Israel

Israel launched rare strikes in southern Lebanon early Friday and pressed on with bombing targets in the Gaza Strip, marking a widening escalation in the region following violence this week at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site.

They decided to intensify their strike after rocket attacks on Israel from the territory of Lebanon on Thursday.
"The Israeli army will not allow the terrorist organization Hamas to carry out operations from Lebanon, and we hold the state of Lebanon responsible for any attack that comes from its territory," the Israeli army said, Reuters reported.

Israeli police stormed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City early Wednesday, firing stun grenades at Palestinian youths who hurled firecrackers at them in a burst of violence during a sensitive holiday season. Palestinian militants in Gaza responded with rocket fire on southern Israel, prompting repeated Israeli airstrikes.

The police used water cannons. The organizers claim that 230,000 people came out in Tel Aviv, while "The Times of Israel" refers to the report of "Channel 12" which claims that 165,000 people are on the streets.

The Hellenic Police said Tuesday that in a coordinated operation with the country's National Intelligence Service (EYP), they had "dismantled a terrorist network that, guided from abroad, was planning attacks against carefully selected targets within Greece."

The situation in Israel is getting more and more complicated. There will be no flights from Ben Gurion International Airport until further notice as part of a large-scale strike announced by the Labor Union on Monday morning to protest judicial reform. This was announced by the chairman of the Committee of Airport Authorities of Israel, Pinchas Idan, quoted by the Jerusalem Post.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to back down on Wednesday, saying his government has no intention of returning to four abandoned settlements in the occupied West Bank under a law that was repealed by parliament this week.

Questions are being raised about the organization of this year's Iniochos 2023 military exercise, as Israel has not yet expressed an interest in participating with aircraft.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias expressed his satisfaction during his visit to Jerusalem on Tuesday that the government of Israel clearly stood up for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and sovereign rights of Greece.

In the first visit of a European foreign minister to Israel after the inauguration of the new government on December 29, Nikos Dendias' trip on Tuesday will focus on energy, investment, defense and the deepening of Greek-Israeli cooperation.