Israeli opposition leader Yair Laipid called today, in front of thousands of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv, for a general strike if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not heed the Supreme Court's opinion that froze the government's decision to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet (internal security).
The demonstrators waved flags that read "No more bloodshed" and demanded an end to the war, to secure the return of the approximately sixty Israeli hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.
Israel's Supreme Court on Friday suspended the government's decision to dismiss Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, which has revived deep divisions within society. The court will consider six appeals against the government's decision until April 8.
However, Prime Minister Netanyahu remained determined to fire Bar.
"Ronen Bar will not remain at the head of the Shin Bet, there will be no civil war, and Israel will remain a democratic country," Netanyahu said in a video message today, defying the Supreme Court. He had previously said that Israel is a state governed by the rule of law, and that the government decides who will head the Shin Bet.
Some Israelis are condemning the "autocratic behavior of the prime minister," who is calling a cabinet meeting on Sunday to initiate the procedure for the dismissal of the country's chief prosecutor, Gali Baharav-Miara. She warned Netanyahu that the Supreme Court's decision temporarily bars him from appointing a new Shin Bet chief.
Demonstrations against the dismissal of the chief prosecutor have been announced for tomorrow in front of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, near the private residence of the Israeli Prime Minister.
(Beta)
Israeli artillery and airstrikes hit southern Lebanon on Monday, in a fresh clash that threatens a fragile ceasefire that ended a year-long conflict with Hezbollah, as 40 Israelis who survived captivity at the hands of Hamas called on the Israeli government to stop the "endless war," the Guardian reports.
Three rockets fired from Lebanon toward Israel were intercepted by Israeli aircraft, an Israeli military spokesman said earlier today. It was the first time in more than three months that militant groups from Lebanon have opened fire on Israel.
Hezbollah later denied any connection to the rocket attacks in a statement and stressed its commitment to the ceasefire agreement. It added that Israel's claims that Hezbollah was responsible for the attacks were just a pretext for continuing its attacks on Lebanon.
Several Palestinian factions and other armed groups not under the direct control of Hezbollah operate in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli Air Force has carried out dozens of airstrikes in southern Lebanon, leaving several wounded in the border village of Kafr Qila, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.
This exchange of fire was the most intense since the establishment of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah on November 27, which ended more than 13 months of conflict, which has killed over 3.900 people and displaced a million in Lebanon.
It is still unclear who is responsible for firing the rockets from Lebanon, and a Hezbollah spokesman declined to comment, the Guardian reports.
The Lebanese army said it had found and dismantled three "primitive rocket launchers" in southern Lebanon after a rocket attack on Israel. Photos released by the army show fragments of explosives and three wooden poles buried in the ground, apparently used to launch rockets.
Hezbollah launched rockets near an Israeli military position a week after the ceasefire was established, but has not attacked Israel since. The group was severely weakened after the war with Israel, with most of its senior leadership killed, thousands of fighters killed, and its weapons stockpiles depleted.
Forty former hostages held captive by Hamas and 250 family members of Israeli soldiers and civilians still in Gaza signed a letter on Friday calling on Prime Minister Netanyahu to halt renewed military activity and return to negotiations to facilitate the release of the remaining 59 hostages still held in the territory. The letter to the prime minister warns that failure to do so would mean sentencing the surviving hostages to death.
"This letter is written in blood and tears. It was written by our friends and families of those whose loved ones were killed and executed in captivity and who now cry out: 'Stop the fighting. Return to the negotiating table and fully conclude an agreement that will return all hostages, even at the cost of ending the war.'"
The signatories accuse the government of "choosing endless war instead of rescuing and returning hostages, and thereby sacrificing them."
"This is criminal politics – you have no mandate to sacrifice 59 people," the statement concluded.
The Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip today accused Washington of distorting reality by claiming that the movement "chose war" as Israel on Tuesday broke a ceasefire imposed on January 19.
In response to Israel's renewed hostilities, US National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said on Tuesday that "Hamas could have released the hostages and extended the ceasefire, but it chose refusal and war."
"Hamas bears full responsibility for the war and the continuation of hostilities," a State Department spokesman said.
