Israel’s domestic intelligence service Shin Bet claimed it had foiled a bomb attack by the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah targeting a former senior Israeli security official.

The attack had been planned for the coming days, according to Shin Bet.

An explosive device had been equipped with a remote detonator and connected to a camera and a mobile phone, which would have allowed the bomb to be detonated from Lebanon by Hezbollah.

This is according to the statement released.

The intelligence service also accused Hezbollah of being responsible for an attempted attack in a park in Tel Aviv in September last year.

At the end of July, an Israeli attack on a house in a suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut killed a high-ranking commander of the Shiite militia, Fuad Shukr. Hezbollah responded by threatening retaliation. 

In the meantime, Xinhua reported on Tuesday that Israel has expanded its goals of the military operation in Gaza to include the safe return of northern Israel residents who were evacuated.

The evacuation was due to the conflict ongoing with Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border.

A statement from his office said the decision was approved during an overnight meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet.

The ministers updated the goals “to include the following clause: the safe return of northern residents to their homes,’’ the statement said.

On Monday, Israeli Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, told White House special envoy Amos Hochstein, who arrived in Tel Aviv to discuss efforts toward de-escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.

Gallant said that the window for a diplomatic resolution was closing.

Military action is the only way to achieve calm on the northern border, said Gallant.

Tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border have been displaced due to the fighting.

Hezbollah has said it would cease fire if Israel and Hamas agree to end the fighting. 

– dpa

An opinion poll on Friday showed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party would form the largest single party in parliament.

That would be if an election were held now, underlining a gradual recovery since the Oct. 7 attacks last year.

The poll, published in the left-wing Ma’ariv daily, showed Likud winning 24 seats, against 32 at present, its highest score in the Ma’ariv poll since Oct. 7.

It put the National Unity Party led by centrist former general Benny Gantz on 21. 

Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition with a clutch of nationalist-religious and ultra-Orthodox parties would lose any election held now, with 53 seats in the 120-seat parliament, against 58 for the main opposition bloc, according to the poll.

Nevertheless, Likud’s advance shows how far Netanyahu has moved since last year when his standing was hit by public fury at the security failures when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.

Earlier in the war against Hamas in Gaza, opinion polls regularly showed Likud gaining no more than 16-18 seats in parliament.

The survey also showed Netanyahu’s standing as prime minister recovering, with respondents favouring him over any alternative potential candidate apart from former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is now out of politics.

Despite the coalition, tensions between Netanyahu and several ministers, and regular protests by Israelis demanding a deal to bring home the Gaza hostages, the government has held together for almost two years.

An election is not due until 2026.

Netanyahu has clashed with Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, from his party, and two hardliners – National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

While Likud has climbed steadily, support has not followed for the two nationalist religious parties, Jewish Power, led by Ben-Gvir, and Religious Zionism, under Smotrich, giving both parties an incentive not to leave the government. 

– Reuters

Congolese Interior Minister, Jacquemain Shabani on Tuesday said 129 people have been killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo in an attempted prison break.

On his X account, Shabani said authorities shot dead 24 inmates of the Makala prison in the capital Kinshasa, while dozens of others were suffocated or trampled to death.

According to the minister, some female prisoners were raped during the chaos on Monday night.

He said at least 59 people were also injured. The police and army were able to bring the situation under control.

Shabani said the number of victims is preliminary.

The property damage was considerable. The Administrative buildings, the infirmary and the food depot had been completely burnt down, the minister added.

Security forces held an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the case.

Prison breaks are a frequent occurrence in the conflict-torn Central African country. Hundreds of inmates often manage to escape together. 

– dpa