Israeli air operations have struck residential buildings, including large tower blocks, as well as schools and UN buildings across Gaza, resulting in civilian casualties, the United Nations Human Rights chief said on Tuesday, citing information gathered by his office.
“International humanitarian law is clear: the obligation to take constant care to spare the civilian population and civilian objects remains applicable throughout the attacks,” Volker Turk said in a statement.
In response to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant’s announcement of a tightened blockade for the Gaza strip, Turk said that “sieges” that endanger the lives of civilians are prohibited under international law.
Palestinians carry food supplies as they walk through debris amid the destruction from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City’s al-Rimal neighbourhood on October 10, 2023. — AFP
Earlier in the day, Israel said it had re-established control over the Gaza border and was planting mines where Hamas fighters had toppled the barrier during their weekend offensive, after another night of relentless Israeli air raids on the enclave.
Israel’s latest round of air strikes came after the military called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists and imposed a total blockade on the Gaza Strip, raising fears it planned a ground assault in response to the most audacious Hamas attack in decades.
The violence, which has claimed more than 1,500 lives, prompted international declarations of support for Israel, street protests in support of Palestinians, and appeals for an end to the fighting and protection of civilians.
A picture shows a view of the destruction from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City’s al-Rimal neighbourhood early on October 10, 2023. — AFP
Gaza’s Health Ministry on Monday said at least 687 Palestinians had been killed and 3,726 wounded in Israeli air strikes on the blockaded enclave since Saturday’s attacks by Hamas.
Apartment blocks, a mosque and hospitals were among the sites attacked, and the strikes destroyed some roads and houses, according to media reports and eyewitnesses.
Israel also bombed the headquarters of the private Palestinian Telecommunication Co., which could affect landline telephone, internet and mobile phone services.
The strikes continued into the night on Monday. The Israeli military said it hit targets in the Gaza Strip from the sea and air, including a weapons depot it claimed belonged to Islamic Jihad and Hamas targets along Gaza’s coastline.
Israeli TV channels said the death toll from the Hamas attack had climbed to 900 Israelis, with at least 2,600 injured, and dozens taken captive. Among the Israeli dead were 260 mostly young people gunned down at a desert music festival, where some of the hostages were abducted.
In remarks aired by Israel’s Army Radio, chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said there had been no new infiltrations from Gaza since Monday. In an apparent response to rumours that fighters used cross-border tunnels, he said the military had no such findings.
Thawatchai and Thongkoon On-kaew, parents of Natthaporn, who was working in Israel, who has been abducted in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, hold up his pictures during an interview with Reuters at their house in Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, October 10, 2023.—Reuters
Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubaida issued a threat on Monday to kill Israelis among the dozens held captive after the surprise attack on Saturday morning. He said Hamas would execute an Israeli captive for every Israeli bombing of a civilian house without warning, and broadcast the execution.
There was no immediate response from the Israeli military to that threat. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said more than 100 people had been taken captive by Hamas during the deadly cross-border incursion over the weekend.
