Israel intensifies attacks on Gaza Strip – Unicef warns of water shortage in Gaza

Last updated: 31.10.2023, 06:23 a.m.

By: Felix Durach, Christian Stör, Robert Wagner, Felix Busjaeger

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Israel is expanding its fight against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The latest developments in the news ticker.

• Israel on track: Military intensifies ground operations in Gaza
• Missing Germans:Shani Louk dead
• Advance in Gaza: Israel kills dozens of Hamas terrorists
• The information on the war in Israel processed here comes from international media and news agencies, but also from the parties to the conflict. However, some of the information on the situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip cannot be independently verified. Even in these cases, we remain transparent.

Update from October 31, 4:30 a.m.: According to the Hamas terrorist organization, its fighters are shelling Israeli forces in the north and south of the Gaza Strip. The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, said militants were using machine guns and anti-tank missiles to engage in skirmishes with Israeli forces that had "penetrated the southern Gaza axis." The militants also fired rockets at two Israeli tanks and bulldozers in the northwest of the Gaza Strip, according to the Reuters news agency.

Reuters has not yet been able to independently verify the claims. The Israeli military did not comment at first. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority in the Gaza Strip, 8306,<> people have been killed in Israeli air and ground strikes so far.

Israeli forces continue to conduct ground operations in the Gaza Strip during the night. © IMAGO/IDF

Israel war: Netanyahu rejects ceasefire

Update from October 30, 19:01 p.m.: Israel is currently unwilling to agree to a ceasefire with the radical Islamist Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed this at a press conference on Monday evening. "Israel did not start this war. Israel did not want this war. But Israel will win this war," Netanyahu said. Israel is fighting against the "enemies of civilization."

"Calls for a ceasefire are a call for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terror, to surrender to barbarism," the Israeli leader continued. "That's not going to happen."

Ground Forces in the Gaza Strip – Kidnapped Soldier Rescued by Israeli Army

Update from October 30, 18:50 p.m.: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the army and intelligence services for freeing soldier Ori Megidish from Hamas. "We are continuing our efforts to free the hostages, including during the ground operation, and this will even create opportunities for liberation, and we will not miss them," Netanyahu said on Monday evening.

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Addressing Hamas, he added: "You are monsters. We will continue to hunt you down. We will fight you until you are at our feet."

Update from October 30, 17:41 p.m.: According to the military, an Israeli soldier was freed during the operation of ground troops in the Gaza Strip. Ori Megidish was freed during a night ground operation, the army said on Monday. "The soldier has been medically examined, she is fine, she has met her family."

For its part, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office published a photo of Megidish in which she can be seen surrounded by her family.

Israel's ground forces appear to be advancing deeper into the Gaza Strip

Update from October 30, 16:17 p.m.: Israeli army ground troops apparently advanced deeper into the Gaza Strip on Monday. The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigade, Hamas' paramilitary wing, said it had fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli units in the Seitun district, southeast of Gaza. The information cannot be independently verified at this time. Fighting was also reported from the northwest of the coastal strip, which is only 40 kilometers long and between 6 and 12 kilometers wide.

In a video circulated on the Internet, a tank on the main road from the north to the south of the coastal strip could be seen firing a shot near a white car, after which an explosion can be seen. According to an employee of the German Press Agency, this was about three kilometers west of the border fence with Israel. Eyewitnesses also reported an armored bulldozer there. An army spokesman emphasized on request that they do not comment on the location of their own units.

War in Israel – renewed attacks from Lebanon

Update from October 30, 15:45 p.m.: Terrorists of the radical Islamist Hezbollah have shelled positions in the border region with Lebanon, according to the Israeli military leadership. This was reported by IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari on Monday afternoon on X. Israeli troops in the region responded to the attacks with artillery fire. Since the beginning of the war, there have been repeated attacks in the border region between Israel and Lebanon.

Update from October 30, 15:02 p.m.: Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip continued to attack Israel with rockets during the heavy airstrikes on the Palestinian territory. Warning sirens wailed in Jerusalem, in the center of the country and in the south, on Monday, the army said. Initially, there were no reports of casualties.

War in Israel: Military Expands Operations in the Gaza Strip – Ground Offensive on a Small Scale?

