- LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
- 20 Palestinians were killed in overnight clashes in Gaza with Israeli forces, Palestinian medical officials said
- Over 600 targets hit in Gaza – Israeli military
- Four Palestinians killed in Israeli raid in West Bank – Palestinian Ministry of Health
- Israel is attacking the north of the Gaza Strip with heavy air and artillery strikes
GAZA, Oct 30 (Portal) – Palestinians in Gaza reported heavy air and artillery attacks early on Monday as Israeli troops backed by tanks pushed into the enclave with a ground assault, prompting further international calls for civilians to be protected.
The Israeli military said it has struck over 600 militant targets in recent days as it continues to expand ground operations in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinian civilians are in desperate need of fuel, food and clean water as the conflict enters its fourth week.
“IDF troops killed dozens of terrorists who barricaded themselves in buildings and tunnels and attempted to attack the troops,” the military said in a statement.
Israeli airstrikes hit areas near Al-Shifa and Al-Quds hospitals in Gaza, and Palestinian militants clashed with Israeli forces in a border area east of the southern town of Khan Younis, Palestinian media reported.
Medical officials in Gaza said at least 20 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured overnight as Israeli ground forces advanced into the coastal enclave from multiple directions.
Residents said they heard gunshots and explosions throughout the night. The Islamist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said their members were involved in fighting with Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Jenin.
Portal could not independently confirm the reports.
Israel released images of battle tanks on the enclave’s western coast, suggesting a possible attempt to encircle Gaza’s capital, two days after the Israeli government ordered expanded ground attacks. Some images posted online also appeared to show Israeli soldiers waving an Israeli flag deep in the Gaza Strip. Portal was unable to verify the images.
Israel’s self-described “second phase” of a three-week war against Iran-backed Hamas militants remained largely hidden from the public as the armed forces operated in the shadows and a telecommunications blackout cut off the Palestinians.
Telephone and internet blackouts appeared to be easing on Sunday, but telecommunications provider Paltel said Israeli airstrikes had again crippled internet and phone service in parts of the northern Gaza Strip, where Hamas maintains command centers.
The failures have significantly hampered rescue operations for victims of the Israeli barrage.
The reported attacks near hospitals came after the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Sunday it had received warnings from Israeli authorities to immediately evacuate Al-Quds Hospital, where some 14,000 people have sought shelter.
Israel has accused Hamas of locating command centers and other military infrastructure in Gaza hospitals, something the group denies.
Palestinian officials said about 50,000 people had also sought refuge at Al-Shifa hospital, adding that they were concerned about Israeli threats to the facility.
Israel has intensified its blockade and bombardment of the Gaza Strip since Hamas gunmen stormed Israel on October 7. According to Israeli authorities, the militants killed about 1,400 people and took at least 239 hostages.
The military has also stepped up operations against Islamist groups in the West Bank, killing scores of Palestinians and arresting hundreds.
[1/13]Smoke rises over Gaza, seen from Israel’s Gaza border, southern Israel, October 30, 2023. Portal/Evelyn Hockstein ACQUIRE LICENSE
Israeli security forces killed four people in a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin early Monday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
CALLS FOR A BREAK
The increased attacks coincided with a growing international outcry for a “humanitarian pause” to allow the influx of aid.
Qatar-brokered negotiations between Israel and Hamas continued on Sunday, a source briefed on the talks told Portal, and included discussions about the possible release of hostages.
Hamas wants a five-day humanitarian pause in Israeli operations to allow aid and fuel to be delivered to the besieged Gaza Strip in return for the release of all civilian hostages held by the militants, the source said on condition of anonymity.
According to the Israeli government, more than half of the hostages held by Hamas have foreign passports from 25 countries, including 54 Thai nationals.
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to be briefed on the humanitarian situation in Gaza on Monday. The 15-member body has voted unsuccessfully four times in the past two weeks on draft resolutions seeking action against the war, but the 193-member U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Friday to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
US President Joe Biden urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a call on Sunday to protect civilians in Gaza and “immediately and significantly increase the flow of humanitarian assistance,” the White House said.
Col. Elad Goren of COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry’s agency coordinating with the Palestinians, said Israel would allow a dramatic increase in aid to Gaza in the next few days and that Palestinian civilians should move to a “humanitarian zone” in the south of the tiny territory.
Medical authorities in Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, said on Sunday that 8,005 people – including 3,324 minors – had been killed.
According to the media office of the Hamas-led Gaza government, 116 medics and 35 journalists have been killed since the conflict began.
Portal could not independently verify these figures.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, a task it says will require lengthy ground attacks in, around and under Gaza City, where the militants have an extensive underground bunker network.
There are also fears that the war could spill over into the region, including Lebanon, where the Israeli army and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group have fought firefights.
On Monday, Syrian state television reported that Israeli airstrikes targeted two army posts in Daraa and resulted in “some material losses.”
The conflict has sparked large demonstrations in support of Palestinians around the world. On Sunday, several thousand people gathered in Beirut to show their solidarity with Gaza.
Russian authorities said police took over an airport in the predominantly Muslim Dagestan region and arrested 60 people after hundreds of anti-Israel protesters stormed the facility as a plane arrived from Israel on Sunday.
Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Yomna Ehab, James Mackenzie, Dan Williams and Jonathan Landay; writing by David Lawder and Stephen Coates; Edited by Clarence Fernandez and Miral Fahmy
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