Israel intensifies attacks on Gaza Strip despite international appeals
The Israeli army ordered the evacuation of the Bureij refugee camp and its surroundings. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously announced an "intensification" of the attacks and threatened the " Hamas terrorists": "We'll see you, we'll get you."
Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi said that the war would "last many more months". In the thorough destruction of a "terrorist organization", there is no "magic solution and no shortcut, except to be persistent and determined in the fight", he said.
The French government expressed concern about Israel's strategy in the fight against the radical Islamic organization Hamas. France is "seriously concerned" about Israel's announcement to "intensify and prolong" its military operation, the foreign ministry said in Paris.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden's National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, met with the Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer. Among other things, the conversation was about a "transition to a different phase of the war" in order to "maximize the focus on important Hamas targets", a White House representative said afterwards. The damage to civilians had to be minimized and the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip improved.
The Gaza war began on October 7 with Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel. Hundreds of Hamas fighters committed atrocities, according to Israeli figures around 1140 people were killed and 250 others were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip. 129 hostages are still in the Palestinian territory.
In response to the Hamas attack, Israel has been attacking the Gaza Strip ever since. According to the latest figures from the Hamas Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, more than 20,900 people have been killed so far. On Tuesday, the ministry spoke of 240 deaths within 24 hours alone.
The bodies of 80 Palestinians were brought back from Israel to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday and buried in a mass grave. According to information from the Hamas Ministry of Health, Israeli soldiers had retrieved the bodies from morgues and graves over the past few days and brought them to Israel.
There they were examined to make sure that no Hamas hostages had been killed among them. The 80 Palestinians were finally buried in a makeshift cemetery in the Rafah region in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, according to Palestinian reports, six people were killed in Israeli air strikes on the occupied West Bank. Several more people were seriously injured, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Wednesday morning.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the target of the airstrikes was the Nur Shams refugee camp near the town of Tulkarem. The Israeli armed forces initially refused to comment on the information. According to the Palestinian Authority, more than 300 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The conflict is also having an impact on the region with the risk of further escalation. The US armed forces declared on Tuesday that they had shot down twelve drones and five missiles from the Yemeni Houthi militia in the Red Sea within ten hours. No casualties or damage to ships in the area were reported, according to the US Central Command Centcom.
The Iran-backed Houthi militia had previously stated that it had attacked a merchant ship in the Red Sea and used a number of drones "against military targets" in southern Israel. Since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas, the Houthi rebels have repeatedly attacked ships off the coast of Yemen.
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Source: www.stern.de
