Status: 02.12.2023, 10:45 a.m.
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The Israeli army has resumed fighting in the Gaza Strip against the Islamist Hamas after the ceasefire. © Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
Israel continues its heavy bombardment in the Gaza Strip. In the southern part, where most of the civilians have fled, the army is carrying out massive strikes. Once again, concerns about civilian casualties are growing.
Gaza/Tel Aviv - The Israeli military has intensified its bombardment in the southern Gaza Strip on the second day after the ceasefire expired. As the army announced on Saturday morning, warplanes bombed more than 50 targets during the night in the area of the city of Khan Yunis. Terrorists and infrastructure of the Islamist Hamas were also attacked in the area of Beit Lahia with tanks and targeted air strikes, it said.
Heavy fighting in Chan Yunis
Israeli naval forces also attacked Hamas military targets in the port of Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah with precision munitions during the night. According to him, the infrastructure and equipment of Hamas' naval forces were hit. Israel had previously been urging residents of the northern Gaza Strip to flee to the southern part for their safety.
Palestinians assess the damage caused by an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip. © Mohammed Talatene/dpa
Israel's army published a map for the civilian population on Friday, dividing the area into numbered zones - "in preparation for the next phase of the war". This should allow residents to "orient themselves, understand the instructions and get to safety from certain places if necessary." However, the fierce attacks by the Israeli military on Saturday are once again a cause for concern about civilian casualties.
Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Israel's leadership in no uncertain terms to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip. The numerous civilian deaths and the displacement on the scale seen in northern Gaza must not be repeated in the south, he warned after a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Attacks in northern Gaza
Israel's armed forces reportedly again attacked targets in northern Gaza on the ground and from the air. A terrorist cell that had lured Israeli troops into an ambush was bombed, it was said on Saturday.
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In addition, a warplane shelled a mosque that had served as a command center for Islamic Jihad. Over the past day, more than 400 "terror targets" have been attacked throughout the coastal area, Israel's army said. Initially, it was not possible to independently verify all the information.
According to Hamas, after the end of the one-week pause in fighting, it had fired rockets at the center of Israel for the first time. Since the beginning of the Gaza war, Israeli figures indicate that around 10,000 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
Israel's army fights "as long as necessary"
Israel's army has not set a time limit for the Gaza war, according to a spokesman. "We are determined to fight Hamas for as long as it takes," Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said on Saturday night. He added: "We have no other choice." Conricus reaffirmed his country's war goal of completely destroying the terrorist organization so that it would no longer pose a threat to Israel in the future.
The spokesman was responding to reports that during his recent talks in Israel, Blinken spoke of three weeks that Israel had to continue the war as before. He was not sure if Israel would have the international support to continue fighting with the intensity it had before the ceasefire, Blinken was quoted as saying in Israeli media.
Shelling from Lebanon
According to its own statements, Israel has also been shelled from its northern neighbor Lebanon. The Israeli army announced on Saturday morning that its artillery had attacked the area from which the projectiles were fired at Israel. A fighter jet hit the target in Lebanon. There was no information on possible victims. Only the day before, there had been renewed fighting on the border between the countries. Dpa