Escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Zone until the End of 21 May 2024
🔹In the northern #GazaStrip, Israeli forces have blocked two medical facilities and are fighting in Jabaliya. At the same time, air strikes by the Israeli Air Force continue in Gaza and the surrounding area.
🔹In the south of the Enclave, in the area of #Rafah, fighting is also taking place. There are no recorded advances by the IDF, and artillery and aviation do not stop operating in areas controlled by the Palestinians.
🔹In the #WestBank, Israeli security forces carried out several raids, and in #Jenin there have been clashes since the early morning, with local factions of the Palestinian resistance detonating several IEDs.
🔹On the border with #Lebanon, the exchange of strikes between the #IDF and #Hezbollah continues. Despite the liquidation of another field commander last evening, the number of shellings does not yet allow us to talk about an escalation.
🔹In #Yemen's airspace, the Houthis shot down another MQ-9 Reaper. The footage showed the defeat and fall of the UAV. This is the second shot down in May and the fifth since the escalation began on October 7.
#Palestine / Bedouin Shepherds Face Harassment and Violence from Israeli Settlers in West Bank
455 Palestinians have been killed and almost 8,000 arrested in the West Bank since October 7th on this 'third front' of Israel - alongside #Gaza and #Lebanon. The repression against Israeli activists has also intensified, following a hearing at the Knesset on March 12th, focusing on criminalizing 'anarchist' Israelis: several activists that Reporterre met with have been arrested and even banned from entering the West Bank by authorities since then.
Awdeh Hathaleen:
"We were chased off our lands in Arad (now in Israel) in 1948 and then from the hilltop in 1982; our entire village has been razed several times - but we've always come back, [...] This is apartheid: the settlers have water, electricity, security, and all the rights, and just a few meters further on, we're totally excluded, [...] It's essential to understand that settlers are just the tip of the iceberg of a colonial and genocidal system, [...] They're not only protected by the army and police, but also financed and armed by the government."
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#Israel / Smotrich: If Hezbollah Does Not Comply with the Ultimatum We Set, the IDF Must Take Control of Southern Lebanon
During a visit to the North, Smotrich said that Israel should notify #Hezbollah that if it does not completely stop firing into its territory and does not withdraw beyond the Litani River - it must launch an offensive in Lebanon that will include a ground incursion, to take over the south of #Lebanon.
The European Union has effectively signed off on the Lebanese plan to deport hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians stuck in Lebanon as refugees to Assad’s gulags and/or to a life of fear and misery. This is happening.
The EU gave Lebanon’s ruling warlords and oligarchs (including Hezbollah, by the way) one billion Euros even as they were publicly discussing their deportation plans.
This is against international law, and the EU is directly complicit in it. #Lebanon#europeanunion
The Israeli army spox acknowledges that the strategic balloon system has been attacked and damaged
He adds that there is no compromise to the army's abilities to detect incoming missile threats, and that the system was not operational yet
📝 The system was used several times over Lebanon for tests, and its loss is both a financial loss and an even bigger operational one too when it would have been needed most during a serious damage to the army's radar and detection abilities during a big war.
Hezbullah to release footage of its attack on the strategic Israeli army Sky Dew radar.
The remarkable detail is that they were able to successfully fly a drone over the base and take HQ footage of it!
Sayyed Nasrallah to Israelis: To return North, end war on Gaza
"Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah affirmed that the Lebanese front continues...its operations in support of the Resistance in the Gaza Strip and imposes its own rules of engagement"
"...there is no solution for the Northern front without a ceasefire in Gaza"
He also pointed out that "Netanyahu wants to invade Rafah to escape the image of defeat."
Another (11th) arrest (a woman who lured minors online) in the ongoing case against a nearly 30-person international child abuse ring in #Lebanon (and internationally) with at least 30 victims. 2nd item in morning update - @lebanon
#Lebanon - thread with great photos
Joumana Medlej: A lot of people are afraid to go to Tripoli, which is pretty stupid as people are so friendly and there’s so much to see (and taste).
From the Citadel (for which I’ll make another thread) it’s just a flight of stairs down into the old city… @lebanon
Nadia Khouri Accad, Jordanian works in #Lebanon with an organization which alleviates extreme poverty and with the Dom (gypsies) This interview is part of a new project on research on the Dom. @lebanon
Nadia Khouri, Jordanian works in #Lebanon with extreme poverty and with the Dom (gypsies) This is part of a new project on research on the Dom. @lebanon
Israeli Ynet news reported that the attacks by Hezbollah was detected only 8 seconds before it hit the targets causing 3 verified deaths and 9 injured IDF soldiers.
The image shows the home made Rajum rocket launchers used during the attacks by #Hezbullah.
Video recorded by one of the soldiers during the attacks is available here: t.me/newsvideofa/2139