Tensions between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Hezbollah escalated Thursday and Friday with an exchange of rocket fire between the two parties, at a time when an Egyptian delegation is expected to arrive in Israel in hopes of advancing talks to reach a cease-fire and free hostages in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army said that "two anti-tank missiles" were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel overnight, and that it had responded with artillery fire against "the sources of these attacks."
On Friday, the army reported that a civilian had been killed in rocket attacks near the Lebanese border, while Israeli media reported that the dead man was an Israeli Arab truck driver.
On the other hand, the army confirmed the destruction of Hezbollah's infrastructure, after reporting in an earlier statement that military aircraft had bombed the party's "infrastructure" in the Kafr Shuba area.
For its part, Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and is an ally of the Palestinian Hamas movement, claimed responsibility for shooting operations that "hit" Israeli forces on the border.
On Friday, it confirmed the destruction of Israeli vehicles, which the army declined to comment on.
The Israeli army announced on Wednesday that it was carrying out "offensive operations" in southern Lebanon, from where Hezbollah launches attacks against the Israeli army.
In parallel with this exchange of bombs across the border, the Israeli army is preparing to launch a ground assault on Rafah as part of its war against Hamas, despite warnings from the international community, especially its American ally.
A large number of foreign capitals and humanitarian organizations are expressing fears that many lives will be lost if Israel carries out its attack on the city in the south of the besieged Palestinian Strip, which is home to more than 1.5 million people, most of them displaced.
This comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been stressing for weeks that this operation is necessary to eliminate Hamas, noting that Rafah is the movement's last major stronghold in Gaza.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said Thursday that the war cabinet had met "to discuss means that will allow the destruction of the last Hamas units."
But several Israeli media outlets, quoting officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the war government discussed a new cease-fire proposal that includes the release of hostages ahead of an expected visit by an Egyptian delegation on Friday.
An unnamed Israeli official said an Egyptian delegation would arrive in Israel on Friday to discuss "security issues," without giving further details.
Israeli media, in turn, reported that the discussions would include a possible cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas.
The Walla website quoted an unnamed senior Israeli official as saying that the talks would focus on a proposal to initially release 20 hostages who are considered "humanitarian" cases.
A member of the Hamas political bureau, Ghazi Hamad, confirmed to AFP from Qatar that the possible Israeli military attack on Rafah would not achieve "what the Hebrew state wants".
He added: "We have spoken to all parties involved in the current conflict, whether brothers in Egypt, Qatar or Arab and international parties, about the danger of entering Rafah and that Israel is heading towards committing more massacres and more genocide."
Relatives of the hostages demonstrated in front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, continuing the pressure on the Israeli government to release those kidnapped in Gaza.
Some demonstrators tied their hands and painted them red while covering their mouths with a sticker with the number "202," referring to the number of days since October 7. Some of them also carried a sign that read: "Agree on the hostages now.
This comes a day after the Palestinian Islamic Movement released a video on Wednesday showing one of the hostages kidnapped during the October 7 attack on Israeli territory.
In the video clip, Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg Bolin, 23, accused the Israeli prime minister and members of his government of "abandoning" the hostages.
In a related development, the leaders of 18 countries, including the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Germany, issued a joint text calling for "the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza".
The text released by the White House confirmed that "the agreement on the table to release the hostages will allow for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza.
The war broke out on October 7 after an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,170 people, most of them civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse count based on official Israeli data.
More than 250 people were kidnapped during the Hamas attack, 129 of whom are still being held in Gaza, including 34 who are believed to have died, according to Israeli officials.
In response, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas, which has been in power in Gaza since 2007 and is designated a "terrorist organization" by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
Its extensive military operation in Gaza resulted in the deaths of 34,305 people, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
On Thursday night and Friday, witnesses reported bombing in Gaza, particularly in the Rafah area, where survivors on Thursday tried to retrieve items from under the rubble after the strikes.
One of them, named Samir, said in the middle of the rubble: "Enough of the destruction, enough of the war, enough of drinking the blood of children, women, old people and defenseless civilians. This has gone beyond the limit. Enough is enough."
As Gaza's 2.4 million residents face a tragic humanitarian situation, the United States announced Thursday that it has begun construction of a temporary port and pier off the coast of Gaza that will allow military and civilian ships to unload their aid cargo.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced the construction process in early March because of the difficulty of getting aid in by land from Egypt due to strict controls and inspections imposed by Israel.
In the midst of these developments, tensions are still high on American campuses, where demonstrations against the war in Gaza are growing and hundreds have been arrested as riot police confront angry students.
From Los Angeles to New York, through Austin, Boston, Chicago and Atlanta, the American pro-Palestinian student movement is expanding as protests have been organized at a number of internationally prestigious universities such as Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Princeton.
In this context, Columbia University, where the protest movement began, postponed Friday's deadline for students to disperse the sit-in on campus.
The university president's office backed away from the deadline of midnight local time (4:00 GMT Friday) to dismantle the tents, which are occupied by about 200 pro-Palestinian students.
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