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Hezbollah drone strike videos show evolving tactics against Israel

BBC News

Hezbollah has increased its use of small first-person view (FPV) drones to attack Israel, including systems controlled by fibre-optic cables to evade sophisticated defences. BBC Verify has geolocated 35 videos shared by the Lebanese armed group since 26 March which show strikes on Israeli soldiers, armoured vehicles and air defence systems in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. Experts told BBC Verify the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has so far been unable to develop any effective countermeasures, as the small drones can easily bypass detection systems. The drones can also be made from commercially available and 3D-printed components - and are cheap compared to the high-value targets they can destroy, experts also said. The use of cheap FPV drones became widespread during the Russia-Ukraine war and has changed modern warfare.


Israel's Ben Gvir storms Al-Aqsa during Jerusalem Day march

Al Jazeera

'This is an apartheid regime' Far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben Gvir stormed the Al-Aqsa compound under heavy military protection during Jerusalem Day, as Israelis marched through occupied East Jerusalem. The march marks Israel's 1967 capture and illegal occupation of East Jerusalem. Iran's FM urges BRICS states to condemn US-Israeli aggression


Deadly Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon despite ceasefire

BBC News

At least nine people, including two children, were killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Thursday, the health ministry said, as violence continues despite a ceasefire now in its second week. The strikes - which Israel said were targeting Hezbollah infrastructure - also wounded 23 people, among them eight children and seven women, the ministry said. Separately, Hezbollah said it had carried out attacks on Israeli forces in the south, including a drone strike targeting soldiers in the Bint Jbeil district. The violence comes as Israel presses ahead with military operations in Lebanon despite the ceasefire announced on 16 April, after direct talks between Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors in Washington. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun criticised what he described as continuing Israeli violations of the truce, saying strikes and demolitions of homes and places of worship were ongoing despite the ceasefire.


How Hezbollah's fibre optic drones test Israel's sophisticated radar system

Al Jazeera

Why is Israel still in southern Lebanon? A war to shape Lebanon's future How Hezbollah's fibre optic drones test Israel's sophisticated radar system In the skies over the Lebanese town of Taybeh, Israel's multibillion-dollar defence systems were rendered useless by a spool of cable, according to a report by the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth (Ynet). As an Israeli medical evacuation helicopter rushed to rescue soldiers wounded in a drone attack, another unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) hurtled towards them. With their electronic countermeasures failing, soldiers on the ground were forced to point their rifles at the sky, firing at the incoming threat before it detonated just metres away. The chaotic scene underscores a lethal new reality in the escalating conflict.


Israeli strikes kill 14 in Lebanon amid ongoing ceasefire

BBC News

Lebanon's Ministry of Health has said Israeli strikes on the country on Sunday killed 14 people, including two children and two women, and injured 37. An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson had earlier issued evacuation warnings for several villages in southern Lebanon, writing that residents must evacuate immediately, and that staying would be endangering their life. The IDF later said it had carried out artillery and aerial strikes targeting Hezbollah operatives and sites in southern Lebanon that it claims were used to advance attacks against IDF soldiers. It also said a 19-year-old IDF soldier had been killed and six others injured by a Hezbollah drone attack in Lebanon. Separately, Hezbollah launched three drones towards Israel, the IDF reported, which it said were intercepted by Israel's air force before they crossed the border.


Israeli soldiers and settlers kill 11 Palestinians across Gaza, West Bank

Al Jazeera

'This is an apartheid regime' Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed at least 11 Palestinians across Gaza and the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian officials and local media, in the latest bloodshed to occur during a "ceasefire" announced in October. In Gaza, at least seven Palestinians were killed in a series of Israeli attacks, including a child who died from injuries sustained days earlier, while 21 were reported on Tuesday to have been injured over a 24-hour period. Another Palestinian man was later killed on Tuesday in an Israeli drone attack near the Sheikh Nasser neighbourhood, east of Khan Younis. In northern Gaza, a Palestinian woman was killed when Israeli naval forces shelled tents sheltering displaced families northwest of Beit Lahiya. Verified video obtained by Al Jazeera showed the body of Abdullah Dawas, a child wrapped in white cloth for burial, after he succumbed to injuries 10 days after being shot in the head near al-Fakhoura clinic in northern Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp.


Hassan Took a Bike Ride. Now He's One of the Thousands Missing in Gaza

WIRED

In a place denied access to basic forensic technology--and where people disappear into Israeli detention--the fate of thousands remains unknown. One of them is an autistic teenager. In the early morning dark, Abeer Skaik turned to her husband, Ali Al-Qatta, and said that today would be the day they would find their son. Ali nodded in silence, and she handed him the stack of flyers. Each bore a photograph of 16-year-old Hassan smiling widely, his shoulders loose, wearing a plain red T-shirt. He is looking directly at the camera, unguarded. On top of the page, in large letters, Abeer had written a single word in bold red ink: --an appeal. Abeer watched as Ali stepped into a car with a few close friends and drove away. They started the 30-kilometer trip south, from al-Tuffah, east of Gaza City, to the European Hospital in Khan Younis. They had heard that a group of people detained by Israel, including children, would be released there. The gate was already crowded. Families stood shoulder to shoulder, wrapped in blankets against the cold, clutching photographs and ID cards. Ali distributed the flyers among his friends. When the buses of released detainees arrived, he and the others moved slowly through the narrow gaps between clusters of people. Some of those who had just been released were being pulled into embraces. Ali waited at the edge of each reunion. "Have you seen my son?" he asked. One after another, people shook their heads.


'A direct hit' - BBC visits Israeli town after Iranian strike

BBC News

More than 160 people have been injured in Iranian strikes on southern Israel, emergency services have said. Ballistic missiles hit the towns of Arad and Dimona, which are close to a nuclear facility, on Saturday evening. Iranian state TV earlier said the strikes were in response to an attack on Iran's Natanz nuclear facility. Displaced Palestinians were told to secure their tents to prevent them being blown away as a storm swept through the enclave. UK does not'agree with Trump on every issue' - Cooper Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has hit back at President Trump's criticism of the UK response to the conflict in Iran.


Iran war: What is happening on day 19 of US-Israel attacks?

Al Jazeera

Iran war: What is happening on day 19 of US-Israel attacks? Iran has pledged "revenge" after Israeli strikes killed security chief Ali Larijani and commander of Basij paramilitary forces Gholamreza Soleimani, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying Tehran's political system remains strong as the war entered its 19th day . Iran launched more attacks on Israel, causing extensive property damage, after an earlier strike killed two people in Ramat Gan. Political tensions are also rising in the United States, as senior counterterrorism official Joe Kent resigned, saying "we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby". Meanwhile, President Donald Trump criticised NATO allies and partners for failing to provide stronger military support in efforts to end Iran's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.


Watch: Iranians show daily life under air strikes and regime crackdown

BBC News

The BBC has obtained footage and interviews from the Iranian capital Tehran which evoke a city of strained nerves, of constant waiting for the next air strike and relentless fear of the state security apparatus. The identities of the people in this report have been protected. While independent journalists still try to gather testimony that offers a credible alternative view, they run the risk of arrest, torture and possibly worse. Displaced Palestinians were told to secure their tents to prevent them being blown away as a storm swept through the enclave. Video filmed by a witness and verified by the BBC shows a drone crashing close to the airport.