In view of the ceasefire with the Hezbollah militia, the Israeli army is moving some of its troops from southern Lebanon to the Gaza Strip.
The army’s 98th division has ended its three-month battle against the pro-Iranian militia in the northern neighbouring country and is preparing for its deployment in the Gaza Strip, the army said on Monday. A division usually consists of 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers.
Hezbollah and Israel ended more than a year of mutual attacks with a ceasefire in late November. Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israeli troops must leave Lebanon within 60 days.
However, the Israeli army continues to fight against the Islamist Hamas and other extremists in the heavily destroyed Gaza Strip. Recently, however, there have been increasing signs that a ceasefire could also come about there.
Rocket from Yemen triggers warning sirens in Tel Aviv area
A fresh rocket attack from Yemen triggered warning sirens in the greater Tel Aviv area on Monday evening.
The projectile was intercepted by Israel’s air defence system before it entered Israeli territory, the army said. The sirens were triggered by the launch because of possible falling rocket parts.
In the morning, drones launched from Yemen had already been intercepted by the navy.
The Houthi militia in Yemen claimed responsibility for the rocket attack. In a statement on Telegram, it said it had fired a ballistic rocket that had reached its target.
Like the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, the Houthi militia in Yemen is allied with Israel’s arch-enemy Iran. Even after the ceasefire in Lebanon, it has continued its attacks on Israel, which is around 1,800 kilometres away.
The militia says it is operating in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been waging war against the Islamist organization since the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023.
A week ago, a house in Israel was hit by a drone attack from Yemen. In July, a man was killed in Tel Aviv when he was hit by a missile from Yemen.
Israel attacked targets in Yemen, including power plants and a port, in retaliation for Houthi attacks in July and September. Several people were killed in the strikes.
Twenty reported killed in Israeli attack in Gaza Strip
Around 20 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a former school building in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said on Monday.
The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that children were also among the victims.
In contrast, the Israeli army stated that the attack on Sunday evening targeted a “command and control centre of Hamas terrorists.” They claimed that these individuals had been operating from the former school building in the so-called humanitarian zone in Khan Younis.
The claims from both sides could not be independently verified.
Since October 7th 2023, Israel has been fighting against the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement in Gaza, where, according to Palestinian sources from Sunday, around 45,000 people have been killed so far. These figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.