Update from October 30, 13:58 p.m.: At the beginning of the week, Israel significantly expanded the deployment of ground troops against Hamas in Gaza. The troops killed dozens of militants who had entrenched themselves in buildings and tunnels, military spokesman Daniel Hagari said. The military spokesman wrote on X that the ground forces attacked and "eliminated" the terrorist cells with the help of attack helicopters and drones of the Air Force. The military also released images of tanks on the west coast of the Palestinian territory, suggesting that the country's capital, Gaza City, could be encircled.

With its advance in Gaza, Israel has ushered in the second phase of the Gaza war. This is a crucial step for Israel, as the last time Israeli ground troops were in the Gaza Strip was in 2014. Nevertheless, Israel is still pursuing a cautious strategy. In any case, the large-scale ground offensive expected by many has so far failed to materialize. In fact, Israel seems to want to avoid such a frontal attack, which could lead Hezbollah in southern Lebanon to attack Israel and embroil the army in a two-front war.

Rising casualties in the war in Israel

Update from October 30, 12:35 p.m.: The number of casualties in Israel's war continues to rise. According to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 7,8000 people have been killed and around 20,000 injured in Gaza since October 1400. Israel claims to have suffered 5000,29 dead and more than <>,<> injured. Here is an overview of the figures compiled by the UN on the basis of the respective data (as of <> October):

(Source)

Ground offensive in the war in Israel: Israeli military expands operation in the Gaza Strip

Update from October 30, 11:25 a.m.: The Israeli military says it is progressing as planned in its operation in Gaza. "We are conducting an expanded ground operation in the Gaza Strip," military spokesman Daniel Hagari said at a press conference. Dozens of Hamas terrorists were killed overnight. The fighting was still ongoing. He also expressed himself accordingly on X. Hagari did not want to comment on the exact location of the ground forces. Pictures on social media showed Israeli tanks advancing on a main road in the Gaza Strip. Hagari also said that several militants had been killed in an airstrike in Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

Update from October 30, 10:20 a.m.: According to the aid organization Save the Children, more children have been killed in Gaza in the past three weeks than in any year since 2019 in conflicts around the world. Current figures show that at least 7,3324 children have been killed in Gaza since October 1000. Another 40,8000 children are reported missing in Gaza and may still be buried under the rubble. Children make up more than 1400 percent of the more than 7,<> people who have been proven to have been killed in Gaza so far. At least <>,<> Israelis and foreigners have been killed in Israel so far, most of them in Hamas' October <> terror attack.

Current situation in the Israel war: German woman missing Shani Louk dead after Hamas attack

Update from October 30, 09:15 a.m.: Shani Louk, kidnapped during the Israeli war, is dead. This was confirmed by her mother. Louk is from Germany and has been missing since the Hamas attack.

Update from October 30, 08:40 a.m.: According to the Russian Interior Ministry, police have arrested 60 people in the anti-Israel riots at an airport in the predominantly Muslim Caucasus republic of Dagestan. The officers also took full control of the airport in the city of Makhachkala.

War in Israel: Israeli troops kill dozens of Hamas terrorists in Gaza

Update from October 30, 07:55 a.m.: Israeli ground forces say they have killed dozens of terrorists in their advance into Gaza. As the Israeli military announced on Telegram on Monday morning, the enemy had barricaded himself in buildings and tunnels and tried to attack the Israeli soldiers. A warplane led by the ground forces bombed a building of the Islamist Hamas, where more than 20 of the terrorists were staying. As the US television channel CNN reported on the basis of its own aerial photographs, the Israeli military has now advanced about three kilometers into the sealed off Gaza Strip.

Israel attacks more than 600 targets in war against Hamas

Update from October 30, 07:05 a.m.: Israel's army has released footage from its ground operation in Gaza purporting to show a significant number of tanks, infantry and artillery in Palestinian territory. The military claimed to have hit more than "600 terrorist targets, including command centers, observation posts and anti-tank launch posts." Hamas, meanwhile, spoke of "fierce clashes" with the Israeli army in Gaza.

