Satellite photographs analyzed by The Associated Press appear to show a new tent complex being built near Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, as the Israeli army continues to signal that it is planning an offensive against the city of Rafah. .
Khan Younis has been the target of repeated Israeli military operations in recent weeks. Israel has said it plans to evacuate civilians from Rafah during a planned offensive on the southern city, where hundreds of thousands of people have taken refuge during the war, now in its seventh month. The military said it was not involved in the construction of the store.
On Monday, a failed rocket attack was launched against a base hosting US-led coalition forces in Rumalyn, Syria, marking the first time since February 4 that Iranian-backed militias attacked a facility. American in Iraq or Syria, a US defense official said. the said. No personnel were injured in the attack and no group has claimed responsibility.
The conflict has sparked regional unrest pitting Israel and the United States against Iran and allied militant groups across the Middle East. Israel and Iran exchanged fire directly this month, raising fears of an all-out war.
The war was provoked by the unprecedented October attack. 7 in southern Israel in which Hamas and other militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250 hostages. Israel says militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.
The war between Israel and Hamas has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, about two-thirds of them children and women. It has devastated Gaza’s two largest cities and left a swath of destruction. Around 80% of the territory’s population has fled to other parts of the defeated coastal enclave.
The US House of Representatives on Saturday approved a $26 billion aid package that includes about $9 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza, which experts say is on the brink of famine, as well as thousands of millions for Israel. The US Senate could approve the package as early as Tuesday, and US President Joe Biden has promised to sign it immediately.
Here’s the latest:
Hezbollah attacks Israeli base
BEIRUT – The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said Tuesday afternoon that it had launched an attack on an Israeli base near the city of Acre, considerably further south than the areas it usually attacks, in response to an Israeli airstrike that He killed one of his officials.
The Israeli military said in a statement on Tuesday that it had killed Hussein Ali Azqul in an airstrike in southern Lebanon and described him as an “important” operative in Hezbollah’s air defense unit. Hezbollah confirmed in a statement that Azqul had been killed.
State media and witnesses said the attack occurred in the Adloun area, between the coastal cities of Sidon and Tyre, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the border with Israel.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and allied groups have been clashing with Israeli forces along the border for more than six months in the context of Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has periodically carried out targeted killings of Hezbollah and Hamas members in Lebanon, sometimes in areas far from the border.
Hezbollah said the attack it launched was “in response to the Israeli aggression against the city of Adloun” and the “murder” of Azqul. He said the attack targeted a location about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the border and was the deepest launched since the outbreak of the war.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it had “successfully intercepted two suspected aerial targets off the northern coast.”
Palestinian shot dead in West Bank
JERICHO, West Bank – Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian early Tuesday in the West Bank city of Jericho, a witness and Palestinian officials said.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the man as Shadi Jalaita, 44, and said he suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest.
His uncle, Shafiq Jalaita, said the man had been outside his home watching an Israeli military raid taking place on a neighbor’s home in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Suddenly three gunshots were heard, he said.
“The third bullet hit him in the chest and exited through his back,” Jalaita said.
The Israeli military has not commented on the shooting.
The Health Ministry said a child was also shot in the stomach in Jericho and was in critical condition. No further details were available.
Violence has increased in the West Bank since the conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 1. 7. Since then, at least 487 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the territory, the Ramallah-based Health Ministry said.
Qatar says it needs to see ‘seriousness’
DOHA, Qatar – Qatar is in a “re-evaluation phase” when it comes to trying to mediate talks between Israel and Hamas over a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
“We need to see seriousness from everyone,” Majed al-Ansari, spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference on Tuesday.
He also said that discussions were taking place about Hamas’ current presence in Qatar.
The militant group has had a political office in Doha, Qatar, for years, but the Wall Street Journal reported in recent days that Hamas could leave the country as talks remain stalled. Hamas has denied that the group was considering leaving Qatar.
Associated Press writer Lujain Jo contributed to this report.
UN human rights chief renews warning
The United Nations human rights chief is renewing a warning against a large-scale Israeli offensive on the city of Rafah and condemning recent Israeli attacks on the city.
Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said a major raid on Rafah “would risk more deaths, injuries and large-scale displacement, even more atrocity crimes, for which those responsible would be held accountable.” his office said. in a sentence.
Türk deplored three attacks in Rafah in recent days that reportedly killed mostly women and children. He said that “world leaders are united by the imperative to protect civilians trapped in Rafah.”
Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have sought refuge. It has also vowed to expand its ground offensive against the Hamas militant group to the city on the border with Egypt despite calls for restraint, including from the United States.
Israeli strike kills Hezbollah official
BEIRUT – An Israeli airstrike on a car in southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed a Hezbollah official.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it had killed Hussein Ali Azqul in the attack and described him as an “important” agent of Hezbollah’s air defense unit. Hezbollah confirmed in a statement that Azqul had been killed.
State media and witnesses said the attack occurred in the Adloun area, between the coastal cities of Sidon and Tyre, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the border with Israel.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and allied groups have been clashing with Israeli forces along the border for more than six months in the context of Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has periodically carried out targeted killings of Hezbollah and Hamas members in Lebanon, sometimes in areas far from the border.
Gaza Health Ministry reports 32 dead
Gaza’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that the bodies of 32 people killed by Israeli strikes were brought to local hospitals in the past 24 hours. Hospitals also received 59 injured people, he said in his daily report.
This brings the total number of Palestinian deaths due to the alliance between Israel and Hamas to at least 34,183, the ministry said. Another 77,143 have been injured, he added.
The Health Ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its counts, but has said women and children account for about two-thirds of the dead.
The Israeli military says it has killed 13,000 militants, without providing evidence to support that claim.
Apparent Israeli attack hits car in Lebanon
BEIRUT – An apparent Israeli airstrike on a car in southern Lebanon killed at least one person on Tuesday, officials said.
State media and witnesses said the attack occurred in the Adloun area, between the coastal cities of Sidon and Tyre, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the border with Israel.
It was not immediately clear who was killed.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and allied groups have been clashing with Israeli forces along the border for more than six months in the context of Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Tuesday’s attack. Israel has periodically carried out targeted killings of Hezbollah and Hamas members in Lebanon, sometimes in areas far from the border.
Tents and other makeshift housing are seen built around the Tel al-Sultan refugee camp area on Saturday, April 20, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
Satellite images show a tent complex
JERUSALEM — Satellite photographs analyzed by The Associated Press appear to show a new tent complex being built near Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip as the Israeli military continues to signal that it is planning an offensive against the city of Rafah.
Planet Labs PBC images analyzed by the AP show that the tented complex began fully under construction on April 16, just west of Khan Younis. Images taken on Sunday show the retail complex has grown since then.
The Israeli military said Tuesday that it was not involved in the construction of tents near Khan Younis. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz, without attribution, said Egypt was building the tent complex ahead of a possible offensive on Rafah.
The Israeli military did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment on the tents. However, its construction comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened “additional painful blows” against Hamas over the breakdown of talks on the attempt to free the remaining hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
That could include the long-threatened attack on Rafah, where half of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million residents have fled amid the war. The United States, Israel’s main ally, has repeatedly said that any military operation must protect civilians.
Netanyahu has said he would order the military to evacuate civilians from Rafah for the offensive, but it is unclear where they might go.
Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell contributed to this report.