Seven Israelis Wounded, Some Seriously, Near Gaza In Hamas Rocket Attack
South Front, May 5 2024
At least seven Israelis were wounded on May 5 when fighters from the Hamas Movement launched a barrage of rockets at an IOF site in the Kerem Shalom area on the triple Gaza Strip-Israel-Egypt border. Hamas’ military wing, the Izz’ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said in a brief statement that the attack was carried out using locally-made Rujum 114mm unguided rockets. The IOF said that at least ten projectiles were launched from the city of Rafah in southern Gaza and struck Kerem Shalom. According to Hebrew media, seven people were wounded in the rocket attack with several of them listed in serious condition. Following the attack, the IOF launched a series of airstrikes on Rafah and announced that it had shuttered the Kerem Shalom Crossing the Gaza for humanitarian aid trucks.
The rocket attack came amid a new round of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas on an agreement that would include a ceasefire and secure the release of Israelis captured during the Oct 7 surprise attack from Gaza and Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons. Reports suggest that at least some progress has been made, although Israel is still against a permanent ceasefire and wants to continue to occupy some parts of the Strip. In fact, Israel is even still threatening to launch a ground operation in Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are currently taking shelter. Hamas’ rocket attack on Kerem Shalom highlights the failure of the war. The IOF didn’t even manage to degrade the military capabilities of Hamas and other Palestinian armed factions in Gaza.
Israeli Strike Kills Lebanese Family, Hezbollah Fires Dozens Of Rockets In Response
South Front, May 5 2024
Hezbollah fired a large barrage of rockets at northern Israel on May 5 after a family of four was killed in southern Lebanon in a strike carried out by the IOF. The deadly Israeli strike targeted the town of Meiss al-Jabal, a known stronghold of Hezbollah. A civilian man, his wife and two children were killed on the spot.
The IOF didn’t admit responsibility. However, it released a statement shortly after the strike saying its fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon overnight. The targets included a building in Khiam and an observation post in the town of Matmoura, according to the IOF, which also said its troops shelled areas near the towns of Halta and Naqoura with artillery to “remove threats”.
In response to the strike on Meiss al-Jabal, Hezbollah said it fired “dozens” of Katyusha and Falaq rockets at the settlement of Kiryat Shmona near the Lebanese border.
The IOF said that at least 20 rockets were fired from southern Lebanon at Kiryat Shmona. Only some of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system. Hebrew media reported that two Israelis were wounded in the attack. The rocket attack was likely just an initial response to the deadly Israeli strike. Hezobllah will likely escalate its attacks in the next few days.
Since the outbreak of the Israeli war on Gaza last October, Hezbollah and its allies began launching near-daily attacks against the IDF in support of the Hamas Movement and other Palestinian armed factions in the Strip. So far, the clashes have resulted in nine civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of at least 11 IDF soldiers and reservists. On the Lebanese side, more than 400 people have been killed, including 272 fighters of Hezbollah and at least 70 civilians.
Bahrain’s Al-Ashtar Brigades Announce Another Attack On Israel’s Eilat
South Front, May 5 2024
The Iran-linked Bahraini al-Ashtar Brigades announced on May 4 that it had launched another attack against Israel in support of the Palestinian Gaza Strip. In a brief statement, the armed group said that it struck a “vital target” in the southernmost Israeli city of Eilat with a drone on May 2. The statement reads:
We stress that our operations will not stop until the siege and aggression on the resilient Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip are over.
The group also released video footage showing its fighters preparing then launching a suicide drone in an unidentified desert area.
Al-Ashtar Brigades first surfaced in 2013, two years after the Bahraini government crushed the 2011 Shitte uprising in the country. Up until 2017, the group carried out several attacks against Bahraini security forces. As a result, it was designated as a terrorist organization not only by Bahrain, but also by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, US and Canada. The Bahraini government claims that the al-Ashtar Brigades receive support from the IRGC and its allies in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Kata’ib Hezbollah in Iraq. This was al-Ashtar Brigades second drone attack against Israel since the war broke out in Gaza last October. The first attack, which took place on April 27, targeted the headquarters of the Trucknet land shipping company in Eilat.
In both attacks, the group used suicide drones identical in design to an Iranian-made type codenamed by the US military and intelligence as KAS-04. It is highly unlikely that the attacks were launched from Bahrain. Security measures are very tight in the Persian Gulf’s small island country, which hosts the headquarters of the US Navy 5th Fleet. A more likely scenario is that the attacks were carried out from somewhere in Iraq. A coalition of Iran-linked armed groups known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) has been launching attacks against Israel from the country for several months now. One of the coalition’s group is Kata’ib Hezbollah, which is said to be close to the al-Ashtar Brigades. On May 4, the IRI announced an attack on the port of Haifa in northern Israel with an Arqab cruise missile. Hebrew media didn’t report any drone infiltration warnings or interceptions over Eilat on April 27 or May 2. Still, this does not mean that al-Ashtar Brigades’ attacks failed. The Israeli military has the power to censor all news on attacks and security incidents within the country.
Niqnaq 