The United States will offer “every kind of support” to Israel when it comes to addressing the hostage situation in the Israel-Hamas war, a deputy national security adviser for the Biden administration told “CBS Mornings” on Monday.
“I expect the situation of the hostages to take on increasing focus over the course of the coming days,” Jon Finer said, adding that the U.S. will be “laser focused” on confirmation of any Americans being held.
“Just given the sheer numbers involved, we do expect that there may well be Americans who have been caught up in the hostage taking,” Finer said.
Hamas is believed to be holding scores of hostages after hundreds of members of the militant group, which has long been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and Israel, launched their assault on Saturday. Some Hamas fighters smashed through a barrier that Israel has used for decades to contain Palestinians inside the Gaza Strip, while others infiltrated Israel by air and sea.
Gunmen from the group slaughtered civilians in the streets and kidnapped people — including women, children and the elderly — who were believed to be transported into Gaza. Israel’s Government Press Office said on Sunday that Hamas took more than 100 people hostage.
The U.S. was working to verify reports that Americans were among those taken, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday.
“We’ve got reports that several Americans are among the dead. We’re working very actively to verify those reports. At the same time, the reports of Americans being taken hostage — there too, we’re working to get the facts to find out if those reports are accurate,” Blinken said on “Face the Nation.”
Officials said more than 700 Israelis have been killed, mostly civilians, including more than 250 who had been attending a music festival near the border with Gaza when the attack took place. At least nine Americans are among the dead, a U.S. National Security Council spokesperson confirmed Monday. An undetermined number remained missing.
Palestinian militants transport a captured Israeli civilian, center, from Kfar Azza kibbutz into the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas fighters launched a multi-front attack on Israel at daybreak Saturday, killing hundreds and seizing scores of hostages.
Hatem Ali / AP
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s response to Hamas’ assault.
Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, is backed by Iran. But Finer said that while Iran is “broadly complicit in these attacks” and has been Hamas’ “primary backer for decades,” the U.S. has not seen “any sort of direct involvement in the immediate attacks that took place over the last couple of days.”
“The Israel Defense Forces are saying the same thing: broad complicity for Iran, no sign of any immediate direction,” he said, “although this is obviously something that we are going to continue to watch very closely.”
Republican presidential candidates are trying to link Hamas’ assault to the recent U.S. deal with Iran that brought five American prisoners home and included unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian oil assets. The White House has sharply pushed back, insisting that the money is safeguarded for food and humanitarian aid, and that not a single cent of that money has been spent — let alone to fund terrorists.
CBS News’ Haley Ott, Holly Williams, Weijia Jiang and Caitlin Yilek contributed to this report.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Sunday that he has ordered American military ships, including an aircraft carrier and additional aircraft, to move closer to the eastern Mediterranean in response to Hamas’ unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel.
“Today, in response to this Hamas attack on Israel, and following detailed discussions with President Biden, I have directed several steps to strengthen Department of Defense posture in the region to bolster regional deterrence efforts,” Austin said in a news release.
The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group includes the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, which is the largest warship in the world, in addition to the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Normandy and four Arleigh-Burke-class guided missile destroyers — USS Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney and USS Roosevelt.
The USS Gerald R. Ford was in the western Mediterranean when it received orders to deploy. Depending on its precise location, it could have to travel over a thousand miles.
Austin also announced steps to augment U.S. Air Force fighter aircraft squadrons in the region. USAF aircraft are going into bases in the Middle East where they will be available for operations against Iran.
The munitions the U.S. will be sending over are being airlifted.
Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday “to express support for the people of Israel and to receive updates on Israel’s operation to restore security and safety from Hamas’ terrorist attack,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement.
Gallant and Austin will “remain in close contact in the days and weeks ahead,” Ryder added.
The announcement came shortly after the White House confirmed that President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke again Sunday morning. The two leaders discussed Hamas’ taking of Israeli hostages, with Mr. Biden assuring Netanyahu that U.S. assistance for the Israel Defense Forces was on its way to Israel, with more to follow over the coming days.
American aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is seen from the air anchored in Italy in the Gulf of Trieste on September 18, 2023.
Andrej Tarfila/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
“The President emphasized that there is no justification whatsoever for terrorism, and all countries must stand united in the face of such brutal atrocities,” the White House readout of the call said.
“President Biden updated the Prime Minister on the intensive diplomatic engagement undertaken by the United States over the last 24 hours in support of Israel,” the readout added.
Austin confirmed that the first movement of U.S. security aid to the IDF will begin moving Sunday and arrive in the coming days.
“My team and I will continue to be in close contact with our Israeli counterparts to ensure they have what they need to protect their citizens and defend themselves against these heinous terrorist attacks,” Austin said.
Israeli officials confirmed to CBS News on Sunday that at least 600 Israeli civilians and members of the military had died since Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from Gaza early Saturday morning. Another 1,800 were wounded.
Many Israelis, both civilians and security forces, have been taken hostage. Israeli ambassador Michael Herzog said on “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Americans were among said he is under the impression that there were Americans taken hostage, but he didn’t have details. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on “Face the Nation” that the U.S. investigating reports that Americans were among those taken hostage.
There is not yet any serious planning for the evacuation of American citizens, U.S. officials said.
The Gaza Ministry of Health said Sunday that 370 Palestinians have died and 2,200 were wounded.
The ruling Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel at daybreak Saturday, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land and sea and catching the country off-guard on a major holiday.
The death toll has risen to 200 in the Hamas militant group’s incursion in southern Israel, according to Zaka, Israel’s national rescue service, making it the deadliest attack in Israel in decades. Zaka says an additional 1,100 people were wounded in the attack Saturday that took Israel by surprise.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza reported injuries among “many citizens” without giving numbers and loudspeakers on mosques broadcast prayers of mourning for killed militants.
The Israeli military confirmed Saturday that Hamas militants are holding Israeli civilians and soldiers hostage in Gaza. The military did not say how many hostages were seized, but their capture marks a major escalation in the fighting.
Police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
Tsafrir Abayov / AP
Six hours after the invasion began, Hamas militants were still fighting gunbattles inside several Israeli communities in a surprising show of strength that shook the country. Civilians in the southern and central regions of the country have been warned to shelter in place.
“We are at war,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address, declaring a mass mobilization of the country’s army reserves. “Not an ‘operation,’ not a ’round,’ but at war.”
“The enemy will pay an unprecedented price,” he added, promising that Israel would “return fire of a magnitude that the enemy has not known.”
The attack began with an early-dawn rocket attack that lasted for nearly half an hour. Thousands of rockets were launched from inside Gaza, some making it as far as Tel Aviv, causing widespread damage. Next came an invasion from Hamas militants who had infiltrated Israel in at least seven locations. The fighters had sneaked across the separation fence and even invaded Israel through the air with paragliders and by sea, the army said. The fighters stormed the streets of nearby border towns, setting Israeli tanks on fire as they went.
In the kibbutz of Nahal Oz, just 2.5 miles from the Gaza Strip, terrified residents who were huddled indoors said they could hear constant gunfire echoing off the buildings as firefights continued even hours after the initial attack.
“With rockets we somehow feel safer, knowing that we have the Iron Dome (missile defense system) and our safe rooms. But knowing that terrorists are walking around communities is a different kind of fear,” said Mirjam Reijnen, a 42-year-old volunteer firefighter and mother of three in Nahal Oz.
Israeli security forces take cover during rocket attack siren warning in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
Tsafrir Abayov / AP
Social media was replete with videos of Hamas fighters parading what appeared to be stolen Israeli military vehicles through the streets and at least one dead Israeli soldier within Gaza being dragged and trampled by an angry crowd of Palestinians shouting “God is Great.” CBS News has not verified the video. The military declined to give details about casualties or kidnappings as it continued to battle the infiltrators.
“At this time, the IDF is reinforcing the south and the communities surrounding the Gaza Strip with several operational forces,” said Rear. Admiral Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesperson, in a statement to CBS News. “Operational commanders are arriving to manage the combat in each location. In parallel to this, we have begun a wide mobilization of reservists for all IDF units.”
In a televised address, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that Hamas had made “a grave mistake” and promised that “the state of Israel will win this war.”
In comments made before the country’s Security Cabinet, Netanyahu said the country’s “first objective is to clear out the hostile forces that infiltrated our territory and restore the security and quiet to the communities that have been attacked.”
“The second objective, at the same time, is to exact an immense price from the enemy, within the Gaza Strip as well. The third objective is to reinforce other fronts so that nobody should mistakenly join this war,” Netanyahu continued. “We are at war. In war, one needs to be level-headed. I call on all citizens of Israel to unite in order to achieve our highest goal – victory in the war.”
The escalation comes after weeks of heightened tensions along Israel’s volatile border with Gaza, and heavy fighting in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It also comes at a delicate time for Netanyahu’s far-right government, with hundreds of soldiers in the military reserves have either pulling out of training sessions or promising they won’t report for duty over government’s deeply divisive plan to weaken the Supreme Court.
The divisions within army ranks have threatened to undermine Netanyahu’s reputation as a security expert who would do anything to protect Israel and the cohesion of an institution crucial to the stability of a country locked in low-intensity conflicts on multiple fronts and facing threats from Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group.
Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, condemned the attacks on Saturday in a statement, saying: “The United States unequivocally condemns the unprovoked attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians. There is never any justification for terrorism. We stand firmly with the Government and people of Israel and extend our condolences for the Israeli lives lost in these attacks. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has spoken to Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi and we remain in close contact with our Israeli partners.”
Rockets are fired toward Israel from Gaza, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
Fatima Shbair / AP
Lloyd J. Austin, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, said he was closely monitoring developments in Israel.
Our commitment to Israel’s right to defend itself remains unwavering, and I extend my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this abhorrent attack on civilians,” he said. “Over the coming days the Department of Defense will work to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself and protect civilians from indiscriminate violence and terrorism.”
The infiltration of fighters into southern Israel marked a major accomplishment — and escalation — by Hamas that forced millions of Israelis to hunker down in safe rooms, sheltering from rocket explosions and ongoing gunbattles with Hamas fighters. Cities and towns emptied as the military closed roads near Gaza. Israel’s rescue service and the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza appealed to the public to donate blood.
“We understand that this is something big,” Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli army spokesman, told reporters. He said the Israeli military had called up the army reserves.
It was not immediately clear what prompted Hamas to launch its attack, which came after weeks of simmering tensions along the Gaza frontier. The shadowy leader of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, announced the start of what he called “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.”
