RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli warplanes struck targets across the Gaza Strip overnight and Sunday, as well as two airports in Syria and a mosque in the occupied West Bank allegedly used by militants as the two-week-old war with Hamas loomed get into a major conflict.
Israel has been exchanging fire almost daily with the militant Hezbollah group in Lebanon since the start of the war, and tensions are rising in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces have battled militants in refugee camps and carried out two airstrikes in recent days.
For days, Israel appeared to be on the verge of launching a ground offensive in Gaza in response to the deadly Hamas rampage on October 7th. Tanks and tens of thousands of soldiers have massed at the border, and Israeli leaders have spoken of an unspecified next phase of operations.
But the military acknowledges that there are still hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza, despite a sweeping evacuation order that would make any ground attack difficult. And the risk of triggering a larger war with Hamas’s allies in Lebanon and Syria could also give them pause.
On Saturday, 20 trucks carrying aid supplies from Egypt were allowed to enter the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing. This is the first time anything has entered the area since Israel imposed a full siege two weeks ago.
Aid workers said it was far too little to address the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where half of the territory’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes. Hospitals packed with patients and displaced people are running low on medical supplies and fuel for generators, forcing doctors to perform surgeries with sewing needles, kitchen vinegar as a disinfectant and without anesthesia.
Palestinians seeking refuge in UN schools and tent camps are running out of food and drinking dirty water. The area’s only power plant shut down more than a week ago, causing a power outage across the area and crippling water and sanitation systems. The United Nations humanitarian agency said cases of chickenpox, scabies and diarrhea are increasing due to a lack of clean water.
The Hamas-run interior ministry in the Gaza Strip reported heavy Israeli air strikes overnight into Sunday across the territory, including southern areas where Israel had told Palestinians to seek refuge.
Late Saturday, an airstrike hit a cafe in the southern town of Khan Younis where displaced people had gathered to charge their phones. According to the nearby Nasser Hospital, 12 people were killed and 75 were injured.
The Israeli military has said it attacks Hamas members and facilities but does not target civilians. Palestinian militants continued their daily rocket attacks, with Hamas saying it attacked Tel Aviv early Sunday.
Israeli media reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his cabinet late Saturday to discuss the expected ground invasion. A military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said Israel planned to step up airstrikes starting Saturday to prepare for the “next phases of the war.”
An Israeli ground attack would likely result in a dramatic escalation in casualties on both sides. More than 1,400 people have been killed in the war in Israel – most of them civilians killed in the first Hamas attack. At least 210 people were captured and deported back to Gaza, including men, women, children and older adults. Two Americans were released on Friday in what Hamas said was a humanitarian gesture.
More than 4,300 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. This also includes the controversial number of victims of a hospital explosion.
Syrian state media, meanwhile, reported that Israeli airstrikes were targeting international airports in the capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo. One person was killed in the attacks and the runways were damaged, forcing them out of service.
Israel has carried out several attacks in Syria since the war began, including at airports. Israel rarely acknowledges individual attacks but says it is preventing Hezbollah and other militant groups from importing weapons from their patron Iran, which also supports Hamas.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah said six of its fighters were killed on Saturday, and the group’s deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Qassem, warned that Israel would pay a heavy price if it launched a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. Israel struck Hezbollah targets early Sunday in response to rocket fire, the military said.
Israel also announced evacuation plans for an additional 14 communities near the border with Lebanon. Kiryat Shmona, home to more than 20,000 people, was ordered to evacuate last week.
In the occupied West Bank, dozens of Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli troops, arrest raids and attacks on Jewish settlers. Israeli forces have closed crossings into the area and checkpoints between cities, measures they say are aimed at preventing attacks. Israel has arrested hundreds of Palestinians since October 7, mostly suspected Hamas members.
The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority administers parts of the West Bank and cooperates with Israel on security, but is deeply unpopular and has been the target of violent Palestinian protests.
Israeli forces killed at least five people in the West Bank early Sunday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Two were killed in an airstrike on a mosque in the city of Jenin, where there were heavy gunfights between Palestinian militants and Israeli troops last year.
The Israeli military said the mosque compound belonged to Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants, who had carried out several attacks in recent months and were planning another.
According to the Health Ministry, the death toll on Sunday in the West Bank rose to 90 Palestinians since the war broke out on October 7. Most appear to have been killed in fighting with Israeli forces or violent protests.
Thirteen Palestinians, including five minors, and a member of the Israeli paramilitary Border Police were killed last week in a battle at a refugee camp in the West Bank town of Tulkarem, in which Israel also launched an airstrike.
In Gaza, the Israeli military said the humanitarian situation was “under control” as aid workers called for the opening of a 24-hour aid corridor.
The United Nations humanitarian agency, known as OCHA, said the van, which arrived Saturday, was carrying about 4% of average daily imports before the war and “a fraction of what is needed after 13 days of complete siege.” 100 trucks are needed every day. Huge amounts of aid have been collected near the Egyptian side of the border crossing, but there is no information on when more aid might arrive.
President Joe Biden said the U.S., which worked with other mediators to reach a deal in Rafah, “remains committed to ensuring that civilians in Gaza continue to have access to food, water, medical care and other assistance without Hamas is redirecting them.”
In a statement, he said the US would work to keep Rafah open and allow US citizens to leave Gaza. But hundreds of foreign passport holders who had gathered at the border crossing on Saturday were unable to leave after the aid convoy arrived.
American citizen Dina al-Khatib said she and her family were desperate to get out. “It’s not like previous wars,” she said. “There is no electricity, no water, no internet, nothing.”
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Magdy reported from Cairo and Krauss from Jerusalem. Associated Press journalists Amy Teibel in Jerusalem and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.