Hamas fires rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel

Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, has launched 20 missiles from Lebanon towards a military base near Israel’s northern coast. This recent attack, occurring on Wednesday, marks the first rocket launch from Lebanon by Hamas since late December. This escalation followed the firing of at least 25 rockets from Gaza into southern Israel the previous day, which was one of the heaviest bombardments in over a week.

Hamas issued a statement indicating that Wednesday’s attack was partly in retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike on January 2 in the Beirut suburbs, which resulted in the death of Saleh Arouri, a senior Hamas official. The aftermath of the missile launch in Israel, regarding damage or casualties, was not immediately clear. In response, the Israeli military executed airstrikes and artillery shelling on launch sites in southern Lebanon.

Additionally, Hamas announced the death of one of its members from the Mieh Mieh Palestinian refugee camp, located near Sidon, in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon.

The recent days have seen an increase in the intensity of the cross-border conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group.

On the diplomatic front, Hamas political official Osama Hamdan, speaking in Beirut, mentioned that Hamas had proposed a plan to Egypt and Qatar in response to their cease-fire and hostage release proposals. However, he accused Israel of delaying its response. Hamdan also criticized the international community for focusing on delivering medication to the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, while over 2 million Palestinians in Gaza are living in harsh conditions with limited access to healthcare.