Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister, warned troops assembled at the Gaza border on Thursday that they will soon see the Palestinian territory “from inside,” raising the possibility that the anticipated ground invasion with the objective of destroying Hamas was drawing near.
Following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorists spree that claimed 1,400 Israeli lives, Israel continued to bombard Gaza with airstrikes as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and U.S. President Joe Biden visited to show support for the fight against Hamas militants.
In response to the bloodiest attack in its 75-year history, Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, imposed a complete closure on the 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip, and bombarded the enclave with strikes that have resulted in thousands of deaths and more than a million injuries.
Residents of the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza were shown in video footage acquired by Reuters digging with their bare hands inside a destroyed structure to release a young boy and girl trapped beneath masonry. Residents attempted to illuminate the scene with their cell phones as the body of a guy was hauled out.
While things continued to worsen, Egypt took efforts to open the door for relief, with the first delivery not anticipated until Friday.
“You see Gaza now from a distance, you will soon see it from inside. The command will come,” Gallant told soldiers. Troops were not expected to enter while foreign leaders were visiting.
The fight, according to Gallant, will be fierce and drawn out.
Following Gallant’s remarks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video of himself pledging victory alongside troops close to the border.
Israelis heard Sunak say: “You have suffered an unspeakable, horrific act of terrorism, and I want you to know that the United Kingdom and I stand with you.” Sunak arrived in Tel Aviv hours after Biden did.
After an eight-hour visit, Biden took a flight back to the United States on Wednesday night. He had promised to support Israel but had had only sporadic success getting aid to Gaza.
In response to a blast at a Gaza hospital, which Palestinians claimed was an Israeli attack, the second half of his agenda, a scheduled meeting with Arab friends, was cancelled.
In the next days, 20 relief trucks will be able to travel from Egypt to Gaza, according to a deal reached by Biden. This number is still far below the 100 trucks per day that U.N. assistance head Martin Griffiths warned the Security Council were required.
According to two Egyptian security sources, equipment was delivered across the border on Thursday to fix the roads on the Gaza side so that supplies could pass. On the Egyptian side, there were more than 100 trucks waiting, but none were anticipated to cross before Friday.
Israel stated that it would permit some restricted aid from Egypt to reach Gaza, but only if none of it supported Hamas. It reaffirmed its stance that it will only open its checkpoints to allow in aid when all of the more than 200 hostages captured by the terrorists were set free.
The bombing and anticipated ground invasion has heightened fears of the conflict spreading. Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah said it fired rockets at an Israeli position in the village of Manara on Thursday and drew an Israeli artillery barrage in response, in the latest exchange in the worst escalation in violence on the border in 17 years.
The Israeli military said at least 20 rockets and an anti-tank missile had been fired from Lebanon.
Eight Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli forces in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank city of Tulkarm, the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday.
(With agency inputs)
Via Firstpost World Latest News https://ift.tt/qerFchU
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