GAZA ( Web News )
A total of 1,055 people have been killed and 5,184 wounded in the Gaza Strip since Saturday, the heath ministry there said on Wednesday.
The Israeli army has killed at least five Palestinians in the West Bank and arrested several others during clashes with civilians in the area, an Al Arabiya correspondent said. Tensions were rising across the West Bank between Palestinians civilians and settlers and Israeli forces amid the ongoing violence.
Resident of the Gaza Strip scrambled to find safety Wednesday, as Israeli warplanes hammered neighborhood after neighborhood in the tiny coastal enclave.
IDF strikes Hamas naval facilities, destroys network to detect Israeli aircraft
The IDF said on Wednesday it targeted Hamas’ “aerial detection capabilities” in Gaza and struck a number of Hamas naval targets in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military said the militant group had a network of cameras, hidden inside solar water heaters across the Strip, in order to track and monitor Israeli aircraft, the Times of Israel reported.
“Yesterday, within a few minutes during a focused sortie, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck all of the sites of the network and demolished Hamas’s ability to form an accurate picture of the skies and their efforts to target IDF aircraft,” the Israeli military said.
Additionally, the IDF said the Khan Younis and Gaza City docks, used by Hamas “to carry out terror attacks on the Israeli coastline,” were hit by artillery fire from missile boats, combat helicopters and ground artillery.
“In addition, Israeli Navy forces killed a Hamas diver who attempted to infiltrate into Israel from the Gaza shores earlier today,” the IDF added.
The flare up of tensions in Israel started on Saturday when Hamas launched an unexpected and unprecedented surprise attack. Supported by a barrage of rockets, Hamas militants breached the blockade from Gaza Strip into adjacent Israeli towns. This sudden incursion resulted in numerous casualties and abductions – thousands dead and scores more injured.
Israel, in response, launched airstrikes on targets in Gaza and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a state of war with Hamas, vowing to exact an unparalleled cost on the militant group.
“I have released all the restraints, we have [regained] control of the area, and we are moving to a full offense. You will have the ability to change the reality here. You have seen the prices [being paid], and you will get to see the change. Hamas wanted a change in Gaza; it will change 180 degrees from what it thought,” Gallant said as cited by The Times of Israel.
He added: “They will regret this moment, Gaza will never go back to what it was. Whoever comes to decapitate, murder women, Holocaust survivors, we will eliminate him with all our might, and without compromise.”
The flare up of tensions in Israel started on Saturday when Hamas launched an unexpected and unprecedented surprise attack. Supported by a barrage of rockets, Hamas militants breached the blockade from Gaza Strip into adjacent Israeli towns. This sudden incursion resulted in numerous casualties and abductions – thousands dead and scores more injured.
Israel, in response, launched airstrikes on targets in Gaza and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a state of war with Hamas, vowing to exact an unparalleled cost on the militant groups
US sending largest warship to Middle East is a message to Iran, Hezbollah: Experts
“Since the brutal Hamas attack on Israel, the US has been clearly signaling its strong support for Israel. This was evident in the powerful messages delivered by President Biden, in the decision to provide Israel with additional security aid, and with the warship deployment,” Senior fellow for Israel Affairs at the Middle East Institute, Nimrod Goren, told Al Arabiya English.
Goren added: “The warship deployment is likely geared to signal Iran and Hezbollah that they better refrain from expanding the war beyond Gaza, into Lebanon and Syria. It signifies that the US is ready to take action and support Israel in case of need.”
Senior director of the Rafik Hariri Center and Middle East Programs at the Atlantic Council, William Wechsler, said: “The US decision to send a carrier strike group is primarily intended to deter Hezbollah, and its patron Iran, from entering the war alongside Hamas.”
He added: “Hamas lost this war the moment they decided to start it — Israel is far more powerful militarily. The only way for Hamas to achieve their objectives is for the war to be expanded beyond one solely between Israel and Hamas and to become a multi-front, regional war.”
The Pentagon said the aircraft carrier has an embarked airwing and accompanying cruisers and destroyers. The force will conduct maritime and air operations in order to assure allies and partners throughout the region and ensure regional stability. The strike group is prepared for the full range of missions.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also ordered more Air Force F-35, F-15, F-16 and A-10 fighter aircraft to squadrons in the region.
A senior defense official said: “These posture increases were intended to serve as an unequivocal demonstration in deeds, and not only in words, of US support for Israel’s defense and serve as a deterrent signal to Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, and any other proxy across the region who might be considering exploiting the current situation to escalate conflict. Those adversaries should think twice.”