- Gaza violence escalates, casualties rise.
- Israel imposes total blockade.
- International tensions and reactions.
After Hamas’s surprise offensive shocked Israel, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced on Monday that Israel was intensifying its “total blockade” of the Gaza Strip, which included prohibiting the entry of food and fuel.
The Gaza Ministry of Health reported dozens of Palestinian deaths and injuries from Israeli airstrikes on the Jabalia refugee camp. Since Saturday, Hamas militants within Israel fired thousands of rockets at Gaza, prompting Israel to launch several airstrikes.
Recent Developments:
- The Israeli military claims to have regained control of certain communities, but isolated pockets of fighting continue.
- Israel has mobilized 300,000 reservists in preparation for an “offensive.”
- Close to 500 Palestinians have been killed in retaliatory attacks.
- Over 123,000 Palestinians have been displaced in the Gaza Strip.
- A raid killed 700 Israelis, according to officials.
On Monday, according to the health ministry of the Palestinian enclave, 560 people were killed in the Gaza Strip.
As of Saturday morning, when Hamas fighters launched thousands of rockets at Israel in a surprise dawn offensive. Hamas-controlled authorities reported that “570 people were killed and another 2,900 were injured” in the fighting.
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More than 123,000 individuals have been displaced in the Gaza Strip since the hostilities began, according to the United Nations. The United Nations’ humanitarian agency, OCHA, reported that “more than 123,538 people have been internally displaced in Gaza, primarily due to fear, protection concerns, and the destruction of their homes.
More than 73,000 people are seeking refuge in schools, some of which have been designated emergency sanctuaries, according to OCHA.
UNRWA spokesperson Adnan Abu Hasna projected a growth in the number.
“These schools are supplied with electricity, nutritious meals, potable water, psychological assistance, and medical care,” he explained to AFP.
Since Hamas took power in 2007, 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza have suffered from an Israeli siege.
Medical personnel report that at least seven Palestinians were slain in two Israeli airstrikes on two houses in Gaza. Israeli aircraft also executed dozens of airstrikes, the majority of which targeted the northern city of Beit Hanoun. According to the Associated Press, one such strike claimed the lives of nineteenth individuals belonging to a single family.
Defender Minister Yoav Gallant remarked in the town of Ofakim, which had casualties and detainees taken, “The price the Gaza Strip will pay will be an extremely heavy one that will forever alter reality.”
In pursuit of this objective, Tel Aviv is intensifying its sanctions against the Gaza Strip to the level of a “total blockade,” which includes a prohibition on the passage of fuel and food, according to Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. He described this as “beastly people resistance.”
Calls from 300,000 reservists:
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, senior military spokesman, said Israel is “going on the offensive” with a record 300,000 reservists.
Hagari reported that control had been reestablished over border villages and towns occupied by Palestinian fighters. But that isolated clashes persisted because some gunmen remained active.
“At this time, we are clearing the area and conducting searches in every community,” he stated during a televised briefing.
Military leaders had previously stated their goal to secure Israel’s border region before intensifying the Gaza counteroffensive.
Hagari stated that the military has mobilized 300,000 reservists since Saturday, an amount that implies potential invasion preparations. Although such plans have not been formally confirmed.
“On this scale, we have never before drafted so many reservists,” he declared. “Our approach is one of aggression.”
Hagari confirmed media allegations that 700 individuals, including 73 security forces members, died on the Israeli side of the border. The Israeli military, according to him, had eliminated hundreds of Palestinian militants.
Perseverant bombardment:
Fighters, helicopters, and artillery hit almost 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza overnight. Among these targets were command centres of Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the residence of senior Hamas official Ruhi Mashtaa, who allegedly assisted in directing the infiltration into Israel.
Monday in Asian trade, oil prices increased by more than $3 per barrel, as the violence in the Middle East exacerbated political unrest and raised concerns about Iranian supplies.
Iran, a Hamas ally, congratulated Hamas for the attack but denied involvement before the UN.
A sustained increase in oil prices would impose a tax on consumers and contribute to worldwide inflationary forces, which had a negative impact on equities, as S&P 500 futures declined by 0.7 percent and Nasdaq futures fell by 0.6 percent.
Due to the Hamas attack, a number of international airlines have ceased flight operations with Tel Aviv, stating that they are awaiting improved conditions before resuming operations. Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah exchanged artillery and rocket fire outside the Gaza Strip on Sunday. Additionally, two Israeli tourists and a guide were fatally shot in Egypt.
International communities urged Israel to exercise restraint, but Western nations primarily supported the Israeli position.
Israel, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has engaged in a “barbaric campaign of death and destruction.”
