Hamas-controlled officials claimed Saturday that Israeli strikes in Gaza killed more than 200 people in 24 hours, as the United States pressured its ally to do more to safeguard civilians.
Despite rising appeals for restraint and for more aid to reach war-torn Palestinians, Israel showed no signs of changing its 11-week-old ‘Operation Swords of Iron’, which aims to defeat Hamas.
According to the Israeli army, 152 troops have been killed in the Gaza Strip incursion.
The fighting has now centered on Gaza City and the southern city of Khan Yunis, both of which are regarded as strongholds of the Palestinian group responsible for the October 7 attack on Israel.
Grey and black smoke ascended over the northern coastal territory and Khan Yunis following reports of severe Israeli shelling.
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ leader in Gaza and the man Israel deems most responsible for the October attacks, was born in the refugee camp-turned-city.
Herzi Halevi, the Israeli Army chief of staff, met troops on the ground in Khan Yunis and told them that the operation had been very impressive, truly very impressive, both the attack here and carrying out the operation in a secure manner.
The grieving family prayed, wailed, and stared vacantly outside a mortuary at the city’s Nasser Hospital, unable to digest the unimaginable loss.
According to the Hamas officials, the death toll from this war has now surpassed 20,000.
Israel denies explicitly targeting civilians and insists that the war against Hamas is necessary to ensure that the October raids on farms, villages, and kibbutzim, which killed an estimated 1,140 people, do not happen again.
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