The Israeli army said it had neutralized “two terrorist cells” and a Hezbollah post on Saturday in response to gunfire from Lebanese territory. The latest clashes came a day after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned that the war between Israel and Hamas could turn into a regional conflict if Israel continues its offensive in the Palestinian territory.
“In response to two terrorist cells that tried to fire from Lebanon into Israeli territory, the army hit Hezbollah cells and observation post,” the Israeli army said in a statement.
Against this backdrop, US Secretary of State Anton Blinken on Saturday thanked Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati for his efforts to keep his country out of war with Israel, the Times of Israel reported.
Blinken thanked Mikati for his leadership “in preventing Lebanon from being drawn into a war that the Lebanese people do not want,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
The charges of hitting a school and an ambulance
On Saturday, Palestinians in Gaza accused Israel of carrying out a deadly attack on a school, while hundreds of refugees lived in the building. At the same time, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was to listen to Arab demands for a ceasefire at a meeting in Jordan.
Local witnesses claimed that the Israeli strike was against the Al-Fahura school in the Jabalia refugee camp. At least 15 people were killed and dozens more wounded, said Mohammad Abu Selmeya, head of Gaza Hospital.
Reuters reported that there was broken furniture and other items strewn on the ground, blood stains and people crying at the site, but could not confirm the Palenstine version.
“People were preparing breakfast when suddenly a bombardment started. I found my two girls, one was killed, the second was wounded in the leg… another girl was also wounded by the shrapnel,” a man said in a video provided to Reuters.
Gaza’s health ministry says another Israeli rocket attack killed two women outside the gates of Nasser Children’s Hospital. The Israeli military has yet to comment on the allegations.
Two weeks ago, the Palestinians in Gaza managed to fool most of the world’s media with a report of 500 killed in an Israeli airstrike on hospitals. In the end, it turned out that it was most likely a fallen rocket of the Palestinian terrorist group “Islamic Jihad”.
On Saturday, health authorities in Gaza said 15 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on an ambulance on Friday night that was part of a convoy carrying wounded Palestinians to Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa.
The Israeli army responds that the so-called an ambulance was “used by a Hamas terrorist cell” and Hamas fighters were killed in the attack.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health called on Israel to provide proof that the ambulance was carrying militants. Israel said it intended to release additional information.
Gaza is under siege
Israel’s ground forces surrounded Gaza City on Thursday after intensifying a bombardment aimed at the complete destruction of Hamas. Israel attacked Gaza after Hamas militants attacked and killed 1,400 Israelis and took more than 240 hostages in an October 7 attack in southern Israel.
Last month, Israel ordered all civilians to leave the northern part of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, and head for the enclave’s south
Israel accuses Hamas of using Palestinian civilians as human shields throughout the enclave and of covering up command centers and tunnel entrances at al-Shifa Hospital, something Hamas and the hospital deny.
