Hezbollah fires dozens of rockets into northern Israel as Gaza ceasefire talks hang in the balance

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese Hezbollah fired a massive barrage of rockets into northern Israel on Wednesday to avenge the killing of a top commander, further escalating regional tensions as the fate of a ceasefire plan Fire in Gaza supported by the international community was at stake. balance.

The retaliatory attack came while U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in the region to promote a ceasefire proposal with global support that has not been fully embraced by Israel or Hamas. The activist group submitted its first official response late Tuesday, asking for “amendments” to the agreement.

Hezbollah, an ally of Iran-backed Hamas, has exchanged fire with Israel almost every day since the war between Israel and Hamas which has lasted for 8 months has started and claims that it will only stop if there is a truce in Gaza. This raises fears of an even more devastating regional conflagration.

Air raid sirens sounded across northern Israel and the army said around 160 projectiles were fired from southern Lebanon, making it one of the largest attacks since fighting began . No casualties were immediately reported, with some intercepted while others started bushfires.

REVENGE OF THE KILLED COMMANDER

Hezbollah said it fired missiles and rockets at two military bases in retaliation for the killing of Taleb Sami Abdullah, 55. Known within Hezbollah as Hajj Abu Taleb, he is the highest-ranking commander killed since fighting began eight months ago. The Israeli strike destroyed a house where Abdullah and three other officials were meeting, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border, on Tuesday evening.

A Hezbollah official told The Associated Press that Abdullah was responsible for much of the Lebanon-Israel front, including the area facing the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, which Hezbollah has repeatedly attacked in recent years. recent days, causing fires in the region.

The official, who was not authorized to speak to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Abdullah joined Hezbollah decades ago and took part in attacks against Israeli forces during of their 18 years of occupation of southern Lebanon which ended in May 2000.

Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon have killed more than 400 people, mostly Hezbollah members, but the dead also include more than 70 civilians and non-combatants. On the Israeli side, 15 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed since the start of the war in Gaza.

Other Iran-allied groups, including powerful militias in Iraq and Syria, as well as Houthi rebels in Yemen, have also attacked Israeli, U.S. and other targets since the war began, often drawing Western retaliation . In April, Israel and Iran exchanged fire directly for the first time.

US President Joe Biden's administration said the best way to calm regional tensions was for Hamas to accept a proposal for a gradual ceasefire this, he said, would end the war in Gaza and result in the release of the remaining hostages kidnapped in the October 7 Hamas attack that started the war. The UN Security Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of the plan on Monday.

Biden says it is an Israeli proposal, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sent mixed signals, saying Israel remains committed to destroying Hamas. It is unclear how this would be possible if the US-backed proposal, which includes an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, were fully implemented.

HAMAS REQUESTS “AMENDMENTS”

Hamas has expressed support for the broad outlines of the agreement, but distrust of Israel's implementation of its terms.

Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha told Lebanese newspaper ElNashra that the “amendments” requested by the group include guarantees of a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Hamas' official response to the proposal, which it conveyed to mediators on Tuesday, did not appear to go as far as outright acceptance, but kept the negotiations alive. Qatar and Egypt, which played a key role mediators alongside the United Statessaid they were studying it.

Blinken, who is on his eighth visit to the region since the start of the war, traveled to Qatar on Wednesday to follow the negotiations.

The proposal raised hopes of ending a conflict in which Israel's bombings and ground offensives in Gaza have killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, and driven about 80 from their homes. % of 2.3 million inhabitants. Israeli restrictions and ongoing fighting have hampered efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to the isolated coastal enclave, fueling widespread hunger.

Israel launched its campaign after Hamas and other militants stormed into Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages. More than 100 hostages were freed last year during a week-long ceasefire in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Hamas still holds around 120 hostages, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

The proposal announced by Biden calls for a three-phase plan that would begin with a six-week ceasefire and the release of some hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces would withdraw from populated areas and Palestinian civilians would be allowed to return home.

The first phase also requires the safe distribution of humanitarian aid “on a large scale throughout the Gaza Strip,” which Biden said would lead to 600 aid trucks entering Gaza each day.

At the same time, negotiations would be launched on the second phase, which should bring “a definitive end to hostilities, in exchange for the release of all other hostages still in Gaza, and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.” .

The third phase would launch “a major multi-year plan for the reconstruction of Gaza and the return to their families of the remains of all deceased hostages still in Gaza.”

The activist group agreed to a similar proposal last month that was rejected by Israel.

Allies in Netanyahu's far-right coalition rejected the latest proposal and threatened to overthrow his government if he ends the war leaving Hamas intact. But Netanyahu is also under increasing pressure to accept a deal to bring back the hostages. Thousands of Israelis, including the families of the hostages, demonstrated in support of the US-backed plan.

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Jeffery reported from Jerusalem.

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