Israel PM, Benjamin Netanyahu
Israel established an interim unity government on Wednesday as its tanks surrounded the Palestinian enclave and its jets bombarded Gaza. The army also claimed to have killed three Hamas militants in a recent clash on nearby Israeli land. After assembling a war cabinet solely dedicated to the conflict, Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and moderate opposition leader Benny Gantz spoke live on Israeli television. “Our partnership is not political, it is a shared fate,” said Gantz. “At this time we are all the soldiers of Israel.”
Israel PM: Israel’s leadership and people are one
According to Netanyahu, Israel’s leadership and people are one. “We have put aside all differences because the fate of our state is on the line,” he said.
In a weekend assault by militants who crossed the border barrier surrounding Gaza in a shock invasion of nearby Israeli towns and villages, the death toll in Israel increased to 1,200 with over 2,700 wounded, according to its military.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 1,100 people have been killed and 5,339 injured in Israeli retaliation attacks on the blockaded Gaza Strip. According to Hamas officials, 535 residential structures have been damaged, displacing almost 250,000 people. Many of the displaced people were huddling in U.N.-designated shelters, while others were in the streets’ wreckage.
In an effort to prevent a wider Middle East conflict, US President Joe Biden dispatched Antony Blinken, his senior diplomat, to the region. Biden has vowed that Washington will continue to defend Israel.
The battle continues…
Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed on Wednesday that battle continued inside Israel, and the Israeli military claimed that a tank fired on three terrorists traveling in a car outside of northeast Gaza’s Nir Am kibbutz and killed them.
In possible advance of a ground invasion into the Hamas-controlled coastal outpost, Israel has stationed formations of tanks and armored vehicles close to Gaza.
The military branch of Hamas claimed to have fired an R60 rocket at Haifa, a coastal city in northern Israel. After the sirens sounded in Haifa and the adjacent towns, there were no immediate reports of injuries.
Near Metulla in Israel’s far north, close to the border with south Lebanon where the heavily armed, Iran-supported Hezbollah organization is active, a media team witnessed a house being struck by what appeared to be a rocket.
