Israeli army shifts focus towards Lebanon

ANKARA

The Israeli army on Friday proposed concluding its military offensive in the southern Gaza Strip at Rafah and redirecting its efforts towards a new offensive in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli Channel 12 reported that the Israeli army recommended ending its military offensive in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, and heading towards an “operation in the north” in reference to Lebanon.

Tensions have risen sharply between Hezbollah and the Israeli army since the killing of senior Hezbollah commander Taleb Sami Abdullah in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon.

In retaliation, Hezbollah launched 150 rockets into northern Israel on Thursday, following an earlier barrage of 215 rockets and drone attacks on Wednesday.

This marked the largest single-day rocket launch by Hezbollah since the confrontations began on Oct. 8, 2023.

Tensions have risen along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv presses ahead with its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 37,200 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 85,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi