Israeli troops and tanks briefly raided northern Gaza overnight, the military said Thursday, engaging with Hamas fighters and targeting anti-tank weapons to “prepare the battlefield” before an expected ground invasion.
The third Israeli raid since the war began came after more than two weeks of devastating airstrikes that have left thousands dead, and more than 1 million displaced from their homes, in the small, densely-populated territory.
Arab leaders made a joint plea Thursday for a cease-fire to end civilian suffering and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, where Israel has imposed a suffocating siege since October 7 events. Residents are running out of food, water and medicine, and UN workers have barely any fuel left to support relief missions, The Associated Press reported.
The rising death toll in Gaza is unprecedented in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Health Ministry in Gaza said Thursday more than 7,000 Palestinians have died in the fighting, a figure that could not be independently verified. Even greater loss of life could come if Israel launches a ground offensive aimed at crushing Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007 and survived four previous wars with Israel.
More than 1,400 people in Israel, mostly civilians, were slain during the initial Hamas attack, according to the Israeli government.
The damage to Gaza from nearly three weeks of bombardment showed in satellite photos of several locations taken before the war and again in recent days.
Entire rows of residential buildings simply disappear in the photos, reduced to smears of dust and rubble. A complex of 13 high-rises by the sea was pounded to dust near Gaza City's al-Shati refugee camp, leaving only a few tottering bits of facade. Just down the street, hardly anything remained in what had been a neighborhood of low-built homes on winding lanes, according to the photos by Maxar Technologies.
New strikes Thursday leveled more than eight homes belonging to an extended family, killing at least 15 people in the southern city of Khan Younis. In the chaotic wasteland of crumbled concrete and twisted metal, rescuers lifted the body of a boy from beneath a slab.
The Israeli military said an airstrike killed one of two masterminds of the Oct. 7 massacre, Shadi Barud, the head of Hamas’ intelligence unit. The military claims it only strikes militant targets and accuses Hamas of operating among civilians in an attempt to protect its fighters.
Palestinian militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel since the war began. One struck a residential building in the central city of Petah Tikva, without wounding anyone.
Hamas’ military wing said Thursday that Israeli bombardment has so far killed about 50 of the at least 224 hostages the militants abducted during its Oct. 7 attack. There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials, who have denied previous, similar claims.
The conflict has threatened to ignite a wider war across the region.
Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed ally of Hamas in Lebanon, has repeatedly traded fire with Israel along the border. The United States has sent to the region two aircraft carrier strike groups, along with additional fighter jets and other weaponry and personnel.
Israel also said it also carried out around 250 airstrikes across Gaza in the last 24 hours, targeting tunnel shafts, rocket launchers and other militant infrastructure. Its reported targeting could not be independently verified.
The figure of 7,000 deaths reported by the Gaza Health Ministry is more than three times the number of Palestinians killed in the six-week-long Gaza war in 2014. The ministry’s toll includes more than 2,900 minors and more than 1,500 women.
After Biden said he had “no confidence” in Gaza's casualty figures, the Health Ministry on Thursday countered by releasing a more than 200-page document listing the names of 6,747 dead, including ages and gender. It said another 281 dead had not been identified and that hundreds still missing under rubble were not included in the count.
The warning by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, over depleting fuel supplies raised alarm that the humanitarian crisis could quickly worsen. Israel is still barring deliveries of fuel — needed to power generators — saying it believes Hamas will take it for military use.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli authorities detained 86 Palestinians, including five women, in multiple raids overnight, bringing the total detained there to more than 1,400, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, which represents former and current prisoners. At least 104 Palestinians have been killed in violence in the West Bank.
