At least 250 killed in Israel and 232 Palestinians in Gaza as war escalates

Some 250 people have been killed in Israel as a result of multiple Hamas aggression, while retaliatory Israeli air strikes have claimed the lives of 232 people in Gaza, according to the latest data confirmed by medical sources on both sides.
 
The number of wounded in Israel rose to 1,450, according to medical sources quoted by Hebrew media, while in the Strip they number 1,700, according to the Gaza Health Ministry’s count, since Hamas launched a surprise offensive against Israel by land, sea and air this morning.

 The situation is very delicate and the Israeli Defense Ministry has declared a state of emergency throughout the country, while fighting continues in towns near the Strip, where Hamas militiamen are still holding Israeli hostages and confronting Israeli troops.
 
As of this morning, Israeli air strikes continue in Gaza and more than 3,000 rockets have been fired by Palestinian militias into Israeli territory, where there are still hundreds of Gaza militia members fighting with Israeli forces at some twenty points in Israel, according to an army spokesman.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting medical personnel and hospitals, killing three health workers, wounding three others and destroying five ambulances.
 
According to Palestinian sources in the Strip, at least five buildings in Gaza have been destroyed by Israeli shelling and hospitals are in a state of emergency in response to the situation.
 
In Gaza, thousands of Gazan civilians from towns in the north of the Strip such as Beit Hanoun, Jabalia or Beit Lahia were evacuated and fled to Gaza City to be accommodated in schools of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees due to the severity of the clashes. 

According to local estimates, the number of militiamen currently still in Israel is estimated to be much higher than the figure given by Israeli authorities and could be in the hundreds or even over a thousand members of the Al Qasam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, or the armed wing of the Islamist group Islamic Jihad. 
 
The militiamen killed Israeli soldiers, took hostage residents of Israeli towns near the Strip and kidnapped around fifty people, according to sources in Gaza and videos on social networks showing the capture of military personnel, civilians and also Asian immigrants.

Israel cuts Gaza’s electricity in retaliation for Hamas’ multiple attacks

Israeli Energy Minister Ysrael Katz today signed an order to disconnect the Gaza Strip from the Israeli power grid, in retaliation for Hamas’ multiple attack by land, sea and air that has sparked another war.
 
“It’s not going to be like it was before,” Katz said in a statement about this punishment of Gaza’s population.

Gaza depends on Israel for its electricity supply, as well as for the import of fuel to power its only plant.
 
With this measure, the Strip goes from having 12 hours a day of electricity supply, to only four, which is all the energy its plant can supply, as long as they have fuel.

Biden warns that the U.S. will never stop supporting Israel

U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday condemned “terrorist attacks” against Israel and warned that Washington will “never” stop backing the Israeli government.
 
“At this time of tragedy, I want to tell the world and the terrorists that the United States stands with Israel. We will never stop supporting them,” the president said in an institutional statement from the White House, accompanied by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The large-scale Hamas attack against Israel on Saturday led to a new war in which more than 250 Israelis and at least 232 Palestinians have died in Gaza, according to the latest data confirmed by medical sources on both sides.

The U.S. president described as “appalling” the images of thousands of rockets launched from the Gaza Strip against Israeli towns, killing “not only Israeli soldiers but also innocent civilians”.
 
Biden explained that in a phone call he had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he conveyed the United States’ “strong and unwavering support” for Israel’s security.
 
“Israel has the right to defend itself, period. There is no justification for terrorist attacks,” he declared.
 
He also warned Israel’s adversaries “not to take advantage” of the attack for profit as “the world is watching you.”

In addition to Netanyahu, Biden spoke Saturday with Jordan’s King Abdullah and instructed his team to maintain contacts with the Palestinian National Authority, Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and their European allies.
 
The U.S. president said it is “heartbreaking” to see the lives of so many Israeli families “shattered” and assured that both he and First Lady Jill Biden are praying for them.
 
“Make no mistake, the United States supports the State of Israel. We have done so since we became the first nation to recognize Israel 75 years ago just 11 minutes after its founding,” the president concluded without taking questions from the press.

The U.S. government denied Saturday that Iranian funds it unfroze as part of a prisoner exchange with Tehran were used to finance the Hamas attack on Israel.
 
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller denied the Republican Party, which in a statement linked the release of the funds to the attack, to criticize President Joe Biden.
 
“Let’s be clear: the deal to bring Americans home from Iran has nothing to do with the horrific attack on Israel,” Miller declared on social networks.
 
The spokesman stressed that “not a penny has been spent” of those funds, which Iran will also only be able to use for “humanitarian issues” such as the purchase of food or medicine.
 
“Anything to the contrary is false,” he said.

Miller thus responded to the Republican National Committee (RNC), which blamed “Biden’s weakness and appeasement” for having “emboldened” the enemies of the United States and Israel.
 
“Less than a month ago, Joe Biden unfroze $6 billion for Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, and now Israel is once again under attack,” he stressed.
 
 UN mission in Lebanon reinforces presence, works to prevent rockets against Israel

The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) today reinforced its presence in the border area with Israel and carried out operations to prevent rocket fire from Lebanese territory, something that tends to occur during escalations such as the current one between the Jewish state and Palestinian factions in Gaza.
 
“UNIFIL is closely following the unfolding dramatic events in Israel. Blue Helmets are present along the Blue Line (de facto border between Lebanon and the Jewish State) to maintain stability and help prevent escalation,” the mission stated on its X account, formerly Twitter.
 
According to a terse statement released on the social network, the Blue Helmets have also “adapted and intensified” their presence throughout the mission’s area of operations, which roughly corresponds to the southern strip of Lebanon bordering Israel, from the Blue Line to the Litani River.

 The measures include “operations against rocket fire,” they added, without providing details.
 
Coinciding with escalations such as the current one between Israel and Gaza Strip militias, Palestinian factions present in Lebanese territory have in the past launched projectiles across the divide, provoking Israeli responses with artillery or even shelling into Lebanon.
 
However, on this occasion no such incidents have yet been recorded and since this morning the UNIFIL command has been in “constant contact” with both countries “to ensure effective coordination and avoid misunderstandings,” according to the note.
 
The Jewish state declared a state of war today after the Islamist Hamas movement launched a surprise operation by air, sea and land, including the launching of thousands of rockets.

Source: Atalayar

--Agencies