The fight against Hamas is increasingly shifting to the Gaza Strip and it is believed that the invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli troops is very imminent. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on soldiers from the Golani Brigade, stationed outside Gaza with tanks at the ready, to “fight like lions.” “We will win with all our might,” he emphasized.
The Hamas government’s interior minister announced in the evening that several displaced people who had sought refuge in the garden of a church in Gaza were killed and others injured in an Israeli attack. In a statement, the ministry said the attack left “a large number of martyrs and wounded” on the grounds of St. Porphyry Greek Orthodox Church, while witnesses said the attack appeared to have hit a nearby target near the place of worship, where many Gaza forces are located and residents are seeking refuge due to intense war activity between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic movement.
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ANSA Agency War in the Middle East, Diary of the Day – October 19th
US President Joe Biden’s visit to Tel Aviv has convinced Israel to allow humanitarian aid from Egypt through the Rafah border crossing from tomorrow for the Palestinian enclave’s exhausted population. But today everything seems to be accelerating towards the ground operation, while the rain of rockets arriving simultaneously from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, which are increasingly embroiled in the conflict, has increased. Many foreign diplomats are leaving Beirut due to the deteriorating situation. And today the US and Germany urged their citizens to leave the country “as quickly as possible while commercial flights are still available.”
“Now you see Gaza from a distance, soon you will see it from the inside.”
The order will come,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced to the troops. “The battle is shifting to Hamas territory” in Gaza, confirmed Yaron Finkelman, commander of Israel’s Southern Front, the man in first place before the Gaza Strip. “This war,” he explained, “was imposed on us by a ruthless enemy who dealt us a severe blow.” We stopped and blocked them. We hit them hard and are determined to gain the upper hand on their own territory.” All this while army commandos have carried out other raids across the border in a “targeted” attempt to locate missing Israelis or provide information about their whereabouts receive.
In fact, the army estimates that there are between 100 and 200 Israelis who have not been heard from since the Oct. 7 attack, in addition to at least 203 hostages. Nevertheless, and given that the army continues to search for Hamas terrorists in Israeli areas near the Gaza Strip, signs suggest that a land operation is imminent. At a meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was visiting Israel, Netanyahu told him: “They fought against the Nazis 80 years ago, now we must fight together against Hamas, which represents the new Nazism.” This – he added and was inspired by Winston Churchill’s famous speech – “Our darkest hour, the darkest hour in the world.” “I am proud to be here with you in Israel’s darkest hour,” Sunak responded, promising military support but emphasizing that “the Palestinian people are also victims of Hamas.”
Given this escalation of tensions, many Israeli ambassadors are leaving Middle Eastern countries on government orders. Also due to the angry reaction of the Arab streets after the hospital explosion in Gaza, which its leaders still blame on the Israeli army.
In this regard, according to the Israeli TV channel Kan, a European intelligence source – according to the Pentagon quoted by Biden yesterday – confirmed the Israeli version of the defective jihad missile and claimed that the dead were not 417, as announced by Hamas, but Rather, the number of deaths is “between 10 and 50”.
In addition to on-site raids, Israel is increasing pressure on Hamas leaders, increasing the importance of the targets. Jamila al-Shanti, widow of Hamas co-founder Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi and the first woman elected to the organization’s Politburo in 2021, was killed today. And also Jehad Mohaisen, Hamas’s head of national security.
In the Gaza Strip – where the opening of the Rafah border crossing is expected tomorrow, which is expected to bring relief with the first humanitarian aid since the start of the crisis – the situation is deteriorating by the hour, with around a million displaced. The death toll was 3,785, including 1,524 minors (many from the same families), and 12,493 were injured. In Israel there are over 1,400 casualties (306 soldiers) and the number of displaced people – from the south and north under Hezbollah fire – is estimated at around 600,000. The warning sirens, which are forcing entire areas of the country to rush to emergency shelters, sounded several times in the south and center of the country, including Tel Aviv.
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