The Israeli military said on Saturday that it will increase its attacks on the Gaza Strip to create optimal conditions for a possible ground invasion, CBS News reported.
The announcement came two weeks after Hamas launched a multi-pronged attack on Israel on October 7, leading to a massive escalation in hostilities in the region. After the attack by Hamas, Israel declared a siege on Gaza and launched a series of airstrikes. It also stopped water, fuel and power supplies to the region’s 2.3 million residents.
At least 4,385 persons have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza in the past two weeks, Palestinian authorities said. Israel said on October 20 that 1,400 persons died and 4,500 were injured in attacks on the country from Gaza.
Israel military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on Saturday: “We will deepen our attacks to minimise the dangers to our forces in the next stages of the war. We are going to increase the attacks, from today.”
On Saturday night, Israeli forces continued to bombard Gaza, with several popular cafes and a shopping centre among the places that suffered air attacks, according to Al-Jazeera.
The Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Authority also carried out an air strike on the Al-Ansar mosque in the city of Jenin in the West Bank.
Israeli forces claimed that the strike was carried out on a terrorist compound within the mosque premises that was being used by militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. They claimed that the mosque was being used “as a command centre to plan and execute terrorist attacks against civilians”.
Palestinian authorities said that at least one person died in the air strike.
Relief material begins entering Gaza
A border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened on Saturday for the first time since Israel’s siege on the Palestinian territory began two weeks ago, the Associated Press reported.
Merely 20 trucks carrying relief material were allowed to enter Gaza. Over 200 trucks with 3,000 tonnes of aid have reportedly been waiting in the area for days.
The United Nations and humanitarian organisation Red Crescent said that the aid that entered Gaza was nowhere near what was needed to meet food and water requirements, as also health facilities, according to Al-Jazeera.
On Wednesday, Israel said it would allow humanitarian aid such as food, water and medicine to enter the blockaded Gaza Strip from Egypt. It, however, said it would not allow humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip from its territory as long as its citizens held captive were not returned.
On Sunday morning, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that the country sent an aircraft carrying nearly 6.5 tonnes of medical aid and 32 tonnes of disaster relief material for the people of Palestine to Egypt.
“The material includes essential life-saving medicines, surgical items, tents, sleeping bags, tarpaulins, sanitary utilities, water purification tablets among other necessary items,” the ministry’s spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
Syria says two airports hit by Israeli strikes
Israeli missile attacks targeted the Damascus and Aleppo international airports in Syria in the early hours of Sunday, AFP reported, citing Syrian state media. The attacks killed one worker at the Damascus airport and wounded another person.
Damage to the airports’ runways has put them out of service. Flights have been diverted to Latakia airport, the Syrian transport ministry said.
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