Displaying items by tag: air strikes

As Ukraine is enduring one of the harshest winters of the war, Russian strikes continue to target the country’s energy infrastructure. In Kyiv alone, around four thousand buildings remain without heating and nearly 60% of the city has lost electricity following recent attacks. Across the country, communities face similar disruptions amid freezing temperatures. Volodymyr Zelensky has declared a state of emergency in the energy sector, with schools closed, public lighting reduced, and hundreds of thousands leaving the capital. He has also criticised the mayor of Kyiv, former boxer Vitali Klitschko, for not doing enough to restore power quickly. Hospitals have reported more than a thousand cases of frostbite and hypothermia in recent weeks. Emergency warming tents now dot the city, offering shelter and food. Germany has described Russian winter attacks on energy as war crimes, and the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for two top military officials said to be responsible for them.

The dramatic airstrike by Israel on Hamas leaders in Qatar on 9 October marks a new twist in a war already destabilising the wider Middle East. Qatar, long considered Hamas’ political base and a central mediator in ceasefire negotiations, condemned the attack as a flagrant breach of international law, while regional powers including the UAE and Saudi Arabia denounced it as an assault on sovereignty. The strike targeted Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’ exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator, but reports indicate he and others survived. Coming just a day after Hamas’ armed wing killed six people in Jerusalem, the move risks collapsing fragile ceasefire talks. In Gaza City, Israeli evacuation orders have spread panic among civilians, many already displaced and trapped in worsening conditions. This year Israel has struck Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, and Iranian-linked targets in Syria and Iran, heightening fears of a regional war.

For the second time in four days, Israel’s military have struck a Hezbollah target in Beirut. The precision airstrike, carried out by the air force, killed Hassan Ali Mahmoud Bdeir, a senior Hezbollah operative. According to Israel, he was orchestrating an imminent terror attack against civilians. The strike hit the top floors of an apartment building, killing at least three and wounding seven. Lebanese officials condemned the attack, calling it a violation of UN Resolution 1701 and an assault on Lebanese sovereignty. The president vowed to rally international support, while Hezbollah’s leadership placed responsibility on Lebanon’s government to respond diplomatically. The USA reiterated its support for Israel, claiming that it was operating in response to rocket attacks. Although Hezbollah denied launching the rockets, authorities have arrested thirteen suspects. The targeted strikes and political fallout highlight deepening regional instability and the increasing entanglement of Iranian-backed terror groups.

Humanitarian groups have accused Israeli forces of intentionally targeting them in Gaza, after the airstrike on 1 April on a World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy. Seven aid workers, including three Britons, were killed in the airstrike. WCK had coordinated with the IDF through deconfliction, a process where agencies inform military parties of their locations and movements to avoid being targeted. Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident unintentional, and the IDF claimed it was due to misidentification. However, 203 aid workers have been killed since the conflict began, which creates a lot of mistrust in the deconfliction system. WCK founder José Andrés has claimed that the IDF is targeting them ‘systematically, car by car’, and said that workers from other groups such as UNRWA and the Red Cross had also been affected. The recurring strikes raise doubts about the effectiveness and integrity of coordination efforts, exacerbating tensions in the conflict zone. See also the UK article entitled ‘Legal experts call for halt in British arms exports to Israel’. Breaking news: Israel has announced that it will open two new aid routes.