Gaza and Jerusalem CNN –
Israel has stepped up its offensive in Gaza following the Hamas attack over the weekend, as soldiers recapturing villages from the Islamist group’s fighters revealed the brutality inflicted on civilians.
At least 1,200 people were killed and thousands more injured in Israel’s Oct. 7 Hamas attack as armed militants poured into Israel across the heavily fortified border, raiding homes, raiding farms and communities and carrying up to 150 hostages back to Gaza.
In Kfar Aza, a kibbutz in southern Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN that militants carried out a “massacre” in which women, children, infants and the elderly were “brutally slaughtered in an ISIS-style pattern.” .
The farming community of Be’eri, less than 20 kilometers (12 miles) away, was among the hardest hit. More than 100 bodies were recovered, and witnesses reported attackers going door-to-door, breaking into homes and executing civilians.
In retaliation for Because of the atrocities, Israeli fighter jets have bombarded Gaza – the densely populated coastal strip that Hamas controls – with hundreds of airstrikes, reducing homes and neighborhoods to rubble and a “full siege” that has left residents trapped, leaving many without food and electricity are cut off.
Hamas warned on Wednesday that its power generator “will fail completely within a few hours,” limiting its ability to provide basic services.
“All basic services in Gaza rely on electricity and it will not be possible to partially operate them with generators due to the impediment of fuel deliveries through the Rafah Gate,” the government media office said in a statement.
The IDF has also increased its troops and tanks along the border as speculation grows about a possible Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said he had lifted “all restrictions” on the IDF’s fight against Hamas and said the response would permanently change Gaza.
“You will regret this moment – Gaza will never be what it was again,” Gallant said.
This has heightened fears that the number of Palestinian civilian casualties will continue to rise in the coming days as Israel responds to the worst attack on its territory in decades.
Air strikes in Gaza have killed at least 950 people, including hundreds of children, women and entire families, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. It said 5,000 were injured.
Dozens of Israeli warplanes struck more than 70 targets on Wednesday in the Gaza Strip’s Daraya Tuffah area, where the IDF said “a large number of terrorist attacks have been directed against Israel.” The IDF also said it struck Hamas naval targets in Gaza early Wednesday that it said were being used to launch attacks on the Israeli coast.
The Palestinian Interior Ministry said residential areas in the eastern part of Jabalia and the Qizan al-Najjar region of Khan Yunis were subjected to heavy airstrikes, with attacks targeting civilians’ homes and streets and resulting in “direct injuries to citizens,” it said Ministry said.
US President Joe Biden promised on Tuesday that the US would ensure Israel has the tools it needs to defend itself and would increase military aid to the country.
Part of this includes ammunition and interceptors to complement the Iron Dome missile defense system. According to the IDF, the first shipment of American weapons since the Hamas attack arrived in Israel late Tuesday evening.
Biden also confirmed that 14 Americans were among the dead and that American citizens were among those held hostage by Hamas. He described Hamas’ attacks as “pure, unadulterated evil” that were “reminiscent of ISIS’s worst rampages.”
Civilians in the Gaza Strip are facing a deepening humanitarian crisis as Israel steps up its bombardment for a fifth day and the Israeli government’s announced “total siege” of the enclave begins to take effect.
The siege, ordered by Israel’s defense minister on Monday, would include halting deliveries of electricity, food, water and fuel, which are mainly controlled by Israel.
The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said the imposition of sieges that endanger civilians by depriving them of essential goods was “prohibited under international humanitarian law.”
“These risks significantly worsen the already dire human rights and humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the capacity of medical facilities, especially given the increasing number of injured people,” spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said on Tuesday.
Look at the devastation in Gaza after Israeli attacks
The disruption of water supplies to Gaza “affects over 610,000 people and will lead to severe shortages of drinking water,” UN OCHA’s Jens Laerke added.
The attacks have already damaged Gaza’s medical infrastructure, according to Palestinian officials, and forced more than 263,000 Palestinians to flee their homes, the United Nations said.
According to the United Nations, the destruction of infrastructure and roads by Israeli bombs is hampering efforts by medical teams to reach victims.
Officials at the UN Disaster Relief Agency (UNRWA) said four of its staff had died in airstrikes in Gaza and at least 14 of its facilities there had been directly or indirectly damaged.
According to UNRWA communications director Juliette Touma, the organization has been unable to bring aid to Gaza since Saturday.
Israel controls the movement of Gazans into Israel through two border crossings, Erez and Kerem Shalom, both of which have been closed.
The only border crossing between Gaza and Egypt was attacked by Israeli warplanes on Tuesday, said Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman Eyad al-Bozom. The tightly controlled Rafah border crossing is the only one available to those in the Gaza Strip for escape.
The IDF said it attacked the Rafah area on Tuesday, including an underground tunnel used to “smuggle weapons and equipment.”
Several countries are evacuating their citizens from Israel as the conflict threatens to escalate. The US State Department said it had been “in discussion” with various airlines to “encourage them to consider resuming travel to and from Israel” to allow people to leave.
According to the Mexican Foreign Ministry, 135 citizens were evacuated from Israel on a military flight on Tuesday evening. Germany said it would evacuate its citizens from Israel on Thursday and Friday, and the French government was in contact with Air France to organize a flight to evacuate French citizens on Thursday, the foreign minister said.
There are also growing fears that Lebanon-based Shiite militant faction Hezbollah could intervene in the conflict, potentially opening a second front in the war. The IDF said Tuesday that it had moved tens of thousands of additional troops to Lebanon’s northern border in anticipation of an attack by the Iran-backed group. According to the Hezbollah-run media outlet Al Manar, this happened as rockets were fired at Israel from southern Lebanon.
In pictures: The deadly clashes in Israel and Gaza
Rockets were also fired from Syria into Israeli territory, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday, adding that they landed in open areas.
Families in Israel have little information about their missing loved ones as Hamas has warned it will begin executing hostages if attacks on Gaza continue.
Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, on Tuesday urged the international community to pressure Hamas to unconditionally release the people taken hostage.
He told CNN that they were still getting a full picture of the number of hostages, their identities and their status. Herzog said he wasn’t sure if any hostages were killed.
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the US has special forces that will “assist” the Israeli military “with intelligence and planning” for possible operations related to hostages captured by Hamas.