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Damage after a suspected Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon
Photo: EPA
New confrontations on Israel's northern border: At least 16 people have been killed in fighting between the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and Israel.
The majority of victims were reportedly on the Lebanese side. Hezbollah and its allied Amal movement and the Jamaa Islamiya group reported a total of 15 deaths from Israeli attacks on Wednesday.
Accordingly, four of their fighters and two rescue workers were killed. The Amal Movement reported two deaths, including a member of the rescue workers. A representative of the fundamentalist group Jamaa Islamiya told the AFP news agency that seven "rescue workers" had been killed in Israeli attacks. The information on the number of those killed and their functions could not initially be independently verified.
The Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom had previously reported the death of a civilian in the city of Kiryat Shmona following shelling from Lebanon. The killed Israeli was "a 25-year-old worker" who was found in the rubble of a factory, Magen David Adom explained.
Hezbollah confirms shelling of Kiryat Shmona
The Hezbollah militia, allied with the radical Islamic Hamas, said it had fired "dozens of rockets" at Kiryat Shmona. This was in response to nightly Israeli attacks on an emergency center. The Israeli military said it was an attack on a “military site.” According to the army, a total of around 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon.
Since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, there have been almost daily clashes between Israeli soldiers and members of Hamas-aligned groups on the border with Lebanon. According to Israeli information, ten soldiers and eight civilians were killed on the Israeli side. According to AFP counts, 338 people were killed on the Lebanese side, most of them Hezbollah fighters.
Hamas calls on Muslims to march "toward Palestine."
New tensions are also threatening in Jerusalem. Hamas' military wing broadcast a message on Wednesday calling on Muslims around the world to "liberate" the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. The voice of the leader Mohammed Deif can be heard on it. Neither the authenticity nor the exact date of the recording, which was published on the Al-Aqsa Brigades Telegram channel, could initially be clarified.
It called on Muslims in various Arab countries to "march toward Palestine, now, not tomorrow." They should not let borders, state structures and restrictions prevent them from “taking part in the liberation of Al-Aqsa,” it said in the 35-second recording.
Deif, along with Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, is considered to be the planner of the unprecedented massacre in Israel on October 7th. In a rare message that day, Deif announced a "military operation" against Israel.
fek/AFP/Reuters