More than 10 Hamas sites were hit by Israeli aircraft in Gaza, while three were attacked in southern Lebanon. This was stated by Israel’s military spokesman, explaining that the blitz is the direct response to the 44 rockets fired by Hamas against the country. One, he added, hit a house in Sderot but without casualties: 14 fell in an open area, 8 were intercepted, 12 fell into the sea and 9 inside the Strip. The army has instructed residents around the Strip to remain in shelters until further notice.
Hamas: Zionist aggression
Hamas harshly condemned the raids against Lebanon and Gaza, speaking of a “blatant Zionist aggression” in the vicinity of the city of Tyre. The Israeli army, for its part, responded that it had struck Hamas-owned targets in southern Lebanon and stepped up attacks on the Gaza Strip in response to rockets fired from Lebanon on April 6. The Israeli military, the military said in a statement, “will not allow the terrorist organization Hamas to operate from Lebanon and will hold the state of Lebanon responsible for any strikes originating from its territory.”
Tensions are growing again after the Israeli police raids on the Al-Aqsa mosque, the culmination of a phase of conflict exacerbated by the policies of Benjamin Netanyahu’s radical right-wing government. The cross-border fighting erupted during a period of intense religious fervor when Jews celebrate the Passover holiday. Israeli attacks in Lebanon risk involving the Lebanese militia of Hezbollah in the fighting.
