New Delhi: Southern Israeli border areas came under renewed rocket fire from Gaza on Tuesday, marking 200 days since the October 7 attacks that ignited the current conflict. Four rockets were intercepted by Israel’s missile defence system, with fragments hitting a warehouse in Sderot and causing a fire.
The armed wing of Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas, claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks on Sderot and Nir Am. According to Israeli figures, more than 16,000 rockets have been fired at Israel by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups since October 7, 2023.
Meanwhile, Israel intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza overnight, resulting in some of the heaviest shelling in weeks. The onslaught has caused widespread panic among residents and led to the destruction of several neighbourhoods. Israeli tanks made a new incursion east of Beit Hanoun on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, with gunfire reaching some schools where displaced residents were seeking shelter.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also reported that its fighter jets had carried out airstrikes on Hamas rocket launching pads in southern Gaza and conducted operations against approximately 25 targets throughout Palestinian territory. The IDF added that Israeli sniper fire had killed a number of terrorists.
Simultaneously Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group on Tuesday launched a drone attack on Israeli military bases north of Acre. This marks the deepest incursion into Israeli territory since the onset of the Gaza war. The Lebanese group added the attack was “in response” to an Israeli drone strike that killed one of its members in south Lebanon earlier in the day.
Hussein Azkoul, an engineer in Hezbollah’s aerial defence units. Sources close to Hezbollah revealed that Israel had been targeting their fighters by closely monitoring their homes via surveillance drones.
The Israeli military confirmed that its airstrikes had killed two Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon. The news was accompanied by the blaring of air raid sirens in northern Israel, signalling a potential escalation of hostilities.
The exchange of fire across Lebanon’s southern frontier is occurring in parallel with the ongoing Gaza war, stoking fears of a broader regional conflict.
