Civil defense in Gaza declares that “hundreds of buildings and houses have been completely destroyed” following the latest strikes by the Israeli army. In the Palestinian enclave, Internet access has been cut.
“Hundreds of buildings and houses were completely destroyed” by the Israeli army, according to the spokesperson for Palestinian civil defense in Gaza, Mahmoud Bassal. A consequence of the night of intense bombardments suffered by the Gaza Strip on Friday October 28. To AFP, he assures that the damage caused by the IDF has “changed the landscape” of the north of the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli forces were “still there” this Saturday morning, after a night of intense fighting in the Gaza Strip. In a press conference, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the Israeli army that entered northern Gaza on Friday was still present in the enclave. Images of tanks deployed in the territory were released this Saturday by the IDF. “We have entered northern Gaza and are expanding our operations,” assured the Israeli army. After a night of intense bombing and ground fighting, the army reportedly began a “restricted invasion” of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army claimed this Saturday, October 28, to have “hit 150 underground targets” in the area. The bombings concerned, according to the IDF, “terrorist tunnels, underground combat spaces and additional underground infrastructure”. In these strikes, the army allegedly killed members of Hamas and “terrorists” including “the head of the Hamas air network, Asem Abu Rakaba”. The IDF claims to have also killed Ratab Abu Tshaiban, commander of Hamas’ “naval force of the Gaza brigade”. However, the Palestinian organization has not yet communicated on the subject. Hamas reported “violent fighting” on Friday evening in the Gaza Strip. Ground fighting was postponed by a branch of the Islamist organization after the announcement by Daniel Hagari, the spokesperson for the Israeli army, who had assured the development of “ground forces this evening” on Friday.
As Israeli strikes intensified to unprecedented levels, telecommunications were cut in the Gaza Strip. Access to the Internet has been blocked, said Netblocks, an Internet connectivity observatory. Information corroborated by Palestinian telecommunications operator Jawwal, which declared on Facebook that telephone and Internet services had been cut because of the bombings. Many organizations have warned of the dangers of this cut. The Director General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he no longer had contact with health establishments in Gaza and deplored this breakdown in communications which made it difficult for “ambulances to reach the injured”.
Daniel Hagari assured that Israel would send more humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave. “We are increasing the humanitarian effort, we will send more trucks with water and medicine today,” the IDF spokesperson said. Gaza citizens who went south the Gaza Strip, which is a protected area, will receive assistance.”
If Hamas initially declared having fired, “in response to the massacres against Palestinian civilians”, several “salvos of rockets” in the direction of the Hebrew state, the organization now calls “on the Arab countries and Muslims and the international community”, asking them “to assume their responsibilities and act immediately to stop the crimes and massacres against [its] people”.
Meanwhile, on Telegram, a Hamas member called on Palestinians in the West Bank to join the fight, while a senior member of the organization assured that Hamas is “ready” to face in the event that Israel launches an offensive earthly.
The latest report from the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-owned Gaza Strip shows 7,326 deaths since the start of the war on October 7. Nearly 19,000 people are believed to have been injured since the bombing began. However, these figures were announced before Israel’s offensive on Friday evening and should be taken with caution. Washington notably questioned Hamas’s record, saying it did not have confidence.
In response to these accusations, however, Hamas published Thursday evening a list with the names, age, sex and identity numbers of 6,747 Palestinians who, according to it, have been killed since the start of the Israeli response. Hamas also said it was awaiting information regarding 281 other bodies. On the Israeli side, the death toll is still estimated at 1,400 deaths.
Hamas is still holding 229 hostages, including 30 children, according to the Israeli military. One of the leaders of the Palestinian Islamist group assured Russian media outlet Kommersant this Friday, October 27, that no hostages will be released until there is a ceasefire with Israel. Hamas also announced that “nearly 50” hostages were killed in the Israeli strikes.
Thirty-five French people have died since the start of the strikes between Israel and Hamas, according to the latest report announced Thursday October 26 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which “deplores the tragic death of new French nationals.” According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, among the nine missing French nationals “some of them” were taken hostage. Catherine Colonna also indicated that she had “proof of life” of the hostages.
In addition to the hostages, 54 French nationals are stuck in the Gaza Strip, as are around 100 people who work for organizations, according to French authorities. At the end of a European summit in Brussels this Friday, October 27, Emmanuel Macron announced that France was preparing the evacuation of its 170 nationals in Gaza.
Tensions between the United States, Israel’s ally, and Iran, close to Hamas, are rising on the sidelines of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The United States also carried out strikes on two Iranian installations in Syria in response “to a series of ongoing attacks,” the American Minister of Defense said in a press release published on October 26. The same day, the Pentagon spokesperson indicated that nearly 900 American troops are deployed or being deployed to the Middle East, to “support regional deterrence efforts and strengthen the protection capabilities of American forces.”
The Iranian Foreign Minister, for his part, warned the United States: “I say frankly to the American statesmen who are currently managing the genocide in Palestine that we do not want the expansion of the war in the region. But if the genocide in Gaza continues, they will not be spared from this fire!”
The war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, 2023 with a surprise and massive strike launched by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on the Jewish state. Many fighters have carried out incursions near the Gaza Strip border while airstrikes have been launched. These terrorist attacks gave rise to scenes of horror and massacres in several Jewish kibbutzim in Israel.
Israel ordered the response within hours of the attack before imposing a siege on Gaza on Monday, October 9. The same day, the Israeli army announced that it had regained control of the border with the Gaza Strip. Since then it seems to be preparing a ground attack on Palestinian territory.
