Israeli operation in southern Lebanon, bombings in Gaza – 04/25/2024 at 00:49

Israel said on Wednesday that it had launched an “offensive action” on southern Lebanon and was moving forward in Gaza with its preparations for a ground operation on Rafah in its war against Hamas, despite warnings from the international community.

The Palestinian Islamist movement, for its part, released a video showing one of the hostages kidnapped during the unprecedented October 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli soil which sparked the war in the Gaza Strip.

On Israel’s northern front, the Israeli army said Wednesday that its “offensive action” concerned “the entire south” of Lebanon and specified that its air force and artillery had struck 40 targets of Lebanese Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, around ‘Aita el-Chaab.

“Troops are deployed in large numbers on the border (…) half of the Hezbollah commanders in southern Lebanon have been eliminated, the other half are in hiding and are leaving the field open for” Israeli military operations, indicated the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a statement.

– “Two brigades mobilized” –

Hezbollah did not immediately react, and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) indicated that there had been no border crossing.

At the same time, the Israeli army carried out new deadly strikes on Wednesday in the Gaza Strip, particularly in the Rafah sector.

“We are not terrorists,” Robhi El Hout, a resident of Deir El Balah (center) whose house was destroyed in an Israeli strike, told AFP.

Many foreign capitals, including Washington, are particularly concerned about ongoing preparations for a ground offensive on the city of Rafah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has assured for weeks that this city, located at the southern end of Palestinian territory, where there are a million and a half people, is the last bastion of Hamas.

“Israel is moving forward with its operation targeting Hamas in Rafah,” Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said on Wednesday.

“Two brigades of reservists have been mobilized for operations” in Gaza, he added, specifying that there are “four (Hamas) battalions still in Rafah” which are targeted by the army.

According to Egyptian officials, cited by the Wall Street Journal, Israel is preparing to move civilians from Rafah to the nearby town of Khan Younes, in particular, where it plans to set up shelters and food distribution centers.

– “A crime” –

The evacuation of Gazan civilians would last two to three weeks and would be carried out in coordination with the United States, Egypt and other Arab countries such as the United Arab Emirates, according to these officials.

Such an operation “would be a crime” declared to AFP the director of the government press office in Gaza, Ismaïl Al-Thawabta, assuring that the center of Gaza and the town of Khan Younes “absolutely cannot accommodate” the displaced from Rafah.

Satellite images shared by Maxar Technologies and published by AFP show tents recently installed in the south of the territory.

The war was sparked on October 7 by an unprecedented attack carried out from Gaza against Israel by Hamas commandos, which resulted in the death of 1,170 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP report based on official data. Israelis.

More than 250 people have been kidnapped and 129 remain captive in Gaza, 34 of whom have died according to Israeli officials. In retaliation, Israel promised to destroy Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007 and classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union in particular.

Its vast military operation in the Gaza Strip left 34,262 dead, mostly civilians, according to Hamas.

On Tuesday, the UN called for an international investigation into mass graves discovered in the two main hospitals of these cities, al-Chifa in Gaza and Nasser in Khan Younes, stressing the need to put an end to the current “climate of impunity”.

And the White House demanded “answers” ​​and “a thorough and transparent investigation” from the Israeli government, Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, said Wednesday.

Gaza Civil Defense said it had exhumed since Saturday 340 bodies of people killed and buried by Israeli forces in mass graves inside the Nasser hospital.

The Israeli army spoke of “unfounded” allegations, saying it had dug up, then reburied, bodies in search of those of hostages.

– Video of a hostage –

One of the Israeli Prime Minister’s stated objectives in the war in Gaza is to bring back the hostages, whose families and loved ones regularly gather to try to put pressure on their government to obtain their release.

Hamas broadcast on Wednesday, on its Telegram channel, a video of a hostage, who appears alone on the screen and introduces himself as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, kidnapped during the Nova music festival.

He accuses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of the Israeli government of having “abandoned” the hostages.

On Wednesday evening in Jerusalem, dozens of protesters gathered outside Mr. Netanyahu’s residence with signs reading: “Bring them home.” And the demonstrators heckled the Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir who was trying to escape from the crowd.

On the diplomatic front, Israel thanked its American ally for the package of military aid it granted. This aid of 13 billion dollars should notably make it possible to strengthen its “Iron Dome” anti-missile shield, deployed at its borders.

While the population of Gaza faces a risk of famine according to the UN, Joe Biden promulgated a law on Wednesday including humanitarian aid for Gaza, calling on Israel to “ensure that all this aid reaches without delay the Palestinians.”