As the Israeli military continues to reinforce combat units in the south of the Gaza Strip, it has put its soldiers on the border with Lebanon on “very high” alert due to the threat of increasing attacks from Hezbollah. In southern Gaza, the fight against Islamist Hamas is now taking place “in several key areas” and the operation has been expanded in the town of Khan Yunis, army spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Wednesday evening. “We deployed a new brigade to this area today and continue to operate there with new methods of warfare above and below ground,” he said, referring to Hamas’ tunnel network.
Concerns about escalation in the Middle East
Meanwhile, rising tensions between Israel and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon are raising concerns about further escalation in the Middle East. In view of significantly increasing attacks by Lebanon’s pro-Iranian Shiite militia, the army is now at a “very high level of readiness,” Israeli Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi said on Wednesday, according to an official statement during a visit to the army leadership in Northern Israel. “Today we have approved a number of plans for various contingencies and we must be prepared to strike if necessary,” Halevi said.
Report: Blinken travels to the Middle East again
Given the increasingly threatening situation in the Middle East, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to the region again at the end of next week, according to information from the news portal ‘Axios’. It was said that he would visit Israel for the fifth time since the start of the Gaza war. There was initially no official confirmation of this.
Hezbollah’s heaviest rocket fire yet
Hezbollah, an ally of Iran, claimed new rocket attacks on Israel on Wednesday. According to The Times of Israel newspaper, it was the heaviest shelling of northern Israeli cities since the start of the Gaza war. Israeli police said several buildings were damaged in the border town of Kiriat Shmona. So no injuries were sustained. On the same day, three people were killed in Israeli attacks on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon, including a Hezbollah fighter, Lebanese news agency NNA reported. It is the worst escalation since the second Lebanon war in 2006.
“So far the campaign here has been carried out correctly and carefully, and it must continue to be so,” the Israeli chief of staff said. “Our first task is to restore the security and sense of security of residents in the north, and that will take time,” army spokesman Hagari said. At the beginning of the Gaza war, Israeli authorities moved tens of thousands of residents from the north to the interior for security reasons. Hezbollah is considered much more armed than Hamas in Gaza.
WHO: Tens of thousands seek protection in Gaza clinics
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tens of thousands of civilians are now seeking shelter from the war in the few hospitals that are still functioning. 50,000 people converged on Shifa hospital in Gaza city and 14,000 on Al-Amal hospital in the southern Gaza Strip, the WHO said on Wednesday on X. It deployed a team on the ground. The figures could not initially be independently verified.
The delegation, together with representatives of the UN children’s fund Unicef and another organization, were able to deliver relief supplies to the hospitals, the statement said. On the way to hospitals, the WHO team observed tens of thousands of people fleeing the fierce Israeli attacks on foot, on mules or in cars. In the hospitals, WHO staff would have to climb over patients and people seeking protection who were camping everywhere.
“This forced mass movement of people will lead to increased overcrowding and an increased risk of infectious diseases and will make the distribution of humanitarian aid even more difficult,” the statement quoted a WHO official on the ground.
Erdogan compares Netanyahu to Hitler
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over actions in Gaza, comparing him to Adolf Hitler. “We’ve seen Israel’s Nazi camps in stadiums, right? What is that? How are you different from Hitler?” Erdogan said on Wednesday. He did not explain what exactly he meant, but videos claiming to show Palestinian prisoners in a stadium in the Gaza Strip have been circulating on social media in recent days.
Israel strongly opposed Erdogan’s statements. “His words are deeply offensive to every Jew around the world,” President Izchak Herzog said Wednesday evening. Erdogan has desecrated the memory of millions of Jews murdered by the Nazis.
What will be important on Thursday
The Israeli army is expanding its ground offensive in southern Gaza. Meanwhile, tensions are rising on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. (sda/dpa)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
