The Israel Air Force attacked an observation post belonging to Hamas in northern Gaza overnight Thursday, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said.
According to the statement, the air strike was in retaliation for earlier rocket fire directed at Israel.
At around 11:30 p.m. on Thursday evening, terrorists from Gaza fired a rocket toward Israeli territory.
The rocket exploded near the border fence. There were no reports of physical injuries or damages. No siren was sounded in Gaza Belt communities.
Earlier on Thursday, four armed Arab terrorists were captured after they crossed into Israel from Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Israeli security personnel nabbed the four terrorists after they managed to penetrate the security fence along the Israel-Gaza border.
After the four terrorists were captured, Israeli forces found the four were carrying two knives and a grenade. The suspects have been transferred for interrogation.
Syrian media reported that Israel targeted several positions belonging to an Islamic State group affiliate in southern Syrian on Thursday.
The alleged airstrikes were said to have taken place during an offensive by rebel groups against the Islamic State-affiliated group, known as the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army, in the area around the city of Daraa.
Zaman Al Wasl, a pro-rebel outlet, quoted local activists as saying the “Israeli Air Force has been pounding [Islamic State] bastions” during the attack.
Additional Syrian opposition outlets specified that four surface-to-surface missiles were launched at Khalid ibn al-Walid Army positions.
This could not be immediately verified.
The Israeli military does not comment on reports of its alleged activities in Syria.
Israel has maintained a public policy of limited intervention in the Syrian civil war.
The prime minister and senior defense officials have said that the country only takes action in Syria when a “red line” is crossed, generally meaning in retaliation to deliberate or accidental attacks on Israel from southern Syria or when advanced weapons are being transferred to the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group.
There have, however, been reports of additional Israeli actions that do not appear to have been in response to a violated “red line.”
Last October, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Israel conducted airstrikes against the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army, killing 10 people, including two women believed to be the wives of fighters from the faction.
US forces have arrived in Israel to take part in Juniper Cobra, a biennial major military exercise. In the last Juniper Cobra in 2016, more than 3,000 US troops took part, according to a report by Jerusalem Online.
The exercise will imitate a massive simultaneous missile attack on Israel from southern and northern fronts, according to Channel 10 News Agency.
This year, the exercise comes amid escalating tensions with Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which threatened to fire missiles at Israel if it doesn't stop building a wall on its Lebanese border.
In the meantime, Lebanon's energy minister, Cesar Abi Khalil, claimed that Lebanon will explore oil and gas near its maritime border with Israel. This territory has been claimed by Tel Aviv, an action that sparked massive condemnation across the Arab world, according to Washington Post.
Addressing the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Lebanon's latest plans to drill in a disputed offshore oil and gas field known as Block 9 were "very, very challenging and provocative," according to Reuters.
In the same speech, the far-right minister threatened to wage a full-scale war against Lebanon if Hezbollah launched any attacks against Israel, Reuters reported.
"Unlike the 2006 Lebanon War, there cannot be images of Beirut's residents at the beach while [people] in Tel Aviv sit in shelters. If [people] in Israel sit in shelters during the next war, all of Beirut will be in shelters," Lieberman said.
On January 28, Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Ronen Manelis also warned in an op-ed on Lebanese opposition website Ahewar that a war with Israel could break out Beirut allowed Iran to develop precision missiles in the country.
"Lebanon has become — both by its own actions and omissions and by a blind eye from many members of the international community — one large missile factory," Manelis wrote, according to the Jerusalem Post.
"It's no longer a transfer of arms, funds or consultation. Iran has de-facto opened a new branch, the 'Lebanon branch.' Iran is here," he added.
According to Israeli Defense Force assessments, Hezbollah is in possession of an arsenal of at least 100,000 short-range rockets and several thousand more missiles that can reach central Israel. In addition to a massive arsenal of rockets and missiles, Hezbollah is able to mobilize close to 30,000 fighters and has flouted its tunnel system, complete with ventilation, electricity and rocket launchers.
No comments:
Post a Comment