AN Israeli soldier was killed and four others wounded after a guided missile struck a Merkava tank in southern Lebanon, as Hezbollah stepped up attacks on Israeli armour and troop positions amid a widening regional war.
The strike marked the second Israeli soldier killed within hours during ground operations, with Hezbollah claiming dozens of hits on military positions and equipment across the south.
The fighting intensified as the US-Israeli war on Iran entered its 28th day. Explosions were reported across Tehran, Tabriz, Urmia and Kashan, with airstrikes hitting residential areas and Iranian authorities reporting casualties.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded with a new wave of missile and drone attacks targeting Israeli military sites, US bases and energy facilities.
Air raid sirens sounded across Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other areas following Iranian missile launches, while the Israeli military said it carried out extensive strikes on infrastructure in Tehran.
The United States is weighing the possible deployment of up to 10,000 additional troops to the region.
Donald Trump said a planned strike on Iranian energy facilities had been delayed for ten days.
Meanwhile, Israeli Occupation forces shot dead a Palestinian man and wounded at least four others, including two children, across the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip yesterday.
Mustafa Hamad was killed by a critical gunshot wound during clashes with Israeli police who stormed Qalandia refugee camp, north of Jerusalem, at dawn.
Gaza’s shattered healthcare system struggled to cope with the toll of nearly two years of war.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday it had facilitated the medical evacuation of 47 Palestinians, 17 patients and 30 companions, through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, transferring them from its rehabilitation hospital in Khan Younis ahead of treatment abroad.
Rafah was reopened on 19 March under strict conditions after a closure of nearly 20 days triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran. Since then, travellers have reported prolonged interrogations and temporary detention.
Local estimates put the number of patients requiring urgent treatment abroad at around 22,000.
Before the war, hundreds of Palestinians crossed daily through Rafah without Israeli interference, and although Israel was expected to reopen it fully during the first ceasefire phase that began in October 2025, it has not adhered to those terms.
The Israeli war of genocide has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, wounded approximately 172,000 and destroyed roughly 90 per cent of civilian infrastructure.
