Israel strikes Hezbollah sites after 35 rockets fired from Lebanon: 10 points
As the Israel-Hamas war rages on, Hezbollah struck locations in Israel's city, thus calling for a retaliatory attack. Israel has also carried out near-daily air raids on Rafah.
In Short
- Hezbollah fires barrage of 35 rockets towards Israel
- Confirms the rocket attack in a statement
- Israeli military retaliates
A barrage of some 35 rockets was fired from Lebanon towards Israel's Safed city, as the Jewish community sat down for the Passover Seder meal on Monday. Later, a statement from Hezbollah confirmed the rocket attack, claiming to have launched "dozens" of Katyusha rockets towards the country.
The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, at least two-thirds of them children and women. It has devastated Gaza's two largest cities and left a swath of destruction. Around 80 per cent of the territory's population have fled to other parts of the besieged coastal enclave.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR: THE LATEST
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Hezbollah on Monday attacked Israel with a barrage of 35 rockets, fired from Lebanon, targetting the northern community of Ein Zeitim near Safed. The attack came as Jewish Israelis sat down for the Passover Seder meal.
Later, in a statement, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack and said it had fired "dozens" of Katyusha rockets at an army headquarters in northern Israel in response to raids targeting villages in southern Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces said no injuries were reported in the attack. Later, the Israeli military also struck a Hezbollah position in southern Lebanon after hitting two more buildings where Hezbollah operatives were gathered earlier.
On Monday, Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah killed 22 people, including 18 children, the Associated Press reported quoting health officials. The attack came as the United States was on track to approve billions of dollars of additional military aid to Israel, its close ally.
The head of Israeli military intelligence, Major General Aharon Haliva, resigned on Monday because of Hamas's October 7 attack, becoming the first senior figure to step down over his role in the stunning failure to anticipate or quickly respond to the deadliest assault in Israel's history.
The United States is expected to announce blocking of military aid to an Israeli army unit over gross human rights abuses in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Associated Press reported. It comes as the US-Israeli relationship is under growing strain over civilian deaths and suffering in Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has rejected suggestions that Washington might have a "double standard" when applying US law to allegations of abuses by the Israeli military in Gaza and said that examinations of such charges are ongoing.
"Do we have a double standard? The answer is no. In general, as we're looking at human rights and the condition of human rights around the world, we apply the same standard to everyone. That doesn't change whether the country is an adversary, a competitor, a friend or an ally," Blinken told a news conference.
In its annual report, the US State Department said the war between Israel and Hamas which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza and resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis has had "a significant negative impact" on the human rights situation in the country.
The report added that the Israeli government has taken some credible steps to identify and punish the officials who may have been involved in those abuses.
Palestinian terror group Hamas has "moved the goal post" and changed its demands in the hostage negotiations with Israel mediated by Egypt and Qatar, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said. Speaking at a daily press briefing, Miller said the United States will continue to push for an agreement that will see hostages taken on October 7 released and a pause in fighting in Gaza.
Clashes erupted at the New York University after police officers obstructed demonstrators, and the police moved in to clear out an anti-Israel "liberated zone" set up by pro-Palestinian protesters.
On Sunday, at least nine people, including six children, were killed following an Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah. Israel has insisted for months that it plans a ground offensive into Rafah, where it says many remaining Hamas terrorists are holed up.