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Hezbollah launches drones at Israel following Thursday assassination

Israel is expected to present its defence over new hearings ordered by the International Court of Justice
Smoke rising above the northern Israeli town of Metula following an attack from Lebanon amid cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah on 16 May 2024 (Rabih Daher/AFP)
Smoke rising above the northern Israeli town of Metula following an attack from Lebanon amid cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah on 16 May 2024 (Rabih Daher/AFP)

The Israeli military said that several drones were launched from Lebanon on Friday morning towards the western Galilee region.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it fired a group of drones at Israeli military positions in retaliation for yesterday’s assassination of one of its members.

Sirens have been set off in several areas of northern Israel.

Israel says at least one of the drones was intercepted while another crashed near the kibbutz of Ga’aton.

The developments come after Hezbollah claimed to have launched its first-ever air strike on Israel on Thursday through a drone that fired two rockets at Israeli soldiers in Metula.

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Air strikes across Gaza

An Israeli air strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians killed four people in Nuseirat, central Gaza, the Wafa news agency reported.

South Africa urges ICJ to halt Israel's 'genocidal' Rafah offensive
Read More »

The attack coincided with Israeli bombings across the Gaza Strip and continued Palestinian displacement from Rafah.

Foreign ministers from most Group of Seven (G7) countries, except for the US, signed a letter warning Israel to halt its operations in Rafah and allow aid to reach Palestinians.

The ministers from Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Japan and Canada were joined by their non-G7 counterparts from Australia, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea and Sweden in signing the letter.

Israel's legal team is expected to speak at the International Court of Justice on Friday, as the court holds hearings over South Africa's request for additional provisional measures in its genocide case against Israel, citing the situation in Rafah.

Fierce fighting is also still taking place between Israeli forces and Palestinian factions in Jabalia, northern Gaza.

FIFA to hear case for sanctions against Israeli clubs

Fifa, football’s world governing body, is set to hear arguments from the Palestinian Football Association calling for the suspension of the Israeli Football Association of any football activity in its annual congress on Friday.

Palestine’s football association argues that the Israeli FA should be suspended over Israel’s breach of international law by occupying Palestinian territory and allowing Israeli teams in occupied land to compete in the country’s domestic league.

It also says that the Israeli FA breached Fifa statues by permitting racism and discrimination to take place in areas under the Palestinian FA’s jurisdiction and by being complicit in Israel’s war on Gaza.

“The ball is in your court,” Palestine FA head Jibril Rajoub told Fifa President Gianni Infantino at the meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Asian Football Confederation has endorsed Palestine’s bid for sanctions against Israel, and Infantino said Fifa will hold an extraordinary session of its ruling council before 20 July to “review the legal analysis and decide how to proceed,” as reported by AFP.

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