GAZA: Israeli forces continued their intense strikes on Palestinian in Gaza as the conflict approached one month, with the death toll rising in the besieged territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains determined to destroy Hamas following their attack on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,400 Israelis and over 240 hostages. Despite increasing international calls for a ceasefire, Netanyahu has vowed no letup.
Ground forces have advanced in the northern half of the Gaza Strip and tightened their encirclement of Gaza City, while hundreds of thousands of civilians remain in defiance of Israeli evacuation orders. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reported more than 200 deaths in “overnight massacres,” bringing the total death toll to over 9,770, with the majority being women and children.
The United States, Israel’s ally, sent its top diplomat Antony Blinken on a Middle East tour marked by strong condemnation of Israel. The heads of major United Nations agencies have called for a ceasefire, emphasizing that the world has been watching the situation unfold with shock and horror.
Israel’s army reported more “significant” strikes on Gaza, saying they had hit over 12,000 targets. They vowed to continue their operations to dismantle Hamas and achieve their ultimate goal of ridding the Gaza Strip of the group.
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The war has seen house-to-house combat in densely populated Gaza, with civilians being told to head south due to the intensifying violence. Israel has accused Hamas of building tunnels under hospitals, schools, and places of worship in Gaza.
Antony Blinken’s regional tour, which took him to the occupied West Bank, Cyprus, and Iraq, has called for “humanitarian pauses” but rejected calls for a ceasefire. In Turkey, he met with his counterpart Hakan Fidan while encountering protests. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was notably absent, signaling a growing rift.
The situation in Gaza has prompted Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi to accuse the US of encouraging Israel to commit cruel acts against Palestinians. Egypt closed the sole border crossing into Gaza for a second day, further deepening the desperation in the territory.
Hamas suspended the evacuations of foreign passport holders, and tensions have escalated in the West Bank, with over 150 Palestinians killed in clashes with Israeli forces and settlers.
