GAZA: The relentless violence in Gaza has escalated as clashes intensified between Israel and Hezbollah along the Lebanese border, raising fears of a broader conflict in the Middle East.
Israeli tanks advanced into northern and western Rafah, engaging with fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Residents reported that the Israeli military demolished several homes in eastern and central Rafah.
In response, the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad launched attacks using anti-tank rockets, detonated explosives, and fired mortars at the advancing Israeli forces.
Palestinian health officials reported that 22 people were killed in various Israeli airstrikes across the central and southern Gaza Strip. One strike in Nuseirat, a historic refugee camp, resulted in the deaths of six Palestinians, including three women.
The Israeli military has not commented on these developments.
Nearly a year of conflict has displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, with extensive destruction from Israeli air and artillery strikes. According to the Gaza health ministry, more than 41,400 Palestinians have died as a result of the ongoing assaults.
This latest escalation began on October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel to liberate its territories. Since then, more than 41,470 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the Israeli ground and airstrikes.
In Washington, US President Joe Biden remains committed to negotiating a ceasefire in Gaza and securing a deal for hostages held by Hamas, while also working to ease tensions on Israel’s border with Lebanon, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan stated on Tuesday.
“He absolutely hasn’t given up,” Sullivan said in an MSNBC interview, just hours before Biden was scheduled to address the UN General Assembly for the last time as president.
