Published on 27/12/2023
The Israel-Hamas war saw regional tensions spike on Tuesday, with explosions reported off the coasts of Egypt and Yemen, deadly US strikes in Iraq and strikes from Lebanon.
Hamas launched an unprecedented attack against Israel from Gaza on October 7, killing about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an Media tally based on official Israeli figures.
Hamas and other Palestinian militants also took around 250 hostages, of whom 105 have been released and several killed, including by friendly fire.
Determined to destroy Hamas, Israel has led a relentless air and ground offensive that has left vast areas of Gaza in ruins and killed at least 20,915 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
On day 81 of the war, here are five key developments from the past 24 hours:
– Fresh bombing –
Global pressure for a ceasefire has been mounting, but Israel pressed on with its war on Hamas.
The army said it had struck more than 100 targets in 24 hours, including Hamas military sites, tunnel shafts and other infrastructure, in central Jabalia and Khan Yunis in the south.
The health ministry in Gaza said the bodies of 30 people killed in strikes were brought to Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis.
– West Bank violence –
There was also deadly violence in the occupied West Bank where two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli army raid on the Fawwar refugee camp, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The Israeli army said it arrested senior Palestinian politician Khalida Jarrar in the occupied West Bank, along with other activists of her leftist party.
Jarrar is a prominent figure in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a faction in the Palestine Liberation Organisation considered a “terrorist” group by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
– Explosions off Yemen, Egypt coasts, Hezbollah –
The Gaza war has heightened regional tensions, and several incidents were reported Tuesday.
A British maritime agency said explosions were heard and missiles were sighted off the coast of Yemen, where Iran-backed Huthi rebels have launched attacks on commercial ships transiting the Red Sea in solidarity with Gaza.
There was no immediate claim for the latest attacks, however.
Explosions were also heard off the coast of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, state-linked media said.
And Israel’s army said an anti-tank missile fired by Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group wounded nine soldiers as they tried to rescue a civilian hurt in an earlier cross-border strike from Lebanon.
– Deadly strikes in Iraq –
US air strikes targeting a pro-Iranian group in Iraq killed one member of the security forces.
The United States has repeatedly targeted sites used by Iran and its proxy forces in Iraq and Syria in response to dozens of attacks on American and allied forces in the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
Most of the attacks have been claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which opposes US support for Israel.