It stated on Sunday, “Israel has neither the right nor the justification to target the defenceless civilian population in Gaza or elsewhere in Palestine as an occupying power.”
Israeli security forces continued to face resistance from Hamas gunmen in southern Israel, subsequent to their unexpected incursion that involved bands of gunmen storming army bases and invading border communities while firing rocket barrages.
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht informed the press during a briefing that restoring demilitarised security measures is taking longer than anticipated.
Holding captives:
The Israeli military, which is confronted with awkward concerns regarding its failure to thwart the attack, reported regaining control of the majority of infiltration points along security barriers, capturing dozens more fighters, and killing hundreds more.
After stationing tens of thousands of troops near Gaza’s tiny border, the military began evacuating Israelis.
At least 700 people, including children, died in the Saturday attacks in Israel, according to media reports.
Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israeli military, referred to the slaughter of innocent civilians as “the worst in Israel’s history.” Multiple Americans were slain by Hamas attackers, according to confirmation from a White House National Security Council spokesman. Thailand reported eleven abductions and twelve fatalities among its citizens.
Hamas militants in Gaza captured dozens of individuals as hostages, including infants, the elderly, and soldiers and civilians. Islamic Jihad, an additional Palestinian group, reported that it was in custody of over thirty of the detainees.
According to Israeli media, on Sunday, approximately thirty Israelis who were missing after a dance party was gunned down by assailants emerged from concealment, bringing the total number of fatalities at the outdoor event to 260.
“The cruel reality is that Hamas took hostages to secure Palestinian prisoners in exchange for insurance against Israeli retaliation, specifically a massive ground assault,” said Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Biden communicates with Netanyahu:
Sunday marked the second consecutive day that US President Joe Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a post on the social media platform X, Biden urged Netanyahu to “express my complete solidarity with the Israeli people in light of an unprecedented and abhorrent assault orchestrated by Hamas terrorists.”
Western denunciations of Hamas’ assault were led by the United States, with Vice President Biden issuing a warning to Iran and others that “any hostile party to Israel should not exploit these attacks at this time.” As a demonstration of support for Israel, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin stated he had directed the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the eastern Mediterranean.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem in Gaza denounced the United States’ declaration, characterising it as “a tangible intimation of the aggression directed at our people.”
Efforts endorsed by the United States to normalise relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia may be thwarted by the violence. Israel has blockaded Gaza for sixteen years since Hamas gained power in 2007.
The other major regional ally of Tehran, Hezbollah of Lebanon, declared its “guns and rockets” allegiance to Hamas after engaging in hostilities with Israel in 2006.
A surge in violence between Israeli and Palestinian combatants in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where a Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-governance and Hamas opposes it, precipitated the escalation.
Conditions in the West Bank have deteriorated under Netanyahu’s far-right government, with an increase in Israeli incursions and Jewish settlers’ assaults on Palestinian villages. In response, the Palestinian Authority has called for an emergency Arab League meeting.
Ismail Haniyeh, the commander of Hamas, predicted that the attack would extend to Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Israel has blockaded Gaza for sixteen years since Hamas gained power in 2007.
“We have cautioned you numerous times regarding the fact that the Palestinian people have been residing in refugee camps for the past seventy-five years, yet you continue to deny the rights of our people.” Haniyeh remarked.
While urging the establishment of humanitarian corridors to deliver supplies to Gaza, the United Nations reported that at least 70,000 Palestinians in Gaza are utilising the schools it operates as shelter.
Austria has announced that it is ceasing assistance to Palestine in the wake of the Hamas attack. In response to Hamas’ incursion into Israel, Austria has suspended its aid to the Palestinians, amounting to approximately 19 million euros ($20 million) for a limited number of initiatives, according to Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.
A neutral state Austria’s conservatives have embraced one of the EU’s most pro-Israel postures in recent years. The chancellor’s office and Foreign Ministry raised the Israeli flag in response to Hamas’ terrible Saturday attack from Gaza.
“The magnitude of the terror is beyond description… it is impossible to resume regular operations. “As a result, we will temporarily suspend all payments from Austrian development cooperation,”
Schallenberg said on ORF radio, as verified by a spokeswoman, adding an estimate of the affected funds and projects.
Schallenberg failed to differentiate between Gaza, a Palestinian enclave governed by Hamas, and the West Bank, which is significantly more expansive and is administered by the Fatah movement of President Mahmoud Abbas, which is supported by the West and is a rival of Hamas.
On Sunday, neighbouring Germany deliberated on whether aid to Palestine should be halted in the wake of the Hamas attack. Svenja Schulze, minister of development for the governing Social Democrats, stated that the government had always taken precautions to ensure the funds were used exclusively for peaceful purposes.
Schallenberg said Austria would engage with EU and non-EU allies before proceeding.
