A new Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon hit a vehicle in which a Hamas militant was travelling, resulting in his death and that of a Syrian civilian passing through the area. The attack came after two days of intense firefight between the Lebanese militant group Hizbul and the Israeli army, in an escalation of tension stemming from the war in the Gaza Strip. The drone attack occurred in the city of Tyre, southern Lebanon, near the Palestinian camp of Rashidieh, where the deceased militant, named Hadi Mustafa, resided. The Israeli army announced that Mustafa was a «major agent» of the organization, although Hamas denied that he was a senior official. Tel Aviv claims that Mustafa was responsible for planning and executing «terrorist attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets» in various countries around the world. The militant also allegedly operated under the direction of Samir Fendi, associate commander of Saleh al-Arouri, both Hamas leaders who died in an Israeli attack in Beirut in January. Two security sources revealed that a Syrian citizen who was passing by on a motorcycle also died in the attack and that three other people were injured. It was initially believed that they were all traveling in the same vehicle, but after inspecting the scene of the attack this was ruled out.
The incident comes after a day of intense Israeli air raids in Baalbek, in eastern Lebanon, considered Hizbul’s stronghold. The Israeli army said it had «attacked two Hizbul military command centers» and hit a food warehouse that supplies members of the organization. Lebanese news agency NNA reported that two people were killed and ten others wounded in the attack, while Hizbul later admitted that The dead were two of its militants. These attacks, far from Lebanon’s southern border, came after Hizbul fired 100 Katiusha rockets aimed at hitting a general air defense and missile command billboard in northern Israel.
The escalation of tension comes following the failure of negotiations between Qatar, Egypt, the United States, Israel and Hamas to reach a truce agreement before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Senior Hamas official Khalil Hayeh, involved in the ceasefire negotiations, met with the Hizbul leader on Tuesday. Hassan Nasrallahto address the issue. The influential Lebanese party has assured on several occasions that a truce in Gaza is the only solution to restore calm along the border between Lebanon and Israel. However, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said it was «wrong» to think that a temporary ceasefire in Gaza would also apply to its northern border.
The Lebanese government, for its part, announced on Wednesday that it will present a new complaint to the UN Security Council Israel’s «increasing attacks»., due to fears of regional war. “What is particularly worrying is that this escalation is occurring in areas far from Lebanon’s southern borders, indicating Israel’s desire to escalate the conflict and drag the entire region into war,” the Ministry of Affairs statement read Lebanese foreign countries.
Since last October, crossfire on the border between Lebanon and Israel has caused the deaths of 220 Hizbul fighters and at least forty Lebanese civilians. On the other side of the border, nine Israeli soldiers and ten civilians died.
Humanitarian aid
With no clear truce plan on the table, aid organizations are working around the clock to alleviate the famine in the Gaza Strip, which has caused at least 27 deaths in the past two weeks. Five months of war and Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid have devastated the enclave’s supply of basic foodstuffs and access to drinking water. According to UN data, at least 576,000 people in Gaza – a quarter of the population – are one step away from famine. In recent weeks, several countries have coordinated to drop humanitarian aid from the sky and open a sea corridor to move supplies across Gaza’s coast. This latest initiative was launched last Tuesday and has yet to reach the port, in a coordinated action in which the ship of the Spanish NGO Open Arms and the solidarity cuisine of the Asturian chef José Andrés participate. However, due to the logistical challenges of transporting aid by sea, road access is believed to remain the fastest way to deliver urgently needed goods. The Gaza government – administered by Hamas – has stressed that sea transportation is not adequate to alleviate the famine in Gaza, since the 200 tons of food transported by the ship are “no more than one or two trucks”.
This Wednesday the UN announced the opening of a new land route for the delivery of food in northern Gaza, the area most affected by the lack of basic services. In coordination with the Israeli army, six World Food Program trucks crossed a border fence along an Israeli military road that runs through the area bordering the enclave. Despite having facilitated access, Israel continues to deny that it wants to block the entry of humanitarian aid and blames Hamas for the poor distribution of aid in the Strip.
