GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: The Israeli army accused the Syrian government on Saturday of ordering Palestinian militants in Gaza supported by Iran to fire dozens of rockets into southern Israel, and threatened to retaliate wherever it chose.
The barrage of rockets, which began late Friday and continued into Saturday, triggered extensive retaliatory strikes by Israeli aircraft against Gaza that risked escalating into a wider conflict.
The new flare-up came hours after six Palestinians died in renewed clashes on the Gaza-Israel border even as the territory's Islamist rulers Hamas said Egypt was seeking to negotiate a return to calm.
“The rockets that were launched against Israel... we know that the orders, incentives were given from Damascus with the clear involvement of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force,” army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said, referring to the Guards' foreign operations unit.
At least 39 rockets have been fired at southern Israel by the Islamic Jihad group since late Friday, with 17 of them intercepted by air defences and the rest hitting open ground, the army said.
Israeli aircraft carried out extensive retaliatory strikes, targeting approximately 90 sites belonging to the territory's Islamist rulers Hamas.
Conricus said that Israel held Hamas responsible for the fire, even though it was carried out by Islamic Jihad at the behest of Syria and its ally Iran.
“We hold Hamas responsible for everything coming from Gaza,” he said.
Conricus said Israel would also retaliate against the Syrian government and Iran's Quds Force, and would choose where.
“Part of the address by which we will deal with this fire is also in Damascus and the Quds Force,” he said. “Our response is not limited geographically.”
The biggest rocket barrage from Gaza in months came despite talk of progress towards an Egyptian-brokered deal to end months of often violent protests along the border in return for an easing of Israel's crippling 11-year blockade.
On Sunday, Israel reopened the people and goods border crossings with Gaza and on Wednesday renewed the flow of Qatar-funded fuel to the Palestinian enclave, in an indication of its confidence that Hamas would rein in violence.
The Friday border marches however drew 16,000 protesters, some of them clashing with Israeli soldiers.
Five Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli fire in separate incidents along the border fence, the Gaza health ministry said.
A sixth died when a hand grenade he was holding exploded accidentally, witnesses said.
There were no reports of casualties in Gaza as a result of the Israeli air strikes, which began late Friday and continued on Saturday.
In Gaza City, a four-storey building was completely destroyed in a strike, AFP correspondents reported.
The Israeli army said it was a major headquarters of Hamas.
Israel has fought three wars since 2008 with Hamas and its allies, including Islamic Jihad, and Egypt and the United Nations have been leading diplomatic efforts to avert a fourth.
The armed wing of Islamic Jihad, the second largest militant group in Gaza, threatened to continue the rocket fire on Saturday.
The “resistance is considering expanding the response in number and type, if the enemy continues its aggression against our people,” it said.
Israel has struck Syria dozens of times in recent years, saying it is preventing Iran from supplying advanced weapons to enemies of the Jewish state.
US President Donald Trump's peace envoy Jason Greenblatt condemned the rocket fire.
“More rockets from Gaza into Israel. Another night where parents are ushering terrified children to cover. Violence will not build futures for anyone,” he said on Twitter.
Palestinians have gathered for protests along the border at least weekly since March 30.
At least 213 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since the protests began, according to figures collated by AFP.
The majority have died during protests, while smaller numbers have been killed by air strikes or tank fire.
One Israeli soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian sniper over the same period.
The protesters are calling to be allowed to return to lands their families fled or were expelled from in the 1948 war that accompanied Israel's creation.
They are also protesting over Israel's crippling blockade.
Reports Friday suggested a deal had been reached that would see the protests end in exchange for an easing of the blockade.
Hamas officials denied any had been reached but confirmed to AFP that progress was being made.
Israel says its blockade is necessary to isolate Hamas, while critics say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza's two million residents.
Israel accuses Syria, Iran of orchestrating Gaza rocket fire
Israel accuses Syria, Iran of orchestrating Gaza rocket fire
- At least 39 rockets have been fired at southern Israel by the Islamic Jihad group since late Friday
- On Friday, six Palestinians died in renewed clashes on the Gaza-Israel border
Pope Francis set to visit Turkiye for Council of Nicaea anniversary in 2025
- The pope had already expressed in June the desire to go on the trip despite international travel becoming increasingly difficult for him
The early centuries of Christianity were marked by debate about how Jesus could be both God and man, and the Church decided on the issue at the First Council of Nicaea in 325.
“During the Holy Year, we will also have the opportunity to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the first great Ecumenical Council, that of Nicaea. I plan to go there,” the pontiff was quoted as saying at a theological committee event.
The city, now known as Iznik, is in western Anatolia, some 150km southeast of Istanbul.
The pope had already expressed in June the desire to go on the trip and the spiritual head of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, had said the two men would celebrate the important recurrence together but no official confirmation had been made yet.
Despite international travel becoming increasingly difficult for him because of health issues, Francis, who will turn 88 on Dec. 17, completed in September a 12-day tour across Asia, the longest of his 11-year papacy.
