Fears of a wider regional conflict are growing as the Israeli military and Lebanon’s Hezbollah escalate attacks.
This is what it says on Saturday, April 13, 2024:
Bombings and fighting
- Dozens of Israeli airstrikes have hit the central Gaza Strip, including in the Deir el-Balah area, with several casualties reported. The Israeli military said its planes struck more than 60 targets in Gaza the previous day. Authorities in the enclave said at least 25 people were hospitalized after a house was hit.
- Gaza Civil Defense said five Palestinians were killed and more than 30 injured overnight after the Israeli army bombed a residential building in the Zarqa district of central Gaza City.
- Five Palestinians were injured overnight in an attack by Israeli settlers in a village northeast of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, a day after an attack killed a 25-year-old Palestinian and injured 25 people.
Politics and diplomacy
- Ireland, Spain and other countries are getting “much closer” to recognizing a Palestinian state, Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said as he met his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez. The comments came just hours after Norway announced during a visit by Sanchez that it was also ready to recognize a Palestinian state.
- Senior Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal has vowed to “break the enemy soon” as he attended a memorial event for members of the family of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Referring to the six-month-long war, Meshaal said: “This is not the last round” towards a free Palestine.
Regional tensions
- Lebanon’s Hezbollah said it fired “dozens of rockets” at Israeli artillery positions in response to attacks by the Israeli military in southern Lebanon, in one of its biggest attacks since the start of the war on Gaza.
- The Israeli army said that “about 40 launches were identified that left Lebanese territory,” but there were no reports of casualties. In response, the Israeli army said it had attacked a Hezbollah military compound in southern Lebanon.
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The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a ship was seized by “regional authorities” 50 nautical miles (92 km) northeast of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. UKMTO did not specify which authorities it was referring to. The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy had warned this week that Israel’s presence in the United Arab Emirates was viewed as a threat by Iran, adding that it could close the Strait of Hormuz if necessary.
- Iranian state media reported that the IRGC navy detained the container ship.
- According to the Wall Street Journal, the United States has positioned warships to protect not only Israel but also its own forces in the Middle East as concerns grow that Iran will launch a direct attack in response to an attack on its consulate in Syria Attack on Israel could begin.
- Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani spoke by phone to his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian and urged Tehran to exercise restraint amid fears of an attack on Israel. He said the world “cannot risk escalation” and called on all regional actors to “show responsibility.”
- Australian airline Qantas has announced it will reroute its long-haul flights between Perth and London to avoid Iranian airspace amid rising tensions in the Middle East.
- Earlier, German airline Lufthansa said its planes would no longer use Iranian airspace as the suspension of flights to and from Tehran was extended.