Politics Israel's army continues to take action against Hamas and Hezbollah

Exactly eleven months after the unprecedented massacre by the Islamist Hamas in Israel, the Jewish state continues to take energetic action against its enemies on several fronts.

In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli air force flew an attack in the evening, which it claimed was aimed at a Hamas command center. The terrorists had set it up in a former school building, the Israeli army announced on its Telegram channel.

Israeli warplanes also attacked more than 15 launching pads and military infrastructure of the Hamas-aligned Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon that same evening, it added. According to the Israeli army, some of the launch sites were prepared for imminent rocket attacks on Israel. Even after almost a year since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, there is no end in sight to the hostilities.

Israeli army: Hamas command center attacked

In the past week, more than 40 terrorist facilities have been destroyed in the sealed-off coastal strip, the army announced in a weekly report in the early evening. These included "command and control centers disguised as schools, universities and humanitarian areas". In addition, more than 100 terrorists were "eliminated" during this period and several tunnel shafts were discovered.

Late in the evening, the Israeli army then announced that the terrorists had used the former school building attacked in northern Gaza to plan and carry out terrorist attacks on Israeli troops and the State of Israel. Before the attack with precision ammunition, numerous measures were taken to reduce the risk of civilians coming to harm, it said. The military did not provide any information on possible casualties. The account could not initially be independently verified.

Dozens killed in the West Bank

During the large-scale army operation against Islamist extremists in Jenin, Tulkarm and Fara in the West Bank, around 35 terrorists have been "eliminated" in recent days and around 45 other people have been arrested, the military said in its weekly statement. In addition, dozens of weapons and explosives were confiscated and three explosives laboratories were destroyed. According to a Palestinian media report, the ten-day operation in the city of Jenin, which is considered a stronghold of militant Palestinians, has now ended.

Meanwhile, the White House has called on Israel to investigate the death of a US activist in the West Bank. "We have reached out to the Israeli government to request more information and an investigation into the incident," said US President Joe Biden's spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre. "Let us first find out exactly what happened and we will draw the necessary conclusions and consequences," said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

USA calls for investigation after death of American woman

According to Palestinian reports, the American woman of Turkish origin was killed by shots fired by Israeli soldiers during a protest against a settlement outpost. Israel's army said it wanted to investigate. There had been "violent activity" in the area, whereupon Israeli forces had fired at the person who had mainly instigated it. The person threw stones and threatened Israeli security forces, it said. It initially remained unclear whether this was the American.

Israel concentrates on the fight against Hezbollah

During the clashes with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israel's army said it had destroyed dozens of rocket launchers aimed at communities in northern Israel over the past week. There have been around 50 attacks on buildings, infrastructure and weapons depots in the neighboring country, the military announced in the evening. Israel's armed forces are currently "very focused on the fight against Hezbollah", said Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi at a briefing.

The northern command of the Israeli army is "hitting a large part of Hezbollah's capabilities in Lebanon before it can attack us", Halevi was quoted as saying in an army statement. At the same time, preparations are being made for "offensive measures".

Since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas, there have been military confrontations with the Hezbollah militia in the border area with Lebanon on an almost daily basis. There have already been casualties on both sides - most of them members of Hezbollah. According to its own statements, the Shiite militia is acting in solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza war was triggered by the terrorist attack by Hamas and other Islamist groups in the Israeli border area on October 7 last year. More than 1,200 people were killed and around 250 others were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip. Israel responded with air strikes and a ground offensive in Gaza.

According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 40,800 Palestinians have since been killed in the sealed-off area and more than 94,400 others injured. The figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians and are almost impossible to verify independently. According to the UN, the humanitarian situation in the severely devastated Gaza Strip, which is roughly the size of Munich, is "more than catastrophic". The UN's partners do not have sufficient food supplies to feed the people there.

Gaza negotiations to continue

According to an Israeli count, 101 people are still being held by Hamas, although it is unclear how many of them are still alive. The indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, in which the USA, Qatar and Egypt are mediating to achieve a ceasefire and the release of hostages, have made no progress for months. According to the "Times of Israel", US Secretary of State Blinken indicated that the mediators want to present Israel and Hamas with a new proposal for an agreement in the next few days.

US media had already recently reported on a planned final proposal. If both sides do not accept this proposal either, it could mean the end of the negotiations, it was said. The US government announced on Wednesday that 90 percent of an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails had already been agreed. No agreement has been reached on the number and identity of those to be released in an initial six-week phase, the New York Times reported, citing US officials.

SDA