Israel mounts limited Gaza ground raids as troops mass on border
GAZA CITY/ JERUSALEM:
The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip has climbed to 5,087, the Health Ministry in the blockaded enclave said on Monday.
“The fatalities include 2,055 children, 1,119 women and 217 elders,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told a news conference in Gaza City.
He said 15,273 people were also injured in the Israeli attacks.
“The Israeli occupation committed 23 massacres in the past 24 hours that left 436 people dead, including 182 children,” al-Qudra also said.
The Health Ministry has so far received reports about 1,500 people, including 830 children, who are still trapped under the rubble.
The conflict in Gaza, which has been under Israeli bombardment and a blockade since Oct. 7, began when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, a multi-pronged surprise attack that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea and air. It said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.
More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed in Hamas attacks since Oct. 7, according to Israeli authorities.
Gaza ground raids
Israel’s military said on Monday its ground forces mounted limited raids into Gaza and airstrikes targeted Palestinian militants assembling to repulse any wider Israeli invasion, as each side prepares for the next stage of the escalating war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Sunday its fighters had engaged an armoured force infiltrating a southern area of Gaza and destroyed some Israeli military equipment before returning to base. There was no Israeli comment on such losses.
How soon Israel might launch a full-scale invasion is not clear, and neither side can know exactly what to expect when it does. The Middle East’s most powerful military faces a group that has built up a powerful arsenal with Iran’s help, fighting in a crowded urban setting and using a vast tunnel network it has built that Israeli troops have dubbed the “Gaza Metro”.
In a televised briefing describing Israel’s latest moves on the ground, Israel’s chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari also said 222 people had now been confirmed as taken hostage during the Oct. 7 cross-border onslaught by Hamas.
“During the night there were raids by tank and infantry forces. These raids are raids that kill squads of terrorists who are preparing for the next stage in the war,” he said, describing incursions that went “deep” into Gaza.
“These raids also locate and search for anything we can get in terms of intelligence on the missing and the hostages.”
Hagari said such interventions helped understand where “the terrorists are assembling, the terrorists are getting organised in anticipation of the next stages of the war. And our role is to reduce these threats.”
Stoking expectations of a full-scale ground offensive by Israeli forces massed around Gaza, he said the military’s operational readiness was improving and being enhanced “all the time”.
Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said in a statement on Sunday that its forces had engaged with a force infiltrating east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
“Fighters engaged with the infiltrating force, destroying two bulldozers and a tank and forced the force to withdraw, before they returned safely to base,” the statement said.
