Israeli Escalation Kills Lebanese Soldier, Hezbollah Missiles Target Kiryat Shmona

An Israeli raid on a site in South Lebanon between the towns of Rmeish and Ramiya (AFP)
An Israeli raid on a site in South Lebanon between the towns of Rmeish and Ramiya (AFP)
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Israeli Escalation Kills Lebanese Soldier, Hezbollah Missiles Target Kiryat Shmona

An Israeli raid on a site in South Lebanon between the towns of Rmeish and Ramiya (AFP)
An Israeli raid on a site in South Lebanon between the towns of Rmeish and Ramiya (AFP)

A Lebanese soldier was killed and three others were wounded on Tuesday in an Israeli shelling that targeted one of their bases in the South, the Lebanese Army announced.

In a statement, the Army Command said that “a military base in the Nabi Oweida-Adaisseh area was attacked by the Israeli enemy, which caused the death of a soldier and the injury of three others.”

The exchange of fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli army escalated violently on Tuesday, reaching its peak in the evening when Kiryat Shmona was targeted with missiles.

Shelling and strikes began early on Tuesday, as Hezbollah carried out four military operations until noon, targeting the Shebaa Farms in the eastern sector. Israel said that it shot down a drone near Margaliot on the northern border with Lebanon, while the Israeli media announced the closure of several roads in the Upper Galilee to traffic.

In a statement, the Israeli army said that it attacked Hezbollah positions in response to the cross-border attack. It stated that fighter jets “bombed Hezbollah launch sites, terrorist infrastructure, and a military complex”, in response to “launching operations from Lebanon into Israel” on Monday.

The statement added that Israel responded to rocket fire against Zarit by striking “the sources of fire,” noting that it also “struck a few other locations in Lebanese territory” to eliminate unspecified threats.

In the evening, the Israeli media announced that sirens sounded in Kiryat Shmona, Margaliot and Manara in northern Israel, and said that the Israeli army had closed several road axes in the Upper Galilee region in northern Kiryat Shmona.

On Tuesday, Hezbollah announced a series of operations against Israeli positions and concentrations of Israeli soldiers on the border, including the Ruwais al-Asi and Tayhat Triangle sites opposite the town of Mays al-Jabal, the Zabdin Barracks located in the Shebaa Farms, and Al-Bayad site opposite to the Lebanese town of Blida.



Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

 A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
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Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

 A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)

Israel’s military ordered the evacuation Saturday of a crowded part of Gaza designated as a humanitarian zone, saying it is planning an operation against Hamas militants in Khan Younis, including parts of Muwasi, a makeshift tent camp where thousands are seeking refuge.

The order comes in response to rocket fire that Israel says originates from the area. It's the second evacuation issued in a week in an area designated for Palestinians fleeing other parts of Gaza. Many Palestinians have been uprooted multiple times in search of safety during Israel's punishing air and ground campaign.

On Monday, after the evacuation order, multiple Israeli airstrikes hit around Khan Younis, killing at least 70 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, citing figures from Nasser Hospital.

The area is part of a 60-square-kilometer (roughly 20-square-mile) “humanitarian zone” to which Israel has been telling Palestinians to flee to throughout the war. Much of the area is blanketed with tent camps that lack sanitation and medical facilities and have limited access to aid, United Nations and humanitarian groups say. About 1.8 million Palestinians are sheltering there, according to Israel's estimates. That's more than half Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 39,100 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The UN estimated in February that some 17,000 children in the territory are now unaccompanied, and the number is likely to have grown since.

The war began with an assault by Hamas fighters on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. About 115 are still in Gaza, about a third of them believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.