Israel claims to have killed Lebanese infiltrators and fears are growing that the war will spread

Israel said on Monday that its troops, supported by helicopters, had killed armed infiltrators who entered the country from Lebanon, raising fears that the fighting could spread two days after Hamas gunmen’s deadly invasion from Gaza.

The Israeli army said it had called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists and imposed a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, in a sign it may be planning a ground attack to defeat Hamas.

Hamas fighters were still hiding in several locations inside Israel two days after crossing into Gaza, killing 800 people, according to an update by Kan TV, and taking dozens of hostages, in an attack that undermined Israel’s reputation for invincibility. Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told mayors of southern cities hit by the surprise attack that Israel’s response “will change the Middle East.”

In Hamas-controlled Gaza, Israel has carried out its most intense retaliatory attacks in history, killing more than 500 people since Saturday. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel’s blockade would be tightened to prevent food and fuel from being brought to the site, where 2.3 million people live.

The prospect that the fighting could spread to other areas has alarmed the region. Israeli troops “killed several armed suspects who had infiltrated into Israeli territory from Lebanese territory,” the military said, adding that helicopters “are attacking in the area.”

A Hezbollah official denied that the group had mounted operations in Israel. Hezbollah, a powerful Shiite militant group in southern Lebanon, is supported by Iran, as is Hamas.

Artillery shelling and gunfire were heard on Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, a correspondent for Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said in a social media post. Israeli Army Radio reported that the location was near Adamit, opposite the Lebanese border towns of Aalma El Chaeb and Zahajra.

In southern Israel, the scene of the deadly Hamas attack, Israel’s top military spokesman said troops had re-established control of communities that had been overrun, but that isolated clashes continued while some Palestinian snipers remained active.

“We are carrying out searches in all communities and clearing the area,” said chief military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

Previously, another spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, had acknowledged that “it was taking longer than expected to get things back into a defensive and safe position.”

Shocking images of the bodies of hundreds of Israeli civilians strewn across the city’s streets, shot dead at an outdoor party and kidnapped from their homes had never been seen before in the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

The announcement that 300,000 reservists had already been mobilized in just two days increased speculation that Israel may be contemplating a ground attack on Gaza, a territory abandoned nearly two decades ago.

“We have never called up so many reservists on such a large scale,” Hagari said. “We’re going on the offensive.”

Palestinians reported receiving calls and audio messages from Israeli security agents, telling them to leave areas mainly in Gaza’s northern and eastern territories, and warning that the army would operate there.

Hamas says the attack is justified by Gaza’s situation under a 16-year blockade, an Israeli crackdown in the occupied West Bank that has been the bloodiest in recent years and a far-right Israeli government that talks of annexing the Palestinian land. Israel and Western countries say nothing justifies the intentional killing of civilians.

Attackers shot and killed dozens of young Israelis – media reported 260 dead – during an open-air party in the desert. The next day, dozens of survivors were still emerging from hiding. The place was full of wrecked and abandoned cars.

“It was a massacre, a total massacre,” said Arik Nani, who was celebrating his 26th birthday and escaped by hiding for hours in a field.

Israel’s retaliation has also been on a scale never seen before, despite the four wars that have broken out in Gaza since Hamas took control of the region 16 years ago. In images obtained by Reuters, dozens of people were seen climbing the collapsed buildings in search of survivors, the air still dusty from the impact. Sirens sounded as rescuers pulled out cars that had caught fire.

Egypt, which has previously served as a mediator between Israel and Hamas in times of conflict, has maintained close contacts with both sides, seeking to avoid further escalation, according to Egyptian security sources.

The violence also jeopardizes U.S.-backed efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia – a security realignment that could threaten Palestinian hopes for self-determination and encircle Hamas-supporting Iran.

Source: Terra

Rose

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