After the recent escalation in the Middle East, the situation remains unpredictable on Saturday. Several people died in suspected attacks in the West Bank and Tel Aviv on Friday. Two Israeli women were killed in a suspected attack by Palestinians in the West Bank. According to the Israeli army, they were shot at in a car. The two sisters, aged between 20 and 30, then had an accident, the Magen David Adom ambulance said. Another woman was critically injured.
A tourist from Italy died in a suspected attack in Tel Aviv. Seven other tourists were injured when a gunman rammed his car into a group of people near the beach promenade in the coastal town, according to police. The vehicle overturned. When the driver tried to pull out a gun, he was shot by a police officer. The news site ynet reported that the perpetrator was an Israeli Arab.
The events followed heavy rocket fire from Lebanon on Israel, after which Israel launched air attacks on militant Palestinian bases in the neighboring country and in the Gaza Strip on Friday night. The army blamed them for the fiercest attacks from Lebanon in a decade and a half. There were also several alarms in Israel because projectiles were fired from the Gaza Strip.
Tensions between Israel and Lebanon
According to the Israeli army, dozens of rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory on Thursday – the most since 2006. At that time a war had broken out between the two sides. The two countries have been officially at war since 1978. That was when Israel invaded Lebanon for the first time. But the conflict began 30 years earlier. There is always tension at the border between the two states. Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, also has great influence in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.
Israel’s army said it was targeting Hamas’ “terrorist infrastructure” in Lebanon. According to eyewitnesses, several houses near the city of Tire were damaged in the attacks.
Lebanon bears responsibility for any shelling fired from its territory, the Israeli military said in a statement. Acting Prime Minister Nadjib Mikati emphasized: “Lebanon vehemently rejects any military escalation emanating from its country and the use of Lebanese territory to conduct operations that could jeopardize existing stability.”
Clashes on the Temple Mount had preceded it
During the night of Friday and in the morning, Israel’s army also flew attacks on the Gaza Strip. According to the military, Israeli fighter jets bombed weapons factories and attack tunnels belonging to the Islamist Hamas, among other things. No injuries or deaths were initially reported. A children’s hospital was damaged, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. A spokeswoman for the Israeli army confirmed attacks on nearby targets, but said she was not aware of any damage to the hospital.
There were also multiple rocket alarms in some Israeli locations in the south. According to the army, more than 40 missiles were fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel during the night.
The most recent escalation in the Middle East was preceded by Israeli police clashes with Palestinians on the Temple Mount (Al-Haram al-Sharif) in Jerusalem. The Temple Mount is under Muslim administration while Israel is responsible for security. The Temple Mount with the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam. However, it is also sacred to Jews because two Jewish temples used to stand there. Violent confrontations are frequent in the area around the mosque.
Because Ramadan, the Jewish Passover festival and Easter are taking place at the same time these days, significantly more believers than usual are drawn to the Old City of Jerusalem.
