The Israel-Hamas War

FN: Högkvarter i södra Libanon träffat av raket

UN: Headquarters in southern Lebanon hit by rocket  

 

The headquarters of UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon have been hit by rocket fire, Reuters reports, citing a UN statement.  

 

No one is said to have been injured.  

 

The UN is working to find out where the rocket was fired from. Attacks have been carried out daily from Israel and the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah for the past week, following the Hamas attack in Israel last Saturday. 

 

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USA: The water for southern Gaza is turned on after the UN alarm 

 

Residents in southern Gaza are getting access to water again, says US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan according to CNN. After talks with Israeli representatives, he says that the water supply has been turned on. 

 

It is confirmed by Palestinian authorities in Beni Suheila, AFP reports.  

 

Israel has previously demanded that Hamas release Israelis taken hostage in order for the area to be supplied with water again. On Monday, Israel began a full blockade following last weekend's attack by the terror group.  

 

Among other things, the UN has warned for several days that water and electricity are about to run out. 

  

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Analysis: Israel and Egypt await Blinken's attempt  

It is not possible to persuade Egypt to let in Palestinian refugees at the border crossing in Rafah without other countries in the region having their say in one way or another, writes The Economist in an analytical text.  

Among several conditions, mention is made of how the US, whose foreign minister Antony Blinken is visiting Cairo on Sunday, has hardly any loans at all to Egypt, which gives poor opportunities for pressure.  

The situation is reversed in the case of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who, in case of dissatisfaction, can stop their payments of several billion dollars to Egypt, whose economy is already in free fall. Egypt demands that the country should not have to take care of the refugees alone.  

Blinken's "diplomatic offensive" is also mentioned in analyzes from Sky News and SvD. SvD's Jesper Sundén asks why the expected Israeli ground invasion is delayed, and cites the talks as a reason. Israel may want to wait and see how the talks go because, for example, Qatar, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have views that are important for the continuation. And in the region, support for the Palestinians is strong, writes Sundén. 

"It plays a big role for the governments of these countries. But also for the United States.” 

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Expert: Against Hamas tunnels there is no "Iron Dome"  

 

There is no "foolproof" way for Israel to deal with the extensive tunnel system that Hamas has built underground in Gaza, Daphne Richemond-Barak, an expert in underground warfare at Israel's Reichman University, told CNN.  

 

According to the terrorist group's own descriptions, the total length of the tunnels corresponds to roughly half of New York's subway system, and from a military perspective, tunnels are always difficult, especially when they are built in an urban environment, she says. 

 

- There is no "Iron Dome" for tunnels, she says, referring to the Israeli air defense system, which according to assessors is one of the country's most important.

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Wave of cyber attacks picked up as Hamas attacked  

 

At least 40 hacker groups have carried out cyberattacks on Israeli sites since the Hamas attack last Saturday, said Liz Wu, a spokeswoman for Israel-based cybersecurity firm Check Point Software.  

 

Both media and government websites are said to have been exposed to the attacks. According to Politico, it is unlikely that the cyber attacks were carried out from Gaza, as some groups are said to have connections to other countries, such as Russia and Iran.  

 

That some cyber attacks seem to have started around the same time as the attack has raised questions about whether Hamas acted on its own, the site writes. 

 

- Right now there is no evidence that attacks on the ground and online have been coordinated, says analyst Alexander Leslie.

 

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Criticism of the government: "Never felt such anger" 

  

Just over a week after the Hamas attack, many Israelis are waiting for relatives taken hostage by the terrorist group to return home. One of them is 56-year-old Orly Chen, whose 19-year-old nephew is missing. 

 - The days go by and a week has already passed. The question is, where is he? she tells NBC.  

 

Others are critical of the way Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the government have handled the situation and that the attack was able to happen. CNN has spoken to protester Daphna Cohen, who wants the government to step down so "more competent" people can take over. 

 

- I have never felt such anger and hatred towards a person in my entire life. The Jerusalem Post published an opinion poll earlier this week that showed a majority of Israelis want to see Netanyahu resign.