“Enough is enough,” Deif, who does not appear in public, said in the recorded message, as he called on Palestinians from east Jerusalem to northern Israel to join the fight. “Today the people are regaining their revolution.”
Hezbollah congratulated Hamas on Friday, praising the attack as a response to “Israeli crimes” and saying the militants had “divine backing.” The group said its command in Lebanon was in contact with Hamas about the operation.
Ismail Haniyeh, the exiled leader of Hamas, said that Palestinian fighters were “engaged in these historic moments in a heroic operation” to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The serious invasion on Simchat Torah, a normally joyous day when Jews complete the annual cycle of reading the Torah scroll, revived painful memories of the 1973 Mideast war practically 50 years to the day, in which Israel’s enemies launched a surprise attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
Comparisons to one of the most traumatic moments in Israeli history sharpened criticism of Netanyahu and his far-right allies, who had campaigned on more aggressive action against threats from Gaza. Political commentators lambasted the government over its failure to anticipate what appeared to be a Hamas attack unseen in its level of planning and coordination.
The attack comes at a time of historic division within Israel over Netanyahu’s proposal to overhaul the judiciary. Mass protests over the plan have sent hundreds of thousands of Israeli demonstrators into the streets and prompted hundreds military reservists to avoid volunteer duty — turmoil that has raised fears over the military’s battlefield readiness and raised concerns about its deterrence over its enemies.
Hecht, the army spokesman, declined to comment on how Hamas had managed to catch the army off guard. “That’s a good question,” he said.
Israel has built a massive fence along the Gaza border meant to prevent infiltrations. It goes deep underground and is equipped with cameras, high-tech sensors and sensitive listening technology.
Israeli firefighters extinguish fire after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a parking lot in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
Tsafrir Abayov / AP
Israel has maintained a blockade over Gaza since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007. The bitter enemies have fought four wars since then. There have also been numerous rounds of smaller fighting between Israel and Hamas and other smaller militant groups based in Gaza.
The blockade, which restricts the movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza, has devastated the territory’s economy. Israel says the blockade is needed to keep militant groups from building up their arsenals. The Palestinians say the closure amounts to collective punishment.
The rocket fire comes during a period of heavy fighting in the West Bank, where nearly 200 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military raids this year. In the volatile northern West Bank, scores of militants and residents poured into the streets in celebration at the news of the rocket barrages.
Israel says the raids are aimed at militants, but stone-throwing protesters and people uninvolved in the violence have also been killed. Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets have killed over 30 people.
The tensions have also spread to Gaza, where Hamas-linked activists held violent demonstrations along the Israeli border in recent weeks. Those demonstrations were halted in late September after international mediation.
Cars burn after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a parking lot and a residential building in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. The rockets were fired as Hamas announced a new operation against Israel.
Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip early Tuesday targeting Islamic Jihad leaders and facilities, the Israeli military said. The Palestinian militant group said three of its senior commanders were killed, along with members of their families, as they slept in the early morning hours when their houses were struck.
Palestinian officials said 13 people were killed in the morning strikes in total, including at least four children and four women, including the wives and some neighbors of the the Islamic Jihad militants.
Family members and media crowd around the bodies of four children and one women, all family members of Islamic Jihad militant group commanders who were also killed, in Gaza City, in the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip, May 9, 2023, after Israeli airstrikes killed a total of 13 people, according to Palestinian officials.
CBS/Marwan Alghoul
Israel’s military said it had targeted the residences of three senior commanders of the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad, along with weapons and a cement manufacturing facility used to make smuggling tunnels. Witnesses reported explosions on the top floor of an apartment building in Gaza City and a house in the southern city of Rafah. Airstrikes continued into the early hours of Tuesday.
The Israeli army said the aerial bombings, codenamed “Operation Shield and Arrow,” targeted Khalil Bahtini, the Islamic Jihad commander for northern Gaza Strip; Tareq Izzeldeen, the group’s intermediary between its Gaza and West Bank members; and Jehad Ghanam, the secretary of the Islamic Jihad’s military council. It said the three were responsible for recent rocket fire toward Israel.
The airstrikes come as tension boils between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by the militant Hamas group. The tension is linked to increasing violence in the occupied West Bank, where Israel has been conducting near daily raids for the past months to detain Palestinians suspected in planning or carrying out attacks on Israelis.
CBS News’ Marwan Alghoul said the more than half of a million inhabitants of Gaza City were jolted awake at about 2 a.m. to the sound of the first strikes as two homes in the city were struck. Alghoul said Islamic Jihad confirmed that its three leaders, along with their wives and some of their children, were killed, and the group quickly vowed a harsh response to the assassinations.
A Palestinian man inspects damage to his building following Israeli airstrikes on an apartment of an Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza City, May 9, 2023.
Fatima Shbair/AP
In anticipation of Palestinian rocket attacks in response to the strikes, the Israeli military issued instructions advising residents of communities within 25 miles of Gaza to stay close to designated bomb shelters.
In a worrying sign that the crossfire could escalate, an umbrella group of Palestinian armed factions led by Gaza’s Hamas rulers issued a statement mourning those killed in Tuesday’s airstrikes and warning that Israel should be held “fully responsible for the repercussions of this cowardly crime.” Hamas has fought multiple wars with Israel, and if it decides to retaliate on behalf of the wider Palestinian factions it could draw much wider strikes on targets across Gaza by Israeli forces.
