Palestine-Israel war
Live Reporting
Is this the beginning of something bigger?
The Israeli military said it counted 40 rockets launched from Lebanon into Israel. Most of them were intercepted, but some fell in open areas. They’re also saying that Hezbollah sent across the border a couple of armed drones into Israel.
This is a large number of rockets and drones, one of the biggest barrages of the war so far in Gaza.
Is this just a big example of the same kind of tit-for-tat rocket fire exchanges of hostilities across the northern border with Hezbollah in Lebanon? Or is this the beginning of something bigger – an attack from Iran or by Iran that Israel is expecting any moment now?
Israeli Defense Minister Gallant said that Israel is prepared to defend itself on the ground and in the air, in close cooperation with “our partners”, meaning the US.
Hezbollah says it fired ‘dozens’ of rockets at Israeli positions
Lebanon’s Hezbollah group says it fired “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at Israeli artillery positions on Friday, a bombardment it said was in response to Israeli strikes in the south.
Hezbollah fighters targeted “enemy artillery positions … with dozens of Katyusha rockets” the group said in a statement, adding it was “in response to the enemy’s attacks on … southern villages and civilian homes”.
The Israeli army said, “Approximately 40 launches were identified crossing from Lebanese territory, some of which were intercepted”.
“No injuries were reported,” it said, adding that it had earlier intercepted two Hezbollah attack drones that had crossed from Lebanon.
‘They bury the evidence and silence the witnesses’: Report
Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a British Palestinian doctor who volunteered in Gaza hospitals during the first weeks of Israel’s war, says he was denied entry to Germany after being interrogated at the airport and banned from participating in a conference where he was scheduled to give testimony of his experience in the Strip.
“Upon arrival, I was stopped at the passport office, escorted to the basement of the airport and questioned for around 3.5 hours,” Abu-Sittah told the Middle East Eye.
Abu-Sittah claimed that following the interrogation, German authorities said he was not allowed to enter the country and warned him of a fine or up to one year in prison should he have tried to link via Zoom or Facetime with the event.
“This is exactly what accomplices to a crime do. They bury the evidence, and they silence or harass or intimidate the witnesses,” Abu-Sittah said.
US House approves renewal of surveillance programme targeting foreigners
The US House of Representatives has voted to extend an electronic surveillance programme targeting foreigners that officials say is critical to national security but critics claim threatens citizens’ privacy.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, widely known as FISA, was extended for two years by 273-147 votes. It still needs approval from the Senate.
FISA monitors email traffic and other communications, but there are concerns Americans’ messages could be pulled in if they are in conversation with a foreign national who is under surveillance.
A senior White House official in December urged Congress to renew the programme, saying that with wars continuing in Gaza and Ukraine, as well as tensions elsewhere, it would be a dangerous time to end it.
‘Enough! Stop!’: Pope calls for an end to Gaza conflict
Pope Francis has called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza.
“May there be an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where a humanitarian catastrophe is ongoing. May aid be allowed to reach the Palestinian people who are suffering greatly, and may the hostages taken in October be released,” the 87-year-old said in a message to the Al Arabiya network to mark the end of the Ramadan that was released by the Vatican.
Francis also cited “war-torn Syria, Lebanon and the entire Middle East”.
“Enough! Stop!” said the pope.
“Please, put an end to the clash of arms and think of the children, all the children, as you do your own children. They need homes, parks and schools, not tombs and mass graves.”
‘Disastrous’: Israel-Iran tensions test limits of US policy amid Gaza war
US President Joe Biden has given a brief but stern warning for Iran amid concerns it is on the verge of retaliating against Israel for a deadly air raid on its consulate in Damascus.
“Don’t,” Biden told reporters on Friday.
But analysts say such words are unlikely to stop Iran from launching its own attack, raising fears of a regional war and underlining the limits of US deterrence efforts in the Middle East.
Read more here on how Washington’s foreign policy is feeling the strain from two seemingly conflicting priorities: offering unconditional support for Israel and preventing the conflict in Gaza from expanding.
US and Egypt discuss ‘multilateral efforts for advancing regional stability’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken over the phone to Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.
State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, says the two discussed “multilateral efforts for advancing regional stability”, and that Blinken reiterated that “an escalation by Iran would not benefit anyone in the region”.
According to Miller’s statement, Blinken and Shoukry also talked about the need to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza, protect Palestinian civilians, and secure an immediate ceasefire that would include the release of all the remaining captives.
He also said that Blinken agreed with Shoukry on the need to continue to coordinate closely with Egypt on how to advance a path to a Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel.
Iran attack on Israel would be ‘worst case scenario’ for White House
Strong words from the president and the White House spokesperson who said the US does believe that Iran’s threat to strike Israel is real, credible and viable.
And if Iran does wage a direct attack on Israel, that would be the worst-case scenario for the Biden administration that has, since this war began, been trying to contain the conflict. It has been doing so by using strong words and putting diplomatic pressure on Iran through other countries. Now, President Biden has issued a warning to Iran.
The Pentagon says that the head of the US Central Command, General Erik Kurilla, is in Israel meeting with top Israeli officials, including their defence minister, talking about how to coordinate a defensive strategy for Israel if it were to be struck by Iran. Of course, how that will look is something that the Pentagon is not giving any information on, and it is something that we are all asking. We do know – a senior defence official confirmed to Al Jazeera – that the US has moved its assets around in the region to, they say, better protect US forces that are there and also deter further escalation.
Israel on edge for Iranian retaliation after embassy strike
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel on Friday (Apr 12) braced for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of retaliation for the killing last week of a senior officer in Iran's embassy in Damascus.
Countries including India, France, Poland and Russia have warned their citizens against travel to the region, already on edge over the war in Gaza, now in its seventh month. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the threat from Iran was real and viable.
Israel pounds Gaza as Iran attack threat puts region on edge
GAZA (AFP) - Residents reported heavy Israeli fire in central Gaza on Friday (Apr 12), with regional tensions soaring after Iran threatened reprisals over a strike in Syria this month that killed two Iranian generals.
As talks for a truce and hostage release dragged on, fears that Iran could soon launch an attack on Israel spurred France to recommend its citizens avoid travelling to the region.
