The start of an Israeli ground offensive has been expected for days. Now, after massive bombing attacks, the military has announced an expansion of its operations against Hamas.
According to the military wing of the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, there are Israeli ground operations in two different locations. There were violent clashes in the town of Beit Hanun in the north and east of the Al-Bureij refugee camp in the center of the Gaza Strip, the Al-Kassam Brigades announced late yesterday evening. Both are places near the border. The information provided by the Islamist organization, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU and the USA, could not be independently verified. Israel’s army declined to comment on the report.
Israel’s army had previously announced that it would expand its ground operations in the Gaza Strip. It initially remained unclear whether the announcement marked the start of the widely expected ground offensive. The Israeli military had previously made isolated, time-limited advances on the ground. In the last few hours, the military has already increased its attacks in the Gaza Strip, military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in the evening on the X platform, formerly Twitter. He further explained that underground targets and terrorist infrastructure were increasingly being attacked.
Meanwhile, media reports indicated massive Israeli bombing raids in the Gaza Strip. When asked, a military spokesman simply said that the armed forces were “continually” attacking targets in the Gaza Strip in their fight against Hamas.
Thousands protest in the West Bank
Following Israel’s announcement that it would expand ground operations, scores of Palestinians reportedly protested in the West Bank. The Times of Israel reported thousands of demonstrators, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported hundreds in the city of Nablus alone. People also reportedly took to the streets in Ramallah, Hebron and many other places in the West Bank to show their solidarity with the residents of the Gaza Strip. According to Wafa, there were also clashes with Israeli soldiers.
Internet down in Gaza Strip
Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, all communications and internet services were down, according to the Palestinian Telecommunications Company. The Palestinian telecommunications company “Paltel” based in the West Bank said the heavy bombing by the Israeli army was to blame.
The organization Netblocks, which is known for monitoring Internet blocks, also confirmed a breakdown in Internet connections in the Gaza Strip on Platform X. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) say they no longer have contact with employees, health facilities and other partners in the Gaza Strip.
New rocket attacks on targets in Israel
The Israeli army announced on Friday morning that it had attacked more than 250 targets in the Gaza Strip within 24 hours. These included Hamas tunnels as well as command centers and rocket launch pads, the army said.
Palestinian extremists in the Gaza Strip also fired rockets at Israel again on Friday, and sirens sounded in many places. According to helpers, three people were injured when a rocket hit the metropolis of Tel Aviv. According to Israel, more than 8,000 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip since the war began. The vast majority of them are intercepted by Israel’s missile defense system.
More than 1,400 people were killed in Israel in a terrorist attack by Hamas in the border area with the Gaza Strip on October 7th. More than 200 hostages were kidnapped into the Gaza Strip. Since then, Israel has been bombing targets in the Gaza Strip on a massive scale. The military also mobilized around 300,000 reservists and gathered forces near the Gaza Strip for a possible ground offensive.
Death toll in the Gaza Strip continues to rise
The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip has risen to 7,326 since the start of the war, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health. These include 3,038 children and young people and 1,792 women, the ministry announced. The numbers could not initially be independently verified.
The UN emergency agency OCHA, citing Hamas authorities, said that almost half of all houses in the Gaza Strip had been destroyed, uninhabitable or damaged by Israeli attacks.
Israel “currently” continues to reject humanitarian ceasefires
Israel rejected EU heads of state and government’s call on Thursday evening for “humanitarian corridors and breaks for humanitarian purposes” in the Gaza Strip. “Israel currently rejects a humanitarian ceasefire,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. This includes “any kind of requested ceasefire.” Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU and the USA.
Israel’s army: Hamas command center under largest Gaza clinic
According to Israeli intelligence services, Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, is using the largest clinic in the coastal area as a command and control center. “Hamas terrorists operate inside and under Shifa Hospital,” said military spokesman Daniel Hagari. Tunnels lead to the underground base from outside, and there is also an entrance inside the clinic. Hamas also uses various departments of the hospital to command and control “terrorist activities” and rocket launches, he said. The information could not initially be independently verified. Hamas denied the military’s statements. The hospital will not be used for “military purposes”. The Islamist organization accused Israel of plans to destroy all medical care in the coastal area.
UN Human Rights Office sees war crimes committed by Israel
The UN human rights office accuses Israel of war crimes. Withholding electricity and fuel from the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip is a collective punishment. “Collective punishment is a war crime,” said spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani in Geneva. The lack of fuel is forcing hospitals and bakeries to close.
People lived in devastating conditions, there was a lack of clean drinking water and sanitation facilities were inadequate. “A humanitarian catastrophe is looming for the 2.2 million people trapped in the Gaza Strip and being punished collectively,” Shamdasani said. She added that kidnapping civilians was also a war crime.
Number of hostages higher than previously assumed
The number of hostages held in the Gaza Strip is higher than Israel previously estimated. The families of 229 hostages had been informed by Friday, said Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari. That was five more than the day before. It is expected that the number could increase. According to the military, the four hostages already released by the Islamist Hamas are not included in the number. According to Israeli information, the hostages include citizens from 25 countries, including Germans.
Israel: “Dozens” of Hamas fighters hit
The Israeli side said that “dozens” of Hamas members had been hit in the air strikes since Thursday. A senior Hamas commander was also killed. The commander, Madhat Mubashar, was involved in several explosive and sniper attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers.
WHO: Discussion about the number of victims is not appropriate
The WHO considers the discussion about the reliability of the number of victims, which come from the Palestinian organization Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, to be cynical. For years, the WHO had no reason to doubt the numbers of these health authorities, said the WHO representative for the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Peeperkorn.
It makes no difference whether there are a thousand more or fewer victims – the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is catastrophic and the number of victims from Israeli attacks is enormous. According to Peeperkorn, 23 of the 35 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are still partially functioning. He said surgery also had to be done on the floor.
Third EU aid flight for Gaza launched
A third EU-funded flight carrying 51 tonnes of aid for the people of the Gaza Strip has made its way to the region. The EU Commission announced that a plane took off from Copenhagen on Friday. Among other things, she brings medicine to Egypt. The EU is financing the total costs of all flights, it was said.
The aid supplies are to be transported from Egypt to Gaza. According to the information, the goods are processed through partner organizations such as the International Red Cross. So far, however, very little relief goods have arrived in the sealed-off coastal area.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
