Im at the site of where one woman was killed in the barrage of rockets over the Tel Aviv. Officials say it was a direct hit. Extremely tense, I was just attacked by a crowd who said I was an Arab. Had to be escorted away by security forces.
Neighbours say the barrage of rockets started and every building shook. The woman who was killed couldn’t get to her shelter in time. There was a massive boom, and a huge fire.
Things are kicking off in Lod as well. I passed by there earlier today. Fierce confrontations between Arab residents, Jewish residents and security forces. Lod mayor has just called for the army to deploy saying it’s a “civil war” #Lod
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This footage being shared from Tel Aviv is insane (it’s not mine so can’t verify it). Reports of 130 rockets being fired from #Gaza at Tel Aviv right now
Over 80 rockets were fired toward Tel Aviv from Gaza, the spokesperson for Israel’s police Mickey Rosenfeld just told me.
There were two hits, one hitting an empty bus in Holon and one on Rishon LeTsiyon, both south of Tel Aviv. “Security is at the highest alert” he said
After tonight’s unprecedented (out of war time, can I say that?) rocket barrage on Tel Aviv I cannot see how this will de-escalate any time soon. I am so very worried about the coming weeks.
Rocket fire has been almost constant in Ashkelon -third time diving for cover in 10 mins. But at least there is a warning siren and cover here. In Gaza families don’t have warnings or anywhere to hide and the death toll shows that. Civilians on both sides are terrified.
Meanwhile footage coming out of Gaza is horrific. Screaming children with missing limbs, crying for their parents. The video is too graphic to share.
#Gaza health ministry officials just told me latest death toll in #Gaza is still 26 dead and 122 injured. Among the dead are 9 children.
Massive massive explosion just rocked #Lebanon. We are in the mountains and heard first explosion then the blast wave which literally pushed us fall to our knees. No idea. But there is massive mushroom cloud.
Absolute chaos in #Beirut. Shattered shop fronts, injured people staggering around, alarms going off, ambulances trying to get to hospitals, the floor is glistening with shattered glass. In all my years of covering wars I have never experienced a blast like this. #Lebanon
My flat is completely destroyed. Not just windows blown in- like door and window frames ripped out. The cats are alive thank god.
Exclusive: "Serious structural problems" in #Israel's military mean "masses of targets" in #Gaza are bombed without proper intelligence evaluations killing&maiming civilians, personnel told me. They said intel is often old,there's no visual check before (1)independent.co.uk/news/world/mid…
2. The #Israel airmen told me a culture of “destroy, destroy, destroy” rewards personnel for identifying fresh targets in #Gaza rather than checking the validity of 1000s already in the database, known as the “bank”. Sometimes the intelligence is over a year old. #Gaza
3. #Israeli airmen said if the targets in #Gaza run out, as happened during the 2014 war, the air force is told to “simply keep dropping bombs”. It got to the point in 2014 where personnel were questioning why the operation was continuing "because the target bank was finished"
#Netanyahu has been formally indicted on corruption charges, just hours before he is expected to join #Trump for the launch of the US Middle East "peace plan". Bibi dropped his bid for immunity after became clear the Israeli parliament would vote against it. What a day.
Trump starts by teasing Netanyahu for not being able to form a government after "The longest-running election of all time". "Israel is a light unto the world, the arts and history of our people are woven together" he adds .
The question is how did Baghdadi get to and survive in Barisha, #Idlib 20 mins from the border with Turkey, (with nearby Turkish bases) surrounded by rival Jihadi leaders with a $25 million price tag on his head? Or maybe that’s the point... he didn’t survive.
This is a potential location of the US raid on the Baghdadi compound, if you look at unconfirmed footage from the ground. It’s just south west of Barisha #Idlib#Syria
From what Ryan and others have geolocated, based on what may or may not be footage of the aftermath of US raid near Barisha #Idlib. This could be a potential location of the Baghdadi compound that was targeted. Again *nothing* is confirmed. Official announcement at 9am EST.