Israel-Hamas war: First Gaza aid ship leaves Cyprus port

• A ship carrying aid for Gaza has left Cyrus

• One person killed in Israeli airstrikes in eastern Lebanon

• US carries out strikes on Yemen's Houthis after attack on vessel in Red Sea

Hezbollah says it launched more than 100 rockets at Israeli positions

Lebanon-based militia group Hezbollah said it has launched over 100 rockets aimed at Israeli military positions in retaliation for a strike on the country's east that killed one person.

Iran-backed Hezbollah launched "more than a hundred katyusha rockets" at two military bases in the occupied Golan Heights, the group said in a statement.

Hezbollah and Israel have traded increasingly intense, deadly cross-border fire since the Israel-Hamas war began in October.

Hezbollah, an ally ofHamas, is considered a terrorist organization by the US, Germany and several Sunni Arab countries.

Hezbollah said its strikes were "in response to the Israeli attacks on our people, villages and cities, most recently near the city of Baalbek and the killing of a citizen." Several Israeli strikes have moved deeper inside Lebanon lately, raising fears of a full-blown conflict.

On Monday, Israeli air strikes near Lebanon's eastern city of Baalbek killed one person in the second raid on the Hezbollah stronghold since cross-border hostilities began.

Gaza aid ship sets sail from Cyprus after delay

An aid ship carrying 200 tons of food for Gaza left the Larnaca port in Cyprus early Tuesday after being held up for days.

It is the first such shipment along a new maritime corridor from Cyprus, which aims to deliver much-needed aid to Gazans.

The charity ship Open Arms is towing a barge laden with flour, rice, canned tuna, beans, chicken and other things.

The journey is expected to take up to two days.

Israel has welcomed the new sea route, but some aid groups have criticized the mission, saying it is too little and ineffective.

The operation is part of an effort by the US, European Union, and United Arab Emirates to distribute aid in Gaza as food shortages across the territory steadily worsen.

The enclave has been effectively sealed off since Israel began its offensive in response to the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas militants. The United Nations has said food delivered by airdrops cannot replace open land borders.

One killed in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon

Israeli airstrikes near Baalbek, a city in eastern Lebanon, have killed at least one person and wounded several others, authorities said.

"Israeli aircraft targeted a former Hezbollah building near Dar Al Amal Hospital," a security source told the AFP news agency. The source added that there was also "another raid on a warehouse west of Baalbek."

The governor of the Baalbek-Hermel region, Bachir Khodr, said that one person had been killed in the strikes.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli airstrikes targeted two locations, including the warehouse and a residential building in the town of Ansar.

The Israeli military confirmed the strikes on two sites belonging to "Hezbollah's aerial forces."

There have been near-daily exchanges of fire, primarily in the southern border areas, between Israeli forces and Hamas-ally Hezbollah since the beginning of conflict in Gaza.

The expansion of Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah positions deeper in Lebanon, beyond the southern border, has raised fears of a wider conflict.

Hezbollah is an Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon that is considered a terrorist organization by the US, Germany and several Sunni Arab countries.

Houthi rebels attack container ship in Red Sea

Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted a merchant vessel in the Red Sea with missiles but caused no damage, authorities said Tuesday.

A Houthi military spokesman said the group had hit the ship Pinocchio, describing it as "American."

The Pinocchio is a Liberian-flagged container ship owned by a Singapore-registered company, according to shipping databases operated by Equasis and the UN's International Maritime Organization.

The US Central Command said two anti-ship ballistic missiles were fired at the Pinocchio from Yemeni territory and resulted in no injuries or damage.

Hours later, it added, US forces "conducted six self-defense strikes destroying an unmanned underwater vessel and 18 anti-ship missiles in Houthi controlled areas of Yemen."

The Iran-aligned Houthis have increased attacks on ships in the Red Sea since the war in Gaza began.

The Houthis said Tuesday they planned to step up their military operations during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in solidarity with Palestinians.

The group's attacks on vessels in the region have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.

(Reuters, AFP, AP)

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