Israel: Hezbollah launches heavy rocket fire

Hezbollah is firing rockets at northern Israel. According to the Taiwanese government, pager components were not manufactured in the country. All developments in the news blog.

13:46: According to Israeli military sources, numerous rockets were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel. The army itself reported that around 140 missiles were fired. Warning sirens blared in northern Israel. Israeli media reported that the shelling caused fires. There were no reports of any casualties at first.

The Lebanese Hezbollah claimed responsibility for several attacks. In some cases, the terror group spoke of “salvos of Katyusha rockets” that they fired towards Israel. Residents in numerous places in northern Israel are being asked to stay near shelters.

12.19 pm: CDU foreign policy expert Johann Wadephul has described the current approach to the conflicts in the region as difficult to understand. The situation of Israel, which is defending itself against terrorists in the Gaza Strip and in neighboring southern Lebanon, is existential, Wadephul said on rbb Inforadio. “But what this government is currently pursuing there is a policy that is really difficult for us to understand.” Questions have been raised about Israel as to whether all possibilities for a peaceful settlement of both conflicts have really been exhausted.

With regard to Israel’s war with the Islamist Hamas, he says that there is no real determination on the part of the Israeli government to end the conflict as quickly and effectively as possible and to free the hostages. “We would like to see more action and more openness from the Israeli government.”

The Union parliamentary group vice-chairman refers to the chronology of events. The attack on Hamas foreign chief Ismail Haniya in Iran and the recent wave of explosions in Lebanon took place at times when one could have hoped that negotiations with Hamas would be successful. This is striking. “We see too few steps towards de-escalation,” says Wadephul. Israel will always have the support of Germany and the USA. “But Israel should also take its friends along the path it is taking in the region.”

9.44 am: Iran’s religious leader Ali Khamenei has pardoned almost 3,000 prisoners. The move was made following a written request from the head of the judiciary, Gholam-Hussein Mohseni-Ejehi, as reported by the Iranian news agency Tasnim. The pardons also included reduced sentences and were made on the occasion of the birthdays of the Islamic prophet Mohammed and the Shiite scholar Jafar Sadik.

According to the state news agency Irna, the death sentences of 59 convicts were also commuted to prison terms. Of the total of 2,887 amnesties, most convictions come from the general and revolutionary courts. In 1,291 cases, the prisoners are to be released, and 1,596 other incarcerated people will have their sentences reduced. 40 foreigners were also pardoned.

Head of state Ayatollah Ali Khamenei regularly pardons prisoners, often around Islamic holidays. According to the religious leadership, this is intended to show leniency. After the nationwide protests in autumn 2022, the religious leader pardoned tens of thousands of prisoners. At the time, activists criticized the amnesty as a diversionary tactic from the repressive government course.

9.32 am: Israel’s army investigated an incident in which soldiers pushed the bodies of suspected Palestinian militants off a roof in the West Bank. The military called it a “serious incident” that was inconsistent with the Russian army’s values ​​and expectations of its soldiers.

Videos circulating on social media and Israeli media show three soldiers throwing or kicking people killed in an army operation near Jenin on Thursday from a roof. The footage has also caused horror in Israel.