Gaza live: Concerns about all-out regional war rise following Golan Heights deadly attack
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Here are some of the day's key developments:
- Turkish President Erdogan says Turkey can enter Israel, like it entered Karabakh and Libya, and Israeli FM responds saying the Turkish president is following ‘Saddam Hussein’s footsteps’.
- The US senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said Israel has the right to defend itself against Hezbollah, and the White House has reiterated the US support for Israeli Security, stating that the attack on the Majdal Shams village in the occupied Golan Heights was conducted by Hezbollah.
- Israel claimed that an Iranian made rocket was used in the deadly attack on the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights.
- Israeli airstrikes have reportedly struck several towns in southern Lebanon
- Unrwa Head Philippe Lazzarini says the Israeli evacuation orders lead to “havoc” and “panic” among Gazans, stating that only 14 per cent of areas in the enclave haven’t been affected by these commands.
- Israeli media reported that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered to postpone the transfer of Gazan children, who are seeking medical treatment, to the United Arab Emirates.
Several Israeli strikes have hit a number of towns in southern Lebanon, Lebanese media reported.
The raids struck the towns of Houla, Markaba, Aita al-Shaab, Khiam, Shaheen, Yaroun, Mays al-Jabal, Kfarkela and Bourj al-Shamali.
These areas were struck a multiple times since Hezbollah and Israel begun exchanging fire in October, but concerns are currently rising of wider Israeli attacks following the Majdal Shams attacks.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is “following Saddam Hussein's footsteps and threatens to attack Israel”.
His remarks come after Erdogan said: "just as we went into Karabakh, as we went into Libya, we'll do the same to them".
Katz said Erdogan should "remember what happened there and how it ended".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Yoav Gallant have been authorised by cabinet to decide on Israel’s response to the deadly attack on Majdal Shams village in the occupied Golan Heights, Israeli media reports.
Israeli news outlet Yedioth Ahronoth reports that the military will take “limited” but strong action against Hezbollah.
Hezbollah denies involvement in the attack, but Israel insists the group is behind it and pledges response.
Turkish President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan said his country could enter Israel like it did in Nagorno-Karabakh and Libya to help Palestinians.
“We must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these things to Palestine. Just as we entered Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we cannot do. Only we must be strong,” he said during a meeting of his ruling AK Party in his hometown of Rize.
The Israeli army is claiming that an Iranian manufactured rocket Falaq-1 has targeted the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights, killing 12 children.
“Iran spends their money enabling their proxies to commit acts of terrorism against innocent civilians,” it said in a statement on X.
It also posted a map showing what it says is the launch route of the rocket from Lebanon to Majdal Shams.
Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the attack, but Israel insists that the Lebanese group is involved and pledges response.
Unrwa Head Philippe Lazzarini says the Israeli evacuation orders lead to “havoc” and “panic” among Gazans, stating that only 14 per cent of areas in the enclave haven’t been affected by these commands.
“Almost everyone in Gaza has been impacted by these orders. Many were forced to flee on average once a month since the war began nine months ago,” He posted on X.
He added: “This evacuation tactic only brings more misery, fear and suffering for people who have nothing to do with this war.”
A senior member of Hamas’s political bureau has attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the US Congress earlier this week, in a column published by Al Jazeera.
Referring to US congress members who gave several standing ovations to Netanyahu, Izzat al-Risheq condemned “the clowns who claimed to be leaders of the ‘free world’” for praising the Israeli premier.
Risheq accused Netanyahu of spreading accounts of Hamas' attack on Israel on 7 October which he said were debunked by Palestinian, American and international media outlets.
“With the extent of his lies, he received applause from false witnesses from members of Congress who chose to be sitting in the wrong place at a historical moment that would haunt them and record them as accomplices in that genocide,” he said.
Read more: Senior Hamas official denounces 'clowns' who cheered Netanyahu's Congress speech
The White House has reiterated the US support for Israeli Security, stating that the attack on the Majdal Shams village in the occupied Golan Heights was conducted by Hezbollah.
It added that it has been “working on a diplomatic solution that would end attacks on Israel-lebanon border”.
Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the attack that hit a football field in the Druze village on Saturday, killing 12 children and youngsters.
The Israeli news outlet Haaretz reported that the Israeli Mossad chief David Barnea has come back from Rome after holding negotiations with top mediators about Israel’s position to a ceasefire deal, which it has relayed to the US.
Israeli Prime Minister’s office said negotiations are expected to continue in the coming days.
Meanwhile, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has convened his security cabinet, after he returned from his US visit, following the deadly rocket strike in the occupied Golan Heights’ town of Majdal Shams.
Israeli far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said his country should not accept a ceasefire deal, which demands “surrender”.
“Hamas must be defeated, and [Israel must] not submit to its dictates that demand surrender,” he said in a post on X.
“The territory of the Gaza Strip must be occupied permanently, humanitarian aid must be stopped, and it must be defeated.”
He added that “the conditions of the terrorists in the prisons have indeed worsened and I am proud of that – I have no intention of submitting to the dictates of Hamas.”
The US senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said Israel has the right to defend itself against Hezbollah.
“Israel has every right to defend itself against Hezbollah like they do against Hamas,” Schumer told CBS News in an interview.
His statements came when asked about the deadly rocket strike that hit a football field in the village of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights, and killed 12 children.
The Israeli news outlet Haaretz is quoting an unnamed source as saying that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered to postpone the transfer of Gazan children, who are seeking medical treatment, to the United Arab Emirates.
According to the source, Netanyahu’s decision is made because of the rocket attack on the northern Druze town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights, where 12 children have been killed yesterday.
At least 13 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed, and dozens were injured in an Israeli bombing on the Southern city of Khan Younis, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Israeli airstrikes struck a house belonging to Abu Muslim family, killing at least 10, and wounding dozens, who are currently being treated in Nasser Hospital.
In another incident, Israeli forces targeted al-Sikka area in Khan Younis, killing another three Palestinians.