Barrage of Israeli rockets continues on Gaza Strip for sixth consecutive day
IDF: Hamas slowed down rate of rocket fire in preparation for ‘long war’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a state of war with Hamas. This war resulted in scores of dead and injured.
Israel will not supply water, fuel to Gaza until Hamas releases hostages: Minister
GAZA ( Web News )
A barrage of Israeli rockets raided down on the Gaza Strip for the sixth consecutive day of violence, wiping out entire neighborhoods and killing dozens of Gazans, Al Arabiya reported on Thursday.
In the early hours of Thursday morning, the Israeli army announced it had launched “a large-scale strike” on the besieged city in an attempt to back militant group Hamas into a corner following an unprecedented incursion by the group on Saturday.
At least 22 people were killed in the overnight Israeli raids on Gaza, Al Arabiya reported, citing local media.
Israeli air strikes on a house in the city of Jabalia, north of Gaza have killed at least 15 people on Thursday morning, according to Al Arabiya.
The Israeli navy also launched bombs on the Palestinian refugee camp al-Shati, or Beach camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, Al Arabiya reported.
The Palestinian health ministry had announced on Thursday that the death toll in its territories has risen to more than 1,354, with over 6,049 injuries. At least 1,200 Israelis have died and more than 2,700 people were injured, the Israeli military said.
About 340,000 people in Gaza were left with nowhere no to go as a result of Israel’s continuous bombardment of the city, according to the United Nations.
“Mass displacement across the Gaza Strip continues,” the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in a statement sent on Thursday.
Israel enforced a “complete siege” of the Palestinian territory, preventing food and fuel from reaching the impoverished city.
The densely populated enclave is home to 2.3 million people, most of whom are children. About 80 percent of Gazans had been living in poverty before the latest Israeli violence.
The Palestinian Red Crescent has warned that if the ban on fuel continues, ambulance services in the besieged city would have to stop services within four days, leaving Gazans without health services amid ongoing shelling.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) told Al Arabiya English that the situation in Gaza is “catastrophic.”
“The situation is catastrophic. Gaza is on the brink of running out of food, water, and electricity,” Alia Zaki, the Head of Communications and Information Management at the Palestine Country Office for the UN’s World Food Program, said.
The damaged infrastructure has severely impeded food production and distributions at shops and bakeries monitored by the WFP, Zaki explained.
“Half of the shops and bakeries monitored by WFP will run out of food within one week. And for those still operating, frequent electricity cuts bring the threat of food spoilage,” she said.
IDF: Hamas slowed down rate of rocket fire in preparation for ‘long war’
The slow rate of rocket fire over the past day indicates Hamas is preparing itself for a long war, the chief of Israeli military’s Home Front Command Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo said on Thursday.
“We have identified the behavior of Hamas, which realizes that it is entering a long war,” Milo said as cited by the Times of Israel.
He added: “Hamas is managing the fire in a way that is meant for weeks [of fighting], and they dropped to a rate of fire of around 200-400 rockets per day, to allow themselves a very long fight.”
Milo stated that Hamas is targeting central Israel once or twice a day to keep many Israelis under the threat of rocket fire.
Hamas launched on Saturday an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel, breaching the blockade from the Gaza strip supported by a barrage of rockets. Israel responded with a barrage of airstrikes on Gaza after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a state of war with Hamas. This war resulted in scores of dead and injured.
Israel will not supply water, fuel to Gaza until Hamas releases hostages: Minister
Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz vowed Thursday his country would not allow basic resources or humanitarian aid into Gaza until Hamas released the people it abducted during its surprise weekend onslaught.
“Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electric switch will be turned on, no water tap will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home,” he said in a statement.
Around 150 Israelis, foreigners and dual nationals were abducted to the Gaza Strip by Hamas militants as part of the Saturday attack that killed more than 1,200 people in Israeli towns and communities around the enclave.
Israel has in turn launched a withering air campaign against Hamas militants in the blockaded Gaza Strip, killing around 1,200 people.
In recent days Israel announced a “complete siege” on Gaza, cutting off water, fuel and electricity supplies. The Palestinian territory’s sole power plant shut down on Wednesday after running out of fuel.