Tag: Gaza Strip

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF)

IDF Takes Control Of Military Compound In Gaza

By LokMarg

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said it has been conducting extensive operations in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours and that they targeted approximately 450 Hamas targets, which included tunnels, terrorist positions, military facilities, observation posts, and anti-tank missile launch sites, CNN reported.

The IDF also announced their capture of a Hamas military compound inside Gaza, containing observation posts, training facilities for Hamas operatives, and underground tunnels.

“Over the last day, IDF fighter jets struck over 450 Hamas targets, including tunnels, terrorists, military compounds, observation posts, anti-tank missile launch posts and more,” the IDF said in a statement on Monday.

“Overnight, IDF ground troops took control of a Hamas military compound in the Gaza Strip. The compound contains observation posts, training areas for Hamas operatives and underground terror tunnels,” the statement added.

The Israeli military has been executing a significant offensive in the region, both above and below ground, targeting Hamas infrastructure and leadership. Rear Adm Daniel Hagari, the army’s spokesperson, emphasised the intensity of the operation in response to a previous Hamas attack that claimed 1,400 lives in Israel on October 7.

These strikes have affected civilian areas, including residential neighbourhoods, hospitals, refugee camps, and schools, resulting in the loss of more than 9,700 lives, CNN reported, citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.

Furthermore, telecommunications services experienced disruptions, with Paltel, a telecom company, announcing a “complete interruption” of its services due to the reconnection routes being cut off once more from the Israeli side.

However, there have been reports of the gradual restoration of communication services, including fixed, cellular, and internet services, in various parts of the Gaza Strip. Telecom operators such as JawwaL and Ooredoo Palestine have also shared similar updates on social media.

Netblocks, an Internet monitoring organisation, confirmed that internet access in Gaza is gradually being restored after a near-total blackout on Sunday, which was the second-longest observed since the conflict with Israel began.

“Metrics show that internet connectivity is being restored in the #Gaza Strip after Sunday’s near-total telecoms blackout, the second-longest observed since the onset of the present conflict with Israel; overall service remains significantly below pre-war levels,” the organisation said.

Over 9,700 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since October 7, CNN quoted Mai Al-Kaila, the Palestinian minister of health in Ramallah as saying, who used data drawn from medical sources in the Hamas-controlled enclave.

The figure included 4,800 children, Al-Kaila said. The updated figures came after a US special envoy, David Satterfield, said Saturday that between 8,00,000 and a million people have fled from the north to southern parts of the Gaza Strip, deepening the humanitarian crisis.

Critical supplies continue to be in short supply during the ongoing Israeli siege on the region, CNN reported. (ANI)

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Hamas Palestinian Biden

Hamas Using Innocent Palestinian Families As Human Shields: Biden

By LokMarg

US President Joe Biden on Sunday said that Hamas is using innocent Palestinian families as human shields in its assault on Israel, The Times of Israel reported.

He said that the majority of Palestinians have anything to do with Hamas.

Speaking at a gala dinner for the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, Biden said, “The humanitarian crisis in Gaza, innocent Palestinian families, and the vast majority have nothing to do with Hamas.”

“They’re being used as human shields,” he added.

Biden claimed that the terror attack launched by Hamas was the bloodiest day for Jews since the Holocaust and that the Hamas terror organisation had used Palestinian civilians as human shields to avoid Israeli reprisals, according to The Times of Israel.

The President said that the day before, he chatted on Zoom for an hour with relatives of Americans who are still missing, and he relates this to his own experiences, including the loss of his first wife and daughter in a vehicle accident in 1972, the report said.

“They’ve endured an agony not knowing what’s happening. It’s not the same thing, but I can tell you what it’s like. It’s one thing to lose somebody you know you’re going to lose … like I was able to do with my son,” Biden said.

Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7, the US has expressed strong solidarity with the people of Israel and has assured complete support to the nation in its fight against Hamas terrorists.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that Hamas is a terrorist group and its only agenda is to destroy Israel and murder Jews. He said the group is not a representative of the Palestinian people or their legitimate aspirations for the future.

“Hamas is not a representative of the Palestinian people or their legitimate aspirations for the future. Hamas is a terrorist group and its only agenda is to destroy Israel and murder Jews. And it is important that the entire world sees it as such. This is an important moment for more clarity when it comes to Hamas,” the US State Secretary said during a meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan recently.

