Early on Good Friday morning, Israel attacked targets inside Lebanon after earlier during the night attacking targets in Gaza. The UN peacekeeping force in the area calls for calm. Israel’s military stated early on Good Friday morning that it is carrying out attacks on targets in Lebanon from which more than 30 rockets were allegedly fired at Israel on Thursday. Israel says it is certain that the rockets fired from Lebanon were “Palestinian” with the Islamist group Hamas, which rules Gaza, or the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad as the sender. At least three explosions were reportedly heard in the Tire region of southern Lebanon on Friday morning, according to an AFP reporter on the ground. Large explosions The pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement’s television channel al-Manar reports that shellfire has been directed at three areas in southern Lebanon, including an area where a refugee camp is located. The United Nations peacekeeping force said on Friday that both Israel and Lebanon say “they do not want war” and are calling on both sides to cease hostile activities. Earlier in the night, the Israeli military struck targets in Gaza – also as a result of the extensive rocket attacks from Lebanese territory on Thursday. At least two large explosions are said to have been heard in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military states that it bombed four targets linked to the Islamist group Hamas, which governs Gaza. Mikati condemns In a statement, Hamas said that “Israel bears responsibility for the aggressions and their consequences” and called on Palestinian groups to unite against the “occupational power”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the country’s enemies on Thursday evening: – We will strike at our enemies and they will have to pay a price for every act of aggression, Netanyahu said in a short video statement from a government meeting during the day. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the rocket fire from Lebanon and said the Lebanese military and the United Nations are investigating and trying to find those who fired. Mikati also said his government categorically “condemns all military escalation and the use of Lebanese territory to commit acts that threaten stability”.
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Israeli attacks on targets in Lebanon and Gaza
