KEY POINTS
- EasyJet cancels all flights to Israel at least through fall
- UN rights office says Israel still imposing "unlawful" restrictions on Gaza aid
- US Treasury is preparing new sanctions on Iran, report says
Tensions in the Middle East continue to rise as the Israel-Hamas war entered its 193rd day – a Hezbollah commander was killed after an Israeli airstrike hit his vehicle in a targeted assassination in southern Lebanon.
Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz on Tuesday said he wrote to 32 countries Tuesday morning, urging them to declare Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organization.
- UN commission accuses Israel of actively obstructing Oct. 7 investigation efforts
- 2 drones from Lebanon explode in northern Israeli moshav: IDF
- 3 lightly wounded after explosive drones from Lebanon fall in Galilee town: Local media
- 1 dead, others wounded in suspected Israeli bombing of vehicle in southern Lebanon village: Reports
- Another 'Israeli' strike hits vehicle in Chehabiyeh, southern Lebanon: Lebanese media
- Assassinated Hezbollah commander held a rank similar to brigadier general: IDF
- Even the 'slightest' action against Iran will result on 'extensive' response: Iran's Raisi
Israel's war cabinet will meet Tuesday to discuss an Israeli response to Iran's massive aerial attacks toward Israel Saturday that marked the first time Tehran directly targeted Israel.
Iranian-backed Hezbollah claimed an attack on what it said were "spy devices" of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at a military base in the disputed Shebaa Farms.
Israel has vowed to respond to Iran's attack that included hundreds of drones and missiles even as U.S. President Joe Biden and other Israeli allies call for restraint.
In war-torn Gaza, more than 33,800 Palestinians have died amid the fighting, according to figures from Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. The UN repeatedly warned that famine is looming in the enclave.
The Middle Eastern crisis stems from years of violence in the Israel-Palestine conflict that erupted on Oct. 7, when Hamas operatives launched a surprise raid into Israel and murdered over a thousand people. The militants also abducted more than 250 hostages, of which over 130 are still being held in the Gaza Strip.
The live update has ended.
Iran warns even 'slightest action' will be met with 'extensive' response
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday warned that even "the slightest action against Iran's interests" will not go unpunished and instead will be met with an "extensive and painful response."
His warning comes amid increasing calls for restraint in the region following the escalation of Israel-Iran tensions following Saturday's Iranian rampage on the Israeli airspace.
Read the full story here.
Israeli army confirms it assassinated Hezbollah commander
The Israeli army on Tuesday confirmed that it "attacked and killed" Ismail Yosef Baz, whom it said was "the commander of the coastal sector" of Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Baz, whose position is equivalent to the military rank of brigadier general, is accused of "promoting and planning the launching of rockets and anti-tank missiles towards the State of Israel from the coastal area in Lebanon," as per a Google translation of the IDF's official statement on the assassination.
מוקדם יותר היום צה״ל תקף וחיסל באמצעות כלי טיס של חיל האוויר במרחב עין בעאל שבלבנון את המחבל איסמאעיל יוסף באז, מפקד גזרת החוף בארגון הטרור.
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 16, 2024
איסמאעיל שימש כגורם בכיר וותיק בזרוע הצבאית של חיזבאללה במספר תפקידים. דרגתו הנוכחית מקבילה לדרגת מח"ט >> pic.twitter.com/UzL6qkqGu0
Hezbollah commander killed in Lebanon strike
The "Israeli" strike in Ain Baal that killed one person reportedly targeted a Hezbollah local commander, multiple Lebanese and Israeli outlets reported. The Lebanon-based terror group has yet to deny or confirm the reports.
Report: Hezbollah commander killed in strike in Lebanon
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) April 16, 2024
i24NEWS correspondent @piasteckelbach reports from northern Israel on day 193 of the #IsraelHamasWar pic.twitter.com/aFhw8zd1PH
Another car in southern Lebanon targeted in drone strike: Lebanese media
Another "Israeli" drone strike hit a vehicle in the town of Chehabiyeh in southern Lebanon, Lebanese media reported Tuesday. Footage from the scene shows a car engulfed in flames.
