An Iraqi drone killed two Israeli soldiers. Lebanese hospitals stop working due to Israeli shelling. All developments in the news blog.
8:36 p.m.: In view of the escalation in the Middle East conflict, the Bundeswehr has flown a further 219 particularly vulnerable German citizens from the Lebanese capital Beirut to Germany. The Foreign Office in Berlin said that a total of 460 people were flown out of Lebanon as part of the so-called diplomatic pickup. Depending on needs and the situation, further flights would be prepared. The Airbus A330 of the multinational air transport unit MMU landed in Cologne in the evening.
The Bundeswehr recently flew 130 German nationals out of Lebanon on Wednesday. Unlike evacuation flights, flights as part of a diplomatic pick-up are not accompanied by armed Bundeswehr soldiers.
The German Foreign Ministry said that urgently needed relief supplies were once again brought to Lebanon by Airbus to provide emergency care for the civilian population. There were more than two tons of medical supplies on board. The material was financed with funds from the Foreign Office and is to be handed over to its Lebanese sister company by the German Red Cross.
7:33 p.m.: The United Nations has strongly condemned an Israeli attack in the West Bank that left 18 dead. This “illegal airstrike” is “part of a highly concerning pattern of unlawful use of force” in Israeli army operations in the West Bank, the UN human rights office for the Palestinian territories said on Friday. This would cause great damage to the Palestinians and severely damage buildings and infrastructure.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 18 people were killed in the attack on Thursday. Accordingly, the Tulkarem refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied area was bombed. The Israeli military said it killed a local leader of the radical Islamic group Hamas in the attack.
6:47 p.m.: According to the army, two soldiers died in northern Israel. According to Israeli media, they were killed in a drone attack by pro-Iranian militias from Iraq on an Israeli army base. The army did not provide any details.
The Times of Israel, citing the military, said the drones were loaded with explosives. One hit the army base in the Golan Heights, which was annexed by Israel. The Israeli army said two other soldiers were seriously injured. According to media, a total of 24 soldiers were injured.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group for pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, claimed responsibility for an attack on an Israeli army target in the Golan Heights on Friday. Two soldiers were killed and several were injured, some seriously. According to the Israeli army, the incident occurred on Thursday.
5:42 p.m.: In view of the ongoing Israeli shelling, three hospitals in Lebanon have ceased operations. The Sainte-Thérèse hospital on the outskirts of the capital Beirut’s southern suburbs reported “severe damage,” according to the state news agency NNA. In addition, the area surrounding the building was attacked by “Israeli fighter jets” on Thursday.
The Mais al-Jabal Hospital, not far from the border with Israel, also announced “the cessation of work in all departments” and justified this, among other things, with “hostile attacks on the hospital” since October last year. There are also problems with supply and access for staff.
The director of the state hospital in Marj Ayun in southern Lebanon, Mouenes Kalakesh, told the AFP news agency that ambulances and paramedics were hit in an Israeli airstrike at the main entrance to the clinic. According to NNA, four medics from the Hezbollah militia-affiliated Islamic Health Committee were killed in the airstrike. Staffing cuts and the recent attack have made it necessary to close the hospital, Kalakesch said.