Israel is intensifying its fight against Hamas. A minister announced that the next phase would be harder than Hamas imagined. Helpers warn of a hunger catastrophe. The overview.
Israel’s advances against the Islamist Hamas are once again forcing thousands of Palestinian civilians to flee within the sealed-off coastal strip. The evacuation of the central Gaza Strip ordered by Israel is leading to the “forced displacement” of further residents, wrote the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA on the platform X (formerly Twitter).
More than 150,000 people – children, women with babies, people with disabilities and the elderly – have “nowhere to go.” Meanwhile, fighting continues in Khan Yunis in the southeast. The Palestinian Red Crescent wants to build a refugee camp there, the rescue service announced on Thursday.
Damascus: Israel attacks targets in Syria
Meanwhile, according to information from Damascus, Israel has again attacked areas in neighboring Syria. The Syrian state news agency Sana, citing military sources, reported late Thursday evening that Israel’s military had attacked “the southern region” from the air. Syria’s air defense intercepted some of the rockets fired. There was property damage.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that areas near Damascus airport were also hit by Israeli missiles. The Israeli military is currently checking the information. Israel’s air force repeatedly bombs targets in Syria. Israel wants to prevent its arch-enemy Iran and its allied militias from expanding their military influence in Syria. Iran is one of Syria’s most important allies.
US military shoots down drones and missiles
Meanwhile, the US military says it shot down another drone and a missile belonging to the Houthi rebels based in Yemen in the south of the Red Sea. They were fired by the Houthis early on Thursday evening local time, the responsible regional command of the US military announced on X in the morning. None of the 18 ships in the area were reportedly damaged in Thursday’s incident. Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Houthis have repeatedly attacked ships in the Red Sea with drones and rockets and also fired projectiles directly at Israel.
Minister: The next phase of the war will be intense
Regardless, Israel continues the fight against Hamas in Gaza. After a visit to the army’s Southern Command, Benny Gantz, minister in Israel’s war cabinet, said the forces were ready for the next phase in the war against Hamas, according to a report by the Ynet news site. This phase will be more powerful than “Hamas imagines,” Gantz was quoted as saying on Thursday.
Given the high number of civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military operation has been heavily criticized internationally. If Hamas “immediately removes itself from all civilians,” “the humanitarian crisis will end,” Israeli army spokesman Doron Spielman told CNN that night. Israel accuses the terrorist organization of deliberately using civilians in the Gaza Strip as human shields.
UN warns of famine catastrophe
According to the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, 40 percent of the population is at risk of famine. “Every day is a fight for survival, for finding food and water,” UNRWA Gaza director Thomas White wrote on X on Thursday. “The only hope left is a humanitarian ceasefire.” The sealed off Gaza Strip is barely larger than the city of Munich.
The Palestinian Red Crescent wants to initially set up 300 tents for displaced families in Khan Yunis in the southeast. Later, the capacity will be expanded to 1,000 tents to provide shelter for hundreds of displaced families in the southern region of the Gaza Strip, the rescue service said on
Israel suspects that the leadership of the Islamist Hamas is hiding in Khan Yunis. The army is currently concentrating its fighting on this region. Ten people were killed and 12 others injured in another Israeli attack on a building near Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis on Thursday, the Palestinian Crescent said.
Report: Hundreds demonstrate in Israel
In Israel, hundreds of people demonstrated against the war in the city of Tel Aviv, according to an Israeli media report. On Thursday evening they called for an end to the fighting, the release of the hostages still being held and an end to the Israeli occupation, as the Haaretz newspaper reported. Hundreds also demonstrated in Jerusalem for the release of the almost 130 hostages still being held, according to Israeli information.
Army: Poor visibility, tank noise
Following the accidental killing of three hostages in northern Gaza by Israeli soldiers two weeks ago, the military has released new findings on the incident. The soldier who initially killed two of the hostages had only limited visibility of the hostages, the Israeli army said yesterday. In addition, two soldiers did not hear the order to stop firing because of the noise of tanks and later shot the third man.
The war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history on October 7, in which terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups murdered around 1,200 people in Israel and abducted around 240 others to the Gaza Strip. Israel responded to the devastating terrorist attacks with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, around 21,320 people have been killed so far.
What is important today
The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip remains catastrophic. Thousands of civilians are once again fleeing the ongoing fighting.