On Monday morning, the Israeli Air Force struck two Hezbollah cells located in Lebanon whose mission is to fire anti-tank missiles and rockets into Israel. In a joint statement, the leaders of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom reaffirmed their support for Israel and its right to self-defense. They pledged their continued cooperation in providing humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip. Here are the most important events from Israel and the Gaza Strip in recent hours.
> On Monday morning, the Israeli Air Force struck two Hezbollah cells located in Lebanon whose mission is to fire anti-tank missiles and rockets into Israel. Lebanon’s state news agency NNA confirmed the attack, and Reuters reported that Hezbollah sources, while excluding details, said one of their fighters had been killed.
> At least three Palestinians were killed and several wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip city of Jabaliya, Reuters reported on Sunday evening, citing witnesses and Palestinian medical services. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that most of the casualties from Israeli airstrikes in the past 24 hours were in the southern Gaza Strip.
Explosions in the Gaza Strip Reuters
> In a joint statement issued after Sunday’s phone conversation on the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas, the leaders of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Britain reaffirmed their support for Israel and its right to defend itself. They pledged to continue working with regional partners to ensure the people of Gaza have “sustainable and secure access” to food, water, medical and other humanitarian assistance. At the same time, they have requested the country to respect international humanitarian law and protect civilians.
> French President Emmanuel Macron will begin a two-day visit to Israel on Tuesday. Macron is also likely to visit Lebanon and Egypt during the trip, “Le Parisien” newspaper reported. An attack by the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas on Israel has left 30 French citizens dead and seven missing. Some of them are — as the French Foreign Ministry declared — “mostly hostages of Hamas.”
Emmanuel MacronPAP/EPA
> Pope Francis also spoke to the US president about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. The conversation between the pope and the American leader lasted for about 20 minutes, Saint Seer said in a short statement.
> Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari announced that the Israeli army detained more than 450 people in the West Bank. Meanwhile, Palestinian officials said eight more people were killed in Israeli attacks in the region. The total number of people killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since October 7 has risen to 93, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
> Hamas fighters clashed with Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip, CNN reported on Sunday. Hamas claims to have destroyed two Israeli military bulldozers and a tank that were ambushed and forced Israeli soldiers to abandon their vehicles and retreat into Israel. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that “fire was fired at IDF soldiers operating in the Kissufim area, west of the Gaza Strip” and that “an IDF tank hit a terrorist cell that opened fire on the soldiers.”
> Thousands of people took to the streets of New York’s Brooklyn Bay Ridge on Sunday. They called for an end to attacks on civilians in the Gaza Strip and a ceasefire. Around 15,000 people gathered in Place de la République in Paris on Sunday to show support for Palestine. A day earlier, pro-Palestinian demonstrations also took place in Germany – around 5,000 people marched in Berlin on Saturday, and slightly fewer in Düsseldorf.
There are Palestinian flags on the Place de la République in Paris PAP/EPA
Main photo source: EPA