what to remember from Saturday April 13

Iran launched a “vast” “drone and missile” attack against Israel on Saturday evening.

Iran has “reached a new level”, condemned French diplomacy. On Saturday April 13, Tehran launched a drone and missile attack against Israel. At the same time, its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, also targeted the Jewish state. Franceinfo takes stock of the main information relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Iran attacks Israel with drones and missiles

Iran announced that it had launched Saturday evening “vast” attack “drones and missiles” against Israel. The Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Iranian regime, describe this attack as a response to “numerous crimes committed by the Zionist regime, including the attack on the consular section of the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Damascus and the martyrdom of a group of commanders and military advisors of our country in Syria”. In the minutes following the start of the operation, the X account of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reposted a message saying: “the evil regime will be punished.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has assembled his war cabinet. An Israeli military official said the army had identified “more than 100 drones” and that other waves of drones could appear.

Hezbollah and the Houthis also attack the Jewish state

Iran’s attack was followed minutes later by an offensive by its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah. The Islamist movement has launched rockets on the Golan, Syrian territory annexed by Israel in 1981. Warning sirens sounded in the north of the Hebrew state.

For their part, Yemeni Houthi rebels launched drones towards Israel in “coordination” with Iran, which for its part is carrying out an unprecedented attack against Israeli territory, announced the British maritime security company Ambrey.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards seize ship ‘linked’ to Israel

Hours before their attack, the maritime special forces of the Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s ideological army, seized a container ship accused of being “related” to Israel, with 25 crew members on board. He was sailing in the waters of the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz. The White House called on Iran to release “immediately” the ship and its crew and President Joe Biden was to hold urgent consultations with his national security team at the White House “on events in the Middle East”.

This seizure comes in an extremely tense regional context since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, but also the Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus (Syria). On Friday, the American president Joe Biden said he expected Iran to take action soon.

Israel closes all schools until Monday

Starting Sunday, April 14, the first day of the week in Israel, “teaching activities, trips and outings” school and extracurricular activities are suspended, army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a video address. The measure decided “with regard to security conditions” is valid at this stage for two days, Sunday and Monday.

Israel is on alert after threats from Iran, which promised to “punish” it after a deadly strike on April 1 against its consulate in Damascus which cost the lives of two generals of the Revolutionary Guards. Tehran accused Israel, which neither confirmed nor denied. The Iranian authorities have not indicated whether this operation was linked to the response announced by Tehran against Israel.

Violent clashes in the West Bank

A Palestinian died and a dozen others were injured in the West Bank during clashes after the disappearance of a young Israeli shepherd on Friday. The teenager’s lifeless body was finally found in the Ramallah region at midday on Saturday. It is now up to the Shin Bet, the equivalent of the DGSI in Israel, to investigate the circumstances of the teenager’s death and to define whether it fits into the context of violent tensions between Israeli settlers and residents. Palestinians of this Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 by Israel.

Benjamin Netanyahu reacted, denouncing “a heinous crime”. “We will deal with the murderers and those who help them, as we do with all those who harm the citizens of the State of Israel”added the Israeli Prime Minister, quoted by the Jerusalem Post.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa on Saturday condemned ongoing attacks by settlers on Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank. Several West Bank villages were besieged by the army and attacked by hundreds of settlers, leaving several injured, according to Palestinian authorities.

Hamas postponed its response on the truce and still calls for a permanent ceasefire

While indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel via Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators are still ongoing, Hamas indicated on Saturday that it had submitted its response to the Egyptian and Qatari mediators on a proposed truce with Israel in the Gaza Strip, by insisting on a permanent ceasefire.

“Hamas reaffirms its demands and the demands of our people: a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the occupying army from the entire Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced to their areas and places of residence, ‘intensification of the entry of humanitarian aid and the launch of reconstruction’he said in a press release.

A new crossing point for aid in Gaza

Trucks loaded with medical equipment, food and basic necessities can now use a corridor in the north of the Palestinian enclave since Friday to deliver their precious cargo. During the day of Friday, 213 trucks were able to enter Gaza, according to the Israeli body in charge of Palestinian civil affairs, all entry points combined.

Around a hundred packages were also parachuted into the enclave. Despite this reopening, several NGOs warn that the aid delivered remains largely insufficient in the face of the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.