Blinken further said that no country can or should be expected to tolerate what Israel has just been on the receiving end of, which is an attack that also defies description in words, in which 1300 of its people were slaughtered along with the nationals of more than 30 other countries by Hamas.

Blinken is on a visit to Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt from October 11-15 to meet with senior officials and reiterate his condemnation of the terrorist attacks in Israel, reaffirming the United States’ solidarity with the government and people of Israel, as per a release issued by the US State Department.

Earlier, Blinken said that efforts to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza have been “complicated” as terrorist group Hamas continues to use civilians as “human shields” and is reportedly blocking roads to prevent Palestinians from relocating to southern Gaza.

Terming the humanitarian situation as “urgent” Blinken added that the US is actively engaged with its partners, including Qatar to provide humanitarian aid to those who are in need. He noted that Israel is carrying out operations in Gaza as Hamas carried out terrorist attacks that killed 1,300 Israelis in the “most horrific way.”

Meanwhile, Israeli troops are mobilizing towards Gaza. Aerial patrolling is also being sent at the Gaza border.

It was recently reported that Israeli soldiers, their tanks and munitions have been deployed near the Gaza border as they prepare for a full ground offensive against Hamas.

In the pictures coming in from the Gaza border, tanks can be seen firing shells towards the Gaza Strip. Moreover, soldiers are seen loading artillery shells into howitzers. (ANI)

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Gaza

Israeli Warplanes Continue To Pound Gaza

By LokMarg

Israel’s warplanes continued to bombard Gaza on Sunday morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said, adding that 426 targets were struck in Gaza, including 10 towers used by Hamas.

The defence forces of Israel also evacuated Israeli residents around the Gaza Strip overnight, as tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers are operating on the ground around the conflicted region, CNN reported quoting the IDF.

The majority of the power grids is out since Saturday, and internet connectivity is still only partially functional. The CNN reporter in Gaza reported that throughout the night, there was constant sound of thundering jets and explosions, adding that there was a strong smell of gunpowder.

The IDF released video of a hit on a city building with multiple stories. The strike hit “Hamas military targets located in multi-story buildings in the Gaza Strip.

“Attached is footage of a strike on Hamas military targets located in multi-story buildings in the Gaza Strip,” Israel Air Force posted on X.

At least 232 people were killed in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza on Sunday as Israel carried out retaliatory strikes following the Hamas rocket fire and the unprecedented ground assault in the Middle Eastern country, Al Jazeera reported.

Following a barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, Hamas fighters launched the biggest offensive on Israel in years on Saturday, penetrating areas in the south of the nation.

According to Israel’s national rescue service, the attack was the bloodiest in years, with the death toll soaring past 300.

Additionally, an undermined number of Israeli citizens and military personnel were apprehended and brought into Gaza. Late on Saturday, both Israel and Hamas claimed that gunfights were ongoing at numerous locations within Israeli territory.

The attack, which began at 6.30 am local time (03:30 GMT) on Saturday involved Hamas fighters, who infiltrated Israel by land, sea, and air.

Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned Hamas it made a “grave mistake” in carrying out the rocket attacks and ground assault.

“Citizens of Israel, we are at war. The enemy will pay an unprecedented price,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message from military headquarters in Tel Aviv after the attacks broke out.

Israel’s military launched a series of air raids on Gaza in response to the attacks.

Senior Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif declared that the rocket launch was the beginning of “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”, urging Palestinians all over the world to resist Israeli occupation.

Hamas would pay a “heavy price for its actions”, the Israeli military told citizens living near the Gaza Strip, asking them to remain inside their houses. (ANI)

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Hamas Rocket Fire

Mayor Of Israel Town Killed In Hamas Rocket Fire

By LokMarg

The head of the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, Ofir Liebstein, was killed in the deadly rocket fire from Hamas into Israel on Saturday morning, The Times of Israel reported, citing local sources.

“Ofir was killed when he went to defend a town during the terrorist attack,” the report said, quoting a statement from the Council.

The deputy head of the Council, Yossi Keren, has taken interim charge of the body following Liebstein’s death, The Times of Israel reported.

