A Palestinian attack on a fire in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley has killed two Israeli women and left a third seriously ill. This was announced by the Israeli army and the rescue services. Police added that “the terrorist has fled and is currently being sought.” At first it was assumed that it was a traffic accident, then bullet holes were found in the body of the car.
Overnight, Israel launched a series of air and artillery strikes against Palestinian targets in Gaza and southern Lebanon. An Israeli military spokesman said more than 10 Hamas sites in Gaza were hit, while three targets in southern Lebanon were hit. According to the same source, Hamas fired 44 rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israel. One, he added, hit a house in Sderot, but no casualties: 14 fell on open ground, 8 were intercepted, 12 fell into the sea, and 9 inside the strip. The army has ordered residents of the strip to stay in temporary shelters until further notice.
After last night’s events in Lebanon and Gaza, and also after today’s Palestinian terrorist attack in the Valley
of the Jordan River in the West Bank, Israeli Chief of Staff General Herzi Halevi led a consultation of security officials. A military spokesman said. In addition to the reinforcement of the regular troops stationed in the central military area, which also includes the
West Bank, General Halevi has ordered the recall of reservists employed in air defense and aviation.
The Israeli Air Force bombing of the Gaza Strip
For its part, the Palestinian Maan News Agency reported that last night’s attacks by the Israeli Air Force hit several “resistance” sites, including bases of armed factions and observation posts, some of which are in Khan Yunes in the southern Gaza Strip.
Local sources add that a building collapsed in Sajaya district: possibly because it was near a tunnel. The attacks, Maan added, also targeted two open areas in Gaza (near Beit Hanoun and al-Zaytun). These would be the areas where Hamas military tunnels were located, according to Israel. There were no casualties in these attacks.
During the night, several associations announced that they had taken part in the fighting. Hamas’ armed wing announced, among other things, that it aimed fire at Israeli planes involved in the bombing. The military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine announced that it had fired a volley of rockets at the nearby Israeli kibbutz Nativ ha-Assara. Meanwhile, according to local media, the political leadership of Hamas is following developments from Beirut. His boss Ismail Haniyeh and his deputy Sallah al-Aruri had a meeting yesterday
with various exponents including Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nahale.
Lebanon and Israel “do not want war”, the United Nations Interposition Force in Lebanon (Unifil) assured today after contacts between the two sides. Peacekeepers have “urged all parties to halt all action” on both sides of the border after Israeli attacks on Lebanon that followed rocket fire on the Jewish state.
Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, who has come to Lebanon for a series of institutional meetings and to celebrate Good Friday together with the Italian contingent, today met with the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, Joseph Aoun, to whom he assured that “the Lebanese Armed Forces They are fundamental to stability and security. Italy will continue to provide its support in bilateral relations and in the Unifil area.”
Yesterday, Crosetto met Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati in a meeting where he stressed that “Lebanon is a fundamental hub for regional stability and for the entire Mediterranean.” Referring to the escalation of tensions on the border with Israel, the defense minister said that “in these difficult hours, an even greater commitment to peace and security in the region is needed so that the situation does not escalate”.
And today, Lebanese Defense Minister Maurice Slim, who received Crosetto in Beirut, said his country’s army was ready
face any kind of aggression. Referring to the attacks in southern Lebanon, Slim said, quoted by the government agency Nna, that “these developments pose a direct threat to the security and stability of the south”. “The army was and remains the guarantor of the maxim
possible cooperation with Unifil”, underlined the minister and referred to the UN contingent stationed in southern Lebanon and its
Thousands of Italian soldiers withdraw.
“The army – he continued – will take the necessary measures to restore security, protect stability and calm in the South”. And this morning, the Lebanese Army announced on Twitter that it had dismantled a missile launch pad, sharing photos of the pad found in a field
Farm in Marjuyun District, near the eastern sector of the Blue Line of Demarcation with Israel.
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