Hezbollah says firing dozens of rockets at "new target" in Israel
This is a reaction to the Israeli attacks on the villages of Kfar Kela and Deir Siriane in Lebanon, where civilians were injured, according to a statement from the Hisbollah. Earlier, the militia had announced that two of its fighters had been killed, including a 17-year-old from Deir Siriane.
There have been almost daily skirmishes at the border between Israel and Lebanon since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The attacks had intensified recently. Last week, twelve children and teenagers were killed in a village in the Golan Heights by rocket fire from Lebanon.
International fears of an escalation in the Middle East are growing after Iran and its allies threatened a "hard reaction" to the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in an attack in Tehran on Wednesday. Just hours earlier, Hisbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in Beirut, for which Israel claimed responsibility. Israel's army and government have not commented on Haniyeh's killing.
On Saturday, Iran said that Hisbollah would also attack Israel "in depth" after Shukr's death and not limit itself to military targets, according to the Iranian news agency IRNA. Israel had crossed a line with Shukr's killing on Tuesday, it said.
Meanwhile, the US said it would strengthen its defense capabilities in the region. Additional warships and fighter jets would be sent to protect US forces and defend Israel, the Pentagon said on Friday.
The foreign ministers of France and the US, Stéphane Séjourné and Antony Blinken, agreed in a joint call on Saturday to call for restraint. They would "urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint to prevent a regional conflagration that would have catastrophic consequences for the countries of the region," the French foreign ministry said. Both countries would also continue their efforts to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Turkish Airlines canceled its flights to Tehran for the second night in a row on Saturday. The airline did not give a reason for the cancellations and has not officially announced the suspension of flights.
Thousands of people took to the streets in several countries, including Turkey, Morocco, and Jordan, on Saturday to protest Haniyeh's killing and express their solidarity with the Palestinians.
In Israel, people demonstrated again against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing it of prolonging the war to stay in power. They called again for a ceasefire agreement and the release of hostages.
The war in the Gaza Strip has been going on for almost ten months. It was triggered by the unprecedented large-scale attack by the Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas on Israel on October 7. According to Israeli figures, 1197 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage in the attack. Since then, Israel has been conducting large-scale military operations in the Gaza Strip.
According to figures from the Hamas-controlled health ministry, which cannot be independently verified, at least 39,550 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since then.
On Saturday evening, the Civil Defense reported at least 17 deaths from an Israeli airstrike. The agency told the AFP news agency that there were "17 martyrs and several injured" following the attack on the Hamama School in Gaza City. The Israeli military confirmed the strike, stating that a Hamas command center had been hit.
The United States has expressed its concern about the escalating tensions in the Middle East and has announced its plans to bolster its defense capabilities in the region to protect its forces and support Israel. The United States, along with France, has urged all parties involved to exercise restraint to avoid a full-blown conflict with potentially devastating consequences for the region.