According to the latest reports, at least 5 people have been killed and over 100 injured in the Hamas rocket fire.

The centre and south of Israel came under heavy rocket fire for over 3.5 hours on Saturday morning, The Times of Israel reported.

Further, Hamas claimed to have kidnapped five Israel Defence Force (IDF) soldiers, The Jerusalem Post reported, adding that the IDF did not confirm the statement.

After the attack, the IDF launched retaliatory strikes on the Gaza Strip.

However, according to The Jerusalem Post, while the IDF launched retaliatory operations in the Gaza Strip, Israeli action remained minimal even two hours after the rocket attacks started.

Israeli media reported that Hamas currently has 33 prisoners of war, including civilians and soldiers.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement saying that the Security Cabinet would convene around 1pm after assessing the situation, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid is set to meet PM Netanyahu after the security meeting, the report added.

Earlier, Lapid received a security briefing from the Israeli Prime Minister’s military secretary, Avi Gil, following the rocket strikes.

“Israel is in an emergency” and Lapid would back a “harsh military response” to Hamas’s coordinated attack, a statement from the Opposition’s leader’s office said.

Israel Defence Minister Yoav Gallant approved the draft of reserve soldiers in accordance with the IDF’s requirements.

He further announced a “special security situation” in Israel’s Homefront, within a 0-80 km radius of the Gaza Strip, The Jerusalem Post reported, adding that this further enabled the IDF to provide civilians with safety instructions at “close and relevant sites”.

“Hamas is the ruling entity in the Gaza Strip, responsible for this attack, and will bear the consequences and responsibility for the events,” the IDF said.

At least one rocket directly hit a building in the Gederot Regional Council, killing a woman in her 60s, according to a report. (ANI)

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Iraq Iran

Israel: Death Toll From Hamas Rocket Fire Rises To 4

By LokMarg

The toll in the Hamas rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel climbed to 4 on Saturday, The Times of Israel reported.

The daily reported earlier that after a barrage of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, Hamas fighters infiltrated Israel.

The mayor of Kuseife, Abd al-Aziz Nassara, confirmed the toll, adding that several more have been wounded as the rockets from Gaza rained on the town.

Kuseife, a Bedouin town in southern Israel, is located around 65 kilometres from the Gaza Strip.

According to reports, a woman was killed earlier in the rocket attack and their multiple injuries as well.

Following the attack, red alert warning sirens were activated in Tel Aviv, located around 70 kilometres from the Gaza Strip, as well as, Sde Boker, Arad, and Dimona in the south.

Residents living across these areas heard the massive explosions, according to The Times of Israel.

Meanwhile, Opposition leader Yair Lapid received a security briefing from the Israeli Prime Minister’s military secretary, Avi Gil, following the attack.

“Israel is in an emergency” and Lapid would back a “harsh military response” to Hamas’s coordinated attack, a statement from the Opposition’s leader’s office said.

Apart from the woman, who died of her wounds, the injured included a 52-year-old man from Gederot, who was moderately injured, and a 20-year-old man from Yavne, who also sustained minor injuries. Both victims were transferred to Kaplan Hospital, according to the Jerusalem Post.

The Israel Defense Forces, meanwhile, declared a state of readiness for war following the attack.

“There has been widespread rocket fire into Israeli territory from Gaza, and terrorists have infiltrated Israeli territory through various entry points. Residents in the south and centre of the country are required to be in close proximity to protected areas, and those in the Gaza periphery should remain within a secure space,” the IDF added in its statement.

The IDF said it was carrying out retaliatory airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. The strikes come nearly two hours after Hamas launched a surprise attack, the Israeli daily reported.

The Israel Defense Forces has closed the roads near the Gaza Strip border as Hamas’s rocket fires in Israel, according to The Times of Israel.

The closed roads include, Route 4 from the Zikim junction to Netiv Ha’asara; Route 34 from the Yad Mordechai junction to Nir Am; and Route 232 from Mefalsim to Sa’ad and Nir Yitzhak to Kerem Shalom.

The army said it has also closed all routes used by farmers in the area.

Additionally, the Zikim beach on the Gaza border is also closed off, The Times of Israel reported.

Further, according to the IDF, the trains will not run between Ashkelon and Sderot. (ANI)

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