The conflict between Israel and Hamas intensifies as battles continue in Gaza. Over one million individuals have evacuated north Gaza due to the unrelenting airstrikes, while Israel continues to mass troops in preparation for a ground offensive.
More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, mainly civilians. Israeli retaliations have killed at least 2,750 people in Gaza, mostly Palestinian civilians, including hundreds of children.
The U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is returning to Israel after a tour of several Arab countries.
The tension is high along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where deadly clashes have increased between the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, and the Israeli army.
In response to the aerial strikes and evacuation calls, over a million people have been displaced in Gaza, a small besieged territory where 2.4 million Palestinians are densely packed into 362 km².
The Israeli army announced preparations for the “next stage” of its retaliatory operation against Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by the U.S., the European Union, and Israel.
Hamas reportedly took 155 people hostage, with Israel announcing the discovery of hostage “corpses” during incursions in Gaza, while the Palestinian movement reported 22 hostages killed in Israeli raids.
In retaliation, Israel amassed tens of thousands of soldiers around Gaza and has continuously bombarded the area.
The international community is deeply concerned about these preparations. In Cairo, Blinken assured that the U.S. allies in the Arab world did not want the conflict to escalate.
The U.S. has also called on Iran, an ally of Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah, not to expand the conflict.
The Israeli army claims to be targeting Gaza City to destroy the operational center of the Palestinian movement. It announced the death of a third Hamas military leader in airstrikes.
At the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, humanitarian aid arrives from several capitals but remains blocked. It is the only passage between Gaza and the outside world that is not under Israeli control, and it has been repeatedly bombed by Israeli aircraft. Gaza has been under Israeli land, air, and sea blockade since Hamas seized power in 2007.
On the other side of the Israeli barrier encircling Gaza, the residents of the Israeli city of Sderot are also being evacuated.
With AFP
