The Israel-Hamas conflict marked a distressing point of 100 days on Sunday, witnessing an increase in civilian casualties in Gaza.
The Israel-Hamas war reached a grim milestone of 100 days on Sunday, with more civilian deaths in Gaza, and relatives of dozens of hostages still awaiting their freedom.
There were also casualties in the West Bank, and on the Israel-Lebanon border.
On the Israel-Lebanon border, which has seen regular exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hamas ally Hezbollah, the Israeli army said it killed three gunmen who had crossed the frontier and “fired at the forces”.
The army said warplanes also hit Hezbollah positions after a missile strike on a house in an Israeli border community. The missile killed an Israeli woman and her son, local officials and medics said.
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A wider conflagration has so far been averted but fears increased following US and British strikes on scores of Yemeni rebel targets Friday.
The Houthis say they will not be deterred and have vowed more attacks, in solidarity with Gaza, against what they deem Israeli-linked Red Sea shipping.
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Human Toll Rises
Deaths in Israel have amounted to about 1,140, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
At least 23,968 people in the Palestinian territory, mostly women and children, have been killed according to the Gaza Health ministry.
The Hamas government media office said Sunday that “more than 100 people were martyred in the attacks last night until 6:00 am in all areas of the Gaza Strip”.
The Israeli military said it had struck rocket launching pits in Gaza’s north and hit targets across the strip, including the main southern city of Khan Younes.
Israeli Government Under Pressure
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a government budget meeting on Sunday that additional security expenditures are needed.
“We must conduct this war, and it will yet take many months,” he said.
Netanyahu is under intense domestic pressure to account for political and security failings surrounding the attack, and to bring the hostages home. He is also on trial for corruption charges that he denies.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed: “We will not let the world forget. We will not leave them behind.”
West Bank Violence
In the occupied West Bank, where violence has surged since early October, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians including two shot dead when their car broke through a checkpoint, sources on both sides said.
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Troops also detained two sisters of Saleh al-Arouri, Hamas’s deputy leader killed in a strike in Beirut this month, Palestinian sources and the Israeli army said.
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Khalil Wakim, with AFP
