Israel confirms four soldiers wounded by blast inside Lebanon and Hezbollah claims tresponsibility

The Israeli army confirmed four soldiers were wounded in a blast inside Lebanese territory on Monday after earlier saying the soldiers were injured overnight during activity on the northern border. Hamas said Monday the Israeli army launched deadly air strikes on the Gaza Strip and that at least 18 bodies had been recovered under rubble in the Khan Younis area.

• French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said France would do all it can to avoid a further escalation in the conflict in the Middle East.
• The Israeli army confirmed Monday that four of its soldiers were wounded in an explosion hundreds of metres inside Lebanese territory after earlier saying the soldiers had been injured in an explosion of an unknown source during activity along the northern border.
• Israel’s UN envoy on Sunday urged the UN Security Council to impose “all possible sanctions” against Iran following the attack against Israel. 
• Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani told the UN emergency meeting his country was exercising its “inherent right to self-defense”.   
• US President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that Washington will not take part in a counter-offensive against Iran, an option Netanyahu’s war cabinet favors after the massive aerial attack on Israeli territory, according to officials. 
• Iran’s armed forces chief of staff said the attack on Israel had “achieved all its objectives“. Israel had said it was bracing for a possible Iranian attack after an air strike killed two Iranian generals in Syria on April 1. Iran blamed Israel for that strike and vowed revenge.              
• At least 33,797 Palestinians have been killed and an estimated 76,465 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Some 1,139 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks that sparked the war and 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.
• British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday he would soon speak with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on how to prevent escalation in the region after Iran’s drone and missile attack.
• The United States does not want to see any escalation in hostilities with Iran, but will continue to defend Israel after it was attacked by Tehran, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday. Blinken said at the start of a meeting with Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Tamim.

FRANCE24/ AFP