As Israeli forces fought with Hamas in the heavily populated region of Gaza on Monday, the UN relief organisations continued to call for a ceasefire and denounced the rising number of civilian casualties in the conflict, which has been going on for a month.
“We are striking Hamas, and we are going stronghold after stronghold, according to our plan, in a systematic effort to dismantle Hamas from its military capabilities,” Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus told CNN. “We have troops on the ground; infantry, armour, combat engineers. They are striking and they are also directing fire from the air,” he said, adding efforts were focused on the “underground infrastructure” network of Hamas tunnels.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), stated at a press conference on Sunday night that the military was conducting “widespread strikes on terror organisation, below ground and above it.” Four weeks after Hamas killed at least 1,400 Israelis, Israel’s war against Hamas is in its 30th day. According to the health ministry in Gaza, which is under the control of Hamas, over 9,730 Palestinians have died. Over 242 soldiers and civilians, including foreign nationals, are being held captive by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Syria.
Israeli officials predict that infantry forces will enter Gaza City within the next 48 hours. According to the newspaper Haaretz, Israeli forces are surrounding Gaza City from the air, land, and sea. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on a fast-paced Middle East tour aimed at providing humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, while Israel is still pounding Gaza. The tour has taken him to Israel, the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Iraq, and Cyprus.
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