Extensive offensive on land, air and sea. This is what the Israeli army announced on Gaza while Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, exactly one week after the Hamas attack, visited the border kibbutzim, victims of the slaughter, inviting soldiers to be ready "for what is about to happen".
The final-stage preparations, the military spokesman said, involve "a significant ground operation" in Gaza that will be expanded with a "wide range of operational plans" that include attacks from air, sea and land. And it is no coincidence that the Strip was subjected to "a large-scale attack" on Hamas targets. Action, according to military analysts, to reduce Hamas' resistance as much as possible, once the army has entered by land.
Throughout the day, it was not only the logistical and command structures that were affected, but also directly the leaders of the Palestinian faction. Starting with Ali Qadi, commander of Hamas' elite unit 'Nukhba': the one who last Saturday led the terrorist attack on Israeli communities near the Strip. "In 2005 Qadi - recalled the army, as if to underline the red thread between the present and the past - was captured for the killing and kidnapping of Israeli civilians and then released in the exchange of prisoners for the soldier Gilad Shalit". The army said it had eliminated other members of the Nukhba company that appear to be priorities. The second high-level official killed in the targeted raids was Merad Abu Merad, commander of the Hamas air system and also considered responsible for "last Saturday's massacre".
As for Hamas, it announced that 9 of the hostages were killed today in Israeli attacks on the Strip (13 yesterday, for a total of 22), while in Tel Aviv there was a demonstration of relatives of the kidnapped who challenged the government's actions, accusing Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu with the cry "Resign".
To learn more ANSA Agency 'Bibi leave', the anger of the hostage families - News - Ansa.it "Shame! Bibi resign! In jail!" The pain turns into anger, tears into screams. Against Benyamin Netanyahu, guilty of "doing nothing" for the fate of the hostages - at least 120 - kidnapped by Hamas in the October 7 attack. (ANSA)
The media then reported that during commando operations inside Gaza, "bodies" of Israelis who have disappeared since the beginning of the Hamas attack were located and recovered - perhaps thanks to satellite or drone observations. An information of which the army first claimed not to be aware and then in the evening the military spokesman confirmed. The military also said it had contacted more than 120 families of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas and taken to the Strip.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, the exodus of the population of the north of the Palestinian enclave to the south, after the order given by Israel, is taking place in a chaotic manner even though the army had indicated that two protected routes would be guaranteed between 10 and 16 local time. But the same military accused Hamas (which in turn denounced Israeli raids on fleeing Palestinians) of having hindered the movement of Palestinians both in the morning and in the afternoon. Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh made it clear that "Gaza's residents are deeply rooted in their territory and will never leave it." "We have only one path which is the right of return to our lands throughout Palestine." And according to Haniyeh there will be no "immigration from Gaza to Egypt."
The only willingness shown by the Palestinian factions was the request to Egypt to open the crossing to let the wounded out and humanitarian aid in. Egypt and the US, with the consent of Israel and apparently also of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have agreed to the exit of Americans and Palestinians with American citizenship from the Rafah crossing.
If the raids do not stop, the firing of rockets from Gaza (however minor) both in the south and in the center of the country, including Tel Aviv, does not cease. The death toll rises: in Israel it is above 1300, while in the Strip there are 1,900 with over 6,000 wounded (256 died only yesterday with 20 minors). If the situation in the south appears on the eve of a decisive development by Israel, in the north the confrontation with Hezbollah continues to turn for the worse with exchanges of rockets and artillery shells. The toll, Israeli wounded and one dead among the Scythian militiamen. Israel, warned Israeli Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, does not want to open a front in the north of the country, but Lebanon risks "destruction" if Hezbollah decides to launch an attack. Beirut, on the other hand, has announced the filing of a complaint with the UN Security Council for "Israel's intentional killing of Lebanese journalist Issam Abdallah".
Israel bombs Syria after air warning in Golan
Israel responded with artillery fire from Syria after air warning sirens sounded in the Golan Heights. The army reports. "Following an initial report of sirens sounding in the communities of Avnei Eitan and Alma, the Israel Defense Forces is currently hitting the location in Syria from where the shots were fired," the army said in a statement.
BBC, women and children in refugee convoy hit by raids
There would be mainly women and children among the 70 victims of the attack last night on a convoy of refugees heading towards southern Gaza along the humanitarian corridor. To confirm this some videos, report the BBC and the Guardian, which show the carnage at the scene. 12 corpses can be seen in the footage. These are mainly women and children, some of whom appear to be between 2 and 5 years old.
All rights reserved © Copyright ANSA