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Israel Prepares to Face 'Two Busy Months'

Israeli security forces stand at the site where an Israeli was wounded in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City, Israeli Police said, March 18, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Israeli security forces stand at the site where an Israeli was wounded in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City, Israeli Police said, March 18, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
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Israel Prepares to Face 'Two Busy Months'

Israeli security forces stand at the site where an Israeli was wounded in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City, Israeli Police said, March 18, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Israeli security forces stand at the site where an Israeli was wounded in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City, Israeli Police said, March 18, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

The Israeli Army and Security Forces (Shabak) are preparing to face tension in the Palestinian territories, as the coming months will witness “many inciting events,” according to Israeli military sources.
 
The sources hinted at the possibility of the emergence of a “mini-popular uprising”, in which violent clashes could erupt.
 
They enumerated a list of events in the upcoming months, most notably the commemoration of Earth Day on March 30, the beginning of the Hebrew Passover the following day, in addition to the Prisoner Day on April 17, during which activities are held in every town and village in solidarity with the prisoners. Two days later, Israel commemorates the 70th “founding anniversary” with extended celebrations, and on May 13, it celebrates what it calls the “Jerusalem Liberation Day” and organizes marches inside the walls of the Old City.
 
On May 14, the US State Department will officially transfer its embassy from Tel Aviv to West Jerusalem, as previously announced. On the same day, the Palestinians would commemorate Al-Nakba, and then comes the holy month of Ramadan.
 
The area is expected to witness escalated tensions, according to Israeli security leaders, who are monitoring a large number of planned or anticipated Palestinian events, such as mass rallies organized by Hamas along the border fence towards the end of March.
 
In press remarks on Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman alleged that the Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas “is deliberately provoking a war between Israel and Hamas.”
 
According to the sources, Israel will be requested not only to increase readiness and vigilance on the Gaza border, but also to make initial decisions to try to avoid confrontations, and to determine the extent to which it would intensify the response to attacks from the Gaza Strip. The situation in Gaza will also be affected by events in the West Bank.
 
During this period, coordination with the Palestinian Authority’s security services will also be crucial. It will not only help stop operations, but also prevent mass events that could ignite the region.

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Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
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Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb

An Israeli strike on a Lebanese army center on Sunday killed one soldier and wounded 18 others, the Lebanese military said.

It was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes that have killed over 40 Lebanese troops, even as the military has largely kept to the sidelines in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has said previous strikes on Lebanese troops were accidental and that they are not a target of its campaign against Hezbollah.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned it as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.

“(Israel is) again writing in Lebanese blood a brazen rejection of the solution that is being discussed,” a statement from his office read.

The strike occurred in southwestern Lebanon on the coastal road between Tyre and Naqoura, where there has been heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes since the rocket fire began, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war, as Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.

Israeli airstrikes early Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 20 people and wounding 66, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Hezbollah has continued to fire regular barrages into Israel, forcing people to race for shelters and occasionally killing or wounding them.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardments in northern Israel and in battle following Israel's ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country's north.

Hezbollah fired barrages of rockets into northern and central Israel on Sunday, some of which were intercepted.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating two people in the central city of Petah Tikva, a 23-year-old man who was lightly wounded by a blast and a 70-year-old woman suffering from smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire. The first responders said they also treated two women in their 50s who were wounded in northern Israel.

It was unclear whether the injuries and damage were caused by the rockets or interceptors.

The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a ceasefire, and US envoy Amos Hochstein was back in the region last week.

The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol the area, with the presence of UN peacekeepers.