Lebanese media report another Israeli drone strike against a car, this time in the town of Chehabiyeh. pic.twitter.com/iOVMlrKgeb
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 16, 2024
1 reported dead after vehicle strike in southern Lebanon
One person was killed when an airstrike hit a vehicle in Ain Baal, a southern Lebanese village, multiple Israeli and Arab outlets reported. Several other people were also reportedly wounded in the said attack.
דיווח על סיכול ממוקד בעין בעאל בדרום לבנון, בלבנון מדווחים על הרוג וכמה נפגעים נוספים בתקיפת הרכב | תיעוד@sapirlipkin pic.twitter.com/gwo4qjurel
— החדשות - N12 (@N12News) April 16, 2024
3 people wounded after 2 drones explode in Galilee town
Three people were lightly wounded in Beit Hillel in Galilee Tuesday after two drones that crossed from Lebanon fell in the area, local media reported. A fire erupted after the drones crashed and firefighters were deployed to the area to extinguish the fire.
Drones from Lebanon cause blast in northern Israel moshav
Two explosive drones that crossed Lebanese territory toward Israel "exploded in the area of Beit Hillel," a moshav in northern Israel, the IDF said Tuesday. Authorities are currently investigating the blast.
UN commission says Israel blocking Oct. 7 investigation efforts
Chris Sidoti, a member of a commission inquiry mandated by the UN to look into international human rights violations during Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, said the Israeli government has been obstructing the commission's work.
"So far as the government of Israel is concerned, we have not only seen a lack of cooperation, but active obstruction of our efforts to receive evidence from Israeli witnesses and victims to the events that occurred in southern Israel," he said.
Israel has since responded to the accusations, saying the commission has a "track record of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements," which means victims of the Palestinian militant group's shock attack will "never get any justice or the dignified treatment they deserve from the Commission of Inquiry and its members."
US preparing fresh sanctions for Iran: Report
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is preparing a new round of sanctions on Iran and she is set to press other finance ministers who will attend the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting to consider potential sanctions alongside Washington for coordinated measures.
"Treasury will not hesitate to work with our allies to use our sanctions authority to continue disrupting the Iranian regime's malign and destabilizing activity," Yellen is expected to say Tuesday in her opening remarks at a press briefing, Axios reported.
The U.S., along with its allies, helped create a defense system that ultimately allowed Israel to intercept most of the Iranian drones and missiles launched Saturday.
Israel still imposing 'unlawful restrictions' on Gaza humanitarian aid deliveries: UN
Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson of the UN human rights office, said Israel, despite calls to take more action in allowing humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip, "continues to impose unlawful restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian assistance, and to carry out widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure."
The U.S. and other Israeli allies have repeatedly called on Israel to do more to help hungry Palestinian civilians in Gaza receive food and other supplies. Israel opened a new northern crossing to facilitate more aid into the enclave, but the UN said its efforts were not enough.
EasyJet cancels Tel Aviv flights throughout summer
Budget airline EasyJet has suspended all flights to and from Tel Aviv throughout the summer season and until at least Oct. 27, citing the "ongoing situation" in the Middle East.
This comes after multiple airlines suspended flights to and from Iran and Israel in recent days due to tensions escalating between the two nations.
Hezbollah says it attacked IDF 'spy devices'
Iran-backed Hezbollah on Tuesday said it attacked "spy devices at the radar site" of an Israeli army base in the disputed Shebaa Farms.
The Israeli army has yet to deny or confirm the claim.
Israel's war cabinet convening to discuss response to Iran
Israel's war cabinet members are meeting Tuesday to discuss the country's response to Iran's massive aerial attacks Saturday, CNN reported, citing an Israeli official. The meeting marks the fifth such session since Sunday as the Netanyahu government weighs calls for restraint and the desire to send Tehran a clear message.
Israeli FM urges dozens of countries to declare IRGC a terror organization
Katz on Tuesday revealed that he sent letters to 32 countries, urging global leaders and leading figures worldwide to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization. He also called on the countries to impose sanctions on Iran's missile program "as a way to curb and weaken Iran."
"Iran must be stopped now – before it's too late," he wrote on X.
Alongside the military response to the firing of the missiles and the UAVs, I am leading a diplomatic offensive against Iran.
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) April 16, 2024
This morning I sent letters to 32
countries and spoke with dozens of foreign ministers and leading figures around the world calling for sanctions to be…