“The occupation and its leaders who initiated this aggression must prepare to pay the price,” said the statement from the Gaza resistance factions’ joint operation room.
Last week, militants in Gaza fired several salvos of rockets toward southern Israel, and Israeli military responded with airstrikes following the death of a hunger-striking senior member of the Islamic Jihad in Israeli custody. The exchange of fire ended with a fragile ceasefire mediated by Egypt, the United Nations, and Qatar.
The airstrikes are similar to ones in 2022 in which Israel bombed places housing commanders of Islamic Jihad group, setting off a three-day blitz that saw the group loosing its two top commanders and other dozens of militants.
Israel says the raids in the West Bank are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart future attacks. The Palestinians see the attacks as further entrenchment of Israel’s 56-year, open-ended occupation of lands they seek for a future independent state.
So far, 105 Palestinians, about half of them are militants or alleged attackers, were killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank and east Jerusalem since the start of 2023, according to an Associated Press tally.
Israeli aircraft conducted strikes early Tuesday on Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said, and the group said three senior commanders were killed in the attacks.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said a number of people were killed and injured in the airstrikes. It did not elaborate. The Israeli military said the aerial bombings were directed at the residences of three senior commanders of the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad group.
Witnesses said an explosion hit the top floor of an apartment building in Gaza City and a house in the southern city of Rafah. Airstrikes continued in the early hours, targeting militant training sites.
The Israeli army said the aerial bombings, codenamed “Operation Shield and Arrow,” targeted Khalil Bahtini, the Islamic Jihad commander for northern Gaza Strip; Tareq Izzeldeen, the group’s intermediary between its Gaza and West Bank members; and Jehad Ghanam, the secretary of the Islamic Jihad’s military council. It added the three were responsible for recent rocket fire toward Israel.
Islamic Jihad, which is smaller than the dominant, ruling Hamas movement, confirmed that the three were among the dead.
The airstrikes come as tension boils between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by the militant Hamas group. The tension is linked to increasing violence in the occupied West Bank, where Israel has been conducting near daily raids for the past months to detain Palestinians suspected in planning or carrying out attacks on Israelis.
In anticipation of Palestinian rocket attacks in response to the airstrikes, the Israeli military issued instructions advising residents of communities within 25 miles (40 kilometers) of Gaza to stay close to designated bomb shelters.
Last week, Gaza militants fired several salvos of rockets toward southern Israel, and Israeli military responded with airstrikes following the death of a hunger-striking senior member of the Islamic Jihad in Israeli custody. The exchange of fire ended with a fragile ceasefire mediated by Egypt, the United Nations, and Qatar.
The airstrikes are similar to ones in 2022 in which Israel bombed places housing commanders of Islamic Jihad group, setting off a three-day blitz that saw the group loosing its two top commanders and other dozens of militants.
Israel says the raids in the West Bank are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart future attacks. The Palestinians see the attacks as further entrenchment of Israel’s 56-year, open-ended occupation of lands they seek for a future independent state.
So far, 105 Palestinians, about half of them are militants or alleged attackers, were killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank and east Jerusalem since the start of 2023, according to an Associated Press tally.
Palestinian assailants carried out a pair of attacks on Friday, killing three people and wounding at least six as tensions soared following days of fighting at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, officials said. Earlier in the day, retaliatory Israeli airstrikes had hit Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, sparking fears of a broader conflict.
Israeli authorities said an Italian tourist was killed and five other Italian and British citizens were wounded when a car rammed into a group of tourists in Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial hub.
Israeli security forces examine the scene of a shooting near the Israeli settlement of Hamra in the occupied West Bank, in the Jordan Valley, April 7, 2023.
Nasser Nasser/AP
In a separate incident, two British-Israeli women were shot to death near a settlement in the occupied West Bank.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was calling up all reserve forces in Israel’s border police, a paramilitary force usually deployed to suppress Palestinian unrest, “to confront the terror attacks.”
The additional border police would be activated Sunday and join other units that have recently been deployed in Jerusalem and Lod, a town in central Israel with a mixed Jewish and Palestinian population.
In a statement late Friday, the State Department said that the U.S. “strongly condemns today’s terrorist attacks in the West Bank and Tel Aviv. We extend our deepest condolences to the victims’ families and loved ones, and wish a full recovery to the injured.”
Friday’s attacks marked a further escalation in the region following violence this week at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site. Friday’s strikes in southern Lebanon came a day after militants fired nearly three dozen rockets from there at Israel, wounding two people and causing some property damage. The Israeli military said it targeted installations of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, in southern Lebanon and Gaza.
In the Tel Aviv car-ramming late Friday, the alleged attacker rammed his vehicle into a group of civilians near a popular seaside park, police said. Israel’s rescue service said a 30-year-old Italian man was killed, while five other British and Italian tourists — including a 74-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl — were receiving medical treatment for mild to moderate injuries.
Police said they shot and killed the driver of the car and identified him as a 45-year-old Palestinian citizen of Israel from the village of Kafr Qassem.
The shooting in the West Bank meanwhile killed the two sisters, who were in their 20s, and seriously wounded their 45-year-old mother near an Israeli settlement in the Jordan Valley, Israeli and British officials said. The family lived in the Efrat settlement, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, said Oded Revivi, the settlement’s mayor.
