Smoke from Israeli shelling rises above the southern Lebanese village of Khiam in July. Photo / Getty Images
Smoke from Israeli shelling rises above the southern Lebanese village of Khiam in July. Photo / Getty Images
Israeli jets have launched strikes in Lebanon after the military assessed that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement was preparing to fire rockets and missiles towards Israel.
“The IDF identified the Hezbollah terrorist organisation preparing to fire missiles and rockets toward Israeli territory. In response to these threats, the IDF is striking terror targets in Lebanon,” the Israel Defence Forces said early on Sunday.
Flights to and from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv were suspended, and Israel’s Cabinet was to meet at 7am, Israeli media reported.
Hezbollah did not immediately comment on the strikes, which came amid heightened expectations of an escalation between the two sides since a missile strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in July killed 12 youngsters and the Israeli military assassinated a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut in response.
“In the near future, Hezbollah will launch rockets, and possibly missiles towards the territory of the State of Israel,” the Israeli military said.
“In a self-defence act to remove these threats, the IDF is striking terror targets in Lebanon, from which Hezbollah was planning to launch their attacks on Israeli civilians.”
Israeli air strikes have killed at least three dozen Palestinians in the south of the Gaza Strip, health workers say, as officials including a Hamas delegation gathered for high-level ceasefire talks in neighbouring Egypt.
On Saturday, Israeli air strikes killed at least three dozen Palestinians in the south of the Gaza Strip, health workers say, as officials including a Hamas delegation gathered for high-level ceasefire talks in neighbouring Egypt.
Eleven members of a family, including two children, were among the dead after an air strike hit their home in Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital which received a total of 33 bodies from three strikes in and around the city that also hit tuk-tuks and passers-by.
The Israeli army said it was looking into the reports.
Gaza ceasefire and hostage negotiators discussed new compromise proposals in Cairo on Saturday, seeking to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas.
A Hamas delegation arrived to be nearer at hand to review any proposals that emerge in the main talks between Israel and the mediating countries Egypt, Qatar and the United States, two Egyptian security sources said.
Months of on-off talks have failed to produce a breakthrough to end Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza or free the remaining hostages seized by Hamas in the militant group’s October 7 attack that triggered the war.
The Egyptian sources said the new proposals include compromises on outstanding points such as how to secure key areas and the return of people to north Gaza.
However there was no sign of any breakthrough on key sticking points, including Israel’s insistence that it must retain control of the so-called Philadelphi Corridor on the border between Gaza and Egypt.
Hamas has accused Israel of going back on things it had previously agreed to in the talks, which Israel denies.
The group says the United States is not mediating in good faith.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has locked horns with Israeli ceasefire negotiators over whether Israeli troops must remain all along the border between Gaza and Egypt, a person with knowledge of the talks said.
A Palestinian official familiar with mediation efforts said it was too soon to predict the outcome of talks.
“Hamas is there to discuss the outcome of the mediators’ talks with the Israeli officials and whether there is enough to suggest a change in the Netanyahu stance about reaching a deal,” the official said.
Palestinians in the Hamad area of Khan Yunis, Gaza, continue to struggle to survive under difficult conditions amidst the rubble of destroyed buildings. Photo / Getty Images
Continuing the war will worsen the plight of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, nearly all of them homeless in tents or shelters among the ruins, with malnutrition rampant and disease spreading, and risk the lives of the remaining Israeli hostages.
The October 7 attack killed 1200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s Gaza campaign has killed more than 40,000 people, Palestinian health authorities say.
