The Israeli Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip are Prepared for the Next Stages of the War, and Israel’s Airstrike on Gaza
On Saturday, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that the Israel Defense Forces would increase its strikes on Gaza. “We will deepen our attacks to minimize the dangers to our forces in the next stages of the war. Hagari said they are going to increase the attacks. He asked Gaza’s residents to move for their own safety.
The tally includes five Palestinians killed in separate incidents on Sunday. Israel carried out an airstrike during a battle in another West Bank refugee camp last week, in which 13 Palestinians, including five minors, and a member of Israel’s paramilitary Border Police were killed.
Israel has confirmed that 212 people are being held hostage in Gaza. Military spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said on Sunday that Israeli strikes overnight had killed dozens of Palestinian fighters, including the deputy chief of Hamas rocket forces.
According to sources, many Palestinians received warnings from the army to move from north Gaza to the south of the enclave with the added message that they might be identified as an accessory in a terrorist organization. However, there have also been strikes in the south of Gaza, making it unclear whether moving is truly safe.
In addition, Israel said that overnight it hit a “terrorist compound” in Jenin in the West Bank, allegedly including “operatives” from a Hamas cell within a mosque, who were allegedly planning attacks.
In the West Bank, Israel uses less air power than in Gaza. Israel says its forces have detained over 700 suspects in the West Bank, including 480 members of Hamas, since the start of hostilities.
Israeli jets bombed Hezbollah targets along the border with Lebanon on Saturday after a soldier was hit by an anti-tank missile. “We are in the heart of the battle today,” said Hezbollah’s deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, on Saturday, the same day that the group said six of its fighters were killed.
To the northeast, Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes early Sunday targeted the international airports of the Syrian capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo, killing one person. The runways were damaged and put out of service. The Israeli military did not respond immediately.
The Israeli Campaign in Gaza. The First Stop in the Bucket: Hilf, Food, Water and Medical Supplies for a Healthcare System in Occupied Gaza
The Pentagon is sending an anti-ballistic missile defense system to the Middle East as well as more air defense missile system battalions, he said.
The U.S. has deployed a significant amount of naval power to the area in recent weeks, including two aircraft carriers, their support ships and about 2,000 Marines.
After some aid finally got into the Gaza Strip, humanitarian efforts are still focusing on aid convoys. It was the first humanitarian aid to come into Gaza since the Israeli campaign began two weeks ago, with 20 trucks crossing into the enclave from Egypt on Saturday.
Loaded on the trucks were medical supplies for trauma treatment and chronic disease, the World Health Organization said Saturday. Some food, mattresses and blankets were included in the delivery. Notably, no fuel arrived, which aid groups say is needed to power hospitals and desalination plants for much-needed water.
Lynn Hastings, U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told NPR that the arrival of the trucks Saturday “represents a very small first but important start. It’s a drop in the bucket.
Five days after Hamas accused Israel of bombing a hospital in Gaza City and killing hundreds of people, the armed Palestinian group has yet to produce or describe any evidence linking Israel to the strike, says it cannot find the munition that hit the site and has declined to provide detail to support its count of the casualties.
The Gazan authorities have changed their story about the blast after new evidence came to light that contradicted the Hamas claim. Spokespeople have released death tolls varying from 500 to 833, before settling on 471.
Hamas denied requests from The Times to view any evidence that it said was used to strike the hospital.
The missile dissolved like salt in water, according to a senior Hamas official. “It’s vaporized. Nothing is left.”
Salama Maroof, the head of the Hamas-run government media office, said in a text message: “Who says we’re obligated to present the remnants of every rocket that kills our people? You can confirm for yourself from the evidence we have.