Bombing intensifies as Gaza death toll crosses 9,000
Fierce fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters is reported in northern Gaza and Gaza City as bombardment of the besieged enclave intensifies.
Large fire breaks out in Kiryat Shmona, a town in northern Israel, after attack from Lebanon.
Al-Qassam Brigades in Lebanon says ‘shelled’ northern Israel
Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades in Lebanon said in a statement that 12 missiles were fired towards Kiryat Shmona and its vicinity.
In a post on the messaging app Telegram, the group said the firing came “in response to the occupation’s massacres against our people in Gaza”.
Situation escalating on Israel-Lebanon border with Israeli town, military position hit
Israel reports more crossfire along northern border with Lebanon
Israel’s military said there have been a “number of launches” recently from Lebanon.
In response, the military said it was striking “a series of Hezbollah terrorist targets in Lebanon”.
Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem report that a missile from Lebanon had made impact in Kiryat Shmona, a town in northern Israel.
Israeli army radio also said in a social media post that Kiryat Shmona was directly hit, alongside an image showing a fire near parked cars. It said no casualties were yet reported.
While skirmishes have persisted across the border since the beginning of the war, the attacks have escalated since last week.
Hashem noted the border fighting appeared to be heating up before the head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, is meant to give his first address since the war began.
Palestine Red Crescent says ambulance attacked by Israel, paramedics injured
The Palestinian agency said the attack took place as the ambulance team was transporting people killed and wounded along Rashid Street, a major road in Gaza.
“This unfortunate incident led to injuries among the paramedics, with Alaa Eldrewi sustaining a gunshot injury to the shoulder and shrapnel in the head, and Bahaa Badr al-Din with a live ammunition injury to the foot,” PRCS said.
Israel maintains Bahrain ties are ‘stable’, ambassador not recalled
The statement by Lior Haiat, the spokesman for the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs, comes after Bahrain’s Parliament said its envoy to Israel had been summoned and economic ties between the two countries had been halted.
The Parliament said the measures had been taken in support of “the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people” and added that Israel’s ambassador to Bahrain had already left the country.
But Israel’s Haiat said that “no notification or decision has been received from the Bahraini government or the Israeli government to recall the countries’ ambassadors”.
“The relations between Israel and Bahrain are stable,” he said.
Israel and Bahrain established diplomatic ties in 2020 as part of the so-called Abraham Accords, brokered by the US.
Germany to ban Hamas
As we reported earlier, Germany is banning the pro-Palestinian advocacy group Samidoun; Now, the government has announced that the activities of Hamas will also be prohibited.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement, “With Hamas, I have today completely banned the activities of a terrorist organisation whose aim is to destroy the state of Israel.”
But a Hamas representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, said the ban showed that the country was in partnership with Israel in the crimes being committed against Palestinian people.
Lebanon is on edge in advance of Hezbollah leader Syed Hassan Nasrallah’s anticipated Friday speech on Israel’s war on Gaza, which residents and experts fear could inflame regional tensions if he pledges to escalate attacks against Israel.
Fighting between Hezbollah and Israel has escalated along their fraught border in recent weeks. The Lebanese armed group claims to have lost 47 fighters, while Israel says that six of its soldiers have been killed. At least six civilians have also been killed.
Yet, some believe that Nasrallah could be preparing his constituents in southern Lebanon for an intensified conflict, even though many worry that a war could upend their lives as it did in the past.