Hamas said that "the claim that 'Hamas chose war over the release of hostages' is a distortion of the facts and stated that "the Palestinian resistance has proposed clear initiatives for a ceasefire and a comprehensive prisoner exchange."
It further states that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "rejected these initiatives and deliberately sabotaged them in favor of his own political interests," Hamas said, referring to criticism of Netanyahu in Israel, especially from the families of Hamas hostages in Gaza.
After weeks of disagreement with Hamas over how to continue the ceasefire, Israel, which has been blocking the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza since March 2, suspended the ceasefire on Tuesday and resumed bombardment of the Gaza Strip, sending ground troops into areas evacuated during the ceasefire.
The Israeli government wants to force Hamas to release the hostages on its terms and claims that military action is essential to that end.
Many families of the hostages, on the other hand, are calling for the ceasefire to continue, as the vast majority of hostages were released during the ceasefire.
(BETA)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned today of the danger of "another war with catastrophic consequences" for Lebanon, after Israel announced a missile attack on his country.
"Nawaf Salam warned of the risk of continuing military operations on the southern border, stressing that this could drag the country into a new war, with catastrophic consequences for Lebanon," his press service said.
It added that Salam contacted the Minister of Defense "to ensure that only the state has the power to decide on war and peace."
Israeli Army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said the army would "respond harshly" to a rocket attack from Lebanon towards northern Israel.
"The army will respond strongly to this morning's attacks," said General Zamir, who led a meeting assessing the situation, according to a statement.
Lebanon has a responsibility to respect the ceasefire agreement concluded on November 27 with the Lebanese movement Hezbollah, he added.
(BETA)
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said today that the army will respond to the firing of three rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel during the morning.
Israeli forces intercepted the rockets, but so far no one has claimed responsibility.
"We cannot allow attacks from Lebanon on communities in the Galilee. The Lebanese government bears responsibility for the fire from its territory. I have ordered the army to respond accordingly," Katz said.
Air raid sirens sounded at 7.30:XNUMX a.m. local time in Metula, a village in northern Israel bordering Lebanon.
The Israeli military then announced that three rockets that entered Israeli territory had been intercepted.
"We promised security to the communities in the Galilee, and that's exactly what will happen," Katz said.
The Lebanese news agency (ANI) reported that Israeli aircraft had flown over the "eastern sector" of southern Lebanon and that interceptor missiles had exploded in the area.
ANI reported Israeli artillery fire on the southern Nabatieh district and the town of Hiyam, where "three missiles fired from Merkava tanks" landed.
Following the attack by the Palestinian Hamas movement in Israel on October 7, 2023, Hezbollah, its Shiite ally in Lebanon, opened a second front by firing rockets from southern Lebanon into northern Israel.
The ceasefire agreement reached on November 27 ended more than a year of hostilities, including two months of open warfare.
However, Israel continues to carry out attacks on Lebanese territory and both sides accuse each other of violating the ceasefire.
(BETA)
France, Germany and Britain have called for an "immediate return to a ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip, and expressed outrage at the high number of civilian deaths since Israel violated the ceasefire.
The foreign ministers of France, Germany and the UK, Jean-Noel Barrot, Annalena Burbock and David Lamy, condemned in a joint statement last night "the dramatic deterioration of the situation for the people of the Gaza Strip, the hostages, their families and the entire region."
"We are outraged by the number of civilian casualties and urgently call for an immediate return to a ceasefire. We call on all parties to continue negotiations so that the ceasefire is fully implemented and becomes permanent," the statement said.
According to the Gaza Civil Defense, 520 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on the territory since Israel broke the ceasefire on March 18.
"It is clear that the Palestinian movement Hamas must no longer rule Gaza or pose a threat to Israel. However, this conflict cannot be resolved by military means," the French, German and British ministers said, adding that "further bloodshed is in no one's interest."
Air and ground operations in the Gaza Strip have shattered the fragile peace that has prevailed since a ceasefire came into effect on January 19 in the territory torn apart by a war that was launched more than 17 months ago by the Palestinian Islamist movement with an attack on Israeli soil.
(BETA)
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