Medics said they dragged the unconscious women from their smashed car, which appeared to have been pushed off the road.
No groups claimed responsibility for either attack. But the Hamas militant group that rules Gaza praised both incidents as retaliation for Israeli raids earlier this week on the Al-Aqsa mosque — the third-holiest site in Islam. On Tuesday, police arrested and beat hundreds of Palestinians there, who responded by hurling rocks and firecrackers at officers.
The exchange of rocket and missile fire and the latest apparent attack on Israeli civilians came at a time of heightened religious fervor, as Jews celebrate Passover, Muslims are in the middle of the holy month of Ramadan and Christians begin Easter weekend. In 2021, an escalation also triggered by clashes at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound spilled over into an 11-day war between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers.
Associated Press correspondents in the area said several missiles fired by Israeli warplanes struck an open field in the town of Qalili near the Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidiyeh, close to Lebanon’s coastal southern city of Tyre, while others struck a bridge and power transformer in the nearby town of Maaliya and a farm on the outskirts of Rashidiyeh, killing several sheep. No human deaths were reported.
Lebanese civilians check a small bridge that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Maaliya village, southern Lebanon, April 7, 2023.
Mohammad Zaatari/AP
Israeli strikes in Lebanon risk drawing Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia into the fighting, which could lead to war. The Iran-backed group, armed with thousands of rockets and missiles, holds sway over much of southern Lebanon and is viewed by Israel as a bitter foe.
The Israeli military was careful to note in its announcement about Friday’s attack that it was targeting only sites linked to Palestinian militants. In recent years, Hezbollah has stayed out of other flareups related to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which stands on a hilltop revered by Muslims and Jews.
Hamas issued a statement condemning the Israeli strikes, while Israel’s military said it had struck targets belonging to the militant group in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip in response to the rocket attacks.
“The (Israel Defense Forces) will not allow the Hamas terrorist organization to operate from within Lebanon and holds the state of Lebanon responsible for every directed fire emanating from its territory,” it said in a statement.
In Washington, principal deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Israel had “legitimate security concerns” and “every right to defend themselves,” but he also urged calm, saying “any unilateral action that jeopardizes the status quo [around the al Aqsa Mosque] to us is unacceptable.”
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly appealed Friday for “all parties across the region to de-escalate tensions.” He condemned the rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza and Lebanon, and also criticized Israeli police for “violence” inside the Al-Aqsa mosque.
In a tweet early Friday morning, Lebanon’s national army said it had discovered a rocket launcher with unfired missiles in the south of the country, only about five miles from the border with northern Israel, and that work was underway to dismantle the device.
Fire and smoke rise following an Israeli airstrike in the central Gaza Strip, April 7, 2023.
Fatima Shbair/AP
The head of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro, said he was in contact with Israeli and Lebanese authorities early Friday. The force, known as UNIFIL, said that both sides had said they do not want war.
In Jerusalem, before dawn prayers on Friday, violence erupted again at the hilltop compound as Israeli police stationed at one of the gates forcibly dispersed vast crowds of worshippers who chanted praise for Hamas while pushing their way into the limestone courtyard. Videos from the scene showed police beating large groups of Palestinian men with sticks until they stumbled backward, falling and knocking down vendors’ tables.
The current round of violence began Wednesday after Israeli police twice raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. That led Thursday to rocket fire from Gaza and, in a significant escalation, the rocket barrage from Lebanon.
Israeli police detain a Palestinian man at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound following clashes that erupted during the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan in Jerusalem, April 5, 2023.
AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty
The Israeli military said the rocket fire on its northern and southern fronts was carried out by Palestinian militants in connection to this week’s violence at Al-Aqsa where Israeli police stormed into the building with tear gas and stun grenades to confront Palestinians barricaded inside on two straight days. The violent scenes from the mosque ratcheted up tensions across the region.
In a briefing with reporters, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, said the army drew a clear connection between the Lebanese rocket fire and the recent unrest in Jerusalem.
“It’s a Palestinian-oriented event,” he said, adding that either the Hamas or Islamic Jihad militant groups, which are based in Gaza but also operate in Lebanon, could be involved. But he said the army believed that Hezbollah and the Lebanese government were aware of what happened and also held responsibility.
The mosque — the third-holiest site in Islam — stands on a hilltop revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. The competing claims to the site have repeatedly spilled over into violence over the years.
No faction in Lebanon claimed responsibility for the salvo of rockets. A Lebanese security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media, said the country’s security forces believed the rockets were launched by a Lebanon-based Palestinian militant group, not by Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the firing of rockets from Lebanon, adding that Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers were investigating and trying to find the perpetrators. Mikati said his government “categorically rejects any military escalation” and the use of Lebanese territories to stage acts that threaten stability.
Hezbollah has condemned the Israeli police raids in Jerusalem. Both Israel and Hezbollah have avoided an all-out conflict since a 34-day war in 2006 ended in a draw.
The current escalation comes against the backdrop of Netanyahu’s domestic problems. For the past three months, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been demonstrating against his plans to overhaul the country’s judicial system, claiming it will lead the country toward authoritarianism.
Key military units, including fighter pilots, have threatened to stop reporting for duty if the overhaul is passed, drawing a warning from Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that Israel’s national security could be harmed by the divisive plan. Netanyahu said he was firing Gallant, but then backtracked as he put the overhaul on hold for several weeks. Critics could also accuse him of trying to use the crisis to divert attention from his domestic woes.
