Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and launched a devastating offensive in Gaza after an attack of unprecedented scale by the Palestinian Islamist 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.
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, editor’s note), must know that they will certainly receive a scathing response to their actions against Iran and the resistance front,” warned Ali Khamenei in Tehran , whose country has been engaged in a cycle of attacks and responses with Israel in recent months.
On October 26, Israel targeted military sites in Iran in retaliation for Iranian missile attacks against Israeli territory on October 1.
Tensions in the Middle East – Khamenei threatens to retaliate against any attack against Iran or its allied groups
Operation north of Beirut
In Lebanon, an Israeli military official speaking on condition of anonymity announced that an elite Israeli navy unit had captured a “high-ranking Hezbollah agent” during an unprecedented operation in Batroun, north of Beirut. A military source in Lebanon reported the kidnapping of a “civilian”.
The man, whose name has not been made public, is considered an “expert in his field”, according to the Israeli official.
The Israeli army carried out new strikes in Lebanon, including one on the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, which left one dead, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The Lebanese Islamist movement, for its part, claimed responsibility for rocket salvos on several targets in northern Israel, and a military base near Tel Aviv.
At least 19 people were injured in Tira (center) when a projectile fell on a building, Israeli authorities said, reporting the interception of several rockets.
Since September 23, Israeli forces have been carrying out strikes against Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon and have been engaged in a ground offensive in the south of the country since September 30. Israel says it wants to neutralize this movement in the border regions and prevent rocket fire to allow the return of 60,000 displaced people to the north of the country.
At least 1,930 people have been killed since September 23 in Lebanon, according to an AFP count based on official data.
Middle East tensions: Pro-Iranian groups claim four drone attacks on Israel’s Eilat
Two soldiers killed in Gaza
In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army bombarded Jabalia and Beit Lahia (north), and Nousseirat (center) where three Palestinians died, according to civil defense.
The polio vaccination campaign has resumed in the north of the territory, where the Israeli army has concentrated its offensive since October 6, claiming that Hamas is gathering its forces there.
The World Health Organization (WHO) launched a vaccination campaign in Gaza on September 1, after the confirmation of the first case of polio in 25 years in the besieged and devastated territory.
“The Cheikh Radouane primary health care center” was “hit today while parents were bringing their children for polio vaccination, in an area where a humanitarian pause had been agreed,” said the head of WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
A member of the Gaza Civil Defense told AFP that at least three people were injured by debris from a missile fired by an Israeli drone at a wall of the health center in western Gaza. -city.
Contacted by AFP, Israel did not immediately comment.
Furthermore, the Israeli army announced that two “projectiles” had been fired from northern Gaza and that they had crashed into southern Israel without causing any injuries.
The Israeli offensive in the cramped territory left 43,314 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas Health Ministry, and caused colossal destruction and a humanitarian disaster.
The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mainly 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.
The Israeli army said two soldiers were killed in Gaza on Saturday, bringing to 370 the number of its troops killed since the start of its ground offensive on October 27, 2023.
