Oct 29, 2023. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
Israeli forces are expanding ground operations in Gaza while their fighter jets have struck hundreds more Hamas targets, the Israeli military said on Sunday, in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the second phase of a three-week-old war.
The Palestinian terrorist group Palestinian Islami Jihad also said that a key figure in the group, Taysir al-Ghouti, was assassinated with his family in the city of Rafah.
Telephone
and internet communications were partially restored in Gaza on Sunday after a
more than day-long blackout that had badly impacted rescue operations as Israel
pounded targets of the terrorist Hamas group that controls the territory.
"Israel
cut us off from the world in order to wipe us out, but we are hearing the
sounds of explosions and we are proud the resistance fighters have stopped them
at meters distance," said Shaban Ahmed, a public servant who stayed in
Gaza City despite an Israeli warning to evacuate south.
Ahmed said
he only found out on Sunday that his cousin had been killed in an air strike on
Friday because of the blackout.
Israeli
Defense Force (IDF) fighter jets struck over 450 military targets belonging to
Hamas in the Gaza Strip, including operational command centers, observation
posts, and anti-tank missile launch posts, the military said.
"We
are gradually expanding the ground activity and the scope of our forces in the
Gaza Strip," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a
briefing. "We will do everything we can from the air, sea, and land to
ensure the safety of our forces and achieve the goals of the war."
Video: IDF troops in the Gaza Strip / Credit: IDF
With
supplies of food, water, and medicines running low, thousands of Gaza residents
broke into warehouses and distribution centers of the United Nations
Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) grabbing flour and "basic survival
items", the organization said on Sunday.
Israel will
allow a dramatic increase in aid to Gaza in the coming days and Palestinian
civilians should head to a "humanitarian zone" in the south of the
tiny territory, said Colonel Elad Goren of COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry
agency that coordinates with the Palestinians.
Israel has
tightened its blockade and bombarded Gaza for three weeks since Hamas
terrorists staged a devastating Oct. 7 cross-border attack, murdering at least
1,400 people and taking more than 200 people hostage.
Western
countries have generally backed what they say is Israel's right to
self-defense. But there has been a mounting international outcry over the toll
from the bombing and growing calls for a "humanitarian pause" to
allow aid to reach Gaza civilians and ease the humanitarian crisis.
Central
Israel also came under heavy rocket fire on Sunday, with sirens sounding in
several major cities. Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said on its
Telegram account that it was "bombing Tel Aviv in response to the Zionist
massacres against civilians".
Netanyahu
warned Israelis on Saturday to expect a "long and hard" campaign but
stopped short of calling the current incursions in Gaza an invasion. Some of US
President Joe Biden's aides have advised Israeli counterparts to hold off on an
immediate all-out assault, US officials say.
Netanyahu
also pledged to spare no effort to free the more than 200 hostages, including
foreigners, held by Hamas. "This is the second stage of the war whose
goals are clear – to destroy Hamas' governing and military capabilities and to
bring the hostages home," Netanyahu told a news conference.
Pope
Francis on Sunday called for a ceasefire in the Gaza war and renewed his call
for the release of all hostages. The European Union appealed to all parties to
allow unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza.
"People
in #Gaza depend on humanitarian aid only to survive the day. The depth of their
desperation is beyond words," the EU's aid chief Janez Lenarcic said. The
conflict has prompted large demonstrations worldwide in support of the
Palestinians. On Sunday supporters of Hamas in Lebanon staged a rally in Beirut
to show solidarity with Gaza.
The
Palestinian Red Crescent said on Sunday it had received warnings from Israeli
authorities to immediately evacuate al-Quds hospital in the Gaza Strip, adding
that raids conducted on Sunday had taken place just 50 meters from the
facility.
The head of
the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on social
media platform X that the Palestinian Red Crescent report was "deeply
concerning", adding it was impossible to safely evacuate hospitals full of
patients.
An Israeli
military spokesman declined to comment on the report. Palestinian officials
said around 50,000 people were taking shelter in the Gaza Shifa Hospital and
said they were concerned about ongoing Israeli threats to the facility.
Israel sent
troops and tanks into Gaza on Friday night, focusing on infrastructure
including the extensive tunnel network built by Hamas, the Israeli military
said. It provided no details on the size of the deployment.
Israel's
chief military spokesperson declined to say whether Israel had been behind the
telecommunications blackout but said it would do what it needed to protect its
forces.
Israel Hayom