Israel steps up attacks on Gaza; Terrorists strike back with more rockets
The conflict has already killed people 1.9 thousand people. There were more than 1,000 on the Israeli side and 900 on the Palestinian side. And there are still more than 8,000 injured.
On the fourth day of the conflict, Israeli forces regained control of the Gaza border and increased bombings. Even before nightfall, rocket fire on the region intensified. A bombardment destroyed Gaza’s only port, which was already under an Israeli government blockade before the offensive. Israeli missiles also destroyed a fourstory residential building in Jabalia refugee camp; two people died.
Plestia Alaqad is a journalist based in Gaza. She was in the middle of recording a video explaining the situation there when she was interrupted by the sound of explosions.
This Tuesday (10) a rocket hit the Rafah border crossing that connects Gaza with Egypt. The only way out of more than 2 million inhabitants had to be closed. A Palestinian said:
“They told us to go to a safe place, but there is no safe place in the Gaza Strip,” he said.
1 of 1 Israel steps up attacks in Gaza; Terrorists strike back with more rockets Photo: Jornal Nacional/Reproduction Israel increases attacks in Gaza; Terrorists strike back with more rockets Photo: Jornal Nacional/ Reproduction
Hamas reported that two members of the group’s political wing were killed in airstrikes. The Israeli offensive has already injured more than 4,000 people. There is not even room in hospitals for the bodies of the dead.
In Israel, residents of Ashkelon, a coastal city near the Gaza Strip, were given two hours to leave the region before a new rocket attack by Hamas. On Tuesday (10), sirens sounded in several cities warning of air strikes.
This was the case in Tel Aviv. People had to run to emergency shelters at least three times a day. At night the city became empty again. More than ten rockets were fired from southern Lebanon at Israel, which then shelled rocket launch bases in the neighboring country. Hamas claimed responsibility for the shooting.
The Israeli government reported that it responded this Tuesday (10) to the bombings from Syria against Israel, raising concerns about a possible escalation of the conflict.
Israeli families continue to wait anxiously for news of those abducted. Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations said there were up to 150 hostages in the Gaza Strip following the Hamas hostagetaking.
The terror group said it would exchange them for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, but said it would not negotiate until the bombings stopped and even threatened to kill the hostages if Israel continued to attack civilian targets in the Gaza Strip.
Videos published this Tuesday (10) show the action of Hamas radicals in the south of the country on Saturday (7). In Kfar Aza, southern Israel, an army commander, Major General Itai Veruv, gave a shocking account of a massacre on a kibbutz in which terrorists attacked entire families, including babies.
“The last confrontation with the enemies, the terrorists, here was last night. See for yourself. Families, mothers, fathers, babies, young families dead in their beds, in emergency shelters, in the dining room or in the garden. And the terrorists came and killed them, shot them, chased them and shot them, cut off their heads. They know it’s a terrorist attack. I served in the Army for 40 years and I have never seen anything like this. “This is not a war, it is a terrorist attack,” said Major General Itai Veruv.
Keren survived the attack. She said she remained hidden in the house with her husband and young daughter for 21 hours until the army broke down the door of the shelter where they were staying. She said she heard the terrorists killing her neighbors.
The Israeli army announced that it had found the bodies of 1,500 militants of the terrorist group on Israeli territory.
Soldiers from 35 Israeli battalions are stationed on the border with Gaza. There are more than 100,000 men. The army places landmines in a part of the fence that was not destroyed by Hamas. There are still reports of clashes with terrorists who have been in hiding since Saturday (7).
Ben Gurion International Airport was the hope of thousands of civilians trying to leave Israel on military planes from other countries. Like the more than 200 Brazilians who will arrive in Brazil at dawn on a Brazilian Air Force flight.
“We came to visit the Holy Land and were surprised by all this movement, by the war. And then we return earlier than planned,” says businesswoman Marta Martins.
“Now I’m just waiting to get back home. I also have a son, a daughterinlaw and three grandchildren there. That’s all: I want to go back,” says pensioner Regina Altona.
The majority of Brazilians who boarded this Tuesday are tourists. They talked about what it was like when they found out about the attacks.
“As we drove to Jerusalem, we saw great tension and heard two shots. For us Brazilians, we lack the mentality we have here, it is a little difficult to adapt,” says Father Valdir Reis.
“It’s a relief. It’s great to return to the Brazilian lands. Despite all the adversities we experience there, war is not a reality for us,” says Father Rogério Barbosa.