Israel-Palestine updates: Israel strikes target Gaza, Lebanon
Israel said it targeted Hamas sites in a series of raids early on Friday, which risk a major escalation.
This blog is now closed, thanks for joining us. These were the updates on the Israeli forces’ strikes on Gaza and Lebanon on Friday, April 7.
This blog is now closed, thanks for joining us. These were the updates on the Israeli forces’ strikes on Gaza and Lebanon on Friday, April 7.
- Two Israeli settlers killed after gunmen opened fire on a vehicle in occupied West Bank.
- Israel’s military launched air attacks on southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip after spate of reported rocket attacks.
- Escalation in tensions comes after Israeli forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on successive days this week, firing stun grenades and attacking Palestinians as they gathered for Ramadan evening prayers.
- Israel announced it was “striking in Lebanon” in a short statement at 4:07am (01:07 GMT) on Friday, saying it was targeting Hamas.
- Hours earlier, it launched raids on Gaza, a besieged Palestinian enclave controlled by Hamas.
Netanyahu not in position to escalate situation further
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not in a position to deal with an escalation at the moment, says Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem.
“He has too many problems within his own government. He has a bad relationship with his defence minister who he tried to fire but is still working.
“He also has a bad relationship with security officials who had warned that all of the political manoeuvrings that happened around the judicial reform would have an impact on security. And he also has bad relations with many Israelis at large,” she said.
West is selective, hypocritical when it comes to Palestine: Official
Husam Zomlot, Palestinian ambassador to the UK, says the West should hold Israel to account over its attacks on Gaza and on worshippers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
“Israel is in violation of every single provision of international law,” Zomlot told Al Jazeera, adding that Israel is also in violation of the sanctity of mosques.
Calling out what he called “the West’s duplicity, selectivity and hypocrisy”, Zomlot said. “Can you imagine if armed soldiers storm a synagogue or a church, what the international reaction would be? Why has Israel been put above the law? Why the Israeli exceptionalism for decades?”
Israel not looking to engage Hezbollah in war, says political observer
Political observers say that Israel is most likely not looking to escalate the situation along its border with Lebanon.
“Israel wants to respond but doesn’t want a wide-scale war and doesn’t want to involve Hezbollah in a war,” Wassail Awada, a political analyst based in Lebanon, told Al Jazeera.
“There are many reasons [to this] among them its domestic troubles – and Israel doesn’t war to disrupt its of production of gas,” he said.
Israeli attacks on worshippers ‘unsettling, unacceptable’
Jalal Abukhater, a Palestinian writer and activist from Jerusalem, has said Israel that Israel has been using “extreme, brutal force on unarmed worshippers” during this week’s raids at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
“It’s just incredible the fact that they are willing to send [armed] forces to kick out worshippers in such an ugly way,” he told Al Jazeera from occupied East Jerusalem.
“This would be condemned all across the world. It’s like a Midnight Mass getting attacked by the military of a foreign occupation army. It was unsettling and unacceptable in every way.”
The 28-year-old also reflected on the age limits imposed by Israeli police that prohibit Palestinian men under the age of 40 from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque.
“The imposition of such age restrictions is of course difficult to accept, but at the same time it is the reality of the brutal occupation that rules over us through force,” he said.
Jordanians take to Amman streets to condemn Israeli raids at Al-Aqsa
Hundreds of Jordanians have taken to the streets of Amman following prayers to condemn Israeli raids at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Carrying banners and placards, the protesters chanted anti-Israeli occupation slogans.
Earlier in the week, Israeli police attacked Palestinian worshippers, arresting and removing hundreds of people from the compound and drawing global condemnation.
Russia urges all sides to end ‘escalation’ of violence
Russia has called on Israel, the Palestinians and Lebanon to end the “escalation” of violence, saying it was “deeply” concerned.
“We call on the parties involved in the conflict to refrain from confrontational steps, to act in the interests of preventing further escalation, ending violence and restoring a sustainable ceasefire,” the foreign ministry said.
Hezbollah says it’s ‘vigilant’ after tensions soar on border
Lebanon’s Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem has said in a tweet that the resistance is “vigilant” after Thursday’s exchange of fire over the Lebanon-Israel border.