War in Israel: Israeli troops step up their advance against Hamas

Update from October 30, 05:30 a.m.: While Israel's military in the Gaza Strip is increasingly advancing against the Gaza Strip with tank formations and warplanes, the humanitarian situation for the people there is becoming increasingly dire. Although Israel has urged the civilians remaining in the north of the Gaza Strip, including patients in hospitals, to seek safety in the south, thousands of people remain at Shifa Hospital, according to TV reports. According to Israel, the hospital also serves as a Hamas command center.

Background on the Gaza Strip: Where the region is in Israel

The ground offensive in the war in Israel is expected to hit Hamas hard in the Gaza Strip. The enclave on the border with Egypt is largely a stretch of land on the Mediterranean coast surrounded by Israel. The area is 45 kilometers long and about six to 14 kilometers wide. The Gaza Strip is considered a very densely populated area: about two million Palestinians are said to live in the region. Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been ruled by the radical Islamic group Hamas.

Anti-Jewish attacks in Dagestan

Update from October 29, 21:18 p.m.: Shocking images from an airport in the Russian republic of Dagestan are currently going around the world. In the city of Makhachkala, a pro-Palestinian mob, mostly made up of young men, stormed the airport terminal after rumors circulated that Jewish refugees from Israel were on a plane from Tel Aviv. In some cases, the mob also stormed the airfield. The airfield was temporarily closed, incoming planes were diverted to other airports, according to the state aviation regulator Rosaviatsiya, according to the Tass agency.

The plane landed at an alternate airport, but according to media reports, there was also unrest there. Passengers were instructed to stay on the plane and riot police were called to the scene of the accident to protect them. Makhachkala is among the cities in the North Caucasus where evacuation flights for Russian citizens from Israel land. The majority of the population in this area of Russia is Muslim.

War in Israel: Number of hostages taken to Gaza has risen to 239

Update, October 29, 20:14 p.m.: According to the Israeli army, the number of hostages taken by Hamas to the Gaza Strip has risen to 239. Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said, according to the Times of Israel, that the military had so far informed the families of 239 hostages. The four hostages released so far are not included in this list.

Hagari added that this figure is not definitive, as new information is constantly being processed. "That's an unbelievable number. There are foreign workers among the hostages, we need time to reach all the families." There are currently 40 people whose fate is currently unknown.

War in Israel: Ground troops kill numerous Hamas terrorists

Update, October 29, 16:59 p.m.: According to the Israel Defense Forces, the soldiers have so far killed several Palestinian terrorists in clashes in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. In addition to the killed Hamas fighters who emerged from a tunnel near the Erez crossing, other armed Palestinians were killed in other clashes nearby, the Times of Israel reports. In addition, the ground forces ordered the air force to carry out drone strikes on two Hamas hideouts, in which several suspected Hamas members were also killed.

Update from October 29, 16:09 p.m.: The Israeli army says it has destroyed a suspected Hezbollah site in southern Lebanon, where another attack with anti-tank missiles on Israel is said to have been prepared. The attack was aimed at the area around the northern Israeli community of Avivim, the army said. Since the beginning of the war in Israel, rockets have been repeatedly fired at Israel from southern Lebanon.

Numerous Attacks on Targets in the Gaza Strip: War in Israel Expands

First reported on 29 October: Tel Aviv – The war in Israel is currently on the verge of a new expansion. According to the Israeli army, combat operations in the Gaza Strip have recently been massively expanded. Hundreds of positions of the Islamist Hamas are said to have been attacked. In the course of the past few days, a total of more than 450 targets in Gaza are said to have been bombed in the Israeli war.

War in Israel in a New Phase: Ground Offensive in the Gaza Strip Seems to Have Begun

Following Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, the Israeli government announced a large-scale ground offensive on the Gaza Strip. The mission had been delayed for several days, but in the meantime there are increasing indications that a new phase in the war in Israel has begun. ZDF correspondent Bewerunge said on Sunday that it no longer makes sense to beat around the bush 24 hours after the massive ground operations. "This is the beginning of a ground offensive, this is THE ground offensive."

As part of the latest operations in the Israeli war, which could possibly mark the beginning of the major ground offensive – which is generally considered dangerous – an officer was seriously injured during the night, according to reports from the Israeli military. In the northern Gaza Strip he was hit by a mortar shell. Another Israeli soldier was wounded in a clash with terrorists in the north. Both are being treated in hospital, Israel's military said. (with agency material)