JERUSALEM/GAZA, Oct 10 (Reuters) – Israel said on Tuesday it had re-established control of the Gaza border and was laying mines where Hamas militants attacked during their bloody offensive over the weekend. The barrier was brought down, after another night of continuous Israeli airstrikes. Enclave
The latest round of Israeli airstrikes came after Hamas threatened to execute an Israeli prisoner every time Israel bombed a Palestinian home without warning.
The Israeli army also called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists and imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip, raising fears that it was planning a ground offensive in response to the most daring and deadly attack by Hamas in decades.
The violence, which has claimed more than 1,500 lives, has prompted international declarations of support for Israel, street demonstrations in support of the Palestinians, and calls for an end to the fighting and the protection of civilians.
Israeli TV channels say the death toll in the Hamas attack has reached 900 Israelis, with at least 2,600 wounded and dozens taken hostage. Among the Israeli dead were 260 youths who were shot dead at a desert music festival, where some hostages had been taken.
In remarks broadcast on Israel’s Army Radio, Chief Military Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said there had been no new infiltration from Gaza since Monday. In response to rumors that the gunmen used tunnels from across the border, he said the military had no such findings.
At least 687 Palestinians have been killed and 3,726 injured in Israeli air strikes on the besieged enclave since Saturday’s attacks by Hamas, Gaza’s health ministry said on Monday.
According to media reports and eyewitnesses, apartment blocks, a mosque and a hospital were among the sites attacked, and some roads and houses were destroyed in the attacks.
Israel also bombed the headquarters of a private Palestinian telecommunications company, which may have affected landline telephone, Internet and mobile phone services.
The strikes continued till Monday night. The Israeli military said it hit sea and air targets in the Gaza Strip, including an arms depot linked to Islamic Jihad and Hamas targets along the Gaza coastline.
Hamas spokesman Abu Obeidah issued a threat on Monday to kill dozens of Israelis taken hostage after a surprise attack on Saturday morning. He said Hamas would execute any Israeli prisoner for bombing civilian homes without warning and broadcast the execution.
There was no immediate response from the Israeli army to this threat. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said Hamas had taken more than 100 people hostage during a deadly cross-border incursion over the weekend.
Forced from home
Palestinians have reported receiving calls and mobile phone audio messages from Israeli security officials telling them to leave areas in the northern and eastern Gaza Strip, and warning that the army may operate there. will
Dozens of people fled their homes in Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City.
“We took ourselves, children, grandchildren and daughters-in-law with us and we fled. I can say we became refugees. We have no safety or security. What is this life? This is not life.” Resident Salah Hanuna, 73, said.
In Israel’s south, the scene of a Hamas offensive, Israel’s chief military spokesman said troops had re-established control of communities inside Israel, but isolated clashes continued as some gunmen remained active. .
The announcement that 300,000 reservists had been activated in just two days fueled speculation that Israel was considering a ground attack on Gaza, a territory it abandoned nearly two decades ago.
[1/5]Palestinians watch as a fire burns through the rubble of a destroyed residential building following Israeli strikes in Gaza City on October 10, 2023. REUTERS/Muhammad Salem obtained licensing rights
“We have never developed so many reservists on such a large scale,” Higari said. “We’re going to be aggressive.”
Washington – which gives Israel $3.8 billion a year in military aid – said it was sending fresh supplies of air defense, munitions and other security aid to Israel.
America’s top general warned Iran not to get involved in the crisis and said he did not want the conflict to escalate. Iran has made no secret of its support for Hamas and has praised the weekend attack while denying involvement.
“We want to send a very strong message. We don’t want it to be broad, and the idea is for Iran to make that message loud and clear,” General Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters while traveling. ” Brussels with him.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blanken discussed US support for Israel in a call with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, the State Department said in a statement early Tuesday.
Blanken “reaffirmed our efforts to secure the immediate release of all hostages,” the statement said.
Governments including Italy, Thailand and Ukraine have reported that their citizens have been killed in Hamas attacks. In Washington, President Joe Biden announced that at least 11 Americans had been killed and that US citizens were likely to be among those taken hostage.
As Israel launched heavy retaliatory attacks on Gaza, Defense Minister Yves Gallant drew international condemnation by announcing a strict blockade to prevent food and fuel from reaching the strip, home to 2.3 million people.
At least 20 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on homes in the Gaza Strip late Monday, according to Hamas-linked media. Palestinian media also reported that two Palestinian journalists were killed and a third was seriously injured in an Israeli airstrike on a building in Gaza City.
Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the reports. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
International response
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said about 137,000 people are seeking refuge with the UN agency UNRWA, which provides essential services to Palestinians.
The British, French, German, Italian and American governments issued a joint statement recognizing the “legitimate aspirations” of the Palestinian people, and supporting measures for justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
He also said he would remain “united and coordinated” to ensure Israel can defend itself.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart, Tayyip Erdogan, have called on Hamas and Israel to immediately stop violence and provide protection to civilians.
Qatari mediators made an urgent call to negotiate the release of Israeli women and children held by Hamas in exchange for the release of 36 Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons.
The possibility that the fighting could spread to the region and the world.
The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in response to Israeli shelling in Lebanon that killed at least three of its members. Israel has said one of its deputy commanders was killed in an earlier cross-border attack from Lebanon.
Reporting by Emily Rose, Mayan Lobel and Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem, Nidal Al-Maghrabi in Gaza and Ammar Anwar in Sderot; Additional reporting by Henriette Chakar and Dean Williams in Jerusalem, Ali Softa in Ramallah and Steven Scheer in Modi’in, and the Washington bureau; Written by Michael Perry and Stephen Coates; Edited by Raju Gopalakrishnan
「Principles of trust」