Hezbollah said early Sunday, September 8, that it had “bombarded with a salvo of rockets” Kiryat Shmona, a city in northern Israel, “in response to attacks by the enemy.” […] and in particular the attack” which cost the lives of rescuers on Saturday in the village of Froun. For its part, the Israeli army carried out a series of air strikes on “Hezbollah military buildings” and intercepted projectiles fired from Lebanon during the night.
Key information to remember
⇒ Rockets fired at Kiryat Shmona
⇒ Three dead in attack at crossing point between Jordan and occupied West Bank
⇒ For the Joe Biden administration, a ceasefire agreement in Gaza remains possible
Hezbollah fires rockets, Israel responds in southern Lebanon
Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Israeli army exchanged cross-border fire, both sides said on Sunday. The previous day, the Lebanese Health Ministry announced that three Lebanese Civil Defense medics had been killed and two others wounded, one seriously, in an Israeli strike on Froun. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the attack, saying in a statement that “this new aggression against Lebanon is a flagrant violation of international law.”
The Amal movement, an ally of Hezbollah, later said two of its members were among the victims, killed “while carrying out their humanitarian duty.” The Lebanese Health Ministry called the attack “the second of its kind against an emergency team in less than 12 hours.”
Three Israelis killed in attack between Jordan and occupied West Bank
Three Israelis were killed on Sunday in a shooting attack at one of the crossings between the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank and Jordan, Israeli emergency services and security forces said. “After resuscitation efforts, paramedics and MDA (Magen David Adom, Israel’s equivalent of the Red Cross) ambulance workers pronounced three men, aged around 50, dead from gunshot wounds,” they said in a statement.
The alleged assailant was killed, the army and police said, without specifying his identity. According to the army, “the terrorist approached the Allenby Bridge area from Jordan in a truck, got out and opened fire on Israeli security forces operating on the bridge.” The attack comes as Israel has stepped up large-scale military operations in recent weeks in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory it has occupied since 1967.
Biden administration still believes in Gaza deal
With just four months to go before it steps down, President Joe Biden’s administration continues to hold out hope for a ceasefire deal in Gaza after weeks of failed efforts. Washington said this week that a ceasefire deal had “90 percent” approval. But every day that passes without one “risks derailing a very fragile” process, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged.
On May 31, Joe Biden presented a plan for a six-week truce in Gaza, accompanied by a partial Israeli withdrawal and the release of hostages, before a full withdrawal in the longer term. But Benjamin Netanyahu wants to maintain Israeli control over the “Philadelphia corridor”, a buffer zone along the border between Gaza and Egypt.
Antony Blinken said on Thursday that he was convinced that an agreement remained possible before Joe Biden leaves the White House, hoping to influence the Israeli Prime Minister.