The Israeli army was engaged on Wednesday, November 8, in operations in the center of Gaza City and the north of the Palestinian territory, where it believes a Hamas stronghold is located. Humanitarian conditions, which still affect hundreds of thousands of civilians, are increasingly disastrous after a month of deadly warfare.
Israel’s campaign to crush Hamas ground into its second month Wednesday as its forces battled the Palestinian militants in Gaza City, despite mounting calls for a ceasefire.
Underlining Israel’s determination to destroy Hamas, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant described Gaza as “the largest terrorist base ever built.”
“We are in the heart of Gaza City,” he said.
Military analysts warned of weeks of grueling house-to-house fighting ahead in Gaza, with around 31 Israeli soldiers already killed in the offensive and 260 others injured since it began expanded ground operations on Oct. 27.
The operation is hugely complicated for Israel because of the hostages, including very young children and frail elderly people, who are believed to be held inside a vast tunnel network.
According to Al Hadath, Hamas’s Head of the Industries and Weapons Department, “Abu Zina, was killed in Gaza by Israel forces overnight.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, Israel’s relentless bombardment has killed more than 10,328 people, many of them children.
Read more
In densely packed Gaza – where more than 1.5 million people have fled their homes in a desperate search for safety – the suffering is immense.
Entire city blocks have been leveled and bodies in white shrouds are piling up outside hospitals, where surgeons operate on bloodied floors by the light of phones.
The World Health Organization said an average of 160 children are killed every day in Gaza by the war.
Israel accuses Hamas of building military tunnels underneath hospitals, schools and mosques – charges the militant group denies.
OCHA says Israel has ordered all 13 hospitals still operational in northern Gaza to evacuate patients.
In its statement, MSF detailed how a staff member was killed on Monday along with his family in Gaza’s Shati refugee camp when the area was bombed.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which said one of its humanitarian convoys in Gaza was hit by gunfire on Tuesday, demanded an end to the suffering of civilians.
Read more
Malo Pinatel with AFP
