The Occupation Expands Its Ground War, Promising Displaced Settlers a Return in Less Than 20 Days / Rockets From Yemen, Gaza, and Lebanon Strike Tel Aviv, While Haifa and Northern Settlements Come Under Fire

 October 08, 2024

The political editor wrote

In conjunction with the escalation of operations marking the one-year anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Flood, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, through their spokesperson Abu Ubaida, reiterated a warning regarding the dire health situation of the occupying settlers held captive by the resistance. He emphasised that their fate lies in the hands of the occupying entity’s government and its seriousness in pursuing an agreement to end the aggression on Gaza. While the occupation continued its airstrikes on civilians, especially in Jabalia, Abu Ubaida declared that the resistance is fully prepared for a prolonged war of attrition.

On the occupying entity’s front, the political fallout of its military failures is becoming more apparent. Opposition forces have grown bolder against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a Knesset session. Opposition leader Yair Lapid, whose rhetoric had aligned with the government regarding the war on Lebanon, said that security had never been as compromised in the entity’s history as it is now under Netanyahu’s rule. Lapid added, “History will only remember you as the man who brought ruin to the nation.” Polls among settlers revealed that nearly two-thirds oppose the continuation of the war. Despite this discontent, the Israeli army announced the deployment of new forces to the battlefronts in Lebanon. Northern Command Chief Ori Gordin assured the mayors of displaced settlements that they should prepare to return home before the Sukkot (in English known as Feast of Tabernacle) holiday on the 23rd of this month, less than 20 days away.

On the ground, airstrikes continued to target residential buildings in the southern suburbs and several towns in the Bekaa, while the escalation in the south reached its peak with artillery bombardments, air raids, and evacuation threats aimed at coastal residents, urging them to move beyond the Al-Awali River. A resistance field officer confirmed that the limited advances made by the occupation forces in Marun al-Ras were due to their reliance on sheltering behind UNIFIL forces. Meanwhile, the resistance continued to strike northern settlements with over 150 rockets, with Haifa taking its share. By nightfall, the resistance targeted northern Tel Aviv, hitting Unit 8200’s base in Glilot, following earlier rocket strikes on Tel Aviv from Gaza and Yemen.