BEIRUT: Hezbollah, a group supported by Iran in Lebanon, said on Tuesday that it had fired more than 100 rockets toward Israel’s two military bases in revenge for an attack on the nation’s east that had resulted in one fatality the day before.
Since the Gaza war broke out in October, Israel and Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, have been exchanging cross-border gunfire almost daily. However, a number of Israeli raids on Hezbollah locations further north have recently raised concerns of a full-blown battle.
According to a statement from the group, Hezbollah launched over 100 Katyusha rockets at two military outposts in the Golan Heights on Tuesday morning.
This was in retaliation for Israeli attacks on our people, communities, and cities—the most recent one taking place close to Baalbek and resulting in a citizen’s death, the statement continued.
As to Qatar, there is no agreement between Israel and Hamas to stop the war in Gaza.
One civilian was killed on Monday by Israeli airstrikes near the city of Baalbek in Lebanon. According to the Israeli military, its jets attacked two locations used by Hezbollah’s soldiers as payback for several days of assaults on the occupied Golan Heights.
Hezbollah announced earlier on Tuesday that its leader, Seyed Hassan Nasrallah, had a meeting with a prominent figure in Hamas’ political bureau, Khalil al-Hayya.
According to a statement from Hezbollah, they talked about strikes by Hamas’s regional supporters to aid in its war operations as well as ceasefire negotiations for the Gaza conflict.
Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, is scheduled to speak on television on Wednesday.
Hezbollah has stated time and again that it will only halt its attacks on Israel in exchange for a Gaza cease-fire.
Yoav Gallant, the Israeli Minister of Defense, however, stated that Israel will still aim to drive Hezbollah out of south Lebanon without any ceasefire in Gaza.
At least 317 people have died in Lebanon since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, the majority of whom were Hezbollah combatants but also included 54 civilian casualties.
In Israel, the cross-border fighting has claimed the lives of at least 10 soldiers and 7 civilians.
Israel and Hamas are not close to a Gaza agreement, according to Qatar
With a warning that the situation remained “very complicated,” Qatar stated on Tuesday that Israel and Hamas are not close to reaching an agreement to end the conflict in Gaza and release hostages.
The US, Qatari, and Egyptian negotiators had been in talks for weeks, but the holy month of Ramadan began on Monday without the commencement of the hostage swap and ceasefire they had hoped for.
Majed al-Ansari, the spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry, stated, “We are not near a deal, meaning that we are not seeing both sides converging on language that can resolve the current disagreement over the implementation of a deal.”
Ansari told a press conference that both sides were “continuing to work in the negotiations to reach a deal, hopefully within the confines of Ramazan.”
However, he stated that as long as the dispute was “very complicated on the ground,” he could not “offer any timeline” for an agreement. Leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh lives primarily in Qatar, home to the largest US military installation in the Middle East.
Attack by the deputy leader of Hamas
Israel declared on Monday that it was investigating the possibility that an attack in Gaza had killed the deputy military chief of Hamas.
Marwan Issa will be the highest-ranking Hamas official to be murdered by Israel in the five months of fighting that has destroyed Gaza and claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Palestinians, if his death is verified.
Issa, dubbed the “Shadow Man” because of his skill at remaining hidden, was one of three senior Hamas figures who are thought to have been in charge of the group’s military activities.
According to IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Israel struck the Al-Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Saturday night after receiving information regarding Issa’s whereabouts as the second-in-command of the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military arm.
Israeli jets together with Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence organization targeted the underground compound used by two Hamas officials, Issa and another commander in Gaza, according to Hagari.
Unable to provide specifics about Issa’s whereabouts, a Palestinian source claimed that the Israelis had struck a location where they believed he was hiding.
The Israeli cabinet minister Chili Tropper stated to Israel’s Channel 13 broadcast on Monday that “there still aren’t indications with certainty.”
