Hamas Says Three Members Killed after Infiltrating into Israel from Lebanon

Rockets are launched from the coast of the Gaza Strip towards Israel by militants of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, Gaza City, 14 October 2023. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
Rockets are launched from the coast of the Gaza Strip towards Israel by militants of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, Gaza City, 14 October 2023. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
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Hamas Says Three Members Killed after Infiltrating into Israel from Lebanon

Rockets are launched from the coast of the Gaza Strip towards Israel by militants of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, Gaza City, 14 October 2023. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
Rockets are launched from the coast of the Gaza Strip towards Israel by militants of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, Gaza City, 14 October 2023. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, claimed responsibility in a statement on Sunday for yesterday’s infiltration from Lebanon towards Israel and announced that 3 of its fighters were killed after they managed to “penetrate into” Israel.

The group said its fighters managed to blow the border fence between the two countries and target the surveillance and access point inside occupied Palestine.

Clashes with Israeli forces caused losses on both sides, added Hamas, explaining that an Israeli aircraft targeted its fighters “during the clash” which led to their death, the Agence France-Presse reported.

On Saturday, for the second consecutive day, armed groups tried to infiltrate into Israel from Lebanon. The Israeli army said it detected “a terrorist commando trying to enter Israeli territory from Lebanon,” and that an Israeli patrol opened gunfire killing many of them.

Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee said Sunday that warplanes were able to kill Bilal al-Qudra, the commander of an elite Hamas unit in Khan Yunis, who was said to have been responsible for an attack by the movement in Nirim and Nir-Oz, according to the Arab World News Agency.

“Under the intelligence guidance of the Shin Bet, warplanes were able to eliminate the so-called Bilal al-Qudra, commander of Hamas’ elite unit in the South Khan Yunis Battalion... A number of other activists in (Hamas) and (Islamic Jihad) were also eliminated,” Adraee said on X platform.

The spokesman stated that the Israeli army raided more than 100 targets last night in Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, Khan Yunis, and western Jabalia to weaken Hamas’ capabilities.



Far-Right Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir Visits Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound

 Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations by the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations by the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP)
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Far-Right Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir Visits Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound

 Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations by the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations by the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP)

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday, his spokesperson said, prompting strong condemnation from Jordan and Palestinian group Hamas.

The firebrand politician was visiting the site, which is sacred to Jews and Muslims, in occupied east Jerusalem after returning to the Israeli government last month following the resumption of the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Ben-Gvir had quit the cabinet in January in protest at the ceasefire agreement in the Palestinian territory.

Since the formation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government at the end of 2022, Ben-Gvir has made several trips to the Al-Aqsa compound, each time triggering international outcry.

In a statement, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry condemned Wednesday’s visit as a “storming” and “an unacceptable provocation.”

Hamas called it a “provocative and dangerous escalation,” saying the visit was “part of the ongoing genocide against our Palestinian people.”

“We call on our Palestinian people and our youth in the West Bank to escalate their confrontation... in defense of our land and our sanctities, foremost among them the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque,” it said in a statement.

The site is Islam’s third-holiest and a symbol of Palestinian national identity.

Known to Jews as the Temple Mount, it is also Judaism’s holiest place, revered as the site of the second temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Under the status quo maintained by Israel, which has occupied east Jerusalem and its Old City since 1967, Jews and other non-Muslims are allowed to visit the compound during specified hours, but they are not permitted to pray there or display religious symbols.

Ben-Gvir’s spokesperson told AFP the minister “went there because the site was opened (for non-Muslims) after 13 days,” during which access was reserved for Muslims for the festival of Eid al-Fitr and the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

In recent years, growing numbers of Jewish ultranationalists have defied the rules, including Ben-Gvir, who publicly prayed there in 2023 and 2024.

The Israeli government has said repeatedly that it intends to uphold the status quo at the compound but Palestinian fears about its future have made it a flashpoint for violence.