Israel, Tuesday (24/10), said it had succeeded in killing dozens of Hamas members in a series of attacks in Gaza last night. Israel has indicated that it will not reduce the intensity of attacks on the besieged Palestinian territory
The United States (US) is urging Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, which is mired in a humanitarian crisis after two weeks of intense Israeli siege.
But a ceasefire is unlikely to be implemented in the near future, in the bloodiest episode of the Israel-Hamas conflict in recent decades.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said more than 5,000 people were killed in Gaza as a result of two weeks of Israeli airstrikes launched in response to Hamas attacks. The Islamist militant group killed more than 1,400 people – mostly civilians – in one day.
A building destroyed by Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip is seen in Deir Al-Balah, Tuesday, October 24, 2023. (Photo: AP)
Hamas on Monday (23/10) released two Israeli women who were among more than 200 hostages the group held on October 7 in southern Israel. They were the third and fourth hostages to be freed.
A number of Israeli tanks and troops gathered on the border between Israel and the Hamas-controlled enclave awaiting orders to carry out a land invasion.
The Israeli military said it successfully struck more than 400 militant targets in Gaza overnight and killed dozens of Hamas members, including three deputy battalion commanders.
Among the targets attacked were a tunnel said to allow Hamas to infiltrate Israel from the sea and Hamas command centers in several mosques, he said. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Much of Gaza has been razed to the ground by Israeli bombs, forcing more than a million residents to seek shelter elsewhere in the territory.
As food, clean water, medicine and fuel run out, the UN and aid agencies warn of an impending humanitarian catastrophe and plead for supplies to be allowed in.
Previously, Israeli Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi stated that Israel had no intention of limiting its attacks.
“We want to bring Hamas to a state of total destruction,” Halevi said in a statement.
A man unloads humanitarian aid as a convoy of trucks enters the Gaza Strip from Egypt via the Rafah border crossing, October 21, 2023. (Photo: AFP) “We are well prepared for the ground operation in the south,” he added. “Troops that have more time will be better prepared, and that’s what we’re doing now.”
Medical officials in Gaza said dozens of Palestinians were killed or injured overnight across the enclave, mostly in southern Gaza, as a result of Israeli bombardment. At least 15 homes were destroyed, officials said.
Residents said an Israeli missile hit a gas station in Khan Younis, where workers, families and other people fleeing the city’s eastern side had gathered. Several people were killed or injured, they said.
More than 40 health facilities were forced to stop operations after running out of fuel and several of them were damaged by Israeli bombing, said Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra. (ah/rs)