Israel’s military launched floor operations across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, encircling a portion of Rafah town near Egypt nearly a month into a new assault on the Israeli territory.
Despite being suggested to resume a January peace with Hamas militants, Israeli forces are stationed in some areas of Gaza in response to a fatal flare-up in Lebanon and missile launches from Yemen.
At least 50, 021 people have died in the country as a result of the combat triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 assault on Israel, according to the health department in Hamas-run Gaza on Sunday.
AFP was unable to freely verify the number. The legal defense company in Gaza individually claimed that the death toll had exceeded 50 000 people, citing its personal records.
According to Jewish numbers, Hamas’s assault on Israel left 1, 218 people dead, most of them civilians.
According to a statement from the defense, Israeli troops “in new hours” have encircled Tal al-Sultan in Rafah, adding that their goal is to “dismantle” the country’s militant network.
Israel had previously issued a warning to residents of the area to leave the area earlier on Sunday.
Rafah, in southwestern Gaza, had already been the goal of a significant Israeli offensive about a year prior.
Iman al-Bardawil, 19, said some displaced Palestinians are struggling to “afford food and drink” during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at a charity house in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza’s principal town just north of Rafah.
Saed Abu al-Jidyan, who like Bardawil had fled his home in northern Gaza, said,” I’m here to get rice for the kids, but it’s gone.”
He claimed that “my salary has been suspended since the beginning of the war” and that the crossings are closed. ” Gaza has no food,” the statement read.
AFP images show Gazans bringing books from the bombed-out Islamic University to use as fuel for cooking camps.
Top Hamas official was killed
Israel temporarily slowed the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza and cut off electricity three weeks ago in a bid to compel Hamas to accept Israeli demands for an extension of the ceasefire and release the 58 hostages still held by Palestinian militants.
Israel also relaunched intense air strikes across the territory on Tuesday.
Israel Katz, the defense minister, said on Friday that he had ordered the army to” seize more territory in Gaza,” warning that Israel might annex it if Hamas refused to follow Israel’s instructions for the following steps in the truce process.
France, Britain, and Germany both expressed opposition to “any form of annexation” as a result of the comments, which led to a “dramatic step backward” for the United States.
On Monday, Kaja Kallas, the head of international relations at the European Union, will visit Israel and the West Bank and demand” an immediate return to the full implementation of the ceasefire-hostage release agreement,” according to her diplomatic service.
Israel has been accused of sacrificing the hostages by Hamas with the resumption of bombardments. Many captives ‘ families have demanded a new ceasefire, noting that the majority of those who were released during the truce periods were freed.
Additionally, the Israeli military announced on Sunday that it was conducting operations in Beit Hanun, northern Gaza, where “fighter jets struck several Hamas targets.”
Salah al-Bardawil and his wife were killed in an Israeli attack on a tent camp in Al-Mawasi, according to a statement from the Islamist group on Sunday.
Bardawil is the third member of Hamas ‘ political team to have been killed by the recent Israeli airstrikes.
Israel’s military confirmed that Bardawil, who “directed the Hamas ‘ strategic and military planning” in Gaza, had been targeted.
His “elimination further further degrades Hamas’s military and government capabilities,” the statement continued.
Lebanon launches strikes
Pope Francis demanded a “definitive ceasefire” and the immediate end of Israeli airstrikes, as well as a reprise of dialogue for the release of hostages.
At least 637 Palestinians have died as a result of the renewed Israeli assault, which the Gaza health ministry claims has begun on Tuesday.
Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon have a corollary with the escalation in Gaza.
On Sunday, Israel’s military reported that it had “attacked and eliminated” a Hezbollah member in southern Lebanon’s Aita al-Shaab region.
The attack came a day after the most intense escalation in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict since a ceasefire in November. Seven people were reported dead on Saturday, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Israel claimed to have opened fire in response to rocket fire, but Hamas-backed Hezbollah, an ally of Iran, denied responsibility.
Hamas has fired rockets since Tuesday, and Yemen’s Huthi rebels have launched missiles at Israel.
Israel reported early on Sunday that it had intercepted another missile from Yemen, where the Huthis, supported by Iran, claim to be showing solidarity with Palestinians.
A resumption of the fighting in Gaza coincides with a resurrected protest movement in Israel, both against Netanyahu’s policies in general and against the war.
AFP images show that demonstrators allegedly fought with police outside the prime minister’s Jerusalem residence on Sunday.
