As the possibility of retaliatory airstrikes against Iran grows, and the war it started in response escalates on two fronts, with massive bombings and mass evacuation orders in Lebanon and Gaza, Israel A commemorative ceremony will be held on Monday to mark the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attack. .
As Israelis across the country prepared to mark the first anniversary of Hamas's devastating offensive, the region was on high alert in an unprecedented crisis. In Israel, authorities are marking the anniversary after a gunman opened fire on pedestrians at the Negev desert city's central bus stop, killing one person and wounding 10 in a second previous attack. They announced that they are on alert for combined attacks. week.
In Iran, the airport announced it was canceling all flights between 9pm and 6am, as Israeli military planes attacked in an airstrike that could target Iran's military, oil and even nuclear production. This suggests the possibility that the Iranian government expects that
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against Iran for recent ballistic missile attacks on Israel, but said he will choose the time and place. The U.S. government implored the United States not to cross any red lines that could push the region further into all-out war.
White House and Pentagon officials are consulting with Israel over possible retaliatory strikes. Joe Biden has urged Prime Minister Netanyahu not to target Iran's nuclear or oil production, which could trigger retaliatory attacks from Iran on vulnerable Israeli infrastructure.
At the same time, the Biden administration appears increasingly unable to limit either Israel's brinkmanship with Iran or its ground operations against Iranian government-backed militias in Gaza and Lebanon.
Israel has sent tanks into northern Gaza for the first time in months, launching a major operation to surround Jabalia, the largest of the Strip's eight historic refugee camps. The attack hit a mosque and a school, leaving 24 people dead and nearly half injured. The Hamas-controlled local government says the number is 100.
The escalation in Gaza comes after Israel's attention was refocused on its invasion of southern Lebanon, its largest since 2006. This seemed contrary to analysts' view that Israel would not seek to fight a two-front war in both Lebanon and Gaza. There is also a retaliatory war with Iran in the form of airstrikes.
But on Sunday, Israel issued a new general evacuation order across the northern Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of civilians remain, after a military spokesman declared a “new phase of war” against Hamas.
Local aid workers said the mosque, located near Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, housed people displaced by previous bombings. The Israeli military claimed the mosque was a “Hamas command post.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops near the Lebanese border for the first time on Sunday, as European leaders including Keir Starmer renewed calls for a ceasefire to end deadly wars in Lebanon and Gaza. He declared that he would “win” the conflict. Last year, there were more than 42,000 people.
Israeli warplanes bombed the Dahieh district in southern Beirut in what Lebanon's state news agency called the “heaviest” bombing of the war. Israeli military offensives in the region, home to the Shiite militia Hezbollah, continue at such a rapid pace that rescue workers have been unable to access the area for several days.
In Israel, a suspected terrorist attack occurred at the central bus stop in Beersheva, a city in the Negev desert in southern Israel, killing one woman and injuring 10 others. The attacker, identified as Ahmad al-Uqubi, 29, was killed by police.
Photos and videos posted on social media showed images of at least one person lying on the ground in a pool of blood next to a McDonald's near a bus stop. In another video, gunshots can be heard as law enforcement officers run through the precinct towards the gunfire.
After the attack, Israeli Transport Minister Miri Regev wrote that the suspected attacker's family should be deported. “The time has come to provide a deterrent punishment that prevents attacks on Israeli territory,” she wrote to X.
As part of Monday's remembrance of the Hamas attack that killed more than 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages, President Isaac Herzog embarked on a three-day tour of border communities along Gaza, starting at the scene. announced that it would be implemented. Scenes from the Nova Music Festival near Kibbutz Rem, where 364 people were murdered. The ensuing Israeli invasion of Gaza killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, including at least 16,000 children.
Israel says the expected retaliation against Iran follows attacks by Iran that involved more than 180 missiles and successfully hit key air bases more than 30 times.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, speaking on Sunday, said the bombing had not affected the operational capabilities of the air force and vowed that Israel would strike back against Iran at a time of its own choosing.
“The Iranians did not interfere with the capabilities of the air force. There was no damage to the aircraft, no breakdown of the squadron,” Gallant said during a visit to Nevatim Air Base. He added: “Those who think the mere attempt to harm us will deter us from action should consider the following.” [Israel’s campaigns] in Gaza and Beirut. ”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu visited troops of the 36th Division, one of two divisions deployed along the Lebanese border for combat operations. In his remarks, the prime minister said, “I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families of our country's heroes who lost their lives today in Lebanon.''
Israel said dozens of soldiers were wounded in last week's fighting in Lebanon, while Hezbollah claimed it killed 20 soldiers this weekend. “We are in the middle of a fierce war with the Iranian axis of evil, whose purpose is to destroy us,” Netanyahu said. “That will not happen, because together, with God’s help, we can win together.”
Iran's foreign minister warned on Saturday that Iran would retaliate if attacked by Israel. “Our reaction to any attack by the Zionist regime is absolutely clear,” Abbas Aragushi told reporters during a visit to Syria. “Any action will result in an equally strong reaction from Iran, if not stronger.”
