ISRAELI ESCALATES ON SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN FRONT

Israel continues to escalate its military operations against the Hamas Movement in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon, threatening international peace efforts. On June 8, Israeli forces committed a massacre while conducting a special operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza to free four hostages from Hamas. At least 276 Palestinians were killed and more than 698 others were wounded during the Israeli special operation. Four Israeli hostages, Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27 and Shlomi Ziv, 40, were freed during the operation, which was codenamed “Operation Arnon” after Arnon Zamora, an Israeli officer from the police elite Yamam unit who was fatally wounded while taking part in the operation. Yamam and another unit from the Shin Bet security agency led the operation with fire support from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Palestinian media reported that Israeli special forces entered Nuseirat in an aid truck and a civilian vehicle then evacuated the freed hostages through the United States floating air pier. Later on June 9, Hamas’ military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, revealed that three hostages, including an American citizen, were killed by the IDF during the operation. The response to the bloody operation came quickly. On June 10, four Israeli troops from the Givati Brigade’s reconnaissance unit were killed and at least seven others were wounded after entering a booby-trapped house in the Shaboura neighborhood in the southern Gaza area of Rafah. More Israeli escalation was also reported on the Lebanese front. Late on June 11, the IDF assassinated a senior Hezbollah commander known as Talib Sami Abdallah, or Abu Talib. The commander was killed along with three of its comrades when an Israeli strike hit a house in the southern Lebanese town of Jouaiya. Hezbollah began launching attacks in response to the assassination early on June 12. Several barrages of rockets targeted northern Israel. Despite recent Israeli escalation, the United Nations Security Council voted on June 11 to support a U.S. resolution backing a ceasefire plan for the war in Gaza. The proposal sets out conditions for a “full and complete ceasefire”, the release of hostages held by Hamas, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. While Israel has allegedly accepted the proposal, the IDF’s recent acts indicate that it is actually attempting to sabotage it. From its side, Hamas and its allies have demanded Russia, China and Turkey act as guarantors along with the U.S. If the proposal is implemented, it will not only bring peace to Gaza, but also prevent a wider conflict on the Israeli-Lebanese border.