2023-10-12 03:47:42
As Israel continues to bomb targets in the Gaza Strip in response to the terror of the Islamist Hamas, the situation for the trapped Palestinian civilian population is becoming increasingly precarious. Arab League member states called for an immediate halt to Israeli attacks and warned of “catastrophic” humanitarian consequences and security risks from an intensification of the conflict.
US President Joe Biden called on Israel to act according to the “rules of war” and respect international law. There are signs that Israel’s army will launch a ground offensive in the densely populated area. 300,000 soldiers have been mobilized.
The US government is in talks with Israel and Egypt regarding opening a border crossing for civilians to leave the Gaza Strip. “We want to make sure to the best of our ability – and I know that Israel wants to make sure to the best of its ability – that civilians are not harmed,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken before his departure to Israel, where he will become prime minister on Thursday Benjamin Netanyahu and President Izchak Herzog want to meet.
Last Saturday, terrorists carried out massacres in Israeli border towns and at a music festival on behalf of the Islamist organization Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip. Israel’s army said on Wednesday evening that 189 soldiers were among the more than 1,200 dead. The vast majority of those killed are civilians. At least 3,000 people were injured and around 150 were kidnapped in the Gaza Strip.
US President Biden called the Hamas attack “the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.” Nevertheless, he appealed to Netanyahu’s government to maintain a sense of proportion in the backlash, as he emphasized at a meeting with leading representatives of Jewish communities in Washington.
Since the massacres, Israel has responded with heavy air strikes on the Gaza Strip. At least 1,100 people were killed there and more than 5,300 others were injured. The Israeli army continued the shelling on Thursday night. The military announced on Telegram early this morning that a large-scale attack was underway once morest targets belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Hamas has created a network of tunnels under the sealed-off coastal area, said army spokesman Jonathan Conricus. These are not bunkers for the civilian population; the tunnels are used exclusively for Hamas and its terrorist goals. “That is what we are attacking,” said the army spokesman.
In view of the suffering of the civilian population and the massive destruction caused by the ongoing Israeli air strikes, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for quick help for the people in the coastal strip, which is only 40 kilometers long and between six and twelve kilometers wide. Vital supplies – including fuel, food and water – must be able to reach the Gaza Strip. “We now need rapid and unhindered access for humanitarian aid,” Guterres said on Wednesday in New York. He called on Hamas to release all hostages.
Egypt assured the United Nations that it would open its border to Gaza for humanitarian aid deliveries. The airport in Al-Arish on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, located near the Rafah crossing, might also be used, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. Rafah is the only border crossing from the Gaza Strip to Egypt. All other crossing points go to Israel. Most recently, all crossings were closed. Israel imposed a complete blockade on the area, which is home to around 2.3 million Palestinians.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell accused the government in Jerusalem of violating international law with measures such as cutting off supplies of water, electricity and food to the Gaza Strip. According to the UN emergency relief office OCHA, around 264,000 people have fled within the sealed off area so far. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described Israel’s incessant air strikes as a “massacre.” At the same time, he condemned the killing of Israeli civilians by Hamas.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and opposition politician Benny Gantz agreed on an emergency government. The joint leadership is necessary to fight an “enemy worse than IS,” Netanyahu said on Wednesday evening, referring to the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS). An emergency government is considered a political prerequisite for making far-reaching military and political decisions – such as a militarily risky ground offensive.
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