Israel on Sunday launched its 10,000th airstrike in Gaza since the war began on October 7, with at least 700 Palestinians reported killed in the past 24 hours alone as fighting heated up again after a ceasefire.
“Hell on Earth has returned to Gaza,” said Jens Laerke, representative for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The Israel Defense Forces said that since Israel’s ground offensive into northern Gaza began in early October, it had launched 10,000 airstrikes in the Palestinian-held area, with the bombardment intensifying over the weekend after Israel and Hamas failed to reach an agreement on sight. all the female hostages kidnapped by the terrorist group are released.
Israel said more than 400 targets in northern Gaza had been struck since Friday, with the Hamas-run Health Ministry saying at least 700 people had been killed in the renewed bombardment, one of the highest daily death tolls recorded since the war began.
As of Sunday, the Gaza Ministry of Health estimated that more than 15,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, had been killed as a result of the war.
Palestinians seeking refuge in southern Gaza are now witnessing war engulfing the area after the end of the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire. AFP via Getty Images As Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes over the weekend, Hamas responded with missile strikes against the Jewish state. AFP via Getty Images
Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy told reporters Sunday that while he agreed that “too many people have been killed in this war,” the blame for the deaths rests solely with Hamas thanks to the October 7 sneak attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel.
“The Israeli army has made every effort to uphold our obligations under international law to remove civilians from danger,” he said.
OCHA estimates that approximately 1.8 million people in Gaza, nearly 80%, have been displaced by the violence.
About 80% of Gazans have been displaced, according to the UN. AFP via Getty Images
Although hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have moved into southern Gaza since the fighting began, Israel said it launched a “widespread offensive” on Saturday in the provincial town of Khan Younis, which has become a hub for refugees and the wounded. Israel has said it warned civilians to leave the area before it bombed them.
A Jewish soldier was killed in Saturday’s fighting, with another dying from injuries sustained three weeks ago as troops pushed deeper into Palestinian territory, the IDF said.
A total of 66 Jewish soldiers have been killed since the ground invasion began last month, according to the IDF.
Family members mourn the death of IDF Staff Sergeant Aschalwu Sama, 20. Getty Images Sama’s funeral on Saturday marked the 65th soldier killed during the ground invasion of Gaza. AFP via Getty Images
With the war entering its ninth week, the Israeli army also confirmed it it has been destroyed at least 500 of the 800 tunnel shafts found across northern Gaza, including many “kindergartens, schools, playgrounds and mosques near or inside.”
“To be clear, these places are not childproof, but full of violence,” the IDF wrote on X on Sunday over video footage of several tunnel entrances. “Every tunnel shaft and weapon we find is further evidence of how Hamas deliberately uses the people of Gaza for their terrorist agenda against Israel.”
The shaft leads to an estimated 300-mile underground tunnel system that terror groups use to operate under Gaza, Israel said.
“Several tunnel shafts connect Hamas strategic assets through a network of underground tunnels. In addition, many stones from the tunnel route have been destroyed,” the IDF said.
The IDF says it has now destroyed about 500 of the 800 tunnel shafts it found in northern Gaza. The IDF Many entrances and exits to the tunnels are located in public buildings such as schools, mosques and hospitals, Israel said. IDF
The Israeli military previously released footage of cooling tunnel shafts and corridors located under the mosque and al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza City.
“This discovery is further evidence of the cynical use by the Hamas terrorist organization of the civilian population as human shields, and as a cover for its terrorist activities,” the IDF said.
As the fighting intensified, the fate of the estimated 137 people still held captive by Hamas in Gaza remains up in the air.
“We will do everything to bring everyone back,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday night, praising the military’s pressure to free more than 100 hostages during the ceasefire agreement.
Displaced Palestinians fled further south as Israel began ground operations in the area. AFP via Getty Images
While facing renewed fighting in Gaza, the Jewish state is also focusing on protecting its borders after Hezbollah terrorists fired an anti-tank missile Sunday, injuring several IDF soldiers, the Times of Israel reported.
Rocket attacks coming from Lebanon set off sirens in northern Israel, with the IDF responding with airstrikes against several Hezbollah sites.
The Iranian-backed terrorist group continues to launch missile attacks on Israel as a form of solidarity with Hamas.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
