Israel is intensifying its attacks on Gaza, as its air force continues to pound Hamas targets around the clock.
With Israeli troops poised on the Gaza border waiting for the order to begin a ground offensive, much of northern Gaza has already been reduced to rubble and Israel is urging the 300,000 or so residents who remain in the area to move south for their own safety.
Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the army was waiting for the right moment to begin the next phase.
“At this point, what we are doing is preparing to go in under the best possible conditions for the next phase of the war – not according to what others may say, we will deepen our attacks, we will reduce the threats and we will intensify attacks.”
Fourteen trucks carrying aid entered Gaza from Egypt on Sunday night, Juliette Touma, UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) communications director, said. Israel is still not allowing fuel in, fearing it will reach Hamas. UNRWA will run out of fuel for its operations in Gaza in three days, Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on Sunday. “Without fuel, there will be no water, no functioning hospitals and bakeries.”
While attention remains focused on Gaza, tensions along the Lebanese border are continuing to simmer, with several Hizbullah attacks on Israeli military personnel and installations. The IDF has retaliated with air strikes and artillery fire, reportedly killing an estimated 30 Hizbullah operatives and destroying some of the organisation’s military assets in southern Lebanon.
Both sides have so far refrained from taking action that might lead to a full-scale war. Prime minister Binyamin Netanyhau on Sunday issued his starkest warning yet to Hizbullah.
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“If Hizbullah opens a second front against Israel, our response would be such that the terror group would long for the level of destruction inflicted on it during the 2006 Second Lebanon War,” he said. “It will be making the mistake of its life. We will strike it with a force that it cannot even imagine, that will be destructive for it and for the Lebanese state.”
Fifteen communities in Israel near the border with Lebanon were ordered to evacuate over the weekend, including the town of Kiryat Shmona, with a population of more than 20,000, joining 28 others that were instructed to leave a week ago.
Syrian state media reported that Israeli air strikes targeted the international airports in the capital, Damascus, and the northern city of Aleppo. The strikes killed one person and damaged the runways, putting them out of service, media reported.
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Meanwhile, several Egyptian border guards sustained minor injuries on Sunday after being accidentally hit by fragments of a shell from an Israeli tank, a spokesperson for the Egyptian army said.
Israel’s military earlier said one of its tanks had accidentally hit an Egyptian position near the border with the Gaza Strip. Israel’s defence force “expresses sorrow regarding the incident”, which is being investigated, it said in a statement, giving no further details.
Israeli intelligence has formed a new unit, called Nili, to find and kill all members of Hamas’s Nukhba commando unit who infiltrated Israel on October 7th and then returned to Gaza.
Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant has also revealed Israel’s war plans and list of objectives for the Gaza Strip.
Speaking at a meeting of the Knesset foreign affairs and defence committee, Mr Gallant outlined Israel’s “three-phase” plan. “We are currently in the first phase, which involves a military campaign aimed at targeting terrorists and disrupting Hamas’s infrastructure with precise airstrikes,” he said.
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“The second phase will be an interim period of lower-intensity war with a focus on eliminating pockets of resistance. The third and final phase will entail the establishment of a new security framework in Gaza, relinquishing Israel’s responsibility.”
In the 16 days since the start of the war, Israel’s defence minister, the army’s chief of staff, the director of the IDF military intelligence directorate and the director of Israel’s security agency Shin Bet have all accepted responsibility for their share of the events of October 7th, when Hamas attacked.
Absent from the list is prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. A poll on Friday showed an overwhelming majority of the Israeli public – 80 per cent – believes Mr Netanyahu must also accept responsibility for what happened in the Gaza periphery. – additional reporting agencies
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