Israel strikes Lebanon and Gaza after major rocket attack
Israel has launched attacks on targets linked to the militant group Hamas in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that Hamas’ “terrorist” infrastructure was hit in southern Lebanon in response to a major rocket barrage on Israel from Lebanon, which the Israelis blamed on Hamas.
The tension between the two sides has been high after Israeli police raided Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque on consecutive nights earlier in the week, triggering violent confrontations with Palestinians inside and causing outrage in the wider region.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was in Lebanon when the rockets were launched, said Palestinians would not “sit with their arms crossed” in the face of Israeli aggression.
The IDF tweeted that it had struck targets “including terrorist infrastructures belonging to Hamas in southern Lebanon” and warned that it would not allow Hamas to operate from Lebanon.
Hamas denied responsibility for the rocket attack from Lebanon.
Israeli warplanes also carried out air strikes in Gaza, targeting an underground weapons production site and three above-ground sites.
Palestinian militants responded by firing rockets at southern Israel.
The Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to hit Israel’s enemies and called for a calming of tensions, whilst Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned any military operations from the country’s territory that “destabilise the situation.”
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