The Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday’s events as they unfold.
Palestinian media reports overnight strikes on Gaza, clashes in West Bank
Palestinian media reports heavy bombardment overnight in the central and southern Gaza Strip.
Raids, some of them said to be deadly, are reported in the Maghazi camp and near Bureij and Nuseirat in the enclave’s center, and in Rafah and Khan Younis in the south.
Palestinian media also reports heavy clashes with Israeli forces in the Nur Shams camp in the West Bank’s Tulkarem, as well as in the town of Tammun and in the Aida camp in Bethlehem.
There is no immediate comment by the IDF.
US strikes sites used by Iran-backed forces in Iraq, after 3 troops injured in attack
The US military has carried out strikes on three sites used by Iran-backed forces in Iraq after an attack wounded American personnel on Monday, including one critically, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says.
“US military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities used by Kataeb Hezbollah and affiliated groups in Iraq,” Austin says in a statement.
“These precision strikes are a response to a series of attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias, including an attack by Iran-affiliated Kataeb Hezbollah and affiliated groups on Arbil Air Base earlier today,” he says.
Austin adds that Washington “will not hesitate to take necessary action to defend the United States, our troops, and our interests. There is no higher priority. While we do not seek to escalate conflict in the region, we are committed and fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities.”
Japan says it will sanction 3 senior Hamas members
Japan’s government announces that it will sanction three senior members of Hamas to limit their ability to fund terrorism.
Tokyo’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi says the trio’s assets will be frozen and their payments and transactions will be sanctioned, according to Reuters.
The Hamas officials, whom the report doesn’t name, are believed by Japan to have had a role in the Palestinian terror group’s October 7 massacres, and to currently be “in a position to use funds to finance such terrorist activities.”
‘Tel Aviv faces a tough countdown,’ Iran warns after senior IRGC officer killed
Iran’s foreign minister warns that “Tel Aviv faces a tough countdown” after a senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was killed Monday in an alleged Israeli airstrike in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
In a tweet, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian claims Brig. Gen. Razi Mousavi “fought bravely for many years… to ensure the security of Iran and the region.”
Mousavi was responsible for coordinating the military alliance between Iran and Syria, and was believed by Israel to be heavily involved in Tehran’s efforts to supply weapons to terror proxies in the area, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group.
Hezbollah says it regards the killing as a “flagrant and shameless violation, which is off limits,” according to Iran’s state-owned Press TV.