offensive” against Hezbollah, backed and financed by Iran, after weeks of intensifying shooting from both sides of the border.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz threatened to destroy Hezbollah in a “total war.”
Hours later, the Israeli army bombed Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
The border between these two countries has been the scene of almost daily artillery duels since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on October 7.
Voices grow to end the conflict in the Middle East
Hezbollah said Wednesday it fired “dozens of Katyusha rockets and artillery shells” into northern Israel in response to Israeli bombings in southern Lebanon that killed four of its fighters.
We receive new weapons, we develop some of our weapons (…) and we are saving others for the days to come
“We received new weapons, we developed some of our weapons (…) and we are saving others for the days to come,” said the head of the Lebanese movement, which lost one of its commanders in an Israeli bombing last week.
The escalation of war coincided with a visit to Beirut by an emissary of US President Joe Biden, Amos Hochstein, who deemed it “urgent” to reduce tensions on the border between Israel and Lebanon.
Hochstein also defended the ceasefire plan for the Gaza Strip presented on May 31 by Biden.
In the narrow Palestinian territory, governed by Hamas and devastated by more than eight months of war, Israeli bombings do not let up.
At the gates of Rafah, on the southern edge of the enclave, at least seven people were killed in drone strikes.
The Israeli army launched a ground offensive in the town on May 7, with the proclaimed objective of eliminating the “last battalions” of Hamas.
In the northern Strip, witnesses reported gunshots in Gaza City. And in Nuseirat, in the center, at least three people died in a bombing, reported the territory’s Civil Defense.
The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza
The war broke out on October 7, when Islamist militants killed 1,194 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 251 in southern Israel, according to a count based on official Israeli data.
The Israeli army estimates that 116 people remain kidnapped in Gaza, 41 of whom have died.
In response, Israel launched an offensive that has already left at least 37,396 dead in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the territory’s Ministry of Health.
The conflict also unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe, which the UN says plunged Gazans into a situation on the brink of famine.
On October 9, Israel imposed an “almost complete” siege on the territory, hindering the entry of food, water, fuel and medicine. The humanitarian aid authorized to enter is insufficient.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a wave of internal and external criticism for his handling of the war and his failure to free the hostages.
But the leader, at the head of a coalition of nationalist, ultra-conservative and Orthodox Jewish forces, affirms that he will continue the war until “annihilating” Hamas, considered a “terrorist” organization by Israel, the European Union and the United States.
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) requested in May that the highest judicial body of the UN issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders for alleged crimes of war crimes and crimes against humanity. .
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