Israel’s military hit sites in Lebanon and Gaza early on Friday in retaliation for rocket attacks it blamed on Hamas.
Iran condemns Israeli strikes in Lebanon, Gaza
Iran’s foreign ministry has condemned Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Gaza, and called for action by international bodies, state media reported.
Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the ministry “strongly condemned the attacks … as a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and a gross violation of international law and human rights of the oppressed Palestinian nation, and called for an effective response by … world bodies”, state media said.
Israel calls on UN to condemn Lebanon and Hamas over rocket fire
Israel has called on the UN Security Council to issue a condemnation against Lebanon and Hamas for recent rocket fire against Israel.
Israel blamed the Palestinian group Hamas for firing dozens of rockets at Israel from Lebanon and the Gaza Strip since Thursday. They caused damage but no serious injuries.
The Israeli military then carried out air raids against targets in southern Lebanon and Gaza.
Israel’s foreign ministry said it reached out to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and called for condemnation from the UNSC.
Regional mediators work to restore calm in Palestine-Israel, Lebanon
The French foreign ministry has been making efforts to ensure that the situation between Lebanon and Israel does not escalate further, Israeli media have reported.
The reports came after Israel launched overnight air attacks on south Lebanon and the Gaza Strip in response to a barrage of rockets from both territories on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Egypt was mediating between Israel and Hamas to pacify the situation along the Israeli fence with the Gaza Strip, according to the reports.
France says it supports Israel’s ‘security’ and Lebanon’s ‘sovereignty’
France has promised “unwavering” support for “Israel’s security and Lebanon’s stability and sovereignty” after Israel responded with strikes to rockets launched by the Palestinian group Hamas from positions inside Lebanon.
Paris called on “all parties to show maximum restraint and avoid any action liable to lead to an escalation”, foreign ministry spokesman Francois Delmas said, reiterating France’s “strong condemnation of the indiscriminate rocket fire that targeted Israeli territory from Gaza and southern Lebanon”.
Israeli settlers attack Palestinians’ cars in occupied West Bank
Israeli settlers have launched attacks on Palestinians’ vehicles at the Israeli army’s Beit El checkpoint.
Videos shared on social media showed Israeli settlers heckling Palestinian drivers and blocking off the northern entrance into Ramallah.
Watch: Army-backed Israeli colonizers attack Palestinians' vehicles near Beit El checkpoint, north of Ramallah, this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/rznT69frnz
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 7, 2023
Shooting attack victims are two sister and their mother
The two Israeli settlers who were killed in a shooting attack in the occupied West Bank were sisters in their 20s, according to Israeli media.
The third victim, a 45-year-old woman who was critically injured in the attack, is their mother. She is a resident of the illegal Israeli settlement of Efrat, south of Jerusalem.
Tensions between Hezbollah, Israel will de-escalate: Expert
It is unlikely tensions between Hezbollah and Israel will escalate following air attacks on southern Lebanon, director of The Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs Sami Nader has said.
“The main players, Hezbollah on the Lebanese side and Israel … have no interest in escalation. It’s true the Netanyahu government is trying to export its common domestic crisis [protests against judicial reforms] … to the external danger that is represented by Hamas or by Hezbollah, but within limits,” he said from Beirut, adding that a full-fledged war could jeopardise “the very existence of the Israeli government”.
As for Hezbollah, Nader said, another war between the Iran-backed group and Israel would lead to “very damaging consequences” for the economy and the Lebanese people, including Hezbollah’s own constituency.
Footage of Israel’s overnight air attacks on Lebanon and Gaza
Israel’s military launched air attacks on southern Lebanon and Gaza following rocket fire from these areas, which came after Israeli raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.
Turkish minister denounces Israeli attacks on Gaza
Turkey’s defence minister, Hulusi Akar, has denounced the overnight Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
“Israel carried out indiscriminate attacks on the Gaza Strip last night using disproportionate force. We strongly condemn these attacks,” Akar told reporters in the Turkish capital, Ankara.