Netanyahu said that the domestic divisions had no impact on national security and that the country would remain united in the face of external threats.
Jerusalem — Israel said two people were killed in a suspected terror attack near a West Bank Israeli settlement Friday as it launched rare strikes in southern Lebanon and continued bombing targets in the Gaza Strip, marking a further escalation in the region following violence this week at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site. Friday’s strikes in southern Lebanon came a day after militants fired nearly three dozen rockets from there at Israel, wounding two people and causing some property damage. The Israeli military said it targeted installations of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, in southern Lebanon and Gaza.
With tension mounting, Israeli officials reported a suspected terror attack near the Israeli settlement of Hamra, in the occupied West Bank. Israel’s military said “a shooting attack was carried out on a vehicle” and troops were searching the area for suspects. Denis Polkov, a spokesman for Israel’s national emergency medical service, said two Israeli women were killed and a third was seriously injured.
The exchange of rocket and missile fire and the latest apparent attack on Israeli civilians came at a time of heightened religious fervor, as Jews celebrate Passover, Muslims are in the middle of the holy month of Ramadan and Christians begin Easter weekend. In 2021, an escalation also triggered by clashes at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound spilled over into an 11-day war between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers.
Lebanese civilians check a small bridge that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Maaliya village, southern Lebanon, April 7, 2023.
Mohammad Zaatari/AP
Associated Press correspondents in the area said several missiles fired by Israeli warplanes struck an open field in the town of Qalili near the Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidiyeh, close to Lebanon’s coastal southern city of Tyre, while others struck a bridge and power transformer in the nearby town of Maaliya and a farm on the outskirts of Rashidiyeh, killing several sheep. No human deaths were reported.
Israeli strikes in Lebanon risk drawing Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia into the fighting, which could lead to war. The Iran-backed group, armed with thousands of rockets and missiles, holds sway over much of southern Lebanon and is viewed by Israel as a bitter foe.
The Israeli military was careful to note in its announcement about Friday’s attack that it was targeting only sites linked to Palestinian militants. In recent years, Hezbollah has stayed out of other flareups related to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which stands on a hilltop revered by Muslims and Jews.
Hamas issued a statement condemning the Israeli strikes, while Israel’s military said it had struck targets belonging to the militant group in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip in response to the rocket attacks.
“The (Israel Defense Forces) will not allow the Hamas terrorist organization to operate from within Lebanon and holds the state of Lebanon responsible for every directed fire emanating from its territory,” it said in a statement.
In Washington, principal deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Israel had “legitimate security concerns” and “every right to defend themselves,” but he also urged calm, saying “any unilateral action that jeopardizes the status quo [around the al Aqsa Mosque] to us is unacceptable.”
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly appealed Friday for “all parties across the region to de-escalate tensions.” He condemned the rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza and Lebanon, and also criticized Israeli police for “violence” inside the Al-Aqsa mosque.
In a tweet early Friday morning, Lebanon’s national army said it had discovered a rocket launcher with unfired missiles in the south of the country, only about five miles from the border with northern Israel, and that work was underway to dismantle the device.
The head of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro, said he was in contact with Israeli and Lebanese authorities early Friday. The force, known as UNIFIL, said that both sides had said they do not want war.
In Jerusalem, before dawn prayers on Friday, violence erupted again at the hilltop compound as Israeli police stationed at one of the gates forcibly dispersed vast crowds of worshippers who chanted praise for Hamas while pushing their way into the limestone courtyard. Videos from the scene showed police beating large groups of Palestinian men with sticks until they stumbled backward, falling and knocking down vendors’ tables.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes on Gaza resumed early Friday, after militants fired more rockets from the blockaded territory, setting off air raid sirens in the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon. The military said targets included the entry shaft to an underground network used for weapons manufacturing.
Fire and smoke rise following an Israeli airstrike in the central Gaza Strip, April 7, 2023.
Fatima Shbair/AP
The current round of violence began Wednesday after Israeli police twice raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. That led Thursday to rocket fire from Gaza and, in a significant escalation, the rocket barrage from Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his Security Cabinet for a three-hour meeting late Thursday. “Israel’s response, tonight and beyond, will extract a heavy price from our enemies,” he said in a statement after the meeting.
Almost immediately, Palestinian militants in Gaza began firing rockets into southern Israel, setting off air raid sirens across the region. Loud explosions could be heard in Gaza from the Israeli strikes, as outgoing rockets whooshed into the skies toward Israel. For now, Palestinian militants have fired only short-range rockets from Gaza, rather than the long-range projectiles that can reach as far as Tel Aviv and typically invite harsher Israeli retaliation.
Israeli police detain a Palestinian man at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound following clashes that erupted during the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan in Jerusalem, April 5, 2023.
AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty
The Israeli military said the rocket fire on its northern and southern fronts was carried out by Palestinian militants in connection to this week’s violence at Al-Aqsa where Israeli police stormed into the building with tear gas and stun grenades to confront Palestinians barricaded inside on two straight days. The violent scenes from the mosque ratcheted up tensions across the region.
In a briefing with reporters, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, said the army drew a clear connection between the Lebanese rocket fire and the recent unrest in Jerusalem.
