Israel Netanyahu: Will achieve all war aims
According to Palestinian reports, dozens of people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the north of the Gaza Strip.
20.10.2024, 05:23
SDA
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that a residential complex in the village of Beit Lahia, where civilians were living, was destroyed. 73 people were killed and numerous people were injured. Israel's army described the figures as exaggerated after an initial review. The information provided by both sides cannot be independently verified.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced further strikes against the enemies of the only Jewish state following a drone attack attributed to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, which according to the government was aimed at Netanyahu. "I say to Iran and its proxies in its axis of evil: Anyone who tries to harm the citizens of Israel will pay a heavy price," Netanyahu said. "Israel is determined to achieve all its war aims and change the security situation in our region for generations to come."
Iran, considered Hezbollah's most important supporter, denied involvement in the drone attack, which took place in the coastal town of Caesarea, where Netanyahu's private home is located. "This operation was carried out by Hezbollah," said the Iranian UN mission in New York, according to the Mehr news agency.
The attempt by the Shia militia to "assassinate" him and his wife was a serious mistake, Netanyahu wrote on X. He and his wife were not at home at the time of the attack, a government spokesperson told the German Press Agency. According to the army, no one was injured.
Sirens wail again in Israel
Following the killing of Hamas leader Jihia al-Sinwar in the Gaza Strip, which became known on Thursday, Hezbollah announced an expansion of its attacks against Israel, which began just over a year ago. Shortly before Sinwar's death, four soldiers had already been killed in a drone attack by the militia on an Israeli army base near the town of Binjamina. More than 50 soldiers were injured in the attack 60 kilometers north of Tel Aviv. In response, an Israeli army spokesman said that lessons would be learned and that the army would be better prepared in future.
According to new information from the army late in the evening, Hezbollah fired around 200 more shells at Israel from Lebanon during the course of the day. The warning sirens continued to wail in northern Israel during the night. For its part, Israel's military again attacked southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut. The Lebanese news agency NNA reported that the suburb of Haret Hreik was again hit by a whole series of strikes. According to Israel's military, the attacks targeted weapons depots and a Hezbollah intelligence headquarters.
Israel continues to attack in Lebanon
Israel's military always emphasizes that it is taking measures to protect civilians. However, innocent people continue to be killed or injured. As its most important ally, the US government recently criticized Israel unusually clearly for the attacks in the Beirut area and called for consideration. Israel's military, meanwhile, accuses Hezbollah of deliberately setting up weapons depots and production facilities in Beirut under residential buildings in order to abuse civilians as human shields.
Waiting for Israel's retaliatory strikes
After Iran, which is allied with Hezbollah and Hamas, fired around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel two weeks ago, Netanyahu's government announced that it would retaliate. It remains to be seen when and how Israel will retaliate.
According to media reports, the US authorities are investigating the publication of alleged US intelligence information about Israel's plans for the retaliatory strikes. The top-secret documents, dated October 15 and 16, have been circulating online since Friday and were initially published on the Telegram platform, reported the US broadcaster CNN. A person familiar with the matter confirmed the authenticity of the documents. According to the news portal "Axios", they describe "detailed measures that have been carried out at several Israeli air bases in recent days".
Meanwhile, Israel's army is also continuing to take action against militant Islamists in the Gaza Strip. Following attacks in the Jabalia refugee camp in the north of the sealed-off coastal area, all three hospitals there had to cease operations, according to Palestinian reports. Two of them were directly attacked on 18 October, criticized the UN emergency aid office Ocha. Over the past two weeks, the Israeli armed forces had increased the pressure on these hospitals to evacuate them, it said. However, patients have nowhere to go and have been injured, as have medical staff and displaced persons.
Military: Footage shows Sinwar before the massacre
Meanwhile, Israel's military released further video footage allegedly showing Hamas leader Sinwar on the eve of the massacre carried out by Hamas terrorists and other Islamist groups in Israel on October 7, 2023. Sinwar is considered the mastermind of the unprecedented attack, in which the terrorists killed around 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. In the footage, a gray-haired man can be seen repeatedly walking barefoot up and down a narrow tunnel, carrying bags or water bottles. According to the Jerusalem Post, the footage was seized in Gaza a few months ago.
At the beginning of the edited scenes, two boys lead the way, walking towards the camera through the tunnel, which is completely dark in places. Behind the man walk a girl and a woman - according to the army, they are Sinwar's family. A few hours before the massacre, Sinwar was carrying a television with one of the boys into his hiding place. Army spokesman Nadav Shoshani wrote on X: "He takes his TV into his tunnel, hides among his civilians and prepares to watch his terrorists murder, kidnap and rape."
The terrorist attack in October triggered the Gaza war, which also led to an escalation in the armed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. According to Palestinian figures, more than 42,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since then. It is not clear how many of them are civilians, and the figures cannot be independently verified. According to the UN, however, the figures are largely credible and most of those killed are women and children.
