Israel fights on multiple fronts as war with Hamas marks a year
The Israel Defense Forces said it intercepted most of a barrage of rockets fired toward Tel Aviv by Hamas and other Iran-backed groups, as fighting escalated Monday on multiple fronts after a year of war.
Sirens sounded across central Israel, and two people were injured, according to Israeli health officials. The military had warned earlier of what it called an “immediate” threat of rocket fire from Hamas to mark the militant group’s attack on the country 12 months ago.
Reflecting the regional tensions spawned by the war, the Israel Defense Forces said 135 rockets were fired at northern Israel by Lebanon-based Hezbollah, while Israeli jets carried out heavy bombardment in southern Lebanon. The IDF said Israel’s Air Force struck what it called more than 110 “Hezbollah terror targets” in Lebanon.
And the IDF said it also intercepted an incoming missile from Yemen, where Houthi rebels continue to stage attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
The exchange of fire, alongside Israel’s decision to send troops back into parts of northern Gaza over the weekend, underlined the danger Benjamin Netanyahu’s government still sees from Hamas. That’s despite Hamas suffering huge losses since its invasion on Oct. 7 last year, with Israeli officials estimating about half of its roughly 35,000 fighters are dead.
Almost 42,000 people have been killed by Israel’s operations in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there, which doesn’t distinguish between civilian and combatant casualties. The territory has been devastated by the conflict, with much of the population of more than 2 million people displaced.
President Joe Biden said in a statement that “today marks one year of mourning for the more than 1,200 innocent people of all ages, including 46 Americans, massacred in southern Israel by the terrorist group Hamas.” He said last Oct. 7 also was “a dark day for the Palestinian people because of the conflict that Hamas unleashed that day. Far too many civilians have suffered far too much during this year of conflict.”
In addition to Gaza, Israel is waging a ground and air offensive across its northern border in Lebanon to combat Hezbollah, another Iran-supported group. The IDF said Monday it deployed a third division to the south of the country, where it’s carrying out an extensive bombing campaign, while keeping up airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