“It’s a Palestinian-oriented event,” he said, adding that either the Hamas or Islamic Jihad militant groups, which are based in Gaza but also operate in Lebanon, could be involved. But he said the army believed that Hezbollah and the Lebanese government were aware of what happened and also held responsibility.
The mosque — the third-holiest site in Islam — stands on a hilltop revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. The competing claims to the site have repeatedly spilled over into violence over the years.
No faction in Lebanon claimed responsibility for the salvo of rockets. A Lebanese security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media, said the country’s security forces believed the rockets were launched by a Lebanon-based Palestinian militant group, not by Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the firing of rockets from Lebanon, adding that Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers were investigating and trying to find the perpetrators. Mikati said his government “categorically rejects any military escalation” and the use of Lebanese territories to stage acts that threaten stability.
Hezbollah has condemned the Israeli police raids in Jerusalem. Both Israel and Hezbollah have avoided an all-out conflict since a 34-day war in 2006 ended in a draw.
The current escalation comes against the backdrop of Netanyahu’s domestic problems. For the past three months, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been demonstrating against his plans to overhaul the country’s judicial system, claiming it will lead the country toward authoritarianism.
Key military units, including fighter pilots, have threatened to stop reporting for duty if the overhaul is passed, drawing a warning from Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that Israel’s national security could be harmed by the divisive plan. Netanyahu said he was firing Gallant, but then backtracked as he put the overhaul on hold for several weeks. Critics could also accuse him of trying to use the crisis to divert attention from his domestic woes.
Netanyahu said that the domestic divisions had no impact on national security and that the country would remain united in the face of external threats.
Palestinians perform morning prayers by the Al-Asbat Gate as Israeli police again raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem on April 05, 2023.
Mostafa Alkharouf / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Israeli police stormed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City early Wednesday, firing stun grenades at Palestinian youths who hurled firecrackers at them in a burst of violence during a sensitive holiday season. Gaza militants responded with rocket fire on southern Israel, prompting an Israeli airstrike.
A spokesperson for Israeli police said they arrested more than 350 people who had “violently barricaded” themselves inside, Agence France-Presse reports.
The fighting, coming as Muslims mark the holiday month of Ramadan and Jews prepare to begin the Passover festival on Wednesday evening, drew Palestinian condemnations and raised fears of a wider conflagration. Similar clashes two years ago erupted into an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli military said one soldier was shot in a separate incident in the occupied West Bank.
The mosque sits on a sensitive hilltop compound holy to both Jews and Muslims. Al-Aqsa is the third-holiest site in Islam and is typically packed with worshippers during Ramadan. The spot, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is also the holiest site in Judaism, who revere it as the location of the biblical Jewish temples. The conflicting claims fuel constant tensions that have spilled over to violence numerous times in the past.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said dozens of worshippers who were spending the night praying were injured in the police raid.
Israeli police said they moved in after “several law-breaking youths and masked agitators” brought fireworks, sticks and stones and barricaded themselves in the mosque. Police said the youths chanted violent slogans and locked the front doors.
“After many and prolonged attempts to get them out by talking to no avail, police forces were forced to enter the compound in order to get them out,” police said.
Palestinians sort through the aftermath of a raid by Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem on April 5, 2023.
Mahmoud Illean / AP
Video released by police showed the repeated explosions of fireworks inside the mosque. One amateur video taken by Palestinians showed police scuffling with people and beating them with clubs and rifle butts as a woman’s voice could be heard shouting, “Oh God. Oh God.”
Outside the gate, police dispersed groups of youths with stun grenades and rubber bullets.
Police said one officer’s leg was injured.
Talab Abu Eisha, 49, said more than 400 men, women and children were praying at Al-Aqsa when police encircled the mosque.
“The youths were afraid and started closing the doors,” he said, adding that police forces “stormed the eastern corner, beating and arresting men there.”
“It was an unprecedented scene of violence in terms of police brutality and intention to hurt the youths,” he said, denying police claims that young men were hiding fireworks and rocks. He added that the police prevented all men under 50 years old from passing through the Old City’s gates leading to the compound for dawn prayers Wednesday morning.
Palestinian militants responded by firing a barrage of rockets from Gaza into southern Israel, setting off air raid sirens in the region as residents were preparing for the beginning of the weeklong Passover holiday.
Israel’s military said a total of five rockets were fired and all were intercepted. Hours later, Israel responded with an airstrike in Gaza. There were no immediate details on the target.
The police force is overseen by Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist with a history of violent rhetoric against the Palestinians.
In Gaza, Hamas called for large protests and people started gathering in the streets, with calls to head for the heavily guarded Gaza-Israel frontier for more violent demonstrations.
The Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad also called for Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, the West Bank and Israel to go and gather around Al-Aqsa Mosque and confront Israeli forces.
In the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian leadership condemned the attack on the worshippers. The spokesman of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, warned Israel that such a move “exceeds all red lines and will lead to a large explosion.”
The government of Jordan, which serves as the custodian of the mosque, condemned the Israeli raid “in the strongest terms.” The Foreign Ministry warned “of the consequences of this dangerous escalation and held Israel responsible for the safety of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
As violence was unfolding in Jerusalem, the Israeli military reported fighting in a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank. It said residents of Beit Umar, near the volatile city of Hebron, burned tires, hurled rocks and explosives at soldiers. It said one soldier was shot by armed suspects, who managed to flee.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Palestinian suspect stabbed two Israelis near an army base south of Tel Aviv, police said, in the latest incident in a yearlong spate of violence that shows no sign of abating.
