Hamas fighters destroy Israeli tank south of Khan Younis

Strikes across the Israel-Lebanon border are on the rise. [Jalaa Marey/AFP]

The al-Qassam Brigades says its fighters destroyed an Israeli Merkava tank with an Al-Yassin 105 shell, south of the city of Khan Younis.

Merkava tanks are classified as among the most fortified in the world and the most powerful on the battlefield.

East of the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, fighters from the al-Qassam Brigades killed four Israeli soldiers with a locally manufactured rifle called “Ghoul”.

‘Dangerous situation’ on border between Lebanon and Israel

We saw the assassination of senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri last week. We’ve seen the killing of Wissam al-Tawil just 24 hours ago and now a strike during his funeral – we’re hearing one person has died – and another strike where three other people have died.

Hezbollah supporters burn an Israeli flag during a protest in solidarity with the Palestinian people [File: Bilal Hussein/AP]

This is now becoming a very dangerous situation. The international community is incredibly worried about escalation on the border, but now it’s got another problem.

These strikes that took place against Hezbollah field commanders have taken place within Lebanese territory. Hezbollah has responded with a strike 40km (25 miles) inside Israeli territory.

That is something the international community and diplomatic efforts are trying to avoid. The idea was to try to keep everything contained along this 120km (75 miles) border.

If it spills over; it’s only going to take a mistake or a miscalculation by either side that will be seen as a red line by either side for this to actually spill over.

Lebanon says Shebaa Farms must be part of conflict solution

Lebanon’s caretaker foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, has told a UN official that reclaiming the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms must be a non-negotiable part of any solution to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

“The Shebaa Farms are an essential pillar in the comprehensive solution and stopping tension in the south, and cannot be skipped,” he told Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the under-secretary-general for peace operations in a meeting in Beirut.

He said “Hezbollah has a right to its position” in reference to the group’s firm stance that there will be no negotiations before there is a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.