GAZA: Israel bombed Gaza on Friday as exchanges of fire and threats over the Lebanon border raised fears of wider war. Five municipal workers died "during an Israeli bombing" of a garage in Gaza City, said Mahmud Basal, spokesman for the civil defence agency in the Palestinian territory.
In southern Gaza, AFPTV captured an overnight strike on a residential district of Khan Yunis city. A ball of fire and sparks flared, followed by grey smoke before residents inspected damage in the dusty darkness. Just before midnight Thursday, Israel's army said it had "successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon". Early Friday, Lebanese official media reported fresh Israeli strikes in the country's south.
Exchanges have escalated in recent weeks and the Israeli military said on Tuesday that plans for an offensive in Lebanon "were approved and validated". Lebanese Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said "no place" in Israel would "be spared our rockets" in a war, and also threatened nearby European Union member Cyprus.
On the conditions of the Palestinian enclave, the "pause" that the Israeli military had declared to facilitate aid flows has had no impact on deliveries of the badly-needed aid, the UN's health agency said on Friday. "So overall, we the UN can say that we did not see an impact on the humanitarian supplies coming in since that, I will say, unilateral announcement of this technical pause," said Richard Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization representative in the Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military had over the weekend announced a daily humanitarian "pause" in fighting on a key road in eastern Rafah, but a United Nations spokesman said days later that "this has yet to translate into more aid reaching people in need". More than eight months of war, sparked by October 7 attack on Israel, have led to dire humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory and repeated UN warnings of famine. Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 37,431 people, mostly civilians.
Meanwhile, Armenia announced Friday it was recognising the State of Palestine, the latest country to do so during the war in Gaza, saying it was against "violence towards civilian populations." A series of countries have recognised the State of Palestine amid the war between Israel and Hamas, drawing strong rebukes from Israeli officials.
"Confirming its commitment to international law, equality of nations, sovereignty and peaceful coexistence, the Republic of Armenia recognises the State of Palestine," Yerevan said. Armenia added that it is "genuinely interested in establishing long-term peace and stability in the Middle-East."
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
