Palestinian Territories — Israel bombed Gaza on Friday as exchanges of fire and threats over the Lebanon border raised fears of a wider war.
Five municipal workers died “during an Israeli bombing” of a garage in Gaza City, said Mahmud Basal, spokesman for the civil defense agency in the territory.
In southern Gaza, AFPTV captured an overnight strike on a residential district of Khan Yunis city. A ball of fire and sparks erupted, followed by grey smoke before residents inspected the damage in the darkness.
There were further exchanges of fire across Israel’s northern border with Hezbollah movement, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the clashes must not turn Lebanon into “another Gaza”.
Increased “bellicose rhetoric” from both sides risked triggering a catastrophe “beyond imagination”, he said.
Just before midnight Thursday, Israel’s army said it had “successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon”.
Early Friday, Lebanese official media reported fresh Israeli strikes in the country’s south.
This came after Hezbollah said it had fired dozens of rockets at an Israeli barracks in northern Israel on Thursday in retaliation for a deadly air strike in south Lebanon.
A Hezbollah operative was killed in that strike, Israel said.
The Israeli military said its jets had struck Hezbollah sites and used artillery “to remove threats in multiple areas in southern Lebanon”.
Hezbollah then said it had carried out a number of attacks on Israeli troops and positions near the border on Friday, including two using drones.
Experts are divided on the prospect of a wider war, almost nine months into Israel’s campaign to eradicate Iran-backed Hezbollah’s ally Hamas, the Palestinian militant group in the Gaza Strip.
Exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel have escalated in recent weeks and the Israeli military said Tuesday that plans for an offensive in Lebanon “were approved and validated”.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said “no place” in Israel would “be spared our rockets” in a war, and also threatened nearby European Union member Cyprus.
The United States has appealed for de-escalation.
Two soldiers killed –
Deadly violence on the Lebanon border began after the October 7 attack by Hamas from Gaza against southern Israel. That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Hamas also seized hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza although the army says 41 are dead.
Israel’s offensive, widely condemned, has killed at least 37,431 people, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Months of negotiations towards a truce and a hostage release have failed to make headway, but mediator Qatar insisted on Friday it was still working to “bridge the gap” between Israel and Hamas.
The war has destroyed much of Gaza’s infrastructure and left residents short of food, fuel and other essentials.
On June 16 the army said it would implement a daily “tactical pause of military activity” in a southern Gaza corridor to facilitate aid delivery.
But on Friday Richard Peeperkorn, of the World Health Organization, said “we did not see an impact on the humanitarian supplies coming in”.
Hisham Salem, a Gazan from Jabalia camp, told AFP: “The markets… used to be full, but now there is nothing left. I go around the entire market and I can’t find a kilo of onions, and if I do… it costs 140 shekels ($37).”
Dr Thanos Gargavanis, a WHO trauma surgeon and emergency officer, said the UN in Gaza was trying to “operate in an unworkable environment”.
According to the WHO, only 17 of the 36 hospitals in Gaza are operational, but only partially.
Israel’s military on Friday identified two more soldiers killed during fighting in the territory, bringing to at least 312 its military toll since ground operations began.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges he denies, faces regular street protests accusing him of prolonging the war, and demanding an agreement to free the hostages.
On Thursday night near his Jerusalem residence, some protesters painted their hands red to appear bloody.
‘Vexing’ comments –
But Netanyahu told relatives of captives killed in Gaza: “We will not leave the Gaza Strip until all of the hostages return.”
In a statement on Thursday he said he was “prepared to suffer personal attacks provided that Israel receives the ammunition from the US that it needs in the war for its existence”.
Netanyahu’s statement came as an apparent doubling down after a video statement this week in which he accused Washington of “withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel”.
The White House on Thursday described his comments as “vexing” and “disappointing”. Except for one shipment, “there are no other pauses. None,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Several weeks ago the US administration paused delivery of a shipment of 2,000-pound (907-kilo) bombs.
The war has revived a global push for Palestinians to be given a state of their own.
Armenia on Friday declared its recognition of “the State of Palestine”, prompting Israel’s foreign ministry to summon its ambassador for “a severe reprimand”.