“This aggressive attitude, which ignores human rights and universal values, further increases tension in the region. It is clear that these attacks will harm regional peace,” he said.
Israeli army chief mobilises reserve forces, air defence
The Israeli army’s chief of staff, Herzl Halevi, has ordered the mobilisation of reserve forces, with an emphasis on air defences and the air force reserves.
Halevi’s decision came after he convened a situation assessment meeting following the escalation of tensions on Israel’s borders and the deadly shooting attack in the occupied West Bank, reported Israeli media.
Halevi ordered the strengthening of defence efforts in the army’s central command and the continuity of a search operation for the perpetrators behind the deadly shooting, an Israeli army spokesperson said.
Far-right Israeli gov’t will be more ‘aggressive’: Academic
Daniel Levy of the US/Middle East Project, says the Netanyahu-led government is likely to be more “aggressive” than the previous Israeli governments.
“I think the dynamic of this government is to accelerate a more aggressive approach to Palestinians … that means more displacement, more attempts to remove Palestinians, more attempts to double down on what international human rights organisations have called an apartheid regime,” he said from London.
Homes, hospital damaged by Israeli air raids: AJ correspondent
Buildings, including a hospital, in a residential neighbourhood in the besieged Gaza Strip have been damaged following Israeli air raids overnight, Al Jazeera’s Youmna ElSayed reported.
“Homes of people [in Tuffah] have been partially or severely destroyed. Also nearby the children’s hospital Adura was also partially damaged from the strikes,” she added.
Israeli settlers call for demonstrations in occupied West Bank
Israeli settler groups have called for demonstrations at several locations across the occupied West Bank to protest against the deadly shooting attack that killed two Israelis and injured another at the intersection near the illegal Israeli settlement of Hamra.
Israeli media reported that the protests were expected to be held over the next few hours near the illegal settlement of Beit El, in the northern Jordan Valley, and near Huwara – a Palestinian town that has been the focus of Israeli military raids and a settler rampage in recent weeks.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians attend Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa
At least 130,000 Palestinians have attended Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the third Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, according to the Islamic Waqf which manages the site.
Large crowds gathered in the prayer halls and open courtyards despite strict restrictions imposed by the Israeli army on the entry of male worshippers.
In pictures|| From Friday prayers at #Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque. pic.twitter.com/1KoLucuCJz
— AlQastal News (@QastalNewsEn) April 7, 2023
Hamas commends shooting in occupied West Bank
The Hamas movement governing the Gaza Strip has issued a statement to congratulate the perpetrators behind a shooting attack that killed two Israeli settlers and critically wounded another in the occupied West Bank.
“We commend the heroic shooting in the occupied Jordan Valley,” said Hamas in a statement.
“And warn the [Israeli] occupation not to continue its crimes against Al-Aqsa Mosque,” it added.
‘Manhunt’ for perpetrators of West Bank attack ongoing: AJ correspondent
Israeli forces have started a “manhunt” for the perpetrators of the attack in the West Bank in which two settlers were killed, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar reported from occupied East Jerusalem.
“They have opened up a security corridor … military vehicles have been deployed to the area,” he said.
“According to the Israeli sources, there are at least two preparators. None of them has been arrested,” he added.
Israeli army blocks off roads in search of gunmen
Israeli forces have blocked off the area where a shooting attack killed two Israeli settlers and injured a third, as they searched for the suspected gunmen.
The Israeli army set up checkpoints to inspect cars on the main roads at an intersection near the illegal Israeli settlement of Hamra in the northern Jordan valley where the incident took place.
“Soldiers are blocking routes adjacent to the scene of the shooting attack. A pursuit after the terrorists has begun,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
Israeli police commissioner orders citizens to carry their firearms
The Israeli police commissioner, Yaakov Shabtai, has called on all Israeli citizens to carry their firearms in the wake of the shooting attack that killed two Israeli women in the northern Jordan Valley.
“This is a murderous attack that reminds us how relevant the threat of terrorism is in its various forms,” said Shabtai.
“Therefore, alongside our operations and that of the security forces in all sectors, I call on every citizen who has a licensed firearm and is skilled in operating it legally – to carry it these days,” he added.