The Israeli Air Force claims to have once again bombed several targets in the Gaza Strip in the fight against Islamic Hamas. As the Israeli military announced today on Telegram, warplanes attacked more than 250 “terrorist targets” in the last day. Soldiers also struck a Hamas surface-to-air missile base in the Khan Yunis area of the southern Gaza Strip, it said.
Tanks in Gaza
Furthermore, according to Israeli Army Radio, there was a relatively large incursion by Israeli ground troops into the Gaza Strip. This was used to attack Hamas positions. The operation has now been terminated, he said. The military said several facilities belonging to radical Islamist Hamas were attacked before soldiers withdrew.
The Army Radio station reported the largest deployment of ground troops to date in the current war. The military said the incursion was “preparation for the next phases of the fighting.” This could be a reference to a full-scale invasion by ground troops, which the Israeli government has repeatedly threatened.
Media: Hamas fired rockets towards the south
The day before, Hamas members claimed to have fired two long-range rockets from the Gaza Strip toward Haifa in the north and Eilat in southern Israel. According to media reports, one projectile exploded in the air and the other landed in an open field to the south. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
Hamas: Death toll in Gaza rises
The number of deaths in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war has risen to more than 7,000, according to Hamas. A total of 7,028 people have died in the Gaza Strip during the 20-day war, including 2,913 children and 1,709 women. These numbers cannot be independently verified.
US President Joe Biden doubts Palestinian information about deaths in the Gaza Strip. He “has no confidence in the numbers the Palestinians use.”
Meanwhile, the US is preparing to evacuate US citizens from Lebanon and Israel. As the Athens newspaper “Kathimerini” reported, numerous US Air Force transport planes were spotted in the military part of Chania airport in Greece. The Souda naval base and its airport are one of the most important US bases in the Eastern Mediterranean. The US naval base and airport are a few kilometers east of the port city of Chania.
Riddles about the timing of the ground offensive
According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, preparations are underway for a ground offensive, but he did not provide any details. Shortly before, contradictory reports emerged: US media reported that Israel had agreed to postpone the offensive so that the US could bring missile defense systems to the region. US President Joe Biden said it was up to Israel to decide on the offensive.
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