According to its own information, the Israeli army has already attacked more than 2,500 targets in the Gaza Strip. Troops continued to “eliminate terrorists” in hand-to-hand combat, he said on Sunday. During the night, airstrikes were also carried out against a Hamas military complex that contains command and control centers, observation posts and other terrorist infrastructure.
Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant spoke of “intense fighting” and troops entered residential areas. Galant also announced that he would track down and kill the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “We will find (Jahja, note) Sinwar and eliminate him,” said the minister. Sinwar is considered one of the masterminds of the major attack on Israel on October 7th. The 61-year-old is the political leader of Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2017.
According to security sources, Sinwar and Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif are hiding in the tunnel system in the Gaza Strip. Four weeks ago, its fighters brutally murdered around 1,400 people in Israel and kidnapped more than 240 others. Subsequent Israeli attacks on the densely populated Palestinian territory had killed 9,770 people as of Saturday, according to Hamas figures that cannot be independently verified.
Unconfirmed: attack on refugee camp
Hamas reported at least 30 deaths on Sunday night in an attack on the al-Maghasi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip that was initially not confirmed by the Israeli army. The majority of victims are women and children. An Israeli military spokesman said he was checking whether the Israeli army was deployed in the area at the time. Israel accuses Hamas of using refugee camps as well as UN schools and hospitals as hideouts and weapons depots.
Refugee camp hit
On Sunday night there were again mutual attacks by Israel and Hamas. Hamas again reported that Israeli rockets hit a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. The information remained unconfirmed.
Meanwhile, Hamas has suspended the departure of foreigners and people with dual citizenship from the Gaza Strip to Egypt. The reason is Israel’s refusal to allow injured Palestinians to be taken to Egyptian hospitals, a representative of the border administration told the AFP news agency.
“No foreign passport holder will be allowed to leave the Gaza Strip until the injured who need to be transported to safety from hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip can be transported to the Rafah crossing,” the official said. According to US information, Hamas attempted to smuggle its own fighters out of the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing, which was temporarily open.
More relief supplies arrived
Meanwhile, another 30 trucks carrying humanitarian aid supplies arrived in Gaza. The goods were handed over to teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the UN Palestine Relief Agency (UNRWA), the Palestinian Red Crescent said. The Egyptian Red Crescent also delivered goods.
Portal/Israel Defense Forces Israeli army says “heavy fighting” continues in the rubble of Gaza
The UN World Food Program (WFP) called on Sunday for safe and expanded access to humanitarian aid. The need for humanitarian aid has soared and critical food stocks have reached dangerous levels, WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said after a visit to the Rafah border crossing on Sunday.
Blinken meets Abbas
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken touched down again at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on Sunday. He met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. Abbas called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the delivery of aid, a spokesman said. The US State Department said Blinken made clear that the US was working to realize legitimate Palestinian claims to their own state.
Abbas heads the Palestinian Authority based in Ramallah. His representatives were ousted from power in the Gaza Strip in 2007 by Hamas, which has governed the coastal area ever since. In the West Bank, Abbas’s Fatah is the dominant Palestinian force.
Portal/Johnathan Ernst Blinken met with Palestinian President Abbas in the West Bank
Blinken had previously advocated for Abbas’ Palestinian Authority to regain control of the Gaza Strip. However, it is only willing to do so as part of a two-state solution. However, this view is seen by most members of Israel’s current government as a threat to the Jewish State and is therefore rejected.
Tour de force in the Middle East
Blinken also wants to visit Turkey, where talks are planned on possible paths to a “durable and sustainable peace in the Middle East”, including “the establishment of a Palestinian state”, the US State Department said.
Blinken had already met with colleagues from Arab countries in Jordan on Saturday. There he repeated his call for “humanitarian pauses”. The aim is to help protect civilians and bring more aid to the Gaza Strip. The US and Israel exclude a permanent ceasefire because, in their opinion, this would allow Hamas, which governs the country, to reorganize itself.
The Israeli military is currently fighting Hamas installations, especially in the north. But there were also air attacks in the south. According to the Israeli army, there are only targeted attacks against Hamas leaders in areas designated for the civilian population. The area is not a “safe zone” but is safer “than anywhere else in Gaza.” The army again announced a four-hour window to flee south on Sunday.
Mass demonstrations against Israel
Given the images of mounting deaths and drastic destruction in the Gaza Strip, there were sometimes angry protests in many cities in the US, France, Germany and Britain.
In Germany, the police reported posters with criminal content, published dozens of advertisements and are now investigating, among other things, incitement to hatred. In Washington, tens of thousands of people demanded “freedom for Palestine” and many protesters marched to the White House and gathered in front of the entrance gate, which was painted with handprints in red paint.
In London, 30,000 people took part in protests against Israeli attacks, the BBC reported, citing police estimates. Thousands of people also took to the streets in French cities.
Protest in front of Netanyahu’s house
There were also protests in Israel against Prime Minister Netanyahu. According to a media report, hundreds of people in Jerusalem protested in front of Netanyahu’s home and demanded his resignation. According to online newspaper The Times of Israel, there were clashes with police in Jerusalem on Saturday night as protesters tried to break through the barriers. Three people were arrested. People accused Netanyahu of allowing Hamas, under his leadership, to carry out the worst massacre in Israel’s history on October 7. They also called for a prisoner exchange, he said.