Published October 15, 2023
As Israel’s ground troops amass at the border with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, preparing for a probable escalation of the war ignited by Hamas’ brutal terror attack on southern Israel, the country hasn’t pulled back on its aerial assault on Gaza.
Missiles have rained down on the Palestinian territory since the Oct. 7 attack, where Hamas militants fired barrages of rockets and stormed into the Jewish state on a murderous rampage. The combined death toll on both sides of the war climbed to more than 3,600, rising precipitously in Gaza as the Israel Defense Forces hammered the region with missiles that it insists have all targeted Hamas.
Authorities in Gaza sounded the alarm Sunday that hospitals were running so low on fuel for generators and basic supplies, thousands could die. The U.N. said almost a million residents have been displaced since the war started, with many Palestinians scrambling to follow Israel’s warning to flee Gaza’s densely populated northern half.
But the only exit from Gaza, the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, remains closed. Some are taking shelter at U.N. schools. Hamas has told residents to remain in their homes.
Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, sirens continued sounding more than a week after Hamas launched its surprise attack. Shell-shocked residents are awaiting what’s next.
On Sunday, Israel’s border with Lebanon was also on high alert as Israel and Hezbollah exchanged fire, killing at least one person on the Israeli side of the Lebanese border.
Israel’s military said Hamas’ attack and ongoing rocket fire from Gaza had killed more than 1,300 people, at least 276 of them troops, and left at least 3,200 people wounded. At least 29 Americans are known to be among the dead, a State Department spokesperson confirmed Saturday. In Gaza, the Health Ministry said Sunday that the Israeli airstrikes had killed 2,329 people, including 724 children, and left 9,714 others wounded.
The Israeli military said Sunday that at least 126 people were taken captive by Hamas to Gaza. The State Department spokesperson said Saturday that 15 Americans remain unaccounted for, along with one U.S. permanent resident.
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SOURCE: https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/israel-hamas-war-gaza-strip/
RELATED: ‘Only the beginning’ says Netanyahu as Israel makes first raids into Gaza
Published October 15, 2023
Israeli infantry made their first raids into the Gaza Strip on Friday since Hamas fighters rampaged through southern Israel, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a campaign of retaliation had only just begun.
Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas after its fighters burst out of Gaza a week ago and stormed through towns and villages, killing 1,300 Israelis, mainly civilians, and making off with scores of hostages.
Since then Israel has placed the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, under a total siege and bombarded it with unprecedented air strikes. Gaza authorities say 1,900 people have died.
On Friday Israel gave more than a million residents of the northern half of Gaza 24 hours to flee to the south to avoid an onslaught. Hamas vowed to fight to the last drop of blood and told residents not to go.
Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said troops backed by tanks had mounted raids to attack Palestinian rocket crews and seek information on the location of hostages, the first official account of ground troops in Gaza since the crisis began.
“We are striking our enemies with unprecedented might,” Netanyahu said in a brief statement which, unusually, was televised after the Jewish Sabbath had begun. “I emphasise that this is only the beginning.”
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SOURCE: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/now-is-time-war-says-israels-military-chief-2023-10-12/
RELATED: Gaza’s desperate civilians flee or huddle in hopes of safety, as warnings of Israeli offensive mount
Israel is continuing a major military build up in the south of the country as its war against Hamas intensifies
Published October 15, 2023
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Desperate Palestinians scrambled for escape from northern Gaza on Saturday or huddled by the thousands at a hospital in the target zone in hopes it would be spared, as Israel intensified warnings of an imminent offensive by air, ground and sea following Hamas militants’ deadly rampage in Israel a week ago.
While workers at an Israeli military base continued efforts through the Jewish Sabbath to identify the more than 1,300 people killed in the Oct. 7 assault, Israel dropped leaflets from the air and redoubled warnings on social media for more than 1 million Gaza residents to move south.
The military says it is trying to clear away civilians ahead of a concentrated campaign against Hamas militants in the north, including in what it said were underground hideouts in Gaza City. Hamas urged people to stay in their homes.
The U.N. and aid groups say such a rapid exodus along with Israel’s siege of the territory would cause untold human suffering. The World Health Organization said the evacuation “could be tantamount to a death sentence” for the more than 2,000 patients in northern hospitals, including newborns in incubators and people in intensive care.
