At the same time, the Israeli army continues its wars against Palestinian Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, two Islamist movements allied with Iran, engaged in recent months in a cycle of attacks and responses with Israel, which raise fears of a conflagration in the Middle East.
A few days before the presidential election on November 5 in the United States and despite international pressure, attempts to put an end to hostilities have remained in vain. Israel has sworn to destroy Hamas and launched a devastating offensive in Gaza, on its southern border, after a bloody attack by this movement against its territory on October 7, 2023. It also wants to neutralize Hezbollah on its northern border, after the movement Lebanese opened a front against him in support of Hamas.
The two movements are close allies of Iran, engaged in recent months with Israel, its enemy, in a cycle of attacks and responses which have raised fears of a conflagration in the Middle East.
In this explosive context, the United States announced on Friday new deployments in the Middle East, including means of defense against ballistic missiles, combat planes and B-52 bombers, which will arrive “in the coming months” to the “defense of Israel” and as a warning to Iran. “The enemies, both the United States and the Zionist regime (Israel), must know that they will certainly receive a scathing response to their actions against Iran and the resistance front,” warned Ali Khamenei in Tehran .
Drones launched from Iraq against Israel
In addition to Hamas and Hezbollah, Iran supports the Houthi rebels in Yemen and armed groups in Iraq, who are part of what Tehran calls “axis of resistance” against Israel, which has occupied Palestinian territories since 1967.
On Saturday, the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, a coalition of pro-Iranian armed groups, claimed responsibility for drone attacks towards Eilat, a city in southern Israel on the Red Sea. The Israeli military said it intercepted three drones over the Red Sea approaching from the east.
On October 26, Israel targeted military sites in Iran in retaliation for Iranian missile attacks against Israeli territory on October 1. “The response to the enemy’s aggression (of October 26) will be given in a firm, thoughtful and powerful manner, and will exceed the enemy’s understanding,” threatened the spokesperson for the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of Iran, Ali Mohammad Naini.
Supporters of Yemen’s Houthis hold signs and flags during an anti-Israel rally in solidarity with Gaza and Lebanon in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on November 1, 2024.
MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP
“Disease, famine, violence”
On Israel’s southern border, the Israeli army bombarded the north of the Gaza Strip, notably Jabalia and Beit Lahia, and the center, notably Nousseirat where three Palestinians died according to civil defense. The army, which has been concentrating its offensive since October 6, 2024 in the north of the territory to, according to it, neutralize Hamas, claimed to have “eliminated dozens of terrorists in Jabalia”. She also reported operations in the south and center of the besieged and devastated territory.
All residents of northern Gaza are at “imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence”, officials from major UN humanitarian agencies warned on Friday. “The situation is apocalyptic. »
Israel, which has been besieging the Gaza Strip for more than a year, has continuously bombarded this poor and cramped territory where the vast majority of some 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced and live in conditions described as “disastrous” by the UN. Its air and ground offensive left 43,314 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas Ministry of Health, and caused colossal destruction and a humanitarian disaster.
The Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data, including hostages killed or died in captivity. Of 251 people kidnapped, 97 remain hostages in Gaza, 34 of whom were declared dead by the army.
Hezbollah rockets into Israel
On Israel’s northern front, Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for rocket salvos at a military base near Tel Aviv, a base for “military industries” north of Haifa, and other targets in northern Israel . At least 19 people were injured in Tira (center) by the fall of a projectile on a building which was gutted, Israeli authorities said, reporting the interception of several rockets.
The day after destructive and deadly Israeli strikes in Lebanon, the Israeli army again bombed southern Lebanon on Saturday, where its forces have been engaged in a ground offensive since September 30.
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