Anniversary of the Hamas terror Israel fights on all fronts
Israel's army continues to attack the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
Image: Keystone
The mutual shelling between Israel's army and Hezbollah in Lebanon continues.
Image: Keystone
The UN Office of Civilian Aid (OCHA) has described the past twelve months in the Middle East as an "unrelenting tragedy". (archive picture)
Image: Keystone
According to Israel's army, a Hamas command center was located on the hospital grounds.
Image: Keystone
In Israel, the victims of the terrorist attack on October 7 are commemorated.
Image: Keystone
Israel's army continues to attack the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
Image: Keystone
The mutual shelling between Israel's army and Hezbollah in Lebanon continues.
Image: Keystone
The UN Office of Civilian Aid (OCHA) has described the past twelve months in the Middle East as an "unrelenting tragedy". (archive picture)
Image: Keystone
According to Israel's army, a Hamas command center was located on the hospital grounds.
Image: Keystone
In Israel, the victims of the terrorist attack on October 7 are commemorated.
Image: Keystone
On October 7, 2023, terrorists from the Gaza Strip committed a massacre in Israel. War has been raging ever since. There is no end in sight. The fighting continued during the night. Not only in Gaza.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- The fighting in the Middle East continues with brutal ferocity on today's first anniversary of the terrorist attack on Israel by Islamist Hamas.
- While Israel's announced retaliatory strike following Iran's rocket attack last week was still a long time coming, Israel's army again bombed pro-Iranian Hezbollah positions in Lebanon during the night.
- At the same time, the Shiite militia fired rocket salvos at the port city of Haifa in northern Israel, among other places.
- Meanwhile, the first memorial services for the victims of the Hamas terror attack on October 7 last year began in Israel this evening.
The fighting in the Middle East continues with brutal ferocity on today's first anniversary of the terrorist attack on Israel by Islamist Hamas. While Israel's announced retaliatory strike following Iran's rocket attack last week was still a long time coming, Israel's army again bombed pro-Iranian Hezbollah positions in Lebanon during the night. At the same time, the Shiite militia fired rocket salvos at the port city of Haifa in northern Israel, among other places. Projectiles hit the city despite defensive fire. According to the Times of Israel, five people in the area were injured by shrapnel. Israel's army is also continuing to advance in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Iran has resumed civilian air traffic at Tehran International Airport. "The situation is back to normal and air traffic is running again," a spokesman for Imam Khomeini Airport (IKA) told the Ilna news agency. The civil aviation authority had previously imposed a nationwide flight ban at short notice.
Observers had feared that the authority's decision was taken in the evening because of an imminent Israeli counter-attack. Israel had announced a "significant response" to Iran's attack. Iran threatened a "much harsher" response in the event.
Commemorative events on the anniversary of the Hamas massacre
Meanwhile, the first memorial events for the victims of the Hamas terror attack on October 7 last year began in Israel this evening. In Tel Aviv, around a thousand people gathered at "Hostage Square", where survivors of the massacres in villages, former hostages and relatives of those murdered spoke about their experiences. Thousands of people also took to the streets in several German cities on the eve of the anniversary. In Berlin, there were riots at a pro-Palestine rally. Further demonstrations and commemorative events are planned throughout Germany today.
On October 7, thousands of Hamas gunmen and other extremists from the Gaza Strip broke through the Israeli barrier to the coastal area, killing more than 1,200 people and taking around 250 others hostage in Gaza. This was the trigger for the war. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, around 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since then. The figure does not distinguish between fighters and civilians and is almost impossible to verify.
The UN Office of Civilian Aid (OCHA) described the past twelve months in the Middle East as an "unrelenting tragedy". Joyce Msuya, the acting UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, said: "No statistics or words can fully reflect the extent of the physical, psychological and social destruction that has taken place". Her office condemned the Hamas attack. Israel's subsequent military strikes in the Gaza Strip had triggered a catastrophe. Schools housing displaced families and hospitals were repeatedly shelled. The people were living with extreme deprivation, without sufficient food or medical care, it was said.
Israeli army continues operations in the Gaza Strip
Despite all calls for a ceasefire, Israel launched a new ground offensive in the north of the Gaza Strip. At the same time, Israel's air force reportedly attacked a Hamas command center again during the night. It was located in the center of the cordoned-off coastal strip on the grounds of the Shuhada Al-Aksa hospital, it was reported during the night. In the same area, the army said it had attacked command centers located in a former school and a former mosque the day before. The information could not be independently verified.
The military wing of Hamas had been defeated and the fight against its terrorist structures would continue, said Israel's Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi. In a letter to his soldiers, he described October 7, 2023 as the day "on which we failed in our mission to protect the citizens of the State of Israel." It was "not only a day of remembrance, but also a call for deep self-reflection", Halevi wrote about the "admission of our mistakes and the obligation to learn from them." Relatives of the hostages called for a demonstration today in front of the official residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He wanted to address the nation on television.
On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron had called for an arms embargo against Israel for the fighting in the Gaza Strip, to which Netanyahu reacted angrily. The two have now exchanged views in a telephone call. According to the French presidential palace, Macron reiterated in the open and respectful conversation that France's commitment to Israel's security is unwavering. At the same time, he also expressed his conviction that the time had come for a ceasefire. However, the efforts of the mediators USA, Qatar and Egypt have been going round in circles for months.
Fighting in Lebanon too
With regard to the fighting against the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, Halevi said that the militia had been dealt a heavy blow. "We are not stopping," emphasized the army chief. "We are destroying the capabilities of our enemies and will ensure that these capabilities are not rebuilt so that October 7 is never repeated." As the military announced during the night, fighter jets attacked Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in the Lebanese capital Beirut. Command centers and other "terrorist infrastructure" of the pro-Iranian militia were also attacked, including weapons depots.
None of the claims could be independently verified. According to the authorities, at least six people were killed in an Israeli attack on the town of Kayfun in the Lebanon mountains. A further 13 were injured. Hezbollah, in turn, continued its shelling of northern Israel. The fact that projectiles were able to hit the Haifa area is being investigated, Israel's army announced during the night. Pictures showed damage to a road. According to the army, further rockets were intercepted. Others fell, it said. One person was also reportedly injured in the northern city of Tiberias.
Meanwhile, the UN observer mission Unifil in Lebanon expressed "deep concern" about "recent Israeli military activity in the immediate vicinity" of one of its posts. The attack near the village of Marun ar-Ras in southern Lebanon was a "dangerous development". It was unacceptable to endanger the UN peacekeepers in the performance of their duties on behalf of the Security Council. Unifil called on all actors to protect United Nations (UN) personnel and property. The mission has been monitoring the border area between Israel and Lebanon for decades. Israel wants to drive the Hezbollah militia from the border so that around 60,000 Israelis evacuated from there can return to their homes.
dpa