On 22 July, the UN Security Council ruled on the Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, Israel and the Anglo-American coalition attacked the airport and oil facilities near the port of Hodeida, killing 9 people, according to Sanaa newspapers. The ‘Israeli’ air force has been on high alert since 21 July following intelligence reports that the ‘Houthis’ intended to target Israel. American mediation through Oman failed, and the Houthis vowed to avenge the deaths.
According to the Social Sphere, US planes carrying dozens of tonnes of weapons arrived in Tel Aviv at the same time as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left for Washington to meet Biden and address Congress. Israel’s Channel 12 confirmed the news.
Also on social media, sources close to Hamas, later confirmed by Israeli media, said that Prime Minister Netanyahu had given his team the green light to continue negotiations with Hamas. Hundreds of Israelis demonstrated at Ben Gurion airport in the city of Jaffa to demand the conclusion of a prisoner exchange deal.
The Algerian Foreign Ministry has condemned the Israeli air strikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah on the Red Sea. The aggression against Yemen is part of Israel’s systematic strategy of escalation,’ the foreign ministry said in a statement. Condemnation of Israel also came from Iraq and Iran.
The Israeli newspaper Maariv claims that ‘Hezbollah is allocating large amounts of human, technological and financial resources to develop an advanced mechanism to analyse and identify the tactics used by Israel’. And this is worrying civilians living on the border between Israel and Lebanon.
Lebanese planes flew over Baalbek and the surrounding area for the first time since the escalation between Hezbollah and Israel. Also from Lebanon, news that the Lebanese Druze leader Walid Joumblat has sent a letter to the Druze religious elder in Israel asking him to stop cooperating with Israel. He asked him to come to his senses and stay with the Druze identity, which is Arab and Islamic. He listed the crimes of Israel and Netanyahu and asked him why he insisted on being part of them. Joumblat was described by the Palestinians as an infidel and a traitor who claims a Druze leadership, a sect that has nothing to do with Arabs, Islam or Palestine.
Starting at 17:00 Italian time on 20 July, an attack targeted ports and airports in Yemen, just hours after Israeli jets were spotted heading towards Yemen. One of the attacks in Hodeida targeted oil deposits in the area, causing oil spills and massive fires. Late on 20 July, the Israeli military told Al Arabiya that the attack in Yemen was carried out jointly by Israel, the US and the UK and involved 12 Israeli aircraft, including F-35 fighter jets. The attack was not on military targets, but rather on economic infrastructure to strain Yemen’s fragile financial situation and economy. The attack was also in retaliation for economic losses in the Israeli port of Eilat.
On 22 July, CENTCOM claimed that four Yemeni USVs had been destroyed in the Red Sea. Meanwhile, funerals were held in Hodeida for the nine people killed in the Israeli-British-American attack on the supply facilities and port of Hodeida. A port also used to import weapons from Iran.
And now a look at the Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah escalation, updated at 14:30 on 22 July. Two Lebanese army soldiers were injured after a Merkava tank attacked their base in southern Lebanon. There was no reaction from the Lebanese government.
Following the weekend of clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, on 22 July Hezbollah claimed to have fired a suicide drone at the Israeli base in Al-Malkiah. The drone targeted a fortification, destroying part of it and causing a fire. And again, Hezbollah’s social media showed photos of a fire caused by an attack on an Israeli base opposite the village of Aitaroun. Bases on the border have largely been evacuated, but some soldiers remain in heavily protected areas.
The head of the Syndicate of Private Hospital Owners in Lebanon reported a high level of preparedness in the event of a full-scale war: ‘We have been stockpiling medicines, medical supplies, oxygen and diesel for about a month, and it is difficult for us to stockpile more because of the liquidity crisis.
On 20 July, an attack was reported in the Adloun area near Abou al-Aswad. Many explosions and fires were reported. On 21 July, the Sidon-Tiro highway was closed and traffic diverted to nearby towns and villages following the air strike on the town of Adloun. The IDF: ‘On 21 July, the IAF targeted a Hezbollah rocket launcher, an observation post and terrorist infrastructure in the areas of Ayta ash Shab, Khiam and Yarine in southern Lebanon. Another Israeli airstrike was reported near Al-Shahabieh. It was heard in Bint Jbeil.
In response to the Israeli attack in Adloun on the 20th, Hezbollah announced that it had attacked Kibbutz Dafna. There were several small hits. Two other attacks took place in the hills of Kfarchouba, as part of the daily attacks on the Ramtha and Samaqa bases. Hezbollah issued two statements announcing that they would target in response to the Adloun attack and today’s attack in Hula: An Israeli base in Hanita with suicide drones, causing casualties in the ranks of the Israeli army. And an Ein Zitem base with Falaq and Ketyusha rockets. The Israeli media and army report no casualties.
On 22 July, the Al-Qassam Brigades in southern Lebanon fired a salvo of rockets at the headquarters of the 300th Brigade – Shomera in northern Israel. According to Israeli sources, a Canadian citizen who carried out the knife attack in Kibbutz Netiv Haasara shouted at the soldiers, “You are killing civilians in Gaza”, and then raised a knife, which was killed by the soldiers.
On 22 July, sirens sounded in Majdal Shams in northern Israel, in Nirim and in Ein HaShlosha in southern Israel. Social sources close to the Lebanese resistance claim that an escalation is taking place in the Golan Heights. Lebanese rebels are also trying to take over seven places where Israelis now live and bring them under Lebanese control. Still on the Golan, Israeli media reported explosions on 22 July. Sirens sounded in Majdal Shams
Sky News reported at 07:20 Italian time that the Israeli army was calling on Gaza residents to evacuate the eastern areas of the town of Khan Yunis because it was about to launch a military operation. At 09:30 Israeli attacks hit Khan Yunis. According to Israeli Army Radio: ‘The attack on Khan Yunis following the call to evacuate the eastern part of the city is the most violent since the end of the military operation in the city. The IDF is about to use force against Hamas organisations and therefore calls on the remaining population in the eastern neighbourhoods of Khan Yunis to temporarily evacuate to the modified humanitarian area of Al-Mawasi”. “The calls for temporary evacuation will be communicated to the residents through text messages, phone calls and media broadcasts in Arabic”. The IDF said in a release: “We will continue to act against the Hamas organisation, which uses the civilian population of the Gaza Strip as a human shield for its activities and against its infrastructure”.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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