Israel Says Strikes Will Dismantle Hamas as Palestinian Death Toll Rises
GAZA/JERUSALEM, Oct 24 (Reuters) – Israel said on Tuesday it had killed dozens of Hamas fighters overnight in strikes on Gaza but that its war to destroy them, which involves bombarding and blockading the Palestinian enclave, would take time.
The United Nations urged Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, trapped in a humanitarian crisis after two weeks of intense Israeli attacks, saying the aid let in so far met a tiny fraction of the needs, and fuel, still blocked, was crucial.
“We are on our knees asking for that sustained, scaled up, protected humanitarian operation,” said Dr Rick Brennan, WHO Regional Emergencies Director for Eastern Mediterranean Region.
There appeared to be little prospect of a ceasefire any time soon in the bloodiest episode in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in decades. Scores of Palestinian civilians were killed or wounded overnight, medical officials in Gaza said.
The Palestinian health ministry said more than 5,000 people have been killed in Gaza by two weeks of Israeli air strikes unleashed in response to a devastating Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. The Islamist militant group killed more than 1,400 people – mostly civilians – in a single day.
Hamas on Monday freed two Israeli women who were among the more than 200 hostages taken during the assault. They were the third and fourth hostages to be released.
Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, she was well-treated during her two-week captivity in Gaza but beaten by militants as she was seized on Oct. 7, and had difficulty breathing. “I’ve been through hell,” she said.
Israeli tanks and troops are massed on the border between Israel and the Hamas-ruled enclave awaiting orders for an expected ground invasion – an operation that will be complicated by concerns over the hostages.
The Israeli military said it had hit more than 400 militant targets in Gaza overnight and killed dozens of Hamas fighters, including three deputy commanders.
Among the targets hit was a tunnel that allowed Hamas to infiltrate Israel from the sea and Hamas command centres in mosques, it said. Reuters could not verify the report.
Wide areas of Gaza have been flattened by Israeli bombs, forcing more than one million residents to seek shelter elsewhere in the territory. Food, clean water and medicine and fuel are fast running out.
Earlier, Israeli Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi suggested Israel had no intention of curbing its strikes.
“We want to bring Hamas to a state of full dismantling,” Halevi said in a statement.
“We are well prepared for the ground operations in the south,” he added.
Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the military was “ready and determined” for the next stage in the war and was awaiting political instruction.
But how soon Israel might launch a full-scale invasion is not clear. The Middle East’s most powerful military faces a group that has built up a powerful arsenal with Iran’s help, fighting in a crowded urban setting and using a vast tunnel network.
Source: Reuters