Middle East
Fire and smoke rises above buildings during an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on October 8, 2023. Photo: Eyad Baba/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Lebanon’s Hezbollah launched rocket strikes on Israeli positions on Sunday, adding a new front to the deadliest escalation in years between Israel and Hamas, as fears rise of a huge ground incursion in Gaza.
Hundreds of people have been reported dead on both sides as an all-out war rages between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants with Lebanon’s Hezbollah launching rocket strikes on Israeli positions in the north.
A massive Hamas air, ground, and sea offensive on Saturday that caught Israel by surprise prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare later in the day that they were “embarking on a long and difficult war” with the militant group, warning residents of the Gaza Strip who are under Israeli land, air, and sea blockade to leave the territory.
It is the bloodiest escalation of the Israel-Palestine conflict in decades, fifty years since the Yom Kippur war.
The Palestinian health ministry reported that 256 civilians, including 20 children, were killed in Israeli strikes. More than 200 Israelis have been killed by the surprise Hamas attacks and over 1,000 wounded, according to the army. Many Israeli soldiers and civilians have also been taken hostage by Hamas and sent to Gaza.
Residential buildings in Gaza were flattened as attacks hit a 14-story building as well as Hamas offices in the center.
The conflict took a new turn on Sunday morning when Lebanon’s Hezbollah group claimed responsibility for mortar strikes from Lebanon into northern Israel’s Shebaa Farms area and expressed solidarity with the Palestinians, raising concerns that a new front could be opened in the conflict.
In retaliation, the Israeli Defense Forces said that artillery strikes were launched on Hezbollah positions in northern Lebanon.
“AN IDF UAV also struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the area of Mount Dov,” the IDF said on X.
Palestinians in Gaza spent the night in darkness, while under heavy attack, after Israel cut off the power supplies to the Hamas-controlled enclave.
The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed group of the Hamas movement, said on Sunday morning that its fighters were still engaged in several battles inside Israel, including the areas of Ofakim, Sderot, Yad Mordechai, and Kfar Azzza, Be’eri, and Kissufim.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) said it is concerned by the “dramatic” upsurge of violence and loss of life in Israel and Gaza.
“Israel has the right to defend itself and its people, full stop. There’s never a justification for terrorist attacks and my administration’s support for Israeli’s security is rock solid and unwavering,” US President Joe Biden said, emphasizing Washington’s support for Israel.
Pro-Palestinian rallies were held in Iran, Turkey, Yemen, and Kuwait with crowds waving Palestinian flags in support of the people in Gaza. Hundreds of Palestinians also took to the streets in refugee camps in Lebanon.
“We are dismayed by the dramatic escalation of violence and mourn the extensive loss of civilian life in Israel and Gaza today,” the IRC said in a statement on Saturday, calling on both sides to adhere to international law.
Hamas claimed the surprise attack on Israel was in response to attacks on the al-Aqsa mosque, decades of occupation, and increasing tension between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank.
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