Israel encircles Gaza City; Blinken on second visit to war-torn country today
The Israeli military has encircled Gaza City – the Gaza Strip’s main city – in their assault on Hamas terrorists.
Their drive, however, was resisted by the Palestinian terrorist group with hit-and-run attacks from underground tunnels. This came even as Arab leaders raised pressure on Israel to ease its siege of Gaza and at least briefly halt its attacks in order to aid civilians.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to arrive in Israel for a second time on Friday. He will also head to Jordan, following President Joe Biden’s push for a humanitarian “pause” in the fighting. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has previously ruled out a ceasefire, said, “We are advancing… Nothing will stop us.” He also vowed to destroy Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip.
Nearly four weeks into the war between Israel and Hamas terrorists, the Palestinian death toll has risen above 9,000. Over 1,400 people, mainly civilians, have died on the Israeli side.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR: TOP DEVELOPMENTS
Israeli forces on Thursday encircled Gaza City in their assault on Hamas terrorists, the military said, but the Palestinian militant group resisted their drive with hit-and-run attacks from underground tunnels. In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “We’re at the height of the battle. We’ve had impressive successes and have passed the outskirts of Gaza City. We are advancing.”
Amid heavy explosions in Gaza, Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters his country’s “troops completed the encirclement of Gaza City, which is the focal point of the Hamas terror organization.” Brigadier General Iddo Mizrahi, chief of Israel’s military engineers, said troops were encountering mines and booby traps. “Hamas has learned and prepared itself well,” he said.
In response, Abu Ubaida, spokesperson for the armed wing of Hamas, said in a televised speech on Thursday that Israel’s death toll in Gaza was much higher than the military had announced. “Your soldiers will return in black bags,” he said.
On Thursday, Israeli planes dropped leaflets warning residents to immediately evacuate the Shati refugee camp, which borders Gaza City’s center. “Time is up,” the leaflets read, warning that strikes “with crushing force” against Hamas terrorists were coming.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain in the path of fighting in northern Gaza, despite Israel’s repeated calls for them to evacuate. Many have crowded into United Nations facilities, hoping for safety. Four UN schools-turned-shelter in northern Gaza and Bureij were hit in the past day, killing 24 people, according to Philippe Lazzarini, general secretary of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who will on Friday arrive in Israel for a second time since the war began, has said he would discuss during a trip to Israel “concrete steps” that should be taken to minimise harm to Gaza civilians amid mounting alarm over soaring casualties in Israel’s bombardment of the enclave.
Speaking to reporters before departing on his second Middle East trip in less than a month, Blinken said discussions will also focus on the future of Gaza when and if the Palestinian militants of Hamas are defeated, getting more humanitarian aid into Gaza and ways to ensure the conflict does not spread. Securing the release of more than 200 hostages kidnapped by Hamas will be another topic on the trip, Blinken said.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has spoken with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant to receive updates on Israel’s operations in Gaza.
The Secretary reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s right to defend itself and underscored the importance of protecting civilians. He also noted the importance of increased humanitarian aid through the Rafah crossing over the past few days.
At least 15 people were killed after an Israeli strike on the Bureij refugee camp in Gaza on Thursday. Dozens of others were believed to be buried in the rubble. Paramedics and first responders struggled to evacuate the injured and the dead due to crippled infrastructure and fuel shortages. Bureij is home to an estimated 46,000 people.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Thursday mounted multiple strikes on Israeli army positions, including its first using explosive drones, and Israel launched air strikes on southern Lebanon in a sharp escalation of violence. The Israeli army said it responded to launches from Lebanon toward Israel with air strikes on Hezbollah targets, along with tank and artillery fire.
Two people were injured after rockets fired from Lebanon hit the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona. Hamas said it fired 12 rockets from Lebanon. The Israeli military said it retaliated with warplanes and helicopter gunships. Four Lebanese civilians were killed, the local media reported.
As the war rages on, four Palestinians, including three teenagers, were shot dead Thursday in different parts of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
The United States has been flying surveillance drones over Gaza in search of hostages taken by Hamas, news agency Reuters reported, quoting two US officials. They also said the US was flying intelligence-gathering drones over Gaza to assist with hostage location efforts. One of the officials said they had been carrying out the drone flights for over a week.
Ten Americans who remain unaccounted for may be among the more than 200 people taken as hostages into Gaza, where they are believed to be held in Hamas’s extensive tunnel network, the officials said.
The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a Republican plan to provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel and cut funding for the Internal Revenue Service, despite Democrats’ insistence it has no future in the Senate and the White House’s promise of a veto.
The measure passed 226 to 196, largely along party lines, a shift from typical strongly bipartisan congressional support for providing aid to Israel. Twelve Democrats voted with 214 Republicans for the bill, and two Republicans joined 194 Democrats in objecting. The bill’s introduction, as lawmakers rushed to respond to the attack on Israel by Iran-backed Hamas terrorists, was the first major legislative action under new Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.
A group of independent United Nations experts has called for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, saying time was running out for Palestinians there who are at “grave risk of genocide”.
“We remain convinced that the Palestinian people are at grave risk of genocide. We demand a humanitarian ceasefire to ensure that aid reaches those who need it the most,” the group of experts, who made up of seven UN special rapporteurs, said in a statement. The Israeli mission to the UN in Geneva called the comments “deplorable and deeply concerning” and blamed Hamas for civilian deaths.
“The current war was brought upon Israel by Hamas terrorists who committed a massacre on October 7, butchering 1,400 people and kidnapping 243 children, men and women,” the mission said, referring to the attacks which were the deadliest in Israel’s 75-year-history.
On Thursday, Israel said it would proceed with a tax revenue transfer to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the occupied West Bank but would withhold funds bound for Hamas-ruled Gaza, where the PA helps cover public sector wages and pay for electricity.
Following a debate over whether to make the transfer as Israel battles Hamas militants in Gaza, the Israeli cabinet said it would also withhold money to offset stipends the PA pays to Palestinian militants and their families. The PA is estimated to spend some 30 per cent of its budget in Gaza, where it also pays for medicine and social assistance programs.