The Magen David Adom paramedic service said first responders treated two men for serious and light stab wounds in the incident on a highway near the Tzrifin military base. The men were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Israeli media identified the two victims as soldiers.
Police said civilians at the scene apprehended the suspected attacker, who was taken into police custody for questioning.
Israeli-Palestinian violence has surged over the last year, as the Israeli military has carried out near-nightly raids on Palestinian cities, towns and villages and as Palestinians have staged numerous attacks against Israelis.
At least 88 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire this year, according to an Associated Press tally. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed 15 people in the same period.
Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were militants. But stone-throwing youths and bystanders uninvolved in violence were also among the dead. All but one of the Israeli dead were civilians.
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said two soldiers were wounded, one severely, Saturday evening in a drive-by shooting in the occupied West Bank, the latest in months-long violence between Israel and the Palestinians.
The attack was the third to take place in the Palestinian town of Hawara in less than a month. One soldier was seriously wounded and the second was in moderate condition, the military said. A manhunt was launched as forces sealed roads leading to Hawara.
The armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the second largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization, has claimed responsibility for the attack, and Hamas, the militant group ruling the Gaza Strip, praised it.
“The resistance in the West Bank can surprise the occupation every time and the occupation cannot enjoy safety,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said.
Violence has surged in recent months in the West Bank and east Jerusalem amid near-daily Israeli arrest raids in Palestinian-controlled areas and a string of Palestinian attacks.
U.S.-backed regional efforts to defuse tensions have led to the meeting of Israeli and Palestinian officials in Jordan and Egypt respectively, where parties hoped to prevent a further escalation during the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
On Feb. 27, when Israeli and Palestinian officials met in Jordan’s Aqaba, a Palestinian gunman shot and killed two Israelis in Hawara. Another shooting attack in Hawara took place as the parties met again in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh, wounding two Israelis.
Eighty-six Palestinians have been killed by Israeli or settler fire this year, according to an Associated Press tally. Palestinian attacks have killed 15 Israelis in the same period.
Israel says most of those killed have been militants. But stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and people not involved in the confrontations have also been killed.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories for their future independent state.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including a man claimed by an armed group as a member, during a confrontation that erupted early Monday when troops entered a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said.
The two men were killed in the village of Kafr Dan near the northern city of Jenin. The Israeli military said it entered Kafr Dan late Sunday to demolish the houses of two Palestinian gunmen who killed an Israeli soldier during a firefight in September. The military said troops came under heavy fire and fired back at the shooters.
It was the latest bloodshed in the region that has seen Israeli-Palestinian tensions surge for months. On Monday, the Israeli rights group B’Tselem said 2022 was the deadliest year for Palestinians since 2004, a period of intense violence that came during a Palestinian uprising.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified those killed as Samer Houshiyeh, 21, and Fouad Abed, 25. Houshiyeh was shot several times in the chest, according to Samer Attiyeh, the director of the Ibn Sina Hosipital in Jenin. Attiyeh initially said Abed was 17, but the ministry later gave his age as 25.
An armed group, the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, later claimed Houshiyeh as a member. The group, an offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, published an older photo in which Houshiyeh had posed with rifles. Video on social media showed his body wrapped with the armed group’s flag as his mother and other mourners bid farewell.
It was not immediately clear whether the second Palestinian killed was also affiliated with a militant group.
Israel says it demolishes the homes of militants as a way to deter potential attackers. Critics say the tactic amounts to collective punishment.
The Israeli military has been conducting near-daily raids into Palestinian cities and towns since a spate of Palestinian attacks against Israelis killed 19 last spring.
Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank and east Jerusalem last year, according to B’Tselem’s figures, making 2022 the deadliest since 2004, when 197 Palestinians were killed. A fresh wave of attacks killed at least another nine Israelis in the fall. The Israeli army says most of the Palestinians killed have been militants. But stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also been killed.
Israel says the raids are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart future attacks. The Palestinians see them as further entrenchment of Israel’s 55-year, open-ended occupation of the West Bank.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war and the Palestinians seek those territories for a future state.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Hamas authorities in Gaza on Sunday announced the discovery of over 60 tombs in an ancient burial site dating back to the Roman era.
Work crews have been excavating the site since it was discovered last January during preparations for an Egyptian-funded housing project.
Hiyam al-Bitar, a researcher from the Hamas-run Ministry of Antiquities and Tourism, said a total of 63 graves have been identified and that a set of bones and artifacts from one tomb was dated back to the second century.
She said the ministry is working with a team of French experts to learn more about the site. On Sunday, workers sifted through the soil and removed piles of dirt in wheelbarrows.
Although the ancient cemetery is now blocked off from the public, construction on the housing project has continued and the site is surrounded by apartment buildings. Local media reported looting when the site was first discovered, with people using donkey-drawn carts to haul away items like a covered casket and inscribed bricks.
Gaza, a coastal enclave home to more than 2 million people, is known for its rich history stemming from its location on ancient trade routes between Egypt and the Levant. But Israeli occupation, a blockade, conflicts and rapid urban growth in the crowded, narrow territory are among the reasons most of Gaza’s archeological treasures have not been protected.
