Israeli tanks, infantry and combat troops continued to attack in the Gaza Strip on Saturday morning after intense airstrikes overnight that Gazans described as the worst since the start of the war and Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said: “massive and very significant.” .” The largest ground attack to date began late Friday afternoon, with little clarity about its extent and after two weeks of loud threats of an impending months-long invasion to “completely eliminate Hamas.” Hagari spoke this Saturday more of “expansion of land activities”, use of “intense fire” and “advancement in the phases of the war”. Never in the last three weeks has so little information come from the almost isolated Gaza Strip after the collapse of communications and the Internet on Friday.
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The Hamas government’s Ministry of Health has not yet provided figures on deaths during the night, which have already exceeded 7,350 (especially minors and women) since October 7 last year, the first day of the offensive in the Gaza Strip after the militia , which claimed the lives of more than 1,400 Israelis. The Red Crescent is having difficulty reaching the attacked locations. In the images broadcast by local media and shared on social networks, strong and constant airstrikes can be seen or heard, as well as the screams of children and women in the darkness. Also shootings in the border area. Hamas assures that its militants are ready to confront Israeli soldiers “with all force.”
Gaza residents quoted by local media said the aerial attacks were the most violent since the crisis began. Especially in the northern area: Beit Lahia, Beit Hanun and, closer to the capital of Gaza, the Jabalia refugee camp. There, the Israeli army said it attacked “approximately 150 underground targets.” It also bombed Khan Yunis in the south, where the vast majority of the population is concentrated, as the Israeli army had evacuated more than a million people in the north of the Gaza Strip, with at least 700,000 citizens complying.
Search for survivors in the rubble of a building destroyed by an Israeli bombardment in Al-Sjatee refugee camp in Gaza.MOHAMMED ABED (AFP)
The Israeli army is firing mortar shells into the Gaza Strip this Saturday. ARIS MESSINIS (AFP)
A boy holds a bag of chickpeas collected at a United Nations-run aid delivery center in Deir al Balah in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday. MOHAMMED ABED (AFP)
Column of smoke over Gaza after an Israeli bombardment on Saturday morning, in a photo from Israel. ARIS MESSINIS (AFP)
Israeli soldiers patrol a street in Sderot (Israel), near the border with Gaza, this Saturday.HANNIBAL HANSCHKE (EFE)
A group of people search for survivors in the rubble of a building destroyed by an Israeli bombardment in Gaza this Saturday.MOHAMMED ABED (AFP)
Palestinians fill plastic barrels in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip during the Israeli attack.SAID KHATIB (AFP)
A man watches the destruction following the Israeli attacks on the Al Shatee camp in Gaza City this Saturday.MOHAMMED ABED (AFP)
Demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, this Saturday in London. HENRY NICHOLLS (AFP)
Rally to demand the release of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas this Saturday in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. J. Scott Applewhite (AP/lapresse)
A group of children walk past destroyed buildings in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip this Saturday. SAID KHATIB (AFP)
Israeli bombardment of Gaza in the early hours of Friday through Saturday. Ali Jadallah (Anadolu/Getty Images)
Two Palestinians prepare food for the displaced people in Rafah this Saturday during the current Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Hatem Ali (AP/LAPRESSE)
A destroyed building in Al-Shatee refugee camp in Gaza this SaturdayMOHAMMED ABED (AFP)
Israeli tanks in Sderot, near the Gaza border. Anadolu Agency (Anadolu via Getty Images)
Jewish and Palestinian demonstrators protested at New York Central Station demanding an immediate ceasefire.KENA BETANCUR (AFP)
Two girls look out of a vehicle in the Khan Yuni refugee camp south of the Gaza Strip this Saturday.MOHAMMED ABED (AFP)
Destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip, seen from Sderot, Israel. HANNIBAL HANSCHKE (EFE)
A street in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, this Saturday. DPA via Europa Press (DPA via Europa Press)
This Saturday, Israeli military exercises are taking place at an unknown location near the border with Gaza. HANNIBAL HANSCHKE (EFE)
Atmosphere on a street in Gaza, this Saturday.MOHAMMED ABED (AFP)
The Israeli army released a video showing dozens of armored fighting vehicles advancing in formation through Gaza and opening fire. According to the images, they appear to be in border areas, next to the barrier or on the sea coast and moving from north to south. The army has also reported the “selective killings” of Asem Abu Rakaba, whom it considers responsible for Hamas’ drones, paragliders and air defenses (used in the massive surprise attack on the 7th), and of Ratib Abu Tzahiban, the Hamas commander , identifies the naval forces in the capital’s brigade. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has assured that the United States is not setting “red lines” for Israel in this offensive, although he has advocated for “humanitarian pauses.”
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom has described the “intense bombing” of Gaza as “extremely worrying”. “In such circumstances it is not possible to evacuate patients or find safe accommodation. The power outage also prevents ambulances from reaching the injured. We have not yet regained communication with our staff and healthcare facilities. “I am worried about their safety,” he said on the social network X (formerly Twitter). Other NGOs and international organizations have reported difficulty or inability to contact their staff in Gaza due to the decline in communication.
Columns of smoke in the Gaza Strip this Saturday. Ali Jadallah (Anadolu/Getty Images)
The relatives of at least 229 hostages in Gaza also described the night as the worst since the start of the Israeli offensive. As Qatar races against the clock to release large numbers of them, the relatives of those captured in Israel and taken to the Gaza Strip spread a message this Saturday requesting an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ask , and the chief of defense, Yoav Gallant, expressing their “particularly enormous fear, frustration and anger” after an “endless” night of “complete uncertainty about the fate of those abducted there, who were also subjected to heavy bombing.”
According to a spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, more than 50 people have been killed in the three-week attacks. Several Israeli military analysts pointed out this week that the intensification of bombing and the complete fuel blockade – with the delivery of water, food and medicine only to the south – are aimed at forcing Hamas to release the maximum number of prisoners possible.
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