Israel wants India’s Adani Group to continue investments after US bribery allegations
- Adani Group holds a 70 percent stake in Haifa port in northern Israel and is involved in multiple other projects with firms in the country
- US last week accused Adani Group of being part of scheme to pay bribes of $265 million to secure contracts, misleading US investors
HYDERABAD, India: Israel wants India’s Adani Group to continue to invest in the country, Israel’s envoy to India said on Thursday, affirming the nation’s support for the ports-to-media conglomerate whose billionaire founder is facing bribery allegations in the United States.
“We wish Adani and all Indian companies continue to invest in Israel,” Ambassador Reuven Azar said in an interview with Reuters, adding that allegations by US authorities were “not something that’s problematic” from Israel’s point of view.
The Adani Group holds a 70% stake in Haifa port in northern Israel and is involved in multiple other projects with firms in the country, including to produce military drones and plans for the manufacture of commercial semiconductors.
US authorities last week accused Gautam Adani, his nephew, and Adani Green’s managing director of being part of a scheme to pay bribes of $265 million to secure Indian power supply contracts and misleading US investors during fund raising efforts there.
Adani Group has denied all the accusations, calling them “baseless.”
Still, shares and bonds of Adani companies were hammered last week and some partners began to review joint projects.
“I am sure Adani Group will resolve its problems,” Azar said on the sidelines of an event in the southern city of Hyderabad.
Lebanon to hold parliament session on Jan. 9 to elect president
- State news agency: ‘Speaker Nabih Berri called a parliament session to elect a president of the republic on January 9’
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s parliament will hold a session in January to elect a new president, official media reported on Thursday, a day after an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire began and following more than two years of presidential vacuum.
“Speaker Nabih Berri called a parliament session to elect a president of the republic on January 9,” the official National News Agency reported.
Israel says ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon violated
- Lebanese security sources and state media report tank fire struck Markaba, Wazzani and Kfarchouba
- Lebanon’s military deployed troops and tanks across the country’s south on Thursday
BEIRUT: Israel’s military announced on Thursday that it had detected the presence of suspects in several areas of southern Lebanon, calling it a violation of the ceasefire with Hezbollah.
Earlier on Thursday Israeli tank fire targeted three towns along Lebanon’s southeastern border with Israel, according to Lebanese security sources and state media. The strikes came a day after the ceasefire, which prohibits “offensive military operations,” had officially taken effect.
The tank fire hit Markaba, Wazzani, and Kfarchouba, all located within two kilometers of the Blue Line that marks the border between Lebanon and Israel. One security source reported that two people were wounded in Markaba.
A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah took effect on Wednesday under a deal brokered by the US and France, intended to allow people in both countries to start returning to homes in border areas shattered by 14 months of fighting.
But managing the returns have been complicated. Israeli troops remain stationed within Lebanese territory in towns along the border, and on Thursday morning the Israeli military urged residents of towns along the border strip not to return yet for their own safety.
The three towns hit on Thursday morning lie within that strip.
There was no immediate comment on the tank rounds from Hezbollah or Israel, who had been fighting for over a year in parallel with the Gaza war.
Lebanon’s military deployed troops and tanks across the country’s south on Thursday as a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war largely held for a second day.
A Lebanese army source said its forces were “conducting patrols and setting up checkpoints” south of the Litani River without advancing into areas where Israeli forces were still present.
In the border village of Qlaaya, residents threw rice and flowers to celebrate the arrival of Lebanese soldiers.
“We only want the Lebanese army,” chanted the residents of the Christian-majority village, as they clapped and cheered for the troops and waved the Lebanese red, white and green flag.
Since the ceasefire took effect on Wednesday, tens of thousands of Lebanese who fled their homes have headed back to their towns and villages, only to find scenes of devastation.
“Despite all the destruction and the sorrow, we are happy to be back,” said Umm Mohammed Bzeih, a widow who fled with her four children from the southern village of Zibqin two months ago.
“I feel as if our souls have returned,” she said, visibly exhausted as she swept up the shattered glass and pieces of stones that carpeted the floor.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said his group was cooperating on the army’s deployment in the south.
There is “full cooperation” with the Lebanese state in strengthening the army’s deployment, he said, adding the group had “no visible weapons or bases” but “nobody can make residents leave their villages.”
The agreement, a rare diplomatic feat in a region racked by conflict, ended the deadliest confrontation between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group in years. But Israel is still fighting its other arch foe, the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip.
Under the ceasefire terms, Israeli forces can take up to 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had instructed the military not to allow residents back to villages near the border.
Lebanon’s speaker of parliament Nabih Berri, the top interlocutor for Lebanon in negotiating the deal, had said on Wednesday that residents could return home.
Syria war monitor says more than 130 dead in army-militant clashes in north
- Clashes followed “an operation launched by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said
- The air forces of both Syria and its ally Russia struck the attacking militants
BEIRUT: A monitor of Syria’s war said on Thursday that more than 130 combatants had been killed in clashes between the army and militant groups in the country’s north, as the government also reported fierce fighting.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the toll in the clashes which began a day earlier after the militants launched an attack “has risen to 132, including 65 fighters” from Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, 18 from allied factions “and 49 members